By Alabama Public Radio
Montgomery, AL – The state Senate is expected to continue the debate over telephone deregulation Tuesday. A revised bill to deregulate much of the phone industry in the state is designed to give consumer more service options. Under the proposal, if a phone line and other options are purchased separately, phone service would still be regulated by the Public Service Commission. But, if those services are purchased as a package for a fixed price, the service would be unregulated. BellSouth says the unregulated package would likely be cheaper than the regulated service. But the Public Service Commission disagrees, saying telephone prices will increase without regulation.