PSC SHOULD RECONSIDER ITS COS DECISION

The Missouri Senate has sent a cordial but firm message to the Public Service Commission: Reconsider the loss of community optional service or face the potential loss of funding.

This service known as COS links many contiguous rural communities for one low cost -- about $16 a month. Without it, phone bills would be substantially higher for many rural customers.

But the issue may be one of alternatives. At this point there may be few choices for many of the affected towns. The PSC should delay the elimination of COS until more viable alternatives are found.

It is a shame that the Legislature must get involved in this issue. But the PSC is supposed to protect the public's interest in the matter of utilities. In this matter, the opposite seems true.

There are no COS cities in this immediate area. To qualify, a town would have to petition the PSC, and a minimum number of calls between communities would have to be established.

In addition, towns that qualify for COS must be contiguous. So a recent push for local calling between Benton and Cape Girardeau or Sikeston would not apply.

But COS is well used in other areas of the state, and that's why the legislature has stepped in. Constituents are understandably upset. Think of it this way: If calls between Cape Girardeau and Jackson were suddenly to become toll calls, people would certainly take notice.

A recent letter to the editor about extended calling areas made a telling point: A resident of Patton-Sedgewickville cannot contact his own county government offices or other service agencies in Marble Hill without making a toll call. This might be an area for a potential COS, but not if the program is soon dumped.

The PSC should certainly rethink this decision -- gaining considerably more input from the public and legislators before pulling the plug on COS. At present, the service would end March 31. That is simply not enough time to fully debate this issue.

At the very least, the PSC should move back the date to drop the service until all the options can be explored.