Panel weighs bill to require consumer notice, 9‑1‑1 board alerts as phone service moves from copper to fiber

The House Energy and Digital Infrastructure committee heard testimony on draft committee bill 26‑0726 on the transition from copper-based voice service to fiber and on proposed consumer‑notification and consumer‑protection measures.

Barbara Neal, executive director of the Enhanced 9‑1‑1 Board, told the committee she reviewed draft 1.2 and urged the committee to add the board to the statute’s list of entities that must receive written notice when a carrier transitions a customer’s service. “I don’t see that here and I didn’t see it anywhere else in the in the draft. So, I think that would be helpful if the information came to us as well,” Neal said, arguing the board needs timely information to coordinate with the Department of Public Service and first‑response agencies.

Neal warned that the outage data the board…