Kentucky legislature votes to ease out landline phones

Kentucky appears ready to join at least two dozen other states in deregulating its landline telephone services, the beginning of the end for the more than 100-year-old technology that is being pushed out by cellphones and high-speed Internet access. The Kentucky State Senate voted 30-3 to strip the Public Service Commission of its authority to make telecommunications companies install and maintain landline telephone service. Gov. Steve Beshear (D-KY) said after the vote he will sign it into law.

The bill only affects areas that have at least 15,000 households, meaning the rural mountainous parts of the state famous for their spotty cellphone coverage would still have access to landlines. And companies could not take away someone's landline in an urban area unless the Federal Communications Commission approved it. But the bill allows the larger telecommunications companies -- AT&T, Cincinnati Bell and Windstream -- to begin scaling back their landline services in favor of other options, including Internet telephone service. Since 2006, at least 26 states have passed laws that either eliminate or limit oversight from public service commissions.