News from the Oklahoma Corporation Commission

Jim Palmer, Director of Information

June 23, 1999

Oklahoma’s Corporation Commissioners have designated by unanimous vote Commissioner Denise Bode as the Commission’s representative to the Task Force on Telecommunications. The Task Force was formed June 18 by Governor Frank Keating, House Speaker Loyd Benson, Senate President Pro Tempore Stratton Taylor, Attorney General Drew Edmonson and Corporation Commission chairman Ed Apple.

Charged with studying alternative forms of regulation that expedite a transition into a competitive marketplace for telecommunications services in Oklahoma, Bode and the other members of the Task Force will report their findings and recommendations no later than August 20, 1999.

The Task Force will examine the impact of the 1997 Oklahoma Telecommunications Act on the industry, Oklahoma consumers and the state and recommend whether a financial settlement is justified in view of the rate review moratorium imposed by the Act. Task Force members are also asked to recommend appropriate uses for such a settlement.