MTA members vote for deregulation

WASILLA — MTA members have voted in favor of deregulating the utility’s local landline telephone operations from under the control of the Regulatory Commission of Alaska, according to a Monday press release from the co-op.

The final tally was 4,773- 1,616 in favor of deregulation. MTA customers were asked vote for or against keeping RCA fees for local telephone service as part of a special election that began in January. A first round of ballots from the RCA were sent out with the Jan. 18 billing, and a second followed Feb. 3. MTA serves around 28,000 customers.

MTA already is exempt from RCA regulations for Internet, digital television and wireless telephone services, and petitioned the RCA to initiate the election.

According to the press release, the surcharge that MTA members will no longer pay is the regulatory cost charge, which MTA collected from members and then sent to the RCA.

Removing the charge will save between $150,000 and $175,000 in regulatory fees and staff costs annually, according to the co-op.

“We’d like to thank our members for becoming so involved in this important vote, and helping us turn deregulation into a reality,” MTA Chief Executive Officer Michael Burke said in the press release. “The RCA requires 15 percent member participation in the vote, and more than 23 percent of our members stepped up and spoke with certainty.”

Burke said customers will see the charge for local service go away beginning in mid-April.