Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), member of the Senate Commerce, Science and Technology Committee, sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) urging it to follow through with plans to improve telephone service in rural areas.

“Nebraskans depend on consistent, reliable telephone service to not only stay connected with friends and family, but also to conduct business and ensure public safety,” Fischer said. “Whether you live in rural areas or urban centers with outdated infrastructure, dependable modern communications is a necessity. Unfortunately, call completion issues persist, impacting Nebraskans across the state. The FCC needs to follow through on its order to address the concerns raised by rural Americans and improve telephone service quality and reliability for all Americans.”

In May of 2013, Fischer led a bipartisan Senate resolution urging telephone companies to provide the same access to reliable service to all areas of the United States. It also urged the FCC to aggressively pursue companies that violated call completion rules.

In October of 2013, the FCC unanimously approved an order to address call completion problems. However, since the comment period closed in February 2014, the FCC has failed to take action needed to collect data on call completion issues.

Call completion issues range from calls that are extremely poor in quality, to frequently dropped calls, to calls that simply do not complete.

Nine other senators cosigned the letter with Fischer: Mike Enzi, (R-Wyo.); John Barrasso, (R-Wyo); John Thune, (R-S.D.); Pat Roberts, (R-Kan.); James Inhofe, (R-Okla.); Jerry Moran, (R-Kan.); John Boozman, (R-Ark.); John Hoeven, (R-N.D.); and Orrin Hatch, (R-Utah).