A sign of the times in the telecommunications industry, AT&T is closing its legislative liaison offices in Lincoln, Des Moines, Iowa, and Boise, Idaho.

The schedule for closure of the offices has not been determined, but for Nebraskans, it means the closest office will be Denver. AT&T's headquarters are in New Jersey.

"I'm not sure of all the ramifications for Nebraskans, but AT&T and many other companies are cutting costs and this office is one of the cuts," said Deonne Bruning, who headed the two-person office in Lincoln.

AT&T offers long distance to about 1,000 residential lines in the Omaha area and to all of the rest of Nebraska.

"When they announced they were cutting our office, it meant Nebraska, Iowa and Idaho will join the Dakotas, Wyoming, Montana as states without offices," Bruning said. She added that 10 offices were closing around the country in the latest cutbacks.

Bruning and Michelle Engel handled AT&T relations with the Legislature, the Public Service Commission and other regulatory agencies in Nebraska.

Anne Boyle, Public Service Commissioner, called the closing of the AT&T office "regrettable."

"It's a matter of concern to me," Boyle said. "I hope it's not sending the message that Nebraska and other smaller states are not worth the effort to bring a competitive effort here."

Boyle called Bruning candid, dependable and helpful. While the commission will receive information on the telecommunications industry from other resources, the close proximity of Lincoln's AT&T office was convenient and will be missed, Boyle said. A recent error in AT&T billing ended with the office waiving customers' extra costs and writing off with credit for the error instead of re-rating the bill. Local phone carrier Alltel said it recently struggled handling customer service because of the AT&T error.

"That kind of thing will be handled by the office in Denver now," Bruning said.

"You'd have to live in a cave to not know the telecommunications industry is having trouble all the way around, and I think this move is another sign of the times," she added.

Bruning is the wife of state Sen. Jon Bruning of Sarpy County. Sen. Bruning recently announced that he was forming a committee to make a run for state attorney general in 2002.

Journal Star

-- Anonymous, July 11, 2001