Corporation Commission examining phone service

(Dateline-AP) -- The Oklahoma Corporation Commission says a new federal mandate should let some low-income Oklahomans receive phone service without any increase in price.

The mandate would effect Oklahomans living on or near tribal lands. It would let those people receive phone service without increasing Oklahoma Universal Service Fund charges.

A Federal Communications Commission order requires local phone companies to expand existing programs aimed at providing services to the low-income.

It allows carriers to recover their costs through the Federal Universal Service Fund.

The order permits qualified persons to receive basic local phone service for as little as a-dollar a month.

The Corporation Commission is preparing an order to comply with the mandate but insure that the Oklahoma Universal Service Fund is not used to pay for the federal program.