Aida Alvarez participates in corporate astroturfing in California
AT&T customers in California have experienced dramatic increases in the cost of landline service with the state’s largest local phone company in recent years. Following deregulation of most landline services in California in 2006, the flat rate for a landline is up from $10.69/month in 2006 to $23/month earlier this year, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. And fees for some other services have risen even faster. Republican Rachelle Chong, who at the time was a California Public Utilities Commissioner, was credited as the driving force behind the plan to deregulate.