Tester’s Bill to Improve Telephone Call Quality Passes Committee

(U.S. Senate) -Senator Jon Tester issued the following statement today after his Improving Rural Call Quality and Reliability Act passed out of the Commerce Committee:

“The telephone has been around for 140 years-there’s simply no excuse for poor call quality in 2016. That’s why I introduced this bill — to ensure rural Montanans can reliably connect with friends, neighbors, and businesses regardless of where they live.”

After a 2012 study revealed that almost 20 percent of calls made to rural areas were delayed, poor, or incomplete, Tester introduced the Rural Call Quality and Reliability Act, which requires the Federal Communications Commission to establish basic quality standards for providers who transmit phone calls across all parts of the U.S.

The bill will now go to the Senate floor for a vote.