🚀 go-pugleaf

max_kislik.es_ae@xerox.com (Max Kislik) writes:

>The excuse the phone companies used to get this raise is that they have to
>lower their "local long-distance" rates, because long distances carriers
>(AT&T,MCI,etc.) will be allowed to provide this service.  The local
>long-distance calls are any calls to locations in the same urban area.

While not necessarily feeling that a basic rate increase is actually in
order, the explanation for its need rings true (no pun intended).

My girlfriend used to go to UCI and I live on the Westside.  It cost me
more to call her than it did to call my parents in Sonoma County.  Why?
With no competition on the call to Irvine (category "Zone 5"), PacBell
had no impetus to lower the rates.

It has been longstanding practice for the phone companies to subsidize
local calls at the expense of long-distance, and residential calls at
the cost of business.  As the local telephone companies lost control of
the longer-distance cals, the basic residential rate went up.

--
Curt Hagenlocher
chi@netcom.com