0004133373@mcimail.com (Donald E. Kimberlin) (07/28/90)
A recurring thread in the Digest has to do with the intrastate dial
telephone rate in every state, explainable only as a vestige of the
politics of Utility Commissioners in every state proliferating the
1913 notion that "long distance MUST subsidize local rates." I have
no surcease for any reader about the rip-off; it just continues. But,
at least there's a report that might show where you stand. The July,
1990 {Communications News} printed in part a report from the National
Utility Service showing the five most and five least expensive states
for daytime three minute intra-LATA DDD as follows:
MOST EXPENSIVE LEAST EXPENSIVE
West Virginia $1.44 Delaware 39 cents
Vermont 1.07 New Jersey 40 cents
Maine .98 Minnesota 47 cents
Louisiana .98 Pennsylvania 49 cents
Hawaii .94 Illinois 50 cents
NATIONAL AVERAGE 70 CENTS
So, place yourself on that scale and weep with all of us. Only thing
I find curious is that it largely seems that poor states have high
rates, while wealthier states have lower rates. It may be some proof
that intraLATA prices are subsidizing local telephone prices for the
lower-income areas. <OK, OK, I know that GTE is ripping off Hawaii;
that's well known. And Illinois' benefit has to be due to our
Moderator's omnipresence on the scene there!> But, the amount of the
subsidy Telcos claim from LD within their territories must be huge.
Can it really be necessary to THAT extent?