kossackj@narwhal.rice.edu (Jordan Marc Kossack) (01/17/90)
Why does Southwestern Bell charge so @*!#-ing much to turn on telephone service? I could understand the $75- charge if I actually needed a phone lines to be installed in my apartment, but this is not the case. I think that $75- is a wee much to charge for some clerical type to do the magnetic media work ... uhhh 'paperwork' involved in setting up an account. I mean, hey, HL&P didn't charge me to begin service. OK, so they required a deposit - but I'll be able to transfer that deposit if I change apartments and if I should move out of town I'll get my deposit refunded. The same is not true with the SWB 'installation' fee. HA! Installation?! They didn't install anything in my apartment! ow, I guess some bozo is going to say that I have the option to not pay the HUGE fee and thus not recieve telephone service. True, but that is not the point. Why does the gov't allow them to have a _monopoly_ if they insist on making such huge profits. A case in point follows. ... ... ... 053/061 09 Jan 90 19:18:04 From: News Desk @ 382/39 NYNEX AUDIT -- When Nynex ... set up a subsidiary to buy supplies for them, the idea was to save money: The purchasing unit could buy in volume, and the savings would be passed on to customers. From the start, regulators worried that it wouldn't work that way. Because profits of the purchasing unit wouldn't be regulated, Nynex might be tempted to have this unit charge the phone companies inflated prices. ... It was a temptation Nynex apparently couldn't resist. A year-long federal audit has concluded that ... Nynex has overcharged its own companies this way to the tune of $120 million. The FCC ... may act against Nynex as early as this week. ... The complex web of intramural transactions at Nynex ... reminds regulators of the cozy ties that AT&T's Western Electric unit had with the Bell operating companies, a relationship that helped prompt the breakup of AT&T. Since the breakup, such relationships have become increasingly common with the ... Baby Bells. ... New York Times, A1. ... ... ... I'll admit that just because NYNEX is doing this kind of stuff doesn't mean that Southwestern Bell is too. However, both companies are BOCs and I wouldn't be surprised if this was something they both learned from their mother (Ma Bell). What would surprise me is if this wasn't being done by SWB. Disclaimer: This article contains theory, conjecture and opinion in addition to the occasional fact. You try and figure out which is which. In fact, this entire article may very well exist only in your mind; Staring at a CRT for too long can cause you to hallucinate ... or was that the 'shrooms? As usual, flames and other forms of communication are welcomed by: kossackj@rice.edu (The Master of Sureality) - JK