TELECOM Moderator <telecom@eecs.nwu.edu> (12/26/89)
Some changes are being made to the Illinois Bell local rate structure starting next week. Here is a brief outline: Since August, 1988, a temporary credit has appeared on everyone's bill each month entitled 'Credit Due to Rate Reduction'. That credit will not appear starting with January cycle billings, because the rate reduction was made permanent. Illinois Bell had been required to issue the credit each month while the matter was under advisement by the Illinois Commerce Commission. The cost of local calls has been reduced. We will *no longer have message units*. A per-minute billing will replace unit billing and apply to each call. As is the case now, the rates will be about five cents per call, no matter how long we talk on calls within our local (eight miles) calling area. The cost of calls outside the local area will continue to depend on the number of minutes used, the time of day of the call, and the distance of the call. EXAMPLE: A five minute call during the peak phone period. Type of Call Current New Local Area 5.2 cents 5.2 cents 8-15 Miles 20.8 cents 17.1 cents 16-40 Miles 27.5 cents 24.2 cents 41+ Miles 45.7 cents 42.1 cents Rates for calls between Illinois Bell phones and locations served by other local telephone companies (i.e. Centel) will be reduced by 25% beginning in July, 1990, except that calls from IBT/Chicago-Newcastle to points served by Centel will continue to be billed as local area calls, with no reduction, remaining 5.2 cents each. Also on January 1, 1990, the monthly line access charge will increase by $1.03 per month for most residence customers. Illinois Bell says this will bring the charge closer to the actual cost of providing the line from the CO to the residence. Illinois Bell says even with this increase however, most customers will see a reduction in over-all costs because of new time- of-day discounts being introduced, as follows: Calls originating between 9-11 AM and 2-8 PM Monday through Friday will be billed at the standard rates shown above. Calls made Monday through Friday between 8-9 AM, 11 AM-2 PM, and 8-9 PM will be given a ten percent discount; i.e. a local 5.2 cent call will cost about 4.5 cents. A standard rate call costing 30 cents will cost 27 cents during these three time periods. Calls made between 9 PM daily and 8 AM next day will receive a forty percent discount; i.e. a local 5.2 cent call will cost about 2.8 cents. Calls made between 9 PM Friday and 8 AM Monday (all day Saturday and Sunday) will receive this forty percent discount. Calls which overlap time periods will be billed on a pro-rated basis, with a portion of the call billed at each applicable rate. There will no longer be discounts given for volume purchases of units, since units per se are being discontinued. Finally, Call Waiting, as a stand alone feature of custom calling will be reduced from $3.00 to $2.50 per month. Most custom calling features will have some reduction made. Business rates for custom calling features and touchtone service will be reduced to match rates currently paid by residential users of these features. In a few months, I will let you know how it actually works out on my bill. In Wednesday's Digest, I have extensive details on the CLASS options being made available to Illinois Bell subscribers during the second and third quarters, 1990. Patrick Townson