Will Martin <wmartin@stl-06sima.army.mil> (12/23/89)
This article was in the Business section of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Wednesday, Dec 20 89: AT&T CUTTING LONG-DISTANCE RATES BY 1.3% Washington (AP) -- ...AT&T announced Tuesday that it will cut basic, daytime interstate rates an average of 1.3% Jan. 1. Evening rates will drop an average of 2%. AT&T spokesman Herb Linnen said the reductions were necessary under changes earlier this year in the FCC's regulation of long-distance charges. The FCC now imposes caps on AT&T's LD rates based in the company's LD expenses, as opposed to a pre-set rate of return. AT&T said the lowered rates reflect reduced expenses, mainly from reduced access fees that AT&T will pay in 1990 to local telephone companies. Linnen said the reductions would affect both operator-assisted and direct-dialed calls. John Hauser, a spokesman for AT&T's principal competitor, MCI Communications Corp., said that MCI would also pass on savings in local telephone company access charges. "We will remain competitive with them," he said. Hauser's counterpart at US Sprint, Robin Pence, said, "We are reviewing the filing and we intend to remain competitive." AT&T claims about 70% of the LD market. MCI is No. 2 with more than 10%. US Sprint claims 7 to 8%. In a notice filed with the FCC, AT&T estimated that the reductions would save customers $300 million a year on interstate and international LD services used primarily by residential and small business customers. A 10-minute AT&T call during daytime hours on a weekday to anywhere in the US will cost $2.50 or less, an average decrease of 1.3%. Linen said a 10-minute daytime call from Washinton to New York, which now costs $2.30, would decline to $2.20, a drop of 4.3%. An evening call from Washinton to San Francisco, Los Angeles, or Dallas, which now costs #1.67 for 10 minutes, would drop 5.3% to $1.58. The reductions would be less for many other calls. International calls from the 48 contiguous states to 25 of the most frequently called countries wil be slashed by $104 million. The reductions will vary from country to country. ***End of Article*** [Some abbreviations used.] Regards, and happy holidays! Will Martin