KSELLING@eagle.wesleyan.edu (Kenneth Selling) (08/04/89)
Here's some news just in. It involves: (1) an entire state not served by the
Bell System, (2) that state actually *asking* customers how wide a free calling
area they want to have, and (3) the local phone company ending up also giving a
major city a larger local calling area without increasing that cities' rates.
(Warning to our California readers -- the high East Coast telephone rates
quoted here may be a bit shocking to you -- please don't say you weren't
warned.)
In recent months, some readers have asked about the Southern New England
Telephone (SNET) survey taken more than half a year ago, asking Middletown,
Connecticut area customers if they wanted to greatly expand their toll-free
calling area in exchange for a small increase in monthly rates. SNET was
directed by the CT Dept. of Utility Control to conduct the survey. (SNET
covers most of Connecticut. It was not in the former Bell System, although
AT&T owned a small share of it. It was not affected by Judge Greene's
break-up order.)
Here are the results (from SNET's Residence Manager R. A. Shanley and Business
Manager Clara Brenciaglia) as of August 1, 1989. Beginning about 11:15 pm,
Friday, Septemeber 15, 1989, all calls from Middletown area exchanges (342,
344, 346, 347, 349, 632, 635, 636, and 638) to Hartford exchanges will become
toll-free. This will add about 193,000 phones to the Middletown free calling
area. In SNET parlance, this upgrades Middletown customers from Class II to
Class III service. Class is determined by the number of phones in a toll-free
calling area. The rate increases per month for this Class upgrade will be:
Residence Present September 15, 1989
Private Line - Unlimited Calling $10.19 $11.65
Private Line - Message Service 6.91 7.93
Party Line (existing customers only) 8.00 9.17
Select-a-Call (a life-line service) 5.50 (NO CHANGE)--> 5.50
Business
Private Line - Unlimited Calling $29.72 $34.10
Private Line - Message Service 20.58 23.65
Semi-Public Coin Telephone 23.63 27.13
Select-a-Call 16.50 (NO CHANGE)--> 16.50
NOTE - This does not include the $3.50 Federal Subscribers Charge per line.
Communities in the Middletown exchange include: Cromwell, Portland, Durham,
Middlefield, and of course -- Middletown.
Communities soon to be toll-free from Middletown include:
Hartford (296, 297, 299, 240, 241, 244, 246, 247, 249, 273, 275, 277, 278,
279, 280, 293, 520, 522, 524, 525, 527, 547, 548, 649, 560, 566,
722, 724, 725, 727, 728, 841, 930, 951, 952, 953, 954)
East Hartford (282, 289, 291, 528, 565, 568, 569)
West Hartford (232, 233, 236, 521, 523, 561)
Wethersfield (257, 258, 529, 563, 721)
Bloomfield (242, 243, 286, 726)
... and parts of the adjacent communities of Rocky Hill, Newington, Windsor,
and South Windsor.
Note that calls will be toll-free in both directions. However, since Hartford
customers are already in a Class III area (the highest rates in CT), their
exchanges (above) will get a largely increased toll-free calling area without
increased rates -- one of the few cases I can think of in recent TELECOM
history of a regional operating company giving "something for nothing!"
Ken Selling Disclaimer: "I have no connection with SNET,
except as a reasonably happy
Organization: Wesleyan University customer."
Internet: kselling@eagle.wesleyan.edu
BITNET: kselling%eagle@wesleyan.bitnet
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