MVM@cup.portal.com (10/15/88)
Following divestiture the local telephone companies were given by the FCC a rate increase of, I think at first, $1.00 per telephone line connection. This was to compensate the local companies for loss of "revenue" from AT&T and was to increase over time. Without going into such esoteric matters as the justification for this rate or its amount, which I believe is presently scheduled to increase again, although there appears to be some small amount of organized consumer resistance against such, what is the PRESENT rate? I thought the line charge rose to $2.00 and then to $2.50, hence this question. Here in OK Southwestern Bell (SWB) charges $2.60, which is itemized separately on the bill as "Customer Line Charge (Federal)" in an obvious attempt to make people think, at best, it is a tax which goes to the federal government, i.e., not SWB, and at the least, it is not "really" a part of your phone bill. (BTW, in the Oklahoma City local calling area, approximately 35 miles in diameter, a residential single user pulse line costs $17.18, including taxes. The same type line when designated as a business line costs $45.16. Tone dialing is extra.) -- Mark V. Miller -- MVM@cup.portal.com