Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ames!attctc!vector!telecom-gateway From: john@zygot.ati.com (John Higdon) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Measured Service: What Does It Cost? Message-ID: Date: 15 Oct 89 18:17:29 GMT Sender: news@vector.Dallas.TX.US Organization: Green Hills and Cows Lines: 45 Approved: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 452, message 4 of 6 In article , comcon!roy@uunet.uu.net (Roy M. Silvernail) writes: > Do you have measured service? What are the actual rates? Do you have > to juggle zones? Do you have a free-call area? If you were there for > the beginning of measured service, what was the introduction like? > (was there a public outcry? Was the public even consulted?) About 20 years ago, mandatory measured service was introduced to Pacific Telephone business customers. All new service orders went in as measured and existing customers were all converted over a year or two later. Back in those days, no one seemed very interested in the PUC hearings and this tarrif went through without any problem. People at PacTel fielded the calls from irate customers by responding that some customers would actually save money, since the monthly rate had been lowered (cut in half). But of course the vast majority of business customers started paying through the nose. Since that time, residence service has had the option of being measured. Unmeasured residence service is about $8.50/month while measured is about $4.50 with a $3.00 call allowance. A local call is $.05 for the first minute and $.01 each additional, with evening and night discounts. Pac*Bell has been trying to push the idea of universal measured service for years. They have offered various plans to the PUC (such as a service that includes 130 untimed calls/month and 15 cents for each call over--price: same as current unmeasured), but so far the PUC hasn't bought any of it. Now that Pac*Bell is unregulated for all intents and purposes, we may now probably count the days for unmeasured residence service. In my home I have a mix of measured and unmeasured lines (all in the same Commstar group). Any lines used exclusively for incoming calls are measured while out call lines are unmeasured. (Yes, they will mix measured and unmeasured lines in Commstar -- it is a common myth that they won't.) My prediction is that when they make all local calls measured, there will be some consumer groups that snort a bit but it will mostly happen without a wimper. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@zygot.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o !