Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!decwrl!hayes.fai.alaska.edu!accuvax.nwu.edu!nucsrl!telecom-request From: john@bovine.ati.com (John Higdon) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Rate Request - No Joy For New York Telephone Message-ID: <9756@accuvax.nwu.edu> Date: 15 Jul 90 20:06:16 GMT Sender: news@accuvax.nwu.edu Reply-To: John Higdon Organization: Green Hills and Cows Lines: 37 Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 487, Message 2 of 11 Jerry Leichter (LEICHTER-JERRY@CS.YALE.EDU) writes: > The saga of New York Telephone's request for a rate increase > continues, with no joy in sight for them. Rates were frozen for three > years back in 1987. With the freeze set to expire at the end of this > year, NY Tel requested a $445 million rate increase. That was > rejected back in March. NY Tel promptly turned around and requested a > $919 million rate increase. Even though we west coast cretins are forced to watch "Primetime Live", "Saturday Night Live", and "Nightline" via tape delay from New York (they even tape "live" events here and show them to us three hours later!), we have an advantage of being able to see a window on our own future. Whatever happens to Nynex starts rumbling across the US on a four to seven year timetable. Last year, you'll recall, Pac*Bell was given the keys to the kingdom by the CPUC. In exchange (no pun intended), Pac*Bell would hold off residential rate increases, remove charges for touch tone, and widen the Zone 1 (local) calling area. The latter two have yet to come to pass. Now we see that the "stabilization" of rates will be a cruel joke. In 1992 or whenever, Pac*Bell will probably stomp into the CPUC with a demand for a 100% increase in residential rates, proposals to drop the last of unlimited local calling, and other pocket-fattening proposals as they deem appropriate at the time. If ever there was a utility that has run amok over deregulation, Pac*Bell it it. In a way, GTE's lack of innovation is a plus. Pac*Bell has shown no end of inventiveness in its ability to extract large amounts of money from its customers, particularly in the areas of 976/900, small business, Centrex, and short-haul toll calls. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@bovine.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o !