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From: john@icjapan.info.com (John Higdon)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: CA Touchtone Surcharge
Message-ID: <16172@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 18 Jan 91 12:19:45 GMT
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Reply-To: John Higdon <john@bovine.ati.com>
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 47, Message 4 of 12


In article <16072@accuvax.nwu.edu> wybbs!ken@sharkey.cc.umich.edu (Ken
Jongsma) writes:

>John Higdon and others from CA have been commenting about the pending
>removal of touch tone charges from their bills. 

>Bottom line: GTE rates are going up 11% to compensate for the loss of
>revenue. You didn't really think you were getting something for
>nothing, did you?

Nothing? Did you say nothing? Maybe it has been too long for you to
remember: Pac*Bell and GTE won MAJOR concessions from the PUC in
exchange (read that IN EXCHANGE) for the elimination of TT charges and
the widening of the Zone 1 area to twelve miles. They also agreed to
FREEZE residential rates for all of this giveaway deregulation.

So now it has been nearly two years and the robber baron telcos are
finally getting around to coughing up. But now the deal is changed,
no?  So now that Pac*Bell and GTE are being more than compensated
monetarily for the TT and local calling baubles, what exactly did they
give to get the Santa Claus regulations that they now do business
under? Answer: Apparently nothing.

And to answer your question specifically, Ken, I never think I get
much of anything from Pac*Bell. Even when I pay through the nose for
it.

>Can't wait to see how Pac Bell handles this.

In its usual "screw the public" fashion, that's how. The brain-dead
PUCommissioners have a bureaucratic memory of about an hour, and that
was what Pac*Bell was counting on. There were some of us who predicted
all of this when it first came before the PUC.


John Higdon         | Kioityo 3-12 8F-B3 Tokyo 102 Japan
john@bovine.ati.com |              Mo-Mo