Mr Matt
join:2008-01-29
Eustis, FL
kudos:1 Reviews:
 ·CenturyLink
 ·Comcast
·Embarq Now Centu..
 ·Millenicom
| Greed, Greed, Greed  The Bell Heads do not seem to get it. Their monopoly is history. Consumers now have choices for voice communication. Unless the telephone companies upgrade their outside plant and reduce their prices they are in fact doomed. When the Bell System was broken up the Incumbent Telephone Companies were granted unprecedented permission to charge customers an additional below line fee by the FCC, though their rates were regulated by State Agencies.
The below line fee was the CALC (Customer Access Line Charge), the CALC charge was to replace revenue lost from toll separations when AT&T became a separate company. That fee for a customer with a single line was $0.50 per month in 1982. The CALC charge in most areas the now exceeds $6.00.
I went ballistic when BellSouth and other incumbent local exchange carriers were authorized to offer long distance service. Why? As soon as the ILEC's were authorized to sell Inter LATA long distance service they began receiving additional revenue from profits made by selling Inter LATA Long Distance, they should have been forced to stop charging the CALC charge at that time but they were not.
Since 1982 operating costs have been reduced through technological advancements. During the age of electromechanical Central Offices it took about 1,000 employees to support a 10,000 Line Strowger C.O. Now digital technology makes it possible for 1 Technician to support 100,000 Lines. The local exchange carriers have never reduced rates and unless they do so their business will be doomed. |
