AT&T Breaks Faith With Consumers
Consumer Group Condemns AT&T's Abandonment of Residential Consumers
AT&T's Action to Cost Consumers Billions
Washington, DC --AT&T's announcement today that it will start charging all new customers a $3.00 per month minimum fee is "an unconscionable abandonment of residential telephone consumers," said Samuel A. Simon, Chairman of the Telecommunications Research and Action Center (TRAC).
"It will eventually cost consumers billions of dollars just for the 'privilege' of having a long distance carrier," Simon said. "Our estimates show that if AT&T's policy is implemented as it wants -- to apply the $3.00 minimum fee to ALL long distance customers as soon as possible -- the result will be that residential consumers will pay anywhere from $873 million to about 1.4 billion dollars each year FOR NOT MAKING LONG DISTANCE PHONE CALLS." (See Attachment) TRAC, a Washington, DC based consumer group has been charting and comparing long distance rates for consumers since 1983. TRAC is the publisher of Tele-Tips Long Distance Rate Comparison Chart and of the Internet site, www.trac.org, which features the Webpricer tool for long distance rate comparisons.
"This outrageous action begs for urgent government action to protect consumers," Simon added. TRAC today is asking the FCC to take the following steps on behalf of America's residential telephone users, and especially the vast majority of those who make few if any long distance calls during a month:
| 1. | Immediately reinstate full regulation of AT&T rates and services and those of any long distance company that follows AT&T's lead. |
| 2. | Suspend the effective date of the AT&T rate proposal until a complete and thorough investigation is completed, with full consumer and public participation. |
| 3. | Take immediate steps to introduce additional long distance competition to the residential telephone market, including expedited entry of local phone companies into the residential long distance market. |
"This is the second dead-of-night surprise attack on consumers by AT&T," Simon said. "It is clear that the timing of AT&T's introduction of this new anti-consumer policy is part of an effort to hide what it is doing and the impact on consumers."
In November, AT&T announced the night before Thanksgiving that it was raising rates by eliminating nighttime calling periods and extending daytime calling from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. It is clear that AT&T knows its actions are anti-consumer and is attempting to minimize public awareness of what it is doing by announcing it on a Friday afternoon in August when all of official Washington, including the Federal Communications Commission, is on vacation.
What can consumers do? Saving money on long distance is becoming harder and harder, if not impossible. Here is TRAC's consumer advice on how to save money in the face of the new policy that AT&T is imposing:
Consumer Tips:
| 1. | If you are a "new" customer and you do not make many long distance calls (less than 30 minutes a month), then find a long distance company and plan that does not have a monthly minimum, while you can. |
| 2. | If you are a "new" customer (or are changing carriers), and are a low volume user, consider asking your local company to block your dial-1 service, and use a dial-around company. Be careful when selecting dial-around type companies because some do have minimums and higher rates. But it is better to pay a higher rate for a call that you make, than pay $3.00 and not make any calls. For example, Telco now has a dial around plan using 10-10-457 which is $.10 per minute with no minimums and no fees. On the other hand, 10-10-321 saves you money only if your call last more than 20 minutes, so low volume users won't save much if they use 10-10-321, except they won't have a $3.00 a month minimum. |
| 3. | If you are an "existing" customer of AT&T and don't make many calls, don't change, but get on a calling plan. Be careful when switching long distance carriers, because to switch away from AT&T means that if you switch back you will be subject to the $3.00 a month minimum. |
| 4. | Call your member of Congress and the FCC and tell them you are tired of rising long distance rates. |
| 5. | Keep informed about changes in telephone rates. TRAC's web site www.trac.org is the best source for current information about rates and services and you can use TRAC's Webpricer tool to see what plan is best for you by comparing rates. |
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