Now that the year is half over, it's time to raise rates again! In my earlier blogs on this topic ("ILEC Retail Rates - How high will they go?" dated 12/1/14 and “ILEC Retail Rates: How high will they go? Part 2” dated 2/2/15) I noted several trends in rate increases across the nation. At Technologies Management, Inc. (TMI), our rate analysts have been busy reviewing and reporting a slew of IXC and ILEC rate increases that became effective the first week of July.
Over the last year, AT&T (BellSouth and SBC) increased the business intraLATA 1+ rate from $1.10 to $1.30, and now to $1.50 per minute. AT&T, the interexchange carrier, recently increased state-to-state and in-state long distance calling card rates. The state-to-state rate for calls billed to a calling card is now $1.49 per minute. In-state long distance rates vary by state, but many are at the $1.49 rate as well. In addition, the per call service charge for customer dialed and operator dialed calling card calls increased in several states.
CenturyLink increased the Directory Assistance rate to $3.99 per call in many states. They are also increasing their "Convenience" Fee and introducing the "Facility Relocation Cost Recovery Fee", a monthly recurring surcharge, in additional states effective July 1, 2015. A Convenience Fee Charge of $5.00 applies for a one-time payment made with the assistance of a live customer representative using a debit card, credit card, or an electronic funds transfer. The Facility Relocation Cost Recovery Fee applies for the recovery of costs associated with the relocation of network facilities or infrastructure changes mandated by governmental entities. The charge is billed monthly per retail access line, and the rate varies by state from as little as $0.11 per line in South Dakota to $1.00 per line in North Carolina, Tennessee, and Wisconsin.
AT&T business line rates in Florida continue to rise. The chart below from my last blog has been updated to reflect the latest increase to $99 per month for a flat rate business line. Notice that the rate has more than doubled over the last 3 years!
In AT&T Indiana territory, residential rates for flat rate exchange service increased to $25 per month effective July 3, 2015. Residential customers there pay 25% more now for a flat rate line compared to 3 years ago. And with the latest AT&T (Nevada Bell) rate increase, residential customers in Nevada pay 40% more for measured rate service than they did 3 years ago.
Other end user charges tend to change this time of year with the FCC annual access filings. In this round, we saw rate increases to the End User Common Line Charge, also known as the Subscriber Line Charge, and the Access Recovery Charge (ARC). TMI publication subscribers can view a summary of these end user charges online at our Dashboard home page.
What a busy summer for rate changes! I wonder what’s in store for the New Year. Fortunately, our CLEC clients can rely on us to track and notify them of ILEC rate changes such as these, allowing them to maintain their desired profit margin and focus on market expansion.
