Every January, we can expect to see ILEC filings that increase various residential and/or commercial customer rates. This year is no disappointment.
AT&T has been particularly active with filings this month as it continues to encourage the migration to IP based services with frequent rate increases on legacy products, sometimes with incentives to switch. PBX Trunk rates increased in Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Michigan. We have also seen recent filings in the “BellSouth” territory to withdraw message or measured rate local service options, leaving only a flat rated local exchange line option.
Residential subscribers to the Complete Choice® or Complete Choice® Enhanced Service Packages will see an increase to $34.00 and $38.00 per month, respectively. The Complete Choice® Package provides a flat rate access line (unlimited local calling to all exchanges within the subscriber’s local calling area) plus Caller ID and Call Waiting ID. The Complete Choice® Enhanced package provides a flat rate access line and unlimited use of most Custom Calling and CLASS features.
As you can see in the screenshot from our rates database for Alabama, AT&T has raised the rate for Complete Choice® every January in the past five years. The monthly charge has increased by 42% since 2012.
In addition, AT&T (BellSouth) implemented rate increases to their Area Plus® calling plan, which provides residential customers with a flat rate access line with unlimited calling to all exchanges in the subscriber’s LATA. And monthly rates were increased for several individual calling features such as Three-Way Calling, Speed Calling, Call Return, Repeat Dialing, and Call Block.
AT&T business customers in both the former “BellSouth” and “SBC” territories will see an increase in traditional two-point Message Telecommunications Service (MTS), or 1+ intraLATA toll rates, from $1.90 to $2.19 per minute. It is not unusual to see rate hikes in toll usage once or twice per year; however, I suspect it only affects a very small percentage of customers, as most probably subscribe to a plan or package that includes or discounts long distance usage.
Last month, Frontier (former Verizon/GTE) increased business and residential monthly and pay per use rates for various individual custom calling features. The pay per use rate for features such as Three-Way Calling, Call Return (*69), and Busy Number Redial (*66) is now $2.50 in many states. Interestingly, we have also seen Frontier recently add operator services to their tariffs and product guides. You may recall that AT&T and Verizon discontinued Collect, Billed to Third Number and Person-to-Person billing arrangements last year.
It promises to be another active year. Tracking ILEC changes is vital for CLECs in positioning their local products and maintaining a desired profit margin. Fortunately, our Rates Management System maintains a historical and current inventory of ILEC tariffed services, which in combination with our clients’ tariffed rates, provides a time saving resource for evaluating and calculating product rate changes.
See TMI's Rates Database Demo Here
