If Southwestern Bell gets its way,
it will charge an additional 14
dollars, 40 cents a month for business
phones and the monthly residential
service will climb by nearly five
and one half dollars.
Businesses, whether they are bakeries
or public utilities, have one
of two choices absorb the
phone increase and show a smaller profit,
or raise the price of their product
and pass it off to their consumers.
Cities may not be profit making
firms, but they do have to live
within their budgets.
If they do not, tax increases
are required.
That's why most cities and the Dallas
Fort Worth area served by southwestern
Bell have contributed thousands
of dollars to a special fund.
That money will be used to fight Bell's
claim.
The 470 million dollars sought by
Bell is the fifth major rate increase
the company has requested over the last
five years.
Barberi, Channel 5 Action News.