AT&T Extends Usage Minimum to Basic Rate Customers, Offers Low-usage Callers Service Options.NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 6, 1999-- Enhances LifeLine life·line n. 1. a. An anchored line thrown as a support to someone falling or drowning. b. A line shot to a ship in distress. c. A line used to raise and lower deep-sea divers. 2. program, introduces thirty minutes of long distance calling for $3 AT&T today announced it will extend its $3 monthly usage minimum to customers currently on its basic residential service to help cover the costs for billing, account maintenance and customer service. It also introduced a 10 cent per minute "block of time" calling plan for customers who make 30 minutes of long distance calls a month. Customers on the company's basic residential service, which offers the lowest basic rates in the industry, will have to meet a monthly usage minimum of $3 beginning with their July July: see month. 1999 bills. AT&T instituted a similar usage minimum for all new customers last August. Based on current spending levels, AT&T estimates that 85 percent of its customers spend more than the minimum each month. Customers subject to the minimum will pay only for those months when their long distance and local toll charges are less than $3, and they will pay only the difference between $3 and what they spend during the month. For example, someone who spends $2.50 in a given month will pay just 50 cents more to meet the minimum requirement. AT&T said usage minimums are becoming more common throughout the industry. The minimum is similar to the $6-15 monthly service charge customers pay the local phone companies for local service whether they use it or not. Included in the local companies basic rates are the inherent costs for billing, account maintenance and customer service. In addition, AT&T said customers qualifying for state lifeline programs will be able to enroll TO ENROLL. To register; to enter on the rolls of chancery, or other court's; to make a record. in an improved AT&T LifeLine Program and receive an exemption exemption n. 1) in income taxation, a credit given for each dependent, blindness or other disability, and age over 65, which result in a downward calculation in tax levels. from the $3 monthly minimum. The company also said it would waive To intentionally or voluntarily relinquish a known right or engage in conduct warranting an inference that a right has been surrendered. For example, an individual is said to waive the right to bring a tort action when he or she renounces the remedy provided by law for such $1.78 in monthly fees these customers are currently paying to maintain Universal Service and other programs. The company's enhanced lifeline program allows customers in all 50 states to "self-certify" for the program, making it as easy as possible for customers to enroll. "We wanted to be as fair as possible to all our customers, including those with low incomes, while covering our basic cost of doing business," said George Burnett The name George Burnett can refer to at least two different people:
AT&T basic residential customers - those not enrolled in a calling plan --can choose from these service plans: AT&T Monthly Minutes. This plan was specifically designed to meet the needs of low-usage customers. For a $3 monthly charge, customers will get a 30-minute block of direct-dialed long distance calls from home at any time, in effect a low rate of just 10 cents a minute. After 30 minutes, state-to-state calls will be billed at 20 cents per minute. AT&T One Rate (sm) Plan. With this option, consumers get a flat rate of just 15 cents a minute that is good for 24 hours-a-day, seven days-a-week on all direct-dialed, state-to-state AT&T long distance, calls from home. Since this plan has no monthly fee, the minimum will apply when monthly long distance charges are less than $3. AT&T customers may consolidate Consolidate To combine the assets, liabilities, and other financial items of two or more entities into one. Notes: This term is generally used in the context of consolidated financial statements. all their residential phone lines and wireless lines on a single account, which will make it easier for people having more than one line to reach the $3 minimum. AT&T local toll calls also apply toward the minimum. Additionally, as AT&T begins offering local service through its cable relationships with TCI (Trustworthy Computing Initiative) An umbrella term from Microsoft for its efforts to improve security in Windows. TCI was announced in 2002 after viruses such as Code Red and Nimda had succeeded in attacking numerous Windows computers. and Time Warner, or is finally able to provide local service economically ec·o·nom·i·cal adj. 1. Prudent and thrifty in management; not wasteful or extravagant. See Synonyms at sparing. 2. Intended to save money, as by efficient operation or elimination of unnecessary features; economic: through the local telephone monopolies, customers signing up for AT&T local service will also be exempt from paying a long distance minimum. "All customers are important to us," said Burnett. "While we've we've Contraction of we have. we've have made significant strides in providing high quality service at reduced costs, we have no choice but to recover our basic costs in a highly competitive market." The costs of serving customers who spend less than $3 a month on long-distance long-dis·tance adj. 1. Covering a long distance: a long-distance runner; operating under long-distance supervision. 2. calling cause AT&T to lose approximately ap·prox·i·mate adj. 1. Almost exact or correct: the approximate time of the accident. 2. $300 million annually. On average, the cost of providing billing, account maintenance and customer service exceeds $3 per month for each customer - whether they make calls or not. The new minimum, combined with aggressive expense reduction, is part of the company's overall effort to cover these costs. |
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