February 3, 2003
Sprint is increasing several residential
long-distance rates and fees effective March 1, 2003.
Changes range from a 20% hike in a monthly fee for a
"bucket-of-minutes" plan to a 0.33% increase in Sprint's
"Carrier Property Tax" fee.
Industry trends have pressured other carriers such as MCI and AT&T to recently increase rates and add fees. Sprint is the third largest U.S. long-distance carrier (based on revenue).
Sprint's Basic Dial-1 service state-to-state rates will go up by $0.03 per minute nationwide. In-state rates increase by $0.05 per minute in 26 states. For a list of affected states, see phone-bill-alert.com.
"Basic" service is a default rate package that applies to customers who are not on a particular calling plan. Rates vary by mileage of the call. It's always best to avoid basic rates.
"Always ask which discount plans fit your calling patterns, or shop around for a no-fee plan from resellers or smaller carriers," says Rich Sayers of Phone-Bill-Alert.com. "Basic US rates can exceed 40 cents per minute."
The Sprint Standard Weekend plan weekday rate jumps from $0.35 up to $0.40 a minute. Another offering that is used by Sprint local service customers in 18 states, called Sprint Solutions, has long-distance plan fee hikes. This "bucket of minutes" fee increase ranges from 20% for the 100-minute plan to as little as 5% for the 500-minute version. For details on that and other changes, see the Sprint page on Phone-Bill-Alert.com
All Sprint users making out-of-state calls will pay more for Sprint's Carrier Property Tax fee, up from 1.08% to 1.41% of charges. That particular fee was invented by Sprint to recover costs they did not want to absorb in their rates. Sprint spokesperson Leslie Letts says it's computed by dividing the cost of Sprint's property taxes into their interstate and international revenues. That base is decreasing due to shifting consumer usage patterns. Sprint therefore is raising the fee.
Calls placed from the US to mobile phones overseas may be increasing or decreasing in cost, depending on the country being called. The good news is major routes have rate decreases.
Sayers believes Sprint and AT&T; are watching MCI and carefully planning rate adjustments.
"AT&T and Sprint are tempted to keep rates and fees a little lower than MCI in hopes of grabbing long-distance market share. However the smart consumer will avoid the big three and shop for cheaper alternatives," Sayers says.
