January 14, 2004
Consumers will pay more for phone service
from the largest U.S. long-distance company. AT&T; is marking
the 20th year of its divestiture with several hikes in minimum
usage requirements.
Subscribers to AT&T's 5 eWeekends Plan will be billed a minimum of $5 per month before fees and taxes, starting March 1, 2004. Currently there is no minimum usage requirement on the 5 eWeekends service. MCI offers a similar plan called One Net Savings, which has a $6 monthly minimum, according to Rich Sayers, who analyzes phone services for 10-10PhoneRates.com and Phone-bill-alert.com.
"While this AT&T minimum is lower than MCI's, consumers can get better deals with smaller long-distance companies that don't require a minimum billing amount," says Sayers.
Two other AT&T services will have higher minimum usage requirements starting in March. AT&T 5 Nights Plan and One Rate 10 Plan users will be billed a minimum of $7 before fees and taxes, up from the current $5 minimum. What's more, AT&T long-distance customers who make at least one out-of-state call are hit with another 99 AT&T; Regulatory Assessment Fee.
"So people are on the hook for at least $8 a month because AT&T doesn't count its fee toward minimum usage," adds Sayers.
This month AT&T added another new fee affecting about 10 million consumers. Subscribers to AT&T's "Basic Rate" plan pay a $3.95 monthly fee starting in January, 2004. AT&T also reduced the rate for weekend state-to-state calls on that Basic Rate plan.
For more details, refer to the consumer alert available online at http://1010phonerates.com/news.html
"This January has been an unusually quiet month in regard to phone rates and fees," notes Sayers. "Watch for moves by MCI and Sprint later in the quarter."
