Look for a better deal, consumer group urges as AT&T hikes land line phone rates
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The Citizens Utility Board urges consumers to comparison shop after AT&T raised rates for land line phone services. |
Elizabeth Krehmeyer of Mundelein had AT&T land line phone service, then switched to Comcast’s Triple Play for phone, Internet and cable TV service. As prices went up, she looked to save money.
She and her husband then went exclusively with wireless phones for about a month, but didn’t like that calls were dropped and the sound quality wasn’t good inside their home. Less than a month ago, Krehmeyer returned to AT&T’s land line phone service and enjoyed getting a $50 gift card.
But that gift soured on Monday when she learned her monthly bill could go higher than expected due to increased charges, some as much as 63 percent, that went into effect Jan. 3.
“I signed up on Dec. 27 and they should have told me or given me some indication that prices would be going up,” Krehmeyer said. “The whole reason I switched around was to save money. It was all economics. But now?”
Consumers with land line phone service likely will see their next bill reflect increases in costs for the phone, Call Waiting and Linebacker services, which riled the Citizens Utility Board on Monday. The consumer group urged AT&T land line customers to look for better phone deals.
The increases range from 50 cents to $3 a month and depend on your geographic location. They stem from the need to spread the costs of maintaining the land line network among fewer customers, AT&T said.
“In 2000, AT&T Illinois served more than 90 percent of households in its territory,” said AT&T spokeswoman Brooke Vane. “But in today’s telecommunications world of numerous consumer choices, AT&T serves only 41 percent of households with land line service. In fact, 27 percent of households are wireless only.”
Customers in closer suburbs and in Chicago outside the Loop are seeing a 39 percent increase, to $10.74 a month. Those in further suburbs were raised to $14.21 a month, an increase of 27 percent. Customers in the Chicago Loop are getting a 63 percent increase, to $7.76 a month for line charges.
Other increases include Linebacker, the optional service that covers repairs for inside wires, from $7.50 to $8 per month; and call waiting, up from $7.50 to $8.50 per month.
“Chicago callers must feel like an ATM,” CUB Executive Director David Kolata said during a news conference Monday morning. “The bad news is home phone rates have skyrocketed by up to 63 percent. The good new is that the Consumer’s Choice plans are rate-hike proof and can help you save hundreds of dollars a year.”
AT&T said its Consumer’s Choice packages, a low-cost basic service, ranges from $3.05 per month in downtown Chicago to $9.50 a month elsewhere for the basic plan; $9 to $15 per month for 120 local calls per month; and $16 to $19.70 per month with two calling features and unlimited local phone calls.
Kent Farbelow of Lake in the Hills had already trimmed his phone bill as much as possible and had eliminated Call Waiting and Linebacker a long time ago. Now, he’s found that local toll charges are taking up most of his monthly bill, so he depends on his mobile phone to do those types of calls.
“The only thing I could change now is to drop AT&T,” Farbelow said.
Thaddeus Tazioli of Wilmette said he values the land line and uses AT&T’s service at home, but he understands that its value is steadily decreasing in a wireless world.
“It’s becoming an outdated way of placing phone calls,” Tazioli said.
