NYNEX Proposes 25-cent Pay Phone Rate in MA, NH and Vermont; New FCC Rules Drive Change
Full Transparency
Our editorial transparency tool uses blockchain technology to permanently log all changes made to official releases after publication.
More of our content is being permanently logged via blockchain technology starting [10.23.2020].
January 24, 1997
CONTACT: Jack Hoey, Boston 617-743-3677; Erle Pierce, Manchester, NH
603-641-1651; Joan Jamieson, Burlington, VT 802-863-0797
NYNEX Proposes 25-cent Pay Phone Rate in MA, NH and Vermont; New FCC Rules Drive Change
Boston, MA -- Jan. 24 -- NYNEX today filed with
regulators in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont to
remove the tariffs that regulate 10-cent local calls at pay
phones in those states. Along with the filing, NYNEX
notified commissioners in the three states that it intends
to raise its pay phone rate to 25 cents in early April under
new FCC industry rules.
The company made the filing to comply with provisions
of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and recent FCC
guidelines for the pay phone industry. The new FCC rules are
intended to remove competitive barriers in the pay phone
industry, require market-based pricing, and provide fair
compensation for all pay phone providers.
The 10-cent pay phone rate was set in 1955 in
Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont. Under the new FCC
rules, states must remove barriers to pay phone competition,
set coin rates to fairly compensate all pay phone providers,
and allow them to move toward market rates for their
services.
NYNEX said the pay phone rate changes will result in
appropriate offsetting adjustments in the rates for other
services. Details of those adjustments will be filed in
Massachusetts with the companys annual price cap filing in
June. In Vermont and New Hampshire, details will be filed
with the state regulatory commission in the coming
weeks.
Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont are three of
the four U.S. states in which a local pay phone call is
still a dime. The fourth is Arkansas.
NYNEX is a global communications and media
corporation that provides a full range of services in the
northeastern United States and high-growth markets around
the world, including the United Kingdom, Thailand,
Gibraltar, Greece, Indonesia, the Philippines, Poland,
Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The corporation is a leader
in telecommunications, wireless communications, directory
publishing and video entertainment and information services.
NYNEX is also managing sponsor of FLAG -- Fiberoptic Link
Around the Globe -- the world's longest undersea fiber optic
communications cable.
FAX copies of recent NYNEX news releases are
available free of charge, 24 hours a day. Call
1-800-331-1214 and an automated system will provide
instructions.