Verizon Raises Price of Local Payphone Call in New Jersey

NEWARK, N.J. -- Verizon will increase the price of a local payphone call to 50 cents in New Jersey beginning Nov. 9.

The conversion process involves changes at each individual phone and will take several months to complete. Verizon operates 62,000 payphones in the state.

The price change follows an intense and ongoing cost-cutting campaign at Verizon's Public Communications subsidiary, the company unit that operates payphones. The effort was waged to combat declines in both payphone revenue and use resulting from stiff competition from wireless services. Without the price increase, the widespread availability of payphones would be threatened.

The new price is 50 cents for a local call of unlimited length. The company began converting payphones to the new price in most of the markets it serves nationwide in mid-September.

Qwest, SBC Communications and BellSouth also have announced 50-cent pricing for local payphone calls.

With the new 50-cent price, Verizon is eliminating timed calling on local payphone calls in New Jersey and other areas where callers paid 35 cents for an initial block of time and then paid an additional amount if they talked longer.

Later this year, Verizon also will test 10-cent-a-minute local calls in certain markets across the country to assess customer acceptance and its impact on revenue. The special 10-cent-a-minute local call payphones would be placed in targeted areas such as commuter transportation hubs, schools, factory break rooms, and certain streets and neighborhoods where per-minute pricing may attract increased usage.

"With this low rate, we hope to entice callers back to the payphone who need to make a quick call," said Paul Francischetti, vice president of marketing and business development for Verizon Public Communications, which operates Verizon payphones. "And at the same time, the 50-cent price provides a very good value to customers who make longer calls."

The increase to 50 cents for most payphone calls follows erosion in payphone usage of about 23 percent over the past 2½ years, as wireless services became a popular substitute for people on the move.

The revenue decline has been exacerbated as a result of federal rules that compensate payphone companies just 24 cents, regardless of how long a call lasts, when callers use pre-paid or post-paid calling cards or dial-around services like collect calling services.

However, Verizon believes a 10-cent-a-minute rate could draw more users to payphones.

"We're committed to market-based pricing. If customers can make a quick call -- to report what train they'll be on or that soccer practice is over -- low, per-minute pricing would meet their needs and increase usage of our payphones," Francischetti said.

Verizon introduced the 10-cent-a-minute pricing option this spring at Union Station in Washington, D.C., and at 30^th Street Station in Philadelphia, using phones clearly marked with the alternative price. They were placed alongside phones with the normal 35-cent price. Verizon has a similar service in place at New York's Penn Station, where New Yorkers can make a 30-second, short-distance toll call for 25 cents.

"We're meeting the challenge from alternate services and technologies," Francischetti said. "We're making sure our phones are located where people need them, that they're functional and clean, and that they have the features customers want. We're experimenting with different types of equipment as well to meet the needs of our customers."

In addition, he said, the company is reviewing the profitability of its payphones and removing some phones to cut costs and increase the return from phones that remain. In most cases, this involves taking out one or more phones from a bank of phones, improving the performance of those that remain.

Verizon continues to aggressively cut the overall costs of running its payphone business. "Our benchmarking studies show that we run one of the most efficient payphone businesses in the country," Francischetti said.

Verizon also is increasing the price of local directory assistance from payphones to 50 cents from 35 cents. Verizon Public Communications must recover the cost it incurs in providing directory assistance to its payphone customers, Francischetti said.

Verizon operates 430,000 payphones in 33 states.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) is one of the world's leading providers of communications services. Verizon companies are the largest providers of wireline and wireless communications in the United States, with 128.5 million access line equivalents and 28.7 million wireless customers. Verizon is also the largest directory publisher in the world. A Fortune 10 company with 256,000 employees and more than $65 billion in annual revenues, Verizon's global presence extends to 40 countries in the Americas, Europe, Asia and the Pacific. For more information on Verizon, visit www.verizon.com.

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