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Strategies & Market Trends : Anthony @ Equity Investigations, Dear Anthony, -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: dkgross who wrote (65166)	12/27/2000 9:39:23 PM
From: StockDung	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 122087

AT&T to Pass Universal Service Charge Increase to Consumers Get Quote, Company Info: T from Bloomberg News WASHINGTON (Dec. 27) -- AT&T Corp. will boost by 15 percent customer charges for contributions to a phone service fund after the U.S. Federal Communications Commission ordered an increase in fees paid by long-distance companies. Starting Monday, the No. 1 U.S. long-distance phone company will raise the monthly Universal Connectivity Charge to 9.9 percent of state-to-state and international long-distance calls from 8.6 percent, said spokesman Mark Siegel. The increase covers a boost the FCC ordered this month in the amount long-distance companies are assessed to subsidize phone service for poor customers and those in rural communities, Siegel said. The FCC blocked a 50 percent increase AT&T proposed in October 1999. The company then raised fees 39 percent. ``We fear that this is a back-door rate increase,'' said Gene Kimmelman, co-director of Consumers Union's Washington office. ``There's been a history of inflating the charges above legitimate costs, and I'm concerned that may be happening again.'' Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports magazine and critic of earlier AT&T fee increases, will ask the FCC to investigate whether the company is overcharging customers, Kimmelman said. Shares of New York-based AT&T fell 9/16 to 17 1/16. They have fallen by two-thirds this year, the worst performance among stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. WorldCom Plans WorldCom, the second-biggest U.S. long-distance company, hasn't decided on any changes to fees its collects for universal service programs, said spokeswoman Claire Hassett. ``We collect no more and no less than we owe the government.'' The company charges 8.3 percent for interstate and international calls, she said. Sprint Corp., the No. 3 long-distance phone company, also hasn't decided on any new charges, said spokeswoman Michelle Stein. An FCC spokeswoman wasn't available to comment. AT&T in June boosted rates for basic long-distance phone service as much as 26 percent, two weeks after regulators and consumer groups criticized a proposal to raise rates as much as 80 percent. The company's debt increased to $62 billion in September, helping push up interest expense 82 percent in the first nine months of 2000. The latest increase applies to the fees added to a customer's bill to support several government programs, such as helping schools and libraries add Internet connections. The FCC in a Dec. 8 order said it will need to collect $1.35 billion for universal service programs next quarter, a 14 percent increase from $1.18 billion required for the current quarter. Dec/27/2000 16:19 ET For more stories from Bloomberg News, click here. (C) Copyright 2000 Bloomberg L.P.