Thursday. August 4, 1977 The Tar Heel 9
or worse: Bell here to stay
made by the Chapel Hill Telephone
Company. According to John Temple, Vice
Chancellor of Business Affairs, Southern
Bell was chosen because they provided the
best service for the lowest rates.
Pros and Cons of Southern Bell service
The research group found many desirable
and undesirable features of the status quo.
The desirable features include:
By Southern Bell assuming phone
service in Chapel Hill, the university has
more time and human energy to dispense on
students. University administrators are now
free of utilities business and have more time
for academic affairs.
From the $26 million received for
Chapel Hill Telephone Company,
approximately $6.2 million has been
allocated to the University for library
improvements. Students will profit from the
sale by receiving new library facilities.
Southern Bell has proposed several
improvements in Chapel Hill phone service
such as elimination of the access code,
installation of new touch tone phones, direct
dialing improvements, and possibly
extended area service to near by cities, (i.e.
Durham): Southern Bell also plans to
standardize directory assistance numbers.
- Southern Bell requires no deposit on
phone services for applicants in good
standing whereas several other phone
companies require a large sum paid in
advance of service.
Employees of the phone system receive
higher wages from Southern Bell than from
Chapel Hill Telephone Company. Southern
Bell applied previous wages to the U nion pay
scale, then increased those wages to match
the next highest level on the pay scale.
Southern Bell offers a suspended service
plan on request. This plan includes paying
half the monthly service charge for an
inactive phone during the time it is not in use
and then paying $ 1 1 .50 to restore full phone
service.
With Southern Bell, the Chapel Hill
phone system has a better opportunity for
technological advancement than with
Chapel Hill Telephone Company.
Communications advancements that Chapel
Hill Telephone Company perhaps could not
have accommodated because of financial
limitations can be more easily attained by
Southern Bell. This is because Southern Bell
is a part of AT&T and benefits from other
areas of business and research programs of
AT&T.
The undesirable features of the status quo
include: -
- Southern Bell has issued rate increases
including: (a) $ 1 .00 more for monthly service
than Chapel Hill Telephone Company, (b)
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daily Monday through Friday during the regular
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class mail, $30.00 per semester, $5.00 summer only,
$65.00 per year. ,
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all revenue derived from the Student Activities Fee
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The Daily Tar Heel reserves the right to regulate the
typographical tone of all advertisements and to revise or
turn away copy it considers objectionable.
The D aily Tar Heel wilt not consider adjustments or pay
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one day after the advertisement appears, within (1) one
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Vema Taylor, Business Manager
Dan Collins, Sales Manager
Blair Kleitsch, Advertising Manager
$12.50 more for connection fee, and (c) $.20
for directory assistance calls after the first
five per month. The first five calls are free.
There is no direct correlation between
service and rates. According to Mike
Carson, Manager of Southern Bell in Chapel
Hill, the rate increase does not mean an
increase in efficiency or services.
Southern Bell offers no free local
phones with operator access. It will cost $.20
to reach an operator at . a pay phone.
There are two options for transient
students who do not want to disconnect and
reconnect their phones over the summer.
However, both options cost more than the
connection fee of $20. They include: (a)
suspended service at half the price of
monthly service plus an $1 1.50 restoration
fee. Three months suspended service equals
$22.75. (b) Leaving the phone hooked up for
three months equals $22.50.
Finally, Southern Bell's lack of
communication with their customers
explaining rate increases causes resentment
and dissatisfaction.
Higher charges source of student
dissatisfaction
The primary cause of dissatisfaction
among UNC students seems to be the $12.50
increase in the hook-up fee charged by
Southern Bell. According to Mike Carson,
this $20 hook-up fee does not cover the
actual cost to Southern Bell of processing
one service order. He says the actual cost is'
approximately $50 to $75. Hook-up involves
far more than flipping a switch. The new
account must be set up involving a
significant amount of paperwork and
computer processing. H owever, the $20 fee is
significant to students who may eventually
pay $80 to initiate phone service once each
year for four years.
There are several reasons Chapel Hill
Telephone Company was able to operate at
lower rates than Southern Bell. Chapel Hill
residents and students were the beneficiaries
of a state supported and university owned
telephone system which did not carry the
burdens of a normal business organization.
Chapel Hill Telephone Company had many
.-rik t o -L
I W H -yffiw
services provided through university office
including data processing (which involves
billing, computer time, programming,
operating), accounting, personnel
management, and others. Southern Bell
must provide these services through their
Please turn to page 23.
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