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Show i AT&T divestiture brings changes After the divestiture of AT&T on l telephone customers will be Ja"i'wwith two or three suppliers -dding Mountain Bell -for their lament and service, fountain Bell will continue to vide local service or dial tone, ff company will also repair ac- lines and provide directory ?Ls directory assistance, op-. op-. Milling Plans and network and hng "vices such aS Cal1 Warding, Speed Calling and Call ffr2omers will continue to ,nge for or change local service h calling a Mountain Bell service Lesentative, or a marketing representative in the case of large business customers. Telphone equipment currently bated from Mountain Bell will Somatically transfer to AT&T on Ian 1 Customers may purchase Uiat equipment, or equipment in Lntory, from Mountain Bell until In and from AT&T thereafter. Customers may also purchase new equipment from a host of phone sales outlets. In addition, they may install their own equipment. In-...iiotinn In-...iiotinn materials and in- After Jan. i, Mountain Bell wii provide long distance calling with these service areas. Utah & " one LATA. That means i,raK , fe long distance calls will be hand k'd by Mountain Bell, while calls Tu cross state lines will be handled by AT&l or a number of other companies com-panies ,n the long distance business. On Jan. 1, 1984, the Bell System will be broken into many pieces but Mountain Bell customers' phe bills will not. Instead, customers' will continue to receive one monthly bill from Mountain Bell. Unlike previous bills, the 1984 bills will include charges for local Mountain Bell service, long distance service from Mountain Bell and AT&T, and finally, other services provided by other companies com-panies for which Mountain Bell acts as a billing agent. "The bill a customer receives in January won't look much different from today's bill," says Ken Hill, public relations manager for Mountain Bell in Utah. "But it will have several more pages." I The divestiture plan allows I Mountain Rell In hin r.. .u I structions are generally available where telephone are sold. Customers who own their own phones will be responsible for repairs, justas they would be with any other appliance. After Jan. 1, Mountain Bell will no longer repair telephone equipment. Leased equipment will be repaired through AT&T. Mountain Bell will continue to maintain switching, cable and the lines to customers premises. The cost of maintaining these facilities is generally part of a monthly service charge. The rules will also change on telephone wiring. Mountain Bell will fix any inside wiring at no added cost for customers who have a mont'v wiring maintenance agir -inent with Mountain Bell, r ner customers may still call fountain Bell, but they'll be charged for the repair. Other companies may also be hired to repair inside wire. The same options op-tions apply for new wiring or changing existing wiring. One of the most significant changes will be the establishment of j new calling areas called Local I Access and Transport Areas or I LATAs. They define the boundaries where Mountain Bell can provide tag distance service. The seven states Mountain Bell operates in will have 11 such service areas. .w lyJl uuier companies which provide telecommunications service and equipment. "Because of the data required, separate pages will be included for each billing entity," Hill says. "A residence customer,, for example, will receive a minimum of four pages instead of the current minimum of two pages." The first page of the bill is a summary of the total bill, which is mailed with the payment. The second page details charges for Mountain Bell local service, while the third page summarizes equipment charges and the fourth includes long-distance charges. Charges for basic local service, long distance calls and leased equipment will be clearly separated into different sections of the bill. Each section will list a telephone number to call for qeustions on that part of the statement. The total number of pages a customer receives will depend primarily on the amount of long distance calls made during the billing period just as is the case with the current bill. Customers will send payment for the entire bill to Mountain Bell, which will then split the payment accordingly. Mountain Bell plans to include inserts in the new bills explaining the changes and just what is included on each page. |
