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Show Phone Company Applies For Increase En Rates The continuing effects of inflation in-flation from which neither the businessman nor the housewife has been able to escape, have ' caught up once more with Utah telephone operations. F. D Sawyer, Saw-yer, Utah Commercial Manager of the Mountain States Telephone Tele-phone and Telegraph Company, has filed an application with the Utah Public Service Commission requesting increased telephone. I rates to offset the continually increased costs of doing business. busi-ness. Some of the factors which have affected operating costs are a general wage increase for Utah's 3,000 telephone employees; employ-ees; the increased investment in equipment required to serve each telephone and higher taxes. The present federal and stale ! income taxes take about 54 cen s of each additional dollar of revenue, rev-enue, leaving 46 cents for the company. Although previous requests for rate changes have been made to the Public Service Commi:-sion Commi:-sion during the post war years, because of inflationary factors. Sawyer, in commenting on the applications, said that .despite heavy increases, the company has still been able to maintain the price of service at levels below the increase in cost of living or wholesale price index es. A new schedule of rates for each Utah community served by The Mountain States Com-oanv Com-oanv accompanied the applica tion. If approved, the increase in main residence telephone rates ; would not exceed 5 cents a day, i and the maximum increase 01. 1 main business telephones would be 14 cents. In many communities communi-ties the increase would be less. How operators of telephones in the Uin ph Ba:in being served serv-ed by M S T & T was explained by Axel Birch, manager at Roosevelt and Duchesne. A business busi-ness phone operating on a one-party one-party line would find its rates ! raised f: om $6.50 to S8.50. or 1 S2.00 .per month; two-party lines would have a $1.25 per month .increase. $3.75 to $5.00. In the residential areas homes with a single party line would find their rates increased $1.00, from :$3.25 to $4.25; two-party phones iwill be rah'ed from $2 75 to S3. 50, and those on a 4-party hook-up will pay $3 00 per month they now pay $2.25. I The last two catesories will be . increased 75 cents per month. |