Sprint Seeks To Add 93 Cents To Bills

[KarenMarie]

I did a search... did not find it. Sorry if it is a repost.

link

Sprint Seeks To Add 93 Cents To Bills For Hurricane Costs

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Sprint wants to charge its 2 million Florida customers an extra 93 cents a month each to pay for damage from last year's unprecedented four hurricanes.

Sprint filed a petition this week with the Public Service Commission, asking to put the charge on bills over the next two years to collect more than $30 million -- a fraction of the $148 million the company says it lost when its lines and facilities were damaged by Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne. It's the first phone company in Florida to seek to recover costs incurred because of last year's hurricanes.

"This combined event was uncontemplated in the business operations of Sprint," the company said in its petition. "As far as Sprint is aware, no utility has ever been struck by four storms of this magnitude in a single season in a single state."

Sprint has about 1.4 million residential and single-line business customers and another 600,000 business customers with more complex services.

Sprint, which has service around the state including Port Charlotte, Naples and Fort Myers in southwest Florida, Winter Park and Ocala in central Florida and Fort Walton Beach in the Panhandle, was affected by all four storms.

Charley was first, hitting southwest and central Florida in August of last year, followed quickly by Frances and Ivan and ending with Jeanne in late September.

Sprint said hundreds of thousands of its customers lost service during the storms and that it sustained millions of dollars of damage to its facilities and that its current rate structure doesn't have hurricane cost recovery built in.

The Office of Public Counsel, the Legislature's consumer advocate, will have a chance to argue before the PSC on the matter. It's not clear yet when the commissioners will hear the case and make a decision, although it won't be before July 1.

 

I'd say that's a valid charge, as long as they give a definite end-time for it. It would be unfair if they instituted a permament "hurricane" charge.

But what about Sprint's insurance company? Don't they cover catostrophic damage and stuff like that?

 

[bigredguy]

haven't the people already paid enough? And wouldn't most damages not covered by insurance be tax write-offs anyways? Of course if everyone had hurrican insurance and didn't really lose all that much money, what's 11 bucks and some change a year?

 

[KarenMarie]

i was thinking the same thing... what about their insurance? no hurricane coverage?

i think this will lose them customers.

 

Originally posted by: KarenMarie
i was thinking the same thing... what about their insurance? no hurricane coverage?

i think this will lose them customers.

Are you kidding me? 3.1 cents a day will cost them customers?

 

[DannyBoy]

Why did they publish the reason for adding the extra 99 cents?

Seriously, if my provider bumped an extra 99p onto my bill each month, I probably wouldn't even notice unless someone told me, heck they probably already do.

 

[Zontor]

It'll NEVER go away - just like any other type of tax increases (realizing the Sprint charge is not a tax increase.) Yeah, it's only (.93 * however many people) and it probably won't cost them customers but I'd be aware that it'll never go away....

 

[KarenMarie]

yes..i think it will. not because of the 3.1 cents a day, but because a lot of ppl will see this as a way for sprint to just 'pass the buck', so to speak onto the customers. i dont think the amount of the added bill will be the decisive factor, but the fact that they are doing it. i think there will be some who will not want to pay anything at all... and when if/when the contract expires they will look at one of the other companies. there are so many incentive packages out there now, that i think there will be a few who will use this to go elsewhere.

would i move for $1.00 a month... no, not if i had good service. but i do think some will.

 

[Viper GTS]

Every other industry passes costs like this directly on to customers, why should phone companies be any different?

Viper GTS

 

Originally posted by: Viper GTS
Every other industry passes costs like this directly on to customers, why should phone companies be any different?

Viper GTS

QFT. Should Ohioans move to another country because the U.S. government declared Florida a disaster area and Ohioans are forced to pay for the aid through taxes?

Of course not. In fact, this case is even MORE effective because Sprint is ONLY charging its Floridian customers.

Sharing the burden is what this country is all about. Why should we expect Sprint to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on rebuilding their infrastructure?

 

[Merlyn3D]

Don't leave out the fact that phone systems (cellular and landline) are so complex today that it costs a lot of money just to make them work properly. Many probably don't know that Sprint has (I don't know if it's the only telco to have one) one of the best fiber-optic network backbones throughout many metro areas in the US, and I think they run through Florida too. This charge is hardly anything, if people complain then they're idiots.

 

[dman]

Originally posted by: DnaJ
Why did they publish the reason for adding the extra 99 cents?

Seriously, if my provider bumped an extra 99p onto my bill each month, I probably wouldn't even notice unless someone told me, heck they probably already do.

It is my understanding that the Local Phone service is still regulated. They could, if they wanted to, tack the charges onto the add-on parts of the bill (caller ID, etc) but they aren't allowed to charge over a basic rate (whatever it currently is) for dialtone service.

Probably has something to do with taxes too.

Incidentally, they (any phone company) can claim they are collecting money for FCC interstate access or number portability, etc. However, just because they say that's what it is, doesn't mean all that money for that charge goes to (or went to) the FCC (and don't even ask me what the FCC does with $7/mo/line?!!. From the phone company side, part of that charge can be their 'overhead' in collecting the funds or whatever other BS they decide.

 

[hevnsnt]

hell works for me

 

[everman]

I think a big issue here is for people who have a contract with them. Does their contract allow Sprint to add on extra charges like this? And if so, what is the limit of these charges? They entered into a contract with their customers, and now they get to change it without the customer's consent?

 

Originally posted by: everman
I think a big issue here is for people who have a contract with them. Does their contract allow Sprint to add on extra charges like this? And if so, what is the limit of these charges? They entered into a contract with their customers, and now they get to change it without the customer's consent?

In situations like this, the telco usually gives its subscribers a "get out of contract free" period where there are no cancellation fees.

 

[Viper GTS]

Originally posted by: everman
I think a big issue here is for people who have a contract with them. Does their contract allow Sprint to add on extra charges like this? And if so, what is the limit of these charges? They entered into a contract with their customers, and now they get to change it without the customer's consent?

Pretty sure this is landline service, most people probably don't have contracts.

Viper GTS

 

[Looney]

I don't see a problem with it... they're only charging the Florida customers, because it was Florida that was affected... better than raising EVERYBODY rates just because of what happens in Florida. I'm sure there are some things in Florida that are more expensive on account of the hurricanes (home insurance maybe?).

 

[RossMAN]

Nuke Florida, problem solved.

While we're at it, get rid of Kanuckistan!

j/k!