Today (3/25/96) NYT Story on ISDN

[James Love <love@tap.org>]

  Ed Andrew's story about ISDN pricing battles in on the front page of the 
  Business Section in today's New York Times.  It is also available from 
  the NYT Web page, at:
  
      http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/0325isdn.html
  
  
  The Story includes several graphics and pictures of Stuart Dickson, a
  delaware residential ISDN consumer who ran up a $1,014 bill from Bell
  Atlantic in one month, and Lorraine Ashton, who is leading a fight against
  the US West ISDN tariff in Utah ($184 for flat rate service).  Others who
  are quoted include Michael Kleeman (Boston Consulting Group), Tad Hetu
  (Intel), Tom Spinks (Washington State Utilities and Transportation
  Commission staff), Curt Koeppen (Bell Atlantic), Scott Berman (US West),
  Benson Margulies (software engineer from Arlington, MA), Gene Chesser
  (Texas ISDN users group), and myself (James Love, Consumer Project on
  Technology).  The Web page version includes the NYT Graphic of ISDN 
  rates, based upon the CPT survey (current version of survey is at 
  http://www.essential.org/cpt/isdn/survey.txt).
  
  At present, there are quite a few battles over ISDN pricing in the Bell
  Altantic (in 5 of 7 BA states), US West (WA, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah),
  PacBell and Southwest Bell (Texas) areas.  There hasn't been too much
  activity in the NYNEX states, despite their very high tariffs (due to the
  hefty per minute charges), as yet.  Bell Atlantic, which is under fire in
  five states (NJ, Delaware, Washington DC, Virginia, Maryland), is expected
  to announce a new ISDN tariff proposal.  BA says that one option might be
  $40 per month for 60 hours of 2B use, which is quite a bit better than the
  current $102 to $174 that this would cost (depending upon time of day),
  but still pretty high [Flat rate ISDN is $17.90 in Arkansas (NATCO), $28
  to $34 in four Ameritech States (MI, OH, WI and IL), $29 in Tennessee
  (BellSouth) and $46 in Texas, Kansas and Missouri (SBC)]. 
  
     jamie
  
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  James Love / love@tap.org / P.O. Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036
  Voice: 202/387-8030; Fax 202/234-5176
  Center for Study of Responsive Law
     Consumer Project on Technology; http://www.essential.org/cpt
     Taxpayer Assets Project; http://www.tap.org
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