The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-11-16
SAY THEIR RATES
ARE LOW ENOUGH
Managers of Both TeIephOn e
Companies Make Statements.
REPLY TO BUSINESS MEL
MURRAY OFFERS TO SHOW
BOOKS TO COMMITTEE.

General Manager d. S. Murray of the
Rocky Mountain Bell Telephone. company
made reply yesterday to the complaint
of-those who attended the meeting in
the Elks lodge room Monday night at
which the Business Men association was
formed. that the rates charged for busi-
ness telephones are too high.
81 do not think 1 ought TO enter into
a discussion of our rates at this time,
said Mr.. Murray, in view of the tact
that the subcommittee appointed AT the
meeting TO call upon me and discuss the
rate matter has not yet made its APP
pearance. After the conference l may
have something to say that will prove
of interest to the public. All / care 10
say now is that l will be glad to at
any time have a committee of business
men cali and examine our books and
learn just what we are earning, and de-
termine the profits of our business. We
make this offer ON the ground that we
are a public service institution, and feel
! that our patrons are entitled to know
whether we are furnishing them service
at reasonable rates or are charging them
too much money for the service rem
dered.''
Rates For Bell Phones.
A published statement by the Rocky
Mountain Bell Telephone company shows
that on Nov. ] ii had 6.51S subscribers
in Salt Lake City, of which $500 were
business and 4,013 residence phones. The
company has several rates, depending up
on the kind of service given. For what
is known as an individual line 'phone
Z
with unlimited service for business pur-
poses $50 a year is charged, and for an
individual line" phone in a residence
with unlimited service the charge is $4S
a year. For a phone that is a cOmbina-
ton of these two the subscriber pays
sl26 year. Then there is an individual
line phone with limitation of 100
calls a year Zoo calls a month"; for which
the charge is SIS.
All the other rates are on what are
called party lines" For a business
/ 49,
with three other phones the charge is
$50 a year to each Of the four users.
For -four party measured service,
with maximum of 900 calls a year. $50
a year is charged. Calls in excess of 600
must be paid for at tbe rate of 21z cents
each. Residence two party line phones
with unlimited service cost $36 a year.
Two party line phones limited to $50
calls year cost SIS year; -four party
unlimited service phones, $24 a year, and
-four party" limited line phones, with
a limit of 240 calls are furnished for So
a year. and 215 cents is charged for each
call in excess of 30
II is said by an officer of the company
that out of the 6,5l3 phones in use IN
Salt Lake, 20 per cent, or 1,SO0, are in
dividual line phones for which $50 and
$4S a year are charged.
Independent Man Explains.
Elmer b. Jones. managing director of
the Utah Independent Telephone COM
pany. said:
Il haven't seen the business mems sub
committee yet, but they may call later.
/ hardly think they VIII ask our COM
pany to reduce its rates, because they
are now as low as they can be made
and give good service. We have but
two rates-S4S a year for business and
$50 a year for residence telephones. They
are all individual phones. as we have
no party lines and IL is not our pur-
pose to establish any. We have a cable
equipment now for $500 phones and this
can be speedily increased to 1850 in
dividual line phones We have built
our plant not alone with reference to
Salt Lakes present telephone needs but
to its future requirements We have 800
phones in use in Salt Lake now and
are increasing the number daily. In
Ogden we have LOCO phones. and we
have eleven wires running from Salt
Lake TO Ogden exclusively for the use
of the people of the two cities. We
have an exchange at Murray, another at
Bingham Junction, and will be in the
Bingham mining camp within a few
weeks. We are building south 10 Provo
and north 10 Logan, and will soon have
a line to Park City. We will I'm the
near future have exchanges at BOunti-
full Kaysville and Pennington, and we
will extend our lines into Idaho and
Montana as fast as We can get material
and the work can be done. II is our
aim TO cover all the territory tributary
10 Salt Lake. Our expenditures during
the past year aggregated fully 100000.