The Washington times., 1906-07-24
CHEAPER PRICES
FOR TELEPHONES
All Rates Reduced From Fif-
teen to Twenty-Five
Per Cent.
EVERYBODY GAINS BY 1T
Company Can Afford the Move in This
City Because Of Vastly In
creased Business.

Cheaper telephone service for Wash
iugtOn and the entire District is the
proclamation that has been issued from
the general offices of the Chesapeake
and Potomac Telephone Company,
which is the Washington and Bal
timore branch of the Bell Telephone
Company. A sweeping reduction Of
Is 10 % per cent in the rates has been
announced. to take effect on business
lines. September 1 and on residence
lines October ].
This new policy. IL was stated al the
general offices this morning. has been
under consideration for some time, and
IS the result OF entirely voluntary action
on the part OF the telephone company.
The reduction viii apply 10 all tele-
phones Of every sort Of service and on
all contracts existing at the present
time, without change of contract This ,
Il is stated, means that the reduction
viii be applied from the time the new
rates so into effect up 10 the time OF
expiration OF contract
For this liberal policy, which is cal
culated TO meet with ready and wide
approval throughout the city. a num-
Der Of reasons are advanced. they being
based almost solely upon local conditions
in the telephone world. The steady and
certain growth OF the telephone busi-
ness, the largely increased number Of
subscribers within recent years. the en-
largement of the plant and consequent
increased facilities, all make n possible
Tor The company 10 give cheaper sery-
Ice win as much or even more profit
tAan formerly, particularly iu view of
The prospects that the decreased rate
VIII mean the addition of hundreds or
thousands OF new subscribers.
Can Well Afford 1t.
The time has come when we can well
afford 20 do this" said b. W. Trafford.
general manager. this morning. I'VE
have long considered il. and have been
as anxious 10 inauguraue "a lower scale
as our subscribers have been. The ex>
tent of our service has so widely grown.
and the more subscribers We have the
less the cost Of maintaining and operat-
ing each individual phone. IL is plain
that plant operating 10000 instru-
ments could afford far lower rate.
several times lower. in fact. than one
operating only a few hundred.
"Our business has grown 20 such an
extent that it has been necessary to
install new equipment. and while in
Crcasing our capacity to the present de-
mands. 70 was almost as easy 10 in-
crease il 10 meet possible demands that
would result from a greatly reduced
rate Of service.
Tn taking this step the local company
Us merely following closely IN the foot
steps of The Bell companies iu numeT-
GUS other cities, who have voluntarily
reduced rates without being forced TO
10 by competition ON the part of indie
pendent companies. y reduction ar SIM
liar percentage went into effect iH New
York July ]. and numerous other Cites
are being given Ike benefits
The present annual rate ln Washing
ton tor 600 messages is >is, and this
viii be reduced 20 $50. When the Bell
Company was without competition in
Philadelphia the rate was in the neigh
bOrhOOd of $500 and oW there are two
companies, one charging $3G and the
other $40. Some persons have one and
some another. IL became necessary for
an who wished To be in touch with the
entire city TO have both phones. With
badly miXed-up service, Philadelphia
people are now paying 80 per cent more
than Washington people for their serV-
ice.
The New Schedule.
Under the new schedule the annual
rate for COO messages will be $50. instead
OF S4S, as at present, the excess rates
20 be cents each call. as at present;
on 100 messages the new rate will
be $72, instead of SS4. excess messages
10 cost four cents instead of five, as
at present; on 200 messages the new
rate viii be Sl0S. instead OF Sl23, with
the excess rate reduced from four 10
three cents. The price Of extension
stations win be reduced 90 per cent
from Sl2 to S..
In summing up the general situation
leading to the reduction, officials of the
company declare that although they
have taken this step 10 give their
patrons the cheapest service possible,
il should not be construed as q philan-
thrOpic move, as the company expects
10 gain In the end. The trunk lines all
will be enlarged Already there is
shown a demand for more branch sta
uOns and switch-bOards I'm public Eaild-
ingsi more extension phones, and the
demand for residence phones, such as
In private houses. rooms in hotels and
apartments. has Increased to such an
extent that the additional e0uinment
required VIII make IL possible TO serve
q much larger clientele at greatly re-
duced rates, with fully as much profit
as under The present schedule.
This no doubt, should stimulate
better feeling among the public gen
orally and II will mean better and
closer relations between us and our
patrons said General Manager Traf-