The daily sentinel., 1909-05-21
THE
COLORADO TELEPHONE COMPANY
Executive Office

THE
COLORADO TELEPHONE COMPANl
Executive Office
Denver, Colo. May %, 1903.
To our Patrons:
Prom time to time it becomes nee
essary to make certain important
changes in the methods of conducting
the long distance business OF this
company. The many rapidly devel-
oping communities. which heretofore
have been without telephone com
munication with the surrounding
country, and the numerous steadily
growing villages and towns. fre-
quently require extensions to our
system, and often additional facili-
ties on already existing routes
1t has been the comprehensive pol
icy of this company to extend its long
distance lines to all parts of the state
where the people needed telephone
service and to add new lines where
the amount of business done made
such lines necessary in order to fur
nish efficient and prompt service.
You know the wonderful and
steady advance made in our state in
agriculture. horticulture. mining
stock raising and the many other en-
terprises in which our people are en-
gagged. We have had to meet this
growth by providing adequate tele-
phone facilities everywhere. Our sys-
TEN has grown piece by piece follow
ing the settling up and development
of the state of Colorado and the ter
ritory of New Mexico.
What we have accomplished is
partly shown by the following data:
1899. 1903.
No OF telephones in
Colorado and New
Mexico ........... 6.5s4 7o.574
No. of miles of long
distance lines in
Colorado and New
Mexico ... 2.25S / .26S
OF recent date we have connected
our Colorado and New Mexico system
with all of the important points in
she east and south We are thus
able to reach. through our compre-
hensive Bell system, over 50 states,
4 million telephones and 80 million
people.
To cover mountainous state like
ours. which is very sparsely settled,
with a long distance telephone sys-
tenn has been very serious financial
problem, and still continues to be so.
We provide for all such extensions by
the sale OF our treasury stock to our
people, and, in order that such in
vestment may be encouraged. our
problem has been, first. to reach ev-
cry part of the territory and fur
nish first-class service. and. second.
to so manage that the long distance
system as whole will yield fair
profit.
We are now facing the situation of
covered our territory with
tong distance system constructed
Mi nv fra IA
not only all parts of the state and ter
ritory, but with the population of the
east which conditions have obliged
MS to make new exhaustive study
Of our long distance rates as whole.
This study was undertaken
First. to enable us to conform to
and maintain uniform method
throughout the system; and.
Second, because the business in our
home company has so developed. and
methods of handling and routing 1t
have so changed. particularly with
the projection of new lines that
thorough study of the toll rates in
general has seemed to me imperative
For year or more. experts from
the east. assisted by our engineers.
have made n complete study of the
rate problem. The purpose of this
letter is to make known to you their
conclusions upon this subject.
These are. in part, that an entire
readjustment of toll tariffs is abso-
iutely necessary in this territory in
order to eliminate all discrimination
in rates to the public
1t is obvious that one town 75
miles distant in one direction and an
other town the same distance away in
an opposite direction, each taking an
entirely different rate to the same
point in question, is discriminatory
and unreasonable.
shall give some little detail of the
present scheme of quoting rates, ant
this will, perhaps, better explain why
q readjustment of the existing tariff.
Is necessary.
tofore been based on pole line mile
age. that is. the distance was figured
between any two points via the route
of the line. Thus, the route dis
tance. at given rate per mile, de
termined the amount to be charged
In following this rule, we hav,
been led to rates that in frequent in
stances have made conversations al
most prohibitiye between certain
points. and yet, based on the haul
these rates, to the company, were
only producing the same average rev
enue per mile as all other rates.
Af;,. 0SUaEL