Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1925-05-06
INCREASED TELEPHONE RATES.
Manager Wheeler of Local Exchange
Tells Some of Causes

| ''iS VI NduSeS
| A proposed schedule of increased
| telephone rates has been filed with
| the public utilities commission. An
| advertisement showing the proposed
rates for Ellsworth as well as for
all of the other Maine exchanges
served by this company, appears else
where in this paper. In explanation
OF the new schedule, Manager
Wheeler of the local exchange says;
The new rates We're established
after careful study of all the exchanges
in the State, with their varying classes
Of service, in order to provide an aver
age increase for the state of approx
mately Is per cent, which is urgently
required. 1t has been our endeaVor to
fairly apportion the burden among sub
scrlbers on the basis of service value
so as to give us sufficient money for
proper telephone development, enable
us to furnish good telephone service,
and attract new money from investors
with which to extend our business by
paying reasonable interest and dvi-
dends.
For rate purposes the eighty-six
exchanges in Maine have been divided
into eight groups and the same rates
for local exchange service have been
established for all the exchanges in
| particular group. The classes of SER
vice in the new schedule will adequate
| ly provide for the varied needs of all
| telephone users Obviously, business
| service is more valuable to telephone
users than residence service, and for
| that reason the increases are rela-
| lively higher.
| "The classes of service Furnished in
| Ellsworth will remain the same, with
| the exception of two additional grades
of residence service, four-party and
| five party. In some cases, subscribers,
! by taking a different class of service,
may be served at little or no increased
cost We shall be glad to talk matters
| over with our subscribers. and there
| will be ample time to do this because,
| while the new rates are supposed to
become effective on June I, the proba-
bilities are they will be suspended to
give the public utilities commission OPP
portunity to investigate the reasonable
| ness of the new rates
| ut costs much more to give service
| to day than it did ten years ago. yet
the rate increases since that time have
increased the average revenue per tele-
phone only Is per cent. One dollar,
even with Is cents added, will not buy
for us what the dollar of ten years ago
would, hence the need of some equita-
BILE reimbursement of telephone revenue.
At the end of March, eight years ago,
there were 800 telephones in ELS
worth. To-day there are over 700, an
increase of 80 per cent. On the score
of the increased value to the COM
munity alone, we would be entitled to
ask for an increase. When the in
creased costs of giving service are also
taken into account, the need of in
creased rates is obvious.
1T isn't the pleasantest duty in the
world to ask for increased rates, but We
have the satisfaction of knowing that
we would have had to do this three or
four years ago if we had not been able
to work out various economies, by im-
provements in construction and IN
operating methods, that partially coun-
terbalanced the effect of rising costs.
The time has come, however, when it
is no longer possible to maintain the
| necessary balance of expenses and
| revenue without help from SUBSCRIBERS
! in the form of increased rates.