Andrew Wildes, Gleaner Writer
WHEN LOCAL telecommunications giant Cable and Wireless' Single National Rate (SNR) took effect last October, it appeared to many as just an attempt at simplifying call rates and dialling patterns.
However, several business and residential customers complain that with each new phone bill they receive, the change appears to manifest itself in astronomically higher charges. "My bill has increased steadily," Mrs. Sharon Laidlaw told The Gleaner. She is a residential customer of Cable and Wireless living within the Corporate Area.
"It has moved from around $3,000 to over $11,000!" she said in frustration. She was particularly outraged because she could identify no intervening factor that could have caused her bill to skyrocket so drastically. "I'm calling the same persons, spending the same amount of time! I have all my bills to verify," she stated emphatically.
SIMPLIFYING THE RATE
"I definitely felt the jump!"said Melody Samuels, another dissatisfied customer. "It's ridiculous. When I saw my bill, I was like 'where's the good news'?" she related.
Cable and Wireless introduced its CSNR on October 1, 2005. It was presented as an attempt at satisfying the customers' desire for simplified dialling patterns and call rates. According to the company's website, the "SNR is a move of Cable and Wireless to simplify the rate structure for billing fixed line calls made within Jamaica. Consumer research had indicated that customers wanted more simplicity with rates, and bills that are easy to understand. The SNR eliminates different rates for inter- and intra-parish calls and now there are only two time bands - peak and off-peak."
CALLING PATTERN A FACTOR
But the change has meant higher costs for customers, including businesses. A financial controller of one of Jamaica's leading health authorities, who has asked to remain anonymous, told The Gleaner that his organisation's phone bill had increased dramatically. "There is a 30-35 per cent increase if you take October and December as the benchmark months. And that couldn't be just from an increase in phone calls it definitely had to be the cost," he said.
Errol Miller, Cable and Wireless' vice-president of corporate communications and corporate affairs, explained, though, that the SNR's impact was largely dependent upon the consumer. "Individuals' bills can either decrease or increase depending on their calling pattern - even if they do not change their usage," he said.
"In a case where most of the calls on an individual's bill are inter-parish calls, then that person's bill would more than likely show a decrease. Conversely, if most of the calls are intra-parish, it is likely that the bill would increase," Miller explained. "However, individuals can manage their spend by taking advantage of the extensive off-peak calling period," he added.
