SPRINT Proposal adds fees, ends tolls

MANSFIELD -- Sprint is proposing to eliminate tolls between many calling areas within the Mahoning Valley while adding a new fee for all customers.
The changes must be approved by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. Sprint, which provides local phone service for much of Trumbull County and part of Mahoning County, said customers will be notified of changes in calling areas and new fees.
The proposal includes eliminating charges on 522 calling routes in Ohio, including from Warren to Lake Milton and Youngstown. The routes either are local toll routes or extended local call routes for which per-minute tolls are charged.
Fee: Sprint is expecting its new fee to take effect in July. It is proposing a fee of $4.10 for residential customers, $6 for single-line business customers and $8.90 for multi-line business customers.
The new fee is called an intrastate access fee and is needed because of a PUCO order that reduces intrastate access fees charged by local phone companies to long-distance companies, Sprint said. These fees have been used by local phone companies to reduce the cost of providing service.
The PUCO order requires long-distance companies to pass their savings from the reduction of access fees along to customers in the form of reduced rates for in-state calls.
The final impact on customers will depend on their long-distance and local toll calling volume, Sprint said.