Federal judge blocks SBC rate increases

CHICAGO (AP) -- In a blow to SBC Communications Inc., a federal judge blocked rate increases the company sought and won from Illinois lawmakers.
U.S. District Judge Charles P. Kocoras said SBC should have taken its request for higher rates to the Illinois Commerce Commission and not the Illinois General Assembly.
He issued a preliminary injunction stopping the estimated increase of $5.76 per customer each month on average that competing local phone companies such as AT & amp;T and MCI would have to pay for the use of SBC lines.
AT & amp;T, which has 300,000 Illinois customers, had warned it might be forced to impose a monthly surcharge on bills to offset the rate increases. It said the order from Kocoras would make such a surcharge unnecessary.
The decision was a victory for AT & amp;T and MCI, the two big long-distance companies that have moved into local markets in Illinois. San Antonio-based SBC, the nation's second largest local phone service provider, said the battle is far from over.