A phone freeze in a hot summer

By David Kolata
Executive Director, Citizens Utility Board

The best calling plans in the Land of Lincoln just got better thanks to consumer advocates in Springfield — and that could save AT&T customers nearly $200 a year.

During the recent rewrite of Illinois’ Telecommunications Act, phone-industry lobbyists pushed for the eventual elimination of AT&T’s low-cost Consumer’s Choice plans, which were created by the Citizens Utility Board under a legal settlement back in 2006. But CUB, the Attorney General’s Office and AARP-Illinois fought to save the plans and freeze their low prices through at least June of 2013, when lawmakers revisit the act.

As we hold phone clinics across Illinois, one thing is certain: A lot of people are chained to bloated calling plans. In fact, a CUB study last year estimated that Illinois consumers were overpaying by more than $1 billion a year on their local, long-distance and cell-phone service.

AT&T customers could cut those costs roughly in half, the study found, by switching to AT&T’s standard pay-per-call rates or the Consumer’s Choice plans for local calls (to places within about 15 miles from home). CUB designed those plans to fit the needs of the average caller.

• Consumer’s Choice Basic, ranging from $3.05 a month in downtown Chicago to $9.50 per month in the rest of Illinois, includes AT&T’s Line Charge and 30 local phone calls. Local calls beyond the first 30 are billed at 6 cents per call.
• Consumer’s Choice Extra costs $9 to $15 per month and includes unlimited local calls. It’s best for someone who doesn’t want extra features, but makes roughly 100 local calls or more per month.
• Consumer’s Choice Plus, costing $16 to $19.70 per month, is popular because it includes two calling features, such as Caller ID or Voice Mail, along with unlimited local calls.

So what plan’s best for you? Call CUB at 1-800-669-5556, for a free phone-bill analysis. Or, visit the online Phone Savings Center, at http://www.citizensutilityboard.org/. There, AT&T customers can use the Local Phone Cost-cutter to find out the best local option based on their calling habits. The online tool has shown 40,000 customers how to save a total of $7.8 million a year, or $194 per customer.

The Phone Savings Center also has the details on extremely low long-distance rates, sweetened with an automatic $10 credit. Of course, a lot of people don’t have landlines. That’s why the center features the CUB Cellphone Saver, which has shown people how to cut costs by $300 a year on up.

There are few household costs that are as easy to cut as your phone bill, and that’s good news in any economy. So, pick up your phone bill and call CUB.