ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 13, 1990                   TAG: 9006130060
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: GEORGE KEGLEY BUSINESS EDITOR
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

LONG-DISTANCE SURVEY PLANNED

C&P Telephone Co. will survey customers in its Stone Mountain exchange in Bedford County to see if they want extended-area calling, eliminating long-distance charges to Roanoke.

In Alleghany County, C&P said a majority of customers in its Crows-Hematite exchange have voted for extended-area service, eliminating long-distance charges to Covington and Cifton Forge. But this will not take effect until customers in those cities approve service to Crows-Hematite in a survey to be conducted later this year.

If the Stone Mountain customers with 297-prefix numbers approve extended-area calling, their rates will drop about 80 percent from present long-distance charges, said Don Reid, C&P manager in Roanoke. Calls still would be measured by time of day and duration.

Basic rates would increase by about $1.80 a month, but that would be offset by the 80 percent reduction per call, Reid said. Stone Mountain callers would be able to reach about 95,000 more phones without a toll charge than they can today, he said. The Stone Mountain exchange is near Smith Mountain Lake.

For the change in service to be put into effect, more than half the Stone Mountain callers must respond to the survey and a majority must vote "yes," Reid said. If approved, the service could begin by mid-1991. The survey package, to be mailed Friday, will contain more details on the proposal.

If the service is extended, Stone Mountain customers will no longer be required to dial 1-703 to reach a Roanoke number.

In Alleghany County, 76 percent of the 193 customers who returned survey cards said they favored extended-area service.

If the service is approved in Covington and Clifton Forge, residential customers in the Crows-Hematite area will pay $6.41 more and business customers will pay $19.77 more monthly for unlimited local calling. Message-rate service and other local charges also would increase.

The Clifton Forge-Waynesboro Telephone Co. will conduct cost studies before it surveys its customers on extending service to Crows-Hematite. 


 by CNB