THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 11, 1994 TAG: 9409080209
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 49 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MANTEO LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines
SARAH OWENS only lives across-county from her daughter. But each time the Manteo mother calls her daughter's Hatteras Island home, Owens pays the price: a long-distance telephone toll.
Salvo resident Jim Charlet takes his pets to a Dare County veterinarian. But when he calls to arrange appointments, a charge to Nags Head shows up on his bill.
About half of the telephone calls Frisco Tackle Shop owner Lovie Leatherwood makes are to northern Outer Banks beach towns. Just doing daily business gets expensive, she says. If all telephone calls within Dare County were free, her profits - not to mention her sales - surely would improve.
Toll-free telephone service seems to be the talk of the town.
Last week, Carolina Telephone began sending ballots to people with Manteo, Waves and Buxton exchanges. Everyone who owns phones in those areas may vote on whether to adopt an ``Extended Area Service'' plan for their long-distance phone bills. All of Dare County will be affected by the decision.
Currently, calls from Hatteras Island to other areas of the Outer Banks carry long-distance tolls.
With extended area service, residents would pay additional phone charges ranging from 12 cents to $3 per month, depending where they live. Business owners would be assessed an additional 30 cents to $7.22 monthly.
But all Outer Banks calls from Hatteras Village to Sanderling - plus the Dare County mainland - would be toll free.
``Socially and economically, this county needs toll-free telephone service,'' said Dare County Commissioner Doug Langford, who initiated the proposal with the state's utilities commission last summer. ``It will save the county more than $7,200 a year alone, not to mention all the friends and relatives it will benefit and business it will bring to Hatteras Island.''
Most merchants agreed. Almost every time they have to call a supplier, delivery person, or even county office it costs them a long-distance toll. Nags Head and Kill Devil Hills vacationers sometimes don't cross the Oregon Inlet bridge because they don't want to pay the charge to call and find out whether Hatteras Island's fishing is good, the campground is full, or the lighthouse stairs are still open. And having to dial long-distance just to reach the rest of their county makes the residents of the remote southern villages feel even more isolated.
``We're all for it,'' Leatherwood said enthusiastically of the toll-free telephone proposal. ``We call Kill Devil Hills, Manteo, Nags Head all the time. We'd sure have cheaper bills if those calls all were free.''
Some old-timers, however, oppose the plan. They've lived on Hatteras Island all their lives. Everyone they know - almost everything they need - is nearby. Additional monthly fees would be greater than the savings they'd gain.
Every phone owner will have the opportunity to vote on the Extended Area Service this month - one vote per phone line. Ballots are due Oct. 1. Toll-free calling could begin within two years.
``I'm in favor of it because even our personal lives, trying to communicate with a vet, roofers, elected officials or anyone, we have to pay long-distance rates,'' Charlet said. ``We have to call off the island a lot. We're kind of isolated down here. Toll-free telephone service sure would help.'' ILLUSTRATION: RING! RING! RING!
Staff photo by DREW C. WILSON
Dare County officials have placed signs throughout the county to
encourage support of a toll-free telephone program that telephone
customers will soon decide.
EXTENDING TELEPHONE SERVICE
This month, people with telephone numbers in the Manteo, Buxton
and Waves exchanges will vote on whether to adopt an Extended Area
Service for their long-distance billing. Under the plan, residents
and business owners throughout Dare County would pay an additional
amount per month on their phone bills. But all calls within Dare
County would be toll-free within two years. Proposed monthly rate
hikes are:
Exchange Residence Business
Kill Devil Hills $0.12 $0.30
Manteo $1.24 $2.97
Waves $2.45 $5.92
Buxton $3.00 $7.22
by CNB