CUSTOMERS’ OPINIONS ON
LOCAL PHONE COMPETITION IN RHODE ISLAND
Click here to see a picture of
the panelists.
Digital Revolution and Phone Services
We are in the midst of a digital revolution and distance has lost its
meaning. With digital communication, distance-sensitive rates are fast
becoming irrelevant.
What do residential and business customers in Rhode Island
want in terms of their local phone service? To find out, RITIM – the Research
Institute for Telecommunications and Information Marketing at URI – conducted
a survey of customers in Rhode Island. The Rhode Island Public Utilities
Commission funded the survey.
Randomly selected residential customers in Rhode Island were surveyed using a 6-page questionnaire. RITIM contacted 810 customers by phone. Of these, 250 completed the survey. In addition, face-to-face interviews were conducted with 24 residential customers selected from Community Action groups. These 274 usable responses form the basis of this summary.
RITIM also surveyed business customers of local phone services. A 7-page questionnaire was mailed to selected business customers in Rhode Island. The list of customers was drawn from Rhode Island Telecom Users Group (RITUG), Chambers of Commerce, and a commercially purchased list of technology-oriented customers. About 400 questionnaires were mailed. Of these, 37 usable responses form the basis of this summary.
Opinions on Local Infrastructure and Telephone Rates
In a small state like Rhode Island, they make even less sense. It is not surprising that customers in Rhode Island – both residential and business – overwhelmingly want a one state, one rate plan.
Residential as well as business phone users overwhelmingly want a one-state, one-rate plan. As one customer put it, echoing the sentiments of most others, " Rhode Island is too small and should have only one rate." If a one-state rate
requires a slightly higher rate for all calls, many are willing to pay it. Business customers favor a one-rate plan even more strongly than residential customers.
Compared to household users, business customers have a lower opinion
of the state’s telephone infrastructure. Businesses approve a one-rate
plan strongly, including a flat rate for calls to Providence from outside
the city.
Competition in the Local Telephone Market
Residential customers currently have little or no choice regarding local
telephone services. But they would like such a choice – 65% say they would
like more than one service provider. Business customers in Rhode Island
already have a choice. Nearly 78 % of businesses are aware of local phone
service alternative. But only about 19 % currently obtain local phone
services from a company other than Bell Atlantic.
While there is a strong interest in multiple service providers at the local level, very few