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miles from the county seat in Washington and call them Culpeper numbers.
The basic charge for a 675-exchange number is $8.45. To this is added $2 to bring in E-911, 10 cents for the Virginia relay center that provides service for the blind or hearing impaired, a $8.50 federal subscriber line charge, and $3.11 worth of federal state and local taxes. Those who live a distance from the Centel office in Washington pay more as do those with touch tone phones or contracts for inside the house line maintenance.
The basic charge for 987-exchange numbers in the Sperryville area is $11.57 before all of that is added. An additional $1.94 for those living a distance from Sperryville will be dropped with the December billing, Mr. Brown said. Those with 987-exchange numbers can call Culpeper and Washington but cannot call the Madison exchanges that those with Culpeper numbers can call.
Mr. Brown said that the basic rate for those with 937-exchange numbers is $10.89 before the extra charges are added. This is less than the Sperryville rate, he said, because although people with those numbers can call more numbers, it is considered a more compact area and thus is in rate group 3 rather than rate group 4 like Sperryville.
Mr. Wilkins considers that an outrage. If the plan goes through, 675-exchange customers will be paying more than 987-exchange customers for the same toll-free service area, and probably 937-exchange and other Culpeper customers will still be paying less for a much larger free-dialing area.
Even though this seems unfair, he is still hoping the increase will be approved because with a teen-aged son wanting to call friends with 937exchange numbers, he is certain it will lower his phone bill.
—By Sharon Kilpatrick
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