Phone Bills To Increase

Students will find their November telephone bills higher this November, but Harvard University Network (HUN) employees say its not the new system's fault.

Because New England Telephone, which provides HUN with area service, is raising its rates for local calls, HUN is passing on the price hike to its customers.

According to HUN employee Mark Anderson, monthly charges for local service will increase from $3.51 to $4.50, charges for contiguous service will go from $10.93 to $13.06 and charges for metropolitan service will jump from $16.02 to $20.00. HUN informed students about the increase in notices on October bills.

Anderson said that HUN is subject to the whims of New England Telephone when it comes to local charges, and said the new system had nothing to do with the hike. In fact, representatives from the Office of Information Technology say Harvard students are still receiving cheaper service tahnks to the new system.

With the new telephone system, students receive a 10 percent discount on the lowest MCI rates. In addition, they do not have to pay federal tax on their calls because Harvard, a non-profit organization, is not subject to federal tax.