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Answering the Call
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Business New Haven
3/23/1998
By: Marci Alborghetti
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How the Meriden chamber mobilized its forces to win toll-free calling to New Haven and Hartford
At first glance Meriden's apparent coup in securing extended local phone coverage from Southern New England Telephone to both Hartford and New Haven appears to be a case of “two for the price of one.” After all, it would have been a sufficient triumph for Meriden businesses to secure Department of Public Utility Control (DPUC) approval for toll free calling to one or the other of the large exchange areas, but both seemed an impossible dream.
Diane Stockton, executive director of the Meriden Chamber of Commerce since October 1995, is still excited, and a little amazed that the chamber's initiative to get both exchanges worked so well.
“The fact that we wanted to petition to get both exchanges was unusual; the process normally would require us to go through the whole process for one area and then, all over again for the other exchange,” Stockton explains. “The fact that we wanted both at once was a big hurdle for us to overcome!”
But overcome is just what the chamber did. Beginning at about 2 a.m. on March 14, all telephone calls for SNET customers between Meriden and the Hartford exchange became toll-free, and toll-free calls between the Meriden and New Haven exchanges began a week later, on March 21.
SNET said that the expanded local calling area adds more than 400,000 telephone lines to the Meriden area for SNET customers, moving the Meriden exchange from Class II to Class V and requiring an increase in flat-rate, per-line basic residential service from $11.53 to $14.53, and an increase in per-line basic business service from $31.03 to $39.13.
The specter of increased rates was another hurdle to be overcome, according to Stockton, who observed that some Meriden residents on fixed incomes, particularly the elderly, opposed the change. “We had to fight the perception that the benefits would not outweigh the added cost,” she says. “And we also had to counter the idea that this would only benefit businesses.
“In the end, the opposition helped us because they encouraged more customers to participate in the voting, and the negative votes might well have put us over the 50-percent response rate we needed in the process.”
The “process,” by Stockton's own admission, was rigorous and fast-moving, fueled by both the efforts of the Meriden legislative delegation and the chamber. Both groups worked together to make it legally possible for Meriden to petition the DPUC for both exchanges since, as Stockton observes, “We knew that the average Meriden subscribers calls Hartford and New Haven equally, so it made sense for us to go through one process.”
Apparently the DPUC agreed, because in November 1996 it informed SNET that the company had 90 days to send customers a ballot, which went out in mid-January and was due back in mid-February. To achieve the chamber's objective, 50 percent of SNET customers had to respond and, of that 50 percent or more, at least half had to vote in favor of the expanded local option.
Meanwhile, the chamber was working feverishly to raise the $12,000 they projected as necessary to positively promote the issue while legislators advanced the plan through mailings to constituents. Stockton says the entire $12,000 was raised from the 500-member chamber during the December and used throughout the voting period in a focused publicity campaign.
Shelly Saczynski, director of community relations at SNET and also a member of the Meriden chamber at the time, found herself in an interesting position.
“On any extended local issue, SNET is neutral; it is a revenue-neutral issue for us and we are governed by the DPUC,” says Saczynski, “Of course this meant that we couldn't contribute to the chamber's fundraising or promotion effort. And I really had to remove myself from the process.”
She echoes Stockton in observing that extended local is not always an option greeted with open arms. “In some cases, people will vote it down simply because it tends to favor business, and people with fixed incomes who don't make a large number of toll calls don't want the higher monthly rate.
“However,” says Saczynski, “in Meriden, the chamber was really a strong supporter, and they got the ballots.”
On February 18, 1997, to be exact. It's a date that a then-exhausted Stockton recalls well because, “I gave birth and the ballots came in on the same day. Of the 26,000 subscribers, a little over 13,000 responded and about 60 percent of them were in favor.”
“It's a real victory,” says Stockton, “because it will make Meriden more competitive in the market, particularly for existing businesses that want to expand and for new businesses that want to move in to this area. We estimate that our member businesses will save an average of $7,000 a year in long distance calls.”
Although Saczynski is no longer a Meriden chamber member, she asserts that the relationship between the chamber and SNET remains positive.
“We have a good relationship with Diane, the chamber, and the city of Meriden,” she says. “The fact is that we are a major employer there and have a large number of customers in the city. In the end, this is a democratic process, and what makes the customer happy, makes us happy.”
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