Your telephone is a much better “buy” than ever before. Many more people
now have telephones, and local calling areas have been extended. You can
call more people and more can reach you.
These days, when the cost of nearly everything is higher than ever
before, the price of telephone service has remained relatively low. On
the average, since the Korean war, the cost of telephone service has
gone up much less than the cost of other things you buy.
[Illustration: In the average exchange, telephone customers are able
to reach over five times as many telephones at local rates as in
1920.]
1920 30,000
1954 156,000
Chart based on study of 170 U. S. cities over 50,000 population.
Over the years there has been a remarkable reduction in long distance
rates. Between 25 of the principal cities in the country, the average
day rate for station calls has dropped from $6 in 1920 to about $1.55
today. The day rate for a New York-San Francisco station call has been
reduced from $16.50 to $2.50. Overseas rates have been cut drastically
since the service opened in 1927. A New York-London call that cost $75
in 1927 now costs only $12 in the daytime, or $9 nights and Sundays.