Switch in phone carrier cuts city's bill by half
Cristin Hubbard, Richmond News Staff
07-29-2010
Money -- and how to stretch the dollar -- was the overall theme of the city council meeting Tuesday night.
One change approved Tuesday by the council was a switch from AT&T to Mediacom service for city hall and the police department.
Melanie Allwood, city finance director, said that the change in carriers will cut the phone bill nearly in half.
"Right now, we pay $221.63 for the police department and $492.73 for city hall (a month)," Allwood said.
When the fire department phone bill increased, Allwood contacted AT&T to find out about any additional discounts that the city might qualify for. But AT&T could provide only a small discount, and so Allwood took the issue to the council.
Members suggested looking at other options, so Allwood began researching and found Mediacom a better option. In fact, Allwood said she thought it was too good to be true because the new prices were a fraction of what AT&T could offer.
With the new three-year contract, phone and internet service for the police department will now cost $119.95 a month, a savings of $101.68. And for City Hall the savings are even greater with a new price of $239.75 -- $252.98 a month less than with AT&T.
Full story is in the Thursday, July 29, 2010 edition of the Richmond News
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