I am appalled at the arrogance and gaul of Aliant's proposed rate hike

for rural telephone users. The only reason they feel they can get away with

this sleight of hand is because they enjoy a monopoly on basic phone

service and the increase will not affect the majority of their subscibers.

We, rural yokels, do not have the numerical clout of people in urban

centers but neither do we enjoy all the "advantages" of our urban

counter-parts. For instance, how long has it been since a city deweller has

had to share a party line with three or four other families? Some areas in

Shelburne County had to endure this primative system until just a few years

ago. Trust me, a party it was not. High speed cable Inter-net connections

are only a dream for most of us. The "Epowered" system seems to empower only

those within walking distance of a town. In Shelburne, the "Mpowered"

range extends only a few kilometers beyond the centre of town. Having no

cable access, we have only one alternative to tieing up our phone line if we

wish to send an e-mail or surf the web. We must install a second telephone

line which undoutedly will also increase in price along with the basic

billing rate.

I believe Aliant is attempting to increase profits on their basic rate

to country folk since they no longer possess a monopoly on the complete

telephone service due to intense competiton from other long distance

providers. I have a suggestion to put forth to all rural customers now

subsribing to Aliant's long distance service, "drop Aliant and subscribe to

one of their competitors' long distance plans. Sadly, it would seem, your

loyalty to a local provider has been misplaced. I wonder, is this just

the tip of the iceberg and how long it will be before the city mouse finds

himself paying as much as the country mouse for his telephone service?

Terrance Keylor

RR 3, Shelburne

N.S. B0T 1W0

637-36788

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