Dear Sir,

I am writing in response to the proposed rate increases for telephone service in the Maritimes.

I am totally opposed to this measure. The Maritime provinces are the poorest in Canada, and for the most part are rural communities, which are the target of this proposed rate hike.

When the telephone service in New Brunswick was directed by NB Tel, the rural communities had to pay mileage charges from the exchange, which in some cases waas at least ten dollars more a month than in the city of Bathurst.

For two years the company had promised to eliminate the mileage charge for subscribers, which was just a lot of hot air. They were finally obliged remove that charge when you regulators ordered them to do so.

I do not buy the story that they need the rate hike to "fall in line with the rest of the country". The real reason is that their shareholders want a bigger profit margin, with no regard for the vast majority of subscribers.

Telephone service is no longer a luxury - it is a necessity, especially in cases of emergency. I vehemently oppose this kind of gouging by the telephone company just to placate the needs of the shareholders.

Sincerely,