3 Phone Firms Submit Plan to Cut Bills

In an unusual alliance, Basking Ridge, N.J.-based AT&T; Corp., Philadelphia-based Bell Atlantic and New York-based Nynex sent federal regulators a plan that they say would cut monthly phone bills for businesses and residences by $400 million annually. But FCC Chairman Reed Hundt, No. 2 long-distance carrier MCI Communications Corp. of Washington, D.C., and consumer advocates threw cold water on the plan, saying it would raise local phone rates. The proposal comes as the Federal Communications Commission considers revamping two areas of telephone regulation: a subsidy program that keeps local phone service affordable in high-cost areas and to low-income customers, and an estimated $14 billion in annual “access” fees that long-distance companies pay to local phone companies to route calls. The FCC is expected to take action next month.