AT&T; to Increase Some Pay Phone Charges

AT&T; Corp.’s charges will increase by 35 cents Sunday for some pay-phone customers. The per-call increase results from a change in federal rules last year requiring AT&T; and other telephone companies to pay owners of pay phones millions of dollars more for such calls. The rate increase applies to pay-phone calls made with credit cards or AT&T;’s calling card and to operated-assisted and collect calls. Coin-calls rates remain the same. Critics had complained that the Federal Communications Commission’s new rules, which took effect in November, would make pay-phone calls more expensive. AT&T;, MCI and others are challenging the rules in court. Basking Ridge, N.J.-based AT&T; had no estimate of the number of customers who will be affected by the increase.