Local calls were "free", and still are for residential customers.

By the end of 1989, the company had grown to serve over 300,000 residential customers.

The increase means that the average residential customer will pay $4.41 more a month.

Within the next few years, residential customers may be given similar options.

Under the new rate, the average residential customer will pay about $8 more a month.

The cost would be $6.50 a month for residential customers.

More than 90,000 residential customers have already signed up to do so.

And the basic service charge is only $7.50 a month for residential customers.

The increase would be about $20 a month for the average residential customer.

The average increase for residential customers would be 32 percent, he said.