Washington County Officials Say AT&T; Charges More And More

FAYETTEVILLE -- AT&T is about to quadruple the price of every fax line in Washington County offices, and officials say they aren't sure why.

The county has been in the process of dropping AT&T service in favor of Cox Communications for more than a year. County officials this month complained their AT&T phone bills have stayed the same, about $2,500, even as they have fewer and fewer phone lines provided by the company. More than 60 fax lines, meanwhile, are expected to go from less than $20 each to near $80 next year.

The fax price increase from $1,040 to about $4,800 is a fairly small amount of money in a county budget of $60 million or more. But it has prompted some concern among the Quorum Court, which is in the process of looking over department budgets line by line for next year's spending.

The Juvenile Detention Center's fax costs would increase to $3,360 from $1,500, for example, according to its 2015 budget request. The Department of Emergency Management expects a similar doubling.

"That's just what they told us they're going to do," John Adams, director of the county computer and information systems department, said in an interview, referring to AT&T. "They haven't given a reason why."

The prolonged switch began in early 2013, when George Butler, county attorney, declared AT&T had breached its contract with the county. The county had begun its transition to Voice over Internet Protocol, which essentially routes phone calls through the Internet instead of a separate landline.

AT&T had taken too long to provide the promised infrastructure and the dates for when it would arrive kept moving further back, Butler said.

"Theoretically, we could've sued," Butler said, but the process would have been more difficult than it was worth. "We just decided to say there's a breach of contract and we're going to go with somebody else."

Adams opted instead for Cox and began the process of switching over the lines, called a cut-over. But the bills from AT&T didn't stop. More than 90 percent of the way through the cut-over, the bills are still coming, Adams said. It's as if AT&T is holding tighter and tighter as it's removed from the county system, Butler added with a laugh.

An AT&T spokeswoman declined to answer emailed questions about the fax rates, the phone bill, why the contract was breached and whether raising prices is common procedure for departing customers.

"AT&T hopes it will have the opportunity to serve the Washington County community again in the future," Anita Smith wrote in a brief email Friday. "Regarding the question on current monthly charges to the county, AT&T cannot comment on our customers' service plans."

Using the Internet for calls will save the county money, Adams said. Centralizing phone and Internet services simplifies maintenance and repairs to either and can be more convenient for users, Forbes reported in 2009.

While some departments' costs are going up because of fax lines, others have had landline costs disappear because of the change. The Purchasing Department and Grants Administration together will save almost $2,000 in their budgets, for example.

"Once we get this done, we'll be saving a lot of money," Butler said.

AT&T likely will keep billing until the phones are completely switched, however. The county is also stuck with the fax lines until then, Adams said. He plans to install a direct-to-desktop fax system after the phone conversion.