Effective September 2003

NOTE: These are talking points for Sprint customers and MUST NOT be distributed.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q: What if my customer’s contract specifically prohibits rate increases and the term of the contract has not expired?
A: Contact Customer Service if your customer’s prices were increased in error. Price change requests made directly to billing to reverse price increases will not be accepted.

Q: What if my customer asks for an adjustment or credit?
A: Adjustments and credits will only be granted in the event of a billing error (e.g. the customer’s contract prohibits a price increase). In general, customers with tariff pricing, or a percentage discount off tariff, are eligible for the increase.

Q: My customer just signed up within the last 6 months. Will they receive this increase as well?
A: Yes. All customers with pricing based on Sprint’s Schedule 8 will receive an increase, unless their contract specifically prohibits a price increase.

Q: Why is Sprint increasing prices on domestic Dedicated Access? Are there any talking points for explaining it to our customers?
A: Over the last few years, industry prices for dedicated access have steadily increased. Sprint is now raising its rates for existing customers to remain in line with the market and address profitability issues. Several initiatives have been put in place to reduce Sprint’s dedicated access cost structure, however, fluctuations in cost do occur, and the base price increase is designed to assist in recovering these increases. See additional talking points below:
· Our pricing represents the value of our services and is market driven.
· As result of hyper-competition, many competitors have historically priced unreasonably low. This was unsustainable, and ultimately drove many competitors into bankruptcy. Sprint is currently focusing on winning profitable and sustainable business; thus have increased rates due to this aforementioned hyper-competition.
· Sprint implemented its first and second dedicated access base increases in October 2002 and April 2003, respectively. However, AT&T has been consistently increasing dedicated access on their customer base quarterly for the past 2½ years.

Q: How often does Sprint increase its Dedicated Access prices?
A: The September 2003 increase will be the second of two planned increases for 2003 (the first increase of 2003 occurred in April).

Q: My customer received the price increase this past October and/or April. Will they receive this increase as well?
A: Yes. As long as the customer contract structure has remained unchanged.

Q: What if my customer is currently enrolled in A) Dedicated Access Promotion (DAP), B) RD Enabled Program (REP) or C) Flat Rate Access Promotion (FRAP). How will the price increase affect them?

A: “DAP”
DAP is based on a “%-off” list pricing structure. Customers currently receiving a DAP percentage-off list discount will continue to receive that same percentage discount applied against the new base rates, similar to the methodology applied in previous price increases. The increase will simply apply a 7% increase to the existing list pricing on the customer’s account, so any existing discounts will still be reflected in the new rate.

B: “REP”
REP pricing is not based on or tied to Sprint’s Schedule 8 rates; thus, REP pricing will not be impacted by the price increase.

C: “FRAP”
The FRAP contract MRCs remain “fixed”, per the FRAP Enrollment form, for the term of the contract (for example, $250 will not be increased 7% to $267.50). However, as Schedule No. 8 rates change, customer could receive a price increase as shown below.

Q: Do we risk the possibility of losing our existing customers by imposing this rate increase?
A: Yes. However, this is a common industry practice that customers are not likely to avoid by switching carriers. Customers are notified via postcards 15 days prior to the effective day of the increase

Q: Does the price increase affect customers’ Global Dedicated Access rates?
A: No. The price increase only impacts existing domestic dedicated access local loops (Schedule No. 8).

Q: Does this seem like a “bait and switch” to customers that signed under previously available pricing?
A: Enrollment forms state that Sprint’s on-line Business Schedules (formerly federal tariffs) may change at any time. These rates, as well as other terms and conditions, are available to the public at sprintbiz.com.

Q: Will circuits that haven’t completed installation get the price increase?
A: Any pending installations/orders will also receive the increased rates.

Q: Is this rate increase a tariff rate increase? Can we find this in the Sprint Tariff?
A: Sprint no longer maintains federal tariffs. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has mandated that carriers such as Sprint may no longer file their rates and conditions for state-to-state and international services with the FCC (federal tariffs). The FCC has also ordered that these rates and conditions of service offerings be made available to the public via the Internet. In accordance with the FCC’s orders concerning detariffing, Sprint makes information about the rates, terms, and conditions of service applicable to certain business services available on www.sprint.com/ratesandconditions. The business documents are referred to as Sprint Schedules. This is a list price increase that can be found in the appropriate business Schedule.