Phone Companies to Raise Subsidy Fee
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Sprint Corp. in July will raise the fee it charges customers to help pay for a government phone-subsidy system. AT&T; Corp. may follow.
Sprint, beginning July 8, will assess an 11.3% charge on sales generated by its customers each month, up from 9.9%, to cover obligations to a $5.7-billion annual fund that helps poor and rural customers afford basic phone service. AT&T; may boost its charge to 12.4% from 11.5%, it said in a filing with regulators.
Separately, AT&T; said it plans to raise about $2.25 billion next week through a share sale and may use the proceeds to buy the 69% of AT&T; Canada Inc. it doesn’t already own.
Sprint shares fell 10 cents to $16.45, and AT&T; closed unchanged at $11.97, both on the New York Stock Exchange.
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