MINNESOTA APPROVES PRIVATE PAY PHONES • AGMA ELECTS OFFICERS • LOUISIANA CRACKS
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MINNESOTA APPROVES
PRIVATE PAY PHONES
The battle in Minnesota between
private pay phone companies and
Northwestern Bell is over, but there
are no losers .
Private phone companies such as
Tonk-A-Phone and Coin Communi-
cations, Inc. (two companies who
filed suit against Northwestern Bell)
will be able to place private pay
phones. On the other hand , North-
western Bell will be able to increase
profits in the Coin Phone Division
by an estimated 10 percent.
Bob Albertson of Tonk-A-Phone
and David Germain of Coin Com-
munications said Northwestern Bell
has been supportive of them . " Their
concerns were that the private pay
phones would not be up to standards
of the phone company phones ,"
Albertson said. "They were con-
cerned about private phones having
free access to the 911 emergency
number, and that rates for North-
western Bell customers would not
increase because of less revenue in
the coin-op phone division."
All these issues were resolved.
Private pay phones will be required
to meet high standards. The FCC has
not licensed any private phones in
Minnesota yet, but it is on the
agenda. The FCC will begin to
register the private phones soon.
8
As a part of the agreement, private
pay phone companies must wait 20
days from the May 30 de cision to
install the phones. A summary judg-
ment was lost by the private pay
phone companies last year which
would have let them place the
phones until a final decision was
reached.
The private pay phones will be
hooked up on special metered lines
allowing the phone company to
monitor the number of calls . The
basic phone line charge of $55 will
include 200 calls. The next 200 calls
will each cost 10 cents ; 8 cents for
the next 200 ; and over that, 5 cents
per call.
Northwestern Bell will save
money by not having to maintain
the phones or hire collectors for the
coins.
"This is a real shot in the arm for
route operators," Germain said . "I
think several other states have been
looking for the judgment in this
state before making their own
decisions."
•
AGMA ELECTS OFFICERS
The 1984 AGMA board of direc-
tors met in Old Town Alexandria
June 1 and elected officers for the
coming year.
By unanimous acclamation, the
1983 officers of the AGMA board of
directors were re-elected as follows:
Joe Robbins (lnterlogic), president;
Dick Simon (U .S. Billiards), vice
president ; Glenn K. Seidenfeld Jr.
(Bally Mfg.), secretary-treasurer ;
and Glenn Braswell (AGMA), exec-
utive director and assistant secretary.
The full membership of the 1984
AGMA board includes: Joe Robbins,
Dick Simon, Glenn K. Seidenfeld Jr.,
Bob Lloyd (Data East), Ron judy
(Nintendo), Gary Stern (Stern Elec-
tronics), Paul Moriarity (Taito), jerry
Marcus (Atari), and Bill Cravens
(Universal) .
Joe Robbins and Gary Stern were
re-elected to three-year terms on
the board . jerry Marcus was elected
to a three-year term , and Bill
Cravens was elected to fill the
unexpired two-year term of Frank
Fogleman who resigned.
•
PLAY METER, August 1 , 1984