THE CONSUMER faces a double whammy of utility price rises with both telephone and electricity bills on their way up.
The cost of local phone calls is set to triple by April next year (though long distance rates will fall in line with global trends), while higher oil prices on the world market are forcing their way into our electricity bills.
And with the island into a fifth year of drought, officials have repeatedly demanded a rise in the heavily-subsidised price of water.
CyTA official Glafcos Houtris yesterday told the Cyprus Mail that the Authority had submitted a proposal for price changes to the House, with the aim of bringing Cyprus into line with the European Union (EU).
Local calls will gradually be made more expensive, rising on April 1 from 1,3 to 2 cents for every four minutes. On October 1, they will then rise to 2 cents for every three minutes in peak times, staying at 2 cents per four minutes off-peak.
On April 1 2001, peak rates will rise again to 2 cents for two minutes, with off-peak rates remaining at 2 cents per four minutes.
"Currently Cyprus is the cheapest country in Europe for telecommunications and when the changes take place it will still be," Houtris told the Cyprus Mail.
Overseas calls will be reduced from 3,1 cents per minute to 3 cents per minute at regular times and from 2,2 cents per minute to 2 cents at off-peak times from April 1 2000.
These will be further cut on October 1 2001 to 2 cents per minute and 2 cents per two minutes respectively.
Directory enquiries (192) calls will also rise from 5,2 to 18 cents per call.
Houtris said the monthly line rental of £1,25 had remained the same since 1972, while prices had risen by 330 per cent since then: "The £15 a year people pay should be £64."
He added the fall overseas call prices would hit back at increasing competition: "We have had illegal competition in this sector from the call-back system and calls made through the Internet."
Houtris said that the proposal had been drawn up after a lot of research and had been approved by the National Council.
He said CyTA had submitted the proposal to the House on Monday and had not yet been informed when the proposal would appear before the Plenum.
The bill also includes a gradual rise in the monthly line rental for regular phones.
The £1,25 would become £3 on April 1 2000, £4 on October 1 and £5 on April 1 2001.
Houtris noted that many subscribers in Britain paid up to £134,50 a year for rental while the average yearly line subscription hovered at £80.
Meanwhile, sky-high fuel prices have forced electricity bills up.
Electricity Authority (EAC) head of public relations Tassos Roussos told the Cyprus Mail yesterday that the rise in winter bills was being further magnified by the increasing price of oil. And with increasing electricity bills, the CyBC levy is swelling in proportion.
"Crude oil now costs $26 to $27 a barrel," said Roussos, noting that the very low $10 summer-time price made the increase all the more noticeable, "The link allows the price (of electricity) to fluctuate."
By law, even consumers not owning a television have to pay the CyBC levy charged as a proportion of their electricity bills.
Roussos said bills rose every winter due to the use of electric fires and water heaters, which meant that CyBC got a larger cut.
