South Tacoma’s War on the Monopoly
Citizens revolt against the Sunset Telephone Company’s discriminatory rates and poor service, calling for competition to break the city's grip.
Another telephone system in this city would meet the approval of the citizens of South Tacoma. Universally, the business men and the residents of that section speak in favor of any proposition that will afford relief from the discrimination practiced by the Sunset Telephone Company. The citizens claim that they pay the highest telephone rates of any residents of the city and receive the poorest service. H. Newton, who attempted to organize the district to secure reasonable rates, claims the company backed out of a good-faith agreement once 150 subscribers had been secured. Local business owners D.H. Green, F. Colby, and T.T. Worthington complain of being forced onto ten-party lines at inflated prices, while City Treasurer Charles D. Atkins noted that residents in South Tacoma pay significantly more for identical service compared to those in Wapato. Enquiry at the telephone office confirms a wide disparity in rates between South Tacoma and other city districts.
“I believe in competition in everything except love and war. A competing telephone line would be a good thing.”
A century before the current debates over municipal broadband and fiber-optic equity in Tacoma, residents of South Tacoma were fighting the same battle against a regional monopoly. This early 20th-century frustration with 'ten-party lines' mirrors today's digital divide and the ongoing public struggle to ensure equitable access to essential communications infrastructure.
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