Contrite AT&T; Has a Valentine for Customers

American Telephone & Telegraph Co. wants to offer a Valentine to make amends for Monday’s system failure, which cut off much of its service for nine hours.

The giant phone company said Thursday that it is seeking permission to offer its long-distance customers an average 33% rate cut on Valentine’s Day as restitution for the breakdown. The application filed with the Federal Communications Commission amounts to an additional day of holiday rates, the company said.

“We’re making this gesture to underscore how much we value our relationship with our customers, knowing there is no way to make up for the inconvenience they may have experienced,” AT&T; Chairman Robert E. Allen said.

The holiday rate will apply to all out-of-state, direct-dialed long-distance calls made from residential and business phones on AT&T;’s public network. Evening rates will apply to all other out-of-state separate business services, except the 900 service and others that do not have a time-of-day discount schedule, the company said.

Under AT&T;’s proposal, a 10-minute direct-dialed coast-to-coast call between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Valentine’s Day--Wednesday, Feb. 14--will cost $1.58, rather than the usual weekday rate of $2.50 during those hours.

Also, the company said, it will apply an economy rate on Valentine’s Day to all direct dialed international calls. For example, a five-minute call from the mainland United States to Japan will cost $5.40 instead of the usual $8.07.