As a Christmas bounty, the city council of Granara decided to provide all Granara residents free intercom service in order to reduce their expenses on telephone bills. Every person in the town applauded the announcement because it was evident that every household would be benefited from this move. However, when the plan came to implementation, people were found hesitant in paying the required $100 one-time fee for the same. “The telephone bill every household would save in three months was enough to justify $100, yet it is not clear why people are not signing up”, the Mayor said in a review meeting on the project.
Which one of the following, if true, most helps to explain the residents’ hesitation to sign up while simultaneously believing in the benefits of the scheme?
A. Cheap mobile phone connection plans for long distance calls were round the corner and everyone was waiting for them.
B. The intercom would benefit people only when everyone in the town had a connection, and people were skeptical about everyone signing up.
C. The same telecom companies that provided private telephone connections to residents would build the intercom network.
D. The intercom network did not include the offices outside town where some of the residents worked.
E. People believe that $100 was worth their savings in telephone bills of six months, and not three months as the Mayor believed.
