GTE Sprint dropped its $5 monthly minimum.

The nation’s third-largest long-distance telephone carrier said it had instituted the charge as a start-up company to help recoup the costs of servicing accounts. The action will clear up questions over whether customers can be assigned to Sprint if they receive but do not return ballots designating a long-distance telephone company when their area converts to “equal-access” service. The FCC has ruled that companies receiving those customers can impose no monthly fee.