IF YOU OWN a telephone in California, you have been the advertising target of a slew of
long-distance carriers angling for your business. Competition for
local-phone service, however, is so much less jangling that many customers aren’t even aware that they have a choice.
That’s because the local-phone market in California just became competitive two years ago. The state Public Utilities Commission will decide next month, at its Sept. 23 meeting, whether or not it will remain so.
Under federal law, regional Bell operating companies such as SBC had to allow competing phone companies access to their local markets in exchange for access to the long-distance market. This was accomplished by allowing smaller phone companies access to SBC’s network at a discounted statewide average rate of $9.82 per «loop» or connection. Public Utility Commissioners will consider two proposals: one to raise the access rate to $12.92 and the other to raise it $13.26. SBC, which sells access to its customers for $10.50, says the true cost, including higher wages for trenching, is nearly double the proposed rates.
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New Directory Cover to Feature Sunfest Artwork from Local Students
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., Aug. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- BellSouth begins distribution of the 2004 edition of The Real Yellow Pages® in the West Palm Beach, Florida area with a salute to the Sunfest Music and Arts Festival. This year’s cover will feature the artwork of six Palm Beach County students depicting the annual festival.
«This year’s cover is a wonderful salute to not only Sunfest, but to the creativity and imagination our Palm Beach County students possess,» said Lee Peterson, Area Manager for BellSouth Advertising & Publishing Company. «Our partnership with Sunfest and the Palm Beach County schools is something The Real Yellow Pages values, and we are proud to help showcase the talents of our local students.»
This year’s directory will also feature important community partners of The Real Yellow Pages. These partners include schools, news publications, television and radio, chambers of commerce, sports, arts, attractions and other supporters of the Palm Beach County Community and will be highlighted in the community information pages in the front of the directory.
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By Paul Davidson, USA
TODAY
Long-distance bills likely would fall and
local phone rates rise under a sweeping
industry-backed proposal to federal regulators to overhaul the fees phone companies pay each other to connect calls.
The plan, unveiled by a group of nine leading local and
long-distance companies after more than a year of talks, would likely mean lower bills for chatty
long-distance callers but higher tabs for those who make fewer
long-distance calls.
The proposal’s prospects are uncertain because it must be approved by the Federal Communications Commission. Three of the four regional Bell companies — Verizon Communications, BellSouth and Qwest Communications — did not sign on and that could prompt the FCC to make changes. Also, states may challenge it in court because it eliminates in-state fees under their control.
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Ian Mylchreest
Telscape Communications, a California-based phone company that markets itself to the Hispanic community, is now offering its residential service in Southern Nevada.
«We looked at our numbers and found that Las Vegas was the number one for long distance calls from our customers,» says Telscape’s Vice President for Carrier Relations, Jeff Compton. «There’s a strong bond between California and Nevada.»
The company started in Southern and Central California, Compton notes, because 50 percent of the U. S. Hispanic population lives in the Golden State. «Our goal is to be the premier Hispanic provider,» he adds. The company plans to eventually build its own network nationwide to provide service to the entire Hispanic population.
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POLICE on Tuesday presented four suspects allegedly engaged in the production and distribution of fake Smart Communication
prepaid mobile phone cards, GMA Network television reported.
Caught during a sting operation were Rhea Rose, Evangeline De Leon, Rafaelita Cruz, and John Cabbigat who were said to be delivering about 300,000 prepaid cards, said to be worth millions of pesos, to different areas in Metro Manila.
In an interview on GMA-7’s «24 Oras» early evening news program, Chief Superintendent Arturo Lomibao of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) said this was the first recorded case of the production and distribution of fake prepaid cards in country.
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