AT&T caves on directory deliveries

State officials balked; white pages will come

In the face of mounting criticism, AT&T is backing off a proposal to end automatic home delivery of residential phone directories. Public officials are worried that AT&T's proposal would be a rip-off for consumers.

AT&T, formerly known as BellSouth, stands by the proposal as a public benefit. But the company notified the N.C. Utilities Commission on Monday that it would refile its request after surveying North Carolina customers for their preferences.

The proposal to stop phone-book deliveries in Raleigh and Charlotte was AT&T's first such attempt in the company's 22-state service area. The purpose of the one-year trial was to determine whether customers prefer not to receive the white-pages directory, because many search for listings online or store the numbers in their phones' memories.

The company's about-face follows an Oct. 15 Utilities Commission hearing at which state officials, who would have to approve AT&T's proposal, repeatedly suggested AT&T's plan was driven by financial calculations. One tip-off: AT&T has no intention of discontinuing free delivery of its fatter yellow-pages directories.

"I doubt seriously that AT&T wants to save paper for the common good of the environment," Commissioner Robert Owens Jr. said, according to a hearing transcript. "If there is a lot of interest in saving the trees and waste, why wouldn't you consider putting the yellow pages and white pages together on the Internet or a CD-ROM? I just don't buy into this saving paper thing."

AT&T officials acknowledged that the yellow pages are moneymakers for AT&T, whereas white pages carry few ads and are produced at a loss.

"The company incurs an expense to produce those," said Mike Barry of AT&T's Advertising and Publishing Group. "There's a solid-waste issue, and we don't see the usage associated with it."

AT&T's proposal, filed last month, would have canceled delivery of the white pages to all customers except those who requested a directory be mailed to them. In measuring customer satisfaction, AT&T would assess the payoff: If more than 30 percent of customers requested that white pages be mailed to them, the company would spend more money on mailing than it would cost to deliver the phone books to all customers' homes.

The company delivers nearly 4 million pounds of white-pages directories in Raleigh and Charlotte, AT&T spokesman Clifton Metcalf said Monday. The directory listings are also provided online in a searchable format at www.realpageslive.com.

As part of a customer's cost of service, AT&T provides a directory listing for each AT&T residential and business phone number, unless a customer asks to be unlisted. The directory also includes phone numbers of customers served by other phone companies if the carriers provide the information.

The proposal raises other concerns, state officials said: Without white pages at home, customers would be more likely to rely on AT&T's 411 directory assistance service. The phone giant recently won approval from the utilities commission to reduce the number of free 411 calls a month from four to three.

"It constitutes a reduction of service, since customers will no longer automatically receive the directory listings," John Garrison of the Public Staff, the state's consumer protection agency, said at last week's hearing. Garrison said the request "is particularly troublesome since the rate for obtaining listings using 411 recently increased to $1.27."

At the hearing, AT&T enlisted the support of state Sen. Janet Cowell, who represents Raleigh, Cary and Morrisville. She said many of her constituents are fed up with phone books piling up in their driveways. "In a traditional mode of thought, you might think, 'OK, if I get six phone books, getting eight is an increase in service,' " she said. "I'm not sure that that is exactly the way the consumer is viewing it."