BellSouth Joins Cox Papers in Ad Venture : Telecommunications: For the first time, classified advertising and yellow pages information will be offered over the phone.

Cox Enterprises Inc. and BellSouth Corp. on Wednesday announced an unprecedented agreement to jointly offer classified advertising and yellow pages information by telephone to homes and businesses.

The venture is the first in the nation between a phone company and a newspaper to focus exclusively on the advertising operations of the two partners. The new business, to be jointly owned, is expected to begin operations in Atlanta, where Cox publishes the Journal and Constitution newspaper, and West Palm Beach by the end of the year. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Although the newspaper industry has bitterly opposed the telephone companies’ entry into the information business, in recent months some print media have aligned themselves with phone companies to supply information retrievable by phone. Those deals, however, have exclusively focused on news, weather, sports and business information services.

But the latest deal combines the money-making core of a newspaper--its advertising--with the yellow pages advertising operations of the phone companies, an arrangement that analysts said could serve as a model for similar partnerships around the country.

“This is a potent relationship,” said Berge Avazian of the Yankee Group, a Boston market research firm. “This is a combination of two very powerful forces to create a new consumer service.”

Initially, the new services will be available over phone lines by dialing a single telephone number, possibly 511. Callers will be answered either by an attendant or a computerized, audiotext service. However, in later stages, callers will be able to gain access to the information via personal computer, videotext, screen phone, fax or electronic transmission. Customers would be charged on a per-call basis.

Unlike the printed yellow pages, electronic yellow pages can be updated as often as needed and can allow advertisers to customize their messages to target audiences and to offer special promotions.

“This is a great model for newspapers who want to move into the electronic world and are willing to work with new partners,” said David Easterly, president of Cox newspapers.

Atlanta-based Cox is a privately held media conglomerate that owns several newspapers and TV and radio stations. BellSouth, also based in Atlanta, is the largest regional Bell operating company.