Long-Distance Firms Receive Reprieve

Long-distance companies got a reprieve from a government rule that would have required them to pay millions of dollars more to pay-phone owners for certain types of calls. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia threw out a Federal Communications Commission plan that would have raised the cost of processing toll-free and access-code calls. The long-distance firms argued that the rates were set arbitrarily and capriciously, and the court agreed. The FCC said it will rewrite the rules, and until that happens it is not clear how pay-phone customers will ultimately be affected. The case involved compensation rates paid for pay phones owned by local telephone companies and independent operators. AT&T;, MCI and Sprint--the three biggest long-distance carriers--had no immediate comment.