Higher Charge for 411 Calls

It’s pretty obvious that Pacific Bell is tightening the lasso around ratepayers’ necks. The company has quietly conspired to raise the cost of 411 directory assistance calls to $1.10 (Aug. 20). Earlier this year, it imposed a 35-cent charge for directory assistance from coin phones (previously free).

If PacBell is truly concerned about the cost of providing directory assistance because of labor costs involving live 411 operators, there could be no argument to providing its directory database for self-service look-ups free over the Internet (plus an alternate dedicated local dial-up line for subscribers with a modem but no Internet service).

The cost of maintaining the directory is built into the base rates (and non-published number fees) already paid by subscribers. Charging outrageous amounts for new listings (because the PacBell database is the only source of this up-to-date information) or from coin phones (because there is a financial disincentive to provide a directory at each public telephone) is contemptuous.

ROBERT L. STEIN

Laguna Niguel