PacBell Proposes Rate Hike for 411 and ‘Cut-In’ Calls

Pacific Bell is proposing price increases that will double the price of directory assistance and quadruple the per-use price for two lesser-known emergency cut-in services available to its 8.5 million residential customers in California.

In an application filed with state regulators, the phone company said it needs to raise the fees to offset rising costs.

For residential customers, PacBell wants to cut the number of monthly free calls to 411 from five to three. The company also wants to charge customers 50 cents instead of the current 25 cents for each additional call to directory assistance over the free allotment.

The company, a subsidiary of San Antonio-based SBC Communications Inc., said about 75% of its residential customers use 411 three or fewer times per month. PacBell said it will continue to offer unlimited directory assistance calls to “those who most need the service,” such as the blind.

Under the plan, business customers, who now get two free 411 calls, would receive none.

GTE Corp., the state’s second-largest phone company, gives customers five free 411 calls per month and charges 35 cents for each extra inquiry. Businesses get two free directory assistance calls per month.

A spokesman for GTE said the company has no immediate plans for a price increase.

Among the long-distance companies that still provide local phone service to some California residents, MCI Communications offers five free 411 calls, then charges 20 cents for each additional directory assistance request; AT&T; offers PacBell’s 411 service and prices; and Sprint offers five free 411 calls, then charges 25 cents (in PacBell territory) or 35 cents (in GTE’s market) for each extra call.

For long-distance directory assistance accessed through a residential customer’s specific long-distance provider’s operator service, MCI and Sprint charge $1.10 per call, while AT&T; charges 95 cents.

The California Public Utilities Commission, which regulates the state’s phone companies, must approve the increases.

The Office of Ratepayer Advocates, the PUC unit charged with looking out for consumers, is reviewing the proposal.

“I’d be happier if Pacific Bell just raised [the price] to 35 cents instead of 50 cents,” said Kelly Boyd, senior telecommunications analyst in the ratepayer advocacy branch. “But if all [PacBell’s] cost data backs up the claim, then it seems reasonable, and we’d be likely not to oppose it.”

Boyd said she is more skeptical about the company’s other proposed rate hikes.

PacBell is seeking to raise the per-request price of a service called “busy verification” from 50 cents to $2. The feature enables a customer to ask an operator to check a busy phone line to make sure it’s not out of service. PacBell is also requesting to increase the per-use fee for its “emergency interrupt” service, which allows a customer to ask an operator to break in on a phone conversation, from $1 to $4.

At GTE, customers pay 50 cents for each busy verification request and $1 for each emergency interrupt.

“We want to work with PacBell to send the right message about abusing these services and still provide an affordable emergency service,” Boyd said.

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Amid mounting criticism, Pacific Bell last week hastily withdrew a proposal to tap its vast database of unlisted phone numbers for its own telemarketing campaigns.

The request, filed with California regulators, sought to lift the state’s ban on the use of private customer numbers for sales calls.

PacBell’s action reignited privacy concerns in Southern California, where last month GTE admitted that it inadvertently printed and distributed non-published phone numbers in a series of specialty directories used by telemarketers.

About half the state’s residential phone customers pay a monthly fee for unlisted status, although the percentage is higher in Los Angeles and other large cities. PacBell has more than 4 million customers with private phone numbers.

Consumer groups and a ratepayer advocacy unit within the state Public Utilities Commission immediately blasted PacBell’s plan as both eroding customer privacy and giving the company a competitive edge against potential rivals.

“The main reason people get an unlisted phone number is to avoid solicitations,” said Evan Hendricks, editor of Privacy Times, a Washington-based newsletter.

PacBell’s plan would give the company exclusive access to some of the hardest customers to reach--those whose numbers are shielded from many publicly available telemarketing lists.

In defending its plan, PacBell cited a survey it conducted of about 1 million of its unlisted customers in which 56% agreed to allow the company to call them about new services and products, while 19% objected.

Nonetheless, there was an outpouring of objections, including a strong rebuke from state Sen. Steve Peace (D-Chula Vista), who pledged to take action if PacBell persists.

The practice is legal in many other states, where unlisted numbers are less common. PacBell’s sister company, Southwestern Bell, regularly uses non-published numbers for sales pitches in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas, according to PacBell spokesman Steve Getzug.

Flooded with protest calls from customers, PacBell has formally withdrawn its regulatory request.

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Times staff writer Elizabeth Douglass can be reached via e-mail at elizabeth.douglass@latimes.com.