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From: covert@covert.enet.dec.com (John R. Covert  10-Dec-1989 0957)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: How Can 411 Be Flagrantly Abused?
Message-ID: <1998@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 9 Dec 89 23:14:46 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 9, Issue 564, message 2 of 8

>Mark Cohen in Digest 9.555 mentioned a commercial suggesting viewers
>"dial 411" in order to contact the advertiser.
 
>Mr. Cohen suggested that this was a flagrant abuse of DA and said he
>called his telco to inform them of this travesty.
 
>But I really don't understand what is wrong with this...
 
> A) it allows people from anywhere in the viewing area to find
>    the number for the outlet/branch closest to them

Valid observation: I'm sure this is why the advertiser (a chain) was
doing this.
 
> B) the phone company will charge the customer for the DA call.
>    Customers know this; if they don't want to pay, they can
>    use the phone book.

Invalid observation: In-State Directory Assistance in Massachusetts is
free to residential customers.  (Can't expect you to have known this.)

This may be partly due to the cost of distributing directories of
everyone's local calling area.  Although Acton's local calling area
only includes the four exchanges Acton/Boxborough, Concord/Carlisle,
Maynard/Stow, and Littleton, not all of these towns are in the local
phone book (Littleton is in another book).  Each of these other towns
has at least one local exchange that is in some other adjacent phone
book.  It would not be possible to re-align the books to solve the
problem, since _each_ town has a different set of surrounding towns.
(I suppose it would be possible to list towns in more than one book,
but that, too would increase the cost of the books.)

Apparently N.E.T. has determined that the cost of distributing an
additional phone book for all the adjacent areas to each customer (a
requirement before the DPU could get away with permitting a D.A.
charge) is higher than the cost of D.A.  (At least all N.E.T. phone
books can be had for free for the asking.)

But I'm sure that residents of Massachusetts don't feel that Mr. Cohen
was some sort of hero for reporting the abuse.  Rather than helping to
preserve our free access to D.A., Mr. Cohen's report is more likely to
be used by N.E.T. as ammunition in their attempts to get approval for
a D.A. charge without the requirement that nearby phone books be
delivered without a special request.

I'll try and see if a residential D.A. charge is part of N.E.T.'s $16
million rate reduction filing now pending before the D.P.U.  (DPU
89-300, Public Hearing at the State House, Thursday, 4-Jan-90, 7:30pm.)

/john