Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!mailrus!accuvax.nwu.edu!nucsrl!telecom-request
From: gast@cs.ucla.edu (David Gast)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: 900 Service Gets Listed in the Government Listings
Message-ID: <4797@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 5 Mar 90 08:09:44 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 147, Message 8 of 10


A 900 service has placed listings in with the government listings of
telephone books across the company.  GTE said it got the listings from
Pac Bell and merely printed it.  Pac Bell said they do not permit non
government listings in that area and did not know how it happened.
The company said that they did it around the country and only NE Tel
(as I recall) objected.

The 900 service which uses (or will use) AT&T says that for $2.00 per
minute, they will leave a message with a congressman, senator, or
pres.  They will deliver these messages on cassettes twice per day.

The firm was listed between two congressmen in the GTE phone book that
just came out.

Now why would someone pay $2.00 per minute to get a message delivered
when one can call the congressman directly and pay around $.25 per
minute?

Given that a commercial interest has obtained a listing in the
government services listings, it seems appropriate to disconnect it.
Otherwise, every lobby critter will be listed in the government
listings.


David Gast
gast@cs.ucla.edu
{uunet,ucbvax,rutgers}!{ucla-cs,cs.ucla.edu}!gast