ack in those Innocent

days -recatled in Pa--

cific Bell's TV com-
mercints about the two life-
long friends -who grew up
sveet on Mary Ellen, ceal-

meke sure 6. ecratchy
long-distance cali didn’t
fast more than three min-
wes ahd cast more than @
Sunday at Knott's Berry
Para.

Today, the twin gods of
end deregula-
ties have changed some’

things
Bost phones have but-
tons and the connections
ere clear whether a cail
oe to. Ddsneylend or to
sanddad sighteceing in
Ball And long distance is

But ihe monthly phone
bili fs ancther malier. It's
become a modern Gordian
Broek

There are basic charges and universal
gureharges, ZUR, tax (local) asd tax
(iedezal}. There’s a charge for policing
the telephone company and another to
subsidize telephone service for the deaf
and disabled and another to cail S1f. And
there’s also a monthly charge for access
to the long-distance companies.

How's a customer to unravel it all?

a
Chess?
Saceice gaschace®

Here’s an economic eutepey of the
saonthly rezidential telephone bills issued
by Pacific Bell—which serves about 50%
of the California markel—and an expla-
Nation of some of the economic and
political forces that made it what it is
today.

The baste rate for residentia! service is

$3.25 monthly for Pacific Bell. (The.

A typical Pacific Sell phone bill lists a series of charges that many customers find uttarty baffling.

monthly basic rate for General Telephone
of California, whose grattered service
arcas include the Westside, is $9.75.)

These basic rales are kept low to allow
as many Californians a3 possible tc have
telephones. Currentiy, though, about ene
in every 15 Californians does not have a
resideniial telephone.

Also to hold down basic rates, 33id

oe dent for’ PacBell’s
wice ident for rate mak-
ing, cuslomera are charged
more than the actual cost of
service for most ather items
on their telephone bul, in-
eluding PacBeli toll charg-
es. .

Pacific Bell provides toti
gervice only within 16 Local
Access Telephone Areas in-
side the sinte. her long-
distance calling—say, the
lucrative traffic beiween
Les Angeles end the Bay
Area—is handled by tong-
distance carslers like
AT&T, Sprint and BCL

Those who buy the un-
limited focal cailing—tke
$3.25 monthly covers calle
within a radius of 8 miles—
pay Zene Ualt Message
charges for calls to ZUM 2
(9-12 miles) and ZUM 3
{13-36 miles} from their
local exchange.

ZUM charges are about
half of whai toll calls would
be under the Public Utilities
Conunission tariff formutas.
Pacific Belt says the typical
customer's ZUM calls cast
$3.56 per month.

Even co, ZUM charges
are much higher than costs. Together
ZUM and those toll calls made within
PscBell’s sysiem generated an extra $i.i
billica in 1988 that helped hold down the
basic rate.

PUC staff documents show growing
concern that large telephone users sen
may be abje to bypass the loca! exchange

Piense see PHONE, Page 8

flos Angeles Gimes

Part V / Thursday, March 10, i$88