SOUTHWESTERN BELL PROPOSES LONG-DISTANCE SERVICE

Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. hopes to get into the long-distance business, the president of Southwestern Bell Missouri said Tuesday.

The president, Priscilla Hill-Ardoin, and other Southwestern Bell Missouri representatives were in Cape Girardeau to discuss the company's plans to offer long-distance service outside the 573-area code.

Southwestern Bell currently charges extra for other-than-local calls within the 573 area code, but those calls aren't considered long-distance.

"We will be filing our intentions with the Missouri Public Service Commission under the 1996 Federal Telecommunications Act within a month," said Hill-Ardoin.

The act is intended to open up competition at all levels of the telecommunications industry. Its goal is to usher in advanced services at affordable prices for consumers under guidelines of federal and state regulatory commissions.

The Missouri PSC would have to issue a ruling that a market is open in Missouri. "The PSC has indicated it would issue a decision within 120 days," said Hill-Ardoin. "We have agreed to wait that long before filing with the Federal Communications Commission."

Hill-Ardoin also discussed an area-wide program that would offer one monthly fee for calls to much of eastern Missouri.

"We have applied to the PSC for such a fee structure," said Paul G. Lane, the company's general counsel. "The area would consist of most of the former 314 area code."

The 314 area code is in the St. Louis area. The 573 area code applies to all of Southeast Missouri."

Telephone customers in those areas would pay a $30 monthly fee and no long-distance charges. Exceptions would be in the Jefferson City and Columbia areas.

The PSC is expected to announce its decision on the request by mid-March.

Hill-Ardoin, who became Southwestern Bell Missouri president in October, said, "We have moved aggressively to open the local markets to future competition."

She said there has been a reluctance among major long-distance companies to get into the local service market, and the reason is simple.

"The local service market is less profitable than the long-distance market," she said. "We realize about a 33 percent return on our investment in Missouri. Long-distance operators realize 115 to 130 percent returns on their Missouri investments.

Southwestern Bell's area includes five states: Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, Texas and Oklahoma.

Hill-Ardoin said Southwestern Bell's local rates in Missouri are among the lowest in the nation.

"Rates here haven's increased in 14 years," she said. "Add adjustments for inflation, and rates have actually declined some 30 percent since 1984, and that's with service improvements and billions of dollars in investments."

To make the local market more competitive, Southwestern Bell has offered to give competitors access to its customer data and provide equipment services at a 19.2 percent discount. "Or they can build their own facilities," said Hill-Ardoin.

Unlike local service rates, long-distance rates have risen. Because of the lack of true competition, the three largest long-distance companies can and have increased their rates, she said.

Thirty-six companies have been certified by the PSC to provide local telephone services.

"We have opened our local markets to competitors," said Hill-Ardoin. The company wants its competitors to "meet us in the marketplace now," she said.