BE OUR GUEST: TELECOMMUNICATION LEGISLATION WOULD ELIMINATE UNNECESSARY, COSTLY REGULATION

Craig Felzien is a community relations manager for Southwestern Bell Telephone.

In a guest column last week, Don Zimmer, president of a long distance telephone company, raised the argument that your local telephone rates are going to go up because of a bill now in the Missouri Legislature. Mr. Zimmer doesn't have his facts straight.

First, the article identified his company as one of Southwestern Bell's largest customers. Conveniently left out was the fact his company also is one of Southwestern Bell's largest competitors.

Since he is a competitor, I'm not surprised that he would try the rate increase argument on a bill that would help Southwestern Bell be more responsive to competition and customer needs.

Telling you your bill is going up is an easy way to get your attention. In this case, it's also an easy way around the facts.

The bill in question is what has come to be known as the "Yellow Pages bill." The "bill" actually is two bills, House Bill 302 and Senate Bill 173.

The Yellow Pages bill would do away with the outdated practice of including Yellow Pages revenues in setting phone rates.

Under today's law, telephone rates are partially dependent on whether a car dealer, or plumber, or any other advertiser takes out an ad in the Yellow Pages, even though the Yellow Pages operations are wholly separate from your local telephone service.

To set your telephone rates based in part on the revenues of a separate operation in a completely different industry is like setting a carpenter's wage scale by taking into consideration the income of a spouse, who might be a doctor or teacher.

The Yellow Pages bill would change that so that your rates would be based only on the costs and profits of the telephone company.

The bill states that no automatic adjustment to any existing rate will be authorized by enactment of this bill and that the public service commission continues to have authority to set just and reasonable rates.

There is no hidden agenda; there's no trick. Rates will not go up because this bill passes. Refunds due customers will not go away and the public service commission still will be able to perform its job in monitoring telephone company earnings and service quality.

As an additional step, Southwestern Bell recently made a proposal to the Missouri Public Service Commission that demonstrates the effect of the Yellow Pages bill by removing Yellow Pages revenues from the telephone rate-setting process and adjusting the company's rate of return accordingly. The company also asked for a three-year extension of the freeze on basic local rates. Southwestern Bell has not had a local rate increase since 1984. (Meanwhile, there's a bill now in the Missouri legislature that would increase taxes on long distance calls by $40 million.)

When opponents of the Yellow Pages bill claim it will result in rate increases, they are appealing to emotions and their claim is not rooted in fact.

The truth is that this bill merely updates an outdated piece of regulation. Scare and intimidation tactics by bill opponents cannot alter the facts: this bill will eliminate a rule that in today's telecommunications industry is a regulation that is unnecessary and costly and does not benefit customers.