CWA Blasts AT&T Plan to End Toll-Free Directory Assistance; Action Would Deny Access, Raise Costs for Millions - Communications Workers of America, AT&T's shifting its tool-free, 800-number directory assistance to Internet - Company Business and Marketing

Cambridge Telcom Report, Nov 15, 1999

The Communications Workers of America believes AT&T is making a huge mistake in trying to shift its toll-free, 800- number directory assistance to the Internet. AT&T is seeking permission from the Federal Communications Commission to do just that, but CWA contends that the move will especially hurt the poor and working families, senior citizens and others who don't have access to on-line services and are on the other side of the "digital divide."

"This move will cost jobs, deny millions of Americans access to a vital service and hurt businesses that depend on their connection to customers," CWA President Morton Bahr charged.

AT&T may believe it's making a smart business move by shifting the toll- free, 800-number directory assistance to the Internet. But what is certain is that millions of Americans who are not on-line won't have access to services and businesses they need to contact, or will be forced to spend extra dollars to pay for 411 or other commercial directory assistance to get the information and numbers they need, the union said.

AT&T's shift to Internet directory assistance assumes that most people have access to the web, whenever they need or want it. But that's not the case, according to the U.S. Dept. of Commerce's latest statistics on who's on- line and who's not.

Overall, fewer than half of U.S. households, just 42 percent, own a personal computer, and just a quarter of those, 26 percent, are on-line and would be able to access AT&T's listing on the web. For many families, the poor, senior citizens and people of color, the numbers drop dramatically.

For example, in families earning $25,000 a year or less, computer ownership drops to just 25 percent, with fewer than half of those owning computers able to go on-line. In families earning $15,000 a year, 15 percent own computers and just half of that group is on-line.

Among black families, computer ownership is about 23 percent, with 11 percent of this group on-line. For Hispanic families, computer ownership is about 25 percent, with 13 percent on-line. More than half of senior citizens own computers -- 55 percent -- but just 11 percent of this group has on-line access at home.

Clearly, AT&T is aiming at an audience of business users, those with daily, frequent access to on-line services. But a much larger group will lose out -- families less able to pay for directory assistance and unable to get the information from the Internet; operators who will lose their jobs, and businesses that count on directory assistance to help build their links with customers.

CWA will be urging regulators to step in and block this plan, so that customers are treated fairly and have equal access to toll-free directory assistance services.