Bell Atlantic Launches National Directory Assistance Service

Bell Atlantic Corp. [NYSE:BEL] has announced its promised national directory assistance service. Using the familiar 411 number, Bell Atlantic’s service will offer listings from across the United States, to customers in the regional Bell operating company’s territory. Callers will not have to know the area codes of the numbers they seek.

Bell Atlantic will link the phone-number databases for its northern and southern service areas — the territories of the old Bell Atlantic and Nynex companies that merged to form the present Bell Atlantic – and will purchase access to national databases from two database providers, company spokesman Jim Smith said.

As with the national directory assistance services provided by AT&T Corp. and MCI Communications Inc., callers will be able to ask for a number by city rather than having to know the area code – an advantage, given the rapid proliferation of area codes and the shifting boundaries involved.

Unlike the AT&T and MCI services, Bell Atlantic’s service will cost the same for local number lookups as it does now. That price varies from 20 cents to 45 cents depending on the state. Bell Atlantic will charge 95 cents per call for long-distance lookups, providing a maximum of two numbers per call. That is comparable to the long-distance carriers’ rates.

Bell Atlantic said it has begun filing for authorization to offer the new service in 13 states from Maine to West Virginia, and in the District of Columbia. The company also plans to make its service available for resale to carriers outside its territory.

Features that are familiar to 411 users, such as call completion and free service for people with disabilities, will continue to apply to local lookups, but won’t be extended to long-distance lookups. Completing a long-distance call is too complicated because of billing issues, Smith said.

Also, while unlisted numbers are not given out through local directory assistance, the companies that compile national databases may draw phone numbers from other sources such as driver’s license records, Smith said, so some unlisted numbers find their way into these databases.

(Contact: Jim Smith, Bell Atlantic, 973-649-8850, e-mail james.a.smith@bellatlantic.com)