THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, October 31, 1994 TAG: 9410270009
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A8 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Opinion
SOURCE: By LAURA GIADONE
LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines
Undoubtedly, one of the greatest benefits of free-market competition is customer choice - the ability of the consumer to choose freely from a multitude of products and services the one that has the most appeal in terms of price, quality, quantity, packaging, color, etc. Think about the array of brand-name products that greet you when strolling through the aisles of the local supermarket. Historically, choice in consumer products and services has resulted in increased savings and a higher quality product or service for the purchaser. Yet, sometimes consumers can take choice of product or provider for granted.
Consider the case of Virginia's regional toll-calling market, where there is no choice. Virginians have no choice but to use their monopoly local telephone company to complete regional toll calls. In Richmond, Bell Atlantic-Virginia is the only company authorized to complete these toll calls.
Frequently the overlooked middle child of the telephone industry, the regional or ``short-haul'' toll market represents those phone calls that travel too short a distance to be considered a long-distance call but too long to be qualified as local. In Virginia, an example of this type of call would be one from Richmond to Emporia.
While most Virginians are familiar with the long-distance telephone market, due to fierce competition as evidenced by the millions of dollars of advertising between companies like MCI, AT&T, Sprint and others, these same people have probably never even heard of the regional telephone market. Despite their unfamiliarity, however, Virginians spend millions of dollars per year on these types of calls.
In light of the millions of dollars Virginians spend in this market, one wonders why ensuring customer choice - by allowing consumers to choose which telephone company provides their regional toll calling - should be such a difficult decision. The answer is obvious when you consider the position of Bell Atlantic-Virginia, a monopoly provider of regional toll calling. Ironically, as this Baby Bell fights in the name of competition to expand its business into video services and long distance, it is seeking to prevent and delay competition for both regional toll calling and local phone service - all in the name of securing its monopoly profits.
The long distance industry - which once, too, was controlled by a single monopoly - provides a shining example of how competition has already delivered the benefits of choice. Since the breakup of the AT&T monopoly in 1984, long-distance rates have fallen 66 percent while services have improved dramatically. Competition to provide long-distance service has also fueled the effort to develop better networks, bringing technology into the homes of Americans. In fact, in many ways the ``information superhighway'' is a byproduct of such competition along with the desire to deliver the best service.
American consumers enjoy customer choice for almost every product and service they purchase. Telephone service should be no exception. During the summer, both New Jersey and Oklahoma authorized competition in their regional toll-calling markets, leaving Virginia the only state east of the Mississippi, and one of only two states in the entire country, without competition in this market. Long-distance companies, like MCI, believe Virginians should have a choice in who provides their regional toll calling.
Other states have realized that by introducing competition to this regional toll market, rates can be expected to fall while service quality will improve. Any fear that competition in this market could prove detrimental to the state's consumers is totally unfounded in light of the positive experience of the rest of the country. Consequently, Virginia should join the rest of the country in giving consumers choice in this market.
Virginia businesses especially would benefit from regional toll-calling competition. For example, by combining their regular long-distance and regional toll calls onto one bill from one telephone company, many businesses would qualify for greater volume discounts. And as we have seen in long distance, telephone companies would surely cater to Virginia businesses through customized services and simplified billing.
These are just a few of the many benefits that competition would bring Virginia consumers.
Without the same advantages enjoyed by businesses around the rest of the country, especially in neighboring states, how can businesses in Virginia expect to compete? The time has come for Virginia to offer both residential and business customers a competitive telecommunications environment - a supermarket of service providers from which they too can reap the benefits of choice and savings. MEMO: Ms. Giadone is director of sales _ Virginia, MCI Business Markets. ILLUSTRATION: Drawing
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