Incumbent telcos’ hold on ‘411’ directory assistance (DA) access ...

telcos didn’t own 411 but their hold on code was major obstacle for new entrants in DA marketplace. He said his company’s expansion plans in U.S. market were being hampered because there was no way it could use familiar 411 code for customer access to its services. He said his company had asked FCC to investigate competitive impact of incumbents’ 411 monopoly. But not all DA competitors agreed that 411 opening was key to competition. Dean Polnerow, pres. of Internet-based DA provider Switchboard Inc., said his company and others like it were doing well without 411 by offering value-added services. He said competitive DA market offered large choice of prices and services to customers willing “to change their minds and dialing habits.” Melissa Newman, Qwest regulatory affairs vp, said opening 411 to presubscription or other provider selection method would be costly and disruptive for incumbents while providing doubtful public benefit. She said only 20% of residential customer base used 411 regularly. She said lack of 411 hadn’t been barrier to competition since Qwest overall had lost about 50% share to DA market despite having 411 code. Jeff Carlyle of FCC Common Carrier Bureau said Telegate petition raised interesting issues: “We believe DA competition is a vital component of local exchange competition. The question Telegate raises is whether DA dialing parity is needed for DA competition. Do we need to act in this area and, if so, what do we do and who will pay for it?”