"Henry E. Schaffer" <hes@ccvr1.cc.ncsu.edu> (06/06/91)
The NC Utilities Commission gave Southern Bell permission to offer
Caller ID to customers in Raleigh, Charlotte and Burlington. This was
approved last Friday, with some restrictions that Southern Bell (a
BellSouth Company) said might keep it from offering the service. From
a Saturday Raleigh {News and Observer} story:
"The commission, in a 12 page order, ruled that Southern Bell must
provide free blocking service ... a subscriber also must have the
blocking ability when using other telephones, if he chooses, the
commission said."
This sounds like free per-line and per-call blocking.
The article continued:
"And customers must be notified every six months of their right to
obtain free blocking."
"Those restrictions were designed to protect a person's right to
privacy, said Jo Anne Sanford, a special deputy state attorney general
who handles utility matters."
[Moderator's Note: Same story as previous item, mostly deleted here. PAT]
"A southern Bell representative, however, said the restrictions
might keep the company from following through with plans to offer the
service to its North Carolina customers."
---------
Southern Bell had originally proposed Caller ID in Oct., 1989, said
it would decrease annoying/harassing calles and estimated the service
price as $7.50 for residences, $10 for businesses, and included no
provisions to block displays for callers who did not want their
numbers transmitted. A modification of their proposal offered
blocking to selected law enforcement and human resources agencies.
henry schaffer n c state univ