A drive through the Mountain Farms subdivision offers no outward hint that one of the new large homes was substantially different than the others.
But at the Craig Thomson home, the family's pleas for traditional telephone service have gone unanswered for months-- until now.Not that every house in Mountain Farms had phone service from the start. One woman said when her family move in in July, US WEST told them phone service might be delayed up to two months. Yet the phone was in about two weeks after they were.
Others reported no trouble getting phones. But then there's the Thomson family.
On Aug. 9, before they were to move to Mountain Farms-- about six blocks north of their old home-- the Thomsons contacted US WEST and informed the company of the change. They asked to have their old telephone numbers transferred to the new house.
"They said there was no problem," said Thomson, who teaches applied technology at Oquirrh Hills Middle School in Riverton.
"A week later we got a call back...They said there was a problem and that there would be a two-to three-month delay from that time, before we got a phone."
The Thomsons moved into the new house on Aug. 19. But by early December, it seemed unlikely they'd have telephone service anytime soon.
"We lived there without a phone for more than a month," he said. Eventually, the inconvenience became so severe the family resorted to using a cellular phone, which Thomson estimates quintupled the monthly telephone bill.
During the month the family was phoneless, life sometimes seemed like one long busy signal.
If Thomson and his wife, Karen, went out for the evening, they would tell the baby-sitter, "Run to the neighbor's if you need to use a phone."
Thomson had customarily called his mother in Arizona once a week. "She felt as though we had basically abandoned her, that we didn't have time to visit with her anymore.
"That wasn't it at all. We just didn't have a phone."
Thomson also has children in North Carolina. They would talk at least once a week. The telephone hang-up "put a real damper on our communications," he said.
During the month of living call-lessly, "it was probably more of an inconvenience to my in-laws, because we had our number transferred to theirs, and they would get the messages.
"They felt obligated (to) get the messages to us. As a result, they were running up a mile or a mile and a half to give us the messages."
The Thomsons' son, Chad Olsen, a senior at Bingham High, works for a plumber. "His jobs are all over the valley, and he's had a hard time getting hold of his boss and vice versa" about jobs.
"That was a real inconvenience."
Their youngest, 5-year-old Rhenna, "just can't call her friend next door."
Probably the hardest hit was Brett Olsen, a seventh-grader. "He's really been inconvenienced because his best friend ended up going to Oquirrh Hills and he's at South Jordan Middle (School).
"He's lost touch with his best friend as a result of it (not having phone service)."
Even with the cellular phone, the family limited its use because of the high cost.
Craig Thomson said his wife has church callings that require using the phone. She would often go to a pay phone. It's just too expensive to use the cellular phone on a regular basis, Thomson said.
Ruefully, he remembers thinking nothing of talking on the telephone for 10 or 15 minutes at the old house. But when he talked on the cellular phone, Thomson says he got edgy after a few minutes.
US WEST told Thomson that his phone couldn't be connected because a main trunk line and many wires running alongside had been damaged. He was told that in order for the line to be fixed, it must undergo engineering changes, which required redrafting and new construction.
Thomson said he has heard than six or seven others in South Jordan were in the same fix. And perhaps surprisingly, he has no feelings of bitterness toward US WEST.
"I understand the circumstances which they're facing," he said. "I have a lot of respect for the company. They've been really convivial and gracious."
In a way, he said, he feels sorry for the utility because of all the pressure it's under to get new phones installed. Maybe some of the blame should fall on the city of South Jordan for issuing too many building permits too close together, on the assumption that US WEST would be able to get its lines in quickly enough.
"I was in touch with US WEST about two weeks ago, and they indicated it was still in drafting," Thomson said.
But Wednesday, US WEST contacted the family and said that someone in South Jordan had discontinued phone service and the utility would reroute wiring, The service was finally connected Saturday.
The Thomson family is far from alone in its problems with phone installation.
"The problem has gotten worse," said Stephen F. Mecham, chairman of the Utah Public Service Commission.
Through Oct. 31, there were 494 complaints about US WEST, with 188 unhappy about initial service and 128 calling about repairs.
"With respect to initial service, US WEST clearly has a problem...That absolutely has to be corrected," Mecham said.
"Initially, they misforecasted on the growth that Utah would experience, and the fact of the matter is that we have had high growth in the state.
"But we have had high growth for the past several years, or two or three anyway, and at some point you simply have to gear up and meet the growth."
Meacham hopes they will do that within a year or less.
US WEST is quik to acknowledge the delays. But the utility says there are some extenuating circumstances.
First is the fantastic growth the West has been experiencing. They number of US WEST telephone lines in Utah soared from 737,000 in 1990 to a predicted total somewhere near 900,000 by the end of 1994.
With more than 50,000 lines installed this year alone, the strain on the system is vast. But the problems are compounded by major organizational changes-- make that "re-engineering" in company lingo-- that US WEST is going through.
The ultimate goal of the changes is more efficient service. But while the company is actually making the switches, more and more delays are occurring.
"It's kind of ironic," concedes Duane Cooke, US WEST spokesman in Salt Lake City.
"Relatively speaking, the number of customers who have to wait is small. Roughly, and this is on average, about 95 percent of our customers get the service when they want it, and five percent have to wait some period of time."
Cooke added, "That's still very concerning for us, because the number has been growing."
Some places have worse backlogs than others.
"Off the top of my head, it seems like the Utah County area had more problems than others; also the St. George area," he said.
Why is it that a home like the Thomson's might be without a land line, while houses next door have no phone trouble? "It can depend on the specific situation," Cooke said.
"It's possible that the lines going out to that particular area have been exhausted. It kind of goes in spurts, because as the construction jobs are completed we install several lines at once, usually."
Especially in new subdivisions, some phone users have to wait longer than others, he said. But Cooke said a new program of call-forwarding, plus cash or credit to subsidize use of cellular phones, will help people cope with the wait.
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Additional Information
Easing the inconvenience
To ease the pain of slow telephone installation, US WEST recently came up with a package of offerings for people inconvenienced the same way the Thomsons have been.
They apply only to those who are likely to wait at least a week for their initial telephone line and where no temporary solutions are available.
US WEST is offering:
-Free voice messaging service
-Remote forwarding
-Credits to offset the costs of procuring cellular service.
The customer can get a credit of $200 on his US WEST account for the first month plus $150 for every succeeding month or partial month afterward until the phone is installed.
The cellular subsidy is in addition to any of the other free services.
"In situations where a customer does not choose any of the above options we've talked about, we will credit their account for $25 a month for each month," said utility spokesman Duane Cooke. The point of that is the customer may opt to get comparable services from some other provider.
"By offering these options, we hope it will help minimize the inconvenience to customers while they are waiting for service," Cooke said.