AT&T is now saying many Utahns have a choice of local phone service, although it notes that it applies to only about one-third of customers along the Wasatch Front.
"Finally, a choice for local phone service," one AT&T brochure declares.
"There is competition in the areas we cover," said Randall Decker, director of marketing. "We are available along the Wasatch Front, from Logan to basically Provo. For about a third of the homes, the advanced services of AT&T Broadband are available."
Advanced services include AT&T Digital Phone, high-speed Internet service and digital cable television.
The comments about AT&T Broadband on Monday contrast with those made last week by L.J. Godfrey, vice president of law and government affairs for AT&T. Godfrey told an interim legislative committee studying phone competition that the state deserves a "D" grade for residential local phone service choice.
AT&T Broadband began offering its digital phone service in February 2000. It now is offered to 6.8 million homes in 18 metro areas of the United States.
The service is available in parts of West Valley City, Salt Lake City, Provo, Orem, South Ogden, North Ogden, Ogden, Taylorsville, South Salt Lake, Magna, Murray, Kearns, Draper, Sandy and Park City.
Barb Shelley, an AT&T spokeswoman, declined to disclose how many customers the company has in Utah, "but we're doing very well, going head-to-head with Qwest."
The service is available in several configurations, with up to four lines per household and a variety of feature options. But AT&T says a two-line package customer saves, on average, about 20 percent. The service also allows people to use the same land-line phone number when they switch service providers.
Decker said that in many other markets, customers had two or three incumbent companies, but for most Utahns, the only option has been Qwest.
"They (the customers) just want to have choice," he said. "Consumers will pit the two companies against each other to get the best deal possible, and I think we've seen that here. We've done well enough in the areas that we cover that Qwest is coming back with better offers. It has done nothing but help the consumer."
Of the top 15 digital phone markets AT&T serves, it has the highest penetration in Utah, Decker said, attributing the results to "dissatisfaction with the service they've received in the past" and pent-up demand for feature packages.
The acknowledgement that phone competition exists in the state came as no surprise to Qwest.
"Basically, competition in telecommunications does exist here in Utah and is growing every day, especially in the more heavily populated area of the Wasatch Front, where most of our customers do business," said Robin Riggs, Qwest vice president for Utah.
"In a Utah Public Service Commission report earlier this year, numbers showed an increase of 87 percent for our competitors' share of lines in the state. This is good news for the people of Utah because with competition we will see lower prices, better service and quicker availability of advanced telecommunications products."
Qwest is in the process of proving its local network is open to competition, which is one component in its attempt to get Federal Communications Commission approval to re-enter the interstate long-distance market. It cites studies that show that residential customers in Utah would save an average of $82 per year if they switch long-distance service to Qwest.
"The current marketing by AT&T is a direct response to the progress that Qwest and other local phone companies are making getting FCC approval to enter the long-distance market," Riggs said. "We've said from the beginning that long-distance re-entry will increase competition, and this is proof."
AT&T Broadband is educating customers about their local phone service options through bill notices, coverage maps in newspaper advertisements, information at the company Web site www.attbroadband.com and by calling 1-800-262-9094.
The company is offering only residential digital phone service but perhaps by September will have a plan for small businesses.
"It's the '10 lines and under' that has been neglected in this market," Decker said. "For '10 lines and over' there's a lot of competition."
E-mail: bwallace@desnews.com