Regulator Blasts Ads For Long Distance

Three long-distance telephone carriers should lower rates for in-state calls or change their advertising to make it clear that customers are paying more for calls within Washington, a top regulator said this week.

Marilyn Showalter, chairwoman of the three-member Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, warned AT&T, Sprint and MCI Worldcom that regulators may have to step in to protect consumers who don’t realize that new 5-, 7and 10-cents-a-minute calling plans only apply to out-of-state calls.

Customers who sign up for these deals are paying as much as 11 cents a minute for intrastate calls from such places as Vancouver to Seattle, Tacoma to Yakima and Spokane to Pullman, she said in a news release.

Officials with the long-distance companies defended their practices, saying their ads clearly state that the rates apply only to state-to-state calls.

“We feel our ads are clear,” MCI Worldcom spokesman Charlie Sutlive said.

Charles Ward, a Denver-based AT&T vice president, said it’s Washington regulators that are keeping in-state rates high by requiring long-distance carriers to pay high charges for access to the telephone network. The companies have reduced rates in other states where access fees are lower, he said.

Phone customers now can select a long-distance company for their local toll calls, which are calls made within a region such as Seattle to Olympia, Walla Walla to Wenatchee or Spokane to Yakima.

Consumers make a separate selection for their long-distance calls that go outside the local toll region, such as across the Cascade Mountains or to other states. This is the category that concerns Showalter.

She said a comparison of new long-distance plans shows how in-state rates are higher than advertised:

AT&T’s “One Rate 7 cents” plan actually costs 10 cents per minute in Washington.

Sprint’s “Nickel Nights” program actually costs 10 cents per minute.

MCI Worldcom’s “5 cents Every Day” plan actually costs 11 cents per minute.

Local author to read, sign book

Cliff Feigenbaum will be reading from “Investing with Your Values: Making Money and Making a Difference” next Saturday, Sept. 18, at Aunties Bookstore.

Feigenbaum co-authored the book along with Hal and Jack Brill, a father-and-son team based in Colorado.

“Investing with Your Values” takes a comprehensive look at social investing, the practice of deploying money in accordance with an individual’s personal values.

Social investing commands more than $1 trillion in assets.

The Feigenbaum/Brill book has sold well since its launch in May, and second printings, as well as paperback versions, are in the works.

Feigenbaum, who will also be signing copies, publishes the GreenMoney newsletter from Spokane.

The reading starts at 7 p.m. Aunties is located at Main and Washington in Spokane.

Drug, bank, food shares reliable

Most of today’s investors are happy to pay premium prices for shares of firms that promise rapid earnings growth. Value investors, by contrast, look for a margin of safety - something that will protect them if such promises aren’t met.

Tweedy, Browne American Value (1-800-432-4789; $2,500; no-load; three-year annual return: 21.52 percent) has done a good job finding stocks that offer such a margin of safety. It has been less volatile than its peers, while delivering superior gains.

Tweedy, Browne American Value manager Chris Browne has been finding good values among food service companies, large banks, and pharmaceutical firms.

“There’s no way of telling which technology companies will be on top 10 years from now,” he said. “But people will always need to eat, take medicine and keep their money somewhere safe.”

His favorites include Johnson & Johnson and American Express Co.