Free directory assistance depends upon the state laws where you live I
believe.  A lot of "independent" phone companies serve rural Maine plus, of
course, a lot of "resellers" serve businesses I've worked for.  I've never
had trouble getting the waivers for free directory assistance wherever I am
located here in Maine.
I do worry, however, about this quick push to internet telephony in places
where broadband service isn't available and where it might not be for years.
  Wireless devices, electric utilities, special telephones, these are all
experimental devices and if access fees are eliminated we'll be casting many
of our nation's poor to the wolves.  Maine now has the best saturation of
phone service in the country because we've passed, enforced, and done
outreach for a law that gives low cost phone service to all Mainers with low
incomes.

I've lived without a phone before.  It gets harder and harder to do in
today's world of high gas prices and no public transportation in rural
areas.

Steve Hoad


posting from Windsor Maine;
Steve Hoad

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