Topeka — Southwestern Bell, already the dominant local-telephone service provider in most of Kansas, plans to jump into the long-distance market today.
The company hopes to attract residential long-distance customers in Kansas and Oklahoma with a package that gives them a lower rate if they purchase all local-phone, Internet and satellite-television services from Bell.
The firm calls its package "Simple Solutions," and it features a long-distance rate of 8 cents a minute.
Bell's plans already led a big competitor in the long-distance market, AT&T, to announce that it would offer customers 30 free minutes of long-distance calls within the United States if they don't switch to Bell.
Six weeks ago, the Federal Communications Commission gave Bell permission to sell long-distance service to consumers in Kansas and Oklahoma. The FCC acted under a 1996 federal law designed to end the separation between local and long-distance service providers.
Shawn McKenzie, Bell's Kansas president, promised that today would be "one celebration after another" at Bell offices.
"What we hear from Kansans over and over and over again is, 'We want to buy all our communications services from one provider,' " McKenzie said.
Bell said it would offer a long-distance rate of 10 cents a minute for calls within Kansas and outside the state, dropping that rate by 2 cents a minute if they opt for the "Simple Solutions" package. Consumers won't pay a monthly service charge, the company said.
Bell also has a similar package for businesses, bundling local and long-distance service with data services.
AT&T said it would tell customers about its free minutes of long-distance service between the time they make a call and are connected. The free minutes will show up as a credit on customers' bills.
"We found that customers loved being surprised with a reward that they can take advantage of so easily," said Leonard Mariani, vice president of consumer marketing for AT&T.
Critics of Bell's efforts to enter the long-distance market questioned whether competition in the local service market truly exists.
Bell has about 1.2 million local-service lines in Kansas, the most of any company. It has a central office at 734 Vt. in Lawrence.
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