11.   But no matter what the parties to the dispute say, the big winner, according to many economists and consumer advocates, will be ordinary phone customers.

12.   But the phone companies anticipate the availability of more area codes in coming years, allowing millions of phone customers to have personalized numbers.

13.   But the company is still working on other motivations for current phone customers, Dimmitt said.

14.   But the Justice Department is requiring a merged McCaw to give customers the opportunity to choose long-distance carriers, just as wireline phone customers are given a choice.

15.   Competition for local phone customers, under the law, must be in place before the Baby Bells can begin to offer long-distance calling in their service areas.

16.   Consumer advocates, meanwhile, are already predicting higher monthly bills for small to moderate phone customers in the future if the deal goes through.

17.   Customers also want more services on one bill, Dimmitt said, and Bell will be able to provide that convenience to its phone customers.

18.   Earlier this month, Verizon unveiled a newly designed Web page that will make it easier for phone customers to pay bills online.

19.   Finally, he has observed that most phone customers pay much bigger subsidies to keep rural rates artificially low.

20.   In other words, the program throws away at least a dollar for every dollar it extracts from phone customers.