21.   Industry consultant Jeff Kagan says it is naive to think the fee would somehow be absorbed without reaching phone customers.

22.   Just today it hooked up with San Francisco-based Pacific Bell, which will offer America Online content at a reduced rate to its California phone customers.

23.   Likewise, cable companies will cut prices to win phone customers -- probably more dramatically.

24.   Like Whiteside, most phone customers stay faithful to the company they know, if only because switching seems like too much trouble.

25.   Most of these people work in customer service centers, where they process requests to switch local phone customers from SBC to rival carriers.

26.   One more veil of secrecy is about to be lifted for phone customers with Caller ID.

27.   Only in large metropolitan areas, where the lure of lucrative markets might intensify competition, could the average phone customer expect to see much benefit.

28.   Phone customers who live outside New York City can pay a flat rate for unlimited local calls, an option not available to most Manhattan residents.

29.   Perhaps the biggest non-starter so far has been competition for local phone customers.

30.   Phone customers in New York state will be doubly hit as a result of state regulatory actions.