State regulators press the FCC for control of rules governing 900- and 976-numbers.

California Public Utilities Commission attorneys, seeking tougher policing of 900- and 976-numbers based in California, are pressing the Federal Communications Commission to hand over controls of standards to the state.

At issue in the federal-state regulatory meetings are 900-area code services, which primarily are used to conduct polls and sell data services -- but which have been the subject of bad publicity because of their use as telephone porn lines. The PUC wants to set the standards for 900-number telephone operations between California telephone lines. But FCC guidelines that took effect Nov. 23, 1991, state that if 10 percent of a 900- or 976-number provider's business is interstate, the FCC ruling takes priority.

Industry sources estimate callers spent $1.6 billion dialing 900- and 976-prefixed numbers in 1991. Though sexually titillating messages accounted for just 2 percent of the national 900-number revenue in 1991, pressure from community groups and advertisers against newspapers that accept advertisements for the services have cut into phone sex sales.

By federal mandate, ads that solicit calls from children in response to any message (such as talking to voices of animated characters or getting children to respond to a mail-order offer) can't charge more than $2 per minute with a maximum charge per call of $4. Adult phone services -- including phone sex messages -- are limited to $5 for the first minute, $2 per subsequent minute and a $50 ceiling.

Dial-a-porn providers drew so much criticism that the PUC ruled in late 1991 that any phone company offering 900-number service had to offer a blocking option in order to be allowed to sell the service. Blocking keeps employees and children from calling 900 numbers and running up their employers'/parents' phone bills.

Pacific Bell handles more than 90 percent of the 900 calls made in Los Angeles because it is the only phone company serving Los Angeles County that offers blocking service, say industry experts.

GTE can offer its customers free blocking of 900 and 976 numbers but GTE has never provided the 900 and 976 pay-by-call services, according to Larry Cox, public affairs manager of General Telephone & Electronics of California Inc. He said some type of compromise must be reached between the California PUC and FCC to police the 900 and 976 numbers.

However, Mitch Wilk, a San Francisco-based former PUC director turned consultant, says 900-number access can be policed more effectively with strong federal standards instead of various state standards. Otherwise, sex-by-phone operations will move to other states but they still will be available to California customers.

"States should have to meet a tough federal standard. (Their) constant challenging of federal regulators has become cliche. Without federal regulation, you create 50 different jurisdictions," Wilk said.

"They (the FCC) ordered the local telephone companies to provide free blockage to each customer. But their restrictions on the messages that could be transmitted over the lines were more lenient," said Pacific Bell advisory compliance official Richard Smith.

"AT&T has installed special equipment that automatically monitors the number of 900 or 976 calls made from each line it services. When the amount exceeds $75 for a month, the company automatically sends out an advisory to the customer," Smith said.

The state charges a tax on each 900-number call and the telephone company charges the 900-number customer a set-up fee of about $1,300. Phone companies also receive a percentage of 900-number fees, say Pacific Bell officials.

Carriers collect the usage fee and the tariffs on the 900- and 976-lines. AT&T gets 15 cents for the first 30 seconds and a half cent for each second thereafter. On a two-minute call, AT&T makes 60 cents.

Patrons of the 900-numbers face a new problem: services that tease potential callers with steamy ads but don't deliver. San Francisco-based Consumer Action studied ads in "Hustler," a men's magazine with newsstand sales of 500,000.

It found 220 ads for 900-number programs in the December 1991 issue. AT&T numbers were listed in 113 ads, US Sprint in 70, MCI in 26 and Telesphere in 11. Despite racy pictures in ads for the 900-numbers, the services called by Consumer Action provided tame, non-sexual conversation.

After finishing the study, Consumer Action recommended monitoring of the 900-number industry by law enforcement officials. At the same time, Sprint announced it would drop 90 percent of its pay-per-call service. Consumer Action also is lobbying the FCC, Federal Trade Commission and Congress to more closely monitor advertising for 900-numbers.