THE HIGH COST OF ACCESS : LOCAL COMPUSERVE, AOL USERS PAY OR DON'T PLAY.

Byline: Laurence Darmiento Daily News Staff Writer

By computer aficionado Harold Rattner's count, more than 25 floppy disks and CD-ROMS have arrived in his mailbox over the past few years from companies hawking their on-line services.

The 79-year-old retired Water and Power employee says he'd be glad to take up some of the offers, with their lure of free hours, but there's one rather large problem.

Even though Santa Clarita boasts a highly educated young and affluent population - and higher-than-average computer use - in at least one way it appears to be at least a step behind the computer revolution.

The country's two largest on-line services, America Online and CompuServe, do not offer local access numbers to a vast majority of Santa Clarita Valley, despite its 150,000 residents.

``We are really a very burgeoning valley and there is a lot of business to be had,'' complained the Friendly Valley resident. ``Do you know how expensive it is to access them with a toll call? After 20 minutes the charges are $1.50 or $2. It's worse than long distance.''

Rattner is not the only one taking notice of the problem. Indeed, at least one local business owner says the same. And even the city, which has had a Web page for 18 months, has complained to the on-line services.

``We get asked all the time,'' said Chip Meyers, owner of The Chip, a Valencia computer business. ``It's a service that should be provided. I end up providing a general apology for the industry.''

A March 6 letter to American Online finds the city bragging about its enviable demographics - noting a $52,000 median income and 8,000 personal computer users - as it makes its case for a local number.

``To avoid toll charges and retain access to a similar service, many residents have chosen Prodigy because it provides a local access number,'' the letter states, referring to the nation's third largest on-line service.

AOL, based in Vienna, Va., and the nation's largest such service has not even acknowledged the letter. Nor has competitor CompuServe acknowledged a similar one, said Carolynn Deller, the city's information resources manager.

``Nothing, absolutely nothing,'' Deller said. ``I don't know what else we can do. We would like to have them. Toll calls are expensive.''

Meyers says he encourages customers to complain directly to the services, something Rattner says he has done several times to American OnLine with little to show for it.

``I couldn't get any answer until I finally got someone who told me I had to tell all my friends to call and request a local phone number. I figured I had to start a one-man publicity campaign,'' Rattner said.

Repeated calls by the Daily News to CompuServe Information Services, based in Columbus, Ohio, went unanswered last week.

AOL, meanwhile, researched the matter for a week but a spokeswoman was ultimately unable to explain why the valley has no local access number - or when it might get one.

``We are adding numbers and locations all the time, but I don't know of a set schedule,'' said spokeswoman Kathy Johnson, who apologized for the lack of information.

She added local residents can use the company's 800 number, but acknowledged it carries a 10 cent per minute surcharge.

Meyers said one answer may be that the major commercial services already think the area does have a local access number, since in certain sections of Newhall some 818 area code numbers are local calls.

Rattner, meanwhile, thinks it's the long, odd shape and large size of the 805 area code. There are local access numbers within the area code for AOL, but they are toll cars for valley residents, he said.

Deller says that in the meantime several services that provide direct access to the Internet are now available in the Santa Clarita Valley.

She recommended residents sign up with one of them.

While they don't have the proprietary content of AOL, they do provide access to the city's Web page, and the rest of the burgeoning World Wide Web, which some experts think may one day completely subsume the commercial services.

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Photo: Harold Rattner has been trying to get CompuServe and America Online to create a local access number for the Santa Clarita Valley.

John Lazar/Special to the Daily News