
Illinois Bell Information Bulletin 
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Friday, January 23 
 
Expanded, repriced '976' announcements debut in March 
 
    The Illinois Commerce Commission has approved Illinois Bell's request to 
begin a one-year trial to expand and reprice the company's "976" public 
announcement system, now called 976 TELEPROGRAMS service. 
 
    Beginning March 2, six new one-minute telephone messages each by different 
announcement producers will be introduced -- expanding the total number of 
announcements to 24. 
 
    At the same time, a new pricing plan for the system will allow all of the 
producers, including the producer of the current series of announcements, to 
set prices for their programs between 20 and 50 cents. The new pricing struc- 
ture replaces message unit billing which was based on the distance and the 
duration of the call. 
 
    "A successful trial and regulatory approval could set off a wave of 
improved announcement features that will revolutionize the 976 TELEPROGRAMS 
service into the 1990s," said Judy Mandolini, Illinois Bell's public announce- 
ment service product manager. 
 
    "In the future, the expansion could allow businesses to announce sales or 
school officials to advise parents of school closings," she said. 
 
    In years to come, other new features might include: 
 
    o  As many as 1,000 dial-up messages that could be produced by up to 250 
       information providers. 
 
    o  Announcements as long as 30 minutes, which would reshape the type of 
       informational and entertainment programming that information providers 
       produce. 
 
    o  Producers targeting their announcements to audiences in specific 
       geographical areas. 
 
    The trial's purpose is test network features that ultimately will give 
thousands of callers simultaneous access to hundreds of new messages. 
Mandolini said Illinois Bell will begin a customer information campaign next 
month to announce the changes. Customers will be sent letters and will have 
their calls to the public announcements appear as shown charges on their 
bills. 
 
    Additionally, two toll-free 976 TELEPROGRAMS information lines, updated 
monthly, will be set up to describe the available announcements, their prices 
and the addresses and telephone numbers of the announcements' producers. 
 
