SACRAMENTO -- — In California, where celebrities, billionaires and the rest of us prize a little privacy at home, the price of going unlisted is going up, big-time.
Though cellphone companies charge nothing for unlisted phone numbers, consumers with traditional telephones connected by wires are often paying nearly $25 a year to stay out of the phone book and directory assistance. That adds up when you consider all the other add-on charges on phone bills.
Since the state's telephone industry was largely deregulated in 2006, market leader AT&T Inc. and other operators have boosted monthly charges for unlisted numbers, all for something they're not doing -- giving out your number.
In the last year, AT&T raised its fees to $1.25 a month from 28 cents, while smaller carriers' rates climbed to as much as $1.99 from less than 30 cents.
The unlisting charge is especially onerous for low-income people, who don't have extra money to pay for their privacy, said Richard Fritz, 60, a retired postal worker in San Diego. "To me, it's reminiscent of extortion," he said. "They put me in a position where I have to pay not to have my name revealed."
Fritz said he gave up his longtime unlisted number recently "because every penny counts when I'm making $24,000 a year."
Fritz is among the estimated 40% of residential phone users in California with unlisted numbers.
Phone companies say the rates help offset other costs. But consumer groups accuse them of gouging customers.
Californians should not have to pay for privacy, a right established by the state constitution, said Paul Stephens, policy director of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a San Diego consumer education organization.
"When an individual exercises that right to privacy, there should be no charge connected with it," Stephens said.
On Tuesday the fee matter will come before the state Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee, and the sides are expected to square off. At issue is a bill to eliminate fees for unlisted phone numbers charged by phone and cable companies.
Three of California's four largest phone companies oppose the bill by Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica). The fourth and largest, AT&T, said it had yet to take a formal position.
But all of them agree that prices for having an unlisted phone number as well as other features, such as call waiting, are best set by a deregulated, competitive marketplace.
