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Show I Headstart on , AT&T split ; . Mountain Bell is getting a headstart on the complicated divestiture that will separate it from its parent company --' --' American Telephone and Telegraph I ; '. - on Jan. 1 of next year. I'. : The headstart means that at least '.'I temporarily, it may be more l'l complicated for both business and residence customers to deal with '. the phone company for a variety of ' 'i' services. It also means that both business and residence customers now have a decision to make . regarding which number to call for '1 their equipment, line and service needs. :-. Mountain Bell has publicized the I changes with numerous fliers, letters and charts and will continue ; ' ; to do so. Customers are encouraged 1 to save such material for future l- reference. - The adjustment period now un- - derway will continue through the ! : rest of this year and is being called -; "functional divestiture." j I "Functional divestiture means ! - we're beginning to operate as if it , : - were already January," said i Kenneth O. Hill, Utah Public - - Relations Manager for Mountain I -': Bell. "The idea is to practice I -; divestiture changes several months early, while we're all still employees em-ployees of the same company. In that way, we should be able to iron out problems more easily than we would after the split has officially occurred." Hill described the changes as a trial period aimed at making customers familiar with the splitting of duties that will come next year as a result of the court-ordered court-ordered divestiture or splitting off of the 22 Bell System companies from AT&T. Two new facilities have opened as a result of functional divestiture. An equipment sales office for business customers opened in mid-October mid-October at 1245 Brickyard Road in Salt Lake City's new Brickyard Plaza. A business and records center for residence customers opened Oct. 31 at the Metro Business Park (21st South and Redwood Road) in Salt Lake City. Bob Robison, manager of the new business location, said il houses about 170 employees. Dean Hill, manager of the new residence location, said it houses about 130 employees. Both centers may be reached via phone by customers with questions. Customers outside the Salt Lake City area should call 1-800-523-3605 for the business center; 1-800-555-8111 for the residence center. The changes will take some adjusting, ad-justing, but both Robison and Hill say the process of ordering telephone service is no more complicated than buying electrical appliances. "The simplest analogy I can think of is when you buy a refrigerator," says Robison. "First, you call the electric company, and they provide the 'juice' to your home. Then you go to the department or appliance store to buy the refrigerator." Dean Hill summed it up this way: "Divestiture will provide customers a wider variety of suppliers, products and service. That fact puts more responsiblily on those customers to be smart, thorough shoppers and to compare products and services before buying." |