Long-Distance Feeling : Telecommunications: Thousands of military families face problems paying for Gulf phone calls.

Just days after her 24-year-old husband was shipped off to Saudi Arabia last August, Wendy Weeks gave birth to their son. In the intervening months, the infant has come to recognize his father’s voice from the twice weekly calls the communications officer has been able to make from his military base.

However, the achievement has its price: about $2,000 in long-distance charges that Weeks, a Simi Valley insurance company secretary, is unsuccessfully struggling to pay.

“These calls were a necessity for us, and when we were talking we had no idea of the money we were spending,” said Weeks, who celebrates her 22nd birthday today. “The time just slips away very quickly.”

Weeks is among thousands of military families across the country facing financial problems brought on by the unprecedented availability of nearly 2,000 telephones within an easy drive of the battle lines in the Persian Gulf. These higher-than-usual phone bills come on top of other financial woes suffered by military families, caused in part by the loss of second incomes, increased child-care expenses and the sagging local economies around military bases.

Telecommunications officials say the portable phone systems, now carrying more than 32,000 calls per day to the United States, were installed to boost troop morale. But now that families back home are facing economic hardship, pressure is mounting in Washington to prod the phone companies to reduce toll charges and provide more lenient payment terms. Some relief may come today.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Alfred Sikes last week told U.S. long-distance carriers to push Saudi telecommunications authorities to reduce the fees--ranging from 73 cents to $1.18 per minute--that they add on to every international call.

Sikes also asked local phone companies, which handle billing for the long-distance companies, not to disconnect phone service for non-payment of war-related phone charges, except as a last resort.

Pacific Bell representatives said no phones in their regions have been disconnected for failure to pay war-related phone bills.

“It’s extraordinary for us to become involved in collection policies, but this is a major international issue that demands such actions,” explained Richard Firestone, chief of the FCC’s common-carrier bureau. “The Defense Department thinks this is important and useful to maintaining the morale of the troops. Our concern is that we don’t want the troops to run up charges that will pose even more problems for them.”

At the same time, Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.), the powerful chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, has called on American Telephone & Telegraph and the State Department to renegotiate the telephone access fees the Saudi government charges U.S. troops.

At the heart of the issue for Dingell and the long-distance carriers is the 73-cents-per-minute charge the Saudi government is charging for calls made from the portable phone systems. These systems beam calls directly from Saudi Arabia to orbiting satellites and into the U.S. long-distance network, bypassing entirely the Saudi-operated phone system.

Recognizing that its network was not involved in these calls, the Saudi government agreed to lower its customary $1.18 access fee, which is still charged for international calls made from Saudi-owned phones, to 73 cents. But Dingell and Sikes want further cuts.

MCI officials said Wednesday that they expect cooperation from the Saudi government. “The Saudis are very receptive to our concerns,” said Jerry DeMartino, vice president for sales and marketing at MCI. “They’ll probably go along with us. Certainly they’re under a lot of pressure to do so.”

AT&T; has scheduled a press conference today on the issue of phone charges from the Persian Gulf, raising speculation that the Saudi access rates will soon be lowered. Long-distance carriers said any reduction in the access fees will be passed along in the form of lower charges.

A five-minute collect call between Saudi Arabia and the United States now costs $12.70 to $13.54, depending on the carrier.

PHONING HOME Three phone companies, AT&T;, MCI Communications and Military Communications Corp., provide phone service from Desert Storm troops to the United States.

Daily calling volume: AT&T;: 25,000 MCI: 7,000 MCC: N/A Phone lines from the front lines: MCI: 320 MCC: 432 AT&T;: 1,100 Rates:

First Additional Set-up fee minute minutes per call MCI $3.03 $1.09 $5.75 AT&T; $3.19 $1.15 $2.50* or $5.75 MCC $3.19 $1.15 $5.75

*$2.50 charge is for those using AT&T;’s calling card Sources: AT&T;, MCI, MCC, Federal Communications Commission