Why Long-Distance Call Blocking Still Happens

It’s not supposed to happen, but it does.

You drive up to a pay phone, grab a credit card to make a quick long-distance call to the office but get nowhere.

The only choice is to use the expensive local carrier.

The situation--called blocking--”is most commonly encountered at a convenience store, a gas station or somewhere the pay phone is placed outdoors,” according to Jim Haynes, president of the Atlanta-based Commercial Travelers Assn. It occurs, he said, despite a 1993 ruling by the Federal Communications Commission that made the practice illegal.

Some carriers that operate on a local or regional basis approach convenience stores or gas stations offering to install a blocked pay phone. In return, the store operator gets a share of the profits.

Haynes said the FCC ruling gave the lodging industry until 1997 to eliminate blocking and required that phones in lobbies or on the premises of hotels and motels be unblocked immediately.

“We estimate that a business traveler can spend up to six working hours a year trying to bypass illegal blocking,” Haynes said.

One reason the problem has not gone away is that enforcement is in the hands of states, which sometimes lack the resources to enforce the FCC ruling.

The Commercial Travelers Assn. has been collecting reports of blocking. More information can be obtained by calling (800) 392-2856.