BellSouth rolls out long-distance service in Georgia, Louisiana

ATLANTA - BellSouth Corporation launched long-distance service Friday in Georgia and Louisiana, hoping to lure customers who have relied on the company for local calls for years. <br> <br> BellSouth, the largest local phone provider in the Southeast, wants to offer long-distance service in each of its nine states. Federal regulators granted approval for the first two states earlier this month. <br> <br> The next step will be convincing Georgia and Louisiana customers to switch from other long-distance providers. BellSouth plans to bait them with competitive calling plans and the prospect of an easier-to-understand phone bill. <br> <br> BellSouth&#39;s chief operating officer for consumers, Valencia Adams, said ``They&#39;re looking for ease. They&#39;re looking for simplicity. The ability to have everything on one bill is absolutely an overwhelming offer for them.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Expansion into the long-distance market comes at a difficult time for BellSouth, which announced a week ago that it was cutting four-thousand to five-thousand jobs because of the weak economy, regulatory pressures and tough competition. <br> <br> The cuts represent about five percent of the company&#39;s work force. BellSouth is offering severance packages to some workers and plans to begin layoffs in July if more cuts are needed. <br> <br> BellSouth did not have an exact number of customers who signed up for long-distance service today, but said it was busy handling requests from both consumers and businesses.