The Old Ones neither helped nor hindered these long-distance human plans; time was not yet.

"He had thousands of hours and the best long-distance plan you can imagine," Mrs. Chan said.

To the extent that the new long-distance plan slows AT&T's losses in long-distance market share, it will preserve more customers to whom it can sell other services.

And just think about the number of long-distance plans that telephone companies offer.

Companies selling prepaid plans usually buy wholesale minutes from major telecommunications carriers and resell them at rates that are often lower than traditional long-distance plans.

AT&T would again be allowed to sell local phone service, while the regional Bell companies it shed under court order in 1984 could offer long-distance plans.

The American Telephone and Telegraph Company said it would offer a long-distance plan that would give customers the chance to save money on out-of-state calls.

The cable phone services, which run over high-speed Internet lines, are typically $20 cheaper than the local and long-distance plans that the Bells offer.

A crucial difference is that the current plan is also a counterattack on the regional Bell companies as they begin bundling their local service with long-distance plans.

That is why L.D.W.C. does not push people who already have long-distance plans to switch.