Proposal Could End Most White Pages Delivery in Minnesota

ST. PAUL (AP) - The annual arrival of a fat phone book on Minnesota doorsteps may soon be a thing of the past.

The state Public Utilities Commission has proposed letting companies provide residential phone directories electronically. They would only have to send customers a phone book if they ask for one.

Dan Wolf, the commission's executive secretary, says companies complained it took too much time, paper and money to print the White Pages. Many people threw the books in the trash or recycling as soon as they got them.

The commission has already allowed a few companies to primarily deliver their White Pages online. One of those, Frontier Communications, says it prints just a tiny fraction of the residential phone books it used to for Minnesota customers since it made the change.