Jason Evans logs onto the Internet from his Hoboken, N.J., apartment using a wireless connection rather than a telephone. He uses a cell phone to call friends and family and has no plans to install a landline. And, given the choice, he always opts for the computer over directory assistance when searching for a phone number.
"If I'm anywhere near a computer, I just go to 411.com," said Evans, a network engineer by trade.
Customers like Evans are the reason the business world is changing for phone companies such as Verizon Communications Inc., currently immersed in closely watched negotiations for a new contract with 78,000 employees.
But those same new technologies have also shifted the balance of power in any potential labor dispute away from the unions. Many people can opt for cell phones if their landline phone needs to be repaired or while they wait for new installation. Similarly, there's less reliance on directory assistance with Web-based tools such as switchboard.com. Even Verizon relies on its Web site and interactive phone software to manage customer calls with less human intervention than before.
It's more difficult for unions such as the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers to mount an action that disrupts consumers, and by extension their employer. The unions agreed early Sunday morning to continue working without a new contract because of progress in negotiations with help from a federal mediator.
Talks continued nonstop in Washington yesterday. There were reports of progress, but no immediate sign of resolution -- or of a breakdown.
If a long-term strike occurred, Verizon could see customers defect to local-phone competitors who are aggressively packaging new offers -- especially if service suffered.
"In the short term, there are a lot of competitive threats and rivals waiting in the wings, ready to capitalize on this situation," said Adam Thierer, director of telecommunications studies at the libertarian Cato Institute, a Washington think tank.
But the telecommunications world is much changed, even from three years ago when the unions staged an 18-day work stoppage at Verizon to leverage a better contract. Wireless phone and Internet access have grown enormously as alternatives to traditional phone service. Text messaging and Internet telephony are other communication options that have gained ground against the old-fashioned phone. Verizon's own extensive network, the major local phone supplier in the Northeast, is also much more sophisticated.
