Rochester is likely to be the nation's first market to give residential consumers a choice of local phone services.

For residential consumers, the effect has been stable or declining prices.

The vast majority of residential consumers make few or no long distance calls.

The commission's study showed that, over the life of the program, a residential consumer's monthly bill might increase by less than 2 percent.

One result of that was the decision last July to no longer market local phone service to residential consumers.

Sprint plans to begin offering the service to residential consumers in late 1999.

One reason people are getting frustrated with this process is because it has not worked itself down to the residential consumers.

Only a small number of residential consumers have actually switched providers.

Such equipment is generally not required to serve residential consumers.

In the late 1985s, gas was made available to residential consumers.