Practically everyone we know is confused， even angry， by<br >what has happened to the telephone. That familiar service used<br >to be brought to you by one of the most boringly dependable<br >institutions on earth， the American Telephone & Telegraph<br >Company--Ma Bell and her many children. The phone worked<br >when you picked up the receiver. Your relatives on the far side<br >of the country sounded as clear on the phone as someone across<br >town. When you had a problem， which was almost never， a<br >smiling repair person in a shiny truck with the bell on the side<br > quickly appeared. He or she didn t charge.<br > Today everything appears to have changed， for AT&T， the<br > telephone company， has been broken up. Now the consumer<br > who once got everything from a single entity is faced with<br > buying or leasing phones from one company， placing local calls<br > with a second， relying on one or more additional companies for<br > long-distance service， and requiring the assistance of still oth-<br > ers， should the phones need repair. While long-distance rates<br >