The printed telephone book might soon become a thing of the past in Nebraska.
Whether you love them or hate them, the "white pages" have landed on doorsteps across Lincoln for decades.
But that yearly ritual will be coming to an end.
The Nebraska Public Service Commission on Tuesday approved a waiver that will allow Windstream Communications to stop delivering printed phone books to thousands of customers in Lincoln and Southeast Nebraska and instead fulfill its directory requirement with an online listing of numbers.
That likely means that the most recent directory delivered to homes will be the last one.
Windstream spokesman Scott Morris said the printed phone book "no longer provides the same utility it once did."
"Customers are now turning less to the telephone directory and are instead looking to online and other resources for listing information,” Morris said in an email.
People are also reading…
Richard Hummer uses the telephone book to look up addresses while filling out applications at Nebraska Workforce Development on Jan. 9, 2009.
He also said that reducing the number of printed directories is better for the environment and "reduces demand on the currently strained paper supply."
One person who will miss getting a printed directory is Eric Bigham.
The Lincoln man said he likes having the directory as a backup in case he can't find a number online.
"Here’s the thing: phone books still have a place. Technology fails — it always does in one form or another (especially with consumer electronics nowadays)," the Lincoln man said.
"Paper is very redundant and will never fail — except for when it ages, gets water damage or in a fire."
Windstream will still have to print some directories and have them on hand for customers who want them, but it's unclear how many people that will be.
Morris declined to say how many landline phone customers Windstream serves in Nebraska, but according to the PSC's most recent annual report to the Nebraska Legislature, it was less than 75,000 as of Sept. 30. That was down more than 5,000 from a year earlier and down nearly 30,000 from five years ago.
Statewide, the report listed fewer than 453,000 total landline customers among all carriers. That's down from more than 1.1 million in 2002.
Windstream actually has been an outlier among the landline phone providers that are regulated by the PSC when it comes to printed directories.
The other two, CenturyLink and Frontier Communications, sought and received permission years ago to stop delivering directories to their Nebraska customers unless they request them.
PSC spokeswoman Deb Collins said the commission has "not been made aware of any issues" with those companies since they began only providing printed directories to those who ask.
Windstream also is seeking to stop delivering the directories in other states where it provides service, including New York and its home state of Arkansas.
Ret Pennell, left, and Jill Arias take a long pull of water as they cool off before delivering more telephone books on Aug. 16, 2007. Ret's secret for beating the heat is eight bottles of water a day.
The PSC is requiring the company to notify its customers through notices in their printed bills for the next six months as well as via an online notice posted in its customer portal. It also will be required to notify customers annually going forward of the availability of printed directories.
The PSC's decision may not mean the complete end of phone books coming to doorsteps, however.
Morris said Windstream works with a third-party publisher to compile and print its directories, which include not only the white pages but also a yellow pages directory of businesses that also is delivered to homes.
"It will be up to the publisher to decide if it wishes to continue printing the yellow pages," he said.
People who still want a printed phone book can go to TheRealYellowPages.com or call 800-347-1991 or 844-339-6334.
PhotoFiles: Radio days in Lincoln
Middle Earth
Sue Tidball and Larry Doerr host their radio call-in show, Middle Earth, Sunday nights from 10-11:30 on KLMS in 1974. Radio means a lot of things to a lot of people. We hope to address all of them in this edition of PhotoFiles.
On the Horn
Lincoln Amateur Radio Club member Bruce Colgrove calls out to anyone listening in 1980.
'Lincoln calling the world. Come in please.'
Lincoln Amateur Radio Club operators "ham it up" in a contest with operators throughout North America at an annual field day designed to test emergency preparedness in 1981.
All Weather, All the Time
Orval Jurgena sits at the controls of Lincoln's first weather-band station in 1979. WXM-20 was part of a then-new effort by the National Weather Service to provide up-to-the-minute weather information 24 hours a day nationwide.
Portable
Today, you can fit all the media in the world in your pocket with a smartphone. If you wanted radio on the go in 1965, you had to have a specially made hat.
Collection
Randy King shows off his impressive collection of vintage and novelty radios in his home before showcasing them at Old Time Radio Days in Nebraska City in the 1990s.
X103
This billboard in 1979 tells Lincolnites exactly where to tune for music.
Doesn't it, though?
This 1979 billboard screams out from the golden age of soft rock's past. Let's hope it stays that way.
Simply the Best
Best rock is clearly better than soft rock. The sign says so.
Life Itself
Remember this billboard from 1979? Was your life better for it?
Long Live Timmo
KTGL, 92.9 the Eagle's Joe Skar and Timmo bring the classic hits in 1996. Timmo started on the Eagle in 1991 and is still on that station today, 24 years later.
Playtime
Laurie Rutmanis (left), Cathi Kendra and Joan Swanson broadcast "Playtime," the only children's radio show in Lincoln in 1979. The show used to air on Lincoln's community radio station, KZUM, on Sunday afternoons.
Conversation Starters
Hosts Jane and Collie converse together on their radio show in 1996. The file photo in our archives did not include a name for the show. Do you remember what it was?
Aeriola Jr.
The very first consumer-priced home radio was the unfortunately named Aeriola Jr., unveiled in 1921.
Aerials in the Sky
Lincoln Amateur Radio Club member Dave Whitworth makes an adjustment in the temporary antenna farm set up just north of the Nebraska Emergency Operations Center on North 14th Street for National Field Day for ham radio operators in 1994.
Antenna Farm
Dozens of antennas fill the field near this radio monitoring station outside of Grand Island in 1930.
Ham at Home
Traffic Manager Tom Boydston makes a daily roll call of 125 radio amateurs identified with the state's 75-meter Phone Band in 1953. His impressive rig is set up in his home.
Double Ham
Bill Schauer (left) and Evan Nitz give road directions from a temporary station to citizens' band radio enthusiasts arriving for a two-day jamboree sponsored by the Lincoln Metro CB Radio Club in 1968. As many as 5,000 people showed up for the event.
Reaching Out
A ham radio operator calls out from his home in 1978.
Do it Yourself
Ray Klone, of Lincoln, inquires into purchasing his own CB at a sale in 1968.
The Interview
Stacen Goodlett (left) and Miah Gillander interview Vonnie Murphy for KZUM in 1996.
DJs take weird photos
The hits may come and go over time, but one thing on the radio is always the same: DJs take weird photos. KFRX morning DJs Kristi London and Andy Vaughn illustrate this point in 1996.
10-4
10-4, good buddies. It's time for this operator to keep movin' on down the road. Thanks for checking out this edition of PhotoFiles.
Reach the writer at 402-473-2647 or molberding@journalstar.com.
On Twitter @LincolnBizBuzz.
Matt Olberding
Business reporter
Matt Olberding is a Lincoln native and University of Nebraska-Lincoln graduate who has been covering business for the Journal Star since 2005.
