TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Pacific Telesis to Take $3.3-Billion Charge: San Francisco-based Pacific Telesis Group said it will take the charge in the third quarter to more quickly write down the value of equipment as it faces competition in a deregulated California phone market. Pacific Telesis becomes the sixth of the nation’s seven regional Bell telephone companies to change accounting to allow faster depreciation of equipment and facilities. The Bells are being challenged for the $90-billion-a-year U.S. market for local phone service from long-distance phone operators and cable television companies.