Verizon Communications has been granted permission to stop distributing the white pages in New York, Florida and Pennsylvania. Other states that have already approved the change: Alabama, Delaware, Georgia, Indiana, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas and Wisconsin.

The reason is obvious – the internet.

These days, not only are phone books used less often, cell numbers often aren’t included in them, rendering them all but useless if the person you’re looking for belongs to the growing group of Americans who has eliminated their land line entirely.

A Gallup poll that indicated that only 11% of American households rely on the white pages.

In contrast, the yellow pages – polls quite differently, at least according to those who benefit from it. The Yellow Pages Association says that more than half of Americans still let their fingers do the walking.

In places where phone companies have stopped the mandatory distribution of the white pages, it’s still available upon request.
For the Atlanta area, see: http://www.mydirectories.att.com/