Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. hopes to get an answer in July to its request for Local Plus Calling.

Southwestern Bell representatives will make their pitch in early May for the local-dialing package, which would provide subscribers unlimited calls within a regional calling area at a flat rate.

The company in February filed with the Missouri Public Service Commission its request to implement the optional calling program.

The PSC will conduct a hearing on the proposal May 4 and 5, said Amy White of Public Strategies Inc., which represents Southwestern Bell. The hearing was moved back from a March setting.

The PSC is expected to make its ruling by the first week of July, and Local Plus calling could become effective by the end of the year.

Under Local Plus, Southwestern Bell customers can sign up for what is called the Lata-wide Extended Area Service.

That calling area for Cape Girardeau customers would include St. Louis and north to New London; west to Versailles, Camdenton and Fort Leonard Wood; and south to the Arkansas line in eastern Missouri.

The proposal is in response to the many customers who have indicated they want larger calling areas, said White.

The new calling area would consist of most of the former 314 area code, which is now 573, except the Jefferson City and Columbia areas.

Local Plus would cost $30 a month for residential lines and $60 a month for business lines. It would require some network enhancements, which would take from six to nine months to complete.