COLUMBUS - The image in the ad is a square-jawed, sledgehammer-wielding man determined to knock down a wall while cohorts cheer him on.

        The photo is from the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, but the message is somewhat less historic. It's about the wall that would-be competitors see keeping them out of the local telephone market.

        The full-page ad that ran in The Columbus Dispatch this week wasn't intended for consumers but policy-makers, a trade group veteran and a media analyst say. A spokesman for the coalition of communications companies and other businesses behind the ad says it's intended for both.

        The only company mentioned in the ad is SBC Ameritech, Ohio's largest local phone company with more than 5 million lines in service. The ad, sponsored by a group called Voices for Choices, says Ohio regulators “recently liberated local phone users” by lowering the switching fees Ameritech collects when customers change suppliers.

        However, the ad maintains that Ameritech's application to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio to double monthly leasing fees from $14 to $28 would drive competitors out of Ohio. The ad includes an Internet address, http://www.voicesforchoices.com, and an 800 number where readers can find more information.

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