Bermuda residents those 1-800 numbers they are currently unable to access.

But users will have to pay for the service -- at normal USA-Bermuda rates -- even though 1-800 numbers are toll-free in the United States.

Cable and Wireless acting general manager Mr. John Fuge explained yesterday that charging for the service was the only way the two companies could get an agreement with US international telephone carriers to unblock the exchange.

Cable and Wireless and the Bermuda Telephone Company stood to make a revenue increase. But the main reason for providing the "Call 400 Service'' was to meet customer demand, he said.

If the Telecommunications Commission approves the licence, it would make television and catalogue shopping easier for residents and local businesses, Mr. Fuge said.

They would simply replace the 1-800-number flashed across screens or advertised in overseas publications with 1-400, he said.

But there may be some "aggrieved'' 1-800 subscribers who do not want to ship their goods to Bermuda.

In such cases, Cable and Wireless and Telco would agree to make their numbers inaccessible from Bermuda, Mr. Fuge said.

There were currently some 1,000 1-800 numbers accessible to residents -- such as those for international airlines.

But hundreds more 1-800 numbers were inaccessible because the subscribers limited their service areas to North America, not wanting to pay the cost of including Bermuda.

The international telephone carriers in America offering 1-800 services simply block access to regions outside subscribers' areas.

So when local residents call 1-800 numbers advertised, they are often told the number cannot be dialled from Bermuda.

However, the international carriers have now agreed to unblock Bermuda's access to the numbers -- provided residents pay the regular per-minute call rate.

The Call 400 Service would be introduced on July 1 provided Technology Minister the Hon. Grant Gibbons grants the licence.

A notice of the application appeared in The Royal Gazette yesterday inviting any objectors to forward their objections to the Department of Telecommunications within 21 days.

"I don't foresee any objections,'' Telco general manager Mr. Ernest Pacheco said. "The human cry was to allow people to reach these numbers.'' Mr. Fuge said there may be some objections from retailers fearing the competition.

However, the benefits for the business community would outweigh any drawbacks, he felt.

"A lot of businesses need access to 1-800 numbers to buy products,'' he said.

"We are satisfying a need of the Bermuda public.'' Chamber of Commerce retail division head Mr. Bobby Rego said he was not planning an objection, agreeing the business community would benefit by the Call 400 Service.