The company eventually closed its consumer service in January 2001.
At the end of March the consumer services had 7.3 million subscribers, up 47 percent in a year.
But as with so many consumer services, the devil is in the fine print.
Over the same period, the share of revenue from consumer services more than doubled, to 75 percent.
But the company's chief financial officer, president for consumer services and general counsel have all been hired from the outside in recent years.
Cellular phone carriers are moving quickly to create a range of new consumer services.
Sectors with expected gains of more than 20 percent include health care, consumer services, transportation and technology.
Meanwhile, big parts of the market for consumer financial services operate without any real oversight at all.
Pacific Bell plans to introduce its consumer service later this year.
Service design can help make sure your public or consumer services are useful, efficient, effective and desirable.
