THE PARADISE PAGES HITS THE PAGES OF
PACIFIC BUSINESS NEWS

Two former GTE Hawaiian Tel employees, Terry Helper and David Akina, made front page news of the Pacific Business News paper, Hawaii’s leading Business newspaper when they took their “phone wars” to the page with the introduction of the Hawaii’s first locally owned and operated phone directory.  The two top former GTE reps rightfully saw the need for a more consumer-based and locally sensitive publication serving Hawaii’s small business community as well as it serves big business.

GTE, now known as “Verizon” since its merger with Bell Atlantic, has since experienced the Star Bulletin reported recently (Monday. November 18, 2002) that Verizon Hawaii posted a loss this year and that last month it planned to lay off 72 employees “due to increased competition and economic pressures”.  In effect, the fledgling local phone directory that began only two short years ago has risen to compete with the large, mainland-based operation.  It seems that defecting from Verizon to start their own book – one with more user-friendly features –was indeed a good idea. The new Paradise Pages features larger typeface, better printing technology, heavier paper, bolder colors and, of course, lower selling rates. 

See the full Pacific Business News article:
Phone Wars Take to The Pagel
Posted on: October 27, 2000

In a more recent PBN article, the Paradise Pages was reported to have expanded by 400 pages, a testament to the company’s success.  Verizon’s directory, meanwhile, went down 71 pages.  Listing in the Paradise Pages white section is free, and the cost of advertising in the yellow section depends on the size and color of the ads.  Advertising in the Paradise Pages is 60 to 70 percent less than the cost of advertising with their competitor.