American Telephone & Telegraph plans to offer...

American Telephone & Telegraph plans to offer a new nationwide phone service that would give consumers electronic access to information from a wide array of businesses. Callers would reach the AT&T; service, called AT&T; MultiQuest, by dialing 1-900 followed by a seven-digit number. They would pay a flat rate from anywhere in the country to get information on legal, medical or financial matters and could communicate with computer databases or facsimile machines simply by using their push-button telephones. AT&T; filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission to begin the service Jan. 5.