City officials are accusing a BellSouth official of threatening that a call center employing 1,300 people would close if the Lafayette Utilities System moved forward on a telecommunications venture.

City-Parish President Joey Durel called the comments by BellSouth — quote — "economic blackmail." A BellSouth official says that such a threat was never made.

Lafayette Utilities System's plans to offer phone, cable and high-speed Internet service have drawn criticism from private companies such as BellSouth and Cox Communications and a group of residents called Fiber 411.

In a meeting with the editorial board of The Advocate newspaper in Baton Rouge last week, BellSouth Louisiana President Bill Oliver said a successful LUS project would create a monopoly in the parish.

Oliver said BellSouth would have less incentive to keep a call center in an area where it has diminished business interests.

Cingular, which employs 1,300 people in Lafayette, is 40 percent owned by BellSouth. But Oliver later wrote to the newspaper to clarify his comments.