I'm sorry, but I don't have sympathy for your position. In another post in this digest issue, we learn that the phone company is losing money. Accordingly, I don't see any "rights" for non customers.
Tell your carrier to publish a phone book. Or tell your carrier to provide Directory Assistance operators 24/7 with good salaries and benefits. Obviously it would be too costly for your carrier to do so, which is how your carrier is giving you a break on price.
Sorry, but you are not a customer of "the telephone company" anymore. You chose to leave to get a better deal elsewhere.
It is absolutely not a monopoly as shown by other posts. It is a competitive business and should be able to do as it pleases. Why should it help competition take business from it? Does Macy's tell Gimbel's? If you go into a store, do they tell you if their competition has the same goods at a cheaper price?
This reminds me of when people had trouble with MCI or Sprint in their early days that they simply were told to use AT&T. In other words, AT&T had to be the one with sufficient capacity for high volume and staff (operators, customer service). MCI and Sprint had none of that, which enabled their rates to be lower.
Likewise now. Why should regular telephone customers subsidize your special needs?
As I understand it, directory publishing is not a regulated service.