goldstein@debet.DEC.COM.UUCP (12/22/86)
re: Can you make your phone ring back?
In Boston, the standard u-dial-it ringback is reached by dialing 98x-abcd
where abcd is the last four digits of your telephone number and x is 0,
1, 2 or 3, depending upon which prefix in your CO you're on. You should
try them out to see which works; if you succeed, you'll get the single
tone which leads to ringback.
In some places, you dial your own number. In NJ, you dial 550 (dial tone,
rotary only:6, unless it's changed). But let's not get another of those
"763 used to stand for SMegma-3" discussions, okay?
re: are access charges optional
Keith seems to think that the FCC wouldn't compel telcos to charge
them if they reclassify packet access. Clearly he doesn't know the
first thing about the regulatory process. The access charges are
mandatory, and aren't kept by the local telco anyway. They're pooled
such that high-cost telcos (Wyoming) are subsidized by low-cost telcos
(New England, NJ, etc.). And this only affects packet nets which have
public dial-in ports (i.e., Telenet, Tymnet), not private lines, which
pay a different subsidy if they're "contaminated" by access to the
voice network (data lines aren't).
Still, the proposal is a bloody crock.
fred