telecom@ucbvax.UUCP (01/09/86)
Originally, there were three rationales used for extra charges for Touch-Tone (btw, it's no longer a trademark; after the divestiture, AT&T wanted to keep it for the equipment, and the BOCs wanted it for the service, so it was just thrown wide open): (a) to recover the direct costs and development costs; (b) to discourage everyone from switching immediately, thus creating a heavy demand for new phone sets when the old (leased) sets were still perfectly good; and (c) (the kicker) as part of the explicit policy of subsidizing basic service, the regulatory agencies decided to charge for *value received*. Thus, since people did like Touch-Tone better, it was rational to charge for it. --Steve Bellovin AT&T Bell Laboratories P.S. This is entirely unofficial; nothing I'm saying is in any way the policy of AT&T, etc.