Charlie Mingo <Charlie.Mingo@f421.n109.z1.fidonet.org> (06/27/91)
I presume that by the time you read this, everyone will have heard of the service outage in Bell Atlantic territory which caused six million subscribers in seven states to lose local service for the afternoon of June 26th. (Supposedly some new software in a Baltimore switch caused the CCN7 signalling between local CO's to misbehave.) In spite of the local service outage, people could still place (and receive) long-distance calls, and the local TV station was advising viewers to use MCI's access code (10222) to call local numbers via "long distance". I tried it and it worked, but I wondered if it was legal for MCI to carry intra-LATA calls. Didn't John Higdon mention that all IXC's (other than ThriftyTel) should reject intra-LATA calls, or does this restriction apply only to AT&T? Note that MCI would reject local calls within my own area code (202), but would connect me to local numbers in 703 and 301.
Sean Williams <0004715238@mcimail.com> (06/27/91)
Charlie Mingo <Charlie.Mingo@f421.n109.z1.fidonet.org> writes: > . . .and the local TV station was advising viewers to use MCI's access code > (10222) to call local numbers via "long distance". > I tried it and it worked. Note that MCI would reject local calls > within my own area code (202), but would connect me to local numbers > in 703 and 301. This is a technique that I have been using for some time to take advantage of the benefits of MCI's PrimeTime Plan. Calls from my home in Duncannon (717/834) to Harrisburg (717/numerous xxx's) are handled by United Telephone of PA, who charges outrageous rates because they think that there's no way anyone can call "local" long distance and avoid them. I simply prepend 10222 to all of my previously-United- handled calls, and they are billed at "MCI's low rates". This 10222 method works for calls anywhere in the area code, and was even recommended by MCI when I brought up the topic. (I can also make calls within my own exchange using 10222, but that's sorta stupid since the call is free anyway. And no, MCI doesn't charge you MCI rates for calls that would normally be free via United Telephone.) I recently called the "MCI People" regarding 10222, and they mentioned that in 99% of the state, you can replace 10222 with 1-700 (or 0-700 if you want to use your RBOC/local telco card) and achieve the same results. I guess I'm one of the other 1%, because it doesn't work here. Maybe other MCI users somewhere else would like to try? Sean E. Williams | seanwilliams@mcimail.com Spectrum Telecommunications | Have a good day! PO Box 227 | <<no disclaimer needed>> Duncannon, PA 17020-0227 | voicemail: +1 717 957 8127 [Moderator's Note: Telecom*USA has the same technique, using 0 + 700 or 1 + 700 + 7D for calls within your local area code. The problem with that here is that area 708 and 312 are very interchangeable for local calling purposes, and most of my calls are into 708. PAT]