Leryo Malbito <leryo@gnu.ai.mit.edu> (05/11/91)
While recently on the Pan Am Shuttle, I was examining the Airfone(r), and reading the little information card detailing it's features. Here I will reproduce some of it, indeed it got me quite agitated. THE SKY'S NO LONGER THE LIMIT WHAT IS THE AIRFONE SERVICE? The Airfone service is a PUBLIC phone designed for busy travelers who can't afford to be out of touch with their business while in the air. So the next time you need to know what's up, simply reach for the Seatfone(tm) system and get down to business! (Note: emphasis on 'public' mine.) HOW DOES THE SERVICE WORK? The Airfone service is a unique telecommuncations system operating on a network of more than 75 ground stations strategically located throughout the US and Canada. Each ground station is served by radio transmitter/receivers. These radios in turn are connected to a world-wide telephone network. An aircraft with the Seatfone(tm) system aboard is also equipped with radio transmitters/ receivers and an airborne computer. The computer assists the onboard radio in searching for the best ground station to complete your call. Once located, your call is sent via line-of-sight radio wave signals to one of the ground station radios where it is then integrated into the worldwide telephone network. WHERE CAN I MAKE A CALL? Calls may be placed while flying over the contiguous U.S., Anchorage, Alaska, Honolulu, Hawaii, the southern regions of Canada and within 200 miles of the U.S. coastline. Calls can also be placed while the aircraft is on the ground at most major airports. Aircraft flying overseas are out of range of the ground station network, therefore the system cannot complete your call. WHAT SHOULD I DO IF I EXPERIENCE A PROBLEM? Due to the nature of radio wave transmission, there may be times communication is impaired due to events such as adverse weather conditions or changes in terrain. Should you experience any difficulty, simply notify the GTE Airfone Customer Service representative by dialing "0" while in flight or 1-800-AIRFONE when you reach your destination. If you dial a wrong number, simply press the new call or dial tone button and redial the correct number. After completing your call, dial the GTE Airfone Customer Service Representative and explain what happened. Your bill will be adjusted. End Airfone ad -- all errors are mine. The rates for this service are $2.00 per minute domestic, plus $2.00 set-up. 800 numbers are also charged at domestic rates. International calls are $4.00 per minute, plus $4.00 set-up. DA is free, as is NPA info. Here is their little italicized disclaimer in what looks like two point printing: GTE Airfone Incorporated operates under an experimental developmental license issued by the Federal Communications Commision (FCC). The Airfone service is provided solely by GTE Airfone Incorporated. Liability of GTE Airfone Incorporated for failure of communications is limited to call charges only. Airfone(r), Seatfone(tm), and The Sky's No Longer The Limit(r) are trademarks of GTE Airfone Incorporated. Now, this is all very interesting, as now (on the Pan Am Shuttle, which I take just a little more than once a month round trip) they have a phone on the back of the center seat on each side, in each row. Therefore there are over 80 phones, assuming there are about 40 rows. I remember only several years ago when there was only _one_ phone per plane, and it got just about the same amount of usage! If I was to estimate the number of calls made per trip on all of the phones combined, I would come up with a number no greater than three or four. Of course this is speculation, as I admit I am probably incorrect, yet I cannot help but wonder whether it is more profitable to have so many calls, and what their estimate of maximum calls at a time per plane is; ie, how many outgoing lines they have alotted. BUT the point of my letter was not to promote GTE Airfone, rather to ask for someone to help me define 'Public'. The way the Airfone is set up now, one MUST have some sort of credit card in order to get a dial tone. Not everyone has a credit card. I feel they should at least make some sort of provision regarding the use of an AT&T card. They accept it, but you must have the actual card, not just the number. As I have memorized my AT&T card number (all four digits of it) I don't carry it around for several reasons. a) If I lose my wallet it is one less thing to cancel. b) There is less chance of someone seeing my card number. c) If I know the number, why bulk my wallet up, even if it IS only 1 mm thick? Therefore, even if I DID wish to use this service, I couldn't! (Assuming I have none of the credit cards they accept.) I am interested in anyone challenging my definition of public, or anyone from GTE (such as Robert Virzi, whom I have mailed this to also) commenting off the record, or anyone who has had more expereince with the service. Thanks, Leryo [Moderator's Note: I don't really see what the big deal is, considering nearly everyone has some credit card or another which is accepted. It might be interesting though to see them develop a coin / paper money operated device (a lot like those vending machines at the post office and the train station) which accept up to twenty dollar bills into which the money could be inserted on request following the manual connection of your call by the GTE operator. This would add a degree of anomynity to the process for those who desired it or did not have the cards. You would dial the operator, she would place the call and on reaching someone would have them hold; split the connection; get you to put in whatever you wanted for a certain number of minutes; then connect you and cut you off (or demand more money) when the time was up. Perhaps the airports could also sell pre-paid phone cards like in Europe, ie you buy a card with $10 in phone credit on it and insert that in the slot when on board. PAT]
Chip.Olson <COLSON@ecs.umass.edu> (05/14/91)
In article <telecom11.358.1@eecs.nwu.edu>, leryo@gnu.ai.mit.edu (Leryo Malbito) writes: > BUT the point of my letter was not to promote GTE Airfone, rather to > ask for someone to help me define 'Public'. The way the Airfone is > set up now, one MUST have some sort of credit card in order to get a > dial tone. Not everyone has a credit card. I feel they should at > least make some sort of provision regarding the use of an AT&T card. > They accept it, but you must have the actual card, not just the > number. I had always assumed that the reason for their insistence on the actual slab of plastic was to prevent people from, er, accidentally tucking the phone into their briefcases. Not that the phone is at all useful on the ground, of course, but there's probably plenty of people who would walk off with it just because it's not nailed down. > [Moderator's Note: I don't really see what the big deal is, > considering nearly everyone has some credit card or another which is > accepted. I'm one of the exceptions. But then again, my lifestyle isn't one that involves making phone calls from planes. :-) > It might be interesting though to see them develop a coin / > paper money operated device (a lot like those vending machines at the > post office and the train station) which accept up to twenty dollar > bills into which the money could be inserted on request following the > manual connection of your call by the GTE operator. It would be interesting, but I don't see how they could make such a machine light enough for an airline to want to put it on its planes. Profit margins in the airline industry are tight enough without things like this taking up weight capacity that could be used for fare-paying warm bodies. Chip Olson, UMass_Amherst ceo@ucs.umass.edu | colson@ecs.umass.edu
barmar@bloom-beacon.mit.edu> (05/14/91)
In article <telecom11.358.1@eecs.nwu.edu> leryo@gnu.ai.mit.edu (Leryo Malbito) writes: > BUT the point of my letter was not to promote GTE Airfone, rather to > ask for someone to help me define 'Public'. The way the Airfone is > set up now, one MUST have some sort of credit card in order to get a > dial tone. I interpret "public" as meaning that anyone is permitted to use it, but that doesn't mean everyone is *able* to use it. On the other hand, my home phone is private -- only I and people I authorize are permitted to use it. If the Airphone required you to have an account with GTE, that would make it non-public. > [Moderator's Note: ... Perhaps the airports could also sell pre-paid > phone cards like in Europe, ie you buy a card with $10 in phone > credit on it and insert that in the slot when on board. PAT] Or maybe the flight attendants could sell them right there on the plane. Then, when you get the warning that you're down to your last minute, you could call a flight attendant and buy some more time. Barry Margolin, Thinking Machines Corp. barmar@think.com {uunet,harvard}!think!barmar
meier@uunet.uu.net> (05/15/91)
In article <telecom11.358.1@eecs.nwu.edu> leryo@gnu.ai.mit.edu (Leryo Malbito) writes: > BUT the point of my letter was not to promote GTE Airfone, rather to > ask for someone to help me define 'Public'. The way the Airfone is > set up now, one MUST have some sort of credit card in order to get a > dial tone. Not everyone has a credit card. I feel they should at In Canada, the Department of Communications has defined three market areas for cordless/wireless telephony: residential; business; and public "Residential" is home use of cordless. "Business" includes wireless PBX and key systems. The term "Public" would include cellular, telepoint, and presumably Airfone. I think the FCC has a similar distinction among the three types of wireless service. Therefore, I think that you might want to take up your point with the FCC, not GTE. Since this is a trial service, your comments about payment procedures might be welcomed. I agree with the Moderator in that I don't see the big deal. Rolf Meier Mitel Corporation
johnl@iecc.cambridge.ma.us (John R. Levine) (05/15/91)
In article <telecom11.360.4@eecs.nwu.edu> is written: > I had always assumed that the reason for their insistence on the > actual slab of plastic was to prevent people from, er, accidentally > tucking the phone into their briefcases. The seat phones found in every row of air shuttle planes have a cord but still require you to physically swipe your card through a slot on the side of the phone, even if it's an AT&T card. As has been suggested elsewhere, the number of people who would be on a plane, want to make a phone call, but not have a credit card is vanishingly small. Part of the deal with the air phone seems to be that it requires no effort at all on the part of the plane crew. Any version that accepted cash or even had the flight attendants selling phone cards would be too much work. For serious airphoners (airphoneys?) GTE has a special airphone card which requires a hefty up-front fee of about $100, but gives the user a much lower per-minute rate when it is used. Also, I am pleased to report that their customer service actually seems to work. I made an airphone call, got a connection so bad I couldn't hear anything, called the airphone operator ("What?" "I said I got a bad connection." "You'll have to speak up, we have a terrible connection.") called again later, and the indeed the bad call didn't appear on my phone bill. Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.cambridge.ma.us, {spdcc|ima|world}!iecc!johnl PS: Whoever suggested that a public phone has to accept cash isn't thinking clearly. Coinless pay phones have been around for years.
"Roger B.A. Klorese" <rogerk@mips.com> (05/16/91)
In article <telecom11.360.2@eecs.nwu.edu> irvin@northstar.dartmouth. edu writes: > The main problem with this is that GTE doesn't want their AIRFONEs > walking off the plane in someone's carry-on. So, by forcing you to > use a credit card (which they lock in the base of the phone, until you > return the AIRFONE) they are making it much more difficult to steal > the phone. The new back-of-the-seat phones do not hold your card, but they are connected by a cord to the seatback. ROGER B.A. KLORESE MIPS Computer Systems, Inc. MS 6-05 930 DeGuigne Dr. Sunnyvale, CA 94088 +1 408 524-7421 rogerk@mips.COM {ames,decwrl,pyramid}!mips!rogerk
leryo@gnu.ai.mit.edu (Leryo Malbito) (05/17/91)
In TELECOM Digest V11.362 Louis Judice compares my dilemma to that of a patron of a restaurant attempting to use his memorized credit card number. Although I have somewhat toned down my argument after realizing that it didn't have much substance and thinking of several cases which disprove my point, this is not one of them. The point here is that I was talking about a telephone, not a restaurant. NY Tel Calling Card phones and AT&T calling card phones which both do not accept coins DO accept card numbers. The NY TEL phones will ONLY accept numbers, as they have no slot for coins nor for cards. All the phones in the airports I have encountered, even those which accept cards, always accept just the number. This is the case with phones. Restaurants are an incorrect analogy. Leryo