JAJZ801@calstate.bitnet (01/27/91)
An article in the local newspaper (Orange County Register,
California) mentioned that many families with relatives deployed to
the middle east for operation Desert Storm/Shield have been
experiencing humongous phone bills due to the needs and desires to
stay in contact with loved ones. The phone companies, both local and
long Distance (AT&T, any others ?) are arranging payment plans and
have no intention of cutting off service but have said that tariffs
forbid them from making the services available at special prices or
from giving them away. (How is the Desert Fax service available from
AT&T phone centers excluded from this?).
I guess the government can't allow use of military lines for this
purpose, due to operational considerations but what about government
lines that are largely idle on weekends and at night? Do these have
sufficient international capacity and would it be legal for them to be
used in this manner with some screening? Also seems like there ought
to be a way for some large volume user/aggregator with excess capacity
to resell through some non-profit operation arranged for this
purpose.
Jeff Sicherman
[Moderator's Note: The {Chicago Sun-Times} this past week mentioned a
woman living here in Chicago whose son is in the Marines in the middle
east. She got a bill from AT&T for $213 recently due to collect calls
from her son. The problem is, she lives in a Chicago Housing Authority
building and her sole income is $169 monthly from Public Aid. Several
Chicagoans, upon reading the story in the newspaper immediatly sent
checks to IBT to pay the lady's bill for her ... The excess funds are
now being held by IBT and will be applied to others in similar straits
as a result of a family member or loved one being 'over there'. I
think it would be a very generous act if members of this net would
take charge of establishing such a trust fund in their own community
to be administered by a local, recognized charity in cooperation with
the telco and an OCC. We've seen the power of this net in other ways
in the recent past; how about a concerted effort to make international
long distance affordable to our troops and their families for the
duration of the conflict?
The technical difference between the phone center FAX messages and
these other calls is that in the case of the FAXs, AT&T is the
'customer' and is paying for the transmission. They are inviting you
to come to their office and use their phone. If you use your phone
then you are the customer. PAT] floyd@ims.alaska.edu (Floyd Davidson) (01/28/91)
>[Moderator's Note: [...] >The technical difference between the phone center FAX messages and >these other calls is that in the case of the FAXs, AT&T is the >'customer' and is paying for the transmission. They are inviting you >to come to their office and use their phone. If you use your phone >then you are the customer. PAT] It went even further than that, though I don't know much of the details. AT&T leased, for use in Saudi Arabia, a portable earth station immediately after the crisis started. The FAXs were routed through the leased satellite link during off hours. Floyd L. Davidson | floyd@ims.alaska.edu | Alascom, Inc. pays me Salcha, AK 99714 | Univ. of Alaska | but not for opinions.
MCMAHON%GRIN1.BITNET@cunyvm.cuny.edu (McMahon,Brian D) (01/29/91)
Which reminds me ... again. :-) Does anyone know if MARS is still in business? MARS is/was the Military Auxiliary Radio Service (or System, I'm a bit hazy on the acronym), and provided a radio link between soldiers and the Stateside phone network. Has this service been declared outmoded, or are they still doing their good work? Brian McMahon <MCMAHON@GRIN1.BITNET> Grinnell College Computer Services Grinnell, Iowa 50112 USA Voice: +1 515 269 4901 Fax: +1 515 269 4936
faunt@cisco.com (Doug Faunt N6TQS 415-688-8269) (01/29/91)
MARS is definitely in business. The local Naval Hospital is looking for people to man the station there, to pass H&W traffic and 'phone patches to the local hospital ship, the Mercy?, deployed over there.
hburford@enint.wichita.ncr.com (Harry Burford) (02/04/91)
MCMAHON%GRIN1.BITNET (McMahon,Brian D) writes: |>Which reminds me ... again. :-) Does anyone know if MARS is still in |>business? MARS is/was the Military Auxiliary Radio Service (or |>System, I'm a bit hazy on the acronym), and provided a radio link |>between soldiers and the Stateside phone network. Has this service |>been declared outmoded, or are they still doing their good work? |>Brian McMahon <MCMAHON@GRIN1.BITNET> Grinnell College Computer Services Yes, MARS is in operation. I'm not a member, but a recent WESTLINK story (WESTLINK is a ham-radio news service) said that there was a ham that has completed over 300 phone patches so far. The story also said that SPRINT was picking up the phone bill. Try lurking on the rec.ham-radio to pick up more complete info. There is also a topic area on the ham radio forum on Compu$erve where radio frequencies are listed and this topic is more completely discussed. Harry Burford - NCR Peripheral Products Division PHONE:316-636-8016 TELEX:417-465 FAX:316-636-8889 CALL:KA0TTY SLOWNET:3718 N. Rock Road, Wichita KS C-$erve:76226,2760 SS: 9.5 Harry.Burford@Wichita.NCR.COM