mcb@presto.ig.com (Michael C. Berch) (11/12/90)
I have read, from time to time, messages in TELECOM Digest which assert that it is supposed to be toll-free for a landline telephone subscriber with flat-rate service to call any cellular subscriber in whatever the regional cellular calling area is supposed to be. The only charge is airtime to the cellular subscriber. Indeed, I call a particular cellular subscriber often (a member of my staff) and have never been charged, either from my home or office. (I assume the office calls, being business service, are billed as Zone 1.) However, last month I called him from a coin phone (PacBell, not a COCOT) and was told the call was not free. I provided a calling card number and was connected. Afterward, I dialed the PacBell operator, explained my impression of the tariff, and asked for credit. She demurred, but I convinced a supervisor (or so I thought) and was toldI would get credit. Needless to say, there was no credit on my next bill, and the call was charged as a standard call to an Oakland NXX. Can anyone shed some light on this? Does it matter with whom the cellular customer has a contract (out here, GTE Mobilnet vs. Cellular One)? Are coin phones treated differently than normal residential or business service? Michael C. Berch mcb@presto.ig.com / uunet!presto.ig.com!mcb / ames!bionet!mcb [Moderator's Note: In Chicago, calls to cellular numbers are 'local' calls, meaning one untimed unit charge applies from residence phones. From IBT payphones you still pay 25 cents. PAT]
bsherman@mthvax.cs.miami.edu (Bob Sherman) (11/14/90)
In <14638@accuvax.nwu.edu> mcb@presto.ig.com (Michael C. Berch) writes: >I have read, from time to time, messages in TELECOM Digest which >assert that it is supposed to be toll-free for a landline telephone >subscriber with flat-rate service to call any cellular subscriber in >whatever the regional cellular calling area is supposed to be. The >only charge is airtime to the cellular subscriber. A recent item in one of the communications trade publications stated that a major New England cellular provider was about to begin reversing that trend by charging the landline caller for calls made TO cell phones. In other words, if the cell phone places the call, they pay the air charges, but if a landline places the call to the cell phone, they will be charged the air charges.. If you remember back a ways, it was always that way with the old mobile phone service on vhf/uhf channels. You told the operator you wanted to place a "mobile call" and they handed you off to the mobile operator, and you gave them the YJ, JP, JL or whatever number you were calling. The costs appeared on YOUR bill. Same if you make a call through the "marine operator". Seems to me that this could cut down on some of the junk calls that are being placed via random dialing through the cell phone prefixes (in this area anyways). It will be interesting to see if the this becomes a trend, and spreads to other parts of the country. bsherman@mthvax.cs.miami.edu | bsherman@pro-exchange | MCI MAIL:BSHERMAN
dattier@ddsw1.mcs.com (David Tamkin) (11/17/90)
Bob Sherman wrote in volume 10, issue 822: | A recent item in one of the communications trade publications stated | that a major New England cellular provider was about to begin | reversing that trend by charging the landline caller for calls made TO | cell phones. | In other words, if the cell phone places the call, they pay the air | charges, but if a landline places the call to the cell phone, they | will be charged the air charges. There's a bit of a complication here. How much do I, using a landline to place a call to a cellular phone, pay for airtime? If the wireline carrier and the non-wireline carrier charge different amounts for airtime, do I pay different amounts for calling the customers of one from the customers of the other? If one acquaintance of mine uses a cell phone for business and has a package that involves prepaying for ten hours of airtime every month and then 33c peak, 20c off-peak after that, but another friend uses the cell phone principally for weekend getaways and road emergencies and has an after-hours package of no prepaid airtime, 65c peak, and 10c off-peak, do I pay the airtime rates in their packages for calling them (or perhaps nothing for calling the first person I mentioned if his/her total airtime for that billing cycle, including my call, is under the prepaid minimum)? Is it ethical or even legal for the cellular companies to tell my telco what arrangements their customers have with them? Instead, does my telco charge me some standard generic rate structure for calls to cellular phones, perhaps with various high-usage packages available for those of us (say, if we have cell phones ourselves and sometimes forward our landlines to them) who call cellular numbers a lot? There is also the matter of placing long-distance calls to cellular numbers. What I described above has to be answered again for every inter-LATA carrier. Next: suppose the caller claims that the number he or she dialed had been misrepresented to him or her as a landline, and he or she refuses to pay the airtime charge? Maybe the connection was very clear, or the caller hung up instantly upon suspecting that it was a mobile phone but still gets billed for one minute of airtime. There are a *lot* of complications here. David Tamkin Box 7002 Des Plaines IL 60018-7002 708 518 6769 312 693 0591 MCI Mail: 426-1818 GEnie: D.W.TAMKIN CIS: 73720,1570 dattier@ddsw1.mcs.com
peter@ficc.ferranti.com (peter da silva) (11/20/90)
In article <14694@accuvax.nwu.edu> bsherman@mthvax.cs.miami.edu (Bob Sherman) writes: > In other words, if the cell phone places the call, they pay the air > charges, but if a landline places the call to the cell phone, they > will be charged the air charges. The folks who want 1+ to mean "toll" are really really going to be upset over this one, since there's no way to tell by inspection if a given call is going to be to a cellular phone. Peter da Silva. +1 713 274 5180. peter@ferranti.com