rakoczynskij@ncar.ucar.edu (Jurek Rakoczynski) (10/23/90)
Can anyone summarize the status of 'Alternate Telephone Service supplier'. I can only remember about some larger city (NY?) where a (cable co.?) was installing (fiber optics?) to the homes and was planning to provide alternate phone service in competion with the local telco. This was in addition to other services available on the fiber. I don't remember where I read this, but I am not confusing this with just running fiber to the homes, like in California. I remember the term 'Alternate Telephone Service' or something like that.
ehopper@ehpcb.wlk.com (Ed Hopper) (10/25/90)
asuvax!rako!rakoczynskij@ncar.ucar.edu (Jurek Rakoczynski) writes: > Can anyone summarize the status of 'Alternate Telephone Service > supplier'. I can only remember about some larger city (NY?) where a > (cable co.?) was installing (fiber optics?) to the homes and was > planning to provide alternate phone service in competion with the > local telco. This was in addition to other services available on the > fiber. I don't remember where I read this, but I am not confusing > this with just running fiber to the homes, like in California. I > remember the term 'Alternate Telephone Service' or something like > that. I recall reading the other day that a firm (in NYC I believe) recently began work on a fiber net to connect major buildings in Manhattan for bypass purposes. This venture was NOT intended to provide residential service (except perhaps to some big residential buildings on an incidental basis). I don't believe that exchange service was the objective, it was more designed to provide inter-exchange services via T-1's etc to the various LD carriers. Ed Hopper
BRUCE@ccavax.camb.com (Barton F. Bruce) (10/27/90)
In article <13970@accuvax.nwu.edu>, asuvax!rako!rakoczynskij@ ncar.ucar.edu (Jurek Rakoczynski) writes: > Can anyone summarize the status of 'Alternate Telephone Service > supplier'. I can only remember about some larger city (NY?) where a > (cable co.?) was installing (fiber optics?) to the homes and was I never heard about alternate sources of dialtone to homes, but in NYC the Teleport Communications folks (made up I believe of Merrill Lynch and PATH - Port Authority Trans Hudson Corp - the NY/NJ docks, airports, one of the subways, etc company) have a #5 ESS. Merrill Lynch bought it as a PBX but only have a piddling 13000 lines on it, so their partner in this took it over and they are selling local dialtone to potentially anyone they sell fiber bypass to. They have filed to be allowed to do it in CA, too. This is just what the local phone companies dread, but so sorely deserve. If they would only do it here in Boston in the other NYNEX territory.
johnw@uunet.uu.net (John Wheeler) (11/01/90)
asuvax!rako!rakoczynskij@ncar.ucar.edu (Jurek Rakoczynski) writes: >Can anyone summarize the status of 'Alternate Telephone Service >supplier'. I can only remember about some larger city (NY?) where a >(cable co.?) was installing (fiber optics?) to the homes and was >planning to provide alternate phone service in competion with the >local telco. This was in addition to other services available on the >fiber. I don't remember where I read this, but I am not confusing >this with just running fiber to the homes, like in California. I >remember the term 'Alternate Telephone Service' or something like >that. I was a subscriber to an 'Alternate Telephone Service' of sorts while I lived in Atlanta, for several years. An Atlanta company (now out of business) named StarTouch installed switches at several apartment complexes around town. They were working on - well, I guess a lot of loopholes. They got their trunks from Southern Bell and did their own billing, (sooner or later you got a bill, of sorts), they had an agreement with what was SouthernNet (now part of Telecom*USA?) to provide exclusive LD service. You had no choice of carriers, but they undercut the Southern Bell rate for equivalent service by 25% or so. By default, you got three-way, forwarding, call waiting, voice mail with message light (they provided hotel-type phones), personal speed dialing, and pre-programmed system speed dialing of several hundred businesses. The complex management even used the voice mail system to mass-mail messages to the tenants. The switch was made by - I believe - Solid State of Kennesaw, GA, and, worked fine 90% of the time. The problems? Well, there were occasionally not enough local trunks, or not enough LD trunks, or the system that sent the billing code to the LD carrier wasn't working, or the building power would go off and the UPS would run dry and the system go dead, or the software would glitch, and there was a certain trunk that ALWAYS sounded horrible. But, usually, it worked fine. They closed business about a year ago. Good idea, but.... John Wheeler