[comp.dcom.telecom] Collect/Third Party Billed to Cellular

bill@eedsp.gatech.edu (bill) (09/07/90)

Here's an oddity that I came up against yesterday (9/6).  It seems
that (at least for Atlanta-based cellular subscribers) it is not
possible to call a cellular subscriber collect or make a third party
billing to a cellular number.  The cellular numbers are blocked at
TSPS and will not even allow an operator to call through to the
intended "bill-ee" for a yay or nay.

This is the case for both the A and B systems here (Pactel Cellular
and Bellsouth Mobility).  Do any readers have a definitive answer why
this so?  Surely the cellco and telco know the proper number to bill
to and answer-supervision is returned, so these are not reasons to
forbid billing to a cellular subscriber.  I suspect that the real
reason has to do with petty infighting between the various telcos and
cellcos.

Along this same line, I've found that calls to 900 numbers from
cellular are blocked also (can't get a road-fix from the Jose Canseco
hotline, darn it! ;-).  Why?


Bill Berbenich, School of EE, DSP Lab
Georgia Tech, Atlanta Georgia, 30332
uucp: ...!{backbones}!gatech!eedsp!bill
Internet: bill@eedsp.gatech.edu