John Higdon <john@zygot.ati.com> (06/05/90)
In my CO there are eight prefixes of grossbar and four prefixes of
1ESS. I have just been informed that the 5ESS that is soon to be
installed in the office will replace only the X-bar, not the 1E.
Why? It turns out that anywhere else in the country the entire office
would be converted to the 5E, but not in California. The PUC seems to
be of the opinion that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." This
explains at least some of the backwardness of telephone technology in
California. "As long as the customer has dial tone, you're fine."
Obviously, Pac*Bell was able to convince the fools at the PUC that
unless the X-bar was replaced, customers might lose dial tone. After
all, the X-bar was installed in 1956 and one might think that 34 years
is sufficient service life. But the twenty-year-old ESS? Hell, that's
still cooking along just fine.
So while the rest of the country has ISDN, CLASS, and you-name-it, we
Californians get to pretend that we are in Bulgaria. Excuse me, that's
an unfair comparison. The Bulgarians realize it's bad and are trying
to do something about it.
John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395
john@zygot.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o !bakerj@ncar.ucar.edu> (06/06/90)
In article <8641@accuvax.nwu.edu>, john@zygot.ati.com (John Higdon) writes: > would be converted to the 5E, but not in California. The PUC seems to > be of the opinion that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." It probably has more to do with capital depreciation over the expected life cycle of the equipment, but ... > ... the X-bar was installed in 1956 and one might think that 34 years > is sufficient service life. But the twenty-year-old ESS? Hell, that's > still cooking along just fine. Certainly 34 years is a sufficient time for the equipment to fully depreciate. One would also think that 20 years is sufficient for the #1. Typical depreciation on modern digital switches is 20 years. The telco can't get rid of it before then even if they want to.
bapat@uunet.uu.net> (06/11/90)
In article <8641@accuvax.nwu.edu>, john@zygot.ati.com (John Higdon) writes: > So while the rest of the country has ISDN, CLASS, and you-name-it, we > Californians get to pretend that we are in Bulgaria. Excuse me, that's > an unfair comparison. The Bulgarians realize it's bad and are trying > to do something about it. While visiting my aunt in Alameda, CA, in the metro Bay area (415-865 exchange) I was surprised to find that I couldn't retrieve messages from my answering machine at home. The reason? My aunt's phone couldn't send out tones, as Alameda has no touch-tone service! It was shocking to know that there still are parts of major metropolitan areas which don't have tone yet. Suppose it were possible for Pac Bell to upgrade technology and pay for it solely on the basis of new, enhanced services offered, i.e. without affecting the basic subscription rate for the majority of its subscribers - why would that be a problem with the PUC? On a slightly different tack, most companies use a period of three to five years to depreciate new computer equipment down to zero. Does anyone know how long the telcos take to depreciate, say, a 4ESS? Subodh Bapat bapat@rm1.uu.net OR ...uunet!rm1!bapat MS E-204, P.O.Box 407044, Racal-Milgo, Ft Lauderdale, FL 33340 (305) 846-6068
ewv@ncar.ucar.edu> (06/13/90)
In article <8860@accuvax.nwu.edu> mailrus!uflorida!rm1!bapat @uunet.uu.net (Bapat) writes: >While visiting my aunt in Alameda, CA, in the metro Bay area (415-865 >exchange) I was surprised to find that I couldn't retrieve messages >from my answering machine at home. The reason? My aunt's phone >couldn't send out tones, as Alameda has no touch-tone service! It was >shocking to know that there still are parts of major metropolitan >areas which don't have tone yet. I lived in 415-865 in 1989 and both of my phone lines most certainly had touch tone service. They also offered all the Comm*Star (I think thats what they called it) features (call waiting, call forwarding, etc...). Perhaps the phone itself wasn't working correctly? Eric Varsanyi Cray Computer Corporation ewv@craycos.com
bakerj%mcdphx.UUCP@ncar.ucar.edu> (06/13/90)
In article <8860@accuvax.nwu.edu>, mailrus!uflorida!rm1!bapat@ uunet.uu.net (Bapat) writes: > five years to depreciate new computer equipment down to zero. Does > anyone know how long the telcos take to depreciate, say, a 4ESS? Typical depreciation of a central office would be about 20 years. \ / C r o s s r o a d s C o m m u n i c a t i o n s /\ (602) 941-2005 300-2400,9600 PEP Baud 24 hrs/day / \ hplabs!hp-sdd!crash!xroads!bakerj
DREUBEN@eagle.wesleyan.edu) (DOUGLAS SCOTT REUBEN) (06/14/90)
In regards to the June 12th message about not having Touch Tone service from the Alameda 415-865 exchange: I just called the 415-865 exchange, and it seems to be an ESS or DMS type exchange. Calling the semi-universal Bay Area busy code (xxx-1999) yielded an ESS-type busy, and calling a random 99xx number sounded like an ESS ring. I've heard of really old exchanges that have been upgraded so that they send out more "modern" busy/ring/reorder tones, but I didn't tihnk that there were any in Pac*Bell's territory in the Bay Area... Is it possible that the phone itself doesn't generate tone? Or maybe that line just didn't pay for touch tone service? I still can't tell what sort of electronic switch it is just by hearing the busy/ring signals (ie, to distinguish between a DMS-100 and 200, for example), so maybe if anyone else knows they might be able to help you figure out if it's an old (but "new" sounding) switch or the just individual phone/line. Doug dreuben@eagle.wesleyan.edu / @wesleyan.bitnet