dhk@teletech.uucp (Don H Kemp) (06/05/90)
Thanks to AT&T's Consultant Liason Program: AT&T NEWS BRIEFS [All items are today's date unless otherwise noted] Monday, June 4, 1990 ABUSE CITED -- The FCC announced yesterday that it had documented widespread abuses in the operation of pay telephones and guest room phones at hotels and other institutions. An FCC audit of 971 such telephones nationwide found that more than 40 percent violated Federal regulations by failing to provide access to all long-distance carriers. ... The commission's staff will soon recommend that the five FCC commissioners overhaul current regulations to provide stricter enforcement and stiff fines. ... In many cases, a simple programming change in a hotel or motel's telephone computer system eliminates the potential for fraud, said Merrill R. Tutton, vp for consumer services at AT&T. ... New York Times, p. 36, 6/2. Also Courier News [Central N.J.], p. 1, 6/3, AP, 6/2. ... A bill that has cleared the U.S. House of Representatives and is awaiting action in the Senate ... would require all hotels and motels to provide their guests with access to any long-distance telephone company. ...[AT&T spokeswoman Gail Silver said] AT&T has agreed conditionally to pick up the cost of the modifications for each hotel. ... "The cost to modify PBX equipment is so nominal that we are proposing to underwrite the cost," [she said]. ... South Florida Business Journal, p. 1, 5/21. Don H Kemp "Always listen to experts. They'll B B & K Associates, Inc. tell you what can't be done, and Rutland, VT why. Then do it." uunet!uvm-gen!teletech!dhk Lazarus Long