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