lars@salt.acc.com (Lars J Poulsen) (12/08/89)
In article <1810@accuvax.nwu.edu>, lars@salt.acc.com (Lars J Poulsen) writes: >> I am amazed that people put up with such rip-offs, and THEN talk about >> how bad GTE is. In article <1896@accuvax.nwu.edu> john@zygot.ati.com (John Higdon) writes: >Yes, but what do you pay monthly for a phone? I'll bet it's higher >than my rate. Of course, I probably actually pay more because I have >Commstar (home Centrex) which you can't get on unmeasured lines. Neah! I pay $23.50/month for two lines, one tone service with 1+ provided by ATT, and one which is supposed to be pulse-only, with 1+ dialing disabled. The two lines busy-forward to each other. This includes unlimited local calling (but not 6% sales tax). I have considered replacing the second line with a 3002 leased circuit to my place of work (my wife works there too); GTE offered at no extra cost to make the line end-to-end metallic. The distance is 3.2 miles (served by same CO) and I think I could run 56kbps on that circuit. The main reason I'm not doing it, is that I'd have to pay for a terminal server port card on the receiving end (system manager says "all ports are taken"). The cost of such a leased line would be about $150 to install and $23.50/month. I find these rates very reasonable. Especially when I read in TELECOM Digest about people that pay over $35/month for a single residential line. And I have no desire to get CommStar. I'd MUCH rather install a KX-308. I have: - one phone in the kitchen - one cordless in the master bedroom - one more in the master bedroom because my wife hates the sound quality on the cordless (Radio Shack alarm clock radio phone combo). - one phone in my study connected to the main number - one phone in the study connected to the modem line - two modems (one on each line) - an answering machine serving both lines With a Centrex service I'd have to have at least 6 lines to get what I want. That's 4 more than I have now. Even where GTE offers measured service, this would be at least $40/month. That would buy me a PBX in a year. / Lars Poulsen <lars@salt.acc.com> (800) 222-7308 or (805) 963-9431 ext 358 ACC Customer Service Affiliation stated for identification only My employer probably would not agree if he knew what I said !!
ccplumb@rose.waterloo.edu (Colin Plumb) (12/09/89)
In article <1938@accuvax.nwu.edu> Lars J Poulsen <lars@salt.acc.com> writes: > I pay $23.50/month for two lines, one tone service with 1+ provided by > ATT, and one which is supposed to be pulse-only, with 1+ dialing > disabled. The two lines busy-forward to each other. This includes > unlimited local calling (but not 6% sales tax). > I find these rates very reasonable. Especially when I read in TELECOM > Digest about people that pay over $35/month for a single residential > line. Another data point: in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, I pay $8.75 a month for pulse-only POTS, and rent (I'm a student; I'm not going to be here long enough for it to be worthwhile to buy a half-decent phone) a basic indestructible telephone (it says QSQM500AX on the bottom, along with 07-89B and "Property of Bell Canada") for $1.75. Plus 8% sales tax. These are, of course, Candian dollars, which everyone got excited about nearing $0.87 US the other day. Unlimited local calls. Calling Toronto (1.5 hours drive or so) is $21.00 an hour, $8.40 an hour after 11:00 (60% discount). I should see if I can work out a volume discount with the phone company... I call Toronto a lot. -Colin
john@zygot.ati.com (John Higdon) (12/11/89)
In article <1938@accuvax.nwu.edu> Lars J Poulsen <lars@salt.acc.com> writes: >X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 9, Issue 560, message 3 of 7 >I pay $23.50/month for two lines, one tone service with 1+ provided by >ATT, and one which is supposed to be pulse-only, with 1+ dialing >disabled. The two lines busy-forward to each other. This includes >unlimited local calling (but not 6% sales tax). Does it include: 1) FCC-mandated access charge; 2) local tax (deaf, 911, etc.? If not, it's a couple of bucks per line higher than Pac*Bell. If so, you got a bargain! >And I have no desire to get CommStar. I'd MUCH rather install a KX-308. How about both? I have six Commstar lines on my KX-T1232. The Watson lives on an extension giving it the ability to answer multiple lines. It can also "reach through" the 1232 and transfer calls to other lines, keeping it's own line free. Commstar also allows me to have a WATS line serve both me and my UUCP modems, although, come to think about it, so would the 1232. The other four lines go directly to zygot's modems, but if they lived on extensions then there could be some outgoing flexibility. Maybe it's time to rethink my telephony! (Is this enlightenment while on line, or what?!) John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@zygot.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o !
salex@central.cis.upenn.edu (Scott Alexander) (12/18/89)
I'm going to be moving to California at the beginning of the year and thus had some questions concerning the GTE vs. Pac*Bell discussions which show up periodically on this list. My impression is that Pac*Bell serves most of California with pockets being served by GTE. (And very small pockets served by independents.) How large are the pockets served by GTE? Is there any easy way to find out which company serves an area (without visiting the area)? Given all the California telephone horror stories, I'm not sure that I'm looking forward to dealing with either company. How far is Pinnacles from Pasadena? Can I get a foreign exchange line to there? :-) Scott Alexander salex@cis.upenn.edu
john@bovine.ati.com (John Higdon) (12/19/89)
Scott Alexander <salex@central.cis.upenn.edu> writes: > My impression is that Pac*Bell serves most of California with pockets > being served by GTE. (And very small pockets served by independents.) > How large are the pockets served by GTE? Is there any easy way to > find out which company serves an area (without visiting the area)? In southern California, it's not pockets but major infestations. A friend of mine who lives in that area once remarked that GTE controlled all the places in the LA Metro area that were worth living in. GTE handles the beach cities, and major areas more inland. Unfortunately, there's no easy way to tell in advance anymore. You used to be able to call a given prefix and hear that dreaded "GTE ringback", but now they're even using AT&T 1AESS switches right out of the box. You mentioned Pasadena; it's served by Pac*Bell. Or you could play it safe--come live in the Bay Area. Safe, but boring, telephone-wise. Areas to avoid: Long Beach, (or most of the beach cities), Santa Monica, West LA, Diamond Bar, most of the "Inland Empire" (San Bernardino, Ontario, etc.), Westminster. Frankly, it's a jungle down there. Pac*Bell areas include LA proper, Hollywood, Santa Ana, Pasadena, Alhambra, Orange, Anaheim. If you look at a map, you'll practically see a checkerboard pattern. > Given all the California telephone horror stories, I'm not sure that > I'm looking forward to dealing with either company. Tut, tut! If you're looking for good, reliable, plain vanilla telephone service, then Pac*Bell will do the job nicely. They are even fairly pleasant to deal with. But don't expect any CLASS features, or ISDN or anything else that is au currant. > Pinnacles from Pasadena? Can I get a foreign exchange line to there? :-) Hah! Pinnacles is up here, just south of the Bay Area! John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@bovine.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o !
jmi@devsim.mdcbbs.com, , (JM Ivler) (12/21/89)
In article <2281@accuvax.nwu.edu>, john@bovine.ati.com (John Higdon) writes: > Areas to avoid: Long Beach, (or most of the beach cities), Santa > Monica, West LA, Diamond Bar, most of the "Inland Empire" (San > Bernardino, Ontario, etc.), Westminster. Frankly, it's a jungle down ^^^^^^^^^^ > there. Pac*Bell areas include LA proper, Hollywood, Santa Ana, > Pasadena, Alhambra, Orange, Anaheim. If you look at a map, you'll > practically see a checkerboard pattern. Correction. As a resident of that area, I pay my bills to Pactel *not* GTE. I have refused to live in GTE service areas since I got out here (over 11 years ago). Westminster may have lots of problems (like half the store signs are *not* in english), but phone service is not one of them. JMI jmi@devsim.mdcbbs.com Disclaimer: If my company knew I was on NEWS I would be shot, so what makes you think that they would ever let me speak for them?
John Higdon <john@zygot.ati.com> (12/25/89)
In article <2362@accuvax.nwu.edu> jmi@devsim.mdcbbs.com, , (JM Ivler) writes: >X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 9, Issue 588, message 4 of 9 >Correction. As a resident of that area, I pay my bills to Pactel *not* >GTE. I have refused to live in GTE service areas since I got out here >(over 11 years ago). Westminster may have lots of problems (like half >the store signs are *not* in english), but phone service is not one of >them. Sorry, I could have sworn that Westminster was GTE. Not being a resident of southern California, my information comes from a variety of sources. This particular association of GTE with an area came from some conversations a couple of years ago with people concerning 976. As a result of these conversations I got the impression that should GTE ever provide generally available (no pun intended) 976 service in 714 that the call would be billed as a call to Westminster (as 213 is billed as Los Angeles, 415--San Francisco, 619--San Diego, etc. The natural assumption was that Westminster would be a GTE area. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@zygot.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o !
Eric P. Scott <epsilon@wet.uucp> (12/26/89)
In article <2281@accuvax.nwu.edu> john@bovine.ati.com (John Higdon) writes: >Pac*Bell areas include LA proper, Hollywood, Santa Ana, >Pasadena, Alhambra, Orange, Anaheim. When I moved here from Pasadena a year and some months ago there was a chunk of the city (east of Sierra Madre Villa and north of Foothill if I recall correctly) served by GTE from a Sierra Madre CO. A friend working at one of the "high tech" companies had no end of complaints about this, not the least of which was that he was literally across the street from Pac*Bell's territory even though well within Pasadena's corporate limits. Moral: Find out where the boundaries REALLY are. (Another friend found that the line ran right through his west-of-LA apartment complex, and he too was on the "wrong" side.) -=EPS=- {claris,ucsfcca,hoptoad}!wet!epsilon Fast: wet!epsilon@claris.com Cheap: cca.ucsf.edu!wet!epsilon@cgl.ucsf.edu