dheeraj@cs.umd.edu (Dheeraj Sanghi) (09/26/89)
Shamim writes: >In India the term for long distance is indeed STD. I'm not sure about >ISD, though. I may as well take this opportunity for some >reminiscences... the phone system is, of course, a government >monopoly under the Department of Posts and Telegraphs. They handle all >phone lines, trunks, telex, microwave links, etc. ISD is International Subscriber's Dialing or the direct dialing service for international long distance. Well, parts of phone system have been taken out of P & T Dept. e.g. Videsh Sanchar Nigam (Foreign Communication Corporation) handles the international calls. Separate telephone companies have been set up for phone system in Delhi and Bombay. They are called MTNL - stands for Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd. There are plans to set up MTNLs for other big cities as well. (Mahanagar is metropolitan area, Nigam is corporation.) Of course, VSN and MTNLs are government undertakings, but they have much more autonomy. There has been further liberalization. Private sector companies have now been allowed to make PABX, RABX (Rural Auto. Branch Exchange) and consumer items like telephones, answering machines etc. The customers now can hook up their own instruments. >Ah, the telephone service! Those memories... some areas in New Delhi >(where I grew up) have a waiting list of 10 years for a 'phone >connection. No DTMF dialing here, almost all the exchanges are >mechanical. (About 5 years ago a digital switch was introduced on a >trial basis - worked quite well, from what I remember.) In the summer >after almost every rainstorm thousands (I'm not exaggerating!) would >be knocked out. Now, the waiting list is more like 5 years, and the goal is to provide telephone on demand by 1995 (approx.). All the exchanges that have been installed in the last 3-4 years are digital. In fact, all exchanges that have been installed in the last year have custom calling features like call-waiting and detailed billing for your STD and ISD calls. You even get the recording from these places like "The number you have dialed is not in service" in 2 languages. (3 languages in many places outside Delhi.) There are much less problems in rainy season. They have replaced old cables by pressurized cables, which are more resistant to water-seepage, in congested areas. And yes, they have laid pipes to carry these cables, so that they don't have to dig up the road if there is a problem with the cables. The customer service is much better. The best part is that you no longer have to pay by cash or cashier's check. You can pay by personal check. You can still not mail them, but you can deposit them in almost any bank or post office. Last year the yellow pages were published for the first time in India. All this in just about 3-4 years. Three cheers for MTNL. >STD was introduced about 10 years ago, I think, and was more expensive >than the regular operator-assisted "trunk call." (To make one of those >you had to call a number and book the call at some priority, with the >cost increasing geometrically with higher priorities... it would often >be 4-6 hours for the call to go through at the affordable priorities) >The trunk call may still be cheaper than an STD call. The city codes >for STD calls are of variable length - for instance New Delhi is 11 >but smaller towns have up to 4 digits. Now, STD service has reached almost all the districts of India. The longest code is 6 digits, for a few very small towns. The smallest code is 2 digit. (Delhi - 11, Bombay - 22, Calcutta - 33, Madras - 44) The access code for STD call is 0. It used to be 9 when STD started 15 years ago, but was phased out later. (I think CCITT standards favour 0.) ISD access code is, you guessed it, 00. >Shamim Mohamed / {uunet,noao,allegra,cmcl2..}!arizona!sham / sham@arizona.edu >[Moderator's Note: 'STD' means Subscriber Trunk Dialing, for those who did >not know this abbreviation. It is a common enough phrase in some countries >which essentially means 'long distance' as we think of it here in the United >States. I might add to the above report, calling DA in India is quite a >chore at times also. I've been on 15 minutes to get a single number. PT] Well, DA is being computerized in the 3 largest cities in India, Delhi, Bombay and Calcutta. I hope that the project is over within this year. The smaller cities would be computerized soon after. In an accompanying article, I am writing about various tariffs in India. -dheeraj Dheeraj Sanghi (h):301-345-6024 (o):301-454-1516 Internet: dheeraj@cs.umd.edu UUCP: uunet!mimsy!dheeraj Marriage is the sole cause of divorce.
dheeraj@cs.umd.edu (Dheeraj Sanghi) (09/26/89)
Various Tariffs in India ------------------------ There are 4 rates for operator assisted calls. 1. Concessional half the ordinary. 2. Ordinary 3. Urgent twice the ordinary 4. Lightening 8 times the ordinary Concessional calls are really the ordinary calls that start between 10pm and 5 am (and all day Sunday, 26th Jan, 15th Aug, 2nd Oct). All operator assisted calls are measured in the units of 3 minutes. Within each rate, one has an option of person-to-person call, but if the person is not present at the other end (but somebody did pick up the phone), some small charge is made. This is to discourage use of coded messages as name of person. The most convenient way of calling is the "Fixed-Time" call. You can book a fixed time call in at least 2 hours in advance. The operator will call you at that time, and will try to connect you with the other number. You pay the "Urgent" rate, but somehow the call always goes through, while the other urgent calls (which are supposed to go through as soon as there is no lightening call) may have to wait. There is slight penalty though. You can cancel a booking until the call goes through, but not with fixed-time calls. You are charged for a minimum of 3 minutes. There is no collect calling or third-party charge. The ordinary tariffs are: (rather were, for they are 2 year old, and were revised upwards last year.) Distance (in KM) Tariff for 3 minutes. (In Rs.) up to 20 1 21-50 2 51-100 4 101-200 8 201-500 12 501-1000 20 1001 and above 24 (1 Rupee is 6 cents) I don't know the rates for operator-assisted international calls. For direct dialed calls (STD and ISD), the tariff is determined by the "pulse rate." For every "pulse", you are charged equivalent of one local call, which was 50 paise (3 cents). For STD, the pulse rate is halved during night time. (I am not too sure about this.) But there is no discount for ISD calls in the night. For STD calls the pulse frequency varies from 30 seconds (upto 20KM) to approx. 2.5 second (1001 KM and above). I don't have the detailed rates. For ISD, the things are much simpler. There are only three pulse rates. 2 sec. for Nepal, Pakistan, Sri-Lanka, Bangladesh and Maldives. 1.2 sec. for the rest of Asia, Africa, Australia, most of Europe. 1 sec. North and South America, and some countries in Europe. e.g. A one minute call to USA would cost 60 * .50 = 30 rupees (1.80$) Almost all the countries can be dialed direct, including USSR. On a quick glance, the countries that I found missing are: China, Burma, Vietnam, Combodia, North Korea, South Africa. (This list is 1 year old, and since then we might have established direct-dialing with China.) There are other tariffs. There is a 100 Rs. testing fee for private equipment. There is a 200 Rs. yearly charge for each facility on the phone (like memory dialing, push-button dialing, STD barring). There is 300 Rs. yearly charge for phones with auto-dialer facility. There is a one-time charge of Rs. 1000 for installation. There is no unlimited service for local calls. How can it be. The STD calls and ISD calls are also counted as number of local calls. The telephone "rental" is 200 Rs. for two months (The billing is bi-monthly) and you get 300 free local call. (I am not very sure about the local calling rate.) Additional local calls are 50 paise each. Calling cards (more like debit card) were introduced last year in areas served by the two MTNLs. You can buy a card for various denominations. You can use them in special phones that will accept them. These phones are located mostly near places like Airport, Railway Stations, Hospitals, and places of tourist attraction. The cost of the call is deducted and the remainder is written back on the card. By the way, there are three kinds of public telephone booths. One, from where you can only make local calls. They will only accept 2 fifty paise coins, and not 1 one rupee coin or other change. Second type is from where you can only make STD and ISD calls. These will accept only those 1 rupee coins that were made after 1980. (But that is no problem, since usually a group of these types will be manned by one guy, whose only job is to give you the correct 1-rupee coins for your bills, or older 1-rupee coins.) The third type are the ones that accept card, and are found only in Delhi and Bombay. There is no surcharge for using the public phones to make long distance calls, but local call is costlier. It is 1.00 Rupee. -dheeraj Dheeraj Sanghi (h):301-345-6024 (o):301-454-1516 Internet: dheeraj@cs.umd.edu UUCP: uunet!mimsy!dheeraj Marriage is the sole cause of divorce.
shri%ccs1@cs.umass.edu (H.Shrikumar{shri@ncst.in}) (10/04/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0409m02@vector.dallas.tx.us> dheeraj@cs.umd.edu (Dheeraj Sanghi) writes: [ much deleted .... ] >For direct dialed calls (STD and ISD), the tariff is determined by the >"pulse rate." For every "pulse", you are charged equivalent of one >local call, which was 50 paise (3 cents). For STD, the pulse rate is >halved during night time. (I am not too sure about this.) But there is >no discount for ISD calls in the night. For STD calls the pulse The DOT has introduced a quarter rate period for STD, between 10 PM and 4 AM. And the lines at that time are much better too. For ex. the packet errot rate (for UUCP traffic) seems to fall drastically for calls during this period. True, ISD calls are the same throughout the day. >can only make local calls. They will only accept 2 fifty paise coins, >and not 1 one rupee coin or other change. Second type is from where you >can only make STD and ISD calls. These will accept only those 1 rupee >coins that were made after 1980. (But that is no problem, since usually And then there are a good number of Operator assited Phone booths where a (usually) handicapped operator dials a number and accepts the money. Change is no problem with such booths too. shrikumar ( shri@ccs1.cs.umass.edu, shri@ncst.in )