covert@covert.enet.dec.com (John R. Covert 08-Sep-1989 2121) (09/09/89)
John Pettitt <jpp@specialix.co.uk> asks: >On another subject, does anybody know how the choice of LD carrier for >the US domestic part of international call is made ? BT have been >known to use both MCI and AT&T (I have had error recordings from both). >Do they use an others ? Is it some clever least cost system or is it >just a % split. I suspect that it's not least cost as I have had both >carriers on calls from London to Mountain View CA. The carrier for the US domestic part of the international call will be the same carrier that brings the call across the Atlantic. In order for each carrier to provide international service (AT&T, MCI, etc.) that carrier has to reach an agreement with a carrier at the other end. AT&T, MCI, etc. have each reached agreements with BTI for bringing traffic into and out of the U.K. If BT chooses an MCI circuit for the transatlantic portion of the call, it will remain on MCI for the domestic portion. I suspect, but am not sure, that BT just uses a percentage split, where the percentage of outgoing traffic offered to each carrier is the same as the percentage of incoming traffic received from that carrier. /john [Moderator's Note: Do you know whether or not the British Telecom subscriber gets any choice in the matter? That is, can they indicate by any routing code, or by going through an operator that they wish the call to be routed over AT&T or over MCI? If a subscriber makes a collect call to the USA for example, does whoever pays for the call get to select the international carrier? Or are they stuck with whoever BT routes them on? PT]
pcf@galadriel.british-telecom.co.uk (Pete French) (09/12/89)
In Message-ID: <telecom-v09i0360m04@vector.dallas.tx.us> ..... >[Moderator's Note: Do you know whether or not the British Telecom subscriber >gets any choice in the matter? That is, can they indicate by any routing >code, or by going through an operator that they wish the call to be routed >over AT&T or over MCI? If a subscriber makes a collect call to the USA for >example, does whoever pays for the call get to select the international >carrier? Or are they stuck with whoever BT routes them on? PT] I am fairly sure that our subbys are stuck with whatever BTI decides to give them. I had never heard of MCI or Sprint until I started reading this group and even now I am not quite sure who they are - as far as I can make out they own the long bits of wire in the States rather than the short bits :-) Anyway - what difference does it make who handles the call ? Surely the end result is the same...the charges are, and I dont really care who owns the bits of wire. -Pete. (In no way representing my beloved employers...) -Pete French. | British Telecom Research Labs. | "The carefree days are distant now, Martlesham Heath, East Anglia. | I wear my memories like a shroud..." All my own thoughts (of course) | -SIOUXSIE [Moderator's Note: If BT is setting the rate, then absorbing whatever small differences there may be between inter-carrier rates via AT&T and the same from MCI, that's fine. If I accept a collect call in the United States from a friend (let's say vacationing in the UK), will the charge on my Illinois Bell bill be from BT or from MCI, or AT&T, or?? PT]
covert@covert.enet.dec.com (John R. Covert 13-Sep-1989 1145) (09/13/89)
>Anyway - what difference does it make who handles the call ? Surely the end >result is the same...the charges are, and I dont really care who owns the >bits of wire. The end result isn't necessarily the same. Different carriers do provide a different quality of service. And for collect calls, the rates aren't the same for AT&T vs. MCI. >[Moderator's Note: If BT is setting the rate, then absorbing whatever small >differences there may be between inter-carrier rates via AT&T and the same >from MCI, that's fine. If I accept a collect call in the United States from >a friend (let's say vacationing in the UK), will the charge on my Illinois >Bell bill be from BT or from MCI, or AT&T, or?? PT] I can guarantee that it won't be from BTI. As has been discussed, collect calls are billed by the TERMINATING carrier, at the TERMINATING carrier's rates. If you call collect using AT&T's USA-Direct service or MCI's Call USA service, the answer is obvious. If you place the call through the originating country's international operators, the answer is not so obvious. I had a discussion with the BTI operators last night about this. They say that they just put the number into their computer and have no influence over which carrier is chosen. What we therefore don't know is how the computer routes collect calls originating through the BTI operator. What happens is going to depend on the agreements for carrying traffic that BTI has signed with AT&T, MCI, and US Sprint. It is obviously merely a small matter of programming for the billing and routing mechanism to be interconnected in a fashion which allows proper billing from AT&T if the call came on an AT&T circuit, and so on. /john
julian@bongo.uucp (julian macassey) (09/14/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0369m05@vector.dallas.tx.us>, pcf@galadriel. british-telecom.co.uk (Pete French) writes: > In Message-ID: <telecom-v09i0360m04@vector.dallas.tx.us> ..... > >[Moderator's Note: Do you know whether or not the British Telecom subscriber > >gets any choice in the matter? That is, can they indicate by any routing > >code, or by going through an operator that they wish the call to be routed > >over AT&T or over MCI? If a subscriber makes a collect call to the USA for > >example, does whoever pays for the call get to select the international > >carrier? Or are they stuck with whoever BT routes them on? PT] > I am fairly sure that our subbys are stuck with whatever BTI decides to give > them. I had never heard of MCI or Sprint until I started reading this group > and even now I am not quite sure who they are - as far as I can make out > they own the long bits of wire in the States rather than the short bits :-) > A few years ago when Sprint and MCI first offered overseas calls, I called their PR dweebs for info. I remember I called the Sprint dweeb in San Francisco. I asked if the traffic to the UK was one way or two way. Two way I was told. Do UK subscribers get a break on call pricing if British Telecom sends a UK to US call via Sprint? No, I was told. UK subscribers don't get to choose their carrier and they get to pay what BT tells them to pay. BT we can assume picks up the profit and uses for glossy annual report brochures. For the BT readers, Sprint and MCI are long distance providers. Here in the US you can choose who will route your call. Your choice is based on price and service. You can choose a "default" carrier and then select any other carrier you want on a per call basis. Sorta like Mercury except it works all over the the country and you don't need a long account number anymore. Yours Julian Macassey, n6are julian@bongo ucla-an!denwa!bongo!julian n6are@k6iyk (Packet Radio) n6are.ampr.org [44.16.0.81] voice (213) 653-4495
hrs@batavier.att.com (Herman R Silbiger) (09/14/89)
> [Moderator's Note: If BT is setting the rate, then absorbing whatever small > differences there may be between inter-carrier rates via AT&T and the same > from MCI, that's fine. If I accept a collect call in the United States from > a friend (let's say vacationing in the UK), will the charge on my Illinois > Bell bill be from BT or from MCI, or AT&T, or?? PT] All US carriers charge the same rate to a foreign administration for carrying a call. This is a US regulation, and prevents problems when multiple providers have to deal with a single entity. There is no advantage to BT, or any others, to give a routing preference. Commonly, calls are routed in proportion to their receipt in the sending country, i.e. if 80% of the calls to BT come from AT&T, and 20% from MCI, than that same proportion will be preserved on the calls from BT. Collect, or credit card calls of course are routed to the owner of the account. Herman Silbiger The above information although generally true, may have errors in the details.
JDurand@apple.com (09/15/89)
MCI now has a number you can call in most countries that will connect you directly with one of their operators. You can then complete the call in english and bill it directly to your MCI account. Jerry Durand