otto@uunet.uu.net (Otto J. Makela) (09/06/89)
On Monday, I paid a visit to the local telco people. First I talked to the
data communications guy I knew from previous visits, but after a few tricky
questions on availability of Caller ID, Call Return etc, he forwarded me to
the exchange hardware supervisor. I talked with him for quite a while and
the following came up: the city digital exchange is quite ready for Caller
ID (he actually had a phone with the display on his desk), but the private
telcos are afraid to implement stuff like this for fear of legal problems.
Also, seems that the telcos follow the lead of the Helsinki area telco, and
in that area there are lots of people who are stickier about their privacy
than "normal" subscribers. Then there's the fact that special services like
this have here traditionally been billed for activation, not pay-as-you-use
which of course limits the amount of consumers who are interested enough to
get these services. While I was there, I got the date for the next stock-
holders meeting. I'm going be there, let's see if I can't raise some dust!
--
* * * Otto J. Makela (otto@jyu.fi, MAKELA_OTTO_@FINJYU.BITNET) * * * * * * *
* Phone: +358 41 613 847, BBS: +358 41 211 562 (CCITT, Bell 2400/1200/300) *
* Mail: Kauppakatu 1 B 18, SF-40100 Jyvaskyla, Finland, EUROPE *
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