covert@covert.enet.dec.com (John R. Covert 14-Aug-1989 2020) (08/15/89)
(A copy of the letter below is going to the names indicated here.)
Judge Harold H. Greene
Alfred Sikes, Chairman, Federal Communications Commission
Gerald Brock, Chief, Common Carrier Bureau, Federal Communications Commission
Senator Ernest F. Hollings, Chairman, Commerce, Science & Transport Committee
Senator Daniel K. Inouye, Chairman, Communications Subcommittee
Senator John Kerry, D-Mass, member, Communications Subcommittee
Rep. John D. Dingell, Chairman, Energy & Commerce Committee
Rep. Edward J. Markey, Chairman, Telecommunications & Finance Subcommittee
======================
As a consumer subscribing to the cellular telephone service offered
by NYNEX Mobile Communications in Boston, Massachusetts, I am quite
upset with the government regulations which prevent NYNEX from
offering automatic completion of incoming calls to me when I am
outside the Boston geographic area.
Cellular systems were designed by their manufacturers to allow
adjacent systems to be connected to each other, providing a
continuous nationwide cellular network, even when adjacent
systems are operated by different carriers.
NYNEX is prevented, by government regulations, from connecting to
adjacent systems. This is providing a hardship for me and other
customers, who often travel out of the NYNEX service area into
the nearby service areas of other companies. Stopgap methods of
extending service, such as "Follow-me-Roaming" are inadequate.
When I am driving from Boston to Washington, D.C., a caller trying
to reach me would have to try each of the numbers on the attached
list until locating me, and would be charged for each incomplete
call. "Follow-me-Roaming" is not a usable alternative, because it
requires me to dial a setup code as I drive from one company's area
into another -- across an invisible boundary which moves depending
upon radio conditions and cannot be known by the subscriber.
The solution is to remove the government restrictions preventing
NYNEX and other cellular telephone companies from interconnecting
their systems. In fact, I believe the government should REQUIRE
all cellular systems to be interconnected. This would allow fully
automatic operation of incoming telephone calls, as was designed
into the cellular systems and as is enjoyed by cellular customers
in Canada and European countries.
Sincerely,
John R. Covert
========================
In order to reach me while I am driving from Boston to
Washington, D.C., a caller must try each of the following
numbers, followed by my ten digit Boston number, in order
to reach me. The caller is charged for each call, even
if the call does not complete.
Allentown, NJ A 609 529-ROAM
Balto-Wash A 301 440-ROAM
B 301 382-ROAM
Bridgeport, CT A 203 856-ROAM
B 203 631-0000
Freehold, NJ A 201 513-ROAM
Hackensack, NJ A 201 960-ROAM
Haddon Hgts, NJ B 609 922-ROAM
Hartford, CT A 203 930-ROAM
B 203 631-0000
New York, NY A 212 847-ROAM
B 212 301-ROAM
Newark, NJ B 201 259-ROAM
North East, MD A 301 920-ROAM
Perth Amboy, NJ A 201 715-ROAM
Philadelphia A 215 350-ROAM
B 215 870-ROAM
Salem, NJ A 609 420-ROAM
Springfield, MA A 413 531-ROAM
B 413 539-ROAM
Trenton, NJ A 609 575-ROAM
B 609 658-ROAM
Vineland, NJ A 609 247-ROAM
B 609 226-ROAM
Washington, DC A 202 288-ROAM
B 301 382-ROAM
Wilmington, DE A 302 740-ROAM
B 215 870-ROAM