mclek@dcatla.UUCP (Larry E. Kollar) (07/20/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0245m02@vector.dallas.tx.us> zygot!john@apple.com (John Higdon) writes: >Another item of interest: the alternative carriers have really let the >small-town user down.... > >... If you go out >of metropolitan areas, like Weed, or Baker, or Los Banos, you will find >equal access telephones with no carriers available except for Mother. >Why? Well, Sprint, MCI, Telesphere, and all the rest don't *really* >want to bother with sleepy little out-of-the-way communities. Since >only Mother has to provide universal service, why should they spend all >that money just so a few people can use their service. Well, we recently received our equal access ballots in Dawsonville, GA (404-265) along with other customers of "Standard Telephone" (an independent but all-digital telco in northeast GA). We have *five* choices: "AT&T - The Right Choice" (no kidding -- that's what it says!) MCI Sprint Southernnet Teleconnect(? ballot's at home) The ballot also has the three-digit access codes for each company, but with NO explanation of what they might be good for. Some fine print at the bottom reads (paraphrased) "some of these carriers bill you separately, unless they have made billing arrangements with us." Once again, no indication of who may have made such arrangements (besides AT&T, who has and will continue to handle our long-distance calls). 404-265 *might* have 2000 subscribers; I seem to remember reading that Standard has 15000 total subscribers in six exchanges. Dawsonville is about 60 miles from Atlanta, 30 miles into the long-distance-to-Atlanta desert, and the fastest-growing of Standard's exchanges. (I could relate a few stories about when we used to call it "Sub-Standard," but they've really grown & grown up in the last few years. An ESS in every exchange, and all that.) The thing I'm interested in is this "The Right Choice" tag. I thought that was just a motto/advertising slogan; has AT&T actually changed their name to get that on the ballots? -- Larry Kollar ...!gatech!dcatla!mclek : life BEGIN funds @ enough_to_retire < WHILE work REPEAT ;