john@ucbvax.berkeley.edu (John Higdon) (03/10/89)
With all of the hoopla that PacTel Cellular is generating over its
installation of its "new digital equipment", some questions must be
raised. Having recently visited the LA area as a roamer from GTE
Mobilnet, San Francisco, it seems that the good people of southern
California are being taken for a ride.
PacTel Cellular may be the only cellular operator in the country that
charges the moment you hit the s(p)end button, whether the call is
answered or not. This means you are charged for busys, no answers,
reorders, etc. It also means that you are timed from the button push,
not from the point that the call is answered.
While I was there, about 90% of my calls failed to complete, ending in
nonsense nonsequiter recordings or reorders. When calls did actually go
through it took 20-25 seconds for ringing to *begin*, as compared to my
home system where it takes 4-5 seconds. (This extra time had nothing to
do with my roaming; subscribers to PacTel informed me that it always
takes a long time for calls to go through.)
This all appears to be the biggest legal scam I have ever seen. First,
charge for *everything*, then make sure most calls simply bomb (while
charging for the attempt), and after that take a long time to complete
calls thereby ensuring that each and every call is at least two minutes
long.
Are there any other systems in the country that are this slimy?
--
John Higdon
john@zygot ..sun!{apple|cohesive|pacbell}!zygot!johndave@rutgers.edu (Dave Levenson) (03/15/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0085m03@vector.UUCP>, decvax!decwrl!apple!zygot!john @ucbvax.berkeley.edu (John Higdon) writes: > With all of the hoopla that PacTel Cellular is generating over its > installation of its "new digital equipment", some questions must be > raised. Having recently visited the LA area as a roamer from GTE > Mobilnet, San Francisco, it seems that the good people of southern > California are being taken for a ride. > > PacTel Cellular may be the only cellular operator in the country that > charges the moment you hit the s(p)end button, whether the call is > answered or not.... Nynex mobile service, the wireline carrier here in the New York City CGSA, also charges air time for incomplete calls. But the local non-wireline carrier (MetroOne) only charges for completed calls, and only charges from when the called party answers. Ironically, the major shareholder in MetroOne appears to be Pacific Telesys! Does that mean that we really have two "wireline" cellular carriers here? -- Dave Levenson Westmark, Inc. The Man in the Mooney Warren, NJ USA {rutgers | att}!westmark!dave
donn@entropy.ms.washington.edu (Donn F Pedro) (03/17/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0085m03@vector.UUCP>, decvax!decwrl!apple!zygot!john@ucbvax.berkeley.edu (John Higdon) writes: > With all of the hoopla that PacTel Cellular is generating over its > installation of its "new digital equipment", some questions must be > raised. Having recently visited the LA area as a roamer from GTE > Mobilnet, San Francisco, it seems that the good people of southern > California are being taken for a ride. Not by Cellular One...... > PacTel Cellular may be the only cellular operator in the country that > charges the moment you hit the s(p)end button, whether the call is > answered or not. Cellular One in LA does not do this. > > > This all appears to be the biggest legal scam I have ever seen. First, > charge for *everything*, then make sure most calls simply bomb (while > charging for the attempt), and after that take a long time to complete > calls thereby ensuring that each and every call is at least two minutes > long. > > Are there any other systems in the country that are this slimy? Dont like it. Vote with your wallet!!!! When you get in the LA area contace Cellular One and setup roaming with them. Their system is reliable and their billing is fair. You do not get charged for calls not completed. > John Higdon > john@zygot ..sun!{apple|cohesive|pacbell}!zygot!john What can I say... I work for them. Donn F Pedro ................................ a.k.a. donn@mcgp1 else: {the known world}!uw-beaver!uw-enthropy!thebes!mcgp1!donn ---------------------------------------------------------------- "You talk the talk. Do you walk the walk?"
geoff@fernwood.mpk.ca.us (the terminal of Geoff Goodfellow) (03/21/89)
In reply to John Higdon's message of 10 Mar 89 on Cellular Service in LA: Pac*Tel Cellular's charging for non-completed calls finds its way directly to the bottem line. Pac*Tel's cellular operation made $16 million in profit in 1988. Count your blessings they do not sick you with a multi-dollar a day roaming fee, yet. The vast majority of cellular carriers today are really gouging roamers with multi-dollar-a-day roaming fee's. Both Cellular One (majority owned by Pac*Tel) and GTE Mobilnet here in the Bay area do. Perhaps the Cellular Industry is trying to position for a lead spot the Telecom Popularity contest, currently held by the AOS industry. I can't believe that Pac*Tel makes sure most calls bomb as you have claimed, but rather they are suffering from acute success disaster symptoms. Even at the high rates they charge, they cannot expand the system fast enough. Pac*Tel is currently in the process of ripping out all the original AT&T AutoPlex gear (ESS 1A based -- nice klunks on hand-off) and replacing it with Motorola RF and a Digital Switch based MTSO. Cellular is just to popular in spread-out Southern California. While I owned a cellular phone, i made it a practice not to patronize systems that charged for non-completed calls or gouged with daily romaing fee's. The best way to vote is with your wallet. In fact, several colleagues i know leave their portable phones at home when traveling/romaing these days. When you look at a multi-dollar a day roaming fee + 50c-85c per minute air-time + long distance (sometimes 0+ or 950-xxxx, both with their own roaming stipends tacked on), a two or three minute call home becomes a $6-$7 affair. No thanks, think i'll find a pay phone. If you're still using you cellular phone at these prices, clearly they aren't charging enough, yet. I have watched various markets gradually increase their roaming rates over the years, while not touching local rates. Philladelphia A-Carrier (non-wireline) for example, used to be $.45/peak, $.27/non-peak in the early days with no daily gratuity. Now they are $3/day and $.85/min peak-AND-non-peak. You pay the $3 daily fee whether your call completed or not. If you are driving up to NY from Washington DC and place a call on each system you pass through that'll be a $6-$7 charge per system for that one call. Some systems, like Cellular One here in the Bay Area, won't let you recieve calls as a roamer unless you place one each day, therefore incuring their $2/day roaming fee (so thought you would bring your portable along and just use it to recieve important calls). Be very careful before you press the s(p)end button and where you use your cellular phone. Geoff Goodfellow IMTS Mobile Telephone User
anon@nowhere.NADA (03/22/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0085m03@vector.UUCP> decvax!decwrl!apple!zygot!john @ucbvax.berkeley.edu (John Higdon) writes: >X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 85, message 3 of 7 >With all of the hoopla that PacTel Cellular is generating over its >installation of its "new digital equipment", some questions must be >... >PacTel Cellular may be the only cellular operator in the country that >charges the moment you hit the s(p)end button, whether the call is >answered or not. This means you are charged for busys, no answers, >... >Are there any other systems in the country that are this slimy? >John Higdon Actually, I was pretty sure that the Cellular One Service in the Baltimore/Washington are (my home area) was the only system that *did not* charge from the second you pressed the send key. Since the system here was the Motorola test and development system (and the first non-wireline system ever) I was sure they were the only ones lucky enough to get answer supervision. As it is, the BAMS (Bell Atlantic Mobil Systems) service is just as you described in this area. That is, you get charged for everytime you hit send. One interesting note, Cell One charges $0.10 per call as a "Land line access charge" whereas BAMS does not. Cell One claims thay are only passing this charge along from the phone company (Bell Atlantic). BAMS says they just don't charge it because they *are* the phone company. Sounds a little fishy to me... -brian -- Brian D. Cuthie uunet!umbc3!cbw1!brian Columbia, MD brian@umbc3.umbc.edu