cram@sunpix.UUCP (Marc W. Howard) (02/02/89)
In article <4815@xenna.Encore.COM>, paradis@maxzilla.Encore.COM (Jim Paradis) writes: > In article <3419@cvl.umd.edu> sher@cvl.UUCP (C. Allen Sher) writes: > >If Sprint and MCI can lease lines from AT&T and offer them to the > >public at lower rates than AT&T, why CAN'T AT&T do it? > > Silly boy! Of course AT&T CAN offer long distance service at the > same rates that Sprint and MCI offer... but they don't HAVE to. WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG!!!!!!! AT&T must file tariff petitions with the FCC for all routes and bands (distance / time of call). This is not a quick overnight process. I've seen the tariff books before, they're huge. Thus its true that AT&T can set any rate it wishes as long as they can prove that they don't make more that X percent profit max. If AT&T sets its rates too low you can bet that the Justice Dept will be on them like hair on a gorilla. Of course, AT&T's competitors are not restriced in any way in setting prices. As soon as AT&T's drop MCI & Sprint set theirs to be lower. In short AT&T can never be the lowest in such a setup, much less responsive. AT&T has won some relief to file special tariffs quickly to prevent large accounts from being taken away from them by underpricing. Ironically, both MCI and Sprint favor changing the rules governing AT&Ts rates. They'd prefer rate caps for AT&T rather that the current rate of return system. Why? Simple, when the FCC determines that through either reduced subscriber line charges (to the LD companies, not you & me) or increased efficiency that AT&T is making too high a profit margin, the Feds order AT&T to reduce rates. Naturally MCI & Sprint follow suit. The end result is that they all make less money. Recent postings have convinced me of the excellent job Sprint has done with their commercials. I particularly remember the one comparing AT&T's lines to a scratchy 45 and Sprint's to a CD. 16 bits at 44khz sampling rate for a phone line??? 8 bits a 8khz is much closer to the mark. As far as the digital radio / fiber talk goes "BITS is BITS". Last time I looked, microwaves and light were both on the electromagnetic spectrum. Fiber optic links have their own failure modes, chief among which is "Backhoe Fade". If you can't figure this one out, note how often major train derailments cause outages for LD carriers (remember, SPRINT stood for Southern Pacific Railroad Internal Network Telecom). And fiber is a bitch to splice. Until fiber is run into everyone's house you're still at the mercy of the local telco's copper/analog links anyway. When there is a level playing field out there, then I'll put some stock in raw price comparisons. I've had no billing troubles with AT&T, the same is not true for two other companies I've used. Marc W. Howard Sun Microsystems - Graphics Products Division Raleigh, NC
unmesh@cup.portal.com (Unmesh Funda Agarwala) (02/03/89)
I'm a long term user of SPRINT and thought I'd contribute my own experience
with the carrier. Our exchange recently converted to EQUAL ACCESS, and we got
a phone call from a SPRINT representative offering as a convenience to inform
the local BELL company that SPRINT was our long distance carrier. He also
told us to use the 10333 prefix until the switchover was complete, which would
take up to two weeks.
The surprising thing was that SPRINT in the meanwhile cancelled our authoriza-
tion code, so that we could no longer use the 10333 or other prefixes! A call
to their Customer Service revealed that indeed this was standard operating
procedure in areas switching over to equal access, and that I could use their
travel feature (through an 800 number) until the transition was complete. They
did not seem to care that calls made in this way were going to cost us more
than the calls made through the local entry point into their system.
Although I was quite pissed off at this time, (especially since I'd listened
to a recording while on hold about thow they were now a full service long-
distance carrier, etc), I decided to give it another chance. A week later, I
call up the local Bell company and learn that they haven't had a request
from SPRINT yet, but if I wished, they could have me connected to SPRINT in
a day.
Needless to say, I am now an AT&T customer again, even if it means paying more.
In fact, considering the number of 1 minute calls I get billed every month on
SPRINT ("You must have let the phone ring more than 5 times"), I might even
be paying less.
I guess customer satisfaction wins after all.
-Unmesh