johnl@ima.ISC.COM (John R. Levine) (11/03/88)
In article <telecom-v08i0166m01@vector.UUCP> USEREAFJ%mts.rpi.edu@itsgw.rpi.edu (Doug Scott) writes: >One quick question: How are directory assistance (DA) calls handled > in one state but between two separate LATA's? They are handled like any other toll call, e.g. they're passed to your long distance company who charge whatever they charge. Intrastate directory assistance may cost the same or different from interstate DA, depending on your state's tarriffs. That being the theory, let me comment on the practice. Here in Massachusetts, I've occasionally called DA for the other LATA, with SBS the calls showed up on the bill but were marked "free", now with Sprint they charge me. I've never figured out who was right. Furthermore, DA service areas and LATAs do not necessarily coincide. In southern New Jersey, the 609 NPA is divided into two LATAs, one including a tiny strip along the shore, the other being the rest of 609. (Why they divided 609 but not the much larger 201 is a mystery to me. The two 609 LATAs together have about half the phones of 201.) Anyway, from my beach house near Atlantic City I can dial 411 and for free get numbers for anywhere in 609 because NJ Bell has a single DA bureau for all of 609. Calling 201 DA costs money. My parents live in Princeton NJ, which is in 609 but allows free local calls to several 201 prefixes. I haven't yet seen whether I can get free DA for the free local 201 prefixes, but I doubt it. Princeton has one of the more arcane dialing setups I've seen. Various seven-digit numbers can get you: -- a local (free) intra-LATA call -- a local (free) inter-LATA call (to nearby 201) -- a toll intra-LATA call (e.g. to Camden) -- a toll inter-LATA call (e.g. to Atlantic City) -- John R. Levine, IECC, PO Box 349, Cambridge MA 02238-0349, +1 617 492 3869 { bbn | think | decvax | harvard | yale }!ima!johnl, Levine@YALE.something Rome fell, Babylon fell, Scarsdale will have its turn. -G. B. Shaw