covert@covert.DEC.COM (John R. Covert) (06/03/88)
> Date: Sun, 15 May 88 0:30:31 EDT > From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) <cmoore@BRL.ARPA> > Subject: proposed rate cut in western Fairfax Co., Va. > > Washington Post, Sept. 16, 1987, page B7 had an article where it > was proposed to replace the tolls from western Fairfax County, > Virginia, to Md. suburbs of Washington DC with a small flat surcharge > on one's phone bill. A specific prefix mentioned was 378 (this is > Chantilly--lumped in with Herndon--in 703 area). It was noted there > would be objections from Maryland, where it is a toll call from > Gaithersburg to northern Va. Another Post Monday "Washington Business" section article in November 1987 noted that the Virginia Corporation Commission had approved a "telephone democracy" plan to settle the matter. The gist of the story is that subscribers to C&P exchanges in Northern Virginia which are outside the Washington Metro area but inside the local calling area to DC would eventually receive ballots in the mail from C&P. They would be asked whether they would like to join the Washington Metropolitan exchange area. If they joined, their flat-rate local phone service bill would increase by some nominal amount (50 cents or $1 a month, I think). In return, about 1 million phone numbers in suburban Maryland areas which are part of the Washington Metro would be added to their local calling areas and would no longer be long distance. Presumably, dialing would be reduced from 11 digits to 7 which is technically possible since there are no prefix duplications (did they see this coming?). There's one catch: voting would be tallied by prefix. If a majority of the existing customers in your prefix voted to go Metro the whole prefix would go, whether you liked it or not. If the majority voted against joining the Metro, the whole prefix would stay non-Metro whether you liked it or not. Presumably, you could change your phone number for the usual charge if you didn't like the results in your prefix. It was unclear from the story how, if at all, non-responses might be counted. The involved prefixes are: Herndon Zone (Herndon, Sterling Park and Fox Mill CO's): 263, 378, 391, 430, 435, 437, 444, 476, 481, 689, 826, 860. Braddock Zone: 239, 250, 266, 278, 830. Engleside Zone: 339, 440, 455, 781. There are three other prefixes (Dulles 260, 661 and Lorton 690) which are local to DC but not in the Metro which are NOT affected by this since they are Contel-controlled prefixes and this is a C&P proposal. Many customers in these zones already have Metro numbers by paying Foreign Exchange charges to connect to the nearest Metro CO. Special prefixes were often set up to handle this: Herndon prefixes with Fairfax-Vienna Zone local calling area: 264, 450, 471, 478, 620, 648. Braddock prefixes with Fairfax-Vienna Zone local calling area: 631, 968. Engleside prefixes with Falls Church-McLean local calling area: no special prefixes set aside, but use 451, 569, 644, 866. Engleside prefix with Arlington-Alexandria Zone local calling area: 550. Engleside prefixes with Arlington-Alexandria Zone local calling area: no special prefixes set aside but use 355, 360, 660, 664, 765, 768, 780, 799. What exactly happens to the people paying FX charges? Do they continue paying FX charges (which I'm sure are more than $1 a month) to get basically what their neighbors are getting for 50 cents or $1? Are they forced to change their phone numbers to one of the newly-voted-in prefixes to enjoy the 50 cents or $1 monthly rate? Or are the FX charges reduced to the level of the 50 cents or $1 which the voted-in people are paying? Presumably, folks in the three affected zones would continue to enjoy the same local calling area in the opposite direction (away from DC) that they enjoy now. This means that the local calling area from Herndon would extend from Leesburg, VA, to the west to Bowie, MD, to the east, a distance of about 49 miles end to end, rivaling the Atlanta calling area previously reported. I haven't heard of any voting results yet but trying to dial suburban Maryland from a C&P 830 pay phone gives "cannot be completed as dialed" indicating no change yet. This is not the first time Virginia has allowed (or encouraged) voting by prefix to influence your phone rate structure. The previous time was also in 1987, when Contel customers in Prince William County could vote on whether their prefix would, for a fee of 50 to 80 cents (I think) per month get cut-rate long distance within Northern Virginia. (Most Contel prefixes are long distance from most C&P prefixes.) A 10-minute weekday daytime call from Dale City to Arlington, currently costing about $3.00, would cost 39 cents under the new plan. Presumably, the reverse (from C&P to Contel) would also be true, but the Post story explaining this one didn't say. I don't know what the results of the voting were. Here's the Gaithersburg part of the story: only a minority of those living outside the Metro in Northern Virginia have elected to pay FX charges to have Metro numbers. In Gaithersburg, MD, which is also just one zone outside the Metro and is local to DC, the situation is reversed. There are 8 local prefixes in the Gaithersburg Zone and ELEVEN additional FX prefixes for people in Gaithersburg who have Metro numbers. It looks like, if voting were to occur here, there'd be a substantial groundswell of support for going Metro. About 5 years ago an eccentric Maryland State Delegate (Mr. Robin Ficker) who apparently lives in the Gaithersburg Zone tried to cajole C&P Telephone into making Gaithersburg part of the Met. C&P's response, in those days before dereg, was that "even if we charge you more by expanding your local calling area, that's only half the story. People in Maryland exchanges south of DC and in Virginia exchanges would also have _you_ added to _their_ local calling areas. Should we force them to pay extra, too, when you were the only one asking for it?" Gaithersburg was never added to the Metro. Now that Virginia has set a precedent by allowing voting, maybe C&P-Maryland and Maryland regulators will have changes of heart. There are two other zones in Maryland which fit the general description of being local to DC but outside the Washington Metro: Ashton (east of Gaithersburg) and Laurel (east of Ashton). If both of these join the Metro sometime in the future, there'd be local prefix duplication across area code boundaries, a bridge to cross when one comes to it.
usenet@otishq.UUCP (Usenet login) (06/05/88)
This is to kick in some time in september! This was from Contell HQ! (I should know, I live LD from work!). _ _ ___ | | |_| _ ___________ _____ _____ __/ / | |__ _ ____ | |__ / _____/ // _ // _ // / | || || . || | /__ // / // __// ___// / / |__|_||_||__ ||__|_|/_____// __//____//____//____/ ..!daitc!otishq!highspeed |_____| /_/ "Hello Computer!" --- _ _ ___ | | |_| _ ___________ _____ _____ __/ / | |__ _ ____ | |__ / _____/ // _ // _ // / | || || . || | /__ // / // __// ___// / / |__|_||_||__ ||__|_|/_____// __//____//____//____/ ..!daitc!otishq!highspeed |_____| /_/ "Hello Computer!"