SPGDCM@CMSA.BERKELEY.EDU.UUCP (06/11/87)
MSG:FROM: SPGDCM --UCBCMSA TO: NETWORK --NETWORK 06/11/87 13:30:06 To: NETWORK --NETWORK Network Address From: Doug Mosher <SPGDCM at UCBCMSA> Title: MVS/Tandem Systems Manager (415)642-5823 Office: Evans 257, Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 Subject: Baby Bell Credit Cards To: telecom@buit1.bu.edu As a followup to my telecom note expressing puzzlement over the coexistence of ATT and Pac Bell credit cards: UPI reports (in a 6/11/87 SF Chronicle article) that the US Justice Dept. ordered the regional co's to "immediately halt" promoting the credit cards and to advise customers that if they make calls using the cards, the calls will be carried by AT&T. The action was "the result of a competing phone system's complaint." Thanks, Doug ? Baby Bell Credit Cards
johnl@think.UUCP (06/16/87)
The Baby Bells aren't enjoined from providing calling card service, just from
promoting it. With the current state of the phone network, credit card calls
are dialed the same way for intra-lata calls billed by the BOC and inter-lata
calls billed by AT&T. This meant that for practical purposes, the BOCs were
advertising an AT&T service, and that's a sin.
Here in New England, it's fairly simple to tell where the LATA boundaries are
and so who will handle any given call (they're area code boundaries, which
are the same as state boundaries, except that there are two area codes in
Massachusetts, soon to be three but the third won't create a new LATA, and in
Connecticut there's one or two towns that have service provided by New York
Tel and so are part of the New York city LATA.) Other places, it's much
harder to tell. I challenge anyone to tell me who carries a call from New
York city to Hoboken (it's inter-LATA, but there's special case rules) or a
call from the Baltimore LATA to the Washington DC LATA when the two phones
are physically on the same exchange.
I also don't understand why all of the long distance companies don't use the
same calling card numbers. The numbers are actually issued by local operating
companies, both Bell and non-Bell, and provided to AT&T under some sort of
agreement. Surely if they can provide the numbers to AT&T, they can provide
them to MCI and Sprint. It's really stupid that I have four calling cards in
my wallet which contain three different variations on my phone number.
I'd be interested in hearing if there's any action planned for equal access
to pay phones. I know about the credit card phones found at airports; I was
more interested in regular pay phones. Is there any compelling reason that I
can make and pay for an AT&T call at a pay phone but not a Sprint call?
John Levine, ima!johnl or Levine@YALE.somethingorother
---
John R. Levine, Javelin Software Corp., Cambridge MA +1 617 494 1400
{ ihnp4 | decvax | cbosgd | harvard | yale }!ima!johnl, Levine@YALE.something
U.S. out of New Mexico!leonard%percival%reed@tektronix.tek.COM (Leonard Erickson) (06/24/87)
In article <8706161923.AA17642@ima.ISC.COM> think!ima!johnl@buit1.bu.edu (John R. Levine) writes:
<
<I'd be interested in hearing if there's any action planned for equal access
<to pay phones. I know about the credit card phones found at airports; I was
<more interested in regular pay phones. Is there any compelling reason that I
<can make and pay for an AT&T call at a pay phone but not a Sprint call?
<
<John Levine, ima!johnl or Levine@YALE.somethingorother
<---
<John R. Levine, Javelin Software Corp., Cambridge MA +1 617 494 1400
<{ ihnp4 | decvax | cbosgd | harvard | yale }!ima!johnl, Levine@YALE.something
<U.S. out of New Mexico!
John, you can't even guarantee that you can call 911 without a quarter on some
pay phones, much less use a credit card (anybody's). Seems that there are now
pay phones that aren't owned by the local phone co. The most common locations
for such locally are in movie theaters.
These phones won't even give you a dial tone until you put in a quarter. If you
call 911 (and possiblyt a _very few_ other numbers) the money is returned. But
you still have to _have_ it in the first place. And they will require you to
keep on feeding coins even if you are making a credit card call.
--
Leonard Erickson ...!tektronix!reed!percival!leonard
CIS: [70465,203] ...!tektronix!reed!percival!!bucket!leonard
"I used to be a hacker. Now I'm a 'microcomputer specialist'.
You know... I'd rather be a hacker."