goldstein@delni.DEC.COM.UUCP (05/14/87)
I'd like to clarify Larry Lipman's comment on hotel phone gouging.\
IF the call is INTRAstate, then it's governed by the DPU. That applies
to local calls and in-state non-local calls. (DPU=PUC=etc.) IF the
call is INTERstate, then it's governed by the FCC. That includes MOST
800 numbers. As it were, the FCC believes in a "free marketplace", or
"let them gouge, it's the only phone in your room". (I usually find
pay phones in the lobby for some calls.)
And New York Tel's rate isn't 10c/minute; while I don't have the exact
tariff in front of me (it's in fractional cents), it comes to under a
dime for the first 5 minutes and under 3 cents for additional minutes.
They just revised it too, so ALL calls within the 5 boroughs are "zone 1",
and calls to Long Island and the rest of the LATA are cheaper to boot!
NY State made NYT go through exacting, excruciating cost studies to come
up with local rates, back when Alfred Kahn was running the show. They
are as close to "cost" (for most things, not all) as any telco.
fred