goldstein@ALPHA.DEC (10/17/85)
The "blue book" (Notes on the Network, AT&T 1980) lists 260 as the first "interchangeable" area code, and 480 is second. NET has used 480 in Marlboro, Mass. for years, so they're not worried. The rule is very simple, really -- area codes all begin with a 1 and intra-area calls don't. Toll or no toll. Go to Brooklyn and try it out (or LA). The CO doesn't really know what calls cost. All they do is record the dialed number; a computer in the Revenue Accounting Office does the real work. It's not quite so simple as it sounds; while 99.9% of calls are easy to bill, there are very tricky rules surrounding calls to Mexico, toll stations, intrastate rates, etc., which keep programmers busy. In Europe, where pulse metering is the rule, it's simple to know the rate if you just count the pulses as they come in. But you don't get detailed billing; you just "trust" the PTT to bill you correctly. There _IS_ a "new" telephone network coming, if that's how you view ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network). ISDN will offer digital connectivity using out-of-band packet signalling (i.e., CCIS-like). While there are still a number of details to be resolved before the world standardizes it (this time, they don't want to have to merge separate networks built before standardization), the working definitions do provide for useful features like true answer supervision, caller choice of service when the call is made (i.e., digitized voice, data, whatever) and calling number ID. Expect early ISDN deployment late this decade, with pilots (not using the still-undefined standards) underway soon. I'm sure TELECOM DIGEST will have plenty on ISDN in the future... Fred (@ISDN Program Office, DEC Tewksbury)