daemon@ucbvax.UUCP (08/22/84)
From @MIT-MC:Telecom-Request@MIT-MC Tue Aug 21 17:19:01 1984
TELECOM Digest Wednesday, 22 Aug 1984 Volume 4 : Issue 70
Today's Topics:
Re: Phone line woes
700 Pseudo-NPA
Intrastate vs. Interstate rate differences
New York City NPA split
Re: Phone line woes
NPA, NNX, and NXX
Loud Touch Tones
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Date: 20 Aug 84 23:53:11 EDT
From: *Hobbit* <AWalker@RUTGERS.ARPA>
Subject: Re: Phone line woes
I called some parts house in California today, and got dumped into
their ''all our reps are busy, please hold for next available one''
queue. Then some generic Muzak came on, which was all broken up.
Figuring I had a lousy connection, I dialed 0+ the number to get
credit. First attempt: ''I got a real crummy connection on this one
before.'' Click! The oper hung up on me.
Thank you for using AT&T, my rump!!
Second attempt: Same line, oper apologized for the inconvenience and
offered credit and reconnection, as she had been trained to do. I
warned her that she'd reach the recording again. She said she'd
*wait* until I reached a human! I said ''Hmm, if you do that, STATPAK
will get mad at you...''
''How do you know about that??!!''
''Oh, I used to work there...'' -- I went on to explain how I had
left shortly after they had implemented this package that runs under
TSPS and monitors all the call handling rates of the operators. A
truly fascist piece of software. She informed me that not only was it
still in place, they were cracking down and trying to get the
operators to handle calls even faster than before. I told her that in
that case I had better stick out the recording alone, and she went
away.
Well, although it's true that the divestiture/competitive system has
fouled everything up beyond recognition, a lot of what you see still
depends on the individual you deal with. Within five minutes I had
seen the extreme ends of the operations spectrum.
AT&T offers operator services, and plugs it like it's such an
advantage over the other carriers. Well, what the hell are you
supposed to do when there *is* no other way?? Amazing, the illogic a
marketing department can hack up.
_H*
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Date: 20-Aug-1984 1310
From: covert%castor.DEC@decwrl.ARPA (John Covert)
Subject: 700 Pseudo-NPA
The 700 NPA was assigned to AT&T's automatic conference system, which
was discussed at some length a year or so ago. Briefly, this system
allowed you to call the conference system nearest you (or to
specifically choose any one of the conference systems in the country
if that would be more advantageous) to begin setting up, by a special
dialing sequence, a conference of up to about 50 participants.
The basic rate structure was to pay for an MTS call for each leg of
the conference between the conference system and each participant
(including the "controller" of the conference) plus a fee for the use
of the conference equipment.
It was a neat system, but the FCC denied the tariff as proposed,
because it represented a drastic departure from current pricing, which
is based only on the originator's location, and not on the location of
any of AT&T's equipment. The FCC determined that the proposed
ratemaking was a dangerous precedent which could have a detrimental
effect on the nationwide network.
Shortly after this decision, the 700 code disappeared from all the
places we had seen it installed.
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Date: 20-Aug-1984 1315
From: covert%castor.DEC@decwrl.ARPA (John Covert)
Subject: Intrastate vs. Interstate rate differences
As Dr. Sirbu points out, the difference between intrastate and
interstate toll rates is part of the mechanism used to hold down the
price of local service.
The new LATA structure may cause this to gradually change. Since it
is not the local company providing inter-LATA service, we may (this is
mostly speculation on my part) see the inter-LATA intrastate rates
head towards the interstate rates, especially as more competition
emerges in this market. This may also mean that the intra-LATA toll
rates in some areas may go even higher.
There are two indications in the case of Massachusetts which may
indicate the future course of ratemaking here:
1. The inter-LATA and intra-LATA rates were just revised, with New
England Telephone and AT&T now having different rates. For the
moment, they are essentially the same amounts, but the rate schedules
are now separate.
2. The rates were lower than the old rates. This may indicate that in
this area, intra-LATA rates may not need to rise as much as they might
in other areas. Local calls are always measured on a timed basis for
all but those residential customers who choose the more expensive
unlimited service options, so the rate structure here may not involve
as much of a cross-subsidy as in some other areas.
------------------------------
Date: 20-Aug-1984 1324
From: covert%castor.DEC@decwrl.ARPA (John Covert)
Subject: New York City NPA split
The 212/718 split will take effect on 1 September 1984.
212 will be the Bronx and Manhattan, with 718 assigned to Brooklyn,
Queens, and Staten Island.
Permissive dialing will permit 212 to continue to be used for the
entire city until 1 January 1985.
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Date: 20 Aug 1984 12:38:35 PDT
Subject: Re: Phone line woes
From: Ian H. Merritt <SWG.MERRITT@USC-ISIB.ARPA>
Pacific Bell is not without its service problems, but I think that in
the long run, exccept for the excessive rates, this area will benefit
(both in GTEville and Pacific) from the break-up. Still, I was not in
favor of it in the first place, and I think I would still prefer it
not to have happend.
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Date: 21-Aug-1984 0941
From: covert%castor.DEC@decwrl.ARPA (John Covert)
Subject: NPA, NNX, and NXX
Though we've discussed the alphabet soup many times in Telecom, since
I just got an inquiry, I'll explain it again:
NPA stands for Numbering Plan Area, and means area code.
NNX means an exchange code which uses only the digits 2 thru 9 in the
first two positions, and 0 thru 9 in the third.
NXX means an exchange code which uses only the digits 2 thru 9 in the
first position, and 0 thru 9 in the third.
N0/1X is the format used (today) for NPAs.
As you can see, an NXX exchange may have the same format as an N0/1X
NPA.
/john
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Date: 21 Aug 84 15:38 EDT
From: Denber.wbst@XEROX.ARPA
Subject: Loud Touch Tones
I went to Siggraph in Minneapolis last month and decided to make a
phone call from my hotel room. I picked up the phone, held it to my
ear and hit "9". The phone blasted out a tone that could be heard
clearly across the room and through a closed door. It didn't take
long to learn to hold the receiver at arm's length while dialing - it
was painfully loud at the earpiece. The phone appeared to be a
standard touch-tone desk phone and the voice levels were normal. Has
anyone else ever encountered such an energetic tone generator? Is
there any reason why the tones should be so loud?
- Michel
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End of TELECOM Digest
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