Telecom-Request%usc-eclc@brl-bmd.UUCP (Telecom-Request@usc-eclc) (12/08/83)
TELECOM Digest Thursday, 8 Dec 1983 Volume 3 : Issue 114 Today's Topics: Hawaii & long-distance charges. Dial-It Article. rotary vs. pushbutton ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 5 Dec 83 23:49:21 pst From: cunningh@Nosc (Robert P. Cunningham) Subject: Hawaii & long-distance charges. Recently, in John Covert's note on MCI service to Europe he remarked that there's no reason why phone charges to Europe should cost 4 times or so the cost of a call to Hawaii. Actually, long distance charges to Hawaii may be overpriced, due to historical reasons. Until several years ago, under then-prevailing FCC tariffs, AT&T could still charge 'international' rates between Hawaii and the mainland US, despite the fact that Hawaii's been a state since 1959 (almost 25 years now). Those of you familiar with the now-historical way in which long-distance charges were shared with local operating companies probably realize that this also benefitted the local Hawaiian Telephone Company (incidently, a GTE subsidiary). It finally took Congressional action to 'rationalize' the long distance charges, which, up to deregulation, took the form of freezing long-distance rates to and from Hawaii until eventual domestic long-distance rates on the mainland rose to the point where the charges roughly 'equalized'. This scheme has, of course, gone out the window with deregulation, and it's anybody's guess as to what Hawaii-mainland charges will be in a year or so. For those curious, here's a sampling of what we here in Hawaii pay to call various places, including only the lowest night per-minute charges (daytime rates are 2x to 3x higher): $.22 US west coast via AT&T .16 ditto via Sprint (MCI not available yet in Hawaii) .24 central US via AT&T .25 east coast via AT&T .12 to an outer island from Honolulu .90 to Alaska .70 to western Canada 1.09 to Europe .92 to Japan, Korea, etc. .92 to Samoa, Australia, New Zealand & Guam 2.92 to China 2.92 to Micronesia 1.00 to South America 3.60 to India I don't have the WATS rates handy, but they're high. Few '800' numbers extend to Hawaii. A leased line (via satellite) to the mainland runs about $1000 per month. Bob Cunningham Oceanography Dept., University of Hawaii ------------------------------ Date: 6 Dec 1983 21:44-PST Subject: Dial-It Article. From: the tty of Geoffrey S. Goodfellow <Geoff @ SRI-CSL> n044 1136 25 Nov 83 BC-TELCO (BizDay) c.1983 N.Y. Times News Service NEW YORK - When ABC's nightly news show Nightline polled viewers for their opinions on last month's American invasion of Grenada, President Reagan wasn't the only one pleased with the response.The results of the unscientific, phone-in survey backed American involvement by a margin of 502,358 to 63,812, providing a boost to the White House. But the poll also gave a nice lift to the American Telephone and Telegraph Co. - the phone company took in 50 cents per vote on the poll, or more than $250,000 for the night. This poll is just one of many that are being conducted over the three-year-old Dial-It 900 Service, a rapidly expanding part of AT&T's Long Lines Division. After overcoming some public confusion between toll-free 800 numbers and the 50-cent 900 numbers, the service has finally come into its own. AT&T reports that the number of calls placed to 900 numbers is up 40 percent over this time last year. Company officials, however, say the do not disclose figures such as total volume and revenue that the service generates. Nevertheless, it is clearly a nice piece of business for the phone company, especially since it apparently covers its own costs by charging an ''establishment'' fee to clients using the service. ''The cost of actually setting up the poll or information lines is covered with the sponsor's establishment charge,'' explains an AT&T spokesman. '' For the 50 cent per call charge, I think that what you have to consider is the capital investment. We are also doing much more than tallying calls. There is a long distance call in addition to the technology and capital investment involved.'' According to documents filed with the FCC, a total of 10.9 million calls were logged to 900 numbers in 1981, their first full year of operation. Last year there were 15.8 million calls. The breakdown was 9.5 million calls to the taped information lines and 6.3 million to the poll lines. If AT&T is accurate in saying that service is up 40 percent this year, then over 20 million calls should be placed to 900 numbers. The potential profit is sufficient to convince AT&T's main long distance phone service competitor, MCI, to try to set up its own 900 service. ''The 900 service, like the toll-free 800 service, is an extremely profitable one for AT&T,'' said an MCI spokesman. ''We would like to enter both of these areas as soon as possible,'' he said. ''We should have a toll-free service operating by September 1984. It is technically more difficult to offer a 900-type service, but we are studying ways to do it. The profitability and marketability of the service have made it very attractive.'' There are two separate uses of 900 service; it can be utilized to set up a poll or to provide a taped information message. The cost to the caller is 50 cents per vote on the polling service, and 50 cents for the first minute of an information message, with 35 cents for each additional minute. The polling service, first used to record public opinion after the Carter-Reagan debate in October 1980, has been used by nearly 150 companies this year. The music video television audience, dominated by young viewers, has become an especially lucrative market. The video-of-the-week vote on NBC's Friday Night Videos, for example, regularly records around 150,000 calls. More than one million calls were logged on the 900 phone lines that NASA set up for two space shuttle missions last year so that the public could listen to conversations between the astronauts and ground control. Although the 50-cent charge for a minute-long call is greater than the comparable cost for all long distance toll calls under evening and night rates, AT&T has found that the cost does not deter people from calling 900 numbers. In fact, company officials see the service's success resulting in part from customers being charged a standard flat rate for the calls. ''People view making a 900 call favorably,'' noted AT&T marketing supervisor Robert Futcher. ''At least they know how much they're paying for the call. They don't see an area code and wonder how much it will cost them.'' Sponsors say the are attracted to the service by its low cost. The information service costs $250 per day, provided a minimum of 2000 calls come in. It costs just $25 a day for a poll line, with a minimum of 500 calls a day. The shortfall in either case costs the sponsor 25 cents per call. One such group, the U.S. League of Savings Association - whose membership includes 4,000 savings institutions across the country - has used a 900 number since January to provide daily updates on legislative and regulatory news from Washington. The recording also gives banks quick access to the interest rates established at treasury auctions. ''The banks are pleased and we are very pleased with the service,'' says league spokesman Katherine B. Ulman. ''In addition to saving us a lot of money over the toll-free service that we had, the line is able to take in more calls at once. I am told that we can now receive several thousand calls at the same time. On 800, there were not enough lines. We got several complaints.'' ''We are very pleased with the market's growth,'' says the AT&T spokesman. '' Part of the successful growth of 900 numbers is their wide visibility. When it is used on ABC's Nightline, it doesn't take more than 10 minutes for every broadcaster in the country to see what they're doing. nyt-11-25-83 1430est *************** ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 7 Dec 83 8:44:06 EST From: cmoore@brl-bmd Subject: rotary vs. pushbutton Can the difference between rotary & pushbutton phones be detected on the phone lines? (I.e., if you unplugged one & plugged in the other.) In any event, why does pushbutton cost more? ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest *********************