[fa.telecom] TELECOM Digest V2 #141

TELECOM@Usc-Eclb (12/28/82)

TELECOM AM Digest   Tuesday, 28 December 1982    Volume 2 : Issue 141

Today's Topics: 
                Administrivia - Bad Reply-To Addresses
                   Different Numbered Billing Rates
                 Classes Of Service And Restrictions
                 Query - Type Of Local Central Office
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Date: 26 Dec 1982 2103-EST
From: Alyson L. Abramowitz <ALA at MIT-OZ>
Subject: Bad Addresses in Telecom

Jon:

I'm not sure if your realized this, but the last TELECOM Digest
contained a number of addresses which are not viable to use for a
personal responce. All the addresses contained

	"RHEA::CASTOR::J_COVERT%Shasta at SU-Score".

While I'm sure this was the exact address you got the messages from,
unfortunately you've hit into a multi-network addressing software bug.

As you may be aware there is now a gateway between the ENet and
USEnet.  Messages can be addressed over this link from the ARPAnet by
sending them via USEnet. Unfortunately, the software providing the
gateway currently has a bug in it which creates addresses which cannot
be replied to on EITHER side of the gateway.

A message coming from the ENet to USEnet gateway is easily recogized
by it's address which always starts with RHEA::, includes either
%Shasta or @Shasta and ends with "at SU-SCORE" or "at SUMEX-AIM".
Unfortunately to reply back you need a TO: field of the form:

	decwrl!<site>::<user>@shasta@SUMEX-AIM

where SU-SCORE could be substituted for SUMEX-AIM 

(except that SCORE
is down for two weeks), <site> is the host of recipient, and <user> is
the username of the recipient.

For example, the message from "RHEA::CASTOR::J_COVERT%Shasta at
SU-SCORE" should really read "decwrl!CASTOR::J_COVERT@SHASTA at
SU-SCORE".

You may want to change these addresses or at least be aware of the
problem if someone complains they can't respond.

	Best,
	Alyson

PS The problem is with the stanford software providing the USEnet end
of the link and has been reported. Supposedly it will be fixed in the
next release from Shasta.--ala

[I am posting this as information which readers might need to know
when replying to messages. I will watch out for this in the future.
--JSol]

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Date: 27 Dec 1982 0631-PST
From: Chris <Pace at AFSC-SD>
Subject: Different Numbered billing rates

	This is in response to Dale message about billing rates.

	Whereas, I cannot speak to N. E. Tel situation, in the Los
Angeles area, I have two telephone numbers on different billings for
the same reasons that you mentioned (ie one for personal calls and one
for modem calls).  I have message unit service on the personal line
and unlimited for the modem line.  The only restriction that we have
is that if you have unlimited service in the same residence, you must
have at least 60 msg unit service, rather than the slightly cheaper 30
msg unit service.  Our telco is Pacific Tel.

					Chris.

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Date: 27-Dec-82 1752-PST
From: Jon Solomon <JSol at USC-ECLC>
Subject: Measured Service, Lifeline, Unlimited Service, etc.

What the telephone company provides in your area is usually a
combination of what is demanded of it, and what is "cost effective" to
provide. In areas where there is a large investment of Step-by-step
switching, it is unreasonably expensive to provide timed measured
service, although untimed measured service is possible.

I will discuss 3 types of service: 

Untimed Unlimited - This type of service allows as many calls as you
like within your local calling area.  The charge for these calls is
expected to be included in the basic rate for the service, but in
practice is usually recovered from long distance charges, directory
assistance, installation charges, and whatnot. All types of switching
support this form of service, including those that aren't direct dial.

Untimed Measured - This is a type of service where you pay by the
call, like a coin phone, for local calls, but you can talk as long as
you like (note: some areas have timed coin phone calls also.) Older
switching can only support this form of measured service, because
this only requires a counter on your line to count how many calls
you complete. 

Timed Measured - This service is the most lucrative for phone
companies.  Most switching forms can handle this easily. Step-By-Step
switching is the only form of switching where it is not cost effective
to time and measure calls. Pacific telephone is doing it in Los
Angeles (and in other areas as well), but not on local calls (on "zone
calls") and I can only imagine the headaches and cost of implementing
it on that form of switching. You pay by the call, and per minute (or
per 5 minutes).

"Lifeline" service - this is not actually a form of service, but was
intended as a solution to a social/political problem. People were
complaining that they could not afford the "high" cost of phone
service, yet felt entitled to service, forced all the phone companies
to implement *some* form of measured service that would not cost quite
as much as normal "unlimited" service. This was interpreted
differently in each area, depending on the phone companies ability to
provide one of the services listed above, and whether or not they
already provided a viable alternative. The way you know this service
is in affect is that the service rep won't let you mix it with other
forms of service. In some areas that means not even two lifeline
phones, in others it just means you can't mix them, but you can have
more than one.

In the Pacific Telephone case, Lifeline is the 30 call service, you
can't have more than one line (even if it is also lifeline) and "Timed
Measured" service is allowed to mix with flat rate (unmeasured)
service in normal situations.

General Telephone, on the other hand, has "Lifeline" (they call it MLS
for Measured Local Service), and unlimited, and you can't mix them.
This is due to the fact that they have mostly Step-By-Step exchanges,
and can't support all the measured traffic they would like.

In New Hampshire (New England Telephone) "measured" service is the
lifeline. In Boston, Mass (also NET) you can get both Timed Measured,
and Unmeasured in the same house, and Measured was considered cheap
enough to satisfy the "Lifeline" people.

In New York city, their standard service is untimed measured, and
allows 75 calls.  You can get the same form of service, without the
allowance for $2.50, so that was considered reasonable. They have no
restrictions on class of service.

In Connecticut (Southern NE Telephone - 18% owned by Bell), they have
"Lifeline" as untimed measured service, and you can not mix that with
flat rate service, but you can have more than one measured line (my
father has 2 and loves it).

This information is changing rapidly, with the conversion of areas
from mechanical to electronic switching, and with the divestiture on
Jan 1st of AT&T and the subsequent deregulation of the phone company,
there should be some interesting changes in all areas. Keep us
informed of the changes in your area, by mailing to TELECOM@USC-ECLB.

Cheers,
[--JSol--]

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Date: 27-Dec-82 12:27:35-EST (Mon)
From: cbosgd!mark@Berkeley (Mark Horton)
Subject: type of local central office

Anybody have an algorithm for determining what kind of central office
a given phone is on (e.g. #1ESS, #5 Xbar, SxS, etc?)  Over Christmas I
go to Youngstown to visit and half the time I can't get through.  (My
father in law says it's because the tomato can is being used.)  Modem
calls fail 2 out of 3 times, when I dial I have to disconnect the
modem to prevent it from "detecting carrier" halfway through the
number being dialed, touch tone is not available.  Over Christmas, I
could dial 1+one or two digits of the area code before getting a busy
signal.  And once, I dialed the number (in Eastern Washington), got an
operator who wanted my phone number, which I gave her, then got a
recording telling me all circuits were busy.  This area is served by
Bell, not GTE, and normally they do not ask for my number when I dial
direct.  0+ works.  Is it step by step or might it be something else?

[If you get a busy signal after dialing two digits of an area code,
then it's probably Step-By-Step switching. Bell is not perfect either,
just better than GTE in California (opinion.) --JSol]

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End of TELECOM Digest
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