Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!netsys!vector!telecom-gateway From: SKASS@drew.bitnet Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Why can't I choose AT&T? Message-ID: Date: 10 Jul 89 18:09:00 GMT Sender: news@vector.Dallas.TX.US Lines: 21 Approved: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 231, message 5 of 8 I'm about to move into housing built by my employer, who owns the switch that my phone service will be on. According to everyone I've asked, I will not have a choice of long distance carrier. Access codes won't work (I'll get a busy signal after dialing 1-0, just like I do now from my work phone), and the local company (NJ Bell) says they can't install a phone for me. I'll be renting, but some of the housing units will be sold, and the buyers are in the same situation. Now it's not such a bad deal - free basic service and local calls (a smaller "local" area than NJ Bell), but long distance calls are carried by MCI, and I would do better with AT&T (I subscribe to Reach Out, America and use USprint for nearby calls when the AT&T flat rate is in effect). Maybe MCI has some options like Reach Out, America, but they aren't available to me. What's the legality of all this? Can I get a calling card from anyone at all? Can I use an 800 number for any of my long distance calls, bypassing MCI? Thanks, Steve Kass/Department of Mathematics and Computer Science/Drew University Madison, NJ 07940 / (201)-408-3614 / skass@drew.bitnet