Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!netsys!vector!telecom-gateway From: ben@sybase.com (ben ullrich) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Local Area Calls in New Jersey/California/Mass Message-ID: Date: 19 Jul 89 05:02:41 GMT Sender: news@vector.Dallas.TX.US Organization: sybase, inc., emeryville, ca. Lines: 46 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 247, message 7 of 10 In article , jsol@bu-it.bu.edu writes: > Okay, you asked for it....:-) Yes, you did. (;-) : > Now onto California. [...] > Local calling areas shrunk in size drastically, > and now some places in San Francisco are toll calls (as opposed to cheaper > Zone calls) from other places in San Francisco. This is incorrect. According to my own experience (I LIVE in San Francisco! (;-) ), and the Pac Bell phone directory, all calls from SF prefixes/areas to other areas of SF are zone 1 == no charge. It's areas outside the city (South San Francisco, Marin County, and the East Bay [all different municipalities] that are zone or toll calls. Even so, I am able to call my office in Emeryville (across the bay!) for $0 because it is closer than 8 miles. This is really nice. > Right now there is a plan in consideration for returning zone 2 calls to > the local calling area in exchange for raising the rate for local service > (currently set to $8.25/mo). It is cheap to get phone service in California, > but you can't call anywhere. These statements aren't related. Why would adding a zone to your calling area imply that you ``can't call anywhere?'' Sure, adding zone 2 to the no charge calling area would be nice for those that call those areas a lot, and would likewise be a bummer for those who don't (they get to pay the extra $$ for getting a calling area they don't use). But who knows if this really makes a difference to the average caller? The usefulness of such a move (from a consumer point-of-view) would depend on how much more the extra zone would cost, and how many zone 2 calls are made by how many people. If I remember correctly, the proposal you cite plans to do a lot more than expand free calling areas. I believe it also hopes to give standard subscribers more services (such as touch tone for FREE! (;-) ) for a miniscule increase. I really don't remember the particulars too clearly, though. ...ben ---- ben ullrich consider my words disclaimed,if you consider them at all sybase, inc., emeryville, ca +1 (415) 596 - 3500 this space for rent ben@sybase.com {pyramid,pacbell,sun,lll-tis}!sybase!ben