Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!seismo!sundc!newstop!sun-barr!apple!usc!henry.jpl.nasa.gov!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!gryphon!vector!telecom-gateway From: motcid!horwath%cell.mot.COM@uunet.uu.net (George Horwath) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Telephone Network in East Germany Message-ID: Date: 22 Nov 89 19:30:55 GMT Sender: news@vector.Dallas.TX.US Organization: Motorola Inc. - Cellular Infrastructure Div., Arlington Hts, IL Lines: 24 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 528, message 7 of 9 Last year (Sept. 88) I was in East Germany visiting a relative. I found out two things of interest while I was there regarding the DDR's telephone system. First, my relative lives in a fairly large city and she has been waiting 12+ years for a telephone. She claims that she could have gotten one after about 10 years if she had gone to the telephone company and complained every week. Since she hasn't been very vocal about it, she is still on the waiting list. I took a side trip to Dresden, which is a large city in the DDR. At the hotel I was at, I attempted to place a call home. (This was NOT a hotel reserved for Western visitors, but was mainly for citizens of East Germany.) The person at the front desk had to place the call for me and (she said) had to go through East Berlin. After the number was given to the operator, the operator said she would call back when the connection went through and it would take about 30 minutes. Sure enough, a half hour later, the phone rang and the call was placed. I'd compare the quality of the voice to a poor rural line here - not the best, but it worked. After the call, the operator called back with the charges which I had to pay immediately. It was around 35(!) East German marks for a 25 minute call. At the official exchange rate (1 East German mark = 1 West German mark) that was roughly $18!