Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!seismo!sundc!newstop!sun-barr!apple!usc!henry.jpl.nasa.gov!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!gryphon!vector!telecom-gateway From: cowan@marob.masa.com (John Cowan) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Telecomm*USA Wants Your Local Phone Calls, Too Message-ID: Date: 22 Nov 89 17:33:39 GMT Sender: news@vector.Dallas.TX.US Reply-To: John Cowan Organization: ESCC, New York City Lines: 49 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 8 of 9 In article telecom@eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Moderator) writes: >Telecom*USA claims they are now in a position to be your carrier for >phone calls within your own area code as well as interstate. > "If you are an equal-access dial one-plus customer of Telecom*USA, [omitted] >you can enjoy these benefits: > Easy Dialing: Dial 1 + 700 + 7 digit number within your area code. > Billing Convenience: Now, calls made within your area code will > appear on your Telecom*USA bill with 700 dialing. [omitted] >Why yes, I do have a couple questions: What could possibly be more >convenient about dialing eleven digits to reach a Chicago number when >I presently can dial seven? What difference could the 'digital >quality' of Telecom*USA's network possibly make when I call from here >to my office, or for that matter, to the other side of Chicago? The "convenience" referred to is billing convenience -- all toll calls on one bill -- not dialing convenience. >And I am sure the rates would not be any cheaper! Five cents more or >less per minute is pretty cheap. I'm sure Telecom*USA would charge more. >It may be however that their plan is a good one in places where a >single area code covers an entire state and long distance charges are >incurred on such calls, at the notorious rates allowed on intrastate >calls by some state regulators. Exactly. California area codes are typically immense, and intrastate calls there are exorbitant. However, the betting is that Telecom can't legally offer the service intrastate without local PUC recognition. That isn't to say that they can't >do< it, just that they may find themselves in trouble later. >I only use 10835 on an occassional basis, and as such, >am not eligible for the 700 intra-area code plan, which as mentioned, >is worthless to me anyway. Probably the system will work fine if you dial 10835 + 1 + 700 + NXX-XXXX. As far as I can tell, LD carriers simply don't know whether you come in with 1+ or 10XXX + 1 +.