Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!accuvax.nwu.edu!nucsrl!telecom-request From: "Brendan B. Boerner" Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Questions About Local Service and Long Distance Rates Message-ID: <9675@accuvax.nwu.edu> Date: 13 Jul 90 04:50:21 GMT Sender: news@accuvax.nwu.edu Organization: UT Austin Computation Center, Microcomputer Technologies Lines: 47 Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 479, Message 3 of 14 I have two questions regarding local phone operation and one regarding long distances rates which I am curious about and about which I am hoping someone can enlighten me. First, does anyone have a clue why Southwestern Bell here in Austin, TX wants $60.00 to hookup a phone? I don't mean hookup as in sending someone to pull some wire (I think that's $60.00/hour), I mean, $60.00 so that I can call, request service, am told it'll be available after such-and-such hour on such-and-such day, and that's that. I asked a cust. service rep. about it once and she wasn't able to give me a very good explanation. I seem to recall that it involved a couple of data key operators and maybe one or two quality assurance folks. Also, when I moved out of a co-op two years ago, I asked if I could keep the same number which I had been using. I was told, yes, if I wanted to pay to have them pull a wire from the 478 exchange to the 458 exchange (my old number was 478-3813, my current is 458-1770) *and* I would have to pay extra monthly. What I am wondering is, how does the local service work? Is a city really broken into sections, where moving a number between them requires a hardware change? About the long distance pricing: I called MCI and inquired about their PrimeTime Texas and PrimeTime plans. These are plans where you agree to purchase a minimum of 1hr/month of intrastate and interstate long distance service respectively. Maybe someone can explain the odd rates summarized below (what is odd (to me) is that intrastate is *more* expensive than interstate). PrimeTime Texas (intrastate) PrimeTime (interstate) (rounded down to nearest cent) $0.37/minute (8am - 5pm) $0.18/minute (8am - 5pm) $0.18/minute (5pm - 8am) $0.13/minute (5pm- 11pm) $0.11/minute (11pm - 8am) I thought is kinda bizarre that I can call California during business hours for *less* than calling my brother in Dallas after 5pm. Any ideas? Many thanks, Brendan B. Boerner Phone: 512/471-3241 Microcomputer Technologies The University of Texas @ Austin Internet: boerner@emx.utexas.edu UUCP: ...!cs.utexas.edu!ut-emx!boerner BITNET: CCGB001@UTXVM.BITNET AppleLink: boerner@emx.utexas.edu@DASNET#