Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!ucsd!pacbell.com!decwrl!hayes.fai.alaska.edu!accuvax.nwu.edu!nucsrl!telecom-request
From: julian@bongo.uucp (Julian Macassey)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: TouchTone(tm) in the U.K. (was Re: Touchtone History)
Message-ID: <9848@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 18 Jul 90 13:53:46 GMT
Sender: news@accuvax.nwu.edu
Organization: The Hole in the Wall  Hollywood California U.S.A.
Lines: 34
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 494, Message 2 of 10


In article <9784@accuvax.nwu.edu>, johns@scroff.uk.sun.com (John
Slater) writes:

> We might be way behind the Americans in offering state-of-the-art
> services, but at least the UK network is pretty much the same across
> the country (no hand-cranked phones(!), no non-automatic exchanges,
> international dialling from _anywhere_, easy and cheap LD access to
> the entire country).  I appreciate that these things are rare in the
> States, but they are non-existent here.

	But in the UK you have two telephone companies (BT and Hull)
and you have two Long Distance Carriers (BT and Mercury). Here is the
U.S. we have over 1,000 telephone companies - some with about 300
subscribers.  Also we have a ton of Long Distance companies - I would
guess over 100.

 There are three major Players, AT&T, MCI and Sprint and tons of
others including Cable and Wireless. BT also runs a packet switching
company here (BT Tymenet). There a few packet switchers which are
seperate from LD carriers even if they are owned by them.

	So the ancient stuff still around tends to be owned by the
"mom and pop" operations. Some of these "companies" have mom as the
operator and business office and pop as the CO tech and outside plant
lineman.  The "CO" is often in the back of the house.

> Now if only they'd offer me itemised billing ...

Hull Telephone has offered it for a few years.


Julian Macassey, n6are  julian@bongo.info.com  ucla-an!denwa!bongo!julian
N6ARE@K6IYK (Packet Radio) n6are.ampr.org [44.16.0.81] voice (213) 653-4495