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From: DREUBEN@eagle.wesleyan.edu) (DOUGLAS SCOTT REUBEN)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Cellular Technical Question
Message-ID: <10194@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 28 Jul 90 06:14:58 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 523, Message 2 of 10


And yet ANOTHER question:

Does a Cell phone actually send out the system ID code (5 digits) to
the switch?

I've used various ID codes in various systems (leaving the number the
same) and the systems never seem to even notice. IE, if I go to New
York, I program in 00025 for Metro One (the "A" carrier), so that I'll
know when I leave the Metro One system becuase the ROAM light comes
on. This way, I won't get ripped off for a $3 "Daily access charge"
becuse I briefly entered into another system that is adjacent to the
New York system.

I've done this lots of times, and the cellular systems never seemed to
"mind" or to lock me out, yet the delightful (yeah, right...).
Customer (dis)service people at Metro One New York told me "Oh, it is
VERY dangerous to switch ID numbers ... You phone continuously sends
that out, and if we see the wrong system code in our system, we lock
your phone out of the entire nationwide system."

Well, I've changed it maybe twenty times in Metro One's service area
(as well as Cell One San Francisco, Sac/Reno/Stockton, Boston, etc.)
and I've never been locked out yet.

I asked someone in the switchroom at Cell One-Stockton, and he told me
that all the phone sends out is the phone # and the ESN #. He said
that the System ID code really makes no difference to the switch. Most
other systems that I've used freely give out their ID Code, and
realize that knowing when you leave their system is a good way to
avoid missing calls and/or unecessary Roam charges from systems that
"spill over".

Is Metro One correct that the ID number is sent out, or did I get the
right info from Cell One in Stockton?

Thanks,

Doug

dreuben@eagle.wesleyan.edu
dreuben@wesleyan.bitnet