Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!umich!accuvax.nwu.edu!nucsrl!telecom-request From: "Peter G. Capek" Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: MCI and Sprint Pitch 800 Service to Households Message-ID: <13749@accuvax.nwu.edu> Date: 18 Oct 90 05:15:21 GMT Sender: news@accuvax.nwu.edu Organization: TELECOM Digest Lines: 50 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 742, Message 1 of 11 {The Wall Street Journal} of October 16 has an article describing recent announcements by MCI and Sprint of new programs to market 800 service to residences. Highlights: MCI: "Personal 800" service, says it is an alternative to collect and credit card calls. Two billing options: if you have MCI long distance, 800 service is $2/month on top of the PrimeTime calling plan. Calls are $6.50/hr from 1700 to 0800 wkdays, Saturday, and Sunday 'til 1700. At other times, calls are 25 cents/minute, minus 10% discount. If you don't have MCI LD, then it is $5/month and 25 cents/minute all the time. Apparently in either case, MCI customers get will get a four-digit private security code to avoid the reception of unwanted calls. (Anybody know how this works? Does the caller use it? I presume called party uses it, since he pays. But presumably he must know who is calling to be able to decide.) Sprint: $10/month, normal long distance charges (presumably based on distance and time and time of day). Says calls are 12-15% cheaper than "regular dialing" because "small-business rates" apply. $50 installation fee is waived during three month startup promotion. "Somebody who has more than 6 or 7 collect calls a month, or 12 credit card calls a month, would be a candidate." The article also mentions AT&T's Call Me card, and says they have no plan to change their service but "are glad to see that MCI and Sprint have addressed this need." It also gives some examples of usage, most of which are pretty obvious. The claim is that the total US market for calling-card and operator-assisted (I presume this includes both collect and third-party billing, which are not replaced by 800 service) is $8 billion, according to MCI. Nothing is said about ability to restrict the origination points of calls to these 800 numbers, or about ability to call them from abroad. Isn't it now the case that one or both of these carriers provide something similar to AT&T's USA Direct service to allow calling to 800 numbers from abroad? Observation: Isn't there a real potential for running out of numbers here? There's really only one area code's worth of 800 numbers, and several hundred thousand of those have been assigned already. If these services are successful in any serious sort of way, I see a real constraint. Even if it were technically feasible to add another area code or two for "reverse bill" service, advertising it and getting people to know, as they do today, that "1-800" is free would certainly take a while. Peter Capek