Path: utzoo!censor!geac!torsqnt!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!decwrl!hayes.ims.alaska.edu!accuvax.nwu.edu!nucsrl!telecom-request From: john@bovine.ati.com (John Higdon) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: *Long* Phone Calls -- What Does Ma Think? Message-ID: <14632@accuvax.nwu.edu> Date: 12 Nov 90 10:14:54 GMT Sender: news@accuvax.nwu.edu Reply-To: John Higdon Organization: Green Hills and Cows Lines: 41 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 815, Message 6 of 8 "Andrew M. Boardman" writes: > "permanent" phone call for one's connection. If one utilises untimed > service of some sort, the economic advantage in enormous. My > questions: > - What would one's local phone company think of this? Pac*Bell used this as one of the justifications for charging for all business local calls on a timed basis. Long data calls were specifically singled out. > - In the expected case that they aren't too fond of losing > out on the megabucks for a leased line, do they have > legal ground telling you to stop? In the case of California, this would only apply to residence service. I recently discussed this hypothetically with an associate. Telco might not be able to tell you to stop, but you can be sure that a) they would eventually notice it; and b) they would find a surefire way to regrade the service to business. The telco may not take action against a single person or company, but you can bet that a number of "permanent" unmeasured local connections would probably send telco packing to the nearest PUC to get flat-rate service discontinued. > - Since some uucp sites have so much traffic that they can > spend days on one call anyway, has anyone ever heard of > previous telco complaints in this area? I have never heard of this happening. I am familiar with some larger sites in the area, and while the modems may be off hook a major portion of the time, it is never with one call. The longest UUCP calls last on the order of 20 minutes. Besides, a business would be measured and telco couldn't care less -- the meter would be running. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@bovine.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o !