Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!mit-eddie!bu.edu!telecom-request From: clive@x.co.uk (Clive Feather) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: The Great US Telephone Conspiracy Message-ID: Date: 3 Mar 91 00:30:20 GMT Sender: news@bu.edu.bu.edu Organization: TELECOM Digest Lines: 27 Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 175, Message 13 of 13 In v11i160m3, John Higdon, talking about stored value cards, says: > For the plan to work, there would have to be one card > that would work in any card phone nationwide. With the zillion COCOT > owners, not to mention many different local utility coin phones, the > prospects for a universal system are slim. In the UK, we have two major telephone companies: BT (the former government telephone system) and Mercury. Both provide public payphones. Each produce a stored value card, and have phones that take them. Neither will accept the other's card. For information, the BT card holds 10p units, and whole units are always used at a time (they are literally burnt out of the card when used). The Mercury card deducts 1p at a time, with a minimum call cost of 5p. (I posted a list of BT charges a while ago; I don't have Mercury charges to hand). A Mercury phone will not accept 144 (the access number for BT credit card calls). Clive D.W. Feather | IXI Limited clive@x.co.uk | 62-74 Burleigh St. Phone: +44 223 462 131 | Cambridge CB1 1OJ (USA: 1 800 XDESK 57) | United Kingdom