Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!uunet!spool.mu.edu!agate!telecom-request From: lars@spectrum.cmc.com (Lars Poulsen) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Emergency Highway Phones Message-ID: Date: 10 Jun 91 04:18:40 GMT Sender: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Organization: CMC (a Rockwell Company), Santa Barbara, California, USA Lines: 37 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 444, Message 1 of 10 In article decwrl!well.sf.ca.us!well! dag@uunet.uu.net (Darren Alex Griffiths) writes: > It seems that CalTrans is installing phones throughout > the San Francisco bay area on major highways. The phones connect you > directly to to highway patrol and in will be spaced as close as a > half-mile apart. The phones will be installed in pairs, on each side > of the highway ... the phones are all cellular and run on solar power. > They are all being paid for by a one dollar surcharge on vehicle > registration. The same type has recently sprouted along US 101 throughout Santa Barbara County. I *think* the Maricopa Highway (Santa Maria to Bakersfield) is getting them too. I seem to recall that GTE Mobilnet was mentioned when the paper wrote about them three months ago. > ... I would be interested in whether or not someone could steal the > serial number to one of the phones and reprogram their own phone in > order to make calls at someone else's expense. It would also be > interesting to see if most of the phones have the same serial number > or if they are all different, and whether or not the phones are smart > enough to send their location to the dispatcher when a call is placed. I would expect that the ESN is programmed to connect DIRECTLY to CHP; i.e. if you steal the ESN, you can make free calls but only to the police. If the calls are routed through the E911 system, it would make sense to supply location info, but I did not see any mention of this in the article. On a separate note, GTE has just this week-end converted my exchange from a 2EAX (?) to a new shiny 5ESS. I tried to ask if they will be offering ISDN soon, but could not find anyone who knew. Lars Poulsen, SMTS Software Engineer CMC Rockwell lars@CMC.COM