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From: wmartin@ALMSA-1.ARPA (Will Martin -- AMXAL-RI)
Newsgroups: mod.telecom
Subject: Telephone parts & info sources
Message-ID: <8601030252.AA06560@ucbvax.berkeley.edu>
Date: Thu, 2-Jan-86 16:33:31 EST
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Posted: Thu Jan  2 16:33:31 1986
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Reference the recent discussion & request for a parts source for an
ordinary telephone part:

Now that the breakup and deregulation has eliminated the telco monopoly
on phone installation and repair, there should be a growth of the support 
industries that are needed behind an environment of various service
shops and levels of expertise, just like there has been for decades in
the electronics world. In that area, there are levels of individual
consumer expertise (you can be completely ignorant of electronics, or
you can be an Extra-Class ham who designs and builds his own gear, or
anything in between), and levels of service shops and parts-supply
sources to support these markets (the neighborhood TV repair place for
the consumer who knows nothing [with a network of wholesalers and
distributors behind it to supply that shop with parts and data];
mail-order parts places to sell you the chips and components if you know
just what you want and what to do with them; Radio Shacks to sell a
limited subset of that range, and to provide a limited knowledge base to
people buying from them; Sams Photofacts to give detailed service data,
and other how-to books and magazines providing various levels of info).

So, where are the equivalents in the telephone world? Where are the Sams
Photofacts for the various models of telephone equipment, from
individual single-line instruments by various makers up through PBXs?
Where are the mail-order telephone parts houses? Where are the
neighborhood "Phone Service" stores? (Actually, I would expect smart TV
repair types would expand into this market, but I don't see it happening.)
Where are the telephone parts lines in the catalogs of the big
electronics distributors and wholesalers (Newark, Van Sickle, Allied, etc.)?
[I see a few test sets and specialized telephone tools, but that's about it!]

Maybe I'm looking in the wrong places, but I would think that anyone who
casually peruses the electronic press and is on mailing lists for much
of this sort of thing should see a LOT more activity going on in this
area. I don't see this. Is it just too soon? The breakup is only recent
history so maybe now is to telephones like 1920 was to radio/electronics?
Or are the companies and people who could move into this market scared
that the telco monopoly will be reinstated and they'll lose their
investments? Or do the ultimate suppliers of telephone equipment and
parts restrict their distribution, and hide the needed information, so
that the ordinary electronics distributors or retailers cannot get into
this business? Anybody have any inside dope on this?

Speaking of information, there used to be a few sources of
telephone-related data; one little magazine called "TEL" -- "Telephone
Electronics Line" -- comes to mind. It was smashed out of business by
the telco security people (PacTel, I believe). True, I think they were
more into blue boxes and toll fraud than into "how to fix your model
xxyyzz ringer" articles, but maybe now it is time for some of this sort
of magazines (or a column in Radio/Electronics or some ham magazine?).
Could the telcos move now against this sort of publishing like they
could back then?

Well, any comments or discussion in this area? I, myself, see no reason
why telephone servicing info or parts should be any more difficult to
get than the same for TVs or washing machines. How long will it be
before this is the case in the real world?

Regards, Will

ARPA/MILNET: wmartin@almsa-1.ARPA     USENET: seismo!brl-bmd!wmartin