Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!pyrdc!netsys!vector!nobody From: johnl@ima.ISC.COM (John R. Levine) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Ship-to-shore telephone Message-ID: Date: 2 Nov 88 15:23:38 GMT Sender: chip@vector.UUCP Lines: 28 Approved: telecom-request@vector.uucp X-Submissions-To: telecom@bu-cs.bu.edu (TELECOM Digest Coordinator) X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@vector.uucp (USENET Telecom Moderator) X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 8, issue 168, message 6 In article roy@phri (Roy Smith) writes: > This past weekend, I was on a boat with a marine VHF radio. ... > Who handles the call? ... A very interesting question. When I have called home in Boston via the Camden ME marine operator, the call showed up on the local telco part of the bill even though it was an inter-lata call. Hmmn. I have the impression that marine telephone, like IMTS, is a stepchild of deregulation. >... Is there any way to receive an incomming call (i.e. >initiated by a shore station, calling a vessel at sea)? Yes, you can call the marine operator, tell her what vessel you want, and she'll page them. If they don't answer, as is usually the case, you can leave your name and number. A few times a day at well-known times the operator lists the names of vessels for whom she is holding traffic, and the vessel can then call in to get the message. The official way to get the marine operator from shore is to place the call through your local operator. It turns out, though, that the marine op has a regular local number and if you know that number you can just call it and you won't be charged the marine surcharge. In many places the marine phone system is badly overloaded, and many boats now have cellular phones. Some cellular systems such as the one in the Virgin Islands probably handle more boats than cars. -- John R. Levine, IECC, PO Box 349, Cambridge MA 02238-0349, +1 617 492 3869 { bbn | think | decvax | harvard | yale }!ima!johnl, Levine@YALE.something Rome fell, Babylon fell, Scarsdale will have its turn. -G. B. Shaw