Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!pyrdc!netsys!vector!chip From: chip@vector.UUCP (Chip Rosenthal) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: I need a second line Message-ID: Date: 2 Nov 88 16:03:48 GMT Organization: Dallas Semiconductor Lines: 54 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 7 > > It turns out that the apartment building is not wired for two lines (how > > short-sighted can you get!). PacBell will put in a second line, if I want. > > ... they want $45 for the first fifteen minutes [of installation time], > This is a request for residential phone service: The tariff probably > does not allow them to charge you by the hour for installing the > access wiring (which after installation will be owned by the phone > company). This doesn't sounds like they are charging for installing the wiring which will be owned by the phone company, but the wiring which will be owned by the customer. The Baby Bells (like PacBell) have a "delineation point" that separates telco-owned-and-maintained lines from customer-owned-and- maintained lines. They should be quite happy to give you a second line, up to and including a "network interface unit" box, for the standard order processing charge. What they're talking about charging you for is for installation of customer-premises ("inside") wire. If you can do that yourself somehow, they won't charge you for it. Before you go too far with it, make sure that they're right about your existing wiring. If your apartment building was wired in the last decade or so, it would be very strange for it not to have 4-conductor cable. (I don't think anyone even sells 2- or 3-conductor telephone cable anymore.) If you do have 4-conductor cable (red, green, yellow, and black conductors), you can indeed run two lines on the cable. Just connect yellow to the red of the second line and black to the green of the second line. [Sorry, I don't remember which is tip and which is ring.] If you do all this yourself and just have them put in the NIU, you'll save their service charges. In an apartment building, there might be other considerations, such as whether or not you can get physical access to the service area. Good luck.... On the subject of multiplexing: > In analog land, one twisted pair subscriber loop will carry two phone > services, but this may already have been exploited, so this is none of > your business. (The line belongs to PacBell, so YOU can't multiplex it; > they can.) Along the same lines, if you could multiplex the line that you use, then divide it out into two lines at the NIU, that wouldn't be any of their business (as long as you could find a line multiplexer FCC-approved for customer-premises use). It seems much easier to run a phone cable out your window and down a conduit if necessary, which is probably what they would do for their (overinflated) labor charges. (But they don't charge you for parts!) Again, good luck! -- John Owens john@jetson.UPMA.MD.US uunet!jetson!john +1 301 249 6000 john%jetson.uucp@uunet.uu.net