Path: utzoo!utgpu!utstat!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!netsys!vector!telecom-gateway From: decvax!decwrl!apple!zygot!john@ucbvax.berkeley.edu (John Higdon) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Cellular service Message-ID: Date: 10 Mar 89 05:07:44 GMT Sender: news@vector.UUCP Organization: ATI Wares Team Lines: 29 Approved: telecom-request@vector.uucp X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@vector.uucp X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 85, message 3 of 7 With all of the hoopla that PacTel Cellular is generating over its installation of its "new digital equipment", some questions must be raised. Having recently visited the LA area as a roamer from GTE Mobilnet, San Francisco, it seems that the good people of southern California are being taken for a ride. PacTel Cellular may be the only cellular operator in the country that charges the moment you hit the s(p)end button, whether the call is answered or not. This means you are charged for busys, no answers, reorders, etc. It also means that you are timed from the button push, not from the point that the call is answered. While I was there, about 90% of my calls failed to complete, ending in nonsense nonsequiter recordings or reorders. When calls did actually go through it took 20-25 seconds for ringing to *begin*, as compared to my home system where it takes 4-5 seconds. (This extra time had nothing to do with my roaming; subscribers to PacTel informed me that it always takes a long time for calls to go through.) This all appears to be the biggest legal scam I have ever seen. First, charge for *everything*, then make sure most calls simply bomb (while charging for the attempt), and after that take a long time to complete calls thereby ensuring that each and every call is at least two minutes long. Are there any other systems in the country that are this slimy? -- John Higdon john@zygot ..sun!{apple|cohesive|pacbell}!zygot!john