Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!csd4.milw.wisc.edu!lll-winken!ames!killer!vector!telecom-gateway From: munnari!stcns3.stc.oz.au!dave@uunet.uu.net (Dave Horsfall) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Do American phones work in Australia? Message-ID: Date: 15 Mar 89 06:03:48 GMT Sender: news@vector.UUCP Organization: Alcatel-STC Australia, North Sydney, AUSTRALIA Lines: 33 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 94, message 4 of 7 In article , bunny!mdf0@gte.com (Mark Feblowitz) writes: | | Please let me know if the phones are compatible with Australia's | switches with or without modification. Also, do prevailing regulations | permit the use of privately owned CPE? Well, no-one else has answered (at least in public), so... The answer is a firm definite "maybe" (apologies to Fred Flintstone). Tone-dial phones should be no problem, but they are still rare in Oz. Pulse-dial will work anywhere, but I believe the mark-space ratio is different - 2:1 break/make or something like that. And don't try anything clever with call-progress indicators - they're different. Legally, you can plug in your own device (they use a big 4-prong affair by the way, but RJ-11 adaptors are available), but it needs Telecom approval. This requirement is more often than not ignored - just unplug the device and hide it if Telecom come a-knockin' :-) Telecom also freak out over mains-powered devices on their lines, besides, our power is 240 volt 50 Hz. Summary? They might work, then again maybe not. Hmmm... just realised this is the 3rd enquiry on the Australian phone system in a month or so... Maybe I should be saving my replies and just issue them as & when. -- Dave Horsfall (VK2KFU), Alcatel-STC Australia, dave@stcns3.stc.oz dave%stcns3.stc.oz.AU@uunet.UU.NET, ...munnari!stcns3.stc.oz.AU!dave Self-regulation is no regulation