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Ocean County Phone Punx 04
Ocean County Phone Punx Presents
OCPP04
October 26, 1997
Contents
Intro - Mohawk
PNM Plus - Mohawk
Test Numbers - Doctor Seuss
Merger Madness - Mohawk
Credit Card Numbers - The Carder
Phone Cards - Mohawk
Busted - Mohawk
Letters
News
Intro-Mohawk
We made it past the third issue. We just keep growing and our
popularity has grown tremendously. We knew we would gradually gain
readership but not at that rate. As always we owe it all to our readers.
Thanks to the people that put the link to our page on theirs and to those
people that e-mailed us. These past two months have been very hectic. Phear
is back from his little .. um.. vacation, the Assassin's legal trouble
mounts (more on that later), another semester of college started, work, on
tour with the band and every thing else. Nevertheless we have a new issue
with what is probably one of our best articles that will ever be written.
An article about the Payphone Network Manager program for COCOT's. Also in
this issue we have 2 new sections: Busted and Letters. These sections are
small because they were a last minute addition. In the next issue they
should be alot bigger. Speaking of out next issue, OCPP05 which will be out
in December, should be one of our biggest issues so far. If everything
goes right, OCPP will be published monthly starting in January. To deal
with this we need a more complete staff. We mostly need writers but we also
need people for public relations, editing, news, and many other positions.
For information on a position mail us.
PNM Plus-Mohawk
You call up a COCOT, it rings and rings. Your about to hang up and
you hear those oh so familiar tones. A modem? On a COCOT, but what for?
The answer is for the Payphone Network Manager, or PNM. PNM is a program
that works right off your PC to help the owner of the COCOT manage his
payphone network. The version we will be talking about is called PNM Plus
for use on Elcotel payphones. PNM Plus provides automated support for many
of the essential business functions required to manage and maintain a
network of intelligent payphones. I will be discussing various aspects of
the program.
Minimum System Requirements
IBM Compatible
486,33mhz
8MB RAM
10 MB Hard Disk Memory
Modem 1200 baud
-note your higher speed modem will work just as well
The built-in features of PNM Plus enable you to:
· Examine the operating conditions and parameters of your payphones
· Transmit operating parameters and rate information to your phones
· Upload key status information from your phones for use in managing
the phones
· Establish and manage poll lists to automatically manage your phones
· Maintain important information about the organization of your phone
network, including routes, sites, technician assignments, customer
names, and contract information
· Record and track problems associated with your phones
· Record and track expenses and revenues associated with individual
phones
· Calculate commission payments
The four main components are
Poll Manager: The Poll Manager manages the communications functions required
to automatically manage your payphone network. The Poll Manager receives and
processes all incoming phone calls from your payphones as well as initiating
calls to your phones on a scheduled basis. The Poll Manager can handle
multiple modem and telephone lines at the same time.
Report Generator: The Report Generator enables you to build management
information reports based on your database of payphone information.
Utilities: The Utilities module provides the tools necessary to manage the
database PNM Plus uses to store information about your payphones. The
Utilities include tools to back up and restore key files and programs used
by the system, tools to import and export information to or from other
applications, tools to purge unnecessary information from the system, tools
to clean up existing databases, tools to upgrade existing databases, and
tools to change the ANI of a group of phones.
The Operator Console: The Operator Console is the primary user interface
to PNM Plus. The Operator Console lets you manage the daily operation of your
payphone by providing you with access to the majority of PNM Plus functions.
PNM Plus functions include phone management, entry of business information,
maintenance of poll lists, tracking of payphone problems, and management of
operational files for the payphones.
The Functions of the main menu are:
Payphone Administration, Business Administration, Poll List
Maintenance, Service Management, and Configuration Management
Payphone Administration
Payphone Administration includes all phone database administration,
including all payphone and associated site, customer, contract, technician,
and route information.
It enables you to:
Enter and modify information about your payphones
Maintain information about the sites where the phones are installed
Assign and modify Register and Options settings for your phones
Assign sites and phones to routes
Maintain information about your technicians, including access numbers and
route assignments
Business Administration
Business Administration includes all data relating to the Customer and
related Contracts, Commissions, and account management.
It enables you to:
Enter and maintain information about your customers, including names,
addresses, and telephone numbers
Record information about the Contracts for your phones
Record and track expenses and revenues associated with individual payphones
Maintain commission plans and formulas for calculating commission amounts
Calculate commissions based on selected payphone expenses and revenues
Poll List Maintenance
Poll List Maintenance includes definitions of poll list commands, phones,
and scheduling of polling.
It enables you to:
Make Poll Lists that perform updates or collect information from your phones
Determine the dates and times the lists will be performed by the Poll
Manager
Review and charge the list of phones on a Poll List
Service Management
Service Management includes payphone servicing, Customer complaint management,
and the help desk
It enables you to:
View reported alarms from your payphones
View lists of phones that could not be conducted during polling
View the history of contact information for each payphone
Open work orders and track repair actions to resolve maintenance problems
Record Customer complaints and refund requests
View diagnostic information collected from your payphones
Configuration Management
Configuration management allows you to customize PNM Plus to your needs
It allows you to:
Edit Register and Option templates
Edit Rate files
Create and edit Speed Dial files
Create and edit Priority parsing files
Create and edit custom call processing macros for your payphones
Make charges to a group of phones
Customize the operation of your system
The Poll Manager
The Poll Manager is responsible for contracting your payphones and
uploading and downloading information. The Poll Manager is also capable of
receiving call initiated by payphones in response to alarm conditions or
local telemetry requests. Information obtained during information exchanges
with the payphones is stored in the database for use by other PNM Plus
applications.
It operates by managing all polling processes for all Poll Lists
defined in the Operator Console. The Poll Manager runs separately from the
Operator Console, but requires the poll data that is entered through the
Operator Console.
The management functions in Poll manager include:
Configuration of the serial ports connected to modems
Configurations of the Poll Manager System
Poll List Information online display, including description and status of
the poll lists and the status and progress of the communications to the
phones in the poll lists
The Report Generator
The PNM Plus Report Generator consists of a collection of report
templates payphone information. PNM Plus Reports can be processed at any
time and can be scheduled at any time. You have the option to select the
destination of the report, a PC monitor, file, or a printer.
The Navigation Screen
The Navigation Screen is where you can add, update, and delete
payphone information. It provides you with a summary view of each major
component of managing a payphone environment, which includes:
The ANI of your payphone
The site where the payphone is located
The technician assigned to the site and the route he has assigned to the site
The customer who owns the site where your phone is located and the status of
The contract between you and the customer
Setting Payphone Registers and Options
Registers and Options are the instructions you want the phone to
follow. You can instruct your phone to report specific alarms and to
disallow 976 calls. Registers are instructions you assign a numerical
value, and Options are instructions you can turn on or off. You can set the
current phones registers and options to look like those of another phone of
like those of a template.
Reasons for setting a phones registers and options to match another phone:
You are adding a second phone to a location and need to make it identical
to the first except for the ANI and Phone ID.
You are installing a new phone in a neighborhood where another phone has
worked well with its registers settings, so you want to start the new phone
with the same values as that phone.
Settings of a phone have been changed and you want to set the registers and
options back to the values in a template or to that of another phone.
Assigning a Program File
If you need to upgrade your phone to a newer version of software, you
can replace the chip in your phone containing the software. However, with
PNM Plus you can write over the chip through the Phone Detail Screen.
Elcotel On-Line Bulletin Board (EOL BBS)
Elcotel On-line is an electronic bulletin board service for the use of
Elcotel customers and is accessible through PNM. It's main function is to
download rate files. It also provides access to software uploads, technical
information, industry news, as well as access to the technical support
department.
Summary
Elcotel payphones provide the ability to perform the following tasks:
Detect alarms and conditions that place the phone out of service
Reconfigure the way the payphone operates
Set new rates for various call types
Diagnose problems on the phone
Ways to control the phone:
Directly pressing keys on the phone's keypad to set the phone's options and
features
Calling the phone and sending commands to the remote phone from the local
keypad
Calling the phone from PNM Plus and sending electronic commands and data
to the payphone
PNM Plus allows you to:
Send new rates to the payphone
Send new priority parsing information
Send new Speed Dial patterns and prices to the payphones
Update the phone's program version
Update the payphone's Registers and Options values
Collect alarm and status information
Collect SMDR information
Test Numbers-Doctor Seuss
Well its finally happened, another batch of area codes have run short
on numbers. So again, Bellcore has decided its time to shave some LATAs
off the older NPAs and assigning them to new area codes. While POTS
lines usually have no problem swallowing these changes, PBX equipment is
notoriously flaky for stalling while trying to get through to new
area codes. To try and identify problems, RBOCs set up test lines which
terminate in recorded announcements; confirming that the new area code was
reached successfully.
1-240-999-8378
1-246-809-4200
1-250-372-0124
1-268-268-4482
1-281-792-8378
1-320-252-0090
1-330-783-2330
1-334-223-0600
1-352-848-0517
1-360-532-0023
1-423-283-4424
1-423-594-9040
1-423-634-1928
1-441-295-7606
1-443-999-8378
1-450-443-1836
1-450-443-2739
1-520-782-0100
1-530-444-0530
1-540-829-9910
1-541-334-0057
1-561-615-8484
1-562-317-0317
1-573-792-8378
1-626-777-0626
1-630-204-1204
1-650-777-0650
1-664-491-0025
1-773-838-1204
1-757-627-1615
1-758-785-8242
1-760-200-0760
1-760-400-0760
1-760-600-0760
1-765-281-6988
1-770-666-9999
1-773-904-1204
1-787-756-9399
1-847-958-1204
1-860-203-0950
1-868-809-8378
1-941-959-1650
1-949-777-0949
1-954-236-4242
1-970-241-0022
1-972-792-8378
Merger Madness-Mohawk
The telecommunications industry looks to be following in the footsteps
of Bell Atlantic and Nynex. This time however everything isn't so cut and
dry. MCI has placed itself on the auction block. As of now GTE, Worldcom
and British Telecom have all made bids to take over the telecom giant.
But who wins and who loses in all of these mergers? What are the
effects it has on the industry and the customers? Obviously the company who
wins the bid wins and the ones that don't lose. But is goes far beyond the
companies who made the bids. The customers can also feel the effects of a
mega-merger. New and better technology is one thing to be gained as the
combination of ideas and technology yield better products and services.
However, mergers of such proportions can lead into monopolies thus
eliminating Competition. This in turn raises prices. The FCC says they
will regulate the industry to provide fair competition, but so far progress
of long distance companies entering the local market and Baby Bells entering
the long distance market is moving at less than a snails pace.
When such mergers occur, those companies who are bidding and the
companies that they are bidding for must higher small investment banks to
advise them throughout the bidding war. These small companies are the
biggest winners by far. They have to determine how much a business is worth
and how to pay for it. Even though they get only 1/2 percent of the deals
value, the fees are still staggering. The bell Atlantic/Nynex merger
generated fees of 60 million. The MCI merger could generate fees of over
100 million.
As of now MCI is still weighing it's options. They will comment on
all offers made to them. Once the MCI deal is done, look for other
companies such as ATT, Sprint and any companies who bid for MCI but lost to
try to find a company to merge with. Will we ever see a telecom industry
just go out of business or will they simply merge with another company to
become a new household name. Sadly it is the latter, but how interesting
would it be to see ATT say "were closing"? We will cover the merger as it
progresses in future issues.
Credit card numbers-The Carder
(I wasn't going to publish this, but I figured it is a good example of how
someone can trick you into giving away your info when people claim how the
safe the internet is. This proves that you never know who you're dealing
with no matter how real it may seem)
We all want good credit card numbers, right? Sure we all do. Wait is
that the money store? Anyway, Credit card numbers are a much sort after
prize. This can be a very tedious task as well as risky. Wouldn't it be
great if people just emailed you their credit card numbers with all their
info? Yeah, like that would ever happen. Well it can.
First off, you need to find a product that everyone is buying. Fads
come and go so it shouldn't be hard to find something, especially around the
holidays. Once you have that, find a web page that sells it. Download the
whole page and all it's graphics. You need to know a little bit of HTML but
if your clueless there's tons of documents to teach you. Change it to a
text file and edit the URL's and email address to match the one's you'll be
using. Also change the prices if you can to about 25% lower than the
original price. Don't make it to low or people will get suspicious.
Upload the page and graphics to one of those free webpage services,
there's plenty to choose from. Now you need an email address, Same thing as
the webpage, find a free email service and set up an account. Make sure you
changed the email address on the your page to go to your new email account,
that tends to help.
Now you have to advertise. Flood the hell out of every Newsgroup you
can. If you have one of those mass email programs that works well, if not
just rip off some mailing lists from all that spam is your mail box. Never
advertise off the net. That helps the cops figure out where your located.
After you got a decent amount of CC numbers delete the page and email
account. Never get greedy.
Phone cards-Mohawk
(Since I published the previous article I figures I should tie it into
phreaking someway or another. Might as well expose another system flaw)
Just about every gas station and convenience store has one of those
phone cards you where you pay 10 dollars for 30 minutes. Now they even
have International phone cards. Buy the cheapest one you can get. On the
back of almost all of them there is a 800 number you can call to add more
time. You can usually add as much time as you want. Use your new credit
card numbers to add a few hours. Now you can call all over the world
without worrying if your box will work. Make sure you go to a
payphone when you do it.
Busted-Mohawk
In the busted section we will report on hackers/phreakers who have
recently been busted. All reports will be in much detail as possible. At
the end I will point out what he did wrong and how he could of avoided it.
As seen on channel 7 (exact transcript)
A long island college student, is under arrest tonight charged in a
phone scam, it looks like his get rich scheme did nothing but get him in
trouble, NJ Burkett has details
NJ Burkett - Scott Vanpalla is a 21 year old community college student,
charged tonight with harassment and fraud. He hid his face from
photographers, yet smiled for his official police mug shot. Investigators
say he was smart but not smart enough. Prosecutors say he set up a 540
number and told NYNEX he wanted any one who called it to be charged 95 cents
a call. Then police say he got his hands on literally hundreds of pager
numbers. Prosecutors say it went on for over 2 months.
Denis Dillon (Nassau county district attorney) - He called mostly the
doctors that went to a hospital at one night and of course when they went to
the hospital the next day and started comparing notes you know what a
strange night they had they got this call, they thought it was a heart
attack victim or whatever and the other doctor's would say I had the same
thing happen.
NJB - No one caught on until detectives say they paged the wrong guy
namely Ray Heppern a white collar crimes investigator in the DA's office.
Ray H - I returned the call and I got a busy signal.
NJB - the busy signal made ray suspicious after a little bit of
digging he says, he figured out the Scott Vanpalla had programmed his
personal computer to page people at random all day and all night.
DD - I think he's an Imaginative kid unfortunately it a bad use of his
imagination If he keeps using it that way he'll be spending a good part of
his time in state prison.
NJB - Scott Vanpalla could face up to five years in prison prosecutors
say he made up to $4000 in just ten weeks and they say they're still trying
to figure out where he got all those pager numbers NJ Burkett channel 7
eyewitness news.
That's pretty damn slick. I don't remember seeing that anywhere so I
wonder if he made it himself or he read it somewhere in a zine of something.
The way I see it if he was smart enough to think this up he would of been
smart enough not to get caught. This is a good example of why we say for
informational purposes only. As far as where he got all those pager numbers
OCPP01? If he did he didn't read OCPP02. He would of known not to get
greedy. Also don't do stuff like this from your house. He could of used a
payphone to page people. If he would of payed 20 cents a phone call for 95
cents a minute he still makes 75 cents and if you find a 1-800 number system
like 1800 mcipage it would of been free. If you ever do something like this
don't do it for ten weeks strait.
While were talkin about getting busted, the Assassin's legal trouble
mounts. He is kind of like our hitman. He is the one that thought of the
gas station scam in OCPP02. Well if anyone was considering trying this, he
has gotten caught. He did it for a while and then stopped after making over
a thousand dollars. He started again but was really sloppy about it. He
got charged with theft by deception instead of credit card fraud because he
knew the cops. There has been no court date set. We will keep you posted
if any of you are still alive by the time this actually goes to court.
Letters
Announce meetings, tell an intresting story, ask a question, respond
to questions/articles or whatever, just send us your letters. Make sure you
provide your handle and if you would like your email address to be posted,
please specify it. We answered and deleted most of our mail because this
was a last minute addition. Upcomming issues will have more and better
letters.
Connecting to the Internet
Does any body know how to connect to the Internet for virtually nothing. I
live only 250 meters away from a university. I have seen all their
satellites and radio transmitters. What are they for? how does the
university connect all its computers to the Internet. Is it by radio? If it
is can somebody tell me how I can connect to it as well.
[Steal an account? Are you that cheap that you can't afford 10 bucks a
month? Thier transmitters are probably for thier radio and TV station.
Internet by radio?]
Found some stuff
Wassup i just had a nother line put in when the guy was screwing around in
the attic i ganked 3 thick phones they got 4 switches on them labeled
test,tone,volume,control so i hooked it up to my out side box and i was
funin around with the switches the test makes a series of beeps and the
tone goes from pulse to tone to some weird other shit that when i hit
somthing like the # then a number it takes me to some thing where people
call me like an operator? this was kinda kool cause i did this at a
fortress by splicing their wires and cussing people out n e ways do you
know what else i can do with it went to a big lite green box that was missing
the lock so i opened and it had 5 rows of silver bolts and 10 bolts per
well i looks like this X5 ROWS i think each 2 digonal \ bolts is some ones
lines!
and another thing i got a box thing with phone buttons or the numbers on
one and 4 things lead out a thick phone chord 2 wires with metal poles on
the end red and green and a regular phone chord!
[This is the most poorly written letter I have ever gotten. I'll try to
decipher the broken english. It sounds like he stole some lineman handsets.
I'm not gonna sit here and explain how to use them, if you don't know how to
beige you shouldn't be here. As far as the green box it sounds like he's
talking about a pedestal terminal. He included a bad ascii drawing of one.
As far as what to do with that, read Dust's file on Beige boxing located in
the text file section.]
News
From Lucent Technologies Today
Solution to the Millennium Bug?- A 14 year old New Zealand boy claims he
has designed a program to topple the millennium bug. Nicholas Johnson, a
kid who has tinkered with puzzles since he was a toddler, is keeping his
information under tight wraps and will not divulge how the program works,
pending a patent. Andrew Siddall, a computer analyst, studied the solution
and considers it "a remarkable breakthrough."
Sprint Logical Choice for Merger
By Margaret Stafford
Associated Press Writer
-- In the recent spate of mergers, buyouts and rumored deals involving the
nation's telecommunications companies, Sprint Corp., the third-largest
long-distance carrier in the country, has been conspicuously missing. A law
passed in February 1996 that largely deregulated the U.S. industry has
prompted several blockbuster telecommunications deals, such as a bidding war
between GTE Corp., British Telecommunications PLC and WorldCom Inc. for MCI
Communications Corp. Rumors also have circulated that AT&T Corp. was
discussing purchasing GTE Corp. Sprint's absence from that game could end in
the next year or two, analysts said Tuesday.
"I will hardly be surprised if in the next 12 months or so we hear
about a deal for Sprint or involving Sprint in some big way," said Scott
Wright, a telecommunications analyst with Argus Research in New York.
The holdup for Sprint may be that France Telecom and Deutsch Telecom
each own 10 percent of the company. Until the end of 1998, that gives those
companies disapproval rights for any major acquisition or divestiture that
Sprint contemplates.
As Europe begins to deregulate its industry, the French and German
companies might try to raise their stake in Sprint, said Raghu Ram, senior
vice president for telecom research for Wheat First Butcher Singer in New
York.
Ram said foreign ownership rules require reciprocal markets in
U.S. and foreign countries before international deals can be finalized. For
example, British Telecom was able to bid on MCI because that country's
markets are more open to U.S.companies than either France or Germany, he
said.
When the World Trade Organization Agreement takes effect in January of
1998, those rules will be relaxed and markets in all countries should be
more open, Ram said.
"That means we can look at Sprint as a logical choice to be involved
in some sort of deal toward the end of 1998 or early 1999,'' he said.
Ram said it is possible a U.S. company could be interested in Sprint,
but any major company probably will wait to see how the other communications
deals work out.
Sprint has not been sitting idle in recent years. It has made
acquisitions of its own, such as a buyout in May of Paranet,and has
instituted a nationwide wireless phone network, Sprint PCS. It also has
started Global One with the French and German companies and recently formed
a partnership in China.
But it may be most attractive to a suitor because of its strong
long-distance network, growing share of the local phone market and a
reputation as a well-managed company, Ram said.
Bill White, a spokesman for Sprint, declined to speculate on a
potential national or international acquisition. But he said company
officials believe they have built a strong portfolio to keep shareholders
happy and compete with the two larger companies, AT&T and MCI.
"We really feel good about where we are," White said. "We are very
well positioned to create a significant amount of value for our shareholders
if we execute well in the future."
Wright said Sprint's position as the third-largest long-distance
carrier also might make it attractive.
"There are only three main entrees into the U.S. market, and
one of those (MCI) is already on the block," he said. "AT&T is a big bite.
Sprint might not be quite as big a bite, and it would bring immediate good
markets to anyone who took it over or became a partner."
But all the speculation may not be meaningful in the new world of
telecommunications, Wright said. "The sky is absolutely the limit in this
industry now," he said. "None of the companies are too big and there is a
lot of available capital that might choose to fund huge mergers, rather
than invest in high-risk overseas ventures.
"All the pieces are in place to assure that for the next couple of
years at least, there will be a number of large and small deals,including
some bidding wars."
AT&T tests new '00' INFO directory assistance service
Directory assistance the way customers really want it
BASKING RIDGE, N.J. -- AT&T today announced a market trial of its new AT&T
"00" INFO(sm) (Double-0 Info) national directory assistance service that
allows AT&T customers to obtain a telephone listing for any place in the
United States with one simple phone call -- even if they don't have the area
code or exact city.
The "00" INFO service trial begins today in Seattle, Denver, Phoenix,
Minneapolis, and Portland, Ore.
In marked contrast to the industry trend to provide fully automated
directory assistance, AT&T "00" INFO Service features personal, courteous,
helpful service from specially trained AT&T information assistants who will
stay on the line for the entire call. From the moment they greet the customer
by introducing themselves, AT&T assistants are there to help customers
simplify their lives, by searching for a directory listing with as little
information as a partial name and a locality or state. And AT&T
assistants will stay with the customer through the end of the call when they
provide the requested information.
"We're providing directory assistance the way customers really want
it," said Howard McNally, vice president of AT&T Consumer Markets Division.
"AT&T is bringing back the personal touch. Not only will we stay on the line
with our customers, but we'll do everything in our power to meet their
needs -- using enhanced search features to find the listings they want, and
even the address and zip code, if that's what they need."
AT&T "00" INFO takes directory assistance to a higher level of
customer service, providing a renewed emphasis on personal service that is
supported by several new search capabilities:
A new expanded search capability allows AT&T information assistants to
extend a directory search to surrounding communities when they can't find a
requested listing in a designated city or town -- even if the caller
doesn't know what those communities are.
A keyword search function allows AT&T information assistants to search
for a business listing when the caller doesn't know the full or exact name
of the business. This search will find the listing if the keyword appears
anywhere in the name.
AT&T's new "00" INFO Service makes it easier for callers to use
directory assistance. They no longer need to remember multiple numbers for
directory assistance. And they don't need to know the area code. Customers
need only dial one simple number to reach an AT&T information assistant
who will help them find telephone listings anywhere in the United States.
During the market trial, AT&T is offering the new AT&T "00" INFO
Service at the same 95-cent price that it charges for conventional directory
assistance. With "00" INFO Service customers can get unlimited listings per
call, but pay 95-cents for every two listings.
AT&T customers in the five test markets can use "00" INFO from their
home phones, or when they are away from home, by dialing 1-800-CALL-ATT® (1-
800-225-5288).
The AT&T "00" INFO directory assistance service trial is limited to
listings in the United States.
AT&T extends '00' Info service trial to 23 states and AT&T Calling Card users
AT&T Brings Back Personal Service to Directory Assistance
BASKING RIDGE, N.J. -- AT&T today announced that it will extend the market
trial of its new "Double-0 Info" national directory assistance service to 23
states and to all AT&T Calling Card customers nationwide. The new AT&T "00"
INFO(sm) Service allows AT&T customers to obtain a telephone listing for any
place in the United States with one simple phone call -- even if they don't
have the area code or exact city.
The extended "00" INFO residential service trial begins today for all
AT&T customers in Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa,
Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico,
North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota,
Tennessee, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.
In addition, all AT&T Calling Card customers can use "00" INFO by
dialing 1-800-CALL-ATT®.
Cell Phone Service links toll free calls
Toll free calling is finally coming to wireless phones more than a
dozen years after the first cellular network was launched.
Most consumers now pay an average $1 a call for the 1-800 and 1-888
calls they place with wireless phones, and that adds up to billions of
dollars a year. The reason: Most carriers in the highly fragmented
wireless sector have been unable to offer toll free service because they
can't set standard prices or share 800 numbers. The cost of a wireless call
varies from company to company, market to market.
A new company called Toll free cellular has been testing it's service
for 2 years. Now it is taking its service nationwide with a new billing
system. It sells it's service to over 1000 companies. Customers can use it
as long as their carrier they subscribe to has a contract with them.
Payphone Companies can now charge any fee
A new law allows payphone companies to charge whatever they want for
coin-operated local calls. In the near future I could cost 25 cents to use
a phone on one corner but 50 cents across town. The law also allows pay
phone companies to charge by the minute for local calls, something most
state regulators had banned until now.
