[Boatanchors] WAS Goodies NOW Bell

Sat Apr 11 18:21:40 EDT 2015

     You leased the system.  You paid a monthly rent on the phone which 
also took care of the whole telephone plant.  Any repairs or 
replacements were free.  Additional phones were charged for monthly.  
Sometimes there was a one time installation fee.  Telco repair is now 
limited to the entrance to your hose or building, not beyond. Any 
internal wiring is your responsibility.   If you have wireless phones, 
phone on DSL, etc, the rate structure is different.  If you want a 
second cell phone it is charged for and you pay a monthly rate same as 
for the first one.
      On conventional phones and some cell plans you still pay for long 
distance or "roaming" when using the phone outside of a given area.  On 
other plans there is no distance or roaming charge but this is usually 
for deluxe service.  Free long distance and international service can be 
had from web based phone services like Skype but they have their 
limitations.
      You are also comparing service when the Bell System was whole to 
now when there have been large changes in the technology.
       Years ago AT&T advertised there service as the Voice with a 
Smile", after a while it became the voice with a snarl.  I have 
somewhere a financial history of AT&T, it points out that the telephone 
business is extremely capital intensive.  Being a regulated public 
utility makes it difficult to make it look like a good investment.  In 
fact, it was not.  The statistics show that an investment in AT&T during 
any time in its existence before the break up would have lost money 
against the average of industrial stocks on the NYSE.  It is tempting to 
suggest that telecommunication services in the US should be nationalized 
but that has not worked well in countries that have tried it.  However, 
it needs to be regulated better than it is now.  One problem AT&T had 
was over regulation, or rather wrong regulation which caused the company 
to indulge in some very dishonest bookkeeping. That was one of the 
reasons for breaking it up.
      AT&T now looks to be re-assembling the Bell System.  Maybe we will 
have those old blue bells back one day. FWIW, my land phone is AT&T as 
is my internet service.  Not my cell phone.
      I should stay out of these discussions, they never go anywhere.

On 4/11/2015 11:38 AM, rbethman wrote:
> Let us re-look how it *really* was:
>
> You paid a monthly fee per each phone.  It was theirs *NOT* yours!
>
> You paid to move any line in the home.  It was theirs *NOT* yours!
>
> So, I ask this:  How much would y'all be paying per phone per month 
> today?
>
> The next phone jack you move to another room, or ADD another one, How 
> much would y'all pay today?
>
> I very well remember ONE phone in the house.
>
> It was any color as long as it was black and all metal.
>
> I don't know about you folks, BUT, I sure enjoy having whatever color 
> the wife wants, where she decides it will be for perhaps 6 months, and 
> I have the tone generator, a roll of 4wire "Jake", and my own "BUTT SET".
>
> Those days at the top of this *WERE* the days of the Monopoly!
>
> Gee, I can call about 40 miles in any direction *AND* not pay a TOLL!
>
> I think I like it the way it is.  Do you think you'd have wireless 
> phones all over the house under the *OLD* days?
>
> YMMV  This is *MY* $0.02 worth.  *** You weren't billed for this 
> message. ***
>
> Regards, Bob - N0DGN
>
> On 4/11/2015 1:57 PM, manualman at juno.com wrote:
>> Stupid No. Monopolies can be dangerous. They alone drive the costs we
>> pay, determine what we use for equipment, determine what features they
>> will allow us to have, and stifle any innovation that doesn't comply 
>> with
>> their view of future expansion of products and services.
>>
>> Pete, wa2cwa
>>
>>
>> On Sat, 11 Apr 2015 04:18:33 -0400 Bob Young <bobyoung53 at hotmail.com>
>> writes:
>>> Yup, breaking up the Bell telephone company was just one of many
>>> stupid things that we have allowed to happen in the past 20-30
>>> years,
>>>   Bob
>>> KB1OKL
>
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-- 
Richard Knoppow
1oldlens1 at ix.netcom.com
WB6KBL