X-Delivery-Notice:  SMTP MAIL FROM does not correspond to sender.
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.words-l
Date:         Tue, 18 Aug 1992 23:29:28 EDT
From:         Tony Harminc <TONY@VM1.MCGILL.CA>
Subject:      Re: Cellular Phones
              18 Aug 1992 13:14:44 CDT from <maynor@RA.MSSTATE.EDU>

On Tue, 18 Aug 1992 13:14:44 CDT Natalie Maynor said:

>                                                    When somebody calls
>long-distance to a cellular phone, I assume that it's the caller who pays
>the l-d bill, as usual.  But how does the caller know where the callee is?

There's no way to know, other than to ask the callee.

>If I had a cellular phone, I assume that its phone number would have a
>601 prefix, whether I was at home or 2,000 miles away.  If somebody from
>Columbus (20 miles from here) called me when I had the phone with me in
>New York, would the person be billed for a call to Starkville or a call
>to NY?

Starkville.  You will never be billed (E&OE) for a call to somewhere
other than where you dialed.  The same question comes up from time
to time for call forwarding.  If I call your home number in Starkville
and you have forwarded it to Providence, I pay for the call from Toronto
to Starkville, and you pay for the call from Starkville to Providence.

As Anne pointed out, there is a cheaper way to call a cellphone that
is known to be in an area other than its own.

>                     Do cellular phones work in other countries?  If I
>took my hypothetical cellular phone to Japan, would a call from Atlanta
>be billed as a call to Japan or a call to Mississippi?

North American cellphones use a system called AMPS.  AMPS is used in
Canada, the US, Mexico, some Caribbean countries, Hong Kong, and a
smattering of other countries.  It is not used anywhere in Europe
or (I believe) Australia or NZ.  There are several standards unique
to individual European countries, and a couple of others around the
world.  A new "pan European" digital cellphone standard called GSM
will make compatibility problems go away there in the next few years,
but of course the new North American digital standard will not be
compatible, so you still won't be able to take your phone to Europe.

(I noticed while watching the video _Hook_ recently that the hero
takes his phone from California to England and it works.  NOT!)

Anyway - if you take your phone to say Hong Kong, and assuming your
local cellular company has a roaming agreement with the HK company,
then it's just like visiting Providence - the caller pays from Atlanta
to Starkville, and you pay from Starkville to Hong Kong.

BTW, the concept of the cellphone subscriber paying the whole shot
is not universal.  In the UK for example, cellphones are all given
a special prefix (= area code) and the caller then pays a (high) rate
for the privilege of calling them.  This makes somewhat more sense
in a geographically small country.  But if you call such a number
from outside the country, there is no mechanism for billing you
anything other than the usual rate to the UK.  Thus in the dead
of night it can be cheaper to call a UK cellphone from the US
than from the UK.

If your friends want more excruciatingly detailed information, the
Telecom Digest has an ongoing cellular discussion and a large set
of FAQ files.

Tony H.
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU