Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!seismo!rutgers!clyde!cbatt!ihnp4!houxm!mtuxo!mtune!mtunb!dmt From: dmt@mtunb.UUCP (Dave Tutelman) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.modems Subject: Re: touchtone dialing always works Message-ID: <807@mtunb.UUCP> Date: Thu, 18-Dec-86 07:49:30 EST Article-I.D.: mtunb.807 Posted: Thu Dec 18 07:49:30 1986 Date-Received: Fri, 19-Dec-86 01:57:35 EST References: <750@sdcc12.ucsd.EDU> <385@puff.WISC.EDU> Reply-To: dmt@mtunb.UUCP (Dave Tutelman) Distribution: na Organization: AT&T Information Systems - Lincroft, NJ Lines: 22 My recollection of history on this is that: - Almost from the first, pushbutton dialing was lower COST than dial pulsing. The phone sets were little more expensive, and the savings in holding time of the (shared) dial pulse/tone receivers more than made up for it. Thus, it was a bargain for the phone company. - Pushbutton dialing was introduced at a higher PRICE for a couple of reasons. (1) There was a need to control the demand, or it would be ordered faster than it could be manufactured and installed. (2) It made the regulators happy, as it was positioned as a premium service that could subsidize lower rates on POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service). Given that there is no longer that need to control demand, and it is so much more common than dial pulses that it can no longer be viewed as "premium", the continued premium price seems a ripoff to me. Score another for "value-of-service" rather than "cost-of-service" pricing. This strategy can ONLY be practiced by a monopoly, because in a free market the low-cost, high-price service will be offered at a lower price by someone else. Dave Tutelman