Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!att!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!texsun!texbell!vector!telecom-gateway From: claris!apple!netcom!onymouse@ames.arc.nasa.gov (John DeBert) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Non-Dialable Points Message-ID:Date: 8 Aug 89 20:59:36 GMT Sender: news@vector.Dallas.TX.US Organization: NetCom Services - Public Access Unix System (408) 997-9175 guest Lines: 42 Approved: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 282, message 3 of 9 In article , gmw1@cunixd.cc.columbia. edu (Gabe M Wiener) says: > X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 277, message 2 of 11 > Recently it was mentioned that there are thousands of non-dialable points > left in California. Just out of curiosity... If one were to include toll stations, non-coin and COPT phones and other lines or services with a COS that prevents indial access (including OUTWATS of course), then there are surely thousands not only in CA but everywhere. > > What cities (or should I say villages) are still-non dialable? > Do such places have outbound dialing or is all calling > still operator-assist? On the Central Coast, I can only recall of one set of toll stations that remain: Tassajara Hot Springs has somewhere from 4 to 9 stations. There was one to the east of SIllyCon Valley called "San Antone" which belonged to Pac Bell. The area served by the toll stations was taken over by a private party in 1983 ( +/- a year). They have their own prefix (408-897) and DDD in and out is available. They have a few equipment problems, though, including coin stations that are installed but never work. It's anywhere from 20 to 60 miles to the nearest town or point with coin phones. > I would think that with today's telephone technology, DDD would reach _all_ > points in America. Can anyone explain the holdouts? Toll stations usually still exist because the phone company does not feel that there is enough reason to justify installing cables, trunks and remote facilities to serve such remote areas as Tassajara Hot Springs and San Antone and others. They are a long way from existing CO's - Tassajara sites are more than 50 miles from the nearest CO and all points in San Antone are 20 to 70 miles from the nearest 408 CO in San Jose. (The present CO is in Patterson, in the 209 area about 40 miles from the middle of San Antone.) That's a lot of money to invest in an area that is very sparsely populated and with no expected increase in population in the near future and cannot be considered to pay for itself. Small independent telco's often end up providing service using very old equipment as is the case with SAn Antone and Pinnacles in CA.