So anyone else irritated by the bell touch tone service fee

[Anthony de Boer]

Dave Cramer wrote:
> I've been paying 2.80 /mth for touch tone service. I wonder if I
> refuse this service will my phone stop operating ?

Years and years ago I was in charge of a bunch of modem connections
across the city, and figured we could save some bucks by not ordering
touch-tone; I could program a modem to ATDP with the best of them.  And
anyway the links were nailed up and didn't spend a lot of time dialing.

Some years later we got a call from Bell: it turned out they were winding
up rotary-phone service, and could we please upgrade?

I'm given to understand that modern equipment may not even understand
pulse-dialing anymore, and that the former touch-tone extra became a
mandatory part of basic service.  It wouldn't surprise me if it's still
listed separately and not rolled into the base tariff due to bureaucratic
inertia.

(Back when touch-tone first rolled out, the electromechanical gear to
deal with it would have cost the telcos some *serious* coin, hence the
surcharge.)

-- 
Anthony de Boer
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