In article <telecom24.170.15@telecom-digest.org>,
Scott Dorsey <kludge@panix.com> wrote:
>> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: How would you then deal with 'phone
>> patches', the little devices which allow VHF/UHF radios to link into
>> the public phone network? Should they also be subject to the rules
>> of the public switched telephone network? PAT]
> Yes. Patched calls are subject to BOTH the rules of the public
> telephone network AND the rules of whatever radio channel is in use,
> because the call is handled by both services.
> --scott
> "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I guess what I meant to say was the
> person using the radio who issues certain tones to the base station
> where the 'phone patch' is located, who then makes outgoing phone
> calls over a (common, owned by the ham radio operator's club for
> example) phone line. Is that commonly-owned phone line, and the
> 'patch' device in the middle, and most important, the portable
> transciever (a two meter rig comes to mind) all subject to both
> radio and telco rules, for example, the 911 surcharge, and other
> fees on account of his transciever rig _can possibly_ be used on
> the phone network? What about the local number portability fee,
> etc? After all, he does have a _phone number_ (albiet shared in
> common with other club members) doesn't he? PAT]
NO, "he" does _not_ have a phone number. You cannot place a phone call
_to_ that ham by calling that number, for example.
The land-line is 'owned', and paid for, by "whomever it is" that owns/
operates the repeater with the phone-patch. Think of the transceivers
with the appropriate accessories to access the phone-patch as simply
multiple "extensions" on that single-number phone line. Land-line
"rules" say that there is a 911 surcharge _per_line_, paid by the line
owner -- it is a fixed amount, _regardless_ of how many 'extensions'
there are on that line. Same thing for the LNP fees.
"Land-line" fees are _not_ applicable to the "radio" portion of such a
call/service. Neither are land-line equipment requirements. And,
similarly, "radio" fees and equipment requirements do not apply to the
'land-line' portion of such a call/service.
Example: anything that is connected to the PSTN is required to have a
FCC registered (and -tested- rules-compliant) "network interface" --
what the phone companies sold/rented, once upon a time, as a "DAA". A
radio that is able to use a phone-patch to originate a call is *not*
required to have any such device. (Although the phone-patch, itself,
_is_.)
On the other hand, a call that traverses _both_ services, is
restricted to the "least common denominator" of the legal restrictions
on _each_ service. If a thing is proscribed on *either* kind of
operation, it cannot be legally done on a call that employs both kinds
of operations. e.g., on the aforementioned ham phone-patch it is
*illegal* (_criminally_ so!) for a ham radio operator to call the
neighborhood pizza joint to place an order.
Now, PSAP database locater requirements compliance raises
_interesting_ _questions_ as regards a "phone-patch" line. I'm not
knowledgeable enough on location-reporting requirements to even
_guess_ at how they apply in that kind of a situation. What do the
rules say for a phone line on a farm, where a _single_ POTS line is
connected to instruments in the house and the barn? No PBX or
anything, just the wires going out to the barn.
Robert Bonomi (bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com)