---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-ID: <3e0214a7-4f95-10be-605d-4efb0c863f84@ionary.com> Date: 8 Mar 2020 13:38:11 -0400 From: "Fred Goldstein" <invalid@see.sig.telecom-digest.org> Subject: Re: Keystone [was Re: History "Postal Telegraph" On 3/6/2020 9:05 PM, Julian Thomas wrote: >> On Mar 5, 2020, at 14:31, HAncock4 <withheld@invalid.telecom-digest.org> > wrote: >> As an aside, there was another telephone company, Keystone >> Telephone, that competed directly with the Bell System in a >> few places. > AFAIK, only Philadelphia > > I remember seeing signs in the '40s - '50's for 'Bell Booths' and also > Keystone booths. > >> They too fell onto hard times and were merged into the Bell System. >> http://www.keystonetelephone.com/ > There was something murky about their demise into the belly of the Bell whale; > I've never been able to get to the bottom of it. Local telephone service wasn't always a monopoly, pre-1996. Ma Bell's patents expired in the 1890s. "Independent" telephone companies sprung up all over, including in the cities where "Bell" companies operated. Strowger invented the dial in 1896 and independents started adopting it, but not Bell. Nowadays many of these would be called CLECs. BUT there was no obligation to interconnect, so an independent phone, like from Keystone (in Philadelphia) or Granite (in Quincy) would not be able to call a Bell phone. The "network effect" worked against them. Over time, some of the independents in Bell areas were acquired by Bell, and some went out of business. Keystone was a holdout (I think until 1929). In 1912 or so the "Kingsbury" agreement allowed independents to connect to AT&T Long Lines for long distance calls, though there was no obligation of local interconnection. It also banned AT&T from acquiring independents who weren't bankrupt, thus leaving most rural areas in independent hands. This was the patchwork monopoly system (many local monopoly carriers linked by AT&T toll) enshrined in law in CA34. -- Fred R. Goldstein k1io fred "at" ionary.com +1 617 795 2701 ------------------------------ Message-ID: <f75685e3-b365-4274-a7c7-23d4dc44d036@googlegroups.com> Date: 6 Mar 2020 11:52:30 -0800 From: HAncock4 <withheld@invalid.telecom-digest.org> Subject: Re: Hawaii: Cell tower permits denied for AT&T projects in Kurtistown, HPP On Friday, March 6, 2020 at 1:58:32 PM UTC-5, Moderator wrote: > By Michael Brestovansky > > Tempers and temperatures ran high at a Windward Planning Commission > meeting that ended with two proposed cellphone towers in Puna being > denied use permits. > https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2020/03/06/hawaii-news/cell-tower-permits-denied-for-att-projects-in-kurtistown-hpp/ Historical note: In 1972, General Telephone, which served Hawaii, needed a new route, but a volcano blocked the way. They built a microwave tower instead. The following two page ad explains it. https://books.google.com/books?id=uVYEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA30&dq=life%20hawaii%20general%20telephone&pg=PA30#v=onepage&q&f=false Also, in 1957 Bell completed an undersea cable to Hawaii. Note the rates for a call from the mainland--very expensive. https://books.google.com/books?id=tVYEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA127&dq=life%20hawaii%20telephone%20service&pg=PA127#v=onepage&q&f=false see also (color) https://books.google.com/books?id=m1YEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA138&dq=hawaii%20telephone%20cable&pg=PA138#v=onepage&q&f=false ------------------------------ Message-ID: <c23447c5-7d1b-425a-94a3-85b94cbf8aaa@googlegroups.com> Date: 7 Mar 2020 12:32:34 -0800 From: HAncock4 <withheld@invalid.telecom-digest.org> Subject: Re: Street payphones in NYC to be removed Here is a 1951 Bell System ad showing military personnel using pay phones. https://archive.org/details/the-saturday-evening-post-1951-12-15/page/n132/mode/1up The booths are notable in that they had all the features of full-service phone booths. Note the: 1) seat 2) table 3) light 4) ventilator fan 5) door All of these contributed toward the comfort and convenience of the user--the table was very useful for taking notes during a call. The closable door allowed privacy and elimination of outside noise. I think of those features when I must use my cellphone in a public place, or, when others are using their cellphones and I have to listen to a shouting voice and a private conversation. As an aside, the large pay phone installations, such as in a major train station or military base, had an attendant to help place calls, provide out of town directories, and make change. ------------------------------ ********************************************* End of telecom Digest Mon, 09 Mar 2020