121 lines
6.4 KiB
Plaintext
121 lines
6.4 KiB
Plaintext
The South Pole..........[312] 677-7140
|
||
:=+---------------------------------+=:
|
||
I Basics of Phone Phreaking I I
|
||
I by Long John Silicone I
|
||
I Oct. 1983 I
|
||
:=+---------------------------------+=:
|
||
|
||
|
||
A rather broad subject to attack, I must say. The debate over just what to
|
||
discuss has occupied my thoughts for many an hour. Perhaps if I approach this
|
||
subject legally, in an informative manner that is, my problems might be solved.
|
||
Nonetheless, here it goes.
|
||
|
||
Ma Bell can rattle on for hours on methods for saving money on your long-
|
||
distance calls. Unfortunately, most people still think that AT&T is the only
|
||
game in town for long-distance service.
|
||
|
||
What Ma Bell won't tell you is that there comes a time in a telephone user's
|
||
life to leave Mom. There are now several companies which compete with AT&T in
|
||
the long-distance market: MCI, Southern Pacific's "SPRINT" (which is currently
|
||
being purchased by General Telephone and Electronics Company), U.S.
|
||
Transmission System'S "Longer Distance" (a susidiary of ITT), Western Union's
|
||
"MetroFone", and Satellite Business System's "Skyline." They all boast of
|
||
opportunities for large savings on the long-distance portion of your monthly
|
||
phone bill.
|
||
|
||
Someone unaquainted with these new competitors, which are called
|
||
"specialized common carriers" (or SCCs), might ask, "Isn't it a duplication of
|
||
effort for a lot of different companies to be running long- distance lines all
|
||
over the country? And how can a company that is just a fraction of the size of
|
||
AT&T provide a similar service for a lower price?" The answer is that these new
|
||
competitors have built their base by concentrating on routes where long-
|
||
distance traffic is heavy, so the cost of carrying each call is relatively low.
|
||
Also, the competitors transmission equipment consists almost exclusively of
|
||
computers and microwave links, which they have built themselves or which they
|
||
lease from other carriers. Thus, these networks can be less expensive to
|
||
construct and maintain then the cable-based systems that Bell has used for
|
||
years. There's also another class of competitors called "resellers", who lease
|
||
and resell both AT&T's and other carriers' lines. More about resellers in a
|
||
moment.
|
||
|
||
Initially, most of the SCC competitors could reach only a limited number of
|
||
cities. But as they've grown, the number of cities served by their microwave
|
||
networks has steadily in- creased, and today most of the SCC's reach 70 percent
|
||
or more of all area codes in the United States and continue to increase the
|
||
number of cities served every month. Sattelite Business System's "Skyline" is
|
||
the first to offer service to the entire U.S. over its own network. The other
|
||
SCC's are phasing in uninversal service by using Bell's WATS system. But while
|
||
users of these services will soon be able to call 'to' anywhere in the U.S.,
|
||
they will still be able to call 'from' only a limited number of places, usually
|
||
the major metropolitan areas.
|
||
|
||
To use any of these SCC services, you currently must have a Touch-Tone
|
||
service or the equivalent Tone gener- ator. (This is changing as a conse-
|
||
quence of the AT&T/Department of Justice divestiture agreement, which will
|
||
require the newly independent local phone companies to grant all carriers
|
||
"equal access" at equal rates.) There is an additional monthly charge by the
|
||
phone company for Touch- Tone service (check the "Customer Guide" in your local
|
||
White Pages, or call your Bell business office for details); however, you don't
|
||
have to rent or buy a Bell telephone to get Touch-Tone service. (Hurrah for
|
||
K-mart)
|
||
|
||
If your local phone lines already are equipped to handle both rotary and
|
||
Touch-Tone calls, you may be able to avoid the need for Touch-Tone service in
|
||
this way: using a regular rotaray phone, you place a call to the SCC's
|
||
computer; then, to 'converse' with the computer simply use a touch pad conver-
|
||
ter or a tone generator, held up to the mouthpiece of your rotary phone.
|
||
|
||
It's reasonably easy to use the SCC systems. You must first dial a seven
|
||
digit local phone number (an 'access' number), which connects you to the SCC's
|
||
computer. When you hear a tone on the other end, you then dial a five-or
|
||
six-digit number (an 'authorization code') that tells the computer you're an
|
||
authorized user and to bill your account for the call. Immediately after
|
||
dialing the authori- zation number, you dial the area code and number you wish
|
||
to call. The SCC's computer in your area then sends your call out over its own
|
||
long-distance network to a computer in the area you called; the computer on the
|
||
other end then hooks your call into the local phone network to reach whomever
|
||
you've called. Each month you recieve a bill from your SCC (seperate from your
|
||
reg- ular phone bill) detailing your calls and billing you for the service
|
||
charges plus your calls.
|
||
|
||
Note: This varies on occasion, prime example being "Longer Distance".
|
||
Instead of the standard code- number format, they elected the number-code
|
||
input.
|
||
|
||
"SPRINT" uses a six-digit code followed by a two digit travel code.
|
||
|
||
A moment of speculation is due..
|
||
|
||
What would happen if you entered someone elses 'access code', then dialed
|
||
the destination number? The answer is usually Grand Larceny; however, it is
|
||
quite possible since only the general place of origin is possible to detect on
|
||
a call placed without notice.
|
||
|
||
For information on the competitive long-distance services:
|
||
|
||
MCI : Write MCI, MCI Building, 17th and Streets, NW Washington, D.C.
|
||
20036. Call toll free (800) 521- 8620 or in Michigan (800) 482- 1740.
|
||
"Execunet"
|
||
|
||
SBS: Write SBS, John Marshall Building 8283 Greensboro Drive, McLean, VA
|
||
22102. Call toll free (800) 698- 6900. "Skyline"
|
||
|
||
ITT: Write ITT, U.S. Transmission Systems, INC., P.O. Box 732, Bowling
|
||
Green Station, New York NY. 10004 Call toll free (800) 438-9428 or in New York
|
||
(212) 797-2511. "Longer Distance"
|
||
|
||
SPC: Write SPC, One Adrian Court, Burilingame, CA. 94010, or call (800)
|
||
521-4949 or in Michigan, (800) 645-6020. "SPRINT"
|
||
|
||
WU : Write WU, 1 Lake Street, Upper Saddle River, NJ. 07458. Call (800)
|
||
325-6000 for the number of your local service office. "MetroFone"
|
||
|
||
A final note, don't do anything I wouldn't. And above all, if you do:
|
||
|
||
DON'T GET CAUGHT.
|
||
|
||
Yours in trade,
|
||
Long John Silicone
|
||
Call The Works BBS - 1600+ Textfiles! - [914]/238-8195 - 300/1200 - Always Open
|
||
|