Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 28th, beginning at midnight until 6 a.m., right
here on WBAI 99.5 FM in your city, New York.
And it's 8 o'clock time for Off the Hook.
The telephone keeps ringing, so I ripped it off the wall.
I cut myself off shaving, now I can't make a cost.
It couldn't get much worse, but if they could, they would.
Bon Dittlet Bon for the best, expect the worst.
I hope the thunder's good.
Bon Dittlet Bon.
And good evening.
This is Off the Hook.
Manuel Goldstein here with FiberOptic.
Greetings.
And we've got quite a show lined up for you tonight, starting off with my favorite website
of the week, which is www.9xsucks.com.
Have you seen this one yet?
No, I keep meeting you.
It's amazing, because they're just, I mean, our listeners, assuming they have internet
access, they can submit stories to this thing, and then we can read them.
We can read them in the weeks ahead.
I'm going to read something dated, this is old, this is pretty old, but still, it ages
well, let's put it that way, this story of despair and heartache and 9x.
I've been keeping a log.
I have been a long time 9x hater.
I have also been keeping a log for several years.
One of my favorite stories is when I called to get new phone service when I moved.
So the basic story goes like this.
January 19th, 1996, at 2.14 p.m., I ordered new phone service for my modem.
The order was placed for installation February 2nd, 1996.
The representative could not give me a work order number citing difficulties.
On January 21st, 1996, I realized that I wanted to check on my new unlimited plan with local
option, the new billing plan for the new 9x service.
Starting at 10 a.m., I started dialing 1-800-499-5200.
After trying about every 10 minutes and getting only a busy signal, I programmed my computer
to automatically dial the number every 10 minutes.
And then, if there was a connection, to beep me.
It's kind of clever.
The program began running at 10.17 a.m. and didn't stop until 5.10 p.m.
During that time, the computer made 36 attempts at calling 1-800-499-5200, all of which failed
to connect due to busy signals.
January 22nd, I was too busy to call 9x.
Aha.
January 23rd, 3.28 p.m., called 9x.
3.35 p.m., 9x answered.
Spoke with 9x.
They claimed that the account must be open at least three months for this service to get
the unlimited plan option.
I requested that they change the account to be under the same billing as the original
home number.
They hung up on me.
3.54 p.m., called 9x back and somehow landed in the repair office despite following voice
prompts accurately.
Someone there said, ignore the voice prompts and call back and wait for the operator to
come on.
3.56 p.m., called 9x again.
The voice prompts repeated three times, but no operator.
3.58, got recording about ordering and suspending service.
4.05, no answer, no recordings.
Then someone picked up for an instant and hung up.
4.06, called 9x again, went through voicemail menu.
Ended up pressing three, all other orders.
4.07, got to 9x order center, was placed on automated hold.
4.09, Mrs. Mosback answered.
You forget Mrs. Mosback?
I can't say I have.
Oh, she's one of the best.
I told her I wanted to make the new phone number a part of the existing service rather
than a whole new service.
She can't find the work order at all.
It turns out that the original new phone number given to me was wrong, and they had to find
the new record.
New order was placed.
I asked her if she could help me with new ISDN service as well.
She said she knew nothing at all about ISDN, that she had not been trained in it, and that
it was really new, and for a business anyway.
She said to call the 9x ISDN service at 1-800-856-0667.
4.16, called 9x ISDN office at 1-800-856-0667, placed on hold.
4.36, still nobody has picked up the phone.
Fortunately, I like the music.
Still, I gave up and hit redial.
4.37, this time the 1-800-856-0667 number was busy.
4.44, called 1-800-856-0667 again, was immediately routed to music on hold.
4.55, still on hold.
At least it's a free call, and the music on hold is actually tolerable over the speakerphone.
Of course, since I'm calling the business service line and attempting to establish new
business service in New York City, it seems a little odd that after 10 minutes on hold
there's no answer or anything.
4.57, hung up.
February 2nd, they came to install the phone, but it turns out there aren't enough wires
on the pole to actually connect the phone.
They leave.
February 3rd, they actually run the wire up to the pole this time, and then they leave.
I hook up the phone, and there's no dial tone.
I call the customer service center.
25 minutes later, they tell me the phone won't work at all today.
February 4th, the phone comes on, and everything seems to work.
And that's, I'd like to say a day in the life of 9X, but actually it's more like a month
in the life of 9X, and something that I guess we're all too familiar with.
And there's lots of stories like that.
Visit www.9xsucks.com.
Is that S-U-C-K-S or S-U-X?
S-U-C-K-S.
I don't know if the S-U-X is taken.
So if you want to run a competing website, I guess you can register that name.
Now, you've had a 9X saga of your own over the past couple of days involving your ISDN line.
Yeah.
What happened?
You were kind of shaken up.
Well, as you may have heard about a month ago, I figured, you know, the one ISDN line I had
was working so well, I figured I'd get a second one.
You really thought it was that easy, huh?
Yeah, that way I can have both B-channels available for voice on my first line,
and both B-channels on the new line, both available for data.
So I ordered the line, and it was put in in about a week to a week and a half with minor difficulty.
The worst thing that happened was the Super wasn't around the first day to let 9X in the basement.
Okay.
But that was remedied the next day.
They take offense at that?
Yeah.
They were...
Left in a huff.
Yeah, left in a huff.
But they came back, and everything...
Yeah, they set everything up.
In fact, I could swear that I have visited you, and you have had ISDN service, and you've
been happy.
Yeah.
So what's the problem?
The problem was a few days ago when I got the bill for the new line.
Well, you did expect to get a bill, didn't you?
Well, yes, but not a bill for $1,000.
Uh, no.
I thought you had that 900 number problem licked.
Well, that wasn't my problem.
The problem was, um, apparently, they decided, and I verified this when I called 9X, they
decided that they couldn't imagine anyone having two ISDN lines purely for recreational
purposes.
So they set the new one up as business.
Wait, that's how they define it?
Business and recreational?
Yeah.
What happened to residential?
No, they call it recreational.
So whenever we're at home, it's, we're, right, recreating or whatever.
Yeah, well, yeah, I'm recreating.
That's, uh, so they just, they just decided to bill you business rates.
Business rates, right.
Well, what does that add up to as far as, uh, per minute charges?
Uh, well, just imagine reading the, uh, the little itemization chart where it says, um,
number of calls, three additional minutes, 20,000.
Yeah, I've seen things like that.
Yeah, that's, uh, that's pretty much a couple of those.
And this doesn't, this doesn't even count the penny a minute surcharge because you connect
to 56K, right?
Yeah.
Um, I'm connecting, actually, um, it doesn't, it doesn't matter because on business, you
pay by the minute no matter what.
Yeah, but wouldn't you pay again for the 64K?
I don't think you pay double.
I think you just pay ISDN business rates.
I think you pay whatever they can squeeze out of you.
Yeah.
I think that's how 9X works.
Well, they're trying to squeeze a thousand bucks out of me plus the, the business rate
for the installation.
That's unbelievable.
They would do that without even telling you.
Yeah.
They just say, oh, you must be a business.
Yeah.
Unbelievable.
You should be able to get 40 lines if you want.
Yeah.
I don't, I don't understand.
If I got two regular analog lines, does that mean the other one has to be for business?
It's like, what's the difference?
It costs just about the same.
Well, they are the phone company.
They must know how phones work.
Yeah, that's true.
And they must know what everybody's going to use them for.
Yes.
So, um, the person I spoke with said they were going to call the business office, but,
um, I didn't, uh, leave it to them.
I called the business office myself and, um, they said that they'd be calling the residential
office.
No, I called the business business office and they said that they'd be more than happy to,
um, to switch my service to residential if I pay something like a $50 connect, uh, switch
fee.
And I'm like, oh, wait a second.
Why do I have to pay to switch something that was screwed up in the first place?
And on top of that, what about the bill that I was already sent?
And I'm like, oh, you'll be responsible for those charges.
And I'm like, no, I won't.
I didn't order a business line.
I should have had residential service to begin with.
So they, they put me on hold for a really long time.
And I was really expecting to get the old 9X disconnect when they don't want to deal
with you anymore.
Right.
They tell you they're going to talk to their supervisor.
Did they get the 9X, drop the phone on the floor and then disconnect?
No, I've, I've gotten the put you on hold forever and then hanging up on you disconnect.
So I was expecting that, but then the person came back on the line and they said they spoke
with their supervisor and that I would have to call Mrs. Augustin in 718 area code who's
supposedly in charge of a residential ISDN order.
Great tales have been told of her.
Yeah.
Over the years.
And, um, no one has ever spoken to her.
From the looks of the phone number, I think it was a number in Jamaica or something like
that.
Uh-huh.
And, um, and I called this number and, um.
It's in the hillside facility where only employees get off the train.
That's where it is.
I, I, I tried to reach, uh, Mrs. Augustin and I got, uh, her voicemail saying that she'll
be on vacation until December 2nd.
Uh-huh.
And luckily this phone, this bill isn't due until December 11th.
Okay.
So at least that gives me some lead time to try to resolve the problem.
Or you could try to track her down wherever she is.
That's true.
Bahamas or something.
But I think, uh, at this point in time, I'm, uh, not gonna, I'm gonna try not to stress
over it.
In fact, I haven't even disconnected my ISDN connection either.
So you're still up and running?
I'm still up and running on both channels.
I have a question.
Now, they bill you per minute and your connection is still up.
How does that work?
How do they stop billing you?
Is it a certain minute they stop even though you're still connected?
I guess, sir, I guess midnight on, uh, the, the end of the month.
Because somebody told me once, if you make a long distance phone call, I know this
isn't true, but they just, it's, it's folklore.
Yeah.
They say if you make a long distance phone call and you never hang up, they can't bill
you for it because they don't have an end time.
Nah, that's, uh, that's urban legend.
I know.
The end time is the point that they choose to bill you.
Uh-huh.
If they're gonna, they bill you in cycles.
The end of the cycle, if you happen to be still on the phone, they'll bill you up until
the point that that cycle ended.
I'm sick of the cycles.
Yeah.
Definitely.
Circles, cycles.
Okay, well, that's, that's a horror story.
It really is.
Yeah.
It really is, um, it's, it's terrible.
Yeah.
I can't think of anything that 9x has done to me this week that matches that.
Yeah, well, luckily I'm not using the business line for voice because then if you ever called
me on there, if I ever called you, we'd have to hang up and I'd have to call you back on
the residential line right next to it.
Yeah, as soon as we start talking business.
Yeah.
Immediately we have to hang up and use the business line.
Yeah, see, it's the proper procedure.
You know how 9x tries to get away with this?
They say that, uh, residential rates are artificially low and that business, businesses are actually
paying for residential, I mean, that's how they, they get away with charging businesses
twice as much and per minute for everything.
Now the thing that amazes me is, now consider this, consider that I got a bill for $1,000,
right?
Having my phone connected pretty much 24 hours a day on two B channels, which is what?
An aggregate speed of 112 kilobits I'm using.
Right.
Right?
How much does it cost per month to have a T1?
Um...
About four or five hundred bucks.
Four or five hundred bucks, yeah.
Yeah.
So you must just get a T1.
Yeah.
You know, get a residential T1.
Well, they don't have a such thing.
Well, they should.
But there doesn't need to be a such thing, because you're not timed.
Mm-hmm.
You pay four or five hundred bucks a month, you could pay even less than that if you're
close enough to the place that you want to have the line run.
Or...
Because they charge you by the mile.
You could use another company.
You could do that too.
Yeah.
Yeah.
You could use a satellite.
You could, you know, rent time on a satellite for less than this.
Yeah.
It's insane.
Or you could use dishes.
Well, okay, now we're going to get into the new technology that you've brought to the studio,
but first, you have a little printout there from another website concerning something
that could allow us one day to have T1 speed in our homes and without having a T1.
All for the price of a cup of coffee.
Pretty much.
Expensive coffee, but, you know, it's possible.
So what is this magical, mystical technology called?
ADSL.
ADSL.
Which some of us have been beaten over the head about for the past few months, waiting
for this thing to take some form of existence.
ADSL stands for what?
It stands for Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line.
Aha.
Asymmetric meaning that it's not the same speed both ways.
Exactly.
Okay.
And that's the catch, eh?
That's the catch.
But the good thing about it is that the technology can be provided over the existing copper line
that you already have, like ISDN can.
The problems with it, the most obvious problem, is that they're saying, okay, at first we'll
give you maybe 64 kilobits from you going out to the rest of the world.
Not bad.
But coming in, we'll give you initially up to T1 speeds, 1.544 megabits per second.
That's a good speed.
Which is fine and dandy, but what they don't explain to you is that you and possibly everyone
else in your building, possibly everyone else in your neighborhood, will be sharing
this bandwidth.
It's not just for you.
Okay.
And if...
So the more people that use it...
Right.
...the slower it will get.
Now, at what point do they use another one?
Well, I think it all depends on, if you live in an apartment building, they might give one
line into that building for the whole building.
If you're the only person in that building who's subscribing to ADSL service, great.
Okay.
But if 50 more people in your building do, then you're going to notice things getting a lot
slower.
What's to stop them from simply giving each of those 50 people their own ADSL line?
I think the problem with that is...
Well, the obvious problem is the bandwidth limitations of the backbone of the internet.
The backbones of the internet right now, on average, are T3 speeds, which is 44.736 megabytes.
So we're not looking at a real phone company to subscriber limitation.
We're looking at the actual backbone of the internet being maxed out.
And it's the entry points to these backbones, which are known as the NAPs, the network access
points, like the Sprint NAP and the MCI NAP and so on and so forth, they would be limited
by the, not only by the available bandwidth, but the number of lines that are available
at the NAPs.
And, of course, the amount of copper available onto the street.
Okay.
This, compare this though to T1s, everyone going out and getting their own T1s.
Does this show more promise than something of that nature?
This shows a lot of potential, but I don't know.
They haven't mentioned anything about pricing yet that I've seen.
And I have checked out a number of sites.
I know they are testing this in Saskatchewan, up in Canada.
And they're getting something on the order of $75 per line.
Well, they're testing it a lot closer to home.
Well, that's to achieve T1 speeds for one person.
I've heard of trial tests by 9X in the Boston area.
But I haven't heard of anything price-wise either.
Uh-huh.
It's a shame that 9X has to get their hands on this.
But I imagine all kinds of people can experiment with this technology in some manner.
And hopefully there are other competing companies that will be trying to bring faster speed to
everybody at a low cost.
Right.
This sounds suspiciously like the cable modems, where it's a fast speed going one way, a slow
speed going another way.
Yeah, a fairly slow speed, comparatively.
And it gets slower and slower with more people adding on.
Well, I wouldn't be shocked if it was a highly similar, if not completely identical, line protocol
that they were using on both.
So, when do you think we can start seeing ADSL popping up?
Well, it's another case of ISDN where it might be too little too late.
In the case of ISDN, I'm sure you're aware of the fact that that was being pioneered at
Bell Labs back in the early to mid-80s.
And we're not really seeing it full swing until now.
ADSL was being developed back in the late 80s, around 1989.
And we're only just hearing about trials now.
So, I mean, are we talking realistically when it'll be available as a viable service?
Maybe, you know, we can hope to see it in the next couple of years.
The thing that we have going for us, I guess, is because more and more people are getting
ISDN, the quality of the copper lines in general are a lot better for carrying digital data.
Will they be up to par to carry 1.5 or even 6 megabits?
That remains to be seen.
Wow.
That's something to see a new kind of technology, though, emerging that might be the answer
that we're looking for.
Yeah.
We'll just have to keep an eye on that one.
Well, I'd prefer to have many viable solutions rather than just one.
True.
Yes.
I mean, I'd like to be able to choose between ADSL and whatever else might be in existence
at the time that this becomes widely available.
Okay.
Well, we'll keep an eye on that.
Now, you've got something else of a more hardware-oriented variation as far as new technology.
Actually, we've talked about this in the past.
Right.
In fact, we talked about it back when I was in prison.
Yes, we did, in fact.
Yeah.
Yeah.
We were probably the first people to start talking about it.
Probably the first people to start talking about it.
And now you have one of them.
Right.
Wow.
Hold that up to the microphone.
It's amazing looking.
Yes, look at that.
That is the smallest cellular phone I've ever seen.
Well, there are smaller.
There are smaller, but it's the smallest I've ever seen.
Okay.
But it's not really the old cellular technology, is it?
No, it's not.
It's a brand new technology.
Brand new technology.
What's it called?
Actually, it's a brand old technology if you're from Europe.
Uh-huh.
That's true.
Yeah.
If you're from Europe, you've been using this technology for quite some time.
It's known as GSM.
And GSM is the global system for mobile communications.
And in Europe, they use something called the DCS-1800 standard, which is at 1800 megahertz or 1.8 gigahertz.
Okay.
The United States, they standardized on what's known as PCS-1900.
PCS is personal communication services.
1900 is the frequency.
1900 megahertz, which is the same as 1.9 gigahertz, which is up there in the microwave frequency range.
Now, by personal communication service, what this means is it's more than just a cellular phone.
It's more than just a phone.
Let me read off some of these features here.
You get a built-in answering machine, numeric paging, email, call waiting, call forwarding,
alphanumeric paging, caller ID, group voicemail, call restriction, fax data transfer,
New York Times news headlines, information services of various sorts, voice-activated dialing,
intelligent voicemail, fax mail, and optional insurance program.
So you get all that.
That's more than just a cellular phone.
You can get email on this thing.
All right.
Have you gotten email yet?
Actually, I have not gotten email yet, and the reason for that is they're still setting up the internet gateway.
I have gotten station-to-station messages.
What's a station-to-station message?
Yeah, station-to-station message.
They also call them SMS messages.
You could actually compose a message on the phone and send it to another subscriber.
Right.
Okay.
This is what I saw over in England last year.
People were basically communicating between their cellular phones, saying,
where are you?
Are you supposed to be here?
Why aren't you here?
And they pass these messages back and forth at no cost to them.
Now, I understand the rate structure here is not all that great.
Yeah, the rate structure here is a lot more of a parallel to the current cellular rates.
That's what I don't understand, because when we were talking about PCSs,
one of the big things about them was that they were going to slash the cost of cellular phones
and that everybody was going to be able to afford one of these.
Right.
What I'm looking at here is it's not that great as far as we're looking at something like
the lowest rate is $0.25 per minute.
Right.
And that's whether you're getting a call or receiving a call.
You mean whether you're making a call or receiving a call?
Yeah, that's what I meant to say.
Sorry about that.
The most expensive rate is, what, $0.60 a minute?
Yeah.
It depends, since I don't believe in credit cards.
When I signed up for the service, I paid in cash using the prepay program.
The way the prepay program works is I have to pay ahead of time for a certain amount of money
for a certain amount of coverage.
And as time goes by, they sort of judge you based on if you pay your bills on time.
And obviously, I would pay by check.
And ultimately, I would go back to the same rates that, say, a person with good credit would get.
And that's typically for a local call.
It's $0.25 a minute.
I have to pay slightly more than double that for the first six months.
Okay.
Or until they decide that I'm not a risk.
Okay.
And how much does the phone actually cost?
This phone doesn't cost really any more than any other cellular phone.
The phone I'm holding here is an Ericsson.
It's one of the smaller Ericssons.
It costs only $200.
And this is a special GSM model.
This can't be used with the regular analog cellular network or even the digital cellular network.
Tell us something about the coverage.
Because now, PCS does not have the wide coverage the regular cellular has yet.
Right.
And there's antennas.
The antennas are much closer together.
In fact, from what I understand, antennas are actually being placed on street lamps and on the front of buildings
as well as on the top of buildings because the actual range is much lower,
but the congestion, therefore, is much lower.
Right.
Right now, the biggest problem, of course, is not the service, but it's the coverage.
Where I've actually had signal, I haven't had a problem with the services that I'm paying for,
of course, which are available.
It is sort of a transitional point for the company.
They're the first company, to my knowledge, that's actually offering PCS services in New York City.
This is OmniPoint.
OmniPoint Communications, right.
And the biggest problem right now is coverage.
And the reason for that is because it's such a new service, really.
There's an article in the November 15th issue of Wideband Magazine that mentions OmniPoint to launch PCS service in New York City as early as Thanksgiving.
Right.
And Sprint is said to be following OmniPoint.
Well, it's not Thanksgiving yet, and I already have my service.
So, I mean, there was no real cloak and dagger about it when we were in the store.
We understood that we were buying into a bleeding-edge technology and that coverage was going to be spotty.
They didn't lie to us in that respect.
Speaking of spotty, you can't even get this at your house right now.
Yeah, I don't have service right now.
I don't have service, basically, in the part of the East Village that I live in.
If I walk up the street, only a couple of blocks up, I have coverage.
Can you see the antennas?
Do you know where they are?
No, actually, I've been trying to figure out what they look like.
There's a couple of different kinds.
Some of them are inside buildings.
Inside buildings?
Yeah.
I suspect that there's one in this building because I have very strong signal in this room.
In the studios at WDI.
In the studio.
That's interesting.
Yeah.
So you're getting coverage here.
Yeah.
Well, I mean, couldn't there be an antenna outside that would transmit into here?
There could be, but usually...
Is that how it works, usually?
Yeah, but I think...
I get the feeling that these antennas would be pretty directional.
That if they were on the front...
If they were on the face of a building, pointing outwards,
I don't think the person in the building would get the same signal strength as the person facing the building.
Well, there could be one on top of the building.
That's true, too.
Yeah.
That could definitely be true.
Since we are a radio station, that is a possibility.
Yeah.
Well, can we try calling you and see what happens?
Yeah, sure.
Okay.
Well, we'll mute the numbers so that not everybody in the city will start calling you.
And let's see if we get a dial tone here.
Okay.
I will now attempt to call you.
And you do get your service in the 917 area code, as all other cellulars will be.
And I'm going to turn down your microphone so there's no feedback.
And let's see how long it takes.
Let's see if we hear...
Your call cannot be completed as dialed.
Please contact Omnipoint Customer Care for assistance.
I think I did.
Message WY113.
Okay, I'll try it again.
But why don't you write it down on a piece of paper, just so I'm sure that I got it right.
I'm pretty sure I got it right, though.
Let's get another dial tone.
Why don't you watch what I'm dialing?
That's what I dialed.
Really?
Want to watch my fingers here?
Okay.
There.
That was right, was it?
Your call cannot be completed as dialed.
Please contact Omnipoint Customer Care for assistance.
Well, you know, what's interesting...
Message WY113.
That was the message we were getting last week before your service was turned on.
And even if you weren't reachable, you should be getting a different message,
not your call can't be completed as dialed.
Yeah, if anything, it should be going to my voicemail.
Yeah.
Why don't you try calling us?
Okay.
Call the number with this number at the end.
Oh, I got to see that again.
You know the regular 212-279-3400 number?
Right.
Add this to it.
Okay, got it.
Yeah, that way...
I got you.
Not everybody in the country will be calling that number right now.
Better hurry up, because they're catching up to you.
Okay.
Is it going through?
Let's see.
Is it one ring?
One ring.
Oh, no.
Don't see.
Okay, what does it say?
Oh, no.
What happened?
This is live.
My service was turned off again.
The service was turned off.
Was it because of the $1,000 ISDN bill?
I have no idea what the problem is now.
Okay.
Well, you can call customer service live on the air and argue with them, but...
Well, that's...
Okay.
Growing pains, I guess, is the best way to describe this.
We have another Omnipoint customer in the studio.
Okay.
Quick thinking on our part.
Got us another Omnipoint customer.
And...
Okay, this is the other thing.
You can transfer your phone to another phone, right?
Yeah.
Actually, there are chip cards.
Little...
They call them SIM cards.
Yeah.
So, a little tiny...
It's a smart card technology.
Right.
Basically, it uses a smaller version of the credit card size.
Mm-hmm.
And you could actually...
Okay.
He's getting a message.
He's getting a message.
Okay.
That's interesting.
Let's see.
Someone must be listening and...
Oh, it's the weather.
The weather came through.
Okay, why don't you read us the weather here?
It's...
The winds are southwest at 10 to 15 miles per hour this morning becoming...
This morning?
Maybe they mean tomorrow morning?
Or is it this morning?
I don't know.
Wait, let me see the date.
November 26th.
Is that today?
You know, I don't even know.
I think so.
Yes, November 26th.
Okay, so...
This afternoon, chance of rain.
Humidity near 100%.
All right, that's good.
But why did it suddenly come across now on beep?
Is it going to do that every time?
Actually, he did have his phone off.
Oh, okay.
So, the reason for that is that it would have been trying to retransmit the message until his phone was on.
Right.
But I'd love to know why my service is off.
Yeah, I'd like to know that too.
Why don't we call customer service on the air?
Well, because then you'll have to give your name and your account number and, you know, all that other information.
Actually, you know.
All I have to do is give my name.
But why don't they give out your phone number as verification?
I'll tell them, no, don't worry.
I've called them a number of times already, and I've not had to give out my number.
Okay.
And if it's your number you are risking here live on the air.
But have your finger ready on the button just in case they go to read it off, and then we'll cut them.
All right.
I don't know if I can move that fast.
Do you want to try calling this other phone first, though, to see what it sounds like?
Oh, right.
I need the phone number, though, because I don't have it.
Okay.
So, just write down that number.
Yeah.
And then we'll hear what it sounds like.
Now, does this other mystery person have the same features as you?
They have nearly the same features.
What's that?
Stock quote coming in?
No, I skipped the message.
Ah, okay.
Okay.
So, we're going to...
You see, I can't tell what number that is.
Is that a...
What number is this over here?
Is that a six?
Yes, it's a six.
Okay, that's a six.
Okay, so we know there's a six in there.
Okay, let's try calling the other PCS phone in the studio.
They seem to be in the same exchange.
Are they all in the same exchange?
Right now, yeah.
Wow.
Okay, here we go.
It does seem to be ringing.
What does it say on the screen?
It says, it's asking me if I want to answer.
So, it's not giving a number or anything like that?
No, actually, there's been a problem with the relations with 9X.
Okay, we'll talk about the 9X problem.
You want to pick that up?
Yeah.
Okay.
Hello?
Now, okay, this is interesting.
There's a slight delay.
Speak into the microphone and say hello at the same time.
Hello.
Well, there is at least, I'd say, a quarter of a second delay there.
Do you want me to mute the mic?
No, I can do that.
Okay.
But I just think it's kind of an interesting effect that we have here.
Now, why is there a delay like this?
Is this true of any cellular phone?
I think there is a slight delay.
Does anyone have a regular cellular phone in the studio?
Ah, there is a regular cellular.
Oh, here we go.
This is good to have all these technical people here.
We're going to compare the delay time.
This is kind of cool.
I can hear my voice.
Hold the phone up to the microphone there.
Okay.
Here we go.
Hear my voice.
Hold the actual earpiece up to the microphone.
Oh, there you go.
I want to see if I can hear myself.
No, I can't hear myself now for some reason.
Okay.
All right, so there's a slight delay there.
Now, you have, can you call three-way on this?
I don't think they have conference calling.
That's the only feature I can think of.
What I can do is put somebody on hold and make another call.
Okay, so this is getting pretty confusing.
Okay, so you can put somebody on hold.
You can three-way, sort of.
Yeah, I don't think you can conference them together.
Okay, but you can get a call waiting.
All right, I can get two call waiting.
Double call waiting?
Yeah.
Yeah.
All right.
I'm going to need that phone number, too.
Okay.
So write down that phone number, and then I'll call you on the other cellular phone,
or the original cellular phone.
We'll see if there's any sort of delay on that, so we can just...
So do you want to hang up from this one?
Is there anything else we wanted to try with that?
Not that I can think of, but I'm going to turn down your regular microphone now,
so we can hear the voice quality.
Okay.
It sounds pretty strong, but, of course, you're not moving around at all.
Right.
Well, I've used it out in the street walking around, and it wasn't much of a problem.
Did you ever hear it switching?
No.
I mean, well, the nature of GSM is that the signal's constantly bouncing around as it is.
It's not like you're on one particular cell at a particular cell site,
and you kind of roam around.
Okay.
How is it instead?
You kind of wander around automatically to and from the nearest dish to where you're standing,
or the nearest antenna to where you're standing.
Nice.
It's all completely transparent to you.
Okay.
Well, we're getting some static, I think, on our local phone.
So why don't we bring you back into the studio and hang up that thing?
Okay.
All right.
Now we're going to call the regular cellular phone.
So let's see if we get a delay on that one as well.
Okay.
We have a dial tone.
Okay.
We do.
You know, that line seems to be kind of messed up right now, so let's try this line.
That's better.
Okay.
This line should ring any second now.
I'm receiving a call.
Okay.
Well, that should be me.
Yes.
Hello.
Okay.
Hello.
I do not hear a delay on this one.
I don't hear a delay either.
Okay.
So the question then is, why is there a delay on PCS?
Are they using a satellite, perhaps?
Or are they just routing it around all different places?
Or is it a slow processor someplace?
You got me.
I think we'd have to find out.
Not that it's a really big problem, but it's kind of interesting.
Well, you know, for me, it is a big problem when I'm talking on a phone and someone else is on a satellite.
It gets very confusing.
You get the Ted Koppel nightline effect, you know, where two people talk at once,
because they're both on different parts of the world?
No, it's never been like that when I was talking.
And to my knowledge, there's no satellite involved at all.
What's the furthest distance you've talked to somebody, though?
Furthest as far as, you mean calling, like, someone somewhere else?
Yes.
Did you talk to somebody in California or just in New York City?
I don't think I've made any really long-distance calls yet.
Okay.
Well, as we're demonstrating here, there's still some kinks in the technology.
Right.
And I think it's good that we're experimenting with it to figure out what they are and how it could get better.
I know one way it can get better is the rates should be a lot cheaper.
For one thing, they charge you to send those little digital messages from one phone to another, don't they?
Yeah, what I expect, though, is that as PCS phones become more widely available,
and, of course, there's a lot more competition, I expect the rates will be a lot cheaper.
I certainly hope so.
Yeah.
Hang that thing up.
Okay, let's do it.
It's completely pointless.
Okay.
That's not even the cellular phone we're talking about anymore.
All right, so that's PCS Technology.
Omnipoint is the company, the first company here in New York City.
Well, why don't we try customer service?
You want to try calling customer service?
Okay.
Well, what I'll do is I'll call it here on this phone, and you simply speak through the microphone to them.
Are you paying any attention at all?
Oh, sorry.
I was just admiring my colleague's larger battery.
Okay, but if you want to call customer service, and admire batteries later,
you're going to speak through this microphone here, and I'm just going to call them, but I need to know the number.
Okay.
It's 1-888.
Wait a minute.
Hold on.
You need a 9 there.
I thought I dialed a 9.
Really?
Okay, hang on.
Let's try that one more time.
Okay.
And it's Omni 611.
That'd be 666.
4611.
4611.
Okay, your microphone is on.
Okay.
So it's...
Welcome to Omnipoint.
Please listen to the following five options.
If at any time you would like to speak to a customer care representative, press 0 for assistance.
Customer care?
If you're calling from a rotary phone, please stay on the line, and a customer care representative will be happy to assist you.
Is this like a daycare center?
If you're calling to activate a new account, please press 1.
Thank you.
A customer care representative will be happy to assist you.
Again, with the customer care.
Do you think we should tell them that we're on the air?
Um...
Thank you for calling Omnipoint and you're just speaking.
How may I help you?
Uh, yes.
Hello.
Um, my name is, uh, Mark Abeni.
That's A-B-E-N-E.
And, um, for the second time now in about the last, uh, week or two, my, uh, my service is turned off.
And I just wanted to know why.
Okay, let me take a look here.
What's your mobile number, sir?
Um, ah, well...
Okay, let me try by your name.
Okay.
And that's M-A-R-K or M-A-R-C?
It's M-A-R-K.
Okay.
Okay, so it worked, and then it didn't work, and then it worked again, and then it stopped working?
Yeah, that's, that's correct.
Okay, let's see here, just a minute.
And, um, just so you know, I'd appreciate it if you didn't read off my phone number,
because we're currently on a radio show.
Oh, okay, I'm sorry.
Okay.
Okay, so currently when you turn on the phone, it doesn't say OmniPoint, nothing, just a blank screen?
No, no, that works fine.
Um, I don't appear to have service service, as in, if somebody tries to call me, they get the number, uh, is not available,
and if I try to call out, I get, uh, connected directly to you.
Oh, my gosh.
Okay.
Which, uh, was happening, and the reason why this was happening last week, I was told,
was that, um, somehow or another, my prepayment was, uh, wasn't, uh, received properly.
I don't know what it was.
I, I, uh, I prepaid.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, I see that here.
Um.
And I thought it was resolved, and now I have no service again.
Let me, if you don't mind, can I put you on hold, or do you want me to call you back after?
Um, yeah, uh, we'll wait on hold.
Okay, hold on, please.
Okay.
You know, you could just ask her to fix the phone and call you back, and then we'll hear the phone ring.
That's true.
Well, if she says that it should be okay now, we'll challenge her to call me back on the air.
Okay, all right, fine.
Uh, while we have this wonderful music on hold, um, I'm going to give out our phone number,
which is 212-279-3400.
Hopefully, we can take some phone calls.
If they keep us on hold too long, we're going to have to move on.
Okay.
Um, I had fun today on the way in.
I read the mind of a toll booth collector.
I don't know if you can do that, if you've ever done that.
You read his mind?
Well, actually, I sort of transmitted a message to him.
I wasn't using PCS, I was just simply, I wanted information on a new E-ZPass system.
And for some reason, this guy just very solemnly handed me an envelope that said,
here's the E-ZPass information you requested.
I swear I did not say anything to him about this.
He just handed it to me.
Really?
Yeah, and I did want it.
I didn't even know he had it, though.
You know, I had heard that Midtown Tunnel was going to be using E-ZPass,
you know, which is basically you can just zip through there without having to do anything.
And, um, here it is.
I have the information he handed it to me.
I don't know what story of those guys.
Are they cops or what?
They have handcuffs.
Why does a toll booth collector have a handcuff?
They have handcuffs?
Really?
Yeah.
On the side of their...
I didn't know that.
They're dressed like cops.
I don't know if they have guns.
They have a nightstick, and they have handcuffs.
So I don't know what happens inside those toll booths.
So they need those things.
But, yeah, I was thinking about that, too.
Okay, so I have a little application form here, an enrollment application for E-ZPass.
And I think this would be kind of neat to have, because then I could sort of zip into the city.
I wouldn't have to throw money into the machine.
I wouldn't have to deal with people.
The government can track my movements.
They'll know where I am.
At all times.
At what time.
I'll know where I was, because sometimes I forget that myself.
And, um, I just think it would be kind of neat.
I don't know exactly how fast you can go through these things.
If anyone out there has played with these, I'd like to know, you know, can you whale through them at 60 miles an hour or what?
Because, you know, I kind of like to test my aiming speed through those toll booths.
Um, so there's a little application form there.
And a brochure.
Here's the smarter way to pay tolls.
Apply now for E-ZPass.
It's convenient, efficient, fast, and the best way to get your discount.
Did we lose our music?
Hi, Mr. Bean.
Yeah.
Okay.
Well, I'm sorry.
What we're going to have to do is have our engineers to look at this.
Um, currently we were having a few problems with the voicemail, but we corrected that.
That shouldn't have anything to do with you dialing.
No, uh, that's correct.
I, my voicemail was working fine, but now I can't call anywhere.
Yeah, so what we'll have to do is have the engineers to look at this and give you a call back.
Okay.
Are you sure this just isn't some accounting problem?
Because that's what it was last time.
No, your account is fine.
Okay.
It has nothing to do with your account because they did fix that.
I see that here.
Right.
Um, it could be with the network.
I know we were doing some, some maintenance on it earlier.
So it could be that the network's down and it's affecting your line.
Okay.
Well, is there any reason why my phone number in particular keeps getting knocked out and
somebody else who has the exact same service has been using it fine?
No problem?
Um, no particular reason.
I couldn't tell you offhand.
Um, the engineers would probably know because everybody's on a different circuit.
Right.
Um, well, I'll tell you what, would you be able to send me, uh, one of those SMS messages,
um, if, uh, if the problem gets resolved?
Sure.
That's no problem.
Okay.
I, uh, I appreciate it.
Thank you.
Okay.
All right.
Bye-bye.
Well, I guess my number, they just don't like my phone number.
It keeps, uh, getting knocked out of service.
Somebody's targeting you.
I don't know.
Someone out there with a PCS scanner is just turning you off every time you come back on
the network.
Well, supposedly these, uh, GSM is supposed to be scan-proof.
Uh-huh.
Because, because your signal moves around so much.
Well, it's scan-proof because they didn't exist before now.
So, now we'll know once they exist what they're, you know, what they're proof and what they're,
you know.
No, you can just imagine people running through the streets with a scanner trying to keep up
with the signal bouncing around.
It's up there pretty high, isn't it?
It's over a gig.
Yeah, it's, uh, it's in the microwave range.
Wow.
Well, okay.
So, we'll be keeping up to date on that.
Uh, just to finish up with E-ZPass here.
Um, they're welcoming me to the 21st century of transportation with E-ZPass.
A new era has begun.
It's an electronic toll collection system that makes toll paying faster and more convenient.
Um, no cash, tickets, or tokens to slow you down.
Of course, there are the occasional morons who get in the wrong lane and, uh, tie things up for everybody.
Uh, no money changes hands as you pass through the toll lane.
You don't have to roll down your window or fumble for the correct change
because your toll is paid instantly and sometimes twice with E-ZPass.
And that's true, you know.
There was a big thing a couple of months ago.
People were getting charged at the wrong rate and you had to check your balance.
So, I know about that.
Uh, but your toll is paid instantly with E-ZPass anytime you cross one of our bridges
or go through one of our tunnels.
Uh, so, I don't know.
They say, um, installations.
You get a self-sticking fastener.
You attach it to the inside of your front windshield near the rearview mirror.
Installation takes about five seconds.
Wow.
Five seconds.
A small number of vehicles may require an exterior tag.
In particular, if your vehicle has a heated windshield.
Please note this on your application.
So, I guess a heated windshield somehow does something to these, uh, little sticky things.
Now, did they mention anything about security, about copying these, uh, little badges?
Uh, I don't think they'd get into that in the, in the brochure where they're trying to get you to use it.
Uh, thanks to the self-sticking fasteners, you can easily remove the tag if you wish.
You will have the peace of mind of knowing that, much like the radios in many luxury cars,
your E-ZPass will have little value if lost or stolen because it can be deactivated and invalidated by us.
Wow.
That's pretty neat.
How do they, how do they do that, though?
They transmit a signal through the air, or is it when you pass through a toll booth?
Somehow they, they know to deactivate that particular one.
Just like a credit card, you will not be responsible for any further charges once you've reported the loss or theft.
As if that's the major concern.
Your car has been stolen, and you're worried about paying the tolls that the guy's going to go across a bridge.
Unbelievable.
Um, you can't say that about lost tokens or cash.
Okay, great.
I guess we can't.
So, if you lose four bucks in your car, it's, uh, it's not as good as losing the E-ZPass system.
That four bucks is history.
Yeah.
E-ZPass is about the size of an audio cassette tape.
It contains a radio transmitter.
Wow.
And computerized information exclusively identifying your account.
Oh, that's interesting.
A transmitter.
So, now you have, like, a little LoJack thing going on.
Right, I was just going to say.
That's, uh, that's kind of interesting.
Well, now, how about this?
How about I install this thing on something else, like on me?
You know, I simply walk through the toll booth.
You know, am I, is it going to register that I was there?
I mean, you could do all kinds of things.
What if you put two of them on a car, you know?
What if you stick it on someone else's car without them knowing it?
You know, I'm looking at all kinds of mischief applications here.
So, uh, if people have, um, have experimented with E-ZPass, please call us and let us know
what, uh, uh, what situations with that.
Now, there's a number you can call, um, if you have a push-button phone, which we do.
Uh, 1-800-333-TOLL.
Let's, uh, give that just a try here.
To find out about your balance.
Thank you for calling the MTA Bridges and Tunnels E-ZPass Service Center.
If you're calling from a touch-tone phone, press 1 to use our 24-hour information system
or to report a lost or stolen tag.
If you're calling from a rotary phone, please call again between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.
Monday through Friday or 8 a.m. and 12 noon on Saturday to speak with a...
If you're an E-ZPass account holder and need to access your account information or activate
a tag, press 1 to request an E-ZPass application.
Press 2 to listen to Staten Island or Rockaway Broad Channel eligibility information.
Press 3 if you need help completing an E-ZPass application.
Press 4 for service center locations.
If you are an individual account holder and want to activate a tag, press 1.
If you are an individual account holder and have questions, press 2.
If you're a commercial account holder, press 3.
Your 7-digit E-ZPass account number appears on the letter sent with your tag or at the top
of your monthly statement.
To obtain account information from our 24-hour information system, enter your account number
and press the pound button.
Okay, we're going to enter our phone number.
279-3400.
You entered 2-7-9-3-4-0-0.
If this is correct, press the pound button.
If this is incorrect...
What do you think the odds are of somebody having that number?
Please hold while we access your account.
We're about to find out.
Yes, we certainly are.
It doesn't seem like there's much verification here.
When I get this, I'm going to try...
We cannot locate an account for the number which you entered.
I didn't take a look.
Press 0 and a customer service representative...
No, no, we don't need that.
What I'm going to do is when I get my E-ZPass system, I'm going to try one number below,
one number above, and I can find out all kinds of things.
Maybe they'll tell me where this person was last, you know, and where they're going,
how fast they were going, all kinds of things like that.
I wouldn't be shocked if they assigned them all from the same range of numbers.
I would not be surprised at all.
Okay, let's take some phone calls.
That's 212-279-3400 is our telephone number, and we don't have too much time left to take
phone calls, so let's see if we can speed through them.
Good evening.
You're on the air.
Hi.
How are you doing?
Not bad.
Yourself?
Pretty good.
I have a couple of questions.
I think I, I mean, I don't, I don't know the technique talk, but the reason why the PCS are
a little slower than the other ones is because they use a different data routing technique.
Code, time, share, you know, they have those two different ones, and they supposedly bundle
their packages into smaller and distinct categories and then realign them, and it takes a split
second longer.
I read it in a newspaper, but since I'm not a techno kind of person, or I don't know the
language, but I remember reading something like that.
Anyway, you probably know more than I about that, but my question is about personal 1-800
numbers.
Now, I know somebody who has her own, like, 1-800 call, whatever her name is, and so children
can just call that number for free from wherever they are anywhere, and she pays sort of a reduced
long-distance rate that is much cheaper than they would pay if they were to call collect,
and maybe even cheaper than calling yourself.
I don't understand it.
Do you know anything about that?
I don't think it's any cheaper than direct dialing from a residential phone line, but
it's probably not too much more expensive than that.
There's no surcharge as far as collect calls go, or calling card calls, because it's like
a direct dial number with the charges reversed, but without the surcharges.
So it would be the same price, you think, as for calling from home?
It should be a little higher than that, but not too much higher.
Because she pays a $10 a month fee for the number.
Yeah, that's not unusual, because you get to pick your own number.
Right.
I thought there were no numbers available on the 800 spectrum.
Supposedly they were all taken, but now that there's 888, I'm sure that some of them
have opened up again in 800.
Because that seems awfully reasonable, somehow or another.
Well, I mean, there's so many different companies offering this now that it's competition.
Really?
You mean MCIO offers 800 stuff?
Everybody does.
Everybody does.
Oh, I didn't realize that.
I'm sorry for my ignorance.
But she didn't know anything, so now I'm going to go report back to her.
Okay.
Okay, bye-bye.
Thanks for calling.
Good evening.
You're on the air.
Yes, hi.
How you doing?
Okay, fine.
Great, you got an ISDN expert there.
I just wanted to know, what's the benefit of my getting an ISDN line?
If you could just briefly explain, no, we don't have too much time now.
Okay, well, you get to have all these adventures with 9X, but other than that, Fiber, what do you...
The benefits of having ISDN is, well, roughly, to sum it up, is you get the ability to place
two separate phone calls, it's like having two separate lines, on the same physical line.
And if you so choose, you could use one for voice and one for data, you could use both
for data, you could use both for voice.
And the ISDN speeds are a lot faster than a modem.
Currently, the fastest any full duplex modem can do is 33,600 bits per second.
And if you use one of your channels for data, you could go up to 64,000 bits per second,
or if you use both, 128,000 bits per second.
So it's considerably faster than today's analog modems.
So now, okay, excuse me, so now I got a regular line, now I want to get into that.
How much would that send me back?
You know, lots of money or just, you know...
No, in fact, well, under normal circumstances, paying an ISDN bill is no different than paying
a regular phone bill.
It costs just about the same.
And I just go to them and just say, do this for me tomorrow.
Well, the thing is that I would recommend that if you only have one phone line...
That's what I have.
...then I would suggest getting a second one, because you'll be without service until they
convert it, until they finish converting it to ISDN.
Oh, really?
And how long does it take, a couple of days, a month?
It could take a couple of days, it could take a couple of weeks, or...
Could be never.
It could be a couple of months, or even never, but...
We've had people give up and just go back.
You're not kidding.
You're not kidding about that?
No, the biggest problem right now with 9X is because of the sheer volume of ISDN orders,
which I'm sure we've contributed to ourselves, is 9X has been turning over a lot of the orders,
the residential orders, to third-party companies that, you know, sounds like they just came
off a spaceship, literally, from another planet, because their knowledge of ISDN has much to
be desired.
And in a lot of cases, they completely mislead customers.
And they don't know much about other planets, either.
Yeah, and they don't know much of anything, a lot of these companies.
Well, thanks a lot.
Give some time to somebody else.
Okay.
Thanks a lot, though.
Thanks for calling.
Okay.
Bye-bye.
Another satisfied customer.
Yes.
Good evening.
You're on off the hook.
Hi.
I finally made it after two weeks.
Three things really fast.
One, the fact that Mark said you have really great reception for that newfangled phone at
BAI could be due to your nefarious neighbors, the Reverend Moon.
Have you thought of that from a global conspiracy perspective?
We're always thinking global conspiracy.
Okay.
Number two, concerning last week's show, your quest for the lowest phone rate.
Yes.
What do you guys have to say about EOT?
They always have those full-page ads in the Villa's Voice.
Okay.
What's their game?
Well, that's what I'm asking you.
I mean, they say their thing is the international rates are really low, and their domestic rate
is like $0.13 a minute.
It's only, I think, a $2 or $3 surcharge per month.
And the last thing, if you can comment on it, to bring Philips up again, I got another thing
for them in the mail because I used to own the CD iPlayer before I sold it.
They have this sort of converter or something where you can now hook up to the World Wide
Web using a CD iPlayer.
So if you can comment on that or if any of you have done that in the future.
Okay.
I'll let the next guy talk.
Bye.
Okay.
Do you have any comment on that?
Well, I mean, there's a number of companies that are competing to come out with the best
web TV device.
There's a couple on the market right now, but I don't know if either of us can speak firsthand.
I know I've never used one myself.
I don't really need to because I have a couple of computers at home.
I have not either.
Yeah.
So I don't know.
I mean, if anybody out there has actually experienced one of these web TV devices, maybe
they could inform us if it's worth all the hoopla.
Yes.
You let us know.
As far as the $0.10 a rate minute.
Well, I think we should be shooting towards the $0.10 a rate, 24 hour a day, $0.10 a minute,
24 hour a day rate.
Right.
Because all these other things make it seem as if you're getting that, but you're not
really.
You know, we called three companies last week.
One is $0.15 a minute around the clock, which is more expensive than nighttime rates.
One is $0.10 a minute after 7 p.m.
And one is $0.10 a minute with a three-minute minimum and a $5 charge per month.
That should never be a monthly charge.
It should never be a minimum.
I think those are two things to knock anyone else right out.
But if you see that, then unless you make long phone calls, and lots of them, it's
not worth it.
That's it for us tonight.
We're kind of out of time, and sorry we didn't get to more phone calls, but we did have some
fun toys to play with tonight.
One of those nights where I wish the show was two hours instead of one.
We'll be back again next week with another fun-filled edition of Off the Hook.
Until then, have yourselves a good night, and we'll see you again.
Take care.
Good night.
The telephone keeps ringing, so I ripped it off the wall.
I cut myself while shaving, now I can't make a call.
It couldn't get much worse, but if they could, they would.
Bon délis bon, but I best expect the worst.
I hope they've done us good.
Bon délis bon!
Thank you.