http://www.localcallingguide.com/ now points to
http://members.dandy.net/~czg/lca_index.php

This is just a redirection for now. I had the option to use masked
forwarding to hide the dandy URL, but that uses a frame, which I avoid
on principle.

>    Date: Sat, 03 Sep 2005 01:47:13 -0000
>    From: "czg7777" <czg@...>
> Subject: Domain name
>
> http://www.localcallingguide.com/ now points to
> http://members.dandy.net/~czg/lca_index.php
>
> This is just a redirection for now. I had the option to use masked
> forwarding to hide the dandy URL, but that uses a frame, which I avoid
> on principle.

Are you in need of a host location?  I'm cheap.  :)

Marc

To all list members concerned about Mark Cuccia:

Mark Cuccia is safe and sound. Mark called me at 8 AM this morning
(Wednesday). His apartment did not get flooded and he is fine.

Today has been the first day that he has been able to get a cell
signal since the hurricane and subsequent flood. He is still without
electrical power.

However, please do not call Mark right now, as he is saving battery
power on his cell phone and reception is still spotty.

He plans on leaving New Orleans to stay at his aunt in New Iberia,
LA. He said he will call me when he reaches his aunt's house. If he
is still not able to send out a message, I'll send a message at that
time that he has made it out of New Orleans.

Please let others know that he is safe and sound.

Dave Perrussel
Webmaster - Telephone World
http://www.dmine.com/phworld

On Wed, 2005-09-07 at 12:20 +0000, David wrote:
> To all list members concerned about Mark Cuccia:
>
> Mark Cuccia is safe and sound. Mark called me at 8 AM this morning
> (Wednesday). His apartment did not get flooded and he is fine.

Dave,

Thanks. That is very good news!

--
Ray Chow <czg@...>

David, thank you for letting us know about Mark's safety.
He has been on my mind since Hurricane Katrina set her sights on New Orleans.
I am an avid reader of his emails to the group; looking forward to hearing when
he can get back to some form of normalcy/routine.  Again, my appreciation to you
for keeping us informed.
All my best to Mark.

Steve Wilde (Vancouver BC)

David <diamond45@...> wrote:
To all list members concerned about Mark Cuccia:

Mark Cuccia is safe and sound. Mark called me at 8 AM this morning
(Wednesday). His apartment did not get flooded and he is fine.

Today has been the first day that he has been able to get a cell
signal since the hurricane and subsequent flood. He is still without
electrical power.

However, please do not call Mark right now, as he is saving battery
power on his cell phone and reception is still spotty.

He plans on leaving New Orleans to stay at his aunt in New Iberia,
LA. He said he will call me when he reaches his aunt's house. If he
is still not able to send out a message, I'll send a message at that
time that he has made it out of New Orleans.

Please let others know that he is safe and sound.

Dave Perrussel
Webmaster - Telephone World
http://www.dmine.com/phworld






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  Click here to donate to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Thanks to all for your concern.

Today (this evening), Monday 12 September 2005 is my first actual attempt
at Internet access in 2 weeks.

If I don't personally reply to everyone who emailed me directly, forgive
me,
since I have 150+ msgs in my inbox that I am working my way thru.

I was "high and dry" throughout the entire storm (on Monday 29 August) and
the aftermath. I also had MORE than enuff food/water/liquid, either what
was
stocked up, or what was delivered by police and other good samaratans.

I suffered no water nor wind damage to my apartment, not even a broken
window, altough some apartments had broken windows and some other misc.
damage. But debris is all over the place -- broken branches, leaves,
shingles from the roof, etc. A pine tree did go into the roof of the apt
building, but across the courtyard from me. The building is a 2-story apt
complex.

I did lose utility service....

Electric power went out almost immediately, which is just about always the
case with any kind of tropical storm or hurricane or just heavy rains.

But as the brunt of the storm was finishing up, I noticed that I couldn't
get a dialtone. This too isn't all uncommon -- I simply thought that there
was just heavy traffic thru the central office. I did have "battery" and
"sidetone" at the time... i.e., I could "hear" myself talking into the
telephone thru the handset, but I simply couldn't get a dialtone.

But I also couldn't get a signal on my Cingular telephone.

Cable TV obviously went out, but I don't know when that happened, since
when electricity went out, that meant the end of TV viewing. I simply
listened to WWL-870 (50Kw) on a battery powered pocket radio the whole
time. (not 24/7, but when I felt like listening -- I wanted to save the
batteries as much as possible).

I had a close to full charge on my cellphone battery, but I kept the
cellphone turned off to save that battery for when I would eventually get
a cellphone tower signal.

The entire week and a half after the storm -- I had MORE than enuff food
and
water... Several of us at the apt complex who stayed had stocked up on
supplies, but the police also told us that it was okay to get NECESSARY
supplies from stores that had been -- "opened up". And the police and other
good samaratan type neighbors were passing by and dropping off cases of
water, juice, food (including military MREs, Meals Ready to Eat), etc.

Running water stopped on the Wednesday after the storm, but we could get
"flush water" from using a bucket to scoop water that was standing water in
the middle of the streets just outside of the apt buildings.

The main highway that runs alongside the apts was why we didn't flood.
But the streets behind the building did have some standing water.
And the subdivisions behind the building did flood in varying degrees.

So, from Monday 29 August until Wednesday 7 September, that's mostly how
things were -- just day to day living. It was mostly sunny, with some
occasional rain. But either hot and humid, or later on hot but DRY.

On Wednesday 7 September in the early morning hours, I began to notice a
slight signal on my Cingular phone. It turns out that the cell phone
carriers were putting up backup temporary cell sites.

When I realized that I had a signal strong enuff to place a call, I first
started calling relatives to let them know I was okay... and also some of
you who I am always in telephone/email contact with. I also realized that
by Wed-7-Sept, there was a good "window of opportunity" to finally leave.
I was NOT going to leave from there earlier with all of the other problems
associated with New Orleans and Katrina.

I had already packed up to bags or boxes of things to take with me if I was
going to flee. But that is only scratching the surface of what I still have
left behind.

I took those things and went 1/2 mile down the highway to another major
intersection where I was told the National Guard would be picking up people
who wanted to be evacuated.

I was taken in the back of an open miliary truck through New Orleans to the
Convention Center where there was processing outside of that building.

I saw firsthand how much of New Orleans metro looked either "bombed out" or
flooded out. I did have a chance to see some of this earlier on a battery
powered BW TV set that the lady who manages the apartments was watching.
But she had to leave the apartments rather early after the storm to get
some
more heart medication. But the TV coverage was nothing compared to seeing
it up front. The National Guard truck was trying to rescue as many people
as possible to fit into the back of the truck to evacuate.

The MPs outside of the convention center went thru all of our belonging to
make sure that there was no contraband. We thought we might be on military
busses or military helicpoters. Instead we were taken on charter "tour"
busses from the convention center over to the Airport. There were two
options available to us on Wednesday afternoon -- a bus to Baton Rouge LA
or a plane flight out to "where ever". I first wanted to go to BR LA to get
closer to relatives in Lafayette or Baton Rouge.

I was using my cellular phone the entire time, noticing how the battery was
beginning to run down.

At the airport (located in the Kenner-Briarwood DMS-100 central office,
504-46x), I was able to get dialtone on the "super payphones" installed
there (coin slot, LCD readout, card-swipe, touch-a-carrier-buttons, etc).
The "super payphones" were of course, "COCOT" type phones, not Central
Office Switch controlled... but they were "GTE-AE" type housings that were
fitted with these other appliques. By GTE-AE type, I mean that the coin
slot and coin-return slot were on the right-hand-side, and the cord for
the handset was on the left hand side of the phone itself, not the
left-hand-side of the front-of-the-phone. I used the 800 type dial-ups for
AT&T, and for my MCI-prepaid, to make card type calls.

Later on that afternoon, we were told that there would be no more busses to
Baton Rouge LA (it turns out that the Red Cross couldn't process any more
evacuees in Baton Rouge), and that the only option on Wednesday evening was
to fly out on the next flight out, or else spend the night at the airport
until the next day to see what would be available by then.

I chose to fly out. We had to be checked again, this time by TSA personnel.
However, the TSA people were NOT the usual "b*tches" that we've heard
about for the past 3 or 4 years. They were rather polite to us.

It turns out we were flown to Columbia SC (still NPA 803). At least I was
still going to be in BellSouth territory! :)

Wednesday evening, we arrived, and were first initially processed by Red
Cross people. We were then put into motels for the night (and next several
nights). I was at a "Kinghts Inn". They have some motels in New Orleans too
and have motels all over the US and Canada, but are not yet in every state
or province though.

I was able to charge up my cellphone batteries again, and also make card
calls via 800- dialup on the Motel phone. I was NOT going to use 8+ or 9+
and then 0+ten-digits since I had absolutely no idea who the Motel PBX'
Card/Operator provider would be!!!

1+ bill-to-room access was NOT available to us. But I would never use that
from a motel anyways.

On Thursday 8 September, we were taken in shuttle busses (chartered from
the local transit company) to the Red Cross center downtown at the Univ.
of SC campus in Columbia SC for further processing and orientation.

While it was very bureaucratic and filled with red-tape, everyone who was
there to help us was VERY courteous and polite trying to be as helpful as
possible. While there were some computer terminals for us to have Internet
access (if we wanted it), the lines were quite long. I felt it was better
to
just wait until I was in a more convenient location for using a computer to
check email and web-surf.

I had already planned on Greyhounding it back to Lafayette LA or Baton
Rouge
LA, most likely via Atlanta GA where I could have more privacy and access
to
my email, and more convenience to use computer terminals.

I was hoping to leave Columbia SC on Greyhound, first to Atlanta, earlier
(maybe on Friday or Saturday), but I needed to pick up supplies (more
clothes, etc) at Wal-Mart. But I was also feeling very fatigued, tired,
weak. I did eat well all along, but I was quite tired. I also don't know
if I had breathed in any toxins while travelling thru New Orleans on the
army truck, or if I caught any virus on the plane or in close quarter
contact at the Red Cross Center.

On Friday, I visited the Red Cross center again for a brief "once over"
medically. They didn't draw blood or anything, but did give me a basic
check-up (stethescope, blood pressure, checking/feeling glands, etc).
I did need to rest-up some before continuing any further travel.
But I did pick up some needed supplies at Wal-Mart on Friday and then on
Saturday.

All along, various charitable and church groups were bringing us clothes
and
food to the motels if we needed anything.

I did everything to rest-up on Sat/Sun, because I was hoping to be able to
get on a Greyhound bus, first for Atlanta.

By Sunday afternoon, I felt up to travelling, and on Monday morning, I
officially checked out of the motel (I gave the necessary personal info to
the desk to give to FEMA/Red Cross people who were arranging the motel
rooms), and took a cab to the Greyhound Bus station. Then I started my
journey back, first stopping here in Atlanta. I plan to stay here for about
a week, and then continue on Greyhound to Baton Rouge and Lafayette LA.

I am staying at the house of one of our telecom-list-members who lives
here in Atlanta, and am able to have convenient and private access to the
Internet.

I really did NOT have the time to check out BellSouth central office in
Columbia SC. I did get some street maps and a transit map of Columbia SC,
but not any individual bus schedules/timetables. I did notice the
electrical high-voltage transmission lines scattered throughout Columbia...
some of their lines still use "H-frame" type wooden pole structures for
some 115-Kv lines. They also have quite a bit of hydro-produced power.
(New Orleans uses gas or coal fired generators though).

Atlanta Metro is HUGE! Which I expected it to be. I did see some of the
legacy AT&T and BellSouth switching offices... at least from the outside
though!

Those of you who know my cellphone number, please feel free to call me.
I can charge up my batteries okay, and I also noticed that Cingular set up
a new temporary voicemail platform as of Tuesday morning (13-September)
in these early morning hours. I've already a new voicemail message left by
one of our friends in a north-central state! Also please remember that all
inbound calls to my cellphone MUST be routed via the New Orleans cingular
switch (there ain't no other way to do it, since my cellphone is a New
Orleaans based number, and your LD carrier is GOING to route to New Orl)...
so you might encounter All Ccts Busy conditions, but it IS possible to
route calls inbound to my cellphone...

But it will take me some time to go thru the email messages in my inbox,
so I might not immediately reply to you personally if you emailed me
directly. Hopefully this post will help to answer any questions you might
have.

BTW, it does appear that the AT&T 4ESS in New Orleans (NWORLAMA04T) is
okay... but several BellSouth local central offices in New Orleans and
southeast LA (and a few in the Mississippi Gulf Coast area) have been
"down"
since the storm. That includes the "Seabrook" 5ESS (NWORLASKDS0) that
serves
my home/landline phone. It might take some time for these central offices
to be back up and running again.

Again, thanks for all of the interest! I hope this post answers most/all
questions you might have....

Also Greyhound terminals in Atlanta GA and Columbia SC (and when I was last
in Baton Rouge LA) have Nortel-Millenium "Super" payphones, with all of the
whistles-and-bells that I mentioned regarding the super payphones that
are at the New Orleans airport. The "branding" on the payphones at
Greyhound
seem to be "Sprint".

Mark J. Cuccia
markjcuccia at yahoo dot com



__________________________________
Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005
http://mail.yahoo.com

Jayson Smith wrote (in Yahoo-Central Office, last week):

> Hello,
> On our Bellsouth lines, 411 for Directory Assistance waits a few seconds
> then gives a reorder.  It's been like that since at least Monday
> afternoon. You'd think they could reroute DA calls somewhere else by now.
> Also, dialing 0 for the operator menu gets a recording I've never heard
> before.  There's a set of SIT tones, then it says "We're sorry.  Due to
> heavy calling, the operator will be delayed in assisting you.  If your
> call is urgent, stay on the line, and an operator will answer as soon as
> possible." This recording is repeated twice, then rings through.  Someone
> should probably get a recording of this for historical preservation.
> Jayson.

I can remember back in the 1970s era (pre-divestiture, of course), that
during storms, floods, etc., dialing '0' for SCBell/AT&T Operator Service
(using TSPS back then), if there was heavy calling, you'd get the same
type of recording.

New Orleans was one of the first places to have TSPS (Traffic Service
Position System) automation for Operator Servvice, back around 1970 or so.
But automation for operator type services even goes back to the early 1960s
with TSP (Traffic Service Position) and even late 1950s with PPCS (Person
to Person Card Special) in some parts of the midwest and northeast.


As for NPA 762, I understand that the 762-222-7777 test number now returns
billing/answer supervision. It originally did NOT do such.

And for those who don't know, NANPA has relased a new Planning Letter, this
one regarding that NPA 424 WILL overlay NPA 310 in so.California (barring
any further court action pending).

The test number is to be 424-424-0424, not the originally intended 424-654
number (which DID work back in 1999 and for several years thereafter).

I thought that maybe the test number might be changed to 424-424-0424,
since the original test number in 2000 (which did work for some time) of
951-800-0951 was changed to 951-951-0951 when 951 actually did split from
909 in so.Cal back in 2004.

mjc
markjcuccia at yahoo dot com

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com

Mark;

Just wanted to say that I'm glad you are OK.  We have
been nervously waiting a reply from you, and it is
good to know that you are fine.

But we did figure that you did not have internet
access anyway.

You're right that Metro Atlanta is huge.  This was
once the largest toll free calling area in the world,
and may still be, depending on what is the case in
other places.   In the 60's and 70's, this term
applied.  Then in the 1990's, they made it even
bigger.

Did you notice there are even two exchanges in Alabama
that are part of the Metro dialling area?  Actually,
these are "virtual exchanges" that are served from
central offices in Georgia.  Fruithurst, AL is served
from the Tallapoosa, GA c/o, and the Ranburne, AL
exchange is served out of Bowdon, GA.

Back in the 70's and early 80's, Metro Atlanta was
literally a "playground" for playing with the
telephones.  There was step by step (#1 and 355-A),
crossbar, ESS, and later digital.  Of course, today it
is about like everywhere else (just about all
digital).  But there are still the old c/o buildings
that are still being used, and the 51 Ivy building
downtown, with the
A T & T microwave tower.

You should not have a problem at all with your
Cingular phone in Atlanta - you are on the first Bell
South Mobility network that was built!  I forget what
the system ID number is, but it is very low.

Take care, and keep us up to date - our prayers are
with you!


Raymond Burke


--- "Mark J. Cuccia" <markjcuccia@...> wrote:

> Thanks to all for your concern.
>
> Today (this evening), Monday 12 September 2005 is my
> first actual attempt
> at Internet access in 2 weeks.
>
> If I don't personally reply to everyone who emailed
> me directly, forgive
> me,
> since I have 150+ msgs in my inbox that I am working
> my way thru.
>
> I was "high and dry" throughout the entire storm (on
> Monday 29 August) and
> the aftermath. I also had MORE than enuff
> food/water/liquid, either what
> was
> stocked up, or what was delivered by police and
> other good samaratans.
>
> I suffered no water nor wind damage to my apartment,
> not even a broken
> window, altough some apartments had broken windows
> and some other misc.
> damage. But debris is all over the place -- broken
> branches, leaves,
> shingles from the roof, etc. A pine tree did go into
> the roof of the apt
> building, but across the courtyard from me. The
> building is a 2-story apt
> complex.
>
> I did lose utility service....
>
> Electric power went out almost immediately, which is
> just about always the
> case with any kind of tropical storm or hurricane or
> just heavy rains.
>
> But as the brunt of the storm was finishing up, I
> noticed that I couldn't
> get a dialtone. This too isn't all uncommon -- I
> simply thought that there
> was just heavy traffic thru the central office. I
> did have "battery" and
> "sidetone" at the time... i.e., I could "hear"
> myself talking into the
> telephone thru the handset, but I simply couldn't
> get a dialtone.
>
> But I also couldn't get a signal on my Cingular
> telephone.
>
> Cable TV obviously went out, but I don't know when
> that happened, since
> when electricity went out, that meant the end of TV
> viewing. I simply
> listened to WWL-870 (50Kw) on a battery powered
> pocket radio the whole
> time. (not 24/7, but when I felt like listening -- I
> wanted to save the
> batteries as much as possible).
>
> I had a close to full charge on my cellphone
> battery, but I kept the
> cellphone turned off to save that battery for when I
> would eventually get
> a cellphone tower signal.
>
> The entire week and a half after the storm -- I had
> MORE than enuff food
> and
> water... Several of us at the apt complex who stayed
> had stocked up on
> supplies, but the police also told us that it was
> okay to get NECESSARY
> supplies from stores that had been -- "opened up".
> And the police and other
> good samaratan type neighbors were passing by and
> dropping off cases of
> water, juice, food (including military MREs, Meals
> Ready to Eat), etc.
>
> Running water stopped on the Wednesday after the
> storm, but we could get
> "flush water" from using a bucket to scoop water
> that was standing water in
> the middle of the streets just outside of the apt
> buildings.
>
> The main highway that runs alongside the apts was
> why we didn't flood.
> But the streets behind the building did have some
> standing water.
> And the subdivisions behind the building did flood
> in varying degrees.
>
> So, from Monday 29 August until Wednesday 7
> September, that's mostly how
> things were -- just day to day living. It was mostly
> sunny, with some
> occasional rain. But either hot and humid, or later
> on hot but DRY.
>
> On Wednesday 7 September in the early morning hours,
> I began to notice a
> slight signal on my Cingular phone. It turns out
> that the cell phone
> carriers were putting up backup temporary cell
> sites.
>
> When I realized that I had a signal strong enuff to
> place a call, I first
> started calling relatives to let them know I was
> okay... and also some of
> you who I am always in telephone/email contact with.
> I also realized that
> by Wed-7-Sept, there was a good "window of
> opportunity" to finally leave.
> I was NOT going to leave from there earlier with all
> of the other problems
> associated with New Orleans and Katrina.
>
> I had already packed up to bags or boxes of things
> to take with me if I was
> going to flee. But that is only scratching the
> surface of what I still have
> left behind.
>
> I took those things and went 1/2 mile down the
> highway to another major
> intersection where I was told the National Guard
> would be picking up people
> who wanted to be evacuated.
>
> I was taken in the back of an open miliary truck
> through New Orleans to the
> Convention Center where there was processing outside
> of that building.
>
> I saw firsthand how much of New Orleans metro looked
> either "bombed out" or
> flooded out. I did have a chance to see some of this
> earlier on a battery
> powered BW TV set that the lady who manages the
> apartments was watching.
> But she had to leave the apartments rather early
> after the storm to get
> some
> more heart medication. But the TV coverage was
> nothing compared to seeing
> it up front. The National Guard truck was trying to
> rescue as many people
> as possible to fit into the back of the truck to
> evacuate.
>
> The MPs outside of the convention center went thru
> all of our belonging to
> make sure that there was no contraband. We thought
> we might be on military
> busses or military helicpoters. Instead we were
> taken on charter "tour"
> busses from the convention center over to the
> Airport. There were two
> options available to us on Wednesday afternoon -- a
> bus to Baton Rouge LA
> or a plane flight out to "where ever". I first
> wanted to go to BR LA to get
> closer to relatives in Lafayette or Baton Rouge.
>
> I was using my cellular phone the entire time,
> noticing how the battery was
> beginning to run down.
>
> At the airport (located in the Kenner-Briarwood
> DMS-100 central office,
> 504-46x), I was able to get dialtone on the "super
> payphones" installed
> there (coin slot, LCD readout, card-swipe,
> touch-a-carrier-buttons, etc).
> The "super payphones" were of course, "COCOT" type
> phones, not Central
> Office Switch controlled... but they were "GTE-AE"
> type housings that were
> fitted with these other appliques. By GTE-AE type, I
> mean that the coin
> slot and coin-return slot were on the
> right-hand-side, and the cord for
> the handset was on the left hand side of the phone
> itself, not the
> left-hand-side of the front-of-the-phone. I used the
> 800 type dial-ups for
> AT&T, and for my MCI-prepaid, to make card type
> calls.
>
> Later on that afternoon, we were told that there
> would be no more busses to
> Baton Rouge LA (it turns out that the Red Cross
> couldn't process any more
> evacuees in Baton Rouge), and that the only option
> on Wednesday evening was
>
=== message truncated ===


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
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"Mark J. Cuccia" <markjcuccia@...> wrote:

> Jayson Smith wrote (in Yahoo-Central Office, last week):

>> On our Bellsouth lines, 411 for Directory Assistance waits a few
>> seconds then gives a reorder.  It's been like that since at least
>> Monday afternoon. You'd think they could reroute DA calls somewhere
>> else by now. Also, dialing 0 for the operator menu gets a recording
>> I've never heard before.  There's a set of SIT tones, then it says
>> "We're sorry.  Due to heavy calling, the operator will be delayed in
>> assisting you.  If your call is urgent, stay on the line, and an
>> operator will answer as soon as possible." This recording is repeated
>> twice, then rings through. Someone should probably get a recording of
>> this for historical preservation.


> I can remember back in the 1970s era (pre-divestiture, of course), that
> during storms, floods, etc., dialing '0' for SCBell/AT&T Operator Service
> (using TSPS back then), if there was heavy calling, you'd get the same
> type of recording.
>
> New Orleans was one of the first places to have TSPS (Traffic Service
> Position System) automation for Operator Servvice, back around 1970 or
> so. But automation for operator type services even goes back to the early
> 1960s with TSP (Traffic Service Position) and even late 1950s with PPCS
> (Person to Person Card Special) in some parts of the midwest and
> northeast.


I forgot to add something about the old Cord-Board days...

With the automated appliques for Operator Services, TSP, TSPS, TOPS, OSPS,
etc., callers can be held in a queue. You can queue up more callers than
there might be operators available to assist immediately. Today that is
even more so since many LECs (and AT&T) provide touchtone/voice menu
applications for automated operator services.

But back in the cord-board days for dial-0 operator services...

Calls to 0 just kept popping up on manual boards until operators could be
available to plug into them to answer them. Of course, trunks to the dial-0
operator center from individual central offices might be limited as well.
But if you could get a trunk to the operator toll board from your local
central office, you would just pop up on the board until some operator
there could plug in.

In 1980/81, I lived in Spokane WA (Pacific Northwest Bell, pre-divestiture,
and before the early 1960s it was part of Pac Tel & Tel along with Cal).
Remember in May 1980, the volcano in southwest WA (some 300 miles away)
blew its top. Ash was spewed mostly eastward. This affected numerous parts
of the US and Canada eastward from Washington state.

Other than those in the immediate area of the volcano, there was no real
property damage or loss of life.

But trying to get telephone calls to points outside was difficult.

Spokane WA at that time still had a cord-board for local/toll operator
services. There was still a #4A Crossbar toll machine and it still used
a photo-mechanical card-punch reading system for routings/translations.
It did not even have an ETS (Electronic Translator System). I assume
Spokane WA got TSPS for Operator Services before divestiture in 1984
though....

With only a cord-board for toll services, you did NOT have 1+ coin, you did
NOT have 0+ dialing of any kind, and ONLY ESS offices (from non-coin) could
have SOME form of 011+ IDDD, sent-paid non-coin traffic only (i.e.., no
01+ IDDD special-billing customer dialed calls).

I remember trying to dial home to my parents in New Orleans collect for
several days after the volcano blew its stack. I would simply keep dialing
'0' from a payphone until an operator would finally answer. They were
trying
to be helpful and polite, but they couldn't answer all the call requests
immediately. And the 4A crossbar toll machine and associated card-
translator must have been overwhelmed.

Even when I could get an operator on the line to talk to to place a collect
call back to New Orleans to tell them that I was safe, all the operator
might get was re-order (fast busy) or some kind of ccts busy recording.

And all operators in their frustration were acutally saying:

MY BOARD IS LIT UP LIKE A CHRISTMAS TREE!

That is really how manual toll cord boards were like whenever there is a
disaster or other types of high call volume.

mjc
markjcuccia at yahoo dot com

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I have read some of the posts to one or another of the Yahoo groups
regarding the BellSouth/AT&T "Main" building in New Orleans, located at the
riverside and uptown corner of Baronne and Poydras streets.

Apparantly BellSouth's "Main" 5E and the DMS-100/200 Tandem are still
operational. NWORLAMADS0 (5ESS) and NWORLAMA0GT (DMS-100/200 Tandem) are
NOT listed at BellSouth's site of local central offices which are having
problems.

And the AT&T 4ESS in the building (NWORLAMA04T, 060-T) is working, but
quite
overwhelmed with call volume. You will frequently get "All ccts busy" or
"due to the hurricane in the area you are calling" recordings, with
trailers
of "zero-six-zero, tee" (060-T being the Network Switch Number of the New
Orleans 4ESS).

All inbound traffic to my Cingular cellphone must pass thru New Orleans to
the Cingular GSM switch here. You will frequently encounter such busy
conditions via the LD carrier you might be calling on. But you CAN get thru
to my cellphone as well.

While in "exile" (and last Wednesday, 07-September-2005 while leaving
New Orleans), I was able to use my Cingular phone to place outbound calls
(and receive inbound calls), and also use my AT&T calling card (and MCI
Prepaid card) from the payphones at the Airport. I was able to call
numbers in New Orleans/etc. as long as the central office was still working
and also remember that the line to the house had to still be connected
(the loop) as well.

As for "Main" -- the Main-1AESS (NWORLAMACG2) customers and their 504-52X
(and other NXX) c.o.codes were supposedly finally "absorbed" into the
Main-5ESS just two days before Katrina hit, on Saturday 27 August 2005.

This leaves only four 1AESS WECO/Lucent offices still in the New Orleans
Metro area:

NWORLAARCG0 "Aurora", 504-39x, on the westbank, still up and running;
NWORLAMCCG0 "Mid City", 504-48x (HUnter), presently not operational;
NWORLALKCG0 "Lake", 504-28x (ATwood), presently not operational;
NWORLACMCG0 "Chalmette", 504-27x (ARabi), presently not operational;

The "Lake" building at Prentiss and St.Anthony streets also has a 5E-Remote
housed there (hosted by Main-5E), to supply ISDN to the University of
New Orleans campus on the lakefront. 504-280 (never known as ATwood-0, but
it COULD be referred to as such since the digits/letters do match!).
I don't know how the Lake 5E-Remote fared though. I assume ultimately,
BellSouth will expand the Lake 5E-remote into a "standalone" full fledged
5ESS office to replace the 1AESS at Lake.

With the exception of low-lying areas further down the river from the
metro area, NOTHING on the westbank of the New Orleans metro area lost
central office dialtone. Again, some people might have lost their loop
to downed lines though....

Overall, the westbank of New Orleans fared well.

BellSouth's "Interconnection" website indicates things about downed
switches: http://interconnection.bellsouth.com and then click away from
there.

As for "Main"...

The former "Main-1A" contained most of the 504-52x office codes, most of
which were the old Main Step-by-Step, and in the 2L-5N days were known as
JAckson-x.

In the 2L-4N days they were as follows, with the 2L-5N name as of 1957:

CAnal which became JAckson-2
MAgnolia which became JAckson-3 (the original "Main" manual office name)
TUlane which became JAckson-4
RAymond which became JAckson-5
EXpress which became JAckson-9

In the 2L-4N days, EVERY OFFICE NAME had to have DIRECT TRUNKS WITH..
every other local office name. There was NO "blocking" of names/digits.
Everything in New Orleans regarding exchange names as a "hodge-podge",
almost as if we were a "Panel" or #1-Crossbar city such as the huge
urban areas of the midwest or northeast. But no, we were always Step-by-
Step. Only thing was that every office-name had to trunk directly to every
other office name.

During the later 1950s, we cutover from 2L-4N to 2L-5N (in preparation for
full DDD), one office building at a time. All office names were replaced
by a new common office name followed by a third new digit (see above for
how the offices names in "Main" were consolidated into "JAckson-X" office
codes).

More "Main" trivia...

In 1970/71 or so, the first #1ESS was added into the business district at
"Main", initially the 504-58x codes (NWORLAMACG0).

In the later 1970s, another ESS (a 1AESS) was added to "Main", mostly
the 504-56x codes (NWORLAMACG1).

In the very late 1970s, the Main SXS (NWORLAMA52A) was replaced with yet
another ESS (another 1AESS), the NWORLAMACG2 switch which was recently
absorbed into the Main 5E.

In 1985, the 1970/71 Main 1ESS (504-58x) was absorbed into the mid/late
1970s Main 1AESS (504-56x, -CG1) switch. This was ultimately fully replaced
with the Main 5ESS (NWORLAMADS0) circa 1989-91 timeframe. But it wasn't
until just two weeks ago when the remaining 1AESS in Main (the third 1/1A
type ESS to be hosed there in the very late 1970s), but also the ORIGINAL
SXS office there, was finally absorbed into the already existing digital
5ESS.

NOTE... there are some ideosynchosies and "quirks" regarding some specific
few 504-5NX codes as to which switch they were on at which time, mainly
the 504-JA.5 code (originally RAymond) and the (FTS) 504-589 code.
These two codes had been flipped around at times between different Main
switches during the 1970s and 80s. I don't remember the specific details
at the moment though.

Now for some more trivia re Main at New Orleans...

In Spring 1983 during our annual "once in a century" floods from heavy
rains, Metro area got flooded out as usual. Electric power was knocked out
in some parts of the area as expected.

South Central Bell and its pre-divestiture parent AT&T (remember this was
still 1983) lost NOPSI (now Entergy) commercial power at Main.

The backup generators were in the basement which got flooded out. They
tried to fire up the backup generators but were unsuccessful. WECO
batteries
were used to power the three local 1/1AESS end offices and possibly the
SCB/ATT-LL 4ESS switch as well (and any other ESS tandems associated with
the 1AESS end offices). The 4ESS was only two years old, replacing the
early
1950s era 4A XB toll machine and the "Broadmoor" XB-Tandem machine only
back in 1981.

Battery power did provide local dialtone to the Central Business District,
as well as for tandem'd local calls, and toll into/out-of New Orleans, but
eventually the batteries began to run out.

There was a period of 12 to 24 hours when New Orleans was "cut off" from
the
rest of the world. The local TV and radio stations which still had power
but hadn't yet cutover to their own satellite reception of CBS/NBC/Mutual/
ABC/etc. were unable to get network radio and TV programming.

I understand that a non-demoninational church had a sat-dish used to pick
up sat-fed Christian programming was being used by the media to uplink
news reports of the flooding in New Orleans in Spring 1983, to be fed to
the
major US radio/TV networks/national media.

Eventually, SCBell/AT&T got power back to the switches housed at Main, and
got the batteries re-charged. I tend to think that they re-worked central
office "power" and backup since then for "Main", since it "appears" that
Main is working, both BellSouth end offices/tandems, and AT&T 4ESS, though
overwhelmed, at this time with the Katrina aftermath.

But many BellSouth LOCAL offices do seem to still be down.

One day last week, BellSouth seems to have put a new generic (male voice)
recording, most likely played from the Main DMS-100/200 tandem, for inbound
calls to numbers on those out of service local offices:

"Due to intense storm damage, the number you are calling may not be
available for an extended period of time".

This recording plays only once and then drops.


Mark J. Cuccia
markjcuccia at yahoo dot com



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Neustar NANPA has finally added American Samoa's 684-NXX c.o.codes to their
website under "Reports; Central Office Codes",
http://www.nanpa.com/reports/reports_cocodes.html

Clicking on "Central Office Code Availability Report"
http://www.nanpa.com/nas/public/available_code_query_step1.do?method=resetCodeQu\
eryModel
and then selecting "American Samoa" for the "state" and 684 for the NPA
will of course give a huge list of 684-NXX c.o.codes that could be assigned
to American Samoa over the next 5000 years, MAYBE Am.Samoa will need to
split or be overlaid by year 7005...

But clicking on "Central Office Code Utilized Report"
http://www.nanpa.com/nas/public/assigned_code_query_step1.do?method=resetCodeQue\
ryModel
and then selecting "American Samoa" for the "state" and 684 for the NPA
will
give a list of assigned/active as well as "UN-assignable" (not avilable at
all for assignment). The 'UA' (Unassignable or Unavailable) c.o.codes are
things like 684-N11 codes, 684-700, etc. as well as other misc. specialty
things.... to avoid confusion with Country Code +685 for the Independent
state of Samoa (formerly Western Samoa, I think once a Gereman possession),
684-685 is flagged as 'UA' for 684-NXX c.o.code purposes.

HOWEVER, NANPA does NOT (yet) seem to flag 684-684 as 'UA'. However,
I doubt that Am.Samoa Telecom (ILEC) or Blue Sky Communications
(competitive wireless) will be requestion 684-684 as a valid POTS c.o.code
at any time, nor do I think that there will be any other service provider
in American Samoa at any time in the foressable future.

The traditional 684-NNX codes that Am.Samoa Telecom has had for many years
are listed:

684-622
684-633
684-644
684-655
(the 684-666 code was never used by Am.Samoa Telecom for two reasons,
see below)
684-677
684-688
684-699

and 684-733 for Am.Samoa Telecom Cellular (originally AMPS)

Also, a new code that Am.Samoa Telecom opened up circa 2003/04, 684-691
is listed...

And Blue Sky Communiciations (competitive digital wireless) has their
original code from the late 1990s listed there: 684-258 (258 spells BLU).

And in the "specialty" codes, 684-555 is included/reserved for Directory
Assistance purposes, however AT&T still does NOT yet allow customer dialed
calls for Am.Samoa D.A. as +1-684-555-1212. I dont' think MCI or Sprint
(or for that matter, anyone else) yet allows 684-555 for customer dialed
Directory Assistance purposes.

But Blue Sky seems to have recently opened up a SECOND 684-NXX c.o.code
for digital cellular, 684-252.

And American Samoa Telecom as well seems to have recently opened up a
SECOND 684-NXX c.o.code for wireless purposes, 684-731. But the switch-CLLI
listed for 684-731 is a DIFFERENT switch (still -CM0 wireless though) than
the -CM0 wireless switch CLLI for their original cellular 684-733 c.o.code.

But, unfortunately still, even though it was the desire of the FCC that
American Samoa become integrated into the domestic/US billing plan for
LD carriers for billing of calls between American Samoa and the rest of the
US portion of the NANP (at least the 48/DC, AK/HI, and also Guam &
Saipan/etc.), it still seems that ALL known LD carriers and cellular
providers in the US are STILL billing American Samoa at Ovs/Intl rates! :(

It might have been better if American Samoa had integrated into the NANP
back in Summer 1997 along with Guam (changed from +671- to +1-671-) and
Mariana Islands (Saipan/Tinian/Rota, changed from +670- to +1-670-), since
at that time, the FCC strongly urged, and MOST LD carriers (though I don't
think all US-based service providers of various types), revised billing
of Guam and Mariana Islands from Intl/Overseas to US/Domestic rates.

As for AT&T, back last Fall (October 2005) when Am.Samoa was incorporated
into the NANP, the Operators and their supervisors were quoting (basic
full tariffed) *DOMESTIC* rates when asking for "basic rates at this time
of day & day of week" for a 1+ call to a 684-NXX c.o.code....

SOME of the customer service reps and their supervisors were also quoting
domestic type rates as well, but other CSRs and supers were quoting the
previous Intl/Ovs type rates for 1+ calls to 684-NXX c.o.codes.

So, there is still a lot of things "up in the air" regarding American
Samoa rates/billing plans as well as customer dialed calls to D.A. as
684-555-1212...

BUT... I had heard something somewhere a few moths ago, that certain
regulatory/tariff aspects of American Samoa had still not been finalized
w/r/t the FCC.

Anyhow, Telcordia-TRA has had American Samoa in their numbering/routing/
billing products since before the Oct.2004 date of official incorporation
into the NANP, but now Neustar-NANPA has finalized including American
Samoa numbering/code info into the NANPA website!


BTW, regarding another "non-CONUS" location in the NANP (but also not even
US at all)....

AFAIK, the only POTS or POTS-like 829-NXX c.o.codes for the Dominican
Republic overlay are still just 829-222 (for 829-222-9999) for the Test
Number (a supervising/charging/billing milliwatt 1-Kc tone) which
officially was to take effect on 1-July-2005 although it did take some time
for VeriZon/GTE/Codetel and the US/Canadian-based LD carriers to properly
open up the 829-222 c.o.code and such..... and 829-555 for customer-dialed
D.A. to take effect when the NPA "officially" opens up for (non-test)
POTS-c.o.codes, on 1-October-2005. But from what I can tell, there are
still no (POTS) 829-NXX c.o.codes yet assigned by their regulatory/code
assignment body, Indotel.

The 809-NXX / 829-NXX pages at Indotel's website....
main page at: http://www.indotel.org.do/nxx.aspx
and click away, does have options for seeing what might be in NPA 829,
as well as NPA 809...

But even while 809-555 is shown as something "special" for VZ/GTE/Codetel
(Directory Assistance), there is NO entries for 829-222 (the test number
c.o.code) nor 829-555 (available for D.A. with the NEW NPA code).
BTW, even if a future listing is requested and has an 829 NPA number,
one doesn't "have" to know that the new future listing would be NPA 829.
Dialing 809-555-1212 for (VZ/GTE/Codetel) D.A. would still route to the
same D.A. board who could look up the listing (if pub'd).

Also, 809-200 is a "special" c.o.code for national (Dom.Rep) toll free
numbers. I'm not sure if these will continue to be dialed seven-digits
as 200-xxxx or if they will have to be dialed as mandatory ten-digits
(1+?) 809-200-xxxx though. But in the lists/lookup options at Indotel's
website, there is still no entry for 809-200 (nor any potential duplication
as 829-200). Telcordia-TRA does NOT (yet?) "flag" 809-200 as a specialty
or "oddball" c.o.code. Since NPAs 809 and 829 are the Dom.Repbulic and
NOT the US, Neustar-NANPA would NOT have any c.o.code lists/entries.

The Indotel website does indicate a total of SIX service providers for
the Dominican Republic.... VeriZon/GTE/Codetel is the incumbent landline
LEC and also provides wireless/cellular. Others are CLECs and/or
competitive wireless providers:

Tricom
Centennial (once associated with AACR once part of ITT)
Orange
Turitel
Economitel

I think the latter two are probably simply resellers of VZ/GTE/Codetel
or maybe even resell landline CLEC service of Tricom or Centennail as well?

There is even an option at Indotel's site for "Specialty" 809-NXX or
829-NXX c.o.codes, but it didn't seem to turn up anything.

There are several "types" of c.o.code search mechanisms at the Indotel site
though....


Mark J. Cuccia
presently temporarily in Pensacola FL (waiting to see what this latest
Trop.Storm or Hurricane Rita is going to do), hopefully planning to return
to Louisiana, to either Baton Rouge, Lafayette or New Iberia....
or maybe eventually settling for good in Atlanta???
markjcuccia at yahoo dot com



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In the yahoo groups main pages, the subject line truncates on the main
display, where it references 829 as the NPA for "Dominica...."

Obviously, the C&W "British" location of Dominica in the (non-US yet still)
NANP-Caribbean is NPA 767 (i.e., +1-767), while NPA 829 (+1-829) is the
overlay NPA for the Dominican Republic... Unfortunately, Yahoo truncated
off the final letter 'n' in Dominican....

Also, I had mentioned that 684-666 was NOT a c.o.code in Am.Samoa, skipped
over in their "traditional pattern" of:

622
633
644
655
(skip 666)
677
688
699

Obviously, some might object to having "the devil's number", 666, as their
c.o.code...

but also, back in the Stromberg-SXY days in American Samoa, while they
did have full seven-digit NNX-xxxx numbers (6NN-xxxx to be more specific),
even though they were NOT (yet) part of the actual NANP (though a US
territory), with Stromberg-SXY step offices, one could probably "get by"
with dialing JUST the final five-digits...

i.e., 622-xxxx could probably be dialed as 2-xxxx.

Having 666-xxxx would not have allowed a simple "SXS Shortcut" way of
dialing as 6-xxxx, since there would have been a conflict. And SXS offices
really didn't have "post-dial-delay/timeout" capability.

But I am assuming that one might have been able to dial all of the 6NN-xxxx
office codes/numbers as just five-digits as N-xxxx back when they were all
Stromberg-SXY step offices, probably in the 1970s era.

mjc



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--- In local-calling-guide@yahoogroups.com, "Mark J. Cuccia"
<markjcuccia@y...> wrote:
> Neustar NANPA has finally added American Samoa's 684-NXX c.o.codes
to their
> website under "Reports; Central Office Codes",
> http://www.nanpa.com/reports/reports_cocodes.html

Better late than never, but they still haven't included them in the
downloadable Central Office Code Assignment Records at

http://www.nanpa.com/reports/reports_cocodes_assign.html

I did notice, however, that this page now offers a zipped text file
containing codes for all states, in addition to the separate files for
each region.

All of three major LD carriers in the US have begun opening up NPA 762,
or in some cases specifically the test-number c.o.code 762-222- within
their networks, to some degree...

MCI was probably the first network to open up 762-222- in their network.
The 762-222- code was opened up in their 1+ "Backbone" Alcatel DEX and
Nortel DMS toll switches, and the 762-222- c.o.code was also opened up
within the "Telecom-USA" Operator/Card platform.

Sprint has also opened up 762-222- in their DMS-250 toll switches.
In the case of Sprint-LD, the Operator/Card Platform is "built-in" to
each and every one of their (1+/backbone) Nortel DMS-250 toll switches,
rather than being a "stand-alone" platform.

AT&T also has gotten around to opening up 762-222- in the backbone (1+)
network of (Lucent) 4ESS toll switches. However, regarding their
(Lucent) 5E-OSPS Operator/Card platform...

Sometime last week, they had opened up NPA 762 (?? or maybe more
specifically the 762-222- code ??) within ONLY the Atlanta GA 404-0T
OSPS (which Watkinsville GA, where BellSouth's 762-222-7777 test number
is based, homes on)... EVERY OTHER AT&T 5E-OSPS that I (or others friends
in the US) had a chance to test-dial through, did NOT seem to have opened
up NPA 762.

Earlier this week, I had informed one of my routings/translations contacts
with AT&T (in NJ) about the fact that most/all of their OSPSes (except for
Atlanta) did NOT yet seem to have 762 opened up. In the past few days,
more and more of AT&T's OSPSes have opened up NPA 762, but there are
still several OSPSes which at this moment still don't yet have 762.

Note that when BellSouth originally activated the 762-222-7777 test number
in the latter part of August 2005, it did NOT return answer/billing
supervision... i.e., you would NOT be charged to call it.

However, sometime in early September, it seems that BellSouth has begun
to return billing supervision on 762-222-7777.

If you do NOT want to be charged to call the actual test announcement
number, you could still dial 762-222-xxxx, where any -xxxx OTHER than
the -7777 line-number could be used. You won't reach the actual
(sup'ing billing) test number, but should instead reach a NON-sup'ing
(distant end) BellSouth vacant code recording. Of course, if you are
using a calling card on AT&T, you might not even pass thru their OSPS
if they don't have 762 opened up in your "homing" OSPS.

And if you are dialing as (101-XXXX)+1+762-nxx-xxxx (or even 0+,
rather than with a 1-8YY-nxx-xxxx card-dialup), if your own local
telco's central office doesn't yet have NPA 762 opened up, you won't
even get past translations in your own local c.o.switch.

As for the next new NPA and its test number 424-424-0424,
I don't know exactly when the 424-424- c.o.code is officially supposed
to take effect, but the NANPA PL-347 indicates the test number in
late November 2005. However, when 424-424 is entered into the BIRDDS/LERG,
it might have an earlier effective date.

I doubt that it will "supe"/bill, since I have never had SBC-Pac*Bell
return billing supervision on their NPA test numbers.

I also assume that 424-424 will terminate in SBC-Pac*Bell's Torrance CA
5ESS office (TRNCCA11DS0) -- when the earlier incarnation of the 424
overlay to 310 was in planning in 1999, the 424-654-0424 test number
did terminate at TRNCCA11DS0....

Note that the original incarnation of SBC-Pac*Bell's 909/951 NPA split
in eastern southern CA had 951-800-0951 for the test number in their
Arlington CA 5ESS (ARTNCA11DS0). This planned split was to take effect
in 2000 but turned out to be delayed instead. In 2004, the split was
reactivated, but the test-number c.o.code was changed: 951-951-0951,
however, ARTNCA11DS0 5ESS was retained as the c.o.switch to host the
(non-sup'ing) test number announcement.

Mark J. Cuccia
markjcuccia at yahoo dot com

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Does anyone have any idea of why they picked
Watkinsville, GA for the test message for the new 762
NPA?  Why WATKINSVILLE of all places??!!

Unless it is some type of access tandem or something!



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I was informed that the 424-424 c.o.code for the 424-424-0424 test number
is NOT going to be served out of the TRNCCA11DS0 (Lucent) 5ESS of
SBC-Pac*Bell in the Torrance CA ratecenter. The previous incarnation of
this
overlay (1999) had the 424-654-0424 test number actually working out of
their Torrance CA 5ESS.

But in addition to the c.o.code for the test number changing from 424-654
to 424-424, it turns out that SBC-Pac*Bell is changing the c.o.switch for
the test number, to their (Nortel) DMS-100 in San Pedro CA, SNPDCA01DS0.
This c.o.switch/wirecenter is "just next door" to Torrance CA though.

And IF 424 had split from 310 (and who knows... UNfortnately, if the
misguided naysayers have their way in court, it might still split)... both
the Torrance CA AND the San Pedro CA ratecenters would have fallen into the
new 424 NPA, split from 310.

And AT&T has slowly been adding NPA 762 (the future overlay to 706 in
northern GA outside Atlanta metro) into their OSPSes, but I understand that
the Richmond VA OSPS (804-0T) RCMDVAIT29T is still missing NPA 762 from its
upfront NPA translations as of earlier this morning.

Mark J. Cuccia
markjcuccia at yahoo dot com



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Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005
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As I had posted to one of these groups earlier, I have finally arrived in
New Iberia LA and am staying at my aunt's/uncle's here until I finally am
able to return to New Orleans. I arrived here exactly one week ago on
Monday afternoon, 26 September 2005.

New Iberia LA was a SXS office in the 1970s, cut to a WECO 1AESS sometime
in the 1980s, and sometime in the 1990s was cut to a (Lucent) 5ESS.

The old range of c.o.codes was 318-36n, the earlier NPA was 318.
The '36' was for EMerson. Back in the "SXS" (Step) days, in the 1970s,
you could "get by" by dialing ONLY the last five digits, skipping the
'36' (EMerson) office code/name.

Of course, that all ended when it cut to a 1AESS sometime in the 1980s or
so.

I did pass by the So.Bell/SCBell/BellSouth building in New Iberia -- it
is at St.Peter Street and (200) Center Street, right where it was when
I remembered it 30 years ago during my teen years when we visited my
aunt/uncle/cousins for Christmas or weddings, funerals, etc.

I could have SWORN that there was the "traditional" MW tower (red/white
striped) next to or on top of that building... but it is NOT there today.
But my uncle did confirm my suspicion -- there USED to be a traditional
red/white latticed/girdered MW tower just behind the building. I don't
know if BellSouth (or AT&T) removed the horns from the tower at some
point and then later demolished the tower, or if it were all done at
one point in time. Most (but not all places) that have had Microwave
towers with "horn" antennae have in the past two or three years, been
"de-horned". Baton Rouge LA's BellSouth/AT&T building still has a
rather nice assembly of MW horns on a nice tower on top of the building.
I don't know if this is for AT&T, or for BellSouth, or still jointly
shared by these two remnants of the old "One Bell System"...

I do know that prior to the mid-1970s, New Iberia LA was a "toll center",
meaning that there were local/toll assistance operators housed at the
central office building. But by the later 1970s, New Iberia ceased having
their own operators -- dialing '0' routed you to the Lafayette LA toll
center/operators. I don't know offhand if Lafayette had TSPS at the time
(allowing full 0+ semi-automated customer-dialed collect/card/etc.
calls, as well as customer dialing of 1+ coin), or if it were still
"cordboard", meaning all toll other than 1+ from non-coin residential and
business, as long as it wasn't 4/multi-party, was the only dialable toll
calls by customers.

I do remember in the mid-1970s, that the South Central Bell payphones in
New Iberia LA stated that toll calls (and maybe business office, repair,
local (and toll) directory) had to be placed thru the dial '0' operator.

I still have to pass by the "Main" telco building in Lafayette LA.
It is jointly used by AT&T and BellSouth and has the logo of both companies
on the outside. I had passed by it last in May 1999 when a telco-minded
friend from Atlanta (and also on most of these groups/lists) and I went
on a "telco" road-trip to southeast Texas. AT&T does not have a 4ESS in
Lafayette LA -- the Lafayette/Lake Charles LA LATA "homes" on the AT&T
4ESS in Baton Rouge LA (BTRGLAMA04T, 012-T). This LATA also uses the
AT&T 5E-OSPS in Jackson MS (JCSNMSPS06T, 601-0T) for AT&T Operator/Card
functions.

There are at least TWO BellSouth landline central office buildings/switches
in the Lafayette LA ratecenter.... I do know that the "Main" office is
still a (WECO) #1AESS office, still yet to be converted to a Digital
(Lucent 5E? Nortel DMS? some other manufacture/brand?)....

Ray Chow's local calling area website would give the full details of
"bare bones basic" local/EAS for this part of Louisiana... but there is
no "basic" local (EAS) calling between the ratecenters of New Iberia LA
and Lafayette LA. BUT... BellSouth does offer optional "LOS" and Area Plus
packages which allow unlimited "free" calling to larger than the basic
local (EAS) calling area, but for a higher monthly fee.

There are several non-Bell telcos throughout the Lafayette/Lake Charles LA
LATA -- some are "locally owned" telcos, others are part of the Centurytel
family (which BTW, is HQ'd in Monroe LA in the northeastern part of the
state -- Monroe LA itself is a BellSouth ratecenter though).

I can remember when there were still c.o.controlled payphones in the
independent telcos in southwestern and south-central LA, most used either
Nortel Centurions (some still had the older N/E Northern Electric logo),
or (GTE) Automatic Electric single-slot "fortress" payphones. The GTE-AE
payphones seemed to have been the standard ones used by CenturyTel, but
it is also possible that CenturyTel also might have had some NE/Nortel
Centurions in places where the original independent telco had them before
being taken over by CenturyTel.

All of Louisiana was flagged as 504 with the creation of the area code
format in October 1947. Even though there wasn't yet customer-DDD to or
from Louisiana ten years later in 1957, the south-central/south-west,
central, and northern Louisiana segments were split off to 318 that year.
What would become the Baton Rouge and New Orleans LATAs retained 504 with
1957. There have been two different splits off of 504 in recent years
(Baton Rouge becoming 225 in 1998, and the areas outside of the immediate
New Orleans metro area becoming 985 in 2001)... and 337 broke off 318 in
1999, for the Lafayette/Lake Charles LA LATA. 318 has been retained by
the Shreveport/Alexandria/Monroe LA LATA.

Mark J. Cuccia
markjcuccia at yahoo dot com
Temporarily residing in New Iberia LA, CSA




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On Mon. 03 Oct. 2005, Mark J. Cuccia <markjcuccia at yahoo dot com> wrote:

> As I had posted to one of these groups earlier, I have finally arrived in
> New Iberia LA and am staying at my aunt's/uncle's here until I finally am
> able to return to New Orleans. I arrived here exactly one week ago on
> Monday afternoon, 26 September 2005.

(SNIP)

> I did pass by the So.Bell/SCBell/BellSouth building in New Iberia -- it
> is at St.Peter Street and (200) Center Street, right where it was when
> I remembered it 30 years ago during my teen years when we visited my
> aunt/uncle/cousins for Christmas or weddings, funerals, etc.

It is actually at 201 Center Street (at St.Peter Street), not '200'.
I passed by it again this Tuesday afternoon, and in the "recessed"
entranceway, there is a ... *PAYPHONE* mounted on the wall!

It is NOT a GTE-AE single-slotter fortress phone -- it had a "full-width"
top instruction card. But from the angle I viewed it from the inside of
the car, I could not tell if it were a "WECO" housing or a "Palco" (AE
insides, WECO-look-a-like exterior) housing.

I also don't know if the payphone were truly a BellSouth owned payphone
(since BellSouth has officially gotten out of the payphone business as
of early 2004), or some (non-telco) COCOT. It is also possible that the
"fortress" phone mounted on the wall might have been an intercom for
communicating with telco workers inside the secured, locked building.

There is BellSouth signage on the exterior of the building. I have NOT
yet walked around as much of the building as I would like to, outside of
a car -- I wonder if there is any AT&T signage or an AT&T entrance....

> I still have to pass by the "Main" telco building in Lafayette LA.
> It is jointly used by AT&T and BellSouth and has the logo of both
> companies on the outside. I had passed by it last in May 1999 when a
> telco-minded friend from Atlanta (and also on most of these groups/lists)
> and I went on a "telco" road-trip to southeast Texas. AT&T does not have
> a 4ESS in Lafayette LA -- the Lafayette/Lake Charles LA LATA "homes" on
> the AT&T 4ESS in Baton Rouge LA (BTRGLAMA04T, 012-T). This LATA also uses
> the AT&T 5E-OSPS in Jackson MS (JCSNMSPS06T, 601-0T) for AT&T
> Operator/Card functions.
>
> There are at least TWO BellSouth landline central office
> buildings/switches in the Lafayette LA ratecenter.... I do know that
> the "Main" office is still a (WECO) #1AESS office, still yet to be
> converted to a Digital (Lucent 5E? Nortel DMS? some other
> manufacture/brand?)....

I did have a chance to walk around the entire BellSouth/AT&T "Main"
building complex in Lafayette earlier this Tuesday morning.

The official street address is 530 South Buchanan Street.

The AT&T/BellSouth "complex" takes up most of a full city block, bounded
by S.Buchanan, Central, and S.Pierce, with the fouth side being a parking
lot alongside E.Congress.

The OLD building, with MCMXXVII (1927) in the cornerstone at Central and
S.Buchanan is now partially occupied by a non-telco entity. The OLD
building is along Central street and completely spans from S.Buchanan and
S.Pierce. To the northeast of the OLD building is a newer (1960s/70s?)
building that mostly runs alongside S.Pierce street.

The OLD building does have some BellSouth signage on entrances which lead
into parts of the building that are still telco. There are NO BellSouth
signs on other entrances, rather there are signs that say "Future Home of"
I think some investment firm....

The newer (1960s/70s?) building is taller than the OLD three story
BellSouth building. There is an entrance on S.Pierce, and an entrance on
the opposite side near the parking lot on S.Buchanan. On the S.Pierce
side entrance, there is a flush mounted intercom mounted on the wall,
with a grating over the speaker/microphone, the metal grating forming the
AT&T "fried brain DeathStar" logo. But other than that, I don't think I
saw any actual AT&T logo with the lettering AT&T. However, AT&T does
maintain a POP/POI/whatever (Point of Presence/Interface/Interconnection)
in that building since they don't have a 4ESS in the Lafayette/Lake Charles
LATA. They have a cross-connect so BellSouth (and other) lines and trunks
can be trunked on AT&T owned ccts across the LATA boundary to their 4ESS
in the Baton Rouge LATA and to the 5E-OSPS in the Jackson MS LATA.

I would tend to think that there had been a tall red/white striped MW tower
either on the roof of the AT&T/Bell complex, or in the parking lot
alongside the building, but I there wasn't one at this time. More than
likely, there used to be such a tower, but I guess it was dismantled at
some point in the 1990s or early 2000s.

BTW, in the neighberhood surrounding the AT&T/Bell complex in Lafayette,
in the sidewalks, are several manhole covers. The old round ones with
"BELL SYSTEM", of course, but also some new ones for CLECs and such, and
those were square or rectangular.

Mark J. Cuccia
markjcuccia at yahoo dot com
Temporarily residing in New Iberia LA, CSA



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Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005
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I'm trying to compile a list of NPAs throughout all of the NANP, where
there is *NO* "home-NPA toll" applicable.

NANPA's "search" mechanism for (detailed) NPA stats, available at:
http://www.nanpa.com/nas/public/npa_query_step1.do?method=resetNpaReportModel
(and then key in a valid three-digit NPA code of the NXX format)

is indicating '1+ten-d' for HNPA toll in many cases where no such intra-NPA
toll exists.

I'm trying to compile a list to submit to NANPA if they want to correct the
data at their website.

The NANPA site is correct for 684 American Samoa -- all calls within 684
American Samoa are local. The HNPA field indicates 'NA' (Not Applicable)
for 684 American Samoa.

However, I tend to think that all calls within 671 Guam, as well as calls
within 340 US Virgin Islands, are also local for themselves, yet the NANPA
site indicates '1+ten-d' for each NPA in the HNPA toll field.

Depending on how you define "local" -- i.e., are measured rate or zoned
local calls truly "local"? They aren't totally monthly flat-rate unlimited
"free", but they are frequently classed as "local", just about all of the
smaller "British" Caribbean NPA locations could be said to have NO HNPA
toll -- the exceptions would be 242 Bahamas, 876 Jamaica, and possibly even
868 Trinidad/Tobago. 809-overlaid-with-829 (despite the fact that at
present there are no known 829-NXX POTS c.o.codes, nor none yet on the
immediate horizon) Dominican Republic of course does have intra-DR TOLL.
I don't know what the current or immediate status of Puerto Rico (787-
overlaid-with-939) is? Isn't intra-PR toll supposed to be eliminated or
soon to be eliminated? Or is it only that PR is increasing local/EAS
calling areas, i.e., consolidating ratecenters and "call zones", yet there
would still be some intra-PR toll?

And then there are metro areas in the US and Canada, where due to split
after split after split, some NPA regions have shrunk down to an extremely
small area (sometimes only just ONE ratecenter), and then there are
increases in "basic/bare-bones" EAS as well....

I don't think that the NANPA site is necessarily correct in this matter --
i.e., they display 1+ten-d for HNPA toll when there is *NO* toll for any
calls within that NPA -- i.e., HNPA Toll is 'NA' (not applicable)...

i.e., 404 GA is now JUST the Atlanta Central ratecenter! HNPA toll should
be flagged as 'NA' instead of 1+ten-d on the NANPA site.

416 ON is now JUST the Toronto "City" ratecenter, with NO HNPA toll!

Wouldn't 213 CA (Los Angeles) also fall into that category as well?

What about 312 and 773 IL (Chicago)? Of course, there might be "zones"
and message units, similarly the NPAs in the NYC Metro area might also
fall into this category for HNPA toll....

I don't know if EVERY one of the six ratecenters in 514 QC (Montreal)
(soon to be overlaid with 438) are all "EAS" w/r/t each other -- I THINK
that they all are, only that each ones' individual EAS corridors are not
all identical w/r/t each other regarding calling to other outlying areas,
thus these six ratecenters are not yet consolidated into a single "super"
Montral PQ ratecenter... But I think that w/r/t each other, all six
ratecenters in 514 (to be overlaid with 438 next Fall) are EAS'd as such,
to each other.

PAGING STAN CLINE:
What about intra-770 and intra-678?

Regarding 504 (LA) New Orleans, even Pre-Katrina...
When 985 broke off from the pre-985-split-504, the 504 NPA was reduced in
size to be JUST the New Orleans ratecenter and seven ratecenters that were
all EAS'd with (at least) New Orleans. But prior to 985 splitting off from
504, some of the "outlying" ratecenters that were all EAS'd with the
New Orleans ratecenter were NOT (yet) necessarily EAS'd w/r/t EACH OTHER.
BUT another development was occuring AT THE SAME TIME as the 504/985 split
in 2001 -- the La.PSC also ordered staged EAS enhancements for BASE BARE
BONES EAS, the EAS that ALL customers get even when not subscribed to a
(higher monthly fee) savings plan -- and ALL eight ratecenters that
retained 504 were now fully EAS'd with each other -- i.e., HNPA toll for
504 should really be flagged as 'NA'.

And while I think that there might still be basic toll for some distant
calls between far-flung ratecenters within 604 BC, I think that all calls
within the PARTIAL overlay 778 -- i.e., those three ratecenters (Vancouver
Metro, Aldergrove, and another one I can't think off offhand), are fully
EAS'd with each other....

And then there are other partial overlays here and there where I think
calls to any number in a ratecenter having the (partial) overlay NPA code
would be EAS, although the original (larger) NPA might still have some
HNPA toll...

SO, can anyone add to the list of NPAs where there would be NO toll charges
whatsoever for any call within that NPA? (Of course, 976 is NOT a regular
toll call, even though it is usually a higher charge, sometimes exhorbitant
higher charges -- also some might not define zoned/message-unit regions as
truly "local" in that they are not necessarily "free" for all customers).

Mark J. Cuccia
markjcuccia at yahoo dot com



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Here is some specific information I have on switch replacements
or consolidations or customer/switch re-loopings for southeast
Louisiana and coastal Mississippi, as far as BellSouth landline
service is concerned, in the post-Katrina/Rita era.

For that one individual (or two individuals?) on Yahoo-Coldwarcomms
who "take exception" to such posts, claiming that they are
"horribly irritated" by such posts as "non-Cold War related"
(even though the posts are indeed very telecom related and disaster
related), and YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE -- THIS DISCLAIMER is informing
you to STOP READING NOW and close out your window or whatever for
this post or email. If you continue to read this post even after
I have given you this disclaimer, then you have NOTHING to complain
about, since should have stopped reading NOW!!

The Lake Catherine Nortel-DMS-Remote LKCTLAMARS1 (504-662) in
eastern Orleans Parish was completely washed away as many of you
already know. This is the easternmost part of New Orleans, actually
within the city limits but is a unique ratecenter (LAKE CATHERINE)
and is semi-rural with fishing camps. Any customers who might still
be left there are to be re-wired to the "Michoud" wirecenter
(DMS-100) in the New Orleans ratecenter, which was the host switch
for the remote (NWORLAMUDS0).

In "outer" St.Bernard Parish, the Ysclowsky ratecenter/wirecenter
YSCLLAMARS1 (504-676) and Delacroix ratecenter/wirecenter DLCXLAMARS1
(504-684), both Nortel Remotes (previously hosted by the Michoud
DMS-100 host in eastern New Orleans, are having the wirecenters
(switches) decommissioned, although the tariffed ratecenters/exchange
areas are being retained for billing/rating purposes. The customers
(what's left of them) will be re-wired to a brand new 5E-Remote office
housed in the "Chalmette" wirecenter building. The building houses one
of the few remaining WECO 1AESS offices in the New Orleans metro area,
serving that part of the metro area (NWORLACMCG0, 504-ARabi-x), this
new Lucent 5E-Remote housed in that building will be NWORLACMRS1,
hosted "clear across town" by the Shrewsbury Lucent-5E-Host, in the
west Metairie area (in Jefferson Parish, east bank), NWORLASWDS0
(which also traditionally serves the 504-45x and 504-88x codes).
Shrewsbury 5E-Host (NWORLASWDS0) and this new 5E-Remote at Chalmette
(NWORLACMRS1) will "home" on the "Metairie" Nortel-DMS-Tandem for
fg.D LATA-access and intra-LATA/local tandem purposes (NWORLAMT01T).

This 5E-Remote at Chalmette (NWORLACMRS1) will also have customers
from the Pointe-a-la-Hache ratecenter now wired to it, as the
wirecenter/c.o.switch of the same name is being eliminated. The
Pt-a-la-Hache exchange area ratecenter for billing purposes is still
being retained though. 985-333 is the office code. PNALLAMARS1 is a
'DCL', which refers to a Siemens-Stromberg DCO Remote Network Line
Switch, and I think it was hosted by BURSLAMADS0 in Buras LA.
Pointe-a-la-Hache LA is on the east bank of lower Plaquemines Parish
and is also the "Parish Seat" (Courthouse/etc) for Plaquemines Parish,
although it is not a "city" as such. As far as I know, there are no
"incorporated cities/towns/villages" as such in both St.Bernard Parish
nor Plaquemines Parish.

On the west bank of lower Plaquemines Parish, it appears that
BellSouth is discontinuing two central offices/wirecenters (although
the 985-NXX codes and tariffed exchange areas/ratecenters are being
retained). The Buras LA Siemens-Stromberg DCO Host (DCO) of BURSLAMADS0
mentioned above w/r/t Pt-a-la-Hache, is being discontinued. The Buras
LA tariffed ratecenter (985-657) is not going away. (Buras LA was one
of the remaining #5XB offices (BURSLAMAMG0) in Louisiana as late as
1990 or so, it was 504-657 at that time, of course). The other
wirecenter/c.o.switch being discontinued down there is PTSLLAMARS1 in
the settlement/ratecenter of Port Sulphur LA (985-564), another
Stromberg DCO Remote Line Switch (DCL) which was hosted by Buras. Both
of these are having any remaining customers to be re-looped to another
brand new 5E-Remote office housed in the "Aurora" wirecenter building.
The building houses one of the few remaining WECO 1AESS offices in the
New Orleans metro area, serving that part of the area NWORLAARCG0,
504-39x; Aurora was the last #5XB office to be installed in the New
Orleans Metro area in 1969, cut to a 1AESS in the early 1980s), this
new Lucent 5E-Remote housed in that building will be NWORLAARRS1,
hosted by the Marrero Lucent-5E-Host (NWORLAMRDS0), not that far away
on the west bank of Jefferson Parish, which also traditionally serves
the 504-FIllmore-x c.o.codes. Marrero 5E-Host (NWORLAMRDS0) and this
new 5E-Remote at Aurora (NWORLAARRS1) will "home" on the "Main"
Nortel-DMS-100/200 Tandem for fg.D LATA-access and intra-LATA/local
tandem purposes (NWORLAMA0GT).

Also on the west bank of Plaquemines Parish are two other ratecenters
and wirecenters which are being affected to a certain degree...

The Venice LA ratecenter/wirecenter (985-534 VENCLAMARS1) is being
retained, it is another Stromberg DCO Remote Line Switch (DCL), but
since its former DCO host at Buras is being removed as a host switch,
it will have to be re-hosted, by the Jesuit Bend LA wirecenter (also
a ratecenter), JSBNLAMADS0 (504-656), another Siemens-Stromberg switch
this one being a "DCO Remote Network Switch". It is a remote, but
apparantly it can be a "standalone" remote and can even host some
lesser types of Stromberg switches such as the Remote Line Switch.
The Jesuit Bend Ratecenter/wirecenter is also on the west bank of
Plaquemines Parish -- it gets rather "rural" around there, but it is
still considered "upper" Plaquemines Parish (it retained 504 when 985
split off in 2001). Jesuit Bend 504-656 is now the last 504 ratecenter
wirecenter and NXX c.o.code as you go southeastward along Highway
La.23 on the way to the mouth of the Mississippi River. Venice LA is
*THE* last place along La.23, the road ENDS there, although there are
still about 40 miles along the Mississippi River or further tributaries
as you continue to the end at the Gulf. Of course, I don't know how
much of this remains as land since Katrina (and Rita). There *USED*
to be a non-dial ring-down "toll point" (actually several) further
south(east) than Venice LA (Pilottown was the last one; others were
Port Eads, Southwest Pass, South Pass, and Burrwood) -- these had
people living there even until just before Katrina, but there are no
roads leading down there -- you had to fly or take a boat. They were
settlements along the mouth of the river where riverboat pilots would
take over and guide ships in or out of the Mississippi River and the
Gulf of Mexico (hence the name Pilottown for one of these settlements).
Apparantly about ten years ago, BellSouth discontinued the last of the
non-dial ring-down "toll station" service, it was to Pilottown, and
consolidated all of them into the (dial) Venice LA ratecenter and
wirecenter. Of course, I don't know what exists down there since
Katrina as far as settlements.

That basically finishes up the southeastern Louisiana situation.

As for the Mississippi Gulf Coast area (the Biloxi/Gulfport LATA #484),
there seem to have only been two central office switches that are
being eliminated. I think both were completely "washed away" like
Lake Catherine LA was. The tariffed exchange areas/ratecenters are
being retained, as are the (default) NPA-NXX-t c.o.codes/thousands
blocks, but the customers (what's left of them) will be re-wired to
other central offices.

The Pearlington MS 5ESS-Remote central office switch (wirecenter) is
probably totally washed away. PLTNMSMARS1 serves (served) a
"crossborder" ratecenter of Pearlington MS (228-533) and a small
Louisiana side also called Pearlington LA (985-531). I don't know which
Mississippi Gulf Coast community 5E-Host switch has hosted this
PLTNMSMARS1 5E-Remote, but the customers of both the LA and MS sides
of Pearlington will now be re-looped from GLPTMSTSDS0, a 5ESS in
Gulfport MS (on 22nd Street, hence the "building" part of the CLLI
being 'TS', for Twenty-Second).

The Pass Christian Lucent-5ESS-2000-Remote (EXM) central office switch
(wirecenter) -- I don't know if this one "washed away" or not, but it
was obviously HEAVILY damaged. The Pass Christian ratecenter and its
(default) 228-452-t NPA-NXX and thousands blocks are being retained,
but since PSCHMSMARS9 is being deleted, the customers (what's left of
them) are being re-wired to Gulfport MS GLPTMSLYDS0 on Third Avenue.
This is a full 5ESS switch. The 'LY' in the bulding-part of the CLLI
refers to "Lyman", which is really a separate community several miles
north of I-10 and Gulfport MS, not too far from US Hwy.49. Even the
street of "Third Avenue" is a separate street, not a continuation of
Gulfport's "Third Avenue". I don't knoow which 5E originally hosted the
now-being-discontinued PSCHMSMARS9 Pass Christian MS 5E-2000-Remote
though.

There were at least about eight central offices in the immediate
New Orleans Metro area that were out-of-commission during the first
several weeks following Katrina. Some of these are still out, some
have been restored, and one of them is mentioned above as being taken
out of service completely with their customers being re-wired to
another (new) remote office:

NWORLABMDS0 504-82x 5ESS Broadmoor
(was one of the last two #5XBs to be cut directly to digital in 1987;
As a #5XB it started in 1962 or so, carved out of adjacent SXS
wirecenters, and was also the TWX serving office in New Orleans;
a XB-Tandem/CAMA used to also be in the Broadmoor building, and there
is also a MW tower outside the building, though "de-horned" since
early 2003); THE BROADMOOR 5ESS IS NOW BACK OPERATIONAL!

NWORLAMCCG0 504-HUnter-x 1AESS Mid City
(was one of the first two dial SXS offices in 1927, one of the few
remaining 1AESS offices in New Orleans); Mid City 1AESS is still not
up and running as of Wednesday 05 October 2005.

NWORLAFRDS0 504-WHitehall-x DMS-100 Franklin
(was the other of the first two dial SXS offices in 1927, cut to 1A
in two phases, 1976 and then WH3/WH4 cut to 1A in early 1980s, cut
to DMS-100 in August 1999); THE FRANKLIN DMS-100 IS NOW BACK
OPERATIONAL!

NWORLALKCG0 504-ATwood-x 1AESS Lake
(Lake building also houses a 5E-Remote, NWORLALKRS1, to provide the
ISDN for the University of New Orleans Lakefront Campus, that 5E-Rem
is hosted by the Main 5E, NWORLAMADS0; Lake-1A is one of the few
remaining 1AESS offices left in metro New Orleans);
Lake 1AESS is still not up and running as of Wednesday 05 October 2005.

NWORLASKDS0 504-CHestnut-x 5ESS Seabrook
(was THE VERY FIRST #5XB office in New Orleans (East) serving my
parents' old house and my apartment phone number, cut to a 1AESS in
1978, cut to a 5ESS at 12:04am CST early Saturday 11-Nov-2000);
THE SEABROOK 5ESS IS NOW BACK OPERATIONAL!

NWORLAMUDS0 504-25x DMS-100 Michoud
(This was the other of the last two #5XBs to be directly cut to digital
in late 1987; It began as a #5XB circa 1962, serving a new residential
subdivision further out in New Orleans East than the area served by
Seabrook, also served the new NASA plant; There was still a "horned"
MW tower outside this building even post-Katrina, the horns were not
the big "scoop" horns but looked more like horns on brass muscial
instrument horns, like French Horns or Trumpets); THE MICHOUD DMS-100
IS NOW BACK OPERATIONAL!

NWORLACMCG0 504-ARabi-x 1AESS Chalmette
(This was new in the mid-1950s as a SXS, originally was EDgewood-1,
changing to ARabi-x circa 1960; cut to a 1AESS in the early 1980s,
still one of the few remaining 1AESS offices in metro New Orleans);
THE CHALMETTE 1AESS IS NOW BACK OPERATIONAL!

and finally, the St.Bernard 5ESS STBRLAMADS0, 504-682, was the eighth
"full" Central Office in the immediate New Orleans Metro Area that was
"out of service". It appears from the above posted information from
BellSouth that these customers will be re-wired to the new 5E-Remote
in the Chalmette building. This central office was established in the
mid-1950s as a "full" SXS office (not a CDO) and was actually numbered
as '5-xxxx'. New Orleans ratecenter customers dialed '21+' and then
the five-digit number beginning with '5'. In the early 1960s, it was
"normalized" as 504-682-xxxx for full customer DDD-indialing. It was
cut to a #2BESS office in the late 1970s, and circa 1990 was cut to
a 5ESS.

BellSouth has provided a generic "Due to extensive storm damage, the
number you have dialed may not be available for an extended period"
recording (male voice), for attempts to numbers in affected central
offices. This recording is probably coming from one or another of the
BellSouth LATA tandems. Of course, when dialing in from outside (or
toll from within the LATA) via "other LD carriers", your LD carrier
might be playing its own announcements regarding hurricanes or damage
or simply "All Circuis are Busy".

Some of the above information comes from BellSouth's
"Network Notifications" and "Carrier Notifications" webpages:

http://interconnection.bellsouth.com/notifications/network/network_lett_05.html
http://interconnection.bellsouth.com/notifications/carrier/carrier_lett_05.html
http://interconnection.bellsouth.com/notifications/
http://interconnection.bellsouth.com/

... as well as other telco network/routing/numbering/etc. resources.

And any ColdWarComms "naysayers" who have read this far down, after
having read my introductory "disclaimer", and by now should KNOW my
email address and some of the topics I have posted about, if you still
don't like my post, you have NOTHING to complain about, because you
were already forewarned!!

Mark J. Cuccia
markjcuccia at yahoo dot com
Temporarily still in New Iberia LA (Lafayette LA LATA, NPA 337)



__________________________________
Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005
http://mail.yahoo.com

Mark et al.:



             I believe there are two reasons NANPA's data gets a bit far
afield:

                         1) They have no control over dialling procedures

                         2) Many area codes were much bigger until fairly
recently and so did have intra-area long distance in the recent past

Since NANPA doesn't control the procedures, I'm not even sure why they post
the information. If you do get them to correct it now, I expect that it will
gradually get out of date again, as they've got lots of other things on
their minds.



             Anyway, here are the areas which I think have only local calling
intra-area:



                         American Samoa: 684

                         Arizona: 480, 602, and 623

                         California: 213

                         District of Columbia: 202

                         Georgia: 404+470+678 and 770+470+678

                         Guam: 671

                         Illinois: 312 and 773

                         Michigan: 313

                         Minnesota: 612

                         New York: 212+646+917 and 718+347+917

                         Ohio: 216

                         US Virgin Islands: 340

                         Virginia: 703+571

                         Wisconsin: 414



                         British Columbia: 778 (but not 604)

                         Ontario: 416+647



                         Anguilla: 264

                         Antigua & Barbuda: 268

                         Barbados: 246

                         Bermuda: 441

                         British Virgin Islands: 284

                         Cayman Islands: 345

                         Dominica: 767

                         Grenada: 473

                         Montserrat: 664

                         St Kitts & Nevis: 869

                         St Lucia: 758

                         St Vincent & the Grenadines: 784

                         Turks & Caicos Islands: 649



The sources of this are this site and the old NANPA PLs for the Caribbean
and Atlantic splits.



             There are plans afoot in Oregon to make the entire State a local
calling area (which would affect 503, 503+971, and 541). The Puerto Rico
(787+939) plan seems to be on hold (
http://www.telefonicapr.com/prtc/portal/channel2/0,1045,2153_7245439,00.html
), and I believe it involved a limited number of minutes, which doesn't seem
'local' to me.



--Hugh

   _____



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I live near the border between PA and NJ, where a few years ago it
was decided that interstate local calls had to be dialed as 1+10D.

Are there still areas (DC comes to me offhand) that don't require
the 1 for between-state locals?



--
BOB

Were it not for the apparent long distance between Ile-Perrot and Roxboro,
514 in Quebec would be fully intra-area local.

But 438-610 in Montreal is the only NXX I see on the LCG - so 438 should
count as fully intra-area local!

Washington D.C. has 7 digit local ( 202) and 10 digit local into
suburban MD ( 301 & 240) and VA ( 703 & ??? ) overlays. Out of the local
calling area it is all 1+ of course. Before the late 80's early 90's,
there was NO 1+ dialing in the D.C. area. From the days when DDD was
first working ( mid 50's ) there was no 1+. Quite common in Panel/@1
crossbar cities.
Where I now live, thanks to VeriZon ( mis ) programming, we can call
from 304-274- to  301 exchanges that are considered local in nearby
Hagerstown and Williamsport MD. and MUST use 7 digits, the overlay,
(240) however, requires 1+240 dialing. Th only error message left in the
local switch(es) is your call can't be completed as dialed . The local
directory is no help either

John Novack

Bob in Jersey wrote:

>I live near the border between PA and NJ, where a few years ago it
>was decided that interstate local calls had to be dialed as 1+10D.
>
>Are there still areas (DC comes to me offhand) that don't require
>the 1 for between-state locals?
>
>
>
>
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Quite a few states do allow such calls, some even on a seven-digit basis.



--Hugh

   _____

From: local-calling-guide@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:local-calling-guide@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Bob in Jersey
Sent: Wednesday, 05 October, 2005 17:26
To: local-calling-guide@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [local-calling-guide] Interstate local calls without the 1?




I live near the border between PA and NJ, where a few years ago it
was decided that interstate local calls had to be dialed as 1+10D.

Are there still areas (DC comes to me offhand) that don't require
the 1 for between-state locals?



--
BOB




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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

On Wed, October 5, 2005 8:26 pm, Bob in Jersey wrote:

> I live near the border between PA and NJ, where a few years ago it
> was decided that interstate local calls had to be dialed as 1+10D.
>
> Are there still areas (DC comes to me offhand) that don't require
> the 1 for between-state locals?

*Not* dialing 1+ is actually the norm -- very few places require 1+ on
interstate local calls.  Virtually none of the largest metros where there
is interstate local calling (including the Washington DC area, metro
Atlanta, Chattanooga, Memphis, Louisville, etc.) require it...

-SC
--
Stanley Cline // Telco Boi // sc1 at roamer1 dot org // www.roamer1.org

"it seems like all you ever buy is Abercrombie and cell phones" --a friend

Hugh M. Hamilton wrote:
>
>             Anyway, here are the areas which I think have only local
> calling
> intra-area:
>
>
>                         Minnesota: 612
As far as I can tell, 952 is also all local calling. It is split over 10
ratecenters (well, it's mostly the TWINCITIESMN ratecenter), but all ten
appear to have local calling to each other. I didn't check every
permutation, so I could be wrong. I'd check more, but the entire  NPA
763 is very close, but not quite. 651 is close too, but not as close as
763, as 651 has some far-flung communities that are as much their own
towns as suburbs (like Red Wing).

It's interesting to note too, that in the "sweet spot" of the St Croix
Beach, MN ratecenter, there are exchanges in 7 NPAs that are local
calls: 651 (nearly all, except the Red Wing area), 612 (all), 952 (all),
763 (nearly all), 320 (a few), 507 (a few), 715 (a few). Most other
exchanges in the Twin Cities have local calling to six, but St Croix
Beach also has local calling to adjacent Hudson in 715 (which seems to
me should be a local call from everywhere in the Twin Cities, though I
imagine SBC doesn't agree... and probably neither do the cellular
companies who provide service to all those "stranded" in 715 so they can
call free into the Twin Cities).

Andy

On Oct 5, 2005, at 17:59, Andy Filer wrote:

> As far as I can tell, 952 is also all local calling. It is split
> over 10
> ratecenters (well, it's mostly the TWINCITIESMN ratecenter), but
> all ten
> appear to have local calling to each other. I didn't check every
> permutation, so I could be wrong. I'd check more, but the entire  NPA
> 763 is very close, but not quite. 651 is close too, but not as
> close as
> 763, as 651 has some far-flung communities that are as much their own
> towns as suburbs (like Red Wing).
>
> It's interesting to note too, that in the "sweet spot" of the St Croix
> Beach, MN ratecenter, there are exchanges in 7 NPAs that are local
> calls: 651 (nearly all, except the Red Wing area), 612 (all), 952
> (all),
> 763 (nearly all), 320 (a few), 507 (a few), 715 (a few). Most other
> exchanges in the Twin Cities have local calling to six, but St Croix
> Beach also has local calling to adjacent Hudson in 715 (which seems to
> me should be a local call from everywhere in the Twin Cities, though I
> imagine SBC doesn't agree... and probably neither do the cellular
> companies who provide service to all those "stranded" in 715 so
> they can
> call free into the Twin Cities).

AFAIK 206 is all local.  206 used to be all of western Washington
state, but was split in 1995 with one of the first "new style" area
codes 360 which included everything outside of metro Seattle.  Then
in 1997 two more area codes were added a north and east and south and
east area code was added.  Presently 206 is just Seattle, Vashon,
Richmond Beach and one lone CO prefix in Renton (the rest of Renton
is in 253.)  All of 206 is local to each other..

eb281 wrote:

> Were it not for the apparent long distance between Ile-Perrot and
> Roxboro, 514 in Quebec would be fully intra-area local.

> But 438-610 in Montreal is the only NXX I see on the LCG - so 438
> should count as fully intra-area local!

But 438-610 is only a "test" c.o.code for Bell Canada. It isn't even
"active" yet AFAIK. It isn't yet shown in Telcordia-TRA documentation.
438 will overlay 514 in November of 2006, a year from now. I can't
find the code/CLLI assignment at the CNAC's website yet neither.
I wonder if the 438-610 CLLI assignment of MTRLPQ02CG5 comes from
some CNAC NPA Relif Planning documentation that I haven't gotten
around to checking yet? I do see this 438-610 CLLI assignment at
Ray Chow's site though!

Allstream (formerly AT&T Canada Unitel) might have 438-810 for test
purposes and maybe Rogers (formerly Call-Net Sprint-Canada) might
have 438-510 for test purposes as well.

But the 438 NPA is supposed to overlay ALL six ratecenters that 514
currently has. And if there is indeed toll between Ile-Perrot and
Roxboro (with the exception of any "special premium plans" offered
by Bell Canada, then 438 "could" have c.o.codes in both ratecenters,
and thus 438 wouldn't really be 100% free/local.

mjc

Stanley Cline wrote:

>
>*Not* dialing 1+ is actually the norm -- very few places require 1+ on
>interstate local calls.  Virtually none of the largest metros where there
>is interstate local calling (including the Washington DC area, metro
>Atlanta, Chattanooga, Memphis, Louisville, etc.) require it...
>
>-SC
>
>
Unfortunately, now that the local/state politicians have taken control,
the "norm" has turned to madness.
Northern IL is one place that requires 11 digit dialing, regardless, and
I feel sure there are others
Other parts of Il have 8 digit local  dialing.

I am surprised that the average person can complete a call any more.

John Novack