Our school system got it in 1967. Is that "mid" or is that "late"
1960s?In any event, the point is that the demand data lines were growing and the Bell System was responding to that demand.
Of course let's remember Teletype (a Bell unit) developed a faster machine (the 33 and 35) that used the new ASCII code.
Many people have stated that long distance rates were higher to cross-subsidize residential service. But where is that documented as to _original_ reliable source?
Further, what was the dollars/percentage impact of that cross-subsidy? That is, how much more would residential service have cost and how much less would long distance? Does anyone have an authoritive source?
I must note that accurate cost allocation between a "toll call" and a "local call" would be extremely difficult in the old Bell System because the infrastructure was so tightly integrated. More distant calls would get transferred to Long Lines for microwave or carrier transmission, but even Long Lines used local Bell buildings. Telephone operators handled local problems and toll connections. And of course there was the charge to handle to the last mile to the destination.
More importantly, toll calls were charged by distance, not real cost. As Pat noticed, it was dangerous work to maintain transmission units in the Rocky Mountains and people were killed doing it. I dare say toll calls that passed over such locations didn't have to pay anywhere near what it cost to make that possible. Conversely, toll calls in highly developed corridors could use high volume microwave or coax circuits that were quite cheap on a per-call basis.
I think this mileage rate was where the real "cream skimming" occured. As noted, MCI did not offer operator or directory assistance or even enough circuits to guarantee good quality. They had the comfort of AT&T there as a backup. Under those conditions, it was very easy for MCI to unfairly undercut AT&T on prices and make AT&T "look bad".
I believe Picturephone was offered in public service as a trial in some location, as typical Bell System practice of trying out something new in a single location to see how it works. It was also offered to some govt agencies as a tryout. A revised system had magnifiers to allow transmittal of documents on a table rather than just people. Obviously it failed to attract much attention.
I believe the Bell System then offered picture-conferencing service, where a conference room was set up with cameras, microphones, and monitors. A whole group of people could meet this way. I believe this was moderately successful and still offered today by private vendors.
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: In Chicago, PicturePhone service was made available to businesses for a couple years, and at the Illinois Bell Headquarters building downtown, they had a 'shopping mall' sort of arrangement for the general public to use. You could go in these little booths and use a picture phone with a speed dialer which had all the stores around town who subscribed to picture phone service in its repretoire. You could go into the little stall entitled 'flowers' and press the button on the phone for the various florists in town with picture phone. In a couple seconds, the screen would light up and the clerk in the store would be seen with all the flowers for sale. You could place your order via PicturePhone after you had seen the various arrangement they had. You would then be asked by the merchant to punch in your credit card number and hold the card clearly in front of the camera (on your end) so the clerk could see it as she rang up the sale. Or, go to the PicturePhone set up for the 'housewares department' or the 'clothing department' and do the same thing. But it only lasted a few months (the 'shopping mall' at the phone company offices) and then was closed. PAT]