> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: How would you then deal with 'phone
>> patches', the little devices which allow VHF/UHF radios to link into
>> the public phone network? Should they also be subject to the rules
>> of the public switched telephone network? PAT]
> Yes. Patched calls are subject to BOTH the rules of the public
> telephone network AND the rules of whatever radio channel is in use,
> because the call is handled by both services.
> --scott
> "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I guess what I meant to say was the
> person using the radio who issues certain tones to the base station
> where the 'phone patch' is located, who then makes outgoing phone
> calls over a (common, owned by the ham radio operator's club for
> example) phone line. Is that commonly-owned phone line, and the
> 'patch' device in the middle, and most important, the portable
> transciever (a two meter rig comes to mind) all subject to both
> radio and telco rules, for example, the 911 surcharge, and other
> fees on account of his transciever rig _can possibly_ be used on
> the phone network? What about the local number portability fee,
> etc? After all, he does have a _phone number_ (albiet shared in
> common with other club members) doesn't he? PAT]
NO, "he" does _not_ have a phone number. You cannot place a phone call _to_ that ham by calling that number, for example.
The land-line is 'owned', and paid for, by "whomever it is" that owns/ operates the repeater with the phone-patch. Think of the transceivers with the appropriate accessories to access the phone-patch as simply multiple "extensions" on that single-number phone line. Land-line "rules" say that there is a 911 surcharge _per_line_, paid by the line owner -- it is a fixed amount, _regardless_ of how many 'extensions' there are on that line. Same thing for the LNP fees.
"Land-line" fees are _not_ applicable to the "radio" portion of such a call/service. Neither are land-line equipment requirements. And, similarly, "radio" fees and equipment requirements do not apply to the 'land-line' portion of such a call/service.
Example: anything that is connected to the PSTN is required to have a FCC registered (and -tested- rules-compliant) "network interface" -- what the phone companies sold/rented, once upon a time, as a "DAA". A radio that is able to use a phone-patch to originate a call is *not* required to have any such device. (Although the phone-patch, itself, _is_.)
On the other hand, a call that traverses _both_ services, is restricted to the "least common denominator" of the legal restrictions on _each_ service. If a thing is proscribed on *either* kind of operation, it cannot be legally done on a call that employs both kinds of operations. e.g., on the aforementioned ham phone-patch it is
*illegal* (_criminally_ so!) for a ham radio operator to call the neighborhood pizza joint to place an order.
Now, PSAP database locater requirements compliance raises _interesting_ _questions_ as regards a "phone-patch" line. I'm not knowledgeable enough on location-reporting requirements to even _guess_ at how they apply in that kind of a situation. What do the rules say for a phone line on a farm, where a _single_ POTS line is connected to instruments in the house and the barn? No PBX or anything, just the wires going out to the barn.