On Wed, 9 Nov 2005 19:24:39 UTC, snipped-for-privacy@khavrinen.csail.mit.edu (Garrett Wollman) wrote,
That would probably be Spurr St., behind the Gulf. City on-line tax records show the entire triangular mini-block to belong to Cumberland Farms (which runs Gulf stations), while Harvard owns the other side of the street. No land nearby appear to belong to Verizon (under any of its names). It is possible, though, that they have a hut there, something that is not classified as a wire center, on rented land. (The LERG shows no switches in Allston.) They might, for instance, have a Digital Loop Carrier. But the nearby Soldiers Field Park apartment complex, while in North Allston, has Harvard extensions (617-498).
Nearby buildings on Western also have Cambridge numbers. Perhaps it's a Cambridge DLC, though being so close to the Cambridge-Ware St. CO, I'd be a little surprised they'd use one. Also it would be right on the rate center boundary, a strange place for a DLC. In any case, all of Verizon's Brighton prefix codes are homed on the Brighton (Wirt St.) switch.
Funny; when I moved my car registration to Massachusetts in 1978, I gave my "Brookline 02146" postal address for my Brighton apartment, and got the Brookline rate. It was all on ZIP code; different Boston ZIPs got different rates, almost always higher than anyplace else in the state. I wonder if they changed that rule. Thanks for pointing out BEAcon; I knew I was forgetting at least one.
Yes, the MIT 5E was installed as a PBX, when there were not a lot of alternatives for that range (basically just the DMS-100, which as a PBX was called an SL-100 at the time). It must be about 20 years old. The 5E is still technically a current product, though MIT's may be an obsolete variant. Still, newer stuff is a LOT cheaper to buy AND operate -- smaller, less power consumption, easier, lower software fees. What can touch the 5E's end user friendliness is an interesting question, though. For all of its benefits, though, the 5E can't touch the old Dorm Line Strowgers for the hands-on experience. ;-) Fred Goldstein k1io fgoldstein "at" ionary.com ionary Consulting