Telephone technoalog From Page 3 be converted January 1, 1987. “B.C. Tel has made a commitment of $300 million per year to upgrade tele- phone switching systems in the province," he says, With 47 digital systems in- stalled in B.C., Donaldson says, 70 per cent of B.C. Tel customers are being served by this new technology. Leyden points out that, as or May, West Vancouver is enjoying the benefits of be- ing plugged into a com- puterized telephone swit- ching system: “Why wasn’t North Vancouver converted at the same time, and why won't it be converted until 198727" Scheduling, says Donaldson, is the key, ‘‘dif- ferent priorities dictate dif- ferent installation dates, It's not a matter of North Van- you can’t convert every ex- tension on the same day.”’ A spokesman for the CRTC, the federal body that oversees the operations of telephone companies such as B.C. Tel and Bell Canada Lid., says scheduling deci- sions are based cn factors such as rapid population growth of a given area and the capacity of older swit- ching systems, When switching expansion is needed, the older systems are replaced with new systems and new technology. Classified as a Group 11 rate zone, North Vancouver straddles the halfway point on B.C. Tel’s 19-group rate schedule. Group 11 subscribers pay an $11.55 monthly system access fee compared to $5.65 for Group 1 and $17.35 for Group 19 subscirbers. Rates are calculated on an number count, while in- creases in rates are based on the principle that the more numbers a subscriber can reach without paying long distance charges the more valuable that system is to the subscriber. The cost of ren- ting a residential touch-1one phone is $2.95 per month, for a regular dial phone, $1.95. Leyden insists North Van- couverites pay too much for the service they get, ‘‘l get wrong numbers all the time and these are numbers that are not just a little bit wrong but totally different from what I dialled. I've regularly had to dial downtown numbers six times before getting through. The whole thing is just ridiculous. | re- ally don’t like paying 1985 rates for a 1930 phone system."’ A reliable source within y dustry, who wished to re- main anonymous, agreed with Leyden’s assessment that Vancouver-area phone service is inferior to com- parable systems in metropol- itan Toronto and Montreal, but adds that Toronto has one of the best telephone systems in the world. The major problem with North Vancouver’s system, he explained, is the general lack of technological con- tinuity that plagues a big part of the B.C, telephone service: too many systems manufactured by too many companies in too many cen- tral switching offices. He added that rapid growth of numbers of tele- 9 - Sunday, August 4, 1985 - North Shore News nisses Vv phones in Vancouver and B.C. is overwhelming the step-by-step systems. Wrong numbers occur through the faster dialling capabilities of touch-tone phones which can confuse the necessary tone converters at electro-mechanical swit- ching stations, the industry source said. area's total telephone the telecommunications in- couver being Ieft out, but AM/FM. RECEIVERS SHERWOOD $2680: 120 watts 339.00 PIONEER 45 watts per channel 99.95 SANSUI oigitat, presets 299.95 VECTOR RESEARCH 14" REMOTE PORTAGLE TV's FROM 299.00 PAAGNAYVOX mia band converter ; . 25 watts/channet. .. 229.95 random access remote . 397: 99 FREE take down & ce-hang * FREE pick up VECTOR RESEARCH Quality brand with 12 preset be " Our decorator fold d ; Is best f top-ot-the-line BY 4 channels, remote. . 24999 a . - Fr decorator fold drape service is best for your YAMAHA 200 watt, remote contro! 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