[] 05/17/2002, a response to a post regarding the current use and utility of roam ports: "Michael Thaler" wrote in message news:3CE43192.10E60D9@mindspring.com... > When there were only 2 carriers in each region (A & B), there were > roaming guides that gave out all kinds of info on cell systems like ID, > and romaing access numbers. One of these guides closed up several years > ago, another did put out an edition in 1999. You can still order it at: > 360-754-9800. > ... > As someone else mentioned, they have virtually no use anymore. A ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ They have PLENTY of use! It just depends on the rateplan you are on. An example: A BAMS/Verizon/CT-A/00119 (Wallingford) customer drives up I-91 and then W on MA-9 to Pittsfield, also part of the 00119 market but many older plans (plain old Digital Choice and Analog) BAMS will assess a LD charge (of between 10 and 30 cents per minute!) to deliver the call to the Pittsfield market. So if you lived in Pittsfield, MA, and a friend of yours with a CT/A number came up to Pittsfield, to call him/her you'd pay LD to call down to CT, and then your friend who owns the cellphone would pay between 10 to 30 cents per minute for the priviledge of BAMS delivering the call (which in actuality costs them little to nothing; it's just extra revenue for them). Instead, if you called (413) 488-1000 (note it is 1000, not 7626, which is somewhat unusual) and entered your friend's CT/A cellphone number, you could call him/her for free and he/she would be spared the onerous 10 to 30 cpm which BAMS would charge to deliver the call to Pitt. The same is true if you have a NY/00022-based Digital Choice account and go to Atlantic City. Instead of paying the 10 cpm for BAMS to deliver the call to South Jersey, have local callers dial (609) 226-7626 and enter the NY mobile and save a lot on LD. Now most newer plans bundle LD with the airtime charge, so in such cases the utility of roam ports is limited (Sprint was one of the first to start this and other carriers copied them, so there's something to thank Sprint for [it sure as hell isn't for good coverage or customer service! :) ] ). But if you have an older plan where you do pay toll charges to have calls delivered, roam ports can certainly knock down the cost of roaming. Regards, -Doug d1@interpage.net Interpage Network Services Inc. http://www.interpage.net