🚀 go-pugleaf

	The reason it costs more is that the new switching system
that uses the tone dialing costs more to install. The old system 
paid for itself decades ago, but replacing the old switches and
wiring, especially with the extra services people expect and demand
now, is a new capital expense. It is being spread out over the next
generation of phone service, but it still costs an arm and a leg to
install that much stuff.

	An additional major expense is keeping it retro-fitted. The
new system has to work perfectly with old equipment still in place.
This is why many businesses find it cheaper to rip out their entire
old phone system and replace their phone system from the ground up,
paying Ma Bell only for their outside lines. That the entire system
didn't break down years ago, and that the standards have changed so
little that my fifty-year old antique phone only needed a new cord
to work properly, is a credit to Ma Bell's engineers and foresight
when they installed it. It is also why they have been so reluctant
to alter their standards: they are afraid of having to upgrade 
everything every two years, instead of the stability they have
enjoyed in the past. The switchovers to optic cables and microwave
uplinks could have happened years ago. Ma Bell waited until the 
standards were settled in that arena as strongly as they were in
the electrical one before installing anything, though.

	For anyone in the Boston area who is interested in these
technologies, I would audit the 6.311 course at MIT, which goes
into depth on the telephone system.

					raoul