working my way up the Cingular ladder for an answer. So far, they're providing nothing more substantive than the clause in the standard service agreement that says they have the right to classes of numbers, e.g. 900 & 976.

The third level mgr is going to call me back tomorrow after trying to find out more information. I told him if he calls back and can't provide more info, it would be wise to have the number of someone else for me to contact.

FYI, I'm now convinced this is what it appears to be. The 641 area code covers a large portion of Iowa and I don't believe they've blocked it entirely. The 297 exchange, however, seems to be largely reserved for teleconferencing -- I think that is what they've blocked.

Finally, I'm also pretty sure I know how AT&T is going to try and get away with this. The service agreement states:

"We may block access to certain categories of numbers (e.g. 976, 900 and certain international destinations) or certain web sites if, in our sole discretion, we are experiencing excessive billing, collection, fraud problems or other misuse of our network."

However, all 3 people to whom I spoke quoted from the same missive from on high, that explicitly cited the examples in the service agreement -- "e.g. 976, 900" -- but additionally specified chat services, a category NOT mentioned in the agreement above.

AT&T is going to try and claim free teleconferencing qualifies as "chat rooms," because the services are offered via a web-based interface.

by Todd Johnston on Mon Mar 12, 2007 at 06:42:49 PM EST
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