Plugging in to Ma Bell:
A Real Net Experience
Copyright © 1996 Thomas More. All rights reserved.
A friend who works for Pacific Bell told me last year that they would be offering Internet dial-up
service. I was skeptical. The Internet is sort of unstructured for a company which has always been
extremely structured. I wondered how Ma Bell would interact with the free-wheeling spirit, not to
mention the unlimited content of the Net. I mean, these are the people who fired Scott Adams, the
creator of Dilbert, for having the audacity to make fun of life in the cubicles.
In spite of that foreboding, I called 1-800-708-INET and volunteered to test their service. I mean,
somebody has to do it; besides, they offered the first month free. After about three weeks, I called again
to see where the promised sign-up diskettes were. They explained that they had chosen a new vendor
to duplicate and mail the disks. It must be really frustrating for the phone company to deal with the
typical software industry types. Can't you just visualize Ma Bell, in her tailored pantsuit, meeting with
Mike Doonesbury about sending out their set-up disks?
Finally, the disks arrived. The readme file explained that any other copies of Netscape Navigator and
any dial-up software would be disabled, so I prepared a system disk and copied my start-up and
Windows .ini files, so I could get back to square one, if necessary. This is a safety net that I recommend
before you install any new software. By starting your system from the diskette, any changes that the
installation program writes to your start-up files will be written to the diskette, and you can compare
them to your originals. In the worst case, you can just shut down your computer, copy your original .ini
files from the floppy diskette, and restart the system from your hard disk. This will ignore any changes
that were made to the start-up files on the floppy diskette.
The installation went smoothly enough, and the "Registration Wizard" promised to dial up Ma Bell and
set up my account. First, though, I had to select a payment plan. What?? The first month was
supposed to be free, and the rates for the service had not been announced, but I was being asked to
choose between $5.95 per month, with five free hours (additional hours @ $2.95), or $9.95 per month,
with ten free hours (additional hours @ $2.10). I didn't notice the fine print stating that in either case the
maximum cost would be $19.95 per month, so I backed out of the installation and fired off an email to
Ma Bell, in which I explained that as a 50-60 hours per month serious Net user, I wasn't impressed with
the offer of five or ten free hours. I also suggested that they hadn't done their market research very well.
I was surprised when I received a prompt email reply from a very nice customer-relations person—not
a form letter, but real human-like. She explained that the "Choice of Plans" screen was designed over
two years prior, which is quite a while in Web time. With that encouragement, and the $19.95 cap, I ran
the registration again, all the way through this time.
You don't get much software from Ma Bell. Just Netscape Navigator and her own dial-up program.
Oh, yeah, there's a Navigator's Handbook, but it complains that it can't find TCPMAN.EXE, and shuts
right down. Fortunately, I happened to have a copy of TCPMAN.EXE from my old Internet service
provider (ISP), and once I opened Winsock, the handbook worked fine. You don't have to dial
anything; you just have to have Winsock running in the background. However, you mustn't leave
Winsock open when you actually dial up Ma Bell's Network, though. She gets real upset if you do.
Apparently there is no Internet Relay Chat (IRC) support, which is not surprising, since people are using
this feature of the Internet to avoid telephone toll charges. Don't expect a free copy of Cool Talk, or
Cu-C-Me, either. However, if you have the software, you can access some of the IRC servers from
Ma Bell's server.
There is a Pac Bell news server, but it seems to offer a rather limited number of newsgroups. Like IRC,
you may be able to access more groups if you have a program such as Forte's "Free Agent."
Maybe Ma Bell isn't as stuffy as she used to be. You know, at one time, it was actually against the law
to connect to your phone line any device except that which the phone company provided. More
recently, when push came to shove, Ma Bell decided that you could purchase your own phone, or fax,
or modem, or whatever else can read a dial tone.
So you might want to consider Pac Bell as your ISP—if you're in California, that is. Ma B. decided that
California was the best place to try out their new service. There are more households with computers
and modems in California than anywhere else in the world, of course. Ma Bell may not be on the cutting
edge of Internet technology, but she promises to be reliable, if not exciting. The price is right, at $19.95
per month max, and even less if you go on vacation and don't dial up more than the five or ten free
hours. Again, I don't see the attraction of a few free hours; I mean, anyone who can afford a computer,
modem and phone line isn't going to be impressed with five or ten free hours, but I suppose Ma Bell
would like the service to appeal to first-time users who don't realize that they may spend 40 or more
hours per month, just looking at all there is to look at. This was the problem with AOL, CompuServe
and Prodigy, which charge by the hour for Internet access. You could run up a two- or three-hundred-
dollar bill in a month, easily.
At $19.95 per month max, who needs free hours? At that rate, Ma Bell could be a real competitor for
EarthLink or Netcom. Who knows? Maybe Ma Bell will be good for the Net. Do you suppose there's
a Web directory assistance or Yellow Pages in the future from the phone company?
Unplugging From Ma Bell
Well, a month has gone by, and I tested my Pac Bell connection thoroughly. I also tested Ma Bell's
customer service, which has its own menu bar button to click on. Surprise! My questions were always
answered, promptly and politely, and with unusual technical accuracy—something not often
encountered in the software world. When I complained that not much software was included, such as
IRC or newsgroup browsers, I was told rather candidly that one could download all the software one
might want from the Internet, using just the Netscape Navigator.
With that advice in mind, I went right to Netscape's headquarters and downloaded the latest beta test
version of Navigator 3.0. No problem; it came up with all of Ma Bell's configuration, which was applied
automatically to the new version of Navigator.
I'd have to give Ma Bell an A+ in customer service. I suppose those friendly, competent folks will
probably soon be replaced by an automaton like we get on directory assistance calls nowadays. "Say
your problem in plain English, or wait for the next available operator."
When I called 1-800-PACBELL to disconnect, I was advised that I should send an email to Customer
Support. I'm impressed; apparently the techies are in charge! When I did, I received a cordial reply,
apologizing for any delay in my request. No questions about why I was disconnecting (I expected an
exit interview). There are so many people signing up with every ISP these days, I don't suppose they
care much about the few who disconnect.
In conclusion, I would recommend Pac Bell for first-time Internet users. The software is adequate, if not
extensive, and you can download anything you discover a need for, so it's a good place to plug into.
During the week, Thomas More writes rather technical stuff about business software,
but on weekends he likes to loosen up a bit and write about WWW stuff. You can reach Thomas
More by email at Tmore@PacBell.net, until they read this
article. Fan mail, of course, should be directed to wiz@wwwiz.com.