The network integrated and broadened
John Ronayne · 2023
In continuing to examine the problems inherent in the introduction of the ISDN this chapter was devoted to the more administrative, less technical problems. Chief among these are the problems of providing the user with a consolidated bill for the diverse variety of networks and services that may be involved in a single ISDN “call”. There are two important differences between the tasks of international charge apportionment and of local network charge compilation. International gateway exchanges handle large quantities of concentrated, expensive traffic and can afford to spend significant sums on the complex task of collecting the requisite per-call information. Secondly, the relationship is between co-operating national administrations, who will readily agree to use each other&s;s data. In about 1961 the Kingston-upon-Hull Corporation first offered to its subscribers a “dial-a-disc” service. Naturally there seemed to be no need to bar access to dial-a-disc from incoming calls from the national network.