Pay phones can't call cell phones?

[IcSilk]

I wish I had a good answer to that. I'v noticed myself that it definately is not consist. Im American and sometimes I could get a call on my cell, When I lived in the Uk I could never get one (I was on a pay as you go contract then) and now I live in S. Korea and I can always get a call to my cell phone. Maybe - to be less technical- it depends on whether to cell phone and pay phone are both on compatible networks or from competing ones.
In S. Korea a call can be made from or to a cell anywhere in the country regardless of networks for the same charges/fees. Where as in the states theres is all the network competition and regional roaming charges.

A very basic and non-technical answer, I know - but plausible.

[cha_chi]

To get into specifics, I was trying to call an Ericson mobile phone with AT&T service, from a non-At&T based pay phone. Actually, I tried several of them up and down the street I was on. I'm thinking it's some what along ICsilk's answer of the competition between carriers. It just didn't make sense because I used a fairly new pay phone. I think it could be AT&T's service? Any ideas on that? The drug prevention idea seems a bit far fetched now that cell phones are in main stream use. Another friend of mine had mentioned that he could call his friends cell phone with no problem while I was writing the first post. Strange indeed. Can anyone solve this mystery? lol

[Vorlin]

It could be based on carrier, that's for sure, because they buy out blocks of numbers which are easily identifiable as either landline or cell phone. If it IS the carrier, then that's definitely discrimination of some sort because that makes you go to a next level. At that point, whoever left me neg points is right with the 'redlining' comment. However, we don't know if it's the phone company (which could've had some kind of deal with the police dept., who knows) or if it's the carrier.

In fact, lemme go down to a pay phone nearby and see if I can call my Nokia 5160 w/ AT&T One-Rate plan. I know in Tampa I can, but I'm in St. Petersburg and right down the street from a detox center, etc etc...the neighborhood is not very good, hehe...

Answer to the above is yes, I can call my cell phone (which is one area code away from the one I'm in) from the pay phone at work. It could be area code restrictions, it could be blocks of numbers, etc etc. The only way it would not be discrimination (in my opinion) is if a certain number of phone numbers in a cell-phone group were doing provable drug trafficking and the police profiled them and got with the phone company. That's all I can think of...

[shkuey]

You can always call the operator on a pay phone and tell them to put you through to a cell phone.

If it stops people from selling drugs you can take the extra minute to ask the operator to put you through, what's the big deal?

[IcSilk]

Im not so sure how this is actually supposed to stop people from buying and selling drugs.
people who want to buy or sell drugs will do so regardless.
Though its true that the government compiles some useless safeguards against such things to justify their failings to the public.

I'm still prone to stick with the network competition theory.