There’s no difference between those lines at the local level. The only long distance lines would be the oceanic ones.
E: does nobody know how old lines worked? I can’t believe the number of people trying to force some twist to make their version work. The phone repair guy was right there on the residential street. If local lines were down, no in/out calls would work, yet Kevin ordered pizza and called the cops locally. It’s a huge leap to assume that this area would have had a side junction to separate international calls to a different system. Extremely unlikely, and that would probably be a feature reserved for businesses that needed to make such calls regularly. Old lines just weren’t run for international like that on analog runs for regular homes. His family were able to call friends and neighbors from overseas to see if they were home. So those lines weren’t down even if for some bizarre reason they were separate.
It’s just a plot hole. NBD. Enjoy the movie.
E2: digging around on the internet people have pointed out the plot hole. The only scenario where it would work is full of “ifs” that allow international calls in through a separate system, but nonetheless, it would basically only have to affect that one house getting perfectly hit to knock out international but not local by the tree branch yet nearby neighbors get calls on their answering machines from overseas.
I’m not pursuing this further, lol. It’s just entertainment. I’m not going to ruin the fun with over-analysis and bickering over “but if…”
I’m not sure that was true in 1990 in the United States. In the old analog networks, the central offices could route calls locally among phone numbers that shared the same central office, which was basically any number that had the same first 3 digits of the 7 digit number under the North American Numbering Plan. At least for the suburban neighborhood I grew up in, in the 80’s, the neighborhood pizza places had the same central office code as my home phone number.
It wasn’t until the rise of digital switching that the phone number itself got decoupled from the actual network topography, and things like number portability became possible. But in the analog systems they wanted to minimize switching where possible, so “local” calls weren’t all equally local.
And the mom/fam was able to call from overseas to local PD, and leave various messages with friends or neighbors to check on Kevin.
The lines weren’t down. If local lines are non-functioning, all phone traffic is inoperative regardless if it’s long distance or not. Kevin also called for Pizza and the police himself.
And the mom/fam was able to call from overseas to local PD…
Yes, Ma Bell would prioritize getting the police phone lines working first
…and leave various messages with friends or neighbors to check on Kevin.
Family: they were all on the trip. Friends/neighbors: I don’t remember.
If local lines are non-functioning, all phone traffic is inoperative regardless if it’s long distance or not.
Back then it’d be easy to knock out long distance lines but keep the locals up; you just had to take down the right trunk. And in a city that big the trunks would have been split up into local and long distance.
There’s no difference between those lines at the local level. The only long distance lines would be the oceanic ones.
E: does nobody know how old lines worked? I can’t believe the number of people trying to force some twist to make their version work. The phone repair guy was right there on the residential street. If local lines were down, no in/out calls would work, yet Kevin ordered pizza and called the cops locally. It’s a huge leap to assume that this area would have had a side junction to separate international calls to a different system. Extremely unlikely, and that would probably be a feature reserved for businesses that needed to make such calls regularly. Old lines just weren’t run for international like that on analog runs for regular homes. His family were able to call friends and neighbors from overseas to see if they were home. So those lines weren’t down even if for some bizarre reason they were separate.
It’s just a plot hole. NBD. Enjoy the movie.
E2: digging around on the internet people have pointed out the plot hole. The only scenario where it would work is full of “ifs” that allow international calls in through a separate system, but nonetheless, it would basically only have to affect that one house getting perfectly hit to knock out international but not local by the tree branch yet nearby neighbors get calls on their answering machines from overseas.
I’m not pursuing this further, lol. It’s just entertainment. I’m not going to ruin the fun with over-analysis and bickering over “but if…”
I’m not sure that was true in 1990 in the United States. In the old analog networks, the central offices could route calls locally among phone numbers that shared the same central office, which was basically any number that had the same first 3 digits of the 7 digit number under the North American Numbering Plan. At least for the suburban neighborhood I grew up in, in the 80’s, the neighborhood pizza places had the same central office code as my home phone number.
It wasn’t until the rise of digital switching that the phone number itself got decoupled from the actual network topography, and things like number portability became possible. But in the analog systems they wanted to minimize switching where possible, so “local” calls weren’t all equally local.
Right, and the family was in France.
And the mom/fam was able to call from overseas to local PD, and leave various messages with friends or neighbors to check on Kevin.
The lines weren’t down. If local lines are non-functioning, all phone traffic is inoperative regardless if it’s long distance or not. Kevin also called for Pizza and the police himself.
Let’s face it, the phone is a plot hole.
Yes, Ma Bell would prioritize getting the police phone lines working first
Family: they were all on the trip. Friends/neighbors: I don’t remember.
Back then it’d be easy to knock out long distance lines but keep the locals up; you just had to take down the right trunk. And in a city that big the trunks would have been split up into local and long distance.
That’s not how that works. There are no separate residential lines for police.
The rest, that’s not how that works, either.