Publicly Available Telephone Services
Encyclopedia
Publicly Available Telephone Services or PATS means a service available to the public for originating and receiving national and international calls and access to emergency services through a telephone number
Telephone number
A telephone number or phone number is a sequence of digits used to call from one telephone line to another in a public switched telephone network. When telephone numbers were invented, they were short — as few as one, two or three digits — and were given orally to a switchboard operator...

 or numbers in a national or international telephone numbering plan
Telephone numbering plan
A telephone numbering plan is a type of numbering scheme used in telecommunications to allocate telephone numbers to subscribers and to route telephone calls in a telephone network. A closed numbering plan, such as found in North America, imposes a fixed total length to numbers...

, and may, where relevant, also include one or more of the following -
  • (a) the provision of operator assistance
    Operator assistance
    An operator-assisted call is one in which the calling party places a telephone call which requires an operator to provide some form of assistance in completing the call...

    ,
  • (b) directory enquiry facilities,
  • (c) directories,
  • (d) the provision of public pay telephones,
  • (e) the provision of service under special terms,
  • (f) the provision of specific facilities for end-users with a disability or with special social needs, and
  • (g) the provision of non-geographic services
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