Octothorpe/Octathorpe. I'm confused

[Sam Clements]

Inspired by a query at the Straight Dope Message Board, I read the ADS archive.  But I still have questions.

Is the story posted by Ralph Carlsen to usenet  http://www.strowger.net/tel_tech_octothorpe.html  basically the accepted version of what happened?  

Michael Quinion in his 1999 column seems to think so.

Has there been any scholarship done since 1999 to alter the probability that the Bell Labs version is true?

Also,  I keep reading that the word "Octalthorpe" preceded "Octathorpe."  Can anyone say for sure whether that statement is true or false.  

Still rather hard to find the word out there in a reference source.