Telecom/1996-04-telecom-walnutcreek.iso/back.issues/1995.volume.15/vol15.iss201-250

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Date: Wed, 19 Apr 1995 08:21:20 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #201

TELECOM Digest     Wed, 19 Apr 95 08:21:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 201

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Please Help With Weird Telco Problem (Cliff Yamamoto)
    New Country Code 380 For Ukraine (Bob Goudreau)
    British Editor/Tech Writer Needed Immediately (Eric Johnson)
    Need a Baby PBX For Modem Testing, Modem Class (Phillip Remaker)
    Fax Card Query (John Radisch)
    Switched 56, and Switched 56 Frame (Sarah Sorenson)
    Help Wanted With DTMF (Andrew R. Mark)
    POCSAG Standard For Paging Systems? (Thomas Diessel)
    GSM Overview on Web (John Scourias)
    Final U.S. Coast Guard CW Broadcast (Ben Heckscher)
    Kermit News #6 Available on the Web (Frank da Cruz)
    Tele-Go Description (Allan J. Langfield)
    Photo Caption Contest on Web (Eileen Lin)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
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----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Cliff Yamamoto)
Subject: Please Help With Weird Telco Problem
Date: 18 Apr 1995 03:10:43 GMT
Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA  USA


Hello ... I have a problem that I can't explain but need to in order to
get it resolved.

Situation : New V.34 modem connected to phone line.  Power adapter NOT
            connected.  RS-232 cable IS connected to computer.

Problem   : 60Hz hum heard on all phones in house.  Hum goes away when
            RS-232 cable is disconnected from modem.  Computer is
            connected to 3-prong grounded outlet.

Knowns    : Current computer setup with old Hayes Ultra 96 modem is just
            fine.  V.34 modem is a USR Courier which was to replace Hayes.
            With Hayes connected to phone line and RS-232 connection to
            computer, no hum has ever been heard in any phone extension.

Attempted : Tried USR modem at other homes.  No problem.  Modem connected
            fine to other modems and did not introduce hum on other
            phones within each given house.

            Used a different computer at my house in a different room.
            Hum problem still persists.

            With the RS-232 cable disconnected from the USR modem, but
            the telco wire in place, I can connect RS-232 Pin 7 (signal
            ground) of the USR modem to ground (the ground offered by the
            3rd pin on the wall outlet) and the hum will again appear on
            all phones in the house.

I am at a loss.  How do I explain this problem to my telco to get it
fixed?  I believe it is a telco problem because I have a friend only two
blocks away and my USR modem worked fine at his house.  Is there
something in my junction box besides the lightning arrestor that
should somehow ground my telco wiring to prevent ground loops?

Please help as I need to contact my local telco soon while I have the
chance to wait around from 8AM to 5PM for the service tech to show up.


Thanks,

Cliff


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I don't *think* this is a telco problem.
Not if it is on your side of the demarc at least. That's not to say they
won't possibly come out and fix it, but if they do it will cost you $$$.
I think the trouble is in the wiring in your house. Is your phone wiring
the conventional four wire/two pair setup?  Do you have two phone lines
with one on each pair going throughout your house?  If not, what is the
second pair used for, if anything?  Does your new modem have a dip-switch
setting (or software setting) for A/A1 supervision?  That's where the
second pair in the modem is used to latch the relay which illuminates
the lamps on multi-button phone lines. Are you using the phone patch cord
which came with the modem? Is it a single pair/two wire cord or a four wire/
two pair cord?  Something is getting from the modem out to the phone
line which is happening only because of the way your phone lines are
set up *internally*, which means telco technically has no responsibility
for it. Disconnect yourself at the demarc from the CO side entirely and
see if the hum can still be heard. Depending on the complexity of the
phone wiring at your house, this may not be practical, but try (once you
are disconnected at the demarc) to isolate the problem even further.
There may be a point in your house where the electric wires are very very
close to the phone wire and there is induction going on.

I am reminded of a situation about 25 years ago. I was asked to look into
a small problem with the phones at the First Unitarian Church of Chicago
by a friend on the 'building and grounds committee' there. They had five
line/six button phones throughout the building with four outside CO lines
(312-FAirfax 4-4100 hunting upward) and the fifth button was a dial intercom
with about a dozen stations. All of a sudden one day the same 60 cycle hum
showed up on all the outside lines. Lift the receiver, you heard the hum in
the background until dial tone came on the line; call in from outside and
the hum was heard by the caller in the background until they answered; then
it went away, or at least got walked over pretty well so you could not hear
it any longer. On the intercom line it was there all the time. After quite
a bit of looking I could not find it, and not knowing they had already called
telco repair, I put in a call. About 30 minutes later I got a call back from
this old frog at repair; at least he sounded like a frog the way he croaked
at me when talking: "Calling from First Church, eh? I was out there two
weeks ago and told you people to get your Edison line away from my conduit!
Whoever repaired that flourescent light on your payphone should have known
better! If I have to come over there to the church again I'll turn you in to
the Business Office; they'll disconnect you!"  Well ... properly admonished
although I had nothing to do with it, I went to the basement closet where
the phone wires came in. Sure enough, somone had stuffed an electric wire
in the conduit which went underground out to the sidewalk in front where
there was a payphone with a flourescent light attached to the little metal
box it was in. The ballast was bad for the flourescent tube; it backed
up through the whole system. That's saying nothing about the electric
wire running in the same conduit as the phone wire, also a no-no. I guess
they did not want to dig up the front yard to lay another conduit out
to the phone.  Turn the light off to that payphone, the hum went away.  PAT]

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 17 Apr 1995 23:42:04 -0400
From: [e-mail] (Bob Goudreau)
Subject: New country code 380 for Ukraine


I noticed the following advertisement in this week's (April 15th) issue
of the {Economist} magazine:

    Ukraine
    New Country Code 380...

    On April 16 1995 Ukraine implements a new country code.

    For more information please call your international operator.

    *Current dialing procedure from CIS countries will not be
    affected: Armenia, Azerbaijani Republic, Belarus, Georgia,
    Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, Russian Federation,
    Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan.

    This information is provided by Utel, Ukraine's operator of
    international communications.

I must admit I'm a bit surprised by the assignment of this particular
number (380) to Ukraine.  I would have expected it to get a 37x code,
as did the other non-Russian European successor states to the Soviet
Union: Lithuania with 370, Latvia with 371, Estonia with 372 and
Moldova with 373.  The 37x series was opened up for assignment a few
years ago when East Germany's old code of 37 was freed up by German
reunification, and there's still plenty of room in it for Ukraine and
(if it ever wants a separate code) Belarus.  The 38x series came into
existence a bit later as a result of the fission of Yugoslavia and its
old 38 code, and the five successor states were assigned new codes:
381 for the rump Yugoslavia of Serbia and Montenegro, 385 for Croatia,
386 for Slovenia, 387 for Bosnia & Hercegovina, and 389 for Macedonia.
It's odd that a former Soviet republic received one of the spares from
the Yugoslav range.

This means that no more than 10 of the 15 former Soviet states now
remain under the umbrella of World Zone 7.  But I could have sworn
that I recall reading somewhere about at least one of the non-European
states receiving a new code in the previously-vacant 99x series in
Zone 9 (western Asia).  However, I can't find any reference to this in
the Telecom Archives' country code lists, so I may be mistaken.  The
Asian former republics of the USSR are Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia,
all in the Caucasus; and Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, all in Central Asia.  (Actually, small
bits of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan extend into Europe, but the
bulk of each one lies in Asia.)


Bob Goudreau            Data General Corporation
[e-mail]        62 Alexander Drive
[phone]            Research Triangle Park, NC  27709, USA

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Eric Johnson)
Subject: British Editor/Tech Writer Needed Immediately
Date: 17 Apr 1995 12:04:29 -0600
Organization: University of Denver, Math/CS Dept.


British editor needed immediately for telecommunications localization
project.

International Language Engineering Corp.  in Boulder, CO, USA, seeks
an experienced British technical editor/writer with background in
telecommunications for contract work.

We prefer someone who resides in USA to facilitate speedy delivery of
project materials.

Address all inquiries to:

Eric Johnson
ILE Recruiting
1600 Range Street
Boulder, CO 80301

Tel: [phone]
     800-998-4532, x266
Fax: [phone]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Phillip Remaker)
Subject: Need a Baby PBX For Modem Testing, Modem Class
Date: 17 Apr 95 18:48:59 GMT
Organization: cisco Systems


I need a small PBX (cheap) that can provide dialtone and simple
calling between 6 to 12 2-wire ports (tip/ring) with attached modems.

This unit will be carried around to hotels in various cities to teach
classes on modems.  We would like to demonstrate how modems call each
other and 'train.'  Would like it very much if each extension provided
dialtone, and allowed each extension to call the other with a few DTMF
digits.

Motiviation:  Try to get 12 real phone line from a hotel.  $$$$$ !

Also should be ably to carry "data grade" voice 8-).

I imagine such things exist, especially for the labs of modem
manufacturers.  Would be nice to have in our labs, too, since we
currently consume about 20 PBX lines on the corporate PBX.

There is no need to patch out to "outside: extensions, but that would
probably be a cool feature.

Any suggestions on where to buy such a beast?


Phillip A. Remaker  Customer Engineering Analyst  E-mail:[e-mail]
   Cisco Systems, Inc.  170 West Tasman Drive  San Jose, CA  95134-1706
  [phone] (TAC)  [phone] (Direct)  [phone] (FAX)

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (John Radisch)
Subject: Fax Card Query
Date: 18 Apr 1995 04:38:45 GMT
Organization: RadCom Technologies


I have a fax card that can FCLASS using type 1 or 2. At times using
the stable WINFAX Version 3 I experience difficulties with faxes
chopping or skewing at 14400 speeds.

Does anyone know the correct init codes using AT+F commands to force
the negotiation to stay at G3/9600 bps or even downshift to G2. I know
that 14400 is useful and it works, about 40% of the time when the Moon
and Sun align and there are no Sun particles raining down or whatever.
I depend on the FaxMail getting through, I don't mind waiting for a
regular bit rate to complete. Perhaps someone knows that WINFAX 4
works this miracle better?  Perhaps someone knows the Fax CLASS1 or
CLASS2 trick to force the negotiation to top out at 9600?

Reply back by email or follow up.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Sarah Sorenson)
Subject: Switched 56, and Switched 56 Frame
Date: 18 Apr 1995 05:04:18 GMT
Organization: Dixie College - St. George, Utah


I would like to know the difference between switched 56kbps and
switched 56kbps frame.  I know that the straight 56kbps costs $3400
for the setup fee with netcom, and the frame cost $1995 setup with
both at $400 monthly.  I will be setting up a server on the internet,
so what is best for me.

Thanks.  Replying in email is fine.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Andrew R. Mark)
Subject: Help Wanted With DTMF
Date: Tue, 18 Apr 1995 01:09:30 GMT
Organization: STI


I'm looking for a PC-based interface/analysis system which will allow
me to analyze the dtmf signals which are being recieved.  We want to
get the frequencies, recieved levels of the fundamentals, in-band
noise, etc.

Any suggestions?


[e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 17 Apr 1995 17:44:31 +0200
From: [e-mail] (Thomas Diessel)
Subject: POCSAG Standard For Paging Systems?
Organization: University of the Federal Armed Forces Munich


Where can I find information about the POCSAG standard for paging systems?

Thomas Diessel
University of the Federal Armed Forces Munich
Computer Science Department - D-85577 Neubiberg, Germany

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (John Scourias)
Subject: GSM Overview on Web
Organization: University of Waterloo
Date: Tue, 18 Apr 1995 03:02:20 -0400


Hi everyone,

For all the previous posters requesting information of GSM (and
anyone else interested), I HTMLed an extended abstract I wrote
for a presentation entitled "An overview of the GSM cellular system".
It can be found at:

http://ccnga.uwaterloo.ca/~jscouria/trio.html

Check out the telecommunications-related section of my homepage for
a longer GSM paper and other information.


Regards,

John Scourias            http://ccnga.uwaterloo.ca/~jscouria
University of Waterloo   [e-mail]
Waterloo, ON, Canada

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 18 Apr 95 09:00 EST
From: Ben Heckscher <[e-mail]>
Subject: Final U.S. Coast Guard CW Broadcast


Patrick,

Here's a piece of history for your readers -- a transcript (if this is
the correct term for recording this type of communication) of the last
US Coast Guard (USGC) morse code transmission from USGC station NMC
SFO.  According to published reports, the USGC officially abandoned
all CW radio transmission and reception on 1 April 1995.

You may want to reflect on this moment in US communications history,
as I have seen you do you do so well on so many other issues.  Please
keep up the great work.


Regards,
Ben Heckscher
MCI


Nr.1 CQ CQ CQ DE NMC NMC NMC QSX 8/16 MHZ
USCG WILL CEASE ALL HF CW AT 0001UTC 1 APRIL 95.
WCC/KPH/KFS/WLO QSP AMVER. QSO NMC SITOR OR VOICE.
DE NMC QRU? 312354GMT /OLE/


NR. 2 VVV VVV VVV DE NMC NMC SVC WAIT...:

CQ CQ CQ DE NMC NMC NMC

SVC USCG CAMSPAC SAN FRANCISCO CKNC 31 2345UTC

ALL BRASS POUNDERS

U.S. COAST GUARD RADIO SAN FRANCISCO / NMC STARTED
PROVIDING CW SERVICES TO THE MERCHANT FLEET AND THE MARITIME
PUBLIC ON FEBRUARY 1, 1937. THIS IS THE LAST MORSE TRANSMISSION
TO BE MADE FROM NMC AND BRINGS TO AN END FIFTY FIVE YEARS
OF CONTINUOUS WAVE SERVICES. THOUGH ONCE KING, TECHNOLOGY
HAS MOVED CW FROM THE FOREFRONT. IT WILL REMAIN THE CORNERSTONE
UPON WHICH OTHER COMMUNICATION MEDIUMS ARE BUILT. CW OPERATORS
HAVE AND, UNTIL THE LAST DIT IS SENT, WILL SET THE STANDARD
FOR ALL COMMUNICATIONS PROFESSIONALS TO FOLLOW. PROVIDING
CW SERVICES FROM NMC OVER THE PAST 55 YEARS HAS BEEN OUR PLEASURE.
WE WISH YOU ALL FAIR WINDS AND FOLLOWING SEAS.

     THE CREW USCG CAMSPAC 17000 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE BLVD.
     PO BOX 560 PT REYES STATION CA USA 94956

QSL? DE NMC 01 0010GMT APRIL 1995

NMC DE KPH/WCC QSL TKS ES BV

STOP


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: What can I add?  Yes, technology moves
on, at sometimes an alarming rate. We see the flurry right now with
Internet as one example; now not a day goes by that the papers are not
full of stories, tutorials, etc.  Books being published about it by
the dozens ... I barely remember when television started but I remember
all the controversy about it; the evils predicted by people in those
days if television was 'allowed to' expand and become popular. In a
way I wish I had been around a century ago; wouldn't it have been
exciting to be part of the new device they called the telephone? Can
you imagine how people must have felt in the 1880's and 1890's as they
saw the new invention become more and more common? As the days and
months went by more or more of the little black talking boxes began
appearing everywhere ... do you have a telephone yet they would ask
their neighbors and friends ... just as we now watch *all sorts of
people, businesses and organizations* coming on line.

So now the Coast Guard CW services are gone. Western Union is gone ...
and you know what?  Something knaws inside me saying given another
fifteen, maybe twenty years, AT&T will be gone ... at least gone as
we know it today ... I don't know why I feel that way; I just think
there are still to come some massive changes in telecom that none of
us now could imagine in our wildest dreams.   PAT]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Frank da Cruz)
Subject: Kermit News #6 Available on the Web
Date: 18 Apr 1995 14:42:10 GMT
Organization: Columbia University


Issue 6 of the printed journal of Columbia University's Kermit
project, Kermit News, is in the mail to our subscribers, and should
have been delivered to most addresses in the USA by now (West coast
takes a bit longer), and will be arriving in other countries in the
fullness of time :-)

Kermit News #6 contains articles about the latest Kermit releases as
well as discussions of new features like auto up/download, file
transfer recovery, etc, and some interesting world news -- such as:

 . The role of Kermit software in the Brazilian national election,
 . How to install Kermit protocol on BBSs
 . How to use Kermit software to access Web pages and newsgroups
   that are written in character sets that are not supported by
   your news reader or Web browser, etc.

This issue (along with several previous ones) is now available in
hypertext form on the World Wide Web at URL:

  http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/news.html

The main entrance of the Kermit "Web-World" is:

  http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/


Frank

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 19 Apr 1995 01:32:05 -0400
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Tele-Go Description


> A new service is advertised locally by GTE that is billed like a Super
> Cordless phone that you can take with you to the car, golf course,
> etc. No word like the dreaded 'cellular' is used anywhere.  The phone
> can be used from home as well.
> The ad says you don't buy the phone ('no expensive phone to buy').  No
> more details other than that.

Here is a GTE written/released piece...

        Tele-Go introduced in Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex

GTE Telephone Operations is introducing Tele-Go service in the
Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.  The service combines a high quality
cordless phone for use around the home with the transportability of
wireless technology.  GTE is the first to tap into the new personal
communications service market both locally and on a national level.

The first-of-its-kind service makes it possible to make and receive
calls almost anywhere in north central Texas and is available to
customers of any local telephone company in the Dallas/Fort Worth
Metroplex.

"This is the first service that lets someone call a person, not a
place," said Kathy Harless, regional president - Texas/New Mexico.  "It
provides the security of having instant access wherever you are."

Ed Sandlin, general manager-consumer wireless services, said the Tele-Go
handset operates as a high-performance cordless instrument at home,
placing and receiving calls over the local telephone network through a
GTE-developed base station.

The Tele-Go monthly service charge of $24.95 includes the phone and
cordless base station equipment.  As with any cordless phone, there is
no per-call or per-minute charge when used within the range of the
cordless base station.  Once the phone moves out of the range of the
base station, it begins operating on the wireless/cellular network with
calls billed at 29 cents a minute.

GTE telephone customers will receive only one bill for both their
regular telephone service and Tele-Go service.  Customers served by
other local telephone companies will receive their regular telephone
bill from that company and a separate bill from GTE for their Tele-Go
service.

Sandlin said one of the primary advantages is that a customer
can always make or receive calls from their friends or family, no matter
where they are in the Metroplex.  "For example, a child with the Tele-Go
number can reach mom or dad at home, work, driving or shopping," he
said.

He explained the Tele-Go number rings whether the phone is mobile or
within the cordless base-unit range.  In addition, he said customers who
are expecting an important call at the residential number, but who must
leave the cordless range can be reached by forwarding calls to their
Tele-Go unit.

Sandlin said the service area for the phone when it is in the wireless
operating mode will include most of the area south of the Red River to
Waxahachie and Buffalo, westward to Cisco and Breckenridge, and eastward
to near Paris and Sulphur Springs.

The service is available through GTE Phone Marts in Garland, Irving,
Lewisville and Plano, or by calling GTE at 1-800-483-5346.

                -----------------------------------

I don't directly work with this product, so the following clarifications
come from me as a consumer.

* When in range of the base station (75ft. urban to >150ft. rural) the
Tele-Go handset places and receives calls as a cordless extension
on your home wireline phone connection (using your normal home wireline
number).

* When outside of the range of the base station, the Tele-Go handset
places and receives calls as a cellular phone via its own number
(different than your home wireline number).

* When the handset is within range of the base station, inbound calls
made to the Tele-Go number are automatically forwarded to your home
wireline number.

* When within range of the base station, you can manually set the
handset to place a call using the cellular network if you wish to use
it as a second line.

* There is no call hand-off.  You cannot go from cordless to cellular or
vise-versa during a call.

* Both GTE and Southwestern Bell Customers in the D/FW area may
subscribe to this GTE product.

* In the D/FW area, Tele-Go utilizes Southwestern Bell Mobile Systems'
cellular network.

Hope this helps,


Allan Langfield


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It sounds like a really nice idea. I
wish we had something like this here in Ameritech territory.  PAT]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Eileen Lin)
Subject: Photo Caption Contest on Web
Organization: Telebit Corporation; Sunnyvale, CA, USA
Date: Wed, 19 Apr 1995 08:54:55 GMT


EVERYBODY'S A WRITER IN PHOTO CAPTION CONTEST ON INTERNET
Telebit Photo Caption Contest Draws on Netters' Creativity,
Awards V.32bis Modems

SUNNYVALE, CA -- April 10, 1995 -- Everybody's a writer, or at least a
caption writer, in the Telebit Photo Caption Contest on the Internet.
As part of its new World Wide Web site, the company is conducting a
monthly on-line contest that gives users of the Telebit Web Site the
opportunity to wield wit and win a new Telebit(r) QBlazer Plus(r)
V.32bis modem.

Each month, users of the Telebit Web Site (http://www.telebit.com),
which highlights Telebit's remote-access LAN solutions and company
news, can view a rather unusual photograph with a notable data
communications flavor to it.  They can then submit their best captions
electronically to the Telebit Web Site.  All entries will be judged by
Telebit's Caption Connoisseurs, after which the QBlazer Plus modem
winner's name and winning caption will be displayed on the Telebit Web
Site at the beginning of the next month.

"Whoever said a web site has to be boring or lack interactivity?" asked
Steve Dick, Telebit's vice president of marketing.  "We want to give the
Internet users who view the Telebit Web Site the opportunity to have a
little fun, share their wit and maybe win a pretty cool little modem."

ON-LINE ENTRY
Entries are submitted electronically to the Telebit Web Site by the end of
each month.  No late entries will be accepted because, after all, great
writers have their deadlines.

Telebit Corporation is a global market leader in developing and
manufacturing on-demand, remote-access solutions for multi-platform
computer networks.  The company's dial-up routers and modems are
especially well-matched to five key market segments: telecommuting,
business-to-business on-demand routers, nomadic computing, network
access providers, and industrial WANs.

Founded in 1982, Telebit invented dial-up routing with the original
NetBlazer(r) router, opening the door to on-demand remote access.  The
NetBlazer family and Telebit's broad line of high-speed modems are used
by Fortune 1000 customers worldwide for financial, industrial, medical,
retail, government, and academic applications.  The company has offices
in the United States, Europe and Asia, and markets its products worldwide
through value-added resellers, wholesale distributors and OEMs.

Telebit and QBlazer Plus are registered trademarks of Telebit Corporation

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #201
******************************


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Date: Wed, 19 Apr 1995 09:23:33 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #202

TELECOM Digest     Wed, 19 Apr 95 09:23:30 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 202

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Disney, Three Bells In Venture (Steve Geimann)
    Book Review: "Local Area Network Reference" by Chorafas (Rob Slade)
    USR V34 Sportster RS232 Cable (Ouajid Younes)
    Impact of Satellite on Indonesian Society (Olivier Vandeloo)
    Caller-ID Service in Europe? (Yong Kuck Jong)
    Product to Improve Telephone Quality ([e-mail])
    Courier v34 Modems (Scott Williamson)
    North American Modems in Britain (John Bowler)
    Re: MCI Commercial is in Bad Taste (Wally Ritchie)
    Re: MCI Commercial is in Bad Taste ([e-mail])
    Re: My Computer Made Me Sick - Positive Ions (John DeHoog)
    Re: My Computer Made Me Sick - Positive Ions (Tad Cook)
    Re: Competition, RBOCs and All That (Linc Madison)
    Correction: Re: 500 Prefixes Currently Assigned (Allan J. Langfield)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
                    9457-D Niles Center Road
                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
                        Fax: [phone]
  ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

*************************************************************************
*   TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the              *
* International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland    *
* under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES)   *
* project.  Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such
as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help
is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per
year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Date: Wed, 19 Apr 1995 07:07:12 -0400
Subject: Disney, Three Bells In Venture


Steve Geimann, Senior Editor, {Communications Daily}

     Ameritech, BellSouth and SBC Communications signed definitive
agreement with Disney Tuesday to spend $500 million on video and
interactive projects over five years.  Group said it plans to license
services outside service territories and will develop and support
crucial navigation software.  Partners would embrace investment from
other companies but wouldn't comment on speculation GTE could join
still-unnamed venture.

     Video services could begin by year-end in Ameritech region,
probably Troy suburb of Detroit and near Chicago.  Executives were
reluctant to pin down start date for interactive features and
on-demand services, but said they were unlikely to begin before second
half of next year.  Set-top box availability remains stumbling block
and industry is "a little ways away in terms of cost-effective
technology," said William Reddersen, BS senior vp-broadband networks.

     Officials wouldn't compare venture with Bell Atlantic, Nynex and
Pacific Telesis partnership with Creative Artists, which is spending
$300 million over three years on video-interactive production.  "We're
not in competition with that venture," said Disney Exec. Vp John
Cooke. He also said group is interested in license agreement outside
RHC's regions, which could put project in direct competition with
BA-Nynex-PT venture.

     Each RHC has plans for deploying video services and each is using
different technology and delivery system.  Ameritech has unveiled most
aggressive process, with $475 million deployment in five-state region
using Scientific-Atlanta and Digital Equipment systems.  SBC is
working with Microsoft and Lockheed for network integration and is
using Tiger software. Executives said venture will create open
architecture "buffer" where different applications can be supported on
multiple systems and each will use venture with Disney for programming.

     Wariness about customer acceptance of interactive services also
will be factor introducing enhanced services, said Patrick Campbell,
Ameritech exec. vp-corporate strategy.  "If we overprice and overhype
the interactive portion, it could be a negative."  Partners must find
"a delicate balance" for bringing such services on line, he added.
Transactional service also is likely to be featured when new level of
services is added, officials said.

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 18 Apr 1995 13:06:16 EST
From: Rob Slade <[e-mail]>
Subject: Book Review: "Local Area Network Reference" by Chorafas


BKLANREF.RVW   950316

"Local Area Network Reference", Dr. Dimitris N. Chorafas, 1989, 0-07-010889-7
%A   Dimitris N. Chorafas
%C   1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY   10020
%D   1989
%G   0-07-010889-7
%I   McGraw-Hill
%P   626
%T   "Local Area Network Reference"

This work is probably best suited to the manager responsible for the
design of a very large (thousand node and above) network.  While
students of network communications could also benefit, there is a
definite "business" tone to the language.  Early chapters look at
business case considerations, while the final two cover cost
effectiveness and benefits.

The material is quite abstract, and does not apply directly to local
area networks as most people would think of them.  The average small
LAN builder is primarily concerned with what NIC (network interface
card) and NOS (network operating system) to buy.  The book does speak
to this, but on a conceptual level.  The material is practical, but is
not at the "Here, buy this!" level desired by the implementor of small
systems.

At the level of abstraction the book assumes, "local" as opposed to
"wide", and "workstation" as opposed to "mainframe", are not vital
distinctions.  Those who are looking for a "how to" on PC networking
may therefore see the book as being about "big iron".


copyright Robert M. Slade, 1995   BKLANREF.RVW   950316. Distribution
permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated publications. Rob Slade's
book reviews are a regular feature in the Digest.


[e-mail], [e-mail], Rob Slade at 1:153/733 [e-mail]
Author "Robert Slade's Guide to Computer Viruses" 0-387-94311-0/3-540-94311-0

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (OUAJID Younes)
Subject: USR V34 Sportster RS232 Cable
Date: 19 Apr 1995 12:33:38 GMT
Organization: Alcatel CIT Le Pecq, France


Hi,

I have just bought a USR 28800 V34/Fax modem.

My question is:

Can somebody help me by giving me the pin configuration for RS232
cable to use between my PC and modem?

Thanks a lot for your help.


Younes
Internet is not a spectator game
e-mail : [e-mail] (FRANCE)

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (VANDELOO OLIVIER)
Subject: Impact of Satellite on Indonesian Society
Date: 19 Apr 1995 12:55:34 GMT
Organization: Brussels Free Universities (VUB/ULB), Belgium


Hello,

I'm looking for information about the impact of satellite-technology
on Indonesian society. Is the use of satellite a step forward for the
development of rural Indonesia? How many Indonesians have for example
the possibilty to use a telephone? If you have information about this
subject please let me know. Thank You!


[e-mail] (VANDELOO OLIVIER)
Student Communicatiewetenschappen
Vrije Universiteit Brussel

------------------------------

From: Yong Kuck Jong <[e-mail]>
Subject: Caller-ID Service in Europe?
Date: Wed, 19 Apr 1995 14:29:17 +0800
Organization: National University of Singapore


I would like to know which European countries have Caller ID service
on analog CO lines? I learned that Sweden introduced Caller ID in January
this year.

What is the standard / specifications European Caller ID uses? Is it the
Bellcore specification?


Thanks.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Product to Improve Telephone Quality
Date: 19 Apr 1995 07:05:50 GMT
Organization: Dep. Computer Sci. & Information Eng., Chiao Tung Univ. Taiwan


Hi,

   I'm looking for products that can improve the quality of cordless
phones and regular phones. Things that eliminates noise, radio
interference and amplify sounds.  Any information, e-mail me please.


Thanks,

scott

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Scott Williamson)
Subject: Courier v34 Modems
Date: 19 Apr 1995 11:27:57 +0100
Organization: MR-Memex Ltd, East Kilbride, Scotland


What's the current street price in the US for a US Robotics Courier
v34? I will be visiting next week and want to know whether it's
worth my while getting one there.


Thanks,

Scott

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (John Bowler)
Subject: North American Modems in Britain
Date: Wed, 19 Apr 1995 17:30:27 GMT
Organization: Clinical Neurological Sciences, UWO, Canada
Reply-To: [e-mail]


I have two US Robotics internal 14400's and am moving from Canada to
the UK in July. The USR manual mentions some configuration changes
that are needed for Britain. Will the modems then be OK?

I think that the sockets are physically different. Are adapters
available? What do people with portable computers do to use North
American equipment in the UK?

Any help much appreciated.


John Bowler            [e-mail]
Clinical Neurological Sciences    Phone:    [phone] Ext.4251
University Hospital        Fax:    [phone]
University of Western Ontario   London, Ontario N6A 5A5   CANADA

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: MCI Commercial is in Bad Taste
Date: 19 Apr 1995 03:23:25 GMT
Reply-To: [e-mail]


In <[e-mail]>, Wolf <[e-mail]> writes:

> I have to ask, does anyone believe that the actor that MCI uses in
> their commercials as the snotty (not my first choice of words, but
> more socially acceptable) operator actually helps them?  Is this
> supposed to representable of their regular operators?  Most people I
> asked said they thought this woman sounded like the biggest &$^#% they
> ever heard.  At least AT&T's adds are pleasant to look at!

> Note: I say this as a user of neither service (actually, either service;
> whatever happens to be cheapest among the three or four I use for the
> type of call I'm making).

If you're talking about the "put in writing" girl I happen to think
that she's an absolute doll and perhaps the most talented actress I've
ever seen in a commercial. These are tounge in cheek spots and perhaps
if you don't have all the context the skill and humor of the writers,
directors, and actress are all for nought. Whether the ads are
effective I can't say, but I think they're excellent and I know other
that agree.


Wally Ritchie     Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (DeFantom)
Subject: Re: MCI Commercial is in Bad Taste
Date: 19 Apr 1995 09:35:20 -0400
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
Reply-To: [e-mail] (DeFantom)


cmwolf writes:

> I have to ask, does anyone believe that the actor that MCI uses in
> their commercials as the snotty (not my first choice of words, but
> more socially acceptable) operator actually helps them?

Actually she is not an operator, she is a customer service rep.  But
anyway, according to an article written in one of the advertising
magazines, 'Jeannine' is supposed to represent the sweet, innocent, MCI
rep who has to deal with big, bad AT&T and all its 'mean' and incorrect
ads.  (AT&T has been bashing F&F 2, saying there is a charge to use
it, but in fact MCI no longer sells Friends and Family II.  The new
F&F does not charge any kind of fee except on the International
Product ... at least according to the consumer watch dog groups which
oversee the telecom industry.)

Bad tast?  No.  Annoying? A little.  Cute?  Depends on your point of
view.


Take it easy!

[e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (John DeHoog)
Subject: Re: My Computer Made Me Sick - Positive Ions
Date: Tue, 18 Apr 1995 13:30:43 +0900
Organization: TNI K.K.


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (DanielS222)
wrote:

> In doing the research, I found that negative ions have [been] shown to be
> therapeutic for stress, irritability, fatigue, depression, etc.  So I
> purchased a small, high density generator and it has given me
> substantial relief from my symptoms.

A long time ago I was at a party where there were several people who
normally didn't get along well.  Bad vibes, so to speak.  Yet on this
occasion everyone was in a great mood and feeling great.

It just so happened that the people giving the party had placed ion
generators in strategic locations throughout the house.

I have also heard of hospitals using them in their surgery rooms.  And
another source of positive ions is said to be air conditioning ducts
with lots of bends in them, which is true of many office buildings,
etc.

I agree that being in front of my computer makes me irritable.  Up to
now I thought it was all the work and tight deadlines.


John De Hoog, Senior Partner, TransNet International K.K.
Tokyo, Japan

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Tad Cook)
Subject: Re: My Computer Made Me Sick - Positive Ions
Date: 18 Apr 1995 19:22:12 GMT
Organization: Seanet Online Services, Seattle WA


DanielS222 ([e-mail]) wrote:

> I became very interested because I have suffered from depression and
> anxiety for years, and I did some research on the benefits of negative
> ions.

Is this a spam?  This same message has turned up on a couple of
listservers I subscribe to.

Maybe this guy is selling "negative ion generators."

> This research turned out to be especially interesting to me because I
> found a newspaper article discussing the fact that computer monitors emit
> positive ions -- the opposite of negative ions.  The article says computer
> monitors give off large amounts of positive ions and can actually cause
> depression, stress, fatigue, etc. in people who sit in front of computers
> a lot -- like all of us Netters -- and that we need negative ion
> replenishment.

Positive ions?  I thought CRTs fired electrons (which have a negative
charge) from an electron gun at the back of the tube.  With all those
electrons being fired at your face as you look into the monitor, this
should be a good high energy source for negative ions, no?

> After reading the article, I realized that I always felt especially
> irritable, stressed, and depressed after long days in front of my
> computer.

I get that way too.  Maybe I have my monitor too far away, so I don't
get the benefit of all those negative ions fired at the screen.

The best solution is to develop some outside interests besides constant
net.surfing.  Go ride a bike or take a walk around the block.

> If any of you would like me to e-mail you that newspaper article, the
> transcript of the CBS news story, as well as the other research that I
> have compiled, just e-mail me at [e-mail].

Would you be emailing back an offer for sale of "negative ion generators"??


Tad Cook    [e-mail]  or  [e-mail]  or  [e-mail]
Seattle, WA


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Does anyone remember a few years ago when
one of the fancier mail order catalogs -- maybe it was Sharper Image --
was selling those 'negative ion generators'?  They looked pretty worthless
to me. Just little boxes, you plugged them in then sat them on a shelf
somewhere and left them there. Supposedly they are great for your health,
at least according to the mail order catalog. They seemed rather expensive
also, but Sharper Image was never a cheap company.   PAT]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Linc Madison)
Subject: Re: Competition, RBOCs and All That
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest)
Date: Tue, 18 Apr 1995 19:22:36 GMT


Tim Gorman ([e-mail]) wrote:

> Wait a minute. NYNEX's service is a thoroughly MEDIOCRE service but it
> KILLED the competitive voicemail market? Sounds to me like there
> wasn't much of a market to begin with. You are trying to make it into
> a killing of a major market but then describe the market as almost
> non-existant. You can't have it both ways, you know.

Yes, you can have it both ways, as NYNEX did.  Their service is
MEDIOCRE, because it doesn't offer a great many features that one
might want.  However, it is killing the competitive voicemail market
because NYNEX has deliberately withheld from its competitors the
ability to provide competitive services.  For example, stutter
dialtone and forward on busy/no answer.  These are services that NYNEX
charges itself far less for than they charge their competitors.
That's the whole point of this discussion: NYNEX does not provide a
level playing field from its local service arm to voicemail providers,
including itself.  It gives its own operation an enormous financial
and competitive advantage by charging far below market rates (if
anything at all) for features like stutter dialtone and FBNA.

>> There are all sorts of features that I'd like from a voicemail system:
>> forwarding among mailboxes, outdialing to other phones or pagers, delivery
>> as a voice attachment to e-mail, stuff like that. But there's no way I'm
>> going to get it, because NYNEX doesn't offer them, and lacking FBNA none
>> of the competing voice mail systems are very interesting.

> Right. Not much of a market, at least in the way you describe it.

Yes, BECAUSE of the fact that NYNEX has priced FBNA in a predatory
fashion specifically to prevent the creation of a competitive market.
You've shot your own argument in the foot right here, Tim.

> John, you still haven't shown me that you know how stutter dial tone
> is provided. As a clue, you need a system that is connected to the
> central office switch using a "input/output" link. In essence, the
> voice mail system becomes an extension of the central office with
> messaging being passed between the two systems. It is this messaging
> link that allows messages to be passed to the central office switch
> from the voice mail system to condition the switch to return stutter
> dial tone. Input/output channels are expensive to provide in central
> offices. This causes a high price to be put on them. This may be why
> no voice mail services have purchased such an arrangement. The voice
> mail providers would have to provide for one of these links for every
> central office in which they have subscribers. Quite expensive.

> So, assuming that most voice mail providers are not going to buy such an
> expensive arrangement just to get dial tone, this leaves only CFBDA as the
> service in question.

So why isn't it so terribly expensive for NYNEX to provide these services
for its own voicemail product? I'll give you a hint: it isn't because the
voicemail facilities are colocated with the switch.  In some cases, they may
be, but you'd better bet that NYNEX has a lot more COs than it has voicemail
machines.  The answer is, because NYNEX predatorily provides these services
to itself at far below market cost.


Linc Madison   *   San Francisco, California   *   [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Date: Tue, 18 Apr 1995 17:27:39 -0400
Subject: Correction: Re: 500 Prefixes Currently Assigned


[e-mail] pointed out -

> Oops, is that a 488 instead of that second 448? Please advise.

Sorry,  you are right.  The listing should have read:

AT&T (500 service available)
288          445          673
346          446          674
367          447          675
437          448          677
442          449          679
443          488


Allan

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #202
******************************


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Date: Thu, 20 Apr 1995 14:34:07 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #203

TELECOM Digest     Thu, 20 Apr 95 14:34:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 203

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    We Will Find the People Who Did This (TELECOM Digest Editor)
    Boom! (Oklahoma City/Waco/World Trade Center) (Paul Robinson)
    Boom! (Second Report) (Paul Robinson)
    Book Review: "Internet Access Essentials" by Tittel/Robbins (Rob Slade)
    Global Access Goes to Battle (Alex Van Es)
    Survey: Long Term Telecommunication Needs For Software (Ted Davis)
    Evaluation Criteria For Commercial TMN Platforms (Carmen G. Lopez)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
                    9457-D Niles Center Road
                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
                        Fax: [phone]
  ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

*************************************************************************
*   TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the              *
* International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland    *
* under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES)   *
* project.  Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such
as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help
is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per
year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Thu, 20 Apr 1995 13:16:44 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest Editor <[e-mail]>
Subject: We Will Find the People Who Did This


What kind of animals would have killed all those innocent babies and small
children? I don't give a damn what kind of gripe they had or have with the
government; who in their right mind would have caused such carnage?

Like many others, I sort of stumbled into the middle of it, shortly after
it occurred. At Mages, a local fast-food lunch place in Skokie I went
in for lunch at 11:30 yesterday morning and saw a crowd of people standing
around the television set silently, watching the incredible scene of
destruction and death. Throughout the afternoon I listened to NewsRadio 67
as coverage continued.

A few years ago following the bombing at the World Trade Center, I said
in this Digest and elsewhere I believed we were entering a new era in the
USA; an era in which terrorist attacks and even possibly war on American
soil would become commonplace. We no longer live in a time in which attacks
take place 'somewhere else'. For how many ever years we here sat sort of
removed from it all. We'd see the people in Ireland killing one another
and sort of dismiss it with a wave of our hand; we'd see the events in
the Middle East as the extremists of one faction would bomb, burn and loot
the sacred places of other groups; it got to the point it was not even
newsworthy any longer -- in the newspapers one day and replaced by some
other story the next day.

When the World Trade Center incident occurred, it was easy enough to
brush off as an isolated incident, 'being New York City' and all the
connotations and excess baggage that go along with being part of that
community. But Oklahoma City? A bunch of tiny babies and small children
left by their trusting parents in the custody of the government while
they were at work?  Hundreds of federal employees who -- while their work
is equally important to that of their counterparts in Washington, DC --
have about as little to say regards government policies and international
law and order as I do, or you do? Why didn't they aim for President Clinton,
or Janet Reno, or ATF/FBI headquarters if that's who their grudge is
against?  Why not the White House or the Congress or the Supreme Court?
All of them have powerful and fanatical enemies.

Why was Oklahoma City -- prime example of middle class America, relatively
quiet, safe place to live, mostly trusting people with virtually no
security at all required, and several hundred ineffectual (no insult
intended, please understand my intentions here) federal employees chosen
for this cowardly deed?  ... I think the message being delivered is that it
can happen anywhere, at any time.  Yes, when the WTC bombing took place
I said 'within a few months to a year it will become commonplace' ... so
my timing was off a little. I will again suggest we have not seen the
end of this reign of terror. This time I won't be so brash as to indicate
a time frame.

Prior to Wednesday's incident, the most severe terrorist incident in the
United States took place Thursday, September 16, 1920 when a bomb exploded
in New York City's Wall Street area. In that incident, 40 persons were
killed and 700 were seriously injured. No one was ever apprehended or
convicted in the bombing which {The New York Times} blamed on 'anarchists'.

Prior to the 1920 incident, the most severe terrorist incident occurred
in Chicago, Monday, May 24, 1886. During a labor union rally in the
Haymarket neighborhood of Chicago, a bomb explosion left seven Chicago
Police officers dead along with four workers. Another 66 persons were
seriously injured.  On New Year's Eve in 1975, a bomb in a locker at
LaGuardia Airport in New York City exploded killing eleven persons
and injuring 75 others including a reporter from the {Chicago Tribune}.

But never before, an attack of the magnitude of yesterday within the
United States itself. President Clinton stated very plainly, "We will
find the people who did this ..." I hope everyone will for now put
aside differences they may have with Clinton and send a note of support
to '[e-mail]' saying simply that in this we are united:
find, and severely punish the people involved. Janet Reno stated that
the federal death penalty is appropriate. I believe it is also. Let
Clinton know how you feel.

                 =============================

I hope readers of the Digest in the Oklahoma City vicinity will share
news with us as it becomes available to them. Telephone service was
particularly slow and sluggish all day Wednesday all over the USA,
but virtually ceased to operate at all for a few hours in Oklahoma's
capitol city.  Updates on the telecom situation there will be
especially appreciated.

Paul Robinson has sent some comments which appear next.


Pat Townson

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 19 Apr 1995 12:05:18 EST
From: Paul Robinson <[e-mail]>
Subject: Boom! (Oklahoma City/Waco/World Trade Center)
Organization: Tansin A. Darcos & Company, Silver Spring, MD USA


Preliminary and interim reports regarding an explosion in Oklahoma City.

A building housing U.S. Federal Government offices was irreparably
damaged as the result of an explosion which has been confirmed as a
bomb blast.  Authorities report a secondary device has been disarmed.

Today is the second anniversary to the day of the ATF invasion of a
religious organization's commune in Waco, Texas.  The Federal Building
damaged in the explosion also houses the ATF office for that region.

The group currently claiming responsibility - the name escapes me at the
moment - is also the same Muslim Religious-based organization whose
leader is currently on trial in New York City for the bombing of the
World Trade Center Building.

Many people have been injured including children that were at a day care
center located in that building.  Red Cross and local authorities are
helping out, but are requesting donations of blood.

Most of the injured have been taken to St. Anthony hospital.  My
mother is a Catholic, and I know that St. Anthony is the saint who is
the finder of lost objects, things, or people, according to her.
Being an agnostic, I do not believe this, but I have seen some amazing
coincidences, which I accept as purely coincidences, nothing more.

Due to my name, I noticed that the blast occured at the Federal Building
at the corner of 5th and Robinson in downtown Oklahoma City.

Southwestern Bell and Local TV Stations are requesting that people stay
off the telephones and Cellular Phones.  One person reported that they
were on the phone to an attorney (U.S. Attorney or a Defense Attorney) in
that building at the instant the bomb exploded.  They heard womens screams
in the background, and the phone was apparently hung up after that, then
phone service became unavailable shortly thereafter.  (Probably due to
people jamming the phone lines.)

My personal opinion: If the people who did this consider the ATF to be at
war with them and caused this explosion as retaliation, it would have
been much more moral to either inform innocent bystanders to get out of
the way by phoning or faxing a bomb threat to the police or FBI, or by
setting off the explosion at 3am in the morning when innocent personnel
would not be present.

It is my opinion the ATF had neither jurisdiction nor reason to be at the
Waco Compound anyway; the alleged reason for the attack was over child
abuse which is a state crime, not federal, and if there was an issue over
a state crime, the Texas National Guard should have been used.

I have correspondence with someone who knows an FBI agent and a
retired Federal Judge, and what was passed to me was the following:
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is one of the worst
managed and incompetent law enforcement agencies in the country,
making the Keystone Kops a model of efficiency in comparison.  My
analysis of the comments was, "So, in effect, they are the equivalent
of an armed mob (as in a group of people who are undiciplined and
untrained and thus not only dangerous to themselves but each other)."
That comment was affirmed.

That is why I say it would have been "more moral" for this to be done
when no innocent bystanders are present.  It is not for me to decide
whether some organization considers the ATF or any branch of the
government to be in a state of war with them.  That they will do for
themselves whether other people agree with them or not.  They must
take the consequences of such a decision and the responsibility for
such a decision.

Clearly, their injuring of bystanders represents irresponsible behavior.

My associate who told me about the commentary I received from "reliable
sources" formerly with Federal Law Enforcement asked me why these people
did not bomb the ATF office covering Waco.

It was my opinion that in view of the circumstances, that office was
probably on alert and ready for a possible attack.  Also, the Oklahoma
City office was preparing a memorial or some meeting in memoriam for the
bloody nose it got when 4 ATF agents were killed in the assault on the
Waco Compound.  What they shouldn't be surprised is that some of their
people got killed, what they should be surprised at is the LOW NUMBER of
agents killed.  Had those people been brutal, there could have been
hostages taken or several orders of magnitude more casualties.

A book entitled "The Great Reconing" says that the next thing to watch out
for is the rise of Islamic Fundamentalism with the vacuum of power created
by the loss of the Soviet Union.  The book was written two years ago.

More details will be available by others as found, or by me if I see
something else to comment about.

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 19 Apr 1995 15:12:54 EST
From: Paul Robinson <[e-mail]>
Subject: Boom!  (Second Report)
Organization: Tansin A. Darcos & Company, Silver Spring, MD USA


Reports ranging from 17 (15 children, 2 adults) from (ABC NEWS and
CNN) to 78 (Associated Press) dead from a bomb blast at the Alfred
Munroh (Pronounced Monroe) Federal Courthouse in Oklahoma City, OK. at
9:00 AM today, Central Daylight Time (GMT +6).  At least one
additional, and possibly a second additional incendiary device was
reported.

Emergency workers estimate 80 people dead.  Confirmed reports are 17
dead including 6 children.

An estimated 1,000 to 1,200 pound bomb in a car outside the building,
destroyed 9 floors, carving a hole from the roof down, over about 45%
of the building.  An 8-foot crater occurred outside the building.  The
floors collapsed in "pancake" format, in which the floors plain
collapsed one on top of another similar to a stack of pancakes.  No
survivors can be expected in such cases.  It's reported that the man
in charge of rescue operations has requested shipments of "over a
hundred" body bags, which he would not ask for if he didn't need them.

Two additional survivors were found in the building, all remaining
persons are assumed dead due to the blast or subsequent building damage.

Coverage of the O.J. Simpson trial has been postponed.

At 3:18 PM, a report on CNN by Dr. Carl Spangler, a 3-year resident at
the University of Oklahoma Medical Center announced that FBI was
informed that there are at least two more unexploded bombs still in
the building, which are believed to be hoaxes.

Ron North, the mayor of Oklahoma City will make a nationally televised
announcement at around 3:30 EDT (GMT +5), and President Clinton is
expected to speak later today.

The Courthouse also had offices of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and
Firearms (ATF) as well as the Social Security Administration.

CNN has carried continuous live coverage using feeds from Local Stations
in Oklahoma City.  Clouds of smoke and dust from the explosion are
visible for miles.  Blast vibrations were felt as earthquake tremors as
far away as Norman, OK, 20 miles from the blast site.

Pictures of the area show automobiles destroyed, and the building looks
like a chocolate layer cake cut down the middle.  Police have evacuated
the immediate area.

Oklahoma Natural Gas Company stated it believes that it has shut off Gas
supplies to the building, but there is a danger of secondary explosions
due to possible pockets of gas in the building.

WUSA Channel 9 in Washington, DC held a text crawl to inform viewers that
heightened security is in effect at the Capitol Building, the House of
Representatives and the Senate, as well as the offices of the ATF.

Traffic in the downtown Oklahoma City area is extremely heavy.  Local
Stations are advising people to stay out of the area unless they have a
specific reason to be there, such as being involved in rescue operations,
and hampering movement of emergency vehicles.

Local telephone service remains jammed, including police and rescue
telephone lines, who are asking people to stay off phones and not call
emergency services to allow calls from downtown to be received.

3 Male Suspects, Middle-Eastern, 20-25 are wanted in suspicion for the
bombing.  The Driver of the getaway van, described as brown in color with
a bug shield in front, was not identified.  "The front of the building
was completely wiped out, obliterated" according to a witness on site.

More details later.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I have not received anything further from
Paul as of this time; by now much of what he states above has become
pretty common knowledge.  Indeed, the trial of Mr. Simpson did not make
front page news in the papers today.

I'll suggest again that your email showing support and unity to President
Clinton would be deeply appreciated at this time. I've already sent off
a note and encourage you to do the same. Putting aside a multitude of
differences for the moment, give the government your support during this
time of crisis by writing to '[e-mail]'.  Thanks much!!  PAT]

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 19 Apr 1995 12:37:21 EST
From: Rob Slade <[e-mail]>
Subject: Book Review: "Internet Access Essentials" by Tittel/Robbins


BKINACES.RVW   950315

"Internet Access Essentials", Tittel/Robbins, 1995, 0-12-691393-5, U$24.95
%A   Ed Tittel [e-mail]  [e-mail]
%A   Margaret Robbins [e-mail]  [e-mail]
%C   525 B Street, Suite 1900, San Diego, CA   92101-4495
%D   1995
%G   0-12-691393-5
%I   AP Professional
%O   U$24.95 619-699-6362 619-699-6735 fax: [phone] [e-mail]
%P   374
%T   "Internet Access Essentials"

The title, and particularly the word "access", suggests a book about getting
connected, or "onto" the Internet.  Maybe a little demystification of dial-
up IP.  Having reviewed two previous "Essentials" books, I suspected a
book on how to connect your LAN to "the big one".  A book of either
description would be a valuable addition to the Internet library, but
such is not to be, at least not yet.  The preface states that what
distinguishes the book is that (a) it is for beginners, and (b) it
doesn't list everything, just the tools for you to find stuff.  Sorry,
but these are *not* distinctives.

You will find the usual material here.  History, concepts and
background; the applications; miscellaneous stuff; the December, 1993
PDIAL list of access providers.  Part three, titled "Resource Guide",
is not a catalogue or list of resources; it's a rather random
assortment of informaiton covering directory types services, access
providers, once over lightly on dial-up IP software and a second run
at Usenet and Gopher.

The content is not hard to follow, but neither is it particularly easy
for beginners.  Block diagrams of IP, UDP and RARP (Reverse Address
Resolution Protocol) are not going to contribute to a neophyte's
understanding.  Experienced users will realize that such knowledge is
not required for use of the net, and TCP programmers will have to go
to other books, anyway.

The information is basically good (although Internet experts will be
startled to learn that "sendmail" is a "mail reader" at the user agent
level).  Compared to "Zen and the Art of the Internet" (cf.
BKZENINT.RVW), however, one finds that the smaller book has the same
amount of hard information, and more precise references to network
resources.  Compared to a similarly-sized work, such as "The Internet
Navigator" (cf. BKINTNAV.RVW), ... well, there isn't much comparison.


copyright Robert M. Slade, 1995   BKINACES.RVW   950315. Distribution
permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated publications. Rob Slade's
book reviews are a regular feature in the Digest.


DECUS Canada Communications, Desktop, Education and Security group newsletters
Editor and/or reviewer [e-mail], [e-mail], Rob Slade at 1:153/733
Author "Robert Slade's Guide to Computer Viruses" 0-387-94311-0/3-540-94311-0

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 19 Apr 1995 18:51:54 +0200
From: [e-mail] (Alex)
Subject: Global Access Goes to Battle


Like many European countries the Dutch telecommunications are ran by
one major company, in this case PTT Telecom. For years PTT Telecom had
a monopoly on everything that had to do with phones. Due to the
changes in national and international law, this position has changed
and PTT Telecom has been privatised, opening chances for new
compangies to do business in the Netherlands. Licenses have already
been given to set up a second GSM network called MT-2.

A major problem PTT had to deal with for the past few years was that
the costs of calling within the Netherlands where much higher then the
customer would be billed for. In order to fill up the gab, PTT Telecom
used it's profits that were made by international calls. So far PTT
Telecom has always used this as an excuse to keep the rates up.  In
other countries (e.g. the USA) this mis-balance is not there, and that
is why their international phoning rates stayed lower then ours.  This
is the reason why some small companies are setting up a call-back
system now in the Netherlands so people can phone at the (much lower)
American rates.

How does it work?

Imagine you want to make a call to your friend in Alaska. You pick up
the phone, dial a number in the USA (directly), let it ring once and
disconnect.  After about ten seconds a voice response computer will
call you from the USA and you can enter the number you want to call.
Within seconds you will be connected. And there you go ... phoning at
the American rates.  Of course when you call to Alaska, you are
actually being charged for two calls. First of all the call from the USA
to the Netherlands, secondly the call from one US state to the other
(I doubt their office is located in Alaska). Nevertheless, these rates
are so low that you will still save money compared to our PTT Telecom
rates. Calling to Alaska will be 77% cheaper with Global Access then
with PTT Telecom. Even destinations relatively close (like France) to
the Netherlands will be cheaper with Global Access.

Reality.

Many people still consider their phone equal to PTT Telecom and don't
trust those little companies to much. PTT Telecom has been there for
nearly a hunderd years, and they build up quite a reputation. Big
companies like Xerox and General Electric already made the step.; who
will follow?


Alex van Es / Apeldoorn, The Netherlands / [phone].
[e-mail], Apeldoorn, The Netherlands


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Callback services have been popular for
about three years now, but as the mainstream carriers reduce their rates
to meet the new competition, the value of callback schemes has been
reduced somewhat. You can still save money using them many times how-
ever, particularly from countries where the internatinal rates are so
high.  I worked with a service called Telepassport for about a year;
they are a division of US Fibercom in New York City.   PAT]

------------------------------

From: Ted Davis <[e-mail]>
Subject: Survey: Long Term Telecommunication Needs For Software
Organization: Software Productivity Consortium, Herndon, Virginia
Date: Wed, 19 Apr 1995 19:35:22 GMT


I am conducting an investigation on the long term needs of the
telecommunications industry with respect to systems/software
development/support.  The purpose of this study is to get a better
understanding of the telecommunications industry needs to improve our
ability in addressing these needs.

I am seeking knowledgeable personnel from the telecommunications
industry to voluntarily participate in a survey/interview. For your
participation, I will provide you a copy of the compiled results.

A copy of the survey is attached below. You may complete the survey
and email the results back to me, or if you prefer to discuss this
verbally, you can email me your telephone number and I will contact
you.


Ted Davis   Software Productivity Consortium
[phone]; fax: [phone]
[e-mail]

                   ******************************
              Telecommunications Survey

Please provide your personal information:

Name:
Title:
Phone number:
Company/Division:

Please indicate whether we may attribute the information in this questionnaire
to:

o You, by name/title/company
o Company only
o No attribution at all

PART A. Influencing Trends That Affect Your Business and Influence Your Needs

1. What technology trends in telecommunications do you see occurring that are
critical to your company's future in systems/software? Over the next 2 years?
In the year 2000?

2. Are there other technology trends that are important, but not as critical?
Over the next 2 years? In the year 2000?

3. What external influences will have the most effect on your systems/software
approach in the following areas?

   3.1 Government or DoD policies/actions/regulations, over the next 2 years?
       In the year 2000?

   3.2 Commercial business trends or standards (such as ISO 9000), over the
       next 2 years? In the year 2000?

   3.3 Other factors, over the next 2 years? In the year 2000?

PART B. Most Critical Needs

Name the 3 top needs that your company has in the telecommunications systems
and software arena. Rank each one's importance to your company (1=Important,
2=Very Important, 3=Critical).

1. #1 Need, Rank: Over the next 2 years? In the year 2000?

2. #2 Need, Rank: Over the next 2 years? In the year 2000?

3. #3 Need, Rank: Over the next 2 years? In the year 2000?

4. In addition to the above needs, are there special needs that your company
has in software or systems processes and/or methods? Over the next 2 years?
In the year 2000?

PART C. Life-Cycle Productivity Areas

1. Are there particular parts of the development life-cycle that are causing
your company the most problems, either in cost, schedule, or quality?
What are the problems (over the next 2 years, in the year 2000)?

   1.1 Operational Concept/User Needs

   1.2 Requirements

   1.3 Design

   1.4 Coding (or manufacturing for systems)

   1.5 Integration

   1.6 Test

   1.7 Deployment

   1.8 Maintenance

PART D. Cultural Environment

1. Describe any unique needs that derive from your company's cultural
environment (e.g., resistance to change, motivation for improvement,
management support for improvement, etc.).



Thanks for your participation!


Ted Davis    Software Productivity Consortium
[phone]; fax: [phone]
[e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 19 Apr 1995 19:14:36 +0000
From: clopez <[e-mail]>
Subject: Evaluation Criteria For Commercial TMN Platforms


Hi,

We are evaluating some commercial TMN platforms in order to choose the
appropriate platform that will be the base to develop over it the
Corporate Telecommunication Network Management System of an electric
company.

The commercial platforms that we are evaluating are:

    - Openview (H&P)
    - Solstice Enterprise Manager (Sun Microsystems)
    - TMN/6000 (IBM)

I would appreciate some help to elaborate a list of evaluation
criteria for this kind of platforms.

A first list of evaluation criteria (to be discussed) are the following:

    * Automatic Topology Discovery and Configuration
    * Notification Methods
    * Inteligent Monitoring
    * Degree of Control
    * Support for Trouble Ticket Systems
    * Flexibility and Customizacion
    * Multivendor Integration
    * Access Control
    * Architectural Issues
    * User Friendliness and Customization
    * Programming Interfaces
    * Reporting and Custoization
    * Customer Service
    * Pricing

Please, send me some contribution to elaborate the most completely and
suitable evaluation criteria list.

Please, send me the reply by e-mail too.


Thanks in advance,

Carmen Guerrero Lopez    e-mail: [e-mail]
CESAT (Center for Open Real Time Systems)
Autonomous University of Madrid (Spain)
http://indurain.eii.uam.es
Tfn:+(34).1.397.55.63     Fax:+(34).1.397.52.60

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #203
******************************


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From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #204

TELECOM Digest     Thu, 20 Apr 95 17:56:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 204

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Book Review: "Interuppt" by Toni Dwiggins (Rob Slade)
    Videoconferencing (Cindy Goovaerts)
    New Multi-Natl European Telco Consortium? (Dennis Shen)
    Cellular and Health (Stewart Fist)
    Looking For Alternatives to Cyberlink (Ted Koppel)
    Information Wanted on Orbcomm (Donald R. Newcomb)
    Re: Will a T1 Improve the Quality of our Modem Lines? (Wally Ritchie)
    Re: Will a T1 Improve the Quality of our Modem Lines? ([e-mail])
    Panasonic KXT-9500 Comments Wanted (Dick Rhoads)
    Ten Digit Dialing Not Onerous (Christopher Osburn)
    Re: What is TELEGO Service? (Scott Townley)
    Re: Can my Modem Talk to TTY Machines For the Deaf? (Linc Madison)
    Re: Can my Modem Talk to TTY Machines For the Deaf? (Tad Cook)
    Re: Old Phone Number Format Question ([e-mail])
    Re: AT&T $5 Minimum Monthly Charge ([e-mail])

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
                    9457-D Niles Center Road
                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
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  ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

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*************************************************************************
*   TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the              *
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* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

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All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Thu, 20 Apr 1995 14:19:17 EST
From: Rob Slade <[e-mail]>
Subject: Book Review: "Interrupt" by Toni Dwiggins


BKINTRPT.RVW   950315

%A   Toni Dwiggins
%C   175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY  10010
%D   1993
%G   0-812-52037-8
%I   TOR/Tom Doherty Associates, Inc.
%O   U$4.99/C$5.99
%P   319
%T   "Interrupt"
"Interrupt", Toni Dwiggins, 1993, 0-812-52037-8, U$4.99/C$5.99

The telephone system is a favourite target for thriller writers. Recent
phone outages have made the public slightly more aware of the dependence
we have in the reliability and ubiquity of voice communications.  Most
books about attacks on the system have little bearing on reality. Dwiggins,
though, has put some research into this.

The attack scenario is technically plausible.  It is an inside job,
requiring insider access and knowledge.  Social engineering is dealt
with, albeit briefly.  These remain the two primary computer security
problems.  One of the early attacks is put down to a virus: that idea
is squelched on very solid grounds.  The central concept of the attack
is one posited by no less a luminary than Ken Thompson.

Dwiggins' inexperience does show in places.  I almost missed the
Thompson reference, as it was introduced by postulating something
"deeper" than object or machine code.  (To a nerd, this implies
microcode.)  Then, the discussion turns to the "interpreter", which is
logically similar to, but operationally distinct from, a compiler.
Also, as in "For the Sake of Elena" (cf.  BKSELENA.RVW), the plot
hinges on the inability of an experienced TDD (Telecommunications
Device for the Deaf) user to identify a (well) known correspondent in
a live chat.


copyright Robert M. Slade, 1995   BKINTRPT.RVW   950315. Distribution
permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated publications. Rob Slade's
book reviews are a regular feature in the Digest.


Vancouver      [e-mail]
Institute for  [e-mail]
Research into  Rob.Slade@f733.n153.z1/
User                      .fidonet.org
Security       Canada V7K 2G6

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (GOOVAERTS CINDY)
Subject: Videoconferencing
Date: Thu, 20 Apr 1995 17:04:48 DST


Hi,

I am a student at the Free University of Brussel and I am making a
paper about videoconferencing. What are the possibilities, do people
prefer having videoconferencing contact over face-to-face communication?
If someone has information, please mail.


Thanks,

[e-mail] (GOOVAERTS CINDY)
Student Communicatiewetenschappen
Vrije Universiteit Brussel

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Subject: New Multi-Natl European Telco Consortium?
Date: 20 Apr 1995 15:24:12 GMT
Organization: Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, US
Reply-To: [e-mail]


Does anyone know of a recently formed consortium of multinational
companies in Europe whose purpose is to influence telecommunications
providers and participate in development plans?  I am looking for the
name of the group, verification of their stated purpose, and member
names or a contact person for the group.  Any assistance is greatly
appreciated.


Thanks,

Dennis Shen    [e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: 20 Apr 95 11:33:22 EDT
From: Stewart Fist <[e-mail]>
Subject: Cellular and Health


I am interested in following up on the work of the CTIA committee
which looked at the possibilities of cellular phone radiations
producing adverse health effects.  I know the brain-tumour idea was
pretty substantially discounted, but there's now a growing body of
evidence for other effects in laboratory studies, if not in the
community.

If anyone has any knowedge of research work or useful published or
unpublished papers, I'd like to know about it.  I've got quite a bit
already, so I'll put something together for the Digest in a few
months.

I'd also like to make e-mail contact with the following people who sat
on the CTIA review committee.  Can anyone help me with e-mail
addresses.  All I have is old university contacts, and apparently this
list is well out of date.

Patricia Buffler, University of California Berkeley;
Philip Cole, University of Alabama at Birmingham;
Om P. Gandhi, University of Utah;
Saxon Graham, State University of New York at Buffalo;
Don Justessen, University of Kansas and VA Medical Center;
Richard Monson,  Harvard University;
Dimitrios Trichopoulis, Harvard University;
Gary Williams, American Health Foundation.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Ted Koppel)
Subject: Looking For Alternatives to Cyberlink
Date: Wed, 19 Apr 1995 21:58:00 MDT
Organization: CARL Corporation (Atlanta) / The UnCover Company
Reply-To: [e-mail]


Our company sends significant numbers of faxes (500+/day) to
international destinations, on a 24-hour basis, seven days a week.
(No, these aren't junk faxes; they are the full text of articles that
customers have ordered from our online database).

Until recently, we were using Cyberlink as our international delivery
carrier because of its significantly lower rates to international
destinations.  (Our software called Cyberlink's 800 number, waited for
their second dial tone, and then dialed the international fax phone
number and delivered the fax.)

About three weeks ago Cyberlink's switch ceased working, at least in
terms of 'hearing' our fax modem's second string of characters (the
actual destination phone number). Manually dialed calls go through
just fine; calls dialed from our fax modem rack (Multitechs) do not.
We have been in contact with Cyberlink and have heard promises, but no
fix yet, so we have reverted to fax delivery over a higher cost
mechanism.

Can anyone suggest alternatives to Cyberlink?  An acceptable alternative
would be:

   1) low cost;
   2) capable of handling volume above and growth; multiple simaltaneous
      calls;
   3) capable of reaction to calls from fax modems;
   4) access through either 800- or local access number with second dial
      tone.

Your advice is appreciated.


Ted Koppel * The UnCover Company * The CARL Corporation * [e-mail]
                  Work: 404 242 8733 Fax: [phone]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Donald R. Newcomb)
Subject: Information Wanted on Orbcomm
Date: 19 Apr 1995 22:56:16 -0500
Organization: University of Southern Mississippi


Can anyone give me an e-mail contact or phone number for Orbcomm
(Orbital Communications)?


Donald R. Newcomb              * University of Southern Mississippi
[e-mail]      * "The God who gave us life gave us liberty
[e-mail]     * at the same time."  T. Jefferson (1774)

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Will a T1 Improve the Quality of our Modem Lines?
Date: 19 Apr 1995 05:28:00 GMT
Reply-To: [e-mail]


In <[e-mail]>, Ken Mayer <[e-mail]> writes:

> Our company has about 50 analog telephone lines that we use for fax
> machines, modems, etc. of which I use 16 for dial in terminal service.
> Although we purchased some good quality MultiTech modems, more than
> 50% of the people dialing can't sync up and get a carrier on the first
> call.  Some days are worse than others. Our company telecom guy says
> that there is a lot of noise on the line coming from the CO, even when
> the phone is on-hook.

> Several weeks ago we were discussing future expansion requirements and I
> mentioned the line quality problem. (I am planning to install v.34 modems
> in the next fiscal year and would like them to be "useful.") One thought
> was that if we eliminated the last *analog* mile from the connection, we
> would get better quality for our dial-in pool. We can purchase a T1 card
> for our telephone switch and get 25(?) phone lines that way.

> Would we get better quality service with a digital connection to the CO?
> In the long run, it is *cheaper* to run our modems and fax machines
> through T1 card's but the break even point is +3 years (includes the
> capital investment of the T1 cards for the telephone switch). My system is
> growing and I need to expand my dial-in terminal service, but I also need
> to improve the quality.

If the quality of your analog lines is in fact poor and subject to degrada-
tion in bad weather then T1 would likely be a major improvement. V.34 can
sometimes work better over good analog lines in local to local connections
but in general T1 is preferable. Whether you should run the lines through
your switch is another matter.  Depends on the switch.  Unless the lines
are shared, you might want to use T1 to a channel bank and connect the
modems directly to channel bank.

Hope this helps.


Wally Ritchie   Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Steve)
Subject: Re: Will a T1 Improve the Quality of our Modem Lines?
Date: 20 Apr 1995 10:46:47 GMT
Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, MD USA


Assuming that the location of your application is Fairfax, VA, this
places you in Bell Atlantic land.  The lines from them certainly
originated free from noise; however, sometimes there are noise sources
such as power line induction and poor building wiring.

A T1 is a good way to go to ensure that your 24 v.34 modems are clean
on your side of the call.


Take it easy,

Steve

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Dick Rhoads)
Subject: Panasonic KXT-9500 Comments Wanted
Date: 15 Apr 1995 20:36:44 GMT
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Atlanta Tech. Center
Reply-To: [e-mail]


Panasonic has a new cordless phone I have just seen.  The model is
KXT-9500.  It is small, sort of handheld cellular sized, and provides
a "dual-battery" system (the base unit can store and charge a second
battery).  This is a 900-MHz phone.

Does anyone have experience with / comments on this model?


Dick Rhoads                 Hewlett-Packard Company
[e-mail]    Atlanta Technology Center

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Christopher Osburn)
Subject: 10 Digit Dialing Not Onerous
Date: Thu, 20 Apr 1995 12:59:07 PDT


Hi All!

    I've been hearing objections to ten- (or eleven-) digit
dialing, one of which is the memorization problem.  It is more
difficult to remember ten digits that seven.  Well, yes, but what are
you really memorizing?  ten digits?  No, you're memorizing seven
digits plus an area code.  How is this different?  You are picking one
area code from a memorized list of two or three which is easier than
brute force memorizing of three extra digits.

    Doesn't sound too hard to me.


Chris Osburn   [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Scott Townley)
Subject: Re: What is TELEGO Service?
Date: Thu, 20 Apr 1995 07:50:23 MST
Organization: Primenet


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Anthony
Campbell) writes:

> Spiros Triantafyllopoulos ([e-mail]) wrote:

>> A new service is advertised locally by GTE that is billed like a Super
>> Cordless phone that you can take with you to the car, golf course,
>> etc. No word like the dreaded 'cellular' is used anywhere.  The phone
>> can be used from home as well.

> Tele-Go was offered here in Portland Oregon for awhile last year.  $15 per
> month plus usage, $.26 per minute, I believe.

> I was intending to get one for my girl friend, finally got around to
> some months later, only to have GTE tell us that the Tele-Go service
> was withdrawn due to some on-going, unspecified, negotiations with
> USWest, the local POTS provider.

> Any, GTE said it would continue providing Tele-Go to the 30k (!)
> subscribers already installed.

Yeah, USWest *Cellular* swapped their San Diego market with GTE for
Portland and other Oregon RSAs (Rural Service Areas).  So there is no
GTE in Portland anymore.  GTE also offers TELEGO in their Houston-Austin
market, according to my mom :-).


Scott Townley   [e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 20 Apr 1995 10:15:42 -0700
From: [e-mail] (Linc Madison)
Subject: Re: Can my Modem Talk to TTY Machines For the Deaf?
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest)


In article <[e-mail]> you wrote:

> I have a friend who is deaf and I would like to be able to call his
> TTY machine with my modem, but so far, I have been unsuccessful using
> standard terminal software.  Does anyone know if this is possible, or
> if there is software available for this purpose?

> I use a Macintosh and a Supra 14.4LC.

You cannot (i.e., it is technologically impossible) use your setup to
originate a "Baudot-mode" TDD call.  The frequencies used are different,
the modulating scheme is different, and the TDD standard doesn't even
have a carrier tone.  The hardware is incompatible.  That's the bad news.

The good news is that, unless your friend's TDD is *VERY* old, it will
probably be able to do "ASCII mode" at 300 or maybe even 1200 baud.  The
TDD will need to be switched to "ASCII mode" for the call to complete,
so what you will probably need to do is something like this:

(1) Get your computer set up and ready to dial out.  It's probably a
good idea to find out the command to set your modem to default to 300
baud, since it may take a long time to train down, trying 14400, 12000,
9600, 7200, 4800, 2400, 1200, 600, and finally 300.  Don't worry, though
-- you'll be hard pressed to type faster than 300bps (about 360 words
per minute, which is about 160% of the fastest typing speed on record).
You'll also want to be in half-duplex mode.  As for bits/parity, I'm not
sure; you can try 7-N-1 or 7-E-1.

(2) Using a regular telephone, call your friend through the deaf relay
service in your state.  There should be information about this service
in the front of your phone book; every state has one.  Calling out of
state can be a little dicier, but I think since the passage of the ADA
this is now at least less of a problem.  I believe that the Canadian
provinces also have relay services.

(3) Ask your friend, "Does your TDD have ASCII mode?"  If his answer is
yes, tell him that you would like to try it.  Tell him that you will
call him right back, and he should answer with the TDD in ASCII mode.
Be sure to ask him if he knows any of the connection particulars (baud
rate, parity, etc.) for his unit in ASCII mode.

(4) Use your Mac to dial his number and connect.

Of course, the relay service (step 2) isn't a bad alternative.  The
operators at the relay service are trained professionals, and I've
carried on lengthy and involved conversations through them.  They're
there to give hearing-impaired folks full access to anything you or I
get by telephone -- calling the doctor for an appointment or just
chatting about this week's "Melrose Place."

BTW, a guide to acronyms: TTY = TeleTYpewriter, TDD = Telephone Device
for the Deaf, and TT = Text Telephone (the newest term).

CUL8R            (See you later)
GA TO SK         (Go Ahead TO Stop Keying; i.e., "bye")
SK SK            (Stop Keying; i.e., "really, bye")


Linc Madison   *   San Francisco, California   *   [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Tad Cook)
Subject: Re: Can my Modem Talk to TTY Machines For the Deaf?
Date: 14 Apr 1995 18:59:51 GMT
Organization: Seanet Online Services, Seattle WA


Henry Wertz ([e-mail]) wrote:

> In note <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Maximilien N.
> Turner) writes:

>> I have a friend who is deaf and I would like to be able to call his
>> TTY machine with my modem, but so far, I have been unsuccessful using
>> standard terminal software.  Does anyone know if this is possible, or
>> if there is software available for this purpose?

>      TTY's use 5 bit BAUDOT code.  Find a packet radio program 8-). There
> might also be the problem that at least real TTYs run at something like 50.5
> baud.

A packet radio program wont help (OK, so there was a smily!).  It
emulates an AX.25 Terminal Node Controller, not a Baudot TTY interface.

You have two problems.  One is that with a conventional modem you are
sending ASCII instead of Baudot, and the other is that even if you
use software to emulate Baudot, the tones that the modem uses are
not compatible with the TTY.

Many of the newer TTYs for the hearing impaired have an ASCII switch
that allows you to use 300 baud ASCII.  I've used this to communicate
with conventional TTYs with my modem.

Another alternative is to use a TTY modem for your computer manufactured by
one of the TTY companies.  But expect to pay a big
price.  They manufacture few of these, and so don't have the economies
of scale that we have come to expect from modem manufacurers.


Tad Cook    [e-mail]  or  [e-mail]  or  [e-mail]
Seattle, WA

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Date: Thu, 20 Apr 1995 22:51:14 -0700
Subject: Re: Old Phone Number Format Question


> The following question appeared recently in the Old Time Radio
> Digest mailing list, and seems tailor-made for an answer from this
> forum.

> From: "Richard M. Weil" <[e-mail]>

> The number for the store in Rockford was curiously 8-22-47.  I'm
> too young to know anything about 5 digit phone numbers.  Is that
> how it was back then in small cities?

And someone responded in TELECOM Digest:

> Gee, all this talk of 5-digit numbers makes me feel old!  I grew up in a
> small town in western Pennsylvania, and in the late 1940's, our phone
> number was 849M.  No idea why the "M" instead of a fourth number, but
> the line was a four-party line (private lines were extremely rare -- most
> everybody I knew had a party line).  The phone would ring when any one
> of the party-line subscribers were called ... each had his own distinctive
> ringing pattern.  Ours was two longs and two shorts, or some such thing.

> The only way to tell if the line was in use was to pick up the receiver
> and listen.  One of the other subscribers on our line had a daughter
> quite a few years older than I, and I must admit that I didn't always
> hang up when I heard her on the phone. Never listened long, though,
> because I found "girl talk" boring ... "mushy" was the word used in those
> days, I believe.  "Crossed connections" were not uncommon in the days of
> mechanical CO's (anybody remember the cats' eyes?), either, so we
> frequently got to listen to conversations between other subscribers, as
> well.  No taps, no bugs, no scanners: the telephone was a source of
> entertainment as well as a means of communications.

> I don't know what the laws were then, but I probably committed my
> first felony, or at least misdemeanor, before I was five years old!
> As we got older, we found another way to use the phone for entertainment:
> "prank" calls.  Call the local drugstore ... "Do you have Prince Albert
> in a can?" ... 'Yes, we do.' ... "Well, you'd better let him out before
> he suffocates!"  Such shenanigans are a thing of the past, killed by
> ANI, CID, auto call-back, auto call-trace, and the like ... perhaps it's
> just as well.

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: For those unaware, 'Prince Albert' was a
> type of smoking tobacco used in a pipe. I guess they still make it. The
> other variation on this was to call someone late at night and claim to
> be the Electric Company, asking 'is your refrigerator running?' Some fools
> would actually put the phone down and go into the kitchen to see, then
> come back and say it was. "Then you better stop it before it runs away
> and you never see it again ...".  To five and six year old children,
> those jokes are very funny, especially when played on an 'old person'
> late at night, after the 'old person' was already in bed asleep and the
> child should have been but wasn't.  The 'M' (like J, W, and R) were just
> keys to tell the operator which party on the line was to be rung. The
> switchboards had four buttons marked M,J,W,R and the operator would press
> down on one of these buttons while pulling the ringing key. Whichever
> one she pressed sent the current one way or another down the party line
> to ring the one bell, and only the one bell similarly wired. Other places
> had the 'short/long' ringing system as you mentioned, where all bells were
> wired in common, and the subscriber was relied upon to know which to
> answer and which to ignore.   PAT]

Seems that another name/number convention used that was popular was
for example Garfield 45789, where the first two letters were used with
the numbers.  If I remember right, there was a song back in the 60's
that referenced a number called Beechwood 45789, anyone remember the
song?

One of our favorite prank calls was to call a local tavern (a neighborhood
bar where you knew the barkeep and patrons was best) and ask if any of
the Walls were there yet. You explained that they were to meet there
that night.  You could hear the poor fellow ask if any of the walls
were there, and when he replied that none of the walls were there, you
would say "if none of the walls are there, what the heck is holding up
your roof".  Many times you could hear the sound of laughter in the
background when they were asked if any of the walls were there.
Another good one was to ask for your aunt Ima .......  something.
Such as Ima Woos or Ima Redpecker.  If the bartender didn't catch on
right away, and just called out the name, which was common, it always
created a chorus of laughter and catcalls in the background and always
embarassed the speaker.  Great entertainment for rainy unsupervised
evenings.  Bart Simpson stuff isn't all that new.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The use of 2L-5D went on for a few years
between the era of full exchange name plus four digits and the complete
conversion to seven digit dialing which was during the early to middle
1960's.  Phone books of that era had a mix of both types (7D and 2L+5D)
with new subscribers getting all digits and existing subscribers grand-
fathered until they otherwise required a change in their listing in the
directory.

Putting together perfectly legitimate first and last names to make a
full name which when taken as a whole has a lewd connotation is a favorite
pasttime of many kids. I don't know if anyone actually names their kids
in that way without realizing 'the way it comes out sounding' or not.
One joke involves leaving a message for someone to return a call (that
of course was never received) from someone at the IRS (or some other
burdensome government agency) by the name of Ben Dover. And as kids we
used to become hysterical whenever someone would fall for our prank to
return a call from Ella Phant or Miss Lyon or Mr. Don Key or Mrs. Byrd
or Mr. Katz at the phone number LIncoln-9-3000 which was the switchboard
at the Lincoln Park Zoo. The phone operator at the zoo once said she
got a couple dozen calls like that day in and day out from unwitting
people tricked by young children (or sometimes older people but kids
at heart). The caller was never listening when the operator answered
the line; they'd go right ahead ask to speak to Don Key. She would say,
"You have reached the Lincoln Park Zoo. We do not have a Mr. Key (or
Miss Phant, or whoever) employed here."  Humiliated or embarassed, the
caller would usually just hang up the receiver. We did once find an
actual person listed in the Chicago phone book with the name Mike Hunt;
and would, I suppose, have tormented him but we never got an answer on
that phone number.   PAT]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (BUBEYE!)
Subject: Re: AT&T $5 Minimum Monthly Charge
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest)
Date: Thu, 20 Apr 1995 22:37:43 GMT


[e-mail] (JeffB65582) writes:

> Now, as a non-AT&T user, I'm no longer helping to pay for the annoying
> and abundant AT&T commercials.

Don't be so sure.  AT&T's largest customer is MCI.  If Sprint also
uses the AT&T network for their traffic like MCI does, your Sprint
money will still end up annoying you.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That's why it is so silly at times to
worry about who your carrier happens to be. Just go with whichever one
offers the biggest rebate checks for switching to them. Not only is
MCI the largest customer of AT&T, but AT&T is also the largest customer
of MCI ... truely, they are each other's largest customer. Sprint is
the second largest customer of AT&T and MCI. All three may squabble
and fuss among themselves; they are always suing each other and tattling
on each other to the Commission, each pointing their fingers to say the
other ones started the commotion. When it suits them, they are like
two peas in a pod, or three peas in a pod. Remember the old Laurel and
Hardy movie where Hardy tries to explain about two peas in a pod to Laurel
who listens carefully, then scratches his head and says 'two peas in a pot'.
Disgusted, Hardy corrects him, "Not pot! Pod! With a \d\ ...  pod-uh."
Laurel thinks about it again and repeats, "Pod-uh!  Pod-uh!"

So go with whichever one is the most liberal in handing out those checks
or 'pay to the order of the telephone company' gift certificates. Not
that that really matters either I suppose; after all it was about a year
ago that one large regional Baby Bell's accounting department batched
up almost a million dollars worth of those MCI 'pay to the order of the
telephone company' certificates sent in by customers with their bills
and sent them through inter-company settlements for credit to *AT&T*
in error. And the cute part? AT&T accepted the chargeback, not even
looking at the paperwork until a couple months later when some droid in
accounting sees that they paid off thousands of MCI's 'we will switch
you to MCI for free' coupons. Among themselves they swap millions of
dollars daily while arguing publicly about what liars the other ones
are. My suggestion: get your share of the loot, and when they call
asking you to switch companies tell them they need to speak with your
telecom consultant Ben Dover.  <grin> Sure enough, watch when a day or
two later, a telemarketer calls. You answer the phone and he says,
"Ben Dover please".     PAT]

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #204
******************************


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From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #205

TELECOM Digest     Thu, 20 Apr 95 19:03:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 205

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Re: New Country Code 380 For Ukraine (Mark Cuccia)
    Re: New Country Code 380 For Ukraine (Dik Winter)
    Re: New Country Code 380 For Ukraine (Clive D.W. Feather)
    Re: My Computer Made Me Sick - Positive Ions ([e-mail])
    Re: My Computer Made Me Sick - Positive Ions (Scot E. Wilcoxon)
    Re: Competition, RBOCs and All That (Lars Poulsen)
    Re: AT&T 6650 Cellular Phone Question (Mike Borsetti)
    Re: Telephone Line Conditioner (Lars Poulsen)
    Re: Please Help With Weird Telco Problem (Chris J. Cartwright)
    Re: Please Help With Weird Telco Problem (Bill Garfield)
    Re: AT&T $5/Month Minimum (Wayne Huffman)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
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Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
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The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
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All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
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should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Mark Cuccia <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: New Country Code 380 For Ukraine
Date: Wed, 19 Apr 95 17:32:00 GMT


According to Bellcore's Local Exchange Routing Guide, Country Codes section
(and also a Telecom France dialing instructions booklet my Dad picked up for
me on my Parents' trip to Paris last Fall):

Azerbaijan is 994

BTW, South Central Bell's Class 5 local switches will cut you off with
a reorder or a 'Your Call Cannot Be Completed as Dialed" upon dialing
011/01 + NXX if the NXX is an UNassigned Country Code;

Before I began repurchasing the LERG from Bellcore TRA (it CAN be
cost-prohibitive for me) and before my Parents' trip to Paris, I was
NOT cut off with a reorder or 'call cannot be completed as dialed'
from any SCBell local class 5 switches upon dialing 011/01+994.  I
would dial (10(10)-288)+01+994+five-to-seven digits +(# if at a tone
phone), and I would go to "bing-bong/jingle/AT&T" and then HANG UP;
The AT&T operator, however, could NOT give me any info when I would
ask about any assignment for Country Code 994; On some NON-dial
Country Codes (or unexplained codes, such as 296 for Trinidad/Tobaggo),
I would go to an AT&T recording on 011/01+, followed by THAT code,
plus five to seven digits (+#) stating 'Your (International) Call
Cannot Be completed as Dialed - Please check the number ... or call
your AT&T operator for assistance; 504-2T (if dialed 011+), 601-0T (if
dialed 01+).

In the LERG, there are also listed Country Codes for Monaco (377, to
go into effect late 1995). Vatican (379, no reference given), Eritrea
(former province of Ethiopia, code 291), Andorra (376, eff.12/94)


Mark J. Cuccia    [e-mail]
Tel.(work) 504-865-5954 (Tulane Univ.Law School Library)
FAX [phone]
Tel.(home) 504-241-2497 (will forward over to Cell Phone, which forwards
upon no answer to voice mail)

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 20 Apr 1995 01:35:06 +0200
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: New Country Code 380 For Ukraine


> I would have expected it to get a 37x code, as did the other
> non-Russian European successor states to the Soviet Union: Lithuania
> with 370, Latvia with 371, Estonia with 372 and Moldova with 373.

But 37x is already filling up with 378 in use for San Marino.  As far
as I know the following codes are assigned but not yet in use: 374
Armenia, 375 Belarus, 376 Andorra, 379 Vatican City, leaving 377 as
only free code.

> But I could have sworn that I recall reading somewhere about at
> least one of the non-European states receiving a new code in the
> previously-vacant 99x series in Zone 9 (western Asia).

I understand that the following codes are assigned, but also not yet in
use: 994 Azerbaijan, 995 Georgia.

> Asian former republics of the USSR are Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia,
> all in the Caucasus; and Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan,
> Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, all in Central Asia.

Apparently assignments have been made for the Caucasian republics (one
in the 37x series, the remainder in 99x).  I have no information about
assignments for the Central Asian republics.

However, you never know about those assignments.  Before it got 378
San Marino had apparently 295 assigned, but that one has never been
used.  Moreover, I do not know about assignments made for Monace and
Liechtenstein (which I would expect).


dik t. winter, cwi, kruislaan 413, 1098 sj  amsterdam, nederland, [phone]
home: bovenover 215, 1025 jn  amsterdam, nederland; e-mail: [e-mail]

------------------------------

Subject: Re: New Country Code 380 For Ukraine
Date: Wed, 19 Apr 1995 20:38:33 +0100 (BST)
From: Clive D.W. Feather <[e-mail]>


Quoth Bob Goudreau:

> But I could have sworn that I recall reading somewhere about at
> least one of the non-European states receiving a new code in the
> previously-vacant 99x series in Zone 9 (western Asia).

Azerbaijan = 994


Clive D.W. Feather     [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Do you suppose one of these days as the
global community changes; new countries are formed and old ones go
out of existence that the international numbering scheme will get all
messed up the way USA area codes got messed up, out of sequence, etc?
Will we some day run out of country codes the way the USA ran out of
area codes and have to come up with some new numbering scheme for the
whole world?   PAT]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: My Computer Made Me Sick - Positive Ions
Date: 20 Apr 1995 02:33:32 GMT
Organization: UltraNet Communications, Inc.
Reply-To: [e-mail]


In <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Tad Cook) writes:

> DanielS222 ([e-mail]) wrote:

> Is this a spam?  This same message has turned up on a couple of
> listservers I subscribe to.

> Maybe this guy is selling "negative ion generators."

> I get that way too.  Maybe I have my monitor too far away, so I don't
> get the benefit of all those negative ions fired at the screen.

> The best solution is to develop some outside interests besides constant
> net.surfing.  Go ride a bike or take a walk around the block.

Most workstation problems can be more easily attributed to:

Bad Air (not enough changes/hour);
Bad Monitors (fuzzy, low refresh, interlaced);
Bad Lighting (glare);
Bad Ergonomics/Posture.

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Does anyone remember a few years ago when
> one of the fancier mail order catalogs -- maybe it was Sharper Image --
> was selling those 'negative ion generators'?  They looked pretty worthless
> to me. Just little boxes, you plugged them in then sat them on a shelf
> somewhere and left them there. Supposedly they are great for your health,
> at least according to the mail order catalog. They seemed rather expensive
> also, but Sharper Image was never a cheap company.   PAT]

Negative ion generators also tend to produce ozone, which is fine high
up in the whateversphere, but is considered pollution on the ground.
They also tend to charge dust particles, which then stick to everything
(walls, monitor screens, etc.)  The air gets less dusty, everything
else gets covered.


Gene

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Scot E. Wilcoxon)
Subject: Re: My Computer Made Me Sick - Positive Ions
Date: 20 Apr 1995 01:13:43 -0500
Organization: FieldDay


DanielS222 <[e-mail]> wrote:

> found a newspaper article discussing the fact that computer monitors emit
> positive ions -- the opposite of negative ions.  The article says computer

Negative ions (electrons) are fired at the CRT screen.  Is a CRT screen
maintained at a positive charge, rather than a negative charge, by the
design of the CRT?  (I don't have a tool to measure polarity of a static
charge).

And what newspaper had this article, and what was the reporter's source?


Scot E. Wilcoxon    [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Lars Poulsen)
Subject: Re: Competition, RBOCs and All That
Date: 20 Apr 1995 13:19:18 -0700
Organization: Rockwell International - CMC Network Products


In article <[e-mail]> Tim Gorman <[e-mail]>
writes:

> You are just asserting that forward on busy/no answer is a
> predatory service offered by the RBOC.

No the issue is not that the RBOC offers busy/no answer forwarding,
but that they price this service by itself higher than the voicemail
offering that includes it. THAT is predatory pricing.

A public service commission that understands the issues and wants
to foster competition will insist that unregulated services -- like
voicemail -- are not offered by the LEC itself, but by an arms-length
subsidiary which has to purchase the switch support features from the
regulated LEC at the same price as the competitors.

I don't know of many instances where the regulators have competently
done this.

The prior poster also said:

>> There's no technical reason why all three of those features can't be
>> offered fairly to all comers (even stutter dialtone, which is controlled
>> from outside the CO now, since telco voicemail isn't built into the switch.

>> I believe that PacTel offers it as an overpriced ONA feature. No, I don't
>> have the order code.) And they price all this at about half of what the
>> independents charge, even though it's technically more complex. Doesn't
>> that seem a teensy, weensy, itsy bitsy little bit predatory?

I agree with this.

Tim Gorman replies:

> In essence, you are making the claim that the RBOC's can not possible
> do ANYTHING cheaper or better than competitors and that if they are
> offering ANY service cheaper than competitors it must be predatory,
> illegal, immoral, unethical, and unfair. Patently wrong.

For a competitor to provide a voicemail service equivalent to the one
offered by the LEC, they need to have the LEC provide:

- forward on busy/no answer
- remote control of stutter dialtone

If the telco charges as much for those supporting features as they do
for the service that includes them, I would call it predatory.

> BTW, the split between interLATA and local is NOT complete. Go look at
> the interLATA carriers hollering that their access charges are too
> high and that the local rates should be raised even higher.

In my book, the IXCs access charges should be the same as the price of a
local business call. The IXC is a business, as far as the LEC is
concerned. The LEC's subscriber is placing a call to the IXC (assuming
for the moment 950-xxxx access) and on the terminating end, the IXC
is placing a call to the terminating subscriber. In most places, the
access charges are 2-3 times the local business call rates. This is not
a fair price. It seems reasonable to allow for a higher access charge
on the originating end to pay for the database processing to record PICs
for 1+ dialing, so long as 950-xxxx access is still available at the
basic charge, though.

I want to publicly commend Tim Gorman for being willing to speak on
behalf of an LEC in this forum. I also want to praise SW Bell for not
muzzling him. (My own LEC is GTE; I have been astounded to hear GTE
radio ads trumpeting GTE as a Baldridge award winner; my faith in
offical "Total Quality Management" is severely shaken, and my heart goes
out to Steven Lichter and other GTE employees who still manage to be
points of light in an increasingly dim company.)


Lars Poulsen          Internet E-mail: [e-mail]
Rockwell Network Systems  Phone:        [phone]
7402 Hollister Avenue       Telefax:      [phone]
Santa Barbara, CA 93105      Internets: designed and built while you wait

------------------------------

From: Mike Borsetti <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: AT&T 6650 Cellular Phone Question
Date: 20 Apr 1995 10:28:10 GMT
Organization: CompuServe Incorporated


[e-mail] (Dave Levenson) wrote:

> I just began using an AT&T 6650 pocket-sized cellular telephone.
> In wandering around its extensive nested menus, I came upon the FIELD
> TEST MODE option.  This one is not explained in the Owner's Manual.
> Can anybody tell me what the s, d, l, and a fields indicate?

This is my cheat sheet for the AT&T 6650/Nokia 2120/Technophone 815TD.
Please let me know if anyone has any updates.


TEST MODE:
==========
Turn test mode on/off from within program mode.  Select "Field test" (11) and
enable or disable at will.

Once you have test mode enabled, you have access to 4 screens of detailed
info.  Use the arrows to select the screens.  Notice that screen 4 is "Not
implemented"

Tip: at anytime press the "ABC" button to get a cheat-sheet on what's
the content of the test mode screen you are viewing.

Screen 1 maps as follows:

    ANALOG:
             01
    rrrr  s  d
    cccc  l  a
    CS-state

Where:
rrrr     = received signal strength (in dBm)
s        = SAT color code (0,1,2; -=not locked) (linked to cell sector)
d        = data receiving status (0=no sync/no data signal; 1=synched, cannot
           read; 2=reading, correcting; 3=reading, no corrections)
cccc     = channel number (control when idle, voice when transmitting)
l        = transmit power level (2=0.6W, 7=lowest analog)
a        = audio state (0=off; 1=on)
CS-state = state of the phone: SCAN_PDCH, SCAN_PCH, IDLE, ACCESS, CONVERSAT,
                               TCH, VCH, OOR (out of range)

    DIGITAL:
             01
    rrrr DDD d
    cccc  l  a
        S   BB  TT

Where:
rrrr     = received signal strength (in dBm)
s        = SAT color code (0,1,2; -=not locked) (linked to cell sector)
d        = data receiving status (0=no sync/no data signal; 1=synched, cannot
           read; 2=reading, correcting; 3=reading, no corrections)
cccc     = channel number (control when idle, voice when transmitting)
l        = transmit power level (2=0.6W, 7=lowest analog)
a        = audio state (0=off; 1=on)
S        = channel slot
BB       = bit error rate in %
TT       = last received time alignment value (0 thru 30)


Screen 2 maps as follows:

             02
    ENCR  CIPH
    DTX  XSTBY
    CS-state

Where:
ENCR     = most likely has to do with the availability of encription
CIPH     = similar to above
DTX      = discontinuous transmission (VOX)
XSTBY    = ????, have seen it on after long idle time
CS-state = state of the phone: SCAN_PDCH, SCAN_PCH, IDLE, ACCESS, CONVERSAT,
                               TCH, etc. (same as screen 1 in analog)


Screen 3 maps as follows:

             03
    bVo mod bs
    Tbat1  Tb2
    Wpmw FCmAh

Where:
bVo   = battery voltage
mod   = charge mode: FAS = fast; MAI = maintenance; TXO = transmit operation
bs    = ????--only seen ** or DV
Tbat1 = temperature of battery (deg. F * 10?? -- of caliber??)
Wpmw  = charge current in mW
FCmAh = mAh of the last battery charge; very useful to determine if the
        battery needs to be changed

Screen 4 maps as follows:


             04
    ChargV:NNN
    ST hex des
    B:LLLL KKK

But has not been implemented!



[e-mail]    Cellular One of San Francisco
 +++ oOD Digital Network +++
>> Call 1-800-64-DIGITAL or [phone] to hear the Digital Difference! <<

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 20 Apr 95 22:54:08 PDT
From: [e-mail] (Lars Poulsen)
Subject: Re: Telephone Line Conditioner
Organization: Rockwell International - CMC Network Products


In article <[e-mail]> is written:

> I have a problem with my analogue line at home, sometimes only able to
> get 9600 b/s with a 28.8kb/s modem.  I've heard that there are line
> conditioners to clean up noisey lines.  Does anyone know about these
> devices?  Who makes them and what the high and low cost is?

There are line conditioners that will make such lines nicer to listen
to (they contain digital signal processors that remove some signal
bands plagued by noise). They will NOT make modems work better: The
added filtering actually removes some signalling bandwidth from the
channel. The modem DSP is already doing its best to avoid the troubled
bands.

A line bad enough to get down to 9600 bps for a V.34 modulation is
probably out of spec for a voice grade line (unless you are way out in
a rural area where the Utility Commission will allow a lower grade of
service in the interest of affordable universal service).

Have you discussed the problem with telco repair service?


Lars Poulsen          Internet E-mail: [e-mail]
Rockwell Network Systems  Phone:        [phone]
7402 Hollister Avenue       Telefax:      [phone]
Santa Barbara, CA 93105      Internets: designed and built while you wait

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Chris J. Cartwright)
Subject: Re: Please Help With Weird Telco Problem
Organization: {not speaking for the } National Naval Medical Center
Date: Wed, 19 Apr 1995 15:53:03 GMT


Cliff,

I think this one is similar to some things I've seen with some of the
older Hayes modems I used to play with.  There are two things known as
frame ground (FG) and chassis ground (CG) on most electronic
equipment.  Sometimes these are tied together via a jumper.  If you
can pry the modem open and look around inside I'm willing to bet
you'll find a jumper that is labeled FG/CG or somesuch.  As there are
probably capacitors from the tip/ring lines to ground this leaves at
least one path to introduce the noise.  Moving that jumper may help.

Some other things to check.  Look at the RS232 connectors on the back
of the modems, does one have a metal shell (the USR) and the other
have a plastic one.  The whole FG/CG discussion may apply to your PC
as well.  I assume that you are using the same RS232 cable for both
modems.  The FG of the 232 spec is that the shield (connector shell)
and pin 1 should be tied together, this may be how the hum is getting
to the phone line from the PC when no modem power is applied.

Lastly, are you sure the "ground" at the outlet is really at ground?
You can get one of those three light testers at the hardware store
($6-$10??)  that you plug into the outlet and it will tell you if the
polarity is reversed or the ground is bad.  I would also follow the
wire from the fuse panel to the point it grounds.  This may be a cold
water pipe or a copper rod driven into the ground near where your
electric meter is.  If it's the cold water pipe this may be the
problem.  My "ground" for the electric, phones, cable TV, etc was tied
to a cold water pipe in the basement.  It was only after a month of
looking, testing, prying, and swearing that I found out that the
copper in the house was tied to plastic pipe about four inches outside
the house.  As I remember plastic doesn't conduct too well no matter
how much dirt it's buried in. ;)

After putting in a "true" grounding rod at the electric meter I lost
all sorts of hum, flicker, static, fuzzy TV, and other intermittent
problems that had been in the house since day one.  Let the Digest
know what it turns out to be.


Regards,

Chris Cartwright, Technical Engineer
Mail  [e-mail]

------------------------------

Subject: Re: Please Help With Weird Telco Problem
From: [e-mail] (Bill Garfield)
Date: Wed, 19 Apr 95 22:33:00 -0600
Organization: Ye Olde Bailey BBS - Houston, TX - 713-520-1569
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Bill Garfield)


In article: <[e-mail]> Cliff Yamamoto wrote:

> Situation : New V.34 modem connected to phone line.  Power adapter NOT
> connected.  RS-232 cable IS connected to computer.

> Problem   : 60Hz hum heard on all phones in house.  Hum goes away when
> RS-232 cable is disconnected from modem.  Computer is
> connected to 3-prong grounded outlet.

> Knowns    : Current computer setup with old Hayes Ultra 96 modem is just
> fine.  V.34 modem is a USR Courier which was to replace Hayes.
> With Hayes connected to phone line and RS-232 connection to
> computer, no hum has ever been heard in any phone extension.

I strongly suspect a serious (potentially dangerous) grounding problem
with the AC power in the home.  The problem is not showing up with the
old Hayes because it has a line relay that physically opens the phone
line except when "off hook" and in use.  By contrast, early production
USR Couriers (those upgraded to V34 via a daughterboard swap) used
opto-isolators in the phone circuit and are thus electrically connected
to the phone line (since changed in later production).  The AC hum
you're hearing is leakage from the "high" ground on your power lines.
(This is not a modem problem).

This could be caused by an open or poorly connected neutral at your
electric meter or weatherhead, or out at the power pole, or a bad ground
at your distribution/breaker panel. In any event, I would not hesitate
in getting it checked asap.  Your electric power utility company is the
place to start, as they're only too happy to check out things like this
*without charge* (in the interest of everyone's safety). If the problem
turns out to be wiring in the home, you'll need to retain the services
of a competent electrician, as most elect utility companies cannot make
repairs inside the customer's home.

Don't forget the water meter if it's at the house or inside the home -
it should have a heavy guage copper wire bonding the inlet pipe to the
outlet pipe at the meter. Most water meters in use these days are made
of non-conductive materials, effectively isolating the formerly
trustworthy "waterpipe ground". If this is the case, it's a job for
a competent electrician. Don't attempt it yourself.

The terminology for what I suspect is the problem is a "high neutral"
or "high ground" meaning that the ground or neutral is not well
connected or well grounded, resulting in their being a voltage present
on the AC ground where there should be none.

Std. disclaimer applies. I do not represent my employer in this forum.
Do not attempt repairs yourself. Obtain the services of professional
electrical craftspersons.


Bill Garfield
BETA SITE for USRobotics Courier, Sportster & rackmount modems
Ye Olde Bailey BBS Zyxel 713-520-1569(V.32bis) USR 713-520-9566(V.34/FC)
   Houston,Texas             yob.com           Home of alt.cosuard

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Wayne Huffman)
Subject: Re: AT&T $5/Month Minimum
Date: 20 Apr 1995 01:19:14 GMT
Organization: Netcom


In <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Stan Brown) writes:


> Today in my bill from AT&T I got a flyer that said AT&T will begin
> charging $5/month minimum for long distance, possibly as early as the
> next bill.  I called the number on the flyer for questions, and the
> rep on the other end confirmed that "to serve you better" the minimum
> would be billed even in a month when I had no long distance charges.

> As it happens, the line involved almost never dials out long distance; I
> use it for local data calls almost exclusively.  So this is quite a bad
> deal for me.  I called Ameritech and found that a change to "no default
> LD provider" is free on my line, so I made that change.

I used to sell AT&T LD to small businesses, and we got a list from
Bell Atlantic (I'm sure AT&T bought the list) of businesses that had
not chosen a primary LD carrier. These so-called no-PIC customers were
probably driven crazy by all of the LD companies! You may find that
your mailbox will fill up with LD company junque mail, and the
telemarketing departments will call you incessantly trying to get you
to "PIC" them. This can work to your advantage, though. A friend of
mine selected "no carrier" when he had his phone installed. AT&T sent
him a $75 check that, when cashed, authorized AT&T to 'switch' him. He
cashed it, waited until AT&T sent the $5 gift certificate for the
change charge, and called Bell Atlantic to change him back to 'no PIC'
Cash in pocket, $65, $5 of AT&T service. not too bad for two phone
calls and 20 minutes of time. He's waiting for the next offer from
whoever. BTW, he makes about $3-5 in LD calls per month. Makes you
wonder ...



'Jester'      '94 FXR
Wayne Huffman - [e-mail]
Sons of God MC - No. VA  road captain

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #205
******************************


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From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #206

TELECOM Digest     Fri, 21 Apr 95 08:04:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 206

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Re: Competition, RBOCs and All That (Tim Gorman)
    Re: Competition, RBOCs and All That (John R. Levine)
    AP Story on NPA: 'Black Holes' (James E. Bellaire)
    Internet Virus is April Fools' Day Joke (Paul Robinson)
    Re: New Country Code 380 For Ukraine (Tor-Einar Jarnbjo)
    Re: Will a T1 Improve the Quality of our Modem Lines? (Jeff Box)
    Re: Tele-Go Description (Andrew C. Green)
    Re: GSM - Revised Operator List (Sam Spens Clason)
    334 Prefix Next Door to 334 Area Code (Carl Moore)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
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----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Thu, 20 Apr 1995 22:21:19 -0500
From: Tim Gorman <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Competition, RBOCs and All That


[e-mail] (Linc Madison) writes in Telecom Digest V15 #202 :


> Tim Gorman ([e-mail]) wrote:

>> Wait a minute. NYNEX's service is a thoroughly MEDIOCRE service but it
>> KILLED the competitive voicemail market? Sounds to me like there
>> wasn't much of a market to begin with. You are trying to make it into
>> a killing of a major market but then describe the market as almost
>> non-existant. You can't have it both ways, you know.

> Yes, you can have it both ways, as NYNEX did.  Their service is
> MEDIOCRE, because it doesn't offer a great many features that one
> might want.  However, it is killing the competitive voicemail market
> because NYNEX has deliberately withheld from its competitors the
> ability to provide competitive services.  For example, stutter
> dialtone and forward on busy/no answer.

                     .... (snip) ....

As I pointed out in another message, merely saying that NYNEX has
withheld call forward on busy/no answer on a tariffed basis does NOT
mean it is being withheld from competitors. Each and every RBOC has a
method available for non-tariffed services to be ordered. Refusal to
provide such services on a special quote or use of predatory, non-cost
related pricing is easily taken up with the PUC's. This happens every
day in each and every jurisdiction I am aware of. In other words, you
have NOT shown that CFBDA has been withheld from competitors, no more
than John did.

All you have shown is that the feature is not offered on a tariffed
basis. What do you expect to happen in a fully competitive environment
where prices and services are tendered to customers based on
individual costs and individual requirements rather than average costs
and industry-wide service offerings?

> These are services that NYNEX charges itself far less for than they
> charge their competitors.  That's the whole point of this discussion:
> NYNEX does not provide a level playing field from its local service
> arm to voicemail providers, including itself.  It gives its own
> operation an enormous financial and competitive advantage by charging
> far below market rates (if anything at all) for features like stutter
> dialtone and FBNA.

Once again, do you have any proof of this assertion or is this just
more use of emotional appeals as arguments? If, in fact, they have
truly withheld these features as you claim above then this claim is
totally unprovable since they have not charged their competitors
ANYTHING. So how could NYNEX have charged themselves LESS than
nothing?

>>> There are all sorts of features that I'd like from a voicemail system:
>>> forwarding among mailboxes, outdialing to other phones or pagers,
>>> delivery as a voice attachment to e-mail, stuff like that. But there's no
>>> way I'm going to get it, because NYNEX doesn't offer them, and lacking
>>> FBNA none of the competing voice mail systems are very interesting.

>> Right. Not much of a market, at least in the way you describe it.

> Yes, BECAUSE of the fact that NYNEX has priced FBNA in a predatory
> fashion specifically to prevent the creation of a competitive market.
> You've shot your own argument in the foot right here, Tim.

Actually, as I have pointed out above, it is yours and John's argument
that has the big hole somewhere. Either NYNEX is offering stutter dial
tone and CFBDA and are overcharging out the wazoo for it or they are
playing predator and not offering it anywhere for any price. Which is
it? You need to decide on one or the other before the discussion can
continue in a logical fashion.

>> So, assuming that most voice mail providers are not going to buy such an
>> expensive arrangement just to get dial tone, this leaves only CFBDA as the
>> service in question.

> So why isn't it so terribly expensive for NYNEX to provide these services
> for its own voicemail product? I'll give you a hint: it isn't because the
> voicemail facilities are colocated with the switch.  In some cases, they may
> be, but you'd better bet that NYNEX has a lot more COs than it has voicemail
> machines.  The answer is, because NYNEX predatorily provides these services
> to itself at far below market cost.

Huh? The voice mail system doesn't have to be in the CO. That is not
what I said. You need a separate input/output channel from each
Central Office where you are going to provide voice mail and stutter
dial tone. These may be carried to remote locations using private line
facilities.

Who said it isn't expensive for NYNEX to provide these services? They
have to provide input/output channels for their system just as any
other provider would. They have to provide links out of every CO where
they offer voice mail to their voice mail system.

And you still need to provide some objective proof that NYNEX is using
predatory pricing when providing this service. What I suspect you will
actually find is that exactly the same costs are used to price the
service for NYNEX customers as is used to price the service offerings
to the competitors. It would truly take a grand conspiracy to keep
people from comparing these costs to see if predatory pricing were
taking place.

What I truly think I see here is a total disbelief that an RBOC could
possibly be the low cost provider of ANY service. There seems to be a
total disconnect from reality that a company the size of an RBOC could
purchase a voice mail system at a cost far below that available to a
fourteen year old boy wanting to start a voice mail system in his
garage and could therefore be able to beat out the price of the
service. That is when we begin to see the contradictory arguments
based on emotional appeals begin to show up. "They aren't offering the
feature ... They offer the features at an exorbitant price compared to
internal prices"

The truth of the matter is who is going to get a better price on
merchandise, Walmart or Joe's Hardware with a 1500 sq. foot store?
What you are doing is railing against economic reality. In a labor
intensive operation, the RBOC is usually always going to get beat out
because of the cost of labor and overhead.  When it comes to
application of technology that argument is not going to be always
true. Continuing to accuse the RBOC's of predatory pricing in each and
every case will sooner or later cause the phenomenon of Peter and the
Wolf to come into play -- no one is going to believe ANY accusation.


Tim Gorman   [e-mail]
Southwestern Bell Tel. Co

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 20 Apr 95 22:11 EDT
From: [e-mail] (John R Levine)
Subject: Re: Competition, RBOCs and All That
Organization: I.E.C.C., Cambridge, Mass.


> No the issue is not that the RBOC offers busy/no answer forwarding,
> but that they price this service by itself higher than the voicemail
> offering that includes it. THAT is predatory pricing.

Actually, in the letter of mine to which Tim was responding (you
didn't see it because it was private mail, sigh) I was describing
NYNEX's voice mail in Boston where you can't get B/NA forwarding at
all.  Same conclusion, of course.

> In my book, the IXCs access charges should be the same as the price of a
> local business call.

Turns out that part of the per-minute access charges, like the $3.50
line access charge, go into an equalization fund that subsidizes
high-cost rural telephony, so there's actually a reason it costs more
than a POTS call.  On the other hand, that's a very messy economic
transaction and it'd be a lot fairer just to charge a flat per minute
equalization fee either to the IXC or the end user and fund the rural
subsidy from that.


Regards,

John Levine, [e-mail]
Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies"

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 20 Apr 1995 21:50:11 CST
From: bellaire@barnabas
Subject: AP Story on NPA: 'black holes'


This story from The Associated Press, as printed in {The Indianapolis
Star} shows the problems with pbx equiptment that has not been
upgraded. Sent for your enjoyment ...  (personal comments at end of
article).

*** Area codes create 'black holes' of missed calls and lost profits ***

   By David Foster - Associated Press

   Olympia, Wash. --

   His phone stopped ringing in January, and in the silence William
   Boubel hears his business dying.

      He has fallen victim to a technological change that soon may reach out
   and touch millions of Americans:  He has been assigned a new area code
   that a lot of people cannot dial because it doesn't have a 1 o 0 as its
   middle digit.

      "Almost every one of my sales is preceded by a phone call," says
   Boubel, who designs computer software for the paper industry.  "When the
   phone doesn't ring and the fax doesn't ring, I'm out of business."

      By year's end, millians of phone customers in at least 11 states will
   have new area codes that millions of other callers won't be able to reach
   unless they make costly changes to their phone systems.

      The new area codes - the first that don't have a 1 or 0 as the middle
   digit - are being implimented to meet the nation's exploding demand for
   phone numbers created by fax machines, cellular phones, pagers and
   modems.

      Trouble is, many businesses and government offices have switchboards -
   called private branch exchanges, or PBXs - that aren't programmed to
   recognise such area codes.

      The new area codes have already been implimented in five states: 360
   in western Washington, 334 in southern Alabama, 520 in Arizona, 970 in
   Colorado, and 281 in Houston.

      The complaints are loudest in Washington and Alabama, the first states
   affected.  They got new area codes Jan. 15, and their phase in period,
   during which callers can use the old or new codes, ends next month -
   May 13 in Alabama, May 21 in Washington.

      Businesses dependent on calls from out of state are dreading the
   deadlines.

      "We're being thrown to the wolves," says Ben Hargett, president of
   DeVan Inspection Co., which inspects cargo in Mobile, Ala.  So many
   customers can't reach his new 334 number that Hargett says he may have to
   move his business to a "more stable area code."

      AT&T Global Business Communications Systems, a leading PBX
   manufacturer, says it has been warning customers since 1992 to prepare
   for the new area codes.  But only half have upgraded their systems, says
   AT&T spokeswoman Patricia Sieh.

      A PBX can serve anywhere from 20 to 25,000 phones.  Upgrading small
   or medium systems to handle the new area codes typically costs $850 to
   $6,000, and a few customers with older PBXs may have to spend up to
   $15,000, Sieh says.  Replacing a bix PBX with a whole new system can run
   $100,000.

      "This is not a suprise for any of our customers," Sieh says.  "If
   they've decided not to upgrade, that's a conscious decision."

      For some PBX owners, a bit of geographic snobbery is involved:  Who
   wants to call western Washington or southern Alabama, anyway?

      But that attitude will backfire, predicts Ken Branson, spokesman for
   Bellcore, the Livingston, N.J., company that administers North America's
   area codes.

      "There will be bigger and bigger telephonic black holes to which they
   can't dial,"  he says.  "At some point they may want to call Los Angeles
   or Chicago or Miami.  We're assigning 13 to 14 of these new area codes
   this year, and we see no end to this trend."

   (End of quoted article)

Unfortunately it looks like the companies that do not upgrade their
systems won't be doing business with these 'black hole' areas.  Unless
they can call that company's 1-800 number (and not the new 1-888
numbers).  It's a shame that certain areas are affected first, but I
hope that the spread of NNX area codes will convince the companies
that have not changed to fix their systems.  I don't agree that
'millions' of people cannot call these numbers, but do see 'thousands'
affected.

Anyone out there designing a tack-on PBX to defray the cost of upgrading?
Even old PBX's have a provision for extensions for dialing from inside
only.  They could use these extensions as bridges to an outside line.

Worth a thought ...


James E. Bellaire (JEB6)   [e-mail]
Twin Kings Communications


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I don't feel sorry for those fools at all.
And to blame it on telco, as they will invariably do, is just plain stupid.
Every one of them has been told time, and time again over the past two
years what is going on. I myself have counseled a couple organizations I
am in contact with about this. Did they do anything? Oh no, their PBX
admins know so much more about this than anyone else. A couple times I
raised this in very pointed discussions with a department store I've done
some work for in the past. They would not listen to anything anyone told
them at all. Good! Now their PBX is broken, their employees are screaming
at them and they have to run over to a payphone to make simple calls to
other places.  The gentleman who complains 'his phone stopped ringing in
January' needs to recognize the problem is with his customers, or more
precisely with the overpaid idiots who run his customer's phone networks.
Now many of these guys will remove what safeguards they had on their lines
in order to allow legitimate calls to get through and that will cause them
to get freaked and hacked, and of course that will be telco's fault also
in their opinion.   PAT]

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 21 Apr 1995 05:05:08 EDT
From: Paul Robinson <[e-mail]>
Subject: Internet Virus is April Fools' Day Joke.
Organization: Tansin A. Darcos & Company - Silver Spring MD USA


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Paul writes about a message which
has made the rounds on various Usenet newsgroups. The message he
discusses is printed in full here not because it has any legitimacy
at all, but so that you can be aware of it.   PAT]

                  -------------------

Actually it was sent on April 1, as an April Fool's Day joke.  There
are a number of issues, but most of the information in this note is
either sick humor or a mismash of misunderstandings and errors.

On Thu, 20 Apr 1995, Jan Kelman wrote:

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

         The following letter was received on April 20, concerning a
new Internet virus, please read.

Alan Kelman

  Date: Thu, 20 Apr 1995 11:57:49 -0700
  From: Irene Luna Guzman <[e-mail]>
  To: Multiple recipients of list <[e-mail]>
  Subject: Virus in the net?

Hello everybody,

I got an e-mail about a virus in the net.  Spread the word in your
departments.

There is a computer virus that is being sent across the Internet. If
you receive an e-mail message with the subject line "Good Times", DO
NOT read the message, DELETE it immediately. Please read the messages
below.

Some miscreant is sending e-mail under the title "good times" nation-wide.
If you get anything like this, DON'T DOWNLOAD THE FILE!  It has a
virus that rewrites your hard drive, obliterating anything on it.

Please be careful and forward this mail to anyone you care about -- I have.

Date: 12/2/94 11:59 AM

Subject: INTERNET VIRUS

Thought you might like to know...

The FCC released a warning last Wednesday concerning a matter of major
importance to any regular user of the InterNet. Apparently, a new
computer virus has been engineered by a user of America Online that is
unparalleled in its destructive capability. Other, more well-known
viruses such as Stoned, Airwolf, and Michaelangelo pale in comparison
to the prospects of this newest creation by a warped mentality.

What makes this virus so terrifying, said the FCC, is the fact that no
program needs to be exchanged for a new computer to be infected. It
can be spread through the existing e-mail systems of the InterNet.
Once a computer is infected, one of several things can happen. If the
computer contains a hard drive, that will most likely be destroyed. If
the program is not stopped, the computer's processor will be placed in
an nth-complexity infinite binary loop - which can severely damage the
processor if left running that way too long. Unfortunately, most
novice computer users will not realize what is happening until it is
far too late.

Luckily, there is one sure means of detecting what is now known as the
"Good Times" virus. It always travels to new computers the same way in
a text e-mail message with the subject line reading simply "Good
Times".  Avoiding infection is easy once the file has been received -
not reading it. The act of loading the file into the mail server's
ASCII buffer causes the "Good Times" mainline program to initialize
and execute. The program is highly intelligent - it will send copies
of itself to everyone whose e-mail address is contained in a
received-mail file or a sent- mail file, if it can find one. It will
then proceed to trash the computer it is running on.

The bottom line here is - if you receive a file with the subject line
"Good TImes", delete it immediately! Do not read it! Rest assured that
whoever's name was on the "From:" line was surely struck by the virus.
Warn your friends and local system users of this newest threat to
the InterNet! It could save them a lot of time and money.

Irene Luna-Guzman  Food Science Grad Student Rep
126 Food Science and Technology Bldg.  UCDavis
Davis CA 95616  Campus phone # 2-2585

                           ****

[Paul continues]:

NOTICE: I reserve the right to ignore or PUBLICLY POST any vicious or
nasty E-Mail; notwithstanding any statements in your messages to the
contrary; by sending responses in violation of this paragraph you
unconditionally consent to this condition.  You have been warned.

Ask me about Listmgr - the first PC-Based mailing list manager for E-Mail.
Reports on Security Problems: To Subscribe write [e-mail]
Paul Robinson - [e-mail] / [e-mail] / [e-mail]
Voted "Largest Polluter of the (IETF) list" by Randy Bush <[e-mail]>


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Who is this Irene Luna-Guzman person?
Maybe I could get her a job adminstering a large PBX at a company here
in Chicago. She could program the PBX to disallow any calls to numbers
seen written in messages which start out 'for a good time, call ...'.  PAT]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Tor-Einar Jarnbjo)
Subject: Re: New Country Code 380 For Ukraine
Date: 21 Apr 1995 11:37:28 GMT
Organization: Technical University of Berlin, Germany


Bob Goudreau ([e-mail]) wrote:

> I noticed the following advertisement in this week's (April 15th) issue
> of the {Economist} magazine:

>     Ukraine
>     New Country Code 380...

>     On April 16 1995 Ukraine implements a new country code.

>     For more information please call your international operator.

> This means that no more than 10 of the 15 former Soviet states now
> remain under the umbrella of World Zone 7.  But I could have sworn
> that I recall reading somewhere about at least one of the non-European
> states receiving a new code in the previously-vacant 99x series in
> Zone 9 (western Asia).  However, I can't find any reference to this in
> the Telecom Archives' country code lists, so I may be mistaken.  The
> Asian former republics of the USSR are Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia,
> all in the Caucasus; and Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan,
> Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, all in Central Asia.  (Actually, small
> bits of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan extend into Europe, but the
> bulk of each one lies in Asia.)

According to the Norwegian phone-books (1995-edition) the former
Sowiet-republics in Asia have been assigned country-codes 99x, though
since I don't have the books here, I can't quote the correct codes.


Tor-Einar Jarnbjo


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: One place you might try looking is at the
'country.codes' file in the Telecom Archives from time to time for mostly
complete lists like this. Of course I don't put up those massive files in
the Archives expecting anyone to actually read them or use the for research
before writing to the Digest; I put them there for my health and because
I have such a large amount of time to waste each day.

Gee, I certainly woke up cranky this morning.  PAT]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (JeffB65582)
Subject: Re: Will a T1 Improve the Quality of our Modem Lines?
Date: 20 Apr 1995 15:09:12 -0400
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
Reply-To: [e-mail] (JeffB65582)


IMO you will find that the T1 connection will substantially improve the
performance of your modems for two reasons, especially if you have a
digital C.O..

1.  The T1 link provides complete isolation of the transmit and
receive paths between your PBX and the central office.  I am referring
to the two to four wire hybrid networks that exist on the analog
station and analog trunk cards of digital PBX and central offices.
With your PBX/analog trunk combination, you will encounter three of
these in the path to the C.O.  digital matrix.  One on the PBX line
card, one on the PBX trunk card, and one at the C.O. line card. The T1
connection eliminates two of them.

Each of the hybrids contributes a certain amount of distortion for the
modem to deal with.  Each also contributes an echo signal, which the
modem must attempt to cancel out with its internal line equalizer.

Even if you have an analog C.O., the performance of the hybrids can be
better when the analog characteristics of the loop are eliminated at
the hybrid balance points, (assuming the C.O. people know how to
properly apply the equipment).

2.  The T1 is essentially a "lossless" connection.  Since the analog path
to the C.O. has variable losses, the modem has to cope with these.
Sometimes, it doesn't work too well, especially if you have long loops.
With the T1, you will be closer to optimum signal levels.

In some parts of the country, the cost of a T1 with 24 trunk equivalents
is cheaper that 24 analog lines.  This may help in your payback analysis.


Jeff Box

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 20 Apr 1995 17:12:18 CDT
From: Andrew C. Green <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Tele-Go Description


Allen J. Langfield ([e-mail]) writes:

> * Both GTE and Southwestern Bell Customers in the D/FW area may
>   subscribe to this GTE product.

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It sounds like a really nice idea. I
> wish we had something like this here in Ameritech territory.  PAT]

How time flies! We did have this, albeit temporarily, back in 1992-93
when Ameritech conducted an 18-month test of their newfangled PCS
system. Regular Telecom Digest readers may recall my Ameritech PCS
Trial Update series which related my experiences in the test.

The description forwarded by Allen appears to be an exact match of the
Ameritech effort, with the single exception being that the GTE product
is said to switch automatically from air to base unit (land line) when
it comes within range of its base unit; the Ameritech phone, a Motorola
CT2 SilverLink, if memory serves, had to be switched manually.

I don't know what lessons Ameritech took away from its test (weak trans-
mission power was _my_ chief complaint); the test ended in December of
1993, but I would guess that they are hard at work on their next PCS
incarnation to roll out here in the Chicago area in the near future.


Andrew C. Green            [phone]
Frame Advanced Product Services
441 W. Huron               Internet: [e-mail]
Chicago, IL  60610-3498    FAX: [phone]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Sam Spens Clason)
Subject: Re: GSM - Revised Operator List
Date: 20 Apr 1995 18:21:25 GMT


In <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Robert
Lindh) writes:

> (Changes in the list marked by "*")

> Country      Operator name          Network code   Tel to customer service
> ------      -------------          ------------   -----------------------

> Namibia

The company's name is MTC and they're scheduled to launch commercial
service today!


Sam   www.nada.kth.se/~d92-sam,   [e-mail],   [phone]

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 20 Apr 95 10:28:04 EDT
From: Carl Moore <[e-mail]>
Subject: 334 Prefix Next Door to 334 Area Code


I have just checked the Eufaula (Alabama) phone book and called Southern
Bell.  A call between Eufaula and Georgetown (Georgia) is local, with
seven digits.  The prefixes in question are these (notice the use of
334 as a prefix and as an area code):

Eufaula (area 334, with 205 to be turned off 13 May 1995): 616,687
Georgetown (area 912): 334

So an N1X prefix is a seven-digit local call from a place in area 912.

I have received two email references (apparently wrong) to 334 prefix
at Eufaula.

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #206
******************************


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Date: Fri, 21 Apr 1995 09:24:14 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #207

TELECOM Digest     Fri, 21 Apr 95 09:24:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 207

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Re: We Will Find the People Who Did This (James E. Bellaire)
    Re: Boom! (Second Report) (Carl Moore)
    Re: Boom! (Oklahoma City/Waco/World Trade Center) (Mike Frere)
    Re: We Will Find the People Who Did This (Eric Florack)
    Re: Boom! (Second Report) (Paul Robinson)
    Re: We Will Find the People Who Did This (Bill Hensley)
    Re: We Will Find the People Who Did This (Adam Ashby)
    Re: We Will Find the People Who Did This (Ken Stox)
    Re: Exchange Names Aid Memory, Especially With NPA Splits (Robert Casey)
    Re: Information Wanted on DSP Chip Modems (Lars Poulsen)
    New Improved Regulations For Cordless Phones (Paul Gloger)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
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On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
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Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
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All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
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should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Fri, 21 Apr 1995 06:04:38 -0500
From: [e-mail] (James E. Bellaire)
Subject: Re: Boom! (Oklahoma City/Waco/World Trade Center)


In TELECOM Digest Vol 15 # 203 TELECOM Digest Editor <[e-mail].
edu> wrote:

> A few years ago following the bombing at the World Trade Center, I
> said in this Digest and elsewhere I believed we were entering a new
> era in the USA; an era in which terrorist attacks and even possibly
> war on American soil would become commonplace. We no longer live in
> a time in which attacks take place 'somewhere else'. For how many ever
> years we here sat sort of removed from it all. We'd see the people in
> Ireland killing one another and sort of dismiss it with a wave of our
> hand; we'd see the events in the Middle East as the extremists of one
> faction would bomb, burn and loot the sacred places of other groups;
> it got to the point it was not even newsworthy any longer -- in the
> newspapers one day and replaced by some other story the next day.

Too true.  Americans have been so used to seeing 'the other nations'
have wars and terrorist attacks.  Even attacks on American targets
usually took place outside of America.  Now that its our turn to be
the targets Americans might understand how needless murder hurts the
entire world.

> Why didn't they aim for President Clinton, or Janet Reno, or ATF/FBI
> headquarters if that's who their grudge is against?  Why not the White
> House or the Congress or the Supreme Court?  All of them have powerful
> and fanatical enemies.

The aim was correct.  Notice how quickly the World Trade Center bombing
faded from memory.  It's not our problem in the American midwest, its
theirs.  Washington has turned into a fortress of concrete barriers, no
parking zones and strictly limited access to the sites needed for a bomb
to have this effect.  Oklahoma city was not.  The bombers picked an easy
target that would make the biggest impression.  I DO NOT SANCTION IT,
but it sounds like a good advertising plan to me.

> Why was Oklahoma City -- prime example of middle class America,
> relatively quiet, safe place to live, mostly trusting people with
> virtually no security at all required, and several hundred ineffectual
> (no insult intended, please understand my intentions here) federal
> employees chosen for this cowardly deed?  ... I think the message
> being delivered is that it can happen anywhere, at any time.
> [SNIP}

"Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweeping down the plain.  Where the
waving wheat can sure smell sweet when the wind comes right behind the
rain."  Rogers and Hammerstein described it as it was, peaceful and
safe.  ANYWHERE ANYTIME, terror on YOUR doorstep.  The bomber's message
was clearly sent.

Paul Robinson <[e-mail]> wrote:

> My personal opinion: If the people who did this consider the ATF to be
> at war with them and caused this explosion as retaliation, it would
> have been much more moral to either inform innocent bystanders to get
> out of the way by phoning or faxing a bomb threat to the police or
> FBI, or by setting off the explosion at 3am in the morning when
> innocent personnel would not be present.

That would be a kind decent thing to do.  When was the last time a
terrorist was kind or decent?  Wars have casualties that are
civillian.  If the bombers are declaring war on the ATF or FBI killing
civillians is part of their plan.  Civilized countries like America
try to avoid killing civilians in their wars.  A 3am blast would have
been considered 'a close call' for America, as close as the World
Trade Center bombing.  The memories fade.  All three newspapers I
bought today had large colored pictures of different surviving babies
being carried out of the rubble.  All three were smeared with blood.
That is a strong message to America.

But what do we do?  Remove all the foreign nationals from America?  Gee
then this country would be populated by American Indians since most
Americans can easily trace their roots outside America.  We cetainly
cannot give into the demands of bombers either.

Their message was sent and recieved.  I suppose we all would wish that
they would have used a more accepable means.

I noticed a small mistake in the one that reminds me of America's
reaction to any disaster.  Paul Robinson wrote:

> Traffic in the downtown Oklahoma City area is extremely heavy.  Local
> Stations are advising people to stay out of the area unless they have
> a specific reason to be there, such as being involved in rescue
  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^              ^^^^^^^
> operations, and hampering movement of emergency vehicles.
                  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

America's pasttime.

James E. Bellaire (JEB6)  [e-mail]
Twin Kings Communications  -  Sturgis, MI


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: 'Oklahoma!' was one of the biggest hits
on Broadway for several years in the late 1940's. O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A ...
Oklahoma! I've got the recording here; an old RCA Victor release.

You are not the only person to catch that bit of poor writing/editing.
Carl Moore *always* catches these things and writes me about them, and
he comments in the next item in this issue.  PAT]

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 20 Apr 95 18:36:08 EDT
From: Carl Moore <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Boom! (Second Report)


The last part of the following was badly written.  Hampering movement
of emergency vehicles is not a reason to be IN the area, but rather a
reason to STAY OUT.

> Traffic in the downtown Oklahoma City area is extremely heavy.  Local
> Stations are advising people to stay out of the area unless they have a
> specific reason to be there, such as being involved in rescue operations,
> and hampering movement of emergency vehicles.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But as Mr. Bellaire points out, an American
pasttime is going to the scene of an incident like this to gape and gawk
at the ruins and the misery.  There's nothing like seeing a mother cut up
and bloody walking in a daze down the street carrying her decapitated baby
to get you ready for a hearty lunch, eh?   PAT]

------------------------------

From: Mfrere <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Boom! (Oklahoma City/Waco/World Trade Center)
Date: 20 Apr 1995 22:32:29 GMT
Organization: Solect Technology Group


Paul Robinson <[e-mail]> wrote:

> Clearly, their injuring of bystanders represents irresponsible behavior.

Being late for work on a regular basis is irresponsible behavior.

2000 pounds of explosives in the back of a truck and blowing up a
building with over 300 people is terrorism!


Mike


------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Date: Thu, 20 Apr 1995 13:51:27 PDT
Subject: Re: We Will Find the People Who Did This


Pat, you say:

> What kind of animals would have killed all those innocent babies and
> small children? I don't give a damn what kind of gripe they had or
> have with the government; who in their right mind would have caused
> such carnage?

I agree, but add, as does another author:

> My personal opinion: If the people who did this consider the ATF to
> be at war with them and caused this explosion as retaliation, it would
> have been much more moral to either inform innocent bystanders to get
> out of the way by phoning or faxing a bomb threat to the police or
> FBI, or by setting off the explosion at 3am in the morning when
> innocent personnel would not be present.

I would add to both of these that I FOUND the Waco thing to be just as
dreadful, and on that basis I find Clinton and Reno both whining about
how these people would be treated as killers, to be particularly
hypocritical ... and this hypocrisy can best be demonstrated by the
fact that the passage of yours that I quoted could also be attributed
to the ATF, and the FBI's HRT, both in the WCO massacre, but also in
the case of Randy Weaver's wife, friend and son.

Do I deplore the violence in OKC any less because the government's
actions? No!! NOT BY ANY MEANS ... I WANT TO BE PARTICULARLY CLEAR ON THAT!

But it's damn hard to take the self righteousness of Clinton, et-al
seriously, given the context.

> Clearly, their injuring of bystanders represents irresponsible behavior.

No question,and I agree, wholeheartedly. At the same time, I confess
to a nagging voice in the back of my head that suggests that one
person's terrorist is another's freedom fighter ... and the difference
between them, given the recent attitudes displayed all to clearly by
the White House is apparently who wins. Clinton said: "Let Waco be a
lesson to all Americans."

Sad that he's not identified the people who need the lesson ... namely
himself and his subordinates.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I'm sure the people in Oklahoma City
appreciate your comments this morning on the second day after the
tragedy and as the horror is beginning to sink in. Yes, I also thought
the government's actions in Waco were terribly wrong but the one does
not offset the other. Maybe Clinton and Reno have learned something
as a result of this; it is tragic if they had to learn the hard way.  PAT]

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 21 Apr 1995 04:38:36 -0400 (EDT)
From: Paul Robinson <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Boom! (Second Report)
Organization: Tansin A. Darcos & Company - Silver Spring MD USA


On Thu, 20 Apr 1995, Carl Moore wrote:

> The last part of the following was badly written.  Hampering movement
> of emergency vehicles is not a reason to be IN the area, but rather a
> reason to STAY OUT.

>> Traffic in the downtown Oklahoma City area is extremely heavy.  Local
>> Stations are advising people to stay out of the area unless they have a
>> specific reason to be there, such as being involved in rescue operations,
>> and hampering movement of emergency vehicles.

Hehehe.  Yes, that's right.  I should have said 'and being there is
hampering'.

Pat, I have a quote that fits both my error, where you used to live, and a
point about the "increased security".  Mayor Daley of Chicago addressed
the infamous 1968 Democratic Convention - it spawned the incident leading
to the trial of the notorious "Chicago Seven," where Judge Hoffman made so
many mistakes the appeals court overturned every single one of the more
than 140 charges they were convicted of - and commented about the
complaints about the practices of cops picking up people who were
protesting or causing a rucus, and he said, "The police are not here to
create disorder, they are here to preserve disorder."

On the day of the blast, around 3 or 4 pm Eastern Time, I had to drive into
Washington, DC, past the Holocost Museum on 14th and D Streets, NW, as
well as the white house.  The museum had a GSA Police Cruiser out front,
and the White House had a DC Police Unit on the large area between the
two double yellow lines on Pennsylvania Ave out front, another van with
U.S. Government license plates, and two uniformed police officers on
motorcycles (but they may have been there to shoot the breeze or to watch
for chances to write tickets, but somehow I don't think so.)

WTOP News Radio 1500 in Washington interviewed a retired Federal Employee
about the concerns of tourists, especially teachers bringing a group of
children, how safe they would be against terrorist attack.  The man said
that a few extra police cars and officers is minor in comparison to the
height of the Vietnam War protests which were also around 1968, where the
National Guard was patrolling DC in full riot gear, long billy clubs, and
military vehicles.  He feels Washington is safer now than back then.

What is interesting about the reports is how much was wrong.  First the
van that was seen leaving the site fast, just before the explosion, was
reported as rented from "A Dallas/Ft.Worth Airport rental agency," then
another reported it was "National Car Rental," and now today it was
apparently rented from another company - Budget or Alamo, but don't hold
me to that - in Kansas.

The Red Cross has a number for people to offer donations - especially
money which is needed due to the large effort after the LA Earthquake and
the midwest flooding, the San Francisco Drought, the LA Drought, the LA
Floods, the LA and San Juachin Valley yearly brush fires, the... - and
the Red Cross, which does a lot of help anyway, has a number to call to
offer donations:

   1-800-HELP-NOW

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Bill Hensley)
Subject: Re: We Will Find the People Who Did This
Date: Thu, 20 Apr 1995 23:45:17


TELECOM Digest Editor wrote:

> I hope readers of the Digest in the Oklahoma City vicinity will share
> news with us as it becomes available to them. Telephone service was
> particularly slow and sluggish all day Wednesday all over the USA,
> but virtually ceased to operate at all for a few hours in Oklahoma's
> capitol city.  Updates on the telecom situation there will be
> especially appreciated.

Patrick:

Thank you for the kind words.  I agree with your suggestion to mail
President Clinton and I have done so.

Things are very numb in this city now.  This has touched a lot of
people.  I didn't know anyone who worked in the Federal Building or
the Courthouse, but in my personal contacts in the past few days, 1) a
woman's (in our birthing class) grandmother is missing from there, and
2) three students in my wife's school (she's a teacher, small school,
*only* 150 students grades pre-school to 8th grade) had either parents
or close relatives at that facility.  It seems to have calmed here
somewhat, but I think that numb is a good word.

For the telecom situation, during the first five-six hours, the cellular
freqs were completely jammed by competition between rescue workers and
the public.  Repeated requests to clear the air had to be made.  It was
difficult to get a call across town. Some calls were cut off (pre-empted,
maybe?).  It was very difficult to get a long-distance call made.  A command
post was set up in the SWB building (which also sustained damage, although it
appears that the microwave antenna complex on the roof of the building was
shielded from blast effects).  There were tremendous EMI/EMC problems between
the RF gear downtown.  Radio reporters (which were our main information
sources) said numerous times that they could not get signal through to base
stations due to EMI.

There are still periodic difficulties in getting calls through intra-city, but
long-distance seems OK.  That's all the information I have.


Bill Hensley   TRW Oklahoma City Engineering Office
[e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Thank you very much for taking the time to
write with news from the center of it all. I know a lot of people there
are probably far too busy with their own personal problems at this time to
be very concerned about what the rest of the world is writing and thinking.

I do hope Internet citizens (or netizens as we are sometimes called) will
take a minute today if you have not done so to consider what donation can
be made to the Red Cross for the benefit of Oklahoma City and call them
at 1-800-HELP-NOW and take a second minute or two to send a note to
President Clinton expressing solidarity and unity with our elected leader
during this time of national crisis. Write [e-mail].  PAT]

------------------------------

Date:  Fri, 21 Apr 1995 08:20:08 +0000
From: [e-mail]
Subject:  Re: We Will Find the People Who Did This
Organization: Nortel Ltd., Maidenhead. England


Pat,

Whilst in no way condoning the terrible events in Oklahoma, it seems that
the hysterical wailing and gnashing of teeth that has followed bears
little resemblance to the US feting of the leader of Sinn Fein.

America has suffered two bomb attacks in the last five years - Great
Britain is enjoying her first bomb-free year in the last 25.  Perhaps
all those US citizens that are so outraged now will reflect on what
has been going on over here for so long, and rethink their blind
worship of Mr. Adams.

It also seems a little insensitive of Mr. Robinson to use this tragic
situation for a lengthy diatribe on the ATF agency -- especially since
it would seem that a number of them will have perished.  It also shows
the dubious wisdom of printing the first news that comes in -- Mr.
Robinson has laid the blame at the door of most people based only on
supposition and wild rumour.

I wonder how many apologies will be directed at the Middle East now that
the FBI are looking for two white men who rented the truck in Kansas??

Anyway, this bears little resemblence to anything telecom related, and I
have work to do!!

My deepest sympathies rest with all those in the States who have lost
friends and relatives in the atrocity, but especially those in the rescue
services that have the grisly task of clearing up.


          Adam Ashby      | [e-mail]  |     Nortel Ltd.
    [phone]      |                 |     Maidenhead, U.K.

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 20 Apr 95 15:46:22 -0500
From: [e-mail] (Ken Stox)
Subject: Re: We Will Find the People Who Did This


In article <[e-mail]>, TELECOM Digest Editor wrote:

> Why was Oklahoma City -- prime example of middle class America, relatively
> quiet, safe place to live, mostly trusting people with virtually no
> security at all required, and several hundred ineffectual (no insult
> intended, please understand my intentions here) federal employees chosen
> for this cowardly deed?  ... I think the message being delivered is that it
> can happen anywhere, at any time.  Yes, when the WTC bombing took place
> I said 'within a few months to a year it will become commonplace' ... so
> my timing was off a little. I will again suggest we have not seen the
> end of this reign of terror. This time I won't be so brash as to indicate
> a time frame.

I am sure that Oklahoma City was chosen very carefully to maximize the
terror potential of this act. If it happened in DC or NYC, much of the
public would have brushed it off, and there would have been a higher
probability of being caught. But, instead, the very heart of America
was struck.

> Prior to Wednesday's incident, the most severe terrorist incident in the
> United States took place Thursday, September 16, 1920 when a bomb exploded
> in New York City's Wall Street area. In that incident, 40 persons were
> killed and 700 were seriously injured. No one was ever apprehended or
> convicted in the bombing which {The New York Times} blamed on 'anarchists'.

> Prior to the 1920 incident, the most severe terrorist incident occurred
> in Chicago, Monday, May 24, 1886. During a labor union rally in the
> Haymarket neighborhood of Chicago, a bomb explosion left seven Chicago
> Police officers dead along with four workers. Another 66 persons were
> seriously injured.  On New Year's Eve in 1975, a bomb in a locker at
> LaGuardia Airport in New York City exploded killing eleven perseons
> and injuring 75 others including a reporter from the {Chicago Tribune}.

> But never before, an attack of the magnitude of yesterday within the
> United States itself. President Clinton stated very plainly, "We will
> find the people who did this ..." I hope everyone will for now put
> aside differences they may have with Clinton and send a note of support
> to '[e-mail]' saying simply that in this we are united:
> find, and severely punish the people involved. Janet Reno stated that
> the federal death penalty is appropriate. I believe it is also. Let
> Clinton know how you feel.

I agree, but I am very concerned that many people will be willing to
sacrifice basic rights to protect ourselves from these acts. I think
we may end up with a society not unlike Britain. I, for one, would
rather live free and die.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: And what, pray tell, do you find so
unpleasant about Great Britain?  They seem to have some civilization
there -- despite their own troubles in the past few decades -- that
we are sadly lacking here. I'd move there in a minute if I had some
employment there or method of surviving other than enrolling in their
public welfare the day I arrived. You would rather live free and die,
but I will suggest that you're going to be dead a lot sooner than you
think with that kind of attitude.  PAT]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Robert Casey)
Subject: Re: Exchange Names Aid Memory, Especially With NPA Splits
Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest)
Date: Wed, 19 Apr 1995 05:13:13 GMT


Exchange names were nice to have (I grew up in 201-Colfax-1 xxxx now
201-261-xxxx).  But I know someone with the phone number 908-918-xxxx,
there are no letters associated with "1", so there's no possible
exchange name for it.

Maybe we can have *area code* names for these new area codes without a
0 or 1 for the 2nd digit.  Like "DEacon-4 xxx-xxxx" for that new 334
area code in Alabama.  Or "WRiter-0 xxx-xxxx" for 970, "LAbrador-0
xxx-xxxx"for 520, "LOranne-2 xxx-xxxx" for 562, "VOltare-0 xxx-xxxx "
for 860, and so on.

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 20 Apr 95 22:48:06 PDT
From: [e-mail] (Lars Poulsen)
Subject: Re: Information Wanted on DSP Chip Modems
Organization: Rockwell International - CMC Network Products


In article <[e-mail]> is written:

> ... DSP chip modems ... have an advantage of flexibility at a lower
> prices. Any future changes just needs an upgrade in the software.

Modems based on programmable Digital Signal Processors have the
advantage that they can be updated with new future modulation protocols
with only a software download IF THE NEW MODULATION ISN'T FASTER THAN
THE ONE THEY WERE DESIGNED FOR. But if the new modulation does not have
better performance, there is of course no reason to switch.

In the words of my high school physics teacher: EX NIHILO NIHIL FIT
(TANSTAAFL!).


Lars Poulsen            Internet E-mail: [e-mail]
Rockwell Network Systems    Phone:        [phone]
7402 Hollister Avenue         Telefax:      [phone]
Santa Barbara, CA 93105        Internets: designed and built while you wait

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 21 Apr 1995 04:55:15 PDT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: New Improved Regulations For Cordless Phones


Two weeks ago, on April 5, I heard on the radio news that the FCC had
issued new regulations that would allow improved cordless phone
quality.  They only cited additional available channels.  "Phones
taking advantages of the new regulations will be in the stores by
summer."

I haven't seen or heard any more since.  Anybody know more?


Paul Gloger <[e-mail]>

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #207
******************************


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Date: Mon, 24 Apr 1995 19:49:42 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #208

TELECOM Digest     Mon, 24 Apr 95 19:49:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 208

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Annoying Calls: Can We Deal With Them? (Randall Rathbun)
    Book Review: "NetPages" by Aldea Communications (Rob Slade)
    Need Help on 50-POTS-Line Setup (Trevor Fiatal)
    Indian Minister Calls For Computers in Rural Schools (Rishab Aiyer Ghosh)
    International Rates to Russia (Van Hefner)
    Mexico: Buying Modems and Muxes ([e-mail])
    EIA-232 Specifications - Where Can They be Located? (Chad Ira Hanneman)
    CIUG Conference (Bob Larribeau)
    Telecomics (Dave Leibold)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
                    9457-D Niles Center Road
                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
                        Fax: [phone]
  ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

*************************************************************************
*   TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the              *
* International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland    *
* under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES)   *
* project.  Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such
as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help
is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per
year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Fri, 21 Apr 1995 18:16:28 -0700
From: [e-mail] (Randall Rathbun)
Subject: Annoying Calls: Can We Deal With Them?


"Would you like to work at home? Would you like to be freed from the
drudgery of a company? Would you like to pick your own hours? etc,
etc."

This computer auto-dialed voice response advertisement hit our block
of 1200 numbers in a CA office prefix and started up the chain of
numbers. We have almost 3 dozen DID trunks selectable as a distribution
group. Dial our range of numbers, and it comes in on any of our
trunks. Continually hitting the attendant operator, the situation soon
became very irritating. Our engineers and management were also
receiving this barrage of automated enticements, and frankly it was
disruptive to our business. We are a large defense manufacturer and
don't have the time or inclination to be disturbed by this type of
thing.

What came as a surprise totally to us, was the response of our local
telco when asked to remedy the situation. Here's what we're told
(quoted) "We don't have a way to stop this ... we don't have a way of
trapping ... you have to have a trap in place ... you have to have your
security give us a signed statement ... you have to have a case number
assigned to you from the county sheriff's department."

In other words, it is just about impossible to even deal with this
type of annoying or harassment call due to the complicated, extended
and time-consuming legal procedures. The local telco representative
added "We've had this thing happen to us, hopefully yours' will stop
today" and they acknowledged that a carefully placed roving call would
go through virtually impossible to stop.  They said they had to have
two matches on the same number before they could initiate law
enforcement activity in their offensive call bureau.

A simple question comes to mind, don't roving calls only hit the
number once and then move on?

In other words, knowledgeable offensive callers can dial with almost
complete impunity and automated dialers are "impossible" to stop.

What particularly irks this writer, with extensive knowledge and
experience of telecommunications, is that he and a local CO technician
can trace and lock down these type of calls within 10-15 seconds after
they come in. The local CO technician can even remotely login to other
telco sites and trace the call and positively identify its source
within a minute or at the most two. In other words, it IS possible to
stop these types of calls.

Why can't we do something about this growing problem? Have the telco
carriers formulated new procedures to handle this growing problem? All
the hardware is already in place to deal with this situation. With the
advent of the computer autdialers and increasing mechanization during
the 90's, this type of thing will only increase. Certainly abuse will
only increase once people realize that nothing really will ever be
done.

Can't we stop this type of thing, rather than throw up our hands and
say "oh well, there's nothing we can do about it"? Your comment is
appreciated.

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 23 Apr 1995 13:37:29 EST
From: Rob Slade <[e-mail]>
Subject: Book Review: "NetPages" by Aldea Communications


BKNETPAG.RVW   950313

"NetPages", Susan Estrada, 1994, U$5.95
%A   Susan Estrada [e-mail]
%C   2380 Camino Vida Roble, Carlsbad, CA   92009
%D   1994
%I   Aldea Communications, Inc.
%O   U$5.95 [phone] fax: [phone] [e-mail]
%P   214
%T   "NetPages"

Godin and McBride did the "1994 Internet White Pages" (cf.
BKINTWHP.RVW) and haven't yet attempted an update.  Hahn and Stout
claim the "original" (cf.  BKINTYLP.RVW), and New Riders the
"official" (cf. BKNRYLPG.RVW), "Yellow Pages", both of which are in
their second editions.  Now, Aldea has produced blue, white and yellow
NetPages in one volume.

It is my understanding that NetPages is intended to be supplied like
the phone book, with both hardcopy and online versions being provided
free of charge and the project to be funded by the sale of
advertising.  (My copy, labelled "Spring 1995", was also marked
"$5.95".)  I assume this is the first edition: for a network
directory, it is very slim.

The blue pages are a remarkably cogent and concise "at a glance" guide
to the Internet.  Email components, mailing lists, codes of conduct,
good references, and business on the Internet are covered quickly, but
with all the major points covered.  (The bibliography is terrible, but
you can't have everything.)

The white pages have first business, and then individual, listings.
This is very handy in terms of finding people, but an additional page
colour might be of benefit here, to distinguish the two sections.  The
listing system is automated; you send email to [e-mail], so
there are frequent errors.  (Send email to [e-mail] to get
details of the submission format.)

In this version, there are fewer than 160 companies listed in the
yellow pages.

The information in the book states that it will be published twice
annually.  For information on availability, send email to
[e-mail].

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1995   BKNETPAG.RVW   950313. Distribution
permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated publications. Rob Slade's
book reviews are a regular feature in the Digest.


Vancouver        [e-mail]         | "If a train station
Institute for    [e-mail]      |  is where a train
Research into    [e-mail]     |  stops, what happens
User             [e-mail] |  at a workstation?"
Security         Canada V7K 2G6           | Frederick Wheeler

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Trevor Fiatal)
Subject: Need Help on 50-POTS-Line Setup
Date: 23 Apr 1995 19:49:22 GMT
Organization: University of NC at Charlotte


Hi, telecom netizens.

I'm in the midst of coordinating an ISP startup, and I've run into
a seemingly-simple problem which has me stumped.  Please help me!

We had Centel (Sprint's wholly-owned NC telco subsidiary) bring 200
pairs from their CO to our office.  We currently have 50 pairs
hooked up, and this is where my ignorance begins.

Rather than a simple block of RJ-11s, I have two 50-pair blocks of
punch-down posts, one labeled "Xmit" and the other labeled "Recv".
The blocks appear to be bridged together; I can't tell for sure.
Which block should I wire my inside lines to?  I'm not certain it
would make a difference, but I'd like to get it right the first time.

I would also appreciate any tips on how to keep things simple, in
terms of what number of conductors to use in any given cable, and
good sources for RJ patch panels and the like.

Email replies are fine; UNCC is graciously allowing me to use my
(former) staff account as an access point until we get rolling.


Thanks,

Trevor [e-mail][e-mail]
Alphanet South -- High Speed Internet Access for the Pinehurst, NC area.
  USR V.34 Courier modems on every line -- ISDN coming soon!
Pinehurst POP projected to open May 1, 1995 -- Call [phone] for info

------------------------------

Subject: Indian Minister Calls For Computers in Rural Schools
From: [e-mail] (Rishab Aiyer Ghosh)
Date: Sun, 23 Apr 95 03:45:00 IST
Organization: Deus X Machina


Indian Minister calls for computers in rural schools

Mr Madhavrao Scindia, India's Human Resources Development Minister who
is responsible for education, outlined a range of improvements to the
government-run Kendriya Vidyalaya schools across the country,
including extensive computerisation.

At a meeting with the board of governors of the schools, which are
among the better run of the cash-starved public schools that cater
mainly to the poor or rural population, the Ministry proposed that
schools be connected through electronic networks to the facilities of
the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Management
(IIMs). The Ministry also proposed replacing obselete BBC micros with
newer PCs in several hundred schools.

In order to make schoolgoing "a happy experience," it has been decided
that children up to the second grade will not be given any homework,
and all grades will incorporate more "activity-based learning," and
"more freedom," with teachers acting only "as guides."

An independent initiative from the Department of Electronics,
involving the use of discretionary funds controlled by members of
Parliament for public spending in their constituencies, aims to
provide computers to schools at the district level and connect them
through Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) satellite links to ERNET,
India's patch of the Internet, forming an "information footpath." This
initiative was inaugurated earlier this year; in addition there are
already some privately-run schools for the underprivileged that use
Internet e-mail for innovative educational programmes.


Rishab Aiyer Ghosh     [e-mail]
[e-mail]    Vox [phone] Voxmail 3760335
H 34C Saket, New Delhi 110017, INDIA

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Date: Mon, 24 Apr 1995 19:18:53 -0400
Subject: International Rates to Russia


For those of you who make frequent international calls from the U.S.
to Russia, I have compiled a factsheet listing rates to that country
on programs from AT&T, MCI, Sprint, Cyberlink, and Telegroup. I used
the best calling programs available from each company on both their
commercial and residential programs.

The report includes rates from programs such as Sprint Sense
International, The Most For Business International, MCI Preferred
Worldwide, MCI Friends & Family Around the World, AT&T Global Business
Advantage, AT&T True World Savings, Cyberlink International Plus, and
Telegroup Global Access USA.

An explanation of all available discounts is listed for each program,
as well as their base per-minute rates and peak/off-peak time periods
(different with each company). Some of these rates are limited-time
offers that expire within a few weeks.

Also included is a comparison of charges for a typical 3 1/2 minute
call using each of the programs (both with AND without all applicable
discounts, peak and off-peak). Specific information on billing increments,
service charges, monthly minimums, and required domestic services is
given. Other info on fraud, six-second billing, differences between
programs, access methods and a summary/reccomendation for each carrier
is included as well.

The file 'russia.txt' can be downloaded from my archive site via
anonymous FTP at ftp.northcoast.com in the /pub/vantek/reports
directory. All current and back issues of our newsletter Discount Long
Distance Digest can also be downloaded from the same site in the
/pub/vantek directory.



Van Hefner     Publisher
Discount Long Distance Digest
[e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (MAXTHUMP)
Subject: Mexico: Buying Modems and Muxes
Date: 22 Apr 1995 20:59:44 -0400
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
Reply-To: [e-mail] (MAXTHUMP)


           4 0 7 - A   F c o .   V i l l a r re a l
             C o l o n i a   B u e n a   V i s t a
   M a t a m o r o s ,   T a m a u l i p a s ,   Me x i c o

              Telephone:    [phone]
                    Fax:    [phone]
                 E-mail:    [e-mail]

                            B U Y I N G

            NEW, USED, OR REFURBISHED

We are "BUYING" the follwing items for customers in Mexico:

Modems & Multiplexors in ANY of the following Brand Names:

UDS 9648T & 9645's
NET (NETWORK EQUIP. TECH)
TIMEPLEX
DATATEL
TELEBIT
CODEX
UDS
MULTITECH
MICOM
AT&T PARADYNE
HAYES
GDC
NEC
MICROCOM
RACAL MILGO /  RACAL VADIC
CODEX
AT&T 2048 T'S

MISC.

Cisco Bridges & Routers (T-1)
VERILINK (T-1, CSU/DSU)

PRINTERS:

OKIDATA  (MICRO LINE FAMILY-300 SERIES)
EPSON (ANY)

Pleases respond by phone, fax, or E-mail to Grady Young:

With the Model #'s and Quantities you have available.

Note:  All transactions including receipt will be in U.S.; and , in U.S.
currency.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Chad Ira Hanneman)
Subject: EIA-232 Specifications - Where Can They be Located?
Date: 24 Apr 1995 18:00:11 -0700
Organization: CRL Dialup Internet Access [phone]  [Login: guest]


I am looking for the EIA(RS)-232 specification.  Would anyone know
where I could find it?  Any information via E-Mail would be greatly
appreciated.  I'm also looking for the 422, 423, 449, and 530 specs as
well.

Thanks in advance!

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Bob Larribeau)
Subject: CIUG Conference
Date: 24 Apr 1995 11:48:44 GMT
Organization: Larribeau Associates


The California ISDN Users' Group Conference DESIGNING AND IMPLEMENTING
ISDN APPLICATIONS

May 31 and June 1 LAX Marriott


For more information and a registration form see below our take a look
at http://www.ciug.org/ciug/ciugmeet.html

or send more information to "[e-mail]"

Bob Larribeau

                    -------------------

REGISTRATION
Please fill out this form and mail with payment to:

CALIFORNIA ISDN USERS GROUP
P.O. BOX 27901-318
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94127

or, for credit card orders, phone or fax us:

[phone] Phone
[phone] Fax

Payment:
____    $100 Full Conference (includes membership fee)
____    $75 Full Conference (for members only)
___+    $25 Exhibits Only (includes membership fee; exhibits-only FREE
            for CIUG members

Name____________________________________________________________________

Company, Job Title _____________________________________________________

Address, Mail Stop _____________________________________________________

City, State, Zip _______________________________________________________

Telephone, Fax, email __________________________________________________

   ___ Visa   ____ Mastercard   ____ American Express

Credit Card Number. Expiration Date _______________________________________

Name, Signature _______________________________________________________
HOTEL INFORMATION
Los Angeles Airport Marriott
5855 W. Century Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90045
[phone]

Call the hotel to make your reservations. The Marriott will hold a
block of rooms until May 17. at a special rate of $85 per night -
single double. Be sure to mention the California ISDN Users' Group
when you make your reservation.

The LAX Marriott is located conveniently by the Los Angeles Airport.
The hotel provides transportation from the airport.


EXHIBITS

We will have exhibits and demonstrations by 40 ISDN companies on both
days with a reception Wednesday evening from 5:00 to 7:00 PM.


PROGRAM

Registration Open* Wednesday 9:30 AM
The Registration Desk will open at 9:30.


Issues and Tutorials * Wednesday 10:00 - 12:00
Several informal meetings and tutorials will be held, including:

New Members Orientation - S. Kluz, Chairman (10:00 - 11:00)
ISDN Issues - S. Kluz, Chairman - (11:00 - 12:00)
ISDN Tutorial - R. Brennan, AT&T (11:00 - 12:00)
PPP MP Interoperability Workshop - R. Larribeau (10:00 - 12:00)


Plenary * Wednesday 1:00 - 2:30
Stan Kluz - Chairman, LLNL
Welcome and discussion of CIUG activities.
Keynote - Pat Krause, McDonald's
A discussion by an ISDN pioneer based on his experience of what it takes to be successful in designing and implementing ISDN applications.
Bob Larribeau - Program Chair
Conference Program

Wednesday 3:00 - 5:00

Understanding and Selecting ISDN Services
Leading phone companies that offer ISDN services will discuss the important considerations in selecting and using the various ISDN service options.
Jack Stewart - MacNeal-Schwendler will give the user's view
J. B. Hannis - GTE
Mike Sapien - Pacific Bell
Dei Hardiman - AT&T
Pete Hansen - Sprint

Thursday 8:30 to 10:00

ISDN Video Applications

Two videoconferencing users will discuss the extensive networks that
they have setup along with a presentation by Pacific Bell on how to
select and use network based videoconferencing services.

Ari Ollikainen - LLNL
Jack Fine - Pacific Bell
Denise Showalter - Pacific Bell

ISDN Voice Applications

Users who have implemented large ISDN Centrex applications will
discuss their experiences and the benefits they have received.

Rich Brennan - AT&T
Brian Aumiller - McDonald's
Alex Kelley - El Camino College
Sheryl Kimball - El Camino College

Thursday 10:30 to Noon

ISDN Packet & Satellite Applications

Discussions about how ISDN can be used with X.25 packet switching
networks or in satellite networks to support

Chris Brock - Pacific Bell
Byron Wagner - Genius, Inc.
Frank Piepiorra - Data TeleMark

ISDN Data Networking Applications

Three users will discuss their experiences in setting up network
connections and network access using ISDN.

Steve Wheeler - Graphics Plus
Bruce Bartolf - Gensler & Assoc.
Rick Valasek - Velasek Assoc.


Thursday 2:30 to 3:00

ISDN and Netware

A panel led by a user that will discuss how to solve the issues that
come up in using Netware over ISDN. Includes a discussion of IPX
spoofing changes in Netware that facilitate using ISDN.

Doug Kaye - Rational Data Systems
Joe Gervais - Novell
Ham Mathews - Digiboard

ISDN Data Equipment

Meet the man behind the best ISDN Web site on the Internet. Hear about
the kind of equipment that is available on how it performs. Presentation
on the PPP MP Interoperability recently held by the CIUG.

Dan Kegel - Knowledge Adventure
Bob Larribeau - Larribeau Assoc.
Bob Downs - Sonic Systems

Thursday 3:30 to 5:00

ISDN Work-at-Home Applications

Discussion by three users who have implemented programs that allow
their employees to work at home.

Natalie Clinton - LLNL
Dirk Hartogs - Canon Research
Chip Parham - Chevron

ISDN and the Internet

Will cover how and why you should use ISDN to dialup into the Internet.

Charles Como - Underground Network
Mike Friedman - Yasco
Tom Ryan - Scitech

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Dave Leibold)
Date: 21 Apr 95 23:57:35 -0500
Subject: Telecomics


Another sampling of those newspaper funnies featuring fones ... in not
too particular an order ...

# Sherman's Lagoon, 30 Mar 95:

Fillmore: "What's Fidel Castro doing on your autodial?"
Sherman: "Fidel and I go way back."
Fillmore: "Madonna? Mother Teresa? I think you made these up to
          impress people..."
(and on it goes until it is discovered The Three Tenors didn't live
together ... now direct-dial to Cuba is in America now, isn't it? ...
meanwhile this comic has an e-mail: [e-mail])

# Dave, date unknown, but in 1995:

Featuring the not-so-exciting TV series spun from Rescue 911,
"Information 411"

# Shoe, 25 Oct 94:

Cosmo phones a female, gets her answering machine, and the message
"... if this is you again, Cosmo, hang up at the beep."

# Shoe, 24 Mar 95:

Economy voice mail comes to Shoe's paper... where they "don't get
same-day delivery"

# Animal Crackers, sometime in '95:

Lyle's continuing attempts to communicate with Lana ... this time it
ends with her answering machine hanging up on his voice.

# Animal Crackers, 27 Jan 95"

Lyle vs Lana 2... a no-answer this time... playing hard to get, and
in the words of a bystander, "she's winning"

# Mixed Media, 4 Apr 95:

Dating in the 70's... by phone number
Dating in the 90's... by e-mail address

# Mixed Media, 1 Mar 95:

Alexander Graham Bell is shown, doing his famous summoning of
Watson... but "the party at this extension is not available at this
time..." ... imagine as Bell had to invent his device with those
voice mail/PBX options.

# Mixed Media, 20 Apr 95:

Mailbox yells at someone to write his mother... "now that's voice
mail..."

# Mixed Media, 28 Feb 95:

The results of cell phoning while race car driving are not nice ...

# Mother Goose and Grimm, 31 Jan 95:

Mother Goose wants to complain to the postmaster about rising postage
rates and slow service ... so the postmaster uses the "fastest and most
economical way"... fax

# Sylvia, 1 Feb 95:

Person on hold waiting for an operator ... "perhaps until your hair
turns gray or your eyes bulge out."


Fidonet : Dave Leibold 1:250/730
Internet: [e-mail]

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #208
******************************


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From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #209

TELECOM Digest     Mon, 24 Apr 95 21:14:30 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 209

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Do You Really Want the World in Your Living Room? (Rishab Aiyer Ghosh)
    CO/Boston Goes to AT&T Autoplex (Doug Reuben)
    ATT System 25 Music on Hold Help Please (Michael Cummings)
    Book Review: "51 Reasons" by Stone-Martin/Breeden (Rob Slade)
    FTC Report on LD Competition (Michael Ward)
    Florida AC Splits (Paul Knupke)
    1-900-555-1212 (Jeff Smyth)
    Top Ten Excuses For Getting Your Own T-1 Connection (Peter M. Weiss)
    FCC Proposes Changes in Cellular 911 Service (Edupage via Michael Kuras)
    NYNEX Voluntarily Agrees to Competition (Jonathan Welch)
    Why SNMP? or Why Not? (Suresh Kalkunte)
    Need Help With Wiring RJ-11 Telephone Jack (Robert Swan)
    Voice Pagers; Where Are They? ([e-mail])
    Is There a Telecom Glossary On-Line Somewhere? (Nicol C. So)
    MCI Response to Oklahoma City Residents (Van R. Hutchinson)
    On Choosing a Long Distance Carrier (Van R. Hutchinson)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
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----------------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: Do You Really Want the World in Your Living Room?
From: [e-mail] (Rishab Aiyer Ghosh)
Date: Mon, 24 Apr 95 19:55:22 IST
Organization: Deus X Machina


Weekly column for The Asian Age by Rishab Aiyer Ghosh
#44, 16/January/1995: Do you really want the world in your living room?

Off the wires, we are used to two basic modes of inter- personal
communication - face-to-face, and writing, in order of decreasing
directness. One provides less sensory input than the other, but allows
more time for measured, intelligent and therefore useful responses.
Electronic discussion in the form of e-mail or even real-time textual
chat is unusual in that it provides both a sense of immediacy as well
as the space required to organize one's thoughts. However, telecom
giants are hoping that consumers of the future will simply cart their
real-world conversation paradigms into cyberspace, making
videoconferencing the rage. This is unlikely in the long run - even
novice users of the Net discover the power of pure text early on.

Physical proximity during a conversation encourages awareness of
subliminal messages, through body language, inflexions of the voice
and the physical context of immediate surroundings. It also distracts
one's attention with a flood of details, sometimes useful but often
irrelevant to the purpose of communication. Face-to-face interaction
is very good at putting people at ease - they feel reassured that they
are talking to someone who is really listening, and they get to know
what other participants are "all about."

E-mail, when best used, gets to the point. It does not carry any
subliminal stream of unintended communication that is beyond one's
control; instead, it encourages focussed, well thought out and
relevant content. Of course those who have nothing to say also use
e-mail, and the lack of content in their messages is more apparent,
more quickly, than in face-to-face communication.

Supporters of videoconferencing believe in virtual reality. As
customers didn't consider talking to disembodied faces very appealing,
we've progressed to torsos, sofas, embalmed-Pentium paperweights and
even the odd potted plant. The idea is to create a sense of physical
proximity, carrying people into each other's virtual living rooms.
Unlike real living-room meetings, the barrier of distance and the
camera lens (headset, datagloves, whatever) haunts any VR conference,
so any closeness is clearly artificial. So you end up with the
disadvantages of too much immediacy, of forced "spur-of- the-moment"
responses, without most of the advantages of facing real people.

Face-to-face communication and attempts to replicate it over fibre
make the basic assumption of definite identity: all participants in a
conversation are real human beings using their true names, rather than
intelligent agents, pseudonyms or dogs. This is almost certain not to
be the case, as concerns over privacy mount - a hypothetical
Infosphere Secret Police could, from traffic in public forums, compile
dossiers to shame the Stasi. One could imagine pseudonymized
videoconferencing, with ski-masks digitally painted over faces, but
unless you enjoy being subject to constant voice-stress (or
tilt-of-head) analysis, you'll stick to text.

Of course, realistic videoconferencing will have a niche market. Even
though Granny, in the famous example, can't hold her newborn grandson
over a video-phone any more than over a VCR playing a home video, she
can see him gurgle in real time. High-flying directors of multinational
corporations might like to hold board meetings while cruising off
Nauru - but the truly foresighted are already realizing that the
suits, accents and gestures transmitted so well over VR phone do not
imply competence or expertise. Coherent conceptualization, which is
all that textual e-mail permits, does. The sooner we understand this,
the better equipped we will be to enter the information age.


Rishab Aiyer Ghosh is a freelance technology consultant
and writer. You can reach him through voice mail (+91 11
3760335) or e-mail ([e-mail]).

Rishab Aiyer Ghosh    [e-mail]
[e-mail]   Vox [phone] Voxmail 3760335
H 34C Saket, New Delhi 110017, INDIA

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Doug Reuben)
Subject: CO/Boston Goes to AT&T Autoplex
Date: Mon, 24 Apr 1995 11:15:20 EDT


Just last night I was driving to Boston, and south of Worcester, I
activated No-Answer-Transfer.

Instead of the Motorola EMX "Beep-Beep-Beep"...etc" tones, I got an
AT&T Autoplex stutter dial-tone confirmation. I then tried call
waiting (the Autoplex has a very distinctive Call-Waiting scheme, and
you even get a stutter dial tone when the calling party gives up and
disconnects), and sure enough, it was an AT&T switch!

Only the western sections of Cell One/Boston's (00007) service area
are served by the Autoplex, the rest get the older EMX, including the
"partnership" system which they co-operate with Atlantic Cellular in
NH (01485). However, I am told that by May 12th, the entire system
will be on the Autoplex, and I assume this means the 01485 system as
well. It will be fun seeing how two different companies, with two
different switches, continue to operate one "seamless" (yeah,
right...) system up in the Lakes region of New Hampshire ...

When Boston gets rid of the EMX, I am told that redirects will still
work to Metro Mobile (BAMS) RI (00119), although they may be a bit
slower and not as elegant as they were on the EMX. (RI is also an EMX,
as is all of Metro Mobile). We'll see ...

One glaring bug on the Autoplex: If you dial 10xxx+0+AC+number, it is
treated as if you just dialed the number direct! You are NOT prompted
for a calling card, and the call goes through and YOU pay for the call
 -- it is not billed to a calling card. I think 10XXX in general is not
working from the Autoplex, although I ddin't try that too extensively.
They are looking into it right now and are supposed to call me back to
let me know when that will be corrected.

Also, late at night I noticed a lot of erroneous "ESN Retricted/Denied"
messages, as well as some NACN-type recordings (The switch recording I
got was DE-32 ... what's DE stand for, Dedham?). So there's a lot of
work going on, and outgoing calls are sporadic at best, and incoming
are just slightly better.

It is an interesting transition though - two switches concurrently
serving the same system. I guess they are testing out the Autoplex in
the less populated sections of their system before they put one in
Boston.

(BTW, SWBell's other A property in the East, DC-MD/00013, is currently
an AT&T Autoplex switch, and yes, they are STILL having isolated
problems where if you register in Baltimore you can't get calls until
you hit DC, which is really weird, and has been going on for over a
year now :( .)


Doug Reuben  *  [e-mail]   *  (500) 442-4CID / (203) 499 - 5221
Interpage Network Services -- http://www.interpage.net, telnet interpage.net
E-Mail Alpha/Numeric Paging, Voice & Fax Svcs, News, and "Follow Me" Weather

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Michael Cummings)
Subject: ATT System 25 Music on Hold Help Please
Organization: NETCOM Balt. I feel better now.(tm)
Date: Mon, 24 Apr 1995 06:22:54 GMT


I have a ATT System 25 (in a remote location) that we are tring to
setup MOH. From what I am being told to set this up you need a
external piece of ATT equipt. to interface it to a system port. Some
time ago, a tech attempted to install this setup, did the programing
on the port (it's been marked MOH) then discovered that we needed some
sort of interface box to complete the install (at a price of 750.00 or
so).

I have never worked on a System 25 (or any ATT switch for that matter)
but I got to beleive that this box is just some sort of matching
transformer or such. If so could I use something like a Bogen WT-1??
or some other sort of generic matching unit. What pair on the system
port would I use??

Thanks for any help that anyone can provide.


Michael Cummings at home, feet up, in Columbia, MD  Work: 301-680-7906
                                                    DARCARS Automotive
Internet: [e-mail]  Voice: 410-964-5741  Info. Systems Div.
Netkom Stock?? I don't own no stkin' Netkom stock...Pyramid DC/OSx MIS-12
Yes, here at Netkom, we have BANANAS!!!.............System Admin.

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 24 Apr 1995 15:09:25 EST
From: Rob Slade <[e-mail]>
Subject: Book Review: "51 Reasons" by Stone-Martin/Breeden


BK51RESN.RVW   950314

"51 Reasons", Martha Stone-Martin, Laura Breeden, 1994
%A   Martha Stone-Martin
%A   Laura Breeden
%C   114 Waltham Street, Suite 12, Lexington, MA  02173
%D   1994
%I   FARNET, Inc.
%O   [phone] [e-mail]
%P   124
%T   "51 Reasons"

This book contains fifty-six short articles about some aspect of
Internet use.  Fifty-one represent works loosely based in each of the
fifty states (in the U.S.) and the District of Columbia, while five
are author profiles.

The articles cover a wide range of topics.  Most do not go into detail
about the applications used.  Some are a bit odd, such as the history
of SIMTEL20 (which does not mention the recent shut-down at WSMR) and
the promotional piece for Cisco Systems.

This is good material for promoting Internet use.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1995   BK51RESN.RVW   950314. Distribution
permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated publications. Rob Slade's
book reviews are a regular feature in the Digest.


Vancouver      [e-mail]    | "A ship in port is safe,
Institute for  [e-mail] |  but that is not what
Research into  Rob.Slade@f733.n153/|  ships are for."
User                .z1.fidonet.org|   Adm. Grace Murray Hopper
Security       Canada V7K 2G6      |      after John Parks

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (ward michael)
Subject: FTC Report on LD Competition
Date: 24 Apr 95 21:25:37 GMT
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana


Earlier this month, the FTC released a report on competition in the
long distance industry.  The report attempts to measure market power
by estimating firm-specific demand curves for AT&T and its rivals.
From these, price-cost margins are infered and estimates of the social
cost to above cost pricing by AT&T are calculated.  AT&T's demand
elasticity is estimated to be ~ -10 and the social cost is calculated
to be 0.36% of total industry revenues.

Copies of this report are available from the Federal Trade Commission
or email a request to me, Michael Ward, the report's author at
[e-mail] and I will mail a copy to you.


Regards,

Mike   [e-mail]
[phone]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Paul Knupke)
Subject: Florida AC Splits
Date: 24 Apr 1995 18:37:35 GMT
Organization: University of South Florida


In Friday's {Tampa Tribune} and Saturday's {St. Petersburg Times} it
was mentioned that area code 904 will split in early fall of this
year.  The possible area code is 850.  Jacksonville, Tallahassee and
Pensacola will remain in 904 while 850 goes to Gainsville, Ocala,
Daytona Beach.  Basically a line from Crystal River east to Daytona
Beach and south.

Also mentioned is the 954 split from 305.  Southern Bell supports an
overlay while the FL PSC favors 954 for Broward County and 305
remaining for Dade County.  Monroe County (non-mainland, ie the Keys)
is also in 305 so I am not sure what the deal is there.

The 941 split from 813 is scheduled to go ahead in May as planned with
Metro Tampa/St. Pete/Clearwater keeping 813 (Pasco, Pinellas and
Hillsborough Cos) and the rest of 813 moving to 941.


Paul Knupke, Jr.       University of South Florida Computer Engineering
[e-mail]                            Fidonet 1:377/61
Tampa, FL * Amateur Radio Callsign KR4YL * Packet @WA1GUD.#TPA.FL.NOAM

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 24 Apr 1995 10:07:30 PDT
From: Jeff Smyth <[e-mail]>
Subject: 1-900-555-1212


Pat,

On April 20th AT&T introduced a new service that allows callers to
obtain domestic (USA) and international long distance telephone
numbers -- just by dialing 1-900-555-1212.  (This looks to me like
AT&T's version of MCI's 1-900-GET-INFO service).

I have one "simple" question -- does anyone know who gave AT&T the
right to use this particular number?  It was my understanding that the
NPA-555-1212 number series was reserved for NPA specific directory
assistance -- not for a worldwide directory service operated by AT&T!

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 24 Apr 1995 08:55:34 EDT
From: Peter M. Weiss <[e-mail]>
Subject: Top Ten Excuses For Getting Your Own T-1 Connection
Organization: Penn State University


   ******************************************************************
   **     The Macmillan USA Information SuperLibrary Newsletter    **
   ******************************************************************
   http://www.mcp.com/general/news4/nl.html           Volume 1, Number 4

           M A C M I L L A N   T O P   T E N   L I S T

        Top Ten Excuses for Getting your Own T-1 Connection

10) ...so I could dodge potholes in the Information SuperHypeway at
1.544 Mbps.

9) Loading those Cindy Crawford gifs takes too much time away from your
schoolwork.

8) Scornful stares from coworkers when viewing your alt.binaries.shirtless.
abe.vigoda gifs at work.

7) Get real-time display of the evidence shown to witnesses in the OJ
trial.

6) So my Pentium (tm) doesn't run NetScape like an XT.

5) With a T-1 it's easier to justify the need for a T3 connection.

4) You have 24 different personalities and they all need to use
the phone -- NOW!

3) Just gotta fill that new five gig HD.

2) So I can control my coffee machine at home while at work.

And the number one excuse for getting your own T-1 connection ...

1) It will increase my productivity by allowing me to waste time more
efficiently.

Winners will be notified by email, so if you see your response listed
expect to hear from us with details about your FREE SuperLibrary
T-Shirt!

April's Contest: Top Ten USENET Newsgroups You'd Like to See

Send your response to [e-mail]

Computer News is Copyright (C) 1995 by Olcay Cirit. All Rights Reserved.

To SUBSCRIBE to Computer News, send e-mail to [e-mail] with
the following in the body of the message:

subscribe cn
               Computer News is edited by Olcay Cirit

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 19 Apr 1995 23:19:22 -0400
From: [e-mail] (Michael J Kuras)
Subject: FCC Proposes Changes in Cellular 911 Service
Organization: College of Computer Science, Northeastern University


Pat-

I read this on Edupage and thought you might be able to toss it on the
newsgroup if the subject comes up again sometime soon.


> FCC PROPOSES CHANGES IN CELLULAR 911 SERVICE
> A significant portion of the explosive growth in cellular phone services is
> due to people who buy them to feel safer -- women who worry about traveling
> alone in their cars, etc.  But now it turns out that 911 calls made from
> cellular phones are treated differently and the FCC is considering
> requiring cellular providers to improve their service.  While calls made
> from wired phones are routed to a centralized dispatch center, cellular
> calls are often routed other places, such as a state-police barracks.  And
> the automated tracking system that identifies where the call is coming from
> is useless with cellular technology.  The cellular industry is protesting
> the FCC's proposal, which would require cellular providers to give 911 calls
> priority over other calls and have technology in place within five years to
>  identify the location from which the call was made.  They point out that
> 25 million devices have already been sold, making retrofitting the phones a
> nightmare.  "We sat on our fat fannies 11 years ago when cellular first came
> out," says the head of a national group of emergency-number administrators.
> (Wall Street Journal 4/18/95 B1)




> EDUPAGE is what you've just finished reading.  To subscribe to Edupage:
> send a message to: [e-mail] and in the body of the message type:
> subscribe edupage J.J. Johnson (assuming that your name is J.J. Johnson; if
> it isn't, substitute your own name).  ... To cancel, send a message to:
> [e-mail] and in the body of the message type: unsubscribe
> edupage.

-----------------------------------------------
michael j kuras              [e-mail]


------------------------------

Date: Mon, 24 Apr 1995 07:27:23 -0500
From: Jonathan_Welch <[e-mail]>
Subject: NYNEX Voluntarily Agrees to Competition


Pat, I was still half asleep this morning, so you might want to get
more pertinent from another source, but WBZ radio in Boston reported
that NYNEX voluntarily agreed to open up to local competition.  A
competing company's name (MFS?) was mentioned, and the story pointed
out that one's phone number wouldn't have to be changed.


Jonathan Welch  VAX Systems Manager  Umass/Amherst  [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Suresh Kalkunte)
Subject: Why SNMP? or Why Not?
Date: 24 Apr 1995 18:18:17 -0400
Organization: Rutgers University LCSR


Hi Folks,

I was interested to know the extent to which SNMP as a means of
managing telco network is employed. The question why, can be answered
from a simplistic standpoint as to confirm to the emerging network
management(NM) platforms.  Is that the only issue or is it possible
 from SNMP to accomplish the stupendous task of replacing the complex
intricacies involved in telco management. If so, to what extent?

The question why not is driven by the fact that SNMP is a gateway to a
number of off-the shelf products that will realize some of the operations
performed in telco NM?

Your views/insights/issues concerning the above will truly enligten a
soul that asks one question every morning? should I persue network management
as a career.


Suresh     [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (rjswan)
Subject: Need Help With Wiring RJ-11 Telephone Jack
Date: 24 Apr 1995 15:36:44 GMT
Organization: Netcom


I just had a second phone line installed and am having trouble with the
color coding on the wires.

Line 1 is on GREEN-RED

Line 2 is on YELLOW-BLACK

I have two cables in my main box inside the house; one coming from the
outside into the house and one going to the jack in the bedroom.

I tried GREEN to GREEN, RED to RED, ect.  It doesn't seem to work.
Actually, the old number works fine, the new number, which is for data,
seems to disconect frequently.

Any assistance will be appriciated, via e mail please.


Thanks,

Bob from Seattle

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (InterCom)
Subject: Voice Pagers; Where Are They?
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest)
Date: Mon, 24 Apr 1995 16:59:13 GMT


Where can I find out more information on pagers that receive audio
messages (not cut-through voice-mail pagers, but real voice pagers)?


TIA,

Dan

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Nicol C So)
Subject: Is There a Telecom Glossary On-Line Somewhere?
Date: Mon, 24 Apr 1995 17:14:09 -0400
Organization: Computer Science and Engineering, Penn State University


Does anyone know of a telecom glossary somewhere on the net?  I enjoy
reading the discussions on this group but am confused by the ubiquitous
use of acronyms.

Thanks in advance.  Please reply by posting a follow-up.


Nicol


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Check out the various glossaries in the
Telecom Archives. We have several different files dealing with telecom
terms.  There are a couple ways to do this:  you can use anonymous ftp
lcs.mit.edu. Login anonymous then 'cd telecom-archives/glossaries'. You
can then pull the files back to your site. The other method is to use
the Telecom Archives Email Information Service. You can send a blank
message to '[e-mail]' and a help file will be sent back
to you explaining how to use the service. Via the email service you can
either pull the glossaries files back to your site or you can use the
interactive SEARCH command in your email.   PAT]

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 24 Apr 95 20:25 EST
From: Van R. Hutchinson <[e-mail]>
Subject: MCI Response to Oklahoma City Residents


Pat, on the heels of my request and after reading your notes about the bombing,
you may be happy to see that big corporation has a heart too.

                               News Flash
                             April 20, 1995
MCI Consumer Markets issued the following media advisory to local Oklahoma
City media this afternoon:

MCI OFFERS SUPPORT TO OKLAHOMA CITY

Recognizing the importance for loved ones to stay in touch during this
time of need, MCI is pleased to announce that long distance calls made
by MCI residential customers in Oklahoma City to anyone in the U.S.
are free of charge, effective midnight, Wednesday, April 19 through
11:59 pm on Sunday, April 23.

For those consumers who may not be MCI customers, MCI has donated MCI
PhoneCash calling cards for consumers to make free long distance calls
anywhere in the United States.  Beginning tomorrow, consumers may
simply pick up PhoneCash cards at the following locations:

St. Luke's United Methodist Church         First Christian Church
222 Northwest 15th                         3700 North Walker
phone: [phone]                            phone: [phone]

MCI has also provided MCI pagers and paging service to the local Red Cross
chapter for their volunteers to stay in touch and coordinate efforts to help
those affected by this tragedy.

For more information, contact Kate Fralin or Carol Aarhus at MCI's Media
Relations office at 1-800-436-9749.

                             -----------------

TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This a very generous offer by MCI and I
thank you for bringing it to the attention of the readers. And as a side
note, although I am not familiar with St. Luke's in Oklahoma City and
their involvement in the events of last week, I can say regards the
First Christian Church that their involvement since the first day -- even
the first couple hours -- of the tragic event has been enormous. Without
regard to their own scheduled activities, they have provided numerous
community services, and helped coordinate the flow of information between
loved ones. And I don't mean to single them out above the many other
volunteers and fine organizations in that city, however First Christian
Church has been mentioned numerous times in the national newscasts from
OKC as a clearinghouse for information, a place to seek help, etc. I
listened to the memorial service on the radio yesterday afternoon and
one of the speakers -- Clinton I think -- noted that 'anyone who says
Americans are selfish, unconcerned and greedy has never been to Oklahoma.'

If you have not yet specifically sent email to President Clinton in a
display of unity with our elected leader in this time of national tragedy
please do so today by emailing '[e-mail]'. Please let
him know that despite the several differences many of you (and certainly
I!) may have with him, you stand united with him as recovery and the
healing process begins.  Thanks very much, and thanks also to MCI for
their gesture.   PAT]

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 24 Apr 95 20:26 EST
From: Van R. Hutchinson <[e-mail]>
Subject: On Choosing a Long Distance Carrier


> So go with whichever one is the most liberal in handing out those checks
> or 'pay to the order of the telephone company' gift certificates.

One free month of long distance on MCI, up to $1000.00, is available to
business customers via its MCI Preferred program.  No term commitment or
contract required.

Or you may elect to take 10,000 frequent flyer miles instead of the
free month.

If you have a business and would like more information, please e-mail.


Van Hutchinson     [e-mail]
Tel:  [phone] ext. 231

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #209
******************************


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Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #210

TELECOM Digest     Tue, 25 Apr 95 16:03:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 210

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    MCI/NSF High Speed Backbone Network (Stephen Goodman)
    Internet 1996 World Exposition (Alex Pavlovic)
    Looking For a Black Box (Andrew Bevan)
    Setting up as an LD Reseller? (Michael K. Heney)
    Use of 1-900-555-1212 (Mark Cuccia)
    RBOC IP legislation scaring local ISPs? (Bob Izenberg)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
                    9457-D Niles Center Road
                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
                        Fax: [phone]
  ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

*************************************************************************
*   TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the              *
* International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland    *
* under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES)   *
* project.  Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such
as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help
is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per
year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Tue, 25 Apr 95 13:53 EST
From: Stephen Goodman <[e-mail]>
Subject: MCI/NSF High Speed Backbone Network


FYI..

CORPORATE NEWS BUREAU
1-800-289-0073
202-887-3000
INTERNET:  [e-mail]
COMDEX BOOTH #9054

Ron Taylor
KETCHUM PUBLIC RELATIONS
202-835-8834


       MCI AND THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION ANNOUNCE
         NEW VERY HIGH SPEED BACKBONE NETWORK SERVICE
          TO CONNECT NATION'S SUPERCOMPUTER CENTERS

Network "R&D Lab of the 21st Century" Will Enable Scientists To Extend
High Performance Supercomputer Models To Address Mankind's Grand
Challenges


ATLANTA (April 24, 1995) - MCI and the National Science Foundation
(NSF) today announced the launch of a new network that promises to
help solve mankinds Grand Challenges and serve as the blueprint for
the Network for the Future.

   The very high speed Backbone Network Service (vBNS) was announced
today by MCI Chairman and CEO Bert C. Roberts, Jr., in a keynote
address at the COMDEX exposition here.  The vBNS is the first
nationwide high-speed network to use advanced information age
technologies that enable massive amounts of voice, data and video to
be combined and transmitted at speeds nearly four times faster than
current technology.

   Initially the new vBNS will serve as an experimental platform for
developing new national networking applications and will link five
supercomputing sites around the U.S.  It will be used to develop
critical technologies and applications that will run over the National
Information Infrastructure (NII), sometimes referred to as the
Information Superhighway.

   "Using the very latest technology, vBNS will serve as the R&D lab
for the 21st Century," said Roberts.  "This network will open a whole
new world of support for high speed applications and set the stage for
the exploration of business applications comparable to the Grand
Challenges.  The technology will play a major role in establishing the
next generation of networks and be a benchmark for future network
models."

   The vBNS will provide scientists and researchers with faster data
links and communications between supercomputing sites working to solve
fundamental Grand Challenges in science and engineering.  The Grand
Challenges, first articulated by the U.S. Office of Science and
Technology Policy, are defined as fundamental problems in science and
engineering with broad economic and scientific importance whose
solutions can be advanced by applying high performance computing
techniques and advanced networking resources.  Examples include:

          Understanding the structure of biological
          molecules in order to fight heart disease;

          Forecasting weather and predicting global
          climate changes;

          Building more energy-efficient autos and
          airplanes;

          Improving environmental modeling to understand
          global warming;

          Understanding how galaxies are formed; and

          Understanding the nature of new materials.

   The vBNS is the next step in the evolution of advanced networking
as part of NSF's commitment to furthering high performance computing
as well as scientific research and education.  The vBNS is designed to
provide sufficient capacity for "next generation" networking and
supercomputer applications requiring huge multi-supercomputer data
exchanges to conduct Grand Challenge kinds of computations.

   The vBNS will use the capabilities of MCI's nationwide network of
advanced switching and fiber optic transmission technologies, known as
Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) and Synchronous Optical Network
(SONET).  The combination of ATM and SONET enables very high-speed,
high capacity voice, data, and video signals to be combined and
transmitted "on demand."  The vBNS initially will operate at speeds of
155 Mbps (million bits of data per second) and is planned to operate
at greater than 600 Mbps by 1996.  The vBNS speeds are achieved by
connecting Internet Protocol (IP) through an ATM switching matrix, and
running this combination on the SONET network.

   Due to its experimental nature, the vBNS is expected to stay a
generation ahead of other commercially available network technology.
It is specifically designed for high-speed applications, not everyday
communications traffic.  When upgraded to the next transmission speed,
622 Mbps, the vBNS will be able to carry about 14 times more traffic
than the current NSF Network (NSFNET), which carries 100 billion data
packets or the equivalent of the Library of Congress holdings, every
month.

   "The vBNS will be a boon to scientists who are limited by current
network speeds that cannot take advantage of the supercomputer speeds
used in modeling, simulations and visualizations that require
accessing and using huge amounts of data," said Paul Young, assistant
director of the NSF's directorate of Computer and Information Science
and Engineering.

   High speed performance computing and networking technologies
provided by vBNS will allow scientists to create mathematical models
of real life situations and run algorithms that predict changes in
those events.  Supercomputing and vBNS make it possible to study
problems that are either too expensive or difficult to examine through
observation or experimentation.  Given this new power, scientists are
being freed to ask questions they were unable to address five years
ago and are coming up with innovative solutions using this new
networking technology.  The NSF already is in the process of
authorizing use of the vBNS network for "meritorious" high-bandwidth
applications such as:

          Researchers at the National Center for Atmospheric
          Research (NCAR) in Colorado are currently using
          supercomputer modeling to experimentally understand
          how and where icing occurs on aircraft--and also
          how to avoid altitudes most likely to create ice
          on aircraft wings.

          Researchers at the National Center for
          Supercomputing Applications at the University of
          Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, are building
          computational models to simulate the workings of
          biological membranes and how cholesterol inserts
          into membranes.  How membranes determine what
          enters and exits the barrier between the inside
          and the outside of a cell is still a puzzle to
          scientists.  The vBNS will help scientists
          remotely access and share the enormous amounts of
          data required for membrane simulations--information
          that could ultimately lead to a cure for heart
          disease.

   Other applications for high performance computing and vBNS include
building more energy-efficient cars; improving environmental modeling;
and designing better drugs. The existence of a national high-speed
broadband backbone for experiments in networking between supercomputing
centers will enable information technology researchers to develop
technologies such as high-density video conferencing from personal
computers, remote telemedicine and two-way communications between
citizens and their government.

  The five-year, $50-million agreement will tie together the
Pittsburgh and San Diego Supercomputing Centers; the Cornell Theory
Center; the National Center for Supercomputer Applications in Urbana,
Illinois; and the National Center for Atmospheric Research in
Colorado. The vBNS also will be accessible to select applications
sites through four network access points in New York, San Francisco,
Chicago and Washington, D.C.

   The National Science Foundation is an independent agency of the
federal government established in 1950 to promote and advance
scientific progress through grants to educational and research
institutions for research and education in the sciences, mathematics
and engineering.

   MCI, headquartered in Washington, D.C., has expanded from its core
long distance business to become the world's third largest carrier of
international calling and a premier provider of data communications
over the vast Internet computer network.  With annual revenue of more
than $13.3 billion, the company today provides a wide array of
consumer and business long distance and local services, data and video
communications, on-line information, electronic mail, network
management services and communications software.

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 25 Apr 1995 16:04:15 -0500
From: [e-mail] (Alex Pavlovic)
Subject: Internet 1996 World Exposition


Newbridge Networks Announces Sponsorship of Internet 1996 World Exposition

KANATA, ONT., March 30, 1995 - Newbridge Networks Corporation, a
global leader in networking, announced its sponsorship as an Official
Organizer of the Internet 1996 World Exposition, which was formally
announced at the NETWORLD+INTEROP 95 conference and exhibition in Las
Vegas on March 29.

The Internet 1996 World Exposition is a world's fair in the spirit of
the great universal expositions of the turn of the last century that
marked the beginning of modern industrial economies.  The 1996 fair
will help to usher in the information economy for the turn of this
century.  The Internet 1996 World Exposition will be located
throughout the world, with centers of activity in multiple cities.
The core cities will be connected together with an Internet Railroad,
and will feature applications ranging from an Internet Town Hall to a
Global Schoolhouse Pavilion to an Industrial Exposition.  The fair
will build and leave behind a permanent open infrastructure to help
drive the world information economy forward.

Official Organizers of the Internet 1996 World Exposition include
Newbridge Networks, NBC, MCI, Sun Microsystems, Cisco Systems,
Quantum, and many other leading corporations around the world.

Newbridge Networks is providing financial sponsorship for the
Exposition, as well as engineering resources and a wide variety of
Internet-related products, including:

- Broadband switching products including MainStreet multiplexers, frame
relay and ATM switches, and network management for the high-capacity
backbone of the Internet Railroad;

- VIVID ATM LAN systems for high-bandwidth local connectivity in certain
pavilions;

- Communication cards including SPRITE T1, providing Internet access to
servers such as the Sun Netra Internet Server;

- TimeStep PERMIT products providing secure TCP/IP communication across
the Internet;

"We are pleased to welcome Newbridge Networks as an Official Organizer
of the Exposition," said Carl Malamud, chairman of the Exposition's
Organizing Committee.  "With their global leadership in broadband
networking, they will make a valuable contribution to the Internet
Railroad providing the network backbone for the fair."

"We are delighted to be an organizer and participant in this landmark
global event," said Terry Matthews, Chairman of Newbridge Networks
Corporation.  "It grants us the opportunity to help build a broadband
Global Information Infrastructure, and demonstrate the resulting economic
and societal benefits of a secure, ubiquitous and powerful Internet."

Newbridge Networks is an ISO 9001-certified, international company
which designs, manufactures, markets and services multimedia,
standards-based networking products for global WAN and LAN
applications. Facilities are located in Canada, the United States,
Latin America, Europe, the Middle East , Asia and Australia. Newbridge
Networks Corporation is a public company whose common shares are
listed for trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NN) in the United
States and on the Toronto Stock Exchange (NNC) in Canada.

Newbridge and MainStreet are registered trademarks and VIVID is a
trademark of Newbridge Networks Corporation. PERMIT is a trademark of
TimeStep Corporation. Netra is a trademark of Sun Microsystems,
Incorporated.


Aleksandar Pavlovic
Network Design and Consulting    |||\ |||     tel. [phone]
NEWBRIDGE NETWORKS CORPORATION   |||\\|||     fax. [phone]
600 March Road, PO Box 13600     |||\\\||
Kanata, ON, K2K 2E6, Canada      ||| \\\|   [e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 25 Apr 1995 15:53:27 +0000
From: andrew bevan <[e-mail]>
Subject: Looking For a Black Box
Organization: BNR Europe Ltd., Oakleigh Road South, New Southgate, London


The telecoms project that I'm working on has a requirement to notify
users of certain conditions, externally to the platform that the
application is run on, which is a workstation.

One solution we have thought of is to utilise the RS-232 serial port,
from the workstation, by connecting this to a "black box" containing
relays or contact closures. These relays/contact closures could then
be connected to the external device (e.g. a flashing light or audible
bell). Therefore under the right circumstances within the application,
a signal/message would be sent down the RS-232 to open or close the
relay, thus triggering the external device.

    |-------------|        |-------|    |----------|
    | HP          | RS-232    | Black |    | External |
    | Workstation |=========| Box    |-------| Device   |
    |-------------|        |-------|    |----------|

We are having problems finding a suitable black box that could be used
within this scenario. Therefore does anyone reading these newsgroups
know of a black box that can be used for this purpose or any companies
that might be able to help.

Please reply directly to me at [e-mail], to save filling up this
newsgroup.

Thanks in advance,


Andrew Bevan         Internet: [e-mail]
BNR Europe Ltd       Telephone: [phone]
Oakleigh Road South  Fax: [phone]
New Southgate        London  N11 1HB

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Michael K. Heney)
Subject: Setting up as an LD Reseller?
Date: 25 Apr 1995 12:23:31 -0400
Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, MD USA


I have a few questions about re-selling long-distance service, and I'd
appreciate any information or pointers to information sources anyone
would care to provide.

I'm the point man (because I'm the guy with internet access) on
investigating how to set up an LD-reseller operation.  What we're
trying to do is generate funding for projects currently being pursued
by non-profit membership organizations - the idea being that a
business can generate more income than membership dues and grants.
So, while I'm very good at what I do (and I have run tech-based
businesses before) I'm a newbie in this field.

So much for the prelims.  What I'm trying to find out is:

What do I need to know/do to offer 10-xxx LD service?

That's kind of general; some of the particular questions I have are:

Who regulates this?  FCC?  States?  Regional Bells?

We want to operate in all 50 states.  Do we need to get approvals
   or licenses from one place or from all over?

Does a reseller typically buy capacity from just one carrier, or
   can you work with more than one at a time?

What is involved with getting set up to be selectable as the default
   for a particular customer; is it different than gettiing a 10-xxx
   code, or are these tied together?

I've seen mention of something called the "ATR" (Association of Telephone
   Resellers?) - what do they do, and would they be helpful?

Any pointers/suggestions of folks who are experienced in setting up
   an LD reselling operation and could provide advice would also be
   appreciated.

Again, thanks for any help you can give.


Mike Heney                |     Senior Systems Analyst
[e-mail]   |  Space Activist / Entrepreneur
Silver Spring, MD  20901  |  Chairman, Mach 25 Technologies

------------------------------

From: Mark Cuccia <[e-mail]>
Subject: Use of 1-900-555-1212
Date: Tue, 25 Apr 95 08:17:00 +6C


Jeff Smyth <[e-mail]> wanted to know why/how AT&T got the
number 900-555-1212 for 'universal' directory assistance --

AT&T WAS providing a recordrd listing of SOME 900 numbers when one
dialed 900-555-1212 (I would assume that the information providers and
900 numbers identified in the recording were ONLY AT&T provided 900
service); There was NO charge at that time to call 900-555-1212;

When Bellcore began the assignment process of 900-NXX codes to
Carriers about eight years ago, the NXX codes used by AT&T were
'grandfathered' in as assigned to AT&T, as were the NXX codes used in
Canada 'grandfathered' in as assigned to the local/provincial
operating telephone companies of Telecom-Canada now Stentor; Since
900-555 was a code used by AT&T it was assigned to AT&T under the
grandfathering process, and is probably also used by Stentor in
Canada; Therefore AT&T could more or less do what they wanted to with
900-555-1212

Similarly, when Bellcore began assigning 800-NXX codes to carriers
under the 'Interim' plan about eight or nine years ago, AT&T never had
800-950 assigned or reserved when THEY were the 'only' 800 carrier;
MCI requested use of this code, and used 800-950-1022 for a 'Feature
Group B' type of access to their network; MCI ALSO began assigning
line numbers to other customers of MCI 800 service-

I did NOT like the idea of a number such as 800-950-1033 or
800-950-1044 or ANY 800-950-XXXX being used by MCI for assignment to
just any MCI 800 service customer - I would have thought that Bellcore
would have put a reserve on this 800-NXX for use by each carrier as an
alternate form of Feature Group B - like access to that carrier - i.e.
you run across a private payphone that refuses access to 950 numbers
or wants to charge you a quarter (maybe even 25 cents every 3 minutes)
to dial a 950 number, you could then redial it as 800-950;

If Bellcore would have reserved 800-950, then Sprint COULD have had
800-950-1033, Allnet would have had 800-950-1044, Pizza Hut would also
have had their own 800-950 number just like their local 950 numbers,
etc. but in the telecommunications industry, things don't always work
out logically as we would have expected them to.


Mark J. Cuccia (mcuccia@law,tulane.edu) - Tulane University Law School
Library

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Bob Izenberg)
Subject: RBOC IP Legislation Scaring Local ISPs?
Date: Tue, 25 Apr 1995 07:21:00 CDT
Reply-To: [e-mail]


    Are local internet service providers worried about competition
from local telephone companies?  I've heard two first- or second-hand
accounts of existing ISPs holding back or potential ISPs putting
startup plans on hold until the effect of "telco providing internet to
the home" legislation is clear.  The examples that I'm familiar with
are from some areas of the country served by Southwestern Bell.

    I must be missing the competition peril here.  The RBOC
ventures into local data services have been unimpressive and
short-lived.  Maybe something could be pulled together with a
cooperative effort between local telcos and established service
providers...  ISDN bundled with AOL or Compuserve, to pick two
experienced-user-unfriendly examples (in my opinion, of course.)

    What I don't see is how this type of metered ISP is
competition for flat-rate service from local service providers.  Of
course, if there are no ISPs serving an area, then the judgment of "Is
the cost of a long-distance call to xyz.com's point of presence plus
the cost of their service less than the cost of a call to the telco's
offering plus the cost of their service?"  I expect that users making
more than casual use of their connection to "the happening world" will
find the local ISPs a better value.

    Is this concern over potential competition from telcos to
local internet service providers warranted?


   Bob Izenberg   512-442-0614 / 617-728-1416 / 800-946-4645, pager 1109500
            [e-mail] / [e-mail] / [e-mail]

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #210
******************************

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From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #211

TELECOM Digest     Wed, 26 Apr 95 21:18:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 211

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Book Review: "Teach Yourself Web Publishing With HTML" (Rob Slade)
    Book Review: "HTML Sourcebook" by Graham (Rob Slade)
    Siemens Rolm and Newbridge: Integrated WAN Solutions (Aleksandar Pavlovic)
    Caller-ID and NT-Specific Caller-ID? (Chris Pirazzi)
    Phone Encryption Devices (Benjamin Fried)
    Detect/Prevent 3rd-Party Calls? (Alex Madarasz)
    St. Maarten Phone Connection for Modem? (John Irza)
    911 Tariff in Illinois (Brian Krupicka)
    Question About Calling Cards (Thomas Feiner)
    RFI - U.S. FAA Vocoder Testing (Rob Morgenstern)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
                    9457-D Niles Center Road
                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
                        Fax: [phone]
  ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

*************************************************************************
*   TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the              *
* International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland    *
* under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES)   *
* project.  Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such
as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help
is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per
year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Tue, 25 Apr 1995 14:12:39 EST
From: Rob Slade <[e-mail]>
Subject: Book Review: "Teach Yourself Web Publishing With HTML" by Lemay


BKWPHTML.RVW   950322

"Teach Yourself Web Publishing with HTML", Laura Lemay, 1995, 0-672-30667-0,
U$25.00/C$34.95
%A   Laura Lemay [e-mail] [e-mail]
%C   201 W. 103rd Street, Indianapolis, IN   46290
%D   1995
%G   0-672-30667-0
%I   SAMS Publishing
%O   U$25.00/C$34.95 800-858-7674 800-428-5331 800-428-3804 317-581-3743
%O   317-573-2500 317-581-3535 317-581-3718 fax: [phone]
%O   [e-mail] [e-mail]
%P   392
%T   "Teach Yourself Web Publishing with HTML"

For those of us, hoary old techies that we are, who had to deal with
TeX, SGML, and the manual insertion of escape codes into documents for
the earliest laser printers, HTML (HyperText Markup Language, the
instruction set for World Wide Web) holds no terrors at all.  For the
other ninety-nine percent of the computer-using populace, Lemay has
written a solid, realistic, well-paced and readable introduction to
the topic.  Having seen numerous recent exhortations that "Web
publisher" is one of the "coming" jobs, I hope she makes a fortune.

The fourteen chapters give a thorough coverage to both HTML tags and
W3 page design.  Topics include background; presentation and page
design; basic, linking, formatting, media and form tags; examples; W3
servers; gateway scripts; and HTML tools.  Appendices list further
resources and a summary of commands.  The "in a week" timeframe may be
stretched by the forms and gateway scripting, but a dedicated student
equipped with server and browser should be able to be well familiar
with everything in the book after seven days.  Lemay's pacing,
organization and structure are sound.  The content is clear and the
text quite readable.  Given the subject matter, some of the typos are
ironic, but none should be a hindrance.

In fact, the only problem I have with this book is that nine out of
every ten readers will be using it to turn out the same guff we've
seen on twenty thousand other Web servers.  The ones, though, might
make it worthwhile.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1995   BKWPHTML.RVW   950322. Distribution
permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated publications. Rob Slade's
book reviews are a regular feature in the Digest.


Vancouver      [e-mail]         | "Remember, by the
Institute for  [e-mail]      |  rules of the game, I
Research into  Rob.Slade@f733.n153.z1/  |  *must* lie.  *Now* do
User                      .fidonet.org  |  you believe me?"
Security       Canada V7K 2G6           |    Margaret Atwood

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 26 Apr 1995 18:37:19 EST
From: Rob Slade <[e-mail]>
Subject: Book Review: "HTML Sourcebook" by Graham


BKHTMLSR.RVW   950323

"HTML Sourcebook", Ian Graham, 1995, 0-471-11849-4, U$29.95
%A   Ian Graham [e-mail]
%C   605 Third Avenue, New York, NY   10158-0012
%D   1995
%G   0-471-11849-4
%I   John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (who do not honour copyright)
%O   U$29.95 800-CALL-WILEY 212-850-6630 Fax: [phone] [e-mail]
%P   416
%T   "HTML Sourcebook"

For those who are serious about creating World Wide Web pages and
presentations, this is a very thorough reference.

Chapter one is a lesson in HTML (HyperText Markup Language).  It
covers elements right up to multimedia and forms.  The overview,
though, is quite brief.  Anchors are explained as links to other
documents, but the function of linking to a specific section of a
document is not covered.  This function *is* covered in chapter two,
which details all the HTML elements, including those proposed for
HTML+.  Subsequent chapters deal with Universal Resource Locators
(URLs); the Common Gateway Interface (CGI); tools, editors and
document translators; browsers; servers; and examples.  The material
is technical and detailed, right down to mention of security
considerations on clients.

The pace and technical level may not be suitable for beginners, who
may want to look at Lemay's "Teach Yourself Web Publishing With HTML"
(cf. BKWPHTML.RVW).  The organization of the all important second
chapter takes some getting used to.  The anchor element is included
with "List Elements", is not referenced by the "anchor" entry in the
index, and the "A element" index listing is out of order.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1995   BKHTMLSR.RVW   950323. Distribution
permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated publications. Rob Slade's
book reviews are a regular feature in the Digest.


DECUS Canada Communications, Desktop, Education and Security group newsletters
Editor and/or reviewer [e-mail], [e-mail], Rob Slade at 1:153/733
Author "Robert Slade's Guide to Computer Viruses" 0-387-94311-0/3-540-94311-0

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 26 Apr 1995 16:12:07 -0500
From: [e-mail] (Aleksandar Pavlovic)
Subject: Siemens Rolm and Newbridge: Integrated WAN Solutions


CONTACTS:

Siemens Rolm

Carter Cromwell
[phone]
[e-mail]

Newbridge
(Press/Industry Analysts)
Kit Goldfarb
[phone]
[e-mail]
(Financial Analysts)
John Lawlor
[phone]

SYMBOLS:        NN (New York Stock Exchange)
                        NNC (Toronto Stock Exchange)

SIEMENS ROLM and NEWBRIDGE TEAM TO PROVIDE INTEGRATED SOLUTIONS FROM
DESKTOP ACROSS ENTERPRISE TO WANS

Siemens Rolm Enhances Wide-Area Network Integration Capability With
Full Line of Newbridge Products, Including ATM

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla., April 24, 1995 -- Siemens Rolm Communications
has entered into an agreement with Newbridge Networks to offer the
entire Newbridge product line, a move that greatly strengthens Siemens
Rolms wide-area, voice/data network integration capability.

The agreement, announced at the National Rolm Users Group conference
here, significantly enhances the NetAsset networking products and
services Siemens Rolm offers through its Network Systems Group. The
Newbridge line, one of the broadest in the networking industry,
includes time division multiplexers, frame relay and LAN products, ATM
switches and Newbridge network management systems.  Siemens Rolm will
sell Newbridge products under a joint NetAsset/Newbridge label, and it
will support all Newbridge products within its accounts.

"Having access to the entire Newbridge line extends the breadth and
depth of our offerings," Siemens Rolm President and CEO Karl Geng
said.  "Newbridge is a leader in technologies such as TDM, frame relay
and ATM, and its single-platform architecture lets our customers
easily migrate from one technology to another as the need arises."
International Data Corporation (IDC) ranks Newbridge first in the
worldwide T1/E1 multiplexer market, first in ATM enterprise switch
installed base and second in frame relay revenue*.

"Siemens Rolm views networks as strategic assets," Geng added.  "Our
strength is our ability to put it all together.  We substantially
simplify network operations and reduce cost by consolidating voice and
data networks, reducing the required number of circuits.  We also
provide a single contact for sales, implementation and support."

Sandy Teetsel, director of I/S technology services at Mercy Healthcare
Arizona in Phoenix, said, "We needed to expand our network quickly to
support remote locations statewide, but we did not have sufficient
internal resources to plan, implement or support the project.  Few
integrators can provide voice and data services, as well as offer full
support. Most can tell you technically how to do it, but then you are
on your own.  They lack the depth of understanding of strategic
applications and cost-effective support.  But Siemens Rolm brought all
the right players to the table."

Newbridge Networks Inc., President Mike Pascoe said, "We selected
Siemens Rolm because of the synergy between our companies.  We believe
their products and after-sale support, coupled with our networking
capabilities, enable them to provide superior turnkey solutions."

Pascoe added that the Siemens Rolm installed base of more than 35,000
systems and its nationwide sales and support organizations offer
Newbridge a large additional channel for sales and service: "Customers
in markets such as health care, education and financial services will
now have greater access to Newbridge products."

Curtis Price, research manager for data communications at
International Data Corporation, said, "The depth and quality of the
Newbridge line puts Siemens Rolm in an even stronger competitive
position in regard to turnkey networking solutions."

This agreement builds on an existing relationship between Siemens Rolm
and Newbridge, which has already resulted in a number of sales.

Newbridge Networks is a world leader in designing, manufacturing and
servicing a comprehensive family of networking products and systems
that deliver the power of multi-service communications to
organizations in more than 100 countries.  It has facilities
throughout the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, the
Middle East, Asia and Australia.

Newbridge Networks Corporation common shares are traded on the New York
Stock Exchange (NN) and The Toronto Stock Exchange (NNC).

Siemens Rolm is a leading provider of private telecommunications
solutions.  The company pioneered the digital PBX and integrated voice
messaging and is at the forefront in developing advanced CTI
applications and integrated voice/data networks. Siemens Rolm is part
of Siemens Private Communication Systems, the world's largest supplier
of private telecommunications systems, with approximate annual sales
of $4.2 billion and more than 450,000 customers and 900,000 systems
installed worldwide.

#       #       #

* International Data Corporation, March 1995

Siemens Rolm is a registered trademark of Siemens Rolm Communications
Inc.  NetAsset is a trademark of Siemens Rolm Communications Inc.
Newbridge is a registered trademark of Newbridge Networks Corporation.

                              -------------
Aleksandar Pavlovic
Network Design and Consulting    tel. [phone]
NEWBRIDGE NETWORKS CORPORATION   fax. [phone]
600 March Road, PO Box 13600
Kanata, ON, K2K 2E6, Canada      [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Chris Pirazzi)
Subject: Caller-ID and NT-Specific Caller-ID?
Date: 26 Apr 1995 06:09:24 GMT


We have a Northern Telecom SL100 switch at our company.  Certain
phones (such as Meridian 2616) have a display on which the caller's
name and number are displayed for any incoming or outgoing call.

I have noticed that when we place a call to or receive a call from a
number OUTSIDE of our company, and the phone at that number is also
being served by an SL100 (or DMS100), the distant caller ALSO
sees my name and number, and I see the distant caller's name and
number.

I recently noticed this when a friend of mine at our company called a
hotel which happened to have a DMS100.  When the hotel operator
transferred him "anonymously" to a certain room, the hotel guest's name
and room number popped up on his display phone!  Nice security.

I only barely understand what is going on here and I'd like to
know more.

Specifically,

1. I can understand how a distant phone user might get my phone
number, via the standard Caller-ID signaling mechanism.  But is the
additional information (the string including my name and my extension)
also transferred to all phones as part of the standard Caller-ID
signalling mechanism, or is this indeed part of some Northern Telecom-
specific protocol that somehow piggybacks its way over the public net?

2. Regardless of the answer to #1, can someone point me to a spec
describing the signals used for Caller-ID (I understand they are
wedged between the first and second ring in a call) ?  I'd like
to understand exactly what kind of information is carried by
this protocol and how.

3. If the additional information from #1 is carried in an NT-specific
signal, can someone point me to a spec for the NT-specific signal?

4. Can someone explain exactly what the deal is with Caller-ID and
California?  What forms of Caller-ID are allowed and what aren't?
What are the restrictions on calls that are CA-to-CA, CA-to-outside,
and outside-to-CA ?  If this is an FAQ item please lead me to the
right place.

5. If the additional information from #1 is carried in an NT-specific
signal, is that signal also subject to the same legal constraints in
California as "standard" Caller-ID information?


Thanks,

Chris Pirazzi

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Benjamin Fried)
Subject: Phone Encryption Devices
Date: Tue, 25 Apr 1995 13:47:51 -0400
Organization: Morgan Stanley & Co., New York


I'm looking for pointers to phone encryption products, for voice
calls, both cellular and desktop.  I've seen some product flyers from
Transcrypt, but that's it.  Any information or pointers to sources
would be appreciated.


Ben

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Alex Madarasz)
Subject: Detect/Prevent Third-Party Calls
Date: 25 Apr 1995 18:20:44 GMT
Organization: Hughes Training Inc.
Reply-To: [e-mail]


I just had two AT&T long-distance calls charged to my number, and had to
call AT&T to have them removed -- AT&T isn't my long-distance provider.

How / why is it possible for someone to have calls -- especially long-
distance calls -- charged to my number?  Is there any way I can detect
this happening or prevent it in the future?


Alex P. Madarasz, Jr. - Hughes Training, Inc. - [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You can prevent it from happening with a
slight bit of inconvenience to yourself, but it may be worth it. Find
out of your local telco offers 'billed number screening'. This is a
database used in common by AT&T, Sprint, MCI and a couple other long-
distance carriers which prevents anything but direct dialed calls from
your actual telephone from being being to your account with the exception
of credit card calls. That is, calls made 'collect' to you will be turned
away as will attempts to bill 'third number' calls to you. The network
simply won't allow those calls. Now if *you* have reason occassionally to
call your number collect or place a call and bill it to your number, then
you too are going to be rejected, but this may be a minor issue considering
all the options available these days such as 800 numbers, calling cards
and other methods.   PAT]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (John Irza)
Subject: St. Maarten Phone Connection For Modem?
Organization: MariNet, Marine Technology Online
Date: Tue, 25 Apr 1995 18:35:10 GMT


Does anyone know what sort of phone system is used on the island of
St. Maarten (Dutch side)?  Specifically, if I bring my laptop, PCMCIA
modem, and RJ-11 cord, will I be able to connect to the phone system
and dial out?

(Right now I operate using the US phone system; in Boston, MA
specifically.)


Thanks in advance,

John Irza   [e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 25 Apr 1995 08:00:16 CDT
From: Brian Krupicka <[e-mail]>
Subject: 911 Tariff in Illinois


As most of you know, the new 911 law was signed by Governor Jim Edgar
on September 1, 1994 (Public Act 88-604).  The law requires, in our
case, colleges and universities, within the state of Illinois,
providing "private residential switch service", to integrate with the
E-911 centers by June 30, 1995.  Ameritech has not been able to handle
the requests for integration.  Partly because, Ameritech just
completed and submitted the tariff requests for approval.  It is my
understanding that if no opposition is given within 45 days, the
following tariff requests will be approved.

I was given the following information, VERBALLY by Ameritech.

Each college and university would need to set-up and maintain an
ALI (automatic line identification) database in the Ameritech 911
center database.  The requested tariff for this service is:

          one time set-up fee                     $5,000.00
          monthly access charge                   $  109.00
               (additional, changes, deletions)

Each college and university would be required to have at least two
trunk lines which would be dedicated to 911 traffic.

          one time installation fee               $450.00
          monthly Trunk (line) cost               $ 65.00 / trunk

If anyone can add to this, please respond accordingly.


Thank you,

Brian Krupicka              INTERNET: [e-mail]
Telecommunications Manager  PHONE: [phone]  FAX:  [phone]
                            PAGER: 312-824-6270  Home: 708-961-1243
Aurora University
347 S. Gladstone Avenue     Aurora, IL  60506

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Thomas Feiner)
Subject: Question About Calling Cards
Date: 25 Apr 1995 11:39:20 GMT
Organization: Technische Universitaet Muenchen, Germany


Hi,

As I arrived at Atlanta Airport, I bought a prepaid phonecard from
U.S. Telecard. I was very happy about the message features.  I had a
special message PIN (different to the PIN which is needed to place a
call), who allowed anybody who knew the PIN to leave me messages. This
call was free for the caller, only I had to pay 80c for each message.
Now, I would like to use this feature for international calls (especially
 from Germany). The problem is, that 800 numbers can not be reached from
outside the U.S.

So I would like to know if there are calling-cards (prepid or not)
with an international message feature. I am interested in general inform-
ation about calling-cards too.

Thank you very much for your help in advance.


Thomas Feiner    Munich, Germany

------------------------------

From: rmorgen <[e-mail]>
Subject: RFI - U.S. FAA Vocoder Testing
Date: 24 Apr 1995 20:17:41 GMT
Organization: The MITRE Corporation


The following is an announcement by the U.S. FAA Technical Center that
was published in the April 14, 1995 issue of the {Commerce Business
Daily}.  I am cross posting it here in hopes of reaching a wider
audience.

                 ------------------------

Special Studies and Services - Not R&D - Potential Sources Sought

  Federal Aviation Administration Technical Center (FAATC)
  Atlantic City, NJ  08405

  Sources Sought, suppliers of voice digitizing equipment for evaluation
  of applicability to Air traffic control applications.

  POC Anthony (Buzz) Cerino 609/485-5640 of the FAATC.  It is the intent
  of the FAATC to evaluate current technology in the area of voice coding
  equipment to determine applicability for use in international air/ground
  communications.  Suppliers willing to assist in this effort are
  encouraged to contact the above for the purpose of submitting equipment
  for evaluation.  Subject equipment should consist of two parts: 1)a
  voice encoder and 2) a voice decoder.  The voice encoder shall be
  capable of translating an input analog (voice) signal into a digital bit
  stream. The decoder shall perform the reverse operation.  The following
  minimum requirements shall apply:

     -Maximum bit rate of 4800 bps (including all FEC)
     -Intelligibility should be maintained down to a BER of 2x10-2
     -Operate in a half duplex "Push to talk" (PTT) mode
     -Maximum throughput delay of 80msec

  All equipment should include complete documentation on system operation,
  interfacing characteristics, and company policy regarding algorithm
  licensing for an international market.  Any equipment meeting the above
  criteria and submitted for evaluation will be considered for FAA
  application.  Any equipment/documentation submitted shall be considered
  proprietary and not be provided to any competitor.  The FAA will not be
  responsible for any costs incurred by any contributor as a result of
  their participation, and there is no guarantee of any solicitation as a
  result of this study. Equipment should be available for submission no
  later than May 31, 1995 after which no updates in software or hardware
  will be considered.  All equipment/documentation submitted will be
  returned following the evaluation.

                    ------------------------------

Thank you for your time and patience.  For further information, please
call the POC or send me an email message.


Rob Morgenstern
Center for Advanced Aviation System Development
[e-mail]

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #211
******************************


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From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #212

TELECOM Digest     Wed, 26 Apr 95 21:46:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 212

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Re: NYNEX Voluntarily Agrees to Competition ([e-mail])
    Re: NYNEX Voluntarily Agrees to Competition (Bradley Ward Allen)
    Re: Competition, RBOCs and All That (Lars Poulsen)
    Re: Competition, RBOCs and All That (Tim Gorman)
    Re: Competition, RBOCs and all That (John Levine)
    Re: Competition, RBOCs and All That (Frank Atkinson)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
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----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (PKCarroll)
Subject: Re: NYNEX Voluntarily Agrees to Competition
Date: 25 Apr 1995 17:29:39 -0400
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
Reply-To: [e-mail] (PKCarroll)


That's true.  Nynex signed an interconnection agreement with MFS in NY
and Mass.  The agreement includes number portability.  This will be
done initially via call forwarding which will be a bit troublesome
since not all features will work transparently.  It's still better
than having to change your number.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Bradley Ward Allen)
Subject: Re: NYNEX Voluntarily Agrees to Competition
Date: 26 Apr 1995 03:39:48 -0400
Organization: URL:http://www.armory.com/~ulmo/ (see rivers.html for PGP key)


In article <[e-mail]>, Jonathan_Welch <JHWELCH@ecs.
umass.edu> wrote:

> Pat, I was still half asleep this morning, so you might want to get
> more pertinent from another source, but WBZ radio in Boston reported
> that NYNEX voluntarily agreed to open up to local competition.  A
> competing company's name (MFS?) was mentioned, and the story pointed
> out that one's phone number wouldn't have to be changed.

MFS aired an ad for local service two Saturdays ago.  I immediately
called the local numbers in the white pages.  Finally tracked the
right people down on a weekday during business hours.  I ordered an
MFS line last Wednesday.  Switchover paperwork sent in Friday.  Was
supposed to receive call from technician discussing details of
installation already, but am leaving constant voicemails with
salesperson who is not returning calls.  She did inform me that the
entire process takes a few weeks, some of which is waiting for NYNEX
to release the phone numbers to MFS; I don't know why I haven't
received the call from the technician I was promised.  Insider informs
me that "MFS and NYNEX are basically run by the same types of people."

I have this inkling that the $14.50 per month which "includes all the
same features as NYNEX for this one price" will save me a lot of
money, but we still haven't discussed how much a local call costs.
This is even if I do get the lines in the first place.  At least the
installation is free.

The number will be the same one I have now with NYNEX, some other
place (Pipeline or Phantom, an ISP, forget which one) mentioned that
there is some sort of forwarding that happens from the NYNEX number to
the MFS number, as they were mentioning their switchover.  They
mentioned that some numbers are "owned" by NYNEX and others "owned" by
MFS.  Whatever. She said caller-id will work, as will call-forwarding
and call-waiting.  Why are all the calls from her office "Out Of
Area"??  Time will tell.

Sigh.  Well, I dunno.  I figure having at least a little more option
is good.  The arrangement is to be that the copper from my place to
the NYNEX telephone CO is the same, and from there it's MFS equipment
co-located with the NYNEX building.

My ISP is inquiring with both MFS and MCI about their entries into
this area.  MCI denies any involvement when I call them, but I'm sure
that they are actually involved since my ISP is talking to them too.

Also I think Teleport is doing some things.

Someone about a year ago mentioned there's already a couple dozen
companies gearing up to do local telephone service in Manhattan.

Quite frankly, I can hardly wait ... if only to see what happens, but
I'm hoping things will get better.

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 26 Apr 95 09:37:52 PDT
From: [e-mail] (Lars Poulsen)
Subject: Re: Competition, RBOCs and All That


[e-mail] (Lars Poulsen) writes in TELECOM Digest V15 #205:

LJP> No the issue is not that the RBOC offers busy/no answer forwarding,
LJP> but that they price this service by itself higher than the voicemail
LJP> offering that includes it. THAT is predatory pricing.

Tim Gorman <[e-mail]>:

TG> This thread started off with NYNEX not even offering CFBDA.
TG> Now we have progressed to the point where it is priced higher
TG> than the voicemail by itself.

TG> Just what is the truth here? Are we even comparing apples and
TG> oranges? Do customers with voice mail have to also buy CFBDA
TG> from NYNEX? If so, then what is the problem?

I MUST APOLOGIZE for jumping in without having read the start of the
thread; I was addressing the larger issue of predatory pricing in
general. I have been informed by several that NYNEX does not offer
busy/no answer forwarding.

TG> If not, then has this been addressed to the PUC? Has the cost
TG> documentation for voice mail been reviewed by the PUC? Is this
TG> service even priced based on cost plus contribution or is it
TG> priced based on value of service? If priced based on
TG> value of service that is a PUC decision. Railing against the RBOC
TG> for a regulation decision gets nowhere although it may allow venting
TG> emotions - which might be beneficial for those involved.

Seen from the sidelines few PUCs seem to proactively regulate the
communications industries. The California PUC has even gone to the
extreme of asking the legislature to relieve it is duties of telecom
oversight because the commisioners admit that they do not understand
the industry and the issues.

Since the regulation is usually drafted by telco staff, it is not
altogether misdirected to vent anger at them for basing tariffs on
what they feel they can get away with rather than on their perception
of public benefit.

LJP> A public service commission that understands the issues and wants
LJP> to foster competition will insist that unregulated services -- like
LJP> voicemail -- are not offered by the LEC itself, but by an arms-length
LJP> subsidiary which has to purchase the switch support features from the
LJP> regulated LEC at the same price as the competitors.

TG> I think we are still running into a problem defining what the
TG> difference between regulated/unregulated and
TG> competitive/non-competitive is. I don't believe voice mail is
TG> an unregulated offering but rather a competitive offering.
TG> There are worlds of difference between the two. If it truly is
TG> an unregulated offering then there ARE certain safeguards that
TG> I'll bet all RBOC's have to obey - especially in accounting
TG> practices.

I must confess ignorance to this distinction. Would I be correct in
assuming that a competitive offering may be offered through either the
regulated or the unregulated side of the telco? And that the classifica-
tion as competitive is based on the presumption that any underlying
network services required to implement the service are available to
competitors at a price close enough to cost to allow a level playing
field?

TG> Your plan may sound reasonable but the reality is that this idea
TG> is 20 years too late. It may have worked shortly after Carterfone
TG> was decided but there is not a single area in the business today
TG> that is not competitive already.

I suspect that the word "competitive" is used here in a different sense
than in the paragraph above. The LEC network ("the local loop") is
not competitive in any sense of the word for 90+ percent of subscribers.

TG> This dooms such a plan from the beginning. And before anyone says
TG> local competition doesn't exist I would suggest they talk to
TG> organizations like the State of Kansas and some of the bigger
TG> office complexes in various states. As I have stated on here before,
TG> I can point out to you at least two business in the
TG> state of Kansas alone that use 5ESS switches for their PBX's!
TG> Anyone on their campus' gets service from them.

These are not competitive local telcos. Like rural telcos they are
(maybe poorly regulated) monopolies within their territory. I'll bet
that tenants in the buildings you mention probably do not have the
choice to go with another access provider. Nor do these alternative
providers have an obligation to serve all comers in the city where they
do business; they are free to serve only those accounts they deem
profitable.

TG> So, in essence, what you have proposed is a regulated wholesaler
TG> in a market that will soon have exactly no use for a regulated
TG> wholesaler. Unless, that is, you want to provide a government
TG> subsidized boost to competitors that can not or will not get their
TG> own funding in order to enter the market.

TG> I say government subsidized because that is what will happen
TG> sooner or later. This wholesaler is going to have rather thin
TG> profit margins. Thin margins means major problems in capital
TG> financing in our markets. Inability to finance capital improvements
TG> means government intervention if you want to maintain
TG> viability.

While I look forward to seeing the first real competition in the local
loop as the cable television companies start to offer telephone service,
I am not yet convinced that this will benefit the larger subscriber
community. While I think the urbanized areas (with CATV service) cover
about 60% of the population, and while I think the duopoly service will
lower rates in many (most ?) of those areas, it will almost certainly
lead to higher rates for the last 40%.

The "Rochester plan" of a regulated wholesaler of wire plant and switching
makes no sense to me. Is that what you are referring to above?

I believe in a distinction between "basic service" and "enahnced service"
and whenever the regulated monopoly gets into "enhanced services",
inequities abound.

    > The prior poster also said:
    > >> There's no technical reason why all three of those
    > >> features can't be offered fairly to all comers
    > >> (even stutter dialtone, which is controlled
    > >> from outside the CO now, since telco voicemail
    > >> isn't built into the switch.
    > >> I believe that PacTel offers it as an overpriced
    > >> ONA feature. No, I don't have the order code.)
    > >> And they price all this at about half of what the
    > >> independents charge, even though it's technically
    > >> more complex. Doesn't that seem a teensy, weensy,
    > >> itsy bitsy little bit predatory?

LJP> I agree with this.

TG> What you have agreed with is a statement that the more technically
TG> complex a service is the more costly it should be. Are you really
TG> sure that is what you want to agree with?

I agree that there is no reason why these features cannot be offered
fairly to all comers. That is indeed the idea of the ONA mandates.  I
do not agree that it is technically more complex for PacTel to build a
voicemail service using the ONA attachment features than it is for an
outside vendor.

If the interconnection services needed to build the voicemail product
are available under ONA, the price for these features must be
allocated on the cost side of the telco's own voicemail product. If
the telco's voicemail gets a free ride, and can be priced based on a
low "customer perceived value" while the required components are
priced high to the competitors, the combination is predatory.

LJP> For a competitor to provide a voicemail service equivalent to the one
LJP> offered by the LEC, they need to have the LEC provide:
LJP> - forward on busy/no answer
LJP> - remote control of stutter dialtone
LJP> If the telco charges as much for those supporting features as they do
LJP> for the service that includes them, I would call it predatory.

TG> I think the operative term here is "IF". What we really need
TG> is some accurate pricing information and service descriptions
TG> in order to decide whether or not this accusation is true.

Are you saying that you agree that if such pricing occurs, then it
predatory and should not be allowed? If so, we would be almost in
agreement, and we could proceed to an evaluation of facts: Does such
pricing indeed exist.

LJP> In my book, the IXCs access charges should be the same as the price of a
LJP> local business call. The IXC is a business, as far as the LEC is
LJP> concerned. The LEC's subscriber is placing a call to the IXC (assuming
LJP> for the moment 950-xxxx access) and on the terminating end, the IXC
LJP> is placing a call to the terminating subscriber. In most places, the
LJP> access charges are 2-3 times the local business call rates. This is not
LJP> a fair price. It seems reasonable to allow for a higher access charge
LJP> on the originating end to pay for the database processing to record PICs
LJP> for 1+ dialing, so long as 950-xxxx access is still available at the
LJP> basic charge, though.

TG> Toll for the price of local? You bet.

Read again: Toll ACCESS for the price of local.

TG> That is exactly where this market is going.
TG> The problem is that the IXC's are going
TG> to have to be dragged kicking and screaming into the real
TG> world. A consortium of IXC's just today took out a full page ad
TG> in several major newspapers condemning SWBT for it's
TG> monopolistic practices. Guess what the monopolistic practice
TG> being condemned is? LATA-wide flat rate calling.

Are you saying that SWBT has expanded the local calling areas everywhere
to whole LATAs? Or that SWBT has defined "calling plans" that the IXCs
cannot match because SWBT are charging more in access fees?

TG> So on the one hand the IXC's are complaining about having to pay
TG> too much for access charges and on the other hand fighting truly
TG> competitive service offerings tooth and nail. What I hope to see
TG> happen someday is that the RBOC's will be allowed into the interLATA
TG> markets and then we can see some really competitive offerings -
TG> how about nationwide flat rate calling?

Once there is true competiotion in local access, the LECs will be let
loose. But allowing LECs to buy marketshare in the long distance
business and pay for the losses with money earned in a monopoly
home market is not in the interest of the consumer.


Lars Poulsen            Internet E-mail: [e-mail]
Rockwell Network Systems    Phone:        [phone]
7402 Hollister Avenue         Telefax:      [phone]
Santa Barbara, CA 93105        Internets: designed and built while you wait

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 26 Apr 1995 14:02:39 -0500
From: Tim Gorman <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Competition, RBOCs and All That


[e-mail] (Lars Poulsen) writes:

SNIP: (numerous lines concerning whether NYNEX tariffs CFBDA)

> I MUST APOLOGIZE for jumping in without having read the start of the
> thread; I was addressing the larger issue of predatory pricing in
> general. I have been informed by several that NYNEX does not offer
> busy/no answer forwarding.

NYNEX may not offer this on a tariffed basis. This does not mean it is not
available on a special arrangement.

> Seen from the sidelines few PUCs seem to proactively regulate the
> communications industries. The California PUC has even gone to the
> extreme of asking the legislature to relieve it is duties of telecom
> oversight because the commisioners admit that they do not understand
> the industry and the issues.

This is not the fault of the RBOC's. The issues are NOT that difficult
to understand. There are lots of people who do understand them. What
is more likely is a lack of political will to make hard choices and
decisions by the commissioners and then suffer the flack. The answer
most certainly is NOT the breakup of the RBOC's into tiny, function
oriented separate companies.

> Since the regulation is usually drafted by telco staff, it is not
> altogether misdirected to vent anger at them for basing tariffs on
> what they feel they can get away with rather than on their perception
> of public benefit.

Regulation is most certainly NOT usually drafted by telco staff. Telco
staff prepare tariff filings, cost documents, and position papers. PUC
staff review these documents, recommend changes they feel are
necessary to balance both the RBOC and consumer needs, and determine
their own positions. This is all then given to the commissioners to
decide. If the commissioners don't understand the issues perhaps they
should be looking at the qualifications of their staff memebers.

Listen to what you are saying above. Does Jiffy Lube worry about
"public benefit" when setting the prices for their oil changes? Or do
they worry about setting the prices high enough to make an adequate
net profit while setting them low enough to meet the competition? What
is your rational going to be when the local market IS opened up
totally for competition? Are the RBOC's still to be held to pricing
for public benefit or will they be allowed to act as other competitors
and price for stockholder benefit? It is essential that this question
be answered and understood by all BEFORE full local competition is put
in place. There are risks associated with abandoning the regulated
monopoly philosophy for a competitive marketplace philosophy. Do we
want full, free, and fair competition or do we want a government
allocated market share scenario?

> LJP> A public service commission that understands the issues and wants
> LJP> to foster competition will insist that unregulated services -- like
> LJP> voicemail -- are not offered by the LEC itself, but by an arms-length
> LJP> subsidiary which has to purchase the switch support features from the
> LJP> regulated LEC at the same price as the competitors.

> TG> I think we are still running into a problem defining what the
> TG> difference between regulated/unregulated and
> TG> competitive/non-competitive is. I don't believe voice mail is
> TG> an unregulated offering but rather a competitive offering.
> TG> There are worlds of difference between the two. If it truly is
> TG> an unregulated offering then there ARE certain safeguards that
> TG> I'll bet all RBOC's have to obey - especially in accounting
> TG> practices.

> I must confess ignorance to this distinction. Would I be correct in
> assuming that a competitive offering may be offered through either
> the regulated or the unregulated side of the telco ? And that the
> classification as competitive is based on the presumption that any
> underlying network services required to implement the service are
> available to competitors at a price close enough to cost to allow a
> level playing field ?

Most people do have a problem with this. Public coin is competitive
yet it is not offered by a separate subsidiary. Operator services is
competitive, at least within the industry itself, yet it is not
handled by a separate subsidiary. Centrex is competitive with PBX's,
yet Centrex is not handled by a separate subsidiary. Landline POTS
service is certainly competitive with cellular POTS service in todays
market, yet landline POTS service is not offered by a separate
subsidary. Private lines, including facilties, are competitive today,
yet private lines are not offered by a separate subsidiary.  All of
these are most certainly competitive. All are still regulated.
Normally, you will only find unregulated offerings being offered by a
separate subsidiary.

Most of what the RBOC's do are going to be regulated for a LONG time.
Competitive, regulated services should NOT be required to be offered
via a separate subsidiary.

> TG> Your plan may sound reasonable but the reality is that this idea
> TG> is 20 years too late. It may have worked shortly after Carterfone
> TG> was decided but there is not a single area in the business today
> TG> that is not competitive already.

> I suspect that the word "competitive" is used here in a different sense
> than in the paragraph above. The LEC network ("the local loop") is
> not competitive in any sense of the word for 90+ percent of subscribers.

Oh, but the local loop IS very much competitive today. Or do you mean
DIAL TONE? MFS, Teleport, TimeWarner, Multimedia are already VERY
active in competing in the local loop. The number of people who have
access to this competition is growing exponentially every day. In any
case, the actual percentage is irrelevant unless you ARE interested in
artificial allocation of the markets. Competitors are going to go
where the money is. There will ALWAYS be a percentage of customers who
don't have much competitive choice. Go see how many customers in
Mantey, Kansas have a choice of grocery stores.

For dial tone, within the year you will see a large growth in the
competitiveness of intraLATA toll competition with the advent of
dialing parity between the RBOC's and the IXC's. It is already a
reality in Michigan. The commissions in the various states now looking
at this are wringing their hands in agony because of the questions it
will raise about the subsidies they have left in place with intraLATA
toll subsidizing local service -- thus leaving the RBOC's in a very bad
competitive posture. Consumers are not going to be happy when their
local bills go up when these subsidies start to change.

> TG> This dooms such a plan from the beginning. And before anyone says
> TG> local competition doesn't exist I would suggest they talk to
> TG> organizations like the State of Kansas and some of the bigger
> TG> office complexes in various states. As I have stated on here before,
> TG> I can point out to you at least two business in the
> TG> state of Kansas alone that use 5ESS switches for their PBX's!
> TG> Anyone on their campus' gets service from them.

> These are not competitive local telcos. Like rural telcos they are
> (maybe poorly regulated) monopolies within their territory. I'll bet
> that tenants in the buildings you mention probably do not have the
> choice to go with another access provider. Nor do these alternative
> providers have an obligation to serve all comers in the city where they
> do business; they are free to serve only those accounts they deem
> profitable.

These ARE competitive local telco's. This is the definition of
competition.  This is no different than Walmart taking Kmart customers
away! Do you somehow think MFS is under any obligation to serve anyone
who calls them? Heck no, they are totally free to decide when and
where they invest their money and, therefore, with whom they do
business. If the fiber they lay just happens to go by IBM, NCR,
Boeing, and GM but misses AtoZ Rentals, the local Taco Tico, the Dew
Drop Inn, and the local NAPA Auto Parts store are you going to class
this as non-competitive?

You need to take a close look at how you are applying definitions
here. It would appear you are being very selective in what you
classify as competitive in order to merely justify your argument. An
apartment owner who buys a PBX and provides local service is certainly
a COMPETITOR of the local telco whether the apartment dweller has any
other choices or not.

> TG> So, in essence, what you have proposed is a regulated wholesaler
> TG> in a market that will soon have exactly no use for a regulated
> TG> wholesaler. Unless, that is, you want to provide a government
> TG> subsidized boost to competitors that can not
> TG> or will not get their own funding in order to enter the market.
> TG> I say government subsidized because that is what will happen
> TG> sooner or later. This wholesaler is going to have rather thin
> TG> profit margins. Thin margins means major problems in capital
> TG> financing in our markets. Inability to finance capital improvements
> TG> means government intervention if you want to maintain
> TG> viability.

> While I look forward to seeing the first real competition in the local
> loop as the cable television companies start to offer telephone service,
> I am not yet convinced that this will benefit the larger subscriber
> community. While I think the urbanized areas (with CATV service) cover
> about 60% of the population, and while I think the duopoly service will
> lower rates in many (most ?) of those areas, it will almost certainly
> lead to higher rates for the last 40%.

Join the club. There isn't any other way around it. When you move to a
competitive market place supply and demand rules. You, at least, have
the honesty to admit it. There are many who won't. They think they can
have the best of all worlds -- a utopia. Unlimited profits for the
companies at no cost to the consumer. It won't happen.

> The "Rochester plan" of a regulated wholesaler of wire plant and switching
> makes no sense to me. Is that what you are referring to above ?

Yes. There are some good arguments to be made for it. But it will just turn
into a government subsidized provider for high cost areas sooner or later.

> I believe in a distinction between "basic service" and "enahnced service"
> and whenever the regulated monopoly gets into "enhanced services",
> inequities abound.

Sorry, this just doesn't cut it. Who determines basic and enhanced?
Dual tone MF signaling used to be an enhanced service but not anymore.
Frame relay used to be an enhanced service but it is pretty common
place now. It has even reached Kansas in pretty high volume. :-) I
think what you really mean to say is that you want low priced basic
service for all - by government fiat if necessary. A much different
concept with a different implementation. If there are inequities you
need to define from where they come. Is it because high volume
purchasers can get price breaks? You are going to have a hard time
overcoming this basic economic fact.

>       > The prior poster also said:
>       > >> There's no technical reason why all three of those
>       > >> features can't be offered fairly to all comers
>       > >> (even stutter dialtone, which is controlled
>       > >> from outside the CO now, since telco voicemail
>       > >> isn't built into the switch.
>       > >> I believe that PacTel offers it as an overpriced
>       > >> ONA feature. No, I don't have the order code.)
>       > >> And they price all this at about half of what the
>       > >> independents charge, even though it's technically
>       > >> more complex. Doesn't that seem a teensy, weensy,
>       > >> itsy bitsy little bit predatory?

> LJP> I agree with this.

> TG> What you have agreed with is a statement that the more technically
> TG> complex a service is the more costly it should be. Are you really
> TG> sure that is what you want to agree with?

> I agree that there is no reason why these features cannot be offered
> fairly to all comers. That is indeed the idea of the ONA mandates.
> I do not agree that it is technically more complex for PacTel to build
> a voicemail service using the ONA attachment features than it is for
> an outside vendor.

I agree. But when you are comparing prices also be sure to compare ALL costs
involved in those prices. The biggest company doesn't always have the highest
costs.

> If the interconnection services needed to build the voicemail product
> are available under ONA, the price for these features must be allocated
> on the cost side of the telco's own voicemail product. If the telco's
> voicemail gets a free ride, and can be priced based on a low "customer
> perceived value" while the required components are priced high to the
> competitors, the combination is predatory.

You are mixing apples and oranges. Don't confuse an act of the PUC
with an act of the RBOC. If the PUC decides to price based on value
then complain to and about the PUC, not the RBOC.

> LJP> For a competitor to provide a voicemail service equivalent to the one
> LJP> offered by the LEC, they need to have the LEC provide:
> LJP> - forward on busy/no answer
> LJP> - remote control of stutter dialtone
> LJP> If the telco charges as much for those supporting features as they do
> LJP> for the service that includes them, I would call it predatory.

> TG> I think the operative term here is "IF". What we really need
> TG> is some accurate pricing information and service descriptions
> TG> in order to decide whether or not this accusation is true.

> Are you saying that you agree that if such pricing occurs, then it
> predatory and should not be allowed ? If so, we would be almost in
> agreement, and we could proceed to an evaluation of facts: Does such
> pricing indeed exist.

Sure. I don't condone predatory pricing. Never said I did. The answer
to all this is unbundling. The stutter dial tone and CFBDA features
need to be sold separately from the voice mail function itself. That
is why we need service descriptions and prices in order to determine
fully what is going on. But remember, what is good for the goose is
good for the gander. The same rules will also have to be applied to
any local competitor in the future.

> LJP> In my book, the IXCs access charges should be the same as the price of
> LJP> a local business call. The IXC is a business, as far as the LEC is
> LJP> concerned. The LEC's subscriber is placing a call to the IXC (assuming
> LJP> for the moment 950-xxxx access) and on the terminating end, the IXC
> LJP> is placing a call to the terminating subscriber. In most places, the
> LJP> access charges are 2-3 times the local business call rates. This is
> LJP> not a fair price. It seems reasonable to allow for a higher access
> LJP> charge on the originating end to pay for the database processing to
> LJP> record PICs for 1+ dialing, so long as 950-xxxx access is still
> LJP> available at the basic charge, though.

> TG> Toll for the price of local? You bet.

> Read again: Toll ACCESS for the price of local.

I'm not sure what you are getting at here. We don't do manual
recording anymore. It costs just as much to terminate a call and
record the access minutes as to originate a call and record the access
minutes. Recording PIC's and such should probably be part of the flat
rate monthly bill, it certainly isn't a usage senstitive part of the
equation.

> TG> That is exactly where this market is going.
> TG> The problem is that the IXC's are going
> TG> to have to be dragged kicking and screaming into the real
> TG> world. A consortium of IXC's just today took out a full page ad
> TG> in several major newspapers condemning SWBT for it's
> TG> monopolistic practices. Guess what the monopolistic practice
> TG> being condemned is? LATA-wide flat rate calling.

> Are you saying that SWBT has expanded the local calling areas everywhere
> to whole LATAs ? Or that SWBT has defined "calling plans" that the IXCs
> cannot match because SWBT are charging more in access fees ?

Yep. SWBT filed to make the whole LATA a flat rate calling area in
Kansas and Missouri. $30 a month for residence, $60 per month for
business I believe. The IXC toll rates in Kansas are already less than
SWBT offers. So it isn't the access rates that is causing the problem
for the carriers here.

> TG> So on the one hand the IXC's are complaining about having to pay
> TG> too much for access charges and on the other hand fighting truly
> TG> competitive service offerings tooth and nail. What I hope to see
> TG> happen someday is that the RBOC's will be allowed into the interLATA
> TG> markets and then we can see some really competitive offerings -
> TG> how about nationwide flat rate calling?

> Once there is true competiotion in local access, the LECs will be let
> loose. But allowing LECs to buy marketshare in the long distance
> business and pay for the losses with money earned in a monopoly
> home market is not in the interest of the consumer.

The problem is that the local monopoly is on the way out. YOU may want
to argue that there are consumers that no competitors will want to
serve. This is just what Charlie Brown with AT&T started arguing in
the 1980's. Nobody listened then, they aren't listening now. There
WILL be some eggs broken. If the PUC's don't like it then they need to
get with Judge Green ASAP and see if things can be put back the way
they were. Don't hold your breath though.


Tim Gorman    [e-mail]
Southwestern Bell Tel. Co

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 26 Apr 1995 22:45:38 -0400
From: [e-mail] (John Levine)
Subject: Re: Competition, RBOCs and All That


Hi.  I finally found the 800 number for VT-net, the Internet access
service that NYNEX provides in Vermont below cost (or it would if they
weren't selling 800 service to themselves at a price lower than they
offer to any of their customers).  The number is 800-763-9400,
provider is indeed NYNEX.

As I noted in another message, this sort of situation wouldn't occur
if regulated utilites stuck to monopoly services.


Regards,

John Levine, [e-mail]
Primary perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies"

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Frank Atkinson)
Subject: Re: Competition, RBOCs and All That
Date: 26 Apr 1995 21:02:03 -0400
Organization: The Greater Columbus Freenet


Without going too far afield, in Ohio we are discussing how to open
the local loop up for competition and issues like this are on the
table. The new phone compnay wanna-be's (Warner, MCI, MFS, AT&T, etc)
have suggested that all subsidies be removed, identified and funded
rather than hidden in one or another rates. Incumbent LEC's have
suggested there is a subsidy for rural service, carrier of last
resort, and universal service. Just today AT&T (currently an IX)
suggested that their calls cost the same to terminate as any other
call and should be priced based on cost (the silence you hear are the
LEC's trying to breathe again ). Interconnection and unbundling where
access to dialtone control and other such things will be discussed are
on the agenda once the preliminary sparring rounds are finished.


Frank Atkinson  [e-mail] or [e-mail]
I think therefore I am, I think?

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #212
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From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
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To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #213

TELECOM Digest     Thu, 27 Apr 95 11:17:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 213

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    UCLA Short Course on Multimedia Compression Principles (William R. Goodin)
    UCLA Short Course on Transmission of Multimedia Information (W.R. Goodin)
    Quebec-Telephone Opens WWW Server (Nigel Allen)
    Help Wanted With AMARYS "210" French Telephone (Alan Nicolson)
    Can Someone Help Me With Sidetone (Steven Hellman)
    Farmstead Telephone Opens WWW Home Page (Alex Capo)
    International Caller-ID (Marko Ruokonen)
    New Date For National CID Announced? (Michael G. Godwin)
    Duplex Speaker Phone For Around $300 Available? (David Kovar)
    Minitel and European Infohighways (Romina Keller)
    Telecom New Zealand and GB (Marianne Stevens)
    What are Secure and Insecure http Links? (Jan-Adriaan de Lijster)
    VBR Video Over an ATM-Network (Hugo Nordkamp)
    Video-on-Demand (Herman Vandeven)
    Telecom in China (Tom Dedecker)
    Help Request - PC Autodialer vs. Phone System (Bill Breckinridge)
    Icom R-71 Receiver Wanted (Gordon Mitchell)
    Correction: PCS Comparative MTA Ranking (Bob Keller)
    Administrivia: Issue Number Correction (TELECOM Digest Editor)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
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----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (William R. Goodin)
Subject: UCLA Short Course on Multimedia Compression Principles
Date: Wed, 26 Apr 1995 18:50:13
Organization: UCLA Extension


On August 8-11, 1995, UCLA Extension will present the short course,
"Multimedia Compression: Principles, Applications, and Standards", on
the UCLA campus in Los Angeles.

The instructors are Jerry D. Gibson, PhD, Professor, Department of
Electrical Engineering, Texas A&M University; Richard L. Baker, PhD,
Chief Scientist, PictureTel Corp; Toby Berger, PhD, Professor, School
of Electrical Engineering, Cornell University; and Tom Lookabaugh, PhD,
Vice President, Research and Business Development, DiviCom.

The efficient digital representation or compression of data, speech,
music, facsimile, still images, and video for storage and transmission
plays a dominant role in current and developing communications
systems, computer networks, PCs/workstations, video-on-demand, and
entertainment.  Standards have been and continue to be developed for
this host of multimedia applications that will serve as the traffic on
the information superhighway.

This course explains the fundamental principles and algorithms
underlying these standards and describes in detail current and
evolving multimedia compression standards.  Audio tapes, slides,
videotapes, and equipment demonstrations complement the lectures.  The
course should helpprofessionals to understand existing standards and
products, evaluate future standards, and incorporate these compression
methods into their ownapplications.

Topics include: entropy and lossless coding, quantization, predictive
coding, speech coding standards, frequency domain coding, audio
coding, vision, perception and image representation, standards and
applications in video compression, grey-scale image compression,
videoconferencing, desktop videoconferencing and collaboration.

The course fee is $1395, which includes extensive course materials.

For additional information and a complete course description, please
contact Marcus Hennessy at:

[phone]
[phone]  fax
[e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (William R. Goodin)
Subject: UCLA Short Course on Transmission of Multimedia Information
Date: Wed, 26 Apr 1995 18:42:59
Organization: UCLA Extension


On August 2-4, 1995, UCLA Extension will present the short course,
"Transmission of Multimedia Information and Data", on the UCLA campus
in Los Angeles.

The instructors are Chris Heegard, PhD, Professor, Electrical
Engineering Department, Cornell University, Ithaca, and Andrew J.
King, MSEE, Design Group Manager, Communications Products, General
Instrument Corp, San Diego.

Each participant receives a manual used by DigComT, "The Digital
Communications Toolbox" and extensive lecture notes.

Digital communication systems are used for the transmission and
storage of a large variety of data, speech, still images, audio, and
video information for a wide range of applications including
facsimile, telephony, voice mail, digital cellular mobile radio,
CD-quality audio, personal communication systems, video-conferencing,
video-on-demand, and HDTV.  The physical transmission media for these
applications, called channels, take a variety of forms such as copper
wire pairs, coax cable, optical fibers, electromagnetic radiation,
magnetic tape and disks, and optical disks.

This short course presents the basic digital transmission methods for
conveying digital information through these channels efficiently and
reliably and covers the fundamental techniques for digital transmission
 from first principles to applications and implementations.

The course presents an overview of the how and why of modern reliable
data transmission.  In multi-media applications, compressed information
must be reliably delivered over channels that exhibit real-world limitations
such as noise, distortion and interference.

The course begins with an introduction to the basics of digital
modulation theory and channel capacity.  The results of this
discussion are then used to motivate the need for Forward Error
Correction (FEC) systems.  An overview of the engineering methods that
have evolved for these applications follows, including basic
modulation methods, techniques for FEC, algorithms for tracking
channel parameters and ideas for adaptive receiver design.  Both
hand-workable examples and a computer are used for developing a basic
understanding of modern digital transmission systems. Such ideas as
block, convolutional trellis and concatenated coding are described, as
are methods of signal tracking and adaptive receiver design.  The
course provides practical methods for implementing digital
communications systems, and a summary of some basic standards are
presented.  This material covers all issues concerning the development
and prototyping of digital systems, with particular emphasis on
communications applications, computer analysis and simulation, and the
basis of modern VLSI design methodology.

The course fee is $1295, which includes course materials.

For additional information and a complete course description, please
contact Marcus Hennessy at:
[phone]
[phone]  fax
[e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 27 Apr 1995 04:18:56 -0400
From: [e-mail] (Nigel Allen)
Subject: Quebec-Telephone Opens WWW Server


Quebec-Telephone, the second-largest telephone company in Quebec (Bell
Canada is the largest), has opened a WWW server at:

http://quetel.qc.ca/qt0000ag.htm

Other WWW servers operated by Canadian telecommunications companies include:

http://www.bell.ca        Bell Canada

http://www.bctel.com/ (BC Tel, formerly the British Columbia Telephone
Company)

http://www.sasknet.sk.ca/Pages/sktlhome.html (SaskTel)

http://www.rogers.com Rogers Communications, a cable TV company which
owns part of Unitel and has others communications and media investments,
including Rogers Network Services.

http://www.stentor.ca      Stentor, the consortium of telephone
companies

Interestingly, while Quebec-Telephone and BC Tel are both partly owned
by GTE Corporation, GTE has not yet set up a WWW server of its own.
(Its GTE Laboratories unit does have one at http://info.gte.com,
though.)


Nigel Allen, Toronto, Ontario, Canada     [e-mail]
http://www.io.org/~ndallen

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 95 17:11:10 +0200
Subject: Help Wanted Woth AMARYS "210" French Telephone


Our company is undergoing a feasability study on manufacturing of
basic analogue telephones for the French telecom service. As most of
our experience is with providing terminals with small digital switches
for British Telecom, Deutsche Telekom, and the Dutch PTT there are a
few questions that are posing slight difficulties with regard to
testing. The documentation which we have is one user guide (all in
French of course :) ). These are not insurmountable, but if anyone
knows the answers it would simplify matters. The name of the telephone
is AMARYS "210".

1. What are Ringing frequencies, as well as DTMF frequencies/amplitudes?

2. What exchanges does this telephone connect to  (PBXs' etc..)?

3. Are there any features of these exchanges that operate on this telephone
   (eg. CLI etc..)?

4. What type of barring is available on French exchange systems
   (eg.Line-to-Line)?

5. Are there any 'funny' French quality specifications (like the equivalent of
   BABT) that would involve us for example carrying out 'drop' testing, or
   lightning tests etc..?

If anyone can help us out, it would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.


Alan Nicolson
Philips BCS, Airdrie, Scotland.
Tel.    [phone]   ext.3179
e-mail  [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Steven Hellman)
Subject: Can Someone Help Me With Sidetone?
Date: 27 Apr 1995 01:56:39 GMT
Organization: Prodigy Services Company  1-800-PRODIGY


MY PROBLEM:

    I have a medical problem, with my ears, whereby I have
required the use of an amplified telephone "handset or headset" for
years.

    I have been in telemarketing, "Screaming into the telephone"
for years, which has caused my hearing to get progressively worse.

I NEED:

a. I need to eliminate or 'lower' the sidetone in my handset.

b. alternately, since I normally work in a private office, so, I could
talk into a handset microphone and use "external speakers" to 'receive'.

I am new to the Internet and don't know where to look for this answer.
I have, for five years been speaking to Engineers at Bell labs, NY Tel,
most of the telephone suppliers, most of the handset and headset suppliers,
with almost no success (with very few people even understanding the
term 'sidetone'.

The only possible help I found is in the book "UNDERSTANDING TELEPHONE
ELECTRONICS",  which is 'Greek' to me. (I can E-mail the discussion if
requested)

If you can help with the solution or lead me to some avenues of possible
assistance I will be in your debt.


Steven Hellman   [e-mail]
fax [phone]


[TELECOJ Digest Editor's Note: Well Steven, I think you came to the right
place. Let's see if in a few days some of the readers here have not
responded to you and/or this Digest with some solutions. Let me know how
it works out.   PAT]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Date: Wed, 26 Apr 95 22:51:16 PDT
Subject: Farmstead Telephone Opens WWW Home Page


"Farmstead Home Page"  http://www.farmstead.com

Farmstead Telephone Group, Inc., headquartered in East Hartford, CT.,
the alternative source for AT&T parts and systems, is proud to
announce the "Farmstead Home Page". Farmstead is an "authorized
distributor of AT&T remanufactured products". Farmstead is the oldest
and largest reseller of AT&T equipment to AT&T end-users. All AT&T
products sold by Farmstead are guaranteed for AT&T installation and
maintenance. Farmstead offers all AT&T voice products at significant
savings with AT&T Credit Corp financing. The "Farmstead Home Page"
gives complete information on products and services as well as
information on current industry trends and issues.

Farmstead Telephone Group, Inc. may be reached at 1-800-243-0234, FAX
203-282-9719, or contact administrator Alex Capo <[e-mail]>
Visit the "Farmstead Home Page", http://www.farmstead.com


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Alex! Isn't this a new position for
you? Weren't you with a securities firm in New York?  PAT]

------------------------------

Date: 27 Apr 95 04:31:46 EDT
From: Marko Ruokonen <[e-mail]>
Subject: International Caller-ID


Yesterday, I received a call from a friend in the US and was very surprised
to find his phone number on the phone's display even though I'm in Germany.
I must admit that I have ISDN (Caller-ID is not provided to analog lines in
Germany at all.)

My friend called from the 301 NPA and was using AT&T for long distance.

Some time ago, I received a call from area code 617 and the Caller-ID
did not show up, just "Number unknown". I am not sure if that person
used AT&T or some other LD carrier.

My question is: What long distance companies pass caller-ID along on
international calls? Also, did readers in the US with Caller-ID receive
*international* numbers on their Caller-ID boxes?


Regards,

Marko Ruokonen
Cologne, Germany

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Michael G. Godwin)
Subject: New Date For National CID Announced?
Date: 26 Apr 1995 13:30:24 GMT
Organization: BDM Technologies
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Michael G. Godwin)


I read a posting a while back about the FCC delaying the national
rollout of Caller ID.  Has a new date for this blessed event been
announced yet?


Mike

------------------------------

From: David Kovar <[e-mail]>
Subject: Duplex Speaker Phone For Around $300 Available?
Date: Wed, 26 Apr 1995 11:21:03 EDT


  I participate in a conference call requiring speaker phones on both
ends with great regularity. Unfortunately, I've been unable to find a
speaker phone for under $1300 (Hello Direct) so far. I've purchased,
and returned, two AT&T speaker phones, the latest the model 870. The
870 has improved sound quality, but the other end of the connection
still cuts out when there is any noise on my end, and the microphone
seems to be extremely sensitive.

  Does anyone know of any standalone speaker phones for under $500?
Thanks very much in advance.


David

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (KELLER ROMINA)
Subject: Minitel and European Infohighways
Date: Wed, 26 Apr 1995 17:27:06 DST


Hi,

I'm a third-year communication student at the Free University of Brussels
(VUB), Belgium. I have to write a paper about the French Minitel-system
and the possible impact of this French succes-story on the "infohighway
policy" of the European Community because this EC-policy is rather
confused at the moment. So if someone out there could help me by mailing
me some information on this topic it would help me a lot.

Thank you in advance for your help and best greetings from Brussels.


Romina
[e-mail] (KELLER ROMINA)
Student Communicatiewetenschappen
Vrije Universiteit Brussel

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (STEVENS MARIANNE)
Subject: Telecom New Zealand and GB
Date: 26 Apr 1995 09:59:56 GMT
Organization: Brussels Free Universities (VUB/ULB), Belgium


Hello,

I am a student at the Free University of Brussels and I am making a paper
on telecommunications policy in New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

Is there anybody who could send me some information about this subject,
everything is welcome.

Thanks in advance.


[e-mail] (STEVENS MARIANNE)
Student Communicatiewetenschappen
Vrije Universiteit Brussel


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I seem to get lots and lots of these
messages from students in Belgium asking for help in writing their
papers. Every day or two someone from there writes me and asks.  PAT]

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 26 Apr 1995 11:50:06 GMT
From: [e-mail] (Jan-Adriaan de Lijster)
Subject: What is the Difference Between Secure and Insecure http Links?
Organization: Erasmus University Rotterdam / FBK - BIT


I was on the net and ended up in some kind of shopping mall (WWW). What
the difference is between secure and insecure http links? How secure is
secure?  What makes a http link secure?

Could somebody explain this to me?


Thanks.

------------------------------

From: Hugo Nordkamp <[e-mail]>
Subject: VBR Video Over an ATM-Network
Date: 26 Apr 1995 12:03:06 GMT
Organization: Ericsson


We are two students working on a M. Sc. thesis at Ericsson Telecom.
We have to model the bit rate of MPEQ VBR Video.

If somebody knows where we can get some more information about this
subject, please tell us. It is hard to find people who are working on
this subject.

Our e-mail adresses are:

[e-mail] (Hugo Nordkamp)
[e-mail]  (Asa Hallgren)

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (VANDEVEN HERMAN)
Subject: Video-on-Demand
Date: 26 Apr 1995 12:23:42 GMT
Organization: Brussels Free Universities (VUB/ULB), Belgium


I'm a student at VUB, Belgium and i'm looking for general information
on video-on-demand and on its tarification towards the client. If any
of you has information on this topic, please be so kind to send it to
me.


Thanks in advance.

[e-mail] (VANDEVEN HERMAN)
Student Communicatiewetenschappen
Vrije Universiteit Brussel

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (DEDECKER TOM)
Subject: Telecom in China
Date: Wed, 26 Apr 1995 15:06:31 DST


Hello, I am a student at the Free University of Brussels and I am
writing a paper about telecommunication development in China.
Especially about the policies and the companies who are trying to
enter the market. If you know something interesting about this topic
would you be so kind to send it to me?


Thank you,

Tom   [e-mail] (DEDECKER TOM)
Student Communicatiewetenschappen
Vrije Universiteit Brussel


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The several messages above printed in
this issue are a small sample of the requests I receive like this from
day to day. Shall I print more of them from time to time?    PAT]

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 26 Apr 1995 15:42:58 CDT
From: Bill Breckinridge <[e-mail]>
Subject: Help Request - PC Autodialer vs. Phone System


Has anyone been able to use a PC based autodial program (such as
Windows Cardfile, or Metz Phones) in an office environment?

I have a separate modem line going to my PC, and the software dials
out OK -- I can hear the ringing and the answer over the modem
speaker.  I got our telecommunications support people to add my modem
line to an available button on my phone (NT Meridian M2317); but I am
unable to pick up on the line once the modem goes off hook, apparently
due to a feature called "privacy release".  Our telecom people have
been unable to figure out a way to remove the privacy release from the
modem line, which would enable me to pick up the call being autodialed.

Comments I've noted from our telecom people (which mean nothing to
me, but may help all of you ;{>} ) include:  "modem line is an analog
line and privacy release is incompatible with an analog line", "switch
is an SL100", "regular phone line is a digital line and modem can't
dial out on a digital line", "autodial software needs to send a
750ms break followed by *87 after dialing" (there's no obvious way
in the software to do that ...)

Any suggestions would be appreciated.  Request you respond to me
directly so as not to add to the overworked condition of our dear
Telecom Digest Editor.  If a working solution is found, I will
send a report to the list.

Thanks for your help!


Bill Breckinridge
Office, 24HR Voice Mail/Pager:  214.995.3587
[e-mail]
(or [e-mail] if your mailer can't handle the longer address!)
Photronics, Inc.    Dallas, TX  USA

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Gordon Mitchell)
Subject: Icom R-71 Receiver Wanted
Date: 27 Apr 1995 02:48:36 GMT
Organization: University of Washington


I am looking for an Icom R-71 in good condition.  I will be using the
computer interface so that has to work too.

Gordon Mitchell  [phone]  [e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 27 Apr 1995 09:20:41 EDT
From: Bob Keller <[e-mail]>
Subject: Correction: PCS Comparative MTA Ranking


The comparative market ranking I posted last month for the PCS Blocks A
and B auction were (How shall I put this?) ... well ... quite frankly ...
not even close.  It was a botched intermediate effort that mistakenly got
included in my final output. Sorry about that! Set forth below is the
revised/corrected listing.

The process for compiling this listing was as follows.  The amounts bid in
each market for both licenses (Block A and Block B) were totalled and the
sum was then divided by double the MTA population. (This renders the mean
avearage of $/Pop value of the two licenses in each market.) The
exceptions are the pioneers preference markets.  Only one license was
auctioned in MTA 1 (New York), MTA 2 (Los Angeles-San Diego) and MTA 10
(Washington- Baltimore), the other license having already been issued
pursuant to pioneers preference awards.  So only one bid amount was used
and the populaton was not doubled. However, a second calculation was
performed for each of these marekts for which the amount to be paid by the
pioneers preference licensee (pursuant to the forulas specified in the
GATT legislation) was also factored in as if it were a bid on the second
license. Thus, for the "*" lines below, "w/o pp" = without factoring in
the pioneers preference licnsees, and "w/ pp" = including the pioneers
preference licensees.

    MTA# Market Name                       Population   $/Pop  Total Bid(s)
    ---- --------------------------------  ----------  ------  ------------
 01 M003 Chicago                           12,069,700  $31.39  $757,800,583
 02 M024 Seattle (Excl. Alaska)             3,827,175  $27.63  $211,518,486
 03 M011 Atlanta                            6,942,084  $27.59  $383,071,483
 04 M010 Washington-Baltimore (w/o pp)      7,777,875  $27.23  $211,771,000
 05 M002 Los Angeles-San Diego (w/o pp)    19,145,232  $25.78  $493,500,000
 06 M015 Miami-Fort Lauderdale              5,136,581  $25.09  $257,743,126
 07 M019 St. Louis                          4,663,926  $25.00  $233,161,789
 08 M031 Indianapolis                       3,017,475  $23.45  $141,533,000
 09 M027 Phoenix                            3,510,140  $21.93  $153,955,434
 *  M010 Washington-Baltimore (w/ pp)       7,777,875  $20.19  $314,114,539
 10 M037 Jacksonville                       2,274,933  $19.89   $90,500,544
 11 M047 Honolulu                           1,108,229  $19.87   $44,036,462
 *  M002 Los Angeles-San Diego (w/ pp)     19,145,232  $19.47  $745,418,526
 12 M020 Milwaukee                          4,541,432  $18.83  $171,043,290
 13 M017 New Orleans-Baton Rouge            4,925,269  $18.62  $183,424,485
 14 M036 Salt Lake City                     2,573,372  $17.88   $92,026,882
 15 M033 San Antonio                        2,986,524  $17.80  $106,344,182
 16 M016 Cleveland                          4,945,749  $17.48  $172,881,000
 17 M013 Tampa-St. Petersburg-Orlando       5,417,788  $17.45  $189,114,560
 18 M004 San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose    11,891,177  $17.18  $408,650,000
 19 M001 New York (w/o pp)                 26,410,597  $16.76  $442,712,000
 20 M022 Denver                             3,880,637  $16.61  $128,938,483
 21 M014 Houston                            5,190,849  $16.04  $166,569,262
 22 M048 Tulsa                              1,096,396  $15.67   $34,364,023
 23 M025 Puerto Rico-U.S. Virgin Islands    3,623,846  $15.39  $111,571,000
 *  M001 New York (w/ pp)                  26,410,597  $14.96  $790,230,309
 24 M026 Louisville-Lexington-Evansville    3,556,648  $13.47   $95,839,000
 25 M008 Boston-Providence                  9,452,712  $13.16  $248,725,892
 26 M028 Memphis-Jackson                    3,465,226  $12.46   $86,337,314
 27 M030 Portland                           3,059,948  $11.16   $68,294,815
 28 M029 Birmingham                         3,244,076  $10.92   $70,875,000
 29 M038 Columbus                           2,145,561  $10.36   $44,466,837
 30 M009 Philadelphia                       8,927,748   $9.29  $165,946,012
 31 M043 Nashville                          1,767,391   $9.10   $32,184,000
 32 M007 Dallas-Fort Worth                  9,694,157   $9.07  $175,944,578
 33 M018 Cincinnati-Dayton                  4,716,665   $8.98   $84,665,483
 34 M023 Richmond-Norfolk                   3,846,210   $8.67   $66,697,045
 35 M005 Detroit                           10,001,009   $8.36  $167,284,000
 36 M034 Kansas City                        2,913,304   $8.11   $47,231,005
 37 M021 Pittsburgh                         4,102,766   $7.36   $60,385,199
 38 M032 Des Moines-Quad Cities             3,006,139   $7.18   $43,143,004
 39 M006 Charlotte-G'boro-G'ville-Raleigh   9,752,317   $7.05  $137,523,001
 40 M035 Buffalo-Rochester                  2,777,046   $6.98   $38,757,000
 41 M041 Oklahoma City                      1,877,478   $6.46   $24,253,457
 42 M012 Minneapolis-St. Paul               5,986,039   $6.37   $76,274,685
 43 M044 Knoxville                          1,721,911   $6.33   $21,784,000
 44 M040 Little Rock                        2,051,667   $6.11   $25,053,501
 45 M051 American Samoa                        47,000   $4.71      $442,556
 46 M046 Wichita                            1,124,174   $4.13    $9,294,343
 47 M039 El Paso-Albuquerque                2,113,890   $4.08   $17,268,030
 48 M042 Spokane-Billings                   1,863,335   $3.19   $11,879,000
 49 M045 Omaha                              1,659,273   $2.93    $9,725,000
 50 M049 Alaska                               550,043   $2.41    $2,650,129
 51 M050 Guam-Northern Mariana Islands        176,000   $0.71      $248,837


Bob Keller (KY3R)                         Email: [e-mail]
Law Office of Robert J. Keller, P.C.      Telephone:  [phone]
Federal Telecommunications Law            Facsimile:  301.229.6875
http://www.clark.net/pub/rjk/ | ftp://ftp.eznet.net/pub/telcomlaw/

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 27 Apr 1995 10:31:26 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Subject: Administrivia: Issue Number Correction


Issue 212 of the current volume left here Wednesday evening correctly
numbered at the start of the issue, however the very bottom line
which is used by some systems for bursting and separation of messages
incorrectly identifified it as issue 213. Please correct that reference
on your copy. What you are reading now is issue 213.  Thank you.


PAT

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #213
******************************


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Date: Thu, 27 Apr 1995 12:25:10 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #214

TELECOM Digest     Thu, 27 Apr 95 12:25:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 214

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Local Competition Epiphany (Donald E. Kimberlin)
    German Telekoms "KIT": Specs/Document Now Available (Werner J. Lilie)
    Re: The AT&T "Minimum Usage Charge" Rumor (Michael Ward)
    Re: Detect/Prevent Third-Party Calls (Steven White)
    Re: Detect/Prevent Third-Party Calls (Mark J. Cuccia)
    Re: New Country Code 380 For Ukraine (Clive D.W. Feather)
    USWorst / ISDN (Bill Halverson)
    IBM Twinaxial Cable Disposal (Shereef Moustafa)
    Re: NPA Black Holes (Mark Cuccia)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
                    9457-D Niles Center Road
                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
                        Fax: [phone]
  ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

*************************************************************************
*   TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the              *
* International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland    *
* under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES)   *
* project.  Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such
as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help
is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per
year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Thu, 27 Apr 95 10:45 EST
From: Donald E. Kimberlin <[e-mail]>
Subject: Local Competition Epiphany


        For the past four days, full-page ads have appeared in the
Charlotte, North Carolina {Observer}, telling of a coalition of
companies that seek particular objectives in U.S. Federal legislation
concerning local telephone competition.  Those who remember "how it
used to be" will find some of the statements no less than an
astounding change from what AT&T once used to say to the world, in
addition to noting AT&T's recognition of entities it would once have
hoped to ignore and perhaps even hogtie to death.  It certainly seems
AT&T has discovered a new reality, and now has joined in to promote a
new reality into local telephone business in the U.S.  Here's the ad
copy reproduced in ASCII as best I can do:

                 Bell Monopolies are the problem.
               Real competition is the only answer.

Congress will soon be considering legislation to rewrite the laws that
will govern telecommunications policy well into the 21st century.  If
that rewrite is to help the average American, we believe a few key
principles must guide this work.

            <small drawing of 300-Type telephone set>

        * Monopolies and a free market economy don't mix.
  * Monopolies stifle entrepreneurship and innovation, and keep
                           prices high.
    * Monopolies never, ever give up their power voluntarily.

            <small drawing of 300-type telephone set>

        Therefore, any legislation must start with breaking up
              the entrenched local Bell monopolies.

        The Bell companies are classic monopolies.  The control about
99 percent of local service in their territories.  Except for the
monopoly Bells, everyone agrees that these monopolies must FIRST
disappear -- the debate is about when, how and under what conditions.
Real local competition will exist only when Bell monopolies meet clear
tests that competitive choices actually exist.  And when experts have
the power to enforce those tests to preserve free markets.

            <small drawing of 300-type telephone set>

        We want this industry to be deregulated as rapidly as
possible.  But it is essential to do it right.  That means, first
break up the local monopolies; then deregulate all markets.  We know
that competition in long distance is a dazzling success for America,
driving down prices almost 70 percent in 11 years while providing new
and innovative technological advances.  It's time to bring those same
competitive benefits to consumers of local phone service.

            <small drawing of 300-type telephone set>

                 DE-MONOPOLIZE, then DE-REGULATE

You can affect this legislation. If you want to learn more about
how to have real competition replace the local Bell monopolies...

                       Call 1-800-4COMPETE

             The Competitive Long Distance Coalition

 (signed with logos of Comptel, AT&T, LDDS/Worldcom, MCI, Sprint,
                          TRA and ACTA>

        (c) CLD Coalition, Inc.

<end of ad copy from Charlotte {Observer})

        Incroyable, madames et messieurs!  Can those words be signed
by the same AT&T that once owned the RBOC's?  Now, they talk of the
meaning of "real competiton," when for decades, AT&T used the same
tired lines about "competition" meaning sending a letter instead of a
phone call, how unrecoverable "chaos" would result from competition,
and how the phone business was a "natural monopoly" when anyone who
really understood its economics knew of the differences between
telephone capital costs and those of other utility businesses.  And,
because AT&T was the pre-eminent authority of the telephone world,
telephone monopolies around the globe reinforced its preachments in
their nations.  What's going to happen when those other nations find
they have lost their primary oracle?

        Yes, AT&T seems to have definitely had an epiphany.  It took
about a decade.  Now, AT&T is attacking its own children; the children
Ma Bell defended so strongly and totally for a century.  Wonder how
long the attackees will take to meaningfully realize it on a broad
scale?  (And, when it comes to the economics and actions really
happening, I can even say, "Remember when I told you so, Dear
Moderator?" <smirkle, nudge, wink> ... It's happening!  Even the
Greatest Telecom Show on Earth is encouraging interlopers into the
local markets.)


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The important thing is *do it right*.
Proceed very carefully, to avoid the problems we had in the early days
of long distance deregulation. Conditions are certainly changing quickly
now; the rush for complete deregulation and competition is well underway.
It seems amazing that time has gone by as quickly as it has since the
early 1980's when this Digest first began publication and there was almost
no competition at all. Yes, its been eleven years since AT&T and the local
Bell Companies went their separate ways ... amazing.   PAT]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Werner J. Lilie)
Subject: German Telekoms "KIT": Specs/Document Now Available via ftp
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 1995 16:44:10 +0100
Organization: Universitaet Stuttgart


Hi !

The German "Telekom" has been operating a CEPT-based service named
"BTX" for quite a while now. BTX is (was?) comparable to the
well-known French system "Minitel" or maybe even the US-based service
"Prodigy".  BTX turned out to be a major disappointment: costly, not
enough subscribers, too expensive and loaded with sleaze & smut (hot
chat, and all that). However, since the former Bundespost/Deutsche
Telekom (nowadays just "Telekom") turned over the marketing to a small
company ("1&1") and renamed the service to "DATEX-J" (DATa EXchange -
Jedermann [anybody/everybody]) it has been growing steadily. In the
last couple of years the service has grown from around 200-thousand to
an amazing 700 000 and is supposed to hit 1 million by the end of this
year (keep in mind that this is a German-only service).  Currently the
system is undergoing a major overhaul: 14.4 & 28.8 (+ ISDN) access
instead of former 2.4, Internet-email gateway, a lot of new high-quality
(for example: FIZ) services and a completely new graphical interface
(which will ultimately replace the old character-based interface).
This new interface is called "KIT" (Kernel for Intelligent Communication
Terminals) and the Telekom is going to try to make it a standard (ITU,
and all that).

I like the idea of having important stuff like this available at ones
fingertips, so I contacted the Person responsible for this at the
Telekom (N.Braun, Thanks!) and obtained the necessary documents and
his permission to put them on the Internet.

All the KIT-stuff can be found on "ftp.uni-stuttgart.de" in the directory
"/pub/doc/standards/misc/KIT"

It contains the following:

- CHKSUM         MD5 checksum of "kit_doc.pdf" & "kit_doc.ps.gz"
- README         German ReadMe file containing negligible info
- kit_doc.pdf    KIT-documentation as Adobe PDF file  [695K]
- kit_doc.ps.gz  KIT-documentation as gzipped Postscript file  [691K]

- new            directory, containing:
     - KIT_DOC.README    another German ReadMe file
     - kitspec.exe       a "zipped" (.zip) Postscript file of the
KIT-docum. [258K]

The PDF (Portable Document Format) file-format is sort of an enhanced
postscript, while enjoying all the features of postscript you can, in
addition, search the text and the like. Your best choice for reading a
 .pdf file is the free "Acrobat Reader" from Adobe, its available for DOS,
M$-Windoze, Mac and Unix (sorry, just for SunOS - no source available).
You can download it from "ftp.adobe.com" and probably a lot of other
sites. The following locations of the files on ftp.uni-stuttgart.de will
give you a hint which directories to check on other servers. When ftp-ing
the files from ftp.uni-stuttgart.de please keep the pathetic bandwidth of
the European (and particularly German!) network in mind!


On ftp.uni-stuttgart.de the Adobe Acrobat Reader can be found in the
following directories:

DOS, M$-Windoze, Mac: "pub/tex/fonts/postscript/adobe/Applications/Acrobat/"
Unix (SunOS binary): "/pub/unix/text-processing/postscript/Acrobat/"


Und Tschuess.....

WL

P.S.: All-German posting available in "de.comm.internet, de.comm.misc,
fido.ger.btx, fido.ger.internet"

[e-mail] | Fon:[phone]
[e-mail]    CI$ : 100142,2352 | Fax:[phone]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (ward michael)
Subject: Re: The AT&T "Minimum Usage Charge" Rumor
Date: 27 Apr 95 15:48:11 GMT
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana


[e-mail] (Lauren Weinstein) writes:

> Here's what I've been able to piece together so far.  It's accurate as
> far as I know, but I have more inquiries pending and I'll pass along
> anything else I find out.

> 1) No minimum charges would apply to residential lines (as far as I can
>    determine right now).
> 2) A minimum charge of $5/month/line will apply to all separately billed
>    business lines that have AT&T selected as their carrier.  This will just
>    suddenly start appearing on bills shortly.  Surprise!
> 3) AT&T is suggesting that business customers aggregate their lines in
>    various ways to help avoid the charge (aggregated lines -- e.g. via Custom
>    Net or SBA, etc. apparently share a single $5 minimum between all lines).

It is possible that AT&T does not want low volume customers.  A
similar issue has come up with regards to residential service.  AT&T
claims that 26% of its residential customers have monthly bills less
than $3 and 44% less than $10.  It costs AT&T between $0.35 and $0.85
to render a monthly bill. For residential service (I don't know about
business service) LD carriers must pay ~$0.50 per subscriber per month
to the Universal Service Fund regardless of the subscriber's calling
volume.  This goes a long way to explaining calling plans being volume
sensitive. It also explains why some resellers are marketing that you
do not pre-subscribe, but just dial thier 1-0-XXXX code.

AT&T was further claiming that the price-cap plan did not permit them to
set initial prices high enough to cover costs and then offer steeper
discounts.  I do not know how valid this claim is.

The minimum monthly charge for business service probably is an
outgrowth of the February (?) 1995 FCC decision to regulate AT&T
commercial services in a more streamlined fashion, rather than keep
under price-caps.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Steven White)
Subject: Re: Detect/Prevent Third-Party Calls
Date: 27 Apr 1995 11:14:50 GMT
Organization: Ericsson North America, Inc.


> I just had two AT&T long-distance calls charged to my number, and had to
> call AT&T to have them removed -- AT&T isn't my long-distance provider.
 ...

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You can prevent it from happening with a
> slight bit of inconvenience to yourself, but it may be worth it. Find
> out of your local telco offers 'billed number screening'. This is a

Southern Bell in N.C. charges $10.25 for this change in service to
disallow incoming third-party billing.  I was recommended by AT&T to
have this option put on my line after a couple of (not inexpensive)
calls were charged from a Texas hotel room.  Of course, AT&T withdrew
the charges.  However, I don't feel I should have to pay $10.25 for a
crime preventive measure.  A couple more fraudulent charges, and the
phone company will have already "paid" the charge in manhours.

How about requiring Ma Bell to reimburse AT&T for any future
fraudulent charges?  Seems to me they are bordering on being an
accessory.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Ameritech (Illinois Bell) does not charge
a fee for this service. You simply ask to be added to the data base.  PAT]

------------------------------

From: Mark J. Cuccia <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Detect/Prevent Third-Party Calls
Date: 27 Apr 1995 14:01:24 GMT
Organization: Tulane University


[e-mail] (Alex Madarasz) wrote:

> I just had two AT&T long-distance calls charged to my number, and had to
> call AT&T to have them removed -- AT&T isn't my long-distance provider.

> How / why is it possible for someone to have calls -- especially long-
> distance calls -- charged to my number?  Is there any way I can detect
> this happening or prevent it in the future?

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You can prevent it from happening with a
> slight bit of inconvenience to yourself, but it may be worth it. Find
> out of your local telco offers 'billed number screening'. This is a
> database used in common by AT&T, Sprint, MCI and a couple other long-
> distance carriers which prevents anything but direct dialed calls from
> your actual telephone from being being to your account with the exception
> of credit card calls. That is, calls made 'collect' to you will be turned
> away as will attempts to bill 'third number' calls to you. The network
> simply won't allow those calls. Now if *you* have reason occassionally to
> call your number collect or place a call and bill it to your number, then
> you too are going to be rejected, but this may be a minor issue considering
> all the options available these days such as 800 numbers, calling cards
> and other methods.   PAT]

Some local telco's offer third party billing restrict and collect
restrict seperately.  South Central Bell does so here in Louisiana,
and there is NO charge for this service, neither one time nor
recurring monthly.  I cannot speak for servcies by any other local
telcos in other states/provinces.  I had a situation a few years ago
when I had a third party charge back to my bill (via AT&T), and even
though I was aware of collect restrict and third party restrict, I forgot
to have them added to my account when I first got my telephone
service.

Also, SCBell does NOT just add the restrictions on your account by
requesting them over the phone like they do with requests for new
Custom Calling or 'Touchstar' features or even a 976 or 1-900 or N11
code blocking -- with these billed-back resrictions, SCBell will mail
you a form which you must sign and mail back to Bell before they will
put you number in the operator's database; I'm not exactly sure who
OWNS this database, but the MAJOR long distance carriers AND the LOCAL
TELCOS (InTRA-Lata TOPS operators) use the database for verification;
NOT ALL LD Carriers will check this database - you could still get a
third party charge via one of these private-payphone/Motel PBX private
operators -- but Bell told me that they would adjust this off of my own
bill and keep a reference of it for future problems with these *&@!
private operators/PBX/Payphone companies.

But, here in Louisiana, you CAN get your line free from MOST third party
billing back withOUT having to give up COLLECT calls to you which you
might want to accept in emergencies.


Mark


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Here it is just offered as one package.
You can ask for restriction on any charges coming through on calls which
were not direct-dialed or via calling card. As you point out, not all
the long distance carriers bother to check the database, however our good
friends (?!) at Integratel maintain a database of their own for the telcos
they bill for, and a call to Integratel will add you to their list as
well. Between the database maintained/used by AT&T, Sprint. MCI and a few
others and the one maintained by Integratel, you are about 95 percent
certain of not getting hit with outlandish and/or unauthorized charges.
I used to have problems with someone calling me collect from a private
COCOT which charged something like five dollars per minute ... getting
added to the Integratel database covers lots of COCOT situations. You
mention wanting to accept collect calls under some emergency situations,
but as John Higdon pointed out in this Digest about three years ago,
there are so many options available now that collect calls simply are
no longer needed. With a combination of things like 800 numbers, calling
cards with restricted pins (good for reaching your number only), 500/700
service, etc ... who needs collect calls?  Plus when you consider that
almost anyone should be able to scrape together a few coins to call you,
even if just to say please call back to xxx-xxxx .... collect calling
is almost as obsolete as 'person to person'; does anyone still use that
with its very high rates?    PAT]

------------------------------

Subject: Re: New Country Code 380 For Ukraine
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 1995 00:54:08 BST
From: Clive D.W. Feather <[e-mail]>


> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Do you suppose one of these days as the
> global community changes; new countries are formed and old ones go
> out of existence that the international numbering scheme will get all
> messed up the way USA area codes got messed up, out of sequence, etc?
> Will we some day run out of country codes the way the USA ran out of
> area codes and have to come up with some new numbering scheme for the
> whole world?   PAT]

Hopefully not. After the breakup of the eastern block, things seem to
have settled down in terms of new countries appearing.

I compared my country codes list with my list of ISO recognised
countries and territories. The shared uses of codes I found were:

1     Shared by 21 countries, of which 1 has a new code allocated
269   Shared by 2 countries: Comoros and Mayotte
33    Shared by 3 countries, of which 2 have had new codes allocated
39    Shared by 3 countries, of which 2 have had new codes allocated
41    Shared by 2 countries: Switzerland and Liechtenstein
42    Shared by 2 countries: Czech Republic and Slovakia
672   Shared by 5 territories under Australian control
7     Shared by 9 countries, of which 3 have had new codes allocated

So there's a potential need for 31 new codes. But 68 are still spare:

    280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289
            292 293 294 295
            382 383 384             388
                693 694 695 696 697 698 699
        801 802 803 804 805 806 807 808 809
    830 831 832 833 834 835 836 837 838 839
        851         854         857 858 859
        881 882 883 884 885     887 888 889
    970                             978 979
    990 991 992 993         996 997 998 999

and if the Czechs and the Slovaks want to split, ITU-T would almost
certainly split code 42 into 10 codes, making another 8 spare.

So I think we're safe for the while.

Oops, almost forgot. Apart from the 31 cases I listed before, there are
eight territories with no international code that I know of:

    Bouvet Island [Norway]
    East Timor
    French Southern Territories
    Pitcairn Island
    South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands [UK Atl]
    Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands [Norway]
    United States Minor Outlying Islands
    Western Sahara


Clive D.W. Feather     [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: If you are referring to the United States
Trust Territory in the South Pacific Ocean as the 'minor outlying islands'
you mention above, I think some of those have gone into 'area code' 808
which serves Hawaii and Midway Island. Also, I think the 'country code'
for Guam is going to become an 'area code' in the near future, still
serving Guam and perhaps nearby places.  PAT]

------------------------------

From: Bill Halverson <[e-mail]>
Subject: USWorst / ISDN
Date: 25 Apr 1995 23:18:04 GMT
Organization: Pacific Bell


[e-mail] (John Sullivan) wrote:

> You're one of the fortunate few, Michael.  US West has decided to
> concentrate its ISDN efforts on Washington state since their network
> infrastructure is in better shape there and they think there will be a
> larger customer base (e.g. Microsoft).  They aren't pulling out of other
> states entirely, but they are trying to get out of remotely providing
> ISDN service and providing service only from "disclosed" offices which
> would mean primarily existing digital offices.  US West claims that
> availability in Washington will be about 96 percent.  They hope to use
> Washington as a "testbed" for ISDN.  Then, once they figure out how to
> sell it, they'll take what they've learned and apply it in other states.
> If I were a potential ISDN customer in one of those states, however, I
> wouldn't hold my breath.

Ah HA!  This begins to explain what I heard in Minneapolis last week:

US West declined to bid on a 7,500 line metropolitan voice system --
and when the customer had the audacity to buy a (gasp) PBX and request
their own prefix ... well suffice it to say the poor TCM that made
that decision now finds himself looking at a situation where US West
testers fail to show up for scheduled tests, the T1 network he is
leasing gives him fits, and ... on and on ...

Moreover, several other corporate accounts (Cargill was mentioned) have
their own horror stories about USWest.


Bill Halverson    Pacific  Bell    Sent 16:20:00 PDT on 04/25/95
PH 415 542 6564  [e-mail]            FAX [phone]
"The views of the author are not those of his employer ... yet."


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Care to share more of those 'horror
stories' from Cargill and others?  Interested readers want to know
more.  PAT]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Shereef Moustafa)
Subject: IBM Twinaxial Cable Disposal
Date: 25 Apr 1995 22:21:27 GMT
Organization: Netcom


Is anyone familiar with recyclers or resellers of IBM Twinax cable?

I need to dispose of quite a bit and understand that there may be
parties interested in getting this stuff for copper value or emergency
cable.


Thanks ... please reply to [e-mail]  :)

------------------------------

From: Mark Cuccia <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: NPA Black Holes
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 95 10:19:00 GMT


I heard this same story too, on Paul Harvey News yesterday on ABC
Radio about those who are not able to dial out to 'NNX' type NPA's.
MOST telcos have done everything they are supposed to in reprogramming
their switches -- some small independents MIGHT have been late in
doing so. Privately owned payphones (COCOTS) can also be blamed for
not programming their phones, and most of us will blame A LOT of
problems on COCOTS, who deserve all the blame they get (along with
their sister AOS' (I'd like to spell AOS a little bit different).

But even Bell can be blamed at times. Here in Louisiana, all of our
Step by Step offices have been converted to ESS (or DIGITAL ESS), and
there are probably a few #5 Crossbars (also common control); 557 is the
special office prefix in the five-state SCBell area used to call Business
Office, Repair, etc.

When SCBell introduced it around 1986 or 87, it was listed as 1 + 557-XXXX;
the 1+ was necessary in Stepper offices but redundant in CommonControl
offices (#5XB, ESS, Digital); SCBell dropped the 1+ listing on 557
about two or three years ago; even when it was listed, you could still call
557 without the 1+ in common control offices; You can STILL use a
1 + 557 but it is NOT required; Actually whenever Bellcore assigns 557
as an Area Code, 1 + 557 for SCBell will become confusing; If MS, AL,
TN, KY have ANY step offices in SCBell territory (I don't know for
sure), they might change the dialing to 1 + HOME NPA + 557 or they might
instruct callers to use an 800 (or 888) number.

Recently I requested some code restrictions on my home phone.  I have
had NPA 900 and the 976 local office code restricted for several
years.  NOW, SCBell opened up some previously unused N11 codes for
'Information Delivery' services -- 211 is for the {Times Picayunne}
newspaper's 'info' line (Tone phone required, dial 211 hear a preamble
stating that it is 50 cents/call and if you don't want to be charged
hang up now -- use the four digit menu options to request Soap updates,
sports scores, you know the like); 311 is for an alternate private
ambulance service (several ambulance companies bid for this code), 511
unused, 711 presently unused; 611 is NOT repair in La., 811 is NOT
business office in La. -- these two unused.

I requested free restriction on access to 211 as well as changing my
local service to a more Metro-area dialing plan (former toll calls
within 40 miles are local or greatly discounted toll -- and you don't
have to dial 1 + 504 + -- you just have to dial seven digits. Well,
when my 211 became blocked and my Metro dial plan went into effect, I
found that whoever programmed my line cut out access to 557 SCBell
company numbers.  I could NOT get thru unless I dialed 1 + 557; I also
could not do 0 + 504 + 557 nor 1 + 504 + 557. Knowing that NNX form NPA's
are being used now, I called Repair (!+557 etc) and complained; A
supervisor said "I don't see any problem with you dialing 1 + 557; if
and when a 557 area code is assigned, you should take that up with
your LD company" which I responded NO that it was THEIR problem to
which she said "Oh well, if and when 557 becomes a new area code, as
far as YOUR line goes, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

The Bell System planned YEARS ago (as early as 1959 or 60) that one
day there would be N0X/N1X central office codes and NNX Area Codes;
For the MOST part, Telco has done what they were supposed to -- PBX's,
some independent telcos, and DAMNABLE PRIVATE PAYPHONES/AOS companies are
to blame; but telco in some instances DOES deserve a little blame - WE
HAVE COME TO 'THAT' BRIDGE BUT A TOLL-TAKER of DRAWBRIDGE TENDOR
REFUSES TO CO-OPERATE!!!

Oh by the way -- I kept harping on different supervisors -- my line at home
is all straightened out now -- except I can't dial 0 + 411 anymore for Local
Directory billed Calling Card/3d Party (31 cents here in La.) but so what -
If a call to Directory billed like that is needed from my line at home, I
can dial 0 + 504-555-1212; same 31 cents billing.


Mark

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #214
******************************


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Date: Thu, 27 Apr 1995 15:10:30 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #215


TELECOM Digest     Thu, 27 Apr 95 13:20:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 215

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    ISDN, BellSouth and OCN ([e-mail])
    Out of the New Abyss (Jim Haynes)
    Re: Annoying Calls: Can We Deal With Them? (James H. Haynes)
    Re: Annoying Calls: Can We Deal With Them? (Benjamin P. Carter)
    India's VSNL to Offer Internet Access for $16 (Rishab Aiyer Ghosh)
    Re: RBOC IP Legislation Scaring Local ISPs? (Chris Garrigues)
    Telling It Like It Was - Howard Cosell (Donald E. Kimberlin)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
                    9457-D Niles Center Road
                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
                        Fax: [phone]
  ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

*************************************************************************
*   TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the              *
* International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland    *
* under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES)   *
* project.  Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such
as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help
is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per
year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] ([e-mail])
Subject: ISDN, BellSouth and OCN
Date: 25 Apr 1995 01:50:14 GMT
Organization: The Internet Connection, LLC.


[ Article crossposted from comp.dcom.isdn ]
[ Author was Ed Goldgehn ]
[ Posted on 25 Apr 1995 01:40:40 GMT ]

ATLANTA - Open Communication Networks, Inc. announced today that it
has entered into a Data Sales Agency agreement with BellSouth Business
Systems, Inc. as part of BellSouth's effort to enhance ISDN throughout
all nine of its operating states.

Open Communication Networks, Inc. (OCN), an Atlanta-based company, has
been engaged in the development and operation of local internet
services since March 1994. OCN's local internet service, called
IPConnectSM, is considered to be the first of its kind in the country
because it offers connectivity to a Metropolitan Internet while
providing a seamless equal access type gateway to the Worldwide
Internet.  Through IPConnectSM, users have inexpensive access to a
wide range of local information services and their choice of Worldwide
Internet service providers.

"IPConnectSM users have access to the Metropolitan Internet and are
also able to select the carrier of their data to the worldwide
Internet in much the same way they now select a long distance carrier
along with local telephone services," states Robert Gardier, President
of Open Communication Networks.

OCN's Internet-related services will be featured along with
applications from other providers, in conjunction with BellSouth's
ISDN exhibit at the Spring `95 Comdex/Windows World Conference and
Exhibition in Atlanta April 24 through 27.  The demonstrations by OCN
and the other providers are seen as examples of the kinds of services
and applications which can be delivered by third parties in order to
provide flexible and cost effective turnkey solutions to meet the
information needs of the local community which BellSouth ISDN services
are intended to serve.


OCN will be launching several new promotions at the Spring `95 Comdex
show, including:

FREE Local Internet Connectivity to "ISDN Ready" BellSouth Customers

                     ---------------------------

Beginning May 1, 1995, OCN will provide connectivity to IPConnectSM,
the Metropolitan Atlanta Internet, at no charge to BellSouth customers
who are located where BellSouth ISDN services are available in the
Atlanta calling area under a new program by OCN called Community
Service.  Connectivity to OCN's Community Service is implemented via
standard BellSouth ISDN services as well as with analog modems at
speeds up to 28,800 bits per second (bps) over traditional telephone
lines.  BellSouth customers living or working where BellSouth ISDN
services can be ordered through OCN will also be provided the software
they will need to connect to OCN's Community Service, or they can use
any Internet software that supports asynchronous Point to Point
Protocol (PPP) and dynamic Internet Protocol (IP) addressing.

"The intent of OCN's Community Service program is to provide any
potential BellSouth individual or business ISDN customer in the
Atlanta community an opportunity to establish their own electronic
mail address and see, first hand, what the Internet and the World Wide
Web are all about," says Gardier.

"Our real priority is to make people aware of the power at their fingertips
with a distinct focus on the information that is available within the local
and worldwide information communities and how BellSouth ISDN services will
dramatically enhance that power."

OCN's Community Service program is scheduled for general release on
May 1st.  However, Comdex Attendees who determine that they can
receive ISDN by visiting BellSouth Business Systems' Exhibit at the
Georgia World Congress Center will be provided advance information on
how to access and use the free service.

"Depending on the success of the Community Service program, we are
already planning to expand IPConnectSM to all Georgia communities
where BellSouth ISDN services are available," states Barry Loudermilk,
General Manager for Internet Services of Atlanta, Inc. (ISA). ISA is a
licensee and the operators of OCN's IPConnectSM service in Georgia.
OCN plans to expand the Community Service program throughout the
entire BellSouth region via local licensees and operators.  OCN is
currently planning the deployment of IPConnectSM service in Nashville,
Tennessee ,in June of this year.

Comdex ISDN Equipment Special

Beginning April 24th at the BellSouth Business Systems Exhibit at Comdex,
BellSouth customers will be able to purchase several ISDN products at
extremely competitive pricing when ordering BellSouth ISDN services for
their home or business through Open Communication Networks by May 31, 1995.

For $195, BellSouth customers will receive a Motorola BitSurfer
(TA210), an ISDN "modem" that provides one data port and one standard
telephone connection to use with their new ISDN line.  The Motorola
TA210 has a manufacturer's suggested retail price of $495.

"Motorola's product at this price should demonstrate that a mass
market is ready and waiting for ISDN," says Edward Goldgehn,
Vice-President and Chief Technology Officer for OCN.  "People say it's
a matter of cost justification.  We believe it's really a lack of
understanding of the profit potential that ISDN can provide in an
information society." Goldgehn is also Co-Chair of the Mass Markets
Industries Group of the North American ISDN Users Forum.

For $595, BellSouth customers can select an Ethernet based ISDN
connectivity product, the 5242i Telecommuter Bridge manufactured by
Gandalf Systems Corporation. Gandalf's 5242i, with a suggested list
price of $1,450, provides on-demand 128K connectivity, compression,
and also contains a standard telephone interface.

OCN anticipates that additional ISDN equipment from other
manufacturers will be added to the Comdex promotion.  A complete list
of the products included in the Comdex ISDN Special will be available
on OCN's World Wide Web server (URL: www.ocn.com), by sending e-mail
to [e-mail], or by calling OCN at 404-919-1561.

All products provided come with OCN's Turnkey ISDN Solution Service
which provides a "one-stop shop" for BellSouth customers to order
Individual Line ISDN service, the necessary data equipment, receive
technical assistance with implementation, and resolve any problems
associated with getting fully operational.

"We make BellSouth ISDN service as plug and play as it gets," stated
Goldgehn.

Customers subscribe to BellSouth's ISDN services on a month to month
basis on BellSouth's standard rates, terms and conditions pursuant to
applicable tariffs.  However, in order to receive the benefit of OCN's
Comdex ISDN Specials, OCN will require the customer to make a commitment
to OCN to maintain its BellSouth ISDN services for at least six months and
pay all non-recurring and recurring tariffed charges associated with
BellSouth's provision of Individual Line ISDN Services to their residence
or business.

BellSouth ISDN customers are not required to purchase their equipment
from OCN or subscribe to IPConnectSM services in order to utilize
OCN's ISDN ordering and implementation services. "However, our
ordering and technical implementation assistance is included without
charge when a BellSouth customer places their original Individual Line
ISDN order through OCN," stated Goldgehn.

BellSouth's Data Sales Agency agreement with OCN authorizes OCN only to sell
ISDN services on behalf of BellSouth.  Such ISDN services are provided by
BellSouth to all customers at applicable rates, terms and conditions as
prescribed by applicable tariffs, and customers may purchase ISDN services
through other authorized Data Sales Agents or directly from BellSouth.  All
promotions described above are offered solely by and on behalf of OCN.
BellSouth does not currently provide Internet service and does not recommend
or endorse Internet services provided by OCN or any other Internet service
provider.


For additional information:

    Open Communication Networks, Inc.  404/919-1561
    URL:    http://www.ocn.com
    Contact:  Mike McDorman        E-Mail: [e-mail]

    Internet Services of Atlanta, Inc. 404/419-7672
    URL:     http://www.ticllc.net
    Contact:  Barry Loudermilk     E-Mail: [e-mail]

    BellSouth Business Systems, Inc.   205/977-5001
    Contact:  Dave Storey, Media Relations


                    ===========================

Ed Goldgehn, Sr Vice President/CTO              E-Mail: [e-mail]
Open Communication Networks, Inc.               Voice:  [phone]
Co-Chair - Mass Markets Ind. Group / North American ISDN Users Forum (NIUF)
Authorized BellSouth Business Systems Data Sales Agent for ISDN ServicesFor
For more info about the Mass Markets Group or NIUF, e-mail [e-mail]

Ed Goldgehn                    Voice:  [phone]
General Manager                    Fax:    [phone]
The INTERNET Connection, LLC            E-Mail: [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Jim Haynes)
Date: Tue, 25 Apr 1995 21:33:51 -0700
Subject: Out of the New Abyss


New Valley Corp. has emerged from bankruptcy, having sold the Western
Union name and money order business to First Financial Management
Corp. for $1,193 million.  FFMC has an option to buy the Western Union
message business for another $20 million; New Valley intends to sell.

What will it do with its money?  Well, it has bought an interest in a
holding company that has an interest in a Brazilian airplane manufacturer.
And it is talking about acquiring a broker and investment bank.

At the end of 1994 there were approximatly 65 employees, 36 of them
members of Communications Workers of America.

The stock is doing better.  In the first quarter of 1964 it sold at a
high of one cent and a low of one cent.  In the fourth quarter it sold
at a high of 35 cents and a low of six cents.  Now, don't you wish you
had bought Western Union stock a year and a quarter ago?

Oh, and the company has moved its headquarters to Miami.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Did you know there are still people who
trudge down to the nearest Western Union agency to send telegrams when
they want to get a message to someone fast?  A fellow who manages a
couple of currency exchanges in this area who is an agent for Western
Union -- or whatever still remains of it -- has seen my collection of
the old clocks ... and like President Carter has admitted to having
lust in his heart to get them to put up over the cashier's cage at
his currency. He wants my big eighteen inch dial clock with the cream
colored face and the 'Naval Observatory Time/Western Union' logo. I
always ROFLOL -- almost go spastic -- when he brings the topic up.
Never will that clock leave my possession. I only wish back in the
late 1960's I had grabbed a few more of them when they were easily
obtainable.    PAT]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (James H. Haynes)
Subject: Re: Annoying Calls: Can We Deal With Them?
Date: 26 Apr 1995 19:10:16 GMT
Organization: University of California, Santa Cruz


In article <[e-mail]>, Randall Rathbun <randall@coyote.
csusm.edu> wrote:

> What particularly irks this writer, with extensive knowledge and
> experience of telecommunications, is that he and a local CO technician
> can trace and lock down these type of calls within 10-15 seconds after
> they come in. The local CO technician can even remotely login to other
> telco sites and trace the call and positively identify its source
> within a minute or at the most two. In other words, it IS possible to
> stop these types of calls.

Aha.  Sounds like this is a new business opportunity for someone like
Kevin Mitnick.  You tell him about the harassing calls and for a fee
he will track down the caller and fix their wagon.  (This relates to
something I read about Japan, that the reason there are so few
lawsuits is not that people are agreeable, but that it's practically
impossible to get through the court system to collect a debt or evict
a tenant.  So for jobs like that it's quicker and cheaper to hire the
equivalent of the Mafia to take care of things for you.)

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Benjamin P. Carter)
Subject: Re: Annoying Calls: Can We Deal With Them?
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest)
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 1995 05:31:25 GMT


[e-mail] (Randall Rathbun) writes:

> "Would you like to work at home? Would you like to be freed from the
> drudgery of a company? Would you like to pick your own hours? etc,
> etc."

> This computer auto-dialed voice response advertisement hit our block
> of 1200 numbers in a CA office prefix and started up the chain of
> numbers.

Junk phone calls sent to phone numbers in sequence are truly obnoxious
and should be made illegal.  Even the "telemarketer's ethics" statement
opposes them.  Your friendly telco probably loves the business and
would fight to protect the rights of the junk callers, as long as it
is profitable.

> Can't we stop this type of thing, rather than throw up our hands and
> say "oh well, there's nothing we can do about it"? Your comment is
> appreciated.

It is clearly a political problem, not a technical problem.


Ben Carter  internet address: [e-mail]

------------------------------

Subject: India's VSNL to Offer Internet Access for $16
From: [e-mail] (Rishab Aiyer Ghosh)
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 95 20:51:23 IST
Organization: Deus X Machina


Please redistribute where relevant.

--==(C) Copyright 1995 Rishab Aiyer Ghosh ([e-mail])

India's VSNL to offer Internet access for $16

New Delhi, 23rd April 1995: India's public sector Videsh Sanchar Nigam
Ltd (VSNL) which holds a monopoly over all international
communications is planning to offer full Internet connectivity on a
commercial basis in June.  Their rates range from Rs 500 ($16) per
annum for dial-up access for "students" to $10,000 per annum for
128kbps 24-hour connectivity to other commercial Internet service
providers.

Currently Internet connectivity in India is limited to users of ERNET,
the non-commercial Education and Research Network run by the
Government's Department of Electronics. Partial connectivity is
available to users of NICNET, a network intended primarily for
government use. There are, however, several commercial e-mail
providers who pay enormous licence fees to the Government's
monopolistic Department of Telecommunications (DoT), which has not
permitted the operation of any full-service Internet provider.

While the legal position of VSNL's service is unclear, the company has
a tradition of confounding restrictive rules originating from various
government departments in search of its own profit. While VSNL might
take its official monopoly on international communications, which was
recently extended by the government for a further 10 years, to imply
permission to offer Internet services, other potential Internet
service providers who wish to route traffic through VSNL will probably
still require DoT permission.

VSNL's relatively low rates for Internet access, which are probably
subsidized by high profits from other services such as international
voice communications, may result in a sudden rush to get wired among
India's Internet-aware population. Although VSNL plans to start small,
offering connectivity in only Bombay and Delhi to begin with, they
might be overwhelmed by the response. The company has no prior
experience with the Internet, and the X.25 gateway and X.400 e-mail
they currently provide are not known for excellent quality of service.


--==(C) Copyright 1995 Rishab Aiyer Ghosh ([e-mail])
--==May be distributed electronically provided that only compilation or
--==transmission charges are applied. Other uses require written permission.

Rishab Aiyer Ghosh                   For Electric Dreams subscriptions
[e-mail]                    and back issues, send a mail to
[e-mail]                           [e-mail] with
Vox [phone] Voxmail 3760335       'help' in lower case, without
H 34C Saket, New Delhi 110017, INDIA       the quotes, as the Subject.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Chris Garrigues)
Subject: Re: RBOC IP Legislation Scaring Local ISPs?
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 1995 06:27:51 -0500
Organization: Deep Eddy Internet Consulting


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] wrote:

> Is this concern over potential competition from telcos to
> local internet service providers warranted?

I know of one Austin ISP who's making sales calls on small phone
companies around Texas in the hopes of creating partnerships with said
phone companies as they expand out of Austin into the rest of Texas.


Chris Garrigues                 [e-mail]
Deep Eddy Internet Consulting   [phone]
609 Deep Eddy Avenue
Austin, TX  78703-4513    USA   http://www.DeepEddy.Com/~cwg/

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 27 Apr 95 23:54 EST
From: Donald E. Kimberlin <[e-mail]>
Subject: Telling It Like It Was - Howard Cosell


        I can't say, "I knew Howard Cosell before he was Howard
Cosell," because I wasn't around in 1918 when he was born Howard
William Cohen in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.  Nor was I even aware
of him when changed his name to Cosell in his college years.  He did,
though, come to my awareness in the 1950's.  Little did it seem that a
whole nation and much of the world would become aware of him.  Much
less did I realize at the time, or even for a decade or two later
realize what important change he brought to journalism and
broadcasting.

        It was the 1950's, but it was not yet the 1950's.  One of my
college favorites taught me that.  He was an old history professor who
loved lecturing for hours on end. I thought I was beating the system,
since he ran evening class sessions lasting four hours, so you could
finish his courses in six weeks instead of a semester.  Little did I
know he required all the reading and written work in six weeks, too.
But, he made the lecture sessions supremely enjoyable.  One of his
lectures really stuck with me, too.  It was on his thesis that a
"decade" in history did not begin with the turn of a calendar -- that
it always took half a decade before signs of change were recorded.  He
proceeded to prove his point with events throughout history showing
how our recollection of a "decade" really begins notable events midway
through that decade.  Think on it and you'll realize he was correct.

        When Howard Cosell appeared to my notice, it really still was
the 1940's.  If there were women like Leona Helmsley, they operated
quietly, so nobody knew it.  Rock 'n roll hadn't shown up yet, much
less Elvis.  Radio stations were still playing Big Band music, Sousa
marches, and romantic vocals by Tony Martin or Frank Sinatra or Patti
Page or Jo Stafford.  Arthur Godfrey and His Friends were still Big
Time Stuff, as was Don McNeill's Breakfast Club with Aunt Fannie (who
others would know as the "Fran" of Kukla, Fran and Ollie).  And
sportscasters had one stock in trade -- outright adulation of star
athletes.  Nobody had warts; every sport was clean as the wind-driven
snow -- or so it was reported.  Then a raspy, tight-throated Brooklyn
voice came along to challenge all that.

        Where we were in 1950's-cun-1940's Saint Petersburg, Florida
was at the trailing end of change.  St. Petersburg was so WASP-y most
might not be able to imagine it.  There would not be a Catholic
mission for several more years, and a synagogue was even later than
that.  It wasn't that St. Petersburg rejected such people.  It was
simoly that they hadn't become particularly interested in the area.
In some ways, it was a rather idyllic, larger sized "small town."  We
knew that in a distant land called Hollywood, movie actors
occasionally did some disgusting thing called "smoking marijuana" and
got arrested for it.  We knew that in another distant place called
Washington, some Senators and a man named Hoover seemed to be doing
things some people didn't like ... but all that was so remote as to be
unreal.  We didn't even have any images of television to bring instant
shock into our homes, because St. Petersburg had been caught by the
FCC "freeze," then delayed further by multi-applicant wrangling over
the few channels that did become available.  Radio was still King in
Our Town of the 1950's; sports heroes were unblemished, as was their
trade.  Maybe we were the Lake Wobegon South of the time, with a
population of the sort Garrison Keillor describes.

        In our delayed last days of The Heyday of Network Radio,
working at a Real Radio Station was one of the highest aspirations a
kid could have.  Radio was not only still in its prime; it was the
primary source of fast information, right down to heroics in the rare
event of an occasional hurricane.  To be able to land a job in a local
radio station was something the other kids held in awe, since it was a
lot more usual to clerk in a store or help a plumber, or even do lawn
mowing for one's first job or so.  Good fortune had let me connect
with one of the network affiliate stations in town, and into a people
network that knew some names.  That meant several of us got some
rather delectable work for young kids -- things like being the remote
engineer to sit in the wooden baseball park next to Mel Allen or Harry
Caray when they announced a spring training game from Florida, or one
of the many "special events" that might originate from a convention
hall somewhere in Florida.  We got to see the events in the presence
of celebrities, and get paid to do so!

        And that meant learning about Howard Cosell by landing a two-week
summer vacation fill-in job at WSUN, the city's ABC affiliate.  I was
put on the 3 to 11 shift, and had as much fun as any PC freak has
today playing with WSUN's oddball custom-made control room.  It was
like no other in the area.  WSUN's Chief Engineer, Bill Codding, was a
Western Electric retiree who designed and constructed a completely
remotely-controlled radio control room.  Essentially, all the
electronics were in a large closet full of relays and vacuum tubes
nobody but Bill really understood.  It meant that all the control
positions merely fed DC control voltages over into the closet, where
relays clunked to make connections and things called "variolossers"
controlled signal levels from varying DC voltages fed to them.  It was
a pretty spiffy 1950's set-up; one that impressed people -- and *I*
got to work there for two weeks (with the chance to impress some
fellow geeks of an evening after the bosses had left)!

        As typical of The Grand Old Days of Radio, a Traffic Manager
produced a nicely typed Program Schedule and log for the whole 24-hour
day, with scheduled times for programs and announcements, listed down
to the second.  As each item occurred, it was obligatory to enter the
actual time to the second in India ink, signing the top and bottom of
each sheet. Any deviations had to be noted, and changes had to be
written in with India ink, with the changed item crossed out but still
legible and initialed by the person changing it.

        The first weekday on the job, there was a curious typed entry
on the log.  In the midst of the usual 5 to 6 PM block of network
programs with local commercials between, a program running from
5:25:00 to 5:29:25 was called "Play Some Pretty Music, Please," and it
was listed as "Local/Sustaining/Music."  I didn't really understand
it, so called the Traffic Manager to ask what she intended by that.
Her answer was, "Just pull a couple of pieces from the transcription
library and fill.  ABC has a sports announcer in there who's so bad
the station manager won't carry him."  I said, "Gee, who's that?"  She
said, "Oh, he's Howard Somebody-or-Other from New York.  Scuttlebutt
has it he's a lawyer who married an ABC vice-president's daughter, and
they had to give him a job."  Obviously, my curiosity was piqued.

        Came 5:25:00 and I let a transcription of some fill music flow
out to the transmitter plant on the edge of town, but of course, had
to put the ABC network line up on the audtion bus to hear what came
down the line.  It was totally the opposite of Paul Harvey's dramatic
inflections and pregnant pauses. Instead, I heard a nasal Brooklyn
twang say, "Hello again, everybody, this is Howard Cosell, speaking of
sports."  An even, flat pronunciation of every word and sentence
followed.  He just didn't _sound_ like he'd ever be a successful
announcer.  My instant judgment was that Howard Cosell would never
make it.

        And, of course, how wrong I was!  Howard Cosell was probably
the beginning of the wave that's now moved around to today's Howard
Stern and the "In yer face" style of confrontational radio.  A few
years later, Howard Cosell still sounded irritating to me, but he was
becoming a New York society darling for reasons I still wasn't paying
attention to.  Then things began to sink in a bit.  Cosell was
different.  He was calling a spade a spade.  If something was wrong,
he said so.  He upset a lot of people, but he was usually right.  In
time, I began to realize he had some principles and didn't seem to be
a paid mouthpiece for anybody.  In short, he "told it like it was."

        In later years, we even saw how he reversed his position on
professional boxing when he felt it changed from a sport into a
gladiatorial exhibition.  He spoke his feelings.  Some people liked
them; some people hated them, but nobody could ignore Howard Cosell.

        Wherever he is today, he's probably "telling it like it was,"
because that seems to be the Howard Cosell of Eternity, perhaps one of
the most honest, straightforward journalists we've ever heard.  We
tried to ignore you, but now we'll miss you, Howard.  Your vocabulary
is a lot better than Howard Stern's, to boot!

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #215
******************************

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          4 May 95 18:13 EDT
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Date: Thu, 4 May 1995 17:13:21 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #216


TELECOM Digest     Thu, 27 Apr 95 15:06:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 216

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Book Review: "Ten Minute Guide to the Internet" (Rob Slade)
    PRI-ISDN Deployment (Adam Hersh)
    Re: RBOC IP Legislation Scaring Local ISPs? (Jason T. Adams)
    Live Internet Phone Software (Eric Hunt)
    Re: Location of EIA-232 Specs (Neal McLain)
    Transmedia Calling Card: 1-800-DEAD-SILENCE (Andrew Kass)
    Call Trace Foulup Followed OK Bomb (John W. Pan)
    Video Conferencing Help (Naresh Sabhnani)
    Re: Can Someone Help Me With Sidetone? (D. Ptasnik)
    Re: Competition, RBOCs and All That (Richard Cox)
    Washington UTC Postpones Switch to Area Code 360 (Glenn Blackmon)
    Clipper Paper Available via Anonymous FTP (Michael Froomkin)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
                    9457-D Niles Center Road
                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
                        Fax: [phone]
  ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

*************************************************************************
*   TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the              *
* International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland    *
* under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES)   *
* project.  Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such
as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help
is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per
year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Thu, 27 Apr 1995 13:50:30 EST
From: Rob Slade <[e-mail]>
Subject: Book Review: "10 Minute Guide to the Internet" by Kent


BK10MINT.RVW   950323

"10 Minute Guide to the Internet", Kent, 1994, 1-56761-428-0, U$12.99/C$16.99
%A   Peter Kent [e-mail] [e-mail]
%C   201 W. 103rd Street, Indianapolis, IN   46290
%D   1994
%G   1-56761-428-0
%I   Alpha Books/Macmillan Computer Publishing
%O   U$12.99/C$16.99 800-858-7674 [e-mail]
%P   162
%T   "10 Minute Guide to the Internet"

There are twenty "lessons" here.  Each could be read in ten minutes.
The material provides a basic grounding in email, UNIX, Usenet news,
mailing lists, Gopher, telnet, ftp, archie, WAIS and World Wide Web.

The book starts out by assuming that you are already connected to an
Internet provider with a UNIX shell account -- then, immediately talks
about the different types of connections, the equipment you need,
configuring your system, and navigating menus on the Colorado
Supernet.  Most of this material (particularly the chapter on setting
up your modem) is too rushed to be of any use.  The later chapters are
better, though some are disorganized (chapters six and eight both
cover email -- first with Pine and then with mail), or limited (chapter
eleven covers BITNET LISTSERVs -- and *only* BITNET LISTSERVs).

Kent provides definitions, notes and warnings throughout the text.
The warnings point out valuable information and common pitfalls, such
as the delays you may experience using telnet, or the differences
between the DOS and UNIX command line.

After the first five chapters, the book is a decent enough
introduction to basic network services.  It does not, however, have
the quality of the comparable "Zen and the Art of the Internet" (cf.
BKZENINT.RVW).  This is a pity, since Kent has demonstrated his
ability to provide better content in both "The Complete Idiot's Guide
to the Internet" (cf. BKIDTINT.RVW) and "The Complete Idiot's Next
Step on the Internet" (cf. BKCINSIN.RVW).

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1995   BK10MINT.RVW   950323. Distribution
permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated publications. Rob Slade's
book reviews are a regular feature in the Digest.


Vancouver      [e-mail]         | Lotteries are a tax
Institute for  [e-mail]      | on the arithmetically
Research into  [e-mail]     | impaired.
User           [e-mail]   |
Security       Canada V7K 2G6           |

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Adam Hersh)
Subject: PRI-ISDN Deployment
Date: 27 Apr 1995 03:56:09 GMT
Organization: Internet TRANSIT
Reply-To: [e-mail]


Does anyone have Pri-ISDN deployed? In New York City?

Also does anyone offer any ISDN service in NYC other than NYNEX?

Thanks, I'm starting some research into this topic, specifically
in the Metro NY area, any assistance would be appreciated.

This is for Graduate Work in Telecommunication not for my job.


Adam Hersh ([e-mail])          200 Elwood Davis Road
Membership Subscriptions Associate        Suite 103
NYSERNet, Inc.                            Liverpool, NY  13088-6147
Phone:  [phone] x243
Fax:    [phone]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (jason t. adams)
Subject: Re: RBOC IP Legislation Scaring Local ISPs?
Date: 26 Apr 1995 22:43:01 GMT
Organization: North Shore Access/Eco Software, Inc; ([e-mail])


> Is this concern over potential competition from telcos to local
> internet service providers warranted?

The telcos not only have economies of scale, but they don't have to
pay extra for leased line connections to internet sources, etc.  They
OWN the lines.  That makes me think that it would be very easy (with a
little software investment) to provide slightly cheaper access.

But why make it cheaper?  They have serious brand name.  Everybody
knows who they are.  Furthermore, their network competencies are
formidable.  If your Web browser starts to seem kind of slow, perhaps
your ISP hasn't invested enough in high-speed servers or perhaps they
haven't invested enough in high-bandwidth connections to their internet
source. I can't imagine this ever being the case with a Bell Company.

Furthermore, it seems as if it would be particularly easy to bundle
Internet access with ISDN.

On the other hand, they are quite unaccustomed to competition and might
not operate efficiently enough to compete with a Mom and Pop.

In my opinion, though, I think they will do a bang-up job.

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 27 Apr 1995 12:33:58 -0500
From: Eric Hunt <[e-mail]>
Subject: Live Internet Phone Software


I was reading about software that NPR is using to distribute All
Things Considered over the Internet (different from Internet Radio,
they're not .au files). The article (Reuters on AOL, I believe) didn't
list the web site for downloading the Windows version of the software,
unfortunately.


Eric in Austin    metrowerks Corp.

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 27 Apr 95 05:29:00 CDT
From: Neal McLain <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Location of EIA-232 Specs


This is in response to request by Chad Ira Hanneman <[e-mail]> for the
source of EIA-232 specs.

All EIA specs can be purchased from:

    Global Engineering Documents
    15 Inverness Way East
    Englewood, CO  80112

    800-854-7179
    FAX  [phone]

The order number for EIA-232 spec is EIA/TIA-232-E.  Price (1994
catalog) is $47.00.

Same source for EIA-422, -423, -449, and -530.

THREE BIG CHEERS for using the correct terminology!!!  It's EIA-232,
NOT "RS-232"!  Sometime back in the 80's, RS-232 was correct; however,
with the publication of EIA-232-E in 1991, it was officially
re-designated EIA-232.  This is consistent with EIA's policy of
redesignating all EIA standards in the "EIA-XXX" format to bring them
into conformance with the overall ANSI scheme.


Neal McLain    <[e-mail]>

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 27 Apr 1995 13:01:44 EST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Transmedia Calling Card: 1-800-DEAD-SILENCE


The Transmedia (R) Card, a restaurant discount card, has begun
offering a 25c/minute no-surcharge calling card with various
additional services (voice mail, fax mail, speed dialing, conference
calling, etc.) at no monthly charge to its members.

None of this is groundbreaking.  What's odd is that calling any of the
1-800 numbers for activation, customer service or just to use the card
gets a completely quiet, dead line.  No out-of-service message, no
ringing, no busy signal.  Just dead air.  How does that happen?

Not a good introduction to a new phone service, in any case.


Steve Kass/ Drew University/ [e-mail]/ 201-514-1187

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 1995 00:12:28 -0400
Subject: Call Trace Foulup Followed OK Bomb


Immediately in the wake of the Oklahoma bomb, a bomb threat was made,
among many in the nation, to the Boston federal building.  The call
was traced.  A young man was arrested.  Subsequently, however, NYNEX
realized that the tracer interchanged two digits of the purported
origin of the call. The president of NYNEX personally apologized to
that unfortunate man, who was released after one day in jail.  The
real perpetrator of the call was not found.  Source: CBS radio.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: As a followup to this story, I am told
now the person is suing law enforcement officials for false arrest and
suing NYNEX on the grounds that the company filed a false report in the
matter and did so 'with wanton disregard for the accuracy of their
report.' He says the president's apology is insufficient, because of
the abuse and rough treatment he alleges he received at the hands of law
enforcement officers during the time he was in custody, which would
not have happened, he contends, had NYNEX properly supervised its
employees who conducted the trace.  He further alleges that the law
enforcement officers involved committed official misconduct and acted
in bad faith by not further investigating the matter when NYNEX later
produced a 'corrected' version of the report showing the telephone number
originating the call in question, instead continuing to hold him in
'unnecessary custody' several additional hours to be vindictive.  PAT]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Naresh Sabhnani)
Subject: Video Conferencing Help
Date: 27 Apr 1995 09:36:05 GMT
Organization: University of Pennsylvania


    We would appreciate a few moments of your time for filling out
the survey below.  We are five students at the University of
Pennsylvania's Wharton School taking our Senior Seminar Class in
Marketing and are interested in finding out about possible demand for
video-teleconferencing services.  Video teleconferencing technology
allows people at different locations to communicate by exchanging
audio signals (e.g. voice) as well as video images.

This survey should not take more than a few minutes of your time but
will help us with our work tremendously, especially if you have
participated in a video-conference and/or are a person who travels for
business purposes.

After completing the survey, please mail to either:
    [e-mail]
 or     [e-mail]


Please answer on the line following each question or, if you prefer,
fill out the answer sheet following the survey.


1.    What is the industry of your company:


2.    What is your job title or function:


3.    Do you deal with outside vendors / business clients:
    1 = Yes       2 = No


4.    If Yes, what percentage of your time is spent dealing
    with these individuals?


5.    Do you use a computer at home:   1 = No    2 = Yes


6.    Do you use a computer at work:       1 = No    2 = Yes


7.    Do you make audio telephone conference calls:    1 = No    2 = Yes


8.    Who approves your travel budget/plans:
    1 = You        2 = Your boss    3 = Someone in your department
    4 = Corporate Allocation


9.    How often do you travel for business:
    1 = Once a year        2 = Once every few months
    3 = Once a month    4 = A few times per month
    5 = Once a week        6 =  More than once a week


10.    How long is your average trip:
    1 = One day        2 = Two days
    3 = Three to Five Days    4 = One Week or More


11.    When you are away from your office on a business trip,
    what percentage of your time is spent on work specific
    to your travel:


    1 =  Less than 25% (less than 2 hours in an 8 hour day)
    2 = 25-50%  (2 to 4 hours in an 8 hour day)
    3 = 50-75%  (4 to 6 hours in an 8 hour day)
    4 = 75-90%  (6 hours or more in a 8 hour day)
    5 = 90-100%



12.    What percentage of your time is spent doing work that
    would normally be done back at your office?

    1 =  Less than 25% (less than 2 hours in an 8 hour day)
    2 = 25-50%  (2 to 4 hours in an 8 hour day)
    3 = 50-75%  (4 to 6 hours in an 8 hour day)
    4 = 75-90%  (6 hours or more in a 8 hour day)
    5 = 90-100%



13.    On a acale of 1 to 6, please rate your enjoyment of travel:
          1 = Do not enjoy at all      6 = Enjoy very much


14.    Are your able to work productively when traveling
    (e.g. in an airplane, in a hotel room, etc.):
        1 = No.        2 = Yes


    If Yes, how would you compare your productivity
    relative to that in your place of work

    1 = Less than 25%
    2 = 25-50%
    3 = 50 - 75%
    4 = 75 - 90%
    5 = 100% (exactly the same)


15.    What is your experience with video teleconferencing?
    1 = Heard of        2 = Seen it used
    3 = Used once or twice    4= Used semi-regularly or regularly


16.    What are your perceptions (non-users) or experiences (users)
    with video teleconferencing?  Please rate the following
    attributes from 1(low or poor) to 6 (high or excellent).

    a.  Video (picture) quality

    b.  Audio (sound) quality

    c.  Ease of use


17.    Please rate the following attributes in order of importance to you.
    1 (low or poor) to 6 (high or excellent).

    a.   Video quality

    b.   Audio quality

    c.   Cost per hour

    d.   Ease of use

    e.   Other ____________

    f.   Other ____________


18.    What do you estimate would be the total cost of 1 hour
    of video conferencing services between two sites?


If you have not used video teleconferencing, please skip to question 23.

19.    If you have used any type of video teleconferencing,
    what is your general satisfaction with it?

    Please answer on a scale of 1 to 6.
    1 =  Not satisfied         6 = Very satisfied


20.    If you have used  video teleconferencing, how long is
    the length of your average video conference?


21.    If you have used video teleconferencing, what
    percentage of your uses have been with people
    outside your company?.


22.    If you have used video teleconferencing, how many
    individuals on average are involved in a video
    conference on your end?        On the other end?


Please answer question 23 only if you have not used video conferencing.


23.    If you have NOT used video teleconferencing, do you
    think you would find applicability for such a service
    within your business:    1 = No          2 = Yes



Description of video teleconferencing service:

The video teleconferencing service we are investigating for this
project is a public-access service, available to you in a business
conference facility located in a nearby hotel.  The audio and
video of this service are of good quality, slightly lower in
quality than that which you are familiar with on regular television.
Your video conference appears on a large TV monitor, allowing
enough room to easily view four or five people sitting at a
conference table.  The cost for this service is $175/hour per site.


24.    How many person-to-person meetings did you have last week
    with individuals not regularly located in your office
    (i.e. you were away from your office or guests were
    present at your office)?


25.    For how many of the above person-to-person meetings might
    the described video teleconferncing service have been an
    attractive alternative for you?


26.    How many audio teleconferences did you participate in last week?


27.    For how many of the above audio teleconferencing meetings
    might the described video teleconferencing have been an
    attractive alternative for you?


28 A.    Assuming that the described public access video
    teleconferencing services were applicable for a
    meeting with a client/executive in a city 2 hours
    away by plane (e.g. Chicago from Philadelphia),
    at how long would a meeting have to be to make
    you prefer travel to using the public access service?

    1 = 1/2 hour meeting,   2 = 1 hour meeting, 3 = 2-4 hour meeting
       4 = Full day meeting,   5 = More than one day meeting


28 B.   Same situation as in question 28 A but with a city
    5 hours away by plane (e.g. Los Angeles from Philadelphia)

    1 = 1/2 hour meeting,   2 = 1 hour meeting,   3 = 2-4 hour meeting
       4 = Full day meeting,   5 = More than one day meeting


29.    Please indicate whether or not you would use video
    conferencing for each of the following:
    Answer  1 = No    2 = Yes

    a.    Short communications

    b.   Meetings of up to three hours

    c.   Meetings of more than three hours

    d.   Discussions with technical people
    (i.e. to show technical drawings or use of a product)

    e.    Discussions/meetings with clients/prospective clients

    f.    Discussions/meetings with vendors / service providers

    g.   Discussions/meetings with subordinates

    h.   Discussions/meetings with colleagues

    i.    Discussions/meetings with superiors

    j.    Other:


30.    What is your perception of effectiveness of video
    conferencing for each of the following:
    (1 - low to 6 - high)

    a.  One on One

    b.  Small Groups

    c.  Large Groups

31.    Assuming that in-person meetings and audio conferences
    were on opposite ends of a communication spectrum in terms
    of productivity, where on a 10 point scale would you place
    video conferencing: 1 = Audio Conference and 10 = In - Person Meeting


32.    What is your age?
    1 = Under 25       2 = 25-32     3 = 32-39
    4 = 40-46       5 = 47-53     6 = 54-60      7 = over 60

33.    Sex:    1 = Male    2 = Female

34.    Marital Status:   1 = Married      2 = Single
              3 = Divorced     4 = Other

35.    What are the ages of your children, if any:



Thank you for your help!

please mail your responses to either:

     [e-mail]
    or   [e-mail]


Answer Sheet:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16    a.

      b.

      c.

17  a.

      b.

      c.

      d.

      e.

      f.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

25.

26.

27.

28.     a.

        b.

29.     a.

        b.

        c.

        d.

        e.

        f.

        g.

        h.

        i.

        j.

30.     a.

        b.

        c.

31.

32.

33.

34.

35.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (D. Ptasnik)
Subject: Re: Can Someone Help Me With Sidetone?
Date: 27 Apr 1995 18:27:16 GMT
Organization: University of Washington


[e-mail] (Steven Hellman) writes:

> a. I need to eliminate or 'lower' the sidetone in my handset.
> I am new to the Internet and don't know where to look for this answer.
> I have, for five years been speaking to Engineers at Bell labs, NY Tel,
> most of the telephone suppliers, most of the handset and headset suppliers,
> with almost no success (with very few people even understanding the
> term 'sidetone'.

GN Netcom headsets have a sidetone volume control on their
multi-purpose amplifier.  You have to pop off the bottom of the box to
get at the controls.  It can be reduced to zero.

All of the above is nothing more than the personal opinion of -


Dave Ptasnik     [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 1995 10:01:26 -0400
Subject: Re: Competition, RBOCs and All That


In-Reply-To: <[e-mail]> [e-mail].
COM (Lars Poulsen) wrote:

> they price this service by itself higher than the voicemail
> offering that includes it. THAT is predatory pricing.

Over here we would say that that was a form of internal cross-subsidy,
which has resulted in undue discrimination.  And that is why the UK
regulator, Oftel, is requiring the ex-monopolist BT to separate its
accounting processes so that it can show it is charging its own retail
arm the same price for each service as it charges their competitors.

The retail arm is required to cover all its costs, both above and below
the line, in the charges it makes to customers for its goods and services.

Predatory pricing is something *quite* different: it is where a large
and profitable organisation sells goods or services at or below actual
cost over a period, covering its losses by the profits from sales in its
wider portfolio of goods and services, so that its smaller competitors
(and particularly those that do not *have* a wider portfolio of goods
and services), cannot compete at those prices without becoming insolvent.

Until the Accounting Separation rules are put into effect, the only times
that undue discrimination can be identified are those few instances where
there are direct retail pricing comparisons, as in the case you cited.


Richard D G Cox

Mandarin Technology, PO Box 111, Penarth, South Glamorgan CF64 3YG
Voice: 0956 700111;    Fax: [phone];    VoiceMail: 0941 151515
e-mail address: [e-mail]; PGP2.6 public key on request

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] <[e-mail]>
Subject: Washington UTC Postpones Switch to Area Code 360
Date: 27 Apr 1995 18:41:14 GMT
Organization: Delta Pacific
Reply-To: Glenn Blackmon <[e-mail]>


The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission directed U S
West to extend the permissive dialing period for the 360 area code for
an additional 90 days.  The new area code was planned to become
mandatory on May 21.  Callers can continue to use the old 206 area
code until Aug. 20 under the commission's order.

This decision was made yesterday (Apr. 26) during an emergency hearing
called after many complaints from consumers, primarily businesses,
that they were having problems receiving long-distance calls from
across the country and internationally.

U S West told the commission it was willing to comply with the
commission's order, though company representatives expressed concern
about their ability to meet growing demand for new telephone numbers.

The commission also directed U S West and other local exchange
companies in the state to develop a list of remedies for consumer
problems arising from the new area code.  The commission scheduled a
public hearing on May 10 at which the list will be presented.


Glenn Blackmon, Ph.D.
Delta Pacific - Economic & Policy Consulting
Olympia, WA  USA   e-mail:  [e-mail]
telephone:  [phone]  fax:  [phone]

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 27 Apr 1995 15:24:59 EDT
From: Michael Froomkin <[e-mail]>
Subject: Clipper Paper Available via Anonymous FTP


My paper, "The Metaphor is the Key: Cryptography, the Clipper Chip,
and the Constitution" is now available for anonymous FTP.  It is about
180pp.  long, and contains more than 800 references.

I would welcome your feedback on this paper -- even (especially?)
contributions to the inevitable errata sheet.

(Please note this docment resides at what is officially a "temporary"
site, so that if you create a web link to it, please let me know so
that I can notify you when it moves).

Contents of FTP://acr.law.miami.edu/pub/..

File                  Type

clipper.asc           ASCII
clipper.wp            WP 5.1/Dos
clipperwp.zip         Pkzipped version of clipper.wp
clipper.ps            My best effort at Postscript.  YMMV.  (approx. 7Mb.)
clipperps.zip         Pkzipped version of clipper.ps
clipper.ps.gz         Gzipped version of clipper.ps

Ports provided by nice people (please note I have not checked these)

clipper.ps.Z          Unix compressed version of clipper.ps with carriage
                      returns removed -- courtesy of Whit Diffie
clipperMSW.sea.hqx    Binhexed self-extracting Microsoft Word 5.1 for
                      Macintosh version of clipper.wp -- courtesy
              of Ted Byfield

None of these files contains correct and final page numbers, and there are
generally trivial typos that were corrected in the printed version.  The
printed version appears at 143 U.Penn.L.Rev. 709 (1995).

I intend to put up a web version presently.  The .index file in the
above directory will have details when a clean copy is ready for prime
time.  A link to an experimental and highly buggy HTMLized version may
appear at erratic intervals at http://acr.law.miami.edu at the very
bottom of the homepage.


A.Michael Froomkin          | [phone]; [phone] (fax)
Associate Professor of Law  |
U.Miami Law School          | [e-mail]
PO Box 248087               |
Coral Gables, FL 33146 USA  | It's warm here.

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #216
******************************


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From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #217

TELECOM Digest     Thu, 27 Apr 95 16:15:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 217

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Re: New Improved Regulations For Cordless Phones (Mike Pollock)
    Re: We Will Find the People Who Did This (Steve McKinty)
    US Leased Line Tariff Studies and Information? (Reinhard Seidel)
    Re: Can my Modem Talk to TTY Machines For the Deaf? (Karen Nakamura)
    Re: North American Modems in Britain ([e-mail])
    Re: Phone Question Regards Transmission Problems (Anthony W Collins)
    Outgoing Only Phone Line Without Phone Number (Robert Casey)
    Re: Difference Between Secure and Insecure http Links? (John Engstrom)
    Re: New Country Code 380 For Ukraine (Bob Goudreau)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
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The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
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should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Mike Pollock)
Subject: Re: New Improved Regulations For Cordless Phones
Date: 27 Apr 1995 11:36:36 -0400
Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC


[e-mail] wrote:

> Two weeks ago, on April 5, I heard on the radio news that the FCC had
> issued new regulations that would allow improved cordless phone
> quality.  They only cited additional available channels.  "Phones
> taking advantages of the new regulations will be in the stores by
> summer."

> I haven't seen or heard any more since.  Anybody know more?


I found the following list of the new cordless frequencies, and more...

Mike.

==========

IJ> Well, I was watching the Dan and Connie News at 6, and Connie said that
IJ> the FCC has opened up 15 new channels to the cordless telephones.
IJ> Supposed to give more privacy.  Hmmm.  Anyone have any idea what the
IJ> frequencies are?  Probably the ones between the existing channels.


Here are some new channels in the 43 mHz band:

New 43-49MHz Cordless Phone Allocations

NOTE: Channels 16 through 25 are identical to the old 10 channel system.
                BASE                            HANDSET
                ----                            -------
Channel 1       43.72                           48.76
Channel 2       43.76                           48.84
Channel 3       43.82                           48.86
Channel 4       43.84                           48.92
Channel 5       43.92                           49.00
Channel 6       43.96                           49.08
Channel 7       44.12                           49.10
Channel 8       44.16                           49.16
Channel 9       44.18                           49.20
Channel 10      44.20                           49.24
Channel 11      44.32                           49.28
Channel 12      44.36                           49.36
Channel 13      44.40                           49.40
Channel 14      44.46                           49.46
Channel 15      44.48                           49.50
Channel 16      46.61                           49.67
Channel 17      46.63                           49.845 #
Channel 18      46.67                           49.86  #
Channel 19      46.71                           49.77
Channel 20      46.73                           49.875 #
Channel 21      46.77                           49.83  #
Channel 22      46.83                           49.89  #
Channel 23      46.87                           49.93
Channel 24      46.93                           49.99
Channel 25      46.97                           49.97
# = 49.83-49.89 freqs commonly used for baby monitors.

And these are the 900 mHz channels, in case you are interested:

900 MHZ CORDLESS TELEPHONE FREQUENCIES - - 902 - 928 MHZ NFM

902 - 928     900 MHZ CORDLESS TELEPHONES (30-100 KHZ SPACING)
       Panasonic KX-T9000 (60 Channels)
base     902.100 - 903.870 Base frequencies (30Khz spacing)
handset  926.100 - 927.870 Handset frequencies
CH   BASE    HANDSET    CH   BASE    HANDSET    CH   BASE    HANDSET
--  -------  -------    --  -------  -------    --  -------  -------
01  902.100  926.100    11  902.400  926.400    21  902.700  926.700
02  902.130  926.130    12  902.430  926.430    22  902.730  926.730
03  902.160  926.160    13  902.460  926.460    23  902.760  926.760
04  902.140  902.490    14  902.490  926.490    24  902.790  926.790
05  902.220  926.220    15  902.520  926.520    25  902.820  926.820
06  902.250  926.250    16  902.550  926.550    26  902.850  926.850
07  902.280  926.280    17  902.580  926.580    27  902.880  926.880
08  902.310  926.310    18  902.610  926.610    28  902.910  926.910
09  902.340  926.340    19  902.640  926.640    29  902.940  926.940
10  902.370  926.370    20  902.670  926.670    30  902.970  926.970

CH   BASE    HANDSET    CH   BASE    HANDSET    CH    BASE   HANDSET
--   ----    -------    --   ----    -------    --    ----   -------
31  903.000  927.000    41  903.300  927.300    51  903.600  927.600
32  903.030  927.030    42  903.330  927.330    52  903.630  927.630
33  903.060  927.060    43  903.360  927.360    53  903.660  927.660
34  903.090  927.090    44  903.390  927.390    54  903.690  927.690
35  903.120  927.120    45  903.420  927.420    55  903.720  927.720
36  903.150  927.150    46  903.450  927.450    56  903.750  927.750
37  903.180  927.180    47  903.480  927.480    57  903.780  927.780
38  903.210  927.210    48  903.510  927.510    58  903.810  927.810
39  903.240  927.240    49  903.540  927.540    59  903.840  927.840
40  903.270  927.270    50  903.570  927.570    60  903.870  927.870

        V-TECH TROPEZ DX900 (20 CHANNELS)
905.6 - 907.5   TRANSPONDER (BASE) FREQUENCIES (100 KHZ SPACING)
925.5 - 927.4   HANDSET FREQUENCIES

CH   BASE    HANDSET    CH   BASE    HANDSET    CH   BASE    HANDSET
--   ----    -------    --  -------  -------    --   ----    -------
01  905.600  925.500    08  906.300  926.200    15  907.000  926.900
02  905.700  925.600    09  906.400  926.300    16  907.100  927.000
03  905.800  925.700    10  906.500  926.400    17  907.200  927.100
04  905.900  925.800    11  906.600  926.500    18  907.300  927.200
05  906.000  925.900    12  906.700  926.600    19  907.400  927.300
06  906.100  926.000    13  906.800  926.700    20  907.500  927.400
07  906.200  926.100    14  906.900  926.800

OTHER 900 MHZ CORDLESS PHONES

AT&T #9120  - - - - - 902.0 - 905.0 & 925.0 - 928.0 MHZ
OTRON CRP. #CP-1000  902.1 - 903.9 & 926.1 - 927.9 MHZ
SAMSUNG #S-R912- - - 903.0         &         927.0 MHZ

More privacy? Connie does not realize that most scanners cover the 43
mHz channels as well as 49 mHz. Perhaps someone should whisper it to her
and see if she reports it. Not!

 --------- T H E  I N F O R M A T I O N   E X C H A N G E   B B S ---------
   Rip Graphics * Free Internet E-mail * CD-Rom File Libraries * Forums
       "THE ROAD OF INFORMATION LEADS TO THE INFORMATION EXCHANGE"
 [phone]      SYSOP: [e-mail]           [phone]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Steve McKinty - SunSoft ICNC Grenoble)
Subject: Re: We Will Find the People Who Did This
Date: 27 Apr 1995 14:36:17 GMT
Organization: SunConnect


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Ken
Stox) writes:

> I agree, but I am very concerned that many people will be willing to
> sacrifice basic rights to protect ourselves from these acts. I think
> we may end up with a society not unlike Britain. I, for one, would
> rather live free and die.

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: And what, pray tell, do you find so
> unpleasant about Great Britain?  They seem to have some civilization
> there -- despite their own troubles in the past few decades -- that
> we are sadly lacking here. I'd move there in a minute if I had some
> employment there or method of surviving other than enrolling in their
> public welfare the day I arrived. You would rather live free and die,
> but I will suggest that you're going to be dead a lot sooner than you
> think with that kind of attitude.  PAT]

As a Briton I'd have to agree with Pat. There seems a popular idea in
the US that it is the only truly free country in the world, and that
the UK is some sort of police state. That is as far from the truth as
the British stereotype of America being some sort of gun-crazy hell,
where everyone walks around armed, and you get killed for looking the
wrong way at someone.

Both countries have their own problems, neither is perfect, but I've
never been aware of any major difference in freedom when in the UK or
the USA. No society can be totally free, we need at least a minimal
set of rules and laws to be able to live together. The British and
American approaches differ in small detail, but the general plans are
the same.

I was born and raised within 20 miles of Belfast. We've never had any
terrorist incident as serious as the one in Oklahoma but I do greatly
sympathise with the people there. The one thing that we did learn from
such things in N. Ireland is that you cannot give in to the terror
that such people try and inspire. Normal life must go on, you must not
be panicked into locking up your cities and hiding behind barricades.

In Belfast the initial response to car bombs was to seal off the city
centre to traffic, behind ugly barriers. For a couple of years the
heart went out of the city, but in the 1980's people pushed back. We
still needed the security, but we needed to enjoy our lives as well.
The military barriers came down, to be replaced by colourful railings
and floral displays. The roads and pavements were redone, and the
whole area turned into a pedsetrian precinct on a par with many other
European cities. The bombers still couldn't get their cars in, but we
had our city back as a nice place to live, work and shop.

In California you build buildings to withstand earthquakes, in N. Ireland
we learned to build them to withstand explosions. Nothing can be so
disheartening to a terrorist when his bomb leaves only a hole in the
road, but doesn't break a single pane of (toughened) glass in the
surrounding buildings. You can't spread much terror if your tactics have
no visible effect.

Above all, you need to keep a sense of perspective. I don't mean this
to sound callous, but when the shock wears off, and life returns to
normal, remember that there were probably more people killed in traffic
accidents this year than in that explosion. Don't let the terrorists
run your life. Frightening though such things are, you're still in
more danger crossing the road, but we don't hide indoors just in case
the next truck has our name on it. That's what the bombers want to
terrorise you into doing.

That is not, or course, a consolation to those hurt, and my sympathies
go to all involved. Apologies also to those who object to non-telecom
discussion here, I'll be happy to continue it elsewhere.


Steve McKinty         Sun Microsystems ICNC
38240 Meylan, France  email: [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Judging from the amount of traffic the
OKC bombing has generated in other newsgroups, and the hateful and
vitrolic nature of much of it, I think I'll take a pass on doing any
more of it here. To acknowledge all who have written, I have about
three dozen items in the mailqueue now on this topic based on my own
commentary last week and the remarks by Paul Robinson. My thanks to
all who have written.    PAT]

------------------------------

From: Reinhard Seidel <[e-mail]>
Subject: US Leased Line Tariff Studies and Information
Date: 27 Apr 1995 13:26:50 GMT
Organization: OA


Hi Everybody,

I am currently working on a comparative study on international leased
line tariffs in Austria. We are comparing the tariffs for ISDN access,
leased analog phone lines, 64kbs (56k) and multiples lines, and 2.048 kbs
(1.544 kbs) leased data lines. Some broadband services are included too.

We (Institute for Industrial Science, Vienna) are looking at several
European countries including Austria, Germany, Great Britain and a fewl
northern European countries and two US-carriers. I am still working on
obtaining data for US-services, concentrating on AT&T and Bell Atlantic.

Does anbody have data on the services on these two or other carriers or
does anybody know how to obtain them fast? I would also be interested in
obtaining an international study on leased lines, possibly exchanging the
material we have on all the European services for US-services. Please
send any responses [e-mail]

Thanks for any responses,


Reinhard Seidel

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Karen Nakamura)
Subject: Re: Can my Modem Talk to TTY Machines For the Deaf?
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 1995 16:28:34 -0400
Organization: Yale University Anthropology


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Linc
Madison) wrote:

> The good news is that, unless your friend's TDD is *VERY* old, it will
> probably be able to do "ASCII mode" at 300 or maybe even 1200 baud.  The
> TDD will need to be switched to "ASCII mode" for the call to complete,
> so what you will probably need to do is something like this:

Sorry, but ASCII was a $75 option on my TTY and so I didn't buy it. It
doesn't come standard on many/most TTYs. I don't know many people who
have a TTY with ASCII, it's an expensive, relatively useless feature
for the primary purpose of having a TTY -- talking to other TTY users.
Even most state relays don't have an ASCII option.

Your best hope is v.18... whenever that comes.


Karen (who actually thinks TTY technology isn't so bad)
Karen J. Nakamura                               Starving Grad Student
Department of Anthropology                            Yale University
[e-mail]                          [e-mail]
http://www.cis.yale.edu/~jiro/karen.html   (World Wide Web Home Page)

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 1995 00:50:19 -0400
Subject: Re: North American Modems in Britain


[e-mail] wrote:

> I have two US Robotics internal 14400's and am moving from Canada to
> the UK in July. The USR manual mentions some configuration changes
> that are needed for Britain. Will the modems then be OK?

> I think that the sockets are physically different. Are adapters
> available? What do people with portable computers do to use North
> American equipment in the UK?

If you call USRobotics, you can order an RJ11 convertor that will
convert that jack to a UK compatible connector (the connector is
slightly larger, and is keyed).

However, USR will warn you that this configuration is only designed
for occasional use (ie; when travelling). Since the modem you are
using is designed for use in North America, and therefore only has
approval for use in North America, it is *technically* illegal to
permanently attach the modem to the UK network. I don't think there
is much of a physical difference between the UK and North American
versions of the modems. There may be different shielding, RF, or
line conditioning requirements in the UK. But it will physically
work. You will also need to send a command string to the modem to
allow it to dial, especially if you are dialing pulse.

Here are the codes for my Courier v.34, the Sportster should be the
same, but check your manual or ask USR when you order the
converter: ATB0 - Handshake v.32/v.32 BIS - ITU-T answer sequence
AT&G2 - Set United Kingdom Guard Tone (not used in North America)
AT&P1 - Set United Kingdon make/break ratio for pulse dialling (make
33%/break 67%).

         (North America is &P0 39% make/61% break)

Some of the codes may not even be necessary, but it wouldn't hurt to
use them. USR may even have a FAQ on their BBS. Since they do a lot
of business in the UK; I'm sure you'll find all you need.


Scot M. Desort    Garden State Micro, Inc.
[phone]   [phone] Fax
[e-mail]

------------------------------

From: Anthony W Collins <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Phone Question Regards Transmission Problems
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 95 01:12:49 -0500
Organization: Delphi ([e-mail] email, 800-695-4005 voice)


Jack Mott <[e-mail]> writes:

> We have recently added a third extension for our house.  Once every
> four or five calls, the phone will stop sending my voice (I can still
> hear the other party).  This happens regardless of which phone is
> attached to the third extension, even an old and reliable Bell System
> phone.  We do not experience this problem on the other two extensions.

What you describe is not possible. From your description the problem
is with the four wire part of the circuit transmitter to hybrid in the
set which usually ends up being the handset cord or the transmitter
contacts (clean with an ereaser) I have to dispute the problem being
in your jack wiring back to the central office. It may help to call
your telephone repair department and request a full test on your line
by a technician If you get a bad test disconnect any wiring that you
are responsible for and have them test again and get a dispatch if
their part of the line is bad so as not to incur any charges.  It is
always helpful to clear up other minor problems when you are troubleshooting.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Robert Casey)
Subject: Outgoing Only Phone Line Without Phone Number
Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest)
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 1995 19:42:54 GMT


Can the phone company provide a phone line to be used to make outgoing
calls only, outgoing only because this line has no phone number
attached to it?  Uses would include computer modem use (non BBS).

A reason for such service is that it would conserve phone numbers.

(For caller-id, 911, and such, assign it an "impossible" to dial
number, like 010-123-4567, for the database.  Using an "area code"
that is undialable, as the system doesn't expect and gets confused by
a pattern 010 or 1010.  A leading 0 means you want the operator to
assist you, or you want international if you then dial 11.  If you
then dial 12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19 after dialing 0, I think these are
errors.  I don't think you can dial 0-1-NPA-xxx-xxxx and get thru to
NPA-xxx-xxxx, think you'll get an error message.  If I'm right, you
could have nine area code's worth of outgoing undialable numbers the
phone company to assign.

Or do they do this already, or have I overlooked something?


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Outgoing only lines have been a standard
staple of telco for many years, as have been incoming only lines. They
have 'regular' numbers attached to them; there is not that great a shortage
of numbers available. When you dial a phone number on a one way outgoing
line one of two things happen: if the line is in use, the caller gets a
busy signal. If the line is not in use, the caller gets a recorded inter-
cept message saying 'the number you dialed, xxx-xxxx is not in service
for incoming calls.'  On lines designated for incoming calls only, if
the subscriber lifts the receiver, he hears just sidetone, or battery.
Dial tone never does come to the line. If he receives a call, the phone
rings and he answers in the normal way. Most of those 'non-dialable'
codes you listed in your examples above are already in use for billing
purposes only. They are used for non-subscriber calling cards; as codes
used for billing on manual ringdown points, etc.  PAT]

------------------------------

From: John Engstrom <[e-mail]>
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 1995 14:50:39 -0500
Subject: Re: What is the Difference Between Secure and Insecure http Links?


> I was on the net and ended up in some kind of shopping mall (WWW). What
> the difference is between secure and insecure http links? How secure is
> secure?  What makes a http link secure?

> Could somebody explain this to me?

    Well, to sum it up, secure http uses RSA public key
encryption.  The new version of Netscape (a http browser like Mosaic)
incorperates the secure http protocol.  As for the question of how
secure the secure http is, well, that depends on how large the
encryption key used is.  For a better discussion on security in
general, and RSA public key encryption in specific, try getting a hold
of the O'Reilley & Associates book on PGP.  The author is Simson
Garfinkel.  Or, as an alternative, you could try checking out the
newsgroup alt.security.pgp.  By the way, PGP is a program written by
Phil Zimmerman used to encrpyt and digitally sign messages.  PGP uses
RSAREF (the RSA encryption library) as the basis for its encryption.


Name   : John Engstrom             Work Phone: [phone]
E-Mail : [e-mail]   [e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 27 Apr 1995 16:47:20 -0400
From: [e-mail] (Bob Goudreau)
Subject: Re: New Country Code 380 For Ukraine


Dik Winter wrote:

> But 37x is already filling up with 378 in use for San Marino.  As far
> as I know the following codes are assigned but not yet in use: 374
> Armenia, 375 Belarus, 376 Andorra, 379 Vatican City, leaving 377 as
> only free code.

Adding together this information with data I received from Mark
Cuccia, it looks like the 37x series has now been completely
exhausted:

370  Lithuania
371  Latvia
372  Estonia
373  Moldova
374  Armenia
375  Belarus
376  Andorra
377  Monaco
378  San Marino
379  Vatican City

Perhaps the country.codes database in the Telecom Archives can now be
updated accordingly.

> Apparently assignments have been made for the Caucasian republics (one
> in the 37x series, the remainder in 99x).  I have no information about
> assignments for the Central Asian republics.

So now we know that outside of Russia itself, +7 is down to the five
ex-Soviet "-stans" of Central Asia.  I wonder if any of them will ever
decide to split off on their own.  Fortunately, there are plenty of
spares available in the 99x series.

> However, you never know about those assignments.  Before it got 378
> San Marino had apparently 295 assigned, but that one has never been
> used.  Moreover, I do not know about assignments made for Monace and
> Liechtenstein (which I would expect).

See above for Monaco.  Liechtenstein was the next question off my lips
as well, since it's now the only European microstate that I can think
of without its own country code (it shares 41 with Switzerland).  The
issue of the former Czechoslovakia is a little cloudier.  Apparently,
both the Czech Republic and Slovakia are for the moment satisfied with
sharing 42 with each other.  But if that ever changes, what will
happen?  Would the Czech Republic retain 42 while Slovakia picks up
one of the 38x codes?  Or would two new 42x codes be created (a la
Yugoslavia's 38 --> 38x) in order to provide more equitable treatment?
(Slovakia is no microstate; it has half the population of its Czech
counterpart.)

There now remain only four vacant codes in the European Zone (+3 and
+4):  382, 383, 384 and 388.  Fortunately, this is just sufficient to
accomodate Liechtenstein and Slovakia (if necessary), plus Greenland
(currently 299) and the Faeroe Islands (298), should they wish to
follow San Marino's example and switch to a European code now that
some are available.  (No European codes were available in the late
1980s, so the 29x series was used as an overflow area for Europe.
It served the same role for some new Caribbean country codes, since
the two American zones, +1 and +5, are also completely full.)


Bob Goudreau              Data General Corporation
[e-mail]    62 Alexander Drive
[phone]           Research Triangle Park, NC  27709, USA

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #217
******************************



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Date: Fri, 28 Apr 1995 15:14:42 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #218

TELECOM Digest     Fri, 28 Apr 95 15:14:30 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 218

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Open NNTP Servers Wanted by Reader (TELECOM Digest Editor)
    Re: German Telekoms "KIT": Specs/Document Now Available (Frank Naehring)
    International Switching Symposium (Frank Naehring)
    404 Area Code Split; New Code 770 (Rick Dennis)
    Need Information on Telecom Networks in China (Frederic Van Dessel)
    Telecom Engineering Grad Programs (Steve Granata)
    Need a PCMCIA ISDN Card (Everett C. Stonebraker)
    Re: MCI Commercial is in Bad Taste (Jim McTiernan)
    Networking Research Project (David Goessling)
    All Those Questions From Belgian Students (Rishab Aiyer Ghosh)
    Re: 1-900-555-1212 (Lou Jahn)
    Re: Is There a Telecom Glossary On-Line Somewhere? (John Teague)
    Can Someone Explain DID in English? (Brian D. Petro)
    Annoying Feature on Payphones Here (TELECOM Digest Editor)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
                    9457-D Niles Center Road
                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
                        Fax: [phone]
  ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

*************************************************************************
*   TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the              *
* International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland    *
* under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES)   *
* project.  Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such
as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help
is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per
year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: TELECOM Digest Editor <[e-mail]>
Subject: Open NNTP Servers Wanted by Reader
Date: Fri, 28 Apr 1995 14:25:00 CST


Someone sent me a note the other day which I have managed to lose, but
the essence of his request was this:  He likes to read Usenet news but
many of the groups he wants to read are not carried by his site. He
wants to know of sites which maintain 'open' NNTP servers; that is,
where anyone can pull the news and post news, etc.

If you want to send me the information, I'll pass it along to him when
he writes me again, as I am sure he will when I don't answer him in the
next few days. He wrote me, I mistakenly thought he wanted information
on how to get this Digest by email; he wrote back saying it was not just
this Digest, but various other groups that were unavailable as well.

I told him I would post his note ... now it's lost. :(  His intention is
to edit his .login file to 'setenv NNTP open.server.somewhere', and pull
the news that way.  Any help will be appreciated.


PAT

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: German Telekoms "KIT": Specs/Document Now Available via ftp
Date: 28 Apr 1995 14:14:05 GMT
Reply-To: [e-mail]


> However, since the former Bundespost/Deutsche Telekom (nowadays just
> "Telekom")

Nowadays it is called "Deutsche Telekom".


Frank Naehring Berlin, Germany     [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Subject: International Switching Symposium
Date: 28 Apr 1995 14:18:31 GMT
Reply-To: [e-mail]


Is anybody able to give me a hint where to get some information
on the topics discussed at the ISS '95 in Berlin this week?


Thanks,

Frank Naehring Berlin, Germany    [e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 28 Apr 1995 10:16:16 -0400
From: [e-mail] (rad)
Subject: 404 Area Code Split; New Code 770


Hey,

   Yesterday, the Georgia PSC announced an area split for metro
Atlanta.  For the most part, anything inside I-285 will be 404, all
the 'burbs will be 770 (that's me).

   The PSC was considering two plans.  One being the plan approved
above and the other involving an overlay scenario.  As an interesting
note, the head of the PSC, Bobby Baker, was a guest lecturer in one of
my classes at Georgia Tech before the meeting.  Of course, the issue
of the split came up.  We as a class decided what we would do if
commissioners for a day.  There was overwhelming support for the plan
that was approved.  Many felt the geographic split was easier deal
with as far as knowing what numbers to dial and that it would
perpetuate seven digit dialing.

Well, I'm the glass-is-half-empty type and was, I think, the only one
who supported the overlay plan.  I feel that ten digit dialing is
becoming more prevalent and will be the norm after some period of
time.  I don't think the geographic split is going perpetuate seven
digit dialing as much as some people think.  Also, after the 404/706
split a few years ago, it was predicted that Atlanta had numbers for
EIGHT years.  Three years later we're in a big rush to come up with a
plan that will go into effect December 1, 1995.  Thus, one would think
that with continued growth here in Atlanta, we'll be ready for another
split in the not too distant future.  How will we split then?  Another
donut wouldn't be feasible(sp?), so the 770 would have to be split
either north/south or east/west.  Which brings up the possiblity of
having three area codes in extremely close proximity, which, in my
mind, reduces the benefits of the geographic split.

   Anyway, those are some thoughts and any comments would be
appreciated.  I'm not in the networking/local exchange side of the
house. So I'm not informed as I'd like to be at this point, but I'm
learning!  BTW, we talked about a few other items in class, such as
cable, electric utilities, and other telcom issues.  If anyone from
the Peach state is interested, drop me an email and I'll let you know
how the PSC is leaning (today, that is).


Rick Dennis     AT&T Global Business Communications Systems
Conversant(Intuity) Systems         Suite 600
email: attmail!rickdennis           5555 Oakbrook Parkway
Phone: [phone]               Norcross, GA 30093

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (VAN DESSEL FREDERIC)
Subject: Need Information on Telecom Networks in China
Date: 28 Apr 1995 15:18:47 GMT
Organization: Brussels Free Universities (VUB/ULB), Belgium


Hello,

I'm a third year student in communication research at the Brussels Free
University.  I'm looking for information about telecommunication networks
in China. Especially about:

- telephone penetration in cities and rural regions;
- government's telecom and tarrif policy;
- current and future projects.

If you have information about one of these topics, would you be so kind to
mail it to me.

Thanks in advance and regards from Brussels.


Frederic
[e-mail] (VAN DESSEL FREDERIC)
Student Communicatiewetenschappen
Vrije Universiteit Brussel


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I wonder if anyone there ever does their
own research; their own hunting for data?  As I mentioned yesterday, I
am getting large numbers of these inquiries now for some reason.   PAT]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Date: Fri, 28 Apr 95 10:37:39 EST
Subject: Telecom Engineering Grad Programs


I am posting this message for a colleague who does not have e-mail:

Swiss Telecom is interested in sending a group of telecommunications
engineers to the United States for graduate and continuing education
in telecom engineering and technology.  There will be small group of
students who will be interested in a variety of opportunities ranging
from a single semester of study, to completion of an entire degree
program.  Also, the company is looking for a campus somewhat
"friendly" to European students and those who speak English as a
second language.

Please reply to this list or directly via e-mail to ([e-mail])
with any recommendations or program information.


Thank you,

Steve Granata

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Everett C. Stonebraker)
Subject: Need a PCMCIA ISDN Card
Date: 28 Apr 1995 17:50:12 GMT
Organization: Stonebraker and Wilson, Inc.


Can anyone refer me to a PCMCIA ISDN card for a PC laptop, if there is
one?  Thanks.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Jim McTiernan)
Subject: Re: MCI Commercial is in Bad Taste
Date: 28 Apr 1995 18:05:25 GMT
Organization: Pacific Bell ESAC
Reply-To: [e-mail]


In article [e-mail], Wolf <[e-mail]> writes:

> I have to ask, does anyone believe that the actor that MCI uses in
> their commercials as the snotty (not my first choice of words, but
> more socially acceptable) operator actually helps them?  Is this
> supposed to representable of their regular operators?  Most people I
> asked said they thought this woman sounded like the biggest &$^#% they
> ever heard.  At least AT&T's adds are pleasant to look at!

> Note: I say this as a user of neither service (actually, either service;
> whatever happens to be cheapest among the three or four I use for the
> type of call I'm making).

I believe that she must be the ignorant, snotty Service Rep that I
spoke with last night regarding MCI's inability to make correct
charges for phone calls made using their famous "Friends and Family"
plan.  I have only two numbers, both of which are international numbers,
on the plan.  It took them a couple of months to initially start
charging correctly, and they did for about a year.  Then all of a
sudden they started charging the calls higher even though they reflect
the F&F plan on the bill.  Of course, I should verify the bill every
month for accuracy, but, do not like being told by the Rep that it is
my responsibility to make sure that MCI is charging me correctly.

Their service is no better than AT&T, if they can't bill correctly I
will sure change back to what I have found to be a more reputable IC,
AT&T.  Should have never changed from AT&T.  MCI says that they charge
less than AT&T.  They quote lower prices, they just don't use those
prices to bill you.


Jim

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Organization: Strategic Services of KPMG Peat Marwick
Date: Fri, 28 Apr 1995 12:29:27 EST
Subject: Networking Research Project


We are conducting research for a project which involves the collection of
extensive information regarding end-user based metrics in the following two
technical areas:

1. Voice and data communication networks (hardware, operations and support,
   and circuits);

2. Workstations, mobile devices, and fixed function terminals, including
   Helpdesk.

The project covers multiple geographies, with specific focus on North Amer-
ica, Europe and Latin America.  References to market research firms, publica-
tions, journals, etc. which specialize in reporting such detailed data
would be appreciated.

Please respond to David Goessling at [e-mail].
Technical Support [phone].

------------------------------

Subject: All Those Questions From Belgian Students
From: [e-mail] (Rishab Aiyer Ghosh)
Date: Sat, 29 Apr 95 00:11:58 IST
Organization: Deus X Machina


TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]> writes:

[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The several messages above printed in
this issue are a small sample of the requests I receive like this from
day to day. Shall I print more of them from time to time?    PAT]

Along with a note from you to post answers to the Digest, why not?


Rishab Aiyer Ghosh   [e-mail]
[e-mail]  Vox [phone] Voxmail 3760335
H 34C Saket, New Delhi 110017, INDIA


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Somone else said print them, but clearly
identify them in the subject line as a question for a student report so
that readers who want to avoid them can do so.  I wish people would look
over the Telecom Archives (lcs.mit.edu) and the Frequently Asked Questions
file before writing here. Everything I know about anything is either in the
Archives or the FAQ ... speaking of which I sent out the most recent FAQ
to Usenet earlier today since its been awhile since one was distributed
there.   PAT]

------------------------------

Date: 28 Apr 95 14:46:44 EDT
From: Lou Jahn <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: 1-900-555-1212


Has anyone else tried the new AT&T information service? I tired it
today and it took 1 minute 45 seconds to determine they could not find
my listing (one the same for 20+ years).

The operator intially asks for the LOCALITY and STATE for which you
need information -- I knew it wasn't going to work when they couldn't
find my location (population 11,000 our own ZIP and three NXXs). They
asked if there was a larger city -- I gave her the closest -- ATLANTIC
CITY ... guess what no lisitng still found (I have three phones; one number
for 25 years, a second number for 1.5 years, and the third number I added
for FAX seven months ago).

Does anyone know what and where AT&T is getting their data for their
information system? Anyone else have any experience good or bad with
900-555-1212? I will wait for next months bill to see if they still charged
me.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You know, if they (or someone) wanted to
do it a clever way, they would set up a 900 number at a dollar a minute
or two dollars for the entire call or whatever, and then when a call came
in they would ask for the locality and state, *then outdial the call to
the respective area code* and let the established operators handle the
lookups. In other words, you pay me the rate on my 900 number to do the
area code lookup, and I pay 75 cents (or however cheap I can get it in
bulk) to the carrier actually doing the lookup. I would throw in zip
code information as well to make it more worth your while to use my
service.   PAT]

------------------------------

From: John Teague <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Is There a Telecom Glossary On-Line Somewhere?
Date: 28 Apr 1995 19:01:17 GMT
Organization: Wandel & Goltermann Technologies


Try http://www.wiltel.com/glossary/glossary.html


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That's a good one, and as a reminder, the
Telecom Archives (lcs.mit.edu) also has a directory with several various
glossary files on line for downloading.   PAT]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Brian D. Petro)
Subject: Can Someone Explain DID in English?
Date: 28 Apr 1995 12:13:07 -0700
Organization: CRL Dialup Internet Access  [phone]  [Login: guest]


I am currently researching voice-mail systems for a home-business I
would like to start.  I am a reasonably intelligent person, but I am
finding myself drowning in the explanations and terms that vendors and
my phone company use in their attempts to explain DID.  I know that it
is a system that will enable my customer's calls to be routed directly
to their boxes.  Beyond that it gets fuzzy.  Is there a good book on
the subject?  Better yet, is there someone out their who feels up to
the challenge of explaining it to me?  Any information would be
greatly appreciated.  Please E-mail responses.  Thanks in advance.


Brian Petro

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 28 Apr 1995 15:05:31 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest Editor <[e-mail]>
Subject: Annoying Feature on Payphones Here


I don't like a feature on the Bell payphones here in Skokie, and it
seems to cause no end of confusion for many other people as well.
It seems that when you call from a payphone in Skokie (708-673 and
708-674) after it rings two or three times, a recorded message comes
on the line saying 'your party does not answer' and inviting you
to leave a message 'for delivery at a later time' by pressing the
keys on the phone, for an additional fee of course.

Now should the caller actually answer, then of course the recording
cuts off immediatly and you proceed with your call, however there
are lots of foreign speaking people in Skokie -- mostly from Russia
or the Ukraine -- and not being all that familiar with the phone
system anyway, they think they are hearing a recording saying that
the number is not in service.

Another source of annoyance with payphones here is how seldom they
seem to have their coin boxes emptied. There is one payphone which
is otherwise quite convenient when I need to use one, but I think
about half the time it won't accept money. And this is another
curious thing; readers can tell me if this exists in your community
or not: when a payphone is full of money here, somehow it is noted
in the central office because if you pick up the phone, get dial
tone and deposit your 25 cents, the money comes back out immediatly
and you get a recorded message saying 'sorry, this phone cannot
accept coins right now, however you can place your call with a
credit card, collect, third party, etc ..'. This is *not* due to
any overnight restrictions on payphones such as 'no coins after
dark' in the War on Drugs, etc. When I have called repair to complain
the clerk says its because the coin box is full ... yet I find that
hard to believe that it would consistently happen with this one
phone in particular at the one location all the time.

Any other central offices you know of set up to sense when a coin
box is full and return that kind of message to the user?  As soon
as that message is played out the phone goes 'click click' and the
dial tone is restarted.  If they know the box is full, why not
just come and empty it?

Anyway, have a nice weekend, we will meet here again Monday!


Patrick Townson

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #218
******************************


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Date: Mon, 1 May 1995 09:50:01 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #219

TELECOM Digest     Mon, 1 May 95 09:50:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 219

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    MFS Advertising Irony (Dave Levenson)
    Re: Local Competition Epiphany (Michael D. Sullivan)
    BRI to Bipolar T1 (Joseph Hagan)
    PayPhone (COCOT and RBOC) Newsgroup ([e-mail])
    Cross-Border Local Calls (Dale Crouse)
    CFP: Special Issue of Journal of Symbolic Computation (Mehmet Orgun)
    Fiber Loops and Coax Converters (Theodore F. Vaida)
    Looking For Integrated E1/V.34/PPP - TCP/IP/Ethernet Solution (P. Nikander)
    ThinkPad Modem in India (S. Arora)
    Internet in Dubai? (Sandy Kyrish)
    Regulation of PA Cable and Carriers (Theodore F. Vaida)
    Challenging Phone Bill (Grady Ward)
    International Telephone Number Length - Maximum Allowed (David E A Wilson)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
                    9457-D Niles Center Road
                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
                        Fax: [phone]
  ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

*************************************************************************
*   TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the              *
* International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland    *
* under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES)   *
* project.  Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such
as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help
is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per
year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Dave Levenson)
Subject: MFS Advertising Irony
Organization: Westmark, Inc.
Date: Sat, 29 Apr 1995 13:13:33 GMT


The radio advertisement for MFS was a clever parody.  It featured an
automated attendant answering for your local telephone company, with
a bored voice intoning (paraphrased a bit):

    "This is your telephone company...
    If you need repair service, press 1
    If you need to discuss your bill, please take a number
    If you don't have a telephone at all, please call later..."

This was contrasted with an apparently live and happy-sounding voice
answering:

    "MFS, Can I help you?"

This was followed by a the suggestion that you are no-longer limited
to one local telephone company, and an invitation to call 800-669-6374
for more information.

Later that day, I called the 800 number in the ad.  Just like on the
radio, a live human being answered the phone:

    "MFS, Can I help you?"

    "Good morning," I replied, "can you tell me if you offer local
    service in Morris County, New Jersey?"

    "No, sir, I can't.  You'll have to call our New Jersey office at
    201-938-7700 for that information"

I thanked the MFS live attendant, and called the 201 number she had
given me.  That phone was answered by another live human being:

    "MFS, Can I help you?"

    "Good morning, can you tell me if you serve Morris County,
    New Jersey?"

    "No, sir, you'll have to call our Lyndhurst office at
    201-507-8100 about service there."

I called the Lyndhurst number.

    "MFS, Can I help you?"

When I repeated my question about local service (for the third time,
now) the Lyndhurst live body transferred my call to a sales
representative.  The sales representative answered:

    "MFS, this is Christine, can I help you?"

    "Good morning, can you tell me if you serve Morris County?"
    I asked, by now somewhat amused by the whole process.

This time, my question was answered in the affirmative.  The rep
then put me on HOLD while going to look something up.  While I was
on hold, another party said:

    "MFS, Can I help you"

    "I was talking with Christine," I told her.

    "Oh, just a minute..."

The call was then answered by Christine's voice mail greeting (with
no automated-attendant menu options).  I left my number and hung up.
Christine called me back after about five minutes.

So what did I learn from all of this?

In case anybody else in this area wants to know, MFS doesn't actually
offer local dialtone in Morris County (but some day soon, according to
Christine).  They do offer intra- and inter-LATA toll service,
accessed by a 10xxx code or (for inter-LATA calls) by becoming your
default inter-exchange carrier.  Their rates were somewhat higher than
we now pay another carrier.


Dave Levenson        Internet: [e-mail]
Westmark, Inc.        UUCP: uunet!westmark!dave
Stirling, NJ, USA    Voice: 908 647 0900 Fax: [phone]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That sounds like sort of cheap-shot
advertising in my opinion. As evidenced by your experience, MFS has
no idea at all what large volume, massive amounts of inbound calling
is all about, as would your local telco business office. Telco handles
a hundred times the volume of calls inbound to their various business
offices in a day that MFS gets in a week, and probably does so with
much more effeciency -- despite their voicemail front end, or perhaps
because of it -- than MFS with their telling you to make several calls
all over the county to get what you wanted. Note how they advertised
on your local radio station, then are completely unprepared to accept
your call and deal with it at the number they announced.   PAT]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Michael D. Sullivan)
Subject: Re: Local Competition Epiphany
Date: 30 Apr 1995 01:47:27 -0400
Organization: Wilkinson, Barker, Knauer & Quinn (Washington, DC, USA)


Donald E. Kimberlin <[e-mail]> writes:

>        For the past four days, full-page ads have appeared in the
> Charlotte, North Carolina {Observer}, telling of a coalition of
> companies that seek particular objectives in U.S. Federal legislation
> concerning local telephone competition.  Those who remember "how it
> used to be" will find some of the statements no less than an
> astounding change from what AT&T once used to say to the world, in
> addition to noting AT&T's recognition of entities it would once have
> hoped to ignore and perhaps even hogtie to death.  It certainly seems
> AT&T has discovered a new reality, and now has joined in to promote a
> new reality into local telephone business in the U.S.

Welcome to the brave new world of "grass roots" politics.  The ad found
its way into the Charlotte paper to generate letters to Fritz Holings,
who is the senior Democrat on the Senate Communications Subcommittee,
from his home ground.  And the same AT&T that is the driving force behind
the "coalition" sponsoring this ad had its chairman testify last year
before Sen. Metzenbaum's hearing on media megamergers that local
telephone competition was virtually impossible, and told the FCC that
local exchange service was a "natural monopoly."  In other words, they
are perfectly willing to let the Bells into interexchange competition
only when local competition has fully occurred, a condition it has
publicly equated with Satan skidding on ice.  If local competition is
such an impossibility, why are they now lobbying for it?  Makes one
wonder about how far you can throw any press release (or testimony) by AT&T.


Michael D. Sullivan | INTERNET E-MAIL TO:  [e-mail]
Bethesda, Md., USA  | also [e-mail], [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Joseph Hagan)
Subject: BRI to Bipolar T1
Date: 1 May 1995 04:30:33 GMT
Organization: Netcom


Boy do I have a good one ... I have been looking for this one for two
or three months:

I am looking for a mux/imux/csu that will allow me to connect two
Telco-type, vanilla flavored, generic, T1 channel banks (ESF, voice
and LS data) using 3+ ISDN BRI 2B+D lines as opposed to leased line T1
or Switched 384K. (My total bandwidth requirement is only 384KBps.)  I
have found lots of gear that will do V.35, RS-449, EIA 530 at 1.544;
but I need something that will synch something as unglamorous as
channel banks.

I thought this was a piece of cake (but it's Devil's food).  Any help or
ideas would be greatly appreciated.


Joseph Hagan
Full Circle Communications
email: [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (The VOiCE of a new CyberGenegration)
Subject: PayPhone (COCOT and RBOC) Newsgroup
Organization: ASB
Date: Sun, 30 Apr 1995 12:58:17 GMT


Hello All,


    I was reading through this news-group and a thought popped
into my head.  I wanted to know if there was a news-group or a mailing
list that anyone knew of designed specifically for those interested in
the payfone (AOS, COCOT, etc) aspect of telecom.  If there isn't, I
would like to know how many people might be interested in alt.coin-phone
or comp.dcom.telecom.coin, or something like that.


adam      [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It seems to me you can stretch things too
thin here. Unless you are interested in adding still one or two more to
the total number of 'newsgroups' circulating each day (what is it up to
now, about seven thousand?) it hardly seems worthwhile to parse this
topic down into even smaller groups, giving the spammers still one more
place to post their get-rich-in-thirty-days and sell-long-distance service
at home messages.  PAT]

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 01 May 1995 00:59:47 PDT
From: Dale Crouse <[e-mail]>
Subject: Cross-Border Local Calls


I noticed in the FAQ file for TELECOM Digest that cross border toll-free
dialing is available from some points in Maine to New Brunswick, and from
a New York community to Quebec.  At one time I new of toll-free dialing
from Portal, North Dakota to North Portal, Saskatchewan.  Does anyone know
if this is still true?  Also, I believe there was toll-free dialing from
El Paso, Texas to Juarez, Mexico. I'm curious if this is still in effect.

The FAQ article also makes reference to cross-border dialing from Point
Roberts, Washington to Vancouver, BC. I believe that used to be offered on
an unregulated basis by BC Tel, but the franchise was sold to Whidby
Island Telephone in the 1980's, and they instituted a toll charge for
cross-border calling. Prior to the sale, US 800 numbers were available by
dialing '0' and asking the (Canadian) operator for the number. Incidently,
Point Roberts used to get its water from BC too, and Canadian Currency is
the primary medium of exchange there.

Hyder, Alaska, like Point Roberts is intimately tied to its Canadian
Neighbor, Stewart, BC.  Does anyone know how they get their phone service?
(I believe the RCMP provides the law enforcement there.)


Dale Crouse    Internet: [e-mail]
voice: [phone]  fax: [phone]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Also, what is the relationship between
Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario where telephone calls are
concerned. I don't think it is strictly within a local zone, but isn't
it handled like a 'suburban' point or for a small extra fee depending
on the type of monthly service you have?   PAT]

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 30 Apr 95 13:26:02 +1000
From: [e-mail] (Mehmet Orgun)
Subject: CFP: Special Issue of Journal of Symbolic Computation


            The Journal of Symbolic Computation
        -----------------------------------
        [Editor-in-Chief: Bruno Buchberger]

        Special Issue on Executable Temporal Logics
      Guest Editors: Michael Fisher, Shinji Kono, Mehmet Orgun

            Call For Papers
            ---------------

BACKGROUND: Logical representations have been widely used in Computer
Science and Artificial Intelligence. In recent years, particularly
with the advent of languages such as Prolog, the direct execution of
such representations has been shown to be both feasible and useful.
Logic-based languages have been used, not only for applications such
as the animation of logical specifications, the characterisation of
database queries and knowledge representation, but also as high-level
programming languages in their own right. However, as the problems
tackled have become more complex, the requirement for more powerful
logical representations has been growing. In particular, since the
concept of time is of central importance to an increasingly wide range
of applications, including the representation of time-dependent data
and the specification and verification of concurrent and distributed
systems, many logics incorporating temporal notions are being
developed and applied.

It is not surprising, therefore, that executable temporal logics have
been proposed in order to provide system developers with access to
these, more powerful, logical techniques. Just as the development of
sophisticated, and relatively efficient, theorem-proving techniques
for first-order logic led to executable forms, such as Prolog, so the
development of executable methods for temporal logics has often been
based on temporal theorem-proving techniques. However, each particular
executable temporal logic combines not only a logical perspective, but
also an operational model, drawn from its intended application areas.
Thus a wide range of languages have appeared, exhibiting a variety of
characteristics and execution mechanisms. Consequently, such languages
have a variety of application areas, such as temporal databases,
temporal planning, animation of temporal specifications, hardware
simulation, and distributed AI.

OBJECTIVES: The Journal of Symbolic Computation is planning a special
issue on Executable Temporal Logics, scheduled to appear in 1996.
High quality original research papers are solicited on all aspects
relating to the foundations, implementation techniques and
applications of languages based upon temporal logic. The research
described must not only incorporate an adequate level of technical
detail, but must also provide a clear indication of both the utility
and the applicability of the results.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to,

   * theoretical issues in executable temporal logics
   * design of executable temporal logics
   * relationship between execution and temporal theorem-proving
   * operational models and implementation techniques
   * programming support and environments
   * comparative studies of languages
   * relationship of executable temporal logics to (temporal) databases
   * applications and case studies

Because of the nature of the journal, it is particularly important
that submissions, even purely theoretical ones, indicate the
algorithmic relevance and applicability of the approach.

Papers must be original and must not have been previously published or
simultaneously submitted for publication elsewhere. The papers will be
reviewed based on their originality and technical quality, relevance
to the special issue theme, and the extent to which they will advance
the frontiers of knowledge in this area.

In addition to longer papers, we would welcome short papers (5 to 10
pages) describing specific features or novel applications of
executable temporal logic.

Submissions should follow the JSC style guide available from:

    ftp://ftp.risc.uni-linz.ac.at/pub/jsc

LaTeX users are encouraged to use the jsc.sty file.

Electronic submission is strongly encouraged (either as self-contained
LaTeX, or postscript). Submissions, either electronic or a paper copy
of the full paper, should arrive no later than October 15th 1995, and
should be sent to  the principal guest editor:

        Michael Fisher
    Department of Computing
    Manchester Metropolitan University
    Manchester M1 5GD
        United Kingdom

    Tel:    [phone]
    Fax:    [phone]
    Email:  [e-mail]


GUEST EDITORS:

    Michael Fisher
          (details as above)

    Shinji Kono
    Sony Computer Science Laboratory, Inc.
        3-14-13, Higashi-gotanda
    Shinagawa-ku
    Tokyo 141
    Japan
    Email:     [e-mail]

    Mehmet Orgun
    Department of Computing
    Macquarie University
    Sydney  NSW 2109
    Australia
    Email:     [e-mail]

IMPORTANT DATES:

Submissions of full papers due:          October 15th, 1995
Notification of acceptance/rejection:    January 15th, 1996
Revised final manuscripts due:             April 15th, 1996

Queries concerning this special issue are welcome and should be
forwarded to the email addresses above.

Information about the special issue will be available via the WWW page:

      http://www.doc.mmu.ac.uk/RESEARCH/jsc-extl.html

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Theodore F. Vaida)
Subject: Fiber Loops and Coax Converters
Date: Sat, 29 Apr 1995 17:00:08 -0500
Organization: Lehigh Unviersity Electrical Engineering (student)


I'm working on some marketing studies and ran into this quandry:

Does the concept of fiber-loops for high speed trunking of SONET/ATM
(or other physical/transport layer) with interfaces that gang coax
'star' type sub-nets?

Let me expand on this -

   To implement high speed bi-directional networks with:

 -  downstream adhoc video capability (read video on demand etc.)
 -  di-directional digital data streams (computer data, video data for
    conferencing etc)
implemented as a central loop/trunk of fiber to various ditribution points
where an interface device converts from the fiberoptic trunk to short haul
coax cables (say 1-200 customers) with the option for dedicated coax's for
high density customers (eg: businesses wanting T1 type connection).

Specifically the fier-optics could use SONET and ATM for multiple
connections, high bandwidth, and the coax would have a GHz range
carrier piggybacked over the normal cable video bandwidth...

I'm trying to discern the viability, marketing potential and check for
current deployment of this strategy for class.  Both engineering
comments on the feasbility of the idea and economic realities would be
welcomed.


Thanks,

[e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Pekka Nikander)
Subject: Looking For Integrated E1/V.34/PPP - TCP/IP/Ethernet Solution
Date: 29 Apr 1995 12:49:41 GMT
Organization: Nixu Oy, Inc.


I am looking for integrated solutions that have E1 or PRI ISDN at one
end, and Ethernet at the other end.  In the between the system should
function as a number of V.34 modems connected to a TCP/IP - Ethernet
terminal server running SLIP or PPP.

We need this kind of solutions for our customer.  The customer runs,
among other things, Internet dial up services with several hundred
dial in modem lines.


Pekka Nikander    Email: [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (S. Arora)
Subject: ThinkPad Modem in India
Date: 30 Apr 1995 22:17:48 GMT
Organization: University of Massachusetts, Amherst


Hi,

I have an IBM 340 ThinkPad with an internal 96/24 fax-modem.  I will
be taking this laptop back with me to South India (Hyderabad) later
this year. I would like to use the modem to dial a local BBS and the
fax to send faxes. In the manual it says to use the internal fax/modem
in the US only. What I would like to know is this because of some sort
of regulatory warning -- or is it that these modems just won't work
overseas (specifically I am interested in using it in India). Any
sggestions would be greatly appreciated. Also, what type of additional
wirting should I bring to hook up the connection to the phone lines
there?


Sid
Call me anywhere 1-500-Hi-Sid-Hi    (Local calls: 546-2307/545-0641)
[e-mail]       [e-mail]     [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Sid, in the future when you want to have
'local calls' go to a different number, you might want to include an
*area code* in your .signature so people can tell what is local and what
is not ...  PAT]

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 30 Apr 1995 12:05:44 EDT
From: Sandy Kyrish <[e-mail]>
Subject: Internet in Dubai?


A friend is moving to Dubai soon and plans to establish an Internet
account once there.  Any pointers on providers, prices, access, etc.
would be much appreciated, responding either to the list or to my
mailbox.


Thank you,

Sandy Kyrish  [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Theodore F. Vaida)
Subject: Regulation of PA Cable and Carriers
Date: Sun, 30 Apr 1995 17:22:23 -0500
Organization: Lehigh Unviersity Electrical Engineering (student)


I'm looking for a succinct way of getting the full picture of current
and pending regulation on cable and telecom operators (read local
phone COs etc) in the eastern PA area, this includes the FCC stuff as
I have no idea what their current restrictions/regulations are ... can
anyone name a good source of current information or some documents that
would get me up to speed?


Thanks,

[e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, one of the best (that is, most
comprehensive and least expensive) sources would be the FCC BBS operated
by Bob Keller. Since he is a regular participant here, I imagine he will
write you with details.  There are of course, others sources.   PAT]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Grady Ward)
Subject: Challenging Phone Bill
Date: Sun, 30 Apr 1995 22:11:32 GMT


I received my Pacific Bell bill today with two bogus $45
charges for repair visits.  No such repair orders were authorized.

According to the back of the bill I must pay the $90 disputed amount
into a California Public Utilities Commission escrow account in
order to challenge it.

Apparently with some sort of binding arbitration the PUC decides who
gets the money and that's it.

The question is: is this kind of binding arbitration required by law
or did I inadvertently agree to it by ordering service?

If I go through with the PUC escrow, will I be preserving all of my
rights under law? Do I have any other options?

It seems as if the burden of proof is upon *me* to show that the
charge is invalid, while it seems under common law that the entity
*asserting* the charge must show that it is valid. What if the
disputed amount were $50,000?  Would I still have to post that amount
in order to appeal the bill?  This doesn't seem right.


Grady Ward  [phone] (voice / 24hr FAX)  [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Ignore it. That is, simply deduct it
and don't pay it without proper documentation. Call the telco business
office if you have not done so already to investigate, and if this
gets you nowhere then call the PUC and speak to one of the telephone
specialists there. What's printed on the back side of your bill is
just stock legalese. Don't get too concerned.    PAT]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (David E A Wilson)
Subject: International Telephone Number Length - Maximum Allowed
Date: 1 May 1995 11:55:54 +1000
Organization: University of Wollongong, NSW, Australia.


Just last month we ran into a problem with equipment unable to handle
twenty digit numbers (the UK just added an extra digit and when you add
the four digit carrier selection code plus the four digit international
access code to the twelve digit UK number the equipment could not handle
it). This raises the following questions:

1)    What is the maximum length for an international number (country code
    plus area code + local number)?

2)    Is there a list of how long each country's numbers are? [This will
    answer the question: Is it just the UK or are we going run into
    the same problem on other calls].


Thanks,

David Wilson    Dept CompSci Uni Wollongong Australia    [e-mail]

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #219
******************************


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Date: Wed, 3 May 1995 09:27:36 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #220

TELECOM Digest     Wed, 3 May 95 09:26:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 220

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    U.S. Federal Suggestion Box in Cyberspace (Donald E. Kimberlin)
    Re: Call Trace Foulup Followed OK Bomb (Lee Winson)
    Re: Call Trace Foulup Followed OK Bomb (Richard M. Weil)
    Re: Call Trace Foulup Followed OK Bomb (Butch Lcroan)
    Looking For a Home For Listserver (Christopher Zguris)
    Reach Out and Defibrillate Someone (Dave Leibold)
    Re: Open NNTP Servers Wanted by Reader (Art Walker)
    Any Way to Have Parents' Phone Calls Billed to *My* Phone? (Scott Brenner)
    SMR Frequencies (Manuel Maese)
    Need New Voice Board or Lines Amps! ([e-mail])
    Re: Annoying Feature on Payphones Here ([e-mail])
    Re: Annoying Feature on Payphones Here (Steve Cogorno)
    Re: Annoying Feature on Payphones Here ([e-mail])
    Re: Annoying Feature on Payphones Here (John Nagle)
    Re: Annoying Calls: Can We Deal With Them? (John Lundgren)
    Re: New Country Code 380 For Ukraine (Shalom Septimus)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
                    9457-D Niles Center Road
                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
                        Fax: [phone]
  ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

*************************************************************************
*   TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the              *
* International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland    *
* under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES)   *
* project.  Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such
as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help
is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per
year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Tue, 02 May 95 17:36:00 EST
From: Donald E. Kimberlin <[e-mail]>
Subject: U.S. Federal Suggestion Box in Cyberspace


        During the two weeks from May 1 through May 14, the U.S.
federal government will have its first "National Electronic Open
Meeting," with the intention of it being a suggestion box in
cyberspace.  The program is supposed to be open for remarks or
suggstions from anyone to any U.S. federal branch.  Experts ffrom
various government departments are supposed to host five different
electronic fora, and a variety of access means will be provided.

        One of the accss means will be via computers at 362 libraries,
schools, offices and stores around the nation.  To find the location
nearest you, telephone [phone].

        Kinko's Copy Centers will also provide computer access at 114
of its locations.  To find which Kinko's nearest you has access,
telephone [phone].

        Persons with Internet access or gateway access via online
services like AOL, Prodigy, CompuServe, ATTMail, MCIMail or other
gatewayed services can send messages to [e-mail].

        And those with Web browsers can address http://meeting.fedworld.gov.

        Government officials say they want to hear what the public
wants and how it wants to interact with government officials in the
information age.  Messages received are to be analyzed and a report is
planned for later this year.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Lee Winson)
Subject: Rre: Call Trace Foulup Followed OK Bomb
Date: 02 May 1995 21:58:15 GMT
Organization: PACS IBM SIG BBS


As to the false number reported by Nynex from a bomb threat --

Given the criticality of accuracy in this situation, any "call trace"
reports should obviously be checked very carefully before release to
police, then double checked.  All systems involved in this should be
thoroughly debugged and tested extensively.

The innocent party deserves to win the lawsuit big time.

------------------------------

From: Richard M. Weil <[e-mail]>
Date: Tue, 02 May 1995 22:20:55 -0400
Subject: Re: Call Trace Foulup Followed OK Bomb


Pat said in a recent issue that the man that was mistakenly arrested
for phoning in a bomb threat after the OK blast is suing the police
for misconduct and suing NYNEX "on the grounds that the company filed
a false report in the matter and did so 'with wanton disregard for the
accuracy of their report.' He says the president's apology is insuffi-
cient ... "

I heard yesterday that the phone company has offered to pay for this
young man's college education as compensation for the obvious mistake.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Butch lcroan/.nameBalcroan Lilli)
Subject: Re: Call Trace Foulup Followed OK Bomb
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest)
Date: Tue, 2 May 1995 09:37:04 GMT


[e-mail] wrote:

> Immediately in the wake of the Oklahoma bomb, a bomb threat was made,
> among many in the nation, to the Boston federal building.  The call
> was traced.  A young man was arrested.  Subsequently, however, NYNEX
> realized that the tracer interchanged two digits of the purported
> origin of the call. The president of NYNEX personally apologized to
> that unfortunate man, who was released after one day in jail.  The
> real perpetrator of the call was not found.  Source: CBS radio.

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: As a followup to this story, I am told
> now the person is suing law enforcement officials for false arrest and
> suing NYNEX on the grounds that the company filed a false report in the
> matter and did so 'with wanton disregard for the accuracy of their
> report.' He says the president's apology is insufficient, because of
> the abuse and rough treatment he alleges he received at the hands of law
> enforcement officers during the time he was in custody, which would
> not have happened, he contends, had NYNEX properly supervised its
> employees who conducted the trace.  He further alleges that the law
> enforcement officers involved committed official misconduct and acted
> in bad faith by not further investigating the matter when NYNEX later
> produced a 'corrected' version of the report showing the telephone number
> originating the call in question, instead continuing to hold him in
> 'unnecessary custody' several additional hours to be vindictive.  PAT]

God Bless AMERICA!! The police state we live deserves that this man's
rights be upheld I wish him the best of luck in court. I know NYNEX
made a mistake and that is unfortunate but it is interesting that the
police tried to ignore they did anything wrong by keeping him in jail
even after NYBEX corrected the report?  Anyone ever seen " In the
name of the father " ? They were kept in jail for 15 years to coverup
for a police mistake. I doubt if justice we be done but I wish him
the best in his quest. The real question is what happened to the
responsible party ... nothing?


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Here in Cook County (Chicago) Illinois,
a judge can order you released from jail, or you can put up the needed
bond money to get out and the jail bureaucrats will still sit on thier
tails for up to 24-48 hours before taking any action. And the best part
is the person who comes to bail you out has to sit in the waiting area
all that time with cash or money order. They do it deliberatly, to let
the arrested persons and their friends/families know they are just scum.
There is a class action suit against the Sheriff of Cook County now for
the atrocious condition of their computer system which seems to keep
spitting up the same old warrants over and over again. In the NYNEX case
the fellow contends his initial attempts to get the matter corrected
were rebuffed, met with scorn and the usual run-around, etc.  PAT]

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 1 May 95 12:43 EST
From: Christopher Zguris <[e-mail]>
Subject: Looking For a Home For a Listserver


Hello to all. I'm looking for a site to carry a mailing list that
deals with current events (CURRENT). Last week CURRENT was abruptly
shut down (we were using listproc-service donated by a university).
From the private email I've received from other list members, many
people are upset about the demise of CURRENT. The list was very
focused, with very little noise, and served as a forum for people all
over the globe to express different opinions on a wide variety of
topics. At this point, I don't know what to do. I've contacted several
other listowners, and Netcom (my other provider), but so far I've come
up empty. People want the list, and I'm more than happy to put in the
time dealing with the adminstrative side (as I've been doing), but I
need a site that has some sort of automated list software. Any help
would be appreciated by me and the other subscribers.


Christopher Zguris
[e-mail]    [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Chris originally wrote me and asked if
I knew of any sites where the mailing list could be operated. I checked
with the sysadmin here to see if it would be possible to take on still
one more here, but this machine is awfully overloaded at present. If
some other site could be of assistance, I'm sure Chris would like to
hear from you with your requirements, etc.    PAT]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Dave Leibold)
Date: 02 May 95 22:04:13 -0500
Subject: Reach Out and Defibrillate Someone


An Associated Press report (carried in {The Toronto Star} 1 May 1995)
mentioned studies (by a surgeon from Mt. Sinai Medical Center in Miami
FL, and a heart pacemaker expert from the Mayo Clinic) that indicated
digital cellular phones could cause some "inhibition of the pacemaker
function" in some test cases. Analog phones were tested, but the news
report implies these did not cause any noticeable pacemaker problems.

There appeared to be no effects when the cell phones were in a normal
talking position (receiver to ear). The problems appeared to occur
when the cell phone antenna was close to the "pulse generator" of
the pacemaker, often installed in the collarbone area. Any interferences
found in these tests were not reported to be harmful, however.


Fidonet : Dave Leibold 1:250/730
Internet: [e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 2 May 1995 15:47:31 -0500
From: Art Walker <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Open NNTP Servers Wanted by Reader


In article <[e-mail]> TELECOM Digest Editor wrote:

> I told him I would post his note ... now it's lost. :(  His intention is
> to edit his .login file to 'setenv NNTP open.server.somewhere', and pull
> the news that way.  Any help will be appreciated.

Unfortunately, "open" NNTP servers are all but extinct.


Art Walker, Somewhere In Iowa      [e-mail]
alt.sex/alt.binaries.pictures.erotica/alt.sex.bestiality, etc.
At best, the regulars of these groups are failed phone sex customers...
                                                   - SPY, Jul/Aug 94, Page 85

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (scott.d.brenner)
Subject: Any Way to Have Parents' Phone Calls Billed to *My* Phone?
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Organization: AT&T
Date: Wed, 3 May 1995 13:22:59 GMT


I'd like to find out if there's a way to have the calls direct-dialed
from my parents' home phone billed to *my* home phone number.  Right
now, they're using my calling card number for selected calls.  But
they show up on my AT&T Universal bill. I'd rather have them on my
AT&T long distance bill (I get a separate bill from AT&T; my LEC
doesn't handle LD billing anymore).  I also want to avoid the ~$1
surcharge for using the calling card.

If you know a way to do this, please send some e-mail to me at
"[e-mail]"


a T d H v A a N n K c S e

Scott D. Brenner    [e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 02 May 1995 21:17:07 -0500
From: Manuel Maese <[e-mail]>
Subject: SMR Frequencies


Hello all:

I'm interested in gathering information pertaining the frequencies
that are allocated for SMR (Specialized Mobile Radio, abroad called
TRS, Trunkated Radio System, or PAMR/PMR) in different countries.  The
areas I am most interested in are South and Central America and Asia
(all of it!) and Australia/New Zealand, although any information would
be greatly appreciated.

The idea is to pinpoint exactly at what range is SMR/TRS allocated or
is planned to be allocated.  800s MHz or 900s is a little to broad of
a range, so I want to find out if, for example, the governments of
Brazil, China or Australia have allocated SMR/TRS systems within
865-880 MHz or is it 815-825 MHz.

Speaking of those countries, those are part of some countries in which I
am more urgently interested than others.

If you have any information (or, hey, similar information regarding cellular
systems), or an idea of where exactly could I start looking, please e-mail
me at [e-mail]

Thank you very much for your help!


Manolo Maese

------------------------------

From: N. M. S. <[e-mail]>
Subject: Need New Voice Board or Lines Amps!
Date: 29 Apr 1995 23:03:10 GMT
Organization: via CompuServe Information Service


Hi,

  I am using Dialogic Boards with an AMX/81, who's conference feature
is plagued by a drop in gain.

  I need one of the following from you if you have for sale:

   - 4 or 8 line NewVoice/c  Board(s); or
   - Copy of Parity's VOS software;
   - Someone who know's the C++ as well as Ram Research's DAX to
      help me program a .DLL for the MSI/C.

If you can help me, please do!!

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Newz)
Subject: Re: Annoying Feature on Payphones Here
Date: Tue, 02 May 1995 13:34:35 PDT


> Any other central offices you know of set up to sense when a coin
> box is full and return that kind of message to the user?  As soon
> as that message is played out the phone goes 'click click' and the
> dial tone is restarted.  If they know the box is full, why not
> just come and empty it?

That happens in Seattle from time to time. And, I was told by a pal
who does nothing but maintain phones that they usually drive a route
hitting certain payphones for service, cleaning, emtpying, and the
like. They don't make a special run to empty one phone, since the cost
of having someone drive to a phone to empty it would cost more than
the cashbox contains. But if you complain loudly enough ...

It's possible that the phone has a faulty cash box sensor, or that
someone is making a lot of international phone calls from it, paying
with silver instead of plastic.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Steve Cogorno)
Subject: Re: Annoying Feature on Payphones Here
Date: Tue, 02 May 1995 14:09:42 PDT


TELECOM Digest Editor said:

> about half the time it won't accept money. And this is another
> curious thing; readers can tell me if this exists in your community
> or not: when a payphone is full of money here, somehow it is noted
> in the central office because if you pick up the phone, get dial
> tone and deposit your 25 cents, the money comes back out immediatly
> and you get a recorded message saying 'sorry, this phone cannot
> accept coins right now, however you can place your call with a
> credit card, collect, third party, etc ..'. This is *not* due to

We don't get any messages like that in PacBell territory, but I have
had several phone refuse my coins because the collection box was full.
THe last time this happened, I called the operator and said "Hello
operator, I believe the coin box on this phone is full."  And she said
"What's your point?"  I could have smacked her.


Steve   [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Date: Tue, 02 May 1995 21:45:21 EST
Subject: Re: Annoying Feature on Payphones Here


> I don't like a feature on the Bell payphones here in Skokie, and it
> seems to cause no end of confusion for many other people as well.
> It seems that when you call from a payphone in Skokie (708-673 and
> 708-674) after it rings two or three times, a recorded message comes
> on the line saying 'your party does not answer' and inviting you
> to leave a message 'for delivery at a later time' by pressing the
> keys on the phone, for an additional fee of course.

The ones I used in Washington DC offered that "Service" also.

> Now should the caller actually answer, then of course the recording
> cuts off immediatly and you proceed with your call, however there
> are lots of foreign speaking people in Skokie -- mostly from Russia
> or the Ukraine -- and not being all that familiar with the phone
> system anyway, they think they are hearing a recording saying that
> the number is not in service.

That happened when I first got my answering machine ... it basically
said the number and to leave a message.  One of my wife's relative's
kept calling from South America and hanging up. Unfortunately they
were of course charged for the call.

> credit card, collect, third party, etc ..'. This is *not* due to
> any overnight restrictions on payphones such as 'no coins after
> dark' in the War on Drugs, etc. When I have called repair to complain

I assume then in the areas where 'no coins after...' anyone using a
payphone is assumed to be a buyer or seller?

> Any other central offices you know of set up to sense when a coin
> box is full and return that kind of message to the user?  As soon
> as that message is played out the phone goes 'click click' and the
> dial tone is restarted.  If they know the box is full, why not
> just come and empty it?

Is this Ameritech area?  They are implementing some sort of intelligent
non operator asisted payphone monitoring network.

I guess they have some sort of cost/benefit analysis and refuse to empty
it more often.

The only payphone I use lately is a Bellsouth phone and I call straight
to home 30 miles away.  Its expensive.  But always takes quarters.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (John Nagle)
Subject: Re: Annoying Feature on Payphones Here
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest)
Date: Tue, 02 May 1995 16:59:33 GMT


TELECOM Digest Editor <[e-mail]> writes:

> Another source of annoyance with payphones here is how seldom they
> seem to have their coin boxes emptied. There is one payphone which
> is otherwise quite convenient when I need to use one, but I think
> about half the time it won't accept money. And this is another
> curious thing; readers can tell me if this exists in your community
> or not: when a payphone is full of money here, somehow it is noted
> in the central office because if you pick up the phone, get dial
> tone and deposit your 25 cents, the money comes back out immediatly

      The COINS retrofit has been around for some years.  There's an
electronics module that replaces part of the coin mechanism and keeps
track of the phone's coin traffic.  This can be queried remotely.  The
info is used to schedule coin box servicing (your local telco seems to
be having problems with this) and to keep the coin-box service people
honest.


John Nagle

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (John Lundgren)
Subject: Re: Annoying Calls: Can We Deal With Them?
Date: 02 May 1995 14:04:51 GMT
Organization: Pacific Bell Knowledge Network


Randall Rathbun ([e-mail]) wrote:

> What came as a surprise totally to us, was the response of our local
> telco when asked to remedy the situation. Here's what we're told
> (quoted) "We don't have a way to stop this ... we don't have a way of
> trapping ... you have to have a trap in place ... you have to have your
> security give us a signed statement ... you have to have a case number
> assigned to you from the county sheriff's department."

I'm not sure whether, by CA, you mean California or Canada.  But here
in Pac Bell CA, we got essentially the same reply, and it is a matter
of laws and can't be changed.

But the law also says that the advertiser must have a human on the line
ask first if the person wants to hear the message.  A fully automated
'Junk Dialer' is illegal.  That's why, on all the messages that I have
received, the advertiser _never_ gives out a phone number os something
traceable, but asks you to give _your_ number at the beep.

> In other words, it is just about impossible to even deal with this
> type of annoying or harassment call due to the complicated, extended
> and time-consuming legal procedures. The local telco representative
> added "We've had this thing happen to us, hopefully yours' will stop
> today" and they acknowledged that a carefully placed roving call would
> go through virtually impossible to stop.  They said they had to have
> two matches on the same number before they could initiate law
> enforcement activity in their offensive call bureau.

> A simple question comes to mind, don't roving calls only hit the
> number once and then move on?

> In other words, knowledgeable offensive callers can dial with almost
> complete impunity and automated dialers are "impossible" to stop.

In California, since CallerID is not yet legal, the offending number
would not be readily available.  But Pac Bell offers a service, for a
monthly fee, where a line can have the call trace added.  It allows
the person to dial a number, *something, that locks in the offending
number so that law enforcement agencies can access it.

> What particularly irks this writer, with extensive knowledge and
> experience of telecommunications, is that he and a local CO technician
> can trace and lock down these type of calls within 10-15 seconds after
> they come in. The local CO technician can even remotely login to other
> telco sites and trace the call and positively identify its source
> within a minute or at the most two. In other words, it IS possible to
> stop these types of calls.

But it's not legal, because of privacy issues.

> Why can't we do something about this growing problem? Have the telco
> carriers formulated new procedures to handle this growing problem? All
> the hardware is already in place to deal with this situation. With the
> advent of the computer autdialers and increasing mechanization during
> the 90's, this type of thing will only increase. Certainly abuse will
> only increase once people realize that nothing really will ever be
> done.

> Can't we stop this type of thing, rather than throw up our hands and
> say "oh well, there's nothing we can do about it"? Your comment is
> appreciated.

It's not a matter of technology, it's a matter of sociological lag.
The laws and prevailing attitudes haven't kept up with technology.

There was a law recently enacted that outlaws junk FAX advertising, so
maybe this will happen with phones.

The option of tracing obnoxious calls so that LEAs can access the
phone number seems like the best option in your case.  Maybe the
feature would only have to be added to a few of the lines, not all.


John Lundgren - Elec Tech - Info Tech Svcs
Rancho Santiago Community College District
17th St. at Bristol \ Santa Ana, CA 92706
[e-mail]\[e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Shalom Septimus)
Subject: Re: New Country Code 380 For Ukraine
Date: 02 May 1995 05:23:14 GMT
Organization: UB


In article <[e-mail]>, Clive D.W. Feather
<[e-mail]> wrote:


> I compared my country codes list with my list of ISO recognised
> countries and territories. The shared uses of codes I found were:

> 672   Shared by 5 territories under Australian control

Specifically, which? My list has only Cocos/Keeling Is, (6722),
Norfolk Is. (6723) and Christmas Is. (6724). What are the other 2?  Or
are Cocos and Keeling two seperate territories, and I'm only missing
one?

> Oops, almost forgot. Apart from the 31 cases I listed before, there are
> eight territories with no international code that I know of:

>    Western Sahara

According to the Moroccan Consulate in New York, the Western Sahara is
dialable using the same code as Morocco (212) and city code 8.

Also you left out Easter Island (Chilean territory, but not apparently
covered under the Chilean code 56).

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: If you are referring to the United States
> Trust Territory in the South Pacific Ocean as the 'minor outlying islands'
> you mention above, I think some of those have gone into 'area code' 808
> which serves Hawaii and Midway Island. Also, I think the 'country code'
> for Guam is going to become an 'area code' in the near future, still
> serving Guam and perhaps nearby places.  PAT]

I haven't found any code for Wake Island, either. Is this in +1(808)
as well?


J.Alan Septimus  [e-mail]
[e-mail]

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #220
******************************


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From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #221

TELECOM Digest     Thu, 4 May 95 10:06:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 221

Inside This Issue:                          Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Very Unhappy Customer Writes to MCI (Philip L. Dubois)
    Suggestions For Two or Three Line PC Based Phone System? (karlca@delphi)
    Florida 305/954 Split - Still Happening? (Greg Monti)
    Voice/Data Multiplexer for 64kb Leased Line? (Magnus Harlander)
    Taking my Laptop to the UK (Charles Ogilvie)
    Area Code 503 Split in Oregon (Leonard Erickson)
    Book Review: "Student's Guide to the Internet" by Clark (Rob Slade)
    Looking For Nationwide Data/Voice Providers (Jeff Tyler)
    High Speed RS422 I/F For PC (Russell George)
    Roaming in NYC (Tony Harminc)
    Com Problems With USR Sportster V.34 (Thor Stromsnes)
    Nokia 2110 vs Motorola 8200 (Nick Pitfield)
    Mexico Billing Method: Digit Analysis or Meter Pulse? (John E. Brissenden)
    Caller ID Format Varies? (Charles Copeland)
    Question From Brussels About Telecom in Latin America (Aurora Ferlin)
    Re: ThinkPad Modem in India (Martin Kealey)
    Re: ThinkPad Modem in India (Rishab Aiyer Ghosh)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
                    9457-D Niles Center Road
                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
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  ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

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use the information service, just ask.

*************************************************************************
*   TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the              *
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* under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES)   *
* project.  Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such
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year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Philip L. Dubois)
Subject: Very Unhappy Customer Writes to MCI
Date: 3 May 1995 23:30:40 GMT
Organization: Colorado SuperNet, Inc.


3 May 1995

MCI
P.O. Box 7400
London, KY  40742-7400

Re:  acct. # ------------

Sir/madam:

Having extricated myself from your company's incompetent clutches
(by switching to Sprint), I was content to let the matter rest.  You,
regrettably, were not.  Your employees continue to call to waste even
more of my time.  I therefore write to tell you not to call me -- more
specifically, not to call any of the numbers for which you formerly
provided service.

I was induced to switch to MCI from AT&T by, inter alia, your
representation that I would receive a certificate for a month's
free service (up to $1000), which certificate I could apply against
any month's bill I chose.  Your salesperson also made specific
representations about various services like account codes and 800
service.  These representations included prices.  I ordered some of
your products in reliance on these representations.

It soon became apparent that the service I received was not what I
ordered and the prices were not what they had been represented to be.
It took several weeks and much phone conversation and correspondence to
get it all straightened out.  Worse, the free-service certificate never
arrived.  Ever.  When I inquired, I was given some numbers over the
phone and told to simply attach a note containing these numbers to the
bill to which I wanted the certificate to apply and everything would
be fine.  So I did, and it wasn't.

Not long thereafter, I got a dunning letter saying that my account was
seriously past due.  It turned out that the certificate had not been
applied as I'd directed but instead to the most recent invoice.  I was
told that I should have received no dunning notice or calls, that my
account was current, and that everything was taken care of.  Shortly
after that, I got another dunning notice and more phone calls about my
past-due account.  This time, I was told that the certificate was
applied as MCI chose to apply it and that if I didn't pay the requisite
amount by the requisite date, my service would be cut off.

I know that the complaints of we few are far outweighed by the income
you get from the thousands of new subscribers you entice by false
promises of reliability and integrity.  I know that your contempt for
your customers is matched only by your greed for market share and that
you couldn't care less about anything that doesn't get the attention of
the FCC, which this letter almost certainly won't.  Nevertheless, I will
relate the foregoing facts to my friends and family, send a copy of this
letter to the FCC, and post this letter on the Internet, where maybe a
few thousand of the millions of Internet users will read it.

You are instructed not to call me or my family or my business or to send
me any solicitation materials by mail or otherwise.  You have wasted
enough of my time.


Sincerely,

Philip L. Dubois

------------------------------

From: Karl <[e-mail]>
Subject: Suggestions For Two or Three Line PC Based Phone System?
Date: Wed, 3 May 95 11:39:02 -0500
Organization: Delphi ([e-mail] email, 800-695-4005 voice)


Greetings,

I have a small office that is slowly increasing in size and business
and I have always been able to use one phone line and one person
answering it.  I now have a need to add one or two more lines but I
cannot hire another person quite yet to handle this (yet).

My requirements are for some type of system that will pick up my
incoming calls if someone is on line one, give them a welcome message,
allow them to hold until line one is available, and then forward the
call.  I would like the option of requiring them to leave a message
after some given time and the important part here is the ability to
answer more than one call at the same time.  Hunting them together via
Nynex is no problem from what I understand.

One solution would be to put a $50 answering machine on each line but
obviously it does not forward the call and its kinda 'crude' .  I have
checked around with some local company's and most have recommend PBX
systems or Key systems and then buy the software for the PC and link
them.  These have ranged in costs from $2000 to $10,000 and up for
complete systems.

My budget though does not begin to come close to that so any
suggestions, pointers or product recommendations that are within a
range of $500-$1000 would be appreciated.  Note: I do have some PC's
sitting around to use and I can "combine" several products to maybe
meet my needs.


TIA,

Karl      [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Why don't you try a combination of PC
and voicemail you build yourself, possibly using Big Mouth or something
similar?  Have a PC answer your second line with a message that goes
something like this: "Thank you for calling; right now all agents are
busy with other customers, but while you are waiting several recorded
messages are available which may answer your questions, and of course
if you wish you may speak to an agent as soon as one becomes available.
For information about X, press one; for information about Y, press two.
Press zero at any time to wait for an agent to become available. If you
are calling from a rotary dial phone, please hold until an agent is
available."

You then take the half dozen or so 'most commonly asked questions and
answers' (if there is such a thing in your business, such as your hours
of operation, location, etc) and make little messages behind the various
buttons which can be pressed. After each message is played out, another
message comes on which says "Agents are still busy, please make another
selection or press zero if you wish to wait for an agent to become
available." They then press other buttons to hear other messages, or
simply wait. If they press zero to reach an agent, in the case of Big
Mouth at least, the transfer function causes the speaker attached to
announce to you that 'call is holding, please pick up the phone.' As
soon as you pick up the line and press a touch tone key on your end,
Big Mouth shuts itself off and waits for the next caller.

If you combine the Big Mouth transfer function with Call Transfer from
your local telco, then once the waiting call has been passed over to you
on the first line, Big Mouthh is freed up to take another call on
the overflow line and hold it until you become available.     PAT]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Greg Monti)
Subject: Florida 305/954 Split - Still Happening?
Date: 3 May 1995 03:29:56 GMT
Organization: Capital Area Internet Service [e-mail] 703-448-4470


What has happened with the Florida 305/954 area code split?  My old
notes say it was supposed to have taken effect in early March, 95.  A
later note says authorities were debating whether a split or an overlay
was appropriate.  Haven't seen anything on it in comp.dcom.telecom in the
intervening two months.  Any news from the Sunshine State?


Greg Monti      [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Magnus Harlander)
Subject: Voice/Data Multiplexer For 64kb Leased Line?
Date: 3 May 1995 08:26:50 GMT
Organization: Leibniz-Rechenzentrum, Muenchen (Germany)


We are looking for a data/voice multiplexer for a leased 64kb digital
line. We want to use some portion of the bandwidth for phone calls to and from
a PBX extension and the rest for IP traffic. The leased line speaks
the G.703 protocol (there would be an alternative using I.430). Any
information about implementations, producers and distributors is
appreciated.


Thanx,

Magnus V. Harlander --- GeNUA    [e-mail]
Gesellschaft f"ur Netzwerk-      [e-mail]
und Unix-Administration ---      Tel: [phone]
--- and Physics Dep. TUM ---     Fax: [phone]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (ogilvie)
Subject: Taking my Laptop to the UK
Date: 3 May 1995 09:25:03 GMT
Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA


Does anybody know what I will need to purchase in order to use my
lapop in London and surrounding areas?  I think I will need some sort
of power adaptor and some sort of modem adapter.  If you have any
suggestions, I would really appreciate hearing them.  Also, does
anybody know any good PPP internet providers in the UK?


Thanks very much,

Charles   Please reply via email to: [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Leonard Erickson)
Date: Tue, 02 May 1995 21:35:20 -0800
Subject: Area Code 503 Split in Oregon


According to tonight's news, NPA 503 will split. There had been
discussion about having an overlay, but apparently the comments to the
PUC were in favor of the split.

The new NPA will be 541. It will cover most of the state. Only the NW
corner of the state will keep 503. This includes Portland and Salem.
My guess is that it'll follow the LATA boundary from the coast until it
starts to turn south (somewhere east of Salem) and then the AC boundary
will head north. This is based on the crude maps shown so far, and a
glance at the LATA boundaries shown in the phone book.

The permissive period starts Nov 5, 1995 and ends Jun 30, 1996.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Around here somewhere I have a list of
which prefixes go where according to a reader who sent in the information
and I shall try to publish that soon.    PAT]

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 02 May 1995 15:02:27 EST
From: Rob Slade <[e-mail]>
Subject: Book Review: "Student's Guide to the Internet" by Clark


BKSTDINT.RVW   950320

"Student's Guide to the Internet", Clark, 1995, 1-56761-545-7, U$14.99/C$20.95
%A   David Clark [e-mail]
%C   201 W. 103rd Street, Indianapolis, IN   46290
%D   1995
%G   1-56761-545-7
%I   Alpha Books
%O   U$14.99/C$20.95 800-858-7674 [e-mail]
%P   314
%T   "Student's Guide to the Internet"

Yes, this is well-suited to be a student's guide.  There is just
enough information on the various aspects of the Internet (well, we
could do with maybe just a touch more information on SLIP) without
going into turgid detail.  The tone is very light; almost, but perhaps
not quite, flippant.

After a general introduction to the types of applications, chapter two
talks about getting connected.  This topic still gets the weakest
coverage in Internet texts.  (The fact that this is understandable,
given the range of options, does not help the frustrations of the
uninitiated.)  The coverage here, while still weak, is better than
most.  Chapters three through ten give brief, but basic, information
on UNIX, email, Usenet news, Gopher, World Wide Web, ftp, IRC and
WAIS.  The selling of Gopher and WWW tends to be a bit
overenthusiastic, but Clark redeems himself with the first realistic
coverage of SlipKnot that I can recall.

Chapter eleven is a topical catalogue of resources, while twelve has a
list of access providers (including Freenets).  Chapter thirteen is a
miscellaneous "FAQ" (Frequently Asked Questions list) of random
information.  There is a helpful appendix listing Internet client
software and where to get it.

The tone and level are easily appropriate for the target audience.  A
good, basic starting point for Internet exploration.


copyright Robert M. Slade, 1995   BKSTDINT.RVW   950320. Distribution
permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated publications. Rob Slade's
book reviews are a regular feature in the Digest.


Vancouver      [e-mail]         | "Is it plugged in?"
Institute for  [e-mail]      | "I can't see."
Research into  Rob.Slade@f733.n153.z1/  | "Why not?"
User                      .fidonet.org  | "The power's off
Security       Canada V7K 2G6           |  here."

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Jeff Tyler)
Subject: Looking For Nationwide Data/Voice Providers
Date: 3 May 1995 22:55:37 -0400


My company is ready to submit an RFP for a nationwide voice/data
network.  We are replacing an existing uucp/ppp data network and
leased voice trunking with a private internet to tie our NYC office to
five regional offices around the company and to our existing Internet
connection in NYC.  We are open to all technologies with the only
stipulation being that the vendor must provide a total voice/data
solution and end to end technical sufficiency.  We plan to invite
anyone that claims to run a telco to respond to this RFP so if you are
interested, email me to conserve bandwidth.  We plan to release the
RFP in the next few days so a prompt response would be appreciated.


Jeff S. Tyler Pencom System Administration| |[e-mail] [home]
[voice/fax] 508-297-4316/3453 | |[e-mail] [office] 617-443-1111

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Russell George)
Subject: High Speed RS422 I/F For PC
Date: 3 May 1995 09:19:08 -0500
Organization: TYBRIN Corporation


We need a source for a high speed RS422 interface for a PC. As you
know the RS422 I/F is speced at 10 MB/s. Yet, the only serial cards we
have been able to find so far are speced at 115.2 kB/s. We really need
1-2 MB/s for our application. We need to synchronously pump blocks of
data to a telemetry bit sync which has an RS422 I/F.


Thanks in advance for your help,

Russell

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 04 May 95 04:20:51 EDT
From: Tony Harminc <[e-mail]>
Subject: Roaming in NYC
Reply-To: Tony harminc <[e-mail]>


What's the current state of affairs with cellular roaming in New York
City?  The local Cantel office first said it was turned off, then said
it was back on, and finally said that they didn't really know and I
should just try it when I get there!  I did try calling the NYC "A"
system roam port and keying in my own cellphone's number (the phone
was with me here in Toronto), and received an immediate reorder tone.
I would expect their switch to at least try paging my phone before
giving up, so perhaps this means things are not good.  All I really
want to do is make local calls, but it would be nice to be able to
receive the odd call too.


Tony H.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Thor Stromsnes)
Subject: Comm Problems With USR Sportster V.34
Date: Thu, 04 May 1995 04:35:45
Organization: Privat


I am having some problems with my PPP internet hookup. After about
10-15 min online, my V.34 Sportster just "hangs up". I use trumpet
winsock and netscape software, and I have set the internal baud rate
to 115.200, in order to handle compession. Is this a hardware problem,
or what?


Thor

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 4 May 1995 07:33:47 GMT
From: nick pitfield <[e-mail]>
Subject: Nokia 2110 vs Motorola 8200
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Organization: BNR Europe Limited


Greetings,

I'm about to buy a GSM phone, and have settled on either the Nokia 2110 or
the Motorola 8200. Does anybody have good or bad experiences or opinions
about these that they could share with me.

Also, could somebody tell me where I can find the files describing how to
re-program certain things on these phones: eg I had the file for the Nokia
101 last year and was able to change both the lock code and the start-up
message.


Regards,

Nick Pitfield

EMAIL     : [e-mail]
SNAILMAIL : Nortel-DASA Network Systems GmbH & Co KG,
An der Bundesstrasse 31, 88090 Immenstaad/Bodensee, Germany
VOICEMAIL : Germany [phone]    ESN 565-2057
            UK      [phone]    ESN 590-4476

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (John E. Brissenden)
Subject: Mexico Billing Method: Digit Analysis or Meter Pulse?
Date: 4 May 1995 01:51:40 GMT
Organization: Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff AZ, USA


Does Mexico / Central America use a digit analysis method for
calculating charges, or a metered pulse method?  What I'm actually
refering to is the SMDR output on a PBX.  I believe the U.S. is in the
minority in using digit analysis, or am I wrong?


Thanks,

John

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Charles Copeland)
Subject: Caller ID Format Varies?
Date: 4 May 1995 09:20:20 -0500
Organization: Texas Metronet, Inc  (login info (214/705-2901 - 817/571-0400))


The Bellcore spec GR-30 for Caller-ID format dictates it shall have
three parts:

1) 30 bytes of 55H (preamble);
2) 70-150ms of marks;
3) caller id data.

However I've noticed on our lines to GTE here in Dallas doesn't always
follow this standard. 90 percent of the time GTE conforms to the
standard, but the other 10 percent the preamble is entirely missing.

I wrote firmware to conform to the GR-30 Bellcore document, and now I
find telco doesn't conform. I've verified the missing preamble with
both my firmware and storage scope.

Curiously, the cheapo Radio Shack caller id box works just fine
whether the preamble is present or missing.

Is this some older equipment out there that conformed to some outdated
standard unknown to me?

Anybody know out there?


KC5LWF [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: So -- take a hint from the Radio Shack
people and write your firmware to accept the preamble if it shows up
and live without it if it doesn't. If the preamble is absolutely
essential to your application, then write a default one which your
firmware will apply when the 'real' one is missing. And how, you ask,
is the firmware going to know if its missing or not?  Look for some
unique characters or string of characters which appears in the preamble
but nowhere else. If that does not come through right away then swap
your own in there and proceed.     PAT]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (FERLIN AURORA)
Subject: Question From Brussels About Telecom in Latin America
Date: 4 May 1995 13:02:03 GMT
Organization: Brussels Free Universities (VUB/ULB), Belgium


I am a student at the Free University of Brussels and I am working on a
paper about telecommunications in Latin America. Any information about
policy, satellite communications, informatics or telephony is welcome.


Thank you,

[e-mail] (FERLIN AURORA) Student Communicatiewetenschappen
Vrije Universiteit Brussel


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Do any of you folks ever go to the library
and do your own research? Please don't keep asking me to do your homework
for you.   Thank you.   PAT]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Martin Kealey)
Subject: Re: ThinkPad Modem in India
Date: Wed, 3 May 95 13:53:25 NZST


> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Sid, in the future when you want to have
> 'local calls' go to a different number, you might want to include an
> *area code* in your .signature so people can tell what is local and what
> is not ...  PAT]

In the future when you want to have 'national calls' go to a different number,
you might want to include a *country code* in your .signature so people can
tell which zone you're calling from.


      Martin D Kealey             voice          fax            lat/long
home: [e-mail]  0-9-8150460   0-9-8150529  36.88888S/174.72116E
work: [e-mail]       0-9-3788611   0-9-3789010  36.85300S/174.77900E

Oops, sorry wrong .sig, try this one :-)

      Martin D Kealey             voice          fax            lat/long
home: [e-mail] [phone] [phone] 36.88888S/174.72116E
work: [e-mail]      [phone] [phone] 36.85300S/174.77900E


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, technically you are correct, but since
by default, the Digest is primarily a USA thing -- about 90 percent of the
readers are in the USA -- I suppose the country code is not absolutely
essential unless you are from another country.  Nice thought though.  PAT]

------------------------------

Subject: Re: ThinkPad Modem in India
From: [e-mail] (Rishab Aiyer Ghosh)
Date: Wed, 03 May 95 00:11:36 IST
Organization: Deus X Machina


> I have an IBM 340 ThinkPad with an internal 96/24 fax-modem.  I will
> be taking this laptop back with me to South India (Hyderabad) later
> this year. [...] In the manual it says to use the internal fax/modem
> in the US only. What I would like to know is this because of some sort
> of regulatory warning -- or is it that these modems just won't work
> overseas (specifically I am interested in using it in India). Any

You're not supposed to use modems that are not locally approved here,
but they work fine. I don't see why there should be any problem; while
I haven't used a ThinkPad modem, the internal modem in Apple PowerBooks
work OK.

Not all places in India will have RJ11 sockets handy.


Rishab Aiyer Ghosh    [e-mail]
[e-mail]   Vox [phone] Voxmail 3760335
H 34C Saket, New Delhi 110017, INDIA

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #221
******************************

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Date: Thu, 4 May 1995 13:44:43 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #222

TELECOM Digest     Thu, 4 May 95 13:44:30 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 222

Inside This Issue:                          Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Re: 404 Area Code Split; New Code 770 (Linc Madison)
    Re: 404 Area Code Split; New Code 770 (Stan Brown)
    Re: 404 Area Code Split; New Code 770 (Lee Winson)
    Re: The AT&T "Minimum Usage Charge" Rumor (Tom Horsley)
    Re: The AT&T "Minimum Usage Charge" Rumor (Anthony Campbell)
    Re: Open NNTP Servers Wanted by Reader (Patrick Phalen)
    Re: Open NNTP Servers Wanted by Reader (Bob Izenberg)
    Re: Open NNTP Servers Wanted by Reader (Antoin O Lachtnain)
    Re: Open NNTP Servers Wanted by Reader (Marc Schaefer)
    Re: Open NNTP Servers Wanted by Reader (Robbie Honerkamp)
    Re: Open NNTP Servers Wanted by Reader (Markus Gloede)
    Re: Open NNTP Servers Wanted by Reader (S. Rathinam)
    Re: Annoying Calls: Can We Deal With Them? (James E. Bellaire)
    Re: Annoying Feature on Payphones (Rob Hjort)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
                    9457-D Niles Center Road
                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
                        Fax: [phone]
  ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

*************************************************************************
*   TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the              *
* International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland    *
* under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES)   *
* project.  Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such
as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help
is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per
year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Linc Madison)
Subject: Re: 404 Area Code Split; New Code 770
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest)
Date: Thu, 04 May 1995 01:59:37 GMT


rad ([e-mail]) wrote:

>    Yesterday, the Georgia PSC announced an area split for metro
> Atlanta.  For the most part, anything inside I-285 will be 404, all
> the 'burbs will be 770 (that's me).

>    The PSC was considering two plans.  One being the plan approved
> above and the other involving an overlay scenario. ...

> Also, after the 404/706 split a few years ago, it was predicted that
> Atlanta had numbers for EIGHT years.  Three years later we're in a big
> rush to come up with a plan that will go into effect December 1, 1995.
> Thus, one would think that with continued growth here in Atlanta,
> we'll be ready for another split in the not too distant future.  How
> will we split then?  Another donut wouldn't be feasible(sp?), so the
> 770 would have to be split either north/south or east/west.  Which
> brings up the possiblity of having three area codes in extremely close
> proximity, which, in my mind, reduces the benefits of the geographic
> split.

Well, first and foremost you have to blame the local politicians in
the outlying regions of what is currently 404 for whining and crying
enough to persuade the state to leave far too much in 404 and not move
nearly enough into 706.  If the first 404 split had been done sensibly,
it would indeed be several more years before another split would be
needed.  The same is true, by the way, in Colorado; there is no excuse
for having left so much in 303 and so little in 719 in the previous
split.

I have even less patience for this sort of shenanigans than I have for
the cellular/pager companies whining about how it's "discriminatory" to
put them into their own overlay area codes.  Utter nonsense.

Personally, I think the donut plan would work well -- you could have
situations where a telephone across the street from you would be in a
different area code, but something 50 miles away, on the opposite side
of the metropolitan area, is in the same area code.


Linc Madison   *   San Francisco, California   *   [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Stan Brown)
Subject: Re: 404 Area Code Split; New Code 770
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest)
Date: Thu, 04 May 1995 00:19:08 GMT


[e-mail] (rad) writes:

> Yesterday, the Georgia PSC announced an area split for metro
> Atlanta.  For the most part, anything inside I-285 will be 404, all
> the 'burbs will be 770 (that's me).

    Me too.  I was just wondering, since I live two streets outside
I-285, I feel sure that my local switch services phones both inside and
outside I-285.  If this is the case does it mean that the switch lives
in more than one area code?

    Doesn't this make thing interesting?


Stan Brown     [e-mail]    404-996-6955
Factory Automation Systems    Atlanta Ga.



[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Actually, two area codes in the same
central office is not that uncommon in large metro areas where area
code boundaries divide nearby communities. For instance, here in the
Chicago area, the central office known as Newcastle on the far
northwest side of the city always did serve parts of Chicago as well
as the communities of Harwood Heights and Norridge, both of which are
now in 708 while the Chicago prefixes served from Newcastle are in 312.
The physical location of the office itself is in Chicago. The same
thing occurs in areas on the southwest side of Chicago where 312 ends
and 708 begins. I suspect with the additional split to 630 and 847
next year, Newcastle may well have three area codes in the same building
and on the same switch.   PAT]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Lee Winson)
Subject: Re: 404 Area Code Split; New Code 770
Date: 04 May 1995 00:29:18 GMT
Organization: PACS IBM SIG BBS


In my opinion as a customer, I prefer splits rather than overlays.

Overlays can be used for specialty services such as beepers, mobile
phones, and other phones that don't have a fixed geographic location.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Tom Horsley)
Subject: Re: The AT&T "Minimum Usage Charge" Rumor
Date: 03 May 1995 12:50:40 GMT
Organization: Harris Computer Systems Corporation
Reply-To: [e-mail]


> AT&T claims that 26% of its residential customers have monthly bills less
> than $3 and 44% less than $10.

I resemble that remark. I usually have monthly LD bill of at most a
few cents (usually a call to NIST's atomic clock to reset my computer
:-). I essentially never make LD calls and would be happy to have no
LD provider at all, and make any LD calls using a 1-0-XXXX code, but I
don't think it is possible to select "nobody" as my LD provider (though I
would be happy to learn otherwise).


[e-mail]
Home: 511 Kingbird Circle Delray Beach FL  33444
Work: Harris Computers, 2101 W. Cypress Creek Rd. Ft. Lauderdale FL  33309
(email [e-mail], 1-800-622-SMART,
gopher://chaos.dac.neu.edu:1112/00/pvs.txt)


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You might want to ask again. Quite a few
folks have 'none' as their carrier. It is an interesting and cheap way
to block your phone from unauthorized long distance calls by most people
who might be in your home. Unless they know to dial the 10xxx codes --
and most folks do not -- any attempts to dial long distance will just
reach the 'your call cannot be completed as dialed' intercept. Pressing
double zero only, as in '00' will get the same recording, or in some
locations a fast busy or reorder tone. This is not a recommended way to
handle toll blocking, but it will generally work unless you have a house
full of Digest readers. <grin> ... even if telco defaults your line to
'none', you will still have to pay the network access charge each month
since you can access carriers you choose via 10xxx. Even when you get
'official' toll-restriction from telco, i.e. no matter what you dial out-
side your local area, no matter how you dial it, telco rejects it, you
will still pay network access.   PAT]

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 3 May 95 11:22:37 PST
From: [e-mail] (Anthony Campbell)
Subject: Re: The AT&T "Minimum Usage Charge" Rumor


[e-mail] (ward michael) writes:

> [e-mail] (Lauren Weinstein) writes:

>> Here's what I've been able to piece together so far.  It's accurate as
>> far as I know, but I have more inquiries pending and I'll pass along
>> anything else I find out.

>> 1) No minimum charges would apply to residential lines (as far as I can
>>    determine right now).

I received one of these notices in with my AT&T bill for my residential line.
It's no rumor.

> It is possible that AT&T does not want low volume customers.  A
> similar issue has come up with regards to residential service.  AT&T
> claims that 26% of its residential customers have monthly bills less
> than $3 and 44% less than $10.

My monthly long distance bill is usually only $1.50-$2.00.  From all the hype,
I thought I was the only one who didn't spend $50 on long distance a month.

> It costs AT&T between $0.35 and $0.85 to render a monthly bill.

I guess that is what I found so funny, and frustrating.  I always got my
long distance billing included with my local phone bill.  Without warning,
several months ago, I started getting my AT&T long distance bill separately.

Sending off a check for $1.50 every month is quite a nuisance.  I decided
that with my next bill I would send off a check for $10, just to save the
hassle of mailing of checks for the next several months.

You know what came with my next AT&T billing, the notice that a $5 minimum
charge would be starting, possibly with the next bill.  And just like the
separate billing, this too would be to my benefit.

(Don't you love how they worded that notice? :)

Enough is enough, time to switch long distance carriers.

So guess what was again included as part of my just received local
phone bill?  My last AT&T billing.  Too late, AT&T.


[e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: AT&T has a very good, efficient way of
dealing with minimum usage where cellular phones are concerned. If you
use AT&T as your cellular long distance carrier, that always come billed
separately from some place in Florida. If the bill is less than five
dollars, a note enclosed with the bill says payment can be delayed until
the bill is at least five dollars *or three months has gone by* whichever
comes first. Over a three month period, presumably at least five dollars
in long distance charges will have accumulated. If not, its hard to
imagine why you are using a cell phone anyway.  My AT&T bill is still
consolidated with the local Ameritech bill and I have not received any
notices about a minimum monthly charge.    PAT]

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 04 May 1995 16:49:23 -0700
From: [e-mail] (Patrick Phalen)
Subject: Re: Open NNTP Servers Wanted by Reader


> Someone sent me a note the other day which I have managed to lose, but
> the essence of his request was this:  He likes to read Usenet news but
> many of the groups he wants to read are not carried by his site. He
> wants to know of sites which maintain 'open' NNTP servers; that is,
> where anyone can pull the news and post news, etc.

> If you want to send me the information, I'll pass it along to him when
> he writes me again, as I am sure he will when I don't answer him in the
> next few days. He wrote me, I mistakenly thought he wanted information
> on how to get this Digest by email; he wrote back saying it was not just
> this Digest, but various other groups that were unavailable as well.

> I told him I would post his note ... now it's lost. :(  His intention is
> to edit his .login file to 'setenv NNTP open.server.somewhere', and pull
> the news that way.  Any help will be appreciated.

Patrick,

I've seen this question come up periodically and the standard answer
seems to be that any sys-admin who decides to permit it soon finds
their newsserver overloaded (freeloaded?), and they inevitably have to
slam the door.

Of course, all the major online services provide this, but then why
doesn't he just get a SLIP/PPP dialup connection at home (or work) for
~$20/mo; then he'll have the whole Internet at his fingertips,
including the WWW? If his budget doesn't allow this, he could get a
Shell account for under $9/mo, unlimited use, and Telnet to it from
his other account or acess it directly with a few Unix commands.


Patrick Phalen  <<>>  [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Bob Izenberg)
Subject: Re: Open NNTP Servers Wanted by Reader
Date: Thu, 04 May 1995 10:33:16 CDT
Reply-To: [e-mail]


TELECOM Digest Editor <[e-mail]> wrote:

> He wants to know of sites which maintain 'open' NNTP servers

Pat,

They're not asking for much, are they?  :-) There are some (but not as
many as once there were) sites that do promiscuous NNTP.

Does your correspondent understand what they're asking?  "Dear system
administrator: May I transfer anywhere between zero and many megabytes
of data across your network at any time?"  Want to bet that some of
the groups that they seek are high-volume binaries groups?  Would you
also bet that they'll be accessed during the work day instead of in
the wee hours?


Bob Izenberg   512-442-0614 / 617-728-1416 / 800-946-4645, pager 1109500
[e-mail] / [e-mail] / [e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 04 May 1995 21:16:29 +0100
From: Antoin O. Lachtnain <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Open NNTP Servers Wanted by Reader


In comp.dcom.telecom TELECOM Digest Editor wrote:

> Someone sent me a note the other day which I have managed to lose, but
> the essence of his request was this:  He likes to read Usenet news but
> many of the groups he wants to read are not carried by his site. He
> wants to know of sites which maintain 'open' NNTP servers; that is,
> where anyone can pull the news and post news, etc.

Pat,

I seem to recall that news.uunet.ca worked the last time I tried it.
I'm sure they wouldn't thank us if you sent that information to
Usenet, though.

I recall finding that one in a list on a link from the FAQ which
refers to how to get Usenet groups on yahoo. Most of the suggestions
on that list didn't work when I tried them, though.


Antoin O Lachtnain,
Trinity College, Dublin.
mail: [e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 4 May 95 09:54 MET
From: [e-mail] (Marc SCHAEFER)
Subject: Re: Open NNTP Servers Wanted by Reader


> to edit his .login file to 'setenv NNTP open.server.somewhere', and pull
> the news that way.  Any help will be appreciated.

setenv NNTPSERVER news.uni-stuttgart.de
tin -r  # or any newsreader capable of r)emotely reading news.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: More about Stuttgart a little later in
this issue in a larger list of places.   PAT]

------------------------------

From: Robbie Honerkamp <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Open NNTP Servers Wanted by Reader
Date: Thu, 4 May 1995 09:39:31 EDT


news.randomc.com is an open port. :)

Robbie


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Thank you for your offering. :)    PAT]

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 3 May 1995 19:28:30 -0700
From: Markus Gloede <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Open NNTP Servers Wanted by Reader


"AW" == Art Walker <[e-mail]> writes:

> In article <[e-mail]> TELECOM Digest
> Editor wrote:

>> I told him I would post his note ... now it's lost. :( His
>> intention is to edit his .login file to 'setenv NNTP
>> open.server.somewhere', and pull the news that way.  Any help
>> will be appreciated.

> Unfortunately, "open" NNTP servers are all but extinct.

news.georgetown.edu is accessible from outside and has comp.dcom.telecom.


hth,

Markus G.  [e-mail]
http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~markusg/

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 03 May 1995 17:54:32 CDT
From: TELECOM Digest Editor <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Open NNTP Servers Wanted by Reader


Once a "public" server becomes known, traffic increases and they go
private.  A. Lesiker used to maintain a list which he discontinued
about a year ago.  I have an old version (attached) and most/all the
servers are non-US.  Some of these may still be open.

============  OLD LIST OF PUBLIC NNTP SERVERS

$ finger [e-mail]
LESIKAR  Lesikar, Arnold V.  LESIKAR not logged in
Last login Mon 18-Jul-94 4:35PM-CDT

Plan:

PUBLICLY ACCESSIBLE NEWS SERVERS
(Last Update 3/14/94)

I am planning to take down the Lesikar NNTP server list as of mid-July.
Currently I am no longer updating the list.

The problem here is with growth of the net. News administrators seem to be
unwilling or unable to cope with the increased traffic that results from
publication of their site in my list. They cannot be blamed for this; the
rapid growth in usage seems to be straining many resources on the net.

There are in fact a number of NNTP servers that can be accessed freely.
However, publishing the address of an accessible site seems to result in
such a load increase that public access is shut off. So giving out the
addresses of the sites that I know of will certainly be self-defeating!

Gopher news servers are easily found throught the use of Veronica. Search
through gopher directories using the keyword "Usenet" or "news." Not every
site that turns up this way is accessible, but a percentage of them can be
used.

The list of public NNTP servers was an experiment. I have learned a good
deal about how the net works from maintaining the list. Unfortunately, one
of the results of the experiment was proof that the list is impractical
under present conditions. It is for that reason that I am ceasing to update
the list and will take it down entirely in July.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Many sites seem to have closed down since my last update. :( Currently
only one U.S. site still remains accessible. I am sorry about that
people, but I have no control over how the site administrators decide
to run their servers. We have lost several Gopher news sites as well,
but still 29 sites remain that provide news service through Gopher.

(NOTE: 3/24/94 - the last U.S. site has just closed. You can try
sol.ctr.columbia.edu, but I am told that this site allows only 15
connections at one time. In fact I have never succeeded in connecting
to it. Reportedly it does allow posting.)

These sites have been found to be available to the general public for
NNTP service through port 119.  You will need Newsreader software to
make use of these sites. These sites were found to be open at the time
they were surveyed, but I make no guarantees about future access. News
administrators are free to close off sites to the public at any time.
I will remove any site from this list that asks to be removed.

I have not surveyed what is available at each of these sites.  Please
do not overload these sites looking for pornography. The administrators
of these sites have been notified about this list, and they are
unlikely to make prurient material available to the public.  PLEASE
REMEMBER THAT YOU ARE A GUEST IN MAKING USE OF THESE FACILITIES.  The
news adminstrators who support open access to the Usenet News are
voluntarily doing a service for the public. PLEASE SHOW GRATITUDE FOR
THEIR EFFORTS BY NOT ABUSING THE ACCESS THAT IS PROVIDED!

Please remember also that you can also use Gopher to access the Usenet
news. After the list of news servers, I have included bookmarks for
sites that provide access through Gopher for reading the news.

                                        - arnold v. lesikar
                                        [e-mail]

news.belwue.de, 129.143.2.4 (read only)

news.uni-hohenheim.de, 144.41.2.4 (read only)

news.uni-stuttgart.de, 129.69.8.13  SEE NOTICE BELOW!

newsserver.rrzn.uni-hannover.de, 130.75.2.1 (posting OK)

nic.belwue.de, 129.143.2.4 (read only)

shakti.ncst.ernet.in, 144.16.1.1 (posting OK)

Notice from the news administration of news.uni-stuttgart.de [please
note the access policy & information below]
- allows *read-only* access on port 119,
- anon-nfs access to news.uni-stuttgart.de:/news and
  news.uni-stuttgart.de:/news/spool/news and, finally, to
  news.uni-stuttgart.de:/news/archive [our news archive].
- telnet access: rusinfo.rus.uni-stuttgart.de, login info,
  select menu item 1 (shell access), and to change to
  /pub/soft/comm/news/. cd spool/news for the spool dir,
  look around to watch a full-blown news server running 8-)
- anon-ftp access: ftp info2.rus.uni-stuttgart.de:/pub/comm/news/*,
  same tree as via telnet access.
- ftpmail access: [e-mail], same
  as ftp access above
- fsp access: info2.rus.uni-stuttgart.de, port 21, directory
  /comm/news
- X.25 access (now, thats it ! 8-) to
  NUA (WIN, Datex-P):   0262 45050 367111
  NUA (EuropaNet):      0204 3623 367111
- There is some way for decnet access. I don't know how this
  works. Good luck !

(quick'n'dirty) access policy: news.uni-stuttgart.de is a RS6000 with
128 MB RAM, FDDI interface, and a few Gigabytes disk (10, soon 15 8-).
Its also our campus anon-ftp server. Its running inn-1.4.  There are a
few special hierarchies (e.g. russian, japanese, french etc), but no
alt.binaries.pictures.erotica.*, alt.sex.* and some other groups the
university administration was not able to allow, please don't waste
your time trying.

Do not abuse this service. If You want to use our nntp service on a
regular basis, please contact [e-mail] so that
we *know* who You are and why You use our server. This helps us to
defend the open access policy [and we've seen hard times ...]. We will
disable any domain without further notice if we have problems with it.

                    --------------------------

BOOKMARKS TO SITES PROVIDING GOPHER ACCESS TO USENET.

You can edit this list and include whatever parts are of interest in the
bookmark file for your Gopher client. Alternatively you can point your
client directly at the site. On a UNIX system, for example, you could
point your Gopher client at the La Tech Usenet site with the command

gopher -p '1/Usenet News'  aurora.engr.latech.edu 70.

The general format for the command in Unix is

gopher -p  'PATH'  host_name port#

You cannot post news articles via Gopher.  However, it is possible to
post news articles by mail through the University of Texas. You must
remember in using this service that the periods in the newsgroup
name are all changed to hyphens. So, to post an article to the
newsgroup "alt.beer," for example, you would e-mail your article
to the following address:

                  [e-mail].

To post to the newsgroup "comp.os.vms," you would e-mail to

                 [e-mail].

#
Type=1
Name=USENET News (from Lousisiana Tech)
Path=1/Usenet News
Host=aurora.latech.edu
Port=70
#
Type=1
Name=USENET News (from Michigan State University)
Path=nntp
Host=gopher.msu.edu
Port=4320
#
Type=1
Name=USENET News (from Walla Walla College)
Path=news
Host=saturn.wwc.edu
Port=4320
#
Type=1
Name=USENET News (San Diego Supercomputer Center)
Path=1/News/Usenet
Host=milo.sdsc.edu
Port=70
#
Type=1
Name=USENET News (from University of Wyoming)
Path=nntp
Host=rodeo.uwyo.edu
Port=71
#
Type=1
Name=USENET News (from Los Alamos)
Path=nntp
Host=info-server.lanl.gov
Port=4320
#
Type=1
Name=USENET News (from Florida State)
Path=nntp
Host=gopher.fsu.EDU
Port=4320 [3/31/94 - Florida State site reported CLOSED]
#
Type=1
Name=Usenet News (from Universite Catholique de Louvain)
Path=1/info.sc/tech/srv.ext/news
Host=ifdh.sc.ucl.ac.be
Port=70
#
Type=1
Name=USENET News (from Tampere University of Technology, Finland)
Path=nntp
Host=butler.cc.tut.fi
Port=6671
#
Type=1
Name=USENET News (from Hannover Uni, Germany)
Path=nntp
Host=newsserver.rrzn.uni-hannover.de
Port=4320
#
Type=1
Name=Usenet News Reader (University of Manchester)
Path=nntp
Host=info.mcc.ac.uk
Port=4320
#
Type=1
Name=USENET News (Osnabruek Uni, Germany)
Path=nntp
Host=gopher.rz.uni-osnabrueck.de
Port=4320
#
Type=1
Name=Usenet News (from Erlangen Uni, Germany)
Path=nntp
Host=cd4680fs.rrze.uni-erlangen.de
Port=4320
#
Type=1
Name=Usenet News (from Universite du Quebec a Montreal)
Path=nntp
Host=infopub.uqam.ca
Port=4320
#
Type=1
Name=USENET News (University of Canberra, Australia)
Path=nntp
Host=services.canberra.edu.au
Port=4320
#
Type=1
Name=USENET News (from Cranfield Institute of Technology, UK)
Path=nntp
Host=gopher.cranfield.ac.uk
Port=4324
#
Type=1
Name=Usenet News (from Birmingham University, UK)
Path=1/Usenet
Host=gopher.bham.ac.uk
Port=70
#
Type=1
Name=Usenet News (from Technische Universitaet Clausthal, Germany)
Path=1/Internet/News
Host=solaris.rz.tu-clausthal.de
Port=70
#
Type=1
Name=USENET News (Internat'l Centre for Theoret. Physics, Trieste)
Path=1/news
Host=gopher.ictp.trieste.it
Port=70
#
Type=1
Name=USENET News (from Tartu University, Taiwan)
Path=nntp
Host=gopher.ccu.edu.tw
Port=4320
#
Type=1
Name=USENET News (from Universitaet Linz, Austria)
Path=nntp
Host=gopher.edvz.uni-linz.ac.at
Port=4320
#
Type=1
Name=Usenet News (Prague University of Economics, Czech Republic)
Path=1/news
Host=pub.vse.cz
Port=70
#
Type=1
Name=USENET News (from Rhodes University, South Africa)
Path=nntp
Host=gopher.ru.ac.za
Port=4324
#
Type=1
Name=USENET News (from University of New South Wales, Australia)
Path=nntp
Host=usage.csd.unsw.OZ.AU
Port=4320
#
Type=1
Name=USENET News (Universitat Jaume I, Spain)
Path=nntp
Host=gopher.uji.es
Port=4320
#
Type=1
Name=USENET news (from Palacky University, Czech Republic)
Path=nntp
Host=risc.upol.cz
Port=4320
#
Type=1
Name=USENET NEWS (from Universidad Politecnica de Valencia, Spain)
Path=.news/
Host=mirzam.ccc.upv.es
Port=70
#
Type=1
Name=NETNEWS (from osiris.wu-wien.ac.at)
Path=1/.nn
Host=olymp.wu-wien.ac.at
Port=70

==
$end

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 04 May 1995 04:26:09 -0500
From: [e-mail] (James E. Bellaire)
Subject: Re: Annoying Calls: Can We Deal With Them?


[e-mail] (John Lundgren) wrote:

> [The law] says that the advertiser must have a human on the line
> ask first if the person wants to hear the message.  A fully automated
> 'Junk Dialer' is illegal.  That's why, on all the messages that I have
> received, the advertiser _never_ gives out a phone number os something
> traceable, but asks you to give _your_ number at the beep.

Michigan has a similar law, and lots of scoffers.  One company that
constantly calls my number by machine looks for an open live operator
AFTER I answer.  The first voice is live human, so they don't
technically violate the law but it is usually 15 seconds after I
answer.  The company does not give out their name and disconnects me
when I ask for it.  I can't prosecute without the name and they have a
tendency to choose LD carriers that don't deliver CallerID.  One day I
was connected to an empty operator position and stayed on the line
five minutes listening to a neighboring operator and somebodys VISA
info.  I was listening for the company name but still didn't hear it.
(When my operator returned he hung up when he found me on line!)  As
long as I don't know who they are I can't complain.

REPUTABLE calling companies would not do this, but who said you had to
be reputable to connect to the LD network?  As long as telco gets paid
for the connection they will connect calls.  Refusing to connect Teleslease
would put them in court explaining why they refused service.

> It's not a matter of technology, it's a matter of sociological lag.
> The laws and prevailing attitudes haven't kept up with technology.

The laws are there, but the enforcement is not.  Besides, these are PUC
rules or state laws.  I doubt if Michigan laws can be used against callers
from out of state.

> There was a law recently enacted that outlaws junk FAX advertising, so
> maybe this will happen with phones.

The "nice" thing about junk FAX is the company must identify themselves
since the messages are one way.  Teleslease can just hang up if the
call recipient is hostile to their call, without identifying themselves.
There's always another target just one digit away so why should they care
about who they annoy?

> The option of tracing obnoxious calls so that LEAs can access the
> phone number seems like the best option in your case.  Maybe the
> feature would only have to be added to a few of the lines, not all.

I hope it does, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

** Hey teleslease!! ***

Point your every-number-sequential dialers at 202-456-xxx in Washington
D.C.  That's the 'official' exchange for the White House - maybe you'll
get some legal attention if you find one of the more 'secret' numbers.
(Although I doubt if the oval office phone is in that block.)  YMMV :)
(Note: This is a joke - I don't advocate that anyone call these numbers!)


James E. Bellaire (JEB6)  [e-mail]
Twin Kings Communications  -  Sturgis, MI


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The White House has 202-456, and in par-
ticular, 456-1414 is the main switchboard number. The higher ranking
government employees however -- including President Clinton -- also are
serviced from the centrex at the Executive Office Building nearby. The
EOB centrex is quite large.

About thirty years ago, when President Johnson was in office, a
strange little fellow named Boyd McDonald who lived in Manhattan, New
York at the YMCA published a lewd, rather vulgar and often-times funny
monthly magazine called {Straight to Hell}. Published by mimeograph
machine from his little room at the Sloane House Y, STH had a circulation
of several thousand readers mostly in the USA, and was essentially a
reader-written journal consisting of the subscribers writing in to
exchange experiences they'd had -- sexual in nature of course, and for
the most part absolutely outrageous, but presumably truthful since McDonald
cautioned his reader/writers to only send him truthful accounts of their
activities; truth, he said, was always more interesting than fiction.
Certainly it made for more interesting reading than the {New York Times}
as he often claimed. When President Johnson's top aide, a mousy little
fellow by the name of Walter Jenkins got arrested in the middle of a
sex act during a noon-hour raid by police in the men's restroom at the
YMCA in Washington, DC it made a great national scandal of course, but
for McDonald, it was a reason for an extra issue of STH. Quite the oppo-
site of mousy little Walter, older people will remember Lyndon Johnson
as a loud-mouthed, bellowing, cursing, vulgar fellow who was prosecuting
the war in Vietnam with a vengeance.

With Walter's arrest -- caught with his pants down, quite literally --
LBJ was greatly embarassed, but got even more aggravated when someone
who had been on a public tour of the White House somehow managed to
filch a restricted copy of the internal phone directory for the White
House and EOB ... and forwarded certain pages from the directory to
McDonald who promptly published them in the next issue of his magazine
including LBJ's direct dial centrex extension; the First Family's
private phone number in their living quarters, etc.  He just printed
page after page from the internal directory in STH ... <grin> ... and
as you might suspect, very soon President Johnson, his wife, his two
daughters, and several of his staffers were receiving 'strange phone
calls' from men making lewd propositions of one kind or another. The
war protestors, who were also increasing greatly in numbers by that
time picked up on those phone numbers and called to voice their dis-
pleasure, and soon it was like a circus until a few days later when
the telecom people at the White House had gotten all the internal
phone numbers changed.

In 1964, Johnson's campaign slogan was 'All the Way with LBJ', and
following the arrest of his top aide, McDonald and other counter-
culture types of that era coined a new slogan for him which was
'Either Way With LBJ' ... Johnson hated that revised slogan, and
went to a press conference one day to announce he was not a 'pree-vert'
(his term) and that he had no idea what Jenkins had been doing
on his lunch hours, even though the man had worked for him for
about thirty years at that point.  McDonald had some very clever
and witty commentaries on it in STH; I wish I had saved them or
could remember them all.    PAT]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Date: Thu, 4 May 1995 01:13:27 -0400
Subject: Re: Annoying Feature on Payphones


I agree that the offer to leave a recorded message (after only three
rings) is annoying.  This is another case of a convenient feature
poorly implemented.  It always irks me when making an operator
assisted call to have the operator tell me after only three or four
rings that there is no answer.  I was taught as a child to let the
phone ring eight times before hanging up because it was rude to make
someone get up to answer the phone only to have the calling party hang
up just as you get there.  Happens to me every day.  The message
feature is handy, I've used it before, but it would be better manners,
as well as less confusing, to implement it after more rings.

As for your pay phones filling up, in the rural central Florida area
where I live we have a large population of migrant farm workers
(mostly Mexican) as well as tourist from all over the world.  You
would not believe the handfuls of quarters they feed into the phones
here making international calls home.  I don't imagine it would take
too many minutes to Mexico to fill a coin box (how do they find time
to talk?)  Sounds crazy but I've seen it.  Maybe one of your
Ukrainians is calling home to check in with Mom on your favorite pay
phone.

As for the "box is full" recording, I've run across it before but
can't remember when or where.  I'll have to ask my local telco guy
about it, but I agree, if they know it's full, why not come and empty
it?  In the immortal words of 'Captain Ron' - "Nobody Knows!"


Rob Hjort             [e-mail]
BlackDragon Telecom   Lake Placid, FL

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #222
******************************


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Date: Thu, 4 May 1995 17:50:07 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #223

TELECOM Digest     Thu, 4 May 95 17:50:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 223

Inside This Issue:                          Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    The Quality of TELECOM Digest (James E. Bellaire)
    Re: RBOC IP Legislation Scaring Local ISPs? (Tim Gorman)
    Re: International Telephone Number Length - Maximum Allowed (Richard Cox)
    Re: International Telephone Number Length - Maximum Allowed (E. Rohwedder)
    Re: Cross-Border Local Calls (Mark J. Cuccia)
    Detroit, MI, USA to Winsor, ON, CA Calls (James E. Bellaire)
    Re: Detect/Prevent Third-Party Calls (Alex Madarasz)
    Re: New Country Code 380 For Ukraine (Tor-Einar Jarnbjo)
    Cell Phones vs Pacemakers (Michael J. Kuras)
    Advice Needed About Answering Service (Brian D. Petro)
    Book Review: "Computer and Communications Security" by Cooper (Rob Slade)
    Looking For Information on a Mux/De-Mux Device (Russell Ochocki)
    What's R2 Signalling on Switch? (Yee-Lee Shyong)
    Job Posting: Telephone Network Design Engineer (Jorge D. Salinger)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
                    9457-D Niles Center Road
                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
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  ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

*************************************************************************
*   TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the              *
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*************************************************************************

Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such
as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help
is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per
year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Thu, 04 May 1995 03:02:41 -0500
From: [e-mail] (James E. Bellaire)
Subject: The Quality of TELECOM Digest


I believe we are coming to a point in TELECOM Digest's evolution,
along with the evolution of the Internet and Usenet, that there is too
much information available at too little cost.  New users are swarming
onto the net with a cheap commercial connection or a university
supplied educational connection without understanding the history of
the forums they invade.

Reading all the way back to beginning with Volume 1, I sense that the
friendly exchange of information between peers is changing to a
information on demand environment.  There are far more blank requests
for any information or any statistics or any facts available and far
less real problems or complaints.

I worked in a college computer lab this past year and watched
frustrated students not find information on the internet.  Then,
reading one of those 'Internet How To" books the read that they should
post to a newsgroup.  My college doesn't have a news server so they
can't do that (yet) but a lot of the references I've pulled up in
Veronica and other searches are to QUESTIONS and not ANSWERS.

I enjoy reading the 'How to' books and would suggest every new user be
required to read one or two.  John Levine (a TD regular) has written
the 'Internet fo Dummies' series, which includes instructions to check
the FAQ before posting.  I wish more people were listening.  There are
also other information search techniques than posting to usenet.  Like
calling the local business office of the phone company or visiting a
good library.

BTW: The number one question in the labs is how to find a friend's
internet address.  I always quote Mr. Levine, "CALL OR WRITE THE
FRIEND AND ASK."  The Internet is not a replacement for other research,
it is a suppliment.

Pat, if you do continue to publish student requests and answers PLEASE
make the subject count.  Add the word "question" or some other phrase
to let people know that the answer is not in that posting.  I've seen
too many answer looking subjects that just point to a question.

Summary for students:

  Before logging onto the Internet - CHECK LOCAL SOURCES.
  Before posting to any group      - READ THE FAQ.
  Before writing your post         - READ THE BACK ISSUES.
  Before doing any of the above    - READ A GOOD 'HOW TO' BOOK.

Thank you for your bandwidth .....


James E. Bellaire (JEB6)  [e-mail]
Twin Kings Communications  -  Sturgis, MI

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 04 May 1995 17:13:47 -0500
From: Tim Gorman <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: RBOC IP Legislation Scaring Local ISPs?


[e-mail] (jason t. adams) writes in TELECOM Digest V15 #216:

>> Is this concern over potential competition from telcos to local
>> internet service providers warranted?

> The telcos not only have economies of scale, but they don't have to
> pay extra for leased line connections to internet sources, etc.  They
> OWN the lines.  That makes me think that it would be very easy (with a
> little software investment) to provide slightly cheaper access.

I feel I need to correct this perception that since the telco "owns"
facilities that their use is "free" and they don't have to "pay extra"
to use them. They are most certainly not free. They represent a
capital investment by shareholders and therefore a return on the
investment MUST be earned at a minimum. In fact, if shareholder
investment is to not be diluted, these facilities must contribute at
exactly the same level as those sold "externally". It is, therefore,
imperative that all costs including "contribution" associated with
these facilities be included in the price of any service that uses
them.

I think you will find that MOST of the telco's advantages ARE from
economies of scale and from an ability to maintain high levels of
utilization so that equipment is earning ALL of the time.

Regarding the telco's:

> In my opinion, though, I think they will do a bang-up job.

Gee, I hope you are right!  :-)

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Date: Thu, 4 May 1995 18:27:32 -0400
Subject: Re: International Telephone Number Length - Maximum Allowed


In-Reply-To: <[e-mail]>
[e-mail] (David E A Wilson) said:

> when you add the four digit carrier selection code plus the four digit
> international access code to the twelve digit UK number the equipment
> could not handle it.

UK national numbers are (maximum) ten digits, (minimum) eight digits.
Prefixed by 0044, that makes fourteen digits to dial.  Even with a
four digit prefix, no more than eighteen digits.  If you had been in
North America, you would have dialled 01144 for the UK and have a five
(soon seven) digit prefix before that.  North American callers will
need to dial 22 digits when the new seven-digit prefixes arrive.

> What is the maximum length for an international number (country code
> plus area code + local number)?

At the moment twelve digits (excluding local access and international
prefices); this will change on 1/1/97 to sixteen digits.  Many phone
companies seem unaware of, and unprepared for, this international change.

> Is there a list of how long each country's numbers are?

There probably would be, if it didn't keep changing! No doubt PAT has
something in the archives but by definition it cannot be completely up
to date.  Did *you* know all five digit numbers in Andorra had recently
been prefixed with an "8", and the country code changed to +376?  Neither
did a lot of people!

> Is it just the UK or are we going run into the same problem on other
> calls

The longest numbers are apparently in Germany: they now break the 12-digit
rule, and therefore some people in the USA have difficulty reaching the
longest numbers! (In practice these are nearly all on DDI PABX lines.)

If you can handle German numbers you shouldn't have any other problems
(except paying for the calls!)


Richard D G Cox

Mandarin Technology, PO Box 111, Penarth, South Glamorgan CF64 3YG
Voice: 0956 700111;    Fax: [phone];    VoiceMail: 0941 151515
e-mail address: [e-mail]; PGP2.6 public key on request

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Date: Wed, 3 May 95 18:24:31 EDT
Subject: Re: International Telephone Number Length - Maximum Allowed


One limitation that was discussed here in July '93 is that -- from the
US at least -- an international call may not have more than 12 digits,
e.g. dialing the following number in Germany:

     011 +49 6131 XXX 4555

results after some time in a short beep and then a busy signal.

On the other hand:

     011 +49 6131 XXX 450

works just fine.

An AT&T technician told me then that local U.S. exchanges only have
the capacity to store 12-digit numbers (i.e. in my case +49 6131 XXX
455). This turns out to be an illegal phone number in Germany, which
causes a congest signal to be sent back to the US (the beep), which
then is turned into a busy signal here.  If you have a 13 digit
(including country code) phone number, you cannot be reached through
direct dial from a local exchange in the United States!!  (As I was
told there are 13-digit numbers currently in Germany, Austria, and the
Chech Republic.)

Readers of the Digest had more to say about the international numbering
scheme --- I just quote two of them:

   From: [e-mail] (david.g.lewis)

   ITU-T (Formerly CCITT) Recommendation E.164 on telecommunications
   numbering specifies that the maximum length of an international
   number be 12 digits, consisting of a one, two, or three digit
   country code, and a national significant number of any length such
   that the length of the country code plus the national significant
   number not exeed 12 digits. [...]

   The CCITT (now ITU-TSS) has recommended an expansion of international
   numbers from 12 to 15 digits at what they call "Time T", defined as
   December 31, 1996.  As of that date, all switches should be able to
   handle international numbers of up to 15 digits in length.  Before that
   time, 12 is the maximum.

   From: [e-mail] (John R. Levine)

   [...] In most places outside North America the length isn't really
   a problem because calls are routed incrementally and, except in the
   fanciest new electronic exchanges, the whole number is never
   buffered in one place.  Here in North America, we use 11 digit
   numbers as the Lord told us to [...]

------------------------------

From: Mark J. Cuccia <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Cross-Border Local Calls
Date: 4 May 1995 15:41:36 GMT
Organization: Tulane University


I don't know if El Paso, TX, USA and Cd.Juarez, Chihuahua, MEXICO ever
had cross-border LOCAL, however El Paso was able to DIAL across the Rio
Grande for many years. It MIGHT have been possible for ANYONE with DDD
access in the US/Canada to DIAL to Cd.Juarez even BEFORE we had IDDD
dialing to Mexico (011/01+ 52 + eight digits).

This was NOT done by using that special NPA 903 nor that 'patch' NPA of
70-6.  Cd.Juarez has had a city code beginning with '1' for over at least
25 years.

According to El Paso Area directories in the 1970's, El Paso and nearby
Texas customers called Juarez by dialing 1+ (or 0+) 32 + the five digits
(at that time) number of Juarez; Customers in nearby US state of
New Mexico could dial Juarez by dialing 1+ (or 0+) 915 + 32 + the five
digit number.  There WAS (and still is) a TOLL.

During this time period, there were NO assignments of any 915-32X central
office codes to any other towns in the 915/southwest corner of Texas.

These dialing instructions were discontinued at sometime in the 80's -
full international dialing instructions were required (011/01+ 52+).

The 915-32X codes have since been assigned to Texas towns in the
915/southwest corner of Texas.

Some other Texas phone books for Rio Grande areas DID (and probably still
DO) have a section with listings for towns in nearby Mexico, but I don't
ever remember DIAL instructions (If there WERE any instructions, it was
to dial the operator).

Whenever Mexico towns/listings are included in any California, Arizona,
New-Mexico or Texas directories, there is either a copyright notice or a
disclaimer which states 'Telefonos de Mexico, S.A.'


Mark

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 04 May 1995 04:25:54 -0500
From: [e-mail] (James E. Bellaire)
Subject: Detroit, MI, USA to Winsor, ON, CA Calls


In the past couple of weeks there was a discussion about calling
between countries as a local call.  Our Esteemed Moderator (I like to
call him Pat) asked about Detroit to Windsor calls.

The information I have (from the "Downriver Area White/Ywllow Pages"
serving Southwestern Wayne County) shows local calls within Detroit
and the communities to the south, with zone calls to the northern
suburbs (now in NPA 810).  Seven digit dialing within the area code
with 1+NPA for Long Distance "calls that are not local or zone calls."
Prices are given for LD calls within the LATA but the cost of local
and zone calls are not shown.

None of the Windsor, Ontario, Canada exchanges are listed as either
local or zone in any of the Detroit areas shown.  IF there is any
local international calling it is not shown in this phone book.  Looks
like it's up to the IXCs to make the connections and set the rates.

Windsor is not a suburb of Detroit.  Its a very nice community with a
completely different atmosphere, a New England feel compared to
Detroit's city-of-crime feel.  I feel safer walking downtown Chicago
after midnight than visiting Detroit during the day.  I can see why
connecting calls would be international and not long distance.


James E. Bellaire (JEB6)  [e-mail]
Twin Kings Communications  -  Sturgis, MI

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Alex Madarasz)
Subject: Re: Detect/Prevent Third-Party Calls
Date: 4 May 1995 11:59:18 GMT
Organization: Hughes Training Inc.
Reply-To: [e-mail]


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail]
(Steven White) writes:

>> I just had two AT&T long-distance calls charged to my number, and had to
>> call AT&T to have them removed -- AT&T isn't my long-distance provider.

>> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You can prevent it from happening with a
>> slight bit of inconvenience to yourself, but it may be worth it. Find
>> out of your local telco offers 'billed number screening'. This is a

Thanks to all the helpful folks who replied to my original post.  My
Bell Atlantic rep added FREE third-party and collect call blocking to my
account while she was getting me a new unlisted and unpublished number.

> Southern Bell in N.C. charges $10.25 for this change in service ...

> How about requiring Ma Bell to reimburse AT&T for any future
> fraudulent charges?  Seems to me they are bordering on being an
> accessory.

I too would get mighty angry in the case where a local telco charges
someone for a service which prevents "illegal" calls of this type -- it's
kinda hard for me to be sympathetic about a practice which encourages (by
omission of responsibility) these kind of fraudulent charges.


Alex P. Madarasz, Jr. - Hughes Training, Inc. - [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Tor-Einar Jarnbjo)
Subject: Re: New Country Code 380 For Ukraine
Date: 4 May 1995 16:47:55 GMT
Organization: Technical University of Berlin, Germany


Clive D.W. Feather ([e-mail]) wrote:

> Oops, almost forgot. Apart from the 31 cases I listed before, there are
> eight territories with no international code that I know of:

>     Bouvet Island [Norway]
>     Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands [Norway]

(others edited out here)

As there are no permanent residents on the Bouvet Island, I don't
beleive there are any need for a country-code there.  I beleive the
same applies to Jan Mayen, but numbers on Svalbard are put into the
Norwegian number-scheme, and are +47 79 5x xx xx. Since calls to
theese are treated and charged as regular domestic calls in Norway
(about $0,12 per minute daytime from the mainland) it shouldn't be
necessary to assign a country-code for Svalbard.


Tor-Einar Jarnbjo, [e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 04 May 1995 16:07:44 -0400
From: [e-mail] (Michael J Kuras)
Subject: Cell Phones vs Pacemakers
Organization: College of Computer Science, Northeastern University


The Wireless Technology Group says studies show that in some cases
cellular phones placed near the chest can cause pacemakers to
recalibrate themselves or stop and restart.  The advisory group warns
that new digital pocketphones are of particular concern -- especially
since their numbers are likely to proliferate once personal communications
services are widespread.  No such effects from the older analog
cellular phones have been observed.  A spokesman for Medtronic, a
pacemaker supplier, says the company is advising patients with
pacemakers to turn off their portable phones when the phone is in a
shirt pocket, to hold the phone 10 to 12 inches from the chest when
using it, and to hold the phone to the ear opposite the side where the
pacemaker's implanted.  (Wall Street Journal 4/28/95 B1) [...]


EDUPAGE is what you've just finished reading.  To subscribe to Edupage: send
a message to: [e-mail] and in the body of the message type:
subscribe edupage Ted Williams (assuming that your name is Ted Williams; if
it isn't, substitute your own name).  ......

michael j kuras              [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Brian D. Petro)
Subject: Advice Needed About Answering Service
Date: 1 May 1995 17:07:47 -0700
Organization: CRL Dialup Internet Access  [phone]  [Login: guest]


I am very seriously considering the idea of starting a business from
my home selling voice-mail boxes.  As I have never been in the
business, I am looking for advice from someone who has.

I am planning on targeting the residential market.  I live in a town
of 40,000.  I would only be charging $5/month for a basic service box.
My major competition would be our local telephone company who charges
$6.5/month.  My question is this: Would there be enough interest in
voice-mail from residential clients to keep my business profitable?

It seems to me that it would be fairly easy to add 100+ customers/year to
my service, but I would like the opinion of someone "in the business."
Please E-mail any responses.


Thanks in advance,

Brian Petro

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 04 May 1995 17:56:38 EST
From: Rob Slade <[e-mail]>
Subject: Book Review: "Computer and Communications Security" by Cooper


BKCPCMSC.RVW   950320

"Computer & Communications Security", James Arlin Cooper, 1989, 0-07-012926-6
%A   James Arlin Cooper
%C   2600 Tenth St., Berkeley, CA   94710
%D   1989
%G   0-07-012926-6
%I   McGraw-Hill Communications Series
%O   510-548-2805 800-227-0900 [e-mail]
%P   411
%T   "Computer & Communications Security"

This is a textbook for a security course.  It has a good breadth of coverage
in theoretical areas.  There are problems and ethical dilemmae at the end of
each chapter.  The bibliographic references are a bit dated.

The author is obviously unused to practical security considerations:
social engineering is never mentioned.  An engineering background
shows through: there is a lot of math, including a theoretical basis
for "doppler" detection of intruders (motion).  The coverage of
"hackers" and software threats indicates a heavy influence from the
popular press and no real understanding of the issues.


copyright Robert M. Slade, 1995   BKCPCMSC.RVW   950320. Distribution
permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated publications. Rob Slade's
book reviews are a regular feature in the Digest.


Vancouver      [e-mail]
Institute for  [e-mail]
Research into  Rob.Slade@f733.n153.z1/
User                      .fidonet.org
Security       Canada V7K 2G6

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Russell Ochocki)
Subject: Looking for info on a Mux/De-Mux device
Date: 3 May 1995 23:02:12 -0500
Organization: Gate West Communications, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada


I'm looking for a device that will multiplex many phone lines into a
smaller number of lines.  For example, Northern Telecomm's Northstar
616 allows you to have 6 incoming phone lines and have up to 16
stations in your place of business.  But, you can only have at most 6
incoming calls at once.  Is there a similar device that given the 6/16
line split you could have all 16 local stations in use at the same
time?


Russell Ochocki      Gate West Communications
[e-mail]   204-663-2931

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 4 May 95 12:37:01 GMT
From: [e-mail] (Yee-Lee Shyong)
Subject: What's R2 Signalling on Switch?


Originally, I only heard about TR-008 or TR-303 for signaling
specification between Digital Loop Carrier(DLC) and Local Digital
Switch (LDS). But somebody tols me that R2 signaling is also popular on
LDS. Can someone out there tell me what it is? Where I can find this
document describibg R2? Who published that material?


Best regards,

Apollo Shyong

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Jorge D. Salinger)
Subject: Job Posting: Telephone Network Design Engineer
Date: 4 May 95 15:43:14 GMT
Organization: Florida International University


                     POSITION POSTING

DATE:          5/4/95
POSITION:      Telephone Network Design Engineer
REPORTS TO:    Director of Digital Services Networking
LOCATION:      Coudersport, PA

RESPOND TO:    Maria Bliss
               5 West Third Street
               Coudersport, PA  16915
               Requisition #CC5189

DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:

1.   Design and implement telephone network systems and
     services over broadband cable plants.
2.   Evaluate customer and company needs and design telephone
     network systems and services to meet those needs.
3.   Perform research, analysis and interviews necessary to
     select appropriate trends, technologies, and vendors.
4.   Plan and implement systems and services according to
     customer time frames.
5.   Perform installation and testing of systems services and
     coordinate such installation and testing processes with
     customers, vendors, and subordinates.
6.   Provide training to customers, subordinates and local
     personnel when required on the use, troubleshooting and
     repair of telephone network systems and services as
     applicable.
7.   Assure the proper completion of projects on a timely and
     effective basis.
8.   Inform the Director of Digital Services Networking of
     progress and problems as necessary.
9.   In the role of supervisor, direct, evaluate and motivate
     subordinates.
10.  Perform other related duties and tasks as assigned or as
     become evident.

EXPERIENCE/SKILLS REQUIRED:

1.   A Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering or
     computer science, or the equivalent in other
     education/experience, is required. A Master's degree in
     a related field is preferred.
2.   Must have at least 3 years of experience in design of
     telephone network systems.
3.   Proven knowledge of POTS and ISDN telephone network
     architectures, PBX systems and multiplexing and
     channelizing techniques is required.
4.   Experience in the design of CATV systems and SONET and
     ATM networks is desired.
5.   Must be a skilled technical writer.
6.   Must be able to keep a regular schedule of daylight
     business hours and accept extended schedules that result
     form travel. Must be able to travel extensively by
     automobile and/or airplane to attend the company's
     business.
7.   Bending, reaching, lifting up to 25 lbs., and climbing
     of step ladders up to 8 feet in height is required.

NOTE: Successful applicant must pass drug/alcohol test, physical
examination, and criminal record check.

Resumes will be accepted until the position is filled.

  "ADELPHIA IS AN EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER"

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #223
******************************


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Date: Thu, 4 May 1995 19:47:04 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #224

TELECOM Digest     Thu, 4 May 95 19:47:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 224

Inside This Issue:                          Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Caller ID Nationally and FCC Order (Lynne Gregg)
    Good Grief - Caller ID is Back! ([e-mail])
    Re: Can Someone Explain DID in English? (Marshall Leathers)
    For Sale: Combinet 56K Bridges and Shiva NetModems (Cheryl Van Winkle)
    Overhead Paging Advice Wanted (Tammy Fischbach)
    Subscription Details Wanted For "Telephony" (Nirad Sharma)
    Re: Comm Problems With USR Sportster V.34 (Doug Snyder)
    Re: Comm Problems With USR Sportster V.34 ([e-mail])
    Re: Question - Rotary vs Tone Dialing (John Lundgren)
    Re: Voice Pagers; Where Are They? (Bob Spargo)
    Re: PRI-ISDN Deployment (Jack Warner)
    Re: DTMF/Pulse Converters Wanted ([e-mail])
    Re: International Telephone Number Length - Maximum Allowed (Mark Cuccia)
    Re: Outgoing Only Phone Line Without Phone Number (John David Galt)
    Re: New Country Code 380 For Ukraine (Mark J. Cuccia)
    Re: New Country Code 380 For Ukraine (Toby Nixon)
    Re: Taking my Laptop to the UK (John Nice)
    Re: AT&T $5 Minimum Monthly Charge ([e-mail])
    Re: Cross-Border Local Calls (Dave Leibold)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
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                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
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*************************************************************************
*   TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the              *
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* project.  Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such
as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help
is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per
year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Lynne Gregg <[e-mail]>
Subject: Caller ID Nationally and FCC Order
Date: Thu, 04 May 95 13:08:00 PDT


[e-mail] (Gordon Wilson) wrote:

> So, which states do not have Caller ID (besides California)?

Caller ID is now available in MOST states.  In addition to the
California exception, Caller ID is also not yet found in Alaska and
possibly not yet in Hawaii.  You can find it in most other states, but
service is still quite spotty.  Most of the RBOC CO's are SS7/ISUP
readied, but there are some older switches that can't transmit Calling
Party Number.  Also smaller LEC's and independent carriers may not
have SS7 or newer switch technology that enables CPN transport.

By the way, the FCC Order (and that portion that was "stayed"
pertaining to interexchange of CPN) does not require LEC's or IXC's to
be capable of CPN transport.  The original work ordered that if a
carrier WAS capable of transporting CPN, they do so.  This portion
(and the portion ordering use of only Per Call Blocking) was stayed.
There's no telling when the FCC will pick this up again.


Regards,

Lynne


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: However Lynne, in the next article in this
issue, someone tells us the FCC *has* picked up on this again, and is
pushing for implementation later this year.   Read on.   PAT]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (HiHoSteveo)
Subject: Good Grief - Caller ID is Back!
Date: 4 May 1995 17:23:02 -0400
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
Reply-To: [e-mail] (HiHoSteveo)


This morning the FCC, to my suprise, issued an order mandating
interstate caller ID, "mandating that carriers make available a free,
simple and consistant, per call blocking and unblocking mechanism ...
permits carriers to provide privacy on all calls dialed from a particular
line, where state policies provide ..." that option. Order is effective
12-1-95.

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 4 May 1995 14:58:18 GMT
From: marshall leathers <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Can Someone Explain DID in English?
Organization: Nortel


DID or Direct Inward Dialling:

A special type of phone line (trunk) provide by the telco which
associates multipule phone numbers with a singe phone line and which
sends a signal down the line with a call arrives which indicates
which numbers was used to place the call.

In some ways DID can be viewed as as the opposite of Caller ID. With
Caller ID the signal indicates which number placed the call (i.e. the
phone number of the orginator of the call.  With DID the signal
indicates which number was dialed (i.e. the phone number of the
destination of the call).

Note, however that the signalling mechanism used for Caller ID is
different from the method used for DID.  In other words, equipment
that can decode the Caller ID signals will not work on a DID trunk.

Historically DID has been used by PBXs that provide direct dialing to
internal extensions.  For example, dialling 555-1201 would ring on
extension 101.  Dialling 555-1202 would come in on the same trunk to the
PBX but the PBX would route the call to extension 102.

Now DID is also used with fax modems and boards to provide routing of
inbound faxes.  Each employee or department is given a different fax
number but all the calls come in on the same DID trunk.  The fax board
(or external DID decode box) decodes the signal from the telco central
office which indicates which number was dialed and used this number
to route the fax to the appropiate user or department.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Cheryl Van Winkle)
Subject: For Sale: Combinet 56K Bridges and Shiva NetModems
Date: Thu, 04 May 1995 18:21:54 -0700
Organization: Stadium Flowers


REDUCED TO SELL!  Like new used for less then a year.  Networking
bridges Reduced 50% to 80% of orginal cost.  We have gone to Frame
Relay and have no use for bridges.  Anxious to sell!

All manuals included.  Bankcards welcomed; can take Visa, American
Express, or Mastercard.  Ready to ship at once.  Will ship FedEx next
day.  Would be happy to talk to you in person on our 800 line if
really interested.


Qty.  Item                                     Ethernet Connector  $ or OBO
===   ======================================   =================   ========
 2    Combinet Switched 56K Bridge (2 channel) 10BaseT & 10Base2   $ 1,500(all)


Qty.  Item                                     Ethernet Connector  $ or OBO
===   ======================================   =================   ========
 5    Shiva 14.4K NetModem/E                   10BaseT             $ 1,500(all)
 1    Shiva 14.4K NetModem/E                   10Base2             $   300


Cheryl

Stadium Flowers
"Always Days Fresher"

------------------------------

From: Tammy Fischbach <[e-mail]>
Subject: Overhead Paging Advice Wanted
Date: Thu, 4 May 1995 12:42:00 EDT


We're looking for any information re: overhead paging (loudspeaker
paging) for a 9 story Hospital.  We need to develop a technical RFP to
replace an obselete system.  Any assistance would be appreciated.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Nirad Sharma)
Subject: Subscription Details Wanted For "Telephony"
Date: 4 May 1995 05:14:25 GMT
Organization: Computer Science Dept, University of Queensland
Reply-To: [e-mail]


A friend of mine is trying to find out how to subscribe to "Telephony"
but cannot get hold of a copy to get the subscription details (nor can
I).  Can anyone provide the fax number or e-mail address for
subscribing to this periodical?

1.        BRN: 4500218
        TITLE: Telephony
     SUBJECTS: Telephone - Periodicals
  ADDED TITLE: Global telephony
        NOTES: Beginning in 1990 (?) one issue per month called: Global
                telephony
                Full text from Nov. 1987 in: Business periodicals ondisc
                Originally published: Chicago : Chambers-McMeal, 1901-

If replying to this group, please e-mail me a copy as I rarely read this
group.


Thanks,

Nirad Sharma
Computer Science, University of Queensland. 4072.  Australia


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Is {Telephony} still in business? I've
not heard anything from them in ages. They were located here in Chicago
for many years -- almost all their existence -- but I seem to recall
someone saying they had moved a few years ago, possibly to Iowa.  At one
point, going back into the 1930-40 era, {Telephony} was *the* magazine
of the industry. If you had anything to do with the Bell System at all --
and really, that was all you had to do with <g> -- then you read this
weekly journal religiously.  What are they doing now-days?  I do know
that when Harry Newton came along with {Teleconnect} he grabbed the lion's
share of the readership.   PAT]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Doug Snyder)
Subject: Re: Comm Problems With USR Sportster V.34
Date: Thu, 04 May 1995 14:09:34 -0500
Organization: Echo Bridge Productions


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Thor
Stromsnes) wrote:

> I am having some problems with my PPP internet hookup. After about
> 10-15 min online, my V.34 Sportster just "hangs up". I use trumpet
> winsock and netscape software, and I have set the internal baud rate
> to 115.200, in order to handle compession. Is this a hardware problem,
> or what?

My ISP sent a message recently about USR Sportsters and a "new chip".  You
may want to call USR and check.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Comm Problems With USR Sportster V.34
Date: 4 May 1995 18:20:44 GMT
Organization: XNet - A Full Service Internet Provider - [phone]
Reply-To: [e-mail]


In <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Thor Stromsnes)
writes:

> I am having some problems with my PPP internet hookup. After about
> 10-15 min online, my V.34 Sportster just "hangs up". I use trumpet
> winsock and netscape software, and I have set the internal baud rate
> to 115.200, in order to handle compession. Is this a hardware problem,
> or what?

Other users of my ISP have reported that ATS56=128 fixes the problem, and that
it only happens with certain other modems on the other end.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (John Lundgren)
Subject: Re: Question - Rotary vs Tone Dialing
Date: 04 May 1995 16:42:25 GMT
Organization: Pacific Bell Knowledge Network


Richard Cayne ([e-mail]) wrote:

> Does it cost a telephone supplier more or less money to maintain a rotary
> system over a tone based line?? The telcos charge in Canada a surcharge for
> tone lines but somehow I believe people who convert are doing them a favour.
> Would like to get the hard facts on which system is more economical for
> a telco.

Pac Bell, for years, charged us for Touch Tone, something that I
thought was a big ripoff.  Using TT or DTMF allows the telco switches
to do more with less equipment, so they are benefitting more from it
than the subscribers.  No matter what kind of switch the CO has, the
DTMF converters can be added to it.  The benefit comes from having to
tie up a dialer for less time to complete the call.  So more calls can
be completed by the same amount of equipment.  And since there are a
lot less dialers than phone lines, this is quite a benefit.

And then I got my first modem, a Hayes Smartmodem.  I wasn't paying
for the DTMF "feature", but I had it anyway, since I tried it and it
worked.  A few weeks later I got a letter from Pac Bell telling me
that I was supposed to pay for this, and asked for me to call them in
S.F.  So since I was always at work during the day, and they were
always gone after five, I just called and left voice mail and I played
telephone tag until they gave up.  Of course, I refrained from using
DTMF after that.

Turkeys seem to have had the wool pulled over the California Public
Utilities Commission's eyes, and the ratepayers, too.  I'm glad that
someone woke up a few years ago and realized that they were charging
for something that they shouldn't be.  Now, for the past couple of
years, DTMF has been free, and I don't think anyone uses a pulse phone
anymore.

Except I do, since I have some old rotary wall phones stuck to the wall of
several of the phone closets at work.  They do come in handy, and I don't
always have to carry around a butt-in.


N.B. MAIL ADDRESS CHANGES TOMORROW TO [e-mail]
             email address: [e-mail]
           Tel: [phone]     Fax: [phone]


John Lundgren - Elec Tech - Info Tech Svcs
Rancho Santiago Community College District
17th St. at Bristol \ Santa Ana, CA 92706
[e-mail]\[e-mail]

------------------------------

From: Bob Spargo <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Voice Pagers; Where Are They?
Date: 4 May 1995 01:56:53 GMT


[e-mail] (InterCom) wrote:

> Where can I find out more information on pagers that receive audio
> messages (not cut-through voice-mail pagers, but real voice pagers)?

Voice pagers, once the most popular type, may be making a comeback in
the next few years as the result of some new technology currently
being developed by Motorola and Pagenet.

For today, if you want wide area voice you can shop the Yellow Pages
under Paging Services.  In most markets, usually you can find one or
two service providers that will offer the service -- for a premium
price and often with limited coverage.  Voice is still fairly popular
for on site paging systems (i.e. within a building complex, campus,
etc.).  On site systems can be purchased from many two way radio
dealers (look under Radio Telephone Equipment and Systems in the
Yellow Pages).

For some information on paging (and soon some specific stuff on tone
and voice) check out the new paging section on Motorola's WWW server
at http://www.motorola.com/MIMS/PPG/ (note the caps).


Bob <a paging Motorolan>

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Jackeagle)
Subject: Re: PRI-ISDN Deployment
Date: 4 May 1995 09:43:15 -0400
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Jackeagle)


> PRI-ISDN

In most areas IXC's offer PRI -- particularly to PBX. I would contact
AT&T, MCI, Sprint. Also I believe several CAPS offer this service. I
believe TELEPORT is in your area.


Jack Warner

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Swakopf)
Subject: Re: DTMF/Pulse Converters Wanted
Date: 4 May 1995 10:58:48 -0400
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Swakopf)


> I have a need to purchase some conversion equipment.  I need to
> convert rotary digit pulses to DTMF and vice-versa.  If you know of
> such equipment, please post and e-mail me.  We need multiple units.

I know there are at least four companies who sell Pulse/DTMF converters.
I have one working today.  I believe they only convert in one direction
pulse to tone.

Teleliasion in Quebec,  Pika (or Pica) in Toronto, another company in
Isreal and I believe the other is in the UK, these are the only ones I can
think of.  I can provide address and numbers if you want.  E-mail me at
[e-mail] (business address).

You could also check out some software vendors; AIN development folk. They
may have something closer to what you want.


peter

------------------------------

From: Mark J. Cuccia <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: International Telephone Number Length - Maximum Allowed
Date: 4 May 1995 15:23:27 GMT
Organization: Tulane University


As of now, the MAX for a full international number is 12 digits; This
will increase to a MAX of 15 digits at either the end of this year (1995)
or at the end of 1996 - I can't remember right now - Most teleco
equipment is designed to handle the max of 12 digits, but when it comes
to PBX's, privately owned payphones, other customer premesis toll
restricting devices, etc. you may run into problems --

The time when the ITU/CCITT states that an internatonal number can be
expanded to a full 15 digits is noted as 'TIME-T'.

Please note that the max of 12 digits presently and 15 digits soon does NOT
include any carrier access/identification codes, international access codes,
etc -- it is constructed of EXCLUSIVELY the Country Codes and the full
national destination number -- whatever follows the '+' at the beginning of
a number.

MARK

+ 1 504 865 5954 (Work Tel)
+ 1 504 241 2497 (Home Tel, forwards to cellphone, forwards to voicemail)
+ 1 504 865 5917 (Fax, work)

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Outgoing Only Phone Line Without Phone Number
Date: Thu, 04 Apr 95 10:29:57 PDT


I like your idea of lines without dialable phone numbers, but I think
you are confused about the number space.

Dialing 01nxxxxxx, where n is a digit in the range 2..9 and xxxxxx is
anything, is not an unused sequence in the US and Canada; it places an
international call, just as if you had dialed 011nxxxxxx, but the lack
of a second "1" means that the call is operator assisted.  010, however,
is an unused sequence (or at least, they don't tell the public how to
use it for anything).


John David Galt

------------------------------

From: Mark J. Cuccia <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: New Country Code 380 For Ukraine
Date: 3 May 1995 15:02:01 GMT
Organization: Tulane University


In the old Distance Dialing Reference Guide (the old Bell System
equivolent of Bellcore's TRA products), 808-998 was a 'mark-sense'
(operator billing code) for Wake and 808-999 was the mark-sense code
for Midway; These assignments were STILL in use as late as 1990/91
according to Bellcore TRA's LERG & Industry Numbering Plan Guide,
however they were NOT included in the December, 1994 issues of these
TRA documents.


MARK

------------------------------

From: Toby Nixon <[e-mail]>
Date: Wed,  3 May 95 17:18:34 PDT
Subject: Re: New Country Code 380 For Ukraine


In TELECOM Digest V15 #220, [e-mail] (Shalom Septimus)
wrote:

>> I compared my country codes list with my list of ISO recognised
>> countries and territories. The shared uses of codes I found were:
>> 672   Shared by 5 territories under Australian control

> Specifically, which? My list has only Cocos/Keeling Is, (6722),
> Norfolk Is. (6723) and Christmas Is. (6724). What are the other 2?  Or
> are Cocos and Keeling two seperate territories, and I'm only missing
> one?

Australia recently moved the Cocos/Keeling Islands to country code 61.
Area accessible through 672 are Norfolk Island, Coral Sea Island
Territories, Christmas Island, and Scott Base and Casey Base in Antarctica.


Toby

------------------------------

From: John Nice <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Taking my Laptop to the UK
Date: 4 May 1995 21:23:38 +0100
Reply-To: [e-mail]


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] "ogilvie" writes:

> Does anybody know what I will need to purchase in order to use my
> lapop in London and surrounding areas?  I think I will need some sort
> of power adaptor and some sort of modem adapter.  If you have any
> suggestions, I would really appreciate hearing them.  Also, does
> anybody know any good PPP internet providers in the UK?

You will need an RJ- to UK adapter.  Available for about Pds.3 from
Tandy (UK for Radio Shack: ubiquitous over here) Your power unit, if
switch-mode, may well cover 100-250 volts.  Check the rating plate.
Otherwise, Tandy sell a small 240-115 stepdown transformer which is
meaty enough to drive a razor or small pc power unit.

> Charles   Please reply via email to: [e-mail]

Surely the point about Usenet is the information is here to be shared.


John Nice

"Whenever I hear the phrase 'Information Superhighway' I reach for my
revolver"

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (TeamIguana)
Subject: Re: AT&T $5 Minimum Monthly Charge
Date: 4 May 1995 12:21:33 -0400
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
Reply-To: [e-mail] (TeamIguana)


> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That's why it is so silly at times to
> worry about who your carrier happens to be. Just go with whichever one
> offers the biggest rebate checks for switching to them. Not only is
> MCI the largest customer of AT&T, but AT&T is also the largest customer
> of MCI ...

I'd be interested in hearing where that source of information comes from.


Iguana


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Each of the carriers leases a large amount
of the resources and facilities of the other carriers. MCI purchases a few
million dollars worth of leased circuits from AT&T monthly. If there is
any single customer (a large corporation, I assume) doing more business
with AT&T monthly, I would like to know who they are. Anyone who has some
actual dollar figures available want to comment on this?    PAT]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Dave Leibold)
Date: 04 May 95 22:27:06 -0500
Subject: Cross-Border Local Calls


Dale Crouse <[e-mail]> wrote:

> a New York community to Quebec.  At one time I new of toll-free dialing
> from Portal, North Dakota to North Portal, Saskatchewan.  Does anyone know
> if this is still true?

I didn't notice this was the case, although Saskatchewan local number
relationships are hard to determine from their phone books. SaskTel
doesn't have the sort of local number charts that most other telcos
have (but I don't usually have many of these books in the basement :-)).

The exchanges involved (from my notes) are:

701-926 Portal ND
306-927 North Portal SK

I believe SaskTel has "protected" 926 (Portal ND's exchange) in the past,
so that it is not assigned in 306. This provision does not necessarily mean
local calling has been implemented.

Whether long distance is needed to cross the border is another matter.

> Also, I believe there was toll-free dialing from El Paso, Texas to Juarez,
Mexico. I'm curious if this is still in effect.

I have found no indications of any U.S.-Mexico cross-border dialing.

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Also, what is the relationship between
> Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario where telephone calls are
> concerned. I don't think it is strictly within a local zone, but isn't
> it handled like a 'suburban' point or for a small extra fee depending
> on the type of monthly service you have?   PAT]

There is no local Windsor-Detroit calling, nor are any special procedures
indicated in the Windsor Ontario phone books ... nor do I recall seeing
any "suburban" rates or procedures mentioned in any of the Detroit
books I've run across. Windsor subscribers dialing Detroit would have
to dial 1 + 313 + number (or 1 + 810 as the case may be now). Detroit
customers would have to dial 1 + 519 + to reach the Windsor numbers. From
the Windsor end, I believe the usual Canada-U.S. long distance rates apply
(though at this distance this means these tolls should be the lowest possible).

Of course, whether some folks have taken to a do-it-yourself local
cross-border connection is another question ...


Fidonet : Dave Leibold 1:250/730
Internet: [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Is that bizarre case still in effect where
a certain 'area code' actually terminated in the middle east -- in Saudi
Arabia I think -- for the benefit of some highly placed executives in the
oil industry?  Does anyone remember those?  I've forgotten what the
dialing codes were/are.    PAT]

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #224
******************************


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Date: Thu, 4 May 1995 21:24:10 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #225

TELECOM Digest     Thu, 4 May 95 21:18:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 225

Inside This Issue:                          Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Re: Call Trace Foulup Followed OK Bomb (Steve Dyer)
    Re: Call Trace Foulup Followed OK Bomb (Carl Moore)
    Re: Any Way to Have Parents' Phone Calls Billed to *My* Phone? (S. Cogorno)
    Re: Any Way to Have Parents' Phone Calls Billed to *My* Phone? (M. Smith)
    Re: Any Way to Have Parents' Phone Calls Billed to *My* Phone? (HiHoSteveo)
    Re: Annoying Calls: Can We Deal With Them? (John David Galt)
    Re: Nokia 2110 vs Motorola 8200 (John Nice)
    Need Information on T1/E1 Rates in Asia ([e-mail])
    Possible Tax Break For Voice Networks (Ken Anders)
    Re: Challenging Phone Bill (Steven H. Lichter)
    Want Location of RS-232C Standard (Scott Ehrlich)
    Syncronous and Asyncronous Differences (Wayne Kosten)
    Frustrations With AT&T Long Distance Billing (Lathika Pai)
    Manuals for ISOTEC System 96/S (Steve Tanner)
    Re: North American Modems in Britain (Dave Mathews)
    Re: Looking For a Black Box (William Englander)
    Re: ISDN, BellSouth and OCN (Bradley Ward Allen)
    Resale of Telecommunications Service (Wei N. Deng)
    Telephone Answering Gizmo Wanted (Donald McLachlan)
    New House Telecom Bills (Jeff Richards)
    Voice Mail SMDI Specs (Kevin Fleming)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
                    9457-D Niles Center Road
                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
                        Fax: [phone]
  ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

*************************************************************************
*   TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the              *
* International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland    *
* under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES)   *
* project.  Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such
as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help
is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per
year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Steve Dyer)
Subject: Re: Call Trace Foulup Followed OK Bomb
Organization: S.P. Dyer Computer Consulting, Cambridge MA
Date: Thu, 4 May 1995 06:24:13 GMT


In article <[e-mail]>, Richard M. Weil <richrw@pipeline.
com> wrote:

> Pat said in a recent issue that the man that was mistakenly arrested
> for phoning in a bomb threat after the OK blast is suing the police
> for misconduct and suing NYNEX "on the grounds that the company filed
> a false report in the matter and did so 'with wanton disregard for the
> accuracy of their report.' He says the president's apology is insuffi-
> cient ... "

> I heard yesterday that the phone company has offered to pay for this
> young man's college education as compensation for the obvious mistake.

This obviously got a lot of play in the Boston area, and I hadn't
heard anything about a suit.  Rather, the kid and his parents bore no
ill feelings and had accepted the tuition offer from NYNEX.


Steve Dyer     [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You can correct me if I am wrong on this.
My understanding of the sequence of events was (1) incorrect report
filed; (2) official apology only; (3) threats of legal action; (4) then
the college tuition tossed in to sweeten things up. Since the cost of
four or five years in college these days might easily come to a hundred
thousand dollars, it would seem prudent to me also to accept that as a
nice settlement. It works out much cheaper for NYNEX that way also.   PAT]

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 4 May 95 10:55:55 EDT
From: Carl Moore <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Call Trace Foulup Followed OK Bomb


Is it a measure of how full the system is when messed-up digits
result in someone else's valid number?

Several years ago, this Digest had a note about a Chicago-area dress
shop getting calls meant for an airline (two digits transposed in the
telephone number).  I recall this appearing not long before 708 area
code came along to provide relief for 312.

Outside the phone system, there have been "horror stories" about
people getting billed for parking tickets when it turns out that there
was an error in transcribing license plate number.

Back to the phone system, there are the amusing incidents of a call
intended for Marilyn in Beverly Hills (area 310, and received when
eastern Maryland could be reached in either 301 or 410), and some
calls for gynecology clinic (two transposed digits).

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Steve Cogorno)
Subject: Re: Any Way to Have Parents' Phone Calls Billed to *My* Phone?
Date: Wed, 3 May 1995 17:20:13 PDT


scott.d.brenner said:

> I'd like to find out if there's a way to have the calls direct-dialed
> from my parents' home phone billed to *my* home phone number.  Right
> now, they're using my calling card number for selected calls.  But
> they show up on my AT&T Universal bill. I'd rather have them on my
> AT&T long distance bill (I get a separate bill from AT&T; my LEC
> doesn't handle LD billing anymore).  I also want to avoid the ~$1
> surcharge for using the calling card.

You can certainly get an AT&T Calling Card connected to your regular
bill.  It will still cost about $0.80 cents surcharge (may differ
depending on your state), but the cost of the call will apply towards
your True USA Savings and True Rewards.

There is no way to have a called billed to your line as if it were a
direct dialed call.  You may want to set up an 800 number for your
parents (and possibly others if you want) to use.  Depending on your
(their) calling patterns it may or may not be cheaper.


Steve     [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Mark Robert Smith)
Subject: Re: Any Way to Have Parents' Phone Calls Billed to *My* Phone?
Date: Thu, 4 May 1995 17:12:08 EST
Organization: New Jersey Computer Connection, Lawrenceville, NJ


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail]
(scott.d.brenner) writes:

> I'd like to find out if there's a way to have the calls direct-dialed
> from my parents' home phone billed to *my* home phone number.  Right
> now, they're using my calling card number for selected calls.  But
> they show up on my AT&T Universal bill. I'd rather have them on my
> AT&T long distance bill (I get a separate bill from AT&T; my LEC
> doesn't handle LD billing anymore).  I also want to avoid the ~$1
> surcharge for using the calling card.

> If you know a way to do this, please send some e-mail to me at
> "[e-mail]"

You could set up a personal 800 number, with PIN if desired.  You pay
something like 0.25 per minute, but no surcharge.

You can also get it cheaper from another long distance company if you don't
mind a separate bill.


Mark

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (HiHoSteveo)
Subject: Re: Any Way to Have Parents' Phone Calls Billed to *My* Phone?
Date: 4 May 1995 17:23:04 -0400
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
Reply-To: [e-mail] (HiHoSteveo)


Good grief -- call your parent's business office and have them assign the
bill to your telephone number -- you'll get the whole bill, not just LD.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Annoying Calls: Can We Deal With Them?
Date: Thu,  4 May 95 17:46:33 PDT


>> In other words, knowledgeable offensive callers can dial with almost
>> complete impunity and automated dialers are "impossible" to stop.

> In California, since CallerID is not yet legal, the offending number
> would not be readily available.  But Pac Bell offers [Call Trace]... [snip]

While California doesn't yet have Caller ID, we do have some related
features that ought to do the job.  I got Call Screen (the same thing
named Call Block in eastern states) for the purpose of blocking these
junk calls -- but I have yet to see this work even once.  The junk
callers are smart enough to always call from a PBX, so that their
number is "not available" to Call Screen.  And Pacific Bell is too
stupid (or too cunning?) to offer you the option of blocking the
offending company's entire PBX when it happens.  In addition, Call
Screen can only block 10 numbers.

If Pac Bell, or the PUC, really cared about giving us peace in our
homes, these limitations would have been removed by now, and I'm not
inclined to believe stories that it's impossible.  The bottom line is
that telco cares more about the income from these junk calls than
about our right to peace.  I can only hope that dialtone competition
will change their attitudes.


John David Galt

------------------------------

From: John Nice <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Nokia 2110 vs Motorola 8200
Date: 4 May 1995 21:23:34 +0100
Reply-To: [e-mail]


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] "nick
pitfield" writes:

> I'm about to buy a GSM phone, and have settled on either the Nokia 2110 or
> the Motorola 8200. Does anybody have good or bad experiences or opinions
> about these that they could share with me.

A colleague of mine had four 8200s.  He now has a 2110 with which he
is happy.

> Also, could somebody tell me where I can find the files describing how to
> re-program certain things on these phones: eg I had the file for the Nokia
> 101 last year and was able to change both the lock code and the start-up
> message.

Me too. please.


John Nice

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (GOMAB1183)
Subject: Need Information on T1/E1 Rates in Asia
Date: 4 May 1995 10:53:40 -0400
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
Reply-To: [e-mail] (GOMAB1183)


Does anyone have a listing of T1/E1 leased line and interconnection
rate tarrifs for countries in Asia?  If not, any pointers as to ftp
sites or gophers that may have that information?


Thanks,

SD

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Ken Anders)
Subject: Possible Tax Break For Voice Networks
Date: 4 May 1995 08:27:11 -0700
Organization: Walt Disney Imagineering


I have heard that calls made intra-company over virtual voice networks
may be tax exempt.  This would include VPN, SDN and other vendor
supplied networks provided the calls are within your defined network.
Has anyone else heard of this?  If so, can you lead me to the proper
tax codes?


Thanks in advance,

[e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Steven H. Lichter)
Subject: Re: Challenging Phone Bill
Date: 4 May 1995 21:33:06 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio (USA)


Don't ignore it, because even if you are right you will have problems.
Right call the business office first, give them a chance to remove it,
which they will in 99% of the cases. Then as Pat says contact the PUC
and go from there. By the way they charge is a non regulated part of
your bill and it should not cause you to lose phone service.


Sysop: Apple Elite II -=- an Ogg-Net Hub BBS
     Home of GBBS/LLUCE support
[phone] 12/24/14.4 V32/V42bis

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Scott Ehrlich)
Subject: Want Location of RS-232C Standard
Date: 4 May 1995 23:56:45 GMT
Organization: College of Computer Science, Northeastern University


Does an RFC or similar document exist on the 'net for the RS-232C standard?

I performed a lengthy keyword search at InterNIC and came up with no
RFCs with the standard, which is why I'm posting the query.

If it doesn't exist online, how much does the EIA charge for the specs?


Thanks,

Scott Ehrlich, Internetworking ASM, Eastern Mass.  E-mail: [e-mail]
Boston ARC ftp archives: ftp oak.oakland.edu /pub/hamradio
Boston ARC Web page: http://www.acs.oakland.edu/barc.html
ARRL Web page: http://www.acs.oakland.edu/barc/arrl.html

------------------------------

Date: 4 May 1995 16:45:27 GMT
From: Wayne Kosten <[e-mail]>
Subject: Syncronous and Asyncronous differences


Could somebody explain firstly the difference between Asyncronous and
Sycronous data transmission and secondly the pros and cons for both.
Can you please E-mail me if possible so as not to congest the digest.


[e-mail]

Thanks in advance,

Wayne Kosten

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Date: Thu, 4 May 1995 17:53:37 EDT
Subject: Frustrations With AT&T Long Distance Billing


I have been having a horrible time dealing with AT&T regarding my
long distance billing. Here are a list of problems:

1) I do not receive the rate I have been told I would on the Reach Out
World Plan. As a result, calls to India, which should cost me
$1.12/min have been arbitrarily charged between $1.68/min-$3.60/min.

2) Every month, I find that calls are not for that specific billing
period eg. February 15 - March 15. I find calls that should have been
included in maybe the December or January bills show up in this bill.
This has been happening to me for the past six billing cycles.

3) Every time I call AT&T up, they tell me that they do not have a
copy of the bill that has been sent to me and ask me to fax them a
copy. I have done this three times already.

4) It has been four months now, and AT&T has still not addressed any
of my concerns. I now get a bill every month which says I owe AT&T a
whopping $1300.

What do I do? I have spoke to every supervisor possible and everyone
of them promises to get back to me and no one has. I am absolutely
frustrated and disgusted with AT&T. Any suggestions/advice is more
than welcome.


Lathika Pai      e-mail : [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, why don't you quit using them and
switch your service to MCI?  <grin> ... they take real good care of
their customers don't they?  No billing mixups and unresponsive people
there, no sir-ree.  Maybe Sprint or LDDS would like your patronage for
awhile also.  Then when AT&T sees that you left them, and they look at
your bill and see it was up to $1300 they'll say oh my gosh, send this
guy a check for a hundred dollars if he promises to sign up with us.  PAT]

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 04 May 1995 12:06:21 -0400
From: Steve Tanner <[e-mail]>
Subject: Manuals for ISOTEC System 96/S


Hello,

I'm looking for a system manual or service manual for an ISOTEC System
96 / S PBX. My problem is that our service contractor has no staff
trained on our system, and we are locked out from reprogramming it
ourselves. They state they are checking for a "backdoor" to regain
access as they lost the password. I would appreciate any help locating
a set of service manuals.


EMAIL :  [e-mail]

Thanks in advance.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Dave Mathews)
Subject: Re: North American Modems in Britain
Organization: Cellular World -- Wireless Data Specialists
Date: Thu, 04 May 1995 06:20:08 GMT


[e-mail] wrote:

> [e-mail] wrote:

> However, USR will warn you that this configuration is only designed
> for occasional use (ie; when travelling). Since the modem you are
> using is designed for use in North America, and therefore only has
> approval for use in North America, it is *technically* illegal to
> permanently attach the modem to the UK network. I don't think there
> is much of a physical difference between the UK and North American
> versions of the modems. There may be different shielding, RF, or
> line conditioning requirements in the UK. But it will physically
> work. You will also need to send a command string to the modem to
> allow it to dial, especially if you are dialing pulse.

USR tells you that this is for temporary 'visiting' use because of
telecom laws in the UK.  Modems to be sold overseas must have the
ability to store the last numbers dialed in the %B register and not
let you dial any one of those numbers more than three (I am 99%
certain on this figure) times within an hour.

I was told this in response to another question by a technical manager
at Compaq (they write their own very elaborate modem EEPROM code) when
I visited their communications department in January.


Dave Mathews     Cellular World
Wireless Data Specialist

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (William and Alice Englander)
Subject: Re: Looking For a Black Box
Organization: William and Alice Englander
Date: Thu, 04 May 1995 12:24:18 GMT


In article <[e-mail]>, andrew bevan <[e-mail]>
writes:

> One solution we have thought of is to utilise the RS-232 serial port,
> from the workstation, by connecting this to a "black box" containing
> relays or contact closures. These relays/contact closures could then
> be connected to the external device (e.g. a flashing light or audible
> bell). Therefore under the right circumstances within the application,
> a signal/message would be sent down the RS-232 to open or close the
> relay, thus triggering the external device.

I have just the "black box" for you ... order a catalog from:

    Electronic Energy Controls
    380 South Fifth Street, Suite 604
    Columbus, Ohio  43215

    Orders:    800/842-7714
    Technical: 614/464-4470
    FAX:       [phone]

I've used their AR-16 relay interface (with their RH-8 relay card) to
do exactly what you described.  I used it to turn on (and off) lights
and to activate a Radio Shack telephone dialer.


Bill

William and Alice Englander
[e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Bradley Ward Allen)
Subject: Re: ISDN, BellSouth and OCN
Date: 4 May 1995 16:39:51 -0400
Organization: URL:http://www.armory.com/~ulmo/ (see rivers.html for PGP key)


> "IPConnectSM users have access to the Metropolitan Internet and are
> also able to select the carrier of their data to the worldwide
> Internet in much the same way they now select a long distance carrier
> along with local telephone services," states Robert Gardier, President
> of Open Communication Networks.

That's stupid.

Redundancy is better -- let all subscribers use whatever works best at
the moment, as determined by a well-maintained set of routers.

Or am I missing something?

The old ways seemed better ...

Or is this system a non-flat rate structure (i.e. charges per some
unit of usage)?  In which case, forget it anyway I'm not interested
(unless full time usage actually works out to a reasonable cost for
me, which doesn't seem to be the pattern of usage-based charging).

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 04 May 95 19:10 EST
From: Wei N. Deng <[e-mail]>
Subject: Resale of Telecommunications Service


I would like to open a discussion on resale of telecommunication service.

In the past years resale in telecommunications industry is no longer a
treacherous thing. Resellers didn't encounter strong resistance from
Carriers. In some cases carriers are, to some extent, cooperative.

I am wondering the economic motivation of carriers to do this. Besides
economic driving force, is there any regulatory policy encouraging or
preventing reselling?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.


Wei     [phone]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Donald McLachlan)
Subject: Telephone Answering Gizmo Wanted
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Organization: The Communications Research Centre
Date: Thu, 4 May 95 19:32:08 GMT


I need to monitor audio at a remote site.  Our comm lines are all used
and we are not willing to pay for them to install more so we can get a
leased line.

I need to be able to monitor an audio source at a remote site.  What I
would like is a device which:

- can be programmed to pick up the phone on the N'th ring (N programmable).
- upon answering "plays" the remote audio to me over the phone line.
- will hang up the remote end after I hang up my end
      OR
  will hang up if I hit a certain key at my end (DTMF decoder).
    OR
  will wait a M minutes and then hang up (M programmable).

Does anyone know of a device which will do this sort of thing? Sources for
same?


Thanks,

Donald McLachlan            e-mail    [e-mail]
Communications Research Centre / DRX    office    613-998-2845
3701 Carling Ave.,            fax    [phone]
Ottawa, Ontario                lab    613-998-2423
K2H 8S2

------------------------------

From: Jeff Richards <[e-mail]>
Subject: New House Telecom Bills
Date: 5 May 1995 01:38:04 GMT
Organization: Capital Area Internet Service [e-mail] 703-448-4470


Within the last two days, two telecom reform bills were introduced in
the House of Representatives, and are available on <bell.com>.

One is HR 1555, from Messrs. Bliley, Dingell and Fields (Commerce
Committee).  The other, HR 1528, is from Chairman Hyde (Judiciary
Committee).

Hearings begin next week.  We will post schedules and witnesses as they
are available, as well as updates about Senate activity on Senator
Pressler's bill.

In the gopher site <bell.com>, choose "Legislation."  In the Web site
<http://bell.com>, you'll see the links on our Home Page.

Please send questions to <[e-mail]>.  Of course, you can always
drop me a note directly with your comments about the site.  Finally,
directions to add yourself to our listerver are noted below.


Jeff Richards
The Alliance for Competitive Communications &
Pacific Telesis Group
<bell.com> and<http://bell.com>
<[e-mail]>==SUBSCRIBE  BELL  YOUR_LASTNAME  YOUR_FIRSTNAME

------------------------------

From: Fleming, Kevin <[e-mail]>
Subject: Voice Mail SMDI Specs
Date: Thu, 04 May 1995 21:53:38


Anyone know where I can obtain (free or otherwise) documents
describing the SMDI (Standard Message Desk Interface) standards, used
between PBXs and voice mail systems? Thanks for any help.

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #225
******************************


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Date: Fri, 5 May 1995 09:24:16 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #226

TELECOM Digest     Fri, 5 May 95 09:24:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 226

Inside This Issue:                          Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Re: Need Help on 50-POTS-Line Setup (J. Herraghty)
    Re: Can Someone Explain DID in English? (J. Herraghty)
    Send-A-Call (was Annoying Feature on Payphones Here) (Jonathan D. Loo)
    Voice and Data on the Same Communication Channel? (Craig Bogli)
    Calls From Australia to US 800 Not Delivering DTMF (Serge Burjak)
    Wanted to Buy: D/121-A Boards (Joan Summa)
    Company Contact Information Needed ([e-mail])
    Re: ISDN, BellSouth and OCN (Willard F. Dawson)
    Market Trial For Bell Canada Free-Call Service (Dave Leibold)
    Advice Wanted on VoiceFX Voice Board (Alex van Es)
    Want Phone Numbers of the PCS Narrowband License Winners (Steve Samler)
    Re: Advice Needed About Answering Service (Gary Breuckman)
    Self Service Fax Machines (Christopher Freitag)
    Rural Phone Companies (Jack Mott)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
                    9457-D Niles Center Road
                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
                        Fax: [phone]
  ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

*************************************************************************
*   TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the              *
* International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland    *
* under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES)   *
* project.  Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such
as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help
is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per
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All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (HerraghtyJ)
Subject: Re: Need Help on 50-POTS-Line Setup
Date: 4 May 1995 21:58:34 -0400
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
Reply-To: [e-mail] (HerraghtyJ)


Typically, analog phone lines can be ordered to terminate either in an
RJ21X (25 Pair block) with an amphenol adaptor which is probably what
you have or as a series of RJ-11 jacks.  Typically, it is cheaper on
the monthly bills from the Telco if multiple lines are ordered to
terminate as an RJ-21X.  The pairs on the Telco cable all run in
sequence.  The color sequence for the first 5 pr is; White Blue/Blue
White White orange/Orange white White Green/Green White Whie
Brown/Brown white White Slate/Slate white.

For the next four subsequent sets of five, substitute white for; Red:
Black Yellow Violet.  and you will have the sequence for all 25 pairs.
This will give you 25 pairs, or 50 conductors.  Each analog phone line
is on its own distinct pair.

Two blocks, one labeled transmit, and one labeled receive, typically
indeciates a digital service as in T-1's, T-3's, or 56K lines.
However, as you obviously ordered POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service)
this can only be a mislabeled block.

I hope this helps.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (HerraghtyJ)
Subject: Re: Can Someone Explain DID in English?
Date: 4 May 1995 22:22:59 -0400
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
Reply-To: [e-mail] (HerraghtyJ)


DID = Direct Inward Dial.

The whole phone world works off DID principles.

Imagine a hospital, it has 40 DID trunks to service 500 patient beds and
400 administrative personnel.  The hospital would pay the telco for the 40
DID trunks and also would pay to block out 1,000 numbers.  (500 + 400 +
100 spare).

Assuming the exchange of the hospital is 555 then the 1,000 numbers
could be 555-1nnn (000 to 999).  Therefore, the hospital owns phone
numbers from 555-1000 to 555-1999, as long as it maintains the monthly
payment on the block of numbers.

Now that you have the numbers and the phone lines, the next part of
the equation is to get the numbers into the phone system.  Here's how
it works ...

Auntie Emily calls Uncle Albert at the hospital to find out how his
operation went.  Uncle Albert has been given a room with a phone
number of 555-1234.  (One of our block of 1,000 numbers.)

The Central office sees that the number 555-1234 has been dialed, it
knows that this number belongs to the hospital (555-1nnn), and that it
belongs in the group of 40 DID trunks.  The central office GOES OFF
HOOK and waits for a signal from the hospital phone system that tells
the central Office that it (the PBX) is ready to receive digits.  When
the central office receives the signal from the hospital PBX, it sends
down the phone line the digits "1234".  The hospital PBX sees the
digits 1234 and calls extension "1234", which just happens to be Uncle
Albert's room.  Uncle Albert answers the phone and is connected to
Auntie Emily.

In the case of voice mail, you buy the block of "1,000" numbers
(Usually sold in blocks of 50 or 100). The subscriber's voice mail
number is their corresponding DID number.  If the voice mail system
has a DID interface, then it sees the four numbers from the central
office and answers with the appropiate voice mail box message/greeting
or whatever.

Was that English Enough?

------------------------------

From: Jonathan D Loo <[e-mail]>
Date: Wed, 3 May 1995 18:29:10 -0400
Subject: Send-A-Call (was Annoying Feature on Payphones Here)


I think that I sent a message to the Digest several months ago on this
topic, but anyway: the TELECOM Digest Editor wrote,

> I don't like a feature on the Bell payphones here in Skokie, and it
> seems to cause no end of confusion for many other people as well.  It
> seems that when you call from a payphone in Skokie (708-673 and
> 708-674) after it rings two or three times, a recorded message comes
> on the line saying 'your party does not answer' and inviting you to
> leave a message 'for delivery at a later time' by pressing the keys on
> the phone, for an additional fee of course.

> Now should the caller actually answer, then of course the recording
> cuts off immediatly and you proceed with your call, however there
> are lots of foreign speaking people in Skokie -- mostly from Russia
> or the Ukraine -- and not being all that familiar with the phone
> system anyway, they think they are hearing a recording saying that
> the number is not in service."

Bell Atlantic used to have a similar service in Maryland.  It was
unreliable; if the called party answered too early then the service
would activate and also would block out the caller's voice, and if the
called party answered later then the service might not de-activate
quickly enough and the callers voice again would be blocked out.  I
lost a lot of money in payphones when this happened; I remember the
days when I had to call coin refund quite often.  Anyway, according to
a telephone technician whom I know, the service did not make enough
money to justify its existence, and as a result it has been removed
from most of the payphones in this area.

I also heard that there were two companies that sold this technology
to phone companies, and that one of them sued the other for patent
infringement or something like that.

Anyway, Send-A-Call is now a thing of the past.  Most people have answering
machines or voice mail anyway.

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 03 May 1995 15:47:01 GMT
From: Craig Bogli <[e-mail]>
Subject: Voice and Data on the Same Communication Channel?
Organization: United Technologies Research Center


I need some help on a universal design that will allow voice communication
and data communication over the same channel.   This is a remote monitoring
station that will send data to a central monitoring center, and in certain
cases, the monitoring center operator will need to talk the someone at the
remote site.

Our current solution is a custom data modem, that allows an analog connection
to the low voltage signal side of the DAA.  This analog signal, then goes
through a speakerphone IC, and sent to an intercom.  This custom modem is
now >12 years old, and very costly.

The solution needs to operate in about 25 different countries.  We are
looking for an off-the-shelf solution that currently has the approvals
of the major PTTs.

Some ideas we have, are:

1) voice/data modems (however, if digital voice encoding is used,
   countries like Malaysia require max data rates of 1200bps)

2) auto-dialer intercoms with a phoneline sharing device


Please help with any ideas you might have, and company names/products.


Thanks,

Craig Bogli
Otis Elevator Company

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 03 May 95 10:45:40 1000
From: serge burjak <[e-mail]>
Subject: Calls From Australia to US 800 not Delivering DTMF After Connection


I have a problem getting through to some automated attendants using
DTMF from Australia. As the title says, after the connection the line
appears not to pass DTMF tones ie., "press 1 for this service, press 2
for that service."

This happens with both Telecom and OPTUS. The customer service droids
will not escalate the problem to anyone at an 'Engineer' level, but
only to techs who make comments like, well "the US is probably
translating these into something different, sorry cannot help you".

Am I being unreasonable asking to pass in voice band information? I
know it's not my phone, I can use Cyberlinks dial back for this or
AT&T's USA direct with a credit card. The Cyberlink solution is not
totally satisfactory for other resaons. The attendant requires a # key
after the some transactions and Cyberlinks interprets this as a new
call request.

Any advice anyone can give would be appreciated.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Joan Summa)
Subject: Wanted to Buy: D/121-A Boards
Date: Wed, 3 May 1995 16:33:54 EDT


We have an immediate need for 8 Dialogic D/121A 12 channel voice
boards.  Dialogic no longer manufactures the A board.

We are willing to buy them outright, or trade new, unused, Dialogic
D/121B Spring Boards for working D/121A Spring Boards.

(In most applications [alas not ours], the newer boards work identically
to the old and are upward compatible).

Please e-mail or call:

Joan Summa
Tel. [phone]
Fax. [phone]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (MSal765)
Subject: Company Contact Information Wanted
Date: 4 May 1995 16:45:11 -0400
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
Reply-To: [e-mail] (MSal765)


I am looking for some information on a US carrier that has been operating
in the United Kingdom for some time now. They began with UK domestic
services and now have recently become licensed to offer International
Resale services out of the UK to the US. The name of the company is ACC
Global or ACC Long Distance. I would appreciate any phone/fax/contact info
on this company.


With much appreciation,

[e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Willard F. Dawson)
Subject: Re: ISDN, BellSouth and OCN
Date: 5 May 1995 06:45:49 -0400
Organization: Entropy, Ltd.


[e-mail] (Bradley Ward Allen) writes:

>> "IPConnectSM users have access to the Metropolitan Internet and are
>> also able to select the carrier of their data to the worldwide
>> Internet in much the same way they now select a long distance carrier
>> along with local telephone services," states Robert Gardier, President
>> of Open Communication Networks.

> That's stupid.

Oh, I agree entirely with that assessment.  However, the RBOC's (and
their partner companies, like OCN) will do what they have to, under
the present regulatory environment.

> Redundancy is better -- let all subscribers use whatever works best at
> the moment, as determined by a well-maintained set of routers.

Redundant routers that kick in to the selected carrier of data rather
than falling over to a different carrier are also possible ... and,
required, in a RBOC environment that must compete with the likes of
MFS and their "miss 1% a year, get the next year for free" attitude.

> Or am I missing something?

Lots of MFJ that regular companies don't have to worry about.

> The old ways seemed better ...

Agreed.  Indeed, they might win out, as it is yet to be proven that OCN
and the RBOC forays into Internet services will make money, be viable
forces in the business, and all that rot.

> Or is this system a non-flat rate structure (i.e. charges per some
> unit of usage)?  In which case, forget it anyway I'm not interested
> (unless full time usage actually works out to a reasonable cost for
> me, which doesn't seem to be the pattern of usage-based charging).

For light-weight users, or certain businesses, usage-based charging
(depending on the model, and there are several) do make sense.
However, for addicts like myself, usage-based charges are always more
expensive than flat-rated connections ... which is probably true no
matter what the service.  Of course, maybe this is just what I need,
an economic incentive to get a real life, outside of surfing the
'net...


Willard Dawson

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Dave Leibold)
Date: 05 May 95 00:33:30 -0500
Subject: Market trial for Bell Canada free-call service


[from Bell News, 1 May 1995 - content is Bell Canada's]

Londoners first to try our new Call-Me service

Our customers in London are the first in Ontario to try out a new
service called Call-Me[tm].

Call-Me is a Bell product which enables residential and small
business customers to selectively provide others with the ability to
place long distance calls to their telephone number toll-free.

Days before the market trial began on April 24, 50,000 Bell customers
in London who spend more than $15 in long distance per month
automatically received four Call-Me service cards and their
individual authorization code (PIN #).

The market trial, which will end on September 30, is intended to
assess customers' reaction to the service.

"We're excited about the potential of the Call-Me service, and what
better way to assess the needs of our customers than to try it out in
London," said Brian Flegg, Bell's director of Consumer Market
Management.

"We think customers who'd like to hear from relatives and out-of-town
friends more often will find Call-Me service an easier and more
economical option than calling collect."

As well, customers using the service can benefit from any time-of-day
discounts, and if they currently subscribe to one of our long
distance savings plans -- such as the Real Plus[tm] savings plan --
they can save even more money.

Rewards points on residential calls also apply.

Calls made with the Call-Me service are billed at the direct-dialed
rate. No surcharge or transaction fees are applied on automated calls
made from within Canada.

Calls made from overseas locations are billed at Canadian rates
through Canada Direct[tm]] service -- rates that are usually cheaper
than overseas operator rates.

During the same trial period, Bell customers in Jonquiere and
Chicoutimi, Quebec, will also be participating in a similar trial to
better determine the needs of customers in the Quebec marketplace.

                             ------

(DL note: A sample card show indicates the calls are made by dialing
0 + number, then entering the special "PIN #" after the card boing.)


Fidonet : Dave Leibold 1:250/730
Internet: [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: We have had 'Call Me' style calling cards
here for quite a few years. These are simply calling cards which are
restricted and can be used only to call the number to which they are
assigned.  They are a pretty good deal.   PAT]

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 5 May 1995 15:25:12 +0200
From: [e-mail] (Alex)
Subject: Advice Wanted on VoiceFX Voice Board


Hi all,

I am planning to buy a new voicemail card, and I need some advice on what to
buy. I have been in touch with Dialogic, there cards seems to fine, but
there is no software with them. Software can be bought, but often the price
is high. So I looked in some american magazine, and found some info on a
card called VoiceFX from Orion Telecom. It's a card with 1,2,3 or 4 lines
and data/fax modem. It can do the usual stuff like voicemail and fax on
demand.. Does anyone know this card, and if so, what is his experience with
it? Or are there people with better cards in mind? I want to set up a open
voicemail system to the public, and it should at least have the following
options:

* Voicemail
* Fax on demand
* Conferencing
* Multi Language
* Keep logfile of last few callers

If anyone has any good ideas, let me know please!


Alex van Es       [phone]
[e-mail], Apeldoorn, The Netherlands

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 5 May 1995 09:38:18 EDT
From: Steve Samler <[e-mail]>
Subject: Want Phone Numbers of the PCS Narrowband License Winners


Can anyone tell me where to find phones or addresses for the following
companies?

Market Number                  Name              Winning Bids

N-1  [50-50KHz paired]    9065 - Paging Network of Virginia  $80,000,000.00
N-3  [50-50KHz paired]    5398 - KDM Messaging Company       $80,000,000.00
N-5  [50-50KHz paired]    7884 - Nationwide Wireless Network $80,000,000.00
N-11 [50KHz unpaired]     9683 - Pagemart II, Inc.           $38,000,000.00

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 5 May 1995 06:48:07 PDT
From: Gary Breuckman <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Advice Needed About Answering Service


In article <[e-mail]>, Brian D. Petro <petro@crl.
com> wrote:

> I am very seriously considering the idea of starting a business from
> my home selling voice-mail boxes.  As I have never been in the
> business, I am looking for advice from someone who has.

> I am planning on targeting the residential market.  I live in a town
> of 40,000.  I would only be charging $5/month for a basic service box.
> My major competition would be our local telephone company who charges
> $6.5/month.  My question is this: Would there be enough interest in
> voice-mail from residential clients to keep my business profitable?

> It seems to me that it would be fairly easy to add 100+ customers/year to
> my service, but I would like the opinion of someone "in the business."

Just providing voicemail might be cost effective, but remember that if
you are providing voicemail to people who first dial your customer's
normal number that you also need the feature "forward on busy/no-answer"
or regular call-forwarding added to your customer's line, and the telco will
charge for that.

The telco also provides "interrupted dialtone" to customers with
voicemail to indicate that they have messages waiting.  In order for
you to do that you need a data connection to the telco switch,
something that may cost you lots of $$ if they are even able to do it
for you.  Because of complaints from telco voicemail competitors they
do have to allow this in many places, but I have no idea what it will
cost you to install or what the monthly costs might be.  If you have
multiple central offices in your area, what does that do to the costs?


[e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Christopher Freitag)
Subject: Self Service Fax Machines
Date: Fri, 5 May 1995 10:14:03 EDT


    I have recently received a request to explore the idea of
having a fax machine availiable for student use at our law school as
well as at Mail Services for our general student body.  Having no
desire to get into the business of resale of fax service, I am looking
to find information on companies that provide the machine, telephone
line, service and billing.  I have received information from Fax
Unlimited, an affiliate of GOFAX, Inc.  located in Shrewsbury, MA.
They will do all of the above and even give a commission back to the
College.  Does anyone know of any other competitors or are there any
other ways to provide this service without having to deal with the
accounting?


Thank you in advance!

Western New England College
Christopher V. Freitag, MA., BFA.  Coord. Fac. Mgt. Tech. Svcs.  1215
Wilbraham Road Springfield, Massachusetts 01119
[phone], Fax  [phone]    [e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 4 May 1995 18:08:22 MDT
From: Jack Mott <[e-mail]>
Subject: Rural Phone Companies


I recently learned U.S. West is in the process of selling off its
rural telephone properties (I live in Idaho Falls, which will stay
with US West).  Although I felt that the original break-up of the Bell
System was unwise, it is natural to expect more fragmentation and
specialization in the telecom industry.

I would appreciate hearing about technical issues which are unique to
phone companies serving sparsely populated areas.  I imagine that the
smaller companies could become quite innovative in dealing with
problems specific to their business.


Charles Mott

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #226
******************************


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Date: Sat, 6 May 1995 07:58:32 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #227

TELECOM Digest     Sat, 6 May 95 07:58:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 227

Inside This Issue:                          Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Re-Engineering The Telephone Industry (Comm Week Intl via D. Shniad)
    Re: Annoying Calls: Can We Deal With Them? (Heath Roberts)
    Book Review: "Get on the Internet in Five Minutes" (Rob Slade)
    Re: Mexico Billing Method: Digit Analysis or Meter Pulse? (J. Hinnerk Haul)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
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                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
                    9457-D Niles Center Road
                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
                        Fax: [phone]
  ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

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*************************************************************************
*   TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the              *
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* project.  Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

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All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
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should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Thu, 4 May 1995 14:17:46 -0700
From: D Shniad <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re-Engineering The Telephone Industry


{Communications Week International}
10 April 1995

Re-engineering the telco

By Jennifer L. Schenker

  In 1987, a few years before New Zealand opened its market, the
country's incumbent monopoly had 26,500 employees -- including craftsmen
who made the company's furniture and mechanics who serviced its motor
vehicles.

  Once competition was introduced, the workforce was trimmed and
remaining employees went to work on upgrading the operator's network,
improving customer service and developing new products.  The operator
is spending NZ$4 billion ($2.6 billion) to phase out its 55,000 party
lines and completely dig ititize its network, a process now almost
complete.  It is developing broadband services for business customers,
expanding its cellular activities and looldng to invest abroad.

  As Telecom New Zealand continues to cut its workforce, to 7,500 by
1997, it is apparent that few of these employees will be raising a
hammer or turning a wrench on company time.

  The company now considers itself a world-class competitor, pointing
to 1993 and 1994 consultant studies that ranked its infrastructure
highest among telecoms operators in industrialized countries for
meeting business requirements.

  "We have nearly completed tuming the vision into a reality," says
John Crook, Telecom New Zealand's strategic issues manager.  "The fact
that New Zealand has the most open and competitive telecommunications
market in the world made realizing this goal possible.  It also made
achieving it a necessity."

  The lesson?  As telecoms markets are deregulated, competition is
introduced and tariffs are lowered in line with costs, telephone
companies must overhaul their businesses to survive, analysts say.
Even more radical restructurings will be required as bandwidth becomes
plentiful and network digitization both decreases network maintenance
requirements and changes the dynamics of competition by allowing
several operators to cohabitate on the same wire.

  The telco of the future will be leaner, and its core business will
extend to entirely new services and businesses.

Heyday over

  The heyday of huge profit margins for basic connections and
international calls is over, analysts say.

  By 2005, end-users may pay as little as $0.03 for an hour-long
international call, according to a report by consultancy Cambridge
Strategic Management Group.

  The report, titled "The Macroeconomic Effects of Near-Zero Tariff
Telecommunications," predicts that market liberalization and a
bandwidth glut will lead to an electronic commodity market for global
telecoms capacity, with buyers choosing the least expensive option of
the day.

  "The big message is don't stay in basic connectivity," says Simon
Forge, one of the report's authors.  "For the first time in the
history of telecommunications, telcos will have to completely
re-engineer their companies.  They will have to shed 80 or 90 percent
of today's staff and find a new operating profile or diversify into
new businesses."

  Conventional telecommunications will no longer be the core business
of most telcos, Forge says.  "Which services a telco chooses to be in
will change radically, with customization becoming far more
important," he says.  "And what telcos charge will change.  As we move
up the value chain, con nections could be given away."

  Telcos will slip into new, value-added roles, providing credit card
or entertainment services over their networks, or specializing in such
sectors as health, financial or educational services.

Getting the message

  That message is starting to sink in.

  Telecom New Zealand is rolling out a cable TV network, offering
original entertainment and news programming as well as connectivity.
The operator is talking with health providers about developing a
telemedicine network and is considering branching into other
sector-specific services.

  For its part, Sweden's Telia has laid off more than 15,000 employees
since 1992, reduced the number of switching points in its network to
250 from 6,000, and digitized its entire network.

  Basic telephony represents only about half of the operator's
revenue, compared to an average of 70 percent at public telecoms
operators in industrialized countries.  Telia sees basic telephony
generating only about 30 percent of the operator's revenues within a
few years, says Bertil Thorngren, senior vice president in charge of
strategy.

  Thorngren concurs with the Cambridge report that international call
tariffs could drop as low as three cents an hour.  "There is a
tremendous decrease of costs, especially for international and
broadband services, and prices have been artificially high and cannot
be sustained over the longer term," he says.

  Shedding businesses that no longer fit into its plans, such as
manufacturing telephone handsets, PBXs and Unix minicomputers, Telia
has branched into mobile and financial services.  And like Telecom New
Zealand, the Swedish operator is looking for partners to develop
expertise in sectors such as medicine.  It has also created an
internal restructuring program called-Project Telia 2001.  "We are
trying to restart the company from scratch to move as fast as possible
away from the present structure," Thomgren says.

Change brings profits

  The Telecom New Zealand and Telia experiences are interesting case
studies because both companies have had to adapt to voice and network
infrastructure competition, something most of the rest of the world's
telephone companies are expected to face by the end of the century.

  In the European Union, a deadline of 1 January 1998 has been set for
member states to open their markets.  The World Trade Organization,
which represents 82 countries, is pushing its members to do the same.

  In New Zealand, where all telecoms services have been open to
competition since 1991 and there is no special regulation for the
sector, and Sweden, with widespread voice and network infrastructure
competition, profits at the incumbent operators are up.  Other
operators that face competition in their homes markets, such as AT&T
and Australia's Telstra, announced record financial results last year.

  This evidence has led the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development to conclude that, despite losing market share to
competitive operators, incumbent operators stand to gain financially,
says Sam Paltridge, a telecoms analyst in the OECD's directorate for
science, technology and industry.

  The OECD, which is to release a report later this spring on how
telephone company employment is changing, also argues that market
liberalization creates jobs.

  In Japan, for example, former domestic monopoly Nippon Telegraph and
Telephone cut its workforce from 329,000 in 1980 to 248,000 in 1994.
But the same number of jobs have been created by the country's
competitive long distance carriers and Value-added service providers,
Paltridge says.

  In the United States, the seven regional Bell companies collectively
cut their workforces by 13 percent between 1988 and 1992 while still
exercising a high degree of monopoly power.  But employment in the
competitive U.S. long distance market increased 21 percent and
employment in mobile communications services increased more than 50
percent during the same period, Paltridge says.  Meanwhile,
competitive local access carriers and equipment suppliers have also
sprouted, creating their own j obs.

  No operator in an OECD country has gone further than BT, which has
cut its workforce from 245,000 in 1990 to 137,000 today. Some, but not
all, of those jobs have been offset by new employment in the booming
U.K. mobile and value added services sectors, analysts say.

  The problem for those being laid off is there is no guarantee they
will step into the jobs being created.  The growth jobs identified by
the OECD in its "1995 Communications Outlook" report require expertise
in software, sales, marketing and management rather than line
maintenance, in stallation or operations (see chart).

  Fearing strikes and voter dissent, governments are reluctant to
allow their telcos to whip out the hatchet--even if they are convinced
that restructuring will ultimately produce efficiency and net
employment gains.  And European governments are not taking the
necessary steps to retrain workers, says consultant Forge.

  "In Europe, there are legal, social and political barriers to the
cost shakeout seen in the U.K.," says Andy Embury, a partner at Price
Waterhouse in London.  "It is difficult for telcos in France, Germany,
Spain and Italy, because on the one hand they are told you need to get
your costs sorted out and be competitive within three years and on the
other hand you can't lay anybody off."

  France Telecom, for example, is restructuring more slowly than any
other telco in the OECD, Paltridge says.  Revenue per main line is
falling faster than wages per main line, meaning the state- owned
company is under pressure to increase productivity by downsizing.  But
the French government is reluctant to face the wrath of unions, he
says.

Management pitches in

  Some telcos are getting around the problem by setting up new
companies geared around the skills of surplus employees.  For example,
if a network maintenance operation has 25 percent too many employees,
the telco helps to come up with a service those employees could
provide both to the telco on a contract basis and to other companies.

  "A number of people are exploring it because it saves hundreds of
millions of dollars from coming straight off the bottom line in
redundancy costs," Embury says.  "But there is a commercial risk to it
because you might not be able to make that new business work."

  While BT has been criticized for laying off large numbers of
employees with little warning and Bell Atlantic strikers last year
donned T-shirts reading "I'm roadkill on the information highway,"
other telcos have cut their workforces with the cooperation of unions.

  Nynex Corp., which reduced its work force by 19 percent to 76,200 in
the decade since the AT&T di vestiture, drew praise from the U.S.
Secretary of Labor for the agreement it was able to hammer out with
union officials last year.

  Telia was able to make its cuts without social unrest, offering its
employees a variety of options, including early retirement, training
for new skills and education for new positions within the company.
And it is encouraging employees to start their own businesses,
sometimes under outsourcing arrangements.

  "There were sad stories and even tragedies and also quite a few
success stories,' Thomgren says.  "Overall, we managed very well."

Multimedia era

  Once telcos have streamlined, they must decide how to best approach
the multimedia era.

  Given current U.S. restrictions, cable TV is a key option for the
Bell companies because it is their only way to expand domestically on
the delivery side outside of their regional territories.

  "We look at it as a great financial hedge at worst and at best a
great bet for the future," says Euni Park, director of the media and
telecoms group at Lehman Brothers in London.

  Nynex, meanwhile, has gone a step further, investing $1.2 billion in
Viacom Corp. to jointly develop video-on-demand applications, games
and other content.

  In Europe, Deutsche Telekom is still in talks with German media
giant Bertelsmann AG, which has teamed with America Online Inc. to
jointly launch on-line services in Germany, France and the United
Kingdom.  BT, barred from delivering broadcasting traffic, is
nonetheless conducting video-on-demand trials.

  Telstra and partner News Corp., under a joint venture called Foxtel,
plan to spend $2.7 billion on a digital broadband network that will
run to 4 million Australian homes by 1999, delivering cable TV an
advanced interactive services.

  "The $64,000 question," analyst Park says, "is whether telcos should
own content."  Telia's Thorngren says it is important to at least "be
related to it."

  To some extent, you can't own media even if you have the money," he
says, "so it might be wiser to try and understand media better than to
spend a lot of money."

Developing world

  In the developing world, the issue for telcos is "not about owning
content or when should I introduce video dial tone, but rather how can
I double my penetration in my domestic marketplace," says Price
Waterhouse's Embury.  "Issue No.  2 is how can I radically improve my
productivity as a PTO."

  When competitive operators arrive, they bring the latest technology
and their costs are a small fraction of those borne by the incumbents.
They attack the most profitable business segments.  So telcos in the
developing world must get their cost bases under control in
anticipation of competition, analysts say.  But most are starting with
poor infrastructure and poor productivity.

  "The nature and timing of competition is absolutely critical,"
Embury says.  "If they face full-blown competition without
restriction, without giving them time to adjust, they risk being blown
away."

  Operators in Latin America, in particular, face a difficult
situation, says Andrew Fyfe, head of the telecoms practice in Price
Waterhouse's Washington office.  As part of operator privatizations in
the region, governments are pushing for shorter monopoly concessions
than those handed out in the 1980s and early '90s.

  "In nine years, maybe you could get to some sort of state of
equilibrium but there is no way to do it in five years," Fyfe says.
And even though most operators are meeting government targets for
quality, he says, the targets are too low and will not prepare the
incumbents for competition.

  Meanwhile, incumbents in some of the Asia- Pacific's developing
countries, such as Indonesia and Malaysia, are "diverting government
attention with initial public offerings, claiming financial markets
will make them more efficient," Fyfe says.  "How will this ever make
them more efficient?  These countries would have more telephones and
better service if they allowed strategic investors, but this is not
favored in Asia."

  For its part, Telecom New Zealand is proud of the transformation it
has made from a bloated part of the post office .

  "The challenge now is to continue being as innovative and flexible
into the future," says strategy manager Crook.  'We must be able to
recognize the opportunities new technologies and the growing synergy
between telecommunications, computing and electronic entertainment are
creating."

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 5 May 1995 17:42:34 +0000
From: heath roberts <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Annoying Calls: Can We Deal With Them?
Organization: Bell Northern Research


[e-mail] wrote:

> If Pac Bell, or the PUC, really cared about giving us peace in our
> homes, these limitations would have been removed by now, and I'm not
> inclined to believe stories that it's impossible.  The bottom line is
> that telco cares more about the income from these junk calls than
> about our right to peace.  I can only hope that dialtone competition
> will change their attitudes.

I think what happened in California is that when the telcos wanted to
offer CLID, the California Public Utilities Commission (your
representative government) placed so many different kinds of
restrictions on what offering it would allow that it became
economically unattractive for the telcos to offer. The market
determines the price, remember ... the telco can't charge more than
what people will pay, and the fewer people who buy the service, the
less capital the telco has to buy software to implement the service.

It's important to remember that telephone companies are *businesses* and
they're not going to do anything that doesn't make them money. There's
this warm fuzzy that people get when talking about the good ol' days of
Ma Bell, but those days are gone now. We've turned the phone system into
a cut-throat business where every penny of cost has to self-justify
itself. You're right that the bottom line is that telco cares about
income, which is as it should be in a capitalist society. The "problem"
is that the customer doesn't care enough to make an issue about it.
Government will never come up with the best solution, but if you let there
be a (perceived) need for a governmental solution, you're damned well
going to get one.

So if you want CLID, or any other service the market will support, call
your PUC/state representative/Congressman/Senator, and tell them you
want to see barriers to a free market removed ... don't bitch at the
company trying to provide the service.

As always, my opinions only, but after all, isn't everyone entitled to
my opinion?


Heath Roberts

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 05 May 1995 14:20:15 EST
From: Rob Slade <[e-mail]>
Subject: Book Review: "Get on the Internet in 5 Minutes (for Macintosh)"


BKINT5MN.RVW   950320

"Get on the Internet in 5 Minutes (for Macintosh)", Miser, 1994, 1-56830-135-9,
U$9.99
%A   Brad Miser [e-mail]
%A   Marta Partington [e-mail]
%A   Brian Gill [e-mail]
%C   201 W. 103rd Street, Indianapolis, IN   46290
%D   1994
%G   1-56830-135-9
%I   Hayden Books
%O   U$9.99 800-858-7674 [e-mail] 317-581-3743
%P   88
%T   "Get on the Internet in 5 Minutes"

If you live in New York City, or if you are willing to call and pay the toll
fees, you can "try the Internet for 30 days, risk-free".  This gives you *ten
minutes* of access, making it one of the most limited I have ever seen.  Also,
it is not "Internet" access, but simply a subset of the Pipeline BBS.

The booklet gives an overview of what you *can* do on the Internet:  there is
almost *no* how.  The installation is "plug and play"; it is unlikely that
you'll be able to take advantage of a high speed connection in any case.

Get on the Internet in five minutes?  No, I don't think so.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1995   BKINT5MN.RVW   950320. Distribution
permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated publications. Rob Slade's
book reviews are a regular feature in the Digest.


DECUS Canada Communications, Desktop, Education and Security group newsletters
Editor and/or reviewer [e-mail], [e-mail], Rob Slade at 1:153/733
Author "Robert Slade's Guide to Computer Viruses" 0-387-94311-0/3-540-94311-0

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 6 May 1995 13:34:03 +0200
From: Jan Hinnerk Haul <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Mexico Billing Method: Digit Analysis or Meter Pulse?


In comp.dcom.telecom is written:

> Does Mexico / Central America use a digit analysis method for
> calculating charges, or a metered pulse method?  What I'm actually
> refering to is the SMDR output on a PBX.  I believe the U.S. is in the
> minority in using digit analysis, or am I wrong?

Well, it depends...

Most countries (errr... PTTs / carriers) give call supervision data
to the PBX in some form or the other.

Typical methods are high-frequency pulses on top of the voice signal
(e.g., Germany uses 16 khz). These pulses are filtered out by the
PBX. Each pulse signals that one "unit" or "tick" of charge applies.

The duration of the unit is varied based on time of day and distance
of the call; the price of the unit is constant.

The method is country-dependant, so there really is no universal
answer.

Also, this pulse is quite often disturbing fax transmissions and modem
connections, on top of often being an additionally-chargeable feature,
so quite a lot of PBXes can do number analysis as an alternative
method.  The drawback of number analysis is, of course, that no call
supervision is possible, letting users being "billed" with uncompleted
calls if they wait longer than the set timeout period and letting very
brief calls unbilled. If your interest is mainly to catch the
expensive calls, like an office setup, this is fine. When you want to
bill the calls (like an hotel setup), it is not as easily acceptable.

On ISDN (being a bit more popular, it seems, in Europe than in the US)
you get accurate call supervision and billing information in the
signalling or "D" channel (the calls take place in the "B" channels).
This is called out-band signalling (like ITU-T System 7) and is generally
the better way of doing it (no disturbance, more tamper-proof).


Regards,

Jan

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #227
******************************


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Date: Sun, 7 May 1995 07:54:18 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #228

TELECOM Digest     Sun, 7 May 95 07:54:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 228

Inside This Issue:                          Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Book Review: "Trail Guide to Prodigy" by Halliday (Rob Slade)
    PacBell to Offer CID (Steve Cogorno)
    Syllabus WWW Online!!! ([e-mail])
    IEEE Tour (John Gulbenkian)
    Area Code Update (Steve Grandi)
    AT&T Files With State PUCs for Local Service (James E. Bellaire)
    Re: U.S. Federal Suggestion Box in Cyberspace (Wally Ritchie)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
                    9457-D Niles Center Road
                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
                        Fax: [phone]
  ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

*************************************************************************
*   TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the              *
* International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland    *
* under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES)   *
* project.  Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such
as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help
is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per
year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Sat, 06 May 1995 20:25:11 EST
From: Rob Slade <[e-mail]>
Subject: Book Review: "Trail Guide to Prodigy" by Halliday


BKTGPROD.RVW   950331

"The Trail Guide to Prodigy", Halliday, 1995, 0-201-40972-0, U$12.95/C$16.95
%A   Caroline Halliday
%C   1 Jacob Way, Reading, MA   01867-9984
%D   1995
%G   0-201-40972-0
%I   Addison Wesley
%O   U$12.95/C$16.95 800-822-6339 617-944-3700 Fax: [phone]
%P   239
%S   Trail Guide
%T   "The Trail Guide to Prodigy"

This is back to the old style of online service guide.  You won't find
much here that the Prodigy menus don't tell you.  There is, for
example, peripheral mention that the Mail Manager offline mail reader
exists, but no specifics about how to get it or use it.

On the other hand, Prodigy does tend to get short shrift in online
service books.  If you value your time, then buying and reading this
book will likely give you a better idea of whether Prodigy suits your
needs, than the "free trial" would.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1995   BKTGPROD.RVW   950331


Vancouver      [e-mail]
Institute for  [e-mail]
Research into  [e-mail]
User           [e-mail]
Security       Canada V7K 2G6

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Steve Cogorno)
Subject: PacBell to Offer CID
Date: Sat, 6 May 1995 09:06:11 PDT


I just read in today's paper that Pacific Bell will be offering Caller
ID in California by STATEWIDE by early 1996.  There weren't very many
details, but the article indicated that PacBell has the facilities for
caller ID in nearly all of their exchanges because the company has
been undergoing a switch replacement program to replace all switches
with 5ESS or DMS100 units.

Finally California get CID!  Hooray!


Steve   [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Syllabus Press)
Subject: Syllabus WWW Online
Date: 5 May 1995 16:53:19 -0700
Organization: Best Internet Communications, Inc. ([e-mail])


Syllabus Press, publishers of Syllabus magazine and producers of the
annual Syllabus conference, announce the opening of SyllabusWeb, a WWW
site covering technologies of interest to educators in high schools,
colleges, and universities.

SyllabusWeb contains news, case studies, product reviews and
announcements, and feature articles on technology written by educators
and experts in educational technology.

Among the technology areas covered are multimedia, graphics and
visualization, quantitative tools, the Internet, telecommunications and
networking, classroom products and technology infrastructure, personal
computer and workstation technologies, video and presentation
technologies, and more.

SyllabusWeb opened officially on May 1 and will be updated continuously,
including over the summer months.

The URL is:
http://www.syllabus.com

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (John Gulbenkian)
Subject: IEEE Tour
Date: 5 May 1995 15:48:55 -0700
Organization: CCnet Communications



             OAKLAND/EAST BAY COMMUNICATIONS SOCIETY
                            Presents
          "Pacific Bell Consumer Broadband Laboratory"
                A Tour and Technical Presentation

Pacific Bell had announced in November 1993 a $16 billion invest- ment
plan to upgrade its core network infrastructure over the next seven
years and to begin building an integrated telecommuni- cations
information and entertainment network providing advanced voice, data
and video services. The construction program begins in 1994, and
initially focuses on parts of the San Francisco Bay area, Los Angeles,
Orange County and San Diego. In addition to providing advanced
telecommunications services, the new network will also serve as a
platform for a host of information provid- ers, and will offer
telephone customers an alternative to the existing cable television
monopoly.  An integrated network is also expected to spur the
development of new interactive consumer services in education,
entertainment, government and healthcare.

A technology breakthrough allows delivery of information and
entertainment over a single network, instead of the multiple networks
in place today. AT&T was selected, through a multi-billion dollar
contract, to be the system integrator for the new Pacific Bell's
network, which will be capable of delivering fully interactive digital
and telephony services in the 1995-96 timeframe.

The Consumer BroadBand technology based on the Hybrid Fiber Coax (HFC)
architecture to be deployed by Pacific Bell will be presented at the
May 18, 1995 meeting of the Oakland/East Bay Communications Society
to be held at Pacific Bell's Broadband Labs in Concord, CA.

Keith Cambron will discuss the convergence of telecommunications and
CATV networks and services.  The talk will include a discussion and
demonstration of the types of technology used in full service hybrid
fiber coaxial networks, and how services will be enabled over those
networks.  Services carried by these full service network include
narrowband telephony and ISDN, wideband data, broadcast video, and
video on demand. Keith is the Director of Systems Engineering for the
Consumer Broadband Project at Pacific Bell. He has worked in various
systems engineering groups at Pacific Bell over the last six years.
Before that he worked at Bell Labs and Bellcore on network and
switching systems engi- neering projects. Keith graduated from the
University of Missouri with a BS in EE in 1970, and received an MS in
Systems Management from USC in 1974. Keith is a senior member of the
IEEE.

The  meeting will be held from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM at the  Pacific
Bell Broadband Labs, 1401 Enea Circle, Concord, CA.

Because space is limited, please call early to make reservations.


IEEE Oakland/East Bay Communications Society


Subject:  Pacific Bell Consumer Broadband Laboratory Tour

Speakers: Keith Cambron
          Director, Loop Architecture Systems Engineering
          Pacific Bell

Date:     Thursday, May 18, 1995
Time:     7:00 - 9:00 PM
Location: Pacific Bell Broadband Labs
          1401 Enea Circle, Concord, CA

Reservation: Required
     e-mail: [e-mail] (prefer)
 voice-mail: [phone]
             (use only if you don't have access to e-mail)
             (voice-mail RSVPs will not be acknowledged)

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 7 May 1995 06:00:35 -0700
From: [e-mail] (Steve Grandi)
Subject: Area Code Update


Area Code Changes: 1995-

Maintained by Steve Grandi ([e-mail]).  Additions and corrections
are welcome!

Last Revised: 5 May 1995

Latest changes: 540/703 (VA) permissive period shortened
                206/360 (WA) permissive period lengthened
                404/770 split (Atlanta) finalized
                Oregon split: 503/541
                Chicago split: 708/847 in '96, 708/630 in '98
                904/850 split (N. Florida)
                overlay AC proposed for 314 (St. Louis)
                612 split proposed (Minneapolis/St. Paul)

Cleveland seems next in line for a new AC...

    Date       Event

1)  1/7/95     AC 630 temporarily overlaid on AC 708 (Chicago metro area)
2)  1/15/95    AC 334 splits from AC 205 (Alabama)
3)  1/15/95    AC 360 splits from AC 206 (Washington)
4)  1/19/95    500 goes into service
5)  3/1/95     AC 281 overlaid on AC 713 (Houston metro area)
6)  3/19/95    AC 520 splits from AC 602 (Arizona)
7)  4/2/95     AC 970 splits from AC 303 (Colorado)
8)  5/28/95    AC 941 splits from AC 813 (Florida)
9)  7/15/95    AC 540 splits from AC 703 (Virginia)
10) 8/28/95    AC 860 splits from AC 203 (Connecticut)
11) 9/2/95     AC 562 overlaid on ACs 213, 310 and 818 (Los Angeles metro area)
12) 9/11/95    AC 423 splits from AC 615 (Tennessee)
13) 10/1/95    AC 441 splits from AC 809 (Bermuda)
14) 11/5/95    AC 541 splits from AC 503 (Oregon)
15) 12/1/95    AC 770 splits from AC 404 (Atlanta metro area)
16) 12/3/95    AC 864 splits from AC 803 (South Carolina)
17) ??/??/95   AC 954 splits from AC 305 (Miami metro area)
18) ??/??/95   AC 850 splits from AC 904 (North Florida)
19) 1/20/96    AC 847 splits from AC 708 (Chicago Suburbs)
20) 2/1/96     AC 972 overlaid on AC 214 (Dallas metro area)
21) 2/??/96    AC ??? overlaid on AC 314 (Eastern Missouri)
22) 4/1/96     888 goes into service
23) ??/??/96   AC ??? splits from 612 (Central Minnesota)
24) ??/??/97   AC ??? splits from AC 619 (San Diego)
25) ??/??/98   AC 630 splits from AC 708 (Chicago Suburbs)
26) ??/??/??   AC ??? overlaid on AC 817 (Ft. Worth metro area)
27) ??/??/??   AC 340 splits from AC 809 (Puerto Rico)


Notes...

1) Originally reserved for Wireless services (cellular phones and pagers).
       All wireless services in 708 would have been forced to move to 630.
       All new wireless services in areas served by 312 and 708 would have
       been in 630.  Wireless companies appealed to the Illinois Commerce
       Commission and to the FCC.  The FCC seemed to indicate that wireless
       overlay area codes were discriminatory.  The latest plan as decreed by
       the Illinois Commerce Commission is for 708 to do a three-way split
       into 708, 847 and 630.  Wireless numbers assigned to 630 in the meantime
       would be reassigned into the geographical codes (but most existing 708
       wireless services will not have to change to 847 or 630).

2) 334 for Southern Alabama, Northern Alabama keeps 205
   334 will contain Auburn, Dothan, Mobile, Montgomery and Selma
   205 will retain Anniston, Birmingham, Decatur, Huntsville and Tuscaloosa
   Permissive period ends 5/13/95

3) 360 will cover all of Western Washington except Seattle and immediate
       suburbs which stay in 206
   360 will contain Bellingham, Bremerton, Olympia, Vancouver
   206 will retain Auburn, Bellevue, Everett, Redmond, Seattle, Tacoma
   Permissive period ends 8/20/95 (an extra 90 days was tacked on by order
       of the state PUC in a response to horror stories by companies that
       can't be reached via AC 360).

4) Special Area Code 500, for "Personal Communications Services", goes
       into production with AT&T's service.  Codes 533, 544, 566, 577
       and 588 reserved for future expansion.

5) First numbers assigned in AC 281 (until 2/29/96) will be wireless services.
       After 3/1/96, all new numbers assigned will be in 281.  Mandatory
       10 digit dialing for all local calls in the 713/281 area begins
       on 3/1/96.

6) 520 will cover the entire state of Arizona except Phoenix and its suburbs
       which stay in 602
   520 will contain Flagstaff, Prescott, Sierra Vista, Tucson, Yuma
   602 will retain Buckeye, Chandler, Glendale, Mesa, Phoenix, Scottsdale,
       Tempe
   Permissive period ends 7/23/95

7) 970 will serve Northern Colorado and the Western Slope except Denver and
       its suburbs which stay in 303
   970 will contain Aspen, Durango, Fort Collins, Grand Junction, Greeley,
       Loveland, Steamboat Springs, Vail
   303 will retain Arvada, Aurora, Boulder, Denver, Englewood, Littleton,
       Longmont
   Permissive period ends 10/1/95

8) Southwestern coast of Florida splits: Southern part moves to 941; Northern
       part (Tampa-St. Petersburg) stays in 813
   941 will contain Bradenton, Fort Meyers, Lakeland, Sarasota, Winter Haven
   813 will retain Clearwater, St. Petersburg, Tampa
   Permissive period ends 3/3/96

9) 540 will cover all of Western Virginia except the Washington DC area which
       stay in 703
   540 will contain Blacksburg, Roanoke, Salem, Winchester
   703 will retain Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax, Falls Church, McLean
   Permissive period ends 1/13/96

10) SW CT (Fairfield and New Haven Counties) will retain 203; the rest of
    the state will move to 860.
    860 will contain Hartford, New London, Norwich
    203 will retain Stamford, Bridgeport, New Haven, Danbury, Norwalk, Waterbury
    Permissive period ends 10/6/96

11) First numbers assigned in AC 562 will be wireless services in the area
       served by AC 310.  Landline services in AC 310 and wireless and
       possibly landline services in AC 213 and 818 will follow.
       Wireless companies and MCI are appealing to the FCC, especially given
       the decision in the Chicago case.

12) Eastern Tennessee moves to 423 while Middle Tennessee retains 615
    423 will contain Chattanooga, Clarksville, Johnson City, Kingsport,
       Knoxville
    615 will retain Murfreesboro, Nashville
    Permissive period ends 2/26/96

13) Permissive period ends 9/30/96

14) NW Oregon (including metro Portland and Salem) will keep 503; the rest
    of the state moves to 541.  The state PUC rejected an overlay in favor
    of a split.
    541 will contain Corvallis, Eugene, Klamath Falls, Medford, Pendleton,
       Roseberg
    503 will retain Astoria, Hillsboro, Portland, Salem
    Permissive period ends 6/30/96

15) Atlanta and suburbs interior to I285 (the Perimeter) will stay in AC 404,
    the remainder--a donut--moves to AC 770.  The Georgia Public Service
    Commission voted 3-2 to adopt the geographic split rejecting staff
    recommendations to adopt an overlay.  Southern Bell says AC 404 will
    have to split again in eight years.
    404 will contain Atlanta, College Park
    770 will contain Lawrenceville, Marietta, Norcross

16) Northwestern South Carolina moves to 864, rest of state keeps 803.
    864 will contain Anderson, Greenville, Spartanburg
    803 will retain Charleston, Columbia, Florence, Myrtle Beach, Rock Hill
    Permissive period ends 5/1/96

17) 954 was originally to be a wireless overlay on top of 305 effective
    3/1/95.  The Florida Public Service Commission rejected this proposal
    and decreed that Broward Co. (Fort Lauderdale) would move to 954 and
    Dade Co. (Miami) and the Keys would retain 305.  Southern Bell is appealing
    the decision since 305 would have to split again in a few years.  The PSC
    is holding hearings and a final decision is expected this summer.

18) Counties from Pasco to the Panhandle will move to AC 850.  Panhandle
    counties east to Jacksonville will retain AC 904.

19) Landline service in the North and Northwest Chicago suburbs will move into
    AC 847 (suburban Cook Co. north of Chicago city limits, Lake Co. and the
    portion of McHenry Co. currently in AC 708 and the northern part of Kane
    Co.).  Most existing wireless services with 708 numbers will not be
    required to change.
    Permissive period ends 4/20/96

20) Mandatory 10 digit dialing for all local calls in 214/972 area begins on
    8/1/96.  All new numbers assigned after 2/1/96 will be in 972.

21) Southwestern Bell has proposed an overlay AC upon 314 (Eastern Missouri,
    including St. Louis).  Mandatory 10 digit dialing for all local calls in
    the 314/??? area begins in 6/96.  The usual protests are being heard and
    the state PUC is taking an interest.

22) 888 will be used as an extension of 800 "Free Phone" services.  877, 866,
    844, 833 and 822 are reserved for any future expansion.

23) Metro Minneapolis/St. Paul will keep 612, the rest of Central Minnesota
    will change.

24) No further details

25) Landline service in the Western suburbs of Chicago will move into AC 630
    (Dupage Co., southern portion of Kane Co. and the portion of Kendall Co.
    currently in AC 708).  Landline service in the Southern and Southwest
    suburbs of Chicago (south suburban Cook Co., areas around Peotone and
    Beecher in Will Co. currently in AC 708 and near-west Cook Co. suburbs
    south of O'Hare airport) will remain in AC 708.  Most existing wireless
    services with 708 numbers will not be required to change.

26) Overlay similar to Dallas

27) Unconfirmed.  Seems to be a stray rumor.



Splits to watch for (Based on Bellcore's projections of number exhaustion
contained in letter IL 95/01-018)

216 (Cleveland) (1997 1Q)
818 (N. part of Los Angeles Metro area) (1998 1Q)
210 (San Antonio) (1998 2Q)
318 (Louisiana) (1998 3Q)
213 (Central part of Los Angeles Metro area) (1998 4Q)
604 (British Columbia) (1998 4Q)
816 (Kansas City) (1998 4Q)
312 (Chicago) (about 1998; revised forward since 312 will get no relief from
               new 630 code)


Steve Grandi, National Optical Astronomy Observatories, Tucson, Arizona USA
Internet: [e-mail]  Voice: [phone]

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 04 May 1995 23:44:06 -0500
From: [e-mail] (James E. Bellaire)
Subject: AT&T Files With State PUCs for Local Service


According to an article in the {Kalamazoo (Michigan) Gazette}  AT&T has
filed with the PUCs in Michigan and Illinois to provide local competitive
telephone services.

Competition will be in Western Michigan (NPA 616) and the Chicago area
(NPAs 312 - 807 - 815 [the paper's list - not mine!]).  The plan is to
lease the local loops from Ameritech.

Ameritech has been advertising *a lot* lately about how they are NOT AT&T and
have been promising new services.  Looks like they are getting ready for the
'competition'.


James E. Bellaire (JEB6)  [e-mail]
Twin Kings Communications  -  Sturgis, MI


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Yeah, they both have been advertising
heavily in the {Chicago Tribune} lately, with AT&T saying they'll soon
be in the business and Ameritech telling how they are not the same
company. Some competition, eh?  Pot meets kettle, each calls the other
black.   PAT]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: U.S. Federal Suggestion Box in Cyberspace
Date: 5 May 1995 04:38:52 GMT
Reply-To: [e-mail]


In <[e-mail]>, Donald E. Kimberlin
<[e-mail]> wrote about a federal suggestion box.

It would be nice if a million or so people just told them to put all
federal documents (especially the tens of thousands of pages of
federal regulations) online (with commercial contractors), then fire
everybody in the federal government and start over from scratch. (Zero
base head count).

JMO


Wally Ritchie   Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #228
******************************


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Date: Tue, 9 May 1995 12:09:18 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #229

TELECOM Digest     Tue, 9 May 95 12:09:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 229

Inside This Issue:                          Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Book Review: "Mastering the Internet" by Cady/McGregor (Rob Slade)
    Wireless Telephone Seminar (Alexander Resources)
    Call for Papers: 1995 European Simulation Symposium (Alexander Verbraeck)
    Home Premises Distribution Systems (Bob Cas)
    Cyberspace Event in New York City ([e-mail])
    Help Me Bring the Internet to Kyrgyzstan (Jonathan Korn)
    ATM Locators at NXX NPAs (John Mayson)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
                    9457-D Niles Center Road
                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
                        Fax: [phone]
  ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

*************************************************************************
*   TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the              *
* International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland    *
* under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES)   *
* project.  Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such
as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help
is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per
year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Mon, 08 May 1995 18:22:11 EST
From: Rob Slade <[e-mail]>
Subject: Book Review: "Mastering the Internet" by Cady/McGregor


BKMSTINT.RVW   950403

%A   Glee Harrah Cady [e-mail]
%A   Pat McGregor [e-mail]
%C   2021 Challenger Drive, Alameda, CA   94501
%D   1995
%G   0-7821-1645-0
%I   Sybex Computer Books
%O   U$39.99 510-523-8233 800-227-2346 Fax: [phone]
%P   1258
%T   "Mastering The Internet"
"Mastering The Internet", Cady/McGregor, 1995, 0-7821-1645-0, U$39.99

I suspect the authors have tried to make this book do too many things
for too many people.  The result is an acceptable basic Internet guide
"bulked out" with sections that don't work.

Part one provides a background to the Internet, and a very simplified
introduction to the standard applications.  An interesting feature is
a chapter on setting up and configuring a modem.  Unfortunately, while
this provides much better information to the novice than many "big
name" modem reference books, it still falls short of what the new user
needs.  Throughout this first section, there are odd intrusions, such
as tables of ISO country codes, which may confuse the neophyte.

Part two looks at the net from the viewpoint of the provider.  This
is, though, a philosophical and limited overview, touching more on the
public school system, acceptable use policies, and sample designs,
than on the practicalities of bandwidth and security.  Part three
lists varied Internet resources for public policy and education.  A
set of appendices contains essays on philosophy and culture, plus the
Hobbes' Internet Timelist, a list of MUDs, and a list of ftp archive
sites.

The book also contains access software for Netcom, and the Chameleon SLIP
software sampler.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1995   BKMSTINT.RVW   950403. Distribution
permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated publications. Rob Slade's book
reviews are a regular feature in the Digest.


Vancouver      [e-mail]         | "Kill all: God will know his own."
Institute for  [e-mail]      |       - originally spoken by Papal
Research into  Rob.Slade@f733.n153.z12/ |         Legate Bishop Arnald-Amalric
User                      .fidonet.org  |         of Citeaux, at the siege of
Security       Canada V7K 2G6           |         Beziers, 1209 AD

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Alexander Resources)
Subject: Wireless Telephone Seminar
Date: 9 May 1995 03:39:02 GMT
Organization: Prodigy Services Company  1-800-PRODIGY


        ***** NEW SCHEDULE AND LOCATIONS *****

The only educational seminar to focus on Wireless Business Telephone
Systems.

A comprehensive, two day seminar for telecommunications professionals
who need to understand the applications, benefits and limitations of:

            ON-PREMISES PCS
             WIRELESS PBXs
         IN-BUILDING CELLULAR SYSTEMS

New wireless communications systems are expected to bring about the
most fundamental change in business communications since the
introduction of the electromechanical telephone system. Nearly every
provider of PBX, Centrex, Key system, Cellular and PCS systems and
services is expected to offer a wireless telephone system to address
business user's need for wireless communications.

Yet continuing changes and differences in spectrum choices, RF
technology, and architectural implementation will challenge a vendor's
ability to satisfy their customer's price and performance
requirements. Telecommunications managers will also need to evaluate
and understand the wireless needs of their users, the strengths and
weaknesses of various wireless systems and select the optimum wireless
solution.

This seminar has been designed to help both vendors and users make the
right business decisions about wireless telephone systems. Whether you
need to better understand the wireless needs and applications of your
customers or develop a strategy to justify the purchase of a system,
the seminar will prepare you for the most fundamental change in
business communications systems.

AT THIS SEMINAR YOU WILL LEARN:

>  Why these new systems will usher in the era of Personal
   Communications Services.

>  How these systems can:

     Increase productivity, revenue, customer and employee
       satisfaction;
     Improve access to existing communications systems and
       networks;
     Reduce wiring costs and problems.

>  What barriers exist to penetrating the installed base of 65
   million on-premises business telephones.

>  How quickly the market for these systems will grow. How
   quickly price per user will decline.

>  Why leading end-user business organizations have purchased
   these systems. How they use them. How they have benefited
   from them.

>  What are the differences, advantages and limitations of:

     Part 15 Subpart C, Cellular and Unlicensed PCS spectrum;
     Single Cell/Single User, Single Cell/Multi User, and
       Multi Cell/Multi User architectures;
     Adjunct and integrated implementations;
     Host and Network controlled operation.

>  What strategies PBX, Centrex, Cellular and PCS suppliers
   will employ to capture this market.

>  How to use traffic engineering principles to evaluate,
   select and plan a system.

         -------------------------------------------

NEW DATES! NEW LOCATIONS!
      Atlanta, Boca Raton, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Minneapolis,
      Morristown, Newport Beach, Orlando, Philadelphia, San
      Francisco, Scottsdale, Toronto, Vancouver, and Washington

    For a complete seminar information call 602-948-8225 now.
                     Seating is limited!

Presented by Alexander Resources, the leader in wireless
communications research, analysis, consulting, seminars and
conferences.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Alexander Verbraeck)
Subject: Call for Papers: 1995 European Simulation Symposium, Erlangen
Organization: Delft University of Technology
Date: Tue, 9 May 1995 09:31:55 GMT


Second Call for Papers

ESS '95
*******

7th European Simulation Symposium

Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany on October 26-28, 1995

Organized and Sponsored by:
   SCS The Society for Computer Simulation International

Keynote Speakers:
   A. Alan B. Pritsker, Ph.D.
   Pritsker Corporation
   President and CEO:
   New Roles for Simulation in Industry

   Prof. Dr. Hansjoerg Fromm
   IBM Deutschland Produktion GmbH:
   Workflow Management and the Simulation of Business Processes

Scientific Program:
   Simulation Methodology and Application
   Coordination: Andras Javor, (H)
    o Languages
    o Engineering Applications
    o Knowledge Based Simulation Tools
    o Distributed and Parallel system Simulation
    o Graphical Model Editors

   Computer and Telecommunications Networks
   Coordination: Winfried Dulz (D)
    o Electronic Circuits and Components
    o Parallel and Distributed Systems
    o High Speed Networks
    o ISDN and ATM Communications
    o Multimedia Systems

   Dependability Evaluation
   Coordination: Graham Horton (GB)
    o Reliability and Availability Assurance
    o Fault Forecasting
    o Safety and Security
    o Fault Tolerance

   Analytical and Numerical Modelling Techniques
   Coordination: Hermann de Meer (NL)
    o Queuing Networks
    o Stochastic Petri Nets
    o Markov Models
    o Optimization

   Simulation in Automation
   Coordination: Klaus Feldmann (D)
    o Scheduling
    o Manufacturing
    o System Optimization
    o Applications

   Simulation in Business
   Coordination: Peter Mertens (D)
    o Production Planning and Scheduling
    o Logistics
    o Risk-Analysis
    o Combination of Simulation and AI-Techniques

   SYMPOSIUM: MISSION EARTH
   Coordination: Alfred Jones (USA)
   Mission Earth is an Activity of the Society for Computer Simulation
   International. Its purpose is the identification and dissemination of the
   unique benefits of World Simulation as the prime tool for use in planning
   and monitoring a sustainable future for the World System.

Conference Chairmen:
   Mario Dal Cin
   Univ. of Erlangen-Nurnberg
   Department of Computer Science
   Chair of Computer Architecture
   Martensstrasse 3
   D-91058 Erlangen - Germany
   E-mail: [e-mail]
   Tel.: +(49) 9131 85 7003
   Fax: +(49) 9131 85 7239

   Ulrich Herzog
   Univ. of Erlangen-Nurnberg
   Department of Computer Science
   Chair of Computer Architecture and Performance Evaluation
   Martensstrasse 3
   D-91058 Erlangen - Germany
   E-mail: [e-mail]
   Tel.: +(49) 9131 857041
   Fax: +(49) 9131 857409

Conference Program Chairmen:
   Gunter Bolch
   University of Erlangen-Nuremberg
   Department of Computer Science
   Chair of Operating Systems
   Martensstrasse 1
   91058 Erlangen, Germany
   E-mail: [e-mail]

   Ali Riza Kaylan
   Bogazici University Istanbul
   Department of Industry-Engineering
   80815 Bebek
   Istanbul,Turkey
   Tel.: +(90) 212 263 1540 / 2072
   Fax: +(90) 212 2651800
   E-mail: [e-mail]

Finance Chairman and Conference - Coordination:
   Rainer Rimane
   University of Erlangen-Nuremberg
   Department of Computer Science
   Chair of Operating Systems
   Martensstrasse 1
   91058 Erlangen, Germany
   Tel.: +(49) 9131 66247
   Fax: +(49) 9131 66247
   e-mail: [e-mail]

Local Organizing Committee:
   Joerg Dittrich, Wolfgang Hohl, Walter Henning, Elke Stief, Roya Ulrich
   University of Erlangen-Nuremberg

European Simulation Office:
   Philippe Geril
   The Society for Computer Simulation International
   European Simulation Office
   University of Ghent
   Coupure Links 653
   B-9000 Ghent, Belgium
   E-mail: [e-mail]
   WWW: http://hobbes.rug.ac.be/scs
   Tel.: +(32) 9 2337790
   Fax: +(32) 9 2234941

International Program Committee:
   Amborski, K. (PL)
   Balbo, G. (I)
   Beilner, H. (D)
   BoHuLi (Tj)
   Boxma, O. (NL)
   Breitenecker, F. (A)
   Courtois, P.-J. (B)
   Crosbie, R. (USA)
   Eschenbacher, P. (D)
   Forster, H. (D)
   Giambiasi, N. (F)
   Guasch, A. (E)
   Hahn, W. (D)
   Halin, J. (CH)
   Hanschke, T. (D)
   Haring, G. (A)
   Houbak, N. (DK)
   Huntsinger, R. (USA)
   Iazeolla, I. (I)
   Irmscher, K. (D)
   Fryer, R. (USA)
   Jones, A. (USA)
   Kerckhoffs, E. (NL)
   Kleijnen, J. (NL)
   Krug, W. (D)
   Kuehn, P. (D)
   Lehmann, A. (D)
   Lehmann, F. (D)
   Lehnert, R. (D)
   Marie, R. (F)
   Meisinger, R. (D)
   Meisen, P. (USA)
   Merkuryev, Y. (LV)
   Molnar, I. (H)
   Mosekilde, E. (DK)
   Oren, T. (CAN)
   Pataricza, A. (H)
   Schmidt, B. (D)
   Strunz, H. (D)
   Szczerbicka, H. (D)
   Tanir, O. (CAN)
   Tripathi, S. (USA)
   Trivedi, K. (USA)
   Tucci, S. (I)
   van As, H. (CH)
   Verbraeck, A. (NL)
   Wake, B. (D)
   Witte, Th. (D)
   Wittmann, J. (D)
   Zobel, R. (GB)

Important Information for Authors:
   Extended abstracts (2-3 pages for full papers and 1 page for short papers
   typewritten without drawing and tables) are due to arrive in quadruplicate
   at the European Simulation Office May 15th, 1995.
   Only original Papers, written in English, which have not previously been
   published elsewhere will be accepted. In case you want to organize a panel
   discussion, please contact the Program Chairmen.
   Authors are expected to register early (at a reduced fee) and to attend the
   Conference at their own expense to present the accepted papers. If early
   registration and payment are not made, the paper will not be published in
   the Conference Proceedings. In the case of multiple authors, one author
   should be identified as the person who will act as the correspondent for
   the paper.

   Abstracts will be reviewed by three members of the International Program
   Committee for full papers and one member for short papers. Notification of
   acceptance or rejection will be sent by June 15, 1995.
   An author kit with complete instructions for preparing a camera-ready copy
   for the Proceedings will be sent to authors of accepted abstracts. The
   camera-ready copy of the papers must be in by August 31, 1995. Only the full
   papers, which are expected to be five pages long, will be published in the
   Conference Proceedings. In order to guarantee a high-quality Conference, the
   full papers will be reviewed as well, to check whether the suggestions of
   the program committee have been incorporated. The nominees for the best
   paper awards will be selected as well.

Important Dates:
 o Submission Deadline: May 15, 1995
 o Acceptance Notification: June 15, 1995
 o Camera-ready Copies: August 31, 1995

Conference Information:
   The ESS series (organized by SCS, the Society for Computer Simulation
   International) is now in its seventh year. SCS is an International non-
   profit organization founded in 1952. On a yearly basis SCS organizes six
   Simulation Conferences worldwide, cooperates in two others, and publishes
   the monthly magazine "Simulation", a quarterly "Transactions", and books.
   For more information, please tick the appropriate box on the reply-card.

Exhibits:
   An exhibition will be held in the area, where the participants are having
   coffee during the breaks. There will be a special exhibition section for
   universities and non-profit organizations, and a special section for
   publishers and commercial stands. If you would like to participate in the
   exhibition, please contact the European Office.

About Erlangen:
   Erlangen has one of the largest computer science departments in Germany. It
   traditionally had strong research groups in the area of dependability and
   performance evaluation. It is situated near the medieval city of Nuremberg
   and the beautiful Franconian Forest. Erlangen is also the location of a
   large research and development facility of Siemens.

             Authors          Members    Others
----------------------------------------------------------
Registration before  BF  16000        BF  16000  BF  18000
August 31, 1995      ECU   400        ECU   400  ECU   450

Registration after   Preregistration  BF  18000  BF  20000
August 31,1995       required         ECU   450  ECU   500

REPLY CARD

Family Name:
First Name:
Occupation and/or Title:
Affiliation:
Mailing Address
Zip:    City:   Country:
Tel.:   Fax:
E-mail:

Yes, I intend to attend the European Simulation Multiconference '95
        Without presenting a paper
        And proposing the following paper

The provisional title of my paper is:


with the following highlights:


The paper falls within the category (please tick one):
           Simulation Methodology and Application
           Computer and Telecommunications Networks
           Dependability Evaluation
           Analytical and Numerical Modelling Techniques
           Simulation in Automation
           Simulation in Business
           SYMPOSIUM: MISSION EARTH

Do you know other research workers interested in the topics of the conference?
Name:
Address:

Name:
Address:


More information on ESS95 can be found on:
WWW at http://faui30t.informatik.uni-erlangen.de:1200/Misc/ESS95.html

More information on SCS can be found on:
WWW at http://duticai.twi.tudelft.nl/societies/scs
and on
WWW at http://hobbes.rug.ac.be/scs

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Home Premises Distribution Systems
Organization: Ungermann-Bass, Inc
Date: Tue, 9 May 1995 18:46:31 GMT


I am trying to find information on cabling equipment for use in the
home. I would like to run cat-5 4-pair (TIA-568A?) to each of 4
bedrooms, a study, and the basement.

Are there distribution systems available that cater to such small
scale use?  I would like to patch, on an individual basis, up to 2
phone lines to each room, with the capabilities to expand to 4 lines
in the future.  I would also like to patch, also individually, up to 2
10BASE-T connections to each room.

Also, while I'm doing all this snaking, I might run COAX to each room
as well.  This would be initially for cable hook-up, but If I could
get a coaxial patch system, it might be fun to be able to share VCR's
etc..

Can anyone help me out?


Thanks,

Bob Cas ([e-mail])

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Cyberspace Event in New York City
Date: 9 May 1995 03:05:15 GMT
Organization: Hearst Corporation


                            AFTERWORK
                       ALTERNATE REALITIES

          for those of us for whom reality is not enough...

                   Herbert Fox & Llewellyn Wall
                         invite you to a

                           CYBERENERGY

                  Afterwork Networking Party at

                      ***** CLUB EXPO *****
                      THE WORLD OF TOMORROW

                        doors open at 5PM
                          FRIDAY, MAY 12

                           FREE BUFFET
                    HAPPY HOUR DRINK SPECIALS

                           $5 admission
                  invitation not valid after 10PM

            CLUB EXPO - 124 west 43rd street TIMES SQUARE
                    for info call 212.819.0377


ABOUT THE EVENT:

   People from all realms of computer will be attending, programmers,
designers, graphic artists, multimedia producers, engineers, animators,
composers, systems developers, network specialists, telecommunication
specialists, and common everyday internet hounds. A great opportunity
for networking, making contacts and simply meeting other people
enhabiting cyberspace.

                          Music extreme.

             Relax afterwork and explore cyberculture.

                       Everyone is welcome.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Jonathan Korn)
Subject: Help Me Bring the Internet to Kyrgyzstan
Date: 8 May 1995 19:05:19 GMT
Organization: Netcom


Hello!

I am departing next month for the formerly Soviet Central Asian
Republic of Kyrgyzstan for a one-year stint to expand computer network
access among scholars, non-commercial civic groups and other members
of the Republic's "informationally disenfranchised." My job will be
to teach the virtues of networking to non-technical types: historians,
linguists, librarians, local government officials, non-governmental
organization activists, ecologists, etc. I will implement public
access e-mail stations and develop Internet host sites with the
objective of attaining full Internet access for Kyrgyzstan.

I would like to see if their are any Internet gurus out there who would
be interested in rendering me periodic assistance via e-mail. I will
have numerous practical questions on how to configure and assemble
networks under rather harsh conditions. It will be a great adventure
with a very noble goal and I would love to have your participation!

If you are a dedicated and interested "Net-head," I would welcome your
e-mail message at <[e-mail]> until May 28, 1995. I will
thank you, record your e-mail address and then get back to you from
Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan with questions and periodic progress reports.


Thanks, folks!

Jonathan Korn

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (John Mayson)
Subject: ATM Locators at NXX NPAs
Date: 8 May 1995 15:07:21 -0400
Organization: West Melbourne, Florida, USA


Just for grins I called the ATM locator service for Cirrus, Exchange,
and Plus networks.  They work by having the caller enter the area code
and exchange of a phone number.  None of them recognize the NXX format
area codes.  Yet they kept up with area code splits very well in the
past.  I worked in New Jersey in 1990 when 908 split from 201.  Early
in the permissive dialing period, entering 908-615 gave me a list of
ATMs in Middletown.


John Mayson | West Melbourne, Florida | [e-mail]

------------------------to
my original long distance carrier.

I wonder I someone else had the same experience with LDCs literally
*forcing* business from customers?


Lionel


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: What you have experienced is a very common
thing. The unofficial name for the theft of accounts by one long distance
carrier from another is 'slamming', and although it does not happen as
much as it used to, it still is a well-known practice.  Thanks for passing
along the warning that Sprint telemarketers are still up to their old
tricks.   PAT]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Lee Winson)
Subject: DID: Same as Early SxS Centrex?
Date: 5 May 1995 23:12:53 GMT
Organization: PACS IBM SIG BBS


Somewhere I read that in the early days of Centrex, step-by-step systems
could be used pretty easily -- just allocate a block of it to that
subscriber.

I believe there were two possibilities.  One, where the equipment was in
the C.O. and every phone had a line to the C.O.  The other, was where
the equipment was on the customer's premises, and served by some trunks.

Say the customer had 555-1000 to 555-1999.  When the C.O. pulsed over to
555-1, the remaining digits would be transmitted over the truck to the
the selectors at the customer's location.  Isn't this the same principle
as DID?


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I don't know about SxS, but a firm I was
involved with in the middle to late 1960's had centrex provided from a
crossbar office. That particular office did not change to ESS until about
1973 or so, and when it did the company's centrex changed from crossbar
to ESS along with it. It was sort of a funny changeover, regards how the
handling of calls changed, etc.  They also had an ACD (automatic call
distributor) behind the centrex both when it was crossbar and when it
was upgraded.  One thing telco was forced to do was get their records
for that subscriber in good order; when operating as crossbar, the
subscriber had at one point converted all the rotary dial phones to touch
tone. Telco only got about half the records updated (out of about six
thousand extensions; this was a good size centrex). Comes the conversion
to ESS over a weekend, and Monday morning half the phones on the system
can't dial out! Their touchtones, although correcting making sounds to
the phone network) were not being recognized because in telco's esteemed
opinion, there were not supposed to be touchtones on those particular
extensions/lines.  After a couple days they had that corrected.     PAT]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Matt Noah)
Subject: Job Opening - Camarillo, California
Date: Tue, 09 May 1995 22:39:09 GMT
Organization: ACT Networks, Inc.
Reply-To: [e-mail]


I am looking to hire a DSP/Telco Systems engineer immediately.  The
candidate should have B.S. (M.S. preferred) in Electrical Engineering
and four to six years experience in DSP systems with an emphasis on
telephony.  My group works on Voice compression, fax, signaling,
telephony (analog and digital) and related systems.

E-mail, fax or mail your resume to:

Matt Noah, Manager     DSP Systems Group
A.C.T. Networks, Inc.  188 - Camino Ruiz
Camarillo, CA  93012   (805)-388-2474
fax:  [phone]         [e-mail]

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #229
******************************

From [e-mail]  Tue May  9 13:04:37 1995
Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id NAA17093; Tue, 9 May 1995 13:04:37 -0500
Date: Tue, 9 May 1995 13:04:37 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #230
Status: RO

TELECOM Digest     Tue, 9 May 95 13:04:30 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 230

Inside This Issue:                          Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    MCI's Intra-LATA Call Director Problems (Scot M. Desort)
    Telcos, Film Scripts, Vertical Integration (Chris Roth)
    Caller ID Approved in Anchorage (Ed Bennett)
    World Cellular Report (Steve Geimann)
    Frame-Relay to ISDN and ARA - Impossible? (James M. Haar)
    555 Prefix Goes Public (Greg Monti)
    Cell Phones and Monthly Charges (Jonathan Thatcher)
    One Disaster After Another, it Seems (TELECOM Digest Editor)
    Job Openings at BellSouth (Chendong Zou)
    The Way Sprint Does Business (Lionel C. Ancelet)
    DID: Same as Early SxS Centrex? (Lee Winson)
    Job Opening - Camarillo, California (Matt Noah)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

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The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
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                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
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anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
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*************************************************************************
*   TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the              *
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All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Date: Mon, 8 May 1995 21:08:44 -0400
Subject: MCI's Intra-LATA Call Director Problems


An MCI rep visited my office in October of 94 and talked me into
switching over from AT&T. After discussing various options, he
recommended the VISION plan. He also said they would install
Intra-LATA dialers to enable us to route that traffic over MCI (for
those who don't know, these boxes provide a false dial tone to you,
receive the digits you dial, and do an internal lookup. If the call is
an intra-LATA toll call, it prefixes your digits with 10222, seizes CO
dial tone, dials the number, then connects you to the call and drops
out of the picture. Local calls, 800, and 411/Operator are just passed
through to the CO without prefix). Great -- rolling all of our
discounts into one plan. Our combined intra/interLATA/800 traffic
averages $700 a month. We also have Bell Atlantic's Centrex CustoPak
(mini-Centrex). "No problem, the dialers work fine with Centrex ..."
says the rep.

First bill comes in. It's obvious to me, and the MCI rep at the "Proof
Positive" Service Center that we obviously should never have been put
on VISION, since VISION volume discounts start at +$1,000. Rep graciously
switched me over to MCI Preferred. Switch complete, but 800 traffic
still coming over AT&T network. Dialers get installed by sub-contractor.
First day, centrex transfer won't work (Centrex custopak designates
lines as #XX, XX being 20-49, rather than the traditional XXXX). Three
days later, dialers reprogrammed remotely.

Over the course of the next two or three months, bills were coming in
for the closed VISION accounts, for FAX calling cards that were never
ordered, and for 800 service monthly charges (traffic still being
carried over AT&T). After 20 or 30 calls to Customer Service (I had
also received listings with at least seven different numbers for
Customer Service -- I am sure I now know why we are running out of 800
numbers in this country), bills started to get straightened out. Tried
to call a support service with a 900 number. Dialers blocked 900 numbers,
returning a corny reorder tone. No instruction by me to block 900. We
use these services quite often for network support. Called and had the
dialers reprogrammed again.

Receieved our April VISION bill (remember, this VISION account has
been closed since November). To my surprise, there was a *recurring*
charge for $700!!  The description on the bill -- "INTRALATA CALL
DIRECTORS". I flipped! The rep never told me there would be any charge
whatsoever for using these dialers to route traffic over *their*
network. Called my *always-out-of-the-office* rep and left a furious
message on voice mail. In the meantime, we switched our voice mail
system, and now needed to utilize the call forwarding feature we get
free with Centrex CustoPak. Pick up the line, dial *72. Expecting
second dial tone -- got the Intelogic Trace dialer reorder tone. Now,
I could *maybe* see them not knowing about the mini-Centrex #XX code,
but *72 has been around since the beginning of CLASS services. I
cannot believe these dialers would be installed with *XX codes
blocked. Calmly I walked into my wire closet and ripped the power
cords for the dialers out of the wall.

Rep finally called back, left a message for me stating that it was an
"error" and would be corrected. Why in the world would I pay $700 per
month or quarter for these dialers if their purpose is to save me a
few cents on each intra-lata call. If I save, say 5 cents per minute,
I would need to talk 14000 minutes to break even on the dialers. Given
my intralata volume of $300 per month, this is highly unlikely.

Moral of the story -- if you utilize *any* telephone features out of
the norm (CF, Centrex,900/976) and are deciding on putting these
dialers in, make sure you *explicitly* explain your requirements to a
technician. Support for the operation of these dialers is difficult to
obtain from MCI. All re-programming requests are routed through the
local sales rep (who is never in the office).  I know that AT&T is
also installing these dialers in NJ and other states where they are
tariffed for intra-LATA traffic, but they may use better dialers, or
have a better plan in place for supporting the end-users. Also make
sure you ask for a written confirmation of the installation and/or
recurring charges for the use of these dialers from your carrier.

The dialers installed by MCI are made by Intelogic Trace/Mitel. They
make a loud annoying clunk when they release the call to the CO (my
headset users have complained about this noise, but just started
getting used to it before I pulled the plugs on the damn things).


Scot M. Desort            [phone]
Garden State Micro, Inc.  [phone] Fax

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Chris Roth)
Subject: Telcos, Film Scripts, Vertical Integration
Date: 9 May 1995 01:03:13 -0500
Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway


FORWARDED FROM: /mail/cr/croth(#3808) From:croth(Chris Roth)

The Regional Bell Operating Companies are using the First Amendment to
demand the right to purchase preexisting cable systems within their
service areas. And you thought their Rotary speeches for the last
twenty years meant that they'd compete with preexisting cable
operators!

Will such vertical integration mean that Ameritech, NYNEX, and
BellSouth executives will trip over themselves to bankroll scripts
similar to Silkwood, Roger and Me, Rollerball, The China Syndrome,
Power, The Formula, Norma Rae, Network, the President's Analyst, Bar
Girls, and Deal of the Century?

No. Telcos will scurry away from such projects. Who wants to be
associated with controversy? Vertical and horizontal integration will
increase. Concentration of these multinationals will increase.
(Multinationals? Yes. Take a look at the foreign holdings of the
RBOCs. Ameritech just bought up huge phone systems in New Zealand.
Don't they want us to believe that rising prices for phone service are
thrown back into local service to lower the price for everyone?
Someday?)

Let us hope that cross-subsidization will become part of public
awareness. Cross-subsidization is when an RBOC uses captive consumers
to fund risky and less-necessary services for upscale consumers. Price
of "lifeline" POTS (plain old telephone service) rises artificially to
artificially lower the price of expensive new services that, by and
large, the wealthy want, and could afford in any case.

There's no shortage of former FCC, PUC, and PSC commissioners who will
tell you that this is widespread and simply cannot be policed even
with a small army of investigating accountants.

Once the RBOCs start funding motion pictures, the question will be:
will cross-subsidization becomepart of public awareness? Perhaps
movies are less abstract. And the whole racket will be more relatable
and understandable.

------------------------------

From: Bennett, Ed <[e-mail]>
Subject: Caller ID Approved in Anchorage
Date: Mon, 08 May 95 09:34:00 ADT


On April 28, the Alaska Public Utilities Commission approved a request
by ATU Telecommunications, the LEC serving Anchorage, Alaska, to
provide Caller ID, Last Call Return, and Continuous Redial. Both
per-call and per-line blocking will be offered, and Last Call Return
will be configured so it does not work on blocked calls.

The initial offering will be for residential and single-line businesses
only. ATU expects to have the new services on line by early August.

ATU thus becomes the first Alaskan LEC to offer Caller ID. It was the
single most requested service in our history. You can expect other
Alaskan LECs to file for the service in the near future.


Ed Bennett   Sr. Communications Specialist
ATU Telecommunications, Anchorage AK
907 564-1742   [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Steve Geimann)
Date: Mon, 8 May 1995 07:00:38 -0400
Subject: World Cellular Report


     Scandinavian countries had the highest cellular penetration at
end of 1994, with No. 1 Sweden nearly twice as great as U.S., and
well-established markets still showed sustained growth, U.S. Dept.  of
Commerce report showed.  Sweden had 1.3 million subscribers out of 8.8
million residents, 14.72% penetration, compared with 23 million in
U.S., 8.8%.  Report by International Trade Administration showed 52
million subscribers at year-end, 57% gain over previous year.  U.S.
accounted for 44% of all cellular subscribers.

     World Cellular Market report showed substantial gains in many
developed countries. "This remarkable sustained growth is seen even in
the oldest cellular markets," said Stephanie McCullough, analyst,
Office of Telecommunications.  Data showed substantial growth in
Japan, which exceeded 4 million customers recently after expanding to
3.5 million last year from 2 million in 1993.  Deregulation and
introduction of new digital network "doubled the number of subscribers
added in the first 14 years of cellular service," she said.  Japan
plans to end analog phone sales in April 1996.

     In Europe, Germany had 2.5 million customers, up from 1.8 million
year earlier, Italy grew to 2.2 million from 1.2 million, U.K. to 3.5
million from 1.97 million.  Report showed 9 nations exceeding one
million, with western nations more than 2 million.  "Additional growth
is promised in Europe where 4 new competitors will be licensed in
Belgium, the Netherlands, Ireland and Austria," McCullough said.
"Around the world, nearly 50 new networks are scheduled to come on
line in 1995."  U.S. growth was 43.9% over 1993.

     Norway followed Sweden in penetration with 13.2%, Finland 12.8%,
Denmark 9.8%.  Trailing U.S. are Singapore, 8.8%; Iceland, 8.3%; Hong
Kong, 7.7%; Kuwait, 6.6%; Canada, 6.5%.  Report showed 47 nations had
at least 1% of population with cellular telephones, but 63 had rates
below 1% with bottom 5 in Ukraine, Ghana, Cuba, Burma, Bangladesh.
Greenland, Virgin Islands, Andorra, Barbados, Fiji, Gambia, Nicaragua,
Angola, Laos, Cuba and Bangladesh had fewer than 1,000 phones each.

     Subscriber base more than doubled in Belgium, Brazil, Chile,
China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Greece,
Hungary, Israel, Korea, Kuwait, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Philippines,
Poland, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, S.  Africa, Sri
Lanka, Turkey, Venezuela.

     Among equipment makers, Ericsson was listed as sole contractor or
joint provider on more than 135 of nearly 530 systems, followed by
U.S.-based Motorola with just over 118.  Both were dominant vendors,
followed by Nokia with more than 47, Siemens at 35, Northern Telecom
30, Plexsys 25, AT&T and NEC 20 each, Philips 13.  U.S. companies were
partners in more than 100 systems, led by AirTouch, AT&T, Bell
Atlantic, BellSouth, GTE, Millicom, Nynex, SBC, U S West.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (James M. Haar)
Subject: Frame-Relay to ISDN and ARA - Impossible?
Date: Tue, 9 May 1995 13:55:05 -0800
Organization: CRL Dialup Internet Access
Reply-To: [e-mail] (James M. Haar)


Here is my scenario and question:

I have two offices, #1 is in Santa Rosa, and #2 is in LA.  Both
offices have their own LAN of Macs on ethernet.

Office #2 in LA has an ISDN set up for a couple of telecommuters, who
use ISDN for a high speed ARA (Appletalk Remote Access) line for file
sharing and for some client/server applications, such as 4th Dimension
databases.  Office #2 does not have ISDN internet access.

Office #1 in Santa Rosa will have one Mac as a web server.  A 128K
fraem-relay connection is planned (Netcom).  I want to use another Mac
on the LAN in Office#1 to connect occassionally to office #2 via their
ISDN connection.  I do not want to have an ISDN line in addition to
the frame-relay line installed at office #1.  I would prefer not to
have to get ISDN internet access for office #2, nor change the set up
in office # 2 at all.  What I would like to have happen is to use some
of the bandwith in the 128K frame connection to make a connection to
Office #2 via ISDN, while not disturbing the web server connection
(that is, durring the workstation session with Office #2 in LA, the
web server continues to serve to the web).

Is this possible?  I can't get a consistent answer from either service
providers or hardware vendors (Ascend says yes, Netcom says no, for
example).

I would think that somehow, magically and mysteriously, Pac Bell could
peel off the IP packets destined for Office #2, and reconvert them to
the ISDN (synchronous from packet based ?) protocol, and then
automatically open the ISDN connection to office #2.


Thanks in advance!

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Greg Monti)
Subject: 555 Prefix Goes Public
Date: 8 May 1995 23:32:11 GMT
Organization: Capital Area Internet Service


The following is a summary of a story entitled "Dialing Hollywood's
Number" which appeared in the {Washington Post} on May 5, 1995.

Telephone numbers in the 555 prefix have frequently been used by
Hollywood movie and television writers when one was needed as part of
a plot or script.  Famous past numbers: the Brady Bunch household 555-
6161; Mary Richards 555-7862; Charlie's Angels 555-0267.

Bellcore is now giving out numbers with 555 prefixes to businesses
nationwide.  About 1,400 numbers with 555 prefix have been assigned so
far.  555 numbers work in every North American area code.

Bellcore has still set aside 555-0100 through 555-0199 for use in
movies and TV, but pre-existing movies will still have numbers outside
that range that could now also be assigned to legitimate businesses.

Two issues have not been dealt with:

 -- how to route calls to 555 numbers, which may or may not be toll calls
 from a given phone;

 -- how to bill for calls to 555 numbers (some could be toll free --
reverse charged).

[Monti note: The story doesn't say whether 555 numbers will be
reachable from every area code, i.e., will 615-555-2222 reach the
same location of the same company as 415-555-2222 does?]


Greg Monti   Arlington, Virginia, USA   [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Jonathan Thatcher)
Subject: Cell Phones and Monthly Charges
Date: 9 May 1995 03:28:42 GMT
Organization: Infonaut Communication Services (801-229-2080)


Can I purchase a cell phone, not pay monthly fees and still have
access to 911?


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Maybe, maybe not. It depends on the
way the cellular company is set up, and it also depends on whether or
not the area where you will be using the cell phone has 911 available
to cellular callers. Many areas do not, requiring the caller to dial
a seven digit number instead.   PAT]

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 9 May 1995 12:12:12 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest Editor <[e-mail]>
Subject: One Disaster After Another, it Seems


So today, as I write this, much of New Orleans is pretty well under
water. Some eighteen inches of rain fell during the day and evening
on Monday, and more is expected today.

Anyone from southern Louisiana available among the readership to give
a summary of telecom conditions there at the present time?


PAT

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Chendong Zou)
Subject: Job Openings at BellSouth
Date: 9 May 1995 15:37:41 GMT
Organization: College of Computer Science, Northeastern University


This is posted for a friend, please use the contact info below:

DATE: May 4, 1995

CONTACT: Send text resume to Dr. Eric Kai ([e-mail])

LOCATION: Atlanta, Georgia

COMPANY:

BellSouth Telecommunications, which has revenues in excess of $13
billion and assets of over $28 billion, has several R&D positions
available in the Wireless Service Integration group of the Science &
Technology department.  Our charter is to:

- provide technical support to BellSouth's business units in developing and
implementing the business strategies for wireless market;

- conduct technical evaluation, requirement specifications, system/software
engineering, prototype/product development and technical/marketing field
trials;

- R&D technical solutions to offer integrated/enhanced wireless services to
BellSouth consumers and/or PCS service providers within our region;

- interact with vendor in product selection, requirement definition and/or
joint development to support wireless products and services.

EXPERIENCE/SKILL:

Successful candidates should possess M.S. or Ph.D. in EE, CS, Telecommun-
ication, or related disciplines.  M.S. with a minimum of three years
of experience (or equivalent) in the wireless telecommunication industry
having solid working knowledge of wireless networks such as cellular, mobile
data and PCS is required.  Experience on system engineering, fast prototyping
and software development on wireless product and services is highly desirable.
Candidates must have expertise in at least one of the area below:

RF Design Area: solid experience in frequency planning, system growth
planning, cell site traffic analysis and RF propagation to conduct the
design/developement of a Radio Planning tool for cellular/PCS network
under CDMA, GSM and TDMA.  Familiar with the air interface standards.

Wireless Data Area: working knowledge with wireless data technologies
such as CDPD, PCS data over CDMA and GSM, and/or other mobile data
applications.

Network Area: knowledge of SS7, ISUP and ISDN signaling and/or
transport. Good understanding of HLR/VLR/AM mobility management under
cellular/PCS for CDMA, TDMA and GSM.  Familiar with IS-41/GSM MAP.
R&D experience in the transparency of integrated wireline and wireless
services using AIN capabilities and other intelligent network
features.

OAM&P Area: experience in numbering plan, CDR/AMA, cellular rate plan,
billing services and downstream data processing and management.
Working background in designing/developing OSS such as PCS/cellular
network managment, PCS performance tuning and traffic analysis,
customer trouble tracking, etc.

PERSONAL:

This individual must have:

- good interpersonal skills to work in a highly competent technical team;

- motivation to understand the business needs of BellSouth and to find
effective matches between these needs and emerging technologies;

- ability to work in an effective, cooperative manner with other client
organizations within BellSouth as well as external companies.

OTHERS:

- U.S. Permanent Residentship required.

- Head hunters please send resume to Joan Powell @404-332-2131 for filing.


Chendong Zou                                 Internet: [e-mail]
College of Computer Science, Northeastern University
360 Huntington Avenue #23CN, Boston, MA 02115     Phone: [phone]
WWW: http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/zou              Fax:   [phone]

------------------------------

From: Lionel C. Ancelet <[e-mail]>
Subject: The Way Sprint Does Business
Organization: Compaq Computer Corp.
Date: Tue, 9 May 1995 06:28:30 GMT


 ... looks strange to me.

I currently use a Long Distance Carrier which is not Sprint. A few
weeks ago I receive a phone call from Sprint, about their great new
rates for long distance calls. I say "Send me a letter with the
details of these new rates, then I'll let you know if I'm interested
in switching to you as a LDC".

The next evening, I get another phone call from Sprint. "This is to
confirm you're OK to switch to us", they say. I reply "Not at all. I
said I want a letter from you with your rates. Until then I stick to
my current LDC." They say "OK, we'll send you this letter".

Yesterday evening I want to send a fax overseas. I get a message from
the local telco "Your long distance service has been disconnected,
please call customer service".

I call customer service ... and I learn that my line was just switched
to Sprint! Needless to say, I asked to be switched back immediately to
my original long distance carrier.

I wonder I someone else had the same experience with LDCs literally
*forcing* business from customers?


Lionel


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: What you have experienced is a very common
thing. The unofficial name for the theft of accounts by one long distance
carrier from another is 'slamming', and although it does not happen as
much as it used to, it still is a well-known practice.  Thanks for passing
along the warning that Sprint telemarketers are still up to their old
tricks.   PAT]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Lee Winson)
Subject: DID: Same as Early SxS Centrex?
Date: 5 May 1995 23:12:53 GMT
Organization: PACS IBM SIG BBS


Somewhere I read that in the early days of Centrex, step-by-step systems
could be used pretty easily -- just allocate a block of it to that
subscriber.

I believe there were two possibilities.  One, where the equipment was in
the C.O. and every phone had a line to the C.O.  The other, was where
the equipment was on the customer's premises, and served by some trunks.

Say the customer had 555-1000 to 555-1999.  When the C.O. pulsed over to
555-1, the remaining digits would be transmitted over the truck to the
the selectors at the customer's location.  Isn't this the same principle
as DID?


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I don't know about SxS, but a firm I was
involved with in the middle to late 1960's had centrex provided from a
crossbar office. That particular office did not change to ESS until about
1973 or so, and when it did the company's centrex changed from crossbar
to ESS along with it. It was sort of a funny changeover, regards how the
handling of calls changed, etc.  They also had an ACD (automatic call
distributor) behind the centrex both when it was crossbar and when it
was upgraded.  One thing telco was forced to do was get their records
for that subscriber in good order; when operating as crossbar, the
subscriber had at one point converted all the rotary dial phones to touch
tone. Telco only got about half the records updated (out of about six
thousand extensions; this was a good size centrex). Comes the conversion
to ESS over a weekend, and Monday morning half the phones on the system
can't dial out! Their touchtones, although correcting making sounds to
the phone network) were not being recognized because in telco's esteemed
opinion, there were not supposed to be touchtones on those particular
extensions/lines.  After a couple days they had that corrected.     PAT]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Matt Noah)
Subject: Job Opening - Camarillo, California
Date: Tue, 09 May 1995 22:39:09 GMT
Organization: ACT Networks, Inc.
Reply-To: [e-mail]


I am looking to hire a DSP/Telco Systems engineer immediately.  The
candidate should have B.S. (M.S. preferred) in Electrical Engineering
and four to six years experience in DSP systems with an emphasis on
telephony.  My group works on Voice compression, fax, signaling,
telephony (analog and digital) and related systems.

E-mail, fax or mail your resume to:

Matt Noah, Manager     DSP Systems Group
A.C.T. Networks, Inc.  188 - Camino Ruiz
Camarillo, CA  93012   (805)-388-2474
fax:  [phone]         [e-mail]

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #230
******************************




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From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #231

TELECOM Digest     Tue, 9 May 95 15:03:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 231

Inside This Issue:                          Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    CAIS: Chicago Area Internet Society (John FX Berns)
    How Many GSM Users/Networks/Countries in the World? (John Scourias)
    ATM/SONET VLSI Designers Wanted (Sramana Mitra)
    Is it Just Me? (John Mayson)
    Desperately Seeking 7200's (Jeffrey Reed)
    Use of CDPD For Redundancy in Cellular Networks (Seth B. Rothenberg)
    Tunneling TCP/IP Over TCP/IP? (Garry P. Adkins)
    Help Needed With DS2153 Interface (Yaon Ram)
    Re: Can Someone Explain DID in English? (Mark E. Daniel)
    Re: Annoying Calls: Can We Deal With Them? (Bruce Roberts)
    Re: Annoying Feature on Payphones Here (Jens von der Heide)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
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*************************************************************************
*   TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the              *
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*************************************************************************

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All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
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should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Mon, 8 May 1995 16:04:51 -0600
From: [e-mail] (John FX Berns)
Subject: CAIS: Chicago Area Internet Society


Announcing the First meeting of The Chicago Area Internet Society: CAIS.

What CAIS is:

The Chicago Area Internet Society (CAIS) is a new organization formed to
help people who are interested in the Internet as a communications tool.
Our goal is to help professional communicators find out how they can
responsibly and effectively use the Internet as a communications vehicle.
Focus will be on the strategies and technologies for publishing and
marketing on the Internet.

What CAIS is not:

CAIS is not a "user's group."  We are not a place for beginners to learn
about how to get on the internet.

Future Goals:

CAIS will be holding meetings to get input from people interested in
helping form the future of CAIS.  Some plans for the future: monthly
meetings on HOT topics, developing a virtual organization on the
internet, ie: a WWW page for information with links to members home
pages, a news group and mail list and?  Your suggestions are welcome!

Where CAIS meets:

CAIS will be meeting the 3rd Wednesday of every month at 6:00 pm at Loyola
University's Downtown Campus at 1 E. Pearson St. (1 block west of the Water
Tower, 2 blocks west of Michigan Ave & 1 block north of Chicago Ave).

Getting on the CAIS E-mail list:

E-mail us a [e-mail] and send us the following info:  Name, Company,
Title, Address, Phone, Fax, E-mail address, home page address.  NOTE: all
CAIS notices will be sent via E-mail.  It is critical that you include an
e-mail address if you wish to receive notices.

Contacting CAIS:

E-mail:  CAIS @fxmm.com
WWW: HTTP://www.fxmm.com/cais.html  (site will be up around May 7th)
Phone: [phone] x200
Snail-Mail (Why?) CAIS, 520 W. Erie #220, Chicago, IL 60610

Contacting the President of CAIS

John FX Berns
E-mail: [e-mail]
Phone: [phone] x102


Announcing the first CAIS meeting:

Date: Wednesday May 17th.

Time: Doors open at 6:00 pm (networking), 6:30 pm Program starts

Location: Loyola University (Downtown campus) Rubloff Auditorium, 1 E.
Pearson St.

Subjects: Webforce web authoring tools and Electronic Retailing
Strategies for the Internet

The speakers for this meeting will be Tineka Pullens from SGI who will
talk about their WebForce line of Internet authoring tools and Loren
Freedman of the E-Tailing Group, who specialize in consulting on
electronic retailing with clients such as ISN (Internet Shopping
Network), AT&T, US West, Ameritech, who will talk about how to use the
web as a way to effectively sell to customers--without violating
Internet ethics.

Donation: $5.00, students free.


John FX Berns
President
Chicago Area Internet Society

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (John Scourias)
Subject: How Many GSM Users/Networks/Countries in the World?
Organization: University of Waterloo
Date: Mon, 8 May 1995 17:23:27 -0400


Hi everyone,

I know I posted a similar posting some time ago, but I did not get the
total, world-wide NUMBERS that I was looking for, although I'd like to
thank the people who sent the lists of operators.  So could someone
please give me a pointer/source to recent statistics on international
GSM usage?  I don't know where I got the information, but I think it
is 5.4 million subscribers.


Thanks in advance,

John Scourias      http://ccnga.uwaterloo.ca/~jscouria
University of Waterloo   [e-mail]
Waterloo, ON, Canada

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Sramana Mitra)
Subject: ATM/SONET VLSI Designers Wanted
Date: 8 May 1995 21:35:02 GMT
Organization: MIT Laboratory for Computer Science, Cambridge MA


DAIS Information Technologies Pvt. Ltd. is a new company with a vision.   |
Envisioned by a team of entrepreneurs interested and experienced in       |
state-of-the-art technology, DAIS has an imaginative business plan,       |
superb government support and contacts, utmost professionalism, and       |
excellent projected returns.                                              |

The core technical vision of the company is provided by                   |
  o Prof. Gautam Mitra (Phd from Imperial College with near 30 years       |
    association with Information Technology both in academic and         |
    commercial capacity)      and                                          |
  o Ms. Sramana Mitra (M.S. in Computer Science from MIT)                  |


  For the VLSI Design division of the company we are looking for           |
               A SENIOR VLSI DESIGN ENGINEER                               |
  for a leadership position in ATM, SONET and other communication          |
                       system design                                       |

DAIS is headquartered in Calcutta, India, and the design center will be  |
located in Calcutta. An intensive training period will precede starting  |
work in Calcutta, during which candidate will be working at the site of  |
our US collaborator to get familiar with project details.                |

Candidate should have a Masters or a Phd with concentration in either
VLSI Design or Telecommunication ATM/SONET Technology, and strong
familiarity with the other. The projects will involve design, layout,
simulation, testing, and verification of communication VLSI chips and
systems.

At least three years industry experience is required in a relevant
field.  DAIS is setting up state-of-the-art design facilities in
Calcutta.  Equipments will include Sun SPARCs, 486 PCs, Cadence /
Mentor Graphics / Viewlogic Tools.  Infrastructure will include a
fully networked office, email and internet access, and other
communication facilities.

Compensation includes competitive salaries, performance based
profit-sharing options, housing subsidy, etc.

Interested candidates are requested to submit resumes to or contact:

  Ms. Sramana Mitra                        OR    Mr. Jayanta K. Dey-Sircar
    Executive Director               Department of Computer Science
    DAIS Information Technologies       University of Massachusetts
    c/o Laboratory for Computer Science       Amherst, MA 01003
    Massachusetts Institute of Technology  (413)-545-3179 (work)
    545 Technology Square, NE43-632       (413)-546-4580 (home)
    Cambridge, MA 02139               (413)-545-1249 (fax)
    (617)-253-7768 (work)           [e-mail] (email)
    (617)-441-0697 (home)
    (617)-258-8682 (fax)
    [e-mail] (email)

DAIS InfoTech also has three other divisions, namely, MULTIMEDIA,
ONLINE SERVICES and SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT. Please contact one of the
above persons if you are interested in any of those divisions.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (John Mayson)
Subject: Is it Just Me?
Date: Tue, 9 May 95 14:09:49 EDT


Is it just me?

I've been following these NPA changes and it seems almost every split
or overlay has some group of people really torqued off at the "big,
evil telephone company".

We hear the same tiresome argument.  "We don't want *OUR* children (as
if its society's collective responsiblity to rear them) to have to
memorize a ten-digit telephone number.", implying millions of children
will somehow die by having a ten-digital phone number.  If that were
the case, think of how many children die because of seven-digital
numbers.  Let's shorten them to five.

A shining example is the 404/770 split in Georgia.  By avoiding an
overlay, we prevented people from having to dial ten-digits, right?
Wrong.  There's a lot of cross-Perimeter dialing, meaning callers will
have to dial not just ten, but *ELEVEN* digits.  And look at the case
of our precious, helpless children.  Billy is lost at Perimeter Mall.
He finds a mall security guard who offers to call Billy's home.  Billy
knows his number is 555-9876, but can't remember his area code.  Well,
Billy could conceivably live in 404 or 770, who's to know?

I know there are far worse things in the world to get upset at, but
state regulators are really making a royal mess of our phone system.
Had the Georgia PSC allowed Southern Bell to do the 404/706 split
right, we wouldn't have this problem today.  I just hope in the
future, regulators look at Chicago, Atlanta, South Florida, and L.A.
and learn not to micromanage private industry who knows how to do the
job best.


John Mayson (MS 100/2243) Senior Engineer
Harris Electronic Systems Sector
PO Box 99000, Melbourne FL USA 32902
Voice [phone] | Fax [phone] | Pager [phone]
internet [e-mail] | http://p100dl.ess.harris.com


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I am told by some very old-time people
who were with the Bell System and are since scattered all over the
various Baby Bells today that if it were possible to set the clock back
a half century and plan things over again, that many changes would be
made. There were lots of very far-sighted well meaning people involved
during the 1940's and 1950's with planning for future expansion of such
things as area codes and local numbering schemes, etc ... but the general
consensus today -- of the few who are still alive and that I have chatted
with at one time or another -- that *no one* could have begun to anticipate
the growth. There were plans even fifty years ago by some at Bell for
eight digit local numbers and *four* digit area codes; the majority of
the people involved thought such schemes to be outlandish and the majority
involved in the process of planning 'area codes for the future' did pretty
much correctly guess the time the old numbering system would be exhausted;
what perhaps they failed to understand would be the social ramifications
involved in the new system.   PAT]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (JReed004)
Subject: Desperately Seeking 7200's
Date: 8 May 1995 09:59:59 -0400
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
Reply-To: [e-mail] (JReed004)


I need to locate Mortorola 7200 "Original Label" phones.  I need
75,000 (ideally, 25,000 x 3 months).  The funds are already in place --
can move now.


Call ASAP,

Jeffrey Reed    414-761-8690

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Seth B Rothenberg)
Subject: Use of CDPD For Redundancy in Cellular Networks
Date: 8 May 1995 13:38:32 GMT
Organization: University of Pittsburgh


I recently did some work investigating CDPD.  One observation I made
was that CDPD is an excellent way to gain redundancy.  In most areas
(most populated areas?), there are two cellular carriers.  Since the
last mile is what is at greatest risk, half of any circuit is
protected 100%.

My question is about the other half.  Does anyone know if there is an
easy way to, for example, have a router connection to both the A-side
carrier and to the B-side carrier?  Then, you'd have almost perfect
reduncancy.

I would hope that you could just register the same Subscriber Identity
Module (SIM) with each carrier, much they way you might register a
single portable PC bootp servers on two networks.  (Is that a violation
of bootp?)  What I am not clear about is, where the IP address is
looked up.  Does the CDPD Mobile End Station know its own IP address?
I would think it WOULD NOT need to know it, because the Data Service
Manager would do that.

If this is the case, the device would just have two IP addresses, one
on each network.  My company's routers would need to be configured to
rout via whichever path is available.


Thanks

Seth

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Garry P. Adkins)
Subject: Tunneling TCP/IP Over TCP/IP?
Date: 8 May 1995 19:59:29 -0400
Organization: Ichthus Access Networking Inc., [phone]


Does anyone know of any IP software that would be able to "tunnel"
(wrap up) IP packets so they can be directed to a far-away lan with a
variable IP gateway?  We need to "readdress" IP packets with a
different destination and then unwrap them at the far end.

Do you know of any sofware that would do that?  Both end machines are
Linux machines.  For a short period of time each day, we'd like to
link our lans (in different states) via dialup with the Internet.


Thanks!

Garry Adkins               [e-mail]
USnail: 712 Chestnut St.   BELLNet:  [phone]
        Kenova, WV 25530-1511

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Yaon Ram)
Subject: Help Needed With DS2153 Interface
Date: 9 May 1995 16:35:09 GMT
Organization: Netcom


I am looking for someone that has a working E1 interface using the
DS2153. Does it work right? Any bugs I should watch for? Any appnotes?

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 8 May 95 20:41:13 EST
From: [e-mail] (Mark E Daniel)
Subject: Re: Can Someone Explain DID in English?


In article <[e-mail]> was written:

> Imagine a hospital, it has 40 DID trunks to service 500 patient beds and
> 400 administrative personnel.  The hospital would pay the telco for the 40
> DID trunks and also would pay to block out 1,000 numbers.  (500 + 400 +
> 100 spare).

OK.  I can deal with that. Then pagers and perhaps cellular works the
same way with a bunch of trunks?  :-).  Then if said hospital only has
40 trunks (assuming trunks are what the rest of us call 'lines') then
only 40 of the 1000 extensions may be connected to outside calls at
one time which would explain why I've been in the hodpital and hit 9
and gotten PBX reorder type things.  Insufficent trunks to complete my
request, right?

GTE mobilnet has a bunch of "reserved" numbers in our area.  216-801
thru 805 are their's from 0000 to 9999.  Cellular One only has three
complete "reserved" exchanges.  Not much competition. :-).  Plus
there are four or five other complete prefixes given to GTE Mobilnet
here. :-).  They own the Akron Cellular market.  Except for one strange
prefix given to something I've never heard of (independant cellular).

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 8 May 1995 17:38:08 -0700
From: [e-mail] (Bruce Roberts)
Organization: The Great Escape - Gardena, CA - [phone]
Subject: Re: Annoying Calls: Can We Deal With Them?


> I think what happened in California is that when the telcos wanted to
> offer CLID, the California Public Utilities Commission (your
> representative government) placed so many different kinds of
> restrictions on what offering it would allow that it became
> economically unattractive for the telcos to offer. The market
> determines the price, remember ... the telco can't charge more than
> what people will pay, and the fewer people who buy the service, the
> less capital the telco has to buy software to implement the service.

Well, you're almost right.  The CPUC insisted that per-line-blocking
be available (I don't remember if it was to be free or fee.)  GTE and
PacBell said "forget it" and that's why California has no Caller-ID.


TTFN

Bruce Roberts, [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But the latest word is that California
will be having Caller-ID real soon now. In an issue of the Digest I
will send out later today, Lauren Weinstein writes to the Digest with
some recent developments.    PAT]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Annoying Feature on Payphones Here
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Organization: Swiss Bank Corporation CM&T Division
Date: Mon, 8 May 1995 22:27:11 GMT


TELECOM Digest Editor <[e-mail]> writes

> It seems that when you call from a payphone ... a recorded message comes
> on the line saying 'your party does not answer' and inviting you
> to leave a message 'for delivery at a later time'

I had a similar and scary experience with AT&T USADirect.

I was calling from Switzerland to the US via USADirect for an airline
reservation.  The airline answered immediately with an automated
response system which would forward to a "ringing" phone after making
the appropriate selection.  After a few rings, I would be prompted by
USADirect to leave a message for later delivery.  I called the
USADirect operator and asked to put me through without this "service",
but the same "service" kicked in during my call.  In fustration, I
swore out loud about how stupid this was, when I heard...

"AT&T Operator, let me put you through again...."

I didn't know he had stayed on the line with me. :-(

As I remember it, I was able to use USADirect on other occassions and
allow the line to keep ringing.  I was just surprised the service
worked even after the initial call had been completed.


Jens von der Heide, Network Engineer                          [phone]
Swiss Bank Corporation, Capital Markets and Treasury     FAX: [phone]
4225 Naperville Rd             E-Mail: [e-mail]
Lisle, IL 60532, USA


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: 'Accidents' will happen!  <grin>. For how
long have telephone operators been abused?  ... oh, since the dreadful
instrument was first invented, I suppose.  I have a microfilm copy of the
1919-1920 alphabetical directory of the Chicago Telephone Company, which
was the predecessor to Illinois Bell until about seventy years ago when
AT&T bought out CTC about 1924 and renamed the company to be part of
the Bell System.  From the inside front cover in small, yet quite readable
type, a notice entitled 'Admonishment to Subscribers':

           "Subscribers are admonished to refrain from cursing
           our operators or using foul and profane language in
           their requests for telephone connections. Subscribers
           are requested to address our operators in a courteous
           manner; the operators have been instructed to respond
           in a similar way. Would you want the operator to curse
           you when a connection was impossible because the called
           line was engaged or out-of-order conditions prevailed?
           Speak to our operators in the same way you wish to be
           spoken to.   Thank you."

Remember, in those early years of this century, telephone connections
were established entirely manually, by the subscriber asking the oper-
ator to plug things together. Ignorant subscribers, frustrated by trying
for hours to reach someone whose line was busy might well say something
to the operator like, "#@@@!!77$ operator! Cut in on the line and tell
them to can the shit so someone else can get through!  #@@%!&%!!! "  Or
they would blame the operator for being incompetent if they got a wrong
number (after having *asked* for the wrong number!); they would flash
to get her back -- especially if they had deposited money in a payphone
coin box they were about to lose -- and give her a good general cussing
out in the process of trying to reach the right number. The operators
had to sit there and take it; a single profane word passing their lips
in response to a beligerant subscriber was grounds for immediate dismissal.
But if a particular subscriber was always, consistently raunchy and
rude -- cursing at the operators or making sexual propositions to them,
and that happened a lot also -- then the operator would complain to the
supervisor who in turn would tell the Business Office; the subscriber
would be notified to cut it out or risk losing his service.   PAT]

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #231
******************************


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Date: Tue, 9 May 1995 17:17:05 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #232

TELECOM Digest     Tue, 9 May 95 17:17:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 232

Inside This Issue:                          Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Re: Oregon Area 503 Split Details (Stuart Friedberg)
    Re: Oregon Area 503 Split Details (Robert Hansen)
    Re: Oregon Area 503 Split Details (Randal L. Schwartz)
    Re: Comm Problems With USR Sportster V.34 ([e-mail])
    Re: Comm Problems With USR Sportster V.34 (Todd Koenig)
    Re: Comm Problems With USR Sportster V.34 ([e-mail])
    Re: Comm Problems With USR Sportster V.34 (Jerry Eckler)
    Re: Good Grief - Caller ID is Back! ([e-mail])
    Re: Rural Phone Companies (Bill Leidy)
    Re: PacBell to Offer CID (Steven H. Lichter)
    Re: PacBell to Offer CID (Lauren Weinstein)
    Re: Annoying Calls: Can We Deal With Them? (Benjamin P. Carter)
    Re: Calls From Australia to US 800 Not Delivering DTMF (John Combs)
    Wanted:  Quality Residential LD Program (Bill Egel)
    External Antenna For DPC550 (Ken Levitt)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
                    9457-D Niles Center Road
                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
                        Fax: [phone]
  ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

*************************************************************************
*   TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the              *
* International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland    *
* under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES)   *
* project.  Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such
as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help
is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per
year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Mon, 8 May 1995 11:28:55 -0700
From: Stuart Friedberg <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Oregon Area 503 Split Details
Organization: Sequent Computer Systems Inc.


> The new NPA for Oregon was announced today -- 541. It is
> a split, not an overlay, and it will cover all of the state except
> for northwestern Oregon, leaving Portland, its suburbs, Salem,
> Newport, Hillsboro, and St. Helens (among others) in 503.

I found this fascinating, as US West just sent out a few days ago a
subscriber information pamphlet that indicated that the decision
between split and overlay had not yet been made, and inviting public
comment of the choice(s).

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Robert Hansen)
Subject: Re: Oregon Area 503 Split Details
Date: Mon, 8 May 1995 22:54:45 GMT
Organization: Oregon Health Sciences University


Oregon will gain a new area code, 541, on November 5.

The following exchanges will remain in the 503 area code (geographic
area defined as roughly the NW corner of the state, south on the coast
to just north of Lincoln City, east through Falls City, Salem, Scio,
Mill City and Detroit, and north through Mount Hood Meadows):

Aloha, Amity, Astoria, Aumsville, Aurora, Banks, Bay City, Beaver,
Beaver Creek, Beaverton, Burlington, Canby, Cannon Beach, Carlton,
Charbonneau, Clatskanie, Cloverdale, Colton, Corbett, Dallas, Dayton,
Detroit, Estacada, Falls City, Forest Grove, Garibaldi, Gaston,
Gervais, Government Camp, Grand Island, Grand Ronde, Gresham,
Hillsboro, Hoodland, Independence, Jewell, Knappa, Lake Oswego, Lyons,
McMinnville, Mill City, Milwaukie, Molalla, Monitor, Mount Angel,
Mount Hood Meadows, Needy, Nehalem, Newberg, North Plains, Oregon
City, Oak Grove, Pacific City, PORTLAND, Rainier, Redland,
Ripplebrook, Rockaway, SALEM, Sandy, Scapoose, Scholls, Scio, Seaside,
Sheridan, Sherwood, Silverton, St. Helens, St. Paul, Stafford,
Stayton, Sunnyside, Tigard, Tillamook, Tualatin, Turner, Valley View,
Vernonia, Warrenton, Westport, Willamina, Wilsonville, Woodburn,
Yamhill.

All other Oregon exchanges (197 in total) will move to 541.

The permissive dialing period will be November 5, 1995 through June 30, 1996.


ROBERT A. HANSEN
Telecommunications Department
Oregon Health Sciences University
Portland, Oregon USA
[phone]

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 8 May 1995 17:50:59 -0700
From: Randal L. Schwartz <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Oregon Area 503 Split Details


Lincoln City went 541 so that the county would be one area code.


Name: Randal L. Schwartz / Stonehenge Consulting Services [phone]
Keywords: Perl training, UNIX[tm] consulting, video production, skiing, flying
Email: <[e-mail]> Snail: (Call) PGP-Key: (finger [e-mail])
Web: <A HREF="http://www.teleport.com/~merlyn/">My Home Page!</A>

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (ccruz)
Subject: Re: Comm Problems With USR Sportster V.34
Date: Tue, 09 May 95 13:50:44 PST


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] says ...

> I am having some problems with my PPP internet hookup. After about
> 10-15 min online, my V.34 Sportster just "hangs up". I use trumpet
> winsock and netscape software, and I have set the internal baud rate
> to 115.200, in order to handle compession. Is this a hardware problem,
> or what?

I to am experiencing the same problem. This only happens the first
time I dialup after I have powered up my PC. After the auto
disconnect, if I attempt to login again without powering the PC down
completely, the sync. tones sound really distorted and I can not
re-establish the PPP session.

After speaking to the people at US Robotics about this, they informed
me that there is a new ROM chip that should take care of this problem.
They will mail you this new ROM (4 to 6 weeks delivery) if your modem
has an earlier version. Their tech support will walk you through
determining which ROM version your using.

Unfortunately I have yet to receive my upgraded ROM so I cannot tell
you if this fixes the problem. If you here of another possible
solution please let me know.


Regards.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Todd Koenig)
Subject: Re: Comm Problems With USR Sportster V.34
Date: 8 May 1995 20:00:04 GMT
Organization: EnvisioNet


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail]
(Thor Stromsnes) says:

> I am having some problems with my PPP internet hookup. After about
> 10-15 min online, my V.34 Sportster just "hangs up". I use trumpet
> winsock and netscape software, and I have set the internal baud rate
> to 115.200, in order to handle compession. Is this a hardware problem,
> or what?

Give U.S. Robotics a call.  There was some sort of problem with some
of the sporsters that required and upgrade.  Something to do with
higher speeds and disconnections.

In the mean time, drop your speed down to 19200 and see if that works.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (HiHoSteveo)
Subject: Re: Comm Problems With USR Sportster V.34
Date: 9 May 1995 12:11:02 -0400
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
Reply-To: [e-mail] (HiHoSteveo)


USR tech support 1-800550-7800, 0800 - 1800 CST (Chicago).

------------------------------

From: Jerry Eckler <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Comm Problems With USR Sportster V.34
Date: 9 May 1995 12:08:20 GMT
Organization: On-Ramp; Individual Internet Connections; Dallas, TX USA


Have you got the upgrade chip for the USR modem? I had the same
problems and after calling USR they sent me a free upgrade chip. No
further problems.


Name: Jerry Eckler   E-mail: [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (HiHoSteveo)
Subject: Re: Good Grief - Caller ID is Back!
Date: 9 May 1995 12:11:25 -0400
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
Reply-To: [e-mail] (HiHoSteveo)


No sooner had the FCC prempted California PUC problems, and PacBell
indicated they would go ahead -- finally -- then the STATE of CA has
appealed to the Circuit Court -- Good Grief -- back to ground zero.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Bill Leidy)
Subject: Re: Rural Phone Companies
Date: 9 May 1995 01:56:13 GMT
Organization: Internet Oklahoma


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail]
says:

> I would appreciate hearing about technical issues which are unique to
> phone companies serving sparsely populated areas.  I imagine that the
> smaller companies could become quite innovative in dealing with
> problems specific to their business.

This is a subject that would fill a book.  I will try to give a brief
outline of the issues as seen from the perspective of the MIS Director
of an independent telephone co.

1.    History

The government decided some 40+ years ago that basic telephone service was a
necessity, not a luxury, and that affordable basic service should be made
available in all areas of the United States (The doctrine of "Universal
Service").  Ma Bell showed no interest in pursuing development in rural
areas at the time, so the government encouraged entrepeneurs to develop
service in rural areas.  This was accomplished through two means:

    a.  Low-cost loans made available through the REA.
    b.  The promise of a "return on investment" based revenue model
        subsidised by the Universal Service Fund.

2.    Divestiture

Up until 1982, the independents had an informal "child-parent"
relationship with Ma Bell.  Most of the independents were basically
care-takers for their customers, and not too involved with industry
issues.  This has changed!  In the first few years following
divestiture, there was an industry shake-out.  A lot of "Ma & Pa"
companies were bought out by more aggressive independents who realized
that we had progressed from being care-takers to being risk-takers.

The successful independents were quick to learn the industry game,
using the "return on investment" revenue rules to update their plant
and provide the best (and most competitive) service possible.  Also,
the successful companies were quick to form separate corporations to
handle those activities (telephone sales and repair, for example)
which were no longer subject to regulation.  Now, the typical
aggressive independent telephone company may have as many as nine or
ten "sister companies", dealing in everything from long distance to
paging.

3.    Technology

The Bell companies today still show little interest in the rural
areas.  Exchanges serves by independents tend to be much more
technologically advanced than rural Bell exchanges (all nine of our
exchanges, for example, are into their second generation of digital
switches, while several neighboring Bell exchanges are still using
step-switching).

The reason you see the Bell companies selling rural exchanges, is that
they are facing fierce pressure from the State Public Utility
Commissions to upgrade all of their exchanges to minimum standards,
i.e. digital switching (Can you imagine that there are still a lot of
people out there with no touch-tone?  Would you believe most of them
are Bell customers?).  In many cases, Bell has decided that it is
easier to sell than upgrade.

4.    The Future

The independents will always be heavily dependent on subsidies like
the Universal Service Fund.  There is simply no way to maintain the
local loop in rural areas on the revenue produced by reasonably rated
local service.  Competition for local service can be a good thing, but
a completely free market economy for local phone service would mean
the end of universal service.


Bill Leidy    MIS Director
Chickasaw Telephone Co.
Sulphur, OK

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Steven H. Lichter)
Subject: Re: PacBell to Offer CID
Date: 9 May 1995 19:16:38 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio (USA)


All the phone companies will have caller ID in California in 1996,
that is if the FCC gets the regulations in place and the fools that
have been holding it up don't manage to go to court and delay it
again.  Though I agree that all have the right to disagree; that is
why the PUC holds hearings which no one can go to except people that
have a financial interest or nothing better to do; but when they go to
court and cause a delay they should be made to pay for all the costs
involved, if they had to do that then they would think twice about
putting everything they own by doing it. I believe both the PUC (ha
ha) and the FCC have looked at all sides the having it is much better
then not having it. By the way all of the GTE offices have the options
in place and all it would take is an update to each customer who wants
it; they same type of command update a customer would need for any
other option they want. All our CO phones have it in place, but there
are only a couple of places that have the phones; these are for
internal use only.


Sysop: Apple Elite II -=- an Ogg-Net Hub BBS
        Home of GBBS/LLUCE support
[phone] 12/24/14.4 V32/V42bis

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 9 May 95 12:25 PDT
From: [e-mail] (Lauren Weinstein)
Subject: Re: PacBell to Offer CID


Greetings.  I posted a longer article with details regarding this over
in my PRIVACY Forum digest.  True, PacBell will be offering CNID.
Note however, that they made this decision following the new FCC order
which apparently now *permits* per-line CNID blocking on interstate
calls.  The earlier FCC decision which was stayed specifically
prohibited per-line ID blocking on interstate calls, which effectively
called into question the ability of states to legislate any per-line
ID blocking at all -- it only allowed (mandated) per-call blocking.

It is expected that in those states where per-line ID blocking
availability has been legislated or otherwise mandated, an extremely
high percentage of subscribers will request it, even among people who
want CNID service for themselves!  In California, where a large
majority of lines are non-published, it is expected that almost all of
them will ultimately request per-line ID blocking.  It could well be
the case that within a couple of years 80%+ of total lines request
per-line ID blocking given responses people give to polls on this
subject.

Since the FCC did not mandate that non-published lines would be
per-line ID blocked by default, it will take a definitive action on
people's part to be blocked.  Percentages will vary depending on
whether or not a charge is associated with such blocking (in
California I *believe* there is to be no charge the last I heard).
The telcos are promising an education campaign to inform people about
these issues.

The upshot of all this is, I predict, that CNID services will
generally be a rather small niche market with limited usefulness for
most of the touted applications.  Whether or not you consider this to
be a good outcome depends on your point of view, of course.


 --Lauren--

P.S.  For information about the PRIVACY Forum digest, please send the text:
      information privacy
as the first text in the *body* of a message to:
      [e-mail]

 --LW--

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Benjamin P. Carter)
Subject: Re: Annoying Calls: Can We Deal With Them?
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest)
Date: Tue, 9 May 1995 06:31:00 GMT


heath roberts <[e-mail]> writes:

> I think what happened in California is that when the telcos wanted to
> offer CLID, the California Public Utilities Commission (your
> representative government) placed so many different kinds of
> restrictions on what offering it would allow

The PUC had ruled that an unlisted number would not be disclosed
unless the caller chose to disclose it.  That's all.  Pac Bell
asserted that too few customers would order caller ID under that rule
to make it profitable.  And now the FCC has decreed that the calling
number will be disclosed unless the caller specifically choses to
block it.  This makes a difference because many (perhaps most)
residential customers will ignore the whole issue of caller ID, doing
nothing to either allow or block the display of their numbers when
they make phone calls.  By default, their numbers will be displayed
under the FCC rule.  The rule goes into effect December 1, 1995.  Pac
Bell is happy with this rule and will offer CNID in 1996.


Ben Carter   internet address: [e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 9 May 95 14:20 EST
From: TestMark Laboratories <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Calls From Australia to US 800 Not Delivering DTMF


Serge Burjak <[e-mail]> writes in TELECOM Digest Volume 15 Issue 226:

> I have a problem getting through to some automated attendants using
> DTMF from Australia. As the title says, after the connection the line
> appears not to pass DTMF tones ie., "press 1 for this service, press 2
> for that service."

> This happens with both Telecom and OPTUS. The customer service droids
> will not escalate the problem to anyone at an 'Engineer' level, but
> only to techs who make comments like, well "the US is probably
> translating these into something different, sorry cannot help you".

> Am I being unreasonable asking to pass in voice band information? I
> know it's not my phone, I can use Cyberlinks dial back for this or
> AT&T's USA direct with a credit card. The Cyberlink solution is not
> totally satisfactory for other resaons. The attendant requires a # key
> after the some transactions and Cyberlinks interprets this as a new
> call request.

The DTMF receivers in automated attendants are usually not up to the
same quality as a Central Office DTMF receiver.  It sounds as if there
is more loss on the Telecom and OPTUS connections than there is on the
AT&T USA direct.  This surprises me, as I would assume that all are
using digital transmission systems, which are "lossless!"

In North America, network design guidelines call for a maximum local
loop loss of 8.5dB, although 9dB isn't too unlikely.  A digital CO has
0dB through-loss, and an older, analog CO, such as a GTE #1 or #2 EAX
will have a through-loss of 0.8dB.  Then, don't forget, we have a loop
on the other side of the CO going to the called modem, so our maximum
dB loss on a local call using a pair of loosely-engineered loops
through an analog CO is (9+0.8+9) = 18.8dB.  These numbers come in
part from EIA/TIA-464-A, which describes the North American Loss Plan
for analog and digital PBXs.  I don't know if Australian loop design
is identical to this or not, but let's assume it is.

Now, single line DTMF phones typically sends tones at levels of 0dBm
to -6dBm. -6dBm through a facility loss of 18.8dB gives us a received
signal level at the automated attendent of -24.8dBm.  Even a
poorly-designed DTMF receiver on an automated attendant should be able
to handle this.  But, what if the DTMF tones are lower, as might be
true from a digital phone on a PBX, as the PBX could possibly send
DTMF tones as low as -12dBm.  In this case the DTMF level reaching the
receiver would only be -30.8dBm, and many automated attendants, as
well as answering machines, would have a problem with this.

So, Serge, the only thing I can suggest is to call from a single line
telephone, not a PBX, and try to pick a phone with a "hot" DTMF pad.


John Combs, Project Engineer, TestMark Laboratories, [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Bill & Susan Engel)
Subject: Wanted: Quality Residential LD Program
Date: 9 May 1995 19:24:42 GMT
Organization: Netcom


I am looking for a quality Residential LD Program that can meet the
following criteria:

1.  Preferrably LEC billed (although this is not critical);

2.  Prefer WilTel as underlying carrier, however will consider others;

3.  Competitive rate (nothing over 16 cents peak - and that is
stretching it a bit - unless the night/evening rate is great);

4.  No monthly fees over $1.00;

5.  Calling card with no bong and rate no more than 25 cents/minute;

6.  6 second billing  (if not, it better have a great rate);

7.  Personal 800 numbers with no monthly fees and competitive rates;

8.  Easy enrollment procedure.

This program is to be offered to employees as a value-added service
and to organizations as a fund-raiser.

I have not found the ideal program in any one package, although there
must be one out there.

Thanks, in advance, for all responses.  Please direct your response to
my E-mail address - no direct phone calls please.


Bill Engel

P.S.  If you have spoken to me about Residential programs in the past,
and your program can meet the above criteria, please contact me again.

P.P.S.  No Excel agents need respond.


Engel Strategies Group, Inc. * 11414 N. 69th Street, Ste. 103 *
Scottsdale, AZ 85254
E-mail: [e-mail]  Phone:  [phone]  Fax:  [phone]

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 06 May 95 15:15:27 EST
From: [e-mail] (Ken Levitt)
Subject: External Antenna For DPC550


I have a Motorola DPC550 cell phone.  My car power adaptor connects to an
8 pin connector at the bottom of the phone.

I would like to connect an external antenna to the phone and I'm guessing
that one or two of those eight pins are for that purpose.

I know they make docking stations for cars, but I don't want the external
mike and speaker.  And I also want to use this same setup while not in the car.

Is there a connection for an external antenna?  If so ...

What pin(s) is it on?   From which side are pins counted?
Can the plug that plugs into the phone be purchased separately?

If not, is there any way or product that will connect external power
antenna and not cost me over $100?


Ken Levitt - On FidoNet gateway node 1:16/390     UUCP: zorro9!levitt
INTERNET: [e-mail] or [e-mail]

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #232
******************************


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From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
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To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #233

TELECOM Digest     Tue, 9 May 95 20:12:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 233

Inside This Issue:                          Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Re: Frame-Relay to ISDN and ARA - Impossible? (Shuang Deng)
    Re: New Country Code 380 For Ukraine (Sam Spens Clason)
    Re: ISDN, BellSouth and OCN (Bradley Ward Allen)
    Re: RBOC IP Legislation Scaring Local ISPs? (Frank Atkinson)
    Re: Advice Needed About Answering Service (Greg Habstritt)
    Re: Suggestions For Two or Three Line PC Based Phone System (Gary Valmain)
    Re: Call Trace Foulup Followed OK Bomb (Donald R. Newcomb)
    Re: Call Trace Foulup Followed OK Bomb (John Woods)
    Re: Rural Phone Companies (Lee Winson)
    Re: Rural Phone Companies (Paul J. Lustgraaf)
    Re: Resale of Telecommunications Services (Rick Dennis)

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From: [e-mail] (Shuang Deng)
Subject: Re: Frame-Relay to ISDN and ARA - Impossible?
Date: 9 May 1995 19:20:04 GMT
Organization: GTE Laboratories, Waltham, MA


In article <[e-mail]>, James M. Haar <jimhaar@netcom.
com> wrote:

> I would think that somehow, magically and mysteriously, Pac Bell could
> peel off the IP packets destined for Office #2, and reconvert them to
> the ISDN (synchronous from packet based ?) protocol, and then
> automatically open the ISDN connection to office #2.

There are several options avaiable for ISDN-FR interworking, either
customer premise and CO based.

The CO based systems have to be deployed by a carrier (LEC or IXC) on
a switch somewhere.  That's probably what you are asking for.
However, as far as I am aware of, currently avaiable systems initiate
the connection from ISDN only, for there is not much FR SVC deployed
yet. [Vendor should be able to still support PVC by starting the ISDN
call as soon as a packet is received from FR, and automatically
tearing down the connection after the link has been idle for a certain
period.]

If your carrier does not have enough demands to justify the deployment
cost at the switch, you would have to purchase your own, stand-alone
box to do the conversion from vendors (e.g., ISDN System Corp.)

A summary and evaluation of ISDN-FR interworking options by us was
presented at the recent Interop'95 engineering conference, and can be
found in the preceedings.  An extended version is to appear in the
Communication Systems Design, August/95 issue.  Drop me a note if you
don't have easy access to those publications.


Shuang Deng             Email:   [e-mail]
GTE Laboratories           or     [e-mail]
40 Sylvan Road          Phone: [phone]
Waltham, MA 02254, USA  Fax  : [phone]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Sam Spens Clason)
Subject: Re: New Country Code 380 For Ukraine
Date: 9 May 1995 17:25:21 GMT


In <[e-mail]> Clive D.W. Feather <[e-mail].
uk> writes:

> I compared my country codes list with my list of ISO recognised
> countries and territories. The shared uses of codes I found were:

> 1     Shared by 21 countries, of which 1 has a new code allocated
> 269   Shared by 2 countries: Comoros and Mayotte
> 33    Shared by 3 countries, of which 2 have had new codes allocated

This referes to France, Andorra and Monaco. Is Monaco really going to
move out from 33?!  Monaco doesn't even have an area code, why would
they want a country code?

> 7     Shared by 9 countries, of which 3 have had new codes allocated

I think it's a *#* shame that ex-Soviet countries can't share +7 because
of national pride.

> So there's a potential need for 31 new codes. But 68 are still spare:

>    280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289
>            292 293 294 295
>            382 383 384             388
>                693 694 695 696 697 698 699
>        801 802 803 804 805 806 807 808 809
>    830 831 832 833 834 835 836 837 838 839
>        851         854         857 858 859
>        881 882 883 884 885     887 888 889
>    970                             978 979
>    990 991 992 993         996 997 998 999

Is there any word on the proposed international toll free +800 code?

> Oops, almost forgot. Apart from the 31 cases I listed before, there are
> eight territories with no international code that I know of:

>    East Timor

Not if you ask the Indonesians.  To them East Timor is just another
province.

>    Western Sahara

Marocco regards Western Sahara to be the southern half of the country.
I.e. no need for a country code.


Sam   www.nada.kth.se/~d92-sam,   [e-mail],   [phone]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Good point you raise about the new toll-
free international scheme. I have heard nothing more on it recently from
Judith Oppenheimer, who readers will recall wrote on several occassions
to discuss the situation. Perhaps she will write again soon with an
update; what's been happening in the past couple months on this.   PAT]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Bradley Ward Allen)
Subject: Re: ISDN, BellSouth and OCN
Date: 9 May 1995 08:59:43 -0400
Organization: URL:http://www.armory.com/~ulmo/ (see rivers.html for PGP key)


In article <[e-mail]>, Willard F. Dawson <wdawson@crl.
com> wrote:

> [e-mail] (Bradley Ward Allen) writes:

[...]
>> Redundancy is better -- let all subscribers use whatever works best at
>> the moment, as determined by a well-maintained set of routers.

> Redundant routers that kick in to the selected carrier of data rather
> than falling over to a different carrier are also possible ... and,
> required, in a RBOC environment that must compete with the likes of
> MFS and their "miss 1% a year, get the next year for free" attitude.

Yes but frequently the selected carrier of IP data cannot get packets
around.  For instance, I have had the worst luck with Sprint, however
since my main host only connects via it (argg when are they going to
upgrade?), I have a dependence on them.  My solution is to also have a
Netcom account, plus maintaining a short list of friends' passwords
for emergency use.  Last month, I think one out of five login sessions
had to be done via Netcom.  Tonight, Netcom hosts were down, luckily
Sprint isn't being a problem to me.

If I upgrade my system of two providers plus access to three others in
emergency needs (included are seven regional, international and
national networks), I'd want some incentive like automated packet
routing via whatever network is working and other redundancy measures.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Frank Atkinson)
Subject: Re: RBOC IP Legislation Scaring Local ISPs?
Date: 8 May 1995 12:47:45 -0400
Organization: The Greater Columbus Freenet


> I feel I need to correct this perception that since the telco "owns"
> facilities that their use is "free" and they don't have to "pay extra"
> to use them. They are most certainly not free. They represent a
> capital investment by shareholders and therefore a return on the
> investment MUST be earned at a minimum. In fact, if shareholder
> investment is to not be diluted, these facilities must contribute at
> exactly the same level as those sold "externally". It is, therefore,
> imperative that all costs including "contribution" associated with
> these facilities be included in the price of any service that uses
> them.

Without going too deeply into the regulatory system that built the
network which took what the company spent, added a guaranteed rate of
return, and in some cases hidden taxes, then passed it on to the rate
payer's bill (rate of return regulation). The shareholder's position
has been fairly well protected. Maybe each ratepayer should be given
some company stock now that the network they built will be used to
compete. The company hasn't sold enough stock to fund the network, the
money came from the ratepayers, the ratepayers repaid the consturction
bonds, not the stockholders.

In a recent Ohio workshop on competetion an incumbent phone company
objected to calling the network a "public-switched-network" and
suggested there might be a questions of "lawful property rights"
should the commission require the incumbent to unbundle and share,
even though the customers funded it.


Frank Atkinson   [e-mail] or
                 [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Greg Habstritt)
Subject: Re: Advice Needed About Answering Service
Date: 9 May 1995 13:09:26 GMT
Organization: Intellitech Communications Group


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Brian D.
Petro) says:

> I am very seriously considering the idea of starting a business from
> my home selling voice-mail boxes.  As I have never been in the
> business, I am looking for advice from someone who has.
> I am planning on targeting the residential market.  I live in a town
> of 40,000.  I would only be charging $5/month for a basic service box.
> It seems to me that it would be fairly easy to add 100+ customers/year to
> my service, but I would like the opinion of someone "in the business."
> Please E-mail any responses.

Hi Brian:

We operate a full service voice/fax service bureau here in Calgary,
about 750,000 pop.  We've been at it about 2.5 years, focusing almost
exclusively in business and corporate clients.

Firstly: it's not as easy as it sounds, particularly getting clients.
Now, before we get into details, let's just take the assumptions
you've made and see how they work out.

You're looking at getting 100 clients per year, on average (a herculean
task, considering the population of 40,000).  Nevertheless:

   Let's say you have 100 at the end of the 1st year.

   Your revenue at that point will be $5 x 100 per month, gross = $500/month.

   In order to service 100 clients you are going to require at least 4-6
   incoming lines for your system.  The cost will depend on the type you
   use, however it would likely be in the range of $30-50 per line.  $40
   per line is probably likely. This will cost $200 per month.

   That leaves $300 per month.  Now out of that, you've got to do
   some advertising, feed yourself (lotta macaroni, looks like)..
   AND ... somehow pay for the system you are using!

A decent interactive system that can do most of the stuff required of
a service bureau is going to be a minimum of $15-20,000.  The
companies that claim they can sell you one for a few thousands are
bullshitting.  In interactive, you really do get what you pay for.
(Hardware for a decent system four line system is a minimum $5000 to
start with, assuming you do it properly with UPS, remote power reboot,
etc).

> My major competition would be our local telephone company who charges
> $6.5/month.  My question is this: Would there be enough interest in
> voice-mail from residential clients to keep my business profitable?

We have somewhat the same problem here with our telco offering cheap
voice mail.  But that's the key -- it's cheap.  There's no fancy
options, it can't do anything like fax or interactive surveying, they
can't do database lookup ... etc. In other words, they can have the
business at the low end (simple voice boxes). THE ONLY PLACE YOU CAN
MAKE MONEY IS OFFERING CUSTOM SERVICES like fax on demand, call
transferring, database lookup, etc.  To do that, you'll need a good
system.

I hate to sound negative, but that's the reality.  If you're really
not prepared to invest at least $25,000 in the business, don't bother.
Plus, I think your pop'n is really going to work against you.

On the positive side, growth of voice mail and related services is
certainly staggering ... it's at least a good thing to keep your eye on.
But don't get into residential service.  There's no money in it.


[e-mail]      Greg Habstritt
Intellitech Communications Inc.
Calgary, Alberta, Canada

------------------------------

From: gary valmain <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Suggestions For Two or Three Line PC Based Phone System?
Date: 9 May 1995 19:27:25 GMT
Organization: Houston Advanced Research Center


TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to Karl <[e-mail]>:

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Why don't you try a combination of PC
> and voicemail you build yourself, possibly using Big Mouth or something
> similar?  Have a PC answer your second line with a message that goes
> something like this: "Thank you for calling; right now all agents are

> If you combine the Big Mouth transfer function with Call Transfer from
> your local telco, then once the waiting call has been passed over to you
> on the first line, Big Mouthh is freed up to take another call on
> the overflow line and hold it until you become available.     PAT]

I have a customer who wants exactly this.  He has an AT&T four line
Merlin phone system (known as a '410') in place.  My questions are:

1) How would such a system 'sound' to the caller?  Would it sound
like it's a patched together kluged system?

2) Can the Big Mouth be interfaced with the Merlin phone system?

2) Is it difficult for the user (receptionist type) to use?

3) Can you provide some cost ranges (rounded dollars will suffice<g>)?

4) Related to 3, would he be better off (money and practicality) to
either upgrade the existing phone system or replace it with another
phone system which already has all of his hot buttons built in?


TIA

gary valmain


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, I don't think Big Mouth sounds bad
at all considering its relatively inexpensive cost. I think you can buy
a one line system in the range of $300-400. That's assuming you already
have the computer and phone lines.

I put together a small system for use in a small town bus station (a
Greyhound Agency in fact) which was reviewed in the 'new products' section
of {Bus Ride Magazine} a couple months ago. The application I built this
for is typical.  You have a ticket clerk, two phone lines which ring off
the hook with calls from local residents wanting to know the schedule of
busses, the cost of tickets, etc, and everything happening at once. The
clerk not only has to write the tickets and answer all the phone inquiries,
but he has to go out to load/unload the baggage and freight from the
busses. Greyhound sends ten busses per day through that town (five each
direction), and he also gets four Trailways busses each day (two each direct-
ion); he writes tickets for those also. It is a hot little agency; both
Greyhound and whatever Trailways company it is pay him a commission on
ticket sales in return for providing 'bus station services' and his income
in the summer is good; in the winter it is sufficient.

The main problem he had/has is that there are times the place is dead.
Nothing going on ... but once a day the schedules are such he gets two
busses in his driveway at once, both to be (un)loaded, two or three
passengers the bus driver picked up at a flag stop twenty miles out of
town who need tickets written in a hurry so they can get back on the bus
and the driver can be on his way, and then both phone lines ring at once
with relatively complicated questions on schedules to some far away place.
He had been letting the phones ring unanswered during that ten or fifteen
minute period. As good as his business can be at times, he cannot afford
to have two people on duty at once. Some family member of his comes in
and takes care of things in the evening and on weekends; even that cuts
deeply into his profits since he has to pay them something. Sometimes he
was taking the phones off the hook for a few minutes when he got a line
of people at the counter.

I put together a Big Mouth for him on an old 286 to answer his second
line whenever it does not get answered after three or four rings. If he
is taking a call on the first line another call will roll to the second
line. The Big Mouth answers, "You have reached the <town name> bus station.
The agent is busy now on another call, or working with a customer. Your
call will be answered as soon as possible, but in the meantime while you
are waiting, you may listen to some recorded messages which may answer
your questions entirely. At any time you can choose to be transferred to
the agent if you wish by pressing zero on your touch tone phone."

There then follows a menu of choices; what he calls his half-dozen most
frequently asked questions; (1) schedule of busses going north to the
big city where his passengers connect; (2) southbound schedule; (3) ticket
prices for the half dozen most often purchased tickets; (4) hours the
station is open and its address; (5) package express freight services;
(6) other schedule connections, etc.

The caller can leave a message to be called back by pressing a key with
the message going to a voicemail box, and pressing another key allows
purchase of 'tickets by phone with credit card'. It goes into an inter-
active dialogue with the caller, asking the caller his name, waiting for
a response; his credit card number, waiting for response; where tickets
are desired for, etc. A callback is promised as soon as possible. Anytime
the person bails out of one of the recordings, or is at the main menu and
presses zero, the speaker on the PC announces, 'call holding, please pick
up'.  If he does not do so in thirty seconds or so, then Big Mouth takes
the call back and advises the caller the agent is still busy and to please
leave a message in voicemail for a return call ASAP.

The neat part though is his after hours operation. By swapping out a couple
files on the PC (done automatically by a cron job at a certain time of
night when the station closes, and again in the morning when it opens),
Big Mouth begins answering the first line instead, with a message saying
'station is closed, will be open <hours> to <hours> ... and offers to play
the same menu of answers to 'most asked questions'. The menu concludes with
'if you need to speak to an agent right away, press zero' ... and in this
case the transfer is done with three way calling. Big Mouth flashes the
hook and outdials to the national Greyhound information line, a toll free
800 number. The caller hears ringing and gets an answer from a phone room
clerk at Omaha where Greyhound information is located.  Really, a very
sharp little setup if I do say so myself, and I do, since the money I
made on it allowed me to buy extra rations of macaroni for myself and a
few more boxes of Tender Vittles for the cats.  <g> .....  PAT]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Donald R. Newcomb)
Subject: Re: Call Trace Foulup Followed OK Bomb
Date: 9 May 1995 21:00:01 -0500
Organization: University of Southern Mississippi


In article <[e-mail]>, Carl Moore  <[e-mail]> wrote:

> Is it a measure of how full the system is when messed-up digits
> result in someone else's valid number?

> Several years ago, this Digest had a note about a Chicago-area dress
> shop getting calls meant for an airline (two digits transposed in the
> telephone number).  I recall this appearing not long before 708 area
> code came along to provide relief for 312.

A friend of mine told this story. Years ago (1920s) when the phone
numbers in my home town were three digits long, his phone number was
slightly different from the number of the largest industry in town.
He was always getting calls intended for them. One day he got a call
from a salesman for a coal company who thought he was the factory's
buyer. So, he ordered what he figured would be a two year supply of
coal. He said he had a good laugh the day he saw a train of only coal
cars rolling down the spur to the factory.


Donald R. Newcomb
University of Southern Mississippi
[e-mail]     [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Shame, shame, shame! That was fraud,
although it is kind of funny. If he had gotten caught, the judge should
have punished him by making him shovel all that coal by hand back into
the coal cars to be returned to the company.    PAT]

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 9 May 95 11:08:15 EDT
From: [e-mail] (John Woods)
Subject: Re: Call Trace Foulup Followed OK Bomb


> Is it a measure of how full the system is when messed-up digits
> result in someone else's valid number?

Apparently the transposed digits turned out to be in a trunk number,
not a phone number.  This particular mistake also cost them the
ability to trace the correct phone number, according to the newspaper.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Lee Winson)
Subject: Re: Rural Phone Companies
Date: 9 May 1995 23:16:57 GMT
Organization: PACS IBM SIG BBS


Other people here have reported that with fiber optic, things like
expensive and cumbersome party lines are no longer needed; this makes
for better service and lower cost.

Also, electronics allows exchanges to be unattended and service remotely,
saving money.  The older SxS switches needed cleaning/adjustment from time
to time.  Further, things like operator service can be offered remotely from
a considerable distance.

If a company is still using SxS equipment (or even crossbar), I would
be cautious.  I've heard many horror stories from customers served by
old mechanical switches that became unreliable from poor maintenance.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Paul J Lustgraaf)
Subject: Re: Rural Phone Companies
Date: 9 May 1995 17:30:13 GMT
Organization: Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa USA


In article <[e-mail]>, Jack Mott <[e-mail].
gov> wrote:

> I recently learned U.S. West is in the process of selling off its
> rural telephone properties (I live in Idaho Falls, which will stay
> with US West).  Although I felt that the original break-up of the Bell
> System was unwise, it is natural to expect more fragmentation and
> specialization in the telecom industry.

> I would appreciate hearing about technical issues which are unique to
> phone companies serving sparsely populated areas.  I imagine that the
> smaller companies could become quite innovative in dealing with
> problems specific to their business.

The smaller companies are usually quite innovative in:

Extracting large quantities of money from users of leased lines.  We
have one such here in Iowa that charges over $300/mo. for a 56K line
*across town* (less than a mile).  Talk about rip-off artists ...


Paul Lustgraaf            "It's easier to apologize than to get permission."
Network Specialist                                     Grace Hopper
Iowa State University Computation Center  [e-mail]
Ames, IA  50011   515-294-0324

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 09 May 1995 12:23:09 -0400
From: [e-mail] (rad)
Subject: Re: Resale of Telecommunications Services


Hey,

   I'm a little fuzzy in this area, but I'm pretty sure resale is
required by the Communications Act of 1934, and accordingly this is
enforced by the FCC.  I believe it has something to do with being a
Common Carrier and all.  I could look up the exact section in the Act
that contains the details if you like.

   I'm on Bob Keller's mailing list and from what I've gathered from
various infractions over the last year or so, the fine for a carrier
refusing to resell is a maximum of $100,000.  The plaintiffs follow
the FCC's usual complaint filing process.

   About the only benefit for the carrier doing the reselling is that
they make a little extra money on bandwidth that would otherwise be
unused.  One downside, as has been seen this week with AT&T filing a
suit against a reseller, is the issue of representation.  See the
included article for details:

  *** AT&T has filed a complaint with federal regulators accusing a
  long-distance reseller of "slamming" -- the practice of changing a
  customer's long-distance carrier without the customer's
  authorization.  AT&T's complaint alleges that National Accounts,
  Inc., of Parsippany, N.J., misrepresented an affiliation with
  AT&T, and has switched customers from AT&T to National Accounts
  without the customers' knowledge or agreement.  AT&T's complaint
  to the FCC describes how National Accounts representatives falsely
  told customers that National Accounts is affiliated with AT&T, or
  that National Accounts "markets and administers" AT&T service.  In
  some instances National Accounts claimed it was "employed by
  AT&T."  Where National Accounts' misrepresentations were
  unsuccessful in inducing AT&T's customers to switch their service
  to National Accounts, the reseller would frequently "slam" those
  customers, AT&T said.  Under authority of the Communications Act
  of 1934, AT&T has asked the FCC to stop National Accounts from
  continuing these practices, and to award AT&T damages to be
  determined by the commission.

As you can see, the relationship between resellers and the larger
carriers is somewhat strained.  It should be interesting to see how
resale in the local market pans out.  I know AT&T is doing that with
Ameritech and Frontier at the current time.


Rick Dennis     AT&T Global Business Communications Systems
Conversant(Intuity) Systems      Suite 600
email: attmail!rickdennis        5555 Oakbrook Parkway
Phone: [phone]            Norcross, GA 30093

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #233
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From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #234

TELECOM Digest     Tue, 9 May 95 20:42:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 234

Inside This Issue:                          Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Request U.S. Carrier or Integrator Response re - VTC (Brian Caldwell)
    Re: Mexico Billing Method: Digit Analysis or Meter Pulse? (Richard Cox)
    Re: Mexico Billing Method: Digit Analysis or Meter Pulse? (John Brissenden)
    Re: Can Someone Explain DID in English? (Eric A. Carr)
    Caller ID Nationally and FCC Order (Matt Simpson)
    Re: Outgoing Only Phone Line Without Phone Number (Mark Cuccia)
    Re: What's R2 Signalling on Switch? (Glenn Shirley)
    Re: What's R2 Signalling on Switch? (Wally Ritchie)
    Re: Voice/Data Multiplexer For 64kb Leased Line? (Wally Ritchie)
    Re: International Telephone Number Length - Maximum Allowed (T. Jarnbjo)
    Re: The AT&T "Minimum Usage Charge" Rumor (Bob Schwartz)
    Re: AT&T $5 Minimum Monthly Charge ([e-mail])

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
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Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
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information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

*************************************************************************
*   TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the              *
* International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland    *
* under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES)   *
* project.  Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such
as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help
is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per
year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (LCD Ltd)
Subject: Request U.S. Carrier or Integrator Response re - VTC
Date: 9 May 1995 18:55:14 -0400
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
Reply-To: [e-mail] (LCD Ltd)


Our architectural and engineering firm, headquartered in the UK, requests
information about your U.S. corporation's capabilities regards providing
the following under a sole source contact:

U.S. video teleconferencing sites for our client, a European scientific
corporation opening offices this fall and winter in NY, Washington DC,
Baltimore, Norfolk, Atlanta, and 4 other eastern US locations.

Primary VTC traffic to be between US sites @ 384/512 Kbps video + audio
and up to 384 simultaneous data/file transfer for numerous multiplexed
medical/scientific applications during video conferences.

Nearly all calls to be point to point, but your firm would
need to provide MCU on selection. Some traffic overseas to Belgium,
France, UK, Sweden, and Italy.

Carrier or systems Integrator would need to have consulting
capabilities, or to be able to propose voice/data traffic solutions
for intra US and to European sites.

Your company would additionally need have creative design/build, or
consultative, capabilities for advanced video conferencing facilities,
which will also be used for group scientific/medical multimedia
presention.

In your response, please include senior-level marketing contact and
systems integration contacts, as well as information about your
company's size, VTC, network, and technical support capabilities, and
experience in these fields.

Kindly send this information to this Email address, or and/or by
attached electronic file transfer ("zipped" or "stuffed" compressed
files only).

If you have an electronic presentation about your firm, and/or CAD
illustrations of recent work, that will be considered by the client to be
_extremely_ responsive.

We prefer AOL electronic file transfer attachments.

We request these to be:

Text:           PC or MacIntosh - Microsoft or Claris Works,
Graphics:    PC or MacIntosh  - Microsoft PowerPoint
CAD:           MiniCad or AutoCad in DXF format (only - not DGS).
(Again any file transfers must be "zipped" or "stuffed".)

On submission of your company's profile, statement of capabilities,
and POC's, our offices will respond immediately to any technical,
network or other inquiries.


Many thanks,

Brian Caldwell      Leeds, Caldwell, and Dickson, Ltd.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Date: Tue, 9 May 1995 13:55:48 -0400
Subject: Re: Mexico Billing Method: Digit Analysis or Meter Pulse?


Jan Hinnerk Haul <[e-mail]> wrote:

> Most countries (errr... PTTs / carriers) give call supervision data
> to the PBX in some form or the other.

Up to now the UK has not done this reliably -- i.e. if you are
fortunate you may get it but you can't complain if you don't.  As a
result most people tend to work on the assumption that they don't have
it.

> Typical methods are high-frequency pulses on top of the voice signal

Hey!  That's not call supervision, that's charging information, and
that *is* available in the UK, for a quarterly fee per (analog) line.

> The drawback of number analysis is, of course, that no call supervision
> is possible, letting users being "billed" with uncompleted calls

In the raw state, yes: but British Telecom (BT)is now proposing to
abandon the meter pulses because it will very soon be abandoning
meters (and their unit periods) and going to full per-second charging
for all dialled calls.  When it does, digit analysis will be the only
option for PBXs but to avoid the problems of false/phantom call
supervision, BT have undertaken to send supervision data to the PBX in
the form of a polarity reversal.

The changes are expected around August this year.


Richard D G Cox

Mandarin Technology, PO Box 111, Penarth, South Glamorgan CF64 3YG
Voice: 0973 311111;    Fax: [phone];    VoiceMail: 0941 151515
e-mail address: [e-mail]; PGP2.6 public key on request

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (John E. Brissenden)
Subject: Re: Mexico Billing Method: Digit Analysis or Meter Pulse?
Date: 9 May 1995 18:52:58 GMT
Organization: Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff AZ, USA


After being asked to elaborate more on this question, here's a bit more ...

In many other countries, the telco supplies the actual cost of a call
in the form of a metered pulse count.  The derivation is that a low
frequency pulse is transmitted along the route and detected by PBXs.
Far away places send more pulses per minute than closer places.
Anyway, the important thing here is that the SMDR output on a PBX
contains a pulse field.  For billing, a site can simply multiply the
pulses times a costperpulse for an accurate cost.  With digit
analysis, one has to find the distance of the call and multiply it by
some band cost. (Yuch).  Obviously, for call billing, it's much easier
to use metered pulses, as many other countries do.


John

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Eric A. Carr)
Subject: Re: Can Someone Explain DID in English?
Organization: Motorola iDEN Infrastructure Engineering
Date: Tue, 09 May 1995 14:56:11 -0500


In article <[e-mail]>, marshall leathers <leathers@bnr.
ca> wrote:

> DID or Direct Inward Dialing:

<snip>

This might help clarify.

DID is a way of automatically routing a call to a stationserved by a
PBX that originates from the local PSTN, doing so without user
intervention; i.e. an attendant.  The originating party simply dials
the directory number of the called station and the call is routed
accordingly through the PSTN to the local CO, to the PBX, then to the
called station served by the PBX.  The PBX establishes the final
connection.

With a DID trunk, the local CO assigns blocks of numbers to that trunk
(or group if there is more than one trunk assigned to the PBX), such
as NXX-1000 through NXX-1099 for example.  The local CO "knows" that
any numbers within this range are to be routed to the PBX via the DID
trunk, using DTMF or pulse dialing, serving the PBX.  The PBX, in
turn, "knows" which station set it serves that each string of digits
represents.  The CO doesn't necessarily send the entire digit string;
in the block of numbers used in the example, 100 total individual
numbers are represented.  Only the last two numbers (00 through 99) are
required to convey the called station set's address, so in this case
the CO may only send the last two digits.  It could send more, but for
this example it only needs to send two.

The PBX provides talk battery to the DID wire pair originating from
the local CO, which senses this to keep the trunks "turned up" or in
service.  If a call to a number assigned to the DID trunk comes to the
CO serving the PBX, the CO seizes the trunk by placing a short across
the wire pair.  The PBX senses the flow of current and places digit
collection equipment across the line. Once the PBX determines it's
ready to receive digits, it performs a predetermined handshake;
"wink", "delay", or "immediate", wink being the most common.  After
detecting the handshake, the CO passes the dialed digits via DTMF or
pulse dial to the PBX, which translates the digits to a station
address and routes the call to that station.

The PBX generates call progression tones and also conveys answer
supervision to the network.  If the called station goes off hook, the
PBX again reverses loop polarity but for the duration of the call
which signals the CO the called station answered.  When the called
station goes on hook (the PBX side), the PBX returns the line to
normal polarity to signal the CO that the call is over.  If the
calling party goes on hook (the CO side) , the serving CO opens the
loop, stopping loop current, to tell the PBX the call is to be ended.

A good source of further technical reading on this and other PBX
related issues can be found in the EIA/TIA RS-464 publication.


Eric Carr    [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: Matt Simpson <[e-mail]>
Subject: Caller ID Nationally and FCC Order
Date: 9 May 1995 19:02:57 GMT
Organization: University of Kentucky Computing Services


I assume that all the stuff the FCC is doing applies only to
interstate calls. Does anyone know if the LECs will ever be required
to transmit caller-id on intra-state, intra-LATA calls? Is this
something the PSC in each state needs to address? For example, I
live in Paris, KY and get my phone service (including caller-id) from
South Central Bell. Many of my calls come from Lexington, KY, about 20
miles away. Same LATA, but served by GTE. I don't get caller-id on any
of those calls. I know my local switch is capable of picking up
caller-id from long-distance calls, because I occasionally get it on
other calls. So I assume the reason I don't get it on calls from
Lexington is that GTE doesn't send it. GTE does provide caller-id to
Lexington customers, so I know they're at least capable of delivering
it locally. And Lexington has lots of different exchanges and several
COs, so I assume GTE is capable of transmitting the id between their
own switches. So why don't they send it to South Central Bell? Is
there some technical reason? Or are they just being stubborn? And is
there any chance that they'll stop being stubborn?


Matt Simpson --  Lead Systems Programmer - MVS
University Of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
[e-mail]     http://rivendell.cc.uky.edu

------------------------------

From: Mark Cuccia <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Outgoing Only Phone Line without Phone Number
Date: Tue, 9 May 95 09:45:00 GMT


In John D. Galt's recent post, he states that 01 uses for a 'non-dial'
number would be confused with International Dialing sequences.

There are various semi-interrelated numbering schemes used by telco:

     1. Dialable numbers by operators & customers (including certain codes,
011+ International Access)

     2. Dial-ACCESS codes for CUSTOMER use (1+, 0+, and for opr.asstd.intl.
01+; ALSO 10XXX/101XXXX+)

     3. Operator/Network SYSTEM codes of the form 1XX and 0XX -- these are
NOT used by the general customer -- they are used by the operators and
Test personnel, etc. Operators do NOT use a 1+ when dialing out for a
customer, ergo 1XX used by an operator would not conflict. These are
used for special routing, network control, opr.to opr.connections,
etc.

     4. Internal BILLING codes for identification of a party for BILLING
purposes - used for manual Ring Down points, and used for OutWATS-"only"
lines - these have been of the form 88X, and 0XX/1XX.  Sometimes they are of
the form of a LETTER followed by 2 digits for Private Leased Circuits -
These are more or less an ACCOUNT number - They are NOT dialed by the
customer and not even the OPERATOR - the Opr.will key the 7 or 10 digit
string into the BILLING database for automated billing - YEARS ago, the
opr.would write up a toll-ticket which would be processed manually to
prepare the billed party's monthly bill. Sometimes these codes have been
known as 'Mark-Sense Codes' since the Operator would 'Mark' (write) a
'Sense' (digit/symbol) on the old fashioned manually written toll-tickets.

     5. Also related to point 4, 'Non-Subscriber' Calling Cards -
These are 14 digit calling card numbers which are assigned to special
billing card accounts; includes AT&T's non-line-number based card
numbers but billed to a home/residence regular telephone number bill
(I am NOT really referring to MAX 13 digit AT&T cards where you pick
the card number).  When placing a call, the Operator will key the
number into the billing/validation database, first to verify/validate
the number, and if ok it is recorded into billing equipment and the
call goes thru.  Customers can ALSO key this type of number AFTER
reaching a TOPS/TSPS/OSPS system when using their card on an automated
basis.  NOTE: you as the customer are NOT keying your card number as a
call destination but rather as a billing number and you are entering
it into the operator's validation database, not the routing/switching
network for the call.  These numbering sequences also inter-relate
with 'RAO' codes (Revenue Accounting Office) used for billing message
relaying among the carriers.

Bellcore's TRA, North American Numbering, and RAO/CIID divisions are
responsible for managing the numbering issues amongst the various
carriers in North America, along with regulatory agencies, the local
telcos themselves, and various Industry Forums. They inherited this
role from AT&T Long Lines beginning in 1984.

Numbering/Dialing issues are NOT always that easy and simple. You have
to know WHERE, HOW, WHY, WHICH particular numbering sequence is used
and the network or database, etc. is applied.

Oh BTW, Bellcore has plans to unload their North American Numbering
Plan Administration (but probably NOT TRA)- This began after the FCC
started a Notice of Inquiry back in '92 - NOTHING has yet been finalized
on this matter.


MARK

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (UL ENG)
Subject: Re: What's R2 Signalling on Switch?
Date: 9 May 1995 03:00:42 +1000
Organization: Stanilite Electronics Pty. Ltd. Sydney, Australia


[e-mail] (Yee-Lee Shyong) writes:

> Originally, I only heard about TR-008 or TR-303 for signaling
> specification between Digital Loop Carrier(DLC) and Local Digital
> Switch (LDS). But somebody tols me that R2 signaling is also popular on
> LDS. Can someone out there tell me what it is? Where I can find this
> document describibg R2? Who published that material?

Its one of the CCITT Blue Book Recommendations (I think). Its based
around multi-frequency signalling with each end sending its signal
until the other end replies by sending an acknowledge/send next
signal, also in the form of multi-frequency.

Most countries make changes to the spec. (which the spec. actually
allows for by having user defined signals).  I just had to spend 5
weeks in China installing a cellular system with the Chinese
equivalent of R2 (Chinese MFC) for connections to the local exchanges.

If you don't get any replies with the exact volume and fascicle for
this spec. mail me ([e-mail]) and I'll forward
the information to you when I'm at work on Monday.


Glenn

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: What's R2 Signalling on Switch?
Date: 9 May 1995 04:27:54 GMT
Reply-To: [e-mail]


In <[e-mail]>, [e-mail]
(Yee-Lee Shyong) writes:

> Originally, I only heard about TR-008 or TR-303 for signaling
> specification between Digital Loop Carrier(DLC) and Local Digital
> Switch (LDS). But somebody tols me that R2 signaling is also popular on
> LDS. Can someone out there tell me what it is? Where I can find this
> document describibg R2? Who published that material?

R2 is defined in the ITU-T Q Series documents which you can get from
the ITU gopher at info.itu.ch

R2 is a compelled form of signalling used primarily on International
Gateway connections. Never heard of it being used in the US at other
than International Gateways.


Hope this helps.

Wally Ritchie      Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Voice/Data Multiplexer For 64kb Leased Line?
Date: 9 May 1995 04:32:54 GMT
Reply-To: [e-mail]


In <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Magnus
Harlander) writes:

> We are looking for a data/voice multiplexer for a leased 64kb
> digital line. We want to use some portion of the bandwidth for phone
> calls to and from a PBX extension and the rest for IP traffic. The
> leased line speaks the G.703 protocol (there would be an alternative
> using I.430). Any information about implementations, producers and
> distributors is appreciated.


Newbridge Networks (3606) (Canada)
Republic Telecom (Now Netrix) (RLX400) (US)
Micom (Marathon Series) (US)
Case (UK)

If you have trouble finding phone number e-mail me and I'll dig them
out.


Wally Ritchie      Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Tor-Einar Jarnbjo)
Subject: Re: International Telephone Number Length - Maximum Allowed
Date: 9 May 1995 10:26:18 GMT
Organization: Technical University of Berlin, Germany


[e-mail] wrote:

> One limitation that was discussed here in July '93 is that -- from the
> US at least -- an international call may not have more than 12 digits,
> e.g. dialing the following number in Germany:
>      011 +49 6131 XXX 4555
> results after some time in a short beep and then a busy signal.
> On the other hand:
>      011 +49 6131 XXX 450
> works just fine.

[snip]

> direct dial from a local exchange in the United States!!  (As I was
> told there are 13-digit numbers currently in Germany, Austria, and the
> Chech Republic.)

Actually phone-numbers assigned by German Telekom does not exceed 12
digits (country-code + area-code + local number). The number you
mention (0 61 31) X XX 45-55 is a local line within the PBX on number
(0 61 31) XX X45. Normally PBX-lines are denotated as (0 areacode)
XXXX-YYYY where XXXX is the phonennumber and YYYY the local number.
The manual switchboard is (always) then available at XXXX-0 which
means that all German phone-number are dialable from US :)


Tor-Einar Jarnbjo, [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Bob Schwartz)
Subject: Re: The AT&T "Minimum Usage Charge" Rumor
Date: Tue, 09 May 1995 10:39:58 -1000
Organization: BCI


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] wrote:

> I essentially never make LD calls and would be happy to have no LD
> provider at all.

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note:  ... even if telco defaults your line to
> 'none', you will still have to pay the network access charge each month
> since you can access carriers you choose via 10xxx.  PAT]

One other issue that is often missed on the topic: You still have to
pay the network access charge for the ability to RECEIVE long distance
calls.


BOB

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (TeamIguana)
Subject: Re: AT&T $5 Minimum Monthly Charge
Date: 9 May 1995 21:19:45 -0400
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
Reply-To: [e-mail] (TeamIguana)


Pat said:

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Each of the carriers leases a large amount
> of the resources and facilities of the other carriers. MCI purchases a few
> million dollars worth of leased circuits from AT&T monthly. If there is
> any single customer (a large corporation, I assume) doing more business
> with AT&T monthly, I would like to know who they are. Anyone who has some
> actual dollar figures available want to comment on this?    PAT]

The BofA contract with MCI is the largest private contract the company
has landed. Many years ago (ten or more) a lot of traffic was carried
over other IECs.  Those days are long gone. AT&T doesn't switch our
traffic, we don't switch theirs. We don't lease any AT&T facilities,
but might use some short fiber routes of theirs in remote areas where
it's not cost effective to install our own.  Bottom line really is
that AT&T is not a million dollar customer of MCIs.  Now how much do we
pay the RBOCs? That's another story!! :)


Iguana

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #234
******************************


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Date: Wed, 10 May 1995 09:02:06 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #235

TELECOM Digest     Wed, 10 May 95 09:02:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 235

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Country Codes (Clive D.W. Feather)
    Virtual Amateur Radio on the NET (Arthur Chandler)
    Re: U.S. Federal Suggestion Box in Cyberspace (Bradley Ward Allen)
    Re: Question About Calling Cards (Andrew Starte)
    Re: Phone Question Regards Transmission Problems (John Combs)
    Re: Mexico Billing Method: Digit Analysis or Meter Pulse? (David Gay)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
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On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
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*************************************************************************
*   TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the              *
* International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland    *
* under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES)   *
* project.  Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such
as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help
is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per
year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: Country Codes
Date: Wed, 10 May 1995 08:12:24 BST
From: Clive D.W. Feather <[e-mail]>


After the discussions about the Ukraine's new code and other related
changes, I've updated my list of country codes, which I thought the
readership might like.


Clive D.W. Feather     [e-mail]


# A line beginning with # is a comment.

# Codes after the country code
#  n: not used at present
#  s: shared with another country or territory
#  c: will change in the future

# Within descriptions, &12 means area code 12 within country code

# Tone codes (first is ring, second is engaged):
#  A: double ring, repeated regularly (UK ringing tone)
#  B: equal length on/off tones - about 1Hz (UK & USA engaged tone)
#  C: slow equal length on/off tones
#  D: fast equal length on/off tones - 2Hz to 3Hz
#  E: tones separated by long pauses (USA ringing tone)
#  F: long tones separated by short pauses

# The codes immediately before the name are the ISO 3166 two letter code
# for the country or territory. All countries/territories listed in ISO
# 3166 are listed here, and the ISO name is used.

1   s AB       AI Anguilla (&809)
1   s EF       AG Antigua and Barbuda (&809)
1   s CB       BS Bahamas, Commonwealth of the (&809)
1   s EB       BB Barbados (&809)
1   s CB       BM Bermuda (&809)
1   s AB       VG British Virgin Islands (&809)
1   s EB       CA Canada
1   s CB       KY Cayman Islands (&809)
1   s AB       DM Dominica, Commonwealth of (&809)
1   s EB       DO Dominican Republic (&809)
1   s AB       GD Grenada (&809)
1   s EB       JM Jamaica (&809)
1   s AB       MS Montserrat (&809)
1   s CB       PR Puerto Rico (&809)
1   s AB       KN Saint Kitts and Nevis (&809)
1   s AB       LC Saint Lucia (&809)
1   s AB       VC Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (&809)
1   c AB       TT Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of (&809, see 296)
1   s FD       TC Turks and Caicos Islands (&809)
1   s CB       VI US Virgin Islands (&809)
1   s          UM United States Minor Outlying Islands (&808)
1   s EB       US United States of America
20    CF       EG Egypt, Arab Republic of
210            MA (reserved for Morocco)
211            MA (reserved for Morocco)
212 s EB       MA Morocco, Kingdom of
212 s          EH Western Sahara (&8)
213   CB       DZ Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of
214            DZ (reserved for Algeria)
215            DZ (reserved for Algeria)
216   EB       TN Tunisia, Republic of
217            TN (reserved for Tunisia)
218   CF       LY Libyan Arab Jamahiriya S'list P. Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
219            LY (reserved for Libya)
220   AB       GM Gambia, Republic of the
221   CD       SN Senegal, Republic of
222            MR Mauritania, Islamic Republic of
223   CB       ML Mali, Republic of
224   EC       GN Guinea, Revolutionary People's Rep'c of
225   CD       CI Cote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of the
226   EB       BF Burkina Faso
227   CF       NE Niger, Republic of the
228   CB       TG Togo, Togolese Republic
229   CB       BJ Benin, People's Republic of
230   AB       MU Mauritius
231   ED       LR Liberia, Republic of
232   CB       SL Sierra Leone, Republic of
233   ED       GH Ghana, Republic of
234   CF       NG Nigeria, Federal Republic of
235   CB       TD Chad, Republic of
236   EB       CF Central African Republic
237   EB       CM Cameroon, United Republic of
238   CD       CV Cape Verde, Republic of
239   CB       ST Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of
240            GQ Equatorial Guinea, Republic of
241   EB       GA Gabon, Gabonese Republic
242   CD       CG Congo, People's Republic of
243   CD       ZR Zaire, Republic of
244   CD       AO Angola, Republic of
245   EC       GW Guinea-Bissau, Republic of
246            IO British Indian Ocean Territory
247   [EA]B    GB Ascension Island
248   AB       SC Seychelles, Republic of
249            SD Sudan, Democratic Republic of the
250   CB       RW Rwanda, Rwandese Republic
251   ED       ET Ethiopia
252   CB       SO Somalia, Somali Democratic Republic
253   EB       DJ Djibouti, Republic of
254   AF       KE Kenya, Republic of
255   AD       TZ Tanzania, United Republic of (includes Zanzibar &54)
256   [AC]E    UG Uganda, Republic of
257   CB       BI Burundi, Republic of
258   EB       MZ Mozambique, People's Republic of
259            TZ (assigned to Zanzibar, see 255)
260   EF       ZM Zambia, Republic of
261   CB       MG Madagascar, Republic of
262   CB       RE Reunion
263   AB       ZW Zimbabwe
264   AB       NA Namibia
265   ED       MW Malawi, Republic of
266   AD       LS Lesotho, Kingdom of
267   AB       BW Botswana, Republic of
268   AB       SZ Swaziland, Kingdom of
269 s          KM Comoros, Federal and Islamic Republic of
269 s          YT Mayotte
27    AB       ZA South Africa, Republic of
280            -- Spare
281            -- Spare
282            -- Spare
283            -- Spare
284            -- Spare
285            -- Spare
286            -- Spare
287            -- Spare
288            -- Spare
289            -- Spare
290   FB       SH St. Helena
291            ER Eritrea
292            -- Spare
293            -- Spare
294            -- Spare
295   ED       SM San Marino, Republic of (never used and withdrawn, see 378)
296 n AB       TT Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of (see 1)
297   EB       AW Aruba
298   ED       FO Faeroe Islands
299   ED       GL Greenland
30    ED       GR Greece, Hellenic Republic
31    ED       NL Netherlands, Kingdom of the
32    CD       BE Belgium, Kingdom of
33  c CB       AD Andorra, Principality of (&628, see 376)
33  s CB       FX France (Metropolitan)
33  c CB       MC Monaco, Principality of (&93, see 377)
34    ED       ES Spain, Spanish State
350   AB       GI Gibraltar
351   EB       PT Portugal, Portuguese Republic
352   ED       LU Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of
353   AB       IE Ireland
354   CD       IS Iceland, Republic of
355            AL Albania, People's Socialist Republic of
356   AB       MT Malta, Republic of
357   AF       CY Cyprus, Republic of
358   ED       FI Finland, Republic of
359   ED       BG Bulgaria, People's Republic of
36    FD       HU Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic
370            LT Lithuania
371            LV Latvia
372            EE Estonia
373            MD Moldova, Republic of
374 n EB         AM Armenia
375 n EB         BY Belarus
376 n CB         AD Andorra, Principality of (see 33)
377 n CB         MC Monaco, Principality of (see 33)
378 n ED         SM San Marino, Republic of (see 39)
379 n ED         VA Vatican City State (see 39)
380   EB       UA Ukraine
381            YU Montenegro and Serbia
382            -- Spare
383            -- Spare
384            -- Spare
385            HR Hrvatska (Croatia)
386            SI Slovenia
387            BA Bosnia and Herzegowina
388            -- Spare
389            MK Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of
39  s ED       IT Italy, Italian Republic
39  c ED       SM San Marino, Republic of (&541, see 295 and 378),
39  c ED       VA Vatican City State (&66982, see 379)
40    CB       RO Romania, Socialist Republic of
41  s EB       LI Liechtenstein, Principality of (&75)
41  s EB       CH Switzerland, Swiss Confederation
42  s ED       CZ Czech Republic (&1 to &6)
42  s ED       SK Slovakia (&7 to &9)
43    ED       AT Austria, Republic of
44    AB       GB United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland
45    BD       DK Denmark, Kingdom of
46    ED       SE Sweden, Kingdom of
47  s          BV Bouvet Island
47  s ED       NO Norway, Kingdom of
47  s          SJ Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands (&795)
48    EB       PL Poland, Polish People's Republic
49    ED       DE Germany
500   EB       FK Falkland Islands
501   ED       BZ Belize
502   CD       GT Guatemala, Republic of
503   EB       SV El Salvador, Republic of
504   CD       HN Honduras, Republic of
505   EB       NI Nicaragua, Republic of
506   EB       CR Costa Rica, Republic of
507   EA       PA Panama, Republic of
508   CB       PM St. Pierre et Miquelon
509   [EF]B    HT Haiti, Republic of
51    EB       PE Peru, Republic of
52    ED       MX Mexico, United Mexican States
53    CB       CU Cuba, Republic of
54    EB       AR Argentina, Argentine Republic
55    EB       BR Brazil, Federative Republic of
56    AB       CL Chile, Republic of
57    ED       CO Colombia, Republic of
58    CD       VE Venezuela, Republic of
590   CF       GP Guadaloupe, including St. Barthelemy and French St. Martin
591   EB       BO Bolivia, Republic of
592   AB       GY Guyana, Republic of
593   ED       EC Ecuador, Republic of
594   ED       GF French Guiana
595   EB       PY Paraguay, Republic of
596   CB       MQ Martinique
597   EB       SR Suriname, Republic of
598   EB       UY Uruguay, Eastern Republic of
599   EB       AN Netherlands Antilles
60    AB       MY Malaysia
61    AB       AU Australia, Commonwealth of
61    AB       CC Cocos Islands
62    EB       ID Indonesia, Republic of
63    EB       PH Philippines, Republic of the
64    AB       NZ New Zealand
65    AB       SG Singapore, Republic of
66    ED       TH Thailand, Kingdom of
670   EB       MP Northern Mariana Islands
671   EB       GU Guam
672 s AB       AQ Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) (&1)
672 s AB       CX Christmas Island (&4)
672 s AB       HM Heard and McDonald Islands
672 s AB       NF Norfolk Island (&3)
673   AB       BN Brunei Darussalam
674   EB       NR Nauru, Republic of
675   AB       PG Papua New Guinea
676   EB       TO Tonga, Kingdom of
677   DB       SB Solomon Islands
678   ED       VU Vanuatu
679   AF       FJ Fiji
680   EB       PW Palau
681            WF Wallis and Futuna Islands
682   AB       CK Cook Islands
683            NU Niue
684   EB       AS American Samoa
685   AB       WS Samoa, Independent State of Western
686   EB       KI Kiribati
687   CB       NC New Caledonia
688            TV Tuvalu
689   CB       PF French Polynesia
690            TK Tokelau
691   EB       FM Micronesia, Federated States of
692   EB       MH Marshall Islands
693            -- Spare
694            -- Spare
695            -- Spare
696            -- Spare
697            -- Spare
698            -- Spare
699            -- Spare
7   c EB       AM Armenia (see 374)
7   c EB       BY Belarus (see 375)
7   c EB       GE Georgia (see 995)
7   s EB       KZ Kazakhstan
7   s EB       KG Kyrgyz Republic
7   s EB       RU Russian Federation
7   s EB       TJ Tajikistan
7   s EB       TM Turkmenistan
7   s EB       UZ Uzbekistan
800            -- Reserved for international called-party-pays services
801            -- Spare
802            -- Spare
803            -- Spare
804            -- Spare
805            -- Spare
806            -- Spare
807            -- Spare
808            -- Spare
809            -- Spare
81    EB       JP Japan
82    FB       KR Korea, Republic of (South)
830            -- Spare
831            -- Spare
832            -- Spare
833            -- Spare
834            -- Spare
835            -- Spare
836            -- Spare
837            -- Spare
838            -- Spare
839            -- Spare
84             VN Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of
850   ED       KP Korea, Democratic People's Republic of (North)
851            -- Spare
852   AB       HK Hong Kong
853   EB       MO Macau
854            -- Spare
855            KH Cambodia, Kingdom of
856            LA Lao People's Democratic Republic
857            -- Spare
858            -- Spare
859            -- Spare
86    CB       CN China, People's Republic of (&6 assigned to Taiwan, see 886)
870            -- Reserved for Inmarsat
871            -- Inmarsat (Atlantic East)
872            -- Inmarsat (Pacific)
873            -- Inmarsat (Indian)
874            -- Inmarsat (Atlantic West)
875            -- Reserved for Inmarsat
876            -- Reserved for Inmarsat
877            -- Reserved for Inmarsat
878            -- Reserved for national mobile telephone purposes
879            -- Reserved for national mobile telephone purposes
880   AB       BD Bangladesh, People's Republic of
881            -- Spare
882            -- Spare
883            -- Spare
884            -- Spare
885            -- Spare
886   EB       TW Taiwan (normally used, but not ITU-T allocation - see 86)
887            -- Spare
888            -- Spare
889            -- Spare
89             -- Reserved for payment codes (e.g. 891228 = AT&T calling card)
90    EB       TR Turkey, Republic of (including Turkish Cyprus &5)
91    AB       IN India, Republic of
92    [EA][BD] PK Pakistan, Islamic Republic of
93             AF Afghanistan, Islamic State of
94    AB       LK Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of
95    EB       MM Myanmar
960   AF       MV Maldives, Republic of
961   CB       LB Lebanon, Lebanese Republic
962   AB       JO Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of
963   EB       SY Syrian Arab Republic
964   AB       IQ Iraq, Republic of
965   EB       KW Kuwait, State of
966   EB       SA Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of
967   EB       YE Yemen (former Yemen Arab Republic part)
968   FB       OM Oman, Sultanate of
969   ED       YE Yemen (former Yemen Democratic Republic part)
970            -- Spare
971   AB       AE United Arab Emirates
972   EB       IL Israel, State of
973   AB       BH Bahrain, State of
974   AB       QA Qatar, State of
975   AC       BT Bhutan, Kingdom of
976            MN Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic
977   CE       NP Nepal, Kingdom of
978            -- Spare
979            -- Spare
98    ED       IR Iran, Islamic Republic of
990            -- Spare
991            -- Spare
992            -- Spare
993            -- Spare
994            AZ Azerbaijan
995 n EB       GE Georgia
996            -- Spare
997            -- Spare
998            -- Spare
999            -- Spare
???            TP East Timor
???            TF French Southern Territories
???            PN Pitcairn Island
???            GS South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands

# Notes on spare codes.

# A spare code in the same zone (first digit) should be used if available,
# otherwise a spare code in an adjacent zone, otherwise a spare code in
# the zone with the most spares left. Isolated spare codes should be used
# first; if there are none, use the lowest code in the same zone, or the
# highest code in another zone.
# 88x spare codes are not to be used until all other 8xx spare codes have
# been used.

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 9 May 1995 22:12:13 PDT
From: Arthur Chandler <[e-mail]>
Subject: Virtual Amateur Radio on the NET


BayMOO, an all-text virtual reality on the Internet, has implemented a
striking new techology for amateur radio operators (Hams). BayMOO has
just opened its Virtual Ham Central, a virtual room which is linked to
a server in Canada, which in turn is connected to hundreds of packet
radio stations all over the world. Anyone can enter the room and
follow several conversations at once -- usually in different
languages. Only licensed Ham operators can transmit from the room.

A licensed ham tells his or her callsign to Dr.J or Akira -- the
owners and builders of the room -- who then registers the visitor's
callsign in the room.  After the server link is activated, whatever
the operator types after the % sign is sent out over the link to all
connected packet stations.  A typical conversation might look like
this:

  *************************************************************
  <KO6OA> Hello -- anyone here tonight?
  <PY2NG> Boa noite -- Alguem aqui fala Portugues?
  <KE5IIE> Good evening, KO6OA -- we are recovering from the big storm in
           Texas.
  <VE4DT> Bonsoir -- Jean QTH Quebec ici.
  <PU6I> Ola, PY2NG. Como esta o tempo em Rio?
  <KO6OA> Heard about that, KE5IIE. Any hams involved in emergency
          communications?
  <PY2NG> Bonsoir, Jean, de Joao QTH Rio.
  *************************************************************

  The Virtual Ham Center gives amateur radio operators a chance to
communicate with each other via text in a much faster and more
error-free medium than ever before.

  To reach the Virtual Ham Center at BayMOO:
          telnet baymoo.sfsu.edu  8888
  Login as guest, then type  @go Virtual Ham Center

  For more information, contact [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Bradley Ward Allen)
Subject: Re: U.S. Federal Suggestion Box in Cyberspace
Date: 10 May 1995 07:55:13 -0400
Organization: URL:http://www.armory.com/~ulmo/ (see rivers.html for PGP key)


In article <[e-mail]>,  <[e-mail]> wrote:

> In <[e-mail]>, Donald E. Kimberlin
> <[e-mail]> wrote about a federal suggestion box.

> It would be nice if a million or so people just told them to put all
> federal documents (especially the tens of thousands of pages of
> federal regulations) online (with commercial contractors), then fire
> everybody in the federal government and start over from scratch. (Zero
> base head count).

That would certainly be nice.

Problem is those employees are human, and there are a couple of
functions that are actually vital.  Like the CDC, and many would argue
the DoD (as little as I like them I tend to agree).  However, in the
long run even *these* agencies and our society *may* (or may not)
benefit from your reorganization implementation plan.  Definately they
can both use a lot more computerization.

Ahh, my brain is synapsing about the efforts of the people to bandage
what sores a bully-operated system creates.  My brain feels happier
when it synapses about telecommunications and free information access
to all government documents ...

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Andrew Starte)
Subject: Re: Question About Calling Cards
Organization: Unitel Communications Ltd
Date: Wed, 10 May 1995 12:40:41 GMT


Thomas Feiner of Munich, Germany said:

> As I arrived at Atlanta Airport, I bought a prepaid phonecard from
> U.S. Telecard. I was very happy about the message features.  I had a
> special message PIN (different to the PIN which is needed to place a
> call), who allowed anybody who knew the PIN to leave me messages. This
> call was free for the caller, only I had to pay 80c for each message.

> Now, I would like to use this feature for international calls
> (especially from Germany). The problem is, that 800 numbers can not be
> reached from outside the U.S.

> So I would like to know if there are calling-cards (prepid or not)
> with an international message feature. I am interested in general
> information about calling-cards too.

Unitel is a UK based phonecard service provider. We focus in Intra
European business, so our rates are likely to be better for an
European.  We also handle the BIG European problem of dial pulse
phones.  Yes we can currently offer a message forwarding service on
"no answer" or engaged" calls and plan to offer voicemail type
features within 3 months.

Our cards are also rechargeable be credit card.

Mail me if you are interested in taking this further.


TTFN  Andrew Starte

Unitel Communications Limited (Principal UK Calling & Pre-paid Phone Card
Service Providers)  For further details of our products and services
e-mail to [e-mail] or telephone [phone].

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 9 May 95 14:53 EST
From: TestMark Laboratories <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Phone Question Regards Transmission Problems


Anthony W Collins <[e-mail]> writes in TELECOM Digest
Volume 15, Issue 217:

>> Jack Mott <[e-mail]> writes:

>> We have recently added a third extension for our house.  Once every
>> four or five calls, the phone will stop sending my voice (I can still
>> hear the other party).  This happens regardless of which phone is
>> attached to the third extension, even an old and reliable Bell System
>> phone.  We do not experience this problem on the other two extensions.

> What you describe is not possible. From your description the problem
> is with the four wire part of the circuit transmitter to hybrid in the
> set which usually ends up being the handset cord or the transmitter
> contacts (clean with an ereaser) I have to dispute the problem being
> in your jack wiring back to the central office. It may help to call
> your telephone repair department and request a full test on your line
> by a technician If you get a bad test disconnect any wiring that you
> are responsible for and have them test again and get a dispatch if
> their part of the line is bad so as not to incur any charges.  It is
> always helpful to clear up other minor problems when you are
> troubleshooting.

A little knowledge is always a dangerous thing.  The problem that Jack
is describing could very easily be caused by a faulty subscriber
carrier system.  In fact, he mentions he just added a third line to
the house.  It's entirely possible that there were only two pairs
going to the house, and the telco used a two channel subscriber
carrier such as a GTE 84A to piggyback the third "line" onto one of
the two copper pairs.  Or he could be served by a larger carrier
system such as an AT&T SLC 5 or SLC 96, and just happens to have a
defective line card on the third line to his house.  Unfortunately,
the problem is intermittent, so he will no doubt have trouble
convincing the telco to keep trying until it shows up.


John Combs, Project Engineer, TestMark Laboratories, [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (David Gay)
Subject: Re: Mexico Billing Method: Digit Analysis or Meter Pulse?
Date: 09 May 1995 22:40:22 GMT
Organization: Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne


In article <[e-mail]> Jan Hinnerk Haul <[e-mail].
de> writes:

> In comp.dcom.telecom is written:

> Does Mexico / Central America use a digit analysis method for
> calculating charges, or a metered pulse method?  What I'm actually
> refering to is the SMDR output on a PBX.  I believe the U.S. is in the
> minority in using digit analysis, or am I wrong?

Well, it depends ...

Most countries (errr ... PTTs / carriers) give call supervision data
to the PBX in some form or the other.

Typical methods are high-frequency pulses on top of the voice signal
(e.g., Germany uses 16 khz). These pulses are filtered out by the
PBX. Each pulse signals that one "unit" or "tick" of charge applies.

Other possible methods are a 50hz signal, and polarity reversal (between
the A & B lines).

The drawback of number analysis is, of course, that no call
supervision is possible, letting users being "billed" with uncompleted
calls if they wait longer than the set timeout period and letting very
brief calls unbilled. If your interest is mainly to catch the
expensive calls, like an office setup, this is fine. When you want to
bill the calls (like an hotel setup), it is not as easily acceptable.

Payphones in some countries use digit analysis, but detect the start
of the call with one of the above methods (polarity reversal, etc), thus
avoiding that particular problem.


David Gay    [e-mail]

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #235
******************************


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From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #236

TELECOM Digest     Thu, 11 May 95 10:15:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 236

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Phones Fight Fraud (Steve Geimann)
    Announcement: Nautilus 0.9.0 Now Available (Bill Dorsey)
    Book Review: "Handbook of LAN Technology" by Fortier (Rob Slade)
    Rural Internet via Coops (Dean Hughson)
    MCI Invests in News Corp. (Steve Geimann)
    Data Pagers w/PCMCIA Interface (Douglas Neubert)
    Re: ISDN, BellSouth and OCN (Willard F. Dawson)
    Re: NPA Arrangmenets (John Mayson)
    FCC Press Release on Caller ID (Andrew Robson)
    Southeast Louisiana and Gulf Coast Flooding (Mark Cuccia)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
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On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
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Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
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----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Date: Wed, 10 May 1995 07:16:25 -0400
Subject: Phones Fight Fraud


By Steve Geimann
Senior Editor
{Communications Daily}

    U.S. telephone companies have turned to customers to fight $3.37
billion in fraud, launching video campaign with fox mascot and
enlisting financial support of industry to supplement current
antifraud technology.  Alliance to Outfox Phone Fraud has six members
at its launch, including three RBOCs, and said it hoped remaining
large companies and smaller service providers would join soon.
Not-for-profit organization assesses members based on size, ranging
from $500 for small companies to $50,000 for Baby Bells yearly, said
Chmn. Mary Chacanias, Bell Atlantic (BA) fraud prevention manager.  "This
really is worldwide.  It crosses all boundaries."

     Alliance effort focuses on raising consumer awareness of
fraudulent activities, ranging from stealing access codes and PINs
from PBXs, persuading clerical workers to release confidential
information under guise of repair service and eavesdropping as callers
use credit cards at pay phones.

     Industry statistics show $1.6 billion in fraud using PBXs, $1.7
billion from calling card and cellular theft.  Total fraud rose $70
million (2.1%) last year, with average loss of $168,000 for
businesses, while losses to PBXs dropped to $20,000 from $24,000 in
1993.  Chacanias said BA cut credit card fraud 22% last year, is
aiming at 50% this year.

     BA, Pacific Bell, Southwestern Bell, Ill. Consolidated Telephone,
American Telecommunications Enterprises and Communication Fraud
Control Assn.  are the first members of alliance. Patrick Hanley, BA
president, Carrier Services, said some RHCs might be reluctant to admit
they have fraudulent calls: "It's almost like it's become an accepted
cost of doing business."

     Public service announcements to begin in July will use "Freddie
the Phone Fraud Fox" in urging customers to protect calling card
information, avoid accepting third party or collect calls at home,
demand identification from anyone calling themselves phone company
employees, avoid allowing anyone to use cellular phone and call
companies immediately if any phone-related equipment is stolen.

     SWB detected sharp increase in fraud directed at Latin population
in Southern Tex., where individuals posing as SB representatives
instruct consumers to engage call-forwarding feature "as a test," said
Marcia Grabish, area mgr.-operator service, then make fraudulent calls
through customers' phones. One recent victim got bill for $6,000, she
said.  Some customers have asked company to block nondomestic calls
from their cards, she said.

     Industry officials hailed recent arrest in $50-million phone
fraud case involving Cleartel reseller in D.C., in which someone
gained access to computer tape with PINs, Chacanias said.  In Illinois,
Cheryl Smith-Rardin, manager, Corporate Fraud, ICT, said growing problem
of jail inmate phone fraud, in which prisoners order service in name
of warden, is prompting new system involving debit bracelets using bar
code.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Bill Dorsey)
Subject: Announcement: Nautilus 0.9.0 Now Available
Date: 10 May 1995 18:09:27 GMT
Organization: NOYB, Inc.


Announcing Nautilus 0.9.0 (Beta Test)

WHAT IS NAUTILUS?

Nautilus is a program that lets you have encrypted voice telephone
conversations with your friends without needing any special equipment.
All you need is a standard personal computer (386/25 or faster PC with
Soundblaster compatible sound board, or Sun Sparcstation) and a high
speed modem.  Its speech quality is reasonably good at 14.4kbps and
acceptable at 9600 bps.  It currently won't work at any slower modem
speeds.

Nautilus is the first program of this type that we know of to be
distributed for free with source code.  A few similar commercial
programs have been distributed without source, so that their security
cannot be independently examined.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Nautilus uses your computer's audio hardware to digitize and play back
your speech using a homebrew speech compression routine included with
the program.  It encrypts the compressed speech using your choice of
the Blowfish, Triple DES, or IDEA block ciphers, and transmits the
encrypted packets over your modem to your friend's computer.  At the
other end, the process is reversed.  The program is half-duplex; just
hit a key to switch between talking and listening.

Nautilus's encryption key is generated from a shared secret passphrase
that you and your friend choose together ahead of time, perhaps via
email using PGP, RIPEM, or a similar program.  Nautilus itself does not
currently incorporate any form of public key cryptography.

Further details are in the release notes included with the program.

FTP SITES

Nautilus is available in three different formats:

nautilus-0.9.0.tar.gz - full source code
naut090.zip           - MSDOS executable and associated documentation
naut090s.zip          - full source code

It is available at the following FTP sites:

ftp://ripem.msu.edu/pub/crypt/other/
This is an export controlled ftp site: read /pub/crypt/GETTING_ACCESS
for information on access.

ftp://ftp.csn.org:/mpj/I_will_not_export/crypto_???????/
This is an export controlled ftp site: read /mpj/README for
information on access.

ftp://miyako.dorm.duke.edu/mpj/crypto/voice/
This is an export controlled ftp site: read /mpj/GETTING_ACCESS for
information on access.

INTERNATIONAL USE

Sorry, but under current US law, Nautilus is legal for domestic use in
the US only.  We don't like this law but have to abide by it while it
is in effect.  Nautilus is distributed through export-restricted FTP
sites for this reason.  Please do not export it.

IMPORTANT

This is a BETA TEST VERSION of a BRAND NEW CRYPTOGRAPHY PROGRAM.
Although we've done our best to choose secure ciphers and protocols
for Nautilus, its design details have not yet been reviewed by anyone
except the authors, and it's VERY EASY to make mistakes in such
programs that mess up the security.  We advise against putting too
much faith in the security of the program until it has undergone a lot
more reviewing and debugging.  We encourage cryptographers and users
alike to examine and test the program thoroughly, and *please* let us
know if you find anything wrong.  We hope to release an updated
version within about one month fixing any serious bugs found in the
current version, though probably not having many new features.
Finally, although we'll try to fix any bugs reported to us, WE CANNOT
BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY ERRORS.

CONTACTING THE DEVELOPERS

Nautilus was written by Bill Dorsey, Pat Mullarky, and Paul Rubin.
To contact the developers, please send email to [e-mail].

This announcement, and the source and executable distribution files,
are all signed with the following PGP public key.  Please use it to
check the authenticity of the files and of any fixes we may post.  You
can also use it to send us encrypted email if you want.  We will try
to keep such email confidential, but cannot guarantee it.

- -----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
Version: 2.6
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=M+h4
- -----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----

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Bill Dorsey    "Nothing that results from human progress is achieved
[e-mail]     with unamimous consent.  And those who are enlightened
PGP 2.X pubkey     before the others are condemned to pursue that light
available     in spite of the others."  -- Christopher Columbus

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 10 May 1995 17:31:55 EST
From: Rob Slade <[e-mail]>
Subject: Book Review: "Handbook of LAN Technology" by Fortier


BKLANTCH.RVW   950331

"Handbook of LAN Technology", Paul Fortier, 1992, 0-07-021625-8
%A   Paul Fortier
%C   2600 Tenth St., Berkeley, CA   94710
%D   1992
%G   0-07-021625-8
%I   Intertext Publications/McGraw Hill
%O   510-548-2805 800-227-0900 [e-mail]
%P   732
%T   "Handbook of LAN Technology"

This is a collection of papers on various aspects, primarily
theoretical, of local area network technology.  Given the structure,
and the variety of authors, there is a great deal of repetition of
material.

As well as general background, topics covered include error
management, topologies, protocols, control, routing, interconnection,
security, modelling and simulation, network operating system theory,
software, programming languages, tools, architecture, and
implementations.

This would be of use principally as a collection of references in
introduction to specialized theoretical topics.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1995   BKLANTCH.RVW   950331.  Distribution
permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated publications. Rob Slade's
book reviews are a regular feature in the Digest.


Vancouver      [e-mail]
Institute for  [e-mail]
Research into  Rob.Slade@f733.n153.z1/
User                      .fidonet.org
Security       Canada V7K 2G6

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Dean Hughson)
Subject: Rural Internet via Coops
Date: Wed, 10 May 1995 08:08:44 MST
Organization: Primenet


It appears to me that some of the readers here are local coops.  I
wanted to share that in our rural Northern Missouri area the local
telephone coops have shown some real leadership in forming a new group
and offering affordable slip access to the Net to areas as small as
mine (12 miles from a town of 886 people for instance).  That is the
advantage I see in telephone coops -- they can do things that much
larger telephone companies can't quickly ... while my rural area has
Internet access many larger cities in Missouri don't ...


Dean Hughson

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Date: Thu, 11 May 1995 07:03:11 -0400
Subject: MCI Invests in News Corp.


By Steve Geimann
Senior Editor, {Communications Daily}
Washington

     MCI plans $2 billion investment in News Corp. as part of global
venture, giving MCI access to content and News Corp. ability to expand
distribution and setting stage for delivering information to homes and
businesses.  MCI Chairman-CEO Bert Roberts and News Chairman-CEO
Rupert Murdoch said venture will expand delivery of entertainment and
information to homes and businesses worldwide.

    Roberts said focus will be on businesses as well as entertainment
in homes and venture will be "by far is the most expansive and most
impactful" of new communications/entertainment joint ventures.
Murdoch said that two industries are changing rapidly and that both
companies can "create opportunities from those changes."

     MCI's initial investment is $1 billion in preferred stock and
warrants that could increase to $2 billion.  At any time in next 4
years, MCI can convert warrants, giving it 13.5% stake in News Corp.
and making it second largest shareholder after Murdoch's family.

    Agreement permits MCI to buy additional shares, up to 20%, after
initial equity position.  MCI will provide $200 million cash
immediately, and News Corp. will offer investments in BSkyB worth up
to $200 million to capitalize joint venture at $400 million. Roberts
and Murdoch will supervise venture jointly.  Staff size wasn't
immediately known.

     Standard & Poor's said it wasn't immediately clear how two
companies would provide services, Telecommunications Group Dir. Robert
Siderman saying: "It's not quite as clear on its face without more
details."  MCI's link to U.S. homes is through local telephone
companies, making immediate synergies hard to see, he said.  He said
MCI isn't lacking for cash, and its current rating of A- reflects
expectation company planned to spend its cash.  Moody's confirmed its
A2 and Prime-1 ratings on MCI's senior unsecured debt and commercial
paper and placed News ratings on review for possible upgrade.  Agency
said: "While the investment reduced MCI's cash balances by about
one-third, the preferred stock structure ... provides immediate market
reeturns although from a lower rated credit."

     Roberts said it's too early to identify services or offerings of
joint venture, but speculated it would be in on-line services and
information rather than entertainment.  Several times in conference
call with reporters, Roberts stressed focus will be on information and
entertainment.  "This is not just an alliance for entertainment into
the home," he said.

     Although MCI doesn't have immediate access to home, both
executives said many other delivery systems, including DBS, cable TV
and "eventually" telephone lines will be available.  Roberts said
MCI-News combination wasn't "a timid deal."

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Douglas Neubert)
Subject: Data Pagers With PCMCIA Interface
Date: 11 May 1995 12:15:33 GMT
Organization: Netcom


Can anyone tell me if there is a company that sells a service, that
would give my field techs a display pager with an I/O port via PCMCIA
or DB9 serial interface. I am trying to send the techs daily routs to
the techs and right now they all call in and use the 800 service. This
is very costley and with only 20 modems and around 300 techs getting
in can be tough. If you can be of any help in this issue at all please
E-mail me with any info. Thanx.


Doug Neubert     Engineering/Tech. Supp. Telsource Corp.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Willard F. Dawson)
Subject: Re: ISDN, BellSouth and OCN
Date: 10 May 1995 22:49:01 -0400
Organization: Entropy, Ltd.


[e-mail] (Bradley Ward Allen) writes:

> In article <[e-mail]>, Willard F. Dawson <wdawson@crl.
> com> wrote:

>> [e-mail] (Bradley Ward Allen) writes:

>>> Redundancy is better -- let all subscribers use whatever works best at
>>> the moment, as determined by a well-maintained set of routers.

>> Redundant routers that kick in to the selected carrier of data rather
>> than falling over to a different carrier are also possible ... and,
>> required, in a RBOC environment that must compete with the likes of
>> MFS and their "miss 1% a year, get the next year for free" attitude.

> Yes but frequently the selected carrier of IP data cannot get packets
> around.  For instance, I have had the worst luck with Sprint, however
> since my main host only connects via it (argg when are they going to
> upgrade?), I have a dependence on them.  My solution is to also have a
> Netcom account, plus maintaining a short list of friends' passwords
> for emergency use.  Last month, I think one out of five login sessions
> had to be done via Netcom.  Tonight, Netcom hosts were down, luckily
> Sprint isn't being a problem to me.

> If I upgrade my system of two providers plus access to three others in
> emergency needs (included are seven regional, international and
> national networks), I'd want some incentive like automated packet
> routing via whatever network is working and other redundancy measures.

Good (or is that great) service providers will themselves be redundantly
connected, and will configure their routers to use BGP to ensure that
outages with one provider do not kill their routes to and from the
'net.

Cheaper providers will cut corners, and hopefully pass the savings on to
you, the user.  If not, I suggest you jump ship, in a hurry.  If so,
then you're choice to remain with them should be an educated decision ...

Unfortunately, too many net-newcomers don't know enough to ask these
kinds of questions. Perhaps there is or should be a FAQ on proper
questions to ask of potential Internet Service Providers.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (John Mayson)
Subject: Re: NPA Arrangmenets
Date: Thu, 11 May 95 8:56:02 EDT


> In your post, you criticized the current method of NPA splits.

> I didn't quite understand what specific NPA you were referring to, what
> specifically you didn't like, and what you would prefer instead.

> Could you elaborate?  Thanks.

Well, that posting was more of a run-on thought that anything else.
Basically my problem is we aren't trusting the LECs to make these
decisions, instead we're allowing state regulators and "concerned"
citizens who probably watch too much Oprah to make them.

Having lived in Atlanta for many, many years, I see the 404 splits as
a perfect example.  The Georgia PSC was afraid of excluding outer
communities from being "part of Atlanta", so they didn't split
anywhere near enough off when they created 706.  Now we've got this
404/770 split along I-285 which the local media hyped would keep
Southern Bell from forcing Atlantans to dial 10-digits and would make
it easier for "our" children to memorize their phone numbers (as if
Southern Bell is out to get the people of Atlanta).  However this is
totally false since there is much cross-Perimeter dialing and a very
large "border population" along I-285.  They might as well have made
an overlay so callers wouldn't have to guess what they need to dial.
Hopefully Southern Bell will allow permissive 11-digit dialing

These splits are becoming like the gerrymandered Congressional
districts, IMHO.  Like I said in my original post, yeah, there are
bigger and better things to worry about in life.  But my Libertarian
nature has gotten a little miffed over state and local governments
claiming they're acting in the people's best interest by "protecting"
them from the LECs and their quest to create more telephone numbers.

Personally I prefer overlays for large metro areas (e.g. Houston,
Atlanta, South Florida), but splits for larger, more sparcely
populated areas, such as Oregon (Were they REALLY considering a
statewide overlay?).


John Mayson (MS 100/2243) Senior Engineer
Harris Electronic Systems Sector
PO Box 99000, Melbourne FL USA 32902
Voice [phone] | Fax [phone] | Pager [phone]
internet [e-mail] | http://p100dl.ess.harris.com

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Andrew Robson)
Subject: FCC Press Release on Caller ID
Date: 10 May 1995 22:17:37 -0700
Organization: None


[The following is a press release downloaded from fcc.gov and lightly
edited for line formatting]

Report No. DC 95-71        ACTION IN DOCKET CASE      May 4, 1995

FCC FINALIZES RULES FOR CALLER ID; ALLOWS PER LINE BLOCKING WHERE
STATES PERMIT; PBX CALLER ID RULES PROPOSED
         (CC DOCKET 91-281)

The Commission today voted to approve national Caller ID rules that
will protect the privacy of the called and the calling party by
mandating that carriers make available a free, simple and consistent,
per call blocking and unblocking mechanism. Under the rules adopted
today, callers dialing *67 before dialing a particular call will, for
interstate calls, block calling party information for any interstate
calls and those callers using a blocked line can unblock the line and
release that information by dialing *82.  The Order permits carriers
to provide privacy on all calls dialed from a particular line, where
state policies provide, and the customer selects, that option.

Today's action came as the Commission reconsidered its original Caller
ID nationwide Caller ID system is in the public interest.  It found
that passage of the calling party's number, or CPN, could benefit
consumers by encouraging the introduction of new technologies and
services to the public, enabling service providers and consumers to
conduct transactions more efficiently.

The rules adopted today will take effect December 1, 1995.  Public pay
phones and partylines will be required to be in compliance by January 1,
1997.  The Commission also issued a rulemaking proposal concerning PBX
and private payphone obligations under the Caller ID rules.

In March 1994, the Commission adopted a Report and Order that concluded
that a nationwide Caller ID system was in the public interest and stated
that the potential benefits of a Caller ID system -- efficiency and
productivity gains, infrastructure development and network utilization,
and new service and employment opportunities -- would only be possible if
CPN is passed among carrier networks.  It noted two areas of concern
however -- compensation issues related to passage of CPN for interstate
calls and varying state requirements intended to protect the privacy
rights of calling and called parties on interstate calls.

In today's action the Commission affirmed its finding that common
carriers, including Commercial Mobile Radio Service providers, with
Signaling System 7 (SS7)call set up capability, must transport CPN
without charge to interstate connecting carriers.  The Commission
clarified that carriers without SS7 call set upcapability do not have
to upgrade their networks just to transport CPN to connecting
carriers.  The Commission noted that local exchange carriers are
required to resell interstate access for Caller ID to other carriers
wishing to compete for end-user business in this market.

The Commission modified its previous decision that only per-call
blocking would be allowed.  Today's action permits per-line blocking
for interstate calls instates where it is permitted for intrastate
calls, provided the customer elects per line blocking. The Commission's
original rules required a caller to dial *67 before each call in order
to block the called party from knowing the caller's number. The
Commission has now modified its rules to permit carriers to provide
privacy on all calls dialed from a particular line, where state
policies provide, and the customer selects, that option, provided
carriers permit callers to unblock calls from that line by dialing
*82.  Where state policies do not require or permit at the customer's
election per line blocking, carriers are bound by the federal privacy
protection model to provide privacy only where *67 is dialed.

The Commission noted that it continues to exempt calls to emergency lines
from its rules; that is, a carrier's obligation to honor caller privacy
requests to emergency numbers will be governed by state policies.

As an additional privacy measure, the Commission requires that when a
caller requests that the calling party number be concealed, a carrier may
not reveal the name of the subscriber to that line and callers requesting
that their number not be revealed should be able to block an automatic
call return feature.  The Commission continues to require that carriers
with call set up capability that pass CPN or transmit Automatic Number
Identification (ANI) educate customers regarding the passage and usage of
this information.

Finally, the Commission issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposing
that Private Branch Exchange (PBX) systems and private payphones capable
of delivering CPN to the public switched telephone network also be capable
of delivering a privacy indicator when users dial *67 and be capable of
unblocking the line by dialing *82.

Action by the Commission May 4, 1995, by MO&O on Reconsideration, Second
R&O and Third NPRM (FCC 95 - 187). Chairman Hundt, Commissioners Quello,
Barrett, Ness and Chong.

-FCC-

News Media contact: Susan Lewis Sallet at [phone].
Common Carrier Bureau contacts: Marian Gordon at [phone].

------------------------------

From: Mark Cuccia <[e-mail]>
Subject: Southeast Louisiana and Gulf Coast Flooding
Date: Thu, 11 May 95 09:38:00 +6C


I can only speak for New Orleans and Southeast Louisiana -

We are now 100% ESS/Digital ESS.

The flooding this time seems worse than in previous storms.  I did not
have any flooding in my apartment nor was there flooding in any of my
relatives' homes.  Some of the New Orleans metro area had flooding
which 'never' flood.  Electric power, of course, was out at one time
or another for most of us -- the power at home was out for 5 minutes
and later for 55 minutes Monday nite, and there were split-second
power flashes and 5 second 'brown-outs' from Monday nite thru
Wednesday.  Monday nite, the local SCBell class-5 central office where
I live was on battery rather than commercial power.

Sometimes I was off hook up to two minutes off-hook before getting
dial-tone.  I did get re-order signals on some call attempts.  There
were times where I could NOT do a '*66' -- I would get re-order on
those Telco Auto-Redial attempts.  I am a rather new customer of
BellSouth Mobility -- I had some trouble getting a cellular call out --
and when I DID get a channel, the signal was quite bad and I got
cut-off.

Cable-TV service was still on in MY area of New Orleans, but Monday
nite and part of the day Tuesday some channels were out.  ALL Cable
channels were on (and clear) on Wednesday.

I did not come into work on Tuesday or Wednesday -- and when I got to
work today, the System Administorator told us that we had been
'cut-off' from the outside world on Tuesday -- but most of our email
would come in if the sender or their system kept resending.  When I
came in this morning, all issues of TELECOM Digest were waiting in my
e-mail-box, and the receipt date/time was Wednesday nite.

New Orleans has a 'flood-of-the-century' every year or so, and has
since the late 1970's.  We are actually BELOW sea level (most of the
area is built on a SWAMP) and the climate is sub-tropical.  Sometimes
even a SIMPLE rain shower will cause street flooding.

The 1983 annual 'flood-of-the-century' (April 17, 1983) caused FAR
WORSE telephone trouble -- the 'main' telco building in the business
district (Toll, Tandem, TSPS, AND ESS local office) was flooded in the
basement, where telco power was located.  When commercial power went
out, South Central Bell was unable to start up their emergency
generators.  They had to go on storage battery power which eventually
became DRAINED.  At that time, most all network radio and television,
including newswires had NOT yet gone to satellite distribution -- they
still relied on the Bell System (AT&T).

New Orleans was more-or-less cut off from the outside world.  Western
Union could not Telex in or out of New Orleans and WUTC was also
probably down locally -- their switches were just one or two blocks
away from Bell/AT&T and were probably flooded.  No OTHER private line
services/networks were able to transmit to/from New Orleans, and
probably not even locally.

THIS time, the business-district area did NOT flood -- and also there are
other carriers and networks and technologies out there instead of just
Ma-Bell.

For about 30 minutes Tuesday morning, I did NOT even have sidetone on the
Central Office serving my home -- I did have a 'hum' of battery, but no
sidetone (I could not 'talk' through the receiver)

Meanwhile, I am dry.


Mark

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #236
******************************

Received: from ns1.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa08369;
          11 May 95 19:13 EDT
Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id MAA10157; Thu, 11 May 1995 12:22:31 -0500
Date: Thu, 11 May 1995 12:22:31 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #237


TELECOM Digest     Thu, 11 May 95 12:14:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 237

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Job Opening at BellSouth (Chendong Zou)
    Re: RBOC IP Legislation Scaring Local ISPs (Tim Gorman)
    Re: Use of CDPD For Redundancy in Cellular Networks (John Agosta)
    Re: Mexico Billing Method: Digit Analysis or Meter Pulse? (Lars Poulsen)
    Re: Voice/Data Multiplexer for 64kb Leased Line? (Dan Matte)
    Re: Calls From Australia to US 800 Not Delivering DTMF (Serge Burjak)
    Re: Annoying Calls: Can We Deal With Them? (Bradley Ward Allen)
    Re: Annoying Calls: Can We Deal With Them? (Bruce Roberts)
    Extending Cordless Telephone Range (Greg Smith)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
                    9457-D Niles Center Road
                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
                        Fax: [phone]
  ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

*************************************************************************
*   TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the              *
* International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland    *
* under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES)   *
* project.  Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such
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All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Chendong Zou)
Subject: Job Opening at BellSouth
Date: 11 May 1995 15:10:10 GMT
Organization: College of Computer Science, Northeastern University


This is posted for a friend, please use the contact info. below:

ATTENTION:

1) In my previous posting on 5/9, I inadvertently forgot that our Employment
Office needs to file your application.  As a result, I am reposting this job
specs with the correction that individual candidate should send resume to
([e-mail]).

2) The Internet address is used for all groups within Science & Technology,
BellSouth Telecommunications.  Since there are openings in other groups, You
may still want to send your resume even though your background may not match
the job specs described below.

3) Search firms please do not response to this posting.  A subsequent posting
describes detailed qualifications and steps to submit your candidate resumes
will follow.

DATE: May 11, 1995

CONTACT: Send text resume to ([e-mail]) and reference to
Dr. Eric Kai.

LOCATION: Atlanta, Georgia

COMPANY:

BellSouth Telecommunications, which has revenues in excess of $13 billion and
assets of over $28 billion, has several R&D positions available in the Wireless
Service Integration group of the Science & Technology department.  Our charter
is to:

- provide technical support to BellSouth's business units in developing and
implementing the business strategies for wireless market,

- conduct technical evaluation, requirement specifications, system/software
engineering, prototype/product development and technical/marketing field
trials,

- R&D technical solutions to offer integrated/enhanced wireless services to
BellSouth consumers and/or PCS service providers within our region,

- interact with vendor in product selection, requirement definition and/or
joint development to support wireless products and services.

EXPERIENCE/SKILL:

Successful candidates should possess M.S. or Ph.D. in EE, CS,
Telecommunication, or related disciplines.  M.S. with a minimum of
three years of experience (or equivalent) in the wireless
telecommunication industry having solid working knowledge of wireless
networks such as cellular, mobile data and/or PCS is required.
Experience on system engineering, fast prototyping and software
development on wireless product and services is highly desirable.
Candidates must have expertise in at least one of the area below:

RF Design Area: solid experience in frequency planning, system growth
planning, cell site traffic analysis and RF propagation to conduct the
design/development of a Radio Planning tool for cellular/PCS network
under CDMA, GSM and TDMA.  Familiar with the air interface standards.

Wireless Data Area: working knowledge with wireless data technologies
such as CDPD, PCS data over CDMA and GSM, and/or other mobile data
applications.

Network Area: knowledge of SS7, ISUP and ISDN signaling and/or
transport. Good understanding of HLR/VLR/AM mobility management under
cellular/PCS for CDMA, TDMA and GSM.  Familiar with IS-41/GSM MAP.
R&D experience in the transparency of integrated wireline and wireless
services using AIN capabilities and other intelligent network
features.

OAM&P Area: experience in numbering plan, CDR/AMA, cellular rate plan,
billing services and downstream data processing and management.
Working background in designing/developing OSS such as PCS/cellular
network management, PCS performance tuning and traffic analysis,
customer trouble tracking, etc.

PERSONAL:

This individual must have:

- good interpersonal skills to work in a highly competent technical team.

- motivation to understand the business needs of BellSouth and to find
effective matches between these needs and emerging technologies,

- ability to work in an effective, cooperative manner with other client
organizations within BellSouth as well as external companies.

OTHERS:

- Search Firm please do not response to this job post.  A subsequent
post will describe detail steps for you to send your candidate resumes.


Chendong Zou                                 Internet: [e-mail]
College of Computer Science, Northeastern University
360 Huntington Avenue #23CN, Boston, MA 02115     Phone: [phone]
WWW: http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/zou              Fax:   [phone]

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 10 May 1995 23:19:02 -0500
From: Tim Gorman <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: RBOC IP Legislation Scaring Local ISPs


[e-mail] (Frank Atkinson) writes in TELECOM
Digest V15 #233:

> Without going too deeply into the regulatory system that built the
> network which took what the company spent, added a guaranteed rate of
> return, and in some cases hidden taxes, then passed it on to the rate
> payer's bill (rate of return regulation). The shareholder's position
> has been fairly well protected. Maybe each ratepayer should be given
> some company stock now that the network they built will be used to
> compete. The company hasn't sold enough stock to fund the network, the
> money came from the ratepayers, the ratepayers repaid the consturction
> bonds, not the stockholders.

If each ratepayer should be given stock in the telephone company then
why shouldn't each Ford owner be given stock in Ford? The car owners
repaid the debt issues (including debt bonds) of Ford, not the
stockholders. This is true of ANY company. The stockholders of Ford
certainly didn't repay the debt issues of Ford in order to provide
free cars to consumers.

The problem with this logic is that:

 1. The stockholders in the telephone companies did NOT make a killing. The
    dividends were always very low compared to other companies of similar
    revenues. The difference was that much of the company income flow DID
    go to pay off debt issues as well as being reinvested. The stockholders
    PAID a penalty for low risk by also incurring low yield.

 2. The telephone companies were NEVER guaranteed a rate of return. In fact,
    the commissions set MAXIMUM rates of returns, not minimums. If rate relief
    was requested by the telco during a rate hearing it was incumbent upon the
    phone company to show that the rate of return during a measurement period
    prior to the hearing was insufficient to operate the company and attract
    sufficient capital. There were lots of years that the commission set
    MAXIMUM rate of return was never approached. By the same token, having a
    MAXIMUM rate of return limit did not provide much incentive for modern-
    ization, for creative service offerings, or for innovation. These are
    things driven by competition.

 3. There is NOTHING wrong with reinvested earnings. Funding a capital
    intensive operation does NOT have to be done totally by shareholder
    investment in order to be "acceptable"

Once again, we see a view that somehow transforms the phone company
into being a non-profit, psuedo-government type of operation that
should be "owned" by all citizens since it was paid for by "psuedo-taxes"
on the ratepayers masking as "rates" for services. The assets owned by
the shareholders should just be given away thus diminishing the value
of each share held by the shareholders. They just got rich by
trampling the "rights" of the ratepayers so who cares?

Folks, the phone companies have always been just that -- COMPANIES.
They have always been companies owned by shareholders -- just like
Ford, Pizza Hut, and Midas Muffler. Just like any other company, these
shareholders expected the company to make a profit and pay a dividend.
The amount of the dividend versus the investment was never near the
top but it was constant -- which is why AT&T stock used to be known as
the stock for little old ladies looking for a guaranteed income.

Since the telco's were franchised monopolies they were regulated. There was
always two sides to the regulation:

 1. See that the ratepayer received the proper value for the rates being paid.
 2. Allow the company to earn adequately to provide the required service.

You may want to argue all day long on how good of a job the various
Public Utility Commissions did of regulation. You may even want to
argue whether having regulated monopolies did or did not do the best
for the consumer in the long run. But it is not valid to argue that
the telco's, companies OWNED by private citizens, should somehow be
nationalized. Those shareholders deserve an adequate rate of return on
their investment, just as the shareholders of MCI, Sprint, and J.C.
Penny deserve an adequate rate of return on their investment.


Tim Gorman    [e-mail]
Southwestern Bell Tel. Co (I speak only for myself)

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Use of CDPD For Redundancy in Cellular Networks
Date: 10 May 1995 17:01:31 GMT
Organization: InterAccess, Chicago's best Internet Service Provider


[e-mail] (Seth B Rothenberg) writes:

> I recently did some work investigating CDPD.  One observation I made
> was that CDPD is an excellent way to gain redundancy.  In most areas
> (most populated areas?), there are two cellular carriers.  Since the
> last mile is what is at greatest risk, half of any circuit is
> protected 100%.

I'm not sure what you mean about 1/2 of each circuit ... but, not
understanding your situation entirely, I'll put in my two cents ...

> My question is about the other half.  Does anyone know if there is an
> easy way to, for example, have a router connection to both the A-side
> carrier and to the B-side carrier?  Then, you'd have almost perfect
> reduncancy.

Each carrier is considered its own domain, with different IP net
assignments / hosts etc.  In order to use both carriers, an account
would have to be established and IP addresses assigned to the M-ES for
each carier. On the land line side, you would need a connection to
your fixed end system from each carrier, meaning your router would
need two ports, one connected to each CDPD provider. Your M-ES would
need to be programmed with two IP addresses. (Many M-ESs can handle
more than one, CMI does ten for instance.)

Another way to work would be to use a single IP address, however,
inter-working agreements between the A and B carriers would have to be
in place, physical connectivity between the carriers would have to be
in place, and roaming charges (or similar) may apply.

(much deleted)

> What I am not clear about is, where the IP address is
> looked up.  Does the CDPD Mobile End Station know its own IP address?
> I would think it WOULD NOT need to know it, because the Data Service
> Manager would do that.

The CDPD mobile device does know its IP address, as per above. The IP
address "lookup" is done at a database in the carrier user signs up
with. The database is located in a "Home" function.  All authentication,
etc is done at this "home" function, regardless as to where the mobile
user actually is being "served" from. If I lived in Chicago, for instance,
my "home" function would be in Chicago (or the closest one to my office
if there was more than one).

> If this is the case, the device would just have two IP addresses, one
> on each network.  My company's routers would need to be configured to
> route via whichever path is available.

One IP address is required if only one "home" needs to be consulted
for authentication purposes.  Hence, interworking must be done between
carriers A and B if one database is to serve the user.  One router
connection would be required as well in this scenario. If two network
"accounts" are being used, yes, you would need two IP addresses.

Did this help? I hope so.

If you email me, we can have a more detailed discussion.


John

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Lars Poulsen)
Subject: Re: Mexico Billing Method: Digit Analysis or Meter Pulse?
Date: 10 May 1995 10:14:49 -0700
Organization: Rockwell International - CMC Network Products


In comp.dcom.telecom is written:

>> Does Mexico / Central America use a digit analysis method for
>> calculating charges, or a metered pulse method?  What I'm actually
>> refering to is the SMDR output on a PBX.  I believe the U.S. is in the
>> minority in using digit analysis, or am I wrong?

In article <[e-mail]> Jan Hinnerk Haul <[e-mail].
de> writes:

JHH> [for chargeback cost analysis] quite a lot of PBXes can do number
JHH> analysis as an alternative method [to reading billing pulses].
JHH> The drawback of number analysis is, of course, that no call
JHH> supervision is possible, letting users being "billed" with uncompleted
JHH> calls if they wait longer than the set timeout period and letting very
JHH> brief calls unbilled.

This is an oversimplification. Even without billing pulses, you are
not always limited to a simple timeout in determining whether the call
was answered. The real answer -- as usual -- is "it depends".

In some areas of the world [including specifically Denmark; I don't
have any experience with Hispanic America], you will in fact be billed
at the rate of the dialed number, even if the call was never answered.
The logic is that you have been tying up facilities along the call
path, just as if the call had been connected. Whether you get charged
for uncompleted calls is of course an administrative tariffing issue,
although it may depend on whether the switch is equipped to detect
whether the call was connected. (In some areas, where trunking is
analog, the information may not be available to the switch.)

Independently of whether you get charged for the uncompleted calls, you
may have either a short loop disconnect or a polarity reversal when the
call is connected. This depends on the specific switching equipment
that the line is connected to. Typically, the short disconnect is
seen on older mechanical switches, while the option to provide a
polarity reversal is available on newer switches.

Most administrations can provide a booklet defining the subscriber
interface, and saying that "you may see ..." this or that feature and
any equipment connected must be able to deal with all of these.  But
unless you have a technical contact in the repair bureau, you will
probably not be able to find out:

 - what switch type is serving a specific line
 - what options are available for that line on that switch, or
 - how the specific line is actually configured.


Lars Poulsen           Internet E-mail: [e-mail]
Rockwell Network Systems   Phone:        [phone]
7402 Hollister Avenue        Telefax:      [phone]
Santa Barbara, CA 93105       Internets: designed and built while you wait

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (D. Matte)
Subject: Re: Voice/Data Multiplexer for 64kb Leased Line?
Date: Wed, 10 May 95 10:24:39 -0800
Organization: MIND LINK! - British Columbia, Canada


In <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Magnus
Harlander) writes:

> We are looking for a data/voice multiplexer for a leased 64kb
> digital line. We want to use some portion of the bandwidth for phone
> calls to and from a PBX extension and the rest for IP traffic. The
> leased line speaks the G.703 protocol (there would be an alternative
> using I.430). Any information about implementations, producers and
> distributors is appreciated.

Memotec Communications Inc (Canada/US) also provides a solution for
this application that accomodates up to T1 speeds.  CX1000 Multimedia
Multiplexer 6/16 slot chassis

Modules available:

- Voice/Fax Compression
- Data Compression
- Ethernet & Token Ring bridging & routing
- Frame Relay
- Packet Switching
- 56K DSU/CSU
- FT1/T1 DSU/CSU

US HQ [phone]
Canadian HQ [phone]


Dan Matte   Memotec Communications Inc
Vancouver, British Columbia   [e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 11 May 95 12:10:05 GMT
From: serge burjak <[e-mail]>
Organization: SYSTECH in Queensland, AUSTRALIA
Subject: Re: Calls From Australia to US 800 Not Delivering DTMF


TestMark Laboratories <[e-mail]> wrote:

> Serge Burjak <[e-mail]> writes in TELECOM Digest Volume 15 Issue 226:

>> I have a problem getting through to some automated attendants using
>> DTMF from Australia. As the title says, after the connection the line
>> appears not to pass DTMF tones ie., "press 1 for this service, press 2
>> for that service."

>> This happens with both Telecom and OPTUS. The customer service droids
>> will not escalate the problem to anyone at an 'Engineer' level, but
>> only to techs who make comments like, well "the US is probably
>> translating these into something different, sorry cannot help you".

>> Am I being unreasonable asking to pass in voice band information? I
>> know it's not my phone, I can use Cyberlinks dial back for this or
>> AT&T's USA direct with a credit card. The Cyberlink solution is not
>> totally satisfactory for other resaons. The attendant requires a # key
>> after the some transactions and Cyberlinks interprets this as a new
>> call request.

> The DTMF receivers in automated attendants are usually not up to the
> same quality as a Central Office DTMF receiver.  It sounds as if there
> is more loss on the Telecom and OPTUS connections than there is on the
> AT&T USA direct.  This surprises me, as I would assume that all are
> using digital transmission systems, which are "lossless!"

  ... lots of good stuff archived.

Thanks for the reply. I am hot on the trail of the problem. After much
screaming I got an OPTUS network engineer and SHE took me seriously.
They did some serious testing and it turns out, OPTUS and Telecom
Australia use the same LD carrier in the US to route the calls. It
appears when the remote answers, the LD invloved (one of the big
three) does not get an acknowledgement from this number to start
billing and enable the forward voice channel. It could be related to a
fraud prevention program, or more likely a poor implementation.

It's still broke on this one number that I NEED to use and I have
found a couple of others. Most other 800s appear to work.

Stay tuned.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Bradley Ward Allen)
Subject: Re: Annoying Calls: Can We Deal With Them?
Date: 10 May 1995 15:06:42 -0400
Organization: URL:http://www.armory.com/~ulmo/ (see rivers.html for PGP key)


In article <[e-mail]>, Benjamin P. Carter <bpc@netcom.
com> wrote:

> The PUC had ruled that an unlisted number would not be disclosed
> unless the caller chose to disclose it.  That's all.  Pac Bell
> asserted that too few customers would order caller ID under that rule
> to make it profitable.  And now the FCC has decreed that the calling
> number will be disclosed unless the caller specifically choses to
> block it.  This makes a difference because many (perhaps most)
> residential customers will ignore the whole issue of caller ID, doing
> nothing to either allow or block the display of their numbers when
> they make phone calls.  By default, their numbers will be displayed
> under the FCC rule.  The rule goes into effect December 1, 1995.  Pac
> Bell is happy with this rule and will offer CNID in 1996.

In retrospect, Pac Bell is right: I have CNID, and most the callers
who call me don't care or aren't aware of CNID.  Their numbers just
show up on my box.  Those who do care about CNID usually have gone out
of their way to block their lines.  Very few are aware and let it
show, and I bet that if they had to actually call and activate the
showing of their number, they wouldn't have done it.

If they had to actively turn it on, my CID box would be practically
useless.

However, I can see putting a recording on my line, which whenever I
received an Out Of Area or Private call would say: "Right now you can
reach me at 1-800-BRADLEY" or whatever, then hang up.  When they
called back, they'd go through my WilTel or other 800 number which
passes ANI via CNID ... (:

I would still find this useful.  I'm trying to figure out what inexpensive
equipment I can get which would do this.


Bradley

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Bruce Roberts)
Subject: Annoying Calls: Can We Deal With Them?
Date: Thu, 11 May 1995 00:14:00 GMT
Organization: The Great Escape - Gardena, CA - [phone]


Messrs. Greenberg and Cogorno have, quite properly, taken me to task
for getting the California PUC decision on caller-id wrong.  It was
*not* the fact that the PUC wanted per-line blocking as an option but
rather that they insisted all unlisted lines be per-line blocked by by
default.  My thanks to these gentleman for correcting me and my
apology to the participants for putting out wrong information.


TTFN -br-

Bruce Roberts, [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Greg Smith)
Subject: Extending Cordless Telephone Range
Date: 10 May 1995 19:56:02 GMT
Organization: The NDLC's Internet Gateway


I recently installed a cordless telephone (Partner Plus - AT&T CDM
9000) for a client.  The cordless gets great range when I locate the
base/charger near the outside wall of the building.  However, the
owner wants his base/charger located in his office in the middle of
the office building which severly limits his range and clarity when he
uses his cordless outside.

Is it possible to install an external antenna on the outside of the
building to improve the signal from the cordless base/charger?


Thanks,

Greg  [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You can do this, but a couple problems
come to mind. You are not dealing with that much signal strength to
begin with, and some dissipation will occur in the coax between the
base unit and the rooftop antenna, which, IMO, will get you back to
about where you started, range-wise. It is also possible to open up
the base unit and 'peak' it up some if you know how to trim those pots
a little that you find inside. Know what you are doing please, before
you take a screwdriver to the inside of any radio transceiver. Most
cordless phones have how much power ... about a hundred milliwatts?
So maybe you get in there and *carefully* and *very slightly* adjust
the proper potentiometers to push the output up to ummm ... maybe a
quarter-watt; god forbid a half-watt if you get it just right. Try
not to blow out the final in the process, okay?

Now, let's say the proper peaking of the base got you that quarter-watt
of output, and you locate the base as strategically as possible, and
use as short a coax run as possible to get it to the roof to an antenna
preferably half-wave size. Notice how I emphasize *carefully* throughout
this message: after all, you are not running WLS 890 AM or KOA in Denver,
with fifty thousand watts of power to splash all over the northern hemisphere
all night long. Your supply is very limited. *They* don't give a damn
about Standing Wave Ratio (SWR) and such; why should they ... but you need
every tiny bit of power you can tweak out of that base, making sure it
reaches the roof and a peice of metal which is conducive to proper and
efficient radiation.

So here we go: your antenna on the roof is now really blowing smoke. That
cordless phone can get signals twice as far as before ... maybe even up
to three blocks away when atmospheric conditions are right and a lot of
other cordless phones in the vicinity are not being used. You should be
all set, right?  Wrong ... guess what:  the handset can hear the base
alright, but can't get back to it. Now you can tweak and peak the handset
a little also, but you will *never* get it anywhere near the potential
strength of the base. For one, the components in the handset are a little
different. At best, it has a chinzy little battery power supply which at
any given time is about half-way run down, compared to the base which
is plugged into the Edison line always getting lots of juice and always
ready to go. For two, the antenna on the handset is a compromise to make
it convenient to use. A half-wave antenna would be a burden due to its
size (length), so the manufacturer compromised with a loaded coil in
the phone making it 'think' its antenna was just as good as any other.

The handset can still hear the base alright; a call comes in and the
base sends a signal. The handset chirps and you turn it on; but it
just keeps on chirping because the base thinks you did not answer; after
all it got no signal back from the handset. Maybe you get slightly
within range of the base, and because the base is booming so well, the
modulation in your earpiece is fine .. perhaps too loud and too over-
loaded (depending on what pots you turned when you were in the base
messing around!  ha ha) but to the person on the other end your voice
sounds very distant, faint and even 'broken up' as other signals walk
all over your handset.  You sound like pooh ... as the CB'ers used to
say. Get back within the 'normal' operating range and the handset
works fine. All you basically accomplished by tweaking up the base
and installing your rooftop antenna was fixing things so the scanner
phreaks who spy on your cordless conversations could hear them that
much easier. Now instead of snoopy people a half-mile away listening
in, people a mile away get to listen also, but a fat lot of good it
does your client who gets only frustration when he tries to get more
than the 'usual' distance away with his cordless.

So after all your experiments at extending the range, the truth becomes
known: cordless phone bases are fixed 'the way they are' with the
little antennas they have for good reason ... there has to be a more
or less equal balance between the base *getting out* and the handset
*getting back to the base*. They work at about half their potential
(if everything inside was maxed out and the antenna was better quality)
because that's the best the handset can do in return. Unlike a broadcast
radio station, cordless phones take two to tango. I think you will find
attempts to extend the range or overcome barriers such as walls and
basements, etc have very limited success at best with cordless phones.
If additional range and reliable transmission is what your client needs,
we have a name for it: 'cellular service'. What success you will accomplish
in increasing the range will only occur provided you also tweak the
handset a little, and then the results will be dubious at best.    PAT]

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #237
******************************

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Date: Fri, 12 May 1995 16:01:01 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #238

TELECOM Digest     Fri, 12 May 95 16:01:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 238

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Request for Information: Combat Theater Comm (Michael R. Brown)
    Pac Bell Screwing the Handicapped? (Bob Yazz)
    Re: RBOC IP Legislation Scaring Local ISPs? (Ed Ellers)
    Re: Calls From Australia to US 800 Not Delivering DTMF (Wally Ritchie)
    Re: Extending Cordless Telephone Range (Joe Carey)
    Re: The AT&T "Minimum Usage Charge" Rumor (Fred R. Goldstein)
    Re: The AT&T "Minimum Usage Charge" Rumor (Mark E. Daniel)
    Re: Annoying Calls: Can We Deal With Them? (Steve Cogorno)
    Re: DID: Same as Early SxS Centrex? (Richard Kevin)
    Re: DID: Same as Early SxS Centrex? (Wes Leatherock)
    Re: Country Codes (Toby Nixon)
    Warning About 500 Number Charges (Eric Wagner)
    NYNEX Strikes Again (Michael J Kuras)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
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                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
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*************************************************************************
*   TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the              *
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*************************************************************************

Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such
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All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Michael R. Brown <[e-mail]>
Subject: Request for Information: Combat Theater Comm
Date: 11 May 1995 21:51:49 GMT
Organization: The MITRE Corporation


The MITRE Corporation, a Federally Funded R&D Center (FFRDC), is
currently assisting the US Air Force in designing, procuring, and
fielding its next generation Combat Theater Communications system.  As
the General Systems Engineer (GSE), MITRE is currently investigating
the use of leading-edge, standards-based communications technology in
the theater environment.  Technology of interest includes, but is not
limited to, ATM, N-ISDN, direct broadcast satellite (DBS), personal
communications systems (PCS), intelligent agents (IAs), and integrated
network management and control (INMC).

In preparation for acquiring this new teleinformation system, MITRE is
soliciting inputs from industry on the employment of these and related
technologies and services to provide world-wide, on-demand communications
support to deployed Air Force and Joint Task Force (JTF) components.
Communication services to be supported include secure and unsecure
telephony (analog, digital), data communications (IP, Novell, Vines,
etc.), messaging (SMTP, X.400, Autodin, paging), video (broadcast,
interactive), and other related multimedia services.

Interested parties are encouraged to submit their ideas in the form of
white papers, not to exceed 15 pages in length, to the address below
by the COB on 15 June 1995.  These papers will be reviewed and used as
the basis for scheduling one-on-one meeting with government and MITRE
personnel during July-August95.  Your interest and support will be
greatly appreciated.


Michael R. Brown
Director, Advanced Communications Systems
The MITRE Corporation
202 Burlington Road
Bedford, MA  01730
[e-mail]
617.271.7390, 617.271.7231 (fax)

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Bob Yazz)
Subject: Pac Bell Screwing the Handicapped?
Date: 11 May 1995 22:02:48 GMT
Organization: Locus Computing Corporation, Inc.


[ Probably newsworthy, for San Diego Local news. ]

In the latest software release for the DMS-100 switch in the San Diego
area, there is a new "feature" that is hurting people who cannot dial
or remember phone numbers with great speed.

Specifically, if you pause for a mere four seconds between digits you
lose dialtone and get a recording that says to try again.

Before this latest change, the timeout was 20 seconds for the entire
dialing process.

Four seconds!  Hell, I sometimes pause that long myself when dialing
an unfamiliar number, and my memory and dialing abilities are just
fine.

The question I have for the TELECOM Digest readership is this.  Assuming
that Pac Bell decides this is indeed a simple-to-find error they want to
correct, how long will it take for a fix to be available?

Is the best one can hope for a months-and-months wait for the next
scheduled software release?  Or will Telco's tradition of doing right
by the handicapped -- long before it was politically and socially
fashionable I might add -- triumph and make the correction happen any
sooner?

Incidentally, the problem appeared simultaneously with the release
in San Diego of SS7 services (Call Screen, Call Return, etc.).  Have
any other Pac Bell customers on DMS-100's had a similar experience
when their areas got these new features?


Best wishes,

Bob Yazz


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: There seems to be a conflict here between
people who need longer to dial and those who lacking the carriage return
or '#' symbol on their phone want a speedy time-out. I'd think they might
make it a little longer though; even six or seven seconds between digits
would be an improvement and not that much more inconvenient to rotary
phone (or for that matter, early, 1960-ish ten button touch tone) users.
Still though, prepending '11' to the dialing string usually is considered
a substitute for the '#' following; I suppose the people seeking speedy
time-outs could do it that way so the slow dialers could have a full ten
or fifteen seconds if desired.   PAT]

------------------------------

From: Ed Ellers <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: RBOC IP Legislation Scaring Local ISPs?
Date: Thu, 11 May 95 22:10:15 -0500
Organization: Delphi ([e-mail] email, 800-695-4005 voice)


Frank Atkinson <[e-mail]> writes:

> Without going too deeply into the regulatory system that built the
> network which took what the company spent, added a guaranteed rate of
> return, and in some cases hidden taxes, then passed it on to the rate
> payer's bill (rate of return regulation). The shareholder's position
> has been fairly well protected. Maybe each ratepayer should be given
> some company stock now that the network they built will be used to
> compete. The company hasn't sold enough stock to fund the network, the
> money came from the ratepayers, the ratepayers repaid the consturction
> bonds, not the stockholders.

Has Apple Computer sold enough stock to fund all the facilities
they've built?  How about Microsoft?  Or U.S. Steel?  Or Sony?  I
think you'll find that *most* companies built up on profits earned
from their customers; telephone companies are no different.  The
stockholders of a telephone company, just like any other company,
accept the risk that the company may be badly managed; the customers
do not share in this risk, and so have no claim to the profits.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Calls From Australia to US 800 Not Delivering DTMF
Date: 12 May 1995 02:33:44 GMT
Reply-To: [e-mail]


In <[e-mail]>, serge burjak <[e-mail]> writes:

> Thanks for the reply. I am hot on the trail of the problem. After much
> screaming I got an OPTUS network engineer and SHE took me seriously.
> They did some serious testing and it turns out, OPTUS and Telecom
> Australia use the same LD carrier in the US to route the calls. It
> appears when the remote answers, the LD invloved (one of the big
> three) does not get an acknowledgement from this number to start
> billing and enable the forward voice channel. It could be related to a
> fraud prevention program, or more likely a poor implementation.

> It's still broke on this one number that I NEED to use and I have
> found a couple of others. Most other 800s appear to work.

It sounds like your problem calls may be those which are terminating
in DID trunks. Although FCC Part 68 requires the PBX or automated
attendant to return answer supervision (except under specified
conditions) many do not. The local exchange company doesn't care
because it still collects terminating access on the call (yes the IC
pays for the ring no answer and eats it). IC's like AT&T don't like to
be defrauded in this way so they solved the problem by blocking the
voice path TOWARD the terminating location until answer supervision is
returned. This is easily done at the final IC switch (like a 4E) and
effectively prevents the fraud. In addition, most IC's will time out
the call after a specified time without answer supervision.

The IC's could report the offending switch to the FCC by why bother
when the above solution effectively solves the problem.


Wally Ritchie      Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

------------------------------

From: Joe Carey <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Extending Cordless Telephone Range
Date: Thu, 11 May 95 16:27:18 MDT


In reply to the comments from [e-mail] (Greg Smith):

> I recently installed a cordless telephone (Partner Plus - AT&T CDM
> 9000) for a client.  The cordless gets great range when I locate the
> base/charger near the outside wall of the building.  However, the
> owner wants his base/charger located in his office in the middle of
> the office building which severly limits his range and clarity when he
> uses his cordless outside.

> Is it possible to install an external antenna on the outside of the
> building to improve the signal from the cordless base/charger?

Cable losses might kill you, depending on the transmission frequency
(49 MHz or 900 MHz?) and the distance.  However, whatever additional
gain you get by putting a better antenna on will help both transmit
and receive.  In antenna theory they call this "reciprocity".  A
better antenna is both better at transmitting and receiving.  I forget
the exact numbers, but it seems to me that RG58/RG59 cable isn't
cheap: something like $75/100' roll in small quantities.  If it's a
900 MHz phone, the cable losses will eat your lunch in no time.

Probably your best bet is to try these options:

    1) Simply get a better antenna -- this may not be possible.
       You may or may not be able to put a long piece of coaxial
       cable between the antenna and the base station -- try it!
       I don't recall seeing any aftermarket antennas for cordless
       phones.

    2) Get a cordless _Digital_ phone.  Most cordless phones
       (I don't know the model in question) are FM analog.  These
       require a signal to noise ratio (SNR) of about 30 dB
       while a good _digital_ phone only requires an SNR of
       about 12 dB.  I haven't worked through the numbers, but
       the path loss might kill you.  The Tropez phone is digital.
       Our sysadmins here use it with about a 300 ft radius
       through lots of walls and seem very satisfied.

    3) Tell the guy he can't have the base in his office, but
       it needs to be near a window instead.  It's just the way
       physics is.

Pat's later comments point out why simply inserting an external
amplifier won't fix any of the problems -- you have both outgoing and
incoming signals on the antenna, so you need the amplifier pointed in
both directions.  That configuration is called an oscillator.  Yeah,
it can be fixed with the proper filters, but it seems more trouble
than its worth.  BTW, this is very suspect from a legal point of view.
If you really need that kind of range, buy a cell phone; nothing in
life is free.

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note:

> Notice how I emphasize *carefully* throughout
> this message: after all, you are not running WLS 890 AM or KOA in Denver,
> with fifty thousand watts of power to splash all over the northern hemisphere
> all night long. Your supply is very limited. *They* don't give a damn
> about Standing Wave Ratio (SWR) and such; why should they ... but you need
> every tiny bit of power you can tweak out of that base, making sure it
> reaches the roof and a peice of metal which is conducive to proper and
> efficient radiation.

Actually, they care very much about this.  Too high a VSWR will blow
up the final amp.  Too much VSWR can actually cause the air to arc
inside the transmission line going to the antenna (a friend lost his
klystrons on a UHF broadcast station that way once).  VSWR is very
bad, no matter how much power you have.


Joe Carey    [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Oh of course they *care*, and generally
speaking a high SWR  (Like 3 to 1 or higher) will blow that final in a
minute. Generally an SWR of 1.1 to 1 is impossible but 1.2 to 1 all the
way to 1.5 to 1 is pretty good, and means you are about 95 percent
effecient; that is, about 95 percent of what comes out of the back of
the radio is making it to the antenna. 2 to 1 means a 15-20 percent loss
is taking place.  If you only have a hundred milliwatts to start with,
you can't afford that loss; not if you want to be able to talk across
the street. I would not say VSWR is 'very bad' unless you have it in
large quantities. You are bound to have some. In the winter here, we
get snow and ice in great quantities. Years ago my antenna was on top
of a nine story building, a hundred feet in the air almost on the shore
of Lake Michigan. I had it mounted very sturdy up there, on top of
the elevator machine room on the roof yet, for another twenty feet or
so. After a bad storm, ice was hanging from it as it whipped around in
the strong wind up there. I would go downstairs, key up and let the
RF *burn* that ice away!   <g> ... of course the SWR looked awful for a
few minutes. Speaking of RF burns, ever get one on your hand or arm?
That stings!  You think taking a hit of DC will give you a thrill?
Try having some idiot downstairs who does not pay attention while you
are up on a ladder on the side of the antenna trying to clean it up
a little. This bozo downstairs keyed up with a linear amplifier in
the line, sending about 200 watts up the roof with me up there tightening
a guy wire. Damn near knocked me off the ladder. At that point I went
downstairs to the first floor where the radio stuff was; I had a hammer
and was about ready to begin smashing every radio in the place into
little tiny peices.   PAT]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Fred R. Goldstein)
Subject: Re: The AT&T "Minimum Usage Charge" Rumor
Date: Wed, 10 May 1995 14:10:51 GMT
Organization: Bolt Beranek & Newman Inc.


> In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail]
wrote:

>> I essentially never make LD calls and would be happy to have no LD
>> provider at all.

>> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note:  ... even if telco defaults your line to
>> 'none', you will still have to pay the network access charge each month
>> since you can access carriers you choose via 10xxx.  PAT]

> One other issue that is often missed on the topic: You still have to
> pay the network access charge for the ability to RECEIVE long distance
> calls.

Common misunderstanding.  But THERE IS NO NETWORK ACCESS CHARGE.

The monthly charge in question is the CUSTOMER ACCESS LINE CHARGE.
The adjective "access" modifies the noun "line", not the noun
"charge".  (It probably should be hypenated "access-line charge", but
typically isn't.)

This goes back to that other topic of late, the US Constitution, which
divides responsibilities between state and federal jurisdiction.  The
CALC (up to $6/month per analog line or equivalent digital channel)
represents a nationally-pooled (in part; it varies state by state)
fixed charge for the share of the FIXED (not per-call) cost of the
local network that falls under federal jurisdiction.  If a line were
exempt from that, then the state portion of its cost would have to be
higher, and the "regualar" (state-set) monthly rate would be higher,
because 100% of its cost would be recovered via state tariff rather
than the maybe 50-80% (depending on where) now recovered via state
tariffs.

See "Smith v. Illinois Bell" (US Sup Ct 1927) and "Pure 2" (FCC 1982).


Fred R. Goldstein   k1io    [e-mail]
Bolt Beranek & Newman Inc., Cambridge MA  USA   [phone]
Opinions are mine alone; sharing requires permission.

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 12 May 95 07:28:11 EST
From: [e-mail] (Mark E Daniel)
Subject: Re: The AT&T "Minimum Usage Charge" Rumor


In article <[e-mail]> you wrote:

>> AT&T claims that 26% of its residential customers have monthly bills less
>> than $3 and 44% less than $10.

> reach the 'your call cannot be completed as dialed' intercept. Pressing

Here in Ameritech-Ohio land you will receive a different intercept.
"You have dialed a call whivh requires a multidigit access code.
Please consult a Long Distance Company before attempting to place this
call again."  You will get the same intercept if you dial an invalid
10XXX code.  Not a very good way to detur Long Distance Calls.  At
least not here.  All they would have to do is call 1 800 CALL ATT
(which tyhey could get from TV) and ask.  Or watch that "not all
payphones use ATT so dial 10ATT commercial.". :-).

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Steve Cogorno)
Subject: Re: Annoying Calls: Can We Deal With Them?
Date: Fri, 12 May 1995 23:53:51 PDT


Bruce Roberts said:

>> I think what happened in California is that when the telcos wanted to
>> offer CLID, the California Public Utilities Commission (your
>> representative government) placed so many different kinds of
>> restrictions on what offering it would allow that it became
>> economically unattractive for the telcos to offer. The market
>> determines the price, remember ... the telco can't charge more than
>> what people will pay, and the fewer people who buy the service, the
>> less capital the telco has to buy software to implement the service.

> Well, you're almost right.  The CPUC insisted that per-line-blocking
> be available (I don't remember if it was to be free or fee.)  GTE and
> PacBell said "forget it" and that's why California has no Caller-ID.

No, the PUC said that per line blocking had to be available, but ALSO
that anyone who has a unpublished or unlisted number with AUTOMATICALLY
get per line blocking.  Since California has such a huge number of
unlisted numbers (someone told me 40 million, but that sound pretty
high), PacBell feared that (rightfully so, I believe) there would
hardly be anyone left with a UNblocked line.


Steve     [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Richard Kevin)
Subject: Re: DID: Same as Early SxS Centrex?
Organization: Internet Direct, indirect.com
Date: Fri, 12 May 1995 13:04:17 GMT


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Lee
Winson) writes:

> Somewhere I read that in the early days of Centrex, step-by-step systems
> could be used pretty easily -- just allocate a block of it to that
> subscriber.

> I believe there were two possibilities.  One, where the equipment was in
> the C.O. and every phone had a line to the C.O.  The other, was where
> the equipment was on the customer's premises, and served by some trunks.

You are correct, there were two basic configurations for SXS customer
systems.  Typically for the larger systems, SXS equipment would be on
the customer's premise.  Traffic to the customer location would trunk
off a selector level in the central office to incoming fourth or fifth
selectors at the customer premise.  Completing the call would require
pulsing the last few digits into the equipment at the customer site,
with the a connector switch actually doing the call completion to the
terminating line.

It has been many years since I messed with this stuff, but the big
hassle used to be setting up the 'DTA' (distribution terminal
assemblies) in the CO for the trunking off the selectors, and number
plans.  Much of this was not real flexible, and took a lot of lead
time to implement.  On the other hand, the customers were typically
not paying specifically for trunking; they were paying for CENTREX
lines, and the serving phone company guaranteed a level of service on
the trunking from the CO to the customer's location, e.g. p.001.  At
least this the way it was in the old Mountain Bell territory in the
60's & 70's.


Richard Kevin   [e-mail]    Phoenix, AZ

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Date: Thu, 11 May 95 18:32:29
Subject: Re: DID: Same as Early SxS Ce


[e-mail] (Lee Winson) wrote:

> Somewhere I read that in the early days of Centrex, step-by-step
> systems could be used pretty easily -- just allocate a block of it to
> that subscriber.

> I believe there were two possibilities.  One, where the equipment was
> in the C.O. and every phone had a line to the C.O.  The other, was
> where the equipment was on the customer's premises, and served by some
> trunks.

That's exactly right, and they were defined as Centrex-CU (equipment
on customer premises) and Centrex-CO (equipment in central office).

> Say the customer had 555-1000 to 555-1999.  When the C.O. pulsed over
> to 555-1, the remaining digits would be transmitted over the truck to
> the the selectors at the customer's location.  Isn't this the same
> principle as DID?

Sure is.


Wes Leatherock
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

------------------------------

From: Toby Nixon <[e-mail]>
Date: Fri, 12 May 95 07:34:08 PDT
Subject: Re: Country Codes


In TELECOM Digest V15 #235, Clive D.W. Feather <[e-mail]>
presented his list of country codes. This was very complete. A couple
of minor corrections I would make:

- Andorra is now accessible via 376.

- San Marino is now accessible via 378, except from Italy where it must
still be called with 0549 instead of 00378. Also, Italy must be called
from San Marino by dialing 0 and the Italian city code, rather than 0039.

- Belarus is now accessible via 375, with permissive dialing with the
old procedures until the end of June.

Also, according to my records, Yemen has abandoned use of 969, and
uses 967 exclusively. Can anyone confirm or deny that?

I am very interested in finding out about exceptions to normal
international dialing procedures, such as the situation noted above
with regard to Italy and San Marino. For example, I know that calls
from Singapore to Malaysia are dialed with an 020 prefix instead of
005-60, that calls from Mexico to WPA 1 are dialed as 95-NPA-Nxxxxxx
instead of the usual 98-1-NPA-Nxxxxxx, and that calls from Ireland to
Northern Ireland can be dialed as 080-city code instead of 00-44-city
code. Is anyone else aware of similar bilateral or unilateral special
arrangements?


Thanks,

Toby Nixon
Program Manager - Windows Telephony
Microsoft Corporation

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Eric Wagner)
Subject: Warning About 500 Number Charges
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest)
Date: Thu, 11 May 1995 16:37:37 GMT


Just in case it slipped by anyone's attention, one needs to be careful
with how you phone home (and reverse the charges) using your AT&T 500
number.

If you dial 0-500-xxx-xxxx and log in with your "master" PIN, you can
call home quickly by hitting 21.  But watch out!  This charges you an
80 cent surcharge plus the 25/15 cent-per-minute rate.

If your intent is to call home using your 500 number, don't log in
with your master PIN.  Instead, after calling 0-500-xxx-xxxx, enter one
of the regular 4-digit PINs you've been assigned.  Calling in THIS manner
only charges you the 25/15 rate, with NO surcharge.

I battled the why's of this out with AT&T last night, but got no meaningful
response.  By the way, instead of having to remember multiple PINs, ask
the 500 customer service people to open a new 4-digit PIN that is just the
first 4 digits of your master PIN.


Eric Wagner

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 11 May 1995 13:42:25 -0400
From: [e-mail] (Michael J Kuras)
Subject: NYNEX Strikes Again


I received a phone call today from a NYNEX service representative:

(NYNEX) "Hello, may I please speak with Mr or Mrs Kuras?"
(ME) "This is Mr Kuras.  There is no Mrs."
(NYNEX) "Hello sir. I'm calling from NYNEX. I was hoping to spend some time
reveiwing your phone service and to answer any questions you might have."

[Great, I thought.  I'd been meaning to call with some questions anyway, so
this will save me some time.]

(NYNEX) "We have this great new (?) service called caller-id.
 ...[caller-id babble deleted]... Would you like to order it?"

(ME) "I already have it.  For 3 1/2 years."
(NYNEX) "Oh."
(ME) "Speaking of caller-id, I only get caller-id info from about 20% of
the calls originating *within* the NYNEX area."
(NYNEX) "Well, a lot of people block their calls, sir."
(ME) "No, if that were the case, the info string would show up as
'private', not 'out-of-area'.  In fact, it's so useless I was thinking of
dropping it."
(NYNEX) "Don't do that!  NYNEX is involved in an ever-expansioning [sic]
growth for caller ID info.  I'm sure if you hang on to it a little longer
it'll be fully implemented.  Besides, you don't want to go through all the
trouble of reactiviating it again, do you?"

[No, I guess not.  Making a 2 minute phone call *is* a lot of trouble. ;-) ]

(ME) "Can you give me the general timeline for fully implementing caller-id
throughout the NYNEX area?"
(NYNEX) "No, you'd have to call the business office."

[NYNEX babble deleted]

(NYNEX) "I see you have Metropolitan Service [calling plan].  How do you
like it?"
(ME) "It's fine, but could you please tell me if there is a less expensive
plan which allows me to dial toll-free to the 373 exchange?"
(NYNEX) "No, you'd have to call the business office."

[NYNEX babble deleted]

(ME) "I was thinking about getting call-forwarding for one of my lines.
Could you tell me about it?"
(NYNEX) "Call forwarding allows you to forward calls to another phone."
[yes, she really said this!]
(ME, smiling) "Can you tell me anything else about it?"
(NYNEX) "No, you'd have to call out business office."

It went on like this for another two or three minutes before she
mercifully ended the call, being sure she thanked me for using NYNEX.
All I can say is I'll be immensely grateful when local competition
comes to the area.


michael j kuras     [e-mail]

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #238
******************************


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Date: Sat, 13 May 1995 07:55:12 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #239

TELECOM Digest     Sat, 13 May 95 07:55:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 239

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Book Review: "Complete Idiot's Guide to Modem and Online Services (Slade)
    UC Berkeley Short Course in Video Compression and Video Comm (H. Stern)
    Unusual RF Stories (John Dearing)
    Re: Extending Cordless Telephone Range (John Radisch)
    Re: RBOC IP Legislation Scaring Local ISPs (John Higdon)
    More on Telco and Gulf-Coast Area Flooding (Mark Cuccia)
    Re: Request U.S. Carrier or Integrator Response re - VTC (Al Niven)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
                    9457-D Niles Center Road
                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
                        Fax: [phone]
  ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

*************************************************************************
*   TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the              *
* International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland    *
* under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES)   *
* project.  Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such
as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help
is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per
year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Fri, 12 May 1995 16:58:57 EST
From: Rob Slade <[e-mail]>
Subject: Book Review: "Complete Idiot's Guide to Modems and Online Services"


BKCIGMDM.RVW   950404

"The Complete Idiot's Guide to Modems & Online Services", Sherry Kinkoph,
1994, 1-56761-526-0, U$19.95/C$26.99
%A   Sherry Kinkoph [e-mail]
%C   201 W. 103rd Street, Indianapolis, IN   46290
%D   1994
%G   1-56761-526-0
%I   Alpha Books
%O   U$19.95/C$26.99 800-858-7674 [e-mail]
%P   369
%T   "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Modems & Online Services"

I could name an awful lot of modem books that are worse than this, and
only a few that are better.  Don't get your hopes up -- in this field,
the best are none too good.

Part one contains five chapters giving a general overview of modems
and data communications applications.  The real meat doesn't start
until part two, which discusses modem and software features and
installation.  The information given is OK, but often breaks down when
pushed (V.32terbo and V.Fast are *not* official standards).  The
advice and directions on installation and configuration will likely
get you online -- but *won't* get the most from your modem.

Part three gives general guidance on what you can do with a fax modem,
but little analysis on the pros and cons.  Part four is the "online
services" part; a thirteen-chapter look at life online, very heavily
weighted towards commercial services.  Part five is a miscellany,
including a chapter on viral programs.  It is perhaps kindest that I
not comment thereon.

Overall, the writing is good and the technical material reasonable,
with reservations.  The novice is still going to have to delve deeply
into the modem manual, without much assistance -- but that is an all
too common shortcoming.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1995   BKCIGMDM.RVW   950404. Distribution
permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated publications. Rob Slade's
book reviews are a regular feature in the Digest.


Vancouver      [e-mail]         | "virtual information"
Institute for  [e-mail]      |   - technical description of
Research into  Rob.Slade@f733.n153.z1/  |     marketing info disguised
User                      .fidonet.org  |     as technical description
Security       Canada V7K 2G6           |            - Greg Rose

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Subject: UC Berkeley Short Course in Video Compression & Video Comm
Date: 12 May 1995 21:30:22 GMT
Organization: University of California, Berkeley


U.C. Berkeley Continuing Education in Engineering Announces A Short
Course on Video Compression

VIDEO COMPRESSION AND VISUAL COMMUNICATION (June 26-27, 1995)

Video Compression and Visual Communication is a rapidly evolving
multidisciplinary field focussing on the development of technologies
and standards for efficient storage and transmission of video signals.
It covers areas of video compression algorithms, VLSI technology,
standards, and high-speed digital networks.  It is a critical enabling
technology for the emerging information superhighway for offering
various video services.  In this course, we will fully treat video
compression algorithms and standards, and discuss the issues related
to the transport of video over various networks.

Lecturers: Ming-Ting Sun, Ph.D, is director of Video Signal Processing
Research, Bellcore.  Dr. Sun has published numerous technical papers,
holds four patents, developed IEEE Std 1180- 1990, was awarded the
Best Paper Award for IEEE Transactions Video Technology in 1993 (with
Tzou), and an award for excellence in standards development from the
IEEE Standards Board in 1991.  He is currently the express letter
editor, IEEE Transaction on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology
(CSVT), and associate editor, IEEE Transactions of CSVT.  He was
chairman and now serves as secretary of the IEEE CAS Technical
committee on Visual Signal Processing and Communications.

Kou-Hu Tzou, Ph.D., is manager of the Image Processing Department,
COMSAT Laboratories.  Dr Tzou won the Best Paper Award for IEEE
Transactions Video Technology in 1993 (with Sun).  He holds 6 patents,
has served as an associate editor for IEEE Transactions on Circuits
and Systems, is currently associate editor for IEEE Transactions on
Circuits and Systems for Video Technology, and served as a guest
editor for Optical Engineering Journal special issues on Visual
Communications and Image Processing in 1989, 91, and 93.  He is the
committee chair of the Visual Signal Processing and Communication
Technical committee, IEEE Circuits and Systems Society.

For more information (complete course descriptions, outlines,
instructor bios, etc.) contact:

Harvey Stern
U.C. Berkeley Extension/Southbay
800 El Camino Real Ste. 150
Menlo Park, CA 94025
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (John Dearing)
Subject: Unusual RF Stories
Date: 13 May 1995 03:30:18 GMT
Organization: Philadelphia's Complete Internet Provider


Our esteemed Moderator wrote:

-=[ a story about getting "bit" by RF while up on a ladder working on
an antenna ]=-

: downstairs to the first floor where the radio stuff was; I had a hammer
: and was about ready to begin smashing every radio in the place into
: little tiny peices.   PAT]

I have a couple of RF stories to relate, if you'll indulge me ...

TED AND THE CAPTAIN

A friend of mine told me a story of how he got court marshalled while in
the Air Force for "Destruction of Air Force Property". He was an avionics
tech and was working on the radar of a plane. He had to work on the
antenna assembly. As part of the safety practice, lockouts are placed on
the equipment to keep someone from accidentally firing up the equipment.
He put the lockouts in place (up in the cockpit) and stared working on
the antenna in another part of the plane.

While working on the antenna he notices that his arm hurts and is
feeling hot. His arm is in front of the "business end" of the radar
horn. He immdeiately realizes that some idiot has turned the radar
*ON* and is MICROWAVING his arm.

Needless to say, he's *PISSED* and takes off for the cockpit to find
the a**hole that did this. It turns out it was an OFFICER (The Captain,
if I remember). He tears into the Captain asking him why the hell he
removed the lockouts and fired up the radar. The reponse was less than
satisfactory and he hauls off and decks the captain, giving him a
black eye and some other injuries.

The Base Commander refused to prosecute him for striking an officer after
hearing the whole story. He did have to do something so he decided that
the black eye was destruction of Air Force property (the military *owns*
you while you're enlisted). I think he lost some money and maybe got
busted down a rank, but it really wasn't much.

The Captain wound up losing his wings for gross negligence.


THE SECOND STORY

This one isn't nearly as interesting. There's a section of Philadelphia
called Roxborough. It's in the Northwest section of the city and is known
for it's hills. Because of the geography, there are quite a few
transmitter towers located there for local radio and TV stations. There's
actually one location on Domino Lane called the "Antenna Farm".

Anyway, some of these transmitters are quite powerful. AM stations with
50KW and TV transmitters rated in the MegaWatt range. HEAVY DUTY stuff.

Needless to say, RFI is a common telephone problem in the neighborhood. 8-)

I've been told by installers from that area that you have to be careful
when working on the outside plant in the area of the antenna farm. The
loops act like little antennas and you can get RF burns from the binding
posts in the terminals or at the protector. The inverse square law at
work. 8-)

There's SO much stray RF in the area that there are homes where you
CAN'T turn a fluorescent lamp OFF. Once you turn it ON it's always ON.
The stray RF is enough to keep ionizing the gas in the tube!!

Or the guy that kept hearing WCAU (1210-AM) from his toilet! Turns out
that a cold solder joint in the plumbing in the water tank was acting
as a detector/demodulator. Once enough corrosion built up, presto,
instant semiconductor!!

Well, that's enough for now!


John Dearing : Philadelphia Area Computer Society IBM SIG President
       Email : [e-mail]
   U.S.Snail : 725 Ripley Place, Phila PA 19111-2524 (USA)
 Voice Phone : [phone] (after 5pm Eastern)

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (John Radisch)
Subject: Re: Extending Cordless Telephone Range
Date: 13 May 1995 04:54:36 GMT
Organization: RadCom Technologies


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail]
(Greg Smith) says:

> I recently installed a cordless telephone (Partner Plus - AT&T CDM
> 9000) for a client.  The cordless gets great range when I locate the
> base/charger near the outside wall of the building.  However, the
> owner wants his base/charger located in his office in the middle of
> the office building which severly limits his range and clarity when he
> uses his cordless outside.

> Is it possible to install an external antenna on the outside of the
> building to improve the signal from the cordless base/charger?

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You can do this, but a couple problems
> come to mind. You are not dealing with that much signal strength to
> [snipped..]

Pat does respond quite well to the topic of regular FM/49Mhz extension
techniques involving roof CB Center Load and Coax to a PL259 type
connector on the back of the Base, with a rubber duck Radio Scrap
extension antenna clip-on for the Handset unit. This sorta-works, and
Pat pointed out pitfalls it took me 10+ years to work out in painful
practice. However, I would point out that the AT&T in question is a
900Mhz Freq. hopping system, with up to 200 mW of power. In this case
AT&T make antenna extension accessories for this product.  I think the
secret would have to be "Base Antenna Mounting Altitude" or "put it on
the second floor, near the window, but NOT close to metal of any kind.
Is this right or close?


RadMan


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I did not know they were allowed to
officially make a cordless phone with 200 milliwatts output. I thought
100 was the legal limit.  Not that the antenna cannt 'see' 200 when it
gets that far, just that the radio itself was limited to 100 at the
final.  PAT]

------------------------------

Organization: Green Hills and Cows
Date: Fri, 12 May 1995 20:46:50 -0700
From: John Higdon <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: RBOC IP Legislation Scaring Local ISPs


Tim Gorman <[e-mail]> writes:

> If each ratepayer should be given stock in the telephone company then
> why shouldn't each Ford owner be given stock in Ford?

One reason is that Ford owners did not have to be Ford owners. Similar
transportation could be had from General Motors, Chrysler, or even
foreign companies such as BMW, Toyota, or Volvo. A telephone customer
has two choices: he can open his bill and pay it, or he can do without
telephone service. If Ford's prices were out of line, customers would
go elsewhere.  If telephone rates are out of line (which, I might
point out, they are), the customer is invited to pay up or yell
loudly.

> 1. The stockholders in the telephone companies did NOT make a killing. The
>    dividends were always very low compared to other companies of similar
>    revenues. The difference was that much of the company income flow DID
>    go to pay off debt issues as well as being reinvested. The stockholders
>    PAID a penalty for low risk by also incurring low yield.

In the past, this was true. Not so now with the investment in SO MUCH
non-telco facilities that will benefit the ratepayer not one whit. For
instance, Bell Atlantic, Nynex, and Pacific Telesis have each kicked
in one-hundred MILLION dollars to a joint venture dubbed "The Phone
Booth".  What is this supposed to offer "the telephone user"? Here's
what: films, TV programs, video-games and home shopping. Why are we,
telephone users, paying to capitalize this? And why should we going to
get it in the shorts when the telcos fail at this venture as they have
failed at every other non-telecom venture they have delved into?

> 2. The telephone companies were NEVER guaranteed a rate of return. In fact,
>    the commissions set MAXIMUM rates of returns, not minimums.

Guarantees were implicit in the nature of the "public trust" in which
the telcos were involved. No telco would have been allowed to "fail".
And apparently you never heard about the "Great Giveaway of 1989" in
California. The telcos were told that if they could cut expenses and
increase efficiency, they could KEEP the money they saved. Naturally,
the base rates were the usual "calculation on fantasy" that has
existed since the beginning of monopoly time. Do YOU happen to have
the figures from a FULL AUDIT of a telephone company? I thought not.

> 3. There is NOTHING wrong with reinvested earnings. Funding a capital
>    intensive operation does NOT have to be done totally by shareholder
>    investment in order to be "acceptable"

It does when the company is not constrained by the marketplace. Your
example of Ford is perfect. If Ford re-invests to the point where it
cannot operate without raising prices, it either stops re-investing or
it becomes uncompetitive. Telco simply takes its vaudville act to the
PUC, whines that it needs more operating revenue to provide the
baseline level of service, the idiots in the PUC buy the crap, and
then the rates go up (or the negative surcharges go down).

> Once again, we see a view that somehow transforms the phone company
> into being a non-profit, psuedo-government type of operation that
> should be "owned" by all citizens since it was paid for by "psuedo-taxes"
> on the ratepayers masking as "rates" for services.

Until telco becomes something other than "the only game in town", it
should enjoy no slack in that arena. You will recall that Xerox had
major sanctions because some in government thought that it had an
unfair chokehold on photocopying. Hah! I suppose SWB and Pac*Bell
don't have a chokehold on POTS?

> Folks, the phone companies have always been just that -- COMPANIES.
> They have always been companies owned by shareholders -- just like
> Ford, Pizza Hut, and Midas Muffler.

No, no, no. Not like Ford, Pizza Hut, and Midas Muffler. Each of these
companies exists in a robust market of competitors. Someday, that may
be the case for the telcos, BUT NOT YET. Until that day, they cannot
be treated "just like any other company".


John Higdon  |    P.O. Box 7648   |   [phone]     |       FAX:
[e-mail] | San Jose, CA 95150 |   +1 500 FOR-A-MOO    | [phone]
             |         http://www.ati.com/ati             |



[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Maybe John, that's one reason so many of
the telcos, like NYNEX and others, seem to be welcoming competition. Then
they won't be the 'only game in town' and thus can have more freedom to
do their thing unhindered by regulations than they do now. Of course they
know in real practice very few customers will make the switch. You and
I both know the competition could advertise daily in the papers for the
next year, and the 'real telco' would still have 95-98 percent of the same
customers this time next year. So it will be competition on paper, with
most people not having any idea what it is about, and most people still
grousing about the 'telephone company'. But the telco will have complied
with the new rules and be free to keep on in essence doing as it always
has.  PAT]

------------------------------

From: Mark Cuccia <[e-mail]>
Subject: More on Telco and Gulf-Coast Area Flooding
Date: Fri, 12 May 95 09:34:00 GMT


This morning on local news it was announced that South Central Bell will
waive any service charges for relocation and reestablishment of service for
Louisiana customers affected by the storms/floods.  There were many poles
and loops which were knocked down, but it seems that the switching network
and trunk routes are more or less in working order.

As I write this on Friday morning (5-12-95), there are MORE thunderstorms
(severe as reported on radio/TV) moving across CENTRAL and NORTH
Louisiana and Mississippi.  Some of them ARE, however weakening but
spreading out to SOUTH Louisiana and Mississippi.  We really don't
need any more rain down here for quite a while.


Mark

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Al Niven)
Subject: Re: Request U.S. Carrier or Integrator Response re - VTC
Date: 9 May 1995 23:35:10 -0400
Organization: The Pipeline


We sell an H.320 standards compliant videoconferencing boardroom
system that is half the cost of the systems that Picturetel, CLI, or
Vtel sells AND it is of equal or better quality AND it is based on a
garden variety PC for the engine.  We submit all our codecs to the
"jumping jacks test".  If you can have 6 people on both ends doing
jumping jacks without picture degradation, you have a good product.

The PC engine means, that unlike people who bought a Picturetel 3000
and then needed a forklift to upgrade to a 4000 (because the 3000
didn't talk easily to the 4000) or who spent an extra $10G for the
"Link64E" software, all you need to do is swap boards as they evolve.
Videoconferencing is not software upgradeable despite the hype.  It is
software upgradeable up to the level of the chip - and chips are
evolving real fast.  It also means that almost anybody can service you
anywhere (I have an acquaintance that is a Pictel tech - all he does
is installs - and he makes $80K/year salary) and that you are not
dependent on us in a critical manner for anything, because everything
is pretty much off the shelf.  Finally, the PC engine also means that
is easier to expand the conference room to a LAN app via products like
C-phone.

We can do a demo real easy anytime you want walk into our office at
292 Fifth Ave, #200 (30/31 St.) phone [phone].  Or we can call
your neck of the woods and see you in a public room there.  This will
demonstrate our complete and universal inter-operability with the
codec on the far end, whatever the brand, as long as it is standards
compliant.

It costs $50/hour NY-LA for 384 and $200/hour for full T-1 (and you
only get charged for what you use when you use) with an inverse
multiplexor (using ANY carrier).

Videoconferencing will certainly follow the pattern of voicemail.
Original manufactuers - VMX, Octel, Centigram, Audix ... proprietary
boxes.  PC based platform comes out - market grows to $1B.  Pictel,
CLI, and VTel announced they will not develop on the TI chip which is
4 times faster (as far as videoconferencing is concerned) than
anything available now, yet a number of companies are racing to put
that chip on an ISA board.  Result? By 12/95 you will have ISA board
codecs faster than anything "refrigerator" based.  Just one more
reason to stick to the PC platform.

The system we sell was recently favorably written up in Network World
4/18/95.  It is being used to vc the America's Cup Yachting Races
hooking up San Diego, NZ, Australia, and Paris for Louis Vuitton.  It
is also being used in 8 Chamber of Commerces in Spain.

We would be delighted to vc with you to a public room in your area.
There are quite a few public rooms in the UK.  We have a list of every
(supposedly) public room in the world and if you tell us where you are
located we can direct you to the public room.


Al Niven
Video, Voice, and Data,  Inc.
292 Fifth Avenue, #201
NY NY 10001
212-714-3531 voice
212-714-3510 fax

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #239
******************************


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To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #240

TELECOM Digest     Tue, 16 May 95 12:56:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 240

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Concentric Research Obtains Investment Capital (Kristine Loosley)
    10224 - Thanks MCI!! (Les Reeves)
    Update on ISDN (ISDN Mailing List via Monty Solomon)
    Book Review: "NetGuide" by Rutten/Bayers/Maloni (Rob Slade)
    Info Wanted on Communications Fraud Control Association (Steve Collins)
    T1 Pricing Equation Wanted (Bill Barnard)
    Call Back Telecom Software Wanted (Ahmad S. Aziz)
    Looking For Online ROLM Users Conference (Chris Boone)
    Lowest $ Monthly Cellular Rate With No Free Minutes? (Keith Jarett)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
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----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Mon, 15 May 1995 18:09:38 -0400
From: [e-mail] (Kristine Loosley (Concentric Research Corp.))
Subject: Concentric Research Obtains Investment Capital


CONTACTS:
CONCENTRIC RESEARCH
KRISTINE LOOSLEY
[phone]; E-MAIL: [e-mail]

GOLDMAN SACHS
ED NOVOTNY
[phone]

CONCENTRIC RESEARCH CORPORATION OBTAINS INVESTMENT CAPITAL FROM
KLEINER PERKINS AND GOLDMAN SACHS

MAY 15, 1995, BAY CITY, MICH. -- Concentric Research Corp., a rapidly
growing online services and Internet access provider, has received
equity financing from two prominent online industry investors, CRC
co-founder Marc Collins-Rector said today.

CRC recently launched the Concentric Network, which offers flat-rate
nationwide dial-up access to the Internet and CRC's own online
services through a privately owned network of over 125 local points of
presence. The Concentric Network is the first private frame relay data
network to provide nationwide dial-up access to the nation's largest
electronic bulletin boards systems (BBSs), through its BBS Direct
service.

CRC recently sold a joint minority stake in the company for an
undisclosed amount to an affiliate of the Silicon Valley-based venture
capital firm of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and the New York
City-based GS Capital Partners, L.P., an affiliate of Goldman, Sachs &
Co.

"We are extremely pleased to partner with investors of the caliber and
reputation of Kleiner, Perkins and Goldman Sachs," said Randy Maslow,
CRC's Vice President for Business Development and General Counsel. "We
will use the proceeds of the investment to expand our network and
market our online services. With the help of our new partners, we also
intend to rapidly enhance CRC's senior management team."

"We have a philosophy that we invest only in companies that we
perceive to be 10 times faster, more cost-effective or somehow better
than what exists in the marketplace," said Vinod Khosla, a partner at
Kleiner Perkins.  "Content is king in the online world, and BBS Direct
makes available some of the best online content in the country in a
cost-effective and easy-to-use manner."  Kleiner Perkins Caufield &
Byers has been the original venture investor in a number of technology
and multimedia firms, including America Online, Ascend, Compaq,
Electronic Arts, Intuit, Lotus, Macromedia, NetScape Communications,
Sun Microsystems, Sybase, Spectrum Holobyte and 3DO.

CRC's primary online product is BBS Direct, a network of dedicated
connections to 32 of the nation's largest and best known electronic
bulletin board systems. BBS Direct makes long distance charges for BBS
callers obsolete by permitting customers to connect to the BBSs via a
local phone call into the Concentric Network. CRC also provides
nationwide dial-up access to the Internet, including the ability to
use graphical browsers for point-and-click access to the World Wide
Web. A subscription also includes access to a proprietary on-line
service called CRIS that offers multi-player games, real-time
conferencing, electronic mail and other online service offerings.

Subscriptions to the Concentric Network include bundled access to BBS
Direct, CRIS, and the Internet. Subscriptions cost just $29.95 a month
for unlimited connect time through local points of presence. For rural
customers who live outside dial-up access points, 800-number service
is available for $5 an hour. Customers with Internet access from
another provider can telnet to the Concentric Network and connect with
its services for a flat rate of $10 a month for unlimited time.

"Our vision is that of an on-line environment where the Internet, BBSs
and online services are integrated instead of competing,"
Collins-Rector said.  "Until BBS Direct, for example, some of the
nation's finest online content was available only by dialing long
distance to BBS locations.  BBS Direct now consolidates the content of
32 of the nation's best systems and makes them available through the
Concentric Network with just a local phone call."

The company intends to rapidly add additional BBSs to the BBS Direct
service, Collins-Rector added.

Collins-Rector and his partner Chad Shackley founded Concentric in
1991. "We started this company in a garage," Collins-Rector said.  "We
are extremely pleased to see the company progress to the point that
Kleiner Perkins and Goldman Sachs want to partner with us."

Customers can obtain information about the Concentric Network by calling
[phone].


Kristine Loosley           email:
[e-mail]
Public Relations Manager   http://www.cris.com
Concentric Research Corp.  voice: 517 895 0500

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Les Reeves)
Subject: 10224 - Thanks MCI!!
Date: 15 May 1995 17:00:07 -0700
Organization: CR Labs


MCI has done something really great.

Diametrically opposed to their gigadollar F&F vs AT&T advertising
nonsense, they are mailing out innocuous little postcards imploring
you to "Dial 10224-Anytime!".  A couple of aggregators have tried this
postcard marketing scheme, usually with odd rate structures such as
the _initial_ minute set at one-half the additional minute rate.  They
then show you all the savings that will accrue on two or three minute
long calls :-)

This program is called SMARTminutes [sm] of Telecom USA.  Telecom USA
(10852) is a facilities based carrier bought by MCI four or five years
ago.

SMARTminutes (10224) is a flat rate $0.15/min flat rate service that
DOES NOT require your "signing up" or changing your PIC (primary
interexchange carrier).  Fifteen cents-per-minute is a *real* good
rate for low-volume users, from 8-5 PM local time.  You can get
business day rates about that low using some aggregator's 800 number
access. Even with speed calling, computer dialers, and magic, using
this method to access your LD carrier when you are not traveling is
nuts.  Adding 10XXX to your dialing from 8 AM to 5 PM, OTOH, is
trivial.

I have been doing this for some time, due to the very attractive
"Evening Plus" plan from AT&T.  You get $0.10 / minute from 5 PM to 8
AM, unlike a similar plan from US Sprint which is limited to 7 PM to 7
AM.  Those are three *very* important hours.  AT&T gets $0.125 /
minute for the first hour, billed in advance.  Either one is a good
deal for low volume callers.

I looked *real* hard for "casual calling" rates from the smaller IXCs
(Wiltel, Allnet, Metromedia, etc), and found that they were no better
than ten percent less than AT&T's MTS rate (oh-h-h, do they pay<G>).
When you consider that AT&T's MTS day rates are $0.254-$0.298 /
minute, lopping off ten percent is still a very steep cost per minute.

So here's what you do:

Pick the $0.10 / minute plan you like (AT&T Evening Plus, or USS'
Sprint Sense).  Your primary interexchange carrier will be ATT or USS.
From 8AM-5PM local time, prepend 10224 to all your inter-lata toll
calls.  You will get 11-14 cents-per-minute average, which is *very*
good for low-volume users.

AT&T and MCI spend massive amounts of advertising money to convince
you that their particular "discount" is the best.  Blending the two
service offerings as mentioned above, a 35-45 percent discount is very
realistic.

MCI has never been my favorite IXC.  I still think their network is
designed for a busy hour grade of service of P0.22.  Their F&F,
Network MCI, and all the other "Madison Avenue" originated stuff
really stinks.

This is something completely different for MCI (oops, Telecom USA).
If this trend continues, long distance marketing may finally make the
qauntum leap into a marketing environment dominated by the word "cents
per minute", as opposed to "discount compared to ...".


Les     [e-mail]       Atlanta,GA      404.874.7806

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 15 May 1995 23:55:35 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <[e-mail]>
Subject: Update on ISDN
Reply-To: [e-mail]


FYI.

Begin forwarded message:

  Date: Mon, 15 May 1995 22:21:57 -0400
  From: James Love <[e-mail]>
  To: Multiple recipients of list <[e-mail]>
  Subject: Update on ISDN

TAP-INFO - An Internet newsletter available from [e-mail]

TAXPAYER ASSETS PROJECT - INFORMATION POLICY NOTE
March 15, 1995

-   House Telecom bill (hr 1555) will be marked-up in subcommittee
    (subcommittee memembers will vote on various amendments) on

    Wednesday, March 17, 1995.  Background notes on ISDN issue

    attached below.   james love ([e-mail]).


                             Background Notes on
                 ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network)
                            and telephone rates


                     Ad Hoc Coalition for Low Cost ISDN
                                 May 15, 1995

1.   ISDN is a mature technology which allows a telephone company to
     configure a telephone line to transmit digital data at high
     speeds.  With standard analog telephone lines (sometimes referred
     to as POTS), the fastest modem connections to computer networks
     operate at 28.8 kilobytes per second.  Using ISDN technology, a
     telephone can connect to a network at 128k per second.  The higher
     speeds allow users to transmit data much faster, and to use
     telephone networks to transmit multimedia applications, including
     low grade video transmissions.  Interest in ISDN technology has
     expanded greatly in the past year, as the use of the Internet's
     World Wide Web (WWW) has become more popular.  The highspeed ISDN
     connections give users the "bandwidth" to download graphics and
     sound files much faster, making the WWW much more pleasant to use.

2.   ISDN lines require the use of special hardware in the customer's
     home, plus some changes in the way the lines are routed by the
     telephone company.  The cost of customer premises equipment vary
     according to configurations, typically costing more than $100 (and
     can run several hundred dollars for special uses of the
     technology.)

     The most important public policy debates concern the monthly cost
     of the ISDN lines.  Studies of the "marginal" or "incremental"
     cost of providing ISDN services vary greatly, depending upon who
     is paying for the study.  For example, in a 1993 study by the
     Tennessee Public Service Commission (TPSC), South Central Bell
     Telephone Company (SCB) estimated that the "incremental cost" of
     ISDN service (over and above the cost of POTS) is $36.33 (per
     month) for residential customers.  But the TPSC's own calculations
     were only $9.77 (per month).  In an earlier 1991 study, the
     Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (MDPU) found that the
     "marginal cost" of ISDN service was $7.40 (per month) over the
     cost of POTS service.  In studies for the Consumer Federation of
     America (CFA), Mark Cooper has estimated the marginal cost of an
     ISDN service (over the cost of POTS) to be $2 to 4 per line (per
     month), and falling.

3.   Telephone companies and consumers have different ideas about how
     ISDN should be priced.  Telephone companies want to price the
     service on the basis of the "value" of the service, based upon its
     higher functionality.  Consumers would prefer to pay prices based
     upon the actual cost (including reasonable profit on investment)
     of the service.

     If local telephone exchange service becomes a competitive market,
     competition among providers may lead to lower prices based upon
     the costs of providing the service.  However, in most markets
     today local exchange telephone service is a monopoly, and even
     with legislation that removes legal barriers to entry, some
     markets may not have much or any competition for several years,
     because of economic barriers to entry.

4.   The Ad Hoc Coalition for Low Cost ISDN service supports transition
     rules, that will apply to markets until competition for local
     exchange services actually occurs.  Specifically, the Ad Hoc
     Coalition would require the incumbent telephone company to offer
     ISDN service priced no more than POTS, plus the incremental cost
     of ISDN.  This requirement would hold until "actual substantial"
     competition occurred in the market for local telephone service.

     Thereafter prices would be set by the competitive market.

     Language that would accomplish this is given below:


     (xx) A common carrier providing local exchange telephone service
          that is the dominant carrier and that provides ISDN service
          to residential subscribers and small businesses shall make
          such a service available to the public for the price of a
          voice grade line plus no more than the incremental cost of
          providing the ISDN service.  This requirement shall expire
          when the Commission determines that the common carrier faces
          actual substantial competition for local exchange services in
          the residential market.


5.   The Ad Hoc Coalition position is consistent with the so called
     "open platform" language included in last year's HR 3636 (103rd
     Congress), which would have required carriers to provide a digital
     service priced at cost.

                    -------------------------------

TAP-INFO is an Internet Distribution List provided by the Taxpayer
Assets Project (TAP).  TAP was founded by Ralph Nader to monitor the
management of government property, including information systems and
data, government funded R&D, spectrum allocation and other government
assets.  TAP-INFO reports on TAP activities relating to federal
information policy.  tap-info is archived at tap.org.

Subscription requests to tap-info to [e-mail] with
the message:  subscribe tap-info your name

Taxpayer Assets Project; P.O. Box 19367, Washington, DC  20036
v. 202/387-8030; f. 202/234-5176; internet:  [e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 15 May 1995 18:34:23 EST
From: Rob Slade <[e-mail]>
Subject: Book Review: "NetGuide" by Rutten/Bayers/Maloni


BKNETGUD.RVW   950404

"NetGuide", Rutten/Bayers/Maloni, 1994, 0-679-75106-8, U$19.00/C$25.00
[e-mail] [e-mail]
%A   Peter Rutten
%A   Albert F. Bayers III
%A   Kelly Maloni
%C   201 E. 50th St., 31st Floor, New York, NY   10022
%D   1993
%G   0-679-75106-8
%I   Michael Wolff & Company, Inc./Random House Electronic Publishing
%O   U$19.00/C$25.00 212-751-2600 800-733-3000 800-726-0600 fax [phone]
%O   [e-mail] [e-mail] [e-mail]
%P   356
%S   Net...
%T   "NetGuide"

The description of this book as "the TV Guide to Cyberspace" is fairly
apt.  As a kind of concise "yellow pages" to online services, it has a
good format for introductory searching in a given topic.  The
"Frequently Asked Questions" introduction lays out a useful style for
providing basic access information.  The FAQ chapter goes into
greatest detail on the Internet applications: the outlines, though
roughly a two-page maximum, nevertheless usually provide enough
direction without going into technicalities.

The content is not as complete as the two yellow page guides (cf.
BKNRYLPG.RVW and BKINTYLP.RVW), although it also includes material
from commercial services, BBS networks and individual BBSes.  One use
for the book would be in determining which type of service is best
suited to your needs.  (Take care, though: commercial systems have an
advantage here, in that some service descriptions are lifted from
promotional materials.)  Some of the material is becoming dated, but I
was favourably impressed with areas relating to my specialities.

The topical divisions are sometimes odd, and there are no cross-references.
Again, commercial services have an advantage: their material is more
likely to be posted in multiple topics.

A useful, quick reference which deserves to be updated.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1995   BKNETGUD.RVW   950404. Distribution
permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated publications. Rob Slade's
book reviews are a regular feature in the Digest.


Vancouver      [e-mail]         | "My son, beware ... of the
Institute for  [e-mail]      |  making of books there is
Research into  Rob.Slade@f733.n153.z1/  |  no end, and much study is
User                      .fidonet.org  |  a weariness of the flesh."
Security       Canada V7K 2G6           |          Ecclesiastes 12:12

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Steve Collins)
Subject: Info Wanted on Communications Fraud Control Association
Date: Mon, 15 May 1995 20:51:06 GMT
Organization: Eagle-Picher Industries, Inc.


I received some snail mail on a group titled Communications Fraud
Control Association.

Has anyone heard of these guys and whether or not they are worth
joining?


Thanks,

Steven Collins           |  Voice: [phone]
Telecommunications Supr. |
Eagle-Picher Industries  |    Fax: [phone]
Cincinnati, Ohio         |
45202    USA             | EMail: [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Subject: T1 Pricing Equation Wanted
Date: 15 May 1995 20:51:17 GMT
Organization: InterServ News Service


Hello,

Would somebody please tell me the current T1 equation for pricing a
circuit?


Thanks,

Bill Barnard    [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Ahmad S Aziz)
Subject: Call Back Telecom Software Wanted
Date: 15 May 1995 21:15:34 GMT
Organization: George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, USA


Hi everybody,

I am looking for a "call back software" and card which I can fit into
my computer and run it a sort of a telephone exchange. I want to offer
an international telephone service to a particular country and I have
a lot of clientel.  If anybody has an idea about this kind of
communication package, please inform.


Thank you in anticipation.

aaziz

------------------------------

From: Chris Boone <[e-mail]>
Subject: Looking For Online ROLM Users Conference
Date: 15 May 1995 21:19:17 GMT
Organization: GSU/ENTERGY


I have heard there is an online conference for ROLM users and
self maintainers ...

Anyone have that info??


Thanks!

ENTERGY Telecom
Chris Boone WB5ITT          Compuserve 72732,2610
PO Box 3102                 FIDO 1:106/4267
Conroe, Texas 77305-3102    Sysop WBBS @ 409-447-4267

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Keith Jarett)
Subject: Lowest $ Monthly Cellular Rate With No Free Minutes?
Date: 15 May 1995 14:54:25 -0700
Organization: Teknekron Communication Systems Inc.


Does any cellular carrier in the US offer a $0 per month service with
high per-minute charges?  I would like to sign up somewhere for up to
a few bucks a month so that I can use my cell phone for emergency
outgoing calls only, using a credit card or paying the roaming charges
wherever I am.

Apparently one used to be able to do this by setting the MIN and the
carrier code to all zeros, but it doesn't work any more in northern
California.  More precisely, it works for a very short time, minutes
or hours only, then it is blocked forevermore.

It seems to me some tiny carrier could make a few bucks by offering
roaming-only service at a few bucks a month.  They could sell to
customers anywhere in the country.

Second question: can anyone explain to me the blocking mechanism that
I experienced?  Is there a way around it while remaining legal?


[e-mail]   Keith Jarett

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #240
******************************


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From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #241

TELECOM Digest     Tue, 16 May 95 17:19:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 241

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    NPA 604 to Split: New Code 250 For Parts of British Columbia (Nigel Allen)
    Telecom Business Judgment (Jack Mott)
    Standards-Based Video MCU - VideoRouter (TM) (Chip Sharp)
    Send-a-Call (Not Done Yet) (Mark Kelly)
    Telephone 'Call Back' Services (Steven Knopoff)
    Question About Hunting and Call Waiting (Kevin Prichard)
    Re: RBOC IP Legislation Scaring Local ISPs (Fred Goodwin)
    TRT Consultant Needed in Atlanta (Howard Fore)
    Time Warner/Internet Access (Adam H. Hersh)
    Natural Microsystems VBX/400 Telephony Board Help (NMS) (Evan Harris)
    Warning Lights Available? ([e-mail])

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
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                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
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  ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

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*************************************************************************
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*************************************************************************

Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such
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All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Mon, 15 May 1995 04:10:21 -0400
From: [e-mail] (Nigel Allen)
Subject: NPA 604 to Split: New Code 250 For Parts of British Columbia


Here is a press release from BC Tel, formerly the British Columbia
Telephone Company. I found the press release on the company's WWW site
at <http://www.bctel.net/news-16.html>. The map referred to in the
press release is at <http://www.bctel.net/bcmap.html>.

May 9, 1995

BRITISH COLUMBIA TO GET SECOND AREA CODE

Burnaby, B.C. - BC TEL will introduce a second area code for British
Columbia in 1996.

This new area code - 250 - will apply to all regions of the province
outside the Lower Mainland, the Sunshine Coast, Whistler and Hope.
Map attached ( jpeg)

"British Columbia needs a second area code because more telephone
numbers than ever are needed to accommodate our growing population,
as well as the increasing number of pagers, fax machines, modems
and cellular phones," said Dale Reid, BC TEL's manager of network
planning. "Introducing a second area code will open up millions
of new telephone numbers in the province."

Here is the timetable for the implementation of a new area code:

October 1996

       The 250 area code will be introduced. Callers dialing a telephone
number in the new area code region will still be able to use either
604 or 250 to complete the call.

May 1997

       The grace dialing period will end. If the wrong area code is
dialed, a recording will advise callers to hang up and dial the
correct code.

October 1997

       Both area codes will be in full service. Callers dialling 604
to reach a customer in the 250 area code region will hear a recording
that will advise them the call cannot be completed and to verify
the telephone number.

BC TEL is encouraging businesses in the 250 area code region to
communicate with customers and suppliers about their new area code,
and to ensure that all advertising and stationery has updated
telephone numbers in time for the October 1996 introduction. In
addition, long-distance telephone numbers in the new area code region
that are currently stored in equipment, such as fax machines, cellular
telephones and automatic diallers, will need to be reprogrammed before
May 1997.

"The introduction of a second area code will help serve the growing
telecommunications needs of British Columbians for the next 20 years,"
added Reid.

The new area code will have no impact on BC TEL's long-distance rates.
Customers who have questions about the new area code can call
1-800-661-7202.

For more information, please contact:

Michelle Gagne
Media relations manager
[phone] (office), [phone] (pager)

press release forwarded to the TELECOM Digest by
Nigel Allen
52 Manchester Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M6G 1V3, Canada
Internet: [e-mail]   http://www.io.org/~ndallen
Telephone: [phone]

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 15 May 1995 23:50:41 MDT
From: Jack Mott <[e-mail]>
Subject: Telecom Business Judgment


In a posting titled, "Rural Internet via Coops," Mr. Hughson pointed out
how his local telephone co-op was starting to provide internet service.
This is such a natural and appropriate area for telephony-based businesses
to move into, one wonders why the major telcos have not done this up to
now. (They already provide the internet infrastructure.)

It appears that the telco executives have been occupying themselves too
much with big-picture strategic thinking and not enough with common sense,
incremental improvements to their systems.  Basic errors in business
judgment by these and other communications executives come to mind:

   1) ISDN.  This has been vastly overpriced.  In a modern switch, voice
is converted to 64 kbs, so why not price 64 kbs of ISDN like a voice line?
The market would grow substantially.  If telcos could provide automatic
bridging between fax/modem analog protocols and ISDN, the market would
explode.

    2) CDMA.  This technology is great from a theoretical standpoint, but
is always two years away from being affordable.  The basic reason for this
is that 10 MHz of instantaneous bandwidth has to be digitally processed by
a handheld transceiver.  Suboptimal, but more cost effective solutions
could have been arrived at for the cellular industry.  Qualcomm fooled
everybody on this issue.

    3) SMR.  Nextel and Motorola fooled everybody on this.  Handheld
transceivers that could cover the wide range of frequencies used by the
specialized mobile radio industry turned out to be expensive and difficult
to manufacture.  Surprise.  Bandwidth is costly.  A nationwide cellular
system goes back to taxi dispatch.

    4) Telco/Entertainment/Cable Convergence.  Talent and insiders make
money in the recording and motion picture industries.  Outside investors
are often big losers.  The public will be an even bigger loser as common
carrier networks are increasingly distorted and supplanted by proprietary
systems.  The Swedes are moving more intellegently on this issue.  They
are requiring different communications companies to use common fiber lines
in Stockholm.

    5) Dividing Wireless Licenses into Local Markets.  This is really
the government's problem, although they have been encouraged by private
interests who profit enormously from the needless fragmentation of the
wireless industry.

The jury is still out on Iridium.  If only a personal communicator for
the super rich, it will be a failure.  If it can provide bandwidth
more cost effectively and with greater flexibility than geosynchronous
satellites, it will be a success.


Charles Mott

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 16 May 95 10:34:09 EDT
From: [e-mail] (Chip Sharp)
Subject: Standards-based Video MCU - VideoRouter(TM)


Teleos Communications, Inc. announces their New VideoRouter(TM)
Product Family Providing Standards-based Multipoint Video Conferencing

The VideoRouter(TM) Product Line Description

The Teleos VideoRouter product line is an H.320 standards-based family
of Video Multipoint Conferencing Units (MCUs).  Full port-to-port and
line-to-line switching is provided.  All features of the Teleos
AccessSwitch product line are included in the VideoRouter family.

Network Attachment: T1/E1, PRI and BRI.
Room/Desktop Video Attachment: T1/E1/PRI, BRI, V.35/RS-449/X.21.

The Video Router(TM) Express

The entry-level VideoRouter Express is available in four configurations.
Prices start at $19,995 with 4 MCU ports and full network switching.
Easy upgrade from 4 MCU ports to 8 MCU ports.
Four (4) Port MCU Availability:  US/CA  - Now  (8 port in 4Q95)
                            Europe - 2Q95
                 Asia   - 4Q95

The Multi VideoRouter(TM) and the Enterprise VideoRouter(TM)

The mid-range Multi VideoRouter and high-capacity Enterprise
VideoRouter products will support a mixture of up to (72) MCU ports,
(80) T1/E1/PRI (152) BRI interfaces, and (72) synchronous interfaces.
Upgrade existing AccessSwitches by adding the VideoRouter Pro card.
Availability: 4Q95

MCU Features

In addition to the advanced, integrated network access features of the
AccessSwitch product family, the VideoRouter includes:

+     Advanced Audio Support - G.711, G.722, G.728 at 16 Kbps
+     Conference Control from Front Key Pad (Express only)
+     Multiple Meeting Control Modes:
       (1) Voice Activated Switching,
       (2) Lecture Mode with AutoScan and
       (3)* H.243 Director Control
+     Auto Mode Negotiation
+     Integrated Network Access Features
+     Inverse Multiplexing for MCU and Sync Ports (IS 13871, BONDING)
+     Standards Based Multipoint Control (ITU-TSS H.243).
+     Support for the following Per-Port Conference Speeds:
        2 x 56/64 kbit/s
        112 - 384 kbit/s (768K*)
+     Cascading with H.243 Director Control*
+     T.120 Data Conferencing*
+     Dial in Broadcast Server for up to 900 Sites*
     * Indicates Next Release

Customer support and network design services are available around the
clock, around the world.

VideoRouter, AccessSwitch and Teleos are trademarks of Teleos
Communications, Inc.

PRODUCT:     VideoRouter(TM) Family
US CONTACT:  Dan Acquafredda
COMPANY:     Teleos Communications, Inc.
         2 Meridian Road
         Eatontown, NJ  07724  USA
         voice: [phone]
         fax:   [phone]
         email: [e-mail]
         www:   http:\\www.teleoscom.com\  (Opens end of May)

Teleos Europe:  Teunis deVries: (v) [phone]
Teleos Asia:    Terence Tan:    (v) [phone]


Hascall H. ("Chip") Sharp    Teleos Communications, Inc.
Sr. Systems Engineer        2 Meridian Road
                Eatontown, NJ  07724  USA
voice:  [phone]         fax:    [phone]
email:   [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Mark Kelly)
Subject: Send-a-Call (Not Done Yet)
Date: 16 May 1995 04:44:12 GMT
Organization: A poorly-installed InterNetNews site


I've read the last couple of posts on the payphone 'send-a-call'
service with a fair bit of amusement because the product line
marketing folks at Northern Telecom (sorry ... Nortel) wouldn't be
too pleased to hear the negative feedback.

NT has a product called Message Delivery Service which basically
provides the functionality described in the posts. MDS detects
ring-no-answer or busy and asks the caller if they would like
a mesage delivered later for a fee.

The product has had a few market trials here in Canada and I
think is going through another right now. Same complaints
as before along with a fair amount of confusion.

Look for it soon in your area with features like 'Send a Greeting'
or 'Deliver a message from Elvis' (and I'm not kidding about this
stuff).


Mark Kelly                          | Serving the North American
Advanced Multi-Point Conferencing   |   Conference Call Market
320 March Road, Suite 102           |           with
Kanata, Ontario                     |   CLEAR DIGITAL SERVICE
K2L 1Z8                             |
1-800-900-4249 (Reservations)       |   Operator Dial-Out,Meet-Me
1-613-592-5752                      |      and 1-800 Meet-Me

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Steven Knopoff)
Subject: Telephone 'Call Back' Services
Date: 16 May 1995 11:40:36 GMT
Organization: University of Adelaide, South Australia


I have two related questions I hope someone might answer:

First, does anyone know of a phone company that offers cheap rates (e.g.
under .50/minute) between the U.S. and Australia?

And second, can anyone here familiar with these 'call back' long
distance services (some of which claim to offer U.S./Australia rates as
low as .30/minute) explain why these companies' sales/customer service
operations are run in such unprofessional manners? I have looked into
three of these services (including MTC Passport) but have hesitated to
proceed because their own sales phone numbers keep changing (at least
here in Adelaide they do) and/or because the people answering the phone
act as if they are somehow unauthorized or unwilling to answer questions
about the service, or they say they will call back with the answer to a
question but do not call back. At one point I started to think that this
type of business might not be legal, but I checked with the Australian
telecommunications ombudsman and Australian Trade Practices Commission,
both of whom say that 'call back' services are perfectly legal (though
they had no further information about them). Why, for example, don't
these companies advertise in the phone book or newspapers like any other
telephone-related business?

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Kevin Prichard)
Subject: Question About Hunting and Call Waiting
Date: 16 May 1995 11:06:59 -0400
Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC


I'm moving soon and have ordered two phone lines for my new apartment.

Wanting to get the most from the two lines, I spoke with a couple of
people at NYNEX about what I can do with the lines.

I want to use the two lines for outgoing and incoming voice calls, plus
use the second line for outgoing data/fax and incoming fax.  I asked for,
and got the okay for, the following features:

   1. Line one hunts to line two;
   2. Line two hunts to line one;
   3. Line one has call waiting.

The desired effect would be, for voice calls, that as line one and two
are in use, line one would get the third call via call waiting.  This,
rather than put call waiting on line two, where the potential for
interrupting data/fax transmission would be too great.

The service is due to be turned on next week.  Frankly, although I dreamed
this up, I am skeptical that it will *actually* work.  I expect that call
waiting will override hunt on line one and additional calls will never
pass to line two, or that hunt will override call waiting and the third
caller will get a busy.

Has anyone ever tried something like this?  Whaddya think?


Kevin Prichard   [e-mail]
The Atlantic Software Group


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Call waiting does not work in connection
with hunting because when a line hunts to another line, then the line
is never 'truly' busy. Call waiting depends on a line testing busy in
order for it to kick in.  I think your scheme is not going to work. Why
not reverse the order of how you use your lines, like I do, and see if
this works instead:

     Publish line one as your only number.
     Have it forward on busy to line two as now.
     Have call waiting on line two when *it* is busy.

     *Put your modem on line one*.

Now what will happen is everyone dials line one. I assume you are not
going to have your modem answering calls. Either you are not on the
modem (or otherwise talking on line one) and incoming calls land there
first, then roll to line two. If you are on the modem, then calls to
line one will roll to line two, and you can have call waiting there
with no problem where the modem is concerned. The only problem here is
if you intend to have the modem answer the phone. If so, then you need
some sort of device to tell the difference between modem and voice and
have the calls routed accordingly. Here is my configuration:

          line 'one' with call waiting
          line 'two' rolls to line one when busy

              everything points to line 'two'. i.e. 800 number, 500
              number, references to how to reach me, etc. All modems
              are on this line.

          line 'three' stand alone for fax.

Line 'two' rings only two places: in my basement office and my second
floor bedroom. It can be picked up or used in only those two places.
Line 'one' rings all over my house, we all use it.

Either I am in the basement in my office when line 'two' (inbound for
everything relating to Digest, etc) rings or I am not. If I am not,
it goes to voicemail. If I am on a modem, then line 'two' rolls to
line 'one'; I can answer that down here also. The rest of my extended
family is restricted to using line 'one', a non-published number with
call waiting as mentioned above. Therefore I either get my calls on
line 'two' or if the modem is on it (or I am using it voice) then I
get roll overs on the family line 'one'. Line 'one' rings all over the
house including their bedroom, the kitchen, etc. This way, their calls
(and more important, their calls-waiting) don't bother me or my modems.
On the other hand, since I pay all the bills around here for those
lazy worthless deadbeats (grin, but only slightly, a bit forced) I get
to use all the phones.  If they (or I) need still another line for
some reason, we can use the phone attached to the modem for a quick
call out.    PAT]

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 15 May 1995 12:12 CDT
Subject: Re: RBOC IP Legislation Scaring Local ISPs
From: swgate2!AUSMAIL1![e-mail]


John Higdon <[e-mail]> writes:

> Guarantees were implicit in the nature of the "public trust" in which
> the telcos were involved. No telco would have been allowed to "fail".
> And apparently you never heard about the "Great Giveaway of 1989" in
> California.

John: I've not heard of the so-called "giveaway"; may I suggest you look
into the case of El Paso Electric?  A "guaranteed" return did not keep
EPE from going bankrupt, and being liquidated.  My point: there are no
guarantees.

> No, no, no. Not like Ford, Pizza Hut, and Midas Muffler. Each of these
> companies exists in a robust market of competitors. Someday, that may
> be the case for the telcos, BUT NOT YET. Until that day, they cannot
> be treated "just like any other company".

Wasn't it true that in the days shortly after the invention of the
automobile, that (for all practical purposes), Ford monopolized the auto
market?  How about Standard Oil in the oil market or US Steel in the
steel market?  My point: monopolization does not have customer ownership
as a necessary consequence.  If I'm wrong, fill me in.

> (TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Maybe John, that's one reason so many of
> the telcos, like NYNEX and others, seem to be welcoming competition. Then
> they won't be the 'only game in town' and thus can have more freedom to
> do their thing unhindered by regulations than they do now. Of course they
> know in real practice very few customers will make the switch. You and
> I both know the competition could advertise daily in the papers for the
> next year, and the 'real telco' would still have 95-98 percent of the same
> customers this time next year. So it will be competition on paper . . .

Pat: Tell that to AT&T, who's market share is down to 60% from virtually
100% before Divestiture.  Pat, you and I both know (to paraphrase), the
reason the LECs will keep high share is because the CAPs and IXCs don't
WANT to serve (and WILL not serve) customers in high cost areas, like rural
etc., where they have to "build-out" their own networks.  And I seem to
recall you took a strong stand against allowing CAPs and IXCs to resell
existing LEC facilities to "cream-skim".

So, who do you think will be left in the dubious position of "carrier of
last resort"?  The LECs, of course, to serve all the customers left after
the CAPs and IXCs have skimmed off the most profitable 10-20% (pick a
number).  My point: the only "real" competition will be for the most
profitable customers -- and the LEC is left to serve all other high cost
customers.  So, in a round-about way, I guess I would agree the only
competition will be "on paper".


Fred Goodwin                     [e-mail]
Southwestern Bell Telephone Co.  512.870.2375
1616 Guadalupe, Room 640         Austin, TX  78701


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Yeah, AT&T's share is down, but note,
it has taken over a decade for it to get as low as it has. For several
years in the future, the local telcos can count on still having virtually
all of the business, just as AT&T's share stayed in the 85-95 percent
range for a number of years after divestiture.

Regards cream-skimming and the way all the latter-day competitors have
been feeding at the trough, I think it is a shame; I really do. To have
real competition, the newcomers should have been told by Judge Greene
that the *only* thing he would require of AT&T and (then, their subsid-
iaries) the Bells was equality and fairness in interconnection and the
assignment of telephone numbers and area codes.  MCI and the others
would have the right as of that day to string their wires, their local
loops, etc. They could excavate in the street, climb over moutaintops
with their wires, build central offices, develop a sophisticated system
of internal accounting procedures, set up a manufacturing facility to
build telephone equipment of all kinds; in summary, do it all.

Let's not forget a little human sacrifice along the way: as Charles
Brown, chairman of AT&T during the divestiture proceedings and former
president of Illinois Bell (and I might add, former neighbor of mine
from *many* years ago when he worked for IBT and lived near me in
Rogers Park, a Chicago neighborhood) once commented, "when was the
last time MCI had two long time employees killed in a weather-related
accident high in the Rocky Mountains during a severe winter storm while
they were trying to repair a downed line so a community of a couple
hundred people could have their telephone service restored?" ...
And Brown also noted, "If all I did was sell the profitable east coast
corridor service, and I did not have to cut the local companies in on
the action, I could sell it a lot cheaper also ...".

Divestiture was from the beginning a hit-and-run, rough-and-dirty,
grab-what-you-can-and-run process by the other carriers. None of them
could begin to legitimatly accomplish what AT&T has done.  So let them
all start from the beginning, and build a telephone network.  And
Judge Greene might have concluded, "in a half century or so, when you
have accomplished perhaps half of what AT&T has done, come back and
see me; I'll order them to open the door of their central offices and
hand you a bunch of pairs for the purpose of interconnection with
their subscriber base and order them to apply their standards fairly
and at arms-length. They'll get no special pricing or privileges for
themselves."  No use grousing about it now I guess; its over with.  PAT]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Howard Fore)
Subject: TRT Consultant Needed in Atlanta
Date: Mon, 15 May 1995 11:00:35 -0500
Organization: Techies, Nerds, and Wireheads Consulting


The subject line says it all. I need a TRT consultant in Atlanta. Anybody
know of one. TRT tells me to go to Chicago or New York.


Howard Fore  -   Mac/LAN Manager/Webmaster   -   Creative Loafing Inc.
[e-mail]   -   http://www.mindspring.com/~hfore/home.html

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Adam H Hersh)
Subject: Time Warner/Internet Access
Date: 16 May 1995 07:23:29 GMT
Organization: Syracuse University, Syracuse NY, USA
Reply-To: [e-mail]


I have heard that Time Warner has some Ethernet Internet Access
in Beta-Testing, soom to go public.

Anyone have any more details?


Adam Hersh

------------------------------

From: carlin![e-mail] (Evan Harris)
Subject: Natural Microsystems VBX/400 Telephony Board Help (NMS)
Date: 16 May 95 08:05:30 GMT
Organization: The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas
Reply-To: [e-mail]


I need to find a source of technical specs for Natural Microsystems VBX/400
telephony boards.  I need to find out what the file format of the prompt
files is, so that I can create them.

I've called NMS, and they have been no help.  Apparently the person that
worked for them that wrote the drivers for the board left the company and
no one knows the specs on the files.  (Sounds like good planning to me...)

Anyway, if anyone knows anything about these boards, or knows where I can
get more information on technical details, it would be much appreciated!


Thanks in advance,

Evan Harris - [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Warning Lights Available?
Date: Tue, 16 May 95 13:38:14 -0500
Organization: Delphi ([e-mail] email, 800-695-4005 voice)


Hi I live with two other roomates (with one phone number/line). Lots
of times when I'm on the computer/modem, one of my roomates not
knowing I'm on line, would pick up one of the extension phone, and of
course disconnect me from the service I was using. I was wondering if
there might be some type of red (or anytime of warning light, to
indicate that the line is in use?  Any help will be appercated.

Thanks.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: How about a device to just cut off the
other phones in your house so they are dead and your roomates can't
get on the line at all?  Radio Shack makes a little thing which is
normally used to shut off an answering machine message in progress when
someone picks up a phone associated with the machine. We have found these
can be used as 'exclusion keys' for extensions on a phone line with a
modem as well. You plug them into the modular jack of the device you
want restricted from service when another phone on the line (without
such a device) is off hook. Your modem/phone is then the master or
controller of the phones in your house. When it goes off hook, instantly
all other phones on the same line go dead.  I think they cost about
ten dollars each; ask at Radio Shack.  PAT]

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #241
******************************


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Date: Tue, 16 May 1995 20:42:14 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #242

TELECOM Digest     Tue, 16 May 95 20:42:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 242

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Re: Pac Bell Screwing the Handicapped? (Bob Michael)
    Re: Pac Bell Screwing the Handicapped? (Bob Yazz)
    Re: Pac Bell Screwing the Handicapped? (Dave Harrison)
    Re: Pac Bell Screwing the Handicapped? (Lee Winson)
    Re: Pac Bell Screwing the Handicapped? (Mark Cuccia)
    Re: Pac Bell Screwing the Handicapped? (James E. Bellaire)
    Re: Extending Cordless Telephone Range ([e-mail])
    Re: Extending Cordless Telephone Range (Ed Ellers)
    Re: Extending Cordless Telephone Range (Lionel C. Ancelet)
    Re: Extending Cordless Telephone Range (Benjamin L. Combee)
    Re: Extending Cordless Telephone Range (Ed Mitchell)
    Re: Unusual RF Stories ([e-mail])
    Re: Unusual RF Stories (K.M. Peterson)
    Re: Unusual RF Stories (Eric Florack)
    Re: NYNEX Strikes Again (Paul Houle)
    Re: The Way Sprint Does Business (Douglas Kaspar)
    Re: Voice/Data Multiplexer For 64kb Leased Line? (Hiro Daryanani)
    Re: Voice/Data Multiplexer For 64kb Leased Line? (J. Giles)

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----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Tue, 16 May 1995 17:49:37 +0000
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Pac Bell Screwing the Handicapped?
Organization: Nortel (Northern Telecom)


In article <[e-mail]> Bob Yazz, [e-mail] writes:

> In the latest software release for the DMS-100 switch in the San Diego
> area, there is a new "feature" that is hurting people who cannot dial
> or remember phone numbers with great speed.

> Specifically, if you pause for a mere four seconds between digits you
> lose dialtone and get a recording that says to try again.

On the DMS-100, the interdigit timeout is settable by the telco for
between 0-30 seconds, with a default of four seconds; this has been
the case for quite some time.  There are at least two possible reasons
Pacbell changed the timeout:

* The Bellcore default for this value changed at some point from six
to four seconds, and Pacbell followed suit.

*  Pacbell may have set their value to 20 seconds in the previous SW
load, but did not change it from the Nortel default value of four seconds
when they loaded new software.

In any case, I'd suggest contacting Pacbell.  I'd also remind you that a
formal complaint to your PUC must be addressed within a specified period
of time.  But call Pacbell first, this may just be an oversight, or they
may not be aware of the problems this can cause.

Please email if you require additional information.


Regards,

Bob Michael
Marketing Communications, Switching Networks
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Bob Yazz)
Subject: Re: Pac Bell Screwing the Handicapped?
Date: 13 May 1995 22:50:50 GMT
Organization: Locus Computing Corporation, Inc.


Pat wrote:

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: There seems to be a conflict here between
> people who need longer to dial and those who lacking the carriage return
> or '#' symbol on their phone want a speedy time-out.

Hmm, I think this misses the point -- there's really not a conflict.

I do hope a TV news crew films someone who has to dial their phone from
bed using a stick in their teeth and their neck muscles.  I'll bet such
folks are having a barrel of fun playing Pac Bell's new "3.5 second
game of skill" with each new digit they dial.  (:-{(

(I re-checked; the timeout is 3.5 seconds, not four as I said before.)

So brief a timeout is fine to distinguish "0" from "0 plus the number".

The problem is that the 3.5 second timeout now applies to *all* dialing.

So if I dial "1-202", and glance back at slip of paper (or my new-
fangled Microsoft wristwatch) for the remaining digits of the phone
number, I get cut off in just 3.5 seconds.

More common than the neck muscle example above, imagine a grandmother,
not handicapped per se, but perhaps less nimble than she once was,
trying to phone her family on Mother's Day.  Since the recording
she'll get says "Your call did not go thru; please hang up and try
again", how many Pac Bell operators are going to tell such a
grandmother that her problem has to do with heavy Mother's Day phone
traffic or her long distance carrier?

Alright, so it really is a DMS switch software bug, not a feature for
"conserving precious dialtone resource".  (They still give you 15
seconds to hit your first digit.)

Does anyone know how quickly Pac Bell is *capable* of applying a simple
fix to their bad BCS?  It's very probably a single word of code -- like
"timeout1" instead of "timeout2".

(BCS=software release for the DMS switch.)


Best Wishes,

Bob Yazz

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Dave Harrison)
Subject: Re: Pac Bell Screwing the Handicapped?
Date: 13 May 1995 23:28:34 GMT
Organization: Westside BBS Los Angeles USA


We have 120 DMS Centrex lines, and four regular DMS 1MB's in Los Angeles
(Webster) ... and the four second time out is annoying. You can get by if
you know the number, but it will usually take two or three attempts to
dial a number by word (such as 1-800-DMS-SUXX) etc.  I can see where this
could present major problems for our senior citizens, those with limited
vision, etc.

Other problems we have noticed since last October (when we converted
from ESS to DMS) ... modem calls will drop randomly after midnight;
the "level" on calls is lower than ESS as all of our calls go thru the
Sherman Oaks tandem instead of a more direct route; and on a few lines
where we have call forwarding variable, the number of paths will
mysteriously change from the defualt of 99 to 1. And let's not forget
the morning at 4 am when the entire DMS switch died -- and no one knows
why.

I have asked my Pac Bell rep to switch us back to ESS on many occasions.
Hell, I've even pleaded and begged. All to no avail.

Pacific Bell is slowly becoming another GTE ... poor service,
incompenent sales reps, management, engineers, and technicians ... I
could go on and on.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Lee Winson)
Subject: Re: Pac Bell Screwing the Handicapped?
Date: 13 May 1995 01:54:20 GMT
Organization: PACS IBM SIG BBS


I wouldn't call it "screwing the handicapped", but I've noticed real
short timeouts on dialing as well.  Sometimes you gotta look down at the
phone book.  Dialing letter codes (ie "EATGOOD") is slower.  When you
throw in access codes and area codes, it slows things down.

  I don't think it would kill things if they allowed a good 20-30
seconds to dial a number.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, they *do* allow at least thirty
seconds to dial a number. Seven digit numbers get up to four seconds
each for input, or potentially 28 seconds of time.  Toss in a three digit
area code and '1'; that gives you 44 seconds to punch in what you want.
And you say 20 seconds might be long enough?  Yes, I understand; you meant
a *digit*, not a *number*. The problem with this is who wants to press
zero and wait half a minute for it to set up?  Who wants to dial the pin
on his credit card and have to wait half a minute for the system to begin
checking the data?

What in the world would be wrong in the USA with variable length telephone
numbers -- any length desired -- and ALWAYS the use of '#' to indicate that
you are finished with your input. Then allow that 20 or 30 seconds as you
wish following the final digit if no '#' esd entered.   PAT]

------------------------------

From: Mark Cuccia <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Pac Bell Screwing the Handicapped
Date: Mon, 15 May 95 09:39:00 +6C


Regarding DIGITAL ESS offices here in NEW ORLEANS, the 'Briarwood'
Office (504-46X) switch is also a DMS switch.  Dial Tone cuts out
after about four or five seconds to 'If you would like to make a
call...'  and then Off-Hook beeps.

You also cut out to 'Your Call Did Not Go Thru' after four to five
seconds on dialing a single 'N' digit or double 'NX' digits (such as
not having subscribed to any Custom Calling/Touchstar/Prestige/vertical
features), particularly not having any 'Speed Calling 8' or 'Speed
Calling 30'.  On the third digit, NXX or four or more digits, if the code
is 'invalid', i.e. a 'partial dial', you cut out to 'Your Call Did Not
Go Thru' after eight to ten seconds.

I'm not yet sure how the Digital #5ESS offices handle this. (We have
several now in New Orleans).  The older 'analog' ESS offices in New
Orleans (and when we DID have #5Crossbars) give you anywhere from 12
to 30 seconds before timing out to 'off-hook' warnings or 'partial-dial'
treatment.

SOME local telcos ARE coming out with a 'Voice-Dial' feature - you get
dial tone for only TWO seconds where you would THEN quote out a name
or number which you have stored in a 'memory' space.  IF you need up
to four seconds of dial tone (such as for modem dial-out), you can do
something like a *45, beginning it before your two seconds of dial tone
cuts out.  This will give you up to four seconds of dialtone until you do
ANOTHER *4X code OR quote a voice dial address after your four second
dialtone cuts out where upon you default back to two seconds of dial
tone on subsequent calls.  I'm not sure if the code is *45 to give you
longer dialtone -- I know it is in the *4X series.  USWest is one of
the companies offering this Voice Dial feature in selected DMS & #5ESS
offices, for a monthly fee.  (See articles in Bellcore's DIGEST of
Technical Information; or a for a longer list of 'Vertical Service
Codes' *XX or NX# codes - Custom Calling, Touchstar, Prestige,
Premier, Call Managment, CLASS, etc. - see the *XX code subsection of
Section 1 of Bellcore TRA's Local Exchange Routing Guide - LERG).


MARK

[phone] (FAX, work; UNiversity 5-5917)
[phone] (TEL, work; UNiversity 5-5954)
[e-mail]
[phone] (TEL, home - will roll over to my cellular with voice mail;
CHestnut 1-2497)


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Except if you only get two seconds of dial
tone in which to enter that *45 or whatever, what are you supposed to do
with modems which do not begin dialing for at least two seconds? Remember
the old rule about how the modem is supposed to wait two seconds before
dialing? It was a technical thing; I don't know if it matters now or if
it ever did. From what you are saying above, the dial tone has come and
gone before the modem is in a position to prepend *45 or much of anything
else. Sounds like a strange waste of feature codes to me.    PAT]

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 16 May 1995 11:12:03 -0500
From: [e-mail] (James E. Bellaire)
Subject: Re: Pac Bell Screwing the Handicapped?


In TELECOM Digest V15 #238, Bob Yazz wrote:

> In the latest software release for the DMS-100 switch in the San Diego
> area, there is a new "feature" that is hurting people who cannot dial
> or remember phone numbers with great speed.

> Specifically, if you pause for a mere four seconds between digits you
> lose dialtone and get a recording that says to try again.

> Before this latest change, the timeout was 20 seconds for the entire
> dialing process.

Your digital switch problems are probably local, complain to the 'normal
channels' (business office, supervisors, PUC).

Here in Sturgis, a GTE North - Michigan town, we have a switch with all the
SS7 fun stuff just turned on.  I checked the following times on a watch...

  Lift Handset to first digit                   - 28 seconds (Err TLD)
  Between MOST digits                           - 25 seconds (Err TLD)
  After dialing a feature code                  -  5 seconds (completed)
     (example: 72# dialed as 72 wait)
  After dialing part of a valid local number    - 25 seconds (Err TLD)
  After dialing part of an invalid local number -  5 seconds (Err CNC)
  After dialing 1+ a valid area code            - 25 seconds (Err TLD)
  After dialing 1+ an invalid area code         -  5 seconds (Err LDE)
  (Err TLD) = you have taken to long to dial
  (Err CNC) = your call cannot be compeleted as dialed
  (Err LDE) = your long distance carrier cannot complete your call as dialed
   ^^^^^^^ this is a GTE local message, not one from the IXC carrier.

This kind of setup would solve your problem (unless you wait too long after
the second digit while dialing a local exchange that begins with a function
code.)

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: There seems to be a conflict here between
> people who need longer to dial and those who lacking the carriage return
> or '#' symbol on their phone want a speedy time-out. <SNIP>

Bingo. GTE North seems to have this right.  (Yes, GTE does get things right
once in a while!)  Maybe PacBell needs to learn how to set their timeouts
better.

BTW Pat, you said:

> Still though, prepending '11' to the dialing string usually is considered
> a substitute for the '#' following

A 'pause' is the proper substitution for '#',
'11' is the substitute for '*'.

Always another nit-picker ...


James E. Bellaire (JEB6)  [e-mail]
Twin Kings Communications  -  Sturgis, MI


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well for quite a few years here, it
was possible to do any of these things to effect (for example)
'cancel call forwarding':  *73, 73#, 73 wait, or 1173.  The asterisk
took the place of the '11' (pronounced 'eleven', not 'one one'); the
'11' took the place of '73 wait'.  Using 73# now seems to not be
available in most central offices here; its *73 or 1173. Likewise,
73 wait has vanished. I guess they figure even if you don't have a
touchtone phone, or you have an older one with only ten keys, at least
you must have the digit '1' there somewhere to be pulled or poked.  PAT]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Date: Mon, 15 May 95 12:18:58 EST
Subject: Re: Extending Cordless Phone Range


[e-mail] recently said:

> I recently installed a cordless telephone (Partner Plus - AT&T CDM
> 9000) for a client.  The cordless gets great range when I locate the
> base/charger near the outside wall of the building.  However, the
> owner wants his base/charger located in his office in the middle of
> the office building which severly limits his range and clarity when he
> uses his cordless outside.

> Is it possible to install an external antenna on the outside of the
> building to improve the signal from the cordless base/charger?

Why not use a 900 Mhz cordless phone?  The phone we (Cincinnati Microwave)
produce has a range of 1/2 mile.  Other 900 Mhz phones have ranges in the
< 1/4 mile range.

------------------------------

From: Ed Ellers <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Extending Cordless Telephone Range
Date: Mon, 15 May 95 21:56:01 -0500
Organization: Delphi ([e-mail] email, 800-695-4005 voice)


TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to John Radisch <[e-mail]>:

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I did not know they were allowed to
> officially make a cordless phone with 200 milliwatts output. I thought
> 100 was the legal limit.  Not that the antenna cannot 'see' 200 when it
> gets that far, just that the radio itself was limited to 100 at the
> final.  PAT]

I'd have to look up the rules -- they vary for each category of device.
100 mW input to the final stage was the limit for the old 27 MHz walkie-
talkies, which are no longer legal as Part 15 devices.

I do know that it's flat out illegal to attach an external transmit
antenna to a cordless phone -- not only are those devices restricted
as to antenna size, but the antenna must be permanently attached to
the device.  External *receive* antennas are in fact legal; the
outdoor cordless phone antennas offered a few years back were designed
for the older cordless systems that had the base-to- handset link at
1650 kHz or so with the handset transmitter on one of the five 49 MHz
walkie-talkie channels.  (For that matter, when I was a little kid I
had a GE base station, designed to the Part 15 specs for 27 MHz
operation, that had an external antenna input for the receiver only.)

------------------------------

From: Lionel C. Ancelet <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Extending Cordless Telephone Range
Organization: Compaq Computer Corp.
Date: Tue, 16 May 1995 18:24:45 GMT


[e-mail] (Greg Smith) wrote:

> I recently installed a cordless telephone (Partner Plus - AT&T CDM
> 9000) for a client.  The cordless gets great range when I locate the
> base/charger near the outside wall of the building.  However, the
> owner wants his base/charger located in his office in the middle of
> the office building which severly limits his range and clarity when he
> uses his cordless outside.

> Is it possible to install an external antenna on the outside of the
> building to improve the signal from the cordless base/charger?

You could use a "passive repeater": an inside antenna in the room where
the base is located, an outside one on the outside of the building, and a
coax line between the two. This way you don't need to touch the base or
the handset.

Of course, take antennas tuned for the frequency range your phone uses,
likely 46-49 MHz.


Lionel C. Ancelet <[e-mail]>
CIS: 71641,1340    AOL: L Ancelet

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Benjamin L. Combee)
Subject: Re: Extending Cordless Telephone Range
Date: 16 May 1995 17:00:36 -0400
Organization: ROASF Atlanta
Reply-To: [e-mail]


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail]
(Greg Smith) says:

> I recently installed a cordless telephone (Partner Plus - AT&T CDM
> 9000) for a client.  The cordless gets great range when I locate the
> base/charger near the outside wall of the building.  However, the
> owner wants his base/charger located in his office in the middle of
> the office building which severly limits his range and clarity when he
> uses his cordless outside.

Perhaps you could also get an extension charger that you could place
in the center of the office while the base sits near the edge of the
building.  That would give the client the ability to dock his or her
phone when not in use while giving you the range you want.  There is
an extension charger available for my cheap Uniden XC310, so I'd
assume the manufacturers may have them for the more expensive cordless
phones.


Benjamin L. Combee    [e-mail]
http://www.yak.net/combee/

------------------------------

From: Ed Mitchell <[e-mail]>
Date: Tue, 16 May 95 13:27:06 PDT
Subject: Re: Extending Cordless Telephone Range


Pat writes:

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I did not know they were allowed to
> officially make a cordless phone with 200 milliwatts output. I thought
> 100 was the legal limit.  Not that the antenna cannot 'see' 200 when it
> gets that far, just that the radio itself was limited to 100 at the
> final.  PAT]

900 Mhz cordless phones that use spread spectrum modulation techniques
can operate up to a maximum of 1 watt output. This applies to both the
handset and base. Most cordless phones operate with considerably less
power than this because (a) high power drains batteries quickly and consumers
seem to like long battery life more than range, and (b) to cover
typical areas - say

500 ft radius - requires very little output power. You can read the
rules for low power unlicensed devices in Part 15 of the FCC's Rules
(CFR Title 47).

I have not done any measurements nor field strength calculations but I
am under the impression that many cordless phones operate at around 1
mw. It does not require much power to achieve the desired coverage
range. In a related area, 46/49 MHz cordless phones operate on ten
paired 20 khz wide FM channels. A few weeks ago, the FCC approved the
use of an additional 15 channels so that there will now be a total of
25 "low VHF" cordless phone frequencies available. The additional
frequencies were added because cordless phones have become the norm
and in densely populated areas (apartments, condos, town homes), users
had saturated the 10 existing channels.  Even though 900 MHz offers
vastly more frequencies, manufacturers can build much lower cost
phones at the "low VHF" frequency range.

For the record, my digital but non-spread spectrum Tropez 900DL has
achieved a range of probably over 700 feet even though the phone is
located inside the house and the signal must traverse a hostile
environment (my house, my garage, my neighbors house, the forest) in
the direction I measured.


Ed Mitchell   KF7VY

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (UL)
Subject: Re: Unusual RF Stories
Date: 16 May 1995 18:31:54 +1000
Organization: Stanilite Electronics Pty. Ltd. Sydney, Australia


[e-mail] (John Dearing) writes:

> There's SO much stray RF in the area that there are homes where you
> CAN'T turn a fluorescent lamp OFF. Once you turn it ON it's always ON.
> The stray RF is enough to keep ionizing the gas in the tube!!

> Or the guy that kept hearing WCAU (1210-AM) from his toilet! Turns out
> that a cold solder joint in the plumbing in the water tank was acting
> as a detector/demodulator. Once enough corrosion built up, presto,
> instant semiconductor!!

AM from a toilet? Wierd, but easy to demodulate I once found a toaster
that played FM.

About 300 metres from the Channel 10 xmitter in Chatswood, Sydney I
was fitting a few ferrite cores to speaker leads, etc to stop the
signal creeping into everything electronic in the house and when the
tape player, etc had stopped reading the news there was a small
residual newsreader, which we tracked to an unplugged toaster on the
kitchen shelf.

It was buzzing the video signal, with a quite intelligible voice.

I never expected such a good slope-detector in a simple kitchen
appliance!

Two solutions:

- wound the cord around the toaster and it went quiet;

- convinced my pregnant friend to move, as that much rf 24hrs/day
  frightens me, even when my cells aren't frantically dividing!

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Date: Tue, 16 May 1995 06:35:44 PDT
Subject: Re: Unusual RF Stories


[e-mail] (John Dearing) wrote in #239, about some
interesting games with RF. Having around 15 years in radio behind me,
I can write some interesting stuff as well. Allow me an example:

Back during WWII, 700/WLW was running 50kw into a single tower, via
open air feeedlines. Now, as to what they were, they're evenly spaced
feedlines, uninsulated. You see, this was coax, pre-Korean war.

Anyway, the stuff tended to be affected by the weather, as you might
imagine.  I used some of the same stuff at the old WSAY up here in
Rochester, some years ago. You could always tell if it was raining or
snowing, because the standing wave ratio would start to climb ... but
back to WLW.

During WWII, WLW was doing some propaganda broadcasts. Mr. Goebels had
the highest power medium wave transmitter known to exist, and was
using it for propaganda purposes. The folks here in the United States
decided they wanted to play 'me too', and gave a few stations permission
to do 'high power testing'. In the case of WLW, this meant changing
from 50,000 watts to 500,000 watts, with a callsign on the big gun of
WLWO.  These tests were run after midnight local.

Now, there were no inline meters made that could measure reflectivity
at that kind out TPO ... nobody was running that kind of TPO in ANY
service at the time. So, the only way to test the tuning of the antenna
system, (something done quite freqently, given the  relative instability
of open-air feeders) was to walk along the feedline from the shack to
the tower, with a field strength meter in your hand.

On rainy nights, though, things got weird, as I gather it. With all
that power, the lines had a tendency to arc a bit. An engineer who
worked there at the time later told me:

'It was the strangest thing; Lightning bolts from the sky, screaming
German ...'

Somehow I can't imagine the kind of RFI on local telephones of the day.
I have a few more such stories but I won't bore you with them.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It was during the Second World War that
the radio stations in the USA went through a frequency realignment
process. For example, WGN in Chicago had been on 730 and they moved to
720.  WBBM had been on 770 and moved to 780. There were quite a few
stations which were affected and relocated. I am not sure why it was
done.

How is the situation in south Florida these days with the Cubans and
all the AM broadcasters?  You'll recall a few years ago when the USA
was building that big radio station down there to broadcast propoganda to
the Cubans, Fidel Castro got quite angry about it and instructed stations
there to start a radio war.  Cuban stations started sending out so much
power it made AM radio miserable to listen to even here as far north as
Chicago sometimes.  Some station down there sitting on 720 was pushing
so much power our own WGN radio was difficult to listen to after dark.
It was okay all day, but once the sun disappeared and that RF started
skipping all over the northern hemisphere, we'd get WGN *mostly*, with
that fellow screaming in Spanish condemning the US government riding along
with it. Night after night, all night long some nights; other times when
the skip was not so good we would not hear the Cubans this far north.

Where it got bad was the further south you went in the USA.  Go south
of Miami on the way to Key West, and AM radio was just one big mess of
heterodyne and jumbled signals, with the Cubans pushing all the power
they could and the USA broadcasters dumping back, each side seeing who
would be the ones to get out with their message, their music or whatever.
In the southern USA -- places like Georgia, Alabama and Texas -- their
AM stations got walked over pretty badly also some nights by the Cubans,
and I suppose by USA broadcasters who were trying to retaliate. That
radio war went on in earnest for what, a couple years? The FCC gave the
stations in south Florida permission to increase their power 'as needed'
to get their signal out at least around their own communities. You
got Miami stations *in Miami*, but go five miles south of town and the
Cubans were screaming out of your radio at you.  Just like the olden,
golden days of Citizen's Band -- CB, sometimes called Crazy Band -- radio
in the USA.  PAT]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (K. M. Peterson)
Subject: Re: Unusual RF Stories
Date: 16 May 1995 17:16:06 GMT
Organization: Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (John
Dearing) writes:

> Or the guy that kept hearing WCAU (1210-AM) from his toilet! Turns out
> that a cold solder joint in the plumbing in the water tank was acting
> as a detector/demodulator. Once enough corrosion built up, presto,
> instant semiconductor!!

Personally, I'd like to hear more.  Question: there are some rather
tall buildings here in Boston.  Some of them have TV and radio
antennas; what do you do when you have to go up on the roof to
maintain wiring and other things there?  Is there protective clothing?


K. M. Peterson <[e-mail]>


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: What seems to happen in the Chicago area
is that all the stations located on the roof of the Hancock Building or
Sears Tower (whichever applies) go off the air whenever any one of them
has to do antenna work. It does not seem to happen very often, but about
a year ago I recall three or four stations (two or three radio, one was
television; I do not remember the specifics) all announced on the same
day that they would be off the air that night from about midnight until
5:00 in the morning for 'antenna adjustments'.

I remember about 30-35 years ago when one summer evening we had a very
sudden and very heavy rainfall. A torrential downpour would be a better
description; or you might term it an 'electrical storm'. There was a
great deal of lightning and you could feel that juice as the crackle
in the air proceeded the thunder. WLS 890-AM was playing the top ten as
always with Dick Biondi when all of a sudden they went totally silent
in the middle of the Beatles singing something. They were off the air
for about an hour or maybe longer. After flipping around on the dial
listening to a couple other things I went back and just left it set to
890 and hash in the background until they returned.  I suppose an hour
later I noticed the hash went away with dead silence in its place; they
were warming up the transmitter again. Someone came on -- a voice I had
not heard before -- merely to announce that, 'at this time WLS will leave
the air to do emergency maintainence work at our transmitter site; we
will return as soon as the work is finished ...'. This person then read
the usual obligatory notice about their frequency assignment, their FCC
authority to broadcast, etc, then they went dead again. A minute or two
later they were back on the air doing testing of some sort, just whistles
and tone signals, and a couple times what appeared to be a recorded
announcement saying 'testing only' and a few phrases.  Following that some
dead air -- just carrier with no modulation on it -- for perhaps a minute
and then the studio came back on, once again giving the obligatory notice
about their station and the FCC, and that they were coming on the air at
this time 'to resume programming in progress'.

It seems the antenna had gotten struck by lightning; it must have been
a powerful hit that knocked them out. Dick Biondi and the other on-air
people spent the rest of the night chattering about the lightning strike
and not much else in between songs they were playing. By curious concidence,
while I was waiting for them to come back on the air I did tune WBBM 780-AM
which in those years played classical music all the time instead of their
all news format they've had for about 25 years. What were they playing?
The scheduled work was a choral selection, 'As Torrents in Summer', from
the opera 'King Olaf' by Grieg.   PAT]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Paul Houle)
Subject: Re: NYNEX Strikes Again
Date: 16 May 1995 14:14:48 GMT
Organization: Cornell University


[e-mail] (Michael J Kuras) writes:

> [NYNEX babble deleted]

    NYNEX is just as bad in Ithaca.  I live in a house with two
other students, and because they get more calls than I do, very often
when I am by myself I let the answering machine pick up, since maybe four
times out of five I'd just have to take a message anyway.

    For about a week around 9:15 in the morning the phone would
ring a few times, the answering machine would pick up and then the
caller would hang up.  I never really made the connection, until one
time I actually did pick up and I found out that it was NYNEX.

    The telemarketer was very aggressive about caller ID, and I
said that we weren't interested -- then the telemarketer moved on to
call waiting, call forwarding, the works.  I was really astounded at
how aggressive the person was, and finally I said that "I'd have to
bring this up with the people I live with" and I hung up.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Douglas Kaspar)
Subject: Re: The Way Sprint Does Business
Date: 16 May 1995 03:43:39 GMT
Organization: Prodigy Services Company  1-800-PRODIGY


When you examine Sprint's basic LD tariff vs. AT&T, their cost per
minute is identical to AT&T's across rate bands, time of day, etc.
MCI's basic LD tariff across the rate band's is .0001 cent per minute
less.  The savings come in when your volumes increase, so beware of
the so called "savings".


DOUGLAS KASPAR  [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: Hiro Daryanani <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Voice/Data Multiplexer For 64kb Leased Line?
Date: 16 May 1995 03:40:26 GMT
Organization: Hong Kong Internet & Gateway Services, Wanchai, Hong Kong


[e-mail] wrote:

> Newbridge Networks (3606) (Canada)
> Republic Telecom (Now Netrix) (RLX400) (US)
> Micom (Marathon Series) (US)
> Case (UK)

Don't forget about ACT (located in the same city as Micom) and PCSI.
Stratacom have also OEMed ACT's equip. The aggregate 64kpbs link can
be frame relay in ACT's case. This essentially means that you can do
voice over frame relay.


Regards,

Hiro Daryanani    ([e-mail])

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (giles)
Subject: Re: Voice/Data Multiplexer for 64kb Leased Line?
Date: 16 May 1995 04:18:23 GMT
Organization: San Diego State University Computing Services


> We are looking for a data/voice multiplexer for a leased 64kb
> digital line. We want to use some portion of the bandwidth for phone
> calls to and from a PBX extension and the rest for IP traffic. The
> leased line speaks the G.703 protocol (there would be an alternative
> using I.430). Any information about implementations, producers and
> distributors is appreciated.

AT&T carries just what you are looking for.  Try your nearest AT&T GBCS.

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #242
******************************


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From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #243

TELECOM Digest     Tue, 16 May 95 21:15:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 243

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Re: RBOC IP Legislation Scaring Local ISPs (Thomas Peters)
    Re: RBOC IP Legislation Scaring Local ISPs (Tim Gorman)
    Horizontal Frequency of Television (Friedrich Kaufmann)
    Long Wave and Medium Wave Transmitters (Friedrich Kaufmann)
    Stats For Obtainable Bitrates For Data Transfer on PSTN Lines (Jan Nielsen)
    Video Teleconferencing - CLI Problems? (Vince Muehe)
    NE Ohio - New Area Code 330? (Doug Sewell)
    Re: Extending Cordless Telephone Range (Mike Curtis)
    A Question About Priorities (TELECOM Digest Editor)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
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----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Thomas Peters)
Subject: Re: RBOC IP Legislation Scaring Local ISPs
Date: 15 May 1995 22:19:18 GMT
Organization: Hughes Network Systems Inc.


>> If each ratepayer should be given stock in the telephone company then
>> why shouldn't each Ford owner be given stock in Ford?

> One reason is that ...

To make this proposal perfectly clear: you are proposing that it is
appropriate to confiscate a large portion of American industry from its
owners. Many of those owners by the way are widows and pension plans.
Even if one believes this is "fair" and "justified" the financial
markets might well collapse in a manner which would make 1929 look like
kid stuff.

> Guarantees were implicit in the nature of the "public trust" in which
> the telcos were involved. No telco would have been allowed to "fail".

Really? Just because a telephone company continues to operate does not
mean that its stockholders' equity can't be confiscated and given to the
creditors in a chapter 11 bankruptcy. This has happened to some very large
electric utilities, which should be even more sacred than telephone
companies.

> what: films, TV programs, video-games and home shopping. Why are we,
> telephone users, paying to capitalize this? And why should we going to
> get it in the shorts when the telcos fail at this venture as they have
> failed at every other non-telecom venture they have delved into?

 ...

> Naturally, the base rates were the usual "calculation on fantasy" that
> has existed since the beginning of monopoly time. Do YOU happen to have
> the figures from a FULL AUDIT of a telephone company? I thought not.

You keep making accusations like this. Do you have any proof? Of
massive fraud on a scale to justify your ideas? You're the one making
the accusations and suggesting the radical remedy, not Tim Gorman.

The relationship between the public and a large regulated monopoly is
never going to be smooth and free of disagreements, but a little
balance is in order. The Bell System and the other local phone
companies have built a fabulous telephone network, by far the best in
the world. They invested their money, time, and energy on the basis of
a deal they made with the public long ago. This is how you would repay
them?


Speaking for myself only.

Tom Peters

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 16 May 1995 20:24:06 -0500
From: Tim Gorman <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: RBOC IP Legislation Scaring Local ISPs


John Higdon <[e-mail]> writes:

> Tim Gorman <[e-mail]> writes:

>> If each ratepayer should be given stock in the telephone company then
>> why shouldn't each Ford owner be given stock in Ford?

> One reason is that Ford owners did not have to be Ford owners. Similar
> transportation could be had from General Motors, Chrysler, or even foreign
> companies such as BMW, Toyota, or Volvo. A telephone customer has two
> choices: he can open his bill and pay it, or he can do without telephone
> service. If Ford's prices were out of line, customers would go elsewhere.
> If telephone rates are out of line (which, I might point out, they are),
> the customer is invited to pay up or yell loudly.

All of which means nothing when it comes to considering nationalization of
the telco's. This is nothing more than sour grapes about the government
deciding many years ago to implement telephone service as a regulated
monopoly rather than a competitive service.  Telephone rates being out
of line has absolutely nothing to do with whether the telco should be
considered a ratepayer owned company or a stockholder owned company.
If you have a problem with Public Utility Commssion approved tariff
rates then you have a problem with the Public Utility Commissions and
not with the stockholders of the telco's.

>> 1. The stockholders in the telephone companies did NOT make a killing.
>> The dividends were always very low compared to other companies of similar
>> revenues. The difference was that much of the company income flow DID
>> go to pay off debt issues as well as being reinvested. The stockholders
>> PAID a penalty for low risk by also incurring low yield.

> In the past, this was true. Not so now with the investment in SO MUCH
> non-telco facilities that will benefit the ratepayer not one whit. For
> instance, Bell Atlantic, Nynex, and Pacific Telesis have each kicked in
> one-hundred MILLION dollars to a joint venture dubbed "The Phone Booth".
> What is this supposed to offer "the telephone user"? Here's what: films, TV
> programs, video-games and home shopping. Why are we, telephone users,
> paying to capitalize this? And why should we going to get it in the shorts
> when the telcos fail at this venture as they have failed at every other
> non-telecom venture they have delved into?

This is STILL more of the philosophy that the telco's should be
non-profit, government owned (i.e. ratepayer owned) entities. As you
noted yourself, we are not living in the past. If the telco's wish to
continue to attract the capital necessary to upgrade the ENTIRE
network to digital switching, ATM, ISDN, etc. -- things which benefit
the customer in services available and incremental cost -- then they
must be able to compete in the capital markets with companies growing
at much faster rates and paying much higher dividends. In the past,
this was possible through very controlled introduction of technology
in a vertically integrated network with capital gained by being a
"little old ladies" stock.  This is no longer the past.

If the telco's don't begin to position themselves for a competitive
market TODAY, they will not be ready TOMORROW. If you have a problem
with this, you need to take it up with Judge Green, not with the
telco's. It is a fact of life. It is not going to change no matter how
much grumping about it is done.  What you are griping about was an
inevitable result of the breakup of AT&T and the national franchised
telephone network. Too bad. The king is dead. :-( Long live the king! :=O

>> 2. The telephone companies were NEVER guaranteed a rate of return. In
>> fact, the commissions set MAXIMUM rates of returns, not minimums.

> Guarantees were implicit in the nature of the "public trust" in which the
> telcos were involved. No telco would have been allowed to "fail". And
> apparently you never heard about the "Great Giveaway of 1989" in
> California. The telcos were told that if they could cut expenses and
> increase efficiency, they could KEEP the money they saved. Naturally, the
> base rates were the usual "calculation on fantasy" that has existed since
> the beginning of monopoly time. Do YOU happen to have the figures from a
> FULL AUDIT of a telephone company? I thought not.

Nope. I don't have the figures from a full audit. So what? You STILL
are griping about the Public Utility Commissions and the job they did.
Take it up with them. If you have and no one listened then maybe there
is a reason.

Of course, telco's were allowed to fail. I know of at least two that
were forced by the PUC in Missouri to sell their assets to others
because they were doing such a bad job running their franchises. Did
any of the AT&T affiliates fail? No. So what? If you think the PUC's
were all sweetness and light with the telco's you haven't talked to
the PUC in Oklahoma!

Are you listening to what you are saying, John? On one hand you
complain about the efficiency of the telco's being so bad and on the
other you argue for keeping regulatory practices that contribute
nothing toward developing efficient practices. Letting the telco's
keep profits from cutting costs and more efficient operation is the
BEST way to encourage such practices. This is why there is an industry
wide move to price regulation rather than maximum rate of return
regulation. It is an emulation of how the competitive market works.

>> 3. There is NOTHING wrong with reinvested earnings. Funding a capital
>>    intensive operation does NOT have to be done totally by shareholder
>>    investment in order to be "acceptable"

> It does when the company is not constrained by the marketplace. Your
> example of Ford is perfect. If Ford re-invests to the point where it cannot
> operate without raising prices, it either stops re-investing or it becomes
> uncompetitive. Telco simply takes its vaudville act to the PUC, whines that
> it needs more operating revenue to provide the baseline level of service,
> the idiots in the PUC buy the crap, and then the rates go up (or the
> negative surcharges go down).

With an attitude like this we would still all be using panel switches,
John.  The telco's were not given the option of not investing in the
business. It was part of their franchise contract that the network
would be as modern as possible and that ubiquitous service would be
provided. So, once again, you are railing against the model this
country decided to use for over 100 years to provide telephone
service. That is still not a reason to penalize stockholders.  Neither
does it make the ratepayers owners of the business.

>> Once again, we see a view that somehow transforms the phone company
>> into being a non-profit, psuedo-government type of operation that
>> should be "owned" by all citizens since it was paid for by "psuedo-taxes"
>> on the ratepayers masking as "rates" for services.

> Until telco becomes something other than "the only game in town", it should
> enjoy no slack in that arena. You will recall that Xerox had major
> sanctions because some in government thought that it had an unfair
> chokehold on photocopying. Hah! I suppose SWB and Pac*Bell don't have a
> chokehold on POTS?

Xerox was NOT a regulated monopoly by government order. You are
comparing apples and oranges. If you are going to pick some examples
at least be consistent. Should the railroads be nationalized because
they were regulated psuedo-monopolies? Should the power companies all
be nationalized because they are regulated monopolies? How about the
bus lines?

And what slack are you talking about? Are you really suggesting that
the telco's should be non-profit? Take this suggestions to anyone who
knows about the capital markets and see how big of a belly laugh they
let out!

Anyone who thinks the RBOC's have a strangle hold on POTS is not
paying attention. We are seeing 5 ESS switches being installed as
PBX's, we are seeing a BIG move toward cellular as the MAIN telephone
service in some areas, every day a new apartment building connects up
their PBX for use in providing service to their tenants. There are
already office buildings trialing PCS for providing tenants telephone
service. In at least one city I know of the CITY has more fiber buried
than we do fercrissakes! They are considering offering phone service
themselves to residents of the city and want us to offer free consulting
services to them on how to do it!

There is LOTs of competition already out there. It just isn't
advertised for the most part. That doesn't make it any less real.

>> Folks, the phone companies have always been just that -- COMPANIES.
>> They have always been companies owned by shareholders -- just like
>> Ford, Pizza Hut, and Midas Muffler.

> No, no, no. Not like Ford, Pizza Hut, and Midas Muffler. Each of these
> companies exists in a robust market of competitors. Someday, that may be
> the case for the telcos, BUT NOT YET. Until that day, they cannot be
> treated "just like any other company".

I did NOT say they should be treated "just like" everyone else. I said
the idea that they should somehow be "non-profit" organizations and
should be nationalized is not reasonable and does not recognize the
reality of the past, present, and future.


Tim Gorman   [e-mail]
Southwestern Bell Tel. Co (I speak only for myself)

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Friedrich Kaufmann)
Subject: Horizontal Frequency of Television
Date: 14 May 1995 13:58:09 GMT
Organization: Graz University of Technology, Austria


 Which horizontal frequencies are used for television receivers?
 ===============================================================

Here in Austria the horizontal frequency is exactly 15.625kHz. Now I
have some questions:

* Which frequencies are used in other countries?

* What is the maximal allowed deviation of that horizontal frequency?


Many thanks,

Friedrich Kaufmann
email: [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Friedrich Kaufmann)
Subject: Long Wave and Medium Wave Transmitters
Date: 16 May 1995 13:58:53 GMT
Organization: Graz University of Technology, Austria


    Where are transmitters for long wave and medium wave?
    =====================================================

I'm designing a telecommunication link at about 125kHz using only little
power. Now the receiver isn't ideal and electromagnetic fields at frequencies
of harmonics of that frequency are disturbing my receiving signal.

My questions are:

* Do you know long wave transmitters in the frequency range 230kHz-270kHz
  and 355kHz-395kHz and medium wave transmitters in the frequency range
  480kHz-520kHz, 605kHz-645kHz?

* Is somewhere a list of long wave and medium wave transmitters for
  Europe and perhaps other countries? I'm interested in magnetic field
  strength in about 10km distance of those transmitter and their location
  too. If you can tell me an estimate of the transmitted power, I can
  calculate the field strength by myself.


Many thanks,

Friedrich Kaufmann
email: [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Jan Nielsen)
Subject: Stats For Obtainable Bitrates For Data Transfer on PSTN Lines
Date: 16 May 1995 11:57:47 GMT
Organization: Univ. of Genoa, Italy


Hi,

My problem is the following: We are currently working on the design of
a videophone for PSTN lines. In this videophone we use a 28.8Kbit/s
modem. Given the actual lines I guess we cannot expect to get 28.8K
transmission in all situations.

So my question is: Are there any statistics for the bitrates commonly
available on average, or in other words something like:

On X% of the connections in Western Europe you will get 28.8Kbit/sec
On Y% of the ------------------------------------------ 24

etc.

I am especially interested in western Europe, but will also appreciate
pointers for the US, eastern Europe etc.

Any pointers to information of this type will be much appreciated.


Thanks in advance,

Jan Nielsen

AITEK S.r.l.          | LIRA-Lab, DIST        | V. Ponte
Via Pisa 12          | University of Genoa   | Dell'Ammiraglio 52/8
I-16145 Genova, Italy | Via Opera Pia 11A     | I-16148 Genova, Italy
              | I-16145 Genova, Italy | Phone : [phone]
Phone :[phone] | Phone :[phone] | (cell): [phone]
Fax   :[phone]  | Fax   :[phone] |
E-mail:[e-mail]  | E-mail:[e-mail]

------------------------------

From: Vince Muehe <[e-mail]>
Subject: Video Teleconferencing - CLI Problems?
Date: 16 May 1995 19:17:30 GMT
Organization: Primenet


I have several CLI Gallery video teleconferencing systems installed in
the company I work for.  We have had several problems with the systems
in the past two and half years and am wondering if the problem is with
the gear, the vendor, the user or the network configuration.

I would like to speak with other CLI users.  If you would e-mail me
name and phone number or just open discussion here is fine too, I
would appreciate it.

A little background on our systems: Using Rembrandt codec and Voice
Crafter audio system. We run the systems primarily on a private T1
network utilizing 384K bandwidth stripped off using IDNX multiplexers.

Troubles we have had: very bad audio, Rembrandt saying it's in one
mode when it's really in another, Rebrandt rebooting after a
configuration change, control panel freezes up, intermittant focus
problems (may be due to lighting -- we're working on that).

The major complaint has been audio (echo, some mics being hot, some
cold, no audio, feedback, etc.)  There's almost a complaint a day.

Anyway, I'd really like to talk to some folks with Gallery systems or
Radiance systems.


Thanks,

Vince Muehe    [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Doug Sewell)
Subject: NE Ohio - New Area Code 330?
Date: 16 May 1995 09:37:41 -0400
Organization: Youngstown State University


On the radio news today (5/12/95), the announcer said that NE Ohio was
running out of phone numbers, because of the popularity of cellular
phones and fax machines.

"One option" is to assign NE Ohio, outside of Cleveland, the area code 330.
The way it sounded, it's probably a done deal |-: no other options were
mentioned, and the area code is already picked out.  She even said that
the change would be made in 1996.

Personally, I'd like to see Cleveland assigned the new area code, since
it's a smaller geographic area ...


Doug Sewell ([e-mail]) (http://cc.ysu.edu/doug)

"People who live defensively never rise above being average... You will
find that when all of your reasons are defensive, your cause almost
never succeeds" -- John L Mason, "An Enemy Called Average", pp 15-16.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Mike Curtis)
Subject: Re: Extending Cordless Telephone Range
Date: 16 May 1995 14:46:09 -0700
Organization: KAIWAN Internet (310-527-4279,818-756-0180,909-785-9712)


Greg Smith ([e-mail]) wrote:

> I recently installed a cordless telephone (Partner Plus - AT&T CDM
> 9000) for a client.  The cordless gets great range when I locate the
> base/charger near the outside wall of the building.  However, the
> owner wants his base/charger located in his office in the middle of
> the office building which severly limits his range and clarity when he
> uses his cordless outside.

> Is it possible to install an external antenna on the outside of the
> building to improve the signal from the cordless base/charger?

Then TELECOM Digest Editor added this ill-advised note:

> So maybe you get in there and *carefully* and *very slightly* adjust
> the proper potentiometers to push the output up to ummm ... maybe a
> quarter-watt; god forbid a half-watt if you get it just right. Try
> not to blow out the final in the process, okay?

All part 15 FCC type accepted devices I've worked with cannot be
peaked substantially above their design power.  And you might end up
breaking a slug, or with LESS output.  I would caution against this.

If you have an external antenna connection on the base unit (I've yet
to see one on a 900 mHz cordless phone), use a matching network and
GOOD quality coax (9913 or better), and the coax run isn't too long
(like 50' or so), you may be very happy with an external antenna.  I'm
not aware of a "clip on" type for 900 mHz units.

> this message: after all, you are not running WLS 890 AM or KOA in Denver,
> with fifty thousand watts of power to splash all over the northern hemisphere
> all night long. Your supply is very limited. *They* don't give a damn
> about Standing Wave Ratio (SWR) and such; why should they ... but you need

There are numerous reasons they should be concerned about VSWR.
Harmonic radiation is one.  High VSWR is very hard on (expen$ive!)
transmitter finals, and it is far cheaper to use a proper matching
network to the antenna than to burn out your finals.  Of course, at
MW, cable loss isn't a serious concern, but voltages present in the
feedline are.

A high VSWR isn't nearly as hard on a 100 mW transistor.  However, cable
loss can be severe at 900 mHz, and higher VSWRs only aggravate cable loss.

Why does the owner want the base in his office?  If he wants the
charger base where he can replace the phone when he wants to charge
it, you might think about using a second base unit, and disabling the
transceiver on the one in his office.  Alternatively, you might rig up
a cable from the base unit with the charging voltage and build a
second charging base in his office.

Cordless phones are purposely limited in range, which is why they
don't have provision for external antennas.  And with all the cordless
phones and other part 15 devices sharing 900 mHz (not to mention that
it is shared with amateur radio, which is _NOT_ power or antenna
restricted, and has priority over all part 15 devices -- if the ham
down the street creams your cordless, you have to put up with it
according to law), external antennas are probably best avoided in many
instances.


Mike Curtis    [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I don't know anyone who has ever broken
off a core in a radio while tuning it ... <impish grin> ... or for that
matter anyone who has ever dropped the screws from the case on the floor
and not been able to find them when it was time to put the thing back
together.  All my radios are held together with electrical tape wrapped
around the case and mismatched knobs because I like them that way.   PAT]

------------------------------

From: TELECOM Digest Editor <[e-mail]>
Subject: A Question About Priorities
Date: Tue, May 16, 1995 21:20:00  CDT


I have a couple questions about the order in which things are processed
or dealt with when seemingly 'conflicting' features are installed on
phones. Perhaps someone has answers.

Call screening and hunting:

According to a service rep, these are not guarenteed to work properly
when both are on the same line. That is, let's say you have six lines
in a hunt group where line 1 hunts to 2 ... 3 ... 4 ... etc.  The
*only* number known to the public and used by incoming callers is 1.
The *only* reasons lines 2 through 6 get calls are because of overflow
coming from line 1 or because they were accidentally misdialed.

Service rep said if I wanted to insure that a given caller was screened
 from reaching me in all instances, it would be necessary to have call
screening on all six lines. I proved her wrong. The 'decision' in the
software to screen is made before the 'decision' to hunt; therefore if
the call has been screened -- that is, the caller is being denied a
connection to you -- then he won't get through regardless of where his
call *might have landed* had he been admitted.  Now if a denied or
screened caller is smart enough to direct dial into your subsequent
lines in a hunt group, then he will get through to you unless those
lines also have call screening. If he does not know those numbers, and
is unwilling to hunt all over the prefix trying to find them, then you
can get by with call screeing on the first line only of a hunt group.
It helps of course to not be so obvious as to have all the numbers in
your hunt group in sequence. One here, one from there, etc makes it
hard for a non-dedicated hackerphreak to get through.

So when placing a call in an ESS exchange, it appears that first a
decision is made whether or not you are to be admitted to the
called party's line, *then* a decision is made where to park your
call within the subscriber's cluster of lines.

Another rep volunteered that one could absolutely prevent 'independent'
or random dialing into the lines of your hunt group by making those
lines 'one way outgoing only'. That is, if someone dials the number
assigned to those lines, they get the intercept message that, 'the
number you have dialed, xxx-xxxx is not in service for incoming calls'
(unless the line is busy, in which case they get a busy signal). But
the rep said there is a distinct difference in the way calls are
delivered when dialed into a line versus being 'handed to' the line
by another line in the hunt group. In other words, once the 'decision'
is made that its okay to hand over this call to the subscriber, it
becomes okay to hand it to him on any of his lines in whatever order
was established for doing so.  So incoming calls hunting for an open
line could land on and signal a 'one way outgoing line' even though
a person directly dialing that line would be blocked from entry.
Any comments on this?

What about Call Screening and 'Transfer on Busy'?  TOB is a lot like
hunting, except the latter is usually offered free by progressive
telcos where the former is charged for. The latter is done in hardware
I think and the former in software. What about Call Screening and
'Transfer on No Answer'?   What are the priorities here?

Now what about Call Screening and Call Forwarding?  Which comes first?
I assume since screening is done before a decision of where (what line)
to place your call, it probably comes ahead of forwarding as well, since
forwarding is a way of delivering the call to you according to your
instructions.  Is this correct?

What about 'Return Last Call Received' and Call Forwarding?  Is the
calling party's number put in the buffer which holds 'last call'
prior to the call being forwarded or not? If not, that is, if the
decision to forward the call is made before the decision to deposit the
number of the calling party in your call-back buffer, then of course it
never gets there at all I assume.

Perhaps someone could write back and describe step by step exactly what
occurs and in what order as a call is handed to your line.


Thanks,

PAT

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #243
******************************


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From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #244

TELECOM Digest     Wed, 17 May 95 08:15:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 244

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Re: RBOC IP Legislation Scaring Local ISPs (Jack Decker)
    Re: RBOC IP Legislation Scaring Local ISPs (Chris Gettings)
    Ameritech Rant (Kevin A. Mitchell)
    Re: T1 Pricing Equation Wanted (Vince Muehe)
    Re: T1 Pricing Equation Wanted (Steve)
    What is the Exact Meaning of POTS? (Eric Tholome)
    CLID and Visual Message Waiting Indicator (Ben Liberman)
    Re: Caller ID Format Varies? (Les Reeves)
    Question on Level One Gateways (Dan Leifker)
    Re: 555 Goes Public (Greg Monti)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
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----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Jack Decker)
Subject: Re: RBOC IP Legislation Scaring Local ISPs
Date: 17 May 1995 07:33:35 GMT
Organization: Greater Detroit Free-Net, Detroit, MI
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Jack Decker)


In a previous article, [e-mail] (Thomas Peters) says:

> The relationship between the public and a large regulated monopoly is
> never going to be smooth and free of disagreements, but a little
> balance is in order. The Bell System and the other local phone
> companies have built a fabulous telephone network, by far the best in
> the world. They invested their money, time, and energy on the basis of
> a deal they made with the public long ago. This is how you would repay
> them?

Tom, I think you are living in some sort of fantasyland where the
telephone company was always good, and always put the interest of its
customers first.  This, or course, has no relationship whatsoever to
the reality of the situation.

First of all, they got to be monopolies by eating up their competition
like sharks and by convincing (some might say "bribing", but of course
we have no proof of that) legislators that a regulated monopoly was
better than competition.

Then they set up a system where prices bore no relationship to their
costs.  I can still remember the days when if you wanted a cord longer
than six feet on your phone, they'd be happy to RENT you one for an
outrageous monthly charge.  Same thing if you wanted a colored plastic
phone rather than a black one.  Of course, you couldn't buy the items
and install them yourself because that was "illegal".  (It always
amazed me how many otherwise law-abiding folks had "illegal" extension
telephones that they'd bought from some surplus store, or acquired
from a building being demolished or some such thing.  You sort of got
the feeling that folks knew when a company had bought themselves some
legislation, and at least in that case they didn't feel much obligated
to observe the "law", which of course was really only a phone company
tariff.  The worst that would ever happen to someone with an "illegal"
extension was that they'd be threatened with phone service disconnection,
but I never heard of anyone actually having their service pulled.)

The way you talk, this system was what the public wanted, and their
elected officials were only expressing the public's desire.  Yeah,
right.  The telco monopoly and the ridiculous system of charging
outrageous amounts for things that cost the phone company almost zero
was put in place by some pointy-headed bureaucrats who were given a
real snow job by the phone company attorneys (this varied from state
to state, but in no case that I know of was the public consulted on
whether they wanted phone service to be a monopoly).

So in my opinion, the way *I* would repay the phone companies (at
least the largest ones) for what they did "way back when" is with a
swift kick in the posterior, and possibly a few words that are
unprintable.

You see, I happen to live near a local phone company that for several
decades has proved what local service could be like if the customers
really are put first (unfortunately NOT near enough to be in their
local service area).  That is the Allendale Telephone Company of
Allendale, Michigan, a suburb of Grand Rapids.  They offer local
calling to the Grand Rapids area, but their local service prices are
about one-third of those charged by other area phone companies, and
their optional services are much more reasonable as well.  And they've
been profitable for at least the last four decades.  If it had not
been for the Bell System, there might be a lot more Allendale
Telephone Companies around, and in my opinion we'd all be much better
off.

So if you are looking for folks to have some sort of gratitude toward
the old Bell System, I think you're going to have to search long and
hard.  Perhaps some former employees, and quite likely most of the
stockholders would have some warm feelings for it, but many customers
have felt that all they have got is shafted and gouged.

I wonder how things would have been different if Elisha Gray had
gotten to the patent office first!


Jack

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 17 May 1995 00:23:19 -0600
From: [e-mail] (Chris Gettings)
Subject: Re: RBOC IP Legislation Scaring Local ISPs


> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Yeah, AT&T's share is down, but note,
> it has taken over a decade for it to get as low as it has.

Note also that although AT&T's market share has dropped to the low
60s, their revenues and profits continue to increase.  Basic
economics: the cost goes down the demand goes up.  AT&T is not hurting
as a result of divestiture and competition.  Nor are the RBOCs.  Never a
quarter to quarter downturn.

> Regards cream-skimming and the way all the latter-day competitors have
> been feeding at the trough, I think it is a shame; I really do. To have
> real competition, the newcomers should have been told by Judge Greene
> that the *only* thing he would require of AT&T and (then, their subsid-
> iaries) the Bells was equality and fairness in interconnection and the
> assignment of telephone numbers and area codes.

Well, look at Canada's experience with competition so far.  The CRTC
elected to allow competition without any kind of divestiture, in a
"pro Bell" approach. The Stentor Cartel has certainly taken advantage
of it.  Even with easier legislation to deal with, Stentor laid off
thousands of workers, and has cut prices to unrealistic levels in a
blatant, predatory price war. Bell Canada installers have gone to a
three day work week!  They do no installations on Fridays or Mondays!
AGT recently told Alberta Internet Service Providers that they would
no longer be able to use Centrex as an access method "because it hurts
the network for calls to last so long;" then filed their own tariff to
provide internet services over Centrex!  Stentor service technicians
are notorious for unplugging competitors' autodialers, too.

Further, while Canadian access charges to carriers are relatively low,
the Cartel gets to collect a monthly "contribution" charge from the
new carriers to "subsidize universal service."  This charge is for
every local access line the carrier buys in/out, and every line that
crosses the border to the U.S. The structure for the contribution
charges is perverse; the more lines you buy, the more you pay per
line.  By example, BCTel's monthly contribution charges per line are:

Lines   $Charges
1-3     35
4-6     125
7-9     180
10-14   225
15-19   265
20-29   295
30-39   325
40-49   345
50-74   365
75-99   385
>99     405

A zero mile DS(1) of FGD access costs $980 per month, plus $7,080 in
contribution.  When you buy in volume and add a second DS(1) the
contribution for *each* DS(1) goes *up* to $8,280! Then they add per
minute charges for switching and aggregation.

The result of this "Bell Friendly" approach to competition?  Of the
eight carriers that achieved equal access on July 1, 1993 three are
bankrupt (TelRoute, ATCI Canada, ITN) and two are insolvent (Unitel,
STN).  The carriers that went out of business had advanced networks,
and some critical mass, too.  TelRoute had $20M in capital, $26M in
sales, ATCI Canada $10M capital, $17M annual sales, ITN/NorthQuest had
$15M in capital and $22M in sales.

Unitel, the leading competitor, is loosing more than $1M a day on
> $400M in sales, has major debt service problems, called loans, and its
largest stockholder (Rogers) has declined to exercise an option to
provide additional funding.  AT&T owns a 24% stake in Unitel but can't
own much more because of the foreign ownership rules of facilities
based carriers.  STN's story (backed by LCI) reads like Unitel's only
smaller.  Fonorola barely holds its own with massive investment.  ACC
is in deep.  Cable & Wireless chose to leave Canada rather than try to
compete on its playing field.  Alan Peyser, C&W's chairman told me
"there is no way to make money in Canada." (I should have listened.)
How will real competition ever happen?

> Divestiture was from the beginning a hit-and-run, rough-and-dirty,
> grab-what-you-can-and-run process by the other carriers. None of them
> could begin to legitimatly accomplish what AT&T has done.

You are certainly correct that AT&T has accomplished extraordinary
things.  They are to be commended and the shareholders are rewarded.
There was a time in the U.S. after divestiture that the new
competitors had some artificial advantages over AT&T that were not
earned. Nor did they come by virtue of innovation.  They came by
somewhat arbitrary rule making and it had to be that way, otherwise
the new entrants never would have lived long enough to prosper and
mature into true competitors.  In the U.S. we recognize the legitimacy
of fostering competition in all industries, hence our anti-trust laws.

Without a period of "tipping the scales the other way" true competition
would never occur. Canada is the prime example.  Of course ISPs are
scared to death of RBOCs. Even though the growth of commercial internet
is relatively new, it is really just data and local data lines are
still the dominion of Bell.  ISPs need some protection from the RBOCs
until they are on their feet and there is a real competitive industry.


Chris Gettings   [e-mail]
http://canam.dgs.dgsys.com

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Kevin A. Mitchell)
Subject: Ameritech Rant
Date: Tue, 16 May 1995 22:55:03 -0600
Organization: Author of GIFConverter


Allow me to rant ...

It's that bill-paying time of the month, and we can't go through a
billing cycle without calling Ameritech customer service.

Let's get Caller ID out of the way. Oh, the promotions. Well, I've got
an unlisted number, which Ameritech made me take after some kid filled
my answering machine with very unimaginative profanity. ("Find the
kid" "We can't" "You've got call details, just find out who called my
home 60 times today" "We can give you a new number, and make it
unpublished for free, that's all we can do" "Fine"). So I like my
anonymity.

Friend gets a new caller ID box. Turns out that Ameritech charges me
$1.45 a month for the privilege of having a non-pub number, but then
send my number AND NAME sent to everybody I call. So I call them. Tell
'em I want my lines blocked. Oh, they can't do that. Sure, you can, I
tell 'em, I know your switches can do that. You just don't WANT to
because then you can't make your $6.95 a month windfall on caller ID
because everybody will get their line blocked.

Billing. Ameritech will gladly take your permission to dip into your
checking account and extract your phone bill from it. But I like doing
it myself, I use Checkfree, and I decide when it gets paid, and I
reserve the right to withhold disputed charges. But Ameritech doesn't
take customer-initiated electronic transfers. Other utilities like
Commonwealth Edison and Northern Illinois Gas do. So Checkfree sends
'em a check drawn on my account, sent to arrive a few days before I
indicate payment.

Ameritech then takes my check (with the full 14 digit account number
in big print right on top) and puts it through three weeks of
processing.  Then they claim I didn't pay my bill. They send me a bill
dated 2/28/95 saying I didn't pay yet, and then on 3/1/95 they send me
a disconnection warning. Of course, this being Chicago, I get both
pieces of paper around the 6th. I guess it takes a lot of people to
process all those checks that come without OCR tickets. Wouldn't want
to accept a simple magnetic tape from the Federal Reserve Bank and put
them out of work, would we?

So I get my phone bill this month, and there's this notice "OUR
RECORDS INDICATE THAT YOUR ACCOUNT HAS MULTIPLE LONG DISTANCE
COMPANIES." Uh oh. I have four lines, and they all should be AT&T.
Turn the bill over, and sure enough, I spent $5 to change long
distance companies. Wrong. MCI called, and I told them six or seven
times "no" so there was no doubt. And whoever slammed me was dumb
enough to not slam all four lines.

So I call Ameritech "customer service". I paid all my bills in the 25
minutes I spent on hold, at 930pm on a Tuesday night. The rep says
they're training new people, but that takes three months.

Turns out that one of my lines has ATI as a long distance carrier. The
representative said that she didn't even have them listed. Well, I
think, I wonder how many $6/minute phone calls I made last month.
Anybody know of these people? What they're like?

Well, Ameritech is taking the $5 charge off. And they said they'd have
my lines switched to AT&T tomorrow. And they're marking my account so
only I can initiate a PIC change by calling Ameritech. And, the rep
says, they are going to do a "PIC claim" on my line, and if ATI can't
prove that somebody at my place authorized the change, they'll get
fined.

Got off the phone, and decided to do a little test. I wanted to get an
ATI operator and find out what the direct-dial evening rates were to
Florida.  So I pulled out a trimline phone and plugged into all my
lines. Dialed 00 on each one. Got the AT&T message on each one. So I
guess they got me fixed up that fast.

I'm not happy with Ameritech. They want to be my cable company and
internet provider, but I don't think they remember how to be a phone
company any more.

I don't want them for cable.

I REALLY don't want them for internet access. (My provider put a POP
within 8 miles of me, so now I laugh at the hundreds of dollars in timed
calls I no longer make).

And I can't wait to see if we can get some real phone company to
compete with them. One that will take my electronic payments, give me
the line features I really want, and one that won't take bogus PIC
changes.


Kevin A. Mitchell, developer of GIFConverter for the Macintosh   [e-mail]
GIFConverter and other info at http://www.mcs.com/~kam/home.html


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I've never had a lot of problems with
Ameritech. They seem rather responsive to me most of the time. My one
big objection is how slow they can be to answer their own phones at
times. When I have occassion to call, I put them on the speaker phone
and only pick up when they actually answer. They have one recorded
announcement at the business office I find particularly annoying: the
computer answering the calls calculates how many calls are ahead of
you are responds, "time on hold until a representative is able to
assist you is (here, the computer voice pauses while calculating the
number of calls) greater than ten minutes." Indeed, the other evening
when I was talking to a rep, I waited on hold 25 minutes before they
got to me. I know how those things work, and how phone rooms can get
massive backlogs and congestion when least expected, etc ... but 25
minutes on hold is a bit much. Oh well, its their 800 number and their
money being spent while I waited. I just put it on the speaker phone
and grabbed the receiver once I heard an actual voice come on the line
asking how they could help me.   PAT]

------------------------------

From: Vince Muehe <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: T1 Pricing Equation Wanted
Date: 16 May 1995 19:01:53 GMT
Organization: Primenet


[e-mail] wrote:

> Would somebody please tell me the current T1 equation for pricing a
> circuit?

You will find that T1 pricing varies greatly on location and type of
T1 circuit you are ordering and somewhat on what carrier you use to
get your T1 from.

A T1 that is used for point-to-point traffic (ie. data circuit or
tie-line) has up to three sections that are priced if it crosses a
LATA boundary.  There is the access portion (which is really two parts
because there is access on both ends) and there is the inter-exchange
carrier portion in the middle.  Ironically, the access portions may
cost you more than the IXC portion even though the mileage is less.

Mileage is another factor. On access and IXC portions of the circuit,
generally speaking, the longer the circuit, the greater the cost.

If you could post what type of circuit (data/voice/switched/point-to-
point) and the endpoints, it might be easier to provide an explaination.


Vince Muehe     [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Steve)
Subject: Re: T1 Pricing Equation Wanted
Date: 17 May 1995 10:46:03 GMT
Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, MD USA


There is really no simple formula for this.  In my area a T1 rate is
comprised of the following:

- One time installation charge
- Channel termination charge (recurring)
- Fixed charge (recurring)
- Mileage charges based on the V&H's on my "A" and "Z" (recurring)

Your local telco/cap marketeer can give you the specifics.


Take it easy,

Steve

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Eric Tholome)
Subject: What is the Exact Meaning of POTS?
Date: Mon, 15 May 1995 22:33:05 +0200


I was wondering whether any of the Digest Readers, or you Pat, could
explain me what exactly POTS means.

I know it stands for Plain Old Telephone System, but I was wondering
what the real meaning was. Is it just a pejorative way to talk about
the PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network), or some sort of telecom
slang with no pejorative connotation? Or is it really different from
PSTN? If yes, how?  Does PSTN include ISDN whereas POTS only concerns
analog lines?

The reason I'm asking is that I'm writing a paper about European
Telecommunications for an American audience and I have made extensive
use of the acronym POTS. I thought it simply meant the classic analog
PSTN network for all telecom aware people, with no special negative
connotation (apart from the fact that analog is on its way out). But
now that I'm about to proof read the final version, I'm not so sure
anymore. So I would appreciate if you could tell me if I should
replace POTS by 'analog PSTN' or something else, or leave it there as
it is.


Thanks a lot in advance.

Eric Tholome                  private account
23, avenue du Centre          [e-mail]
78180 Montigny le Bretonneux  phone: [phone]
                    France    fax: same number, call first!


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I think the last word is 'service' rather
than 'system'.  A minor distinction perhaps, perhaps not. <P>lain <O>ld
<T>elephone <S>ervice or POTS usually refers to the use of just one or
two lines with just regular instruments and no bells or whistles. POTS
lines would not have any of the newer custom calling features for
example. POTS always refers to the humble and simple service of any single
subscriber, not to the system or network as a whole.   PAT]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Ben Liberman)
Subject: CLID and Visual Message Waiting Indicator
Date: 16 May 1995 22:10:05 -0500
Organization: Serious Cybernetics ... the really nice machine people!


I just talked to Ameritech in Chicago and was told that Visual Message
Waiting Indicator service is only available in Springfield.  We're
trying to develop a product that uses this service.  Anyone know where
I can find out the details of the signaling for this?  (in case you
are wondering, it is a service whereby the CO turns on your indicator
when you have voice mail waiting.)

It's supposed to be an adjunct to caller ID, as far as I know.


Thanks in advance,

Ben Liberman    [e-mail]
                [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That's what the rep told me the other
day also; that it is only presently available downstate, however it
is supposed to be available in the Chicago area later this year. I have
not yet spoken with anyone who actually knows how it works.   PAT]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Les Reeves)
Subject: Re: Caller ID Format Varies?
Date: 17 May 1995 03:10:23 -0700
Organization: CR Labs


Charles Copeland ([e-mail]) wrote:

> The Bellcore spec GR-30 for Caller-ID format dictates it shall have
> three parts:

> 1) 30 bytes of 55H (preamble);
> 2) 70-150ms of marks;
> 3) caller id data.

> KC5LWF [e-mail]

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: So -- take a hint from the Radio Shack
> people and write your firmware to accept the preamble if it shows up
> and live without it if it doesn't. If the preamble is absolutely
> essential to your application, then write a default one which your
> firmware will apply when the 'real' one is missing. And how, you ask,
> is the firmware going to know if its missing or not?  Look for some
> unique characters or string of characters which appears in the preamble
> but nowhere else. If that does not come through right away then swap
> your own in there and proceed.     PAT]

Pat's right.

As I recall those 30 bytes of 55H are described in the Bellcore
document as a "600 Hertz buzz" and should only be used to set the
relative level of the AGC circuit in the CID modem.  In my experience,
having looked at *many* raw dumps from 202 type CID modems, the 55H is
rarely pristine.

Speaking of the Bellcore Spec, it also decrees that a CID display
device should totally discard a packet if it fails the checksum.  The
checksum is not large enough to reconstruct any data, so it is
effectively a "parity byte".

Both Colonial Data's and Cidco's box ignore this Bellcore edict.

Granted, you may find that you were just called by 004-074-7806
every now and then, but I would rather have that than nothing.


Les     [e-mail]       Atlanta,GA      404.874.7806


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: By the way, CIDCO means '<C>aller <ID>
<CO>mpany in case you were wondering. I have a CIDCO SN-30A-02 and
as you point out it now and then misinterprets what it gets, but not
very often. To compound things a little, I have both of my CID-equipped
lines fed into a Radio Shack thing which feeds a single output to the
display box. Either ringing line trips the Radio Shack switch and feeds
the output to the box. I thought at first perhaps it would not trip
soon enough; after all the ID gets transmitted between the first and
second ring, and here in Chicago it seems to actually come immediatly
at the end of the first ring. As it turns out though, the switch trips
in plenty of time to provide a clear delivery path for the ID to the
box from either line about 95 percent of the time. If I remove that
switch, the ID is totally delivered about 99 percent of the time.
Like yourself, I would rather have one time out of a hundred or so when
the delivery is partly messed up rather than missing entirely as
Bellcore would seem to want it. The very rare occassion when delivery
shows up incorrect it will be the first couple digits with enough left
that I can still figure out who is calling.   PAT]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] ([e-mail])
Subject: Question on Level One Gateways
Date: 16 May 1995 21:08:57 -0400
Organization: Delphi Internet Services Corporation


Has anyone heard of "level-one gateways" or "level-two gateways"?  I
see them written as L1GW, etc.  I believe they have something to do
with broadband networks.  Any pointers to Internet resources on this
topic would be appreciated.


Thanks,

Dan Leifker     [e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 16 May 95 21:37:55 PDT
From: Greg Monti <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: 555 Goes Public


One group of users of the newly-released 555-XXXX numbers will be
competitive directory assistance providers.  I didn't know there were
any such firms.  D. Kelly Daniels <[e-mail]>, who is non-LEC
co-chair of the Industry Numbering Committee, wrote me a brief e-mail
noting that in some states (like Oregon), there is, statewide
directory assistance available from 503 245-1122.  This competitive
provider looks up the number and dictates it to you and transfers you
to the number.  In between the two tasks, you hear a ten-second ad,
which is why the service is free.  (I assume you may need to pay the
toll charge to reach the 503 245 prefix, which my records show is in
Portland, which is local to about half the state's phones).

Come to think of it, there's a more limited version of that service here
in Virginia at 703 237-1001, but I think they only look up numbers of
their paying advertisers.

Someday, such alternative DA services would like to be able to charge
for DA, without commercials, so their incoming trunks would need to
support ANI for billing.

Such services could now move to a 555-series number.  Just in case,
some alternative DA providers have requested a national 555-XXXX
number which they can eventually activate in every area code.

The 555 assignment process allows for two kinds of 555 numbers.  Ones
that work only in one area code, and ones that are national (identical
in each area code).

Thanks for the clarification, Kelly!


Greg Monti     Arlington, Virginia, USA     [e-mail]

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #244
******************************


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From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #245

TELECOM Digest     Thu, 18 May 95 15:12:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 245

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Ameritech: Bloodthirsty Bandits (TELECOM Digest Editor)
    Re: Ameritech Rant ([e-mail])
    Re: NYNEX Strikes Again (James Carlson)
    Phone Monopolies (Eric Florack)
    Re: CLID and Visual Message Waiting Indicator (Mike Sandman)
    Re: CLID and Visual Message Waiting Indicator (Scot M. Desort)
    Re: CLID and Visual Message Waiting Indicator (Richard A. Victor)
    Re: Horizontal Frequency of Television ([e-mail])
    Re: Horizontal Frequency of Television (Ed Ellers)
    Re: Unusual RF Stories (Martin McCormick)
    Re: Unusual RF Stories (Ed Ellers)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
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The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
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should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Thu, 18 May 1995 13:53:33 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest Editor <[e-mail]>
Subject: Ameritech: Bloodthirsty Bandits


When we last met here yesterday morning, there had been a bit of a problem
with that old bug that creeps in now and then and causes the issue
numbers to get out of order.

The general consensus seems to be that issue 244 has now been delivered
to everyone. If you still don't have it, perhaps you can obtain it from
the archives. If not, let me know and I will send a copy to you when I
can.  This issue is therefore number 245. I think its been fixed once
again.

The other problem is that you-know-who clipped my line again, and is
holding it ransom for about $300 minimum for restoral. I came home from
a meeting Wednesday evening late and found my lines all turned off.
Even though I talked to them early in May about a small down payment
on the overdue balance and a deferred payment plan on the rest --
which they agreed to -- now they are saying since I did not get there
in time with the agreed upon down payment the deal is off. I raised
$200 in cash this morning plus a 'pay to the order of telco' voucher
for another $35, but they said nope, not good enough ... no restoral
until at least $300 paid in cash.  I don't know where/when that will
be available so for the time being I will put out issues when possible
for me to do so using 'borrowed' facilities.

Despite the ever-increasing number of subscribers to this journal,
quite a few cannot seem to take a hint when I say it costs money.
Maybe a few of the couple hundred new subscribers over the past two
months will send in their donation, and perhaps a few of you who have
been so generous in the past will again assist.

Anyway, that's that.

In other news, I think the Telecom Archives will be available on CD Rom
by sometime late this summer. I think you will be able to purchase the
Rom from the company which has indicated an interest in producing it.
I will have more specifics on this maybe in a month.


Patrick Townson
Editor


------------------------------

From: [e-mail], [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Ameritech Rant
Date: Thu, 18 May 95 10:01:23 PDT
Organization: Booz-Allen & Hamillton


> Allow me to rant ...

> I'm not happy with Ameritech. They want to be my cable company and
> internet provider, but I don't think they remember how to be a phone
> company any more.

> I don't want them for cable.

I won't argue that you should or should not rant.  It appears that you
have been through a lot.  I used to live in Chicago.  I found that
even if Ameritech made mistakes, they were very responsive in getting
them fixed- and readily offered credits that were permanent.  I used
"permanent" purposely.  I used to have Chicago Cable and Prime Cable
before that.  Their customer service lines were more often busy than
not.  Corrections were reversed, corrected and reversed and they were
not, at all, customer oriented. I WOULD HAVE LOVED TO HAVE AMERITECH
AS MY CABLE COMPANY.  How many times have you been watching a game,
only to have the cable go out?  How many times, during a storm, has
the cable gone out on a Saturday nite?  Now, ask yourself, how many
times has your phone service been out?  Maybe I'm a little prejudiced,
but I love cable TV and I HATE THE AWFUL SERVICE I've had from the
cable providers.


Eric

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (James Carlson)
Subject: Re: NYNEX Strikes Again
Date: 17 May 1995 12:27:22 GMT
Organization: Xylogics Incorporated
Reply-To: [e-mail]


[e-mail] (Michael J Kuras) writes:

>     NYNEX is just as bad in Ithaca.  I live in a house with two
> other students, and because they get more calls than I do, very often
> when I am by myself I let the answering machine pick up, since maybe four
> times out of five I'd just have to take a message anyway.

>     For about a week around 9:15 in the morning the phone would
> ring a few times, the answering machine would pick up and then the
> caller would hang up.  I never really made the connection, until one
> time I actually did pick up and I found out that it was NYNEX.

I can top that -- I got a harassing call from NYNEX at 10:30PM.  I
tried to explain to the woman at the other end, in as reasonable a
tone as I could muster, that making this type of call at that time of
night is plainly illegal.  She then became verbally abusive so I just
hung up ...

I wish they'd call back.  I was almost asleep the last time, and I
didn't have the presence of mind to tape the call and register a
complaint.

(And don't get me started on AT&T and Citibank ... ugh.)


James Carlson <[e-mail]>

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Date: Thu, 18 May 1995 05:06:22 PDT
Subject: Phone Monopolies


>> The relationship between the public and a large regulated monopoly is
>> never going to be smooth and free of disagreements, but a little
>> balance is in order. The Bell System and the other local phone
>> companies have built a fabulous telephone network, by far the best in
>> the world. They invested their money, time, and energy on the basis of
>> a deal they made with the public long ago. This is how you would repay
>> them?

> Tom, I think you are living in some sort of fantasyland where the
> telephone company was always good, and always put the interest of its
> customers first.  This, or course, has no relationship whatsoever to
> the reality of the situation.

> First of all, they got to be monopolies by eating up their competition
> like sharks and by convincing (some might say "bribing", but of course
> we have no proof of that) legislators that a regulated monopoly was
> better than competition.

You forget, to add to your answer, that these monopolies were created
by government action ... or inaction, depending on your perspective.

> Then they set up a system where prices bore no relationship to their
> costs.  I can still remember the days when if you wanted a cord longer
> than six feet on your phone, they'd be happy to RENT you one for an
> outrageous monthly charge.  Same thing if you wanted a colored plastic
> phone rather than a black one.  Of course, you couldn't buy the items
> and install them yourself because that was "illegal".

No quotes about it; this was a government enforced monopoly, and folks
resented the hell out of it. I suggest to you that such attitudes are
now being reflected in the furvor over lowering the amount of
federal-governmental intrusion at all levels and in all areas of our
daily lives. I suggest to you that the anger at the governmentally
created monoploy of 'the telephone company' serves as an example of
poor service, high-handed atitudes, and a 'the customer be damned'
philosphy that always accompnies any group that survives only because
the people don't have any choice.

> (It always amazed me how many otherwise law-abiding folks had
> "illegal" extension telephones that they'd bought from some surplus
> store, or acquired
> from a building being demolished or some such thing.  You sort of got
> the feeling that folks knew when a company had bought themselves some
> legislation, and at least in that case they didn't feel much obligated
> to observe the "law", which of course was really only a phone company
> tariff.  The worst that would ever happen to someone with an "illegal"
> extension was that they'd be threatened with phone service disconnection,
> but I never heard of anyone actually having their service pulled.)

When the government makes criminals out of people for simply doing what
makes sense, this is what happens.

> The way you talk, this system was what the public wanted, and their
> elected officials were only expressing the public's desire.  Yeah,
> right.  The telco monopoly and the ridiculous system of charging
> outrageous amounts for things that cost the phone company almost zero
> was put in place by some pointy-headed bureaucrats who were given a
> real snow job by the phone company attorneys (this varied from state
> to state, but in no case that I know of was the public consulted on
> whether they wanted phone service to be a monopoly).<<

The answer is fairly clear; whenever folks have been given a choice,
they've voted with their feet.

> So if you are looking for folks to have some sort of gratitude toward
> the old Bell System, I think you're going to have to search long and
> hard.  Perhaps some former employees, and quite likely most of the
> stockholders would have some warm feelings for it, but many customers
> have felt that all they have got is shafted and gouged.

Well stated.

> I wonder how things would have been different if Elisha Gray had
> gotten to the patent office first!

I somehow doubt it would have been any different, given that the
government will always stick it's nose in, given the chance. When the
telephone came along, they were in the mood to give them that chance.
Persoanlly, I figure our telecommunications development would have gone
much farther, if it had not.


Eric


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well all I know for sure is since dives-
titure, my own phone bill has skyrocketed. Bills of well over a hundred
dollars per month are not uncommon at all; waiting on hold 25-30 minutes
to speak with a representative is becoming more and more common; and I
am certainly glad I did not -- like a sucker -- take them at their word
a few days ago and hand over the $75 they said would be sufficient to
start a plan. Had I gone and done that this morning -- or even the
$200 I was planning on taking -- I would be that much poorer now and
still not have my phones back on. I am glad I checked first, even if I
did have to wait on hold a long time to reach someone (calling from a
payphone a block away in the rain).  PAT]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Mike Sandman)
Subject: Re: CLID and Visual Message Waiting Indicator
Date: Wed, 17 May 1995 19:32:42 GMT
Organization: InterAccess, Chicago's best Internet Service Provider


Right now, if you want message waiting indication on CO based voice mail, you
need to pick up the phone and listen for stutter dial tone.

Most phone companies are quickly shifting to a new technology, called
FSK (Frequency Shift Keying).  An FSK message waiting indicator works
kinda like caller id.  The CO sends out a burst of data every once in
a while, and the FSK gizmo listens for the audio.  It either turns the
light on or off based on the data sent. They do this WITHOUT the phone
line going off hook, the data is just audio riding on the pair from
the CO.  We should have FSK Message Waiting indicators in stock in the
next couple of weeks, selling for around $30.

This is a much better use of CO resources, because you don't have to
pick up your phone line just to see if you have a call, so you don't
use up DTMF receivers. You could imagine that if you had a few
thousand people pick up the phone line at the same time to see if they
have a message at one CO, you'd get verrry slow dial tone.

You would need to call your phone company to see if they have a
schedule for installing FSK MW. Eventually, it should be available
everywhere. The phone companies may even give you an FSK MW gizmo to
use when you rent one of their CO based voice mail boxes, someday.

There are Stutter Dial Tone Message Waiting devices on the market (we
sell one for $29.95), but they are to be used behind a PBX or Key
System, not for connection to the Public Switched Network - because
the FCC hasn't authorized this kind of device yet.


Mike Sandman

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Date: Wed, 17 May 1995 22:59:56 -0400
Subject: Re: CLID and Visual Message Waiting Indicator


[e-mail] wrote:

> I just talked to Ameritech in Chicago and was told that Visual Message
> Waiting Indicator service is only available in Springfield.  We're
> trying to develop a product that uses this service.  Anyone know where
> I can find out the details of the signaling for this?  (in case you
> are wondering, it is a service whereby the CO turns on your indicator
> when you have voice mail waiting.)

> It's supposed to be an adjunct to caller ID, as far as I know.

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That's what the rep told me the other
> day also; that it is only presently available downstate, however it
> is supposed to be available in the Chicago area later this year. I have
> not yet spoken with anyone who actually knows how it works.   PAT]

Ben-

I believe you are correct in your assumption of the signals
relationship with the CLID transport signal. The CO simply sends
the carrier tone on your idle loop, the device at your end receives
the signal, and either turns on or off your VMWI. This feature has
been available throughout New Jersey for some time now, probably
since they began offering CO-based voice mail.

What you might want to do is contact someone at Northern Telecom. In
addition to being the second-largest CO switch manufacturer, they
are also the most prominent player in the retail market who
provides telephones with the Message Waiting lamps (check out the
Hello Direct Catalog, for example). I'm sure they can refer you to
someone there who can tell you *exactly* how it works, or refer you
to a Bellcore spec. Nortel can be reached at 1-800-NORTHERN.


Scot M. Desort
Garden State Micro, Inc.
[phone]
[phone] Fax
[e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Richard A. Victor)
Subject: Re: CLID and Visual Message Waiting Indicator
Date: Thu, 18 May 95 03:07:04 GMT
Organization: Alpha.net -- Milwaukee, WI


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Ben Liberman) wrote:

> I just talked to Ameritech in Chicago and was told that Visual Message
> Waiting Indicator service is only available in Springfield.  We're
> trying to develop a product that uses this service.  Anyone know where
> I can find out the details of the signaling for this?  (in case you
> are wondering, it is a service whereby the CO turns on your indicator
> when you have voice mail waiting.)

> It's supposed to be an adjunct to caller ID, as far as I know.

    I've got this service from Ameritech in Milwaukee, WI.  The
device that indicates that a message is waiting is made by CIDCO
Incorporated and was sold by Ameritech.  It plugs into a standard
phone jack and displays the word "Message" when an unread message is
waiting in my voice mail.  After I listen to the message, the
"Message" light goes off.  Works very well.  The stutter dialtone is
also used to indicate the presence of a message so I can tell there's
a message even if I pick up an extension that doesn't have the visual
indicator.

    The instructions don't provide much of a description of how it
works, but it does refer to the fact that your telephone company has
to provide "FSK Visual Message Waiting Indicator" service.  I assume
that the "FSK" is frequency shift keying.

    BTW, I don't subscribe to the Caller ID service, so it isn't
necessary to have Caller ID to get the message waiting light.

    Hope this is helpful.



[e-mail]
05/17/95 22:08 CDT

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (SmithDulut)
Subject: Re: Horizontal Frequency of Television
Date: 17 May 1995 22:09:46 -0400
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
Reply-To: [e-mail] (SmithDulut)


In the U.S. it's 15,750 khz  roughly, actually its harmonically related to
the color burst frequency of 3.579545 mhz. which the networks reference to
the National Bureau of Standards cesium clock.

------------------------------

From: Ed Ellers <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Horizontal Frequency of Television
Date: Thu, 18 May 95 01:20:49 -0500
Organization: Delphi ([e-mail] email, 800-695-4005 voice)


Friedrich Kaufmann <[e-mail]> writes:

> Here in Austria the horizontal frequency is exactly 15.625kHz. Now I
> have some questions:

> * Which frequencies are used in other countries?

In the U.S. (and other NTSC countries, such as Japan) it's a very weird
number -- 15.73426573 kHz.  This value is related to the color subcarrier
and aural FM carrier frequencies, to reduce the visibility of beat
interference between the color and aural carriers.  (Before NTSC color was
adopted the frequency was 15.750 kHz.  The proper relationships already
existed in the 625-line 50 Hz systems, so the 15.625 kHz value didn't have
to be changed when PAL and SECAM were adopted.)

Japan also has their Hi-Vision HDTV system, with a horizontal scan rate of
33.75 kHz.

> * What is the maximal allowed deviation of that horizontal frequency?

Actually, the tolerance of the color subcarrier frequency (in NTSC or
PAL) is far more important.  In the U.S. the subcarrier is at
3.5795454... MHz, and can vary by +/- 10 Hz; the scan rates are
divided down from the subcarrier.

------------------------------

From: Martin McCormick <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Unusual RF Stories
Date: 18 May 1995 15:56:52 GMT
Organization: Oklahoma State University  Stillwater, OK


    There are broadcast installations in which two FM stations may
share the same tower and antennas.  It is usually a win for both
stations since they can both pick a prime location and their signals
will have exactly the same coverage area.  Each transmitter's feed
system to the shared antenna contains traps tuned to the frequency of
the other station so that virtually no RF flows from one transmitter
to the other.  This works beautifully until something dreadful happens
to the traps in one or the other of the feed lines.  These traps are
called cavities and look sort of like tanks of various sizes with
pistons that can be adjusted to tune the trap like the tuning slide on
a musical instrument.  If water gets in the trap or lightening zaps
it, the damage changes the electrical characteristics of it and it
becomes detuned.  This can create a situation in which RF from one of
the transmitters ends up flowing in to the output circuitry of the
other and usually does lots of nasty things.

    In a case like that, both stations would probably go off the air
until the bad cavity or the bad coax feeding it can be repaired.


Martin McCormick WB5AGZ  Stillwater, OK 36.7N97.4W  in Tornado Ally
OSU Center for Computing and Information Services Data Communications Group



[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The transmitters and antennas for WGN 720 AM
and WBBM 780 AM are just a short distance apart (like maybe a half mile)
out in Dupage County, part of the western suburbs of Chicago. Several years
ago late one evening I was DX'ing on my broadcast receiver -- just cruising
around to see what I could hear -- and I got a very strong signal at 660 khz.
Now that is the location for WNBC in New York I believe, but we don't
usually hear that station here in Chicago. This particular night, the signal
was booming right out. It was a discussion program of some sort, and I
hoped they would give an ID sometime soon since it was a few minutes after
1:00 am our time. Meanwhile, I called the switchboard at NBC in New York
and asked her what were they doing on the AM station at that moment? Were
they having a discussion program or what?  Nope, says the lady, they are
playing music.  Hmmm ...

According to my copy of the {North American Radio and Television Stations}
guide book, the only occupants of 660 kc were WNBC (the primary station,
and orginally the only occupant when it was a 'clear channel'), a smaller
station down in North Carolina which only broadcasted during the day on
that frequency, and a very tiny station in Alaska. I reasonably assumed
I was not getting the station in Alaska -- all of a hundred watts or so --
and put in a call to the station in North Carolina. The engineer on duty
assured me 'the AM side' was off the air; after all it was about 2:15 in
the morning there, and they would not bring the AM station back on the
air until after sunrise. But he was curious about who it was on that
frequency when I told him WNBC had insisted it was not them -- that they
were playing music, not having a discussion -- so he went over to the
control board to listen for himself. He heard the discussion program there
also, a thousand miles away from where I was hearing it! He said he could
not venture a guess where it was coming from.

I decided the only thing to do was sit it out and wait for a station ID
at some point or another, and finally after another 20 minutes or so they
gave it alright: WBBM, 780 in Chicago. I flipped over there, and sure
enough heard the same thing on 780 that I was getting on 660 and that the
fellow in North Carolina had plainly heard on 660 as well. The next day I
asked the engineer at WBBM about this and why he thought it might have
happened. His answer was, they and WGN sit very close together out in
the boondocks. So close together, that WGN picks up some of our signal
and send it out with theirs, and we pick up some of their signal and
send it out with ours. So, he said, if you note that we are at 780 and
they are at 720, that's a difference of 60 kc. Subtract 60 from 720 and
you get 660 ...   hmmm ...

Now it used to be quite common to be able to hear WBBM at multiples all
the way up the tuning dial. At night I could hear them at 780 of course,
but also at 1560, 2340, and sometimes 3120 kc. I have never before nor
since ever heard them *below* their usual location. Radio waves can be
very weird and strange at times.   PAT]

------------------------------

From: Ed Ellers <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Unusual RF Stories
Date: Thu, 18 May 95 01:11:31 -0500
Organization: Delphi ([e-mail] email, 800-695-4005 voice)


<[e-mail]> writes:

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It was during the Second World War that
> the radio stations in the USA went through a frequency realignment
> process. For example, WGN in Chicago had been on 730 and they moved to
> 720.  WBBM had been on 770 and moved to 780. There were quite a few
> stations which were affected and relocated. I am not sure why it was
> done.

That was actually before Pearl Harbor -- most of the AM stations in North
America had to change channels on the same day, in March 1941.  This was a
result of the new North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement concluded
in 1938.  A few stations -- like WLW -- didn't have to move.

Something similar happened with VHF TV in 1953 -- the FCC worked up a
new allocation table in 1952, replacing one from 1945 that proved to
be fatally flawed, and most of the existing stations (the two biggest
exceptions were the New York and Los Angeles stations) had to switch
channels.  Unlike 1945 the stations moved one at a time, so they had
to coordinate the switches to keep stations on new channels from
interfering with ones that had yet to switch (for example WLWT in
Cincinnati couldn't switch to channel 5 until WAVE in Louisville
changed to 3, and WAVE couldn't switch until they got their new
transmitter facility finished).  I'm not sure which mess was worse.

[e-mail]> writes:

> During WWII, WLW was doing some propaganda broadcasts. Mr. Goebels had
> the highest power medium wave transmitter known to exist, and was
> using it for propaganda purposes. The folks here in the United States
> decided they wanted to play 'me too', and gave a few stations permission
> to do 'high power testing'. In the case of WLW, this meant changing
> from 50,000 watts to 500,000 watts, with a callsign on the big gun of
> WLWO.  These tests were run after midnight local.

I'm not aware that WLW used their 500 kW rig at all during the war --
WLWO was a *shortwave* operation, which carried Voice of America
programming from the early months of the war and was finally sold to
VOA in 1948.  (It closed down last year.)  The "after midnight" 500 kW
tests on WLW were in the 1930s (they apparently started in 1934) and
were under an experimental license with an "X" call sign.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I remember that the change in television
channels. I was around ten years old or so. We used to have channel 4
in Chicago, but did not have a channel 2 or a channel 5.  Then one day
they started channel 5 and the people on channel 4 moved to channel 2.
Then soon thereafter, channel 4 started operating in Milwaukee. It was
called WTMJ and was owned by the {Milwaukee Journal}.    PAT]

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #245
******************************


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From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #246

TELECOM Digest     Thu, 18 May 95 17:08:30 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 246

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Book Review: Canadian Business Guide to Using Internet (Rob Slade)
    Ameritech and 10XXX (Mustafa Soysal)
    MCI/Telecom USA's Smart Minutes Program (Richard Layman)
    India's Anti-Terrorist Legislation to Expire on May 23rd (Rishab Ghosh)
    Voice Dial (was Re: Pac Bell Screwing the Handicapped)(Mark Cuccia)
    Frequncies of a Data Display (Friedrich Kaufmann)
    Dime Line Anyone? (Paul Celestin)
    Phree Phone in Chicago's Union Station ... Still There? ([e-mail])
    Cell One/Boston (Brian Vita)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
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The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
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----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Thu, 18 May 1995 16:16:33 EST
From: Rob Slade <[e-mail]>
Subject: Book Review: "The Canadian Business Guide to Using the Internet"


BKCBGTUI.RVW   950330

"The Canadian Business Guide to Using the Internet", Linda Richards, 1995, 0-
88908-849-7, C$14.95
%A   Linda Richards [e-mail]
%C   1481 Charlotte Road, North Vancouver, BC   V7J 1H1
%D   1995
%G   0-88908-849-7
%I   Self-Counsel Press
%O   C$14.95 [phone] fax: [phone]
%P   133
%T   "The Canadian Business Guide to Using the Internet"

I suppose it is faint praise, indeed, to say that a book is "no worse"
than the others which are available.  Richards' book is, though, no
worse than any of the other "Business on the Internet" books I've
reviewed, and no worse than (the first edition of) "The Canadian
Internet Handbook" (cf. BKCANINT.RVW).  It also has the three
advantages of being shorter, cheaper, and having better cartoons and
is, therefore, to be recommended over the above.

All business guides to the Internet stress the need to know the
community, and rightly so.  This author betrays no more faux pas than
others.  Netizens will, however, note a lack of familiarity which
shows up in many ways, including system-specific (and incorrect)
references to Usenet newsgroups.  A technical background is also
lacking: discussion of Internet attachment completely misses the
dedicated connection that provides complete linking for a company.
The book is, of course, intended specifically for small business
owners and those who do not have either technical background or staff.
Still, the lack of material in this area does leave those interested
in actually providing information on the net dependent upon specialty
"business" Internet providers and those who "rent out" commercial
cyberspace.

For those interested in getting connected, this does, at least,
provide a very quick starting point, as well as salutary advice: "Just
do it."

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1995   BKCBGTUI.RVW   950330. Distribution
permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated publications. Rob Slade's
book reviews are a regular feature in the Digest.


Vancouver      [e-mail]         | Slade's Law of Computer
Institute for  [e-mail]      |        Literacy:
Research into  Rob.Slade@f733.n153.z1/  |   - There is no such thing
User                      .fidonet.org  |     as "computer illiteracy";
Security       Canada V7K 2G6           |     only illiteracy itself.

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 18 May 1995 15:15:15 -0400
From: Mustafa Soysal <[e-mail]>
Organization: MISTIK Systems ([e-mail] for info) [phone]
Subject: Ameritech and 10XXX


Hi,

I received a letter from Ameritech today that claims I am spending too
much money when I dial my in state call by using 10XXX (used to be 288).

They also mention a new tollfree number, trying to save Michigan
customers 250,000 per month.

Today, I had a in state call to make, and made my call using 10333.
After completing it I remembered the letter I received, so I called  the
800 number suggested in the letter (800-408-5600) to get the expert
advice on making sure to get the best price on every call from trained
Ameritech representatives.

At my first try, I got the "All representatives are busy..."
announcement and hangup to work on something else.  At my second
attempt, the call got ansered by a representative who honestly said
that she was not trained in the matter, and she wuld take my name and
number to have someone call me back.

I asked if I am supposed to wait until they call me back in order to
complete my call.  She was puzzled for a moment, and repeated her
disclaimer, and that she had to have someone else call me back. So I
repeaed my question again, adding that the letter I received suggests
to call them before I make the call.

Her response was to contact her supervisor for which she put me on hold.
After being on hold for a while, I hang up.  She was being kind but that
department seemed to be seriously overwhelmed by the incoming calls.

I guess I will continue to make my 10XXX calls without calling Ameritech's
number.  If anyone else gets to talk to them, please share your experience.


Best Regards,

Mustafa Soysal     [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I have very mixed feelings about that
company. They seem to have changed a lot from years ago when they were
just Illinois Bell. Their attitudes about customer service are nothing
like they used to be. Anymore, one does NOT reach repair service at night
for example without a long, long wait. One does not reach a service rep
without a long wait. It used to be that if you were a customer of theirs
for a long time that meant something. No longer. To be honest, now that
my phone lines are off, I don't know when I will get them turned on
again. I may just wait until their competition arrives, and see how
that works.   PAT]

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 18 May 1995 10:27:52 EDT
From: Richard Layman <[e-mail]>
Subject: MCI/Telecom USA's Smart Minutes program


I tried 1-0-224 as offered by Les Reeves ([e-mail]) as a way to get
15 cents/minute flat day rate calling but I learned it only works in
certain areas; alas Washington, DC is not one of them.

Smart Minutes, at 15 cents/minute day rate is available in CA, CO, GA, IL,
and TX.  I don't know if intrastate rates are higher.


Richard Layman, Mgr., Business Development, and Research Producer
Computer Television Network, 825 6th St. NE, Washington, DC 20002
[phone] - [phone] (fax) - [e-mail]
http://www.phoenix.net/~ctn  (... I know, it needs work)


------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Date: Wed, 17 May 95 22:26:56 +0530
Subject: India's Anti-Terrorist Legislation to Expire on May 23rd


--==(C) Copyright 1995 Rishab Aiyer Ghosh ([e-mail])

India's anti-terrorist legislation to expire on May 23rd

New Delhi, May 17th: India's Terrorists and Disruptive Activities
(amendment) Act, or TADA, will expire on May 23rd, as the Indian
government has decided not to renew it.

The TADA, which was enacted as a temporary measure to counter acute
terrorist violence in the northern state of Punjab in the mid-80s, it
was later extended to cover first Kashmir and then the rest of the
country.  While the Act, which allows for various exceptions from the
"due process" of law, has been criticised in the past by human-rights
activists and even the government's National Human Rights Commission,
over the past year there have been a series of official announcements
of changes to the Act.

As its expiry date neared, the government had to decide whether to
renew the Act with some modifications or to repeal it altogether.
Finally, with all political parties except the right-wing BJP
favouring its repeal, the Union Cabinet decided yesterday to let TADA
die next week. However it also recommended the incorporation of some
changes, including stronger penalties, to the Indian Penal Code, the
Criminal Procedure Code and the Explosives Act.

In the light of recent proposals in the US to fight terrorism,
including Clipper and the Digital Telephony bill, it is interesting to
study the approach taken by India, a country that still faces
considerable terrorist threats in Kashmir and the remote north-eastern
states sandwiched between Myanmar and China. While letting its
anti-terrorist legislation lapse just as the FBI advocates similar
measures in the US after the Oklahoma bombing -- a relatively minor
event on the scale of international terrorism -- India also has nothing
like Clipper in the forseeable future. One reason is that Indian
courts don't usually accept taped evidence, and wiretapping is
effectively illegal. Signals intelligence in terrorist-prone areas,
such as Kashmir, are in the hands of the Army.

The Army recognises that laws restricting cryptography and the
sophisticated US-made frequency-hopping phones left over from the
Afghan war will not affect their use by militants in Kashmir, only by
ordinary, law-abiding citizens who don't concern them. Similar
arguments have been made in the US, which continues to favour Clipper,
while facing practically no terrorist activity. India, which unlike
the US has real experience of violent terrorism, appears to know
better.


 --==(C) Copyright 1995 Rishab Aiyer Ghosh ([e-mail])
 --==May be distributed electronically provided that only compilation or
 --==transmission charges are applied. Other uses require written permission.


Rishab Aiyer Ghosh                   For Electric Dreams subscriptions
[e-mail]                    and back issues, send a mail to
[e-mail]                           [e-mail] with
Vox [phone] Voxmail 3760335       'help' in lower case, without
H 34C Saket, New Delhi 110017, INDIA       the quotes, as the Subject.

------------------------------

From: Mark Cuccia <[e-mail]>
Subject: Voice Dial (was Re: Pac Bell Screwing the Handicapped)
Date: Thu, 18 May 95 08:12:00 GMT


On the subject of voice-dialing:

USWest is offering (or will soon offer) it as a monthly fee optional service
at selected Digital offices (DMS, #5ESS).  'Regular' dialtone is four seconds.

If you subscribe to voice-dial, you would probably be using the line for
voice, even if you have a modem/fax on that line.  You would probably NOT
subscribe to voice-dial on a line if you used the line for ONLY modem/fax/etc.
Voice-Dial customers have a 'default' dialtone of two seconds.

IF you need the dialtone longer (and only four seconds is the MAX),
you would MANUALLY dial *45 and then probably hang up.  (It IS *45,
I've checked my LERG section 1.6).  The initial '*' (or 11) would
probably need to be dialed within two seconds, but it could PROBABLY be
dialed even AFTER the two second dialtone cut out, and I would assume
that ANY tone/pulse digits could be entered as well after the two
seconds.  The Voice-Dial activation PROBABLY works only AFTER the
dialtone cuts out, but there is OBVIOUSLY a time-out to either
'partial-dial-recording', 'off-hook-recording/warning-tones',
'invalid-entry'(by voice or traditional tone/pulse - i.e. invalid
digits/number), etc.  When you have entered *45, you change the length
of dialtone on ALL SUBSEQUENT CALLS to four seconds.  THIS is if you
intend on making several modem/fax calls -- you would MANUALLY enter
*45 within two seconds, once, and then all subsequent calls would be
auto-dialable (without any prepending *45) by any special CPE
(auto-dialer, modem, fax, etc) since dialtone on all of these new
calls would have four seconds (MAX).

You can 'toggle-back' to two second dialtone for voice-dial, by
waiting for the four-second dialtone to 'cut-out' and then verbally
quoting your name/number/etc.  ALL subsequent calls now will give you
two second dialtone, until you 'toggle-back' with *45.  DURING a four
second dialtone, you can enter *50 to not just remove the dialtone but
'cut-thru' to a 'voice-dial' audio-register associated with your line.
*50 will also toggle your line back to two second dialtone for all
subsequent calls.

*44 is to 'set-up' your voice-dial directory - ADD, DELETE, CHANGE entries -

I DON'T know if the system will recognize SPECIFIC voices or not, i.e.
allowing ONLY the actual customers whose voices record entries with
*44 to place calls by VOICE.

Yes, they do CHARGE EXTRA for voice-dial, but what else would you expect
from the utility.  But this COULD be beneficial FOR handicapped individuals
with hand or mobility problems - I assume that you could also quote out
DIGIT by DIGIT - i.e. when the two second dialtone cuts out, quote 'NINE ---
ONE --- ONE' or 'EMERGENCY' or 'OPERATOR'

There are many OTHER voice or name or speech recognition technologies
being used by telco as well -- using the word 'OPERATOR' on some 0-,
00 and 0+ calls, or the instruction to say 'COLLECT' or the
instruction to 'at the tone, record your name' on some automated
handling of collect/3d-party-billing/person calls, or being instructed
to say 'YES'/'NO'/'HELP'/'OPERATOR', again on being on the receiving
end of automated special billed calls.  I've even recently run across
speech-detection service on DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE.

Incidently, Bell Labs experimented on a 'voice-dial' type of PHONE for
the handicapped some 20 to 30 years ago.  There is an article in the
Bell Labs Record from the 60's or 70's about a speech detection type
of phone for those with special needs.  It could detect the sound of
all ten digits and a few other controls for going off-hook & going
back on-hook (FULL hands-free operation) - you would quote out the
number on a digit by digit basis, speaking CLEARLY and DISTINCTLY in
the direction of the microphone.  It also had a series of lights on
the phone as to when to quote out the first digit, when to quote
another digit, etc.  This was CPE, of course, not something in the
switch, and the phone would 'dial-pulse-out' (or touch-tone-out) the
digit that was quoted.  I think that you had to wait until the digit
had FINISHED dial-pulsing until you could quote out the next digit.


MARK

[phone] (Fax, work)    [phone] (Tel, work)
[phone] (Tel, home, forwards to cellular/voice-mail)
[e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Friedrich Kaufmann)
Subject: Frequncies of a Data Display
Date: 18 May 1995 13:56:47 GMT
Organization: Graz University of Technology, Austria


   Disturbance due to horizontal magnetic deflection of dada displays
   ==================================================================

I'm designing a telecommunication link at about 125kHz using only little
power. Now I got problems due to interferences of the horizontal magnetic
deflection of dada displays for computers. Now I need some information:

* Which horizontal frequencies are used (exact values)? A ET4000
  graphics display adapter uses the frequencies 31.5kHz, 35.5kHz, 38kHz,
  48kHz, 56kHz and 64kHz (as I have read in the manual) and I found a
  quartz (XTAL) having the frequency 14.31818MHz. Using simple digital
  dividers I get following frequencies:

  factor 455: 31.4685 kHz  (instead of 31.5kHz)
  factor 403: 35.5290 kHz  (instead of 35.5kHz)
  factor 377: 37.9793 kHz  (instead of 38.0kHz)
  factor 298: 48.0476 kHz  (instead of 48.0kHz)
  factor 224: 63.9204 kHz  (instead of 64.0kHz)

  Is this correct?

* Do you know other frequencies for horizontal magnetic deflection?

* Do you know a graphics display adapter, which doesn't use a quartz and
  therefore the frequency isn't stable over time and temperature?


Many thanks for your help,

Friedrich Kaufmann
email: [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Paul Celestin)
Subject: Dime Line Anyone?
Date: Tue, 16 May 1995 17:46:27 -0700
Organization: Celestin Company, Inc.


I just got a mailing the other day from a company called VarTec Telecom,
Inc. that states you can get 10 cents a minute long distance service
anytime, anywhere in the continental U.S. Only catch is a $5 monthly
service charge for residential lines, even if you use it just once. I
think the service charge for business lines is $15.

Has anyone given it a try? How do modem calls go through, especially V.34
ones? Is the quality good enough for high-speed datacom? Seems like a good
deal, and I just wanted to see if anyone has already tried it out.


Celestin Company, Inc. - 1152 Hastings Ave. - Port Townsend, WA  98368
Home of Apprentice - the Mac Programmer Source Code & Utilities CD-ROM
Check out our World Wide Web Site -> http://www.celestin.com/celestin/
send a blank message to [e-mail] for an index of our products

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Elana who?)
Subject: Phree Phone in Chicago's Union Station - Still There?
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest)
Date: Wed, 17 May 1995 13:01:19 GMT


In January of 1990, I took a train trip to Chicago from the West
Coast, intending to connect with a train heading south.  My first
train was very late, however, so I missed my connection.

I was then herded into a room where they dealt with lost passengers
like me.  First priority, of course, was to try to call my southern
friend and let him know not to meet me -- I would not be on that train.

I looked around ... there where few phone booths, and what few there
were had long lines in front of them.  I asked about getting change
for the phones, and got some long, convoluted directions to a snack
shop on another floor.  Never mind!

I gave up and found a place to sit in one corner to comtemplate my
fate.   I was staring at the long lines at the phone booths and thinking,
when I suddenly noticed an ordinary, everyday desk phone on the table
next to me, with nobody else even *near* it.

Hmmmm ...

So I tried calling my friend.  GOT THROUGH!!!  Free call!  :)

Happy now, I then dealt with Amtrak and got them to find me another way
to send me south.  It would be a two-hour wait, they said.  "No problem!"
said I.  Then I went back to that phone, called my chatty friend in
New Jersey and we yakked and gossiped all about the latest progressive,
instrumental, electronic albums that were out and whatever happened to
Tangerine Dream now that Chris Franke left the band.  It was fun.  :)

I regretted that I did not have tbe phone number of my friend in England
at the time.

So, dear Moderator, I ask you: is that phone still operating in that
Amtrak station?  I'd like to go back to it someday!  :)

(Of course, it may be gone within a week of hitting the Internet ...
oh, well...)


Elana


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I feel rather certain you were using the
unguarded, unattended phone of some employee who was not present at
his/her desk at the time of your visit. While you were there, did you
consider rifling through the desk drawers looking for things of value
which the occupant may have left there while out to lunch or in a meeting
or wherever people go when they are not at their desk? You would like to
return to the scene of the crime, eh? Well it is hard to say exactly
*where* in the building you were at. There has been extensive remodeling
of Union Station over the past five years with Amtrack building a large
nice waiting room and ticket office for themselves and the local commuter
railroads occupying other parts of the building. Also, I think Metra,
the suburban commuter train people, have their offices in the station
also, on the upper floors where the New York Central, Pennsylvania, and
other long-gone railroads in Chicago's (at one time) glorious history
used to have their accountants, etc. So much has changed over there, I
would not begin to know where to start looking for a phone such as
you describe.

I could refer you to City Hall: you'll find lots of empty desks there
at any given time since the bureaucrats tend to take very long lunch
and coffee breaks on the days when they come to work.   PAT]

------------------------------

Date: 18 May 1995 10:47:37 GMT
From: Brian Vita <[e-mail]>
Subject: Cell One/Boston


Cell One/Boston

The long promised (threatened) switch change from a Motorola analog to
a AT&T digitial occurred this past weekend (5/12-14) and with it came
three days of nightmarish service.  Starting Friday at about 11PM,
inbound calls to Cell One customers were greeting with a variety of
intercept messages ranging from number out of service, customer out of
area, etc or sometimes just plain dead air.

The inbound service remained out, or at very least unreliable, until
sometime mid-Monday.  The only calls that I was able to receive were
from other Cell One phones on the same switch.

Outbound traffic was a hit or miss proposition.  Normally Cell One
does not require 1+ with out of area calls.  For a while on Sunday it
required them and then suddenly rejected them.

Throughout this entire ordeal, Cell One's customer support (an oxymoron)
was swamped and, on Sunday when all hell was breaking loose, took the
day off.  This was blatantly irresponsible of CO's management.

When I was finally able to get a live service drone on the line
Monday, I was told that they had no way of anticipating problems (gee,
what about the fiascos at all the other McCaw properties that have
already made the changeover) and that I was basically SOL for the
inconvenience.  After much haggling, I was finally able to get a 1/2
month credit for the inconvenience.  This amount will not compensate
me adequately for the lost income for missing calls but will nicely
cover the cost of a NYNEX activation.

The official party line was that their switch was 13 years old and,
being so grossly out of date, required replacement with an AT&T
switch.  I tend to think that the reality of it was simply that since
AT&T spent meggabucks buying a portion of CO's parent, they are
forcing their subsidiary CO franchises to buy new AT&T switching
equipment to get some of their money back.

Although I have always been an avid CO fan,in the past year since the
AT&T aquisition, I have noticed a *major* deterioration in their
attitudes and policies, to wit:

    1.  Elimination of "unlimited" night/weekend airtime in their high
volume package.  This was cut back to two hours.  After much screaming,
those of us that were in the program prior to the change were grandfathered.

    2.  A $5 charge for detail billing.  Since every time I audit the
bill I find at least that amount and sometimes up to ten times that
amount in misbilled calls, I find this charge to be an insult.  The
corporate thinking must be that if they don't provide the detail,
customers will not know about their false charges and CO gets to
pocket the difference.

        My wife notified them that she wanted to maintain the detail
billing when the notice went out.  They ignored her request and
started sending just the summary bills.  Since that time her bills
have gone up an average of 5% month without explanation.  Three calls
to customer service have failed to produce the call detail for those
periods.

    3.  We've just been given notice of a per call "line access"
charge that is going be assessed to each outbound call.

CO seems to like sneaking these things by the customer in a way that
most of us wouldn't notice the subtle increase in our bills.  Given
this modus operandi, I would be interested in any legal beagle types
that might be in the mood to complain to the AG's office.


Brian Vita     [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: One of the cellular carriers charging
the extra $5 per month for detailed billing did at least acknowledge
the sort of thing you are talking about by offering to rebate or write
off the five dollar per month charge *in any month an error otherwise
appeared in your bill that you brought to their attention.* In other
words, you want a detailed statement this month? Fine, that will cost
five dollars; call us back and point out an error to be corrected, we
will correct the error and waive the charge for that month. That seems
pretty fair.  PAT]

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #246
******************************


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Date: Thu, 18 May 1995 19:15:45 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #247

TELECOM Digest     Thu, 18 May 95 19:15:30 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 247

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Book Review: "Using Unix Newsgroups" by Gregory et al (Rob Slade)
    Connie Chung's Attitude About Oklahoma (Martin McCormick)
    France Numbering Plan Change Set For October 1996 (Erik Mueller)
    What Does F.A.T. Stand For? and PCS-A Winners (Steve Samler)
    Network Level Performance Modelling (Herb Calhoun)
    NPA Commentary (James E. Bellaire)
    Cyber-Liberties Alert #4: State Bills Regulating Online Content (ACLU Info)
    Opera: "The Telephone" (Jim Haynes)
    Chicago Area Internet Providers Wanted (John Meissen)
    Easy Way to Busy Line in Modem Pool? (David W. Rowlands)
    Recording Digital (Stephen Guthrie)
    IBM Direct Talk (Diane Clune)
    Long Distance Rates in Southern California ([e-mail])
    Sprint: All Else Being Equal (John Marquette)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
                    9457-D Niles Center Road
                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
                        Fax: [phone]
  ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

*************************************************************************
*   TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the              *
* International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland    *
* under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES)   *
* project.  Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such
as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help
is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per
year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Wed, 17 May 1995 17:05:55 EST
From: Rob Slade <[e-mail]>
Subject: Book Review: "Using Usenet Newsgroups" by Gregory et al


BKUSUSNE.RVW   950329

"Using UseNet Newsgroups", Gregory/Estabrook/Mann/Parker, 1995, 0-7897-0134-0,
U$19.99/C$26.99
%A   Kate Gregory
%A   Noel Estabrook
%A   Jim Mann [e-mail] [e-mail]
%A   Jim Mann [e-mail]
%A   Tim Parker
%C   201 W. 103rd Street, Indianapolis, IN   46290
%D   1995
%G   0-7897-0134-0
%I   Que Corporation
%O   U$19.99/C$26.99 800-858-7674 [e-mail] 317-581-3743
%P   363
%T   "Using UseNet Newsgroups"

This book has the usual background material on Usenet, the Internet
and Usenet news.  Please note that many items bluntly presented as
fact are opinion or, at best, extreme oversimplification.

More than half of the chapters are devoted to the use of "client"
newsreader software for Windows and Mac (primarily WinVN and
NewsWatcher).  A single chapter briefly mentions what it calls
"text-based newsreaders", and this gives only the most cursory
coverage of trn, tin and nn.

The list of "hot" newsgroups is limited and not particularly enlightening.

Not recommended.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1995   BKUSUSNE.RVW   950329. Distribution
permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated publications. Rob Slade's
book reviews are a regular feature in the Digest.


Vancouver      [e-mail]         | Omne ignotum pro magnifico.
Institute for  [e-mail]      |  - Anything little known
Research into  Rob.Slade@f733.n153.z1/  |    is assumed to be
User                      .fidonet.org  |    wonderful.
Security       Canada V7K 2G6           |               - Tacitus

------------------------------

From: Martin McCormick <[e-mail]>
Subject: Connie Chung's Attitude About Oklahoma
Date: 18 May 1995 21:30:12 GMT
Organization: Oklahoma State University  Stillwater, OK


    I heard an interesting story concerning media coverage of the
bombing in Oklahoma City.  Shortly after the bombing, CBS sent Connie
Chung to cover the scene.  She quickly irritated local officials by
seeming rather incredulous as to whether Oklahoma City was up to the
job of handling the medical and logistical emergencies caused by the
tragedy.

    She was also quoted in local newspapers as saying that
Oklahomans were tobacco-chewing and pickup-driving among other things.
Needless to say, this did not set well with many people, here.  A man
who ran a teashirt printing operation seized the moment, however.  He
printed a bunch of shirts that said something like, "Connie Chung.
Bite me!"

    He sold the shirts for $5.00 or $10.00 and gave all the
profits to the bombing victims' relief fund.

    Most of the people I talked to were very glad when Dan Rather
replaced her as the correspondent for CBS in Oklahoma City.  He seemed
to have a much better feel for the pulse of the area than she did.


Martin McCormick WB5AGZ  Stillwater, OK 36.7N97.4W  in Tornado Ally
OSU Center for Computing and Information Services Data Communications Group

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Erik Mueller)
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: France Numbering Plan Change Set For October 1996
Date: 18 May 1995 17:52:39 GMT
Organization: FranceNet


According to an article in {Le Monde} (May 18, 1995, p. 15), France
will convert on October 18, 1996 to a uniform 10-digit numbering
plan. A 2-digit area code will be added to the front of the existing
8-digit numbers. The area codes will be:

  01  Ile-de-France (Paris, ...)
  02  northwest France
  03  northeast France
  04  southeast France
  05  southwest France
  06  mobile phones

Currently, customers calling the provinces from Paris dial 16 + 8
digits, while customers in the provinces calling Paris dial 16 + 1 + 8
digits.  After the change, the same 10 digits will be dialed from all
locations within the country. According to a representative at the
France Telecom business office, the initial zero will be included when
dialing into France -- a number in Paris, for example, will be 33 + 01
+ 8 digits.

Other changes are scheduled to occur on the same date:

  Electronic directory assistance via Minitel will change from
  11 to 3611.

  Numeros verts (toll-free numbers) will be preceded by 0800
  instead of 05.

  The international access code will change from 19 to 00.

The Minitel access codes 361X (3615, 3616, 3617, ...) will remain
unchanged, as will the following two-digit service codes:

  12  directory assistance (voice)
  13  repair service
  14  business office
  15  ambulance
  17  police
  18  fire department

(This message updates the previous articles
  <[e-mail]> and
  <[e-mail]>.

For more information on France's numbering plan, see: Claude Perardel,
Numero s'il vous plait, France Telecom, Paris, 1985 and the files
  ftp://lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/country.codes/zone.3.codes.32-34
  ftp://lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/country.codes/zone.3.france.33.comments)


Erik

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 17 May 1995 15:12:49 EDT
From: Steve Samler <[e-mail]>
Subject: What Does F.A.T. Stand For? and PCS-A Winners


F.A.T. is the "Western Electric" of France Telecom.  Does anyone know what
the letters stand for?

Thanks to all who got back to me with PCS A winners.  Here is the complete
list:

Paging Network of VA (PageNet), KDM Messaging (ATT/McCaw), Nationwide
Wireless Network, Pagemart II, BellSouth Wireless, AirTouch Paging are the
Nationwide winners.

Regional Winners are Benbow PCS Ventures, Ameritech Mobile, Insta check
Systems, Lisa Gaye Shearing, PCS Development, Mobilemedia PCS, Advanced
Wireless Messaging.

------------------------------

From: Herb Calhoun <[e-mail]>
Subject: Network Level Performance Modelling
Date: 18 May 1995 18:05:48 GMT
Organization: Motorola Research and Development Center, Fort Worth, TX


Due to a recent job assignment I need to become familiar with network
performance modeling for both telecom and data networks.  I can see this
information coming from several sources, which might include:

a. publications (books, magazines)
b. consultants/classes
c. tool supplier training courses
d. discussions with practitioners in telephone or data network providers

Any assistance which could be provided in directing me to these or other
sources of information would be appreciated.


Regards,

herb

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 18 May 1995 09:35:22 -0500
From: [e-mail] (James E. Bellaire)
Subject: NPA Commentary


I have been looking at NPAs lately with all the talk in the papers and in
TELECOM Digest.  There are several good files in the archives about their
history which I have been looking over.

I noticed that in the 1952 listing in the archives that 80 of the then
140 possible area codes were assigned.  In a rotary dial system it is
important to note that the number of pulses in an area code ranged
from 5 (212 NY) to 21 (a tie between 605 SD, 704 ND, and 803 SC).  808
Hawaii, 907 Alaska at 26 pulses and 809 Caribbean at 27 were added
later.

Up to 1995 the additions ranged from 12 to 25 pulses each.  Obviously
the lower pulse count numbers were given first.  September 2nd, 1991
saw the first n10 area code (510 California) for public voice service,
January 8th, 1994 is the historic day when the last 'old style' area
code went into effect (610 Pennsylvania).  Then everyone had to stop
until 1995 when the new codes became available.

Now we have (announced) 17 new codes for 1995, plus 8 more after the
end of the year.  No wonder why the public has been confused.  We only
had 13 codes added in the past 6 years and then opening up to NNX
allowed the flood.  It's a shame that we couldn't have had NNX
availability sooner to stop the 'number rush of 1995'.

Its good to see the announcment for 330 in Ohio, but the hope of ever
making a smaller geographical area change to a new code is lost.  Its
the population that counts.  Changes are made to affect the least
people, allegedly.

I would rather see the cities change.  Now that we are seeing second
and third generation splits (since 1952) we have people in the sticks
that have changed their numbers twice because the city is using more
numners!  It would also be easier to advertise 'Atlanta has changed to
 ...' instead of 'Georgia has changed to ..., except Atlanta which
remains ...'

But then that is my humble opinion.  Considering that the original
system was over 4/7ths full (80 of 140) I wish that we would have had
more NNX codes earlier.  They could have been avoided as local
exchange numbers.

If I could rule the world ...


James E. Bellaire (JEB6)  [e-mail]
Twin Kings Communications  -  Sturgis, MI

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (ACLU Information)
Subject: Cyber-Liberties Alert #4: State Bills Regulating Online Content
Date: 18 May 1995 17:56:53 -0400
Organization: ACLU National Office


**ACLU CYBER-LIBERTIES ALERT**

STOP STATE LEGISLATORS FROM CENSORING ONLINE CONTENT!

As more and more people sign on to the Internet and commercial online
networks, there is a growing panic that online networks are being
infiltrated by pedophiles and peddlers of obscenity and child
pornography.  Legislators are proposing severe criminal laws in an
effort to purge online networks of these influences.

Many of you were first made aware of this threat to your civil
liberties by the pending federal legislation -- the so-called
"Communications Decency Act of 1995", proposed by Senator Exon (D-NE)
and recently approved by the Senate Commerce Committee as an amendment
to the massive telecommunications reform act now pending in Congress.

But while online civil libertarians were distracted by their laudable
rally against the Exon Bill, state legislators were busy crafting
similar bills at home.

**These state bills, like the federal Exon Bill, raise serious First
Amendment and privacy concerns.**

Legislators are attempting to extend to the online context criminal
laws that restrict the following categories of sexually expressive
material and behavior:

    -the distribution of "obscene" materials to adults
    -the distribution of materials deemed "harmful to minors"
    -the solicitation of children to engage in sexual conduct
    -the possession and distribution of visual materials produced
         through the sexual exploitation of children

Through a lack of understanding about how new interactive technologies
work, legislators have managed to craft these laws to prohibit a wide
range of constitutionally protected material.

If enacted into law, these vague and overly broad bills could have the
following draconian effects:

    *    Prohibit communications with sexual content through private
e-mail between consenting adults, and inhibit people from making
comments that might or might not be prohibited.

    *    Require service providers to act as private censors to avoid
criminal liability for prohibited material produced by subscribers on
their networks.

    *    Prevent health care providers from posting sex education
materials to online networks.

To date, the ACLU has located and continues to monitor bills proposed
this year in twelve states: Alabama, California, Connecticut, Florida,
Illinois, Maryland, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania,
Virginia, and Washington.  The Oklahoma and Virginia bills were both
voted into law in recent weeks.  Bills in Washington, Illinois, New
York, and Pennsylvania are moving rapidly through state legislatures.

ACT NOW:

*    Contact your state legislators and urge them to oppose the state bill.

*    Urge legislators to hold full public hearings to identify the problems
and to explore technological alternatives to censorship.

*    Generate online discussion about the threats to civil liberties posed
by the state bill.

*    Organize an online "grass roots" effort to stop the bill.

*    Ask your online service provider to publicly oppose the state bill.

*    Write a letter to the editor of your local paper in opposition to the
state bill.  Discuss the liberating potential of online technology and
provide examples.

                        ----------------------------

For more information on the pending state bills, visit our gopher site,
the ACLU Free Reading Room:

gopher://aclu.org:6601/1/issues/cyberspace/state

This subdirectory contains the full text of some bills, in addition to
ACLU legal analyses of, and letters written to oppose, particular bills.


ACLU Free Reading Room  |  American Civil Liberties Union
gopher://aclu.org:6601  | 132 W. 43rd Street, NY, NY 10036
mailto:[e-mail]|    "Eternal vigilance is the
ftp://ftp.pipeline.com  |         price of liberty"

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Jim Haynes)
Date: Thu, 18 May 1995 15:12:54 -0700
Subject: Opera: "The Telephone"


Gian-Carlo Menotti's one-act opera "The Telephone" is being performed
at University of California, Santa Cruz, Jun 2 and 3.  So if you are a
telecom reader living nearby this is your once-in-a-lifetime chance to
see it.  (along with a couple of other one-act operas, but not, alas,
"Bells Are Ringing")

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Chicago Area Internet Providers Wanted
Date: Thu, 18 May 95 09:21:47 GMT
Organization: Rosetta Technologies, Inc.
Reply-To: [e-mail]


Can anyone point me to a list of Internet providers in the Chicago, IL
area (708 area code)?


John Meissen              Rosetta Technologies, Inc.
[e-mail]          15220 NW Greenbrier Pkwy
Credo quia absurdum est   Beaverton, OR   97006


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The first one which comes to mind is
mcs.net. It is operated by Karl Denninger. He is actually in 312 regards
his physical location on West Belmont Avenue, but I think he services
all of northern Illinois with ease.  Try him out.   PAT]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (David W. Rowlands)
Subject: Easy Way to Busy Line in Modem Pool?
Date: 18 May 95 12:38:07 EST
Organization: Hahnemann University


Is there an easy way to busy a phone line, save leaving an actual phone
off-hook?  A resistor or simple circuit across the line?

I have a bank of 20 modems that are in a hunt group, this is on a VMS
system.  I use kermit to grab an individual line to reconfigure or
test the modems. But if a modem goes down, I need to busy out the line
so the hunt group skips that particular modem. I do not have control
of the University's PBX to modify the group at will.


Thanks for any help,

David Rowlands
Systems Manager
Hahnemann University & Medical College of PA.

You can send email to [e-mail] if you feel the
answer is not of general interest to this group.  Thanks!


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Actually, some readers of this group
have reported busying out lines by merely shorting the wires in the
pair and letting it go at that. It seems to cause no harm to the phone
network, although the PBX at your school may be different than others.
You could probably just install a little toggle switch for each line
where it is connected at the wall. Bring up a little jumper wire from
the pair to the toggle switch which, when thrown, will short the two
wires. When you want to take a line out of service, just flip the
little toggle switch for each pair. There are other, more elaborate
methods as well.   PAT]

------------------------------

From: Stephen Guthrie <[e-mail]>
Subject: Recording Digital
Organization: Computer Science, Indiana University
Date: Wed, 17 May 1995 22:02:24 -0500


I currently have a digital phone system, and was wondering if there is any
hardware / software combination that would allow me to record the digital
signal on my pc (not as a wave or vox file, but as a pure digital signal)?

Also, could I then somehow convert this on the fly to either play back as
sound through my pc or through my phone system?

I have been working this problem for months and have found no one that has
any idea on how this could be done.  Any help or suggestions are greatly
apreciated.


Thanks,

Steve Guthrie

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (diane clune)
Subject: IBM Direct Talk
Date: 15 May 1995 11:41:59 GMT
Organization: SUNY New Paltz


I would like to know if anyone is using IBM's Direct Talk voice messaging
product.  I am thinking of installing it for our University and would like
some feedback from current users.  We will be using the Auto Attendent
feature to replace the operator for most calls. Also, we will be using the
voice mail feature.  We will run this on our IBM Risc/6000.

If you use this product from IBM, are you satisfied with it?  What level of
customer support does IBM offer, etc.


Thanks for your help.

Diane

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 16 May 1995 17:35:19 PDT
From: craig <[e-mail]>
Subject: Long Distance Rates in Southern California


The following rates are now available through C&M Telecom in Los Angeles:

IntraLATA    .08/min
Intrastate    .12/min
Interstate    .16/min

These rates are available as PIC rates or 10XXX rates. They are available
to any customer in California, business or residential, day or night. There
is a service application which must be completed and returned, but there is
NO minimum usage or time commitment involved.

You can reach C&M Telecom at 800-731-2100 from anywhere in California.

------------------------------

From: John Marquette <[e-mail]>
Subject: Sprint: All Else Being Equal
Date: 18 May 1995 13:20:00 GMT
Organization: John Marquette & Associates


I've been a Sprint customer since the Southern Pacific days and have
stuck with them through billing errors, through moves, and through
additions to my household (telephonic additions, that is).  Here's
where I stand now with them:

Jan 95: after MCI's ad to slice rates by 50% on all calls, Sprint's
customer service people match the deal for me for domestic (alas, not
international) calling.  Still, this happened about the same time
Internet Phone came out, so no big deal.

Feb 95: Customer satisfaction staff call me to find out why I switched
(I hadn't, just changed some accounting information) and gave me a $50
concession credit.

Apr 95: Sprint announces new airline partnerships.  I find that I have
enough points accrued -- 80,000 -- (two of those 25,000 point savings
bonds redeemed in an appropriate way helped a lot) for a free trip to
the UK on Virgin Atlantic.

May 95: The round-trip tickets are delivered for exactly the dates in
Dec 95-Jan 96 I specify.

May 95: I'm still paying $0.05/minute for long distance due to the the
match offer.

Way to go, Sprint!

Note to readers: this is the golden age of the Sprint Rewards program
 -- REDEEM YOUR POINTS NOW! (g)


http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~jbm/homepage.html
http://www.earthlink.net/free/jmarquette/webdocs/index.html


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, I can hardly argue with the results
you have experienced. That trip to the Virgin Islands is what sounds
incredible to me. The AT&T True Rewards program is pretty similar, and
a couple months ago I mentioned that readers here who are enrolled in
True Rewards but not particularly interested in participating could
transfer their points to me if they wished to do so, and a few readers
have done just that. True Rewards pays off with 'pay to the telco' checks
which can be submitted to pay my constantly increasing and annoying
phone bill.  If you have points you don't want, please let me know and
I will explain how they are transferred. So far as I know, AT&T is
the only company (of Sprint and others) which allows its rewards, i.e.
cash back or frequent flyer miles, etc to be transferred to other
subscribers. If you are not using yours, please let me know.   PAT]

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #247
******************************


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          19 May 95 4:41 EDT
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Date: Thu, 18 May 1995 22:36:31 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #248

TELECOM Digest     Thu, 18 May 95 22:35:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 248

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Local Phone Competition (Mike McKinney)
    Re: A Question About Priorities (Chris Hardaker)
    Re: A Question About Priorities (Scot Desort)
    Re: A Question About Hunting and Call Waiting (Kevin Prichard)
    Re: Pac Bell Screwing the Handicapped? (Michael McCalpin)
    Re: Pac Bell Screwing the Handicapped? (Henry Choy)
    Re: Pac Bell Screwing the Handicapped? (Bob Michael)
    Alabama 334 Backup Plan (Greg Monti)
    What is an R-Modem? (Bob Collins)
    Re: Virtual Amateur Radio on the NET (Arthur Chandler)
    Re: Virtual Amateur Radio on the NET ([e-mail])
    Re: Country Codes (Andreas Pavlik)
    Re: Unusual RF Stories (John Nelson)
    Re: Unusual RF Stories (Carl Moore)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
                    9457-D Niles Center Road
                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
                        Fax: [phone]
  ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

*************************************************************************
*   TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the              *
* International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland    *
* under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES)   *
* project.  Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such
as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help
is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per
year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Thu, 18 May 1995 19:41:30 -0500
From: [e-mail] (Mike McKinney)
Subject: Local Phone Competition


In issue 239, John Higdon replied to Tim Gorman:

TG:

>> Folks, the phone companies have always been just that -- COMPANIES.
>> They have always been companies owned by shareholders -- just like
>> Ford, Pizza Hut, and Midas Muffler.

JH:

> No, no, no. Not like Ford, Pizza Hut, and Midas Muffler. Each of these
> companies exists in a robust market of competitors. Someday, that may
> be the case for the telcos, BUT NOT YET. Until that day, they cannot
> be treated "just like any other company".

The big question to John and other Telco haters who seem to hold on to
every mistake, bad call, and yes, I'm sure, some outright dishonest
activities, is which will come: first; the true competition or
treating Telcos like other companies and how long will the interval be
between the two?(sorry for the LONG sentence, but I'm a tech, not a
writer) This is important to me. I have invested my career and my
future in Southwestern Bell.

To those of us who take pride in their company and who think we can
meet the challenge, these two things should occur simultaneously and
soon. Enough screwing around, let's get to it.

As an aside, I'm having a hard time taking the grin of my face as I
listen to ATT & MCI moan and groan here in Texas. They think it's
terribly unfair that they are being required to build their own
facilities for local services and that it's just a case of SBC putting
one over on the everybody.  The rule makes perfect sense in the long
range and I think the author of the bill should be applauded. If the
goal is potential cost reductions for users, then there must be
competitors in the market that do more than resell Telco services


Mike McKinney  SW Bell
Austin, TX     [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: Chris Hardaker <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: A Question About Priorities
Date: Thu, 18 May 95 08:24:00 PDT


Pat,

     With reference to the sequencing within an ESS, I can not
specifically help you. My experience is with NEC NEAX and NorTel DMS
technology. Both of these are very similar in that they process in
phases. Firstly, does the switch want to complete this call. That is,
is there some software or hardware condition that prevents the switch
from ensuring this call is completed (CPU Occupancy for example). Then
it checks if there is some Telco defined parameters which prevent
completion (line suspension or call gaping(Your call blocking will
occur here if it is done by the Telco)). Then customer defined options
are checked (like call diversion and temporary call blocking). At last
you check to see if the line is free. There is one module of software
per condition check phase, which checks all possible conditions within
it particular area of concern. Any other method would require separate
modules per condition and would add to the average work time for each
call.

Of course, as far as the ESS is concerned, this may be the
technological equivalent of a baseball diamond in an ice rink (Totally
inappropriate and rather silly anyway)


Chris Hardaker       Network Management
CLEAR Communications Auckland New Zealand
V    [phone]  F    [phone]
E     HARDAKER @clear.co.nz

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Date: Wed, 17 May 1995 23:00:06 -0400
Subject: Re: A Question about Priorities


Pat:

While I'm no expert, I'll try to give you some information regarding
my personal experience about how switches react to certain feature
combinations, as well as switch to switch communication.

Alot of the priority of events has to do with the CO equipment.
Whether it's analog or digital, and what manufacturer.

1.Call screening and hunting:

Generally speaking, any call handling that needs to be done based on
the *calling party's* number is handled first. It probably makes the
most sense that way (why bother hunting through 30 lines if it is a
blocked call?). Bell Atlantic once described hunting to me as Call
Forwarding Busy (as far as their switch programming codes where
concerned), the only difference being hunting can only be done among
lines in the same "billing entity" (you can't hunt your line to your
neighbor's). Once an incoming call lands on your first line, the switch
makes the determination as to whether a call from XXX-XXXX can be
processed to your line yyy-yyyy. If so, the switch attempts to ring
line one. If line one is busy, hunting begins as usual. The
determination as to whether the call is allowed is made prior to
ringing the line.

With regards to:

> ...<snip>.... In other words, once the 'decision'
> is made that its okay to hand over this call to the subscriber, it
> becomes okay to hand it to him on any of his lines in whatever order
> was established for doing so.  So incoming calls hunting for an open
> line could land on and signal a 'one way outgoing line' even though
> a person directly dialing that line would be blocked from entry.
> Any comments on this?

Not sure about this one. I believe I have had clients who have had
pools of lines in hunt groups that were designated as you have
described, and it has worked as you've described. The switch is not
interpreting the *dialed* number as line two, so it does not make the
determination that the line is a restricted outbound line. Just a
guess here, but it sorta follows suit.

> What about Call Screening and 'Transfer on Busy'?
> What about Call Screening and Transfer on No Answer'?

Again, the same reasoning should apply here. The CO receives call from
xxx-xxxx to line yyy-yyyy. Line y is checked for permission to allow
calls from line x. Permission granted. Line x is rung. Line x is
busy, CFBY forwards to line z.  Now, line z can block calls from
line x. This leads us into a whole other area where I have had
personal experience. If line x is in a digital switch, say 5E, and
so is z, the CFBY call that x made to y, now being forwarded to z,
will be analyzed for permission based on x. But if x is in an analog
switch like a 1A, the correct information will not be passed to
the 5E destination switch by the 1A, and the 5E will see the
calling party as y, not x. I have used this to my advantage. I have
a sales rep in a small office in Jersey City. He is served by a 1A.
Our main office is served by 5E. We have CO voice mail (CF BY/DA).
I set my sales rep's line to CF Don't Answer to my main number. If
we don't answer, CO forwards to voice mail. Voice mail picks up --
*our* main number greeting is played. The 1A doesn't send my sales
reps number as the *called* number, so the 5E uses our number and
plays our greeting. One day, I tested this another way. I activated
CF variable on my main office number to my home number, also served
by a 5E and has CO voice mail (CF variable always overrides
CFBY/DA). Dialed the office number, forwards to home (which is
busy) and dumps to voice mail. Guess what greeting played -- the office
greeting! (when I told Bell Atlantic, they didn't believe me
<g>). Problem is, when my sales rep's switch goes to 5E, I'm out of
luck. Voice mail will play a generic greeting. I don't know how all
this works on DMS-100. Bell Atlantic tells me they function
significantly different than the 5E, especially with regards to CF
and hunting. So much so that most of the reps hate getting orders
for hunting changes or voice mail setup on the DMS100 because it's
so confusing to them (but it still works).

> Now what about Call Screening and Call Forwarding?

See above.

> What about 'Return Last Call Received' and Call Forwarding?

Got me on this one. Don't know how the last number buffers are handled. Maybe
someone else will chime in.

Hope I've helped a bit. I don't claim to be an expert here, but this
is what I've observed. Keep in mind that, while you and I for example
may both be served by a 5E, Bell Atlantic may program the switch
differently than Ameritech, and really confuse matters. So much of the
functionality of the switch is definable by the LEC (as is evident by
recent complaints here about DMS100 dialing timeouts in PacBel land).

Maybe some folks here who actually sit in front of those switches and
program this stuff will chime in with some real nitty-gritty stuff.


Scot M. Desort   Garden State Micro, Inc.
[phone]  [phone] Fax
[e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Kevin Prichard)
Subject: Re: A Question About Hunting and Call Waiting
Date: 18 May 1995 00:20:23 -0400
Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC


Pat,

Thank you for your excellent comments.

I am located in NYC, area 212.  I am fairly certain distinctive ring isn't
available here, having asked for it a couple of apartments ago ... however
it is certainly worth the call to find out the situation today.

As I mentioned in my first post, the requested setup is as follows:

:    1. Line one hunts to line two;
:    2. Line two hunts to line one;
:    3. Line one has call waiting.

: The desired effect would be, for voice calls, that as line one and two
: are in use, line one would get the third call via call waiting.  This,
: rather than put call waiting on line two, where the potential for
: interrupting data/fax transmission would be too great.

So, desiring to have both a published voice and (uninterruptible) fax
number, I sought this as a solution.

Your suggestion:

:      Publish line one as your only number.
:      Have it forward on busy to line two as now.
:      Have call waiting on line two when *it* is busy.
:      *Put your modem on line one*.

is fine for outgoing fax/data ... but for uninterrupted incoming fax/data
 ... well you get the picture.

Hmm, another option is to go with your scenario, and add a switch
which I would flip to manually connect an incoming fax call on line
one with the fax machine, then hit the 'start' button.  I wonder if a
fax machine will go into receive mode without first having received a
ring on a closed line and then entering the pickup/carrier signal/receive
cycle.  That might require some hotwiring.  If it's my faxmodem, maybe
there's on option to make it pickup without a ring ... just pick up.
I'll research that further.

This is sort of like playing chess on a 2x2 board ... not a lot of options!

The method you employ: are you utilising distinctive ring from your
telco?

Well, tomorrow is install day ... I'll let you know whether there was
success with my initial scenario.


Grazie mille,

Kevin   [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: No, I am not using distinctive ring.
As a matter of fact I am not using anything right now. I got cut off
on Wednesday for non-payment; as soon as I get together the $300 plus
they are demanding I will get it turned back on; maybe, or I might
leave it shut off since it has gotten so terribly expensive in recent
years. But I know what you meant. I do not get incoming modem calls.
I only make outgoing modem calls. Although I have a fax card in one
of my 386's (remember the Sprint Fax Modem offer guys?  grin) I get
incoming faxes -- when the lines are turned on -- via a separate,
third line and a fax machine attached to it. So I guess I cheat a
little in the scheme I proposed to you.   PAT]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Date: Thu, 18 May 1995 22:45:10 -0400
Subject: Re: Pac Bell Screwing the Handicapped?


In a previous message, Bob Yazz ([e-mail]) noted that:

> In the latest software release for the DMS-100 switch in the San Diego
> area, there is a new "feature" that is hurting people who cannot dial
> or remember phone numbers with great speed.

> Specifically, if you pause for a mere four seconds between digits you
> lose dialtone and get a recording that says to try again.

This really IS a feature; your objection is to Pac Bell's implementation.

As a former NorTel employee (and having checked with some old
co-workers), I recall the feature working something like this: an
office-wide parameter sets the interdigital timer for all the office's
lines.  This timer can be set to values ranging from (don't hold me to
this) 1 to 15 seconds.  The default may be four seconds, but the database
reformatter should have retained any previous value during the software
upgrade.

Depending on the database set-up, another timer can take over after the
minimum number of digits has been collected (usually seven).  This timer,
also telco-adjustable, is generally set shorter to limit post-dial delay
during LD calls.

> Before this latest change, the timeout was 20 seconds for the entire
> dialing process.

This would surprise me since the above functionality has been around since
like BCS-Nothing and I believe that the Bells tend to remain within three
BCSs of the current release (I think it's BCS36 right now).  This
functionality should have been in San Diego for a long time.

> Four seconds!  Hell, I sometimes pause that long myself when dialing
> an unfamiliar number, and my memory and dialing abilities are just
> fine.

Agreed, four seconds is a little tight unless you've really committed to
engineering the bejeesus out of the network.  :-)

> The question I have for the TELECOM Digest readership is this.  Assuming
> that Pac Bell decides this is indeed a simple-to-find error they want to
> correct, how long will it take for a fix to be available?

> (remainder deleted)

It's a really simple fix -- a database parameter change in Table OFCVAR or
OFCENG. The trick is that the change is office-wide and so will affect
handicapped and non-handicapped subscribers equally.

I hope this has been of some help.  Call Pac Bell and let them know you care!


Michael McCalpin                     DSC Communications Corporation
Requirements Engineer                1000 Coit Rd.  MS: 171
[e-mail]                     Plano, TX  75075
[e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 18 May 1995 17:12:36 GMT
From: [e-mail] (Henry Choy)
Subject: Re: Pac Bell Screwing the Handicapped?
Organization: University of Saskatchewan


[e-mail] wrote:

> In article <[e-mail]> Bob Yazz, [e-mail] writes:

>> Specifically, if you pause for a mere four seconds between digits you
>> lose dialtone and get a recording that says to try again.

> On the DMS-100, the interdigit timeout is settable by the telco for
> between 0-30 seconds, with a default of four seconds; this has been
> the case for quite some time.  There are at least two possible reasons
> Pacbell changed the timeout:

Four seconds! I can't believe this.

When I phoned someone in Russia I had to dial about 25 digits.



Henry Choy      e-mail: [e-mail]



[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: So teach your fingers to do the walking
a little faster. <grin> step lively! Or should I say finger lively?  PAT]

------------------------------

Date:  Wed, 17 May 1995 14:13:29 +0000
From: [e-mail]
Subject:  Re: Pac Bell Screwing the Handicapped?
Organization: Nortel (Northern Telecom)


In article <[e-mail]> Bob Yazz, [e-mail] writes:

> Alright, so it really is a DMS switch software bug, not a feature for
> "conserving precious dialtone resource".  (They still give you 15
> seconds to hit your first digit.)

The problem you describe is not a "software bug."  The length of the
timeout is set by the telco.  Nortel simply provides the flexibility to
set the timeout, but it's up to the provider to decide what that value
should be.


Bob Michael
Manager, Nortel Marketing Communications, Switching Networks

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 18 May 95 17:53:16 PDT
From: Greg Monti <[e-mail]>
Subject: Alabama 334 Backup Plan


The Friday, May 12 edition of {Communications Daily} had a brief story
noting that South Central Bell had set up a toll-free number to
help callers complete connections to new 334 area code. Now that
permissive dialing for that split has ended (5/13, I think), there
will still be some unmodified PBXes that cannot treat 334 as an
area code.  Callers unable to reach southern Alabama can either ask
an operator to place the call, or they can call 800-691-2992 from 7 am
to 7 pm central daylight time, 7 days per week.  It's answered by
a South Central Bell operator.


Greg Monti Arlington, Virginia, USA
[e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: All they are doing by this is enabling
the private PBX owners to continue stalling on the required upgrade.
Do you think they will ever made the needed changes as long as telco
keeps bailing them out?    PAT]

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 18 May 1995 02:52:01 EDT
From: Bob Collins <[e-mail]>
Subject: What is an R-Modem?


Anybody heard of an R-Modem or R-Dat modem?  Evidently this type of modem
uses an odd-ball carrier technique that won't connect with common
modems.  It's used on the remote programming port of a call processing
device.  Thanks for any information.

------------------------------

From: hkassoc <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Virtual Amateur Radio on the NET
Date: 18 May 1995 12:40:48 GMT
Organization: NetVision USENET Site.


Have these guys considered using something like the Internet phone to
continue having voice (i.e. simulated ham) conversations?  Why switch to
text, given that part of the pleasure of ham radio is the voice (more
live) aspect.

It seems as though there may be a convergence of chat lines, formerly
relegated to the world of telephones, and ham radio, if Internet
telephony takes off.

What thoughts do you have on this?


Regards,

Gary

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 18 May 1995 08:34:24 PDT
From: Arthur Chandler <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Virtual Amateur Radio on the NET


On 18 May 1995, hkassoc wrote:

> Have these guys considered using something like the Internet phone to
> continue having voice (i.e. simulated ham) conversations?  Why switch to
> text, given that part of the pleasure of ham radio is the voice (more
> live) aspect.

Greetings!

  Two thoughts here:

  1) Yes, we also use CUSeeMe -- which supplements voice with video. It's
cheap (a Quick Cam is $100 and CUSeeMe software is shareware). The audio
and video are pretty raw; but it works amazingly well -- even for
conferencing.

  2) I don't see a place like the Virtual Ham Central as REPLACING voice
ham -- it supplements it. And by allowing one to follow a number of
conversations all at once, it is even superior to conventional ham
contact. In addition, if you are speaking in a foreign language, you have
time to look up words and phrases before you respond. Etc. etc.

> It seems as though there may be a convergence of chat lines, formerly
> relegated to the world of telephones, and ham radio, if Internet
> telephony takes off.

I agree. It would be a mistake for ham radio to remain in the world of
traditional rigs and methods of interaction. The NET has already expanded
the horizons of Ham radio, and promises to do so even more in the future.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Andreas Pavlik)
Subject: Re: Country Codes
Date: 18 May 95 10:57:57 GMT
Organization: Vienna University Computer Center


In article <[e-mail]>, Toby Nixon <tnixon@microsoft.
com> writes:

> Is anyone else aware of similar bilateral or unilateral special
> arrangements?

In the 1960s the first countries, which could be dialled directly from Austria
were Switzerland and Western Germany. For Germany you had to use 06+ city
code including the "leading zero" and for Switzerland 05+0xx. Later it was
called "country code" 060 and 050. A few years later Italy was assigned
040 and the northern part of Yugoslavia 030. The south of Yugoslavia was first
reachable only via the operator, than by 00 + the usual country code (38 I
think). The country code for Germany was changed to 49 after the unification of
the former FRG and GDR telephone systems and since one or two years also
Switzerland and Italy can be reached by dialing 00 39 and 00 41, but I am
quite sure that 040 and 050 do still work.

And the most strange thing I know is that for calls to Luxemburg we
have to dial 00 432, i.e. to use our own country code. AFAK calls to
Austria from all of the countries mentioned always had to be dialed
by the international access code (00 in the most cases) + 43.


Andreas Pavlik    University of Vienna
Vienna, Austria   [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (John Nelson)
Subject: Re: Unusual RF Stories
Date: Thu, 18 May 1995 19:11:39
Organization: Bell Canada


> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The transmitters and antennas for WGN 720 AM
> and WBBM 780 AM are just a short distance apart (like maybe a half mile)
> out in Dupage County, part of the western suburbs of Chicago. Several years
> ago late one evening I was DX'ing on my broadcast receiver ...

Pat, did you know my uncle Phil Rand, W1DBM from Redding Ridge,
Connecticut?  Your reminicences are so poignant to me, having grown up
with my Dad VE3BFG operating (I guess we call it surfing today) 80
meters at breakfast every day throughout the 1960's, with a a Heathkit
of some kind pushing a kilowatt amp driving a final with 837's.

I remember once when a mouse ventured through the final, and met his
end with a zzap! while Dad was on the air -- all that was left was his
four little legs spread-eagled on the chassis. Two meters was
considered a new field then -- 432 MHz was like outer space. Ahhhh ...
and I said I'd never grow up. Oh well, the Internet is teaching me
that its never to late to have a happy childhood.


John Nelson, Bell Canada Marketing
%ANP Control Centre, F7, 66 Bay St. South, Hamilton, L8P 4R7 (905)
Voice 575-4106, FAX [phone], Cell 520-5175, Pager 540-0416
[e-mail] [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I remember once a radio of mine getting
cranky one day. When we opened it up, a pregnant cockroach (or maybe it
was a water bug) with her egg sack was found in there, cooked to a crisp
having wandered around by one of the capacitors.  PAT]

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 18 May 95 18:03:11 EDT
From: Carl Moore <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Unusual RF Stories


By the way, I am from close enough to get some Philadelphia radio.
How old is that item about WCAU-AM transmission into that Roxborough
toilet?  WCAU-AM changed to WOGL-AM in 1990, so suddenly that
listeners didn't find out about the change until they tried to get
programs in the just-replaced format; Frank Rizzo, the late former
mayor, had a "Frank Talk" program which was knocked off the air as
part of this change; and he furiously said, in public, that the radio
station had better pay off the rest of his contract.

WOGL-AM changed again, this time to sports radio WGMP-AM, The Game.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Many listeners know that the first FM
station in the United States was here in Chicago in 1941, when the
Zenith Radio Corporation put station WEFM on the air with exclusively
classical music so that people who were buying the (then new) style
of radio with frequency modulation (FM) would have something to listen
to. Otherwise no one would buy an FM radio since there were no stations
'like that' to listen to -- not in the early 1940's at least. The station
was named after the president of Zenith at that time, a fellow named
<E>dward <F>. <M>cCormick. They stuck with the classical music format
until 1975, and sold the station to Metromedia who had the intention
of making it into an acid rock music station. Such a large number of
people filed complaints with the FCC about the station planning to
change its format that the FCC ordered them to *not* change it until
after the matter had been reviewed. That process took two years, and
for that period of time through early 1977 Metromedia found itself
stuck with having to operate and maintain a classical music station.

Finally they got permission to make the change in their format, but
with strings attached: For one week prior to the change in format on
an hourly basis, one week after the change in format on an hourly
basis and then ten times per day for the second week of the new
format they were required to play a pre-recorded 'disclaimer' message
prepared by one of the former staff announcers.

As best as I can recall it, the announcement went like this:

   "On <date, 1977> the Federal Communications Commission granted
   permission to WEFM to change its programming format from classical
   music to other styles of music. That change in format is imminent,
   and for continued enjoyment of classical music programming may we
   suggest that you tune on your dial to WFMT at 98.7 FM or WNIB at
   97.1 FM. The Commission requires that we make this announcement
   over the air on a frequent basis over a period of time prior to and
   following the format change."

   There then followed something about the address of the station and
   the name of its new manager, along with the address of the FCC for
   persons who wished to write and complain.

Even once the new format was started (the 'old' WEFM signed off the
air on Sunday night at midnight after playing Beethoven's Fifth Symphony
and the 'new' station signed on the air at noon on Monday with rock
music) they kept on playing that pre-recorded disclaimer message for
another two weeks inviting people to tune to one of the two classical
music stations if they wished to do so.

WBBM 780-AM was also heavily into classical music with several hours of
it daily interspersed with the network programming they got from CBS
including the daytime soap operas, etc. From about 10 pm until 5 am
however, it was all classical except for Sunday night when they went
off the air at midnight. They switched to 'news radio' sometime in the
late 1960's.

WLS 890-AM was the Prairie Farmer Station for 35 years with country
and western music, market reports and news for farmers, and the daily
feed at one point from the Mutual Network and at other times from the
American Broadcasting Company. Sunday from 5 AM through midnight (when
they signed off like all the other stations) it was a steady diet of
religion, with one preacher brokering time after another. Every religion
under the sun, all in 15 or 30 minute segments. Billy Graham, Carl
McIntyre, Oral Roberts ... all of them one after another in an endless
litany that went on for 17 hours, one reel of tape after another. They
had that Catholic priest -- Father McLaughlin -- who was the extreme
right-wing guy of the era preaching about the 'anarchists' and the
Communists. The Christian Science lesson for the week; they did not miss
anyone's religion. L. Ron Hubbard with his Scientology program; still
another who called his thing 'religious science'. Aimee Semple McPherson
was on WLS every Sunday in the 1930's as was Mrs. Ballard with her
religion called 'I AM'. They were still running her tapes clear into
the early 1960's.

When Sears, Roebuck sold WLS the new owners wanted to go with the rock
and roll music of the late 1950's and early 1960's. They went to the
rock music format dumping all the farmers and the country and western
and hillbilly music out. But they had a problem: the preachers all had
contracts for varying lengths of time. Most of them moaned and groaned
because they hated losing a fifty thousand watter like WLS but the price
was right so they passed the collection plate one final time to the new
owners of the station and went away. Once the new format kicked in,
the preachers were phased out over about the next three or four weeks.

All except one: For how many ever years, the 11 am to noon spot on
Sunday belonged to a fellow named Preston Bradley, whose church services
were carried live from People's Church on Lawrence and Sheridan Avenues
in Chicago. He would not sell out on the contract which still had three
years or so to go. It was not a religious or moral or ethical thing
with him; he just had lots of money and didn't need the largesse that
WLS offered all the other preachers to get off the air. At times very
pompous; and always a very liberal, quite intellectual type, Bradley
had started his church fifty years earlier and planned to run it until
he died. It wasn't any specific religion, maybe sort of Unitarian. Bradley
told WLS to kiss off, he wanted the three years he had left on his
contract, after which point he was going to retire anyway.

So for three years into the new rock music format at WLS, every Sunday
at 10:58 am the music would stop and the announcer would say something
like, "its time for Doctor Bradley's Church ... now listen up! We'll
be back with the Top Ten hits right at noon. As for me, I'll be across
the street at Walgreen's having breakfast, but don't you touch that
dial! I wanna see you all here at noon when I get back."  And *exactly*
at 12:00 they'd cut him off the air and start the music again.   PAT]

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #248
******************************


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Date: Sat, 20 May 1995 07:50:13 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #249

TELECOM Digest     Sat, 20 May 95 07:50:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 249

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Meeting the Challenge (John Higdon)
    What's Wrong With Telecom Books? (Tom Farley)
    April 1995 NPA/NXX report (David Esan)
    Book Review: Complete Idiot's Guide to Usenet Newsgroups (Rob Slade)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
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Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
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The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
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All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
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should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Organization: Green Hills and Cows
Date: Fri, 19 May 1995 12:41:17 -0700
From: John Higdon <[e-mail]>
Subject: Meeting the Challenge


The following remarks concern the history, practices, and policies of
Pacific Bell and do not necessarily reflect any aspect of any of the
other RBOCs. However, I suspect that there may be aspects of these
observations that do apply in one way or another.

Much has been said lately concerning the ability and desire of telcos
to "meet the challenge" of competition. As we forge ahead into
uncharted waters, no one can say with certainty where the road is
going, or where the potholes are located. But we do have some history,
at least as far a Pac*Bell is concerned, of attempts at competition.
What we see is not encouraging.

When 976 was looming on the horizon, Pacific Bell (it was actually
Pacific Telephone at that point, but for simplicity I will refer to
the company by its present name throughout) launched a "chat line
service" that was statewide in scope. There was a moderator, and for
some amount of money per minute, one could participate in some
"G-rated" discussion involving hot topics of the day. To save a lot of
verbage -- the service was a flop.

As telcos across the nation were rolling out 976 services to
providers, Pac*Bell followed suit. However, the PB powers-that-be
looked at all these potential competitors (to its failed chat line)
and hedged its bets.  Exercising its power as owner and controller of
the network, yet hiding behind the PUC tariffs that the company itself
wrote, Pac*Bell offered 976 services to information providers with
incredible conditions attached.

A provider had to place an incredible cash deposit with the written
service installation order, usually several thousand dollars. The
installation site had to have "excess facilities" which meant that any
976 lines had to be installed on pairs that would never conceivably be
used for POTS. The site had to be located within some arbitrary
perimeter of the specific 976-serving office.

In addition to the installation restrictions, Pac*Bell had implemented
976 in a way that allowed unlimited access from out of state by any
carrier and had no collection mechanism to seek remittance on those
calls. As Pat has pointed out, a favorite pastime of out-of-staters
was to call California 976 numbers for the price of a long-distance
call. Pac*Bell's liberal forgiveness of IP charges to customers
resulted in major re-charge percentages. Those recharges put many IPs
out of business, since Pac*Bell not only re-charged IPs for the
portion they would have otherwise netted from the telco, but socked
them with Pac*Bell's portion as well. It was entirely possible to end
up, not with a check at the end of the month, but with a huge bill for
thousands of dollars.

Pac*Bell's failed computer store business needs only a mention. Flashy
store fronts and deep-pile carpet did not fly in selling computers.
Pac*Bell's computer sales efforts were a flash in the pan.

Enter voicemail. Noticing the success of voicemail service bureaus,
Pac*Bell saw dollar signs and heard the sounds of cash registers. The
telco contracted with a major voicemail concern and installed CO-based
voicemail services. Of course, being The Telco, it could save a lot of
money over its competitors by not having to pay for things like office
space, service trunks, and it could offer features that could even be
withheld from competitors such as stutter dial tone and other
amenities. Even advertising could be charged off to the regulated
ratepayers.

But what happened? Many agreed with the Pac*Bell philosophy: "If the
telco can do it cheaper and 'better', why not let them do it?" The
problem is, "better" is a subjective word. As Pac*Bell jacked up its
prices to competing voicemail providers for trunks and "feature
interfaces", many of these businesses went out of business. These
bureaus, before going under, were providing specialized services for
doctors and other professional people that Pac*Bell had no intention
of serving in any customised manner.  Pac*Bell's product offerings
were geared to the mass market and non-discriminating consumer. So
where did that leave those with specialized requirements? I leave that
as an exercise for the reader.

Now we are entering the new horizon of Internet Service Providing.
Pac*Bell is all set to get in there and compete. It has even concocted
a list of "competition poster children" -- ISPs who will be reselling
Pac*Bell's data transport services and providing Internet access in
competition with Pac*Bell's own Internet access offerings. But what
will be Pac*Bell's market? The backbone carriers, such as MCI and
Sprint will ALWAYS be able to out-bid and out-perform for the major
Internet user. They carry the Internet backbone and have interLATA
facilities that far exceed anything Pac*Bell can muster. That leaves
the smaller Internet user who may need "value-added" services such as
DNS and web server space in addition to his packet feed. Does anyone
think for one second that Pac*Bell has that kind of expertise at hand?
No one is that stupid.

And finally, we get to the "far out". Already, many analysts have
concluded that Pac*Bell's model for "video-on-demand" is a blueprint
for failure.  People are already wearying of games, shopping services,
and yes, even movies on cable. The provision for only a narrow reverse
channel tells us that Pac*Bell is not really interested in putting
people on the "information superhighway" but is rather setting up an
audience of "eager consumers". I want frame relay, but Pac*Bell cannot
give me that for lack of facilities. But after spending the last year
tampling my rose bushes, it is apparently ready to give me home
shopping.

This fits right in with comments made recently by an Australian
observer: transport is soon to become a commodity. The actual
connection from point A to point B anywhere in the world will be
nothing more than a low-cost triviality. Bandwidth will be readily
available, and the obscene profits currently enjoyed by those
carrying, for example, international traffic will have gone with the
wind. Pac*Bell, to its credit among its stockholders, sees this
vision. It wants to get into the program origination business. Problem
is, it does not have any expertise in anything other than transport.
And, more importantly, we the public have nowhere else to go for
transport -- at least at the local level.

Will Pac*Bell survive in the future? Who cares? Telcos are an
endangered species that, in my opinion, should be regulated right up
to the bitter end and then let die. If the stockholders want to pick
up the pieces and start a competitive company, fine. But where is it
written that the LECs, grand historical carryovers from a bygone era,
must somehow be protected and preserved? Rather than "transition" into
competition, LECs such as Pac*Bell should be swept away or massively
resturctured when that becomes a viable marketplace alternative.

Yes, I am aware that AT&T made the transition, but its position on the
food chain was much different than the telcos, who have completely
forgotten their roots and are leaving customers high and dry. Before
and after divestiture, one could get long distance service from AT&T.
However, I will probably be able to get frame relay from TCI (my cable
company) before I can from Pac*Bell -- who now wants into the cable TV
business!


John Higdon  |    P.O. Box 7648   |   [phone]     |       FAX:
[e-mail] | San Jose, CA 95150 |   +1 500 FOR-A-MOO    | [phone]
             |         http://www.ati.com/ati             |

------------------------------

From: Tom Farley <[e-mail]>
Subject: What's Wrong With Telecom Books?
Date: Sat, 20 May 95 00:58:54 -0500
Organization: Delphi ([e-mail] email, 800-695-4005 voice)


I just had a terrible time ordering from Telecom Books. Anyone know
what's going on over there?

1. Last month I ordered a book from Telecom Books, the book publishing
and selling division of _Computer Telephony_, _Teleconnect_ , _Call
Center_ and _Imaging_. They say that they will ship in 24 hours.

2. A week goes by. No book. Ten days. No book. I call them and they
seem confused. Yes, it's in our inventory but it is not in stock.
Maybe it's at the printer awaiting a reprint. The order is canceled.

3. I call up Harry Newton a little later to tell him that he ought to
have CTI for his call center. After all, that's what all of his
magazines are about. He agrees and promises that he will call me back.
Maybe he can hunt up an office copy. Great, I think. I email him a
memo of what we talked about and I faxed in the same memo. (I'm a
'90's kind of guy)

4. Another week goes by. No call. Oh, well. Time to forget about
it.

5. The next day I get billed for the book.

6. I call Harry but he won't take my call. He's under deadline.  (As
if I'm not). His assistant takes my call. Promises to get back to
me.Maybe she can find the office copy that Harry was going to look
for.  Can't understand how I got billed for a non-existent book.Seems
confused but says that she will make sure that I am taken care of and
that she will prove what a fine company they are. Great.  I e-mail and
fax memos to them again to make sure the bill is finally canceled.

7. No one calls or checks back.  I fax again. Someone calls to
tell me that they don't have a copy, they don't understand what
has happened, that they don't know why Harry won't talk to me and
that they are a great company.In talking with her, however, it is
obvious that she has not seen any of my faxes or electronic mail.
I propose a solution. Call the publisher. Overnight me me a
photocopy of the book. It's only 87 pages. She tells me that she
already did that and that the publisher doesn't have a copy! Even
though it is supposed to be reprinted in three weeks!

What lousy company service. They only call back under pressure if at
all. They have none of the technology they write about. They show
inventory if it is still in their catalog, regardless if they have it.
And they bill for goods despite calls, faxes and e-mail.

Is this common? It's my first order with them and I can't believe how
low tech they are and what an attitude they have. Anyone else have
this problem? They just did a mass mailing of 300,000 catalogs, so
good luck everyone!


Tom Farley  -- private line

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (David Esan)
Subject: April 1995 NPA/NXX report
Date: 19 May 95 15:11:17 GMT
Organization: Moscom Corporation, Pittsford NY


This is my quarterly report on the number of exchanges in each NPA in
the NANP.  It is derived from information in FCC #10.  This is article
#16 in the series.

FCC #10 is a tariff issued by BellCore that contains all the area
codes, exchange combinations in the North American Numbering Plan
(NANP).  It also contains lata information and V&H coordinate
information.  There is a lot of additional information that I don't
use, so I won't add here.  It is available through a number of
sources.  The one closest to the FCC is ITS, which can be contacted at
202-857-3800.  My company compiles this information for use in its
products and does not seem to be interested in selling this
information.  Queries are still flowing through the bureaucracy.

I have used pages that are effective prior to April 20, 1995.  I am
not responsible for the information supplied in FCC #10.

I have not included the following in my counts of exchanges:

  - NXX's that are not dialable by a standard user (ie nxx's that begin
    with a 1 or 0).

  - Mexican exchanges in the 52[1-9] series of area codes.  I've got them,
    you can dial them with 011, but they're not really NPAs.

  - Exchanges that are non-dialable in the 88? series of area codes.  I've
    got those also, but you can't dial them, so I'm not including them.

    Numbers that begin with 88 are nondialable stations in the US, Canada and
    Mexico.  They are ranches in the middle of the Nevada or Texas desert,
    or isolated outpost of civilization (always wanted to use that phrase) in
    the tundra of Canada.  I find place names like the Bar J Ranch, Double B
    Ranch, and JD Dye, Texas, Amargosa, Corncreek and Reese Valley, NV, and
    Chick Lake, Redknife and Taglu, NT.  I gather they are ringdown stations,
    or radio-telephone stations.  [It has been noted in c.d.t. that at least
    two of these numbers are for a bordello on the NV-CA border.]


The fields are:
                        ------------ rank last in January, 1995
          213: 736 (1, 7)
  area code --^^^  ^^^     ^------- number of new exchanges
                    |-------------- total number of exchanges

206: 778 ( 1,  3)  703: 699 ( 7, 20)    404: 681 (11, 13)   212: 657 (16,  4)
602: 775 ( 3, 22)  813: 690 ( 8, 17)    503: 678 (12, 12)   314: 653 (18, 14)
205: 769 ( 2,  5)  803: 685 (10, 16)    303: 676 ( 9,  5)   604: 652 (20, 29)
708: 753 ( 5, 23)  305: 685 (15, 32)    615: 674 (13, 14)   203: 642 (19, 12)
713: 727 ( 6,  8)  216: 685 (14, 28)    214: 669 (17, 16)   403: 638 (21, 16)

 1. 206 - split is in progress.  Number should be reduced by split.
 2. 602 - split is in progress.  Number should be reduced by split.
 3. 205 - split is in progress.  Number should be reduced by split.
 4. 708 - split is planned.  Number should be reduced by split.
 5. 713 - split is in progress.  Number should be reduced by split.

 6. 703 - split is planned.  Number should be reduced by split.
 7. 813 - split is in progress.  Number should be reduced by split.
 8. 803 - split is planned.  Number should be reduced by split.
 9. 305 - split is planned.  Number should be reduced by split.
10. 216 - split is planned.  Number should be reduced by split.

11. 404 - split is planned.  Number should be reduced by split.
12. 503 - split is planned.  Number should be reduced by split.
13. 303 - split is in progress.  Number should be reduced by split.
14. 615 - split is planned.  Number should be reduced by split.
15. 214 - split is planned.  Number should be reduced by split.
17. 314 - split is planned.  Number should be reduced by split.
18. 604 - split is planned.  Number should be reduced by split.
19. 203 - split is planned.  Number should be reduced by split.

->  The NPA that is largest and is not splitting nor has plans, at this time,
    to split, is 212.

->   The 6 smallest NPA's are:

      413: 143 - Western Massachusetts  (+6 exchange)
      906: 117 - Michigan's Upper Peninsula (no change)
      807: 109 - Western Ontario (+1 exchange)

      413: 148 - Western Massachusetts  (+5 exchange)
      302: 148 - Delaware (+2 exchanges)
      906: 117 - Michigan's Upper Peninsula (no change)
      807: 109 - Western Ontario (no change)
      630:  29 - Remnants of 708 proposed split
      281:  23 - Beginning of 713 overlay


->   The NPAs with the greatest growth rates are:

     NPA   % growth

          905    7.50
          613    6.75
          519    6.64
          917    5.46
          909    5.08
          305    4.90
          312    4.72
          604    4.65
          301    4.57
          508    4.46

->   The 10 NPAs with the least growth rates are:

     NPA   % growth
          507    .35
          360    .34
          306    .21
          906     0
          807     0
          607     0
          520     0
          281     0
          416    -3.16  (deletion of 905 nxxs)
          215    -40.81 (deletion of 610 nxxs)

-> There are 78 NPAs (52% of the total, and increase of 4%) that have
   exchanges that are in the x00 to x19 range.  They are:

       201       216       360       510       615       714       903
       202       281       403       512       616       718       904
       203       301       404       513       618       803       905
       204       303       407       517       619       805       908
       205       305       408       519       630       808       909
       206       306       409       520       703       810       910
       209       310       410       602       704       813       916
       210       312       415       604       706       815       917
       212       313       416       609       707       816       919
       213       314       503       610       708       817       941
       214       317       506       612       713       818       970
       215       334


-> Just for grins:

   The most used NXX (not counting 555) is 754 used in 123 npas.

   The least used are:
        311 used only in 212, and 959 used only in 808.

I should note here that these are exchanges that are truly in use, not for
special calling, but in general day to day use.

All the NPAs and the number of nxx's in each are listed below:


201: 515  304: 358  406: 396  510: 404    613: 332  716: 448  819: 321
202: 312  305: 685  407: 514  512: 394    614: 484  717: 551  901: 280
203: 642  306: 459  408: 406  513: 524    615: 674  718: 514  902: 285
204: 362  307: 196  409: 340  514: 526    616: 428  719: 213  903: 303
205: 769  308: 220  410: 502  515: 464    617: 521  801: 423  904: 627
206: 778  309: 277  412: 487  516: 473    618: 368  802: 186  905: 358
207: 367  310: 612  413: 148  517: 364    619: 592  803: 685  906: 117
208: 339  312: 620  414: 545  518: 294    630: 29      804: 573  907: 423
209: 437  313: 425  415: 473  519: 401    701: 387  805: 377  908: 417
210: 509  314: 653  416: 428  520: 364    702: 355  806: 271  909: 351
212: 657  315: 289  417: 233  601: 476    703: 699  807: 109  910: 447
213: 419  316: 404  418: 373  602: 775    704: 434  808: 313  912: 392
214: 669  317: 536  419: 367  603: 263    705: 294  809: 576  913: 477
215: 435  318: 395  501: 605  604: 652    706: 267  810: 431  914: 414
216: 685  319: 361  502: 406  605: 379    707: 220  812: 303  915: 339
217: 397  334: 310  503: 678  606: 306    708: 753  813: 690  916: 515
218: 312  360: 291  504: 429  607: 183    709: 269  814: 286  917: 270
219: 419  401: 166  505: 367  608: 270    712: 297  815: 346  918: 332
281: 23      402: 458  506: 196  609: 348    713: 727  816: 547  919: 400
301: 434  403: 638  507: 284  610: 315    714: 469  817: 581  941: 300
302: 148  404: 681  508: 491  612: 631    715: 328  818: 511  970: 244
303: 676  405: 570  509: 281


-->     David Esan      [e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 19 May 1995 14:28:04 EST
From: Rob Slade <[e-mail]>
Subject: Book Review: "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Usenet Newsgroups"


BKCIGUSN.RVW   950330

"The Complete Idiot's Guide to Usenet Newsgroups", Paul McFedries, 1995, 1-
56761-592-9, U$16.99/C$23.95
%A   Paul McFedries [e-mail]
%C   201 W. 103rd Street, Indianapolis, IN   46290
%D   1995
%G   1-56761-592-9
%I   Alpha Books
%O   U$16.99/C$23.95 800-858-7674 [e-mail]
%P   317
%S   Complete Idiot's Guide ...
%T   "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Usenet Newsgroups"

Usenet news is not, primarily, about technology, competing newsreaders
or massive data transfers.  Usenet news is about discussion.
McFedries keeps this idea firmly in mind, and presents a very useful,
helpful, and acceptable introduction to the topic and activity.

Part one covers the basics and background concepts.  Netiquette is
covered early, while jargon is presented as necessary for the reader's
understanding, without suggesting that it be used (Bravo!).  Part two
covers the mechanics of newsreaders, not only on host systems (trn, rn
and tin) and client programs (Trumpet, AIR News, Netscape and
Newswatcher), but also on Compuserve, America Online and Delphi.
McFedries' guide to newsgroups, in part three, is more logically laid
out than most, but I did note some gaping holes in the coverage.

The level of the material is neither oversimplified to the point of
inaccuracy, nor bogged down in technical depth.  There are gaps in the
information which could have been filled without upsetting this
balance.  (For example, only the University of Texas mail-to-news
gateway is mentioned.)  Overall, however, this is a valuable starting
point.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1995   BKCIGUSN.RVW   950330. Distribution
permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated publications. Rob Slade's
book reviews are a regular feature in the Digest.


Vancouver      [e-mail]
Institute for  [e-mail]
Research into  [e-mail]
User           [e-mail]
Security       Canada V7K 2G6

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #249
******************************


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Date: Mon, 22 May 1995 08:48:13 -0500
From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #250

TELECOM Digest     Mon, 22 May 95 08:48:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 250

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Bell Canada to File Pay-per-Local-Call Rates (Dave Leibold)
    Global Electronic Library Project via Internet (Dave Leibold)
    Imperial College Short Course on "Multimedia Data Compression" (W. Goodin)
    Book Review: "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Mosaic" by Kraynak (Rob Slade)
    Pac Bell Fixed it - and Fast! (Bob Yazz)
    T1.403 ESF and CRC-6 Usefulness (Jim Beasley)
    Execs Issue Declaration (Steve Geimann)
    Cellular-Cancer Suit Dismissed (Steve Geimann)
    Telephone Voice "Broadcast" Software? (Harold Hallikainen)
    Anyone Heard of LSI, Carrier or Resp Org? (Judith Oppenheimer)
    Flash! NYNEX WWWeb Site With Yellow Pages for NY; New England (J. Covert)
    Last Laugh! Mike and Terry's Lawnmower Service ([e-mail])

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.

Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual
readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:

                 * [e-mail] *

The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
                    9457-D Niles Center Road
                     Skokie, IL USA   60076
                       Phone: [phone]
                        Fax: [phone]
  ** Article submission address only: [e-mail] **

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.

*************************************************************************
*   TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the              *
* International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland    *
* under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES)   *
* project.  Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.                                                 *
*************************************************************************

Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such
as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help
is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per
year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.

All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Dave Leibold)
Date: 22 May 95 01:09:36 -0500
Subject: Bell Canada to File Pay-per-Local-Call Rates
Organization: Gateway: The Super Continental - North York, Canada


[from Bell News, 15 May 95 - this is Bell Canada's version of events]

Bell to file usage-based pricing for business local calling.

Bell will move one step closer to a pay-as-you-use pricing structure
for business local calling.

On May 31, we will ask the CRTC to approve prices for this new
structure, which would see business customers pay a reduced, flat
monthly price to access the local network, plus per-minute usage
charges, based on distance, for certain outgoing calls, starting July
1, 1997.

Pay-per-use continues our move toward cost-based pricing. The need for
price restructuring became clear following a September 1994 decision
by the CRTC to introduce competition to the local calling environment.
In April of this year, we filed a plan to restructure prices for
*access* to the local network so that they will align more closely
with costs. Pay-per-use will better reflect the costs of *usage* -
that is, the number of calls customers actually make.

Usage-sensitive pricing emphasizes fairness for business customers
because they will only pay for the local calls they make. Customers
who make many calls will pay more, while those who make fewer calls
will pay less. The proposed pricing will not generate additional
revenues for the company.

Pay-per-use will also provide a platform for Bell's vision of local
services, which would see customers enjoy greater choice and flexibility
in the kinds of services they receive and the way they pay for them.

Although usage pricing for business is the norm in many other
countries, such as the U.S. and UK., it will represent a major change
for our customers. As a result, it will be critical that Bell
employees provide on-going support in responding to customer questions
and concerns throughout the transition to usage pricing.

"Employees in Sales, the Business Offices, and many other areas of
the company will play a key role in the transition to this new
way of pricing," says Raymond Provencher, director, Local Marketing.

"We  will have to work closely with our business customers, and
provide them with the tools and solutions to manage the change."

Look for in-depth coverage on this filing in upcoming issues of
Bell News.

                                -------

[sidebar]

What business will NOT pay for:

* incoming calls;
* long distance calls;
* calls made within customer's system;
* calls to 911;
* directory assistance (411);
* Bell operator (0);
* Bell repair (611);
* relay services for the hearing impaired (711).

What business will pay for:

* all other outbound local calls.


Fidonet : Dave Leibold 1:250/730
Internet: [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I think they are making a big mistake by
not requiring businesses to pay for calls to Directory Assistance. Many
large businesses are big abusers of this service. There will usually be
hundreds of copies of the telephone directory delivered to a large corp-
oration each year, yet very few employees ever seem to have a copy at
their desk; it is always easier to dial 411. Then also, businesses which
rely on very accurate, up-to-date records of how to reach their customers
such as credit services, banks, etc *never* use the paper directory,
instead preferring the more accurate operator records. One reason all of
us here in Ameritech territory have paid for Directory Assistance calls
for many years now was because of the way businesses abused it.   PAT]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Dave Leibold)
Date: 22 May 95 00:59:02 -0500
Subject: Global Electronic Library project via Internet


[from Bell News, 15 May 95 - this is Bell Canada's version of events]

Global Electronic Library to include National Library historical
collection on Internet.

Historical materials from the National Library of Canada will be among
the first to form part of the Global Electronic Library (GEL), an
initiative by the Stentor Alliance to begin to make collections from
the world's libraries available via cable and computer networks.

Derek Burney, chairman of BCE's Bell Canada International, said
members of the Stentor Alliance are participating in the international
project aimed at ultimately bringing material from such institutions
as the National Library of Canada, the U.S. Library of Congress, the
Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, the Lenin State Library in Moscow and
the British Library in London to classrooms and homes via cable TV and
the Internet.

"The Global Electronic Library is an undertaking that is breathtaking
in scope with the capacity to empower citizen learners with a fund of
knowledge beyond that imagined in the past," Mr Burney said.

"It is a practical demonstration of the potential of the Information
Highway to affect learning and knowledge."

He announced a $450,000 gift by Bell and the other Stentor owner
companies to the National Library of Canada which will permit it to
expand access to Canadian publications through the digitalization of
collections, in particular some of its pre-1900 historical content.

By digitizing, the material can be distributed on the Internet as part
of a global electronic library and by broadband co-axial cable to cable
TV subscribers.

Mr Burney spoke at a news conference which featured a live satellite
demonstration of students in Nova Scotia and Virginia working on class
projects with learning materials delivered to them via the Internet
from the National Library of Canada and the U.S. Library of Congress.

The move by Stentor members to fund the first step in the National
Library's access and preservation program through digitization follows
initiatives by Jones Education Networks in the U.S., a major education
and communications company in which Bell Canada International has made
an investment.

Jones has acted as a catalyst for digitization of collections of the
U.S. Library of Congress.

Material from the Global Electronic Library (GEL) will reside on the
Internet as part of the Jones Education Network's (JEN) World Wide
Web "Home Page" and will be accessible to WWB [sic] browsers and Mind
Extension University students beginning today.

The Mind Extension University is a specialty channel that reaches 26
million households with degree programs from 30 universities.

The Internet address for the Global Electronic Library is http://www.meu.edu.


Fidonet : Dave Leibold 1:250/730
Internet: [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (William R. Goodin)
Subject: Imperial College Short Course on "Multimedia Data Compression"
Date: Sun, 21 May 1995 15:02:07
Organization: UCLA Extension


On June 28-30, 1995, Imperial College will present the short course,
"Multimedia Data Compression", on the campus of Imperial College in
South Kensington (central London).  The course is jointly sponsored by
UCLA Extension.

The instructor is Jerry D. Gibson, PhD, J.W. Professor of Electrical
Engineering, Texas A&M University, USA.

Information technology is increasingly important to society; and the
efficient digital representation or compression of data, speech,
music, facsimile, still images, and video, both for storage and
transmission, is playing a dominant role in current and developing
communications systems.  Examples include computer networks, PCs,
workstations, video-on-demand, and other entertainment options.
Understanding these compression standards, including the basic
principles and algorithms, is essential to the development of new
products and services in these diverse and developing fields.

This course explains the fundamental principles and algorithms
underlying these standards and describes in detail current and
evolving multimedia compression standards.  The course should help
professionals to understand existing standards and products, evaluate
future standards, and incorporatethese compression methods into their
own applications.

Specific topics include:

What is data compression, entropy and lossless coding, scalar and
vector quantization, predictive coding, speech coding standards,
frequency domain coding, high quality speech and audio coding,
standards and application in grey-scale image compression, standards
and applications in video conferencing, standards and application in
video compression.

For additional information and a complete course description, please contact
Sally Verkalk at:

tel:   [phone]/6881
fax:   [phone]
email:   [e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 21 May 1995 17:37:21 EST
From: Rob Slade <[e-mail]>
Subject: Book Review: "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Mosaic" by Kraynak


BKCIGMOS.RVW   950328

"The Complete Idiot's Guide to Mosaic", Joe Kraynak, 1995, 1-56761-588-0,
U$16.99/C$23.95
%A   Joe Kraynak [e-mail]
%C   201 W. 103rd Street, Indianapolis, IN   46290
%D   1995
%G   1-56761-588-0
%I   Alpha Books
%O   U$16.99/C$23.95 800-858-7674 [e-mail]
%P   278
%S   Complete Idiot's Guide ...
%T   "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Mosaic"

Other than copping out on SLIP configuration, this is a very thorough,
user level guide to Mosaic.  (Come to think of it, SLIP configuration
is *not* user level stuff, so the advice to rely on your provider is
likely good enough.)

Part one gives background information and a solid guide to what you
need, and where to get it.  There are separate chapters for
installation on Windows and Mac, and a very useful chapter on error
messages.  Part two covers the operation of Mosaic, itself, while part
three details the use of Mosaic as a front end to ftp, Gopher, telnet,
Usenet news, WAIS, finger and whois.  There are also chapters on the
other World Wide Web browsers, plus the mandatory list of Web sites to
visit.

Well written, helpful and aimed at a good audience level.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1995   BKCIGMOS.RVW   950328. Distribution
permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated publications. Rob Slade's
book reviews are a regular feature in the Digest.


Vancouver      [e-mail]    | "A modern US Navy cruiser now requires
Institute for  [e-mail] |  26 tons of manuals.  This is enough
Research into  [e-mail]|  to affect the vessel's performance."
User           [e-mail]       |             "New Scientist" article
Security       Canada V7K 2G6      |              on the "paperless office"

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Bob Yazz)
Subject: Pac Bell Fixed it -- and Fast!
Date: 22 May 1995 00:29:32 GMT
Organization: Locus Computing Corporation, Inc.


I'm pleased to be able to report that Pac Bell has lived up to "The
Telephone Company's" longstanding tradition of serving the disabled.

San Diego customers can once again pause momentarily while dialing --
up to 15 seconds when I checked -- without getting cut off by a recording
that tells them to hang up and try again.  The problem took under a
week to correct.

While I never had any doubt that this was a "bug" not an intended
"feature", I was particularly pleased that Pac Bell reconfigured their
switch right away, rather than waiting 6-18 months for a new BCS
(DMS-100 switch software release) to come out.  The timeout was always
a telco-configurable parameter.

I even got a call from someone at Pac Bell's "External Relations"
department.  I hadn't contacted them, nor the PUC, nor any higher-
ups at Pac Bell, so I have to wonder if those folks read the TELECOM
Digest!

Anyway, credit where credit is due; thanks Pac Bell.


Best wishes,

Bob Yazz

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Jim Beasley)
Subject: T1.403 ESF and CRC-6 Usefulness
Date: Mon, 22 May 1995 05:26:45 GMT
Organization: Whittaker Communications
Reply-To: [e-mail]


In looking at the overhead bits for and Extended Superframe T1
connection, there is a CRC-6 value transmitted over a 2Kbps subset of
that overhead.  Can someone tell me how that is used and what would
happen if the CRC-6 were not calculated or transmitted?

I would assume that Error Free Seconds might be detirmined from errors
in the CRC-6, but I am wondering if any other use is made of it (or if
that assumption is not correct).

I am considering an encapsulation method for T1 data that would not
allow me to send CRC-6 in a timely manner.  This is why I need to know
how useful or important it is to T1 users.


Thanks for any replies,

Jim Bealsey

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Date: Mon, 22 May 1995 07:06:21 GMT
Subject: Execs Issue Declaration


By STEVE GEIMANN
Senior Editor, {Communications Daily}

     Leaders of 34 global companies Thurs. declared support for plans
to open telecommunications markets, but urged govts. to accelerate
building data networks and encourage participation of all nations.
High-level meeting, held quietly at Mayflower Hotel in Washington,
issued 13-page policy paper, including 6-point declaration of
principles.  Participants said meeting was "unprecedented" in
developing consensus.  "We call on governments to take urgent and
coordinated action... to accelerate" development.  Paper will be
presented to heads of state at Halifax, Nova Scotia, meeting next
month.

     Olivetti Chmn.-CEO Carlo De Benedetti of Italy convened meeting,
which picked up where Group of 7 nations ministers ended meeting in
Brussels Feb. 24-26.

     Insiders said meeting would take longer than expected as
delegates worked out language of action plan.  "We all felt it was
important that we did not provide governments with just air," source
said.  In hallway outside meeting, several delegates praised
declaration and overview as "more than good" and predicted acceptance
by heads of state.  Participants were confident differences among
companies, especially monopolies and competitive firms, would find
"convergence" on key issues.

     Leaders recommended action to open all markets "not later than 1
Jan. 1998."  They also sought interoperability standards and
protection of privacy and intellectual rights.

     Document we obtained spelled out 8 principles that parallel
conclusions of ministers' meeting in Feb.  Business leaders
recommended that ministers:

(1) Conclude World Trade Organization (WTO)-General Agreement on Trade
& Services (GATS) negotiations by April 1996, opening basic
telecommunications services and infrastructures.

(2) Agree to remove barriers to trade in telecommunications products
and services, including foreign ownership restrictions and foreign
access to markets by April 1996.

(3) Remove trade, investment and technical barriers in information
technology sector, including customs tariffs, export controls,
government-mandated standards and "unnecessary conformity assessment
requirements."

(4) Identify and dismantle barriers based on content, ensuring access
on "transparent and fair basis," while promoting diversity.  Canal
Plus and France Telecom fear removing such barriers "could endanger
cultural diversity."

(5) Define set of investment rules on multilateral basis.

(6) Give institutions such as WTO and ITU responsibilities and
resources to coordinate and speed up global network development.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Date: Mon, 22 May 1995 07:06:22 GMT
Subject: Cellular-Cancer Suit Dismissed


By STEVE GEIMANN
Senior Editor, {Communications Daily}

     A federal judge in Florida dismissed first lawsuit that sought to
link cellular telephone use and cancer in death of Tampa woman, saying
evidence failed to meet judicial tests for scientific evidence.  Judge
Ralph Nimmons, in ruling issued last Wednesday, said documents
submitted by David Reynard hadn't been subject to peer review and in
several cases contradicted claims made in lawsuit.  "The court finds
that there is no genuine issue of material fact with regard to the
plaintiff's wrongful death claim," Nimmons wrote.  He said Reynard
didn't respond to company's motion to dismiss.

     Cellular Telecommunicaitons Industry Association President Thomas
Wheeler, in news conference Thursday, hailed decision as "seminal."  He
said: "The scientific evidence presented was not credible science."
He said industry-sponsored research, under Wireless Technology
Research Group, will continue despite dismissal.  Group this week
awarded three contracts for research.

     At least four other cases are pending alleging link between
phones and health problems.  He said courts have joined with General
Accounting Office and Food & Drug Administration in "finding no
credible scientific evidence" of problems.  In one case, in Cook
County (Chicago), judge said evidence "didn't even come close" to
linking cellular and cancer.

     Reynard filed suit in 1992 against GTE Mobilnet of Tampa, NEC and
GTE, charging cellular radiation "irritated or accelerated" growth of
brain tumor that led to death of his wife.

     Nimmons said: "The only medical evidence on causation submitted
by the plaintiffs is the affidavit of Dr. [David] Perlmutter, which
the court does not establish as a material issue of fact. There is no
proffered evidence that the studies, analysis and conclusions of Dr.
Perlmutter's affidavit have been subjected to the normal scientific
scrutiny through peer review and publication.  Additionally, the
conclusions of the affidavit are not supported by any objective
sources, such as a treatise or a published article in a reputable
scientific journal."

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Harold Hallikainen)
Subject: Telephone Voice "Broadcast" Software?
Date: 22 May 1995 02:37:42 -0700
Organization: SLONET Regional Information Access


    Anyway, the school where I teach is interested in software
that would do something similar to a fax broadcast, but it would be
voice.  They'd have a list of the students in a particular class and
if the class were cancelled, the system could call each of them and
let them know.  It SEEMS like this could be an option on the school's
phone system (I don't remember who made it), since it does have voice
mail and all sorts of fancy features.  But I'm wondering if there's
some simple PC software that could also do it.  I'm running SuperVoice
2 with a Maxtech voice/data/fax modem and am quite pleased with it.  I
spoke with the publisher of SuperVoice yesterday and they did not have
any voice broadcast software.  So, anything like this around?
SuperVoice 2 with modem was about $70.  It'd be real nice to find
something in this price area.


Thanks!

Harold Hallikainen        email     [e-mail]
Hallikainen & Friends        www     http://slonet.org/~hhallika/
141 Suburban Road, Building E4    phone    [phone]
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401-7590    fax    [phone]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Judith Oppenheimer)
Subject: Anyone Heard of LSI, Carrier or Resp Org?
Date: 15 May 1995 21:01:02 -0400
Organization: Interactive CallBrand(TM)


I'm looking for a company called LSI - either a carrier, or resp org.
Please respond to [e-mail] with where/how to contact etc.


Judith


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Judith, how about getting back to us soon
with the most recent update on the Internatioal Freephone situation?   PAT]

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 22 May 95 00:06:42 EDT
From: John R. Covert <[e-mail]>
Subject: Flash! NYNEX WWWeb site with Yellow Pages for New York; New England


FLASH!!

    http://www.vtcom.fr/nynex/

Is a WWWeb interface to the NYNEX Yellow Pages, with links from the business
entries to their own web pages, when known.


 /john

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Date: Mon, 22 May 1995 00:33:58 -0400
Subject: Last Laugh! Mike and Terry's Lawnmower Service


Attempting to get to the bottom of the matter, I called the PR
department at Mitel this morning to find out if there is any truth to
the widespread rumor that it was originally called "Mike and Terry's
Lawnmower Service."  The clerk there told me that this was absolutely
false, and that supression of this damaging rumor was the primary job
function of a whopping 7% of Mitel's mployees!

She went on to say that other companies' names had far more colorful
origins.  For example, the WordPerfect corporation was originally
called Satellite Software International.  The name Microsoft was
suggested by a woman the morning after one of Bill's less memorable
attempted conquests.  IBM was the name chosen by Tom Watson for his
first business venture, a novelty suppository company whose products
not only provided instant relief, but turned the stool deep blue, or
Indigo.  This venture went nowhere, but after his 12 year stint at NCR
Watson reactivated the shell company under the same name.  The rest is
history.

Tom Watson had a childhood nanny, and after he flew the nest she
helped found a remarkable group of similarly retired nannies with
nothing to do.  They spent their afternoons drinking tea and doing
tatting alone in their apartments, then they got together around
6:00pm for their retired nannies support group, which they somewhat
appropriately called After Tea & Tatting.  As it happened, Alexander
Graham Bell's mother, Mary "Ma" Bell was also a member of this group.
When he ran into business difficulties early in his attempts to
popularize the telephone, AT&T came to the rescue.  The nannies agreed
to conduct all their support group meetings by telephone, running up
enormous bills and saving the fledgling technology from oblivion.
Thus AT&T was not only the first known support group and the first
known women's group but also the very first use of teleconferencing
and 'virtual meetings.'  Two of this original group, Beryl and
Beatrice returned to England before the war to found a Catering
service, but that is another story.

Another founding member of AT&T, Constance Wilkins, went into a
shocking decline in the late '30's, and ended up living in Las Vegas,
compulsively playing slot machines.  Her preferred haunt was the first
dry cleaner's in Vegas to feature slot machines, the Nice 'n Easy
Cleaners.  This was run by a Japanese guy, Fuji Morita, who fled back
to Japan in 1940 to escape the concentration camps.  He remembered
Constance's stories about the big money to be made in telecommunciations.
Again, the rest is history.  But some say that NEC's bid to buy the
MGM Grand is not 'diversification into entertainment,' but a case of
corporate nostalgia, since the hotel occupies the site of the original
Nice 'n Easy Cleaners.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Very clever!  Some real cases of name
choices though include MCI and Sprint. MCI, or Microwave Communications,
Inc. did in fact get started as a small company in central Illinois where
the owner was involved in the production and repair of microwave radio
equipment. His name long since forgotten, he got involved in a partnership
with Bill McGowan. The new partnership's original purpose was to provide
private leased circuits to 'a few selected customers' of the firm between
Chicago and St. Louis. This would have been about 1970.  MCI's first
public offering was 'Execunet', a service between about a dozen cities
where one could call in to a local dialup in one of those commnities
and then after entering an account code outdial to one of the other
places in the relatively limited network. They also offered 'speed dial'
service where one connected to the local dialup, then entered a pin and
the network would automatically connect the call to a pre-detirmined
number on a collect call basis; sort of like an 800-style number. I signed
up for Execunet service in 1974 to see what it was like.

In the case of Sprint, the company was originally the telecom department
of the old Southern Pacific Railroad. Until about 1970, the railroad (and
most other railroads for that matter) operated their own telecommunication
links between their terminals by stringing wires on poles along the right
of way where the tracks were laid. For emergency use by train crews were
telephones every five miles or so along the tracks. The railroad wanted
to upgrade its telecommunications facilities and it did so with a huge
expansion in the early 1970's. The expansion was so large in fact that
the railroad had lots of excess capacity on their network which they
decided to sell to other companies. Eventually this was spun off into the
<S>outhern <P>acific <R>ailroad <I>nternal <T>elecommunications Company,
and that was eventually abbreviated simply as SPRINT. At some point or
another, the upper-casing was dropped and now it is known as Sprint.
MCI had been in business about a year or so when Sprint first started
selling their services to businesses only, also with a limited network
of about a dozen cities.

Often times letter abbreviations simply take on a meaning of their own
and the original phrase they represented is forgotten. Does anyone
remember when ITT referred to 'International Telephone and Telegraph',
or when GTE meant 'General Telephone and Electronics'?  In the case
of ITT at least, because of the many varied and diverse enterprises
the company got involved in (baking bread as one example), the name
was finally officially changed to simply the letters ITT. Likewise,
GTE makes lightbulbs among other things, with telephones now being just
a portion -- but a significant portion -- of their overall business.

Fax machines were so named because of the Telephone Company's penchant
for the use of the word 'exchange' on so many of their specialized
services. The machines which would send pictures and words over a phone
wire were part of the 'Facsimile Exchange', which eventually began gett-
ing shortened to 'facs exchange'. At some point the word 'exchange' was
dropped and the spelling was changed to agree with the way the letter
abbreviation was being pronounced. This was not to be confused with FX
service (Foreign Exchange) which involved bringing in phone service from
a telephone office other than the one geographically closest to the
subscriber.

Likewise, 'Telex' and TWX were originally the 'telegraph exchange' and
<T>ype<W>riter e<X>change services. I do not know why the one got an 'ex'
on the end and the other only an 'x'. Telex was Western Union's version
of a public switched network for telegraph machines and TWX was the Bell
System's version of the same thing. AT&T and WUTCO got in a big fight
about 1960 with WUTCO claiming Bell had no right to be in the telegraph
business. AT&T lost and had to divest themselves of the TWX business, but
the name stayed with the equipment.

So much, in fact, of the way things in telecom are named today is due
to the way the old Bell System named them. The Bell System 'practices'
had a name for everything, and most of those names and terms have continued
on to this day, regardless of the companies now involved in the manufacture
and sale of the equipment with the origin of the names many times lost in
obscurity.

And by the way, that was a very unkind comment about Bill Gates. I have
no authoritative word on this, but I beleive the name came from the
combination of micro-computers and software. My first introduction to the
company was about 1977-78 when I had my Ohio Scientific C-1-P computer.
It used Microsoft Basic (a very early version, full of bugs!) as did my
Apple ][ computers, only they (the Apple people) repackaged the same thing
under the name 'Applesoft Basic'. The Apple people started out in a garage
in back of the owner's house, you may recall. About 1977 they had four or
five employees and had to move to a small office to accomodate everyone and
get the space they needed.

Other abbreviations which have taken a life of their own?  Anyone?  And
please do not suggest that in the year 2050 there will be a monolithic
mega-national universal diversified corporation called TDI (only oldtimers
will recall that used to mean TELECOM Digest) whose primary business is
posting messages begging for money on the ten-billion site internet. If
anyone says that, I will personally fly out to see you and accept your
donation in person while presenting you with a free-will offering of my
own.  Smack!  <grin>   PAT]

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #250
******************************