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TELECOM Digest     Sun, 31 Jul 2005 18:21:00 EDT    Volume 24 : Issue 347

Inside This Issue:                             Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    iTunes Mints Podcasting Stars (Monty Solomon)
    Gadgets Gun for iPod's Glory (Monty Solomon)
    Google Growth Yields Privacy Fear (Monty Solomon)
    When Cell Phones Become Oracles (Monty Solomon)
    Privacy Guru Locks Down VOIP (Monty Solomon)
    Cisco Security Hole a Whopper;Whistle-Blower Faces FBI Probe (M Solomon)
    A Hacker Games the Hotel (Monty Solomon)
    Use of a Mysterious Cookie Irks Some Internet Users (Monty Solomon)
    iFM -- Radio, Remote, and Recorder for iPod (Monty Solomon)
    Bell System and GTE Telephone Operator? (Lisa Hancock)
    Cell Phone For VOIP - Home Device Imitates Provider Signal (jhedfors)
    Re: Bell Canada Cell Scam? (retrosorter)
    Re: E-911 Making Headway in VOIP (Tim@Backhome.org)
    Re: Nextel False Advertising (John Levine)
    Re: Nextel False Advertising (Joseph)
    Re: Nextel False Advertising (Robert Johnson)
    Re: Nextel False Advertising (Scott Dorsey)
    Re: Nextel False Advertising (NOTvalid@XmasNYC.Info)

Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the
Internet.  All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and
the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other
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               ===========================

Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be
sold or given away without explicit written consent.  Chain letters,
viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk are definitely unwelcome.

We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we
are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because
we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands
against crime.   Geoffrey Welsh

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

See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details
and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest.  

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

Date: Sat, 30 Jul 2005 23:39:25 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: iTunes Mints Podcasting Stars


By Steve Friess

Self-proclaimed tech geek Brian Reid got an MP3 player for Christmas
and decided after fiddling with it for a while to start a little
podcast called Sex Talk that focused on one of his passions: gender
issues.

The suburban Washington, D.C., stay-at-home dad did a few broadcasts,
touching on such sonorous topics as the Roman Catholic Church's stance
on female priests, and then gave up back in April when his audience
failed to grow beyond a few subscribers.

So imagine his surprise when, during the first week of July, Reid got
an e-mail from an Australian reader of his blog congratulating him for
having the 53rd-most-popular podcast on iTunes.

And so it went in the first fortnight after Apple Computer issued the
software that turned podcasts mainstream. The upgrade to iTunes 4.9 on
June 29 gave millions of iPod owners and iTunes customers a simple way
to search for and subscribe to podcasts without any other software.
Apple counted more than 1 million podcast subscriptions through iTunes
in the first two days alone, according to a company press release.

Still, the switch came suddenly and without warning, turning a long
list of mom-and-pop online audiocasters into overnight sensations,
crashing servers across the nation and minting new internet stars in a
way not seen since the early days of blogging.

And, of course, it left folks like Reid scratching their heads. Reid
has no idea how his defunct podcast ended up listed in the iTunes
directory -- and with an "explicit" label no less. He assumes that
label and the Sex Talk name explain how he scaled the charts alongside
such brand-name talkers as Air America Radio's Al Franken, Nightline's
Ted Koppel and Z100 radio's Elvis Duran.

http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,68185,00.html

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

Date: Sat, 30 Jul 2005 23:41:18 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Gadgets Gun for iPod's Glory


By Jonny Evans

LONDON -- The iPod may face challenges from music-playing cell phones
and online subscription services but will likely reign supreme because
it taps into the way consumers enjoy music, experts say.

At a panel discussion in London on Tuesday called "I Came, I Saw, IPod
 -- What's Next?," several digital-music experts were asked to identify
a likely successor to Apple Computer's market-leading device.

"After the iPod -- isn't that like asking what's after the book?"
asked journalist and keynote speaker Charles Arthur, who argued that
music will not necessarily flow to cell phones.

User interfaces and usage patterns matter, said Arthur. For mobile
music to succeed, "cell phones need to be as easy to use as a
BlackBerry," he said.

Arthur observed that handsets still suffer from unreliable connection
speeds and security issues. For example, today's handsets don't offer
elegant backup options for purchased songs, leaving consumers at the
mercy of network operators to replace their collections if handsets
are lost or damaged. At least computers let users burn CDs of their
purchases to guard against loss, Arthur said.

The cost of music download services and devices is also a barrier to
mass-market acceptance, said Michael Bull, a Sussex University
lecturer known as "Professor iPod."

http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,68261,00.html

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

Date: Sat, 30 Jul 2005 23:46:27 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Google Growth Yields Privacy Fear


Associated Press

Google is at once a powerful search engine and a growing e-mail
provider. It runs a blogging service, makes software to speed web
traffic and has ambitions to become a digital library. And it is
developing a payments service.

Although many internet users eagerly await each new technology from
Google, its rapid expansion is also prompting concerns that the
company may know too much: what you read, where you surf and travel,
whom you write.

"This is a lot of personal information in a single basket," said Chris
Hoofnagle, senior counsel with the Electronic Privacy Information
Center. "Google is becoming one of the largest privacy risks on the
internet."

Not that Hoofnagle is suggesting that Google has strayed from its
mantra of making money "without doing evil."

Rather, some privacy advocates worry about the potential: The data's
very existence -- conveniently all under a single digital roof --
makes Google a prime target for abuse by overzealous law enforcers and
criminals alike.

Through hacking or with the assistance of rogue employees, they say,
criminals could steal data for blackmail or identity theft. Recent
high-profile privacy breaches elsewhere underscore the vulnerability
of even those systems where thoughtful security measures are taken.

Law enforcement, meanwhile, could obtain information that later
becomes public, in court filings or otherwise, about people who are
not even targets of a particular investigation.

Though Google's privacy protection is generally comparable to -- even
better than -- those at Microsoft, Yahoo, Amazon.com and a host of
other internet giants, "I don't think any of the others have the scope
of personal information that Google does," Hoofnagle said.

Plus, Google's practices may influence rivals, given its dominance in
search and the fierce competition.

http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,68235,00.html

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

Date: Sat, 30 Jul 2005 23:47:45 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: When Cell Phones Become Oracles


By Ryan Singel

Cell phones know whom you called and which calls you dodged, but they
can also record where you went, how much sleep you got and predict
what you're going to do next.

At least, these are the capabilities of 100 customized phones given to
students and employees at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology --
and they may be coming soon to your cell phone.

The phones were part of a Ph.D. project by MIT Media Lab researcher
Nathan Eagle, who handed out the devices as a way to document the
lives of students and employees of MIT, ranging from first-year
undergrads and MBA students to Media Lab employees and professors.

Eagle's Reality Mining project logged 350,000 hours of data over nine
months about the location, proximity, activity and communication of
volunteers, and was quickly able to guess whether two people were
friends or just co-workers. It also found that MBA students actually
do spend $45,000 a year to build monster Rolodexes, and that
first-year college students -- even those who attend MIT -- lead
chaotic lives.

He and his team were able to create detailed views of life at the
Media Lab, by observing how late people stayed at the lab, when they
called one another and how much sleep students got.

Given enough data, Eagle's algorithms were able to predict what people
 -- especially professors and Media Lab employees -- would do next and
be right up to 85 percent of the time.

Eagle used Bluetooth-enabled Nokia 6600 smartphones running custom
programs that logged cell-tower information to record the phones'
locations. Every five minutes, the phones also scanned the immediate
vicinity for other participating phones. Using data gleaned from
cell-phone towers and calling information, the system is able to
predict, for example, whether someone will go out for the evening
based on the volume of calls they made to friends.

Eagle sees the project as a way to envision how mobile devices will
further change our lives, but also as a revolutionary new way to study
social networks.

The project was able to record how the lab as a whole responded to
events as disparate as an organization-wide deadline and the Red Sox's
stunning World Series win in 2004.

http://www.wired.com/news/wireless/0,1382,68263,00.html

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

Date: Sat, 30 Jul 2005 23:50:42 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Privacy Guru Locks Down VOIP


By Kim Zetter

First there was PGP e-mail. Then there was PGPfone for modems. Now
Phil Zimmermann, creator of the wildly popular Pretty Good Privacy
e-mail encryption program, is debuting his new project, which he hopes
will do for internet phone calls what PGP did for e-mail.

Zimmermann has developed a prototype program for encrypting voice over
internet protocol, or VOIP, which he will announce at the BlackHat
security conference in Las Vegas this week.

Like PGP and PGPfone, which he created as human rights tools for
people around the world to communicate without fear of government
eavesdropping, Zimmermann hopes his new program will restore some of
the civil liberties that have been lost in recent years and help
businesses shield themselves against corporate espionage.

VOIP, or internet telephony, allows people to speak to each other
through their computers using a microphone or phone. But because VOIP
uses broadband networks to transmit calls, conversations are
vulnerable to eavesdropping in the same way that e-mail and other
internet traffic is open to snoops. Attackers can also hijack calls
and reroute them to a different number.

Few people consider these risks, however, when they switch to VOIP.

http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,68306,00.html

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

Date: Sat, 30 Jul 2005 23:52:18 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Cisco Security Hole a Whopper; Whistle-Blower Faces FBI Probe


By Kim Zetter

LAS VEGAS -- A bug discovered in an operating system that runs the
majority of the world's computer networks would, if exploited, allow
an attacker to bring down the nation's critical infrastructure, a
computer security researcher said Wednesday against threat of a
lawsuit.

Michael Lynn, a former research analyst with Internet Security
Systems, quit his job at ISS Tuesday morning before disclosing the
flaw at Black Hat Briefings, a conference for computer security
professionals held annually here.

The security hole in Cisco IOS, the company's "infrastructure
operating system" that controls its routers, was patched by Cisco in
April, Lynn said, and the flawed version is no longer available for
download. But Cisco didn't want the information disclosed until next
year when a new version of the operating system would be out of beta
testing and ready for distribution.

Routers are devices that direct information through a network. Cisco
products account for the majority of routers that operate the backbone
of the internet and many company networks.

Lynn likened IOS to Windows XP, for its ubiquity.

http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,68328,00.html

Whistle-Blower Faces FBI Probe

By Kim Zetter

LAS VEGAS -- The FBI is investigating a computer security researcher 
for criminal conduct after he revealed that critical routers 
supporting the internet and many networks have a serious software 
flaw that could allow someone to crash or take control of them.

Mike Lynn, a former researcher at Internet Security Systems, or ISS,
said he was tipped off late Thursday night that the FBI was
investigating him for violating trade secrets belonging to his former
employer.

Lynn resigned from ISS Wednesday morning after his company and Cisco
threatened to sue him if he spoke at the Black Hat security conference
in Las Vegas about a serious vulnerability he found while
reverse-engineering the operating system in Cisco routers. He said he
conducted the reverse-engineering at the request of his company, which
was concerned that Cisco wasn't being forthright about a recent fix it
had made to its operating system.

Lynn spoke anyway, discussing the flaw in Cisco IOS, the operating
system that runs on Cisco routers, which are responsible for
transferring data over much of the internet and private networks.

Although Lynn demonstrated for the audience what hackers could do to a
router if they exploited the flaw, he did not reveal technical details
that would allow anyone to exploit the bug without doing the same
research he did to discover it.

http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,68356,00.html

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

Date: Sat, 30 Jul 2005 23:52:37 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: A Hacker Games the Hotel


By Kim Zetter

A vulnerability in many hotel television infrared systems can allow a
hacker to obtain guests' names and their room numbers from the billing
system.

It can also let someone read the e-mail of guests who use web mail
through the TV, putting business travelers at risk of corporate
espionage. And it can allow an intruder to add or delete charges on a
hotel guest's bill or watch pornographic films and other premium
content on their hotel TV without paying for it.

Adam Laurie, technical director of the London security and networking
firm The Bunker showed Wired News how he conducted such attacks at
hotels around the world before he was to speak about the vulnerability
Saturday at the DefCon hacker conference in Las Vegas.

Laurie is known as Major Malfunction in the hacker community. He also
revealed how infrared used for garage door openers and car-door locks
could be hacked, using simple brute force programming techniques to
decipher the code that opens the doors.

http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,68370,00.html

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

Date: Sun, 31 Jul 2005 11:03:11 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Use of a Mysterious Cookie Irks Some Internet Users


By DAVID KESMODEL    THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE

Earlier this summer, Uno Bloom, a songwriter in Brentwood, Tenn.,
noticed that his home computer appeared to be slowing down. He
searched the files on his hard drive in an effort to uncover clutter,
and found dozens of Internet cookies labeled "2o7.net."

He started monitoring his cookies -- small tracking files that are
automatically downloaded when users visit Web sites -- and realized
some of the suspicious files were coming from Ameritrade.com, where he
trades stocks. He did an Internet search for "2o7," and learned in a
computer forum that cookies bearing the name were maintained by
Omniture Inc., a Web analytics firm. Omniture helps its roster of
high-profile clients, including Ameritrade Inc., eBay Inc., Wal-Mart
Stores Inc. and Expedia Inc., study how people use their Web sites.

Mr. Bloom is one of a number of computer users who grew suspicious
when they discovered the files on their computers, either through
manual searches or by running antispyware programs that flagged
2o7.net for potential deletion. Adding to their concerns: when users
plugged www.2o7.net into a Web browser, they got a blank page. A fair
amount of Web know-how was required for users to discover that
Omniture owned the 2o7.net Web address. Some users have blasted
Omniture and its clients over use of the cookies.

The controversy over the 2o7.net cookies highlights the tension that
exists between marketing companies like Omniture and Web users who are
increasingly aware of, and adverse to, files that are automatically
placed on their computers when they surf the Internet.  At a time when
PCs are under assault by viruses and other nefarious software like
never before, users are employing a range of software tools and
tactics to protect themselves. Many users don't distinguish between
cookies, which are small bits of text commonly used by Web sites to
identify users, and malicious software that can steal personal
information or change PC settings. That has put marketers on the
defensive, as they try to get users to spare cookies when wiping
computers clean of potential threats.

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/0,,SB112248279507797567-UgCRBcSJhSZRiUI50YLUeSiF6_g_20060729,00.html

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

Date: Sun, 31 Jul 2005 11:18:38 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: iFM -- Radio, Remote, and Recorder for iPod


iFM integrates FM radio tuning, recording and remote control
functionality to the iPod, all in a tiny aluminum enclosure. With the
flip of a switch users can now switch seamlessly between controlling
their music library and listening to their favorite FM radio
programming. Use the iFM as an inline remote to control the iPod's
transport controls, great for workouts, biking or hiking. iFM is also
a recording device, with a built in microphone to record voice, or
change modes to capture live FM radio directly to the iPod!

http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/ifm/

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

From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com
Subject: Bell System and GTE Telephone Operator?
Date: 30 Jul 2005 20:43:12 -0700


Back in the 1960s, the Bell System employed a great many telephone
operators in different roles.  Some of the jobs looked very
interesting, such as overseas or toll operator on a cord switchboard.
Others looked extremely boring, such as directory assistance or ONI
(caller's number entry).  I was wondering how an operator got assigned
to the different roles and if pay scales differed for the different
roles.

To me, Directory Assistance and Intercept seem awfully boring.  It's
just looking up numbers in the various phone books.

The worst would be ONI.  Before ANI (automatic number identification
became common) an operator had to come on line and ask their caller
for their number.  She would key it into the system which would use it
for AMA billing.  Her console for that did nothing else.

The most exciting, and available only in a few places, would be an
overseas operator.  The technical handling of different countries
would be a challenge as well as speaking to overseas parties.  Now
it's no big deal but back then it was.

The middle of the road would be toll and assistance on a cord
switchboard.  These operators would handle trouble with local calls,
coin collection from all payphone calls, and operator handled toll
calls (collect, time & charges, person-to-person, 3rd billing, etc.)
While most toll calls were directly dialed and no big deal to set up,
occassionally a call would have to be specially built-up the old
fashioned way.

As the 1960s went into the 1970s operator jobs were reduced.  Bell
charged for directory assistance and operator handled toll calls,
reducing the volume.  Computerized switchboards such as TSP/TSPS
streamlined the function and "took the fun out of it".

Our retired small town telephone operator started as a teenager during
WW II.  She enjoyed working the town's local manual switchboard and it
was just like in the movies -- calls handled by name and keeping track of
where the doctor and policeman were in town.  When the town went dial
in 1954, she was transferred to a nearby city where it was a completely
different atmosphere -- very structured and disciplined.  When I toured
some Bell central offices in the 1970s the operator's areas didn't seem
quite as 'tight' as the 1950s is described.

The last manual boards in my area -- in suburban towns -- were retired
around 1962.  One area was fairly built up and would've had a lot of
traffic, enough to justify the "A" and "B" boards (calls received by
an "A" board, then passed to the appropriate "B" board for final
connection).  I wonder if those locations were disciplined.

I also wonder what city switchboards (not tiny towns) were like under
General Telephone and other independent companies.  Did their city
switchboards have the same discipline as the Bell System have the same
strictness?  [In the computer world, IBM was very formal while its
competitors were not.]

Historically, there wasn't much of a career path for a telephone
operator.  Often young women took the job for a few years until they
got married or had kids, and then they quit.  Some returned after the
kids were grown.  A few would get promoted to be supervisors.  Others
would leave and get jobs as PBX operators -- almost all large PBX
installations required an operator to be "Bell trained" and have Bell
Telephone experience to get hired.  As a PBX operator, one might have
career advancement within the particular company depending on her
skills and the attitude of the company (ie going from operator to
office secretary).

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

From: jhedfors <jhedfors@gmail.com>
Subject: Cell Phone For VOIP - Home Device Imitates Provider Signal
Date: 30 Jul 2005 16:58:09 -0700


I wonder if such a device is feasible?

Could there be a device that gives give off a home network signal that
your cell phone can connect to as it does your service provider?  You
could then user your cell handset for VOIP calls when near such a
device.

There is talk of special wi-fi enabled phones doing this, but this
could be used with any phone, and could possibly be wi-fi enabled as
well.

Any thoughts?

J

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

From: retrosorter <hrichler@sympatico.ca>
Subject: Re: Bell Canada Cell Scam?
Date: 30 Jul 2005 17:52:40 -0700


I believe that consumers who clearly do not want a phone with browser
features should not be sold one with such. If they are sold one they
should be told that they can have such a feature deactivated.

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

From: Tim@Backhome.org
Subject: Re: E-911 Making Headway in VOIP
Date: Sun, 31 Jul 2005 00:03:41 -0700
Organization: Cox Communications


Wayne Rash wrote:

> Things change when you're not connected to the phone company's
> lines. Cell phone users, for example, are connected to their wireless
> provider. Until recently, the best the wireless company could do was
> to have a general idea of the area of the caller, accurate perhaps to
> several square miles. Now, with more accurate location being mandated,
> phones can be located using other means, including GPS (Global
> Positioning System) receivers embedded in many phones.

GPS works only outdoors in a relatively open area.  It never works
indoors except perhaps when right next to a very large window with
plain glass.

This is the problem with technology that is not well understood by
those who propose using it for solutions under less than robust
circumstances.

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

Date: 30 Jul 2005 22:22:28 -0000
From: John Levine <johnl@iecc.com>
Subject: Re: Nextel False Advertising
Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA


TELECOM Digest Editor asked in a message:

> My next question was 'what about roaming?' If you do not have your own
> cell tower, you must have access to someone else's tower in the area ...
> (and Dobson came to mind). No, he said, Nextel does _not_ roam. Either
> you get our service or you don't get service. 

Nextel uses a technology called iDEN which is different from all of
the other carriers in the U.S.  A Nextel phone will work anywhere
there is iDEN coverage, which is Nextel's network in the US and
Mexico, Telus in Canada, and some carriers in a few other countries.

Nextel's coverage is pretty good, and they have as good a claim to
national coverage as anyone else.  Their coverage has holes in rural
areas, but so does anyone else's.  The holes are just different.
There is for example a narrow valley about 20 miles east of here where
no cell phones work at all and, considering how rural it is, they
never will.  No mobile carrier anywhere provides 100% coverage, and it
was pretty foolish of your nephew to expect to be reachable all the
time.

Somehow we all managed to survive back in the dark ages when
travellers had to drop coins into pay phones to call home, and you
couldn't get in touch with travelling friends and relatives at all
unless you were able to leave a message at a place where they'd be
staying.  How come now it's a major crisis if someone a thousand miles
away isn't instantly available at a touch of a button?  Sheesh.

R's,

John


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It is not a 'major crisis'; but rather,
just quite inconvenient when you are sold a device (commonly known as
a 'cell phone') with the assurance it will work 'anywhere', and you
have no particular reason to distrust the seller of same only to then
later find out the seller was full of hot air.  And it is not merely
that the 'push to talk' function is not available (I certainly would
not miss that feature very much; it is more of a curiosity to me) but
even the 'traditional cell phone features' do not work either.   PAT]n

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

From: Joseph <JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Nextel False Advertising
Date: Sat, 30 Jul 2005 20:37:41 -0700
Reply-To: JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com


On Sat, 30 Jul 2005 16:36:55 EDT, ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu (TELECOM
Digest Editor) wrote:

[lots of snip]

> As I have heard it, the key word at Nextel is 'worldwide'; good in any
> city, any time. Am I mistaken on that?  No need for 'roaming', etc.
> That's how they phrase it in the television ads they show here in our
> town.

It's as "worldwide" as anything is.  It's only "worldwide" if a signal
is available to you!

> They bought their Nextel phones about a month ago ... which worked
> quite well in Orlando (the push to talk feature, other calls, etc).

[more snip]

> They did push-to-talk all the way from Orlando though Atlanta,
> Nashville, St. Louis and Kansas City. He got out of Kansas City
> heading south/southwest toward our town, and the phone went dead. 

It's very obvious what happened.  There is no Nextel service in
Independence!  If there is no service in that town you of course will
not be able to use your phones.  It's the same whether it's Sprint,
cingular, T-Mobile or any other carrier.  All carriers do not serve
all areas.  I know that if I go to Elma, Washington my T-Mobile
service won't do me any good.  Cingular won't do you any good either.
Only Verizon will work there.  Not every service works in every
location despite what you might infer from a company's advertisements.

> He got here yesterday (Friday) morning, used my house phone to check
> in with his wife in Orlando who was beginning to get frantic. Not
> only did 'push to talk' not work, but she tried dialing direct into
> his number instead, and got nowhere with that except his voice mail.

There is no service so you could not use it.

> I played with his phone, which had a big 'no service' message on the
> LED

That was the answer!!

> called tech support on 800-639-6111. I told them where we were at, and
> that we do, of course, have cell towers all around here. 

Just because there are "cell towers" it doesn't mean that they are for
Nextel!

> In particular Dobson cell towers serve Cingular Wireless, US
> Cingular, and (Dobson's own) Cell One. So its not for a lack of
> coverage that we were getting the 'no service' message.

Quite the contrary.  It's because there is no coverage that you indeed
are getting that message.  Nextel does not service the area or if they
do there's not a tower that's near enough to provide service.

> The tech punched in my zip code, and street address, then came back
> and said 'no towers or service in your area'.

This is your answer!!!  I'm not sure why you think there's any more
"solution" to your problem.  Nextel does not service the area.

> My next question was 'what about roaming?' If you do not have your own
> cell tower, you must have access to someone else's tower in the area ...

Nextel does not roam *at all.* If there's no service they do not roam
on any other tower.  Nextel uses the iDen technology.  iDen is
incompatible with all other wireless technologies whether CDMA, TDMA,
AMPS or GSM.  Technically iDen which Nextel uses is not even cellular
service.  It is SMR which is a glorified walkie-talkie system.

> How odd ... I told him I heard many commercials on television saying
> Nextel was either (take your pick) 'Worldwide' or 'Nationwide' and
> the last I heard Kansas was part of the world and part of the nation. 

Don't take all advertisements as completely true in every situation.
You really should know this for *any* ads.

> I had thought about trying Nextel at one point, I am sure glad I did
> not fall for that 'nationwide coverage' lie.

No offense, but if you're going to use *any* service you need to check
it out and make sure that it will work for the purpose and place you
wish to use it.  It's obvious to me that whoever checked out wireless
options for where they were going to end up did not do their homework.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, it was not _me_ to start with.
I have inquired of Mike Sandman who has Nextel (among other) services;
he told me Nextel was not very good 'anywhere not along a major
interstate', but now these guys are stuck with a couple phones that
are useless, and a contract to boot. When newer technologies are sort
of a mystery even to relatively experienced users, how is it that kids
in their early/mid twenties getting a 'cellular phone' for the first
time in their lives are expected to know anything?  PAT]

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

Subject: Re: Nextel False Advertising
From: Robert Johnson <alohawolf@notchur.biz>
Date: Sun, 31 Jul 2005 03:19:42 -0700


Nextel has No Roaming Charges as stated in all their ads "anywhere on
Nextel's Nationwide Network" Nextel is Based on iDEN and operates in the
800 mhz band, if there is no iDEN network, the phone is a hockypuck, its
worthless as a phone, so its not a lack of *some* coverage, its a lack
of *COMPATIBLE* Coverage, Nextel cannot roam on a GSM, TDMA, CDMA or
AMPS network, it must be iDEN, one of the drawback of Nextel is, it is
not rural as a rule, unless you're in the southeast.


Robert Johnson
(feel free to spool this out to the list, just obscure my email if ya
could)


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: If a cellular telephone company told
you 'we have no roaming charges' would you take that to mean (1) we
have arrangements with other carriers and do not charge you _extra money_
for roaming, or would you take that statement to mean (2) we do not
have any roaming at all? Since in the past, the subject of excessive
charges for 'roaming' on another carrier's network has often times
been an issue (since resolved by many carriers with 'national' plans
such as the old AT&T), wouldn't you think that statement would be
interpreted as (1) above?   PAT]

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

From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey)
Subject: Re: Nextel False Advertising
Date: 31 Jul 2005 10:31:08 -0400
Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000)


TELECOM Digest Editor <ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu> wrote:

> How odd ... I told him I heard many commercials on television saying
> Nextel was either (take your pick) 'Worldwide' or 'Nationwide' and
> the last I heard Kansas was part of the world and part of the nation. 
> His response was that to Nextel, the phrase 'x-wide' referred to
> wherever they had towers, not elsewhere. About that same time there
> came another Nextel commercial on _our_ television. Now don't you
> think that is fraudulent to make those claims if they are not true?

Nextel is not a cellular provider.  They are something different.
They do not use cellular frequencies or protocols, but use their own
proprietary protocols on bits and pieces of the UHF business band.
This gets to be interesting since the allocations they have are
different in different areas.

Anyway, they do have nationwide coverage.  They aren't usable on every
square foot of the country.  No service is.  Anybody who tells you
that their service is, is lying.  If you have an application that is
so critical that you need connectivity at all times and all locations,
you shouldn't be using cellular phones or Nextel at all.

You'll find there are plenty of places where that AT&T phone you got does
not work, too.  It's like that.  You want reliability, get a wire line.

scott


"C'est un Nagra.  C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Yes, but at least AT&T Wireless, when it
existed, had the 'courtesy' to hold onto your call as long as it was
possible to do so, and only when the signal got to be _so crappy_ it
was no longer possible to hold you then they swapped you off to the
closest Cellular One tower as an 'extended area' user if possible or
a 'roamer' as needed. I know they (AT&T) did not like having to lose
the traffic from a cell phone which is why instead of swapping you out
to Cell One at a reasonable distance, they insisted on holding you
until the signal was mostly (but not totally) unusable. That was my
main complaint with AT&T; I am just a wee bit outside the range of
Tulsa and a wee bit outside the range of Wichita, consequently AT&T
would try to deal with me (and sometimes do so in a very crappy way),
rather than hand me off to Dobson Cell One. When I went here in town
to a very high point on a hill, and dialed zero (the 'O' operator) and
asked her 'who are you?' she would say Tulsa. But Nextel does not even
afford that limited opportunity for communication. But now I
understand they have (or are going to) merge with Sprint. I wonder
what will be the technical effects of that merger? Anyone have any
ideas?   PAT]

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

From: NOTvalid@XmasNYC.Info
Subject: Re: Nextel False Advertising
Date: 31 Jul 2005 11:39:34 -0700


I believe the NYS Attorney General recently hauled them into court for
false advertising. 


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Spritzer? He loves to sue one and all; 
it would not surprise me.  I do not suggest that Nextel should be sued
but rather, much like Vonage and the recent 911 fiasco, they should
be obliged to spell it out in black and white a little better than
they do: (1) "We do not have roaming service" (2)"Although we do serve
a large portion of the public and are considered 'nationwide', we only
serve mostly people centered near major interstate highways and in
larger cities successfully" (3)"Our technology is not compatible with
what is commonly referred to as 'cellular telephone service'. "  PAT]

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


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