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TELECOM Digest     Mon, 17 Oct 2005 17:05:00 EDT    Volume 24 : Issue 471

Inside This Issue:                             Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Yahoo in Broadband Phone Pact With BellSouth (Eric Auchard)
    Media Players Tune in to Podcast's Potential (Chris Marlowe)
    ADVA Buys Covaro (USTelecom dailyLead)
    Re: VoIP Phone Home? (Marc Popek)
    Re: Dropping SBC For a VoIP Solution -- Vonage or Packet8 (Nospam)
    Re: Recorded Weather Forecast for New York City? (John Levine)
    Alamogordo Telephone Office (John McHarry)

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

From: Eric Auchard <reuters@telecom-digest.org> 
Subject: Yahoo in Broadband Phone Pact With BellSouth
Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2005 14:56:43 -0500


By Eric Auchard

Yahoo Inc. and BellSouth Corp. on Monday said they agreed to offer
high-speed Internet service across the No. 3 U.S. local phone service
provider's nine-state region, moving Yahoo one step closer to
nationwide broadband coverage.

In a joint statement, the world's largest Internet media company and
the No. 3 U.S. local phone company said the new, co-branded service
will start operating in late 2006 and be aimed at BellSouth
residential broadband subscribers.

"We believe it will be fourth quarter 2006," Jeff Ezell, BellSouth
vice president of business development, said in a phone interview.

Yahoo already has broadband partnerships with SBC Communications Inc.
and Verizon Communications Inc., the No. 1 and No. 2 U.S. local phone
service providers.

This means Yahoo only lacks a deal with Qwest Communications
International Inc., the No. 4 local carrier, to fill out a national
map, which would allow it to market its services nationally instead of
region by region.

"We are holding talks with a variety of companies globally," Jim
Schinella, Yahoo's vice president for business development, said when
asked if his company was in talks on a similar partnership with Qwest
Communications.

Yahoo shares gained 70 cents, or 2.1 percent, to $34.22 in late
afternoon trading on Nasdaq. BellSouth shares dipped 12 cents to
$24.92 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Over the past year, Yahoo has signed similar broadband partnerships
with Verizon and Canadian broadband cable service provider Rogers
Communications Inc. and expanded pacts with SBC and Britain's BT Group
Plc while it continues to hunt for further deals.

Yahoo's partnerships with broadband service providers involve jointly
developing a special browser that prominently features links to
various Web services offered by Yahoo and the local broadband
providers.

The co-branded BellSouth Yahoo service will be available to all three
tiers of broadband service now offered by BellSouth. BellSouth counts
2.4 million subscribers to its broadband services.

The phone company provides a "DSL Lite" version at 256 kilobit per
second download speeds starting at $24.95 per month. It offers a 1.5
megabit speed for $32.95 and its top-tier 3 megabit per second service
for $42.95.


Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited.

NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the
daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new
articles daily.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Is this the same 'Bell South' which has
thus far been unable/unwilling to restore even a modicum of basic
phone service to the areas of New Orleans which suffered heavily from
the Katrina/Rita storms?  The same 'Bell South' which has largely
written off much of 9th Ward New Orleans almost entirely? Or is it
some other company with the same name?  PAT]

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

From: Chris Marlowe <reuters@telecom-digest.org>  
Subject: Media Players Tune in to Podcast's Potential
Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2005 14:57:16 -0500


By Chris Marlowe

The exponential growth of podcasting is due to both professional and
grassroots program creators. Most recently, Showtime, Radio Disney,
Fox Television and Simon & Schuster have joined the household names
who have embraced this new way of communicating with their audiences.

Showtime Networks is offering weekly podcasts that include interviews
with series producers and stars. Interview subjects available at press
time include "Weeds" stars Elizabeth Perkins, Tonye Patano, Justin
Kirk and Kevin Nealon and "Barbershop: The Series" stars Omar Gooding,
Anna Brown, Leslie Elliard and Barry Shabaka Henley.

Showtime Networks executive vp Mark Greenberg said additional
interviews with producers and actors from those shows are on their
way. Podcasts also are being readied for the anthology series "Masters
of Horror," the third-season return of "The L Word" and the upcoming
dramas "Sleeper Cell" and "Brotherhood."

"Our objective is to get a new audience to sample our programing, and
there's no better way to do that than to offer completely free,
exclusive audio content from our shows," Greenberg said. "Given the
widespread acceptance of portable audio devices, offering audio
content for our shows is another way for those consumers to find our
TV programing."

SPOTLIGHTING MUSIC

Aiming more at the young or young at heart, Radio Disney has launched
Radio Disney Now, a weekly program exclusively available via podcast.

The content will include several regular features, including "Insider,"
spotlight on the latest performing artists; and ":60 With," a
lighthearted look at the personalities behind the music.

This is the latest medium Radio Disney has embraced. The station
already is available to 97% of U.S. residents through a multiplatform
distribution strategy that includes terrestrial and satellite radio,
digital cable and satellite television, and the Internet.

Fox Television supports many of its series with podcasts that recap
the plot of each program after it airs. Fans can use them to catch up
on "The Simpsons," "Arrested Development," "Bones," "Family Guy,"
"House," "Prison Break," "Malcolm in the Middle" and others. These are
spoken-word summaries that do not include audio from the shows or
other content.	      

Publishing house Simon & Schuster also is tapping in to Hollywood
interests as part of its SimonSays Podcast program. These interviews
and special features are created by professional audiobook
producers. In addition to luminaries of the publishing world, the
podcasts include such movie-crossover content as excerpts from Stephen
King's "The Shining," read by Campbell Scott; Steve Martin's
"Shopgirl," read by the author; and Jennifer Weiner discussing her
novel "In Her Shoes."

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited.

NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the
daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new
articles daily.

Also see http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/newstoday.html

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

Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2005 13:17:10 EDT
From: USTelecom dailyLead <ustelecom@dailylead.com>
Subject: ADVA Buys Covaro


USTelecom dailyLead
October 17, 2005
http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/wmhUatagCugzipLEZX

		TODAY'S HEADLINES
	
NEWS OF THE DAY
* ADVA buys Covaro
BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH
* Nortel taps Zafirovski as chief
* Palm, RIM strike a deal
* Report: IP/DSL set-top shipments to boom
* Skype sees Microsoft, Yahoo! as challengers
* Yahoo! joins pursuit of AOL
* Spirent may seek acquisitions
USTELECOM SPOTLIGHT
* TELECOM '05: A preview of what's next --   register now and save
HOT TOPICS
* BellSouth expands wireless broadband service, strikes deal with Sprint
* Linksys unveils Skype cordless phone
* MEF announces Carrier Ethernet Certification Plan
* Comcast, Google in talks to buy AOL stake
* Study: Not all consumers see reason to use VoIP
TECHNOLOGY TRENDS
* Broadband over power line making inroads in U.S. market
* Mobile phones change lives in Africa
REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE
* Oregon lays claim to world's largest Wi-Fi network

Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others.
http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/wmhUatagCugzipLEZX

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

From: Marc Popek <LVMarc@Att.Net>
Subject: Re: VoIP Phone Home?
Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2005 16:25:06 GMT
Organization: AT&T Worldnet


Just use a pstn to VOIP auto switch easier and you get surge
protection FREE.

Marc

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5820032138&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT&rd=1

Marc Popek <LVMarc@Att.Net> wrote in message
news:telecom24.335.11@telecom-digest.org:

> Interesting point of view.

> Marco

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5790337602&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT&rd=1

> Fred Atkinson <fatkinson@mishmash.com> wrote in message
> news:telecom24.316.10@telecom-digest.org:

>> On Wed, 06 Jul 2005 07:39:44 GMT, Marc Popek <LVMarc@Att.Net> wrote:

>>> Mostly the cost difference and the convenience.

>>> Marc

>>> Fred Atkinson <fatkinson@mishmash.com> wrote in message
>>> news:telecom24.309.2@telecom-digest.org:

>>>> Why not just get a two-line RJ-14 type telephone?

>>>> Fred

>> Well, you can go to Radio Shack and get a very nice two line GE phone
>> with caller ID, speakerphone, and a bunch of other features for about
>> fifty dollars.  I just got one because I'm going to have two different
>> VOIP services at my new place in NC for a while.  When I have the
>> bucks, I'm going to get another one, too.

>> I used to be leary of phones being sold by Radio Shack.  But what I've
>> seen there lately has been an improvement.  It used to be off brands.
>> But now there's not so many different model phones but a few good ones
>> insteads.

>> Fred

Frank Bajak <ap@telecom-digest.org> wrote in message
news:telecom24.435.4@telecom-digest.org:

> Voice Over Internet Both Simple, Complex
> By FRANK BAJAK, AP Technology Editor

> We have more ways than ever of communicating, but trying to keep up
> with family and friends can be exasperating. Our overlapping free time
> seems to shrink. We constantly play phone and voice mail tag. And
> e-mail, in its tone-deaf impersonality, barely helps.

> One of the most unorthodox and intriguing among 32 new products
> launched onstage at this week's DEMOfall conference, a showcase of
> tech innovation, was a Web-based tool with a mission: to encourage
> emotional connection via audio messages.

> Not two-way conversations, mind you. Just me telling you my
> news. Click, talk and send.

> The product is called YackPack because the user creates groups, or
> packs, of people who can be audio-messaged individually or
> collectively. Each member of your pack gets an icon with his or her
> picture on it. An e-mail notification tells you when a Yack has
> arrived.

> "It turns out that asynchronous audio is the secret sauce for what
> keeps relationships alive and fresh," said B.J. Fogg, the company
> founder and chief executive. Much of YackPack's recipe came from the
> year Fogg spent with a focus group of women over age 50.

> Unlike Fogg, the typical tech startup CEO will bend your ear with
> metrics on market potential while spouting technobabble that would
> befuddle all but us geeks.

> Such people abounded at DEMOfall, where other promising products
> pitched to an elite crowd of investors and press also sought to better
> manage relationships: by turning a cell phone into a conference-call
> manager, helping eBay users place bids wirelessly, protecting the
> privacy of online consumers.

> Fogg, on the other hand, was more apt to be accused of
> psycho-babble. He is, after all, a Stanford psychologist in addition
> to being a computer scientist.

> "We're helping people connect emotionally, and that leads to
> happiness," he said.

> Santa Rosa, Calif.-based YackPack goes live in mid-October and will be
> free while in beta, then cost well under $10 per month, with a free
> ad-based version, Fogg says.

> There's no software to download, and Fogg says YackPack even works
> with dial-up connections. All you need is to get a microphone working
> with your computer.

> "Three-year-olds can do it. Grandmas can do it. People who can't read
> and write can do it," said Fogg.

> He sees the product as benefiting circles well beyond families --
> cancer support groups, for example.

> DEMO's semiannual shows have been springboards for such industry
> standouts as TiVo, the Palm Pilot and the Danger HipTop. After six
> years under the DEMOmobile moniker, this year's fall show got a name
> change in recognition of our ability to finally go online wirelessly
> with increasing ease.

> DEMO show producer Chris Shipley says the legions of ultra-productive
> but also constantly reachable and thus often harried "always-on
> people" are driving today's tech market. Shipley calls it the dawning
> era of "ultrapersonal computing."

> Software and services thus dominated DEMOfall, with a number of
> products appearing poised to humble industry giants, especially in
> telecommunications.

> One was Mobile Call Manager from Menlo Park, Calif.-based TalkPlus
> Inc., which uses Internet phone technology over the traditional
> cellular network.  It makes cheap calls available on cell phones while
> adding such features as the ability to have multiple phone numbers
> ring on a single handset and on-the-fly conference calling with up to
> 10 participants.

> That's something no wireless carrier now offers.

> CEO Jeff Black claims he'll be able to offer low, low rates -- 2 cents
> a minute for calls within the United States and Canada -- and he's
> lining up multiple carriers internationally for a Jan. 1 launch. He
> wouldn't name the partners.

> Jingle Networks Inc. of San Francisco sees directory assistance as
> another huge market -- worth an estimated $8 billion a year in the
> United States -- that's ripe for the plucking.

> To bypass the traditional carriers, Jingle connects callers for free
> to the business, government office or residence of their choice. The
> trade-off for using 1-800-FREE-411: Callers must first listen to a
> 12-second recorded pitch.

> Jingle's success will depend on its ability to sign up local
> merchants. When I called the service to get my home phone number, the
> pitch I heard, after following the voice prompts, was for Jingle
> itself.

> The cell phone is also the key for Camden, N.J.-based Smarter Agent
> Inc. Its first service, expected next year, will deliver real estate
> listings to mobile handsets based on a user's location.

> If you like a neighborhood but are nowhere near a computer, you'll be
> able to use a map on your cell phone screen to see what nearby houses
> are on the market, the asking price and other details. You'll even be
> able to search to see recent selling prices for comparable homes in
> the neighborhood. Smarter Agent, a registered Realtor, draws on the
> Multiple Listing Service used by agents across the nation on their Web
> sites.

> Safeguarding privacy online has become an ever more serious concern
> with identity theft a mounting problem. That was reason enough for a
> company called UniPrivacy Inc. to build a business on protecting
> consumers proactively.

> The company's newly launched DeleteNow product will, for $2.99 per
> month, remove information about you from more than 100 online sources
>  -- search engines and databases including Google Inc. -- and check
> those sites daily to make sure the information stays off.

> However, plenty of sites that might contain personal information about
> you, such as Claria Corp., aren't cooperating, says chief executive
> Chaz Berman.  The more customers UniPrivacy acquires, the more clout
> it will have, and Berman says it plans to eventually "out" those sites
> that refuse to cooperate.

> After all, "When you join we become your legal agent."

> Touche!

> Frank Bajak can be reached at techeditor(at)ap.org

> On the Net:

> http://www.demo.com/DEMOfall
> http://www.yackpack.com
> http://www.talkplus.com
> http://www.free411.com
> http://www.smarteragent.com
> http://www.uniprivacy.com

> Copyright 2005 The Associated Press.

> NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the
> daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at
> http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new
> articles daily.

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

From: Nospam <nospam@nospam.com>
Subject: Re: Dropping SBC For a VoIP Solution -- Vonage or Packet8
Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2005 10:08:43 -0500


On 10/16/2005 5:24 PM, Michael wrote:

> Some of the items that were said about the Packet8 TA are not correct.
> You can set the IP address of it if you're not using DHCP. The BPA410 can
> be logged into and changed via a browser (but I don't know if that is
> the case with the other TAs). The one thing I'll say about Packet8 is
> they have great tech support. I have a special configuration at home
> and I orginally had Vonage and it never worked right because of my
> special configuration but I could never get through to their tech
> support never , never, never, never, never , never, never, never did I
> mention I never , never, never, never could get through to their tech
> support!!

> My advice is if you have a simple configuration one PC and cable/dsl
> modem Vonage will work if and only it plugs and plays the first time or
> if you're good at figuring stuff out. if you have an SMC router thats
> over 2 years old stay away from Vonage or go buy a Netgear, Belkin etc.

> I'm having  several problems with Packet8 as well though I hate the
> Caller ID it should be renamed to Caller Number (you don't get the
> name) and I can't use my 2 line phone (hey, that worked with Vonage)
> and call waiting isn't working (the one down side to Packet8 tech
> support is they don't work on Sundays.)

> Michael B.

> Packet8 is cheaper and has better tech support but their features
> AREN'T as slick as Vonage. Packet8 is promising 7 digit dialing come
> 11/05 we'll see!

Please post when Packet8 has '7 Number Dialing' and Call ID/Waiting
with Name'.  I have Vonage but am thinking of switching to either
Packet8 or CallVantage.

Dan

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

Date: 17 Oct 2005 16:43:59 -0000
From: John Levine <johnl@iecc.com>
Subject: Re: Recorded Weather Forecast for New York City?
Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA


I just tried 212 976 1212 from my Lingo VoIP phone and I got a
recording saying that I can't call that number using my choice of
phone company, and if I want to call it I should either switch to
Verizon or call a 900 number that they read twice at "only 99
cents/min."

R's,

John

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

From: John McHarry <jmcharry@comcast.net>
Subject: Alamogordo Telephone Office
Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2005 19:28:47 GMT
Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net


I finally got an answer to PAT's question about what the building is
used for now (actually a few years ago). It is a private residence,
not very well maintained. I also dug up the original account PAT
posted in 1990 from a tape of Mrs. Fermi's story. It mentions the
building was a residence and in a residential neighborhood.

This story seems to reappear every few years, but it is a good one and
deserves to. 



[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Does anyone remember the story in the
Digest several years ago where an answering service switchboard had
been located for several years in a private home -- in the bedroom, no
less. When the answering service went out of business, telco had
pulled the board out (this was pre-divestiture days) but there
remained an 'inside terminal' or junction box with a hundred or so
pairs (mostly multiples which serviced other homes in the neighborhood
but had originally been used on the switchboard).

Telco insisted they had easement rights to that box to get to those
pairs when they needed to do so. The people who had purchased the
house knew nothing about any answering service switchboard; it had
been long since removed when they bought the house. All that remained
there was that 'phone closet' from years earlier. This was in Joliet,
IL, and the people eventually got tired of Illinois Bell knocking on
their door at 7 AM on Saturday morning to get access to 'their' pairs,
so they sued and Bell finally got rid of the box by constructing a new
terminal outside the house somewhere.  If I could find the story 
somewhere I would re-run it here.  PAT]

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


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