Date: 4 Oct 2001 06:15:10 -0400 From: owner-telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org (Telecom Digest) To: telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org Subject: Telecom Digest V2001 #251 Telecom Digest Thursday, October 4 2001 Volume 2001 : Number 251 In this issue: Verizon "reviewing" voicemails? Alliance Datacom: Total Solution Networking Finding "regular" (non-toll free) number corresponding to a toll free number? 800 Service Disruption SBC says toll-free calls in five US states hobbled Digital line for V.90 Modems Re: Finding "regular" (non-toll free) number corresponding to a toll free number? How many SS7 SCPs are there in the US? Re: Verizon "reviewing" voicemails? Re: Verizon "reviewing" voicemails? Re: Finding "regular" (non-toll free) number corresponding to a toll free number? Would you hire this intern? Telrad Digital Key BX 8/18 Documentation Pat Townson? Re: Digital line for V.90 Modems Re: Digital line for V.90 Modems Re: Digital line for V.90 Modems Re: Telrad Digital Key BX 8/18 Documentation Re: Would you hire this intern? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 3 Oct 2001 11:08:54 -0400 From: JNOppenheimer@cs.com Subject: Verizon "reviewing" voicemails? Between Friday and Sunday I got repeated Verizon voicemail recordings thanking customers for their cooperation as Verizon reviewed and deleted noncritical voicemails, or something to that effect. There were separate recordings in each of my voicemail boxes on the same line. None of my saved "noncritical" voicemails were deleted, far as I could tell. And no one ever asked for or received my cooperation to "review" my voicemail messages. Anyone from Verizon (or anyone else) got an explanation for this? Judith Oppenheimer http://JudithOppenheimer.com http://ICBTollFreeNews.com - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 3 Oct 2001 11:22:59 -0400 From: "Chris Moore" Subject: Alliance Datacom: Total Solution Networking Total Solutions from the Networking Industry Leader Alliance Datacom offers total solutions providing customers with affordable unsurpassed reliability, scalability and customer service. Make the right choice today! Visit our web site for links to LAN, WAN, Frame Relay, CSU/DSU and Routers. We also offer design assistance, equipment repair and a free datacom equipment message board. Check us out today. - -- Alliance Datacom Toll Free (888)872-5619 or Dallas/Ft. Worth (972)926-7400 http://www.alliancedatacom.com mailto:webmaster@alliancedatacom.com - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 3 Oct 2001 11:28:44 -0400 From: "Marshall Levin" Subject: Finding "regular" (non-toll free) number corresponding to a toll free number? Hi, I know I've seen a thread on this before and, as I recall, the answer was that there really is no way to find the "real" number a toll free number rings to. I don't know if it is just the Boston area, but I can't seem to dial any toll free numbers right now either from a land line or a cell phone. The operator informs me that there is a problem with the toll free circuits and that they're working on it -- but it has already been several hours. Actually, Net2Phone doesn't seem to be able to complete the call either, but they may be using a local trunk. Using the 880/881/882 number doesn't seem to work either. I'm really just trying to get a hold of UPS (800-PICK-UPS), but, of course, I can't seem to find any non-toll free number for them. I really don't mind paying for the call :-) Their local delivery office numbers are, as far as I can tell, a closely guarded secret. Even a national number corresponding to the main customer service number would be useful. Their website lists local numbers in other countries but no "regular" US phone number. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks... - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 3 Oct 2001 13:09:11 -0400 From: JNOppenheimer@cs.com Subject: 800 Service Disruption ALERT -- 800 SERVICE DISRUPTED New York, NY October 3, 2001 (ICB TOLL FREE NEWS) Some parts of the country are experiencing fast busies on dialing toll free numbers, reportedly since approximately 8:30 this morning central time. Ameritech SCPs are also down and not processing data. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 3 Oct 2001 15:19:00 -0400 From: "monty solomon" Subject: SBC says toll-free calls in five US states hobbled SBC says toll-free calls in five US states hobbled WASHINGTON, Oct 3 (Reuters) - SBC Communications Inc. (NYSE:SBC) said servers that manage toll-free telephone calls in five states overloaded on Wednesday morning and calls could not be completed. Partial service has since been restored. http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=24937512 - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 3 Oct 2001 16:17:00 -0400 From: "David L Kindred \(Dave\)" Subject: Digital line for V.90 Modems Greetings. I'm looking for the specs/standards for digital lines for providing V.90 modem service. I'm particularly interested to find out if it is possible/affordable for a small business to have a few such lines for providing high-speed modem service for its own internal users. Thanks. I'm also kind of embarrassed to have ask this question, but I'm finding my in-depth knowledge of subscriber lines and modems is all obsolete :( (anyone else still remember when "high speed modem" meant 1200 BPS?). - -- David L. Kindred Unix Systems & Network Administrator Telesciences, Inc. Phone: +1 856 642 4184 2000 Midlantic Drive, Suite 410 Fax: +1 856 866 0185 Mount Laurel, NJ 08054 USA - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 3 Oct 2001 18:22:10 -0400 From: Linc Madison Subject: Re: Finding "regular" (non-toll free) number corresponding to a toll free number? [[ This message was both posted and mailed: see the "To," "Cc," and "Newsgroups" headers for details. ]] In article <00de01c14c20$10dcba10$0d06390a@7uc1g>, Marshall Levin wrote: > I know I've seen a thread on this before and, as I recall, the answer > was that there really is no way to find the "real" number a toll free > number rings to. > > I don't know if it is just the Boston area, but I can't seem to dial > any toll free numbers right now either from a land line or a cell > phone. The operator informs me that there is a problem with the toll > free circuits and that they're working on it -- but it has already > been several hours. Actually, Net2Phone doesn't seem to be able to > complete the call either, but they may be using a local trunk. I don't know how widespread it was, but it reportedly affected a significant part of the United States. Here in California, as of 3:15pm Pacific, I have no problem reaching 1-800-PICK-UPS. YMMV. > Using the 880/881/882 number doesn't seem to work either. It isn't supposed to, so that's expected. > I'm really just trying to get a hold of UPS (800-PICK-UPS), but, of > course, I can't seem to find any non-toll free number for them. I > really don't mind paying for the call :-) (404) 828-4300 is the main corporate headquarters, courtesy of Switchboard.com Also, most things you would do with a live operator, you can do from their web site. I find it easier to type in a tracking number than to read it to someone else to type in. - -- LincMad dot Com * North American Telephone Area Codes & Splits Preferred Reply Address: Telecom # LincMad * Com Unsolicited bulk e-mail will be reported to your admin or upstream. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 3 Oct 2001 18:27:10 -0400 From: John_Bartley@orb.uscourts.gov Subject: How many SS7 SCPs are there in the US? How many SS7 SCPs are there in the US? Also in Canada? - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 3 Oct 2001 18:27:26 -0400 From: Linc Madison Subject: Re: Verizon "reviewing" voicemails? In article <163.1d31346.28ec8340@cs.com>, wrote: > Between Friday and Sunday I got repeated Verizon voicemail recordings > thanking customers for their cooperation as Verizon reviewed and > deleted noncritical voicemails, or something to that effect. There > were separate recordings in each of my voicemail boxes on the same > line. > > None of my saved "noncritical" voicemails were deleted, far as I > could tell. And no one ever asked for or received my cooperation to > "review" my voicemail messages. > > Anyone from Verizon (or anyone else) got an explanation for this? Ordinarily, Verizon deletes old messages if you leave them in your mailbox more than a certain number of days. They turned off this feature after September 11th in order to preserve messages from family and friends lost in the attacks. However, the reason they sweep the old messages is that they don't have the capacity to keep all of your messages indefinitely. I would assume that the review of "non-critical" messages was only of messages that ordinarily would have already been automatically deleted. Verizon voicemail customers who want to preserve a message from 9/11 can contact Verizon to get a cassette tape of the message. - -- LincMad dot Com * North American Telephone Area Codes & Splits Preferred Reply Address: Telecom # LincMad * Com Unsolicited bulk e-mail will be reported to your admin or upstream. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 3 Oct 2001 20:00:08 -0400 From: John McHarry Subject: Re: Verizon "reviewing" voicemails? On 3 Oct 2001 18:27:26 -0400, Linc Madison wrote: >In article <163.1d31346.28ec8340@cs.com>, wrote: > >> Between Friday and Sunday I got repeated Verizon voicemail recordings >> thanking customers for their cooperation as Verizon reviewed and >> deleted noncritical voicemails, or something to that effect... > >Ordinarily, Verizon deletes old messages if you leave them in your >mailbox more than a certain number of days. They turned off this >feature after September 11th in order to preserve messages from family >and friends lost in the attacks. However, the reason they sweep the old >messages is that they don't have the capacity to keep all of your >messages indefinitely. > >I would assume that the review of "non-critical" messages was only of >messages that ordinarily would have already been automatically deleted. > >Verizon voicemail customers who want to preserve a message from 9/11 >can contact Verizon to get a cassette tape of the message. > That sounds like a pretty invasive search of everyones private messages. I don't know how Verizon markets this stuff, but I used to use a voice mail system at work that wouldn't even let you retrieve your own old messages if you lost your password and had to have it reset. There was a lot of traffic in there that was proprietary, confidential, personnel related, etc. They could have backed up the relevant files, in fact if they didn't you need another voice mail provider, and reviewed those of suspects with no time constraints. If I had anything stored in their voice mail system I didn't want Verizon to know, I would be worried, very worried. _______________________________ people who might like some spam: 70732.56@compuserve.com albert@silhouettes-inc.com - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 3 Oct 2001 20:15:14 -0400 From: Wes Leatherock Subject: Re: Finding "regular" (non-toll free) number corresponding to a toll free number? On 3 Oct 2001, Marshall Levin wrote: > I'm really just trying to get a hold of UPS (800-PICK-UPS), but, of course, > I can't seem to find any non-toll free number for them. I really don't mind > paying for the call :-) > > Their local delivery office numbers are, as far as I can tell, a closely > guarded secret. Even a national number corresponding to the main customer > service number would be useful. Their website lists local numbers in other > countries but no "regular" US phone number. The USPS (Postal Service) in larger cities also lists only an 800 number. Wes Leatherock wleath@sandbox.dynip.com - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 3 Oct 2001 21:39:53 -0400 From: zalexandra76@yahoo.com (Alexandra R.) Subject: Would you hire this intern? In representation of and on behalf of all the people who don't have the magical E-word (experience) and need suggestions on how to get past that unmovable mountain of a catch-22 in winning the FIRST Internship/Co-Op/entry-level job: I have a good bachelors in biology, now I'm pursuing an MS in telecom. Before you ask I changed fields it is not simply about wanting pay - else I'd be doing SW Engineering. Its about the fact I had studied signal transduction in biochemical systems and many of my close friends in EE and CS were doing telecom signal transduction and really enjoyed it. When out of curiosity I read some of their Cisco books on WAN technologies I liked and understood the concepts - I'm now taking a lot of Comp Engineering courses at University. Additionally, Cisco training classes in which I score 100% on almost every quiz and love studying it. I also like playing with computer hardware, learning quite a bit from my friends. Now, that set aside here is a rough-draft resume. I invite everyone to comment on this, criticize it, and tell me whether they think anyone would give me an internship and if not what do I need to put on the resume? Novell? More Unix? Help Desk volunteer? Let me know so I can sign up for the required courses/training. I want to build a really good Telecom-oriented resume on paper then make it a reality over the next 2-3 years. Much thanks in advance! INTERESTS/GOALS: As an undergrad, and also graduate student in Molecular Biology my research projects included learning to set up, trouble-shoot and utilize a variety of electronic research equipment, and the associated software applications. Developed research, writing, and presentation skills during 3 semesters of graduate-level coursework. Decided to pursue an increasing interest in computer technology, particularly Telecom. Will complete core Computer Science course sequence by January, 2003 allowing me to begin a Masters Degree in Telecom Engineering at University of Texas-Arlington. Currently pursuing CCNA-WAN. Intent to pursue CCNP, Bay Networks and Nortel Certifications over the next 1-2 years. SKILLS: Languages: C, C++ (by Jan, 2002: Assembly, Object Oriented C++) Platforms: Windows, Unix Applications: MatLab, PSpice, Powerpoint, Excel, Biotech-based analytical software Other: Presentations, Writing Papers/Reports, analytical reading of primary literature for research. EDUCATION: Jan 1994-May 1998 BS Summa Cum Laude (GPA 3.93) Molecular Biology Univ. Wisc May 1998 Certificate in Biotechnology Univ Wisc May 1998-Dec 1999 Graduate-level research and course work (GPA 4) Jan-Dec 2000 relocate to Texas, self-study Jan 2001-current: Degreed-Transfer, Computer Science and Engineering major UT-Arlington EXPERIENCE: 1996-1999 various research projects in Molecular Biology with responsibilities for designing and setting up experiments. Maintaining research journals, providing progress reports as formal presentations. Experiments required use, care, and maintainance of electronic analytic equipment such as laser-based automated DNA sequencer. Additionally completed and renewed safety certification in use of radioactive material. Through my research background I have developed strong observation and trouble-shooting skills. I follow protocols with focus and attention: in 3 years of working daily with a variety of delicate equipment I never caused damage. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 3 Oct 2001 21:43:35 -0400 From: BLW1540@aol.com Subject: Telrad Digital Key BX 8/18 Documentation Does anyone have it or know where I can get it? It seems we'll be inheriting one of these systems but no one seems to know where the documentation is now. I'm particularly interested in system programming and technical info to learn what we're getting and how to use it. Bruce Wilson Urban Dreams Des Moines, IA - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 3 Oct 2001 23:03:59 -0400 From: Bill Bradford Subject: Pat Townson? Can anybody tell me if Pat Townson is still with us? Last time I checked on this list ('99-00), I heard he was in the hospital. I havent seen him "active" since then anywhere, and was wondering if we'd lost an old friend of mine who helped introduce me to the wonderful world of telecom stuff... Someone let me know if you know anything... Thanks. Bill - -- Bill Bradford mrbill@mrbill.net Austin, TX - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 3 Oct 2001 23:44:07 -0400 From: "Herb Stein" Subject: Re: Digital line for V.90 Modems "David L Kindred (Dave)" wrote in message news:15291.16976.13165.864131@gargle.gargle.HOWL... > Greetings. > > I'm looking for the specs/standards for digital lines for providing V.90 > modem service. I'm particularly interested to find out if it is > possible/affordable for a small business to have a few such lines for > providing high-speed modem service for its own internal users. > > Thanks. > > I'm also kind of embarrassed to have ask this question, but I'm finding > my in-depth knowledge of subscriber lines and modems is all obsolete :( > (anyone else still remember when "high speed modem" meant 1200 BPS?). I can't answer the first part, but I well remember the 300 baud connection being "kick-ass." Way better than 110 baud. On Teletype machines. > -- > David L. Kindred > Unix Systems & Network Administrator Telesciences, Inc. > Phone: +1 856 642 4184 2000 Midlantic Drive, Suite 410 > Fax: +1 856 866 0185 Mount Laurel, NJ 08054 USA > -- > The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail > messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. - -- Herb Stein The Herb Stein Group www.herbstein.com herb@herbstein.com 314 952-4601 - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 3 Oct 2001 23:45:18 -0400 From: amfowler@melbpc.org.au (Alan Fowler) Subject: Re: Digital line for V.90 Modems "David L Kindred \(Dave\)" wrote: >Greetings. > >I'm looking for the specs/standards for digital lines for providing V.90 >modem service. I'm particularly interested to find out if it is >possible/affordable for a small business to have a few such lines for >providing high-speed modem service for its own internal users. V.90 modems are designed for use on dial up connection over the telephone network, You might like to look at one of the various digital services and connect your computers into a local network, > >Thanks. > >I'm also kind of embarrassed to have ask this question, but I'm finding >my in-depth knowledge of subscriber lines and modems is all obsolete :( >(anyone else still remember when "high speed modem" meant 1200 BPS?). I remember when a 300 bit/s modem was a high speed connection , replacing a Teletype. regards, Alan (Australian Telecom 1945-1992) > > >-- >David L. Kindred >Unix Systems & Network Administrator Telesciences, Inc. >Phone: +1 856 642 4184 2000 Midlantic Drive, Suite 410 >Fax: +1 856 866 0185 Mount Laurel, NJ 08054 USA - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 4 Oct 2001 01:13:07 -0400 From: "John R. Myers" Subject: Re: Digital line for V.90 Modems On 10/3/01 at 4:17 PM David L Kindred \(Dave\) wrote: >I'm looking for the specs/standards for digital lines for providing V.90 >modem service. I'm particularly interested to find out if it is >possible/affordable for a small business to have a few such lines for >providing high-speed modem service for its own internal users. > The incoming side of the V.90 connection must be on an ISDN line, so yes, a small business can have a few BRI lines to receive incoming calls. There are inexpensive "modems" available to handle single BRI lines; also rack-mount devices to handle a small pool of BRI's and gate the incoming traffic to a local area network. Be advised that the rack-mount gear can be difficult to configure ... Best to find a full-service dealer or consultant unless you have the time to become a self-taught expert! __ John R. Myers / mailto:jmyers@meer.net Palo Alto, California USA tel. +1 650 269-7065 / fax. +1 650 858-1173 - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 4 Oct 2001 01:13:19 -0400 From: "hogpilot" Subject: Re: Telrad Digital Key BX 8/18 Documentation Trash it and get a "real" system. wrote in message news:77.1c113f68.28ed18a6@aol.com... > Does anyone have it or know where I can get it? It seems we'll be inheriting > one of these systems but no one seems to know where the documentation is now. > I'm particularly interested in system programming and technical info to > learn what we're getting and how to use it. > > Bruce Wilson > Urban Dreams > Des Moines, IA > -- > The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail > messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 4 Oct 2001 01:13:18 -0400 From: "hogpilot" Subject: Re: Would you hire this intern? Not until he put in a few years in renches and on the cherry pickers, pulling in cables and getting a tast of the real world "Alexandra R." wrote in message news:414dc160.0110011704.37534a9a@posting.google.com... > In representation of and on behalf of all the people who don't have > the magical E-word (experience) and need suggestions on how to get > past that unmovable mountain of a catch-22 in winning the FIRST > Internship/Co-Op/entry-level job: > > I have a good bachelors in biology, now I'm pursuing an MS in telecom. > Before you ask I changed fields it is not simply about wanting pay - > else I'd be doing SW Engineering. Its about the fact I had studied > signal transduction in biochemical systems and many of my close > friends in EE and CS were doing telecom signal transduction and really > enjoyed it. When out of curiosity I read some of their Cisco books on > WAN technologies I liked and understood the concepts - I'm now taking > a lot of Comp Engineering courses at University. Additionally, Cisco > training classes in which I score 100% on almost every quiz and love > studying it. I also like playing with computer hardware, learning > quite a bit from my friends. > > Now, that set aside here is a rough-draft resume. I invite everyone to > comment on this, criticize it, and tell me whether they think anyone > would give me an internship and if not what do I need to put on the > resume? Novell? More Unix? Help Desk volunteer? Let me know so I > can sign up for the required courses/training. I want to build a > really good Telecom-oriented resume on paper then make it a reality > over the next 2-3 years. > > Much thanks in advance! > > INTERESTS/GOALS: > As an undergrad, and also graduate student in Molecular Biology my > research projects included learning to set up, trouble-shoot and > utilize a variety of electronic research equipment, and the associated > software applications. Developed research, writing, and presentation > skills during 3 semesters of graduate-level coursework. Decided to > pursue an increasing interest in computer technology, particularly > Telecom. Will complete core Computer Science course sequence by > January, 2003 allowing me to begin a Masters Degree in Telecom > Engineering at University of Texas-Arlington. Currently pursuing > CCNA-WAN. Intent to pursue CCNP, Bay Networks and Nortel > Certifications over the next 1-2 years. > > SKILLS: > Languages: C, C++ (by Jan, 2002: Assembly, Object Oriented C++) > Platforms: Windows, Unix > Applications: MatLab, PSpice, Powerpoint, Excel, Biotech-based > analytical software > Other: Presentations, Writing Papers/Reports, analytical reading of > primary literature for research. > > EDUCATION: > Jan 1994-May 1998 BS Summa Cum Laude (GPA 3.93) Molecular Biology > Univ. Wisc > May 1998 Certificate in Biotechnology Univ Wisc > May 1998-Dec 1999 Graduate-level research and course work (GPA 4) > Jan-Dec 2000 relocate to Texas, self-study > Jan 2001-current: Degreed-Transfer, Computer Science and Engineering > major UT-Arlington > > EXPERIENCE: > 1996-1999 various research projects in Molecular Biology with > responsibilities for designing and setting up experiments. Maintaining > research journals, providing progress reports as formal presentations. > Experiments required use, care, and maintainance of electronic > analytic equipment such as laser-based automated DNA sequencer. > Additionally completed and renewed safety certification in use of > radioactive material. Through my research background I have > developed strong observation and trouble-shooting skills. I follow > protocols with focus and attention: in 3 years of working daily with a > variety of delicate equipment I never caused damage. > -- > The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail > messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ End of Telecom Digest V2001 #251 ******************************** - To leave this list, send a message containing "unsubscribe" to telecom-digest-request@telecom-digest.org. Date: 5 Oct 2001 06:15:13 -0400 From: owner-telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org (Telecom Digest) To: telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org Subject: Telecom Digest V2001 #252 Telecom Digest Friday, October 5 2001 Volume 2001 : Number 252 In this issue: Re: Would you hire this intern? Shopping for 800 provider Re[2]: How many SS7 SCPs are there in the US? Summary/Thanks: Digital line for V.90 Modems Southwestern Bell (SBC)Executive Complaints Fax# Re: Digital line for V.90 Modems Quick question: Old "turks" provisioning system? widespread spontaneous reboots Pat Townson? Re: Quick question: Old "turks" provisioning system? Re: Digital line for V.90 Modems Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Re: Digital line for V.90 Modems Re: Digital line for V.90 Modems FCC filing concerning 800 outage on 10/3 Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Re: Digital line for V.90 Modems Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Re: Quick question: Old "turks" provisioning system? Re: Digital line for V.90 Modems Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 4 Oct 2001 07:15:33 -0400 From: "Phil McKerracher" Subject: Re: Would you hire this intern? "Alexandra R." wrote in message news:414dc160.0110011704.37534a9a@posting.google.com... > ...what do I need to put on the > resume? Novell? More Unix? Help Desk volunteer? Let me know so I > can sign up for the required courses/training... I'm not in the US so the situation might be different. However, I would advise you to beware of learning specific proprietary skills that might become boring. Twenty years ago COBOL or FORTRAN experience would help you get a job, but such jobs are not very interesting now. At your stage, it's most important to demonstrate enthusiasm and dedication - and to find out what you really enjoy doing. If I received your resume, I would look at your hobbies and project work as much as your grades. I would be more impressed if you had set up a phone system in a community theatre using string and tin cans, or obtained an amateur radio licence than if you had scraped a pass in a course on advanced networking. Hope this helps. - -- Phil McKerracher www.mckerracher.org - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 4 Oct 2001 10:13:31 -0400 From: John Mark Subject: Shopping for 800 provider Clarence A Dold wrote: John Mark wrote: : :I couldn't find anything on the FCC website about whether PSP's were : :allowed to block 800 numbers only that they are entitled to receive a :: per-call charge. :It's been a couple of years, but the LD company that I worked for had the :same problem. :The payphones were supposed to pass the calls through, but many did not. :I wouldn't blame it on your carrier per se, although using one of the :giants might make it less likely to happen. :Other than pager companies, I don't know that carriers deliberately block :calls from pay phones. Blocking wasn't an option that was available on the :switch that we used, although some customers didn't want calls from :payphones, in order to avoid the rather steep charges. :Costco markets TTI as an LD and 800 carrier. TTI is really WorldCom, so :they probably would not be blocked by most carriers. Since I posted the original message I managed to have a conference call with Call Home America (CHA) and Verizon. Verizon said they are blocking CHA 800#'s from their payphones because Call Home America does not sufficiently compensate them! I pay (gladly) a 30 cent charge when a call to my 800# originates from a payphone. The Verizon PSP representative would not tell me how much they want CHA to pay them. When shopping for an 800 provider it becomes very important, therefore, to find out which PSP's (at least which of the major PSPs) block that provider. This is not easy information to obtain, at least not for me. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 4 Oct 2001 11:23:06 -0400 From: John_Bartley@orb.uscourts.gov Subject: Re[2]: How many SS7 SCPs are there in the US? Oh, round numbers would be fine. I know, for example, that ATTWS has a dozen, (I think it was) SANS recommended presciently before 911 Day that sysadmins learn... ham radio.... because of the likely future disruption of All Which Was Networked. I'm trying to determine how many SCPs there so I might roughly determine the approximate probability of the long distance net going down, in order to justify the time and $$ to get on the ham net. ______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________ Subject: Re: How many SS7 SCPs are there in the US? Author: Jack Adams at ~Internet2 Date: 10/4/01 10:34 AM John, I'm not sure you're going to get an accurate count here in this NG, as the companies that own and operate them (AT&T, WorldCom, Verizon, etc.) consider this information pretty proprietary. What, may I ask, is your interest in knowing this? Perhaps if you can add additional information to your query, the NG can help. Moreover, I'd look into the reports that each of the service providers are obliged to file with the FCC (or Canadian equiv.) as a source. - -- John "Jack" Adams HO 4D-327 Lucent Technologies, Inc. 732.949.2295 732.949.1922 (Facsimile) jackadams@lucent.com They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. Benjamin Franklin 1775 John_Bartley@orb.uscourts.gov wrote: > > How many SS7 SCPs are there in the US? > Also in Canada? - -- John Bartley, PC syadmin, Portland OR, USA - Views are mine. "If there had been government -- and dare I say industrial? research establishments in the Stone Age, by now we would have had absolutely superb flint tools. But no one would have invented steel." -- Sir Arthur C. Clarke http://palm7faq.cjb.net for PalmOS wireless Internet options - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 4 Oct 2001 12:48:04 -0400 From: "David L Kindred \(Dave\)" Subject: Summary/Thanks: Digital line for V.90 Modems I wrote: >> I'm looking for the specs/standards for digital lines for providing >> V.90 modem service. I'm particularly interested to find out if it is >> possible/affordable for a small business to have a few such lines for >> providing high-speed modem service for its own internal users. Thanks to all of your who have replied both on- and off- list. For the record, the answers are: 1) Cisco, along with other vendors, make boxes capable of doing the all-digital end of V.90 calls over either ISDN or T1/T3 lines. The Cisco AS5350 Universal Gateway can give you lots of modems on T1/T3 lines; using the 3640 router you can configure a couple of them over ISDN. 2) I haven't yet obtained prices for those devices, but the fact that "only" an ISDN line is required means that it conceivable to configure a few such modems in a (relatively) affordable manner. All of this is good news, as had been fearing that implementing the digital end of a V.90 setup would require either a specialized circuit or Central Office co-location. Thanks once again. - -- David L. Kindred Unix Systems & Network Administrator Telesciences, Inc. Phone: +1 856 642 4184 2000 Midlantic Drive, Suite 410 Fax: +1 856 866 0185 Mount Laurel, NJ 08054 USA - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 4 Oct 2001 12:51:22 -0400 From: paul_benz@yahoo.com (Paul Benz) Subject: Southwestern Bell (SBC)Executive Complaints Fax# Trying to get results from Southwestern Bell Internet is difficult since they do not take complaints by email. They gave me a PO box in Richardson, TX but the box has been out of service for a year according to the Post Office. fax# 214-741-0198 Mark the fax - Executive Complaints After having my inet service (dsl line) out for 10 days I sent a letter of complaint after 2 weeks at least I got a fax number and talked to a live person (Brad Proffitt). We will see what happens. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 4 Oct 2001 13:44:30 -0400 From: gerg@panix.com (Greg Andrews) Subject: Re: Digital line for V.90 Modems d.kindred@telesciences.com writes: > >I'm looking for the specs/standards for digital lines for providing V.90 >modem service. I'm particularly interested to find out if it is >possible/affordable for a small business to have a few such lines for >providing high-speed modem service for its own internal users. > The documentation for your digital V.90 modem rack will have the details on what kind of line is needed from your telco. -Greg - -- +++++ Greg Andrews +++ gerg@panix.com +++++ I have a map of the United States that's actual size -- Steven Wright - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 4 Oct 2001 14:23:26 -0400 From: Jon Gauthier Subject: Quick question: Old "turks" provisioning system? What did "turks" (spelling?) stand for? And is it still in use in any of the ILECs? - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 4 Oct 2001 15:32:59 -0400 From: Janet Price Subject: widespread spontaneous reboots I realize this may be a bit off-topic, but the source of our problem may lie in the telecom area as broadly defined and this newsgroup includes a number of folks with very broad experience. Since the beginning of the semester, lots of computers (around 100 so far) across campus in just about every building have been spontaneously rebooting. Clusters in the same location often do it simultaneously, but there are sometimes exceptions and lots of computers have never had a problem. This has involved both laptops and Windows computers running 9x and 2k--so far no Macs and no servers of any variety. There have been no signs of power problems, no lights flickering or microwaves losing their time. We have wireless networking in a few buildings, but not across the entire campus. We do know that a walkie-talkie can cause Macs to reboot. Have seen that with my own eyes. We're looking for ideas. If you respond to me directly, I'll post the solution to the newsgroup when we find it. TIA, Janet - -- Janet Price Curricular Computing Support Specialist Amherst College Amherst, MA 01002 jkprice@amherst.edu 413-542-5141 - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 4 Oct 2001 15:34:49 -0400 From: "Paul Cook" Subject: Pat Townson? From: Bill Bradford Can anybody tell me if Pat Townson is still with us? Last time > I checked on this list ('99-00), I heard he was in the hospital. > I havent seen him "active" since then anywhere, and was wondering if > we'd lost an old friend of mine who helped introduce me to the wonderful > world of telecom stuff... > > Someone let me know if you know anything... Thanks. Pat is in a nursing home. I think he is indigent, so loyal Telecom Digest readers will occasionally send him a little check. You can write him, or send contributions (made out to Telecom Digest) to: Pat Townson Wedgewood Rm 309-D 8001 S. Western Ave. Chicago, IL 60620-5930 His cell phone number is 630-841-7174. Paul Cook - Applications Engineer pcook@proctorinc.com 425-881-7000, ext 566 Proctor & Associates 15305 NE 95 St Redmond WA 98052-2517 www.proctorinc.com - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 4 Oct 2001 15:55:21 -0400 From: dscheidt@tumbolia.com Subject: Re: Quick question: Old "turks" provisioning system? Jon Gauthier wrote: > What did "turks" (spelling?) stand for? And is it still in use in any of > the ILECs? TIRKS - trunk integrated record keeping system And it's definately still in use. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 4 Oct 2001 17:03:52 -0400 From: sjsobol@NorthShoreTechnologies.net (Steve Sobol) Subject: Re: Digital line for V.90 Modems >From 'John R. Myers': >On 10/3/01 at 4:17 PM David L Kindred \(Dave\) wrote: >>I'm looking for the specs/standards for digital lines for providing V.90 >>modem service. I'm particularly interested to find out if it is >>possible/affordable for a small business to have a few such lines for >>providing high-speed modem service for its own internal users. >> > >The incoming side of the V.90 connection must be on an ISDN line, so >yes, a small business can have a few BRI lines to receive incoming >calls. In the six years I've run or helped run ISPs, I don't recall BRI ever working. Unless I'm GROSSLY mistaken you need a PRI circuit or CT-1. - -- JustThe.net LLC - Steve "Web Dude" Sobol, CTO - sjsobol@JustThe.net Donate a portion of your monthly ISP bill to your favorite charity or non-profit organization! E-mail me for details. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 4 Oct 2001 20:35:48 -0400 From: "Cole T. Kracke" Subject: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Source: Newsbytes Publication date: 2001-10-03 It'll cost you to opt out if Qwest Communications [NYSE:Q] gets its way. Qwest wants permission to charge $1 a month to keep customer addresses out of telephone books and directory assistance listings. "We identified that there is a cost in providing (the service)," Qwest spokeswoman Audrey Mautner said today. "There is a value to our customers, so we made a decision to begin charging for it." The service currently is free. Some of the 14 states in Qwest's region require regulatory approval to charge the fee, while others do not, she said. The company expects to begin billing customers for the fees in four states Nov. 1, and plans to add the fee in Qwest's other 10 states in 2002. Ken Reif, director of the Colorado Office of Consumer Counsel, opposes the fee and plans to file a protest with state regulators by the end of the week. "This has been an option for people for as long as I can remember," said Reif, adding that customers who would opt for the fee-based service would be billed $8.50 for an initial transaction fee and $1 each month. "The cost is already included in the current rate structure." Customers who already pay for non-published numbers, which do not appear in phone books and directory assistance listings, will not be charged the $1 for what Qwest calls the "omit-address" fee, Mautner said. Non-published fees range from 75 cents to $4 per month, depending on the state. Unlisted numbers, which do not appear in phone books but are included in directory assistance listings, range in price from 50 cents to $2.50 per month. Qwest, which purchased U.S. West in July 2000, serves a vast region that stretches from the Pacific Northwest to Minnesota. Qwest is on the Web at http://www.qwest.com Reported by Newsbytes.com, http://www.newsbytes.com 16:51 CST Reposted 16:57 CST (20011003/WIRES TELECOM, BUSINESS/QWEST/PHOTO) Publication date: 2001-10-03 - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 4 Oct 2001 20:58:06 -0400 From: "John R. Myers" Subject: Re: Digital line for V.90 Modems >>On 10/3/01 at 4:17 PM David L Kindred \(Dave\) wrote: >In the six years I've run or helped run ISPs, I don't recall BRI ever >working. Unless I'm GROSSLY mistaken you need a PRI circuit or CT-1. > Do a Google search for "ISDN BRI V.90" __ John R. Myers / mailto:jmyers@meer.net Palo Alto, California USA tel. +1 650 269-7065 / fax. +1 650 858-1173 - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 4 Oct 2001 21:18:56 -0400 From: Andrew Subject: Re: Digital line for V.90 Modems Steve Sobol wrote: > From 'John R. Myers': >>On 10/3/01 at 4:17 PM David L Kindred \(Dave\) wrote: >>>I'm looking for the specs/standards for digital lines for providing V.90 >>>modem service. I'm particularly interested to find out if it is >>>possible/affordable for a small business to have a few such lines for >>>providing high-speed modem service for its own internal users. >>> >> >>The incoming side of the V.90 connection must be on an ISDN line, so >>yes, a small business can have a few BRI lines to receive incoming >>calls. > In the six years I've run or helped run ISPs, I don't recall BRI ever > working. Unless I'm GROSSLY mistaken you need a PRI circuit or CT-1. I manage a Max 1800 for a department in my organization and it works just fine. It's fed by 8 BRI's and has a v.90 modem card. They opted for the multiple BRI's over a single PRI due to a pricing quirk. Andrew - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 4 Oct 2001 22:58:57 -0400 From: oldbear@arctos.com (The Old Bear) Subject: FCC filing concerning 800 outage on 10/3 This appeared in the TCI list: | Had you heard 800 service was out yesterday.... ?? Here's the scoop. | Was thhe midwest only. | | Ameritech has a couple of weeks before a more detailed report will | be posted. See the folowing for the report. | | | http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Engineering_Technology/Filings | /Network_Outage/2001/reports/01-166.pdf | | [paste the above URL onto a single line.] | | For reports on other outages: | | http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Engineering_Technology/Filings/Network_Outage/ | | Quite a few filings on Sept 11....:( | - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 4 Oct 2001 23:02:28 -0400 From: larb0@aol.com (LARB0) Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Uh .. so? Telephone companies have been charging for non-pub number for decades - usually $1.00 or $1.50, in that range. It does take 'work' to omit a number from the directory. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 4 Oct 2001 23:18:02 -0400 From: David Scheidt Subject: Re: Digital line for V.90 Modems Steve Sobol wrote: > > In the six years I've run or helped run ISPs, I don't recall BRI ever > working. Unless I'm GROSSLY mistaken you need a PRI circuit or CT-1. > Configure your equipment correctly, then. V.90 works just fine, both ways, over BRI. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 4 Oct 2001 23:18:03 -0400 From: David Scheidt Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private LARB0 wrote: > Uh .. so? Telephone companies have been charging for non-pub number for > decades - usually $1.00 or $1.50, in that range. It does take 'work' to omit a > number from the directory. Horse hockey. It is (or at least should be; if it's not, the teleco employs idiots) just a flag in the customer's account info. It costs money to change, it doesn't cost money to maintain, and it doesn't cost money to set at account creation. this is, by the way, something other than non published number. It's non published address. That means your number is available in the directory, or from information, but not your address. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 4 Oct 2001 23:46:45 -0400 From: larb0@aol.com (LARB0) Subject: Re: Quick question: Old "turks" provisioning system? TIRKS is very much alive and well, especially with the RBOCs. I think it's Trunk Inventory Record Keeping System? - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 4 Oct 2001 23:57:15 -0400 From: oldbear@arctos.com (The Old Bear) Subject: Re: Digital line for V.90 Modems sjsobol@NorthShoreTechnologies.net (Steve Sobol) writes: >From: sjsobol@NorthShoreTechnologies.net (Steve Sobol) >Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom >Subject: Re: Digital line for V.90 Modems >Date: 4 Oct 2001 17:03:52 -0400 >Organization: JustThe.net LLC > > >In the six years I've run or helped run ISPs, I don't recall BRI ever >working. Unless I'm GROSSLY mistaken you need a PRI circuit or CT-1. I was dialed into a USR/3com Courier I-modem which was running on a BRI at my ISP for over two years. Because of the residential unmeasured rate in this state, I keep the connection up 24x7 with no problems. As someone pointed out, there are several rack mounted devices such as the Ascend MAX -- but the USR/3com Courier I-modem is AFAIK the only single line device that can serve as a v.90 host. At about $200 each, these make a good alternative for an organization that only needs three or four v.90 dial-ins. And, if your company is using Centrex service, in some jurisdictions, ISDN BRI lines are priced very favorably. Regards, Will The Old Bear - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 5 Oct 2001 01:00:24 -0400 From: johnl@iecc.com (John R Levine) Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private >Uh .. so? Telephone companies have been charging for non-pub number for >decades - usually $1.00 or $1.50, in that range. It does take 'work' to omit a >number from the directory. This isn't for unlisted, it's for omitting the address, you know: Smith, John .......... 555-2368 Every telco I know has made listing the address optional. Charging extra smells like pure greed to me. - -- John R. Levine, IECC, POB 727, Trumansburg NY 14886 +1 607 387 6869 johnl@iecc.com, Village Trustee and Sewer Commissioner, http://iecc.com/johnl, Member, Provisional board, Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ End of Telecom Digest V2001 #252 ******************************** - To leave this list, send a message containing "unsubscribe" to telecom-digest-request@telecom-digest.org. Date: 6 Oct 2001 06:15:11 -0400 From: owner-telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org (Telecom Digest) To: telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org Subject: Telecom Digest V2001 #253 Telecom Digest Saturday, October 6 2001 Volume 2001 : Number 253 In this issue: Re: Verizon "reviewing" voicemails? Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Re: 711 Will Permit Easy Nationwide Access to Relay Services Re: Finding "regular" (non-toll free) number corresponding to a toll free number? Re: 711 Will Permit Easy Nationwide Access to Relay Services Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Re: 711 Will Permit Easy Nationwide Access to Relay Services Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Re: Digital line for V.90 Modems Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Re: 711 Will Permit Easy Nationwide Access to Relay Services Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Re: 711 Will Permit Easy Nationwide Access to Relay Services Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 5 Oct 2001 09:18:53 -0400 From: James Carlson Subject: Re: Verizon "reviewing" voicemails? John McHarry writes: > That sounds like a pretty invasive search of everyones private > messages. [...] Yep. > [...] If > I had anything stored in their voice mail system I didn't want Verizon > to know, I would be worried, very worried. Or, worse, the Feds. I must be missing something here. If you're worried about the privacy of your messages at all, why would you ask the telephone company to record them in the first place (and even pay them for that privilege)? That just seems like such a bad plan ... - -- James Carlson, Solaris Networking SUN Microsystems / 1 Network Drive 71.234W Vox +1 781 442 2084 MS UBUR02-212 / Burlington MA 01803-2757 42.497N Fax +1 781 442 1677 - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 5 Oct 2001 09:31:59 -0400 From: oldbear@arctos.com (The Old Bear) Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private johnl@iecc.com (John R Levine) writes: >From: johnl@iecc.com (John R Levine) >Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom >Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private >Date: 5 Oct 2001 01:00:24 -0400 > >>Uh .. so? Telephone companies have been charging for non-pub number for >>decades - usually $1.00 or $1.50, in that range. It does take 'work' to >>omit a number from the directory. > >This isn't for unlisted, it's for omitting the address, you know: > > Smith, John .......... 555-2368 > >Every telco I know has made listing the address optional. Charging >extra smells like pure greed to me. Although "de-regulation" was supposed to so away with so-called cross- subsidy pricing where LD revenues offset the costs of local service, it did not do anything about LECs pricing "features" to offset the cost of basic service. This is no different than new automobiles with low base prices being sold with high-margin options. Notwithstanding that one might argue that all profit-maximizing enterprises are motivated by "greed," it's perfectly reasonable for Qwest to desire to generate revenue that exceeds cost in the pricing of optional services. In a number of states, the LECs still assess a surcharge for enabling DTMF ("TouchTone") dialling -- even though it most likely is less costly to provide DTMF as a default. Just chalk this one up to the same folks who have brought us "900" number basic tech support, 25-cent compressed air at gas stations, and bank fees for accessing one's account via an ATM machine. Cheers, The Old Bear - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 5 Oct 2001 09:49:10 -0400 From: Chris Williams Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private John R Levine wrote: > > >Uh .. so? Telephone companies have been charging for non-pub number for > >decades - usually $1.00 or $1.50, in that range. It does take 'work' to omit a > >number from the directory. > > This isn't for unlisted, it's for omitting the address, you know: > > Smith, John .......... 555-2368 > > Every telco I know has made listing the address optional. Charging > extra smells like pure greed to me. > I don't have my address in the book, and this idea needs to be nipped in the bud. Just wait until someone sues them because a stalker got their address from the phone book. It's an interesting concept for generating revenue: "Pay us, or we'll let that stalker know where you live." There's a legal term for that, but maybe I've been watching too many episodes of "Law & Order". And then there's the on-going debate over whether I own my own information. Maybe the phone book publishers should pay me to have my listing in the directory. The phone company used to justify excessive charges for non-listed and non-pub numbers by saying that not having your listing in the book made more work for Directory Assistance. However, since they began charging for DA calls I haven't noticed any reduction in those NL/NP monthly fees. BTW, in my Qwest area residential is $11.68 and non-pub is $4.00 more. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 5 Oct 2001 11:50:29 -0400 From: Barry Margolin Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private In article <3BBD8453.879E3853@netins.net>, Chris Williams wrote: >John R Levine wrote: >> >> >Uh .. so? Telephone companies have been charging for non-pub number for >> >decades - usually $1.00 or $1.50, in that range. It does take 'work' to omit a >> >number from the directory. >> >> This isn't for unlisted, it's for omitting the address, you know: >> >> Smith, John .......... 555-2368 >> >> Every telco I know has made listing the address optional. Charging >> extra smells like pure greed to me. What's so greedy about asking customers to pay more when they want additional features on their service? It's a value-added service, so what's so wrong with charging for the extra value? >I don't have my address in the book, and this idea needs to be nipped in >the bud. > >Just wait until someone sues them because a stalker got their address >from the phone book. Putting addresses in phone books has been standard practice for a long time. It would take a crazy, mixed up legal system to allow someone to lose a suit for simply doing business as usual. > It's an interesting concept for generating revenue: >"Pay us, or we'll let that stalker know where you live." I wouldn't be surprised if Qwest had a provision to waive the charge under special circumstances like that. And if not, is $1/month really so much to pay for protection against a stalker? Since unlisting their address won't do any good until new phone books are published, I expect that the victim would also have to move right away so that their existing listing won't work; if they're willing to go to that expense, the $1/month to keep the new address out of the book is insignificant. Of course, anyone who thinks that simply taking their address out of the phone book will protect them from a determined stalker is really deluding themselves. Unlisted numbers and addresses are mainly a protection against nuisances, not security against bodily harm. - -- Barry Margolin, barmar@genuity.net Genuity, Woburn, MA *** DON'T SEND TECHNICAL QUESTIONS DIRECTLY TO ME, post them to newsgroups. Please DON'T copy followups to me -- I'll assume it wasn't posted to the group. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 5 Oct 2001 13:27:31 -0400 From: Loren Cahlander Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Barry Margolin wrote: > In article <3BBD8453.879E3853@netins.net>, > Chris Williams wrote: > >>John R Levine wrote: >>I don't have my address in the book, and this idea needs to be nipped in >>the bud. >> >>Just wait until someone sues them because a stalker got their address >> >>from the phone book. > > Putting addresses in phone books has been standard practice for a long > time. It would take a crazy, mixed up legal system to allow someone to > lose a suit for simply doing business as usual. > IFAIK, they allowed people to remove their address from their listing for free to avoid that legal problem. Apparently someone has forgotten that. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 5 Oct 2001 13:39:00 -0400 From: larb0@aol.com (LARB0) Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Charges re: non-pub/no-list numbers (and therefore addresses) are usually waived. At least we used to, in special circumstances. For example, police could get it free of charge. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 5 Oct 2001 13:40:40 -0400 From: Joseph Singer Subject: Re: 711 Will Permit Easy Nationwide Access to Relay Services On 30 Sep 2001 01:27:39 -0400, Stanley Cline wrote: >On 30 Sep 2001 00:27:25 -0400, johnl@iecc.com (John R Levine) wrote: > >>My impression is that 911 works everywhere, 411 works most places, > >Some areas (e.g., BellSouth areas in TN) require 1+411... Also in Southwestern Bell areas. I believe this is from when they first started to charge for directory assistance. The only way that the system could at that time rate the call a chargeable call was to route it through the toll network which is the way toll calling works in those areas. On another tack businesses etc. that want to exclude people from the ability to dial a "billable" call could just program all 1+ type calls as forbidden. This also before the programmable PBXs we now have. Since everything's pretty much ESS these really don't matter much any more and with the ability that most modern PBXs have of limiting what numbers can be dialed from a particular station. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Personal replies are likely not read. Please reply in the newsgroup - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 5 Oct 2001 13:40:40 -0400 From: Joseph Singer Subject: Re: Finding "regular" (non-toll free) number corresponding to a toll free number? On 3 Oct 2001 20:15:14 -0400, Wes Leatherock wrote: > The USPS (Postal Service) in larger cities also lists only an 800 >number. Aha! But I found a way around that. Not simple mind you, but it worked for me. I went into my local post office and applied for a lock box. They didn't have any at the time (which is getting to be a normal thing in some areas) and left a number for them to call me when one was available. Well, they called me from my post office. Caller ID told me what the number was. Now I know my local post office's real number and I don't have to "try" and talk to my post office through the 800 number. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Personal replies are likely not read. Please reply in the newsgroup - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 5 Oct 2001 13:40:39 -0400 From: Joseph Singer Subject: Re: 711 Will Permit Easy Nationwide Access to Relay Services On 29 Sep 2001 16:19:13 -0400, 73115.1041@compuserve.com wrote: >Then a number of years ago someone made the argument that it would be useful to >have a common number for reporting emergencies. 800 numbers weren't dynamically >routable at the time and dialing 7 or 11 digits was seen as time consuming on >rotary phones, so the concept of using 911 was implemented. But the concept of short number dialing to report emergencies pre-dates introduction of 911 for emergency use by years. The Brits had 999 for *many* years even before 911 was a gleam in a telco's eye. Even in Europe they agreed that it was most beneficial to have a short digit code for emergencies and they agreed that they'd universalize it in the European union and they adopted 112. Even here in the US I can use 112 from my mobile phone and reach emergency services. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Personal replies are likely not read. Please reply in the newsgroup - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 5 Oct 2001 14:00:03 -0400 From: pete-weiss@psu.edu (Pete Weiss) Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private My phone company doesn't have a white pages nor a directory services, nor do they tie my telephone number to a physical presence i.e., I have a cellular telephone. /Pete - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 5 Oct 2001 14:02:21 -0400 From: dannyb@panix.com (danny burstein) Subject: Re: 711 Will Permit Easy Nationwide Access to Relay Services In <32jertku2i36ggt6l2tg47lfht0ftrh8bc@4ax.com> Joseph Singer writes: >But the concept of short number dialing to report emergencies >pre-dates introduction of 911 for emergency use by years. The Brits >had 999 for *many* years even before 911 was a gleam in a telco's eye. >Even in Europe they agreed that it was most beneficial to have a short >digit code for emergencies and they agreed that they'd universalize it >in the European union and they adopted 112. Even here in the US I can >use 112 from my mobile phone and reach emergency services. hey, I resemble that remark. I wrote to Omnipoint way back and explained to them that they should map "112" to "911". They sent me back a polite letter and a couple of months later their phones worked for "112". But you youngsters. Back in the Bad Old Days of One Bell System, It Works (tm), you simply dialed (yes, dialed) a single digit, namely "0", and got a real live human. And before that, of course, you simply picked up the earpiece, turned the crank, and called for help... - -- _____________________________________________________ Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 5 Oct 2001 14:04:03 -0400 From: Stanley Cline Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private On 5 Oct 2001 09:31:59 -0400, oldbear@arctos.com (The Old Bear) wrote: >Although "de-regulation" was supposed to so away with so-called cross- >subsidy pricing where LD revenues offset the costs of local service, it >did not do anything about LECs pricing "features" to offset the cost >of basic service. Here in BellSouth territory in GA, BellSouth (just like AT&T and other major LD carriers) is *clearly* using *directory assistance and operator service charges* to subsidize other services. For example: Local DA - 95c/call with *no* free call allowance Operator interrupt - $13(!!! yes, you read that correctly!) IIRC, we have the highest rates in the entire US for both services. The PSC doesn't bat an eye anymore... :( - -SC - -- Stanley Cline -- sc1 at roamer1 dot org -- http://www.roamer1.org/ ... "Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today. There might be a law against it by that time." -/usr/games/fortune - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 5 Oct 2001 16:10:06 -0400 From: jgreco@ns.sol.net (Joe Greco) Subject: Re: Digital line for V.90 Modems In comp.dcom.telecom article , sjsobol@NorthShoreTechnologies.net (Steve Sobol) wrote: :From 'John R. Myers': :>On 10/3/01 at 4:17 PM David L Kindred \(Dave\) wrote: :>>I'm looking for the specs/standards for digital lines for providing V.90 :>>modem service. I'm particularly interested to find out if it is :>>possible/affordable for a small business to have a few such lines for :>>providing high-speed modem service for its own internal users. :> :>The incoming side of the V.90 connection must be on an ISDN line, so :>yes, a small business can have a few BRI lines to receive incoming :>calls. : :In the six years I've run or helped run ISPs, I don't recall BRI ever :working. Unless I'm GROSSLY mistaken you need a PRI circuit or CT-1. Nah. Some BRI's will do fine. I've used the USR MP stuff in the past, takes in some BRI's and allows you to do 64k digital or V.90 dial. I'm positive that other equipment exists as well. I even have a Courier I-modem at home - I can host one V.90 capable line on it, and I've infrequently used it for that purpose. I might have a lead on a used USR MP ISDN modem pool if anyone is in a situation to use one. They're sorta hard to find, I believe. ... JG - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 5 Oct 2001 18:54:28 -0400 From: Joseph Singer Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private On 5 Oct 2001 13:39:00 -0400, larb0@aol.com (LARB0) wrote: >Charges re: non-pub/no-list numbers (and therefore addresses) are usually >waived. At least we used to, in special circumstances. For example, police >could get it free of charge. Another way of getting unlisted service is to lie about the name you wish to have listed in the directory. You do not have to have your legal name in the directory and if you wish to use the name Herman Schaumleffel that's up to you. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Personal replies are likely not read. Please reply in the newsgroup - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 5 Oct 2001 19:21:19 -0400 From: Wes Leatherock Subject: Re: 711 Will Permit Easy Nationwide Access to Relay Services 112 was once the DDD access codes in quite a few cities, particulatly I believe in some General Telephone (not yet GTE) exchanges. Wes Leatherock wleath@sandbox.dynip.com On 5 Oct 2001, Joseph Singer wrote: > But the concept of short number dialing to report emergencies > pre-dates introduction of 911 for emergency use by years. The Brits > had 999 for *many* years even before 911 was a gleam in a telco's eye. > Even in Europe they agreed that it was most beneficial to have a short > digit code for emergencies and they agreed that they'd universalize it > in the European union and they adopted 112. Even here in the US I can > use 112 from my mobile phone and reach emergency services. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 5 Oct 2001 19:25:35 -0400 From: Wes Leatherock Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private On 4 Oct 2001, Cole T. Kracke wrote: > Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private > Source: Newsbytes > Publication date: 2001-10-03 [ ... ] > Ken Reif, director of the Colorado Office of Consumer Counsel, opposes the > fee and plans to file a protest with state regulators by the end of the > week. > "This has been an option for people for as long as I can remember," said > Reif, adding that customers who would opt for the fee-based service would be > billed $8.50 for an initial transaction fee and $1 each month. "The cost is > already included in the current rate structure." He must be a lot younger than I am or has a short memory. At one time telcos would not accept published listings without the address. Wes Leatherock wleath@sandbox.dynip.com - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 5 Oct 2001 23:44:21 -0400 From: "Bob Goudreau" Subject: Re: 711 Will Permit Easy Nationwide Access to Relay Services "Ed Ellers" wrote: > 611 doesn't work in any BellSouth area AFAIK, and hasn't in > Louisville since the late 1960s. It works here in this part of BellSouth territory in North Carolina. From 919-481-xxxx, dialing 611 yields: "You have reached BellSouth's repair center for the home." (Menu options follow). Bob Goudreau Cary, NC - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 6 Oct 2001 00:54:17 -0400 From: "Ed Ellers" Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private LARB0 wrote: "It does take 'work' to omit a number from the directory." Every month? Somebody has to do something every single month to keep that listing out of the directory? I don't believe that at all. I can see a justification for a one-time charge to *change* a listing, but not for a monthly fee or even a charge for a non-standard listing when requested at the time service is installed. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 6 Oct 2001 00:58:01 -0400 From: "Ed Ellers" Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Stanley Cline wrote: "Operator interrupt - $13(!!! yes, you read that correctly!)" I suspect that's more to deter casual (mis)use of the service. If it was only a buck or two, some self-important people would likely do an interrupt at the drop of a hat, leaving the telco's operators in the untenable position of deciding which requests were legitimate and which were not. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ End of Telecom Digest V2001 #253 ******************************** - To leave this list, send a message containing "unsubscribe" to telecom-digest-request@telecom-digest.org. Date: 7 Oct 2001 06:15:10 -0400 From: owner-telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org (Telecom Digest) To: telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org Subject: Telecom Digest V2001 #254 Telecom Digest Sunday, October 7 2001 Volume 2001 : Number 254 In this issue: Re: Finding "regular" (non-toll free) number corresponding to a toll free number? Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Re: 711 Will Permit Easy Nationwide Access to Relay Services Charges for DA and other enhanced services Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Northern Telecom (Nortel) Unity Question Re: Charges for DA and other enhanced services ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 6 Oct 2001 08:56:30 -0400 From: "John Schmerold" Subject: Re: Finding "regular" (non-toll free) number corresponding to a toll free number? I despise the UPS 800 #, I want to talk to my local person. I phoned after hours, said I left my walet in the local Post Office, I was give the local PO number so I could call in the morning. Real Missouri people want to talk to real Missouri Postal workers, not some droid trained to be happy Another example of dumbing down America. Sheeh!!! Re: Finding "regular" (non-toll free) number corresponding to a toll free number? On 3 Oct 2001 20:15:14 -0400, Wes Leatherock wrote: > The USPS (Postal Service) in larger cities also lists only an 800 >number. Aha! But I found a way around that. Not simple mind you, but it worked for me. I went into my local post office and applied for a lock box. They didn't have any at the time (which is getting to be a normal thing in some areas) and left a number for them to call me when one was available. Well, they called me from my post office. Caller ID told me what the number was. Now I know my local post office's real number and I don't have to "try" and talk to my post office through the 800 number. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 6 Oct 2001 10:53:14 -0400 From: "John R. Myers" Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private On 10/6/01 at 12:54 AM Ed Ellers wrote: >LARB0 wrote: > >"It does take 'work' to omit a number from the directory." > >Every month? Somebody has to do something every single month to keep that >listing out of the directory? I don't believe that at all. You betcha! Every single month, and it's all because of modern data- base technology. In the old days the bits would fade away and the disk drives would crash after a while, but now there is no way to get numbers removed from that darn directory database. Every month a team of "directory rectification engineers"--actually they are former pole climbers who have taken their quota of splinters-- swarm into the printer room with bottles of White Out to correct all of the computer mistakes. Meanwhile, in the State Capitol, the company lawyers just won a rate case based on the Directory Assistance Surpression Effect, a new accounting theory. The details are quite complicated, but to give an extreme example in layman's language: If there are no numbers in the Directory Assistance database, then no one will call and the company will go out of business and your mother-in-law will take up residence in your spare bedroom. In another world it may be true that "Information wants to be free." Directory Assistance, or lack thereof, is a profit center here and now. ;-) - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 6 Oct 2001 11:41:44 -0400 From: Joseph Singer Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private On 6 Oct 2001 00:58:01 -0400, "Ed Ellers" wrote: >Stanley Cline wrote: > >"Operator interrupt - $13(!!! yes, you read that correctly!)" > >I suspect that's more to deter casual (mis)use of the service. If it was >only a buck or two, some self-important people would likely do an interrupt >at the drop of a hat, leaving the telco's operators in the untenable >position of deciding which requests were legitimate and which were not. It worked quite well years ago when telco didn't charge for the service. It's just another way for the telco to gouge the customer legally. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Personal replies are likely not read. Please reply in the newsgroup - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 6 Oct 2001 11:42:48 -0400 From: Joseph Singer Subject: Re: 711 Will Permit Easy Nationwide Access to Relay Services On 5 Oct 2001 19:21:19 -0400, Wes Leatherock wrote: > > 112 was once the DDD access codes in quite a few cities, >particulatly I believe in some General Telephone (not yet GTE) >exchanges. And 113 was for "information" 114 was for repair service also. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Personal replies are likely not read. Please reply in the newsgroup - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 6 Oct 2001 12:41:36 -0400 From: stevenl11@aol.com (Steven Lichter) Subject: Charges for DA and other enhanced services I'm interested in hearing from anyone in California mainly that has Pacific Bell for their telephone service. I have been doing battle with them over charges for Directory Assistance, Busy Callback and DA enhanced dialing. I have a phone for my daughter that is blocked for all chargable services, but her and her friends dial DA and use the option that thy charge $.80 to use plus the dialing a busy number; which the recording has been removed since PUC is now looking into those charges. It is my feeling that Pacific Bell is in violation of CPUC Code Section 2889.4 which requres the utioly to over blocking for features, but since these are pure profit fo them they will not file for a blocking tariff. This and other features are tariffed so they should be required to block. I went through Pacific Bell, next the PUC informal and review. Now I'm in the process of filing a Formal Complaint against Pacific Bell and also considering bringing legal action against them in court and asking for the case to be of Class Action. Please reply to this in the newsgroup if you arer interested in joining the complaint. I have all e-mail blocked to this account with the exception of a few friends, but I can reply and give an open e-mail in private. Apple Elite II 909-359-5338. Home of GBBS/LLUCE, support for the Apple II 24 hours 2400/14.4. An OggNet Server. The only good spammer is a dead one, have you hunted one down today? (c) http://members.ebay.aol.com/aboutme/appleii-guy/ - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 6 Oct 2001 14:46:05 -0400 From: "Ed Ellers" Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Joseph Singer wrote: "It worked quite well years ago when telco didn't charge for the service." Years ago we weren't such a litigious society. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 6 Oct 2001 20:43:07 -0400 From: chsvideo@hotmail.com (Lincoln J. King-Cliby) Subject: Northern Telecom (Nortel) Unity Question I have several Single Line, Analog Unity phones that function on POTS lines. They have 8 feature/speed dial buttons, with no speaker phone on the back is a sticker with: UNITY FEATURED NT4L20AA35 04ADJB A0389856 10/02/92 Remanufactured by NTI/NROC (800)251-1758" The FCC Registration Number is ABUSA513-MT-T I have some questions, if any one has any ideas, please let me know: 1) Any one have a PDF manual for this phone that you coule please send me (lincoln _@_ pe _dot_ net accepts large attachments) 2) What do the four dip switches on the back of the phone control 3) On the back of the directory card it says "To program feature-in-use lamp see the Instruction and Programming Guide" -- which I don't have -- anyone know how to program the FIU lamp? 4) What does the "Link" button do? 5) Why is the Unity tag at the top of the phone removable? 6) Anything else I should know about these phones Thanks, Lincoln - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 6 Oct 2001 22:51:47 -0400 From: "Herb Stein" Subject: Re: Charges for DA and other enhanced services "Steven Lichter" wrote in message news:20011006124041.01179.00001377@mb-fo.aol.com... > I'm interested in hearing from anyone in California mainly that has > Pacific Bell for their telephone service. > > I have been doing battle with them over charges for Directory > Assistance, Busy Callback and DA enhanced dialing. I have a phone for > my daughter that is blocked for all chargable services, but her and > her friends dial DA and use the option that thy charge $.80 to use > plus the dialing a busy number; which the recording has been > removed since PUC is now looking into those charges. It is my > feeling that Pacific Bell is in violation of CPUC Code Section > 2889.4 which requres the utioly to over blocking for features, but > since these are pure profit fo them they will not file for a blocking > tariff. This and other features are tariffed so they should be required to > block. Sounds like a stupid parent problem, not a stupid PUC problem. > I went through Pacific Bell, next the PUC informal and review. Now > I'm in the process of filing a Formal Complaint against Pacific Bell > and also considering bringing legal action against them in court and > asking for the case to be of Class Action. > > Please reply to this in the newsgroup if you arer interested in > joining the complaint. I have all e-mail blocked to this account with > the exception of a few friends, but I can reply and give an open > e-mail in private. > > > > Apple Elite II 909-359-5338. Home of GBBS/LLUCE, support for the > Apple II 24 hours 2400/14.4. An OggNet Server. > > The only good spammer is a dead one, have you hunted one down today? (c) > http://members.ebay.aol.com/aboutme/appleii-guy/ > -- > The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail > messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. - -- Herb Stein The Herb Stein Group www.herbstein.com herb@herbstein.com 314 952-4601 - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ End of Telecom Digest V2001 #254 ******************************** - To leave this list, send a message containing "unsubscribe" to telecom-digest-request@telecom-digest.org. Date: 8 Oct 2001 06:15:09 -0400 From: owner-telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org (Telecom Digest) To: telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org Subject: Telecom Digest V2001 #255 Telecom Digest Monday, October 8 2001 Volume 2001 : Number 255 In this issue: Re: Charges for DA and other enhanced services Re: Charges for DA and other enhanced services Re: Charges for DA and other enhanced services Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private E3-DS3 converter Call Osama: +873 682505331 Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 7 Oct 2001 09:47:46 -0400 From: stevenl11@aol.com (Steven Lichter) Subject: Re: Charges for DA and other enhanced services << Herb Stein" Sounds like a stupid parent problem, not a stupid PUC problem. >> It might be, but that is not the point. They offer the service, so they should offer a way to block them like they do in the others they offer. They just removed the recording off of the busy, which for a $.XX witll retry the number for you. They had complaints about that from me and many others, so the PUC is now looking into that. According to the Public Advisers office I have several good complaints and the only reason PUC staff could not take any action is they did not feel that the current tariffs Pacific Bell had would cover them and hearings would be needed. Pacific Bell would not take the first move since it would cost them money, so the public would have to. I followed it up to TURN, all I got from them was Spam in my e-mail, blcoked them out, no help. All they seem to be interested in is beating up on the governer, SCE and Pacific Gass and Electric. Apple Elite II 909-359-5338. Home of GBBS/LLUCE, support for the Apple II 24 hours 2400/14.4. An OggNet Server. The only good spammer is a dead one, have you hunted one down today? (c) http://members.ebay.aol.com/aboutme/appleii-guy/ - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 7 Oct 2001 12:49:14 -0400 From: Joseph Singer Subject: Re: Charges for DA and other enhanced services Seems to me you have a bigger problem than going after the PUC. You need to control your daughter and her easy fingers on directory assistance and busy callback. If she cannot learn by your telling her not to do it perhaps you need to make her pay for the directory assistance and busy callback calls herself. Maybe she'll learn that it costs real money and that you're not going to pay for her extra telephone benefits. If someone is too lazy to crack open a telephone directory or too busy to call back a busy number theirselves they need to pay for those luxuries. On 6 Oct 2001 12:41:36 -0400, stevenl11@aol.com (Steven Lichter) wrote: >I'm interested in hearing from anyone in California mainly that has >Pacific Bell for their telephone service. > >I have been doing battle with them over charges for Directory >Assistance, Busy Callback and DA enhanced dialing. I have a phone for >my daughter that is blocked for all chargable services, but her and >her friends dial DA and use the option that thy charge $.80 to use >plus the dialing a busy number; which the recording has been >removed since PUC is now looking into those charges. It is my >feeling that Pacific Bell is in violation of CPUC Code Section >2889.4 which requres the utioly to over blocking for features, but >since these are pure profit fo them they will not file for a blocking >tariff. This and other features are tariffed so they should be required to >block. > >I went through Pacific Bell, next the PUC informal and review. Now >I'm in the process of filing a Formal Complaint against Pacific Bell >and also considering bringing legal action against them in court and >asking for the case to be of Class Action. > >Please reply to this in the newsgroup if you arer interested in >joining the complaint. I have all e-mail blocked to this account with >the exception of a few friends, but I can reply and give an open >e-mail in private. > > > >Apple Elite II 909-359-5338. Home of GBBS/LLUCE, support for the >Apple II 24 hours 2400/14.4. An OggNet Server. > >The only good spammer is a dead one, have you hunted one down today? (c) >http://members.ebay.aol.com/aboutme/appleii-guy/ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Personal replies are likely not read. Please reply in the newsgroup - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 7 Oct 2001 13:29:45 -0400 From: stevenl11@aol.com (Steven Lichter) Subject: Re: Charges for DA and other enhanced services << Joseph Singer Seems to me you have a bigger problem than going after the PUC. You need to control your daughter and her easy fingers on directory assistance and busy callback. If she cannot learn by your telling her not to do it perhaps you need to make her pay for the directory assistance and busy callback calls herself. Maybe she'll learn that it costs real money and that you're not going to pay for her extra telephone benefits. If someone is too lazy to crack open a telephone directory or too busy to call back a busy number themselves they need to pay for those luxuries. >> I agree and have talked to her and her friends about it. The last couple of months have had no usage of these services. But as you know they offer a lot of on demand advanced services and plan on adding more. You should also notice that they do offer blocks for most of them, mainly because people have complained to the telephone companies and the PUC, but they will only take action when forced to do so. I have bee told my management that they do know that there is a lot of abuse of these services and they spend lots of money telling about them on Radio and television, so that people will use them. The same as the tobacco companies did in the past and still do. I don't like to see a lot of rules and having spent 35 years in the telecom industry; 29 of them working for a telephone company, I have seen it all. Teens used to try every trick in the book to get free phone calls, we would plug one hole and 10 more would open. Deregulation was the biggest error that could have been done. It did not work in trucking, airlines, telecom, power transmission, or gas. Maybe we should deregulate the government!! Apple Elite II 909-359-5338. Home of GBBS/LLUCE, support for the Apple II 24 hours 2400/14.4. An OggNet Server. The only good spammer is a dead one, have you hunted one down today? (c) http://members.ebay.aol.com/aboutme/appleii-guy/ - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 7 Oct 2001 18:21:06 -0400 From: "Adam H. Kerman" Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Joseph Singer wrote: >Another way of getting unlisted service is to lie about the name you >wish to have listed in the directory. You do not have to have your >legal name in the directory and if you wish to use the name Herman >Schaumleffel that's up to you. Not if Mr. Schaumleffel doesn't wish to be associated with your residence. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 7 Oct 2001 18:35:49 -0400 From: m_gorr@yahoo.com (M Gorr) Subject: E3-DS3 converter Anyone know of a box that can convert a channelized E3 signal to a channelized DS3? mike - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 7 Oct 2001 21:35:20 -0400 From: Tim Meehan Subject: Call Osama: +873 682505331 >From pravda.ru: CALL BIN LADEN Now everybody has this unique opportunity. In Germany the number of Osama bin Ladens satellite telephone has been published. According to German mass media, this number is 00873-682505331. The satellite telephone was bought for bin Laden by his brother-in-arms for $10,000 in New York, in 1996. Since that time, bin Laden has been using it only. It is being reported that the FBI has spread this number. It is said that if somebody reached bin Laden, the terrorist would be warned of the attack. In 1998, the US already bombed the satellite telephone of bin Laden. Though at that time, the terrorist seems not to have been on the telephone. The telephone was not found as well. After all, it still functions. - -- Tim Meehan * duketor@shellyeah.org http://duketor.freeshell.org * Toronto, ON "SEND KARLA TO AFGHANISTAN" -- subject line on alt.fan.karla-homolka - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 8 Oct 2001 02:10:35 -0400 From: tknab@nyx.net (Terry Knab) Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private LARB0 wrote: : Uh .. so? Telephone companies have been charging for non-pub number for : decades - usually $1.00 or $1.50, in that range. It does take 'work' to omit a : number from the directory. How much work does it take to set a flag in a database to say 'don't publish'? Not much. The idea of charging for unlisted/published numbers is more corporate welfare. Really, in the old days of manual records, I could see where this was work, but with all the automated systems of today, its no work at all. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 8 Oct 2001 02:14:35 -0400 From: tknab@nyx.net (Terry Knab) Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private LARB0 wrote: : Charges re: non-pub/no-list numbers (and therefore addresses) are usually : waived. At least we used to, in special circumstances. For example, police : could get it free of charge. I'm not sure how SWBT did it, but I get a non published number for free (and my other two numbers are non-pub as well) - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ End of Telecom Digest V2001 #255 ******************************** - To leave this list, send a message containing "unsubscribe" to telecom-digest-request@telecom-digest.org. Date: 9 Oct 2001 16:21:28 -0400 From: owner-telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org (Telecom Digest) To: telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org Subject: Telecom Digest V2001 #257 Telecom Digest Tuesday, October 9 2001 Volume 2001 : Number 257 In this issue: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Re: E3-DS3 converter Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private What does CallerID spec include? Num dialed by caller? Re: Q: what is the pinout for a four-wire (type IV) E&M interface? Re: What does CallerID spec include? Num dialed by caller? Telecom Update (Canada) #303, October 9, 2001 Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Re: What does CallerID spec include? Num dialed by caller? Re: What does CallerID spec include? Num dialed by caller? Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 9 Oct 2001 08:55:58 -0400 From: tknab@nyx.net (Terry Knab) Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private John R Levine wrote: :>USF (Universal Service Fund) Where does -that- money go? Back into the :>pockets of the phone companies who bill it, under the guise of 'rural :>service'. : That's not true. It's allocated via a complex formula that I don't : completely understand to telcos with more rural customers. I can : assure you that my telco, which serves about 8000 rural customers : gets a lot more USF money than we customers pay. (And we certainly : thank the rest of you.) USF pays for POTS and in recent years : school hookups to the Internet. If someone thinks it's subsidizing : DSL, I'd like to see the source. It subsidizes 'internet' access, which can be construed as DSL. I read that one of the CLECs isn't too thrilled they can't dip into the USF fund in a particular state either. USF is still corporate welfare. It -does- go back into the RBOCS and Sprint's coffers. Now, if they were barred from getting the USF money, I'd be happy. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 9 Oct 2001 09:21:31 -0400 From: Wes Leatherock Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private On 8 Oct 2001, Terry Knab wrote: [ ... ] > The fact is that there should be standardised pricing. For a number of > reasons. > > 1. It keeps the phone co's profits to a minimum. (until they get some real > competition, which isn't gonna happen soon) What is the benefit from keeping telephone company profits "to a minimum"? Southwest Airlines makes robust profits and generally has the lowest prices. Wal-Mart makes vigorous profits and has low prices. Target Corporation makes healthy profits in its namesake discount stores, which have low prices. Its department stores, in the process of all being rebranded "Marshall Field's," have lackluster profits and high prices. Wes Leatherock wleath@sandbox.dynip.com - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 9 Oct 2001 10:06:46 -0400 From: tknab@nyx.net (Terry Knab) Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Wes Leatherock wrote: :> The fact is that there should be standardised pricing. For a number of :> reasons. :> :> 1. It keeps the phone co's profits to a minimum. (until they get some real :> competition, which isn't gonna happen soon) : : What is the benefit from keeping telephone company profits : "to a minimum"? It puts a stop to the greed that Southwestern Bell and some of the other RBOCs have. There's absolutely no reason that caller id should cost $7 or more a month, for example. The fact is that since the RBOCs have no effective competition they can get away with huge profits and poor service (Ameritech is a GOOD example of this) : : Southwest Airlines makes robust profits and generally has : the lowest prices. But they don't engage in predatory or illegal business practices. (see below) They also strive to keep their costs down. The Phone Company doesn't. The fact is that Southwest plays FAIR. Something that the phone company doesn't do. Also, they -have- compeition. Very stiff competition. Southwest is a good example of how to run a business. : : Wal-Mart makes vigorous profits and has low prices. And they engage in anti-competivive and illegal business practices (and quite a few highly questionable practices) to make those profits. Here are some examples: 1. Meat cutters were fired at every wal*mart supercenter and replaced with pre-packaged meat from IBP. Why? The butchers wanted to unionize. Wal*Mart decided rather than pay union wages, they decided to shutter the meat counters and farm it out to a company with more questionable practices then themselves. All in the name of profits. 2. Wal*Mart honchos are infamous for going around towns in Missouri and Arkansas and buying up land -just- for the purpose of keeping Target and K-Mart out of town. They've run K-Mart out of Southern Missouri for all intensive purposes. 3. Wal*Mart got caught selling drugs below cost in Arkansas to run out compeititors. They got fined bigtime for it. Wal*Mart is a good example of why the phone company's profits need to be controlled. They engage in some of the -same- anti-competitive practices that the phone company does (like the case of Ameritech's $130 charge to change LECs in Ohio) : Target Corporation makes healthy profits in its namesake : discount stores, which have low prices. Its department stores, in : the process of all being rebranded "Marshall Field's," have : lackluster profits and high prices. : That's not a good example. Target plays by the rules and plays -fair-. And I am a loyal Target customer. You're also forgetting Marshall Field's -is- a upscale department store brand, unlike Target which is known for being a discount house. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 9 Oct 2001 10:51:14 -0400 From: m_gorr@yahoo.com (M Gorr) Subject: Re: E3-DS3 converter Ben, Thanks for your response. Here's my overall problem/goal: I'm testing a new Channelized OC3 card for a router. The card is both SONET/SDH capable. I have a SONET solution already, using a Lucent DDM to break the OC3 into DS3s which are then connected to 3 DS3 interfaces on an Adtech (traffic generator). The problem is that Adtech does not make a channelized E3 card, so I can't just hook the OC3 into an SDH mux like I did for the DS3. In this situation, the E3-DS3 converter would allow me to use an SDH mux to break the OC3 into E3s. I could then send these E3s into the converter and connect the resulting DS3s to my traffic generator. This is just one solution I'm thinking of. mike bend@sbei.com (Ben Dewey) wrote in message news:<6bd0d76d.0110080720.4714c2a8@posting.google.com>... > Mike, > > I'm not sure exactly what you require, but an E3 to DS3 is > traditionaly a very expensive box that resides in the international > "edge-of-the-continent". The server is called an ISP (International > Signaling Point) which is a fancy Class 4 (or above) STP. > E3 and DS3 frames are only common in that they both use two stage bit > interleaving from the respective basic tributary (E1 and DS1) to > achieve their respective speeds (E3=34Mbps, DS3=45Mbps). All else in > completely different, including the number of DS0s in each (672 in > DS3, 512 in E3). E3 multiplexing is a very simple format in both > mutiplexing stages, a frame delimiter, alarm, and a national use bit, > and bits used to identify justification points (bit alignment). But > DS3 is very complex (and more versatile) with several stages of inband > signaling, and optional bit suffing or C-bit parity. The server has to > be powerful enough to interpret and service the inband signaling (full > duplex) at both stages, while tearing down one format and > reconstructing it in the other format, with all the proper framing and > signaling, with a minimum latency. These types of servers are also > fully redundant to minimize service outages. Even without the full > redundancy and load balancing, the software overhead is huge. > I suppose you could find the servers at Lucent, Nortel, Alcatel, etc. > who make this sort of thing, but be prepared to spend BIG bucks. With > technology marching on as it will (and has), I expect you may find > something in the future, but even with today's consolidation of > CSU/DSU's into smaller and smaller outlines, and more versatile > communication controllers, an E3/DS3 coverter remains a very expensive > prospect. > To get an idea of the framing, signaling, etc, have a look at: > ITU-T G.704, G.742, G.751 > ANSI T1.403, T1.404, T1.107 > > > Ben Dewey > Senior Product Marketing Manger > SBE, Inc > > > m_gorr@yahoo.com (M Gorr) wrote in message news:<2db26fcd.0110050950.182e8313@posting.google.com>... > > Anyone know of a box that can convert a channelized E3 signal to a channelized DS3? > > > > > > mike - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 9 Oct 2001 10:51:58 -0400 From: Barry Margolin Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private In article <9ptkci$iio$1@uni00nw.unity.ncsu.edu>, Henry E Schaffer wrote: >In article <1Fkv7.37$5h1.2063@burlma1-snr2>, >Barry Margolin wrote: >> ... >>What's so greedy about asking customers to pay more when they want >>additional features on their service? It's a value-added service, so >>what's so wrong with charging for the extra value? > > Having the address there is also a useful value-added service. Would >it be just fine for them to charge for that value, too? Sure. Although if they were to do that, they might find that the phone books end up pretty thin, so they might not find it worthwhile to print them at all. I suppose the philosophy of the current system is that the existence of the listings is of most value to the people who do the looking up, not the people who are listed. Since there's no way to get someone to pay whenever they open the phone book, they bundle that price in with the cost of the phone service and send everyone a phone book. Once the system is set up this way, it only makes sense to charge people who ask for something different from the norm. - -- Barry Margolin, barmar@genuity.net Genuity, Woburn, MA *** DON'T SEND TECHNICAL QUESTIONS DIRECTLY TO ME, post them to newsgroups. Please DON'T copy followups to me -- I'll assume it wasn't posted to the group. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 9 Oct 2001 10:58:24 -0400 From: Barry Margolin Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private In article , Wes Leatherock wrote: > >On 8 Oct 2001, Terry Knab wrote: > > [ ... ] > >> The fact is that there should be standardised pricing. For a number of >> reasons. >> >> 1. It keeps the phone co's profits to a minimum. (until they get some real >> competition, which isn't gonna happen soon) > > What is the benefit from keeping telephone company profits >"to a minimum"? If a company has a monopoly on a product that's considered essential, and there are no price limits, it can charge as much as it wants and the customers will be forced to pay it. > Southwest Airlines makes robust profits and generally has >the lowest prices. > > Wal-Mart makes vigorous profits and has low prices. > > Target Corporation makes healthy profits in its namesake >discount stores, which have low prices. Its department stores, in >the process of all being rebranded "Marshall Field's," have >lackluster profits and high prices. None of those companies are monopolies. If you don't like their prices, you can simply go to one of their competitors. If the only phone company serving your town sets its prices too high, you're just screwed (yes, I know that these days many people are completely replacing their landlines with cellular service, but the government's opinion is apparently that this isn't an adequate option). - -- Barry Margolin, barmar@genuity.net Genuity, Woburn, MA *** DON'T SEND TECHNICAL QUESTIONS DIRECTLY TO ME, post them to newsgroups. Please DON'T copy followups to me -- I'll assume it wasn't posted to the group. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 9 Oct 2001 11:16:10 -0400 From: johnl@iecc.com (John R Levine) Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private >: thank the rest of you.) USF pays for POTS and in recent years >: school hookups to the Internet. If someone thinks it's subsidizing >: DSL, I'd like to see the source. > >It subsidizes 'internet' access, which can be construed as DSL. Around here the school has a T1 (a very cheap one) since DSL isn't available yet. I agree that getting schools into the USF gravy train was a bad policy move, but the money goes to all sorts of stuff, not just phone lines. >USF is still corporate welfare. It -does- go back into the RBOCS and >Sprint's coffers. Now, if they were barred from getting the USF money, I'd >be happy. It goes to whoever provides service in high-cost rural areas which means it goes disproportionately to small rural independents like mine. There's a per-state cap on how much of a state a telco can claim is eligible for USF, with exemptions not easily available. (VZ has one in Vermont, but it's quite unusual that the whole state is tiny little towns with no city worthy of the term.) Note to Vermonters: Burlington is a swell place, but I know larger places that consider themselves to be towns. - -- John R. Levine, IECC, POB 727, Trumansburg NY 14886 +1 607 387 6869 johnl@iecc.com, Village Trustee and Sewer Commissioner, http://iecc.com/johnl, Member, Provisional board, Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 9 Oct 2001 12:06:41 -0400 From: "Mickey Ferguson" Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private "Terry Knab" wrote in message news:1002635948.423699@irys.nyx.net... > : Wal-Mart makes vigorous profits and has low prices. > > And they engage in anti-competivive and illegal business practices (and > quite a few highly questionable practices) to make those profits. > > Here are some examples: > > 1. Meat cutters were fired at every wal*mart supercenter and replaced with > pre-packaged meat from IBP. Why? The butchers wanted to unionize. > Wal*Mart decided rather than pay union wages, they decided to shutter the > meat counters and farm it out to a company with more questionable practices > then themselves. All in the name of profits. Sorry, but I agree completely with Wal*Mart's prerogative to make this decision. If they find that doing something in-house is costing them too much money and they can outsource the job to someone where it will cost them less, that's called free market. They studied the cost they would incur by having to pay union wages and decided it would be cheaper to pay another company to do the job. This is fine with me. Think about it a minute. Those lost butcher jobs are going to be needed by the company to which Wal*Mart has now contracted the job, because suddenly they have far more business than they had previously. And those jobs are union jobs. Or if they aren't, a union is free to try to organize them. The bottom line is that the work will be done by *someone*. Sorry for straying rather far from the telecom arena... - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 9 Oct 2001 12:55:08 -0400 From: andrew60406@hotmail.com (Andrew Munn) Subject: What does CallerID spec include? Num dialed by caller? I want to have many phone number all feeding into the same line for an application measuring response to a magazine add. I will publish a different 800# in each add. I want to record which number was dialed by the caller to reach my IVR system. Does the caller ID spec include this? Is it just something which is ignored by regular caller ID displays or what? I was told that it is included and that Dialogic and Brooktrout boards among others will allow capturing the number dialed. True? Thanks, Andrew andrew60406@hotmail.com - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 9 Oct 2001 13:00:03 -0400 From: bend@sbei.com (Ben Dewey) Subject: Re: Q: what is the pinout for a four-wire (type IV) E&M interface? Alan, Back in days of yore, before SS7 and digital networks, telephone operators only had an Ear and Mouthpiece, hence "E&M". Today we would call those lines receive and transmit. The two lines were used to signal the central office that line was off hook, a trunk was siezed, etc. Cisco has a decent overview of E&M signaling at: www.cisco.com/warp/public/788/signalling/em-supervision.htm This includes some data on loop start, wink start, ground start, etc.. This stuff is so old, you'll not likely find anything but cursory information in most modern telephony and/or engineering books. I suspect this is because this is one of those things that "everyone knows" ;-). Pinouts for several interfaces can be also found on Cisco's website at: www.cisco.com/warp/public/788/signalling/21.htm Unfortunately, Cisco does not use type 4 interfaces, but if you do a web search for "E&M Type 4 pinout", you'll probably find something from the one of the companies that makes external CSU/DSUs. BTW, RJ-45 and RJ-48 share the same physical connector. The difference is in the pinouts. Generally speaking, the RJ-45 pinout is used for LANs, the RJ-48 pinout is used for T1's. Ben Dewey Senior Product Marketing Manager SBE, Inc. Alan Schnittman wrote in message news:<7c24stkih1i42h3cr2gb49409nda7b9ndp@4ax.com>... > Hi, > > What is the pinout for a four-wire (type IV) E&M interface? Is it > a RJ-45 jack? I saw RJ-48 mentioned somewhere in connection with > four-wire circuits. I assume there's a standard, but I've found > several web sites with conflicting information and none that I'd > trust. The books I have give a cursory overview of E&M signaling but > no hard information. Is that a good book, an applications note, or > web site about E&M interfaces? > > Thanks, > > Alan - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 9 Oct 2001 13:10:12 -0400 From: richgr@panix.com (Rich Greenberg) Subject: Re: What does CallerID spec include? Num dialed by caller? In article <3c92884a.0110090853.115baa39@posting.google.com>, Andrew Munn wrote: >I want to have many phone number all feeding into the same line for an >application measuring response to a magazine add. I will publish a >different 800# in each add. I want to record which number was dialed >by the caller to reach my IVR system. Does the caller ID spec include >this? Is it just something which is ignored by regular caller ID >displays or what? I was told that it is included and that Dialogic >and Brooktrout boards among others will allow capturing the number >dialed. True? Not caller id. It isn't always on and isn't always passed. ANI is another story. Its the billing number, not the calling number. On individual lines these will be the same but usually not on calls from a PBX. But neither ids the line that was called. What you can do is install centrex service, with as many dialed numbers as you have 800 numbers, and enough physical lines as you anticipate simultanious calls. The centrex DID (Dial In Direct) lines will id the number of the line that was called. - -- Rich Greenberg Work: Rich.Greenberg atsign worldspan.com +1 770-563-6656 N6LRT Marietta, GA, USA Play: richgr atsign panix.com +1 770-321-6507 Eastern time zone. I speak for myself & my dogs only. VM'er since CP-67 Canines:Val(Chinook,CGC,TT), Red & Shasta(Husky,(RIP)) Owner:Chinook-L Atlanta Siberian Husky Rescue. www.panix.com/~richgr/ Asst Owner:Sibernet-L - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 9 Oct 2001 13:31:10 -0400 From: Angus TeleManagement Subject: Telecom Update (Canada) #303, October 9, 2001 ************************************************************ TELECOM UPDATE ************************************************************ published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group http://www.angustel.ca Number 303: October 9, 2001 Publication of Telecom Update is made possible by generous financial support from: ** AT&T CANADA http://www.attcanada.com ** BELL CANADA http://www.bell.ca ** GROUP TELECOM http://www.gt.ca ** LUCENT TECHNOLOGIES CANADA http://www.lucent.ca ** PRIMUS CANADA: http://www.primustel.ca ** Q9 NETWORKS: http://www.Q9.com ** TELUS: http://www.telus.com ** UNISPHERE NETWORKS: http://www.unispherenetworks.com/ ************************************************************ IN THIS ISSUE: Nortel Reduces Staff by Another 20,000 Price Cap Hearing Enters Week Two Wolfe to Leave Group Telecom Merger of Mitel, March Canceled Microcell Reduces Capital Spending 724 Lays Off Half Its Staff Bell Seeks Digital Rate Hikes 2001 Revenue Tax Finalized More Competition in Quebec Telus Must Reveal Consultant's Data Bell to Test Voice Over IP Look Creditor Protection Extended Global Internet Growth Slows Financial Results iMagicTV Persona RIM Telesat What's Behind the Price Cap Debate? ============================================================ NORTEL REDUCES STAFF BY ANOTHER 20,000: Nortel Networks is laying off 10,000 more employees and will shed an equal number of jobs by selling parts of its business. This will bring Nortel's work force to 45,000, compared to 94,500 in January. ** Nortel has chosen its CFO, Frank Dunn, to replace John Roth as President and CEO, effective November 1. Roth will stay through 2002 as Vice-Chairman. An "advisory" Office of the CEO has been formed, made up of Dunn, Roth, and Chairman Red Wilson. ** Nortel is selling its Clarify assets to Amdocs for US$200 million. Nortel bought CRM-maker Clarify in 1999 for $2.1 billion. ** Nortel is outsourcing some of its circuit switch manufacturing to Montreal-based C-Mac Industries. ** Nortel's predicted third-quarter revenue has been revised down to US$3.5 billion; it expects a $3.6 billion net loss after restructuring costs and other charges. PRICE CAP HEARING ENTERS WEEK TWO: Last week in Hull, Bell Canada witnesses were extensively cross-examined on their proposals for the next stage of telco price regulation. This week begins with at least another day of Bell Alliance testimony, followed by Telus witnesses. The hearing appears likely to extend into a third week. Transcripts and a live audio feed are available on the CRTC website. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/transcripts/2001/index.htm http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/welcome.htm WOLFE TO LEAVE GROUP TELECOM: Robert Wolfe, Group Telecom's President and COO, will leave the company at year-end. Leo Hindery, former CEO of GlobalCenter, has been named Chairman. MERGER OF MITEL, MARCH CANCELED: Mitel Networks and March Networks have canceled their planned merger because of legal difficulties. The companies will still collaborate in a strategic alliance. ** March is laying off 47 employees, 15% of its staff. MICROCELL REDUCES CAPITAL SPENDING: Microcell, which hoped to raise $500 million in additional funding, has cut back its goal to $325 million. Capital spending for 2002 has been scaled down to $175 million, a 36% reduction. 724 LAYS OFF HALF ITS STAFF: 724solutions, which makes software for wireless financial services, is laying off 350 of its 670 employees and plans to cut its costs in half. BELL SEEKS DIGITAL RATE HIKES: Bell Canada has asked the CRTC to approve price increases for Link components of its Digital Network Access service. If approved, the prices would increase from $60 to $85 (DS-1) and from $100 to $110 (DS-3). 2001 REVENUE TAX FINALIZED: CRTC Decision 2000-745 confirms that the contribution charge for 2001, applied to all telecom service providers with more than $10 million in revenue, will be 4.5% of eligible revenues. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2001/DT2001-617.htm MORE COMPETITION IN QUEBEC: CRTC Order 2001-761 lays out the rules for introducing local telephone and payphone competition in the territories served by Telus Quebec and Telebec, effective September 1, 2002. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Orders/2001/O2001-761.htm TELUS MUST REVEAL CONSULTANT'S DATA: The CRTC has rejected Telus's request to keep confidential two copyrighted tables of data developed by NBI/Michael Sone Associates (see Telecom Update #301). http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2001/DT2001-635.htm BELL TO TEST VOICE OVER IP: Bell Canada has agreed to conduct a consumer trial of voice over IP networks beginning late this year, using technology from Net2Phone. LOOK CREDITOR PROTECTION EXTENDED: Look Communications has obtained an extension of its operating period under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act to November 30 (see Telecom Update #299). GLOBAL INTERNET GROWTH SLOWS: International Internet capacity has grown 174% since a year ago, compared to 382% during the previous year, according to a study by TeleGeography Inc. Cross-border bandwidth grew fastest in Latin America, slowest in Africa. FINANCIAL RESULTS: ** iMagicTV, which makes software to deliver TV over DSL, reports June-August sales of US$803,000, compared to $1.65 million the previous quarter and $2.83 million a year ago. Net loss for the quarter: $5.1 million. ** Persona, formerly Regional Cablesystems, had sales of $100 million (up 3%), EBITDA of $45 million (up 5%), and net income of $8.1 million (up 72%) during the quarter ended August 31. ** Research In Motion's June-August sales reached $80.1 million, up 4% from the previous quarter. A net loss of $17.5 million includes a $23 million writedown of inventory and receivables related to Motient, a financially troubled U.S. customer. Next-quarter sales are expected to decline to $70 million-$75 million. ** Telesat's third-quarter revenue was $79.9, up 6.7% from the previous year. Net earnings: $8.1 million. WHAT'S BEHIND THE PRICE CAP DEBATE? In the October issue of Telemanagement, Lis Angus summarizes the contending positions of telcos, competitors, and consumers in the CRTC's current hearing on the future framework for telecom regulation. Also in Telemanagement #189: ** IP-Based Video Conferencing Begins to Find Takers ** A Different Model: Stream Targets Urban Data Networks For a limited time, sign up for a three-issue Introductory Subscription to Telemanagement for $75. That's $150 off the cover price, the biggest discount ever. Details at http://www.angustel.ca -- click the "Save 66%" button. ============================================================ HOW TO SUBMIT ITEMS FOR TELECOM UPDATE E-MAIL: editors@angustel.ca FAX: 905-686-2655 MAIL: TELECOM UPDATE Angus TeleManagement Group 8 Old Kingston Road Ajax, Ontario Canada L1T 2Z7 =========================================================== HOW TO SUBSCRIBE (OR UNSUBSCRIBE) TELECOM UPDATE is provided in electronic form only. There are two formats available: 1. The fully-formatted edition is posted on the World Wide Web on the first business day of the week at http://www.angustel.ca 2. The e-mail edition is distributed free of charge. To subscribe, send an e-mail message to: listmanager@subs.postmastergeneral.com Insert as the subject of your message the two words: subscribe TelecomUpdate To stop receiving the e-mail edition, send an e-mail message to: listmanager@subs.postmastergeneral.com Insert as the subject of your message the two words: unsubscribe TelecomUpdate =========================================================== COPYRIGHT AND CONDITIONS OF USE: All contents copyright 2001 Angus TeleManagement Group Inc. All rights reserved. For further information, including permission to reprint or reproduce, please e-mail rosita@angustel.ca or phone 905-686-5050 ext 500. The information and data included has been obtained from sources which we believe to be reliable, but Angus TeleManagement makes no warranties or representations whatsoever regarding accuracy, completeness, or adequacy. Opinions expressed are based on interpretation of available information, and are subject to change. If expert advice on the subject matter is required, the services of a competent professional should be obtained. ============================================================ - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 9 Oct 2001 14:45:19 -0400 From: tknab@nyx.net (Terry Knab) Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Mickey Ferguson wrote: :> then themselves. All in the name of profits. : Sorry, but I agree completely with Wal*Mart's prerogative to make this : decision. If they find that doing something in-house is costing them too : much money and they can outsource the job to someone where it will cost them : less, that's called free market. They studied the cost they would incur by : having to pay union wages and decided it would be cheaper to pay another : company to do the job. This is fine with me. : Think about it a minute. Those lost butcher jobs are going to be needed by : the company to which Wal*Mart has now contracted the job, because suddenly : they have far more business than they had previously. And those jobs are : union jobs. Or if they aren't, a union is free to try to organize them. : The bottom line is that the work will be done by *someone*. That company they hired uses ILLEGAL immigrants and UNIONBUSTED. That company is anti-union as well. IBP doesn't have the best track record when it comes to safety either. Don't call me when you get sick off eating their unionbusting meat prepared by illegals. - -- - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Terry E. Knab News/System Administrator Nyx Public Access Unix - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 9 Oct 2001 14:45:42 -0400 From: Wes Leatherock Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private On 9 Oct 2001, Terry Knab wrote: [ ... ] > 3. Wal*Mart got caught selling drugs below cost in Arkansas to run out > compeititors. They got fined bigtime for it. Indeed they did. But the competitors they were trying to run out of business (independent drug stores) testified their business had actually increased during the period in question. Wes Leatherock wleath@sandbox.dynip.com - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 9 Oct 2001 14:48:34 -0400 From: tknab@nyx.net (Terry Knab) Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Barry Margolin wrote: : None of those companies are monopolies. If you don't like their prices, : you can simply go to one of their competitors. If the only phone company : serving your town sets its prices too high, you're just screwed (yes, I : know that these days many people are completely replacing their landlines : with cellular service, but the government's opinion is apparently that this : isn't an adequate option). Wrong! Wal*Mart -is- a monopoly. Go around Missouri and tell me to go to their competitor when you find the local K-Mart has been shut down. Come to St. Joe where you can't buy food anywhere other than wal-mart. Target & K-Mart have -both- been kept from coming in or updating by the Wal Mart corporate greed machine. The airline? It has competition, I admitted that. Target has competition, where they are even able to open, no thanks to Wal*Mart. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 9 Oct 2001 14:49:43 -0400 From: Jack Adams Subject: Re: What does CallerID spec include? Num dialed by caller? Andrew, If I read your post correctly, you are interested in determining which toll free number the calling party actually dialed to to reach your system. Caller-ID will not pass that. You should look into Dialed Number Identification Service (DNIS for short) which is available from the major carriers as an added feature to their inbound toll free services. The number dialed will be passed on a D channel of the ISDN PRI or BRI for 1 or 2 lines applications. Caller-ID on POTS isn't going to help you very much. Andrew Munn wrote: > > I want to have many phone number all feeding into the same line for an > application measuring response to a magazine add. I will publish a > different 800# in each add. I want to record which number was dialed > by the caller to reach my IVR system. Does the caller ID spec include > this? Is it just something which is ignored by regular caller ID > displays or what? I was told that it is included and that Dialogic > and Brooktrout boards among others will allow capturing the number > dialed. True? - -- John "Jack" Adams HO 4D-327 Lucent Technologies, Inc. 732.949.2295 732.949.1922 (Facsimile) jackadams@lucent.com They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. Benjamin Franklin 1775 - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 9 Oct 2001 15:06:00 -0400 From: johnl@iecc.com (John R Levine) Subject: Re: What does CallerID spec include? Num dialed by caller? >>I want to have many phone number all feeding into the same line for an >>application measuring response to a magazine add. I will publish a >>different 800# in each add. >What you can do is install centrex service, with as many dialed numbers >as you have 800 numbers, and enough physical lines as you anticipate >simultanious calls. The centrex DID (Dial In Direct) lines will id the >number of the line that was called. DID isn't centrex, DID is how you connect a PBX when you don't have centrex. But in any event, DID is exactly the right service here, a bunch of trunks over which the telco can deliver calls to any of a block of phone numbers. DID can be delivered in a variety of ways but you probably want primary rate ISDN which has a well-defined protocol supported in PBXes that tells you want the dialed number was. This is the kind of setup that phone answering services have, they give each customer a unique number to which it forwards its calls, and the answering service operator can tell from the DID info what business name to use to be when he or she answers the phone. - -- John R. Levine, IECC, POB 727, Trumansburg NY 14886 +1 607 387 6869 johnl@iecc.com, Village Trustee and Sewer Commissioner, http://iecc.com/johnl, Member, Provisional board, Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 9 Oct 2001 16:05:04 -0400 From: Barry Margolin Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private In article <1002652964.912458@irys.nyx.net>, Terry Knab wrote: >Barry Margolin wrote: > >: None of those companies are monopolies. If you don't like their prices, >: you can simply go to one of their competitors. If the only phone company >: serving your town sets its prices too high, you're just screwed (yes, I >: know that these days many people are completely replacing their landlines >: with cellular service, but the government's opinion is apparently that this >: isn't an adequate option). > >Wrong! Wal*Mart -is- a monopoly. Go around Missouri and tell me to go to >their competitor when you find the local K-Mart has been shut down. > >Come to St. Joe where you can't buy food anywhere other than wal-mart. > >Target & K-Mart have -both- been kept from coming in or updating by the Wal >Mart corporate greed machine. My earlier point is that local phone companies have been a government-enforced monopoly for many years. As such, it was necessary for the government to regulate their prices, and such regulation will continue until they can show that sufficient competition exists so that it's not needed. On the other hand, Wal-Mart is not in an industry where the government has ever endorsed monopolistic practices. If Wal-Mart has engaged in illegal practices that resulted in their becoming a monopoly in some markets, anti-trust law provides remedies. If the government isn't pursuing those remedies, that's a different problem. I was explaining why RBOCs are treated differently than supermarkets. If an individual supermarket chain is behaving badly, that doesn't mean that the supermarket industry should be regulated like RBOCs, or that RBOCs should be unregulated like supermarkets. That one chain is an anomaly, and it should be fixed. - -- Barry Margolin, barmar@genuity.net Genuity, Woburn, MA *** DON'T SEND TECHNICAL QUESTIONS DIRECTLY TO ME, post them to newsgroups. Please DON'T copy followups to me -- I'll assume it wasn't posted to the group. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 9 Oct 2001 16:21:24 -0400 From: Wes Leatherock Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private On 9 Oct 2001, Terry Knab wrote: > Barry Margolin wrote: > > : None of those companies are monopolies. If you don't like their prices, > : you can simply go to one of their competitors. If the only phone company > : serving your town sets its prices too high, you're just screwed (yes, I > : know that these days many people are completely replacing their landlines > : with cellular service, but the government's opinion is apparently that this > : isn't an adequate option). > > Wrong! Wal*Mart -is- a monopoly. Go around Missouri and tell me to go to > their competitor when you find the local K-Mart has been shut down. > > Come to St. Joe where you can't buy food anywhere other than wal-mart. > > Target & K-Mart have -both- been kept from coming in or updating by the Wal > Mart corporate greed machine. > > The airline? It has competition, I admitted that. > Target has competition, where they are even able to open, no thanks to > Wal*Mart. Curious that K-Mart, which never entered the Oklahoma City market until a few years ago, has opened four or five stores in that time. Target is building a SuperTarget just across the turnpike from a new Wal-Mart and Sam's Club. Of course, they don't have the new Krispy Kreme in a plot on the main street in front of the store, but on the other hand they are on the same side of the turnpike as the big shopping mall and the multiscreen cinema. Incidentally, Target bought some land in Edmond (a suburb) several years ago but has not started construction yet, to a good deal of grumbling by the local citizenry. Wes Leatherock wleath@sandbox.dynip.com - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ End of Telecom Digest V2001 #257 ******************************** - To leave this list, send a message containing "unsubscribe" to telecom-digest-request@telecom-digest.org. Date: 10 Oct 2001 06:15:18 -0400 From: owner-telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org (Telecom Digest) To: telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org Subject: Telecom Digest V2001 #258 Telecom Digest Wednesday, October 10 2001 Volume 2001 : Number 258 In this issue: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Resurrecting an old 1A2 desk set Re: Resurrecting an old 1A2 desk set Re: Resurrecting an old 1A2 desk set Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Re: E3-DS3 converter Wanted: Telecom Manuals Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Greek numbering changes Ameritech allegedly attempts to bully Wisconsin consumer group! Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Re: Resurrecting an old 1A2 desk set Re: Charges for DA and other enhanced services ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 9 Oct 2001 16:33:20 -0400 From: "John R Levine" Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private >: Think about it a minute. Those lost butcher jobs are going to be needed by >: the company to which Wal*Mart has now contracted the job, because suddenly >: they have far more business than they had previously. And those jobs are >: union jobs. Or if they aren't, a union is free to try to organize them. >: The bottom line is that the work will be done by *someone*. > >That company they hired uses ILLEGAL immigrants and UNIONBUSTED. >That company is anti-union as well. IBP doesn't have the best track record >when it comes to safety either. IBP is indeed an awful company, and you can read all about them and their eight-fingered Guatemalan employees in the swell new book "Fast Food Nation", available at Amazon (follow this link http://net.gurus.com/bk/a/0395977894), B&N (follow this link http://net.gurus.com/bk/bn/0395977894), and other places. But this no longer has anything to do with Telecom, so please continue this elsewhere. Love, Your Net-Mom - -- John R. Levine, IECC, POB 727, Trumansburg NY 14886 +1 607 387 6869 johnl@iecc.com, Village Trustee and Sewer Commissioner, http://iecc.com/johnl, Member, Provisional board, Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 9 Oct 2001 16:56:00 -0400 From: "Gordon S. Hlavenka" Subject: Resurrecting an old 1A2 desk set Someone gave me an old 6-button desk phone (500-type) which they want wired so that it will work as an ordinary single-line instrument. The bottom plate has a sticker on it which says, "564 HD". Big thick cable coming out the back terminated in a 50-conductor Amphenol connector (although there are only 40 contacts installed). I'm pretty sure this is from an old Key system. Anyeway, it's got a (real!) bell and a hybrid, so it should be workable. They don't care whether the buttons do anything, although setting it up as a 2-line phone would be a neat added bonus. Seems to me there's probably already a website which would tell how to do this, so just a pointer is really all I need... - -- Gordon S. Hlavenka O- nospam@crashelex.com Occasionally, amidst all the bad haiku, a good one is found. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 9 Oct 2001 17:29:43 -0400 From: richgr@panix.com (Rich Greenberg) Subject: Re: Resurrecting an old 1A2 desk set In article <3BC36457.FCA6018@crashelex.com>, Gordon S. Hlavenka wrote: >Someone gave me an old 6-button desk phone (500-type) which they want >wired so that it will work as an ordinary single-line instrument. The >bottom plate has a sticker on it which says, "564 HD". Big thick cable >coming out the back terminated in a 50-conductor Amphenol connector >(although there are only 40 contacts installed). I'm pretty sure this >is from an old Key system. Find the end of the 50 conductor cable where it terminates inside the phone. I seem to recall a terminal board with screw terminals under the dial. Line one is the set at the left end, l2 the next set over, etc. 2 or more lines would be trivial, I don't think you can get the hold button to work without external equipment. - -- Rich Greenberg Work: Rich.Greenberg atsign worldspan.com +1 770-563-6656 N6LRT Marietta, GA, USA Play: richgr atsign panix.com +1 770-321-6507 Eastern time zone. I speak for myself & my dogs only. VM'er since CP-67 Canines:Val(Chinook,CGC,TT), Red & Shasta(Husky,(RIP)) Owner:Chinook-L Atlanta Siberian Husky Rescue. www.panix.com/~richgr/ Asst Owner:Sibernet-L - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 9 Oct 2001 18:10:19 -0400 From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: Resurrecting an old 1A2 desk set In article <3BC36457.FCA6018@crashelex.com>, Gordon S. Hlavenka wrote: >Someone gave me an old 6-button desk phone (500-type) which they want >wired so that it will work as an ordinary single-line instrument. The >bottom plate has a sticker on it which says, "564 HD". Big thick cable >coming out the back terminated in a 50-conductor Amphenol connector >(although there are only 40 contacts installed). I'm pretty sure this >is from an old Key system. > >Anyeway, it's got a (real!) bell and a hybrid, so it should be >workable. They don't care whether the buttons do anything, although >setting it up as a 2-line phone would be a neat added bonus. Pair 1 goes to the first phone line. I think pair 3 goes to the second although it might be pair 2. As long as you don't want the buttons to light up or the hold function to work, you should just be able to wire the two phone pairs to the connector and go. Radio Shack will sell you a break-out box from Amphenol to RJ-11s, or you can buy one from a more legitimate telephone provider like Graybar. - --scott - -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 9 Oct 2001 18:47:17 -0400 From: tonypo1@home.com Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private In article , oldbear@arctos.com says... > Maybe what folks want is a telephone company that takes its total costs, > adds a profit margin, and divides it by the number of lines. Then, each > customer will pay the same amount for each line regardless of what > special services they use or don't use. Of course, this method of > pricing would reflect the company's total cost. > > (If you don't like the profit part, use the same model as a cooperative.) > > Somehow, I think a lot of people would be unhappy with this method of > pricing -- arguing that they only make a few phone calls and they're > being forced to pay for all those features and services which the other > customers are using. I wouldn't complain. We all have a pretty fair idea what it really costs for most of the additional services - close to nothing. But we're paying the perceived value of the services. As for paying someone elses way - as if we don't do that already what with FCC Mandated Line Charges and Universal Service, E911 and TDD Relay fees? Tony - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 9 Oct 2001 18:56:12 -0400 From: bend@sbei.com (Ben Dewey) Subject: Re: E3-DS3 converter Mike, I feel your pain, but I don't think I can help you here. I also have an Adtech which I use our telecom cards. You are correct, E3 channelized test systems are scarce as hens teeth. Most test equipment appears to monitor E3, or ATM over E3, but thats all. Spirent seems to have bought up a lot of the telecom test companies, you might have a look at their Abacus 2. I don't have any experience with Abacus, but it's probably worth looking at the web site anyway. www.zarak.com Also have a look at, Agilent (HP), they've got a couple of things that might work. I think the price/performance between an E3/DS3 converter vs a channelized E3 traffic generator (if you can find one) may be a wash. Ben Dewey Senior Product Marketing Manager SBE, Inc m_gorr@yahoo.com (M Gorr) wrote in message news:<2db26fcd.0110090651.46ae0da3@posting.google.com>... > Ben, > > Thanks for your response. Here's my overall problem/goal: I'm testing > a new Channelized OC3 card for a router. The card is both SONET/SDH > capable. I have a SONET solution already, using a Lucent DDM to break > the OC3 into DS3s which are then connected to 3 DS3 interfaces on an > Adtech (traffic generator). The problem is that Adtech does not make > a channelized E3 card, so I can't just hook the OC3 into an SDH mux > like I did for the DS3. In this situation, the E3-DS3 converter would > allow me to use an SDH mux to break the OC3 into E3s. I could then > send these E3s into the converter and connect the resulting DS3s to my > traffic generator. This is just one solution I'm thinking of. > > > mike > > bend@sbei.com (Ben Dewey) wrote in message news:<6bd0d76d.0110080720.4714c2a8@posting.google.com>... > > Mike, > > > > I'm not sure exactly what you require, but an E3 to DS3 is > > traditionaly a very expensive box that resides in the international > > "edge-of-the-continent". The server is called an ISP (International > > Signaling Point) which is a fancy Class 4 (or above) STP. > > E3 and DS3 frames are only common in that they both use two stage bit > > interleaving from the respective basic tributary (E1 and DS1) to > > achieve their respective speeds (E3=34Mbps, DS3=45Mbps). All else in > > completely different, including the number of DS0s in each (672 in > > DS3, 512 in E3). E3 multiplexing is a very simple format in both > > mutiplexing stages, a frame delimiter, alarm, and a national use bit, > > and bits used to identify justification points (bit alignment). But > > DS3 is very complex (and more versatile) with several stages of inband > > signaling, and optional bit suffing or C-bit parity. The server has to > > be powerful enough to interpret and service the inband signaling (full > > duplex) at both stages, while tearing down one format and > > reconstructing it in the other format, with all the proper framing and > > signaling, with a minimum latency. These types of servers are also > > fully redundant to minimize service outages. Even without the full > > redundancy and load balancing, the software overhead is huge. > > I suppose you could find the servers at Lucent, Nortel, Alcatel, etc. > > who make this sort of thing, but be prepared to spend BIG bucks. With > > technology marching on as it will (and has), I expect you may find > > something in the future, but even with today's consolidation of > > CSU/DSU's into smaller and smaller outlines, and more versatile > > communication controllers, an E3/DS3 coverter remains a very expensive > > prospect. > > To get an idea of the framing, signaling, etc, have a look at: > > ITU-T G.704, G.742, G.751 > > ANSI T1.403, T1.404, T1.107 > > > > > > Ben Dewey > > Senior Product Marketing Manger > > SBE, Inc > > > > > > m_gorr@yahoo.com (M Gorr) wrote in message news:<2db26fcd.0110050950.182e8313@posting.google.com>... > > > Anyone know of a box that can convert a channelized E3 signal to a channelized DS3? > > > > > > > > > mike - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 9 Oct 2001 18:57:57 -0400 From: "Jim Rojas" Subject: Wanted: Telecom Manuals Wanted: Telecom Manuals I am looking for telecom manuals of any type to add to our growing online database. Thank you. Jim Rojas Technical Manuals Online! http://www.tech-man.com - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 9 Oct 2001 19:45:44 -0400 From: tknab@nyx.net (Terry Knab) Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private John R Levine wrote: : But this no longer has anything to do with Telecom, so please continue : this elsewhere. Back to the issue at hand. When looking at what the phone company gets away with, it all depends on the spine of the state's PUC (Or whatever they're called). In Missouri, SWB was allowed to raise pay phones to 50 cents per call, and jack up rates for things like non published numbers. I consider it awful funny that the states made such a big deal about blocking access to driver's license records, (and do not charge for it), yet we have to -pay- the phone company to keep their mouths shut. To me, the idea of a printed phone book is pretty much a dinosaur with the advent of the 'net versions of the phone book (and yes, I know not everyone has internet access), and the fact that people move, change numbers and such all the time. By the time the usual phone book goes to press, at least 40% of the numbers in it are out of date. Why does the phone company bother with a directory? Simple: Advertising revenue generated off of: * Yellow page listings * Cover sales (one slimeball lawyer in St. Joseph bought the in and outside covers, *AND* the spine of the directory) * being able to charge for non-published/non-listed/no-address items. Get rid of the directory, get rid of a major UNREGULATED source of phone company profits. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 9 Oct 2001 20:11:05 -0400 From: msb@vex.net (Mark Brader) Subject: Greek numbering changes The following was posted by Paul Hellander in rec.travel.europe. I haven't seen mention of it here and thought people might be interested. I know nothing more of this myself, nor do I know what source he appears to be quoting. | "Commencing in the late Summer of 2001 Greece introduced a new telephone | numbering system which is due to be fully implemented by October 2002. | This is being introduced with the aim of making all subscriber numbers in | the country 10-digit. | The introduction is being implemented in two phases: in phase one, | commencing officially on Jan 1, 2002 all subscriber phone numbers will add | an additional '0' to the beginning of their subscriber number. Thus, | subscriber number 23 456 becomes 023 456; subscriber number 234 567 | becomes 023 4567. With phase two, commencing in October 2002, all area | codes will replace their initial '0' with '2'. Thus, area code 081 will | become 281; area code 0831 will become 2831. | In addition, and in effect from January 1, 2001 callers must use both | the area code {and} the subscriber number [for domestic calls]. Finally, | mobile phones in Greece will change their initial '0' to '6' after October | 2002." | | Take note that in practice *all* Greek phone numbers already have the | additional '0' in operation. | | Paul Hellander - -- Mark Brader | "... [A]toms and universes are the same. All the Toronto | world is recursive, and that's why we never msb@vex.net | know where to begin." -- Charles Goldfarb - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 9 Oct 2001 20:59:06 -0400 From: Jack Decker Subject: Ameritech allegedly attempts to bully Wisconsin consumer group! The Wisconsin Merchants Federation and AARP Wisconsin, the senior citizen organization, today accused Ameritech using of "bullying" tactics in a fight over phone reform legislation. Read the full story at: http://captimes.com/news/local/5917.php You can also read the response of MiACT (the Michigan Alliance for Competitive Telecommunications, self-described as "a coalition whose membership includes the Michigan Consumer Federation, the Small Business Association of Michigan, the Michigan Association of Insurance Agents, other business associations, long distance companies such as AT&T and Sprint, and many small companies seeking to provide local phone competition") at this (unfortunately rather long) URL: http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/10-09-2001/0001588266&STORY&EDATE= My opinion: Ameritech's reputation could not have been much worse already, after all their service problems over the past year or so, and now they pull a stunt like this? I fully realize that in part it's Ameritech's competition that is making hay while the sun shines with this, but Ameritech has handed them a golden opportunity with (what is in my opinion) this incredible example of corporate stupidity! If I were in business and my competition did something this crass, I might not be above mentioning it at opportune moments either. Jack Decker (e-mail address in this message valid only until the first piece of SPAM arrives) Resources for Michigan Telephone Users page: http://michigantelephone.workbench.net/ - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 9 Oct 2001 23:20:11 -0400 From: sjsobol@NorthShoreTechnologies.net (Steve Sobol) Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private >From 'Wes Leatherock': >the lowest prices. > > Wal-Mart makes vigorous profits and has low prices. > > Target Corporation makes healthy profits in its namesake >discount stores, which have low prices. Its department stores, in >the process of all being rebranded "Marshall Field's," have >lackluster profits and high prices. *All* of the high-priced department stores are having problems. Target's Dayton/Hudson/Marshall Fields stores, the various divisions of May Department Stores and Federated - they're all tanking and have been for years. I don't know that that's an accurate analogy. - -- JustThe.net LLC - Steve "Web Dude" Sobol, CTO - sjsobol@JustThe.net In another world it may be true that "Information wants to be free." Directory Assistance, or lack thereof, is a profit center here and now. - John Myers, speaking in comp.dcom.telecom - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 9 Oct 2001 23:25:29 -0400 From: sjsobol@NorthShoreTechnologies.net (Steve Sobol) Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private >From 'Terry Knab': >Wrong! Wal*Mart -is- a monopoly. Go around Missouri and tell me to go to >their competitor when you find the local K-Mart has been shut down. Wal*Mart is absolutely NOT a monopoly. It may have a chokehold on a certain market, but here Wal*Mart competes with Super Kmart and Big Kmart, Target and several smaller stores. >Come to St. Joe where you can't buy food anywhere other than wal-mart. There are no other groceries or general/convenience stores? >The airline? It has competition, I admitted that. >Target has competition, where they are even able to open, no thanks to >Wal*Mart. When I was in Emporia, Kansas in 1994, Wal*Mart was the only big retailer there. On the other hand, Emporia's reason for existence seems to be that it is a convenient stop on the Kansas Turnpike where I-335 meets I-35. It isn't a big city. Go north to Topeka or south to Wichita, and I bet you'll find more than one big retail store. - -- JustThe.net LLC - Steve "Web Dude" Sobol, CTO - sjsobol@JustThe.net In another world it may be true that "Information wants to be free." Directory Assistance, or lack thereof, is a profit center here and now. - John Myers, speaking in comp.dcom.telecom - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 10 Oct 2001 00:48:01 -0400 From: Stanley Cline Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private On 9 Oct 2001 11:16:10 -0400, johnl@iecc.com (John R Levine) wrote: >It goes to whoever provides service in high-cost rural areas which >means it goes disproportionately to small rural independents like >mine. There's a per-state cap on how much of a state a telco can ...and it shows. Rates charged by small rural independent ILECs tend to be quite low; rates charged by the "big" independent ILECs (the GTE part of Verizon, Sprint local, ALLTEL, Citizens/Frontier, CenturyTel, TDS, etc.) in rural areas are often *HIGHER* than what RBOCs charge in very large markets in the same state. (For instance, a 1FR line with BellSouth in the huge metro Atlanta calling area is $17.45/mo; ALLTEL charges as much as $26/mo in much, much smaller towns. Some of this has to do with expanded EAS areas and their accompanying "additives", but still...) Yes, I am *very* critical of large independent ILECs because most of them *suck* -- very high prices [especially for private lines, PRIs, etc.] with no competition, unresponsive to trouble reports [I work for a major ISP and the worst telcos *by far* to deal with are the large independent ILECs], very slow to deploy advanced services [i.e., DSL], etc. etc. etc. - -SC - -- Stanley Cline -- sc1 at roamer1 dot org -- http://www.roamer1.org/ ... "Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today. There might be a law against it by that time." -/usr/games/fortune - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 10 Oct 2001 02:58:17 -0400 From: tknab@nyx.net (Terry Knab) Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Steve Sobol wrote: : From 'Terry Knab': :>Wrong! Wal*Mart -is- a monopoly. Go around Missouri and tell me to go to :>their competitor when you find the local K-Mart has been shut down. : Wal*Mart is absolutely NOT a monopoly. It may have a chokehold on a certain : market, but here Wal*Mart competes with Super Kmart and Big Kmart, Target and : several smaller stores. You didn't read my earlier post about how Wal*Mart employs practices similar to the phone company. Predatory pricing, back-door real estate deals, etc.. :>Come to St. Joe where you can't buy food anywhere other than wal-mart. : There are no other groceries or general/convenience stores? We had independents, but wal*mart is running them out. We have one now going into a going out of busisness sale because a Super Wal*Mart opened up the street. And the other grocery store is known as Green Meat Hills if that gives you an idea. : When I was in Emporia, Kansas in 1994, Wal*Mart was the only big retailer : there. On the other hand, Emporia's reason for existence seems to be that it : is a convenient stop on the Kansas Turnpike where I-335 meets I-35. It isn't : a big city. Go north to Topeka or south to Wichita, and I bet you'll find : more than one big retail store. To make this relevent to telecom... That's like saying to call Birch to get local dialtone. I'd have to move to Kansas City to get their service. Because of SWB's high prices and poor service, no body can afford to compete with them. Southwestern Bell has made -sure- that nobody can afford to go into their smaller towns (eg, Springfield, St. Joseph, Kirksville) since they derive most of their profits from those markets. (They make money off us because of the toll charges to call the bigger cities as well as the fact they don't offer DSL in half of St. Joseph) The fact is that in telecom, competiton does NOT exist. I'm sorry, but there's NO ONE that can sell me local dialtone other than SWBT. In the case of our local Wal*mart, they refuse to carry anything that people - -want-. The employees are arrogent, the prices are high, and the service is poor. Sound like the LEC? I thought so! The attitude at Wal*mart is the same at SWB. "Either do business with us or suffer without" - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 10 Oct 2001 03:20:48 -0400 From: Carl Navarro Subject: Re: Resurrecting an old 1A2 desk set On 9 Oct 2001 18:10:19 -0400, kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) wrote: >In article <3BC36457.FCA6018@crashelex.com>, >Gordon S. Hlavenka wrote: >>Someone gave me an old 6-button desk phone (500-type) which they want >>wired so that it will work as an ordinary single-line instrument. The >>bottom plate has a sticker on it which says, "564 HD". Big thick cable >>coming out the back terminated in a 50-conductor Amphenol connector >>(although there are only 40 contacts installed). I'm pretty sure this >>is from an old Key system. >> >>Anyeway, it's got a (real!) bell and a hybrid, so it should be >>workable. They don't care whether the buttons do anything, although >>setting it up as a 2-line phone would be a neat added bonus. > >Pair 1 goes to the first phone line. I think pair 3 goes to the second >although it might be pair 2. I think....It might work....Geeze. >As long as you don't want the buttons to light up or the hold function >to work, you should just be able to wire the two phone pairs to the >connector and go. > >Radio Shack will sell you a break-out box from Amphenol to RJ-11s, or >you can buy one from a more legitimate telephone provider like Graybar. >--scott Let's deal with your basic 1A2 cable pairs. They're in groups of 3 for the first 15 pairs. Pairs 1,4,7,10, & 13 are the T&R for the first 5 lines. Pairs 2,5,8,11,14 are the A&A1 control. The 3rd pair is Lamp and Lamp Ground. In most 6 button sets, (I didn't do WECO), the 16th pair is not used, Pair 17 is for a buzzer (usually spared on the left side of the keystrip). The only other pair that matters is the B&R which is the 20th pair. It may connect directly to the Black and Red of the ringer, in which case, you'll need to find the .47mF capacitor and make sure it is wired in series. So, somehow, tie the ringer to line 1 on the network, at the AMP, or at a block and the bell will ring on line 1. Access to line 2 is by pressing the button for line 2 if you have the 4th pair wired. Carl Navarro - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 10 Oct 2001 06:02:09 -0400 From: aterpster Subject: Re: Charges for DA and other enhanced services California PUC administrative law judges by nature tend to favor utilities over complainants who are not represented by legal counsel. If you are serious about a formal complaint you are well-advised to retain legal counsel that knows the ropes around the PUC. Even then, the presumption before the PUC is that the tariffs are lawful; you have to make a compelling legal case to overcome that presumption. When we attempted to get DA blocked to a residence line that had toll blocking it was refused based on the fact that residential DA is free for the first four or five calls. And, so it goes. I suspect you will find the formal complaint to be more pain and expense than a whole bunch of DA calls. ;-) Steven Lichter wrote: > I'm interested in hearing from anyone in California mainly that has > Pacific Bell for their telephone service. > > I have been doing battle with them over charges for Directory > Assistance, Busy Callback and DA enhanced dialing. I have a phone for > my daughter that is blocked for all chargable services, but her and > her friends dial DA and use the option that thy charge $.80 to use > plus the dialing a busy number; which the recording has been > removed since PUC is now looking into those charges. It is my > feeling that Pacific Bell is in violation of CPUC Code Section > 2889.4 which requres the utioly to over blocking for features, but > since these are pure profit fo them they will not file for a blocking > tariff. This and other features are tariffed so they should be required to > block. > > I went through Pacific Bell, next the PUC informal and review. Now > I'm in the process of filing a Formal Complaint against Pacific Bell > and also considering bringing legal action against them in court and > asking for the case to be of Class Action. > > Please reply to this in the newsgroup if you arer interested in > joining the complaint. I have all e-mail blocked to this account with > the exception of a few friends, but I can reply and give an open > e-mail in private. > > Apple Elite II 909-359-5338. Home of GBBS/LLUCE, support for the > Apple II 24 hours 2400/14.4. An OggNet Server. > > The only good spammer is a dead one, have you hunted one down today? (c) > http://members.ebay.aol.com/aboutme/appleii-guy/ > -- > The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail > messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ End of Telecom Digest V2001 #258 ******************************** - To leave this list, send a message containing "unsubscribe" to telecom-digest-request@telecom-digest.org. Date: 11 Oct 2001 06:15:13 -0400 From: owner-telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org (Telecom Digest) To: telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org Subject: Telecom Digest V2001 #259 Telecom Digest Thursday, October 11 2001 Volume 2001 : Number 259 In this issue: PTMC Carrier Cards Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Re: Resurrecting an old 1A2 desk set Re: Resurrecting an old 1A2 desk set Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Re: PTMC Carrier Cards Re: Wanted: Telecom Manuals Help filing a junk fax lawsuit Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private local coin phone rates, was: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Re: Help filing a junk fax lawsuit Re: payphones Re: 800 Service Disruption Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Re: Digital line for V.90 Modems Re: Resurrecting an old 1A2 desk set Re: Resurrecting an old 1A2 desk set Re: payphones Re: Resurrecting an old 1A2 desk set Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Re: Help filing a junk fax lawsuit Another stuppd e-mail spammer with an 800 number Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Re: Resurrecting an old 1A2 desk set Re: Resurrecting an old 1A2 desk set ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 10 Oct 2001 06:22:12 -0400 From: smith@amirix.com (Frank I. Smith) Subject: PTMC Carrier Cards Can anyone point me to PTMC carrier cards, particularly ones that do either UTOPIA or POS-PHY? Thanks, Frank. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 10 Oct 2001 09:57:38 -0400 From: "Ron Walter" Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Terry Knab wrote: > To me, the idea of a printed phone book is pretty much a dinosaur with the > advent of the 'net versions of the phone book (and yes, I know not everyone > has internet access), and the fact that people move, change numbers and such > all the time. By the time the usual phone book goes to press, at least 40% > of the numbers in it are out of date. > > Why does the phone company bother with a directory? Simple: Advertising > revenue generated off of: > > * Yellow page listings > * Cover sales (one slimeball lawyer in St. Joseph bought the in and outside > covers, *AND* the spine of the directory) > * being able to charge for non-published/non-listed/no-address items. > > Get rid of the directory, get rid of a major UNREGULATED source of phone > company profits. My experience is that a printed phone book is generally more up to date than any web versions that i've found yet. Most web versions rely on the published phone books. Look for someone you know has moved within the year, you'll find the old address and number on the web. Depending on when directories are published odds are you'll have current information in the newest phone book. We just had to get our final yellow page ad copy in a couple weeks ago. The new books are coming out in another 4 weeks. That's a pretty impressive turnaround. The truth is, when i'm looking for a business i'd rather look in the yellow pages than in a net directory because the yellow pages are going to give me information on the company, often what products they sell, all at a glance. i can do research on the net and find out the information on some companies but it takes more time and depends on whether the company has a web presence. And frankly, i'm not concerned whether my plumber has a website, i just want the toilet unclogged. If i look in the yellow pages for plumbers i can find emergency numbers to call, i can find out their business hours, and i can find out whether they even do housecalls. On the net i get a phone number. Period. I'm trying to figure out what's so evil anyway about the phone company making profits from selling yellow pages. And i work in a business that's in competition in a couple ways with the phone company. My company lives off of yellow page advertising and out of 3 directories available the one offered by the phone company is the only one that's effective. So i'll gladly give them my money because their directory is sending business my way. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 10 Oct 2001 10:42:10 -0400 From: wb8foz@panix.com (David Lesher) Subject: Re: Resurrecting an old 1A2 desk set "Gordon S. Hlavenka" writes: >Someone gave me an old 6-button desk phone (500-type) which they want >wired so that it will work as an ordinary single-line instrument. The >bottom plate has a sticker on it which says, "564 HD". Big thick cable >coming out the back terminated in a 50-conductor Amphenol connector >(although there are only 40 contacts installed). I'm pretty sure this >is from an old Key system. The 565 brought out the common of the keys 2 pairs so that a speakerphone could work on whatever line the phone had selected. Those lines are are on the contacts missing on your 564 ;-{ So you'll need to do surgery on the set to pick off tip & ring... or just use the first pair and keep line one down. Note the ringer was sometimes strapped across a line in the set, but usually came out a pair to go to a common ringing source. - -- A host is a host from coast to coast.................wb8foz@nrk.com & no one will talk to a host that's close........[v].(301) 56-LINUX Unless the host (that isn't close).........................pob 1433 is busy, hung or dead....................................20915-1433 - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 10 Oct 2001 11:43:24 -0400 From: oldbear@arctos.com (The Old Bear) Subject: Re: Resurrecting an old 1A2 desk set "Gordon S. Hlavenka" writes: | | From: "Gordon S. Hlavenka" | Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom | Subject: Resurrecting an old 1A2 desk set | Date: 9 Oct 2001 16:56:00 -0400 | Organization: Crash Electronics, Inc. | Lines: 20 | | Someone gave me an old 6-button desk phone (500-type) which they want | wired so that it will work as an ordinary single-line instrument. The | bottom plate has a sticker on it which says, "564 HD". Big thick cable | coming out the back terminated in a 50-conductor Amphenol connector | (although there are only 40 contacts installed). I'm pretty sure this | is from an old Key system. | | Anyeway, it's got a (real!) bell and a hybrid, so it should be | workable. They don't care whether the buttons do anything, although | setting it up as a 2-line phone would be a neat added bonus. | | Seems to me there's probably already a website which would tell how to | do this, so just a pointer is really all I need... | | Gordon S. Hlavenka O- nospam@crashelex.com and Carl Navarro responded: } } From: Carl Navarro } Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom } Subject: Re: Resurrecting an old 1A2 desk set } Date: 10 Oct 2001 03:20:48 -0400 } } Let's deal with your basic 1A2 cable pairs. They're in groups of 3 } for the first 15 pairs. Pairs 1,4,7,10, & 13 are the T&R for the } first 5 lines. Pairs 2,5,8,11,14 are the A&A1 control. The 3rd pair } is Lamp and Lamp Ground. } } In most 6 button sets, (I didn't do WECO), the 16th pair is not used, } Pair 17 is for a buzzer (usually spared on the left side of the } keystrip). The only other pair that matters is the B&R which is the } 20th pair. It may connect directly to the Black and Red of the } ringer, in which case, you'll need to find the .47mF capacitor and } make sure it is wired in series. } } So, somehow, tie the ringer to line 1 on the network, at the AMP, or } at a block and the bell will ring on line 1. Access to line 2 is by } pressing the button for line 2 if you have the 4th pair wired. } } Carl Navarro Without some "key services" support hardware -- the stuff that normally lurks in the phone closet at businesses using 1A2 systems -- you can't implement most of the features which this phone was designed to access. For example, you cannot have the bell operate on more than one line; you cannot have the key button lamps flash to indicate which line is ringing; you cannot put lines on hold; and you will not have the key button lamps wink to indicate a line on hold. However, as Carl points out, you can wire the bell to *one* of the incoming lines and can connect up to five lines to the phone. In addition, if you just want the key button lamps to light up, you can use the second and third pairs (the A-A1 and L-LG) for each line and a "wall wart" 12-18 volt power supply to cause the depressed button to light up. This would serve no functional purpose other than to be decorative. The A-A1 pair is a switch which is closed when its respective key button is depressed and the handset is lifted from the cradle. You can wire this in series with the associated L-LG lamp pair and the power supply. If you can get a short lenghth of 25-pair cable with a mating amphenol connection, you can split the end of the cable open and use it to connect to each of the various pairs. These are not too hard to find in old buildings which used to have 1A2 systems and are frequently found attached to baseboards or other places where there had been a 1A2 set at one time. Assuming it's abandoned and disconnected, you can just cut off the end with the connector and about two or three feet of cable. The amphenol connector consists of 50 pins: 1 26 line 1 T1 R1 2 27 A-A1 control 3 28 L-LG lamp 4 29 line 2 T2 R2 5 30 A-A1 control 6 31 L-LG lamp 7 32 line 3 T3 R3 8 33 A-A1 control 9 34 L-LG lamp 10 35 line 4 T4 R4 11 36 A-A1 control 12 37 L-LG lamp 13 38 line 5 T5 R5 14 39 A-A1 control 15 40 L-LG lamp 16 41 17 42 18 43 19 44 20 45 ringer 21 46 22 47 23 48 24 49 25 50 The color code inside the cable is standard: WHITE GROUP: 26 W-BL 1 BL-W 27 W-O 2 O-W 28 W-G 3 G-W 29 W-BR 4 BR-W 30 W-S 5 S-W RED GROUP: 31 R-BL 6 BL-R 32 R-O 7 O-R 33 R-G 8 G-R 34 R-BR 9 BR-R 35 R-S 10 S-R BLACK GROUP: 36 BK-BL 11 BL-BL 37 BK-O 12 O-BK 38 BK-G 13 G-BK 39 BK-BR 14 BR-BK 40 BK-S 15 S-BK YELLOW GROUP: 41 Y-BL 16 BK-Y 42 Y-O 17 O-Y 43 Y-G 18 G-Y 44 Y-BR 19 BR-Y 45 Y-SL 20 SL-Y VIOLET GROUP: 46 V-BL 21 BL-V 47 V-O 22 O-V 48 V-G 23 G-V 49 V-BR 24 BR-V 50 V-S 25 S-V BL = blue O = orange G = green BR = brown S = slate (gray) I you really get into this and want to go farther, you may be able to find a "shoebox" key services unit on eBay for $10 - $30 or so and use it to provide all the various functions. These units can handle up to four incoming lines and are self-contained, including a power supply to provide the appropriate voltages for the lamps, intercom, etc. Have fun. Cheers, The Old Bear - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 10 Oct 2001 11:54:01 -0400 From: Wes Leatherock Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private On 9 Oct 2001, Terry Knab wrote: > Back to the issue at hand. > > When looking at what the phone company gets away with, it all depends on the > spine of the state's PUC (Or whatever they're called). In Missouri, SWB was > allowed to raise pay phones to 50 cents per call, and jack up rates for > things like non published numbers. Is there any place in the country--RBOC, independent, private coin telephones--where the rate for pay phones hasn't gone to 50 cents in the last year? Wes Leatherock wleath@sandbox.dynip.com - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 10 Oct 2001 12:07:47 -0400 From: Stanley Cline Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private On 10 Oct 2001 11:54:01 -0400, Wes Leatherock wrote: > Is there any place in the country--RBOC, independent, >private coin telephones--where the rate for pay phones hasn't >gone to 50 cents in the last year? I haven't seen any 50c payphones in BellSouth territory (both BellSouth itself, who's getting out of the payphone business in 2003, or COCOT.) I guess the COCOT companies make enough money charging toll on calls to local numbers in NPA 706 (Jasper, etc.) that they don't need to raise local coin rates... :( - -SC - -- Stanley Cline -- sc1 at roamer1 dot org -- http://www.roamer1.org/ ... "Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today. There might be a law against it by that time." -/usr/games/fortune - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 10 Oct 2001 12:09:48 -0400 From: bend@sbei.com (Ben Dewey) Subject: Re: PTMC Carrier Cards Frank, SBE Makes a PTMC carrier as part of the Highwire series of core processore platforms. The card, HW400c/M, is a 6U CompactPCI, the PTMC interface is Configuration 2, TDM/RMII/Enet PHY. The card also sports a Packet Switched Backplane interface. See our website at: www.sbei.net/hw400cm.htm or contact: Gary Hasenfus Senior Product Marketing Manager SBE, Inc TEL 925-355-7726 email: garyh@sbei.com Dan Grey VP Sales SBE, Inc TEL 925-355-7262 email: dgrey@sbei.com - ----- Ben Dewey Senior Product Market Manager SBE, Inc smith@amirix.com (Frank I. Smith) wrote in message news:<3c589f34.0110100217.24a07c0a@posting.google.com>... > Can anyone point me to PTMC carrier cards, particularly > ones that do either UTOPIA or POS-PHY? > > Thanks, > Frank. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 10 Oct 2001 12:16:04 -0400 From: Loren Cahlander Subject: Re: Wanted: Telecom Manuals Jim Rojas wrote: > Wanted: Telecom Manuals > > I am looking for telecom manuals of any type to add to our growing online > database. > > Thank you. > > Jim Rojas > Technical Manuals Online! > http://www.tech-man.com > -- > The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail > messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. > Watch out for violating someone's copyright. The owner of the copyright has the right to profit from their work. Just a precautionary note. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 10 Oct 2001 12:43:37 -0400 From: "Michael A. Chance" Subject: Help filing a junk fax lawsuit OK, the number of junk faxes that I've been getting is starting to get really annoying. Even though they're hawking a variety of "products", they've been coming in waves, so I suspect the same telemarketing company is involved. The required origination phone number has been set to my fax number, a clear violation of the TCPA, as well as being unsolicited. Can someone describe to me the process to file a TCPA junk fax lawsuit, in Missouri, if possible? Where to file, what documentation I need, etc. Thanks. Michael Chance mchance@swbell.net - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 10 Oct 2001 12:59:33 -0400 From: wb8foz@panix.com (David Lesher) Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Wes Leatherock writes: > Is there any place in the country--RBOC, independent, >private coin telephones--where the rate for pay phones hasn't >gone to 50 cents in the last year? New York City - -- A host is a host from coast to coast.................wb8foz@nrk.com & no one will talk to a host that's close........[v].(301) 56-LINUX Unless the host (that isn't close).........................pob 1433 is busy, hung or dead....................................20915-1433 - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 10 Oct 2001 13:32:48 -0400 From: dannyb@panix.com (danny burstein) Subject: local coin phone rates, was: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep In Wes Leatherock writes: > Is there any place in the country--RBOC, independent, >private coin telephones--where the rate for pay phones hasn't >gone to 50 cents in the last year? The standard rate by Verizon throughout NYS for local calls is still $0.25 for the first three minutes. CoCots tend to be, but are not always, the same. They've applied for an increase to be effective next year - I believe it was $0.50 but am not certain. (Oh, and that would give you unlimited time..) - -- _____________________________________________________ Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 10 Oct 2001 14:03:07 -0400 From: tknab@nyx.net (Terry Knab) Subject: Re: Help filing a junk fax lawsuit Michael A. Chance wrote: : Can someone describe to me the process to file a TCPA junk fax lawsuit, : in Missouri, if possible? Where to file, what documentation I : need, etc. Thanks. Let the Missouri Attorney General's office do your dirty work for you =) Jay Nixon's office has no sense of humour about people who violate consumer protection laws (Just as Miss Cleo and the Post-Dispatch). They'll go after 'em for you as a rule. The website is: www.moago.org I'm sure they'll point you in the right direction. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 10 Oct 2001 14:26:59 -0400 From: johnl@iecc.com (John R Levine) Subject: Re: payphones > Is there any place in the country--RBOC, independent, private > coin telephones--where the rate for pay phones hasn't gone to 50 > cents in the last year? As someone else noted, Verizon still charges 25 cents throughout New York. An article at CNN says that regulators denied or delayed the increase to 50 cents in New York, Jersey, Connecticut, Maine, West Virginia and Rhode Island. Here in Trumansburg, the ILEC payphones are still postpay and still cost a dime. They've told me they don't have enough pay phones to justify the hassle of raising the rates. - -- John R. Levine, IECC, POB 727, Trumansburg NY 14886 +1 607 387 6869 johnl@iecc.com, Village Trustee and Sewer Commissioner, http://iecc.com/johnl, Member, Provisional board, Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 10 Oct 2001 17:47:22 -0400 From: "Rich Campbell" Subject: Re: 800 Service Disruption Yeah..I know!!!! LOL - -- Rich Campbell Pantel Business Systems Tech Operations 888-540-0418 x410 richcam@mediaone.net wrote in message news:ab.102bf160.28eca004@cs.com... > ALERT -- 800 SERVICE DISRUPTED > > New York, NY October 3, 2001 (ICB TOLL FREE NEWS) Some parts of the country > are experiencing fast busies on dialing toll free numbers, reportedly since > approximately 8:30 this morning central time. > > Ameritech SCPs are also down and not processing data. > -- > The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail > messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 10 Oct 2001 18:09:52 -0400 From: tonypo1@home.com Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private In article <9q1upe$374$1@panix2.panix.com>, wb8foz@panix.com says... > Wes Leatherock writes: > > > > > Is there any place in the country--RBOC, independent, > >private coin telephones--where the rate for pay phones hasn't > >gone to 50 cents in the last year? > > New York City Providence, RI. Matter of fact we only went to 35 cents a few months ago. But fear not, Verizon is trying to push it to 50 cents. What really frosts me is that they continue to increase prices for services even though: a) The increasing amount of automation and b) The flushing out of those with higher levels of salary. Has probably lowered the cost of providing service. Yes, I know they're publically traded companies. Perhaps we ought to do something about that. Tony - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 10 Oct 2001 18:18:55 -0400 From: "Rich Campbell" Subject: Re: Digital line for V.90 Modems You are grossly mistaken. - -- Rich Campbell Pantel Business Systems Tech Operations 888-540-0418 x410 richcam@mediaone.net "Steve Sobol" wrote in message news:slrn9rpjl3.3ju.sjsobol@amethyst.nstc.com... > From 'John R. Myers': > >On 10/3/01 at 4:17 PM David L Kindred \(Dave\) wrote: > >>I'm looking for the specs/standards for digital lines for providing V.90 > >>modem service. I'm particularly interested to find out if it is > >>possible/affordable for a small business to have a few such lines for > >>providing high-speed modem service for its own internal users. > >> > > > >The incoming side of the V.90 connection must be on an ISDN line, so > >yes, a small business can have a few BRI lines to receive incoming > >calls. > > In the six years I've run or helped run ISPs, I don't recall BRI ever > working. Unless I'm GROSSLY mistaken you need a PRI circuit or CT-1. > > > > > > -- > JustThe.net LLC - Steve "Web Dude" Sobol, CTO - sjsobol@JustThe.net > > Donate a portion of your monthly ISP bill to your favorite charity or > non-profit organization! E-mail me for details. > -- > The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail > messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 10 Oct 2001 20:21:51 -0400 From: Wes Leatherock Subject: Re: Resurrecting an old 1A2 desk set If you're looking for something contemporaneous with the big usage of 1A key, note that "key service unit" was always just "KSU". Wes Leatherock wleath@sandbox.dynip.com On 10 Oct 2001, The Old Bear wrote: [ ... ] > I you really get into this and want to go farther, you may be able to > find a "shoebox" key services unit on eBay for $10 - $30 or so and use > it to provide all the various functions. These units can handle up > to four incoming lines and are self-contained, including a power > supply to provide the appropriate voltages for the lamps, intercom, > etc. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 10 Oct 2001 20:26:42 -0400 From: Wlevant@aol.com Subject: Re: Resurrecting an old 1A2 desk set If memory serves (and it may not) the first pair is usually white/blue and blue/white, and is line 1. The second pair (I seem to remember orange and red but I may be wrong) is for key system "A-Lead" signalling; the third pair is for the lamp. Pairs 4, 5 and 6 are for line 2, and so on. After the fifteenth pair, I don't know the assignments (some are for common bell, buzzer/pushbutton signalling and the like) or even if they're standard. In order to make hold work and/or to drive the lamps, you will need a KSU. The smaller ones were about half the size of a mini-tower computer and mounted on the wall. Betcha could find 'em at a flea market. Bill - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 10 Oct 2001 20:26:56 -0400 From: Wes Leatherock Subject: Re: payphones When I lived in Konawa, Oklahoma, during the early 1950s (SWBT SxS with terminal per line and thus a combination of three and four digit numbers) there were only three or four coin boxes in town. They were free for local calls (probably not worth the cost of putting in equipment to deal with them for local calls) but provided a means to pay for toll calls. Wes Leatherock wleath@sandbox.dynip.com On 10 Oct 2001, John R Levine wrote: [ ... ] > Here in Trumansburg, the ILEC payphones are still postpay and still > cost a dime. They've told me they don't have enough pay phones to > justify the hassle of raising the rates. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 10 Oct 2001 20:49:47 -0400 From: techie@tantivy.stanford.edu (Bob Vaughan) Subject: Re: Resurrecting an old 1A2 desk set In article , The Old Bear wrote: >"Gordon S. Hlavenka" writes: >| > >Without some "key services" support hardware -- the stuff that normally >lurks in the phone closet at businesses using 1A2 systems -- you can't >implement most of the features which this phone was designed to access. > >For example, you cannot have the bell operate on more than one Sure you can.. ever hear of diode matrixes? the ringer sounds a little weak when run thru a half-wave bridge, but it works just fine.. Actually, in the installations that I have seen, there was a diode matrix for ringers. the KSU dosen't do this by default, it only controls the hold, and the lamp on a per-line basis. >line; you cannot have the key button lamps flash to indicate which line >is ringing; you cannot put lines on hold; and you will not have the key >button lamps wink to indicate a line on hold. > >However, as Carl points out, you can wire the bell to *one* of the >incoming lines and can connect up to five lines to the phone. > >In addition, if you just want the key button lamps to light up, you can >use the second and third pairs (the A-A1 and L-LG) for each line and >a "wall wart" 12-18 volt power supply to cause the depressed button >to light up. This would serve no functional purpose other than to be >decorative. FYI: the standard 1A2 lamps were 10v. > - -- -- Welcome My Son, Welcome To The Machine -- Bob Vaughan | techie@{w6yx|tantivy}.stanford.edu | kc6sxc@w6yx.ampr.org | P.O. Box 19792, Stanford, Ca 94309 - -- I am Me, I am only Me, And no one else is Me, What could be simpler? -- - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 10 Oct 2001 21:21:31 -0400 From: sjsobol@NorthShoreTechnologies.net (Steve Sobol) Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private >From 'Terry Knab': >The fact is that in telecom, competiton does NOT exist. I'm sorry, but >there's NO ONE that can sell me local dialtone other than SWBT. > >In the case of our local Wal*mart, they refuse to carry anything that people >-want-. The employees are arrogent, the prices are high, and the service is >poor. Sound like the LEC? I thought so! Legally speaking, SouthWorstern Beast is a monopoly. Legally speaking, Wal*Mart isn't. Does Wal*mart engage in predatory business practices? I'm sure they do. Are they jerks? Well, they're not arrogant or rude here - but on the other hand, they can't afford to. My neighborhood Wal*mart in Mentor, Ohio is LITERALLY right across the street from a SuperKmart and is in the middle of a big retail strip on US 20, so there's plenty of competition. >The attitude at Wal*mart is the same at SWB. "Either do business with us or >suffer without" I've had unusually large amounts of good luck with Ameritech. But... I HAVE had them do stupid stuff like try to put me into collections for a bill they just mailed, by their own admission, three days prior (which is what finally drove me to use Corecomm for residential service instead). - -- JustThe.net LLC - Steve "Web Dude" Sobol, CTO - sjsobol@JustThe.net In another world it may be true that "Information wants to be free." Directory Assistance, or lack thereof, is a profit center here and now. - John Myers, speaking in comp.dcom.telecom - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 10 Oct 2001 21:23:25 -0400 From: sjsobol@NorthShoreTechnologies.net (Steve Sobol) Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private >From 'Wes Leatherock': > >On 9 Oct 2001, Terry Knab wrote: >> Back to the issue at hand. >> >> When looking at what the phone company gets away with, it all depends on the >> spine of the state's PUC (Or whatever they're called). In Missouri, SWB was >> allowed to raise pay phones to 50 cents per call, and jack up rates for >> things like non published numbers. > > Is there any place in the country--RBOC, independent, >private coin telephones--where the rate for pay phones hasn't >gone to 50 cents in the last year? Ameritech is still at 25 cents in some areaas of NE Ohio but I think they're going to 35 cents. - -- JustThe.net LLC - Steve "Web Dude" Sobol, CTO - sjsobol@JustThe.net In another world it may be true that "Information wants to be free." Directory Assistance, or lack thereof, is a profit center here and now. - John Myers, speaking in comp.dcom.telecom - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 10 Oct 2001 21:24:53 -0400 From: sjsobol@NorthShoreTechnologies.net (Steve Sobol) Subject: Re: Help filing a junk fax lawsuit >From 'Michael A. Chance': >OK, the number of junk faxes that I've been getting is starting to get >really annoying. Even though they're hawking a variety of "products", >they've been coming in waves, so I suspect the same telemarketing company >is involved. The required origination phone number has been set to my >fax number, a clear violation of the TCPA, as well as being unsolicited. > >Can someone describe to me the process to file a TCPA junk fax lawsuit, >in Missouri, if possible? Where to file, what documentation I >need, etc. Thanks. Join the junkfax-l mailing list and talk to the people there. - -- JustThe.net LLC - Steve "Web Dude" Sobol, CTO - sjsobol@JustThe.net In another world it may be true that "Information wants to be free." Directory Assistance, or lack thereof, is a profit center here and now. - John Myers, speaking in comp.dcom.telecom - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 10 Oct 2001 23:11:00 -0400 From: stevenl11@aol.com (Steven Lichter) Subject: Another stuppd e-mail spammer with an 800 number Thought you would all like to find out how thye can help your business idea make millions. You should call hime even if you are one the road, so you can help all those poor pay telephone operators make their rent. Not all companies qualify for this program, (the ones that do can make a lot of money) to find out if your company qualifies Call toll free 1-800-867-7250 anytime 24 hours a day. Apple Elite II 909-359-5338. Home of GBBS/LLUCE, support for the Apple II 24 hours 2400/14.4. An OggNet Server. The only good spammer is a dead one, have you hunted one down today? (c) http://members.ebay.aol.com/aboutme/appleii-guy/ - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 10 Oct 2001 23:31:16 -0400 From: fybush@world.std.com (Scott D Fybush) Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Wes Leatherock writes: > Is there any place in the country--RBOC, independent, >private coin telephones--where the rate for pay phones hasn't >gone to 50 cents in the last year? Frontier Telephone of Rochester (aka Citizens) is still 25 cents on its phones...I think the same is still true of Verizon/NY (they may be at 35 cents now; not 50, yet.) - -s - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 10 Oct 2001 23:31:15 -0400 From: fybush@world.std.com (Scott D Fybush) Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Stanley Cline writes: >...and it shows. Rates charged by small rural independent ILECs tend >to be quite low; rates charged by the "big" independent ILECs (the GTE >part of Verizon, Sprint local, ALLTEL, Citizens/Frontier, CenturyTel, >TDS, etc.) in rural areas are often *HIGHER* than what RBOCs charge in >very large markets in the same state. (For instance, a 1FR line with [...snip...] >Yes, I am *very* critical of large independent ILECs because most of >them *suck* -- very high prices [especially for private lines, PRIs, >etc.] with no competition, unresponsive to trouble reports [I work for >a major ISP and the worst telcos *by far* to deal with are the large >independent ILECs], very slow to deploy advanced services [i.e., DSL], >etc. etc. etc. Ah, but there's an interesting subset there: the two large independent ILECs that serve decent-sized cities. Here in Rochester, the former Rochester Telephone, now Citizens dba Frontier Telephone of Rochester, is still a pretty decent company to deal with -- the rates are competitive with Verizon in the rest of the state, we've been able to buy local and LD from the same company for years now, and they've been a leader when it comes to rolling out services like DSL. What's more, if all else fails in dealing with them, you can drive downtown to South Clinton Avenue and stand on the sidewalk till the president comes out for a smoke :-) (It's never come to that...) I'd long heard that the same was true of Cincinnati Bell and SNET in its pre-acquisition days. - -s - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 11 Oct 2001 00:35:30 -0400 From: Mark Crispin Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private On 10 Oct 2001, Wes Leatherock wrote: > Is there any place in the country--RBOC, independent, > private coin telephones--where the rate for pay phones hasn't > gone to 50 cents in the last year? Pay phones in the Copper River Valley of Alaska are as cheap as 10 cents. You don't put in coins until the called party answers. - -- Mark -- http://staff.washington.edu/mrc Science does not emerge from voting, party politics, or public debate. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 11 Oct 2001 00:55:24 -0400 From: wb8foz@panix.com (David Lesher) Subject: Re: Resurrecting an old 1A2 desk set techie@tantivy.stanford.edu (Bob Vaughan) writes: >>For example, you cannot have the bell operate on more than one >Sure you can.. ever hear of diode matrixes? the ringer sounds a little >weak when run thru a half-wave bridge, but it works just fine.. >Actually, in the installations that I have seen, there was a diode matrix >for ringers. the KSU dosen't do this by default, it only controls the >hold, and the lamp on a per-line basis. Just a sec. Are you using a diode matrix to directly drive a 20hz ringer, Or Are you using it to drive the ringer start line on the KSU? If the first, I'm interested in how you did it -- with bridging lines together with sneak paths.... - -- A host is a host from coast to coast.................wb8foz@nrk.com & no one will talk to a host that's close........[v].(301) 56-LINUX Unless the host (that isn't close).........................pob 1433 is busy, hung or dead....................................20915-1433 - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 11 Oct 2001 01:13:26 -0400 From: Glen Hoag Subject: Re: Resurrecting an old 1A2 desk set In article <111.6a5962f.28f64123@aol.com>, wrote: > If memory serves (and it may not) the first pair is usually white/blue and > blue/white, and is line 1. The second pair (I seem to remember orange and > red but I may be wrong) is for key system "A-Lead" signalling; the third pair > is for the lamp. Pairs 4, 5 and 6 are for line 2, and so on. After the > fifteenth pair, I don't know the assignments (some are for common bell, > buzzer/pushbutton signalling and the like) or even if they're standard. > > In order to make hold work and/or to drive the lamps, you will need a KSU. > The smaller ones were about half the size of a mini-tower computer and > mounted on the wall. > > Betcha could find 'em at a flea market. If anyone is interested, I have a few KSUs and a power supply with molex connectors designed to support up to 4?? KSUs hanging around in storage. I'll let 'em go for cheap, but shipping is going to be a killer; they are rather heavy. - --Glen Hoag hoag@ro.com Huntsville AL - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ End of Telecom Digest V2001 #259 ******************************** - To leave this list, send a message containing "unsubscribe" to telecom-digest-request@telecom-digest.org. Date: 12 Oct 2001 06:15:15 -0400 From: owner-telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org (Telecom Digest) To: telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org Subject: Telecom Digest V2001 #260 Telecom Digest Friday, October 12 2001 Volume 2001 : Number 260 In this issue: Looking For Telecom Manuals Re: Wanted: Telecom Manuals Re: Resurrecting an old 1A2 desk set Crash Phone System Re: Wanted: Telecom Manuals Re: Greek numbering changes Trash or treasure??? Assistance sought in identifying hardware. Card with CS615444 x 14 markings... Re: Help filing a junk fax lawsuit Re: Wanted: Telecom Manuals Re: Resurrecting an old 1A2 desk set Re: Resurrecting an old 1A2 desk set ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 11 Oct 2001 09:27:51 -0400 From: "Jim Rojas" Subject: Looking For Telecom Manuals Looking For Telecom Manuals I am looking for telecom manuals of any type to add to our growing online database. Thank you. Jim Rojas Technical Manuals Online! http://www.tech-man.com - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 11 Oct 2001 09:58:25 -0400 From: "Jim Rojas" Subject: Re: Wanted: Telecom Manuals Thanks, I am well aware of the copyright laws. I have been emailed by many telecom pros asking me to add more telecom manuals to my website. It seems other online telecom manual providers are giving them the shaft, by overcharging for these manuals. One such website charges $100 a month to subscribe to their service. I find that to be way out of line. I charge $120 a year for a full subscription, with unlimited access to all 6000+ manuals. I hope to have 1000 new telecom manuals by the end of the year. Since I am not familiar with all the telecom manufacturers, I mostly rely on telecom pros sending me PDF & DOC files to add to me website. When I do discover a new manufacturer, I make every effort to contact them. Jim Rojas http://www.tech-man.com "Loren Cahlander" wrote in message news:3BC4744F.8090809@ensodex.com... > Jim Rojas wrote: > > > Wanted: Telecom Manuals > > > > I am looking for telecom manuals of any type to add to our growing online > > database. > > > > Thank you. > > > > Jim Rojas > > Technical Manuals Online! > > http://www.tech-man.com > > -- > > The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail > > messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. > > > > Watch out for violating someone's copyright. The owner of the copyright > has the right to profit from their work. > > Just a precautionary note. > -- > The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail > messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 11 Oct 2001 11:21:25 -0400 From: richgr@panix.com (Rich Greenberg) Subject: Re: Resurrecting an old 1A2 desk set In article <9q2pk0$2r7$1@news.Stanford.EDU>, Bob Vaughan wrote: >>line; you cannot have the key button lamps flash to indicate which line >>is ringing; you cannot put lines on hold; and you will not have the key If you connect an NE-2 neon bulb with a 10k resistor in series across the line and slip it into the bulb holder slot in the phone, it will flash while ringing. - -- Rich Greenberg Work: Rich.Greenberg atsign worldspan.com +1 770-563-6656 N6LRT Marietta, GA, USA Play: richgr atsign panix.com +1 770-321-6507 Eastern time zone. I speak for myself & my dogs only. VM'er since CP-67 Canines:Val(Chinook,CGC,TT), Red & Shasta(Husky,(RIP)) Owner:Chinook-L Atlanta Siberian Husky Rescue. www.panix.com/~richgr/ Asst Owner:Sibernet-L - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 11 Oct 2001 13:55:20 -0400 From: "Paul Cook" Subject: Crash Phone System Does anyone know who makes a crash phone system? This is what airport people refer to as a fancy ringdown circuit that is also a conference bridge. Any one of the emergency phones that it is hooked to can go off-hook, all the other phones ring in response, and they keep ringing until they are off hook or until all the other phones that have gone off hook go back on hook. All of the off hook phones can talk to each other via a conference bridge. I mention conference bridge, because on a conventional ringdown circuit like we manufacture (the 46220, see http://www.proctorinc.com/key.htm ) once you have more than a couple of phones off hook on one side of the circuit, the phones start getting current starved and the audio also goes way down. I found one made by Guardian Electric, but it has 16 ports, and my customer is looking for one with 30 ports. Paul Cook - Applications Engineer pcook@proctorinc.com 425-881-7000, ext 566 Proctor & Associates 15305 NE 95 St Redmond WA 98052-2517 www.proctorinc.com - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 11 Oct 2001 14:53:29 -0400 From: ctill@nc.rr.com (Chuck Till) Subject: Re: Wanted: Telecom Manuals Your opinion and your customers' opinions about what is a reasonable price for a vendor to charge for a manual will not successfully defend you if you are sued for copyright infringement. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 11 Oct 2001 15:37:01 -0400 From: "Spyros Bartsocas" Subject: Re: Greek numbering changes As I posted to the digest in the Spring, the following information is not exactly correct >The following was posted by Paul Hellander in rec.travel.europe. >I haven't seen mention of it here and thought people might be >interested. I know nothing more of this myself, nor do I know >what source he appears to be quoting. > >| "Commencing in the late Summer of 2001 Greece introduced a new telephone >| numbering system which is due to be fully implemented by October 2002. >| This is being introduced with the aim of making all subscriber numbers in >| the country 10-digit. >| The introduction is being implemented in two phases: in phase one, Actually, there are 3 phases. >| commencing officially on Jan 1, 2002 all subscriber phone numbers will add >| an additional '0' to the beginning of their subscriber number. Thus, >| subscriber number 23 456 becomes 023 456; subscriber number 234 567 >| becomes 023 4567. With phase two, commencing in October 2002, all area >| codes will replace their initial '0' with '2'. Thus, area code 081 will >| become 281; area code 0831 will become 2831. The first part of Phase 1 started July 8, 2001. It consisted of the addition of 0 to the end of the area code and not the beginning of the number (What is described in the message would create ambuguity). At the same time all local calls can be optionally dialed with the area code in front. The second part of Phase 1 started at the end of September. It introduced changes to special numbers, that probably can not be dialed from abroad. >| In addition, and in effect from January 1, 2001 callers must use both >| the area code {and} the subscriber number [for domestic calls]. Finally, What is described here is the second phase that will start January 17, 2002. >| mobile phones in Greece will change their initial '0' to '6' after October >| 2002." This will take place in Phase 3 together with the replacement of the initial digit of 0 with 2 as described earlier. >| >| Take note that in practice *all* Greek phone numbers already have the >| additional '0' in operation. True, but in permissive dialing. >| >| Paul Hellander >- -- >Mark Brader | "... [A]toms and universes are the same. All the >Toronto | world is recursive, and that's why we never >msb@vex.net | know where to begin." -- Charles Goldfarb Spyros Bartsocas - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 11 Oct 2001 18:15:16 -0400 From: "tongaloa" Subject: Trash or treasure??? Assistance sought in identifying hardware. Card with CS615444 x 14 markings... I'd really hate to scrap something that someone may be in need of. Assistance sought in identifying hardware. Card with CS61544 x 14 markings... Photo set and more description URL: http://199.184.215.33/catalog/view_item.php?id=206 DTS logo photo URL: http://199.184.215.33/catalog/show_photo_size.php?i=795&sw=500&sh=400&q=50 Thanks, - -bob - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 11 Oct 2001 18:19:17 -0400 From: "FredP" Subject: Re: Help filing a junk fax lawsuit How do you get on this mailing list or find this newsgroup? "Steve Sobol" wrote in message news:... > Join the junkfax-l mailing list and talk to the people there. > - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 11 Oct 2001 18:25:01 -0400 From: "Jim Rojas" Subject: Re: Wanted: Telecom Manuals I think I made myself perfectly clear that we do obtain permission from the manufacturers we have listed. If that wasn't the case, my Nortel CD would have been on my website months ago, along with many others who declined granting me permission to do so. Jim Rojas "Chuck Till" wrote in message news:3bc5ea3e.59627034@news-server.nc.rr.com... > Your opinion and your customers' opinions about what is a reasonable > price for a vendor to charge for a manual will not successfully defend > you if you are sued for copyright infringement. > -- > The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail > messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 11 Oct 2001 20:59:23 -0400 From: Carl Knoblock Subject: Re: Resurrecting an old 1A2 desk set In article <9q38mu$srd$1@panix3.panix.com>, David Lesher wrote: > techie@tantivy.stanford.edu (Bob Vaughan) writes: > > >>For example, you cannot have the bell operate on more than one > > >Sure you can.. ever hear of diode matrixes? the ringer sounds a little > >weak when run thru a half-wave bridge, but it works just fine.. > >Actually, in the installations that I have seen, there was a diode matrix > >for ringers. the KSU dosen't do this by default, it only controls the > >hold, and the lamp on a per-line basis. > > Just a sec. Are you using a diode matrix to directly > drive a 20hz ringer, > Or > Are you using it to drive the ringer start line on the KSU? > > If the first, I'm interested in how you did it -- with bridging > lines together with sneak paths.... The ringer is set up to operate on direct current. The KSU detects central office ringing, and starts the local DC ringing supply and interrupter. (A single ring from the CO would cause the phones to ring about three times, or two rings after the caller hangs up.) The diode matrix isolates the ringing grounds or voltage from the different KSUs. Thus, even with several phones, each connected to a different subset of the lines, each phone only rings when lines on that phone are being called. Since the diode matrix is set up separately from the other leads (tip and ring, lamp and lamp ground, and key leads) you could also set the phone to only ring with some of the lines appearing on it. A shorted diode will cause all phones to ring for all incoming calls. :) - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 11 Oct 2001 21:46:27 -0400 From: oldbear@arctos.com (The Old Bear) Subject: Re: Resurrecting an old 1A2 desk set Carl Knoblock writes: >From: Carl Knoblock >Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom >Subject: Re: Resurrecting an old 1A2 desk set >Date: 11 Oct 2001 20:59:23 -0400 >David Lesher wrote: >> >> techie@tantivy.stanford.edu (Bob Vaughan) writes: >> >> >> >> >> >>For example, you cannot have the bell operate on more than one >> > >> >Sure you can.. ever hear of diode matrixes? the ringer sounds a little >> >weak when run thru a half-wave bridge, but it works just fine.. >> >Actually, in the installations that I have seen, there was a diode matrix >> >for ringers. the KSU dosen't do this by default, it only controls the >> >hold, and the lamp on a per-line basis. >> > >> Just a sec. Are you using a diode matrix to directly >> drive a 20hz ringer, >> Or >> Are you using it to drive the ringer start line on the KSU? >> >> If the first, I'm interested in how you did it -- with bridging >> lines together with sneak paths.... > >The ringer is set up to operate on direct current. The KSU detects >central office ringing, and starts the local DC ringing supply and >interrupter. (A single ring from the CO would cause the phones to ring >about three times, or two rings after the caller hangs up.) The diode >matrix isolates the ringing grounds or voltage from the different KSUs. >Thus, even with several phones, each connected to a different subset of >the lines, each phone only rings when lines on that phone are being >called. Since the diode matrix is set up separately from the other >leads (tip and ring, lamp and lamp ground, and key leads) you could >also set the phone to only ring with some of the lines appearing on it. >A shorted diode will cause all phones to ring for all incoming calls. >:) Sure. But you're using a local power supply for ringing and taking advantage of the services provided by the KSU. The point was that without a KSU, you cannot connect the ringer to multiple lines. However, I do concede that you could mickey-mouse something with some diodes to cause the AC voltage on Line One to be only a positive half-wave and on Line Two to be only a negative half wave... and then use some more diodes to allow routing the two ringing signals to the same electro-mechanical bell. Similarly, as was pointed out, you could stick NE-2 neon lamps in under the keys and wire them to tip and ring on each trunk to get the keys to light up on each incoming ringing cycle. Neither solution is particularly satisfying, given that you could easily acquire a real KSU and do things right. Cheers, The Old Bear <-- loves his 1A2 system - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ End of Telecom Digest V2001 #260 ******************************** - To leave this list, send a message containing "unsubscribe" to telecom-digest-request@telecom-digest.org. Date: 13 Oct 2001 06:15:18 -0400 From: owner-telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org (Telecom Digest) To: telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org Subject: Telecom Digest V2001 #261 Telecom Digest Saturday, October 13 2001 Volume 2001 : Number 261 In this issue: LOOKING TO PURCHASE 1-MEG NORTEL DSL MODEMS FCC Expands International Long Distance Calling Initiative Re: Resurrecting an old 1A2 desk set Re: Resurrecting an old 1A2 desk set Re: Resurrecting an old 1A2 desk set Re: Resurrecting an old 1A2 desk set Conference Call Service HELP Re: REQ: Long-range cordless phone info. and reviews Re: Resurrecting an old 1A2 desk set 10/12/01 http://ICBTollFreeNews.Com HEADS UP HEADLINES Re: Conference Call Service ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 12 Oct 2001 07:56:08 -0400 From: Chris@computerpro-pacific.com (Chris) Subject: LOOKING TO PURCHASE 1-MEG NORTEL DSL MODEMS Looking for large quantities of new or used external Nortel 1-MEG HSA1300 modems or internal Diamond Supra Sonic (for nortel networks) 1-MEG HSA model. E-mail: Chris@computerpro-pacific.com - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 12 Oct 2001 08:47:55 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: FCC Expands International Long Distance Calling Initiative FCC EXPANDS INTERNATIONAL LONG DISTANCE CALLING INITIATIVE Consumer Brochure, Now in 13 Languages, Explains Consumer Options for Saving Money on International Long Distance Phone Calls - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 12 Oct 2001 09:02:07 -0400 From: Carl Navarro Subject: Re: Resurrecting an old 1A2 desk set On 10 Oct 2001 20:49:47 -0400, techie@tantivy.stanford.edu (Bob Vaughan) wrote: >In article , >The Old Bear wrote: >>"Gordon S. Hlavenka" writes: >>| >> >>Without some "key services" support hardware -- the stuff that normally >>lurks in the phone closet at businesses using 1A2 systems -- you can't >>implement most of the features which this phone was designed to access. >> >>For example, you cannot have the bell operate on more than one > >Sure you can.. ever hear of diode matrixes? the ringer sounds a little >weak when run thru a half-wave bridge, but it works just fine.. >Actually, in the installations that I have seen, there was a diode matrix >for ringers. the KSU dosen't do this by default, it only controls the >hold, and the lamp on a per-line basis. Remind me to never let any of you guys work on my phone system :-). Valcom makes a common audible box. Diode matrices were used to program ringing of certain lines to a specirfic telephone. Notice that these items have one thing in common I-S-O-L-A-T-I-O-N. The ringing from a 400X card is not related to the line ringing voltage in any way..remember the Elgin power supply and, oops the external ring generator supply of the lunchbox? Remember SE-8A )low voltage blue wire) (8B-18Vac red wire and 8X-with cap for bridging across the line) buzzers? Actually, it appears that half of you never even SAW a 1A2, let alone ever worked with one, so can we just end this thread? Carl Navarro P.S. I still have, until 11-15, a small quantity of 1A2 material in my storage facility, INCLUDING a Viking 308 KSU that's about the size of a dictionary. The Viking is going to eBay, the rest???? I guess the blue dumpster or make me an offer. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 12 Oct 2001 10:15:46 -0400 From: wb8foz@panix.com (David Lesher) Subject: Re: Resurrecting an old 1A2 desk set Carl Navarro writes: >Actually, it appears that half of you never even SAW a 1A2, let alone >ever worked with one, so can we just end this thread? FINAL EXAM, lab session. Closed book; no BSP allowed. In front of you is a 2565, a 4A speakerphone, an 82B, the mounting cord (disconnected from the 2565) and other supplies. Reconnect the cord to the set, connect the 4A, and demonstrate it works on all lines on the shoebox. The buzzer should sound on lines 2 & 3; the ringer on 1 4,5. >P.S. I still have, until 11-15, a small quantity of 1A2 material in >my storage facility, INCLUDING a Viking 308 KSU that's about the size >of a dictionary. The Viking is going to eBay, the rest???? I guess >the blue dumpster or make me an offer. MUST RESIST GETTING MORE JUNQUE... {al-la Dilbert Evil Hand..} - -- A host is a host from coast to coast.................wb8foz@nrk.com & no one will talk to a host that's close........[v].(301) 56-LINUX Unless the host (that isn't close).........................pob 1433 is busy, hung or dead....................................20915-1433 - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 12 Oct 2001 10:51:10 -0400 From: Carl Navarro Subject: Re: Resurrecting an old 1A2 desk set On 12 Oct 2001 10:15:46 -0400, wb8foz@panix.com (David Lesher) wrote: >Carl Navarro writes: > > >>Actually, it appears that half of you never even SAW a 1A2, let alone >>ever worked with one, so can we just end this thread? > > >FINAL EXAM, lab session. Closed book; no BSP allowed. > >In front of you is a 2565, a 4A speakerphone, an 82B, the mounting cord >(disconnected from the 2565) and other supplies. I know what a 2565 is, I assume a 4A speakerphone translates to a ITT Orator, I'm clueless what an 82B is and didn't external speakerphones have T&R T1R1 and A&A1 leads in the cord? >Reconnect the cord to the set, connect the 4A, and demonstrate >it works on all lines on the shoebox. The buzzer should sound >on lines 2 & 3; the ringer on 1 4,5. Multipling B&R to the 17th pair for buzzer and 20th pair for ring is easy, but my "shoebox" was the 4 line variety, or did the 8-line box with external power supply and funny connecting cord get called a shoebox too? You see, I grew up in GTE (actually Norther Ohio Telephone Company) where INDEPENDENT was spoken. In the NOTC days, the owner was a skin^h^h^h^H cheapskate. He used a lot of stuff from Galion, OH (North Electric). Early GenTel used, Automatic Electric. You know, 186,187,10A1, 10A2, !7A1. All of that crap was integrated. In my ITT and General Dynamics days, we used none but the finest of ITT and Stromberg parts. I used to love those stupid call directors with buttons up intercoms. Or, how do you get 5 lines and intercom on a 6 button keystrip. By the time I got into the interconnect busness, 66E blocks were for wimps who didn't pony up the bux for a butterfly tool, a diode matrix was done on a 66 Block with connectors, and you BOUGHT a self-contained speakerphone. And, like the ugly step-sisters, if you needed a 6 button wall phone, you stole one from WECO, or ordered the 6 button keystrip in a housing and used your basic A&A1 converted wall phone and fashioned your own :-). Carl - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 12 Oct 2001 11:43:46 -0400 From: wb8foz@panix.com (David Lesher) Subject: Re: Resurrecting an old 1A2 desk set Carl Navarro writes: >>In front of you is a 2565, a 4A speakerphone, an 82B, the mounting cord >>(disconnected from the 2565) and other supplies. >I know what a 2565 is, I assume a 4A speakerphone translates to a ITT >Orator, I'm clueless what an 82B is and didn't external speakerphones >have T&R T1R1 and A&A1 leads in the cord? The 4A was the 'modern' speakerphone; the transmitter was a small cube with a rocker switch on top. It didn't need a box at the KSU as the 3B did. The 82B was the in-line adapter to peel out the T&R etc leads to the cable going to the 4A. >>Reconnect the cord to the set, connect the 4A, and demonstrate >>it works on all lines on the shoebox. The buzzer should sound >>on lines 2 & 3; the ringer on 1 4,5. >Multipling B&R to the 17th pair for buzzer and 20th pair for ring is >easy, but my "shoebox" was the 4 line variety, or did the 8-line box >with external power supply and funny connecting cord get called a >shoebox too? He's spotted the first trick question. There were bigger cabinets; the ?616? or such was a bunchalines with an added chassis with more on one side. ISTM the total was ~25 lines. But I suspect just attaching the cord would do in most folks. >In my ITT and General Dynamics days, we used none but the finest of >ITT and Stromberg parts. I used to love those stupid call directors >with buttons up intercoms. Or, how do you get 5 lines and intercom on >a 6 button keystrip. Ah, Call Directors. TRALTRAL etc. The Secretary of Defense had an enormous one with an entire closet to support just it. I've seen schmatics and pictures of same. You don't want to..... - -- A host is a host from coast to coast.................wb8foz@nrk.com & no one will talk to a host that's close........[v].(301) 56-LINUX Unless the host (that isn't close).........................pob 1433 is busy, hung or dead....................................20915-1433 - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 12 Oct 2001 16:54:14 -0400 From: pvasile@synqor.com (Peter Vasile) Subject: Conference Call Service Hello, Has anyone heard of a free conference call service called "Mr. Conference"? Has anyone used it? Is it a scam? www.mrconference.com Thank you in advance for any feedback Peter Vasile - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 12 Oct 2001 17:34:33 -0400 From: "patrick anderson" Subject: HELP I'm looking in your archives for an article titled ' Impact of Terrorism on concentrationwithin Firms and Urban areas, but can't find. Can you please help. Patrick Anderson n - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 12 Oct 2001 17:50:28 -0400 From: lowspeed@hotmail.com (lowspeed) Subject: Re: REQ: Long-range cordless phone info. and reviews Goto: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000056V7S/rcs29-20 Read the editorial and user comments. They seem preety much to the point, but every one has a different taste... Brad Karal wrote in message news:... > Hi all: > > Could anyone refer me to a good layperson's source of info. for > long-range cordless phones. I would like to be able to review and > evaluate the claims of products from companies such as Senao, > Engenius, Sanyo and others. > > Thanks in advance for any help. > > > Brad Karal - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 12 Oct 2001 22:43:46 -0400 From: oldbear@arctos.com (The Old Bear) Subject: Re: Resurrecting an old 1A2 desk set Carl Navarro writes: >From: Carl Navarro >Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom >Subject: Re: Resurrecting an old 1A2 desk set >Date: 12 Oct 2001 09:02:07 -0400 > >Remind me to never let any of you guys work on my phone system :-). > . . . >Actually, it appears that half of you never even SAW a 1A2, let alone >ever worked with one, so can we just end this thread? Harumph... http://www.arctos.com/networks/1A2.jpg >P.S. I still have, until 11-15, a small quantity of 1A2 material in >my storage facility, INCLUDING a Viking 308 KSU that's about the size >of a dictionary. The Viking is going to eBay, the rest???? I guess >the blue dumpster or make me an offer. OK, whatcha got? Cheers, The Old Bear <-- one of the last of the 1A2 junkies - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Oct 2001 23:00:51 -0400 From: "Judith Oppenheimer" Subject: 10/12/01 http://ICBTollFreeNews.Com HEADS UP HEADLINES ____________________________________________________ http://ICBTollFreeNews.Com HEADS UP HEADLINES ____________________________________________________ from ICB Toll Free News - Daily News and Intelligence covering the Political, Legal and Marketing Arenas of 800, ENUM and Dot Com. ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ CONTENTS FOR THE PERIOD ENDING OCTOBER 12, 2001 - - VERISIGN REGISTRAR ACCUSED OF CANNIBALIZING REGISTRAR MARKET SALES - - IS THE FCC UNRESPONSIVE TO THE 800 INDUSTRY? - - DOT BIZ BUSTED - - THE TRUTH ABOUT AFILIAS /=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= advertisement =-=-=-\ Could PSTN to DNS policy shift hurt your business? *** http://ENUMConsultant.com *** \=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=/ - - HIJACKING ISN'T LIMITED TO AIRPLANES. - - DUTCH SEEM TO BALANCE TM AND PUBLIC INTERESTS - - SHARED-USE COMPANY COMMENTS ON WAIVER PETITION ____________________________________________________ ARTICLE ACCESS CODE LEGEND ICB Toll Free News offers two valuable service options: F = Free - News and Features articles P = Premium - Unlimited Site Access including all Articles and Documents. Registration information is not sold, leased or rented. *** For additional information about topics and stories, keyword search here: http://www.icbtollfree.com/Search.cfm. ____________________________________________________ P - VERISIGN REGISTRAR ACCUSED OF CANNIBALIZING REGISTRAR MARKET SALES Registrar Constituency Secretariat: "Under the revised contracts VeriSign essentially has the .com registry in perpetuity." CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=5470 P - IS FCC UNRESPONSIVE TO 800 INDUSTRY? "We have been advised [by Network Services Division staff] that the proposed changes in the Keller-Wade letter ... would likely be implemented unless the industry provided a satisfactory alternative means of preventing customer-to-customer transfers of toll-free numbers." CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=5468 F - DOT BIZ BUSTED NeuLevel is required to deposit $3 million with the court to cover possible refund of $2 application fee -- that's 1.5 million $2 dollar fees received for 53,000 multiple-application domains. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=5469 F - THE TRUTH ABOUT AFILIAS Afilias fielded a woefully underpowered system and failed to test it ... add insult to injury, CMO Roland La Plante is either technically ignorant or disingenuous. Or both. 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The service is called 800-PATRIOT. The number is assigned to someone else, yet TELSTAR today announced 800-PATRIOT to "help victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks" by selling them telecom service. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=5466 P - DUTCH SEEM TO BALANCE TM AND PUBLIC INTERESTS The Project Team recommends that SIDN should in future reduce the number of searches that can be carried out from a single IP address, reducing it from 500 to between 10 and 15. Parties having a demonstrable interest in carrying out a greater number of searches can be granted dispensation from this limit after indicating their acceptance of a privacy policy. Their interest justifying this measure must be demonstrated. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=5465 P - SHARED-USE COMPANY COMMENTS ON WAIVER PETITION ... asks the Federal Communications Commission to reaffirm its position against the sale of toll free numbers. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=5464 ___________________________________________________ EVERY 3.6 SECONDS SOMEONE DIES FROM HUNGER http://www.hungersite.com/ ___________________________________________________ ABOUT ICB ICB HeadsUp Headlines is sent by request. Subscriptions to ICB HeadsUp Headlines are free to qualified applicants. Visit http://www.roibot.com/w.cgi?R1764_ICBsignup to sign up. To unsubscribe mailto:editor@icbtollfree.com, subject: unsubscribe. (Unsubs are processed manually, approximately bi-weekly.) ___________________________________________________ ADVERTISING For information on advertising in ICB HeadsUp Headlines, contact Vincent Lemma at Lake Interactive. Telephone: 914-925-2406 Email: http://www.roibot.com/w.cgi?R1764_LakIntEm ____________________________________________________ Only subscribers or registered users of ICB Toll Free News web site will be able to access all or some of the full text of URLs provided. ____________________________________________________ Copyright © 2001 ICB, Inc. All rights reserved. ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ------------------------------ Date: 12 Oct 2001 23:55:37 -0400 From: johnl@iecc.com (John R Levine) Subject: Re: Conference Call Service >Has anyone heard of a free conference call service called "Mr. >Conference"? Has anyone used it? Is it a scam? > >www.mrconference.com > >Thank you in advance for any feedback I signed up for a number (using a throwaway email address, of course.) They assigned me a number in Bellvue WA assigned to Focal Communications, a CLEC. Sounded like a conference bridge when I called it. I imagine they're expecting to pay for the thing using reciprocal compensation (local calls) or per-minute access fees (long distance), which could work for a while. Beehive Telephone, a quirky little phone company that serves extremely rural parts of Nevada and Utah offers a well-known free conference bridge at 435-234-TALK. They get whopping per-minute fees on incoming calls, so they want everyone to use it. - -- John R. Levine, IECC, POB 727, Trumansburg NY 14886 +1 607 387 6869 johnl@iecc.com, Village Trustee and Sewer Commissioner, http://iecc.com/johnl, Member, Provisional board, Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ End of Telecom Digest V2001 #261 ******************************** - To leave this list, send a message containing "unsubscribe" to telecom-digest-request@telecom-digest.org. Date: 14 Oct 2001 06:15:09 -0400 From: owner-telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org (Telecom Digest) To: telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org Subject: Telecom Digest V2001 #262 Telecom Digest Sunday, October 14 2001 Volume 2001 : Number 262 In this issue: Cable Modems Re: Greek numbering changes Re: Looking For Telecom Manuals Re: Cable Modems Re: Cable Modems Re: Cable Modems Re: Cable Modems ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 13 Oct 2001 08:54:40 -0400 From: Fred Atkinson Subject: Cable Modems Adelphia is telling me that they plan to have cable modem in my neck of Northern Virginia. I'm getting conflicting stories. A field technician for Adelphia told me that it would be within three months. A sales representative said within a month. Thank goodness. It's sad that I live in the area of the Internet capital of the world and can't get either cable modem *or* DSL. I'm wanting to own my own cable modem unit rather than lease it from Adelphia. But I don't know enough about the specifics of cable modem to pursue this avenue as yet. Can anyone point me at some information that would help me make good choics (a Web page, a book, or soft copy that could be sent by email, etc.)? Thanks, Fred - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 13 Oct 2001 09:59:00 -0400 From: dave@compata.com (Dave Close) Subject: Re: Greek numbering changes msb@vex.net (Mark Brader) writes: > This is being introduced with the aim of making all subscriber > numbers in the country 10-digit. Many countries smaller than the US, or NANP, use 9 or 10 digits for ALL calls. Why is that transition so hard for us? Is it to be like the metric conversion? - -- Dave Close, Compata, Costa Mesa CA "Politics is the business of getting dave@compata.com, +1 714 434 7359 power and privilege without dhclose@alumni.caltech.edu possessing merit." - P. J. O'Rourke - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 13 Oct 2001 12:17:06 -0400 From: "Jim Rojas" Subject: Re: Looking For Telecom Manuals Thank you all for responding to my request. You will see the manuals you have all contributed on my website with the next 30-60 days. I am also creating categories to seperate the different type of manuals. So all telecom manuals will be grouped together. Jim Rojas "Jim Rojas" wrote in message news:h7hx7.100$ON1.100341@paloalto-snr1.gtei.net... > Looking For Telecom Manuals > > I am looking for telecom manuals of any type to add to our growing online > database. > > Thank you. > > Jim Rojas > Technical Manuals Online! > http://www.tech-man.com > -- > The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail > messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 13 Oct 2001 19:48:08 -0400 From: sjsobol@NorthShoreTechnologies.net (Steve Sobol) Subject: Re: Cable Modems >From 'Fred Atkinson': > Adelphia is telling me that they plan to have cable modem in my >neck of Northern Virginia. I'm getting conflicting stories. A field >technician for Adelphia told me that it would be within three months. > A sales representative said within a month. Thank goodness. It's >sad that I live in the area of the Internet capital of the world and >can't get either cable modem *or* DSL. I understand that the reason cable companies aren't putting any modems into Lake County, OH, which has very little broadband access, is because they can't get fiber (big shortages). - -- JustThe.net LLC - Steve "Web Dude" Sobol, CTO - sjsobol@JustThe.net In another world it may be true that "Information wants to be free." Directory Assistance, or lack thereof, is a profit center here and now. - John Myers, speaking in comp.dcom.telecom - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 13 Oct 2001 20:19:15 -0400 From: "Steven J. Sobol" Subject: Re: Cable Modems On 13 Oct 2001, John R. Levine wrote: > >I understand that the reason cable companies aren't putting any modems into > >Lake County, OH, which has very little broadband access, is because they > >can't get fiber (big shortages). > > That's very strange. Corning, which happens to be one of the largest > employers in this part of New York, is laying people off because of > the fiber glut. > Quite odd. ATT Broadband (nee Mediaone) told me 3 months, but that was 5 months ago, and one of their installers said it was actually going to be more than a year before cablemodems show up here. - -- JustThe.net LLC - Steve "Web Dude" Sobol, CTO - sjsobol@JustThe.net In another world it may be true that "Information wants to be free." Directory Assistance, or lack thereof, is a profit center here and now. - John Myers, speaking in comp.dcom.telecom - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 13 Oct 2001 21:06:50 -0400 From: Wes Leatherock Subject: Re: Cable Modems On 13 Oct 2001, John R. Levine wrote: > That's very strange. Corning, which happens to be one of the largest > employers in this part of New York, is laying people off because of > the fiber glut. The manufacturer of Ditch Witch trenching machines, in announcing a large layoff some months ago, reported that 97 per cent of fiber is standing idle. Hence the demand for their machines from telcos and other communications companies and their contractors has fallen to zero or nearly so. Wes Leatherock wleath@sandbox.dynip.com - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 13 Oct 2001 21:25:24 -0400 From: Roy Smith Subject: Re: Cable Modems Wes Leatherock wrote: > The manufacturer of Ditch Witch trenching machines, in > announcing a large layoff some months ago, reported that 97 per > cent of fiber is standing idle. This is a somewhat misleading statistic. Fiber itself is relatively cheap, installing it is what's expensive. As a result, most people install a lot more fiber than they think they will need, once they start a job. When I was involved in installing fiber, we would never pull a single pair to a location. I think the smallest we would pull was 6 pairs, if not 12. Often, if there was construction going on, we would pull fiber that we had no need for, just because the path was accessable. At any one time, 90% of our installed pairs might be unused, but we would be simultaneously wishing we had more installed in other places. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ End of Telecom Digest V2001 #262 ******************************** - To leave this list, send a message containing "unsubscribe" to telecom-digest-request@telecom-digest.org. Date: 15 Oct 2001 06:15:10 -0400 From: owner-telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org (Telecom Digest) To: telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org Subject: Telecom Digest V2001 #263 Telecom Digest Monday, October 15 2001 Volume 2001 : Number 263 In this issue: Callers to wireless phones abroad discover hefty surcharges attached Qwest First Phone Company Junking POTS Cell phone messaging on the rise in U.S. The Internet, untethered Re: Qwest First Phone Company Junking POTS Handspring launches PDA phone with keyboard Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 14 Oct 2001 10:30:50 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Callers to wireless phones abroad discover hefty surcharges attached CONSUMER BEAT Callers to wireless phones abroad discover hefty surcharges attached By Bruce Mohl, 10/14/2001 Cathy Rand of Newton said she nearly went into shock when she opened her September long-distance phone bill and found the total came to just over $153. She couldn't figure out why her bill was so much higher than it had been in previous months. Her calling plan with MCI, a division of WorldCom, hadn't changed, and neither had her calling pattern. But then she found the culprit: a $52.20 international mobile surcharge tucked in the taxes and surcharges section of her bill. http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/287/business/Callers_to_wireless_phones_abroad_discover_hefty_surcharges_attached+.shtml - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 14 Oct 2001 12:35:18 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Qwest First Phone Company Junking POTS October 12, 2001 Qwest First Phone Company Junking POTS By Max Smetannikov Qwest Communications International is leading the change among regional Bell operators to introduce IP telephony as a de facto standard in communications, a move that paves the way for futuristic voice applications and which materially changes the economics of telecommunications. The Denver-based carrier announced on Oct. 10 that its customers in Boise, Idaho, customers' phone calls are already being routed via a data network using Voice-over-IP (VoIP) technology in a commercial technical trial. End users probably have not noticed the difference, since Qwest is changing its voice switching equipment to carry phone calls over an IP network as opposed to a circuit-switched network without introducing any IP-based services at this time. The move is the first step on the road to junking the circuit-switched network in favor of VoIP. http://www.interactiveweek.com/article/0,3658,s%253D1825%2526a%253D16375,00.asp - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 14 Oct 2001 13:51:05 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Cell phone messaging on the rise in U.S. Cell phone messaging on the rise in U.S. By Ben Charny Special to CNET News.com October 12, 2001, 2:30 p.m. PT People in the United States are using their cell phones more often to send terse 160-character messages to other cell phones, a trend already wildly popular overseas. There are 750 million of these cell phone messages sent each day worldwide, nearly all by wireless users outside the United States, according to the GSM Association, a wireless industry group. Teenagers in Japan send so many messages that they have learned to touch-type on a cell phone's cramped keypad. In Ireland, beer-maker Guinness raises messaging to an art form by sponsoring contests for poetry composed on cell phones. http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1004-200-7507617.html - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 14 Oct 2001 16:58:52 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: The Internet, untethered SURVEY: THE MOBILE INTERNET The Internet, untethered Oct 11th 2001 >From The Economist print edition The Internet is going mobile. To succeed, it must learn from the mistakes made in the fixed-line Internet boom, argues Tom Standage NIGHT-TIME on the neon-lit streets of Tokyo's Shibuya district, and the scene seems like a vision of the future. Here are the colourfully illuminated skyscrapers and huge video billboards, there are the throngs of exotically clad teenagers. And everywhere there are people talking and typing into astoundingly advanced mobile phones-tiny devices that fold up like colourful make-up compacts, are incredibly light, and have small, vivid colour screens capable of displaying sophisticated graphics. Most important of all, these phones enable their users to access the Internet while on the move. In Japan, the Internet has gone mobile. http://www.economist.com/surveys/displaystory.cfm?story_id=811934 - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 14 Oct 2001 19:36:16 -0400 From: John McHarry Subject: Re: Qwest First Phone Company Junking POTS On 14 Oct 2001 12:35:18 -0400, Monty Solomon wrote: >October 12, 2001 >Qwest First Phone Company Junking POTS >By Max Smetannikov > >Qwest Communications International is leading the change among >regional Bell operators to introduce IP telephony as a de facto >standard in communications, a move that paves the way for futuristic >voice applications and which materially changes the economics of >telecommunications. > >The Denver-based carrier announced on Oct. 10 that its customers in >Boise, Idaho, customers' phone calls are already being routed via a >data network using Voice-over-IP (VoIP) technology in a commercial >technical trial. End users probably have not noticed the difference, >since Qwest is changing its voice switching equipment to carry phone >calls over an IP network as opposed to a circuit-switched network >without introducing any IP-based services at this time. .. It will be interesting to see if they have solved the problem of dealing with DTMF in the middle of a call, such as in working with voice mail or many call centers. Customers might see quite a degradation. _______________________________ people who might like some spam: 70732.56@compuserve.com albert@silhouettes-inc.com - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 14 Oct 2001 20:05:53 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Handspring launches PDA phone with keyboard Handspring launches PDA phone with keyboard By Lucas van Grinsven LONDON, Oct 15 (Reuters) - U.S.-based Handspring (NASDAQ:HAND) introduced a handheld computer with a built-in cellphone for the European and Asian markets on Monday, beating its biggest rivals to what is expected to be a fast growing market. Called Trio, the 150-gram monochrome display product will go on sale for around $600 in January in an English-language version, starting in Britain, Hong Kong, Australia and Singapore. Other languages will follow in later months. http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=25053656 - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 14 Oct 2001 22:05:36 -0400 From: "Al Gillis" Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Terry Knab wrote in message > > How much work does it take to set a flag in a database to say 'don't > publish'? Not much. > Pretty obviously Terry has never been involved with the antics of a large company MIS department and all their malarkey when changes to large databases are concerned! Adding a flag and it's associated processing could consume a team of analysts, programmers, coders, support people and coffee makers for months. Of course, it is not in their best interests to solve these problems quickly and easily! Al - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 15 Oct 2001 01:33:02 -0400 From: tknab@nyx.net (Terry Knab) Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Al Gillis wrote: : Terry Knab wrote in message :> :> How much work does it take to set a flag in a database to say 'don't :> publish'? Not much. :> : Pretty obviously Terry has never been involved with the antics of a large : company MIS department and all their malarkey when changes to large : databases are concerned! Adding a flag and it's associated processing : could consume a team of analysts, programmers, coders, support people : and coffee makers for months. Of course, it is not in their best interests : to solve these problems quickly and easily! I work in Small Time MIS, and I openly admit it =) The fact is though that the flag in the database was written -years- ago! I was saying once the DB is set up, how much does it -really- cost for a rep to check the box that says 'don't publish this nunber' - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ End of Telecom Digest V2001 #263 ******************************** - To leave this list, send a message containing "unsubscribe" to telecom-digest-request@telecom-digest.org. Date: 16 Oct 2001 06:15:14 -0400 From: owner-telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org (Telecom Digest) To: telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org Subject: Telecom Digest V2001 #264 Telecom Digest Tuesday, October 16 2001 Volume 2001 : Number 264 In this issue: Re: Qwest First Phone Company Junking POTS Re: Telecom Digest V2001 #262 Telecom Update (Canada) #304, October 15, 2001 cable modems Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private Re: Help filing a junk fax lawsuit Bell Labs says its software unifies wireless networks Re: Call Osama: +873 682505331 Re: Qwest First Phone Company Junking POTS Re: Qwest First Phone Company Junking POTS Re: Cell phone messaging on the rise in U.S. Re: Qwest First Phone Company Junking POTS Qwest voip phun ... Re: Help filing a junk fax lawsuit Handspring Phones Into Action When Land Lines Will Be a Memory Kiwi Grass Slows Farmers' Baud Living among the ruins Re: Qwest First Phone Company Junking POTS Attacks Expose Telephone's Soft Underbelly Re: Qwest First Phone Company Junking POTS Stopping Signals From Satellite TV Proves Difficult ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 15 Oct 2001 06:37:45 -0400 From: "Rich Campbell" Subject: Re: Qwest First Phone Company Junking POTS I think I will sell my Quest stock now before they really screw themselves. - -- Rich Campbell Pantel Business Systems Tech Operations 888-540-0418 x410 richcam@mediaone.net "John McHarry" wrote in message news:t48kstseqcr7mvshbov6rgqmvkuj9incs2@4ax.com... > On 14 Oct 2001 12:35:18 -0400, Monty Solomon wrote: > > >October 12, 2001 > >Qwest First Phone Company Junking POTS > >By Max Smetannikov > > > >Qwest Communications International is leading the change among > >regional Bell operators to introduce IP telephony as a de facto > >standard in communications, a move that paves the way for futuristic > >voice applications and which materially changes the economics of > >telecommunications. > > > >The Denver-based carrier announced on Oct. 10 that its customers in > >Boise, Idaho, customers' phone calls are already being routed via a > >data network using Voice-over-IP (VoIP) technology in a commercial > >technical trial. End users probably have not noticed the difference, > >since Qwest is changing its voice switching equipment to carry phone > >calls over an IP network as opposed to a circuit-switched network > >without introducing any IP-based services at this time. .. > > It will be interesting to see if they have solved the problem of > dealing with DTMF in the middle of a call, such as in working with > voice mail or many call centers. Customers might see quite a > degradation. > > _______________________________ > people who might like some spam: > 70732.56@compuserve.com albert@silhouettes-inc.com > -- > The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail > messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 15 Oct 2001 09:47:03 -0400 From: "Brian Vita" Subject: Re: Telecom Digest V2001 #262 > > Looking For Telecom Manuals > > > > I am looking for telecom manuals of any type to add to our growing online > > database. > > > > Thank you. > > > > Jim Rojas > > Technical Manuals Online! > > http://www.tech-man.com I love it. This guy is asking you to donate manuals, gives you nothing, charges you for access and subjects you to screen ads. What a country! I'm sure every wannabe burglar loves access to alarm manuals. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 15 Oct 2001 10:30:29 -0400 From: Angus TeleManagement Subject: Telecom Update (Canada) #304, October 15, 2001 ************************************************************ TELECOM UPDATE ************************************************************ published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group http://www.angustel.ca Number 304: October 15, 2001 Publication of Telecom Update is made possible by generous financial support from: ** AT&T CANADA http://www.attcanada.com ** BELL CANADA http://www.bell.ca ** GROUP TELECOM http://www.gt.ca ** LUCENT TECHNOLOGIES CANADA http://www.lucent.ca ** PRIMUS CANADA: http://www.primustel.ca ** Q9 NETWORKS: http://www.Q9.com ** TELUS: http://www.telus.com ** UNISPHERE NETWORKS: http://www.unispherenetworks.com ************************************************************ IN THIS ISSUE: ** @Home Stops Signing Up Customers ** Telus, Microsoft Offer Internet Voice Calls ** Price Cap Hearing Goes Into Third Week ** Bell LD Customers to Pay "Network Charge" ** Concert Break-Up This Week? ** Marier to Head Bell Customer Service ** Bid for TV Over Internet Withdrawn ** Communications 2001 Show in Toronto ** Microcell Launches Safe Driving Program ** Microcell Gains 66,000 Subscribers ** Telus Amalgamation Complete ** AirIQ Reduces Staff ** Wi-LAN Sells Repair Business ** Stratos Provides Prepaid Satellite Calls ** Save 66% on Telemanagement ============================================================ @HOME STOPS SIGNING UP CUSTOMERS: California-based Excite@Home stopped accepting new customers October 10. Rogers Communications, the Canadian cableco with the largest base of @Home customers, is continuing to take orders, and says it has made arrangements for Excite@Home to serve them. ** Excite@Home entered bankruptcy protection on September 28. (See Telecom Update #302) TELUS, MICROSOFT OFFER INTERNET VOICE CALLS: Telus will be the Canadian carrier for a new Windows Messenger feature that enables voice calls from a PC to any telephone. Telus says the rates -- 6 cents a minute in Canada and the U.S., 8 cents to Hong Kong, 9 cents to Western Europe -- are lower than its best direct dial rates for residential customers. ** The necessary software will be available as a free download from Microsoft on October 25. PRICE CAP HEARING GOES INTO THIRD WEEK: The CRTC's public hearing on Price Caps ran over to Saturday last week, completing cross-examination of witnesses from Bell and Telus. This week, the Commission will hear from consumer groups and competitive carriers. The parties will present oral summaries and submit final written arguments next Monday. BELL LD CUSTOMERS TO PAY "NETWORK CHARGE": Users of Bell Canada's residential long distance plans will pay a $1.25/month Network Charge beginning in December. Bell says the charge will help offset the fees it pays to support phone service in high-cost areas. ** Sprint Canada introduced a similar $1.25 fee in August. CONCERT BREAK-UP THIS WEEK? The London Financial Times reports that Concert, the three-year-old joint venture between AT&T and British Telecom, will be disbanded this week. A key issue in the negotiated break-up has been BT's contractual obligation to spend up to $1.65 billion for AT&T Canada shares by 2003. MARIER TO HEAD BELL CUSTOMER SERVICE: Bell Canada has named Guy Marier Executive VP in charge of customer service and productivity. Josee Goulet replaces Marier as President of Bell Quebec; Marc Tellier replaces Goulet as President of Bell ActiMedia. BID FOR TV OVER INTERNET WITHDRAWN: JumpTV.com Canada has withdrawn its request to the Copyright Board of Canada for permission to broadcast TV signals over the Internet. JumpTV says it is "reviewing its business model." (See Telecom Update #223) COMMUNICATIONS 2001 SHOW IN TORONTO: On November 6-8, the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association, in partnership with the Information Technology Association of Canada and the Canadian Association of Internet Providers, will host a telecom, IT, and Internet conference and trade show at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. ** During the show Telecom Update readers can meet and chat with the editors at the Angus TeleManagement Group booth. http://www.communications2001.org MICROCELL LAUNCHES SAFE DRIVING PROGRAM: PCS carrier Microcell Telecom has added a Safe Driving section to its website to raise awareness of driving distractions. Microcell cites U.S. study findings that 1.5% of car accidents are caused by cellphone use. MICROCELL GAINS 66,000 SUBSCRIBERS: Microcell added a net 66,698 retail subscribers in the third quarter, 85% of them postpaid, to raise its total to 1.11 million. Monthly disconnects also rose, to 2.8%. TELUS AMALGAMATION COMPLETE: On October 1, Telus amalgamated its competitive local exchange business in Ontario and Quebec into the rest of the company (see Telecom Update #298). ** Telus has also completed its purchase of PSINet Canada (see Telecom Update #286). AIRIQ REDUCES STAFF: AirIQ, which supplies vehicle tracking services, is laying off 34% of its workforce in the Vancouver offices of recently acquired eDispatch.com Wireless Data. ** Proprietary Industries, whose rival bid for eDispatch was rejected, says it will take legal action against eDispatch. AirIQ says Proprietary's action is "without merit." WI-LAN SELLS REPAIR BUSINESS: Wi-LAN, which supplies wireless data transmission systems, says its Digital Transmission Systems subsidiary has agreed to sell its repair business to Somera Communications for US$6 million. STRATOS PROVIDES PREPAID SATELLITE CALLS: Stratos now offers prepaid calling cards for several satellite phone networks, including Iridium. SAVE 66% ON TELEMANAGEMENT: Until October 30, new subscribers can sign up for a three-issue Introductory Subscription to Telemanagement for $75. That's $150 off the cover price, the biggest discount ever. ** Details at http://www.angustel.ca -- click the "Save 66%" button. ** Subscribe today and start your subscription with Telemanagement #189, featuring a tutorial on planning user-friendly IVR, a survey of IP-based video conferencing, and a backgrounder on the stakes in Canada's telecom price cap debate. ============================================================ HOW TO SUBMIT ITEMS FOR TELECOM UPDATE E-MAIL: editors@angustel.ca FAX: 905-686-2655 MAIL: TELECOM UPDATE Angus TeleManagement Group 8 Old Kingston Road Ajax, Ontario Canada L1T 2Z7 =========================================================== HOW TO SUBSCRIBE (OR UNSUBSCRIBE) TELECOM UPDATE is provided in electronic form only. There are two formats available: 1. The fully-formatted edition is posted on the World Wide Web on the first business day of the week at http://www.angustel.ca 2. The e-mail edition is distributed free of charge. To subscribe, send an e-mail message to: listmanager@subs.postmastergeneral.com Insert as the subject of your message the two words: subscribe TelecomUpdate To stop receiving the e-mail edition, send an e-mail message to: listmanager@subs.postmastergeneral.com Insert as the subject of your message the two words: unsubscribe TelecomUpdate =========================================================== COPYRIGHT AND CONDITIONS OF USE: All contents copyright 2001 Angus TeleManagement Group Inc. All rights reserved. For further information, including permission to reprint or reproduce, please e-mail rosita@angustel.ca or phone 905-686-5050 ext 500. The information and data included has been obtained from sources which we believe to be reliable, but Angus TeleManagement makes no warranties or representations whatsoever regarding accuracy, completeness, or adequacy. Opinions expressed are based on interpretation of available information, and are subject to change. If expert advice on the subject matter is required, the services of a competent professional should be obtained. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 15 Oct 2001 11:29:07 -0400 From: John Schwartz Subject: cable modems On the subject of cable modems, I do not recommend purchasing one at this time. Currently available modems are built according to the DOCSIS 1.0 standard, which soon will be followed by DOCSIS 1.1, and, later, others. It's better to have the cable company bear the technology risk and expense of owning the modem. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 15 Oct 2001 11:54:56 -0400 From: larb0@aol.com (LARB0) Subject: Re: Qwest Seeks $1 Monthly Fee Keep Addresses Private The issues are: 1) Price has no relation to actual cost, other than price needs to recover costs; and 2) Businesses (other than telco as well) have always charged for value added services. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 15 Oct 2001 12:35:26 -0400 From: "Sam Hayes Merritt, III" Subject: Re: Help filing a junk fax lawsuit On 11 Oct 2001 18:19:17 -0400, "FredP" wrote: >How do you get on this mailing list or find this newsgroup? http://www.junkfaxes.org/junkfax-l.htm Sam - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 15 Oct 2001 12:59:16 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Bell Labs says its software unifies wireless networks Bell Labs says its software unifies wireless networks By Patrick Mannion EE Times (10/11/01, 5:10 p.m. EST) MANHASSET, N.Y. - Researchers at Bell Labs have announced a software breakthrough that will take carriers and Internet service providers one step closer to offering global roaming across all wireless network technologies, including wireless LANs based on 802.11. The software architecture, called Common Operations (COPS), will allow mobile subscribers to access voice, data and messages when roaming outside of their home network, even in regions where different wireless networks predominate. http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20011010S0040 - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 15 Oct 2001 14:24:22 -0400 From: Paul Hovnanian Subject: Re: Call Osama: +873 682505331 Tim Meehan wrote: > > From pravda.ru: > > CALL BIN LADEN > > Now everybody has this unique opportunity. In Germany the number of Osama > bin Ladens satellite telephone has been published. According to German > mass media, this number is 00873-682505331. The satellite telephone was > bought for bin Laden by his brother-in-arms for $10,000 in New York, in > 1996. Since that time, bin Laden has been using it only. It is being > reported that the FBI has spread this number. > It is said that if somebody reached bin Laden, the terrorist would be > warned of the attack. > In 1998, the US already bombed the satellite telephone of bin > Laden. Though at that time, the terrorist seems not to have been on the > telephone. The telephone was not found as well. After all, it still > functions. You can bet that, if this number was any good, the US would set up a HARM guidance system on a bunker-buster warhead, then dial the number: 'Hello. Is this Mr bin Laden? Please hold for an incoming message.' - -- Paul Hovnanian P.E. | (here) mailto:hovnania@bcstec.ca.boeing.com Software Conflagration | (there) mailto:Paul@Hovnanian.com Control | (spam) mailto:postmaster@mouse-potato.com - -----------------------+--------------------------------------------- "One World, One Web, One Program" - Microsoft Promotional Ad "Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Fuhrer" - Adolf Hitler - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 15 Oct 2001 14:57:20 -0400 From: rbf@rbfnet.com (Brett Frankenberger) Subject: Re: Qwest First Phone Company Junking POTS In article , John McHarry wrote: > >It will be interesting to see if they have solved the problem of >dealing with DTMF in the middle of a call, such as in working with >voice mail or many call centers. Customers might see quite a >degradation. One trivial way of dealing with that is to do VoIP without compression. Just sample the stuff at 64Kbps and pass all 64Kbps over the IP WAN. When you do it that way, DTMF, modems, etc., aren't a major problem. -- Brett - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 15 Oct 2001 16:02:09 -0400 From: "Rich Campbell" Subject: Re: Qwest First Phone Company Junking POTS Then what is the point of doing it at all? - -- Rich Campbell Pantel Business Systems Tech Operations 888-540-0418 x410 richcam@mediaone.net "Brett Frankenberger" wrote in message news:9qfbhb02fn1@enews4.newsguy.com... > In article , > John McHarry wrote: > > > >It will be interesting to see if they have solved the problem of > >dealing with DTMF in the middle of a call, such as in working with > >voice mail or many call centers. Customers might see quite a > >degradation. > > One trivial way of dealing with that is to do VoIP without compression. > Just sample the stuff at 64Kbps and pass all 64Kbps over the IP WAN. > When you do it that way, DTMF, modems, etc., aren't a major problem. > > -- Brett > -- > The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail > messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 15 Oct 2001 16:14:26 -0400 From: Joseph Singer Subject: Re: Cell phone messaging on the rise in U.S. What the article fails to mention is that text messaging or "SMS" doesn't work well in the US for a variety of reasons including the incompatibility of systems with the US and blend of CDMA, TDMA, GSM and iDen technologies. Even SMS between like technologies from competing companies such as VoiceStream and Cingular does not work or if it does will only work on outgoing or incoming but not both. Also sending SMS to foreign GSM networks in other countries is a hit or miss proposition as well. Part of the reason as far as North American subscribers is concerned is that in North America all mobile telephone numbers are mixed in with the rest of the numbering space whereas in Europe, Asia, the middle east, Africa, etc. they have reserved space for mobiles so it's easy to program the SMSCs to route SMS to where it needs to go. If you go to just about any mobile telephony forum and the conversatioin turns to SMS you'll see that at least as far as North Americans go it's not very reliable and is not ready for prime time quite yet. As an interim some carriers are giving "email addresses" to their phones and many carriers make it possible to send email from your handset, but this will only work if the phone you're calling has an email address. On 14 Oct 2001 13:51:05 -0400, Monty Solomon wrote: >Cell phone messaging on the rise in U.S. > >By Ben Charny >Special to CNET News.com >October 12, 2001, 2:30 p.m. PT > >People in the United States are using their cell phones more often to >send terse 160-character messages to other cell phones, a trend >already wildly popular overseas. > >There are 750 million of these cell phone messages sent each day >worldwide, nearly all by wireless users outside the United States, >according to the GSM Association, a wireless industry group. >Teenagers in Japan send so many messages that they have learned to >touch-type on a cell phone's cramped keypad. In Ireland, beer-maker >Guinness raises messaging to an art form by sponsoring contests for >poetry composed on cell phones. > >http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1004-200-7507617.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Personal replies are likely not read. Please reply in the newsgroup - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 15 Oct 2001 17:12:21 -0400 From: Jack Adams Subject: Re: Qwest First Phone Company Junking POTS Let's see ... G.711 encoding (64Kbps) takes roughly twice the bandwidth of the payload by the time you add UDP/RTP/IP Headers with low latency (1 packet per frame). Hum, the objective here was what? And let's not even get into transcoding issues! Brett Frankenberger wrote: > John McHarry wrote: > > > >It will be interesting to see if they have solved the problem of > >dealing with DTMF in the middle of a call, such as in working with > >voice mail or many call centers. > One trivial way of dealing with that is to do VoIP without compression. > Just sample the stuff at 64Kbps and pass all 64Kbps over the IP WAN. > -- Brett > -- - -- John "Jack" Adams HO 4D-327 Lucent Technologies, Inc. 732.949.2295 732.949.1922 (Facsimile) jackadams@lucent.com They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. Benjamin Franklin 1775 - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 15 Oct 2001 17:48:02 -0400 From: jsw@ivgate.omahug.org Subject: Qwest voip phun ... Hmmmm ... how about modems, er, I mean fax machines ?? >>October 12, 2001 >>Qwest First Phone Company Junking POTS >>By Max Smetannikov > >>Qwest Communications International is leading the change among >regional Bell operators to introduce IP telephony as a de facto >It will be interesting to see if they have solved the problem of >dealing with DTMF in the middle of a call, such as in working with >voice mail or many call centers. Customers might see quite a >degradation. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 15 Oct 2001 18:27:06 -0400 From: "Fred Pickel" Subject: Re: Help filing a junk fax lawsuit The www.junkfaxes.org url does not seem to be alive... "Sam Hayes Merritt, III" >On 11 Oct 2001 18:19:17 -0400, "FredP" wrote: > >How do you get on this mailing list or find this newsgroup? > >http://www.junkfaxes.org/junkfax-l.htm > >Sam >-- _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 15 Oct 2001 22:21:15 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Handspring Phones Into Action Handspring Phones Into Action By Leander Kahney 2:00 a.m. Oct. 15, 2001 PDT Handspring is set to release a new line of compact handhelds that combine a PDA with a cell phone. The new Treo line will send and receive e-mail and instant messages, wirelessly browse the Web and, of course, make regular phone calls. Handspring is starting field trials on Monday and expects to launch the product early next year. Based on the Palm operating system, the line will initially feature two models: the Treo 180, which has a tiny built-in keyboard, and the Treo 180g, which will rely on the Graffiti handwriting recognition system for input. http://www.wired.com/news/gizmos/0,1452,47541,00.html - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 15 Oct 2001 22:23:36 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: When Land Lines Will Be a Memory When Land Lines Will Be a Memory By Elisa Batista 2:00 a.m. Oct. 15, 2001 PDT Americans are snapping up cell phones in record numbers. But are cell phones becoming their only phones? That depends on who is asked. http://www.wired.com/news/wireless/0,1382,47348,00.html - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 15 Oct 2001 22:27:16 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Kiwi Grass Slows Farmers' Baud Kiwi Grass Slows Farmers' Baud By Kim Griggs 2:00 a.m. Oct. 15, 2001 PDT WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- For farmers struggling with infuriatingly slow Internet connections, one solution could be to trim the grass underneath electric fences, according to a government agency looking into the problem. Last year, a probe into New Zealand's telecommunications system found the speed and reach of dialup Internet service in rural areas was being restricted by electric fence interference. "Electric fences can interfere with ordinary telephone services, but it comes over as a click," said Brian Johns, telecommunications policy adviser at the Ministry of Economic Development. "That's annoying, but not necessarily fatal to a voice conversation, because you can still speak over it. But if you've got a data connection operating over the telephone, be it a fax or an Internet service, then it's not nearly as forgiving." http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,47446,00.html - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 15 Oct 2001 23:04:28 -0400 From: haynes@alumni.uark.edu (Jim Haynes) Subject: Living among the ruins I took a pleasure drive today over some back roads. One thing I passed was a small brick roadside hut, such as were once used for N-carrier repeaters. The door was slightly ajar. I guess it's probably abandoned as twisted pair has given way to fiber. In fact there are Alltel buried fiber signs all along the route. There was also a larger hut, the kind that supplied power to the smaller ones as well as housing repeaters. The door was shut but it appeard to have been broken into through a ventilator. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 15 Oct 2001 23:25:49 -0400 From: rbf@rbfnet.com (Brett Frankenberger) Subject: Re: Qwest First Phone Company Junking POTS In article <3BCB5147.32F0D474@lucent.com>, Jack Adams wrote: > >Let's see ... G.711 encoding (64Kbps) takes roughly >twice the bandwidth of the payload by the time you add UDP/RTP/IP >Headers with low latency (1 packet per frame). Hum, the objective >here was what? I assume you think the answer is "saving bandwidth". That's generally the answer when a private network puts VoIP in. But I'd be very surprised to learn that its the reason Qwest is doing it. For facilities-based carriers, there's really no reasons to invest in reducing voice bandwdith. They've already got enough fiber lit to carry all the voice, at 64kbps (or 128kbs) per call for the forseeable future. (And data traffic is groing faster than voice traffic, which means if you engineer your physical layer tokeep up with data, you'll be fine on the voice side.) The benefit, or perceived benefit, of VoIP is that the capital required to do it is less than the capital requird to implement circuit switches that would otherwise be required, and the VoIP infrastructure is more flexible and easier to enhance/upgrade/expand. (I'm not necessarily asserting that any or all of those benefits exist -- just that it's probably what Qwest is basing its decision on.) -- Brett - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 15 Oct 2001 23:46:49 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Attacks Expose Telephone's Soft Underbelly October 15, 2001 Attacks Expose Telephone's Soft Underbelly By SIMON ROMERO Joseph Pennell, the prolific illustrator who often depicted the cityscape of Lower Manhattan in his prints, called the New York Telephone Building "the most impressive modern building in the world" when it was completed in 1926. How antiquated it now seems. The 32-story structure at 140 West Street, one of the city's first Art Deco skyscrapers, is now owned by New York Telephone's descendant, Verizon Communications (news/quote). And the heavy damage the building sustained on Sept. 11 underscores the vulnerability of communications networks operated by Verizon and other telephone companies - sprawling systems that rely heavily on critical hubs. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/15/technology/15PHON.html - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 15 Oct 2001 23:57:13 -0400 From: wollman@lcs.mit.edu (Garrett Wollman) Subject: Re: Qwest First Phone Company Junking POTS In article <3BCB5147.32F0D474@lucent.com>, Jack Adams wrote: >Let's see ... G.711 encoding (64Kbps) takes roughly >twice the bandwidth of the payload by the time you add UDP/RTP/IP >Headers with low latency (1 packet per frame). Hum, the objective >here was what? Red herring. No sensible implementation would omit silence suppression, and in a telco environment you'd probably generate comfort noise as well. The benefit to packet voice has *always* been better statistical multiplexing. (Now, as other posters have pointed out, it's not clear what economic sense this makes for Qwest.) Another possible advantage, dubious for similar reasons, is to avoid transcoding low-bandwidth calls (e.g., cellular) until they reach the terminating switch. There are also business services such as voice conferencing which are almost trivial to do in a full-IP environment, but require more substantial resources when implemented as a traditional circuit-switched network services -- again taking advantage of packet's better stat.mux properties. One more possible benefit: better integration with business PBXen which use packet voice. - -GAWollman - -- Garrett A. Wollman | O Siem / We are all family / O Siem / We're all the same wollman@lcs.mit.edu | O Siem / The fires of freedom Opinions not those of| Dance in the burning flame MIT, LCS, CRS, or NSA| - Susan Aglukark and Chad Irschick - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 15 Oct 2001 23:59:33 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Stopping Signals From Satellite TV Proves Difficult October 15, 2001 NEWS ANALYSIS Stopping Signals From Satellite TV Proves Difficult By SETH SCHIESEL When the White House suggested that five major United States television news organizations use caution before airing raw video statements from Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda followers last week, government officials said Mr. bin Laden's statements could include hidden messages to terrorists. The networks agreed not to run raw footage of Al Qaeda statements as they are broadcast by the Al Jazeera network from Qatar, which appears to be Mr. bin Laden's preferred conduit for communicating with the world. As recently as a decade ago, such an agreement between the government and broadcasters might have prevented Mr. bin Laden from communicating by television with any followers in the United States. No more. The global village simply has too many pathways. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/15/business/media/15SAT.html - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ End of Telecom Digest V2001 #264 ******************************** - To leave this list, send a message containing "unsubscribe" to telecom-digest-request@telecom-digest.org. Date: 17 Oct 2001 06:15:16 -0400 From: owner-telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org (Telecom Digest) To: telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org Subject: Telecom Digest V2001 #265 Telecom Digest Wednesday, October 17 2001 Volume 2001 : Number 265 In this issue: AS5300 as a POTS switch: between a rock and a hard place Re: Call Osama: +873 682505331 Re: Qwest First Phone Company Junking POTS Re: Qwest First Phone Company Junking POTS Canada rate increase seen though the other end of a telescope A Note to the CRTC Re: When Land Lines Will Be a Memory FCC orders SBC to pay fine ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 16 Oct 2001 06:53:48 -0400 From: ramon@conexus.net (Ramon F Herrera) Subject: AS5300 as a POTS switch: between a rock and a hard place Cisco Case ID: B844309 Scenario: I am planning to use a Cisco AS5300 as a traditional telephone switch. The is no VoIP involved. These are the devices that will be connected to the router. 1st Port: Incoming/Outgoing Corporate ISDN PRI line from Worldcom 2nd Port: Lucent/Avaya Legend Merlin PBX <-- !!!! tough !!!! 3rd Port: Incoming only IVR ISDN PRI line from AT&T 4th Port: IVR Dialogic D/240SC-T1 board in PRI network side mode I have no problem whatsoever with the PRIs or the IVR board. The problem is the PBX. First, I tried to use ISDN but apparently while the Cisco and the PBX both support ISDN, they don't have a common dialect of ISDN. There is also the issue of user-side vs. telco/network side. I have been expecting an answer from Cisco about the above, for a while, I since the TAC won't answer, I decided to give up on the ISDN connectivity. Now, I would like the Cisco <-> Lucent connection to be plain vanilla CAS T1. The PBX can easily be switched between PRI and T1. Back to Cisco. This is my dilemma: there are 3 xxx-group commands: - pri-group - channel-group - ds0-group (used to be cas-group) The first one is obviuosly for ISDN, the second for routed connections and the last for switched connections. The channel-group creates a serial interface, while the ds0 group creates both a serial interface and a port which later can be used with dial peers. If I use the ds0-group, I can create dial peers but the controller and interface look like this: T1 1 is up. Serial1:1 is down, line protocol is down Additionally, in ds0-group mode, I can run show dialplan number and the "call" is routed to the proper dial peer and port BUT there is no physical connectivity with the PBX. If I use the channel-group, the physical connectivity issue is solved: T1 1 is up. Serial1:1 is up, line protocol is up However, there is no port creation and therefore I cannot have any pots dial peers. Any suggestions will be very much appreciated. Thanks for your kind assistance, - -Ramon F. Herrera - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- manhattan> manhattan>show hard Cisco Internetwork Operating System Software IOS (tm) 5300 Software (C5300-IS-M), Version 12.2(2)XA1, EARLY DEPLOYMENT RELEAS E SOFTWARE (fc1) TAC:Home:SW:IOS:Specials for info Copyright (c) 1986-2001 by cisco Systems, Inc. Compiled Mon 27-Aug-01 19:25 by hwcheng Image text-base: 0x600089B0, data-base: 0x61038000 ROM: System Bootstrap, Version 12.0(2)XD1, EARLY DEPLOYMENT RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc 1) BOOTFLASH: 5300 Software (C5300-BOOT-M), Version 12.0(4)T1, RELEASE SOFTWARE (f c1) manhattan uptime is 1 day, 1 hour, 58 minutes System returned to ROM by reload at 12:14:49 EDT Sun Sep 30 2001 System restarted at 12:15:29 EDT Sun Sep 30 2001 System image file is "flash:c5300-is-mz.122-2.XA1.bin" cisco AS5300 (R4K) processor (revision A.32) with 65536K/16384K bytes of memory. Processor board ID 19561397 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- manhattan> manhattan>show hard Cisco Internetwork Operating System Software IOS (tm) 5300 Software (C5300-IS-M), Version 12.2(2)XA1, EARLY DEPLOYMENT RELEAS E SOFTWARE (fc1) TAC:Home:SW:IOS:Specials for info Copyright (c) 1986-2001 by cisco Systems, Inc. Compiled Mon 27-Aug-01 19:25 by hwcheng Image text-base: 0x600089B0, data-base: 0x61038000 ROM: System Bootstrap, Version 12.0(2)XD1, EARLY DEPLOYMENT RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc 1) BOOTFLASH: 5300 Software (C5300-BOOT-M), Version 12.0(4)T1, RELEASE SOFTWARE (f c1) manhattan uptime is 1 day, 1 hour, 58 minutes System returned to ROM by reload at 12:14:49 EDT Sun Sep 30 2001 System restarted at 12:15:29 EDT Sun Sep 30 2001 System image file is "flash:c5300-is-mz.122-2.XA1.bin" cisco AS5300 (R4K) processor (revision A.32) with 65536K/16384K bytes of memory. Processor board ID 19561397 R4700 CPU at 150Mhz, Implementation 33, Rev 1.0, 512KB L2 Cache Bridging software. X.25 software, Version 3.0.0. SuperLAT software (copyright 1990 by Meridian Technology Corp). Primary Rate ISDN software, Version 1.1. Backplane revision 2 Manufacture Cookie Info: EEPROM Type 0x0001, EEPROM Version 0x01, Board ID 0x30, Board Hardware Version 3.1, Item Number 800-2544-03, Board Revision D0, Serial Number 19561397, PLD/ISP Version 0.0, Manufacture Date 20-Apr-2000. 1 Ethernet/IEEE 802.3 interface(s) 1 FastEthernet/IEEE 802.3 interface(s) 54 Serial network interface(s) 4 Channelized T1/PRI port(s) 48 Voice resource(s) 128K bytes of non-volatile configuration memory. 16384K bytes of processor board System flash (Read/Write) 8192K bytes of processor board Boot flash (Read/Write) Configuration register is 0x2102 manhattan> - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 16 Oct 2001 08:36:14 -0400 From: Fred Atkinson Subject: Re: Call Osama: +873 682505331 I saw this on 'Telecom Digest'. I send this over Mishmash with the approval of the editor. Fred Date: 15 Oct 2001 14:24:22 -0400 From: Paul Hovnanian Subject: Re: Call Osama: +873 682505331 Tim Meehan wrote: > > From pravda.ru: > > CALL BIN LADEN > > Now everybody has this unique opportunity. In Germany the number of Osama > bin Ladens satellite telephone has been published. According to German > mass media, this number is 00873-682505331. The satellite telephone was > bought for bin Laden by his brother-in-arms for $10,000 in New York, in > 1996. Since that time, bin Laden has been using it only. It is being > reported that the FBI has spread this number. > It is said that if somebody reached bin Laden, the terrorist would be > warned of the attack. > In 1998, the US already bombed the satellite telephone of bin > Laden. Though at that time, the terrorist seems not to have been on the > telephone. The telephone was not found as well. After all, it still > functions. You can bet that, if this number was any good, the US would set up a HARM guidance system on a bunker-buster warhead, then dial the number: 'Hello. Is this Mr bin Laden? Please hold for an incoming message.' - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 16 Oct 2001 12:30:43 -0400 From: Jack Adams Subject: Re: Qwest First Phone Company Junking POTS Folks, I think we're missing a simple business fact here that has precious little to do with stat muxing, silence suppression, encoding schemes, and the like. In most US jurisdictions, access charges accrue to the incumbent (ILEC) at both the origination and termination of calls. The same little money machine does not apply to "data" terminations which thus leads to rate arbitrage opportunities which can be sizable. With international (voice) traffic, this artifact hides under what is known as settlement rates which are usurious in favor of underdeveloped countries who view lop sided settlements as their due! When it all gets boiled down, it's about $$$. Rich Campbell wrote: > > Then what is the point of doing it at all? > > -- > Rich Campbell > Pantel Business Systems > Tech Operations > 888-540-0418 x410 > richcam@mediaone.net > > "Brett Frankenberger" wrote in message > news:9qfbhb02fn1@enews4.newsguy.com... > > In article , > > John McHarry wrote: > > > - -- John "Jack" Adams HO 4D-327 Lucent Technologies, Inc. 732.949.2295 732.949.1922 (Facsimile) jackadams@lucent.com They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. Benjamin Franklin 1775 - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 16 Oct 2001 14:20:13 -0400 From: johnl@iecc.com (John R Levine) Subject: Re: Qwest First Phone Company Junking POTS >I think we're missing a simple business fact here that has precious >little to do with stat muxing, silence suppression, encoding schemes, >and the like. In most US jurisdictions, access charges accrue to >the incumbent (ILEC) at both the origination and termination of calls. >The same little money machine does not apply to "data" terminations >which thus leads to rate arbitrage opportunities which can be sizable. Indeed, but that's not what's happening here. Qwest is both an RBOC and an IXC that provides voice outside their RBOC region and data services throughout the country. If you look at their press release (has anyone else done that?) they say that they are using VOIP to handle voice calls within their RBOC region, listing the cities where they're rolling it out first. This lets them merge the voice and data networks with the various economies you're supposed to get from using routers rather than tandem switches inside the network. This isn't an arbitrage play, the calls are voice at both ends, it's the technology in between that's different. Someone asked what happens to DTMF sent to control voice mail and the like, it's handled like any other sounds sent down the line. It's my impression that some VOIP setups recognize fax calls and recode them to send the underlying bits and reconstruct the fax chirps at the far end, but even that should be transparent to the two ends. - -- John R. Levine, IECC, POB 727, Trumansburg NY 14886 +1 607 387 6869 johnl@iecc.com, Village Trustee and Sewer Commissioner, http://iecc.com/johnl, Member, Provisional board, Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 16 Oct 2001 18:39:00 -0400 From: bobw@enteract.com (Bob Wulkowicz) Subject: Canada rate increase seen though the other end of a telescope The CRTC has just finished its public hearings on increasing monthly rates for rural areas in Canada. Oddly, most of Canada seems rural to the telcos, so the proposed increases will cover a surprising number of telephone accounts. This perspective looks at the drain of significant dollars from small communities that have complained for years about poor service and ignored physical plant. The telcos argue that rural areas cost more to service and the communities respond, "What service are you talking about?" Driven by some sense of urgency to keep their margins hovering near the 18% level, the some of the aggregate companies are asking for rate raise of about $5.00 per month. A small amount indeed for service that should cost more, Alliant says. A spectacularly large amount indeedy at the exit point of the funnel, says common sense--and a real question is, can small struggling communities afford that outflow year after year in this shrinking economy? An MBA may argue, "Get it discreetly while you can." A CFO might say, "We're bringing rates in line with actual expenses." The more cynical could mutter, "Business as usual." In the meantime, the small folk stagger around like Redd Fox, clutching their collective chests, and looking for a place in the couch to hide their wallets. Those in the cities have their rates stay the same--because it costs less to provide them service--or so it's said. Which means don't expect any righteous indignation from that audience. In fact, they seem pleased that the telcos have found someone else to gouge this time. Wolves and coyotes cull the weak and isolated from different herds for an easy meal. Who says the telcos aren't shrewd, adaptive and quick to learn? http://www.herald.ns.ca/stories/2001/10/16/p109.raw.html Bob Wulkowicz - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 16 Oct 2001 18:38:59 -0400 From: bobw@enteract.com (Bob Wulkowicz) Subject: A Note to the CRTC A Walk on the Ugly Side The Halifax Herald printed a story recently about my initiative called Continuous Emergency Access (CEA). It keeps the dial tone on all Nova Scotia telephones even if disconnected so that people could still call 911 for help. My thanks to the Globe and Mail for sharing the issue with the larger Canadian audience. Working on 911 access, I looked at the rural phone increase that is before the CRTC. I'm not a mathematician and big numbers hurt my brain, so I try to keep my arithmetic simple and to the point: My nearby town of Canso with its own telephone prefix of 366, has about 1200 telephones inside the jurisdiction of the local RCMP and fire departments. Multiplying that number by the proposed rate increase: $5 x 12 months x 1200 shows those accounts would generate $72,000 per year. Adding the required HST of 15%, we have a total of $83,000, all coming from the modest community of Canso. That's an astonishing amount of money. We are persuaded that $5 a month isn't all that much. But a collected $83,000 is a huge number, and this is the real battle between the joined-at-the-hip MTT/Aliant/Canada's Bell (MACaB) and our struggling Canadian economy. $83,000 a year will exit the town of Canso, small, hard-working, and already wearied by difficult times that don't seem to go away in our rural areas. The money appears on accounting sheets of MTT as a new revenue stream, and will continue to be sent there year after year. Canso's $83,000 will end up in some bank account in Halifax and probably never return. $83,000 is not likely to be used for new of equipment or phone lines in Canso; everything is already in place. There's likely the same number of customers as last year--possibly less than 10 years ago--and Canso already has its new central office switch. $83,000 will not go into the local co-op, or the restaurants and stores, or be part of what is needed to pay for clothes, water, electricity and town taxes. Telephones there already pay extra for long distance services. Now there's $60 less per customer for other escalating, unstoppable and unavoidable bills in this sinking tide of tomorrow's economy. A small community that needs to reinvest in itself, to keep its money close to home, will lose those dollars forever. This is a page out of the play book of the banks. Banks once paid for tellers, computers, overhead, and still had enough money left over to build yet another little bank somewhere. Then they realized how easy it was to redefine and subdivide their services--and charge separate costs for each. Everything actually stayed the same, but revenue blossomed with new definitions. The telephone megamonoply complains of losing subsidies from competitive long distance companies soon and must make up the revenue loss. Did someone redefine the word "competition" while I was looking the other way? Does "return on equity" now mean, "We have the right to stay as fat as we wanna be, and screw the rural public who doesn't have an organized voice." Increased productivity used to be making more of an item--or being more efficient when making the same number. Today's productivity is subdivide, spin something off, call it something else, and pull in the extra cash. It's simply wrong. I look to the maturity and wisdom of the CRTC in rejecting the tariff requests of MACaB because of this larger context of a nation facing an ugly downturn. Nova Scotia has its fisheries shrunken and more distant, its forests mostly pulp farms, and its industries wringing their hands, looking for all the world like the about-to-be homeless. Is the rest of rural Canada somehow escaping their own local problems? Losing $83,000 a year is a knife in the hearts of the Town of Canso and its citizens. $83,000 multiplied by every small community that dots the landscapes and shorelines of rural Canada will never be reinvested locally to help them weather this storm of hard times. $83,000 as huge as it is to Canso, will become just a tiny part of a staggering amount used by a conglomerate mentality that has been more preoccupied with mergers and acquisitions than in looking out the window and seeing the darkening sky. This is socially irresponsible and it should be nationally repugnant. It is profoundly stupid for any corporate citizen to continue to be so single-minded and selfish. In a national gesture, MACaB should figure out the diplomatic way to withdraw their petitions. If they don't; the CRTC should simply say, "This is not that time. Come back later when we better understand what's going on in our economy. Until then, tighten your belts like the rest of us." Canada is not a foolish nation; it is filled with common sense and well-deserved pride; and everyone over 20 probably understands the meaning of hard times. Under law, the corporate citizen is the equivalent of the ordinary citizen. We mere mortals are capable of compassion, charity, and self restraint. Will Canadians let corporations be foolish; have no common sense, and, in their hubris, pull more money needlessly out of the pockets of people with quiet voices? Many companies are dropping 10 and 15 thousand employees in a single unannounced afternoon. It is unprecedented and a growing nightmare. It is an ugliness no one has seen for 70 years and MACaB intends to suck billions of dollars out of our fragile rural economies over the years with some accounting sleight of hand. The very people I wanted to help protect with continual access to 911 now move closer to not being able to pay their bills. The already vulnerable are even more at risk. Place MACaB alongside the RE of our rural economy and it becomes macabre. Perhaps the telephone companies can find a dictionary under their stack of ledger books and look up that word. Bob Wulkowicz Half Island Cove Nova Scotia - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 16 Oct 2001 18:46:07 -0400 From: bobw@enteract.com (Bob Wulkowicz) Subject: Re: When Land Lines Will Be a Memory - ---------------------------- Oh. I'm sorry. I thought you said land mines. Those would be excellent if left only as memories. Bob Wulkowicz - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 16 Oct 2001 19:17:58 -0400 From: "Cole T. Kracke" Subject: FCC orders SBC to pay fine FCC orders SBC to pay fine By Ben Charny Special to CNET News.com October 16, 2001, 3:05 p.m. PT SBC Communications should pay a $2.52 million fine for allegedly providing the Federal Communications Commission with inaccurate information while vying for approval to offer long-distance service in Oklahoma and Kansas, the FCC announced Tuesday. SBC has 30 days to either pay the fine or appeal it in writing - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ End of Telecom Digest V2001 #265 ******************************** - To leave this list, send a message containing "unsubscribe" to telecom-digest-request@telecom-digest.org. Date: 18 Oct 2001 06:15:13 -0400 From: owner-telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org (Telecom Digest) To: telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org Subject: Telecom Digest V2001 #266 Telecom Digest Thursday, October 18 2001 Volume 2001 : Number 266 In this issue: Mobile Helped Convict Murderer Stale forwarding records with MCI, no support Sprint To Dump ION Millions keep secret mobile Continuous Emergency Access (CEA) in Canada ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 17 Oct 2001 09:27:32 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Mobile Helped Convict Murderer Mobile Helped Convict Murderer By Elisa Batista 2:00 a.m. Oct. 17, 2001 PDT A Palo Alto, California, man has been convicted of murdering his wife, partly based on testimony from his cell phone service provider. ... In the murder trial, which took place in Santa Clara County (California) Superior Court, a Verizon Wireless engineer testified for the prosecution that it was "impossible" for Fitzhugh to have been far away from home -- the murder scene -- at around the time his wife was killed. The engineer made the assessment based on the location of Fitzhugh's cell phone. ... http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,47546,00.html - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 17 Oct 2001 18:31:56 -0400 From: Jered Floyd Subject: Stale forwarding records with MCI, no support My office has been in an interesting situation for the past month, and the telecom providers have been entirely unhelpful. Are there any senior tech folks from MCI present who would like to defend their company? At our old office location, we had AT&T Local Services provide our phone service. About 3 months ago, we moved to a new location. AT&T told us that it would be at least a month before they could deliver our lines to the new location, so we borrowed 5 phones from our landlords and had AT&T forward our 5 phone numbers to the borrowed phones. Verizon said that they could deliver local lines faster, so instead of having AT&T move the lines, we asked Verizon to install our lines and take the numbers over from AT&T, and when this occurred AT&T would cancel the forwarding. This happened. We have Verizon local service on our 5 original lines, delivered to our new location. Where does MCI come into this? Well, if a Verizon customer calls us, their call goes through. If an AT&T customer calls us, their call goes through. However, if an MCI customer calls us, the call is forwarded to the borrowed phones! AT&T says that they no longer have anything to do with our phone service, and I'm inclined to believe them. Verizon insists that it's not their fault. But MCI, MCI won't even talk to us because we're not an MCI customer. They claim that they don't have any mechanism in place to take complaints from non-customers. If we have a customer complain, they say that it's *our* problem, and that we've probably told our provider to block calls from the customer. Any ideas on how we can proceed here - --Jered - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 17 Oct 2001 19:04:57 -0400 From: tknab@nyx.net (Terry Knab) Subject: Sprint To Dump ION >From KMBC-TV http://www.thekansascitychannel.com/kc1/money/stories/money-101980320011017-151004.html Sprint To Cut 6,000 Jobs And More Company Blames Weak Economy Posted: 3:25 p.m. CDT October 17, 2001 Updated: 5:29 p.m. CDT October 17, 2001 KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Sprint Corp. citing the weak economy and "a rapidly changing industry landscape," announced Wednesday that it will lay off about 6,000 employees and 1,500 more contract workers. About 3,000 of those cutbacks are local, KMBC reported. Sprint had held out on layoffs even as its telecommunications competitors shed about 225,000 workers this year in the slowing economy. But steadily lower earnings and troubles deploying its blended voice and data unit, ION, forced the company's hand. The layoffs, amounting to about 7 percent of Sprint's work force, were expected to have a significant impact on the Kansas City area economy, where Sprint reigns as the area's largest private employer and a point of pride for a city largely void of high-profile, brand-name corporate headquarters. - -- - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Terry E. Knab News/System Administrator Nyx Public Access Unix - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 17 Oct 2001 23:22:31 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Millions keep secret mobile Tuesday, 16 October, 2001, 09:32 GMT 10:32 UK Millions keep secret mobile One in 10 mobile owners now has a second handset, a survey has suggested. The international Motorola study found that the spare gets used for love affairs, clandestine business dealings or, somewhat less excitingly, just as an individual hotline between friends. ... http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_1602000/1602044.stm - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 18 Oct 2001 02:24:38 -0400 From: bobw@enteract.com (Bob Wulkowicz) Subject: Continuous Emergency Access (CEA) in Canada Here's a piece from the Globe and Mail about the proposed Canadian initiative to keep the dial tones in place even at disconnected phones so someone in danger can still call for help. It's old hat now, called soft or warm dial tone, and mandated on cell phones in the US by the FCC. But when I first introduced it's being mandatory in Illinois, the telcos howled I was advocating free phone service for deadbeats. It's true, that's what Illinois Bell sent its big political schmoozers to defeat in Chicago where it was first proposed as a demonstration project: There was a long debate on the City Council floor whether to pass our original resolution which wanted the concept enacted, or an amended resolution shaped by IBT to "study" the issue. When the votes were over, the Aldermen collapsed in their chairs from speechifying exhaustion, and the amendment to the amendment's amendment were finally figured out. Damn, if IBT hadn't lost. Afterwards, a long time City Hall reporter came out of the Press Room and remarked, "I've never seen them lose anything before. That was really something." Later in Chicago, before the Illinois Commerce Commission that approved Illinois tariffs, and in the company of the Illinois Attorney General, the States Attorney, and a host of public safety intervenors, we were dismissed.. The case files, ICC 88-044, were quickly shipped down to Springfield - --quite unusual for anything to leave the Chicago office according to the staff, as if Freddie Kruger could be better buried there, far from troubling the future sleep of Illinois Bell execs. But, CEA is now available in a number of places and jurisdictions. Why? Because it's smart, common sense, and available as an option in literally every digital switch at no extra cost. In the 13 years between then and today, Continuous Emergency Access is being recognized as the logical conclusion of the universal availability of telephones, along with the ever-expanding improvement of 911 services and capacities. Every citizen, every person, is entitled to publicly funded emergency services and governments and their agencies are the definitive guardians of those rights. An obvious evolution in public safety decrees that it is ethically and legally wrong to allow to allow any lapse in accessibility to a provided 911 service facility. IBT is gone now. And we have today's multi-mutations with new names and logos on buildings and copper wires that go back further than I am old. Is there fresh thinking, or more compassionate corporate hearts? Or have the tragedies of September finally impressed us as nations of the unpredicabilities of circumstances and our common vulnerability? Each new maturity validates Continuous Emergency Access, No one could be so foolish to still argue against it. Could they? Bob Wulkowicz Half Island Cove Nova Scotia - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ End of Telecom Digest V2001 #266 ******************************** - To leave this list, send a message containing "unsubscribe" to telecom-digest-request@telecom-digest.org. Date: 19 Oct 2001 06:15:13 -0400 From: owner-telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org (Telecom Digest) To: telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org Subject: Telecom Digest V2001 #267 Telecom Digest Friday, October 19 2001 Volume 2001 : Number 267 In this issue: Re: Stale forwarding records with MCI, no support Re: Stale forwarding records with MCI, no support Re: Stale forwarding records with MCI, no support Re: Stale forwarding records with MCI, no support Re: Continuous Emergency Access (CEA) in Canada Re: Stale forwarding records with MCI, no support Re: Continuous Emergency Access (CEA) in Canada Re: Stale forwarding records with MCI, no support Re: Stale forwarding records with MCI, no support WANic on Linux Re: Stale forwarding records with MCI, no support Re: Sprint To Dump ION Re: Mobile Helped Convict Murderer Re: Stale forwarding records with MCI, no support ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 18 Oct 2001 08:41:46 -0400 From: Fred Goldstein Subject: Re: Stale forwarding records with MCI, no support On 17 Oct 2001 18:31:56 -0400 Jered Floyd wrote, >Where does MCI come into this? Well, if a Verizon customer calls us, >their call goes through. If an AT&T customer calls us, their call >goes through. However, if an MCI customer calls us, the call is >forwarded to the borrowed phones! You ported numbers from AT&T to VeriZontal. The rule of number portability is that the "n-1" switch -- the one before the terminating exchange -- has to do a database dip and look up where the call should go. This is done on any prefix marked "portable" in the LERG, which is most of them in urban areas. On a local (no tandem) call, it's the originating switch. On a local (tandem switched) call, it's the tandem. On a long distance call, if the LD carrier feeds it into a tandem, then it's that tandem (the Terminating Access tandem) which does the dip. If the LD carrier feeds it directly to the end office, then it's the LD carrier. Note that it's the end office assigned to the prefix that matters in determining the dip, not the end office you're on, since the n-1 office doesn't know what office you're on until the dip! To debug this, it really helps to know ALL of the prefix codes involved, because the tandem arrangements in this area (you're at MIT, right?) are pretty convoluted. MCI might be forgetting to dip on that prefix, not knowing it's portable. MCI might be passing it correctly to a VeriZontal Access Tandem, which is not dipping correctly (unlikely but possible). There might be a corrupt data base someplace. Also, check to see how it works on intestate calls via other LD providers such as Sprint and Global Crossing. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 18 Oct 2001 09:57:57 -0400 From: "Ken Abrams" Subject: Re: Stale forwarding records with MCI, no support - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jered Floyd" Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Sent: Wednesday, October 17, 2001 5:31 PM Subject: Stale forwarding records with MCI, no support [snip] > > Where does MCI come into this? Well, if a Verizon customer calls us, > their call goes through. If an AT&T customer calls us, their call > goes through. However, if an MCI customer calls us, the call is > forwarded to the borrowed phones! > [snip] > Any ideas on how we can proceed here Don't you just love it! IMHO, you have 3 ways to proceed. Easiest is to have an MCI customer report to them that calls to you go to the wrong place. If you raise holly hell with Verizon, they should pursue it (as your local service provider). Whether they will or not is another story. If all else fails, call the FCC. Good luck. You will definitely need it. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 18 Oct 2001 10:07:39 -0400 From: jgfnews@resi.com (jg fenton) Subject: Re: Stale forwarding records with MCI, no support Very strange. The only entity causing calls to be sent to the 'borrowed' phones should be AT&T. But if an AT&T local customer can dial your 'new' numbers correctly, that blows that theory. My semi-layman's opinion would have been that MCI is doing a LNP lookup (local number portability) using stale data, and sending the call to AT&T by mistake. I've had problems like this with other carriers, and it took multiple tickets to tier three techs who did point code lookups in realtime before they figured out what to fix. good luck! On 17 Oct 2001 18:31:56 -0400, Jered Floyd wrote: > >My office has been in an interesting situation for the past month, and >the telecom providers have been entirely unhelpful. Are there any >senior tech folks from MCI present who would like to defend their >company? > >At our old office location, we had AT&T Local Services provide our >phone service. About 3 months ago, we moved to a new location. AT&T >told us that it would be at least a month before they could deliver >our lines to the new location, so we borrowed 5 phones from our >landlords and had AT&T forward our 5 phone numbers to the borrowed >phones. > >Verizon said that they could deliver local lines faster, so instead >of having AT&T move the lines, we asked Verizon to install our lines >and take the numbers over from AT&T, and when this occurred AT&T >would cancel the forwarding. This happened. We have Verizon local >service on our 5 original lines, delivered to our new location. > >Where does MCI come into this? Well, if a Verizon customer calls us, >their call goes through. If an AT&T customer calls us, their call >goes through. However, if an MCI customer calls us, the call is >forwarded to the borrowed phones! > >AT&T says that they no longer have anything to do with our phone >service, and I'm inclined to believe them. Verizon insists that it's >not their fault. But MCI, MCI won't even talk to us because we're not >an MCI customer. They claim that they don't have any mechanism in >place to take complaints from non-customers. If we have a customer >complain, they say that it's *our* problem, and that we've probably >told our provider to block calls from the customer. > >Any ideas on how we can proceed here > >--Jered >-- >The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail >messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 18 Oct 2001 10:26:18 -0400 From: "Jay R. Ashworth" Subject: Re: Stale forwarding records with MCI, no support C.J. stepped down from the podium, whereupon Fred Goldstein said: > You ported numbers from AT&T to VeriZontal. The rule of number portability > is that the "n-1" switch -- the one before the terminating exchange -- has > to do a database dip and look up where the call should go. This is done on > any prefix marked "portable" in the LERG, which is most of them in urban > areas. On a local (no tandem) call, it's the originating switch. On a > local (tandem switched) call, it's the tandem. On a long distance call, if > the LD carrier feeds it into a tandem, then it's that tandem (the > Terminating Access tandem) which does the dip. If the LD carrier feeds it > directly to the end office, then it's the LD carrier. Note that it's the > end office assigned to the prefix that matters in determining the dip, not > the end office you're on, since the n-1 office doesn't know what office > you're on until the dip! This seems sort of stupid; what happens when you port a number from New York to LA. Someone calling from Manhattan... Kansas has their call go as far as possible in the wrong direction. Cheers, - - jra - -- Jay R. Ashworth jra@baylink.com Member of the Technical Staff Baylink The Suncoast Freenet The Things I Think Tampa Bay, Florida http://baylink.pitas.com +1 727 804 5015 Fanfic: it's enough to make you loose your mind. -- me - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 18 Oct 2001 13:56:09 -0400 From: bobw@enteract.com (Bob Wulkowicz) Subject: Re: Continuous Emergency Access (CEA) in Canada bobw@enteract.com (Bob Wulkowicz) wrote in message news:... > Here's a piece from the Globe and Mail about the proposed Canadian > initiative to keep the dial tones in place even at disconnected phones > so someone in danger can still call for help. ccess, No one could > be so foolish to still argue against it. Could they? Here's the here that was left out of the original post: http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/RTGAMArticleHTMLTemplate/C/20010723/w911ph2307?hub=homeBN&tf=tgam/realtime/fullstory.html&cf=tgam/realtime/config-neutral&vg=BigAdVariableGenerator&slug=w911ph2307&date=20010723&archive=RTGAM&site=Front&ad_page_name=breakingnews Sorry... > > > Bob Wulkowicz > Half Island Cove > Nova Scotia - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 18 Oct 2001 16:24:20 -0400 From: Dominic Richens Subject: Re: Stale forwarding records with MCI, no support Jered Floyd wrote in message news:s56k7xtaofi.fsf@vice-grips.mit.edu... > ... But MCI, MCI won't even talk to us because we're not > an MCI customer. They claim that they don't have any mechanism in > place to take complaints from non-customers. If we have a customer > complain, they say that it's *our* problem, and that we've probably > told our provider to block calls from the customer. you need to find a sympathetic customer, who is a customer of MCI to complain to MCI that they are not properly routing their calls. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 18 Oct 2001 16:44:03 -0400 From: oldbear@arctos.com (The Old Bear) Subject: Re: Continuous Emergency Access (CEA) in Canada bobw@enteract.com (Bob Wulkowicz) writes: >From: bobw@enteract.com (Bob Wulkowicz) >Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom >Subject: Continuous Emergency Access (CEA) in Canada >Date: 18 Oct 2001 02:24:38 -0400 > >Here's a piece from the Globe and Mail about the proposed Canadian >initiative to keep the dial tones in place even at disconnected phones >so someone in danger can still call for help. It's old hat now, called >soft or warm dial tone, and mandated on cell phones in the US by the >FCC. But when I first introduced it's being mandatory in Illinois, the >telcos howled I was advocating free phone service for deadbeats. When first introduced, no only did the line provide emergency service, it also allowed someone moving into a house or apartment to plug in a phone and dial "O" to contact the telco business office to activate the service. Since local service competition was introduced, this convenience is no longer available in most places because it favored whomever last provided service at the location. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 18 Oct 2001 17:17:15 -0400 From: Jered Floyd Subject: Re: Stale forwarding records with MCI, no support We managed to get some more information today, although now I'm interested in more of the details. The story I got is that there is an organization called NPAC (Number Portability Administration Center, they have a virtually useless website at www.npac.com) that coordinates number portability. Several weeks ago, when the number transfer occurred, AT&T and Verizon pushed out their updates to NPAC. MCI's connection to NPAC was down for some period of time, and so they never got updates during that period. Verizon is now working on making that happen again so that maybe MCI will get the updates this time. Does anyone know any useful technical information about NPAC? Is it a one-shot deal, and if a carrier misses it they have incorrect information for all eternity, or does the entire DB get pushed out once a month or some such? - --Jered - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 18 Oct 2001 17:20:39 -0400 From: Jered Floyd Subject: Re: Stale forwarding records with MCI, no support "Jay R. Ashworth" writes: > This seems sort of stupid; what happens when you port a number from New > York to LA. Someone calling from Manhattan... Kansas has their call go > as far as possible in the wrong direction. Presumably this is one (of many) reasons that we only have Local Number Portability, not global number portability. You can't port a number from New York to LA. - --Jered - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 18 Oct 2001 18:04:33 -0400 From: "Erwin Lubbers" Subject: WANic on Linux Hi, Has someone experience with the SBS WANic 1050-E3 under Linux? Can we use it to connect a Linux based router to a Cisco 6400 ATM interface using a 75 Ohm BNC connector, which is using routed IP? Regards, Erwin - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 18 Oct 2001 21:49:41 -0400 From: "Jay R. Ashworth" Subject: Re: Stale forwarding records with MCI, no support C.J. stepped down from the podium, whereupon Jered Floyd said: > "Jay R. Ashworth" writes: > > This seems sort of stupid; what happens when you port a number from New > > York to LA. Someone calling from Manhattan... Kansas has their call go > > as far as possible in the wrong direction. > > Presumably this is one (of many) reasons that we only have Local Number > Portability, not global number portability. You can't port a number > from New York to LA. D'oh! Can I use the excuse that it was late at night? ;-) Cheers, - -- jra - -- Jay R. Ashworth jra@baylink.com Member of the Technical Staff Baylink The Suncoast Freenet The Things I Think Tampa Bay, Florida http://baylink.pitas.com +1 727 804 5015 Fanfic: it's enough to make you loose your mind. -- me - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 18 Oct 2001 22:36:09 -0400 From: tknab@nyx.net (Terry Knab) Subject: Re: Sprint To Dump ION >From the Kansas City Star: http://www.kcstar.com/item/pages/home.pat,local/3acd10ea.a17,.html By DAVID HAYES and SUZANNE KING - The Kansas City Star Date: 10/17/01 22:15 Sprint Corp. will lay off 6,000 employees, including 3,000 in Kansas City, as the company scraps its troubled ION high-speed Internet project and reacts to the weakened economy. Kansas City's largest private-sector employer will cut 6.8 percent of its 88,000 employees worldwide, Chief Executive William T. Esrey said in an interview Wednesday with The Kansas City Star. About 22,000 Sprint employees work in the Kansas City area. In addition, Sprint will shed 1,500 contract employees, including an unspecified number of contract workers in Kansas City. However, Esrey expressed confidence in the future of the telecommunications industry and said the cuts would keep Sprint "strong and vital." "We are not going in and pulling in our horns," Esrey said. "We're making this adjustment, and then we're going to move forward very aggressively. And we're doing it out of strength so we remain strong. "The worst thing we could do would be not to take this difficult step. ... We tried very hard to avoid significant layoffs." The announcement came as the company released its third-quarter earnings and reported that Sprint PCS, its wireless phone division, had signed up a record number of new customers in July, August and September. Sprint reported a 60 percent decline in earnings from its core business group but said losses from fast-growing Sprint PCS were shrinking. Esrey said the cuts won't affect Sprint's PCS group and will be deepest in Sprint's long-distance and local service areas. However, he said, the cuts will reach into upper management. The Sprint layoffs are the latest in a series of job cuts in the telecommunications industry that began early this year. Since Jan. 1, more than 225,000 workers have been laid off nationwide. The cuts at Sprint represent the largest single layoff locally in recent history. Esrey told employees of the layoffs in an e-mail sent out after the financial markets closed Wednesday afternoon. Employees who are laid off will receive a minimum 60 days of pay, a number that increases depending on how long they have worked with Sprint and other factors. Laid-off workers also will qualify for free job-placement services. About 4,000 jobs will be eliminated in Sprint's global markets group, Esrey said, which includes most of the long-distance business, ION and fixed-wireless. ION has about 1,700 employees throughout the country, and fixed-wireless has about 500 employees. The cuts, which represent about 10 percent of the employees in Sprint's core business group that includes long-distance and local phone services, are expected to be completed by the middle of November. Esrey said the layoffs will bring Sprint's total employee base to about 82,000 -- essentially where the company was 15 months ago. Sprint has added 12,000 employees in the Kansas City area since 1996. Closing the ION project and cutting jobs, which will be part of a series of corporate restructurings, will save Sprint about $1 billion a year, Esrey said. In announcing that ION was being shut down, Esrey also said Sprint will freeze its fixed wireless business at its current 52,000 customers. The fixed wireless division offers high-speed Internet service delivered from tower-based antennas to receivers in homes or businesses. ION and fixed wireless are expensive projects, with only a long-term potential for a payoff. "If you looked at those business cases (for ION and fixed wireless), both incurred substantial upfront costs," Esrey said. "In the financial markets today, that's pretty hard to do." Esrey said the cuts will allow Sprint to focus on areas of its business that are highly profitable. First on his list is providing data and other services for business customers. "We as a company are almost uniquely positioned in the areas that are most attractive for this industry going forward," Esrey said. Analysts generally reacted positively to the decision to cut ION and freeze the fixed wireless service. Jeanne Schaaf of Forrester Research said the company needed to concentrate on its wireless business, which is positioned to provide leading-edge services. "PCS is well positioned to do a lot more than cellular voice calls or even mobile data," she said. "I don't think there's too much negative about it." Sprint PCS added more customers than its competitors for the 13th consecutive quarter, Esrey said, smashing expectations set earlier this year by the company and financial analysts. Sprint was expected to add 850,000 to 900,000 customers during the quarter, but ended with a net gain of 1.56 million customers -- 1.24 million through Sprint PCS and 384,000 through its affiliates. PCS now has 14.4 million customers, about 5 million more than a year ago. "That is far beyond what we have done before," Esrey said. "It's far beyond what anybody in the industry has done before." The death of Sprint's ION product has been rumored for months. Sprint began work on ION four years ago and promoted it as "the vehicle through which we will enter new local markets across the country." It was to be the company's challenge to regional Bells for local service. Sprint spent $3 billion developing ION, Esrey said. The company will write off $2 billion of that total in the fourth quarter. Sprint will take another $600 million hit from costs related to the layoffs and to move current ION customers on to other services, Esrey said. About $200 million of that $600 million will cover employee severance. ION provided integrated phone and high-speed Internet service through traditional phone lines. The company scaled back its plans for ION last year because it said glitches with the service's voice quality were being worked out. But Esrey said ION had overcome those problems and was scrapped because of the economic and political climate in the telecommunications industry, not because the technology didn't work. "Our people have done a super job; they've resolved the technical issues," Esrey said. "The business case does not make sense in current market conditions." Engineers who worked on ION said they understood the business reasons for killing ION but contend the tragedy was in the timing. Though ION at first was dogged by voice problems -- dropped calls, noises and echoes -- one Sprint engineer said technicians began employing newer technology that resolved the problems. "We understand the need to do this, but the frustrating thing is that, as of last week, we had it working flawlessly," said the engineer, who asked that his name not be used. "I just spent three years of my life making the most incredible product, and now they're canning it." Some ION users agreed. Jason Petosa, owner of Steadfast Publishing of Kansas City, is among them. Petosa's ION service had problems almost from the time he signed up in February, he said. But Petosa and his company stuck with Sprint. The bugs were finally worked out this summer, and Petosa was happy with the service. "Disappointed, I guess, would be my main feeling," he said. "We suffered through all of this stuff, and now that it's finally working, I don't know what's ahead." ION has only 4,000 customers, meaning the company spent about $750,000 for each customer. Price cuts in competing traditional high-speed cable and DSL Internet services, as well as cuts in voice telephone service, made it impossible for Sprint to charge enough to cover its ION costs. In addition, Esrey said, foot-dragging by the local Bell companies that provide the "last-mile" connection to homes and businesses, as well as potential changes in federal regulation, hurt the project. Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. repeatedly has denied the allegations that it has treated competitors unfairly. Esrey said the company learned a great deal about advanced network technology that might be helpful in the future as it upgrades its telephone service. "There are a lot of bugs and a lot of issues that we've knocked down one by one," he said. However, Sprint will write off most of the ION equipment and even is planning to scale back its business Digital Subscriber Line service. The company currently offers business DSL -- a high-speed broadband Internet service -- in 47 metropolitan areas. That number will drop, Esrey said. The failure of ION will leave Sprint with no strategy to expand its local service and compete with the regional Bells. And Esrey said the company had no plans to find an entree into the local market. "Largely we'll move on and concentrate on other things," Esrey said. "I think we know what we need for success and failure. Until a number of situations change, we wouldn't jump back in there." ION and fixed wireless, two cutting-edge projects, are closing. However, that will not change Sprint's corporate culture that encourages risk-taking, Esrey said. "Everything is not perfect. ION is one," Esrey said. "If we'd had the full advantage of hindsight, we would not have gone down that road. But if you don't seize opportunities ... you fall backwards. And we don't have any intention of doing that. We will be just as aggressive going forward." The Star's Paul Wenske contributed to this article. To reach David Hayes, call (816) 234-4904 or send e-mail to dhayes@kcstar.com. To reach Suzanne King, call (816) 234-4336 or send e-mail to sking@kcstar.com. All content 2001 The Kansas City Star - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 19 Oct 2001 02:14:24 -0400 From: "Gail M. Hall" Subject: Re: Mobile Helped Convict Murderer On 17 Oct 2001 09:27:32 -0400, in comp.dcom.telecom, you (Monty Solomon ) wrote: >Mobile Helped Convict Murderer > >By Elisa Batista >2:00 a.m. Oct. 17, 2001 PDT > >A Palo Alto, California, man has been convicted of murdering his >wife, partly based on testimony from his cell phone service provider. > >... > >In the murder trial, which took place in Santa Clara County >(California) Superior Court, a Verizon Wireless engineer testified >for the prosecution that it was "impossible" for Fitzhugh to have >been far away from home -- the murder scene -- at around the time his >wife was killed. The engineer made the assessment based on the >location of Fitzhugh's cell phone. > Did they listen in on his calls? If not, how do they *know* he was near his cell phone? How do they know someone else didn't use his cell phone? They would still need a human witness to testify that he talked to them with his cell phone and that he couldn't have been talking to them from another phone. >... > >http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,47546,00.html - -- Gail from Ohio USA - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 19 Oct 2001 02:47:01 -0400 From: Terry Kennedy Subject: Re: Stale forwarding records with MCI, no support Jered Floyd writes: > Presumably this is one (of many) reasons that we only have Local Number > Portability, not global number portability. You can't port a number > from New York to LA. You can't port a number from New York City (Manhattan) to New York City (Queens), either, even though it is the *same* rate center and *same* LATA. Feh. Terry Kennedy http://www.tmk.com terry@tmk.com New York, NY USA - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ End of Telecom Digest V2001 #267 ******************************** - To leave this list, send a message containing "unsubscribe" to telecom-digest-request@telecom-digest.org. Date: 20 Oct 2001 06:15:12 -0400 From: owner-telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org (Telecom Digest) To: telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org Subject: Telecom Digest V2001 #268 Telecom Digest Saturday, October 20 2001 Volume 2001 : Number 268 In this issue: A Tribute to the New York Rescue Workers Hello from Chile Re: Continuous Emergency Access (CEA) in Canada COs as vulnerable points of concentration Re: Mobile Helped Convict Murderer Terror attack highlights problem in telecom sector's monopoly legacy Re: COs as vulnerable points of concentration Re: When Land Lines Will Be a Memory ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 19 Oct 2001 08:57:34 -0400 From: Fred Atkinson Subject: A Tribute to the New York Rescue Workers This isn't telecom related, but it's worth looking at. Be careful, it's a tear jerker. http://usa.corporateclicks.com Fred - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 19 Oct 2001 12:21:09 -0400 From: "Rubén Alvarez Oñate" Subject: Hello from Chile Hello Everybody. I am going to join this group. I work for a telecom company named Entel Chile. I hope you could help me if I have some questions. thanks. email: ralvarez@alum.utfsmcs.cl - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 19 Oct 2001 12:43:57 -0400 From: "Ed Ellers" Subject: Re: Continuous Emergency Access (CEA) in Canada Bob Wulkowicz wrote: "It's old hat now, called soft or warm dial tone, and mandated on cell phones in the US by the FCC. But when I first introduced it's being mandatory in Illinois, the telcos howled I was advocating free phone service for deadbeats." While I'm not arguing against CEA, I can see where having 911 access for free might cause a few people to put off re-establishing their service (after it had been cut off for non-payment). There's also a fairness issue, since many jurisdictions have a mandatory 911 fee on phone bills, so someone relying on CEA would still benefit from 911 while avoiding their share of the cost. (Personally, I'd like to see either the ability to opt out of 911 and not pay the fee -- you could then call the emergency services' local numbers -- or else, more reasonably, have 911 funded from general revenues.) - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 19 Oct 2001 15:20:29 -0400 From: "Marcus Jervis" Subject: COs as vulnerable points of concentration October 19, 2001 Trade Center Attack Highlights Problem In Telecom Sector's Legacy of Monopoly By SHAWN YOUNG and DENNIS K. BERMAN Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL NEW YORK -- George Famulare, a 28-year veteran of New York's local phone company, was doing his expenses in one of the world's largest communications hubs on the morning of Sept. 11 when he heard a loud thud. Initially, he was infuriated, thinking a renovator's scaffold had fallen off the landmark 1926 building at 140 West St., just feet away from the World Trade Center. Its 32 floors house the humming gray equipment boxes that carry nearly 30% of Lower Manhattan's phone and data traffic, capacity equal to that of Cincinnati. Mr. Famulare, in charge of Verizon Communications Inc.'s buildings south of Midtown, saw people running away but implored employees to stay put. "We're safer in the building. The building is a tank." The events of Sept. 11 would quickly prove otherwise. By the end of the day, Verizon's hub sustained the worst damage ever to the nation's communications network. Getting calls going again has proved to be the most significant challenge Verizon, the largest local phone company, has ever faced, and it is prompting a rethinking of the security of America's highly concentrated telecommunications systems in an age of terrorism. The disaster also has sparked a new round of debate about telecom deregulation itself. Verizon executives have loudly criticized the rules that require them to rent parts of their networks -- and space in their central offices -- to competitors. They argue that the arrangement has discouraged rivals from building alternative networks by making it too cheap and easy to piggyback on the regional giants. But competitors draw the opposite lesson, saying the catastrophe points to the danger of having one company in control of so much. "Verizon is the incumbent, and the wiring has been in the ground for forever and a day. They have not built a redundant network," says Tom Jones, director of Spectrotel Inc., a competing carrier based in New Jersey. All across the country, towns and smaller cities rely on only one hub, meaning that they could lose touch completely if that hub were wiped out. In many larger cities, phone traffic is funneled into very concentrated routes in and out of town. And yet, as of Sept. 11, an industry-led federal committee that addresses phone reliability hadn't discussed terrorism contingency plans in at least a year and a half. 'Everything on the Table' "This is now a whole new layer of preparedness that our industry and our country needs to be thinking about," says Ivan Seidenberg, Verizon's president and co-chief executive. "Whether we need antiaircraft missiles on the tops of buildings, I don't think so," he adds. "But I'm willing to put everything on the table." Already, changes are being made. The federal government has asked the nation's wireless carriers to assign priority to government agencies and emergency personnel in the event of another disaster. On Sept. 11, many rescue workers couldn't get calls through. AT&T Wireless Services Inc., which ran many of its switches through West Street, will now spread them throughout the city. Verizon is adding more backup capacity and alternate routes and has asked regulators to raise wholesale rates in New York to cover the expense. Many businesses are taking the matter into their own hands. Merrill Lynch & Co. is conducting a global review of its communications providers to ensure the brokerage firm has multiple sources in each location. Phones in the firm's New York headquarters across from the Trade Center went out on Sept. 11, even though it split its local and long-distance service between Verizon and AT&T Corp., which lost a major switching hub in the Trade Center. The firm is even using a set of lasers to beam data across the Hudson River between locations in New York and New Jersey. At the New York office of headhunting firm Spencer Stuart, where employees are still working from cellphones, officials are ordering different lines from different carriers that reach their office by different routes and hubs. "It's just something that wasn't worth the cost before the unthinkable happened," says Rick Abel, chief technology officer of the Chicago-based firm. E Commerce Group Inc., which had more than 40 high- speed data lines disabled on West Street, is building a new facility in Charlotte, N.C., so the New York-based company can have "geographic diversity" to spread out its risk beyond backup offices it already maintains in New Jersey. By nearly all accounts, New York City's phone network - - - and the people who run it -- performed well under incredible stress. By the Friday after the attack, Verizon had moved the equivalent of 2.1 million voice and data lines around Lower Manhattan. Stringing fiber- optics through open trenches and windows, the company was able to restore the New York Stock Exchange less than a week after the assault. Verizon workers wearing respirators had to climb 23 flights of stairs in the dark to lug down servers to run the exchange's price- quotation system. It was an impressive performance compared with what was once considered the nation's worst telecommunications disaster, a relatively limited fire inside a Chicago switching station on Mother's Day in 1988 that closed O'Hare Airport and wiped out service for 38,000 local customers for as long as a month. Since then, the industry has used technology and better planning to create far more reliable networks, focusing on adding backup circuits to fiber lines that seemed vulnerable to an errant backhoe or natural disaster. Most networks can now respond within milliseconds if a particular link is broken, rerouting traffic through hundreds of alternate links. Vulnerable 'Nodes' What the World Trade Center attack showed, however, is the vulnerability of the final, local link to phones and computers through the nation's telecom hubs, or "nodes," which act as collecting points for traffic. More than one month after the attacks, thousands of residents and businesses are without basic phone service. "The weak point is the local exchange carrier," says Todd Tanner, president of the Tanner Group, a Salt Lake City firm that helps clients such as the Department of Defense and Walt Disney Co. build toll-free call centers. "If you knocked out the central office in downtown Salt Lake City, you'd not only take out the local office, but the switch that connects all the long-distance carriers to the people in Utah." The New York City telecom system is itself a relic of historical quirks, with different systems built on top of one another, forming a kind of technology sediment. Manhole access to the telecom network is still managed entirely by the Empire City Subway Co., a subsidiary of Verizon that dates back to 1890. While maintaining hundreds of separate routes around the city, many competitors' lines still travel over the same paths laid down more than 100 years ago. Under the Sept. 11 wreckage, Verizon officials uncovered defunct wooden cable sheaths dated 1926. Foolproofing the physical infrastructure against future terrorist attacks could require hundreds of billions of dollars of new investment. Some say it makes sense to spread out the nation's most densely concentrated hubs. Others look to switching methods used by the Internet, which was designed to withstand nuclear attacks, as a model. But finding any consensus about what to do will be difficult. Verizon's Mr. Seidenberg says the terrorist attacks prove that only the biggest phone companies are up to the task of securing the nation's phone system, and says current regulations discourage the development of true, alternate networks. He defends Verizon's performance, pointing out that the company has 70 hubs in New York City and four besides West Street in the financial district, which allowed the company to restore service to the New York Stock Exchange and crucial parts of the financial system in a matter of days. He remains concerned about security, though, and is now making plans to tighten it around the company's hubs. Among other things, Verizon is making plans to require background checks on employees of competitors who use Verizon's facilities. Aid From Competitors Others say the extensive damage to Verizon's hub demonstrated that it is dangerous to rely on one company. They point out that only with the help of smaller competitors did parts of New York get their dial tones back. "We have buildings that would have been waiting for Verizon to get the service up if there were not alternatives," says Agostino Cangemi, the New York City commissioner in charge of telecom franchising. Allegiance Telecom Inc. of Dallas provided service to some city agencies disconnected, while Time Warner Telecom Inc. is now operating thousands of lines through fiber it activated after the attack. Such activities aside, Sept. 11 hammered home the fact that local phone business has essentially remained a monopoly. Dozens of long-distance networks crisscross the nation, but there is only one dominant local carrier in each city, leading to concentration in hubs such as West Street. Even competing telecom companies that build their own infrastructure mostly rely on connections provided by the regional phone companies in the same central offices. In a study for Amtrak by the Tanner Group, less than 10% of competitive local carriers were found to have facilities truly separate from the local Bell companies. When it was built in 1926, 140 West St. sat in near- isolation among the markets, bars and luncheonettes along the Hudson River. Considered the first truly Art Deco skyscraper, the building is far more glamorous than most central offices that form the architecture of the phone system because it once served as headquarters for the New York Telephone Co. The French architect Le Corbusier so admired the 486-foot-tall building that he featured it in his famous work, "Toward a New Architecture." At the time of its construction, phone companies were already replacing telephone operators with banks of electromechanical switches. Originally developed by a frustrated mortician whose calls were being diverted to a competitor by the rival's phone-operator wife, the switches of the time used motor-driven magnets traveling on thin vertical bars to connect the calls. A full panel office would cover about 6,000 square feet, and serve 10,000 lines. Advances in electronics led to the development of mega- hubs such as West Street. By Sept. 11, racks of gently humming electronics were serving 4.5 million data circuits, along with 300,000 phone lines. Such concentration occurred across the nation: Between 1990 and 1999, the number of local Bell central offices inched up less than 1% to 9,968, while the number of phone lines increased 34%, according to the Federal Communications Commission. Mr. Famulare and Verizon officials knew the concentration of West Street well. After crawling out of the building through a tunnel left by a chair when the first tower collapsed, Mr. Famulare came back twice to try and turn off all essential power to conserve energy. On his way back a third time, giant steel girders from the collapse of 7 World Trade Center, a 47-story building adjacent to the towers, crashed through the third-floor walls, falling all the way to the second level of the hub's basement. Water from broken lines in the street and from fire hoses poured into the building, making it impossible to operate the generators and batteries that were supposed to run the equipment in the event of a power failure. When the power ran out, the calls stopped getting through. By the next morning, "water was rushing down the stairs," recalls Paul Lacouture, head of Verizon's network. "It was like it was raining inside the building in a dust storm." The damage was so great that Verizon has had to rebuild much of the subterranean network connecting southern Manhattan by rerouting lines through other hubs. Where its manholes weren't buried under the remains of the World Trade Center, workers used special industrial vacuum cleaners to suck out debris. The rerouting meant that thousands of data paths had to be redrawn, a task complicated by the fact that many large operations, such as major brokerages and the Big Board, have custom setups that had to be redone virtually from scratch. The tentacles of West Street reached across the city. Nearly five weeks after the attack, municipal-bond brokerage Lebenthal & Co. is still without 210 of its 225 phone lines, which were hooked into the West Street switching station two blocks from its office at 120 Broadway. "This is a phone business," says President Alexandra Lebenthal. "I don't know how many of our clients are frustrated because they can't get in touch with us." For now, the company is coping with a makeshift messaging system: All calls are now forwarded to a remote answering service, where operators send employees e-mails with the details of the call. Once a Lebenthal employee receives the e-mail, he then rings the caller back on a cellular phone. "Because we've been sending so many e-mails back and forth, once a week, that whole system crashes," adds Ms. Lebenthal. To compound matters, the building's cellular reception is poor, which has forced employees to cluster around the office windows, often leaning against the wall to help find a stronger cellular signal. Even businesses far away from the damage were affected. Officials at the Limited Inc. were shocked to discover that the main circuit that delivered service to an office on 42nd Street came out of West Street. The phones at E Commerce Group, directly across from the Trade Center, somehow kept working because officials had ordered some copper links that had curiously been routed through a hub on 37th Street. Delicate Balance The damage to the West Street hub showed the delicate balance of the current system, in which changes in one location have unforeseen impacts on another. As large companies fled to new quarters around the city and nearby suburbs, the normal patterns of phone traffic in the New York area were disrupted, leading to congestion that left some callers hearing fast busy signals and recordings. After Lehman Brothers Inc. took over a Sheraton hotel in Midtown, its bankers quickly discovered that the phone system, engineered for tourist traffic, could only handle about 75 outgoing calls at a time. Verizon still has 16,000 lines out of service, many of them in Chinatown, because the district's phone lines passed right under the Trade Center, where they remain buried and waterlogged. At Mott and Worth Streets, Verizon has opened gaping holes in the street, where crews working around the clock are installing the plastic sheaths that will soon house the new phone lines. Instead of opening just the tops of manholes, the company has dug what look like foxholes more than 10 feet long so it can fit more workers in at one time. Back at West Street, Mr. Famulare is still working nearly constantly. A 60-foot plywood wall blocks off access to the rear of the building, where gigantic cranes are still excavating the remains of 7 World Trade Center and trying not to, in their jargon, "rub" West Street. Much of the building is now back in service, and Mr. Famulare speaks with evident pride as he looks at his old "tank" being restored to service. "We have resurrected it," he says. _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 19 Oct 2001 19:19:41 -0400 From: gerg@panix.com (Greg Andrews) Subject: Re: Mobile Helped Convict Murderer gmhall@apk.net writes: >On 17 Oct 2001 09:27:32 -0400, in comp.dcom.telecom, you (Monty Solomon >) wrote: > >>Mobile Helped Convict Murderer >> >>By Elisa Batista >>2:00 a.m. Oct. 17, 2001 PDT >> >>A Palo Alto, California, man has been convicted of murdering his >>wife, partly based on testimony from his cell phone service provider. >> >>... >> >>In the murder trial, which took place in Santa Clara County >>(California) Superior Court, a Verizon Wireless engineer testified >>for the prosecution that it was "impossible" for Fitzhugh to have >>been far away from home -- the murder scene -- at around the time his >>wife was killed. The engineer made the assessment based on the >>location of Fitzhugh's cell phone. >> > >Did they listen in on his calls? If not, how do they *know* he was near >his cell phone? How do they know someone else didn't use his cell phone? > Perhaps because Fitzhugh himself testified that he was the one who made that call. -Greg - -- +++++ Greg Andrews +++ gerg@panix.com +++++ I have a map of the United States that's actual size -- Steven Wright - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 19 Oct 2001 23:39:27 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Terror attack highlights problem in telecom sector's monopoly legacy Terror attack highlights problem in telecom sector's monopoly legacy Nation's networks may be too concentrated By Shawn Young and Dennis K. Berman THE WALL STREET JOURNAL NEW YORK, Oct. 19 - George Famulare, a 28-year veteran of New York's local phone company, was doing his expenses in one of the world's largest communications hubs on the morning of Sept. 11 when he heard a loud thud. ... The events of Sept. 11 would quickly prove otherwise. By the end of the day, Verizon's hub sustained the worst damage ever to the nation's communications network. Getting calls going again has proved to be the most significant challenge Verizon, the largest local phone company, has ever faced, and it is prompting a rethinking of the security of America's highly concentrated telecommunications systems in an age of terrorism. ... http://www.msnbc.com/news/644931.asp - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 20 Oct 2001 00:55:57 -0400 From: "hogpilot" Subject: Re: COs as vulnerable points of concentration Another very vulnerable building to this type of attack is the "Telecom Hotel" on Wilshire in Los Angeles. That building is a nightmare to work in even without an attack and if there ever should be one a good part of SoCal will be crippled. "Marcus Jervis" wrote in message news:F206FgnjXXBARdkfwuc0000ca0e@hotmail.com... > October 19, 2001 > Trade Center Attack Highlights Problem > In Telecom Sector's Legacy of Monopoly > > By SHAWN YOUNG and DENNIS K. BERMAN > Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL > > NEW YORK -- George Famulare, a 28-year veteran of New > York's local phone company, was doing his expenses in > one of the world's largest communications hubs on the > morning of Sept. 11 when he heard a loud thud. > > Initially, he was infuriated, thinking a renovator's > scaffold had fallen off the landmark 1926 building at > 140 West St., just feet away from the World Trade > Center. Its 32 floors house the humming gray equipment > boxes that carry nearly 30% of Lower Manhattan's phone > and data traffic, capacity equal to that of Cincinnati. > > Mr. Famulare, in charge of Verizon Communications > Inc.'s buildings south of Midtown, saw people running > away but implored employees to stay put. "We're safer > in the building. The building is a tank." > > > The events of Sept. 11 would quickly prove otherwise. > By the end of the day, Verizon's hub sustained the > worst damage ever to the nation's communications > network. Getting calls going again has proved to be the > most significant challenge Verizon, the largest local > phone company, has ever faced, and it is prompting a > rethinking of the security of America's highly > concentrated telecommunications systems in an age of > terrorism. > > The disaster also has sparked a new round of debate > about telecom deregulation itself. Verizon executives > have loudly criticized the rules that require them to > rent parts of their networks -- and space in their > central offices -- to competitors. They argue that the > arrangement has discouraged rivals from building > alternative networks by making it too cheap and easy to > piggyback on the regional giants. > > But competitors draw the opposite lesson, saying the > catastrophe points to the danger of having one company > in control of so much. "Verizon is the incumbent, and > the wiring has been in the ground for forever and a > day. They have not built a redundant network," says Tom > Jones, director of Spectrotel Inc., a competing carrier > based in New Jersey. > > All across the country, towns and smaller cities rely > on only one hub, meaning that they could lose touch > completely if that hub were wiped out. In many larger > cities, phone traffic is funneled into very > concentrated routes in and out of town. And yet, as of > Sept. 11, an industry-led federal committee that > addresses phone reliability hadn't discussed terrorism > contingency plans in at least a year and a half. > > > 'Everything on the Table' > > "This is now a whole new layer of preparedness that our > industry and our country needs to be thinking about," > says Ivan Seidenberg, Verizon's president and co-chief > executive. "Whether we need antiaircraft missiles on > the tops of buildings, I don't think so," he adds. "But > I'm willing to put everything on the table." > > Already, changes are being made. The federal government > has asked the nation's wireless carriers to assign > priority to government agencies and emergency personnel > in the event of another disaster. On Sept. 11, many > rescue workers couldn't get calls through. AT&T > Wireless Services Inc., which ran many of its switches > through West Street, will now spread them throughout > the city. Verizon is adding more backup capacity and > alternate routes and has asked regulators to raise > wholesale rates in New York to cover the expense. > > Many businesses are taking the matter into their own > hands. Merrill Lynch & Co. is conducting a global > review of its communications providers to ensure the > brokerage firm has multiple sources in each location. > Phones in the firm's New York headquarters across from > the Trade Center went out on Sept. 11, even though it > split its local and long-distance service between > Verizon and AT&T Corp., which lost a major switching > hub in the Trade Center. The firm is even using a set > of lasers to beam data across the Hudson River between > locations in New York and New Jersey. > > At the New York office of headhunting firm Spencer > Stuart, where employees are still working from > cellphones, officials are ordering different lines from > different carriers that reach their office by different > routes and hubs. "It's just something that wasn't worth > the cost before the unthinkable happened," says Rick > Abel, chief technology officer of the Chicago-based > firm. > > E Commerce Group Inc., which had more than 40 high- > speed data lines disabled on West Street, is building a > new facility in Charlotte, N.C., so the New York-based > company can have "geographic diversity" to spread out > its risk beyond backup offices it already maintains in > New Jersey. > > > By nearly all accounts, New York City's phone network - > - and the people who run it -- performed well under > incredible stress. By the Friday after the attack, > Verizon had moved the equivalent of 2.1 million voice > and data lines around Lower Manhattan. Stringing fiber- > optics through open trenches and windows, the company > was able to restore the New York Stock Exchange less > than a week after the assault. Verizon workers wearing > respirators had to climb 23 flights of stairs in the > dark to lug down servers to run the exchange's price- > quotation system. > > It was an impressive performance compared with what was > once considered the nation's worst telecommunications > disaster, a relatively limited fire inside a Chicago > switching station on Mother's Day in 1988 that closed > O'Hare Airport and wiped out service for 38,000 local > customers for as long as a month. Since then, the > industry has used technology and better planning to > create far more reliable networks, focusing on adding > backup circuits to fiber lines that seemed vulnerable > to an errant backhoe or natural disaster. Most networks > can now respond within milliseconds if a particular > link is broken, rerouting traffic through hundreds of > alternate links. > > > Vulnerable 'Nodes' > > What the World Trade Center attack showed, however, is > the vulnerability of the final, local link to phones > and computers through the nation's telecom hubs, or > "nodes," which act as collecting points for traffic. > More than one month after the attacks, thousands of > residents and businesses are without basic phone > service. > > "The weak point is the local exchange carrier," says > Todd Tanner, president of the Tanner Group, a Salt Lake > City firm that helps clients such as the Department of > Defense and Walt Disney Co. build toll-free call > centers. "If you knocked out the central office in > downtown Salt Lake City, you'd not only take out the > local office, but the switch that connects all the > long-distance carriers to the people in Utah." > > The New York City telecom system is itself a relic of > historical quirks, with different systems built on top > of one another, forming a kind of technology sediment. > Manhole access to the telecom network is still managed > entirely by the Empire City Subway Co., a subsidiary of > Verizon that dates back to 1890. While maintaining > hundreds of separate routes around the city, many > competitors' lines still travel over the same paths > laid down more than 100 years ago. Under the Sept. 11 > wreckage, Verizon officials uncovered defunct wooden > cable sheaths dated 1926. > > Foolproofing the physical infrastructure against future > terrorist attacks could require hundreds of billions of > dollars of new investment. Some say it makes sense to > spread out the nation's most densely concentrated hubs. > Others look to switching methods used by the Internet, > which was designed to withstand nuclear attacks, as a > model. > > But finding any consensus about what to do will be > difficult. Verizon's Mr. Seidenberg says the terrorist > attacks prove that only the biggest phone companies are > up to the task of securing the nation's phone system, > and says current regulations discourage the development > of true, alternate networks. He defends Verizon's > performance, pointing out that the company has 70 hubs > in New York City and four besides West Street in the > financial district, which allowed the company to > restore service to the New York Stock Exchange and > crucial parts of the financial system in a matter of > days. He remains concerned about security, though, and > is now making plans to tighten it around the company's > hubs. Among other things, Verizon is making plans to > require background checks on employees of competitors > who use Verizon's facilities. > > > Aid From Competitors > Others say the extensive damage to Verizon's hub > demonstrated that it is dangerous to rely on one > company. They point out that only with the help of > smaller competitors did parts of New York get their > dial tones back. > > "We have buildings that would have been waiting for > Verizon to get the service up if there were not > alternatives," says Agostino Cangemi, the New York City > commissioner in charge of telecom franchising. > Allegiance Telecom Inc. of Dallas provided service to > some city agencies disconnected, while Time Warner > Telecom Inc. is now operating thousands of lines > through fiber it activated after the attack. > > Such activities aside, Sept. 11 hammered home the fact > that local phone business has essentially remained a > monopoly. Dozens of long-distance networks crisscross > the nation, but there is only one dominant local > carrier in each city, leading to concentration in hubs > such as West Street. Even competing telecom companies > that build their own infrastructure mostly rely on > connections provided by the regional phone companies in > the same central offices. In a study for Amtrak by the > Tanner Group, less than 10% of competitive local > carriers were found to have facilities truly separate > from the local Bell companies. > > > When it was built in 1926, 140 West St. sat in near- > isolation among the markets, bars and luncheonettes > along the Hudson River. Considered the first truly Art > Deco skyscraper, the building is far more glamorous > than most central offices that form the architecture of > the phone system because it once served as headquarters > for the New York Telephone Co. The French architect Le > Corbusier so admired the 486-foot-tall building that he > featured it in his famous work, "Toward a New > Architecture." > > At the time of its construction, phone companies were > already replacing telephone operators with banks of > electromechanical switches. Originally developed by a > frustrated mortician whose calls were being diverted to > a competitor by the rival's phone-operator wife, the > switches of the time used motor-driven magnets > traveling on thin vertical bars to connect the calls. A > full panel office would cover about 6,000 square feet, > and serve 10,000 lines. > > Advances in electronics led to the development of mega- > hubs such as West Street. By Sept. 11, racks of gently > humming electronics were serving 4.5 million data > circuits, along with 300,000 phone lines. Such > concentration occurred across the nation: Between 1990 > and 1999, the number of local Bell central offices > inched up less than 1% to 9,968, while the number of > phone lines increased 34%, according to the Federal > Communications Commission. > > Mr. Famulare and Verizon officials knew the > concentration of West Street well. After crawling out > of the building through a tunnel left by a chair when > the first tower collapsed, Mr. Famulare came back twice > to try and turn off all essential power to conserve > energy. On his way back a third time, giant steel > girders from the collapse of 7 World Trade Center, a > 47-story building adjacent to the towers, crashed > through the third-floor walls, falling all the way to > the second level of the hub's basement. Water from > broken lines in the street and from fire hoses poured > into the building, making it impossible to operate the > generators and batteries that were supposed to run the > equipment in the event of a power failure. > > > When the power ran out, the calls stopped getting > through. By the next morning, "water was rushing down > the stairs," recalls Paul Lacouture, head of Verizon's > network. "It was like it was raining inside the > building in a dust storm." > > The damage was so great that Verizon has had to rebuild > much of the subterranean network connecting southern > Manhattan by rerouting lines through other hubs. Where > its manholes weren't buried under the remains of the > World Trade Center, workers used special industrial > vacuum cleaners to suck out debris. The rerouting meant > that thousands of data paths had to be redrawn, a task > complicated by the fact that many large operations, > such as major brokerages and the Big Board, have custom > setups that had to be redone virtually from scratch. > > The tentacles of West Street reached across the city. > Nearly five weeks after the attack, municipal-bond > brokerage Lebenthal & Co. is still without 210 of its > 225 phone lines, which were hooked into the West Street > switching station two blocks from its office at 120 > Broadway. "This is a phone business," says President > Alexandra Lebenthal. "I don't know how many of our > clients are frustrated because they can't get in touch > with us." > > For now, the company is coping with a makeshift > messaging system: All calls are now forwarded to a > remote answering service, where operators send > employees e-mails with the details of the call. Once a > Lebenthal employee receives the e-mail, he then rings > the caller back on a cellular phone. "Because we've > been sending so many e-mails back and forth, once a > week, that whole system crashes," adds Ms. Lebenthal. > To compound matters, the building's cellular reception > is poor, which has forced employees to cluster around > the office windows, often leaning against the wall to > help find a stronger cellular signal. > > Even businesses far away from the damage were affected. > Officials at the Limited Inc. were shocked to discover > that the main circuit that delivered service to an > office on 42nd Street came out of West Street. The > phones at E Commerce Group, directly across from the > Trade Center, somehow kept working because officials > had ordered some copper links that had curiously been > routed through a hub on 37th Street. > > > Delicate Balance > > The damage to the West Street hub showed the delicate > balance of the current system, in which changes in one > location have unforeseen impacts on another. As large > companies fled to new quarters around the city and > nearby suburbs, the normal patterns of phone traffic in > the New York area were disrupted, leading to congestion > that left some callers hearing fast busy signals and > recordings. After Lehman Brothers Inc. took over a > Sheraton hotel in Midtown, its bankers quickly > discovered that the phone system, engineered for > tourist traffic, could only handle about 75 outgoing > calls at a time. > > Verizon still has 16,000 lines out of service, many of > them in Chinatown, because the district's phone lines > passed right under the Trade Center, where they remain > buried and waterlogged. At Mott and Worth Streets, > Verizon has opened gaping holes in the street, where > crews working around the clock are installing the > plastic sheaths that will soon house the new phone > lines. Instead of opening just the tops of manholes, > the company has dug what look like foxholes more than > 10 feet long so it can fit more workers in at one time. > > Back at West Street, Mr. Famulare is still working > nearly constantly. A 60-foot plywood wall blocks off > access to the rear of the building, where gigantic > cranes are still excavating the remains of 7 World > Trade Center and trying not to, in their jargon, "rub" > West Street. Much of the building is now back in > service, and Mr. Famulare speaks with evident pride as > he looks at his old "tank" being restored to service. > "We have resurrected it," he says. > > > _________________________________________________________________ > Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp > -- > The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail > messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 20 Oct 2001 02:33:16 -0400 From: "H. Peter Anvin" Subject: Re: When Land Lines Will Be a Memory Followup to: By author: Monty Solomon In newsgroup: comp.dcom.telecom > > When Land Lines Will Be a Memory > By Elisa Batista > > 2:00 a.m. Oct. 15, 2001 PDT > > Americans are snapping up cell phones in record numbers. > > But are cell phones becoming their only phones? > > That depends on who is asked. > > http://www.wired.com/news/wireless/0,1382,47348,00.html > Land lines are certainly not going to stick around for voice. Data, on the other hand... -hpa - -- at work, in private! "Unix gives you enough rope to shoot yourself in the foot." http://www.zytor.com/~hpa/puzzle.txt - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ End of Telecom Digest V2001 #268 ******************************** - To leave this list, send a message containing "unsubscribe" to telecom-digest-request@telecom-digest.org. Date: 21 Oct 2001 06:15:18 -0400 From: owner-telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org (Telecom Digest) To: telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org Subject: Telecom Digest V2001 #269 Telecom Digest Sunday, October 21 2001 Volume 2001 : Number 269 In this issue: Verizon denying text messaging part of AmericaChoice Re: Telecom Digest V2001 #268 Re: Telecom Digest V2001 #268 - Replying to acticles Re: Stale forwarding records with MCI, no support How is Pat doing and what is the status of the list? Re: Mobile Helped Convict Murderer ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 20 Oct 2001 09:15:47 -0400 From: laird@gunsmoke.ecn.purdue.edu (Kyler Laird) Subject: Verizon denying text messaging part of AmericaChoice I've had GTE MobilNet/Verizon service since 1991. With the current set of phones, I got the AmericaChoice 650 plan for ~$90/month. I've had those phones since 1999. The AmericaChoice plan is longer offered, but I've kept it because it offered unlimited text messaging. (I get e-mail notification on my phone.) I recently learned that I've been paying all this extra money to stay on a rate plan that really doesn't offer text messaging. They decided that text messaging has just been available on that plan during a two year "introductory offer". Now they're eliminating it. Because I switched to this plan shortly after we purchased the phones, I handled it all over the phone and do not have a written contract. I think I'll give up on Verizon (on all of my mobile and home phones), but I'd feel better having written proof of their dishonesty. Anyone have an AmericaChoice contract around? Thank you. - --kyler - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 20 Oct 2001 09:58:03 -0400 From: "Brian Vita" Subject: Re: Telecom Digest V2001 #268 > > Date: 20 Oct 2001 00:55:57 -0400 > From: "hogpilot" > Subject: Re: COs as vulnerable points of concentration > > Another very vulnerable building to this type of attack is the "Telecom > Hotel" on Wilshire in Los Angeles. That building is a nightmare to work in > even without an attack and if there ever should be one a good part of SoCal > will be crippled. > "Marcus Jervis" wrote in message > news:F206FgnjXXBARdkfwuc0000ca0e@hotmail.com... Are there any stories about this facility on the web? Brian T. Vita, President Cinema Service & Supply, Inc. 75 Walnut St. Peabody, MA 01960-5626 +1-978-538-7575/Fax +1-978-538-7550 - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 20 Oct 2001 10:00:27 -0400 From: "Brian Vita" Subject: Re: Telecom Digest V2001 #268 - Replying to acticles A general note - It would be helpful to those of us who still ocassionally have to logon through a dialup if, when replying to an article, the sender trim off all but the essential information being commented on. The last digest, referenced above, had 3 complete copies of a WSJ article in it. This wastes time and bandwith. Please just trim what you are responding to. Thanks Brian T. Vita, President Cinema Service & Supply, Inc. 75 Walnut St. Peabody, MA 01960-5626 +1-978-538-7575/Fax +1-978-538-7550 - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 20 Oct 2001 15:04:07 -0400 From: rbf@rbfnet.com (Brett Frankenberger) Subject: Re: Stale forwarding records with MCI, no support In article , Terry Kennedy wrote: > > You can't port a number from New York City (Manhattan) to New York City >(Queens), either, even though it is the *same* rate center and *same* LATA. >Feh. "Local Number Portability" refers to being able to port numbers between carriers, not between locations. Maybe they should also allow you to keep the same number when you move from, say, Manhatten to Queens, but that's an issue completley separate from what is traditionally known as "Local Number Portability". -- Brett - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 20 Oct 2001 18:41:34 -0400 From: "Jim Willis" Subject: How is Pat doing and what is the status of the list? Hi Pat how are you doing, are you feeling better ? what is the status of the list? regards... Jim Willis - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 21 Oct 2001 00:16:57 -0400 From: t11@syntelsoft.com (JDS) Subject: Re: Mobile Helped Convict Murderer > >>A Palo Alto, California, man has been convicted of murdering his > >>wife, partly based on testimony from his cell phone service provider. > >Did they listen in on his calls? If not, how do they *know* he was near > >his cell phone? How do they know someone else didn't use his cell phone? > Perhaps because Fitzhugh himself testified that he was the one who > made that call. Correct. "[DA] Fletcher also poked holes into Fitzhugh's alibi that he was in South San Francisco during the time the murder was committed. Witnesses from a cellular telephone company testified that calls Fitzhugh received that afternoon went through an antenna on University Avenue in Palo Alto, meaning Fitzhugh had to be in the local area." Palo Alto Weekly, August 2, 2001 - -- Jonathan who lives two blocks from University Avenue in Palo Alto - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ End of Telecom Digest V2001 #269 ******************************** - To leave this list, send a message containing "unsubscribe" to telecom-digest-request@telecom-digest.org. Date: 22 Oct 2001 06:15:12 -0400 From: owner-telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org (Telecom Digest) To: telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org Subject: Telecom Digest V2001 #270 Telecom Digest Monday, October 22 2001 Volume 2001 : Number 270 In this issue: Re: COs as vulnerable points of concentration Re: COs as vulnerable points of concentration Re: cable modems Re: Sprint labeling Israel Palestine on billings? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 21 Oct 2001 08:45:57 -0400 From: "Michael A. Desmon" Subject: Re: COs as vulnerable points of concentration > > > > Date: 20 Oct 2001 00:55:57 -0400 > > From: "hogpilot" > > Subject: Re: COs as vulnerable points of concentration > > > > Another very vulnerable building to this type of attack is the "Telecom > > Hotel" on Wilshire in Los Angeles. That building is a nightmare to work in > > even without an attack and if there ever should be one a good part of > SoCal > > will be crippled. > > "Marcus Jervis" wrote in message > > news:F206FgnjXXBARdkfwuc0000ca0e@hotmail.com... > > Date: 20 Oct 2001 09:58:03 -0400 > From: "Brian Vita" > Subject: Re: Telecom Digest V2001 #268 > > > Are there any stories about this facility on the web? > > Brian T. Vita, President > Cinema Service & Supply, Inc. > 75 Walnut St. > Peabody, MA 01960-5626 > +1-978-538-7575/Fax +1-978-538-7550 > - -- > http://www.laweekly.com/ink/99/42/cyber-hartz.shtml - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 21 Oct 2001 18:57:03 -0400 From: oldbear@arctos.com (The Old Bear) Subject: Re: COs as vulnerable points of concentration "Michael A. Desmon" writes: > > From: "Michael A. Desmon" > Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom > Subject: Re: COs as vulnerable points of concentration > Date: 21 Oct 2001 08:45:57 -0400 > Organization: Clearpath Communications > Lines: 31 > > Brian Vita wrote: > > > > Date: 20 Oct 2001 09:58:03 -0400 > > From: "Brian Vita" > > Subject: Re: Telecom Digest V2001 #268 > > > > "hogpilot" wrote: > > > > > > Date: 20 Oct 2001 00:55:57 -0400 > > > From: "hogpilot" > > > Subject: Re: COs as vulnerable points of concentration > > > > > > Another very vulnerable building to this type of attack is the "Telecom > > > Hotel" on Wilshire in Los Angeles. That building is a nightmare to > > > work in even without an attack and if there ever should be one a good > > > part of SoCal will be crippled. > > > > Are there any stories about this facility on the web? > > > > Brian T. Vita, President > > Cinema Service & Supply, Inc. > > 75 Walnut St. > > Peabody, MA 01960-5626 > > +1-978-538-7575/Fax +1-978-538-7550 > >http://www.laweekly.com/ink/99/42/cyber-hartz.shtml > A somewhat related L.A. Times story from last July 5, 2001: | Telecom Slump Has Offices Full of Dead Air | ------------------------------------------ | Real estate: About half the space converted nationwide for switching | stations and data centers is said to be vacant. | | By | Jesus Sanchez, | Times Staff Writer | | It was only a year ago that the owners of many empty and run-down | downtown buildings across the country were leasing and selling space at | top dollar to rapidly expanding telecommunication firms. | | But the hard times that have hit telecommunication businesses have | caught many landlords with too much supply and little if any demand. | | Nearly half of the 46 million square feet of buildings converted for | use as high-tech switching stations and data centers are vacant, according | to a nationwide survey by the real estate firm Grubb & Ellis Co. | Once-sky-high rents are falling fast as operators of fiber-optic networks | and related companies react to a steep drop in demand and many teeter on | the edge of failure. | | "We just built too much supply," said Mike Gerard, national director | of Grubb & Ellis' telecom group. "It is just as bad in New York and | Chicago as it is in L.A. and San Jose." | | Demand for space, which ballooned overnight after the deregulation of | the telecom industry in 1996, is expected to eventually pick up again. | But few expect a return to the red-hot pace of years past. | | Downtown and central Los Angeles, where more than 2 million square | feet of space was converted for telecom tenants in just a few years, has | fared better than most other markets. But the dynamics have changed as | requests for space have plunged from more than a million square feet to | less than 100,000 in the last nine months, forcing some landlords to | search for alternative uses for nearly vacant buildings. About 35% of | the telecom space is empty, according to some estimates. | | "The market just disappeared," said broker Mark O'Brien at CB Richard | Ellis Services Inc. | | Though many downtown Los Angeles telecom properties are fully leased | at lofty rents, numerous projects that are still in their early phases of | leasing or in the planning stages are stuck in limbo: | | * The former University Club building in the heart of downtown | remains an empty, six-story shell despite its prime location | near the crossroads of the city's major fiber-optic transmission | lines. | | * A 350,000-square-foot warehouse south of downtown Los Angeles | was sold last fall to a New York group that immediately began | looking for telecom tenants. So far, no major leases have been | signed, according to brokers familiar with the property. | | * In the mid-Wilshire area, Fowler Flanagan Technology Partners | is looking beyond telecom tenants to fill the 22-story Wilshire | Technology Center. Despite upgrading electrical systems and | making other improvements, the partnership has leased only four | floors of the former insurance company office building, said | the building's leasing director, John C. Anthony of Charles | Dunn & Co. | | "We are looking at residential or standard office [uses] to | keep the income up until the telecom market comes back," he | said. | | There really wasn't much of a telecom real estate market until the | telecom industry was deregulated and Internet use began to surge. The | conditions proved to be an unexpected blessing for the owners of buildings | located near major fiber-optic transmission lines. | | Telephone companies, new fiber-optic carriers and upstart telecom and | Internet firms entered a mad rush to set up switching stations and related | operations as close as possible to the lines for the best connections. The | favored locations were in downtowns where hubs of national and international | transmission lines made for quick links between carriers. | | As a result, what were once considered run-down properties -- ranging | from century-old office buildings to failed shopping malls -- were | transformed into choice pieces of "new-economy" real estate. | | "It was going to be the savior of every vacant building in every | downtown in America," said Paul Brindley, senior director in the Los | Angeles office of Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, a commercial real estate loan | broker. "Everybody was building these things to accommodate future | growth." | | In downtown Los Angeles, long-vacant office buildings near the One | Wilshire building -- a longtime hub for transmission lines -- were leased | at rates that easily topped those of prominent skyscrapers. | | "They didn't care about the rent," O'Brien said of the telecom | tenants. Historic landmarks, such as the former Robinsons-May department | store on 7th Street and the Terminal Annex postal facility near Chinatown, | also "went telecom," as real estate brokers say. The flood of conversions | was so great that city leaders proposed an ordinance limiting the practice | for fear the new facilities -- often staffed by skeleton crews -- would | undermine efforts to attract new restaurants and retailers. | | "They were here and now they're gone," Central City Assn. President | Carol Schatz said. "The regulation is not necessary at this point." | | The dot-com bust, a slowing national economy and overly optimistic | industry growth estimates have forced many telecom tenants to put expansion | plans on hold. Last month, for example, Broomfield, Colo.-based Level 3 | Communications Inc. said it will eliminate about 1,400 jobs as revenue | falls below forecasts. | | Level 3, which amassed about 6 million square feet of space for its | data centers in three years, now will focus more on services that | distinguish it from rivals than on real estate, said company executive | Alex Cioth. | | "We are taking a more prudent approach in terms of where we acquire | space and how we acquire space," Cioth said. | | Though the long-term prospects for telecom service firms are bright, | the surviving companies are expected to adopt a more conservative approach | to real estate when the economy rebounds. The need to expand will be | tempered by a growing willingness to share facilities and the ongoing | miniaturization of equipment, which will require less space. Also, the | expansion of fiber-optic lines into suburban areas might mean less demand | for downtown locations. | | "Everyone just overestimated what the demand would be," said Gerard of | Grubb & Ellis. But "over the long term this is a growing market. It's not | going away." | | -- 0 -- - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 21 Oct 2001 21:57:59 -0400 From: "Robert Eden" Subject: Re: cable modems "John Schwartz" wrote in message news:5.1.0.14.2.20011015092157.032f5d80@postoffice.att.net... > On the subject of cable modems, I do not recommend purchasing one at this > time. Currently available modems are built according to the DOCSIS 1.0 > standard, which soon will be followed by DOCSIS 1.1, and, later, > others. It's better to have the cable company bear the technology risk and > expense of owning the modem. That depends... in my area if you use your own modem for 12 months, it pays for itself. After that it's gravy. Technology changes, but not so fast you'll lose backward compatability before you come out ahead. YMMV Anyhing special in 1.1? Is it compatabile with 1.0? Robert - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 21 Oct 2001 22:38:13 -0400 From: jbond@eskimo.com (Jeremy Bond Shepherd) Subject: Re: Sprint labeling Israel Palestine on billings? In message , Wes Leatherock wrote: > > 50 cents in the case of Sprint, without a plan. It's been a long time since they had occasion to bill me, but you have to be PIC'd to something, even if you always dial around with 1010XXX. Not in Pacbell territory. I'm PIC'd to nothing and use 101xxxx for all interLATA calls. Dialling 1 + from my phone gets a recording always. This saves me a buck or two per month in IEC fees, and I never need worry about minimum monthly charges from an IEC . - - Jeremy - -- Jeremy Bond Shepherd | "If I'm going to keep on visiting you, San Francisco, CA | I'll have to send you some good sherry." Internet: jbond@eskimo.com | -Lord Henry Wotton, in Oscar Wilde's Phone 415-929-0297 | THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ End of Telecom Digest V2001 #270 ******************************** - To leave this list, send a message containing "unsubscribe" to telecom-digest-request@telecom-digest.org. Date: 23 Oct 2001 06:15:12 -0400 From: owner-telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org (Telecom Digest) To: telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org Subject: Telecom Digest V2001 #271 Telecom Digest Tuesday, October 23 2001 Volume 2001 : Number 271 In this issue: Telecom Update (Canada) #305, October 22, 2001 REVIEW: "Dictionary of Internetworking Terms and Acronyms", Cisco Systems Toll-Free fraud - New? Re: Toll-Free fraud - New? Re: Toll-Free fraud - New? NY Times: 10D in 2002 or 2003 in NYC? "Exploding Manholes the Norm in Washington" Re: Toll-Free fraud - New? Re: "Exploding Manholes the Norm in Washington" going from 7D to 10D (was 10D in 2002 or 2003 in NYC?) Re: going from 7D to 10D (was 10D in 2002 or 2003 in NYC?) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 22 Oct 2001 10:19:49 -0400 From: Angus TeleManagement Subject: Telecom Update (Canada) #305, October 22, 2001 ************************************************************ TELECOM UPDATE ************************************************************ published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group http://www.angustel.ca Number 305: October 22, 2001 Publication of Telecom Update is made possible by generous financial support from: ** AT&T CANADA http://www.attcanada.com ** BELL CANADA http://www.bell.ca ** GROUP TELECOM http://www.gt.ca ** LUCENT TECHNOLOGIES CANADA http://www.lucent.ca ** PRIMUS CANADA: http://www.primustel.ca ** Q9 NETWORKS: http://www.Q9.com ** TELUS: http://www.telus.com ** UNISPHERE NETWORKS: http://www.unispherenetworks.com ************************************************************ IN THIS ISSUE: ** Telcos to Share Wireless Digital Nets ** CRTC Looks at More Building Access Issues ** Colville's Term Extended ** BCE Shows Convergence Products ** New Montreal Area Code Delayed ** Rogers AT&T Gains 113,000 Customers ** Shaw@Home Subscriber Total Up 20% ** Telecom Industry Report Published ** Nortel Sales Fall 20% in Three Months ** Celestica Records $39 Million Loss ** Shared Technologies Expands Toronto Base ** Aliant Offers Web Applications ** Telus to Provide IT Services ** 360 Records "Negative Revenue" ** Barker to Head Intrigna ** Last Chance to Save 66% on Telemanagement ============================================================ TELCOS TO SHARE WIRELESS DIGITAL NETS: Bell Canada and Telus have signed a reciprocal roaming agreement, allowing each to offer service on the other's wireless digital networks. The companies say this will allow each to avoid more than $500 million in capital expenditures over 10 years. ** The agreement covers existing voice and data services at 1.9 GHz and 800 MHz, as well as new 3G or 1XRTT technology. CRTC LOOKS AT MORE BUILDING ACCESS ISSUES: In Public Notice 2000-124-2, the Commission requests comment on several new questions, including possible scenarios for competitive access to end-users in multi-dwelling units, and characteristics of unbundled loops in a hybrid copper/fibre environment. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Notices/2000/pt2000-124-2.htm COLVILLE'S TERM EXTENDED: In July, the federal Cabinet named David Colville Interim Chairman of the CRTC until October 10. His term has now been extended "until such time as a new Chairman is designated." BCE SHOWS CONVERGENCE PRODUCTS: On October 16, BCE unveiled a range of "convergence" products, including an Internet package for small businesses and a service that transmits customized sports news to Internet users. President Michael Sabia predicted that the new services would break even by 2003. ** Two days later, BCE-owned CTV Inc. cut 150 jobs across the country and eliminated local evening newscasts in Sault Ste. Marie, Timmins, and North Bay. NEW MONTREAL AREA CODE DELAYED: Taking into account the latest number usage forecasts, CRTC Decision 2001-648 delays the introduction of a new Area Code overlay in 514 from June 7, 2003, to February 7, 2004. ** The Commission rejected a proposal to shorten the "permissive period" during which callers who dial seven digits will hear a reminder recording. That will begin in October 2003. ROGERS AT&T GAINS 113,000 CUSTOMERS: Rogers AT&T Wireless gained 113,500 subscribers in the third quarter, compared to 110,000 the previous quarter and 66,000 the previous year. Revenue of $426 million was up 8% from last year. Net loss: $29 million. ** Rogers Communications had 422,600 high-speed Internet customers on September 30, 10.4% more than three months previously. SHAW@HOME SUBSCRIBER TOTAL UP 20%: Shaw Communications reports that the August 31 subscriber tally of its high-speed Internet service, 596,000, was 19.8% higher than three months previously. ** Shaw Communications has taken a $139 million writedown on its investment in 360networks. It recently sold its shares for $9 million. TELECOM INDUSTRY REPORT PUBLISHED: A new report from Industry Canada, Telecommunications Service in Canada: An Industry Overview 1999-2000, is now available on the Strategis website. http://www.strategis.gc.ca/SSG/sf05414e.html NORTEL SALES FALL 20% IN THREE MONTHS: Nortel Networks reports third-quarter sales of US$3.69 billion, down 20% from the previous quarter and 45% from the previous year. Divisional revenue losses ranged from 8% (wireless) to 93% (optical components). Net loss: $3.47 billion. CELESTICA RECORDS $39 MILLION LOSS: Celestica, the Toronto- based company that manufactures equipment for Lucent, Nortel, and others, reports third-quarter income of $2.2 billion, down 17% on the quarter and the year. One-time charges contributed to a $38.7 million quarterly loss. SHARED TECHNOLOGIES EXPANDS TORONTO BASE: Shared Technologies of Canada, a telecom provider to tenants of large office buildings, has bought Everest Broadband Network's clients and infrastructure in downtown Toronto. Shared Technologies, part-owned by AT&T Canada, has 500 customers in 70 buildings across Canada. ALIANT OFFERS WEB APPLICATIONS: Aliant Telecom now offers network-based e-mail and Web chat management as part of its new WebConnect portfolio of call centre services. TELUS TO PROVIDE IT SERVICES: Telus has invested US$2 million in California-based Jamcracker, and will soon provide Jamcracker's on-line data backup, Web conferencing, and other IT services to customers in Canada. 360 RECORDS "NEGATIVE REVENUE": 360networks says that renegotiation of dark fibre contracts resulted in negative revenue of $63 million during the second quarter. A $4.4 billion asset writedown contributed to a net loss of $5.1 billion. BARKER TO HEAD INTRIGNA: Cheryl Barker, interim CEO of Bell Intrigna, has been named Chair, CEO, and President on a permanent basis. Bell Canada VP Louise Villeneuve is now Intrigna's COO. LAST CHANCE TO SAVE 66% ON TELEMANAGEMENT: Telemanagement's offer of a three-issue Introductory Subscription for $75 expires October 30. That's $150 off the cover price, the biggest discount ever. ** Exclusive in every issue of Telemanagement: Lis Angus's update on telecom regulation and policy, Henry Dortmans' practical advice for telecom managers, and Ian Angus's survey of telecom events and trends. ** Subscription details at http://www.angustel.ca -- click the "Save 66%" button. ============================================================ HOW TO SUBMIT ITEMS FOR TELECOM UPDATE E-MAIL: editors@angustel.ca FAX: 905-686-2655 MAIL: TELECOM UPDATE Angus TeleManagement Group 8 Old Kingston Road Ajax, Ontario Canada L1T 2Z7 =========================================================== HOW TO SUBSCRIBE (OR UNSUBSCRIBE) TELECOM UPDATE is provided in electronic form only. There are two formats available: 1. The fully-formatted edition is posted on the World Wide Web on the first business day of the week at http://www.angustel.ca 2. The e-mail edition is distributed free of charge. To subscribe, send an e-mail message to: listmanager@subs.postmastergeneral.com Insert as the subject of your message the two words: subscribe TelecomUpdate To stop receiving the e-mail edition, send an e-mail message to: listmanager@subs.postmastergeneral.com Insert as the subject of your message the two words: unsubscribe TelecomUpdate =========================================================== COPYRIGHT AND CONDITIONS OF USE: All contents copyright 2001 Angus TeleManagement Group Inc. All rights reserved. For further information, including permission to reprint or reproduce, please e-mail rosita@angustel.ca or phone 905-686-5050 ext 500. The information and data included has been obtained from sources which we believe to be reliable, but Angus TeleManagement makes no warranties or representations whatsoever regarding accuracy, completeness, or adequacy. Opinions expressed are based on interpretation of available information, and are subject to change. If expert advice on the subject matter is required, the services of a competent professional should be obtained. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 22 Oct 2001 10:53:37 -0400 From: "Rob, grandpa of Ryan, Trevor, Devon & Hannah" Subject: REVIEW: "Dictionary of Internetworking Terms and Acronyms", Cisco Systems BKDCINTA.RVW 20010729 "Dictionary of Internetworking Terms and Acronyms", Cisco Systems, 2001, 1-58720-045-7, U$12.95/C$19.95 %A Cisco Systems, Inc. wblack@cisco.com %C 201 W. 103rd Street, Indianapolis, IN 46290 %D 2001 %G 1-58720-045-7 %I Cisco Press/Macmillan Computer Publishing (MCP) %O U$12.95/C$19.95 800-858-7674 317-581-3743 info@mcp.com %P 412 p. %T "Dictionary of Internetworking Terms and Acronyms" The first thing that strikes you is that the dictionary is very complete. It is certainly fatter than the free glossaries that vendors used to throw around as giveaways. So complete, that a lot of minor variations on a theme are included. However, while the terms encompassed in the book do cover a wide range, a number of listings are missing. As an example, "Newton's Telecom Dictionary," (cf. BKNTTLDC.RVW) has 142 records in "X," where the Cisco work has 31, and most of the Newton explanations are considerably more informative. The preponderance of the entries in this volume are acronyms. The entries are generally quite short, and frequently fail to explain the phrase or technology under consideration. Many acronyms are merely expanded, with no attempt to define the resulting expression. There does not seem to be any standard as to whether a definition, if it is provided, is given with the acronym or the expanded phrase. There are cross-references, but very few, and many of them don't work. "24th channel signalling" points to "2G mobile network," but the latter entry contains no reference at all to the former phrase. This example is far from being an isolated case. That ActiveX is said to be a "superset" of Java would come as a considerable surprise to both Microsoft and Sun, and, given the radical differences in the two systems, to anyone who has the slightest familiarity with both applet styles. The entry for cookie defines what it is, but says nothing about use or purpose. The virus definition is technically correct, but is academic and restrictive. One entry says, in its entirety, "remote alarm indication - yellow alarm." A number of listings would have benefitted from a slight review by someone more familiar with English: one tells us that satellite communication has "a cost that is not related to distance between earth stations, long bandwidth delays, or broadcast capability." Ultimately, this material is neither helpful nor reliable. There are many other, better, resources, such as Petersen (cf. BKDTTLDC.RVW), Weik (cf. BKCMSTDC.RVW), Shnier (cf. BKCMPDCT.RVW), the aforementioned Newton, Microsoft (cf. BKMSCMDC.RVW), and good old FED-STD-1037C (cf. BKGLTLTM.RVW), which can even beat it on price. copyright Robert M. Slade, 2001 BKDCINTA.RVW 20010729 ====================== (quote inserted randomly by Pegasus Mailer) rslade@vcn.bc.ca rslade@sprint.ca slade@victoria.tc.ca p1@canada.com To take a man's past and demonstrate its inherent logic is a fascinating pursuit--to prove to one's own satisfaction that the past could not have been otherwise than it was, being a necessary development from that which had gone before, this is gratifying to man, for he can thus look back upon human history and regard it as in a sense his own creation and can then praise its creator. - Norman H. Baynes `Constantine the Great and the Christian Church' http://victoria.tc.ca/techrev or http://sun.soci.niu.edu/~rslade - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 22 Oct 2001 12:05:14 -0400 From: "Joe Wineburgh" Subject: Toll-Free fraud - New? I was looking through my AT&T bill this month and found numbers in the 407-647 exchange (7 or 8 different ones) had dialed nearly every toll-free line I had! I called ATT under the guise of 'someone was attempting to hack into my system!' and here's what I learned; Apparently there are some unscrupulous people out there who set up regular pots lines with a local phone company and have them flagged as a payphone. They then have a machine demon-dial through all the toll-free numbers, and for all the calls that complete, they get a check back from each carrier to 'compensate' them for running a 'payphone'! At some point the toll-free carrier gets wise (hopefully) and not only blocks future call attempts form the originators, but withholds the surcharge rebate check. I would be interested in hearing if anyone else on the list has run into this before, and how much they stand to make before the carriers get wise and shut them down. #JOE - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 22 Oct 2001 12:21:16 -0400 From: "Jan Chowdhury" Subject: Re: Toll-Free fraud - New? Hear about this from somebody who was doing this in NYC! I haven't seen that Scumabag for while. Jan "Joe Wineburgh" wrote in message news:00ba01c15b12$b6e2f270$373364ac@JWINEBURGH... > > I was looking through my AT&T bill this month and found numbers in the > 407-647 exchange (7 or 8 different ones) had dialed nearly every > toll-free line I had! I called ATT under the guise of 'someone was > attempting to hack into my system!' and here's what I learned; > > Apparently there are some unscrupulous people out there who set up > regular pots lines with a local phone company and have them flagged as a > payphone. They then have a machine demon-dial through all the toll-free > numbers, and for all the calls that complete, they get a check back from > each carrier to 'compensate' them for running a 'payphone'! At some > point the toll-free carrier gets wise (hopefully) and not only blocks > future call attempts form the originators, but withholds the surcharge > rebate check. > > I would be interested in hearing if anyone else on the list has run into > this before, and how much they stand to make before the carriers get > wise and shut them down. > > #JOE > -- > The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail > messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 22 Oct 2001 13:29:56 -0400 From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: Toll-Free fraud - New? In article <00ba01c15b12$b6e2f270$373364ac@JWINEBURGH>, Joe Wineburgh wrote: > >I was looking through my AT&T bill this month and found numbers in the >407-647 exchange (7 or 8 different ones) had dialed nearly every >toll-free line I had! I called ATT under the guise of 'someone was >attempting to hack into my system!' and here's what I learned; > >Apparently there are some unscrupulous people out there who set up >regular pots lines with a local phone company and have them flagged as a >payphone. They then have a machine demon-dial through all the toll-free >numbers, and for all the calls that complete, they get a check back from >each carrier to 'compensate' them for running a 'payphone'! At some >point the toll-free carrier gets wise (hopefully) and not only blocks >future call attempts form the originators, but withholds the surcharge >rebate check. > >I would be interested in hearing if anyone else on the list has run into >this before, and how much they stand to make before the carriers get >wise and shut them down. I have not heard about this. But I regularly see lines getting demon-dialed by fax spammers looking for fax machines. I used to see regular scans for dialup modems by high school kids hacking, but the internet seems to have distracted most of them these days. - --scott - -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 22 Oct 2001 19:42:05 -0400 From: Rory Francisco Subject: NY Times: 10D in 2002 or 2003 in NYC? >From last Thursday's New York Times (October 18, 2001): "New York State and City officials asked yesterday for more time to introduce 10-digit telephone numbers for local calls in New York City. In a petition to the Federal Communications Commission, the officials said that because of the terrorist attack it would be difficult to meet the original timetable. Businesses would have difficulty revamping their phone equipment by the deadline, August 2002, they said, and they asked for a deadline of September 2003. The commission rule would apply to calls within the same borough and so-called overlay numbers, which have been introduced because the city is running out of numbers within its 212 and 718 area codes. "   New Yorkers have been pretty successful so far in holding up the debut of 10-digit dialing in the city---and now, it looks like they may delay 10D even further. It's somewhat absurd for seven-digit dialing to continue, though, since more and more telephone customers (especially businesses that need a whole bunch of lines, and CLEC customers) are getting 646 and 347 numbers. Making matters worse, there's a 718-347 exchange in the Bellerose section of Queens, and a 718-646 exchange in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. That means a whole lot of wrong numbers for the unfortunate Verizon customers in those exchanges (the Daily News ran a story a while back about a man whose number was 718-347-4328; over several months, he claimed to have received thousands of calls for Sprint PCS users whose numbers were in the 347-432-8xxx block---people in 718 trying to reach them forgot to dial the leading "1".) That brings up an interesting point: Once (and if) 10D becomes mandatory in NYC, will "straight" 10D dialing be permissible, or will it be 1+10D? Currently, all calls from one city area code to another have to be dialed with 1+10D. The prefix/NPA duplications in 718 (and perhaps in other NYC NPA's, as well) would pose some problems for a permissive period, though. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 22 Oct 2001 20:23:23 -0400 From: The Old Bear Subject: "Exploding Manholes the Norm in Washington" From: The Net Economy Subject: Network Services -- Exploding Manholes the Norm in Washington Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2001 16:49:23 -0400 (EDT) ********************************************************************** DATA PACKET: Vol. 2, No. 116 / October 22, 2001 NETWORK SERVICES FROM PAUL COE CLARK III An e-mail newsletter of The Net Economy www.theneteconomy.com ====================================================================== Exploding Manholes the Norm in Washington By Paul Coe Clark III mailto:paul_clark@ziffdavis.com In a time of terror attacks, real and imagined, it's somehow reassuring to find that systems can go down for mundane reasons. Case in point: At 9 a.m. today, 189 buildings in the business and government district of Washington went dark. The culprit: Osama? Anthrax in the power lines? No, exploding manholes. One of the charming features of life in our nation's capital is that, at any time, 300-pound manhole covers can leap 60 feet into the air without warning, to the sound of a huge explosion. It's sort of Washington's 21-gun salute to its residents. I'm not making this up, I swear. The flying-manhole-cover trend took off months ago in trendy Georgetown, where they'll do anything to get attention. A series of explosions took out power, broke water mains and left covers spinning through the air like badly aimed Frisbees. No problem, the rest of us thought. If the upper crust in Georgetown want to play explosive Ultimate Frisbee with manhole covers, let 'em. It's a free country. District officials couldn't quite explain the underground explosions. Sewer gas hitting electrical equipment? Secret experiments by grad students in the famous Exploding Utilities Department at Georgetown University? No one quite knew. Today's explosions, however, were at 17th and M streets, in workaday Washington. They caused a fire that prompted Pepco, the local power company, to shut off power to 189 buildings, bringing business and government to a halt. Since most of those buildings had PBXs, that meant that phone service rapidly died, once meager "uninterruptable" power supplies ran down. For an hour or so, of course, everyone ran around in circles trying to figure out if the outage was part of a sneak attack by a squad of Taliban electricians. No dice, apparently. Just another manhole-cover-dodging day by the Potomac. Between the anthrax scare and the flying manhole lids, Washington pretty much ground to a halt. After several hours of darkness, I gave up and bugged out, retreating to my apartment. The lesson in all this for me? Always keep an old-style, analog phone line, even in an office. And don't stop your car on top of a manhole cover. Almost unnoticed in all this hoo-haw, the Federal Communications Commission, beating an Oct. 19 deadline, petitioned the Supreme Court to take the NextWave spectrum-license case. In that case, you'll recall, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said the commission did not have the authority to yank failed NextWave's licenses, despite the fact that a huge chunk of spectrum was tied up, unused. The FCC wants the court to reconsider. Weird news of the day: Osama bin Laden is not putting porn on the Web. After the Sept. 11 attacks, some of the more hysterical voices claimed that bin Laden was using steganography (hiding messages, in this case by embedding them in JPG or other picture files) to distribute message to his supporters through online porn or other pictures. Not so, according to Reuters, which reported that the University of Michigan's Center for Information Technology Integration scrutinized more than 2 million images on popular Web sites. Apparently, your online pictures are safe. Stay safe. And avoid those manhole covers. =============================================================== eNewsletter Information =============================================================== This is teh NETWORK SERVICES newsletter from PAUL COE CLARK III Apply for a free subscription: http://www.theneteconomy.com - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 22 Oct 2001 20:58:20 -0400 From: stevenl11@aol.com (Steven Lichter) Subject: Re: Toll-Free fraud - New? << I was looking through my AT&T bill this month and found numbers in the 407-647 exchange (7 or 8 different ones) had dialed nearly every toll-free line I had! I called ATT under the guise of 'someone was attempting to hack into my system!' and here's what I learned; >> When I had an 800 number into my computer for accessing my computer when I traveled; later I set just for the states I traveled to, and finally blocked any payphone calls, I would get about 20 or so a month, mostly from the same area and New York mainly. GTE/Verizon tiik the charges off since all the calls were under 1 minute and they were aware of the problem. No longer have the 800 number since my computer is direct connected now with a very good fireware, besides it is a Macintosh and most hackers can't figure these machines out. Apple Elite II 909-359-5338. Home of GBBS/LLUCE, support for the Apple II 24 hours 2400/14.4. An OggNet Server. The only good spammer is a dead one, have you hunted one down today? (c) http://members.ebay.aol.com/aboutme/appleii-guy/ - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 22 Oct 2001 22:43:57 -0400 From: hudsonl@skypoint.com (Hudson Leighton) Subject: Re: "Exploding Manholes the Norm in Washington" In article <3.0.5.32.20011022202301.00f55c80@arctos.com>, The Old Bear wrote: > > Exploding Manholes the Norm in Washington > > By > Paul Coe Clark III > mailto:paul_clark@ziffdavis.com > > In a time of terror attacks, real and imagined, it's somehow > reassuring to find that systems can go down for mundane > reasons. > > Case in point: At 9 a.m. today, 189 buildings in the > business and government district of Washington went dark. > The culprit: Osama? Anthrax in the power lines? No, > exploding manholes. > > One of the charming features of life in our nation's capital > is that, at any time, 300-pound manhole covers can leap 60 > feet into the air without warning, to the sound of a huge > explosion. It's sort of Washington's 21-gun salute to its > residents. > > I'm not making this up, I swear. The flying-manhole-cover > trend took off months ago in trendy Georgetown, where > they'll do anything to get attention. A series of > explosions took out power, broke water mains and left covers > spinning through the air like badly aimed Frisbees. No > problem, the rest of us thought. If the upper crust in > Georgetown want to play explosive Ultimate Frisbee with > manhole covers, let 'em. It's a free country. We get this problem in the summer with heavy heavy thunder/rain storms the storm sewers get overloaded and manholes start popping. One of the "Storms of the Century" a few years ago had some good sized water spouts (Old Faithfull) that lasted for about 30 minutes coming out of manholes. - -- http://www.skypoint.com/~hudsonl - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 22 Oct 2001 23:20:26 -0400 From: dattier@yahoo.com (David W. Tamkin) Subject: going from 7D to 10D (was 10D in 2002 or 2003 in NYC?) Rory Francisco wrote in : | That brings up an interesting point: Once (and if) 10D becomes mandatory in | NYC, will "straight" 10D dialing be permissible, or will it be 1+10D? | Currently, all calls from one city area code to another have to be dialed | with 1+10D. The prefix/NPA duplications in 718 (and perhaps in other NYC | NPA's, as well) would pose some problems for a permissive period, though. Metropolitan Chicago is loaded with such dialing conflicts; we aren't even going to attempt 10D here. When overlays come in, all intra-LATA calls will be 1+10D (or 101xxxx1+10D for dial-arounds). Perhaps a few years after 7D has gone away 10D can be allowed; for that matter, though, since we have never had toll-alerting here, we might be allowed to use 10D to the whole NANP as we were before N1X and N0X CO codes were introduced here in 1982. New York is going to have a lot of fun if they're going to allow 10D before 7D is ancient history, much less during a permissive period of trying to ac- cept both. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 23 Oct 2001 01:56:39 -0400 From: johnl@iecc.com (John R Levine) Subject: Re: going from 7D to 10D (was 10D in 2002 or 2003 in NYC?) >New York is going to have a lot of fun if they're going to allow 10D before >7D is ancient history, much less during a permissive period of trying to ac- >cept both. New York City already has permissive 1+10D, so I expect they'll have a period of mandatory 1+10D, followed by optional 10D once all the COs have turned off 7D for a while. - -- John R. Levine, IECC, POB 727, Trumansburg NY 14886 +1 607 387 6869 johnl@iecc.com, Village Trustee and Sewer Commissioner, http://iecc.com/johnl, Member, Provisional board, Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ End of Telecom Digest V2001 #271 ******************************** - To leave this list, send a message containing "unsubscribe" to telecom-digest-request@telecom-digest.org. Date: 24 Oct 2001 06:15:11 -0400 From: owner-telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org (Telecom Digest) To: telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org Subject: Telecom Digest V2001 #272 Telecom Digest Wednesday, October 24 2001 Volume 2001 : Number 272 In this issue: RCN ISDN Re: WANic on Linux Anyone know what happened to VL Laboratories? Re: RCN ISDN Telecoms slump hits results at big telecoms firms Long-Distance Competition Saps AT&T AT&T Wireless Earns $77 Million [none] ICB Toll Free News Re: going from 7D to 10D (was 10D in 2002 or 2003 in NYC?) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 23 Oct 2001 08:54:23 -0400 From: "John R. Covert Spam Sink" Subject: RCN ISDN Grrrr. In December 1998 I transferred a LEC (Bell Atlantic) ISDN line to one of the local CLECs (RCN) in response to a mailing from them telling me I could get the same service for 5% less. For almost three years, RCN has been reselling service to me out of Verizon's switch. But the bills have never been completely correct, and I have had a monthly struggle with the billing office to correct the various errors. The basic problem is that the residential billing system cannot handle the fact that an ISDN line has two SPIDs, so as soon as I get the bill corrected, an audit runs and says "Dear Mr. Covert, we have discovered that we are only billing you for one local line when our records show that there are two." Or one FCC charge. Or one number portability charge. And so on. Yesterday I received a letter telling me that RCN only offers ISDN as a commercial service, and that in 30 days I will be converted to commercial service. Since I basically use the line to nail up two PPP connections over analog modems, the main difference between residential service is the loss of flat rate. At 1.6 cents a minute, my bill, which is currently $56, will increase by at least $1380 per month. Verizon tells me that they cannot take the line back unless I first disconnect the ISDN service. They claim this is an FCC regulation. The Massachusetts DPU supports both carriers in these decisions. I am basically royally screwed over. It takes longer than 30 days for Verizon to install new ISDN service. And at this point I only have three weeks left. Grrrrrrr. /john - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 23 Oct 2001 13:18:22 -0400 From: "Erwin Lubbers" Subject: Re: WANic on Linux Hi, Or does anyone know we can use a Windows 2000 Advanced Server (or NT 4) box for it? Regards, Erwin "Erwin Lubbers" wrote in message news:9qnja2$o3h$1@chloor.box.nl... > Hi, > > Has someone experience with the SBS WANic 1050-E3 under Linux? Can we use it > to connect a Linux based router to a Cisco 6400 ATM interface using a 75 Ohm > BNC connector, which is using routed IP? > > Regards, > Erwin > -- > The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail > messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 23 Oct 2001 17:42:06 -0400 From: michael@kpmcornerstone.com (Michael Chapman) Subject: Anyone know what happened to VL Laboratories? I have one of their test units, the Brick 410B, and need to contact them for some software questions. I have tried all their numbers and their website, but the website appears to be restricted and the phone number is some sort of modem line now. Anyone? Help? - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 23 Oct 2001 23:41:06 -0400 From: "Brian Wohlgemuth" Subject: Re: RCN ISDN 30 Days? I just had three different ISDN circuits installed with two weeks in Mass. Sounds a bit high to me... B "John R. Covert Spam Sink" wrote in message news:f05100301b7fb15c557cb@[192.168.0.3]... > Grrrr. > > In December 1998 I transferred a LEC (Bell Atlantic) ISDN line to > one of the local CLECs (RCN) in response to a mailing from them > telling me I could get the same service for 5% less. > > For almost three years, RCN has been reselling service to me out > of Verizon's switch. But the bills have never been completely > correct, and I have had a monthly struggle with the billing office > to correct the various errors. The basic problem is that the > residential billing system cannot handle the fact that an ISDN > line has two SPIDs, so as soon as I get the bill corrected, an > audit runs and says "Dear Mr. Covert, we have discovered that we > are only billing you for one local line when our records show that > there are two." Or one FCC charge. Or one number portability > charge. And so on. > > Yesterday I received a letter telling me that RCN only offers ISDN > as a commercial service, and that in 30 days I will be converted to > commercial service. Since I basically use the line to nail up two > PPP connections over analog modems, the main difference between > residential service is the loss of flat rate. At 1.6 cents a > minute, my bill, which is currently $56, will increase by at least > $1380 per month. > > Verizon tells me that they cannot take the line back unless I first > disconnect the ISDN service. They claim this is an FCC regulation. > The Massachusetts DPU supports both carriers in these decisions. I > am basically royally screwed over. It takes longer than 30 days for > Verizon to install new ISDN service. And at this point I only have > three weeks left. Grrrrrrr. > > /john > -- > The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail > messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 23 Oct 2001 23:47:47 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Telecoms slump hits results at big telecoms firms Telecoms slump hits results at big telecoms firms NEW YORK, Oct 23 (Reuters) - The telecommunications slump hit AT&T Corp. (NYSE:T) and its offspring hard on Tuesday, driving quarterly profits lower at the top U.S. long distance carrier and leading to big losses at Lucent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:LU) and Agere Systems Inc. (NYSE:AGR.A) The losses come as the telecommunications industry is struggling with a bruising worldwide slump that has led to massive losses, write-offs and tens of thousands of job cuts. AT&T, the No. 1 U.S. long distance and cable television company, posted a sharp drop in third quarter profits from continuing operations, and warned the soft economy and stiff competition will hurt results in core telephone operations through 2002. ... http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=25176975 - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 23 Oct 2001 23:50:23 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Long-Distance Competition Saps AT&T Long-Distance Competition Saps AT&T By JIM KRANE AP Technology Writer NEW YORK (AP) - A gigantic gain from the spinoff of AT&T's wireless division masked a poor quarter for the telecommunications giant, which saw long distance revenues succumb to a moribund economy and competition between carriers. The results still came in line with Wall Street's expectations. For the three months ended Sept. 30, AT&T earned $11.30 billion, or $3.13 per share - a gain completely due to the company's $13.5 billion after-tax gain from its spin off of AT&T Wireless in July. ... http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=25177568 - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 23 Oct 2001 23:53:53 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: AT&T Wireless Earns $77 Million http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=25177436 AT&T Wireless Earns $77 Million REDMOND, Wash. (AP) - AT&T Wireless, in its first quarter since splitting off from AT&T Corp., saw a slight profit and beat Wall Street's expectations. The cellular phone service provider said Tuesday that for the quarter ended Sept. 30, it had net income of $77 million, or 3 cents a share, compared with a loss of $21 million, or 1 cent a share, in the year-ago period. The year-ago figure included a hefty $42 million dividend to AT&T shareholders. Without the dividend, the company had income of $21 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial/First Call were predicting a loss of 2 cents a share for the quarter. Revenue rose 25 percent to $3.5 billion, from $2.8 billion in the same period last year. Separately, the company announced Tuesday that it was abandoning its digital broadband service, which provided high-speed Internet and telephone links to homes and businesses, saying it didn't expect it to be profitable. The company expects to take a pretax charge of $1.3 billion in the fourth quarter to cover the costs of exiting that business. AT&T Wireless, the nation's largest wireless provider with more than 17.1 million subscribers, was spun off from AT&T Corp. in July. AT&T Corp. is expected to report earnings later Tuesday. Shares in AT&T Wireless rose $1.26, or nearly 10 percent, to close at $14.20 in trading Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 23 Oct 2001 23:57:07 -0400 From: johnl@iecc.com Subject: [none] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Oct 2001 23:09:43 -0400 From: "Judith Oppenheimer" Subject: ICB Toll Free News ____________________________________________________ http://ICBTollFreeNews.Com HEADS UP HEADLINES ____________________________________________________ from ICB Toll Free News - Daily News and Intelligence covering the Political, Legal and Marketing Arenas of 800, ENUM and Dot Com. ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ CONTENTS FOR THE PERIOD ENDING OCTOBER 23, 2001 - - WE CAN TAKE DOWN THE NETWORK - - LATEST ENUM RFC FROM POWERS THAT BE - - TM VICTORY RETURNS TO HAUNT 1-800-MATTRESS /=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= advertisement =-=-=-\ Who's representing your numbering interests in ENUM? *** http://ENUMSurvival.com *** \=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=/ - - TEN VOIP'S SIGN UP FOR ENUM - - VERISIGN REGISTRY ANGLING FOR PRICE INCREASE - - 1 800 QUICKIES ____________________________________________________ ARTICLE ACCESS CODE LEGEND ICB Toll Free News offers two valuable service options: F = Free - News and Features articles P = Premium - Unlimited Site Access including all Articles and Documents. 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CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=5478 P - TM VICTORY RETURNS TO HAUNT 1-800-MATTRESS The appeals court's February ruling specifically rejected the USPTO's argument that the mnemonic was generic, and said instead that "1-888-M-A-T-R-E-S-S" was a unique "phrase" that should be taken as a whole. 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Choose from multiple programs - Rates as low as 2.9¢ per minute, with no monthly minimums or hidden service charges! http://www.roibot.com/w.cgi?R1764_CogWSemail \=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=/ P - TEN VOIP'S SIGN UP FOR ENUM VOIPs' customers will be the E.164 number subscribers while the VOIP's maintain registrant status in the ENUM whois. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=5474 F - VERISIGN REGISTRY ANGLING FOR PRICE INCREASE The easiest way for VGRS to grow their business is to increase their revenue. The easiest way for them to do this, as a monopoly, is to increase their price. The easiest way for them to do this is to pull the trigger on the "policy = price increase" clause in their registry contract with ICANN. If ICANN says jump as a result of a policy decision, VGRS can quite rightly say "for how much?". CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=5472 P - 1 800 QUICKIES SNAC, numbering changes, and Telcordia hits the road ... CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=5471 ___________________________________________________ EVERY 3.6 SECONDS SOMEONE DIES FROM HUNGER http://www.hungersite.com/ ___________________________________________________ ABOUT ICB ICB HeadsUp Headlines is sent by request. Subscriptions to ICB HeadsUp Headlines are free to qualified applicants. Visit http://www.roibot.com/w.cgi?R1764_ICBsignup to sign up. To unsubscribe mailto:editor@icbtollfree.com, subject: unsubscribe. (Unsubs are processed manually, approximately bi-weekly.) ___________________________________________________ ADVERTISING For information on advertising in ICB HeadsUp Headlines, contact Vincent Lemma at Lake Interactive. Telephone: 914-925-2406 Email: http://www.roibot.com/w.cgi?R1764_LakIntEm ____________________________________________________ Only subscribers or registered users of ICB Toll Free News web site will be able to access all or some of the full text of URLs provided. ____________________________________________________ Copyright © 2001 ICB, Inc. All rights reserved. ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ------------------------------ Date: 24 Oct 2001 01:56:16 -0400 From: "Jay R. Ashworth" Subject: Re: going from 7D to 10D (was 10D in 2002 or 2003 in NYC?) C.J. stepped down from the podium, whereupon John R Levine said: > >New York is going to have a lot of fun if they're going to allow 10D before > >7D is ancient history, much less during a permissive period of trying to ac- > >cept both. > > New York City already has permissive 1+10D, so I expect they'll have a > period of mandatory 1+10D, followed by optional 10D once all the COs > have turned off 7D for a while. And Tampa/St Pete has *already* screwed this up: we have *permanent* 10D EAS... and we have 727-813 and 813-727. If I ever find the network engineer who set that up, I'm going to tie him down to the railing of the Howard Frankland Bridge and wait for a drunk to crash into him. Cheers, - -- jra - -- Jay R. Ashworth jra@baylink.com Member of the Technical Staff Baylink The Suncoast Freenet The Things I Think Tampa Bay, Florida http://baylink.pitas.com +1 727 804 5015 Fanfic: it's enough to make you loose your mind. -- me - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ End of Telecom Digest V2001 #272 ******************************** - To leave this list, send a message containing "unsubscribe" to telecom-digest-request@telecom-digest.org. Date: 25 Oct 2001 06:15:10 -0400 From: owner-telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org (Telecom Digest) To: telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org Subject: Telecom Digest V2001 #273 Telecom Digest Thursday, October 25 2001 Volume 2001 : Number 273 In this issue: Emerging telecom technologies Caller ID with partner ACS problems Re: "Exploding Manholes the Norm in Washington" Re: Caller ID with partner ACS problems Cutting through hype, spin, and propaganda - "Fact Squad Radio" Need help with Comverse DTMF callflows Re: RCN ISDN Loop Length Re: Loop Length Re: Emerging telecom technologies seeking interactive map software Re: seeking interactive map software Re: Loop Length ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 24 Oct 2001 09:08:24 -0400 From: shail_v@yahoo.com (Shail) Subject: Emerging telecom technologies Hi All! I want to know about emerging technologies in telecom area. What are the new fields in telecom where one can proceed? thanx & regds- shail - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 24 Oct 2001 09:23:17 -0400 From: donlev_2000@yahoo.com (Nate Slate) Subject: Caller ID with partner ACS problems I am working on a partner ACS Rev. 3.0, Line 1 definately has caller id on it. I can hook up a standard caller id box up to it and get the caller id information. The acs never shows the caller ID info Except when I have my test set (Butt set) on the line monitoring it. When I am monitoring the line with my test set it comes through every time on the partner 18 button display phone. As soon as I take the test set off the caller id info does not show up any more. We have replaced the the processor with a new unit and it still does not work. We brought the old processor back to the shop and hooked up to our lines and it works every time. We have put on a loop current attenuator to bring the loop current down to 25 mA and that still did not fix it. We did get it to work a few times by using resistors on the line, but no more than 2 or 3 times out of 10. I have called Lucent support but they have not been any help. We cannot figure out what the test set could be doing to the line to allow the acs to see the caller id info. By the way It was working at this location for quite a while, then a few days ago southwestern bell was working on one of their other lines and after that it stopped working. Bell has been out there after this problem was reported and they say it is working as it should. thanks for looking at this post, if anybody has any ideas let me know - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 24 Oct 2001 11:36:23 -0400 From: (Wm. Randolph Franklin) Subject: Re: "Exploding Manholes the Norm in Washington" The DC manhole covers explode because the electrical cables are obsolete and overloaded, and then catch fire. It doesn't take much extra gas in a manhole to cause enough overpressure to lift even a 300 lb cover. This got so bad last year that Pepco is finally systematically upgrading Georgetown's utilities. BTW, 60 feet into the air is a considerable exaggeration. DC is continually a source of offbeat stories for the amusement of non-DCers. Here's a sample from the last 2 years. - - When Arlington VA and DC firemen were fighting the Pentagon fire together, the Arlington firemen accused the DC firemen of stealing their expensive hi-tech IR imaging gear. It was apparently resolved by the Arlington chief telling the DC chief that no charges would be filed if the stuff was returned immediately. Note that the DC firemen deny this story, and attribute its spread to prejudice. - - The city agency handling towed cars wanted to sell an impound lot. So, they untowed the cars back onto neighborhood streets w/o telling anyone. - - At least one DC policeman was in league with a private towing company to tow cars and then lose the paperwork so that the owners couldn't find their cars until sufficient storage fees had accumulated that the owners couldn't pay and lost their cars in a few cases. (These were poor people who couldn't interest a lawyer in their case.) - - A businessman had his briefcase stolen from his locked car and then dumped in an alley. He was given a many hundred dollar fine for littering in spite of having a police report of the theft and in spite of going to court to try to stop this nonsense. - - When the Metro received a report of a fire in a tunnel, they used a train with 200 passengers to investigate. The smoke panicked some passengers so they pulled the emergency stop and it was 2 hours before the passengers were rescued. The fire department heard about the problem from passengers calling them from cellphones. When the firemen arrived, they had to use human runners to get messages from the underground platform up to ground level since, unlike the cellphones, their radios didn't work. No one died, but 200 might have. - - On Sept 11, the DC emergency system collapsed. Different government agencies heard about each other's actions from the TV. The city had to use email (!) to communicate with itself. At least someone was smart enough to try that. - ---- (Wm. Randolph Franklin) - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 24 Oct 2001 14:11:33 -0400 From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: Caller ID with partner ACS problems Nate Slate wrote: >I am working on a partner ACS Rev. 3.0, Line 1 definately has caller >id on it. I can hook up a standard caller id box up to it and get the >caller id information. > >The acs never shows the caller ID info Except when I have my test set >(Butt set) on the line monitoring it. When I am monitoring the line >with my test set it comes through every time on the partner 18 button >display phone. As soon as I take the test set off the caller id info >does not show up any more. I assume this is with the butt-set in high-Z mode? >We have put on a loop current attenuator to bring the loop current >down to 25 mA and that still did not fix it. We did get it to work a >few times by using resistors on the line, but no more than 2 or 3 >times out of 10. What kind of resistors? What is the resistance you measure across your butt set? >I have called Lucent support but they have not been any help. We >cannot figure out what the test set could be doing to the line to >allow the acs to see the caller id info. It's adding both resistance and capacitance across the line, but it should not be enough to make any big difference. >By the way It was working at this location for quite a while, then a >few days ago southwestern bell was working on one of their other lines >and after that it stopped working. Bell has been out there after this >problem was reported and they say it is working as it should. So, the ACS card can't read it, but the generic caller ID box can? That would lead me to suspect something gone wrong with the card... - --scott - -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 24 Oct 2001 14:18:14 -0400 From: Lauren Weinstein Subject: Cutting through hype, spin, and propaganda - "Fact Squad Radio" [ There will be a significant range of TELECOM-related topics in these features, so it seems appropriate to mention in this venue... ] Announcing "Fact Squad Radio" October 21, 2001 http://www.factsquad.org/radio PFIR - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org [ To subscribe or unsubscribe to/from this list, please send the command "subscribe" or "unsubscribe" respectively (without the quotes) in the body of an e-mail to "pfir-request@pfir.org". ] Greetings. The main purpose of People For Internet Responsibility's recently-announced "Fact Squad" effort is to cut through hype, spin, misinformation, and propaganda regarding technological issues and their effects upon society. In furtherance of this goal, we're pleased to announce the launching of the "Fact Squad Radio" service. Fact Squad Radio is providing very short (one minute), tightly-focused audio features, each concentrating on a single relevant topic of importance. These vignettes are aimed at explaining the issues briefly in a non-technical manner suitable for general audiences. Topics to be covered will include both matters of long-standing importance and crucial issues of the moment. We encourage linking and redistribution of these features, and they are freely distributable without any further permission being needed for non-broadcast, non-commercial usage. Requests for other kinds of usage will be considered on a case-by-case basis. We'll be ramping up towards a five per week, M-F schedule. All segments are in the standard MP3 format. The debut Fact Squad Radio feature concerns a topic of some significant interest right now -- National ID Cards. Fact Squad Radio is at: http://www.factsquad.org/radio Thanks very much! - --Lauren-- Lauren Weinstein lauren@pfir.org or lauren@vortex.com or lauren@privacyforum.org Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 Co-Founder, PFIR - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org Co-Founder, Fact Squad - http://www.factsquad.org Moderator, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 24 Oct 2001 16:36:03 -0400 From: therealmaryforrest@hotmail.com (Mary Forrest) Subject: Need help with Comverse DTMF callflows Can anyone provide me with the DTMF callflows for a Comverse voicemail system or point me in the direction of a working system I can call into and track through this manually? I'm working to build some system add-ons to the Comverse voice mail product and need specs to work from. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 24 Oct 2001 16:57:21 -0400 From: pw@panix.com (Paul Wallich) Subject: Re: RCN ISDN In article , "Brian Wohlgemuth" wrote: >30 Days? I just had three different ISDN circuits installed with two weeks >in Mass. Sounds a bit high to me... Things are different in other parts of verizonland. Last fall I had a truly remarkable week and change trying to get service restored on an ISDN line in NYC (they'd neglected to send out bills and made their warning calls to the nailed-up SPIDs...). Even though all that had to be done was to change one line in a database, Verizon quoted times ranging from a week to more than a month to turn the line back on including two visits from an installer (all the while I was listening to sync pulses ticking away uselessly). The residential business office had apparently never heard of residential ISDN and initially insisted that I would have to get the existing (and in operation) ISDN line card removed from the line, wait for an analog line to be installed, and only then submit a request to have the analog line switched over to ISDN. So the story below doesn't really surprise me at all. paul > >"John R. Covert Spam Sink" wrote in message >news:f05100301b7fb15c557cb@[192.168.0.3]... >> Grrrr. >> >> In December 1998 I transferred a LEC (Bell Atlantic) ISDN line to >> one of the local CLECs (RCN) in response to a mailing from them >> telling me I could get the same service for 5% less. >> >> For almost three years, RCN has been reselling service to me out >> of Verizon's switch. But the bills have never been completely >> correct, and I have had a monthly struggle with the billing office >> to correct the various errors. The basic problem is that the >> residential billing system cannot handle the fact that an ISDN >> line has two SPIDs, so as soon as I get the bill corrected, an >> audit runs and says "Dear Mr. Covert, we have discovered that we >> are only billing you for one local line when our records show that >> there are two." Or one FCC charge. Or one number portability >> charge. And so on. >> >> Yesterday I received a letter telling me that RCN only offers ISDN >> as a commercial service, and that in 30 days I will be converted to >> commercial service. Since I basically use the line to nail up two >> PPP connections over analog modems, the main difference between >> residential service is the loss of flat rate. At 1.6 cents a >> minute, my bill, which is currently $56, will increase by at least >> $1380 per month. >> >> Verizon tells me that they cannot take the line back unless I first >> disconnect the ISDN service. They claim this is an FCC regulation. >> The Massachusetts DPU supports both carriers in these decisions. I >> am basically royally screwed over. It takes longer than 30 days for >> Verizon to install new ISDN service. And at this point I only have >> three weeks left. Grrrrrrr. >> >> /john >> -- >> The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail >> messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. >-- >The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail >messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 24 Oct 2001 17:18:41 -0400 From: Fred Atkinson Subject: Loop Length In my area, the local telephone company does not provide DSL. Additionally, the cable company does not provide cable modem. I want to start approaching other Internet companies about getting a line in my neighborhood. Obviously, I want to negotiate the best deal. I have asked the local telephone company to tell me with the distance is between the C. O. and my residence (cable length distance). They routinely give this information to their DSL companies but say that if DSL is not in your area, that the information is 'proprietary'. I had to submit a complaint to the local regulatory agency to get that far. Previously, they didn't want to discuss it. Twice I was told by a supervisor that they'd get that information for me and call me back with it. They never did. I need feedback here. Can anyone advise? I have trouble believing that information that is readily available to one customer is 'proprietary' to another. Fred Atkinson - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 24 Oct 2001 19:50:57 -0400 From: "Steve Fleckenstein" Subject: Re: Loop Length There is a lookup feature at the DSLreports.com website for looking up that type of info. Not alway accurate but a place to start. - -- --------------------------------------------------------------------- This message may be used for commericial purposes ONLY if a $50 or more donation is made to the Minisink Valley High School Band, P.O. Box 217, Route 6, Slate Hill, NY 10973 http://www.minisink.com "Fred Atkinson" wrote in message news:200110242117.QAA08767@celadon.propagation.net... | In my area, the local telephone company does not provide DSL. | Additionally, the cable company does not provide cable modem. | | I want to start approaching other Internet companies about getting | a line in my neighborhood. Obviously, I want to negotiate the best | deal. | | I have asked the local telephone company to tell me with the distance | is between the C. O. and my residence (cable length distance). They | routinely give this information to their DSL companies but say that | if DSL is not in your area, that the information is 'proprietary'. | | I had to submit a complaint to the local regulatory agency to get | that far. Previously, they didn't want to discuss it. Twice I was | told by a supervisor that they'd get that information for me and call | me back with it. They never did. | | I need feedback here. Can anyone advise? | | I have trouble believing that information that is readily available | to one customer is 'proprietary' to another. | | | | | Fred Atkinson | -- | The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail | messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 24 Oct 2001 19:58:11 -0400 From: "hogpilot" Subject: Re: Emerging telecom technologies Learn all that you can about DWDM ( Dense Wave Division Multiplexing), Sycamore , OPTera, and others. Many will tout VOIP, however ,I have yet see anyone make a go of it bedause of the nature of ATM/Frame Traffic and dropped cells. "Shail" wrote in message news:6f74ae19.0110232030.7ece7cc@posting.google.com... > Hi All! > I want to know about emerging technologies in telecom area. > What are the new fields in telecom where one can proceed? > thanx & regds- > shail > -- > The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail > messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 24 Oct 2001 20:10:19 -0400 From: bill@Hawaii.Edu (William J King) Subject: seeking interactive map software anyone know who makes software to develop a map of your network on screen. one with lines between routers to show the status by changing color. William J. King Networking/Telecommunications University of Hawaii--Manoa 2565 The Mall, Keller 202A Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands, 96822 808 956 2403 (voice) 808 956 2412 ( fax ) bill@hawaii.edu ( e-mail ) Actually: 21 degrees 17 minutes 56.2653 seconds North 157 degrees 48 minutes 57.8565 seconds West - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 24 Oct 2001 22:37:11 -0400 From: oldbear@arctos.com (The Old Bear) Subject: Re: seeking interactive map software bill@Hawaii.Edu (William J King) writes: >From: bill@Hawaii.Edu (William J King) >Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom >Subject: seeking interactive map software >Date: 24 Oct 2001 20:10:19 -0400 >Organization: University of Hawaii >Lines: 20 > >anyone know who makes software to develop a >map of your network on screen. one with lines >between routers to show the status by changing color. > > William J. King > Networking/Telecommunications > University of Hawaii--Manoa Take a look at Ipswitch Software's "What's Up Gold" product. It is a pretty fully-featured network monitoring package that allows you to create a graphic representation of your network and have it monitor the various devices and their functions. It can even be set up to page you or send you email when something goes down. http://www.ipswitch.com/Products/WhatsUp/index.html It's inexpensive for a commercial package (about $1K) which is a mere fraction of what OpenView and other similar products cost. Download the free demo or email them for a CD-ROM demo disk. Regards, The Old Bear - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 25 Oct 2001 04:17:21 -0400 From: Terry Kennedy Subject: Re: Loop Length Fred Atkinson writes: > I have asked the local telephone company to tell me with the distance > is between the C. O. and my residence (cable length distance). They > routinely give this information to their DSL companies but say that > if DSL is not in your area, that the information is 'proprietary'. The short answer is that they don't know. The standard distance calculator (as found at DSLreports and on many DSL provider web sites) looks up the address of your serving CO (in a database called the LERG) and then uses mapping software to arrive at a guess as to the distance to your location (based on you typing in your street address). But phone lines don't take a straight path between you and the CO, so there's additional distance. That's one of the reasons that when you order DSL, you get told the bandwidth you selected might or might not be avail- able and you will get an accurate bandwidth reading once the line is in- stalled. If you post the NPA-NXX of your serving CO, any one of a number of folks will reply back with the street address and you can figure out the distance for yourself. More to the point, why do you care? Seriously, it is utterly irrelevant. If you're looking to install a point-to-point circuit using "dry pairs" (the same that DSL uses) you need to know the cabling distance from you to the other end, not the CO. And even if you are both 2 miles east of the CO, that's 4 miles of cable, since the telco won't directly connect the cables outside the CO. And if you are looking to do a hubbed DSL-like thing at the CO, you need colocation at the CO (which is likely out of your league) and you'd already know where the CO was. Terry Kennedy http://www.tmk.com terry@tmk.com New York, NY USA - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ End of Telecom Digest V2001 #273 ******************************** - To leave this list, send a message containing "unsubscribe" to telecom-digest-request@telecom-digest.org. Date: 26 Oct 2001 06:15:09 -0400 From: owner-telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org (Telecom Digest) To: telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org Subject: Telecom Digest V2001 #274 Telecom Digest Friday, October 26 2001 Volume 2001 : Number 274 In this issue: Re: Loop Length Re: Caller ID with partner ACS problems REVIEW: "Computer Telephony Encyclopedia", Richard Grigonis Re: Loop Length ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 25 Oct 2001 08:24:48 -0400 From: Fred Atkinson Subject: Re: Loop Length There were two gentlemen that responding to the question about 'loop length'. I had already tried the DSL Reports site. Due to the fact that DSL is not provisioned at our local C. O., the local company hasn't put it in their database. They confirmed with me that they put that information in that database. Thu result was (when I polled it) that it wasn't in there. As far as an approximation, I told them that would be fine. Why do I care? You yourself admitted that the length of the cable may limit the bit rate. And I need to know that when deciding which way to go with this. Also, it's good to know if the DSL company is playing games and tries to say my loop length is extremely long and theirfore they will charge more to provide the service (justified or not, sales people to jack up the price with token excuses). Fred - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 25 Oct 2001 08:38:59 -0400 From: richgr@panix.com (Rich Greenberg) Subject: Re: Caller ID with partner ACS problems In article <9r705l$mma$1@panix3.panix.com>, Scott Dorsey wrote: >Nate Slate wrote: >>I am working on a partner ACS Rev. 3.0, Line 1 definately has caller >>id on it. I can hook up a standard caller id box up to it and get the >>caller id information. [...] >>By the way It was working at this location for quite a while, then a >>few days ago southwestern bell was working on one of their other lines >>and after that it stopped working. Bell has been out there after this >>problem was reported and they say it is working as it should. Try reversing the tip & ring lines and see if that makes a difference. The sw bell "work" may have accidently swapped them. - -- Rich Greenberg Work: Rich.Greenberg atsign worldspan.com +1 770-563-6656 N6LRT Marietta, GA, USA Play: richgr atsign panix.com +1 770-321-6507 Eastern time zone. I speak for myself & my dogs only. VM'er since CP-67 Canines:Val(Chinook,CGC,TT), Red & Shasta(Husky,(RIP)) Owner:Chinook-L Atlanta Siberian Husky Rescue. www.panix.com/~richgr/ Asst Owner:Sibernet-L - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 25 Oct 2001 11:15:11 -0400 From: "Rob, grandpa of Ryan, Trevor, Devon & Hannah" Subject: REVIEW: "Computer Telephony Encyclopedia", Richard Grigonis BKCMTLEN.RVW 20010807 "Computer Telephony Encyclopedia", Richard Grigonis, 2000, 1-57820-045-8, U$39.95 %A Richard Grigonis ctencyclopedia@cmp.com %C 12 West 21 Street, New York, NY 10010 %D 2000 %G 1-57820-045-8 %I CMP Media %O U$39.95 212-691-8215 1-800-LIBRARY fax 212-691-1191 %P 563 p. %T "Computer Telephony Encyclopedia" Most of the time, the introduction talks something about the book, or possibly gives an overview of the topic. In this work, the preface tells us, at rather astonishing length, of the life of one Richard ("Zippy") Grigonis, particularly as it centres around his getting hired as writer and editor for "Computer Telephony" magazine. A significant fact in the life (and, presumably, budget) of this periodical was an annual trade show. These facts behind his employment may explain a good many aspects of this book. For example, a writer, faced with the constant need to fill space, may opt for certain shortcuts, particularly if one is also the editor. Opinions, debates, and information about products are all valid material for trade journals, but there must be a constant temptation to embrace the marketing side of the sources. The egos of corporate executives can provide a never-ending fount of quotes, and product placement (complete with space-filling pictures) can even help sell advertising (and booth) space. Eventually one can convince oneself that the elimination of technical information, detail, and analysis is irrelevant to the undertaking. This book has miscellaneous entries to do with computers and telephony, although relatively few really centre on computer/telephony integration. The material isn't very technical, and most of the space deals with the business and industry, in one form or another. The respective articles on the competing technologies of ActiveX and Java make some basic points, but profoundly fail to deal with the underlying concepts, in addition to being heavily biased in favour of Microsoft. The listings are padded out with attempts at humour, lots of interview style quotes, and a great many company or product references. The essay on CompactPCI, for example, contains one page of information on the bus itself, and twenty pages of a sort of catalogue. (In fact, the paper on computer telephony itself, even with product inclusions, is only two thirds as long, although it is backed up with a seventy page chart of CT boards.) It doesn't read like an encyclopedia: it reads like a compilation of superficial magazine articles. The topic of humour deserves some attention. Grigonis is obviously trying to emulate his employer and mentor, Harry Newton. Unfortunately, Grigonis lacks not only Newton's sense of the absurd, but also Newton's extensive knowledge of the technology. Therefore, while Newton knows whereof he makes fun, Grigonis is simply filling space, and distracting from the issue at hand. For all its faults, the book still may be useful to those seriously interested in computer telephony. Even with the high volume of filler material, five hundred pages of dense type still has to hold some information. The technology is poor, but the corporate and product data is reasonably broad, although it will date fast, in a rapidly changing industry. copyright Robert M. Slade, 2001 BKCMTLEN.RVW 20010807 ====================== (quote inserted randomly by Pegasus Mailer) rslade@vcn.bc.ca rslade@sprint.ca slade@victoria.tc.ca p1@canada.com Woe be to him that reads but one book. - George Herbert, 1651 http://victoria.tc.ca/techrev or http://sun.soci.niu.edu/~rslade - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 25 Oct 2001 13:37:01 -0400 From: Terry Kennedy Subject: Re: Loop Length Fred Atkinson writes: > I had already tried the DSL Reports site. Due to the fact that > DSL is not provisioned at our local C. O., the local company hasn't > put it in their database. They confirmed with me that they put that > information in that database. Thu result was (when I polled it) that > it wasn't in there. That is odd - I'm pretty sure it uses the LERG (which lists all CO's) not just ones that have DSLAM's. In any event, as I said, if you post your phone number (in ###-###-xxxx form, with the X's, well, X'd out) any one of a number of people (myself included) would tell you where it is. > Why do I care? You yourself admitted that the length of the cable > may limit the bit rate. And I need to know that when deciding which > way to go with this. Also, it's good to know if the DSL company is > playing games and tries to say my loop length is extremely long and > theirfore they will charge more to provide the service (justified or > not, sales people to jack up the price with token excuses). Sorry, I still don't get it. I thought you said DSL was unavailable (no providers in your area). If that's the case, it doesn't matter if you're even in the same building as the CO. Terry Kennedy http://www.tmk.com terry@tmk.com New York, NY USA - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ End of Telecom Digest V2001 #274 ******************************** - To leave this list, send a message containing "unsubscribe" to telecom-digest-request@telecom-digest.org. Date: 27 Oct 2001 06:15:12 -0400 From: owner-telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org (Telecom Digest) To: telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org Subject: Telecom Digest V2001 #275 Telecom Digest Saturday, October 27 2001 Volume 2001 : Number 275 In this issue: Definity G3 and 6416D+M with Analog module PTMC and Utopia/POS-PHY Re: Stale forwarding records with MCI, no support Re: LNP, non-local NP, and rate centers ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 26 Oct 2001 10:14:45 -0400 From: dam-man@swbell.net (Dirk) Subject: Definity G3 and 6416D+M with Analog module I have a new 6416D+M with a 100a Analog module attached. I have always had 8411D phones (which have the module built-in) and in the setup of the 8411D the DATA OPTION gives you the choice of ANALOG, DATA-MODULE or NONE. However, the 6416D+M says DATA MODULE and you can only answer Yes or No. How do I activate the ANALOG module? I am trying to use it for a MODEM. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 26 Oct 2001 18:22:38 -0400 From: fismith@hfx.eastlink.ca (Frank Smith) Subject: PTMC and Utopia/POS-PHY Can anyone point me to a cPCI carrier card that supports any of the PTMC configurations that use Utopia and/or POS-PHY? Are there any carrier cards that do Utopia and CT bus (config 3 I believe)? Are there any PTMC line cards out there that support any of the configurations that use Utopia and/or POS-PHY? Are any of these coming down the pipe? Thanks, Frank. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 26 Oct 2001 19:33:12 -0400 From: "Adam H. Kerman" Subject: Re: Stale forwarding records with MCI, no support Jered Floyd wrote: >"Jay R. Ashworth" writes: >>This seems sort of stupid; what happens when you port a number from New >>York to LA. Someone calling from Manhattan... Kansas has their call go >>as far as possible in the wrong direction. >Presumably this is one (of many) reasons that we only have Local Number >Portability, not global number portability. You can't port a number >from New York to LA. NANP-wide portability: The information relayed from database-dips would be done out of band, with routing instructions given to the originating local or tandem switch. LNP puts the routing burden on the wrong end. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 26 Oct 2001 21:57:20 -0400 From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: LNP, non-local NP, and rate centers >NANP-wide portability: The information relayed from database-dips would be >done out of band, with routing instructions given to the originating local >or tandem switch. > >LNP puts the routing burden on the wrong end. We sort of know how to do that, since that's how 800 numbers work, but there's two problems with non-local portability. One is the technical challenge of running a realtime database with every phone number in the country. The other, probably harder, is deciding who's going to pay for it. This does return us to the festering problem of too many rate centers. I presume the reason you can't port a number from Manhattan to Queens is that they're still different rate centers with slightly different local calling areas. (Aren't calls from eastern Queens into Nassau local?) And NYC is nowhere near as bad as Boston, with only 600K people and six rate centers. Fewer larger rate centers would allow portability over a larger area, and also helps with the running out of phone numbers problem, since if you merge five rate centers into one, CLECs should be able to return 4/5 of the prefixes they've reserved. How is it that Colorado managed to merge rate centers but nobody else has? What do they know that everyone else doesn't? I realize that ILECs like tiny rate centers since they allow for a wider variety of extremely profitable short-distance toll calls, but you oughta be able to fix that with rate balancing. - -- John R. Levine, IECC, POB 727, Trumansburg NY 14886 +1 607 387 6869 johnl@iecc.com, Village Trustee and Sewer Commissioner, http://iecc.com/johnl, Member, Provisional board, Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ End of Telecom Digest V2001 #275 ******************************** - To leave this list, send a message containing "unsubscribe" to telecom-digest-request@telecom-digest.org. Date: 28 Oct 2001 06:15:10 -0500 From: owner-telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org (Telecom Digest) To: telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org Subject: Telecom Digest V2001 #276 Telecom Digest Sunday, October 28 2001 Volume 2001 : Number 276 In this issue: Al-Queda Steganography (was Re: "Exploding Manholes the Norm in Washington") things that go beep in the night... Re: Loop Length Best Long-distance International Rates? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 27 Oct 2001 23:44:12 -0400 From: "Michael D. Sullivan" Subject: Al-Queda Steganography (was Re: "Exploding Manholes the Norm in Washington") "The Old Bear" wrote: >Weird news of the day: Osama bin Laden is not putting porn >on the Web. After the Sept. 11 attacks, some of the more >hysterical voices claimed that bin Laden was using >steganography (hiding messages, in this case by embedding >them in JPG or other picture files) to distribute message to >his supporters through online porn or other pictures. >Not so, according to Reuters, which reported that the >University of Michigan's Center for Information Technology >Integration scrutinized more than 2 million images on >popular Web sites. Apparently, your online pictures are >safe. Actually, the researchers examined only images on eBay. They hope to do a more exhaustive review, examining pictures elsewhere on the net, in the future. If al-Queda used Usenet porn as the means for exchanging steganographic information, it would not have been picked up by the researchers. - -- Michael D. Sullivan avogadro@bellatlantic.net Bethesda, MD, USA - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 28 Oct 2001 01:14:59 -0400 From: The Old Bear Subject: things that go beep in the night... Cellphones spook British ghosts - ------------------------------- LONDON (Reuters) - Oct 14 - Mobile phones are killing off ghosts, an expert who has spent years researching the occult has said. Tony Cornell, of the Society for Psychical Research, told the Sunday Express newspaper that reports of ghost sightings had started to decline when mobile phones were introduced 15 years ago. "Ghost sightings have remained consistent for centuries. Until three years ago we'd receive reports of two new ghosts every week," said Cornell, of Cambridge in Eastern England. "But with the introduction of mobile phones 15 years ago, ghost sightings began to decline to the point where now we are receiving none." According to the paper, haunted tourist attractions in Britain could be under threat if the number of cellphones continues to grow from the present figure of 39 million. Apparently paranormal events, which some scientists put down to unusual electrical activity, could be drowned out by the electronic noise produced by phone calls and text messages. ## Have a safe and happy Halloween! Cheers, The Old Bear - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 28 Oct 2001 02:05:36 -0500 From: amfowler@melbpc.org.au (Alan Fowler) Subject: Re: Loop Length Terry Kennedy wrote: >Fred Atkinson writes: >> I have asked the local telephone company to tell me with the distance >> is between the C. O. and my residence (cable length distance). They >> routinely give this information to their DSL companies but say that >> if DSL is not in your area, that the information is 'proprietary'. > > The short answer is that they don't know. The standard distance calculator >(as found at DSLreports and on many DSL provider web sites) looks up the >address of your serving CO (in a database called the LERG) and then uses >mapping software to arrive at a guess as to the distance to your location >(based on you typing in your street address). > > But phone lines don't take a straight path between you and the CO, so >there's additional distance. That's one of the reasons that when you order >DSL, you get told the bandwidth you selected might or might not be avail- >able and you will get an accurate bandwidth reading once the line is in- >stalled. > > If you post the NPA-NXX of your serving CO, any one of a number of folks >will reply back with the street address and you can figure out the distance >for yourself. > > More to the point, why do you care? Seriously, it is utterly irrelevant. >If you're looking to install a point-to-point circuit using "dry pairs" >(the same that DSL uses) you need to know the cabling distance from you to >the other end, not the CO. And even if you are both 2 miles east of the CO, >that's 4 miles of cable, since the telco won't directly connect the cables >outside the CO. And if you are looking to do a hubbed DSL-like thing at the >CO, you need colocation at the CO (which is likely out of your league) and >you'd already know where the CO was. > > Terry Kennedy http://www.tmk.com > terry@tmk.com New York, NY USA I would want to know the attenuation characteristics of the cable as well. In Australia we use four different gauge conductors for distribution in the local loop. 10 lb, 6.5 lb, 4 lb & 2.5 lb, where those figures are the weight per mile of a single bare copper wire. I assume USA also uses different gauges, and that affects how long a connection you can tolerate. Alan. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 28 Oct 2001 06:02:54 -0500 From: doctorbeckwith@yahoo.com (Matt Beckwith) Subject: Best Long-distance International Rates? I did some research of long-distance services, because I make lots international calls. In the end, I found that 10-10-220 is by far the least expensive. The only time it isn't the best is if you're only going to be talking for 5 minutes. But if your calls are social calls, and therefore usually last 10-20 minutes, 10-10-220 is the best. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ End of Telecom Digest V2001 #276 ******************************** - To leave this list, send a message containing "unsubscribe" to telecom-digest-request@telecom-digest.org. Date: 28 Oct 2001 21:04:30 -0500 From: owner-telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org (Telecom Digest) To: telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org Subject: Telecom Digest V2001 #277 Telecom Digest Sunday, October 28 2001 Volume 2001 : Number 277 In this issue: Re: Best Long-distance International Rates? Re: Definity G3 and 6416D+M with Analog module Affordable Security System Re: Loop Length Al-Queda Steganography (was Re: "Exploding Manholes the Norm in Washington") Writeable vodavi pdf programming forms ACD Reporting with BCMS Vu 2 Asia Pac Telecoms Watch for Oct 22 to 28, 2001 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 28 Oct 2001 08:55:29 -0500 From: Joseph Singer Subject: Re: Best Long-distance International Rates? On 28 Oct 2001 06:02:54 -0500, doctorbeckwith@yahoo.com (Matt Beckwith) wrote: >I did some research of long-distance services, because I make lots >international calls. In the end, I found that 10-10-220 is by far the >least expensive. The only time it isn't the best is if you're only >going to be talking for 5 minutes. But if your calls are social >calls, and therefore usually last 10-20 minutes, 10-10-220 is the >best. You need to do more research. 1010220 is not a good deal because your minimum billing period is *always* 20 minutes. One minute call domestic = $.99. Minimum charge for a call using Telecom USA's 1010220 is for twenty minutes minimum. A blanket statement that this or that is the best always needs to be qualified. Some carriers have better rates than others to different countries. Some carriers charge as little as $.039 (3.9 cents) per minute to call the UK for example or $.048 (4.8 cents) per minute to call France. Some carriers have monthly minimums or monthly service charges, but almost every one of them is more reasonable than Telecom USA (aka MCI World COM) (1010220.) Go to for unbiased comparisons. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Personal replies are likely not read. Please reply in the newsgroup - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 28 Oct 2001 08:56:28 -0500 From: "David De Trolio" Subject: Re: Definity G3 and 6416D+M with Analog module Dirk...I have a switch using it, I will check the settings and post the configuration. I had more people using them on the 8400 series, but with each of my upgrades going to VoIP using ProLogix units, we are using 6408D+, 6424D+, and TransTalk units. Dave "Dirk" wrote in message news:4cc67f19.0110260556.48a3a9dc@posting.google.com... > I have a new 6416D+M with a 100a Analog module attached. > > I have always had 8411D phones (which have the module built-in) and in > the setup of the 8411D the DATA OPTION gives you the choice of ANALOG, > DATA-MODULE or NONE. However, the 6416D+M says DATA MODULE and you can > only answer Yes or No. > > How do I activate the ANALOG module? I am trying to use it for a > MODEM. > -- > The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail > messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 28 Oct 2001 11:37:30 -0500 From: "Jim Rojas" Subject: Affordable Security System Need A Security System? $99 Down, $25 a month! .. NO CREDIT CHECKS! .. NO INCOME VERIFICATION! .. Renters Welcome! .. 1 Year Hassle Free Contract! .. Never Any Rate Increases! .. Professional Grade Ademco Wireless Equipment! .. Easy, do it yourself installation! .. This Offer Is For USA Residents Only... http://www.tech-man.com/ademco/special.htm If you have been turned down by other alarm companies, CONTACT US! This is a short term lease program. After 1 year, you may cancel at anytime. After 3 years, you own the system free and clear. Plus your monitoring rate drops to $10 per month. (Basic tools are required for self installation) NO OBLIGATION . FREE CONSULTATION . STRICT PRIVACY - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 28 Oct 2001 14:18:35 -0500 From: "Tad Cook" Subject: Re: Loop Length amfowler@melbpc.org.au (Alan Fowler) wrote: >I would want to know the attenuation characteristics >of the cable as well. > >In Australia we use four different gauge conductors >for distribution in the local loop. 10 lb, 6.5 lb, 4 lb & >2.5 lb, where those figures are the weight per mile of a >single bare copper wire. I assume USA also uses different >gauges, and that affects how long a connection you can >tolerate. I think here in the USA most local loop is 24 gauge, with some 22 gauge. I don't know how this translates to pounds. Is that a British convention for wire size? Tad Cook Seattle, WA reply to: TAD AT RCIA DOT COM _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 28 Oct 2001 17:07:54 -0500 From: "Gary Novosielski" Subject: Al-Queda Steganography (was Re: "Exploding Manholes the Norm in Washington") On 27 Oct 2001 23:44:12 -0400, Michael D. Sullivan wrote: >Actually, the researchers examined only images on eBay. They hope to do a >more exhaustive review, examining pictures elsewhere on the net, in the >future. If al-Queda used Usenet porn as the means for exchanging >steganographic information, it would not have been picked up by the >researchers. Yeah, they better get busy scrutinizing. So much porn to examine, so little time. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 28 Oct 2001 18:55:28 -0500 From: mikegackst@aol.com (Mikegackst) Subject: Writeable vodavi pdf programming forms To anyone of interest, I have created a pdf form, to use with the vodavi mach1-4 system. Anyone who wishs a copy, e-mail me. It may take several replies to get the complete forms. Each one is about 400k long. Mike - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 28 Oct 2001 19:00:44 -0500 From: Herb Rosenberg Subject: ACD Reporting with BCMS Vu 2 It is possible to produce a historical report with BCMS Vu 2 that includes the longest call wait for a given period? This seems to be one of the most basic data points for a call center, but I have been told that it cannot be done. I see "oldest call" is available on a real time report, but not a historical one. Yet, I can get an historical report that includes the average speed of answer for a period of time, so the longest call data point has to be there, I would think. Thanks. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 28 Oct 2001 21:04:26 -0500 From: miken@space.net.au (Mike Newlands) Subject: Asia Pac Telecoms Watch for Oct 22 to 28, 2001 Asia Pacific Telecoms Watch for Monday October 22, 2001 ________________________________________________________________________________ Despite the rate they are piling on new subscribers, China's two mobile operators have been having a rocky ride on the Hong Kong stock exchange where they both have listed subsidiaries. Last week their shares fell around 13%, with China Mobile losing nearly 6.8% on Friday alone while China Unicom shed 5.7% on the day. Not only is China now the world's largest mobile phone market, having overtaken Japan for the number two spot in the middle of last year and the US for top spot this year, but if the current rate of growth continues within one to two years China Mobile will have more mobile subscribers than there are in the US and China Unicom more than there are in Japan. But apparently numbers alone don't reassure investors, particularly in the present climate of uncertainty in the Chinese telecoms industry where there are all sorts of rumours doing the rounds. Speaking in Hong Kong at a press conference marking the release of a new report on Asian telecoms, John Bailey, director of ratings agency Standard & Poor's Hong Kong office, said regulatory uncertainties raised questions over the China market's prospects. He said deregulation and restructuring exercises had brought many uncertainties, including when policies such as the calling-party-pays billing system would be implemented, and how the proposed listing of China Telecom would impact the market. This sentiment was echoed by Core Pacific-Yamaichi International head of research Alex Tang who told the South China Morning Post: "Investors don't like uncertainty. The key problem of these two stocks is the lack of clarity in China's telecoms policies". Further clouding the picture are a series of contradictory reports on the imminent breakup of fixed-line incumbent China Telecom into two regional operators, with one or both possibly being merged with smaller telcos like China Netcom and China Jitong. Although both China Mobile and China Unicom vehemently deny it, a strong component of the rumours is that one or both of the new companies will be awarded mobile licences. And in another development telecoms regulator the Ministry of Information Industry has halted illegal tariff discounting by regional subsidiaries of China Mobile and Unicom to end an intensifying price war. Since March this year the two carriers had been offering promotional mobile service plans in several provinces and cities, charging tariffs below the permitted government-mandated levels which allow Unicom to charge less than China Mobile. Internal power struggles in the Chinese bureaucracy are likely to mean no resolution of exactly what is supposed to happen when for some time to come, and in the meantime the two operators' share prices will continue to suffer. But that won't stop business as normal for the rapidly expanding operators, which will continue to be good news for multinational telecoms equipment makers who have seen business dry up in most other places. Illustrating the point is a $535m contract Sweden's Ericsson AG has just won from Guangdong Mobile Communication Corp, a local branch of China Mobile. The two-part contract will see Ericsson expand the rich southern province's 2.5G GSM/GPRS network. After the expansion Guangdong Mobile will be able to offer GPRS-based services to up to 27 million subscribers. Politics is also intruding into mobile operations in Korea, where the market is starting to reach saturation point with 28 million subscribers representing more than 60% penetration. According to local analysts, the government is expected to force mobile operators to cut rates in December due to pressure from disgruntled consumers. The Ministry of Finance and Economy (MOFE) is justifying the cuts by pointing out mobile phone service providers' profitability has improved following the ban on handset subsidies earlier this year, and the Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC) will release a draft mobile phone rate cut plan by the end of this month. A MOFE official said the plan would be based on opinions collected at public hearings. The mobile carriers are, understandably, asserting rate cuts would hit their profitability and hence their ability to invest in building 3G infrastructure. As well as its high mobile penetration rate, Korea also has the world's highest penetration rate for fixed-line broadband Internet access. These two strands are being combined in a new super-fast satellite Internet connection service being launched by state-run incumbent Korea Telecom (KT). KT President Lee Sang-chul said the service opened a new page of high-speed Internet access featuring the mobility of wireless technology."Our fixed-line broadband services are taking wing due to the consolidation of both wired and wireless telecommunication networks through satellite," he said. The Megapass Sky-M-Net service will allow individual users and corporate clients to use communication networks comprising both personal computers and mobile phones and other handheld gadgets to have always-on high-speed Internet connection. The Internet bubble may have burst in most of the world, but somebody apparently forgot to tell the Thais. A new share offering of state-owned Internet Thailand (Inet) has been six times oversubscribed by institutional investors, Finance Minister Somkid Jatusripitak announced at the weekend. "It's a great success for the stock, coming at a time when investor sentiment to date had been poor," Somkid said. He said the successful offering demonstrated Inet's strong fundamentals and growth potential. "It's a good example for private companies in the sector to also look to enter the stock exchange," he said. A few years ago Thailand triggered the Asian Economic Crisis. Could it now be starting the Asian Internet revival? Optimism is not limited to just the Internet sector judging by predictions being made by new mobile operator CP-Orange, a joint venture between a local conglomerate and France Telecom's British subsidiary Orange. CP-Orange is scheduled to start its services on December 14, and ceo Richard Mote said the company will be ready to launch in major Thai cities by then with coverage being expanded to 90% of the country by the end of next year. "Not only is the network operation ready, we have also prepared marketing campaigns, billing systems, and cell phone unit distribution channels for the launch," he told the Bangkok Post. He said the company aims to attract 1.1 million subscribers during its launch phase and two million by the end of 2002. Within five years the goal is to have a one-third share of the country's mobile market, Mote said. "If existing operators start a price war, CP-Orange is ready to enter the battle". Market leader Advanced Info Service has four million subscribers while second-ranked Total Access Communication has 2.3 million and third-placed Hutchison is quickly catching up. And also looking to expand is Singapore Telecommunications Ltd, which has just completed its acquisition of Australia's second-largest telco Optus for $7bn. Optus chief operating officer Paul O'Sullivan told a weekend talk show in Australia SingTel is in discussions with companies "in a couple of other markets". Although he gave no further details, SingTel is known to be discussing a $600m buyout of Dutch telco Royal KPN NV's 22.3% in Indonesia's top mobile operator PT Telekomunikasi Selular. SingTel has identified Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan and Australia as its four key Asian markets, but it also has substantial investments in Thailand, India, the Philippines and Taiwan. "The group is committed to expansion around the region," Sullivan said. "We're probably the only company that can say to an Australian corporate, we can supply your needs anywhere you go in Asia with local staff and local operations on the ground". _______________________________________________________________________________ Asia Pacific Telecoms Watch for Tuesday Oct 23, 2001 ________________________________________________________________________________ In a surprise move China Mobile (Hong Kong) Ltd, the overseas-listed arm of China's top mobile operator, has taken action to try and shore up its share price. As we reported yesterday, both China Mobile and rival China Unicom have seen their shares take a beating despite their success in adding millions of new subscribers a month. Now China Mobile has released a set of quarterly performance results for the first time ever showing revenue was up by HK$21.9bn ($2.8bn), or 47.4%, to HK$68bn ($8.7bn). The unaudited data was for an incomplete third quarter from July 1 to September 20, and was compared with the six-month period from January 1 to June 30. A company statement said the reason given for the sudden release of data was to "further enhance the company's transparency; so that shareholders, investors and the public could better appraise its business and financial position. Or in other words, "look at the figures, business is going well so stop selling down our shares". However the move may yet backfire as despite the rise in revenue, China Mobile's keenly watched monthly APRU (average revenue per user) had fallen six yuan ($0.72) to 152 yuan ($18.30). As of September 20 the Hong Kong-listed arm of China Mobile had 63.77 million subscribers, up from 58.91 million at the end of June, but these figures do not reflect business falling directly under the Beijing parent. The figures did show strong growth in mobile data service users as China Mobile rolls out its 2.5G GPRS service, totalling 19.17 million by September 20, up 2.19 million from June 30. Turning from Asia's most populous country with the fastest growing mobile subscriber base to Indonesia, the third most populous, where growth is somewhat more sedate. Second-ranked mobile phone operator PT Satelindo has announced plans to increase its network capacity by 800,000 lines by the end of this year and another 800,000 next year. At present it has about 1.5 million subscribers but a real capacity of only about 1.4 million which has led to complaints about numerous dropped calls from customers. Budi Prasetyo, executive vice president for corporate development, said that Satelindo's GSM-900 network with its allocated bandwidth of 10 megahertz had been at overcapacity. "Satelindo was gasping and panting when its subscribers reached 1.4 million," he said. Budi told the Jakarta Post the funds for the network expansion "will either be generated internally or through negotiations with vendors". Expansion is also underway in neighbouring Malaysia where mobile operator Maxis Communications Bhd is going ahead with its spending plans despite a slowdown since the Sept 11 terrorist attacks on the US. Maxis Communications Bhd's chief executive officer Datuk Jamaludin Ibrahim told the New Straits Times: "We still maintain the RM3bn we allocated for capital expenditure earlier this year for the next two or three years. So far only a quarter has been used". Jamaludin projected a 30% mobile subscriber growth for Maxis next year. "We always want to be ahead of the market," he said. Maxis, with 2.1 million mobile subscribers as of Sept 30, grew by 50% during the first three quarters of this year. However he was more cautious about the rollout of 2.5G GPRS (general packet radio service) initially planned for the first quarter of next year. "We expect the service to take off only at the end of next year when ample applications and handsets are in the market," he said. Jamaludin said that Maxis, Malaysia's only unlisted service provider, still plans to go public but the timing of an IPO is being examined. He also denied persistent rumours Singapore Telecommunications is in negotiations to buy a 30% stake. "I can assure you, definitely not," he said. But he did confirm Maxis is still in the running to buy into Singapore's second largest mobile operator, MobileOne Asia Pte Ltd (M1). Back in Northeast Asia, rollout of GPRS, and network congestion, is also causing problems for Taiwan Cellular Corporation (TCC). TCC recently signed a ground-breaking GPRS (general packet radio service) roaming agreement with mainland Chinese state-owned China Mobile Communications, which is well advanced with its own 2.5G expansion. But TCC has still not unveiled its GPRS services because its allotted frequency is saturated with more than 5.6 million users. Launching data services at this stage would degrade the quality of its voice services, so TCC has been asking the Directorate General of Telecommunications (DGT) for additional bandwidth. However the authorities contend this is not necessary. This is providing a major boost for rivals KG Telecommunications and state-owned Chunghwa Telecom (CHT). KG, which has top Japanese operator NTT DoCoMo Inc as a shareholder and strategic partner, launched its igogo service, based on DoCoMo's i-mode, two months ago. As well as providing customers with roaming in Japan on DoCoMo's network its also has GPRS agreements with Hutchison Telecom in Hong Kong and Singapore Telecommunications. Chunghwa, with plenty of bandwidth to support its six million customers, is also off the mark early with GPRS and has signed roaming agreements with 16 overseas operators. So although TCC has the prime roaming agreement in its corporate pocket, it won't be able to do anything with it unless the Taiwan government can be persuaded to change its mind and release the extra bandwidth. On the financial front, sales of mobile handsets have been the saviour of top Korean electronics manufacturer Samsung Electronics but have dealt a major blow to Japan's Sony Corporation and Matsushita Communication Industrial Co. When Samsung released its third quarter results, with a nearly 70% slide in profit, this was the figure that made the headlines. What dragged Samsung down was semiconductor sales, with the world&'s top memory chip maker suffering operating losses on this side of its business of 380bn won ($330m) during the June/Sept quarter. However hidden away in the bad news was the fact Samsung Electronics still made an overall profit thanks largely to sales of information and communication equipment, particularly CDMA handsets, which hit 2.2 trillion won ($1.9bn) during the quarter and produced an operating profit of 360bn won ($313M). Sony, on the other hand, is to write off mobile phone-related non-performing assets of 27bn yen ($223m) in its Sept 30 closing of accounts for the first six months of the current financial year. This is in addition to the 13.1bn yen ($108bn) written off in the first quarter after service providers NTT DoCoMo Inc and KDDI Corp recalled more than a million Sony handsets because of faulty software. The assets are mainly in the form of unused parts and materials following the transfer of Sony's entire cell phone business to a joint venture with Ericsson AG of Sweden on Oct 1. The two agreed to set up Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications only on condition that the venture would not take over any of the parents' bad assets. The news from Matsushita is even worse with the announcement it will close one of its two UK cellphone manufacturing plants by the end of March next year. The Nihon Keizai Shimbun quoted "company sources" as saying it is also considering closing the other UK plant and consolidating its European cellphone manufacturing activities at a new plant which comes online next April in the Czech Republic. The UK plants handle the final manufacturing operations in cell phone production and packing and have a combined output capacity of 10 million handsets a year. For the six months ended September, Matsushita Communications has forecast a group operating loss of 28.3bn yen ($234m) compared with a 32.9bn yen ($272m) profit in the previous year. ______________________________________________________________________________ Asia Pacific Telecoms Watch for Wednesday Oct 24, 2001 ________________________________________________________________________________ Interesting times for the telecoms industry in Australia, but the sort of interesting most players would prefer to avoid. A flurry of statements and figures this week show that executives are gritting their teeth, tightening their belts and settling in for what many expect to be a long winter. (Figuratively speaking, that is, as the southern hemisphere is heading into summer). Vodafone Pacific, with its major operations in Australia and smaller ones in New Zealand and Fiji, continues to deny it's up for sale, facing any problems, or not 100% committed to Australia. However it had to postpone indefinitely its flotation plans, was not able to buy second ranked telco Optus which ended up in the hands of Singapore Telecom, and has gone backwards in subscriber numbers losing 41,000 in the quarter ended Sept 30. Vodafone Australia chief executive Grahame Maher said on a television news program: "It would be strategically nice to have a float and have the Australian public presence but we are not going to do that in a market that is not healthy. If it makes good sense at some time in the future, it may come back on the agenda". Not exactly a clarion call to action. He said that Vodafone is not in survival mode in Australia but did admit: "I would think it is tough for us to take the next step of growth and development". Quite. SingTel yesterday announced it had completed the compulsory acquisition of all the outstanding ordinary shares in Cable & Wireless Optus. But the first order of business is now likely to be a substantial write down in the value of the Optus investment when SingTel releases its first half results to Sept 30 on Nov 8. Buying Optus, a full service telco which had been growing at a double digit rate but which recently announced an imminent slowdown and the layoff of hundreds of staff, cost SingTel A$14m ($7m). But some analysts say this was way over the odds, and with the events of Sept 11 driving the share price even further down the least charitable put the real value of Optus at only A$8bn ($4bn). While nobody seriously imagines a $6bn write down is on the cards, a fairly hefty figure is expected by analysts in both Singapore and Australia. However once the write down is out of the way, and SingTel has streamlined Optus' operations, it is expected to perform better than its major rivals in Australia and to add considerable value to SingTel's regional presence. Perhaps most surprising though is the tone adopted by the Australian telecoms industry's Mr Optimistic, incumbent telco Telstra Corp chief executive Ziggy Switkowski, who can usually see a silver lining in the darkest of clouds. Although he did say Telstra is in "good shape" when reporting revenue growth in the quarter to September 30th of just 1.8% to A$4.62bn ($2.3bn), Switkowski said the overall growth will remain "subdued" into 2002. He predicted two quarters of flat revenues and was unsure if things would improve after that. "We would like to think that this is a minimum position from which we will begin to recover in the next year," he said, but went on to warn "the future remains very, very unclear to us". It was left to junior telco Primus Telecom to inject a note of optimism into proceedings, and at a time when many smaller telcos are in serious problems or have already gone under. Although its US parent, Primus Telecommunications Group Inc, is itself the subject of stories about its supposed financial ill health, Primus Telecommunications (Australia) chief operating officer Greg Wilson was talking up listing prospects on the Australian Stock Exchange when market conditions improve. While he did not comment on the US company's financial state, he said the Australian company is in a strong financial position and flatly denied reports of a possible management buyout. Asked what would happen if Primus collapsed in the US, he said it would continue operating in Australia. Saying the company will be profitable by the end of this year, he announced earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) in the range of A$6.8m to $7m for the third quarter of 2001 ended September 30 on sales of more than A$120m. "We expect Primus Australia's EBITDA in the second half of 2001 to nearly triple that of the first half of the year, which will enable us to further strengthen our position in Australia," he said. Internet access and data services have been driving the company's growth. But interesting as the happening in Australia might be, the most intriguing news of the day came from Beijing with communist party mouthpiece the People's Daily suggesting the reported breakup of China Telecom into two regional units was by no means the done deal other state media had earlier claimed. Last week's reports, which quickly went around the world, claimed China's top policy making body the State Council had given the green light to series of changes which would drastically restructure the country's telecoms industry. China Telecom, the reports said, would split in two with broadband operator China Netcom taking over Telecom's operations in 10 northern provinces while 21 southern and northwestern provincial networks would continue to operate under the China Telecom name. At the same time China United Telecommunications Corp (Unicom) was to merge with fixed-line operator China Railway Communications Corp and China Mobile with Jitong Network Communications Co. to form a new China Mobile Group. But the People's Daily quoted a senior official as saying the reports were not "authoritative" and thus not trustworthy. The newspaper said it had been contacted by officials from the Ministry of Information Industry (MII, the State Development Planning Commission (SDPC) and the State Council Office for Restructuring the Economic Systems, all of whom said no final decision had been made on restructuring or breaking up China Telecom. The paper went on to quote a number of leading Chinese academics involved in the telecoms industry, all of whom were critical of the plan as published. The respected and influential Prof Han Kaili of the Beijing University of Post and Telecommunications said: "This is definitely a questionable plan. Although we're not clear about how the two companies will run their business, it is very likely that the monopoly in the telecoms industry may change from one national monopoly into two regional monopoly companies". He also said the plan, which scaled down China Telecom's assets, weakens the company's competitive edge after China joins the WTO and allows foreign telecoms giants to compete in China's telecoms industry. Jay Chen, senior telecoms analyst with Frost & Sullivan's Beijing office, pointed out: "China Netcom is the main competitor to China Telecom in the data business. With the merger, the competition is simply gone." The behind-the-scenes power struggle between prominent reformers and the anti free trade lobby is obviously still being waged with no solid outcome yet in sight. But when this particular set of proposals was run up the media flagpole it seems not too many people saluted. Turning to another long running saga, the Communications Authority of Thailand (CAT) has now said it will definitely go ahead with its on-off CDMA (code division multiple access) service for provincial Thailand. CAT chairman Kraisorn Pornsuthee told a Bangkok press conference the 15bn baht ($375m) project with around 1.7 million subscriber capacity would now go into service in early 2003. "A rental contract between the CAT and a network provider will be completed around April next year," he said, with the CAT having decided to rent a network of approximately 1,000 base stations around the country from a private sector operator on a 10 to 12 year contract. ______________________________________________________________________________ Asia Pacific Telecoms Watch for Thursday Oct 25, 2001 ________________________________________________________________________________ A reader e-mailed to ask why in yesterday's newsletter we didn't mention anything about Hutchison Telecommunications and AAPT in our look at recent happenings in the Aussie telco industry. The short answer is neither have done or said much this week. But if the Australian Financial Review is to be believed, that's about to change with a complete overhaul of Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa's loss-making Australian telecoms subsidiary in the pipeline. The AFR claims to have "confirmed", without saying how, that Hutchison is in final negotiations to sell back to second-ranked telco Optus -- now owned by Singapore Telecommunications -- nearly 280,000 resale GSM customers which account for around 70% of its income. The rest comes from its own CDMA network which has 123,000 subscribers. Hutchison's restructuring could also involve selling the CDMA network to Telecom Corp of New Zealand's Australian subsidiary AAPT, which also has a CDMA network licence, according to the story. This would leave Hutchison free to concentrate on the rollout of its 3G network, in which Telecom NZ is a strategic partner, with the aim of being first-to-market and with the added advantage of a trans-Tasman offering. This would not be a major surprise as Hutchison has a purely 3G strategy in several other countries, including the UK where Hutchison sold its 2G Orange network to France Telecom before successfully bidding for 3G spectrum last year. Pumping more money into a 2G network in the highly competitive and high-penetration Australian market may not make much sense to the Hong Kong parent or to local investors who have seen Hutchison Australia's market value slide from a high of more than A$4bn ($2bn) to just A$193m at close of business yesterday. Rumours of a major restructure have gone down well as the share price has put on more than 40% this month. Hutchison Whampoa has deep pockets and has committed to supporting the costs of building a 3G network in Australia, but selling off its existing 2G business would help pay for those costs at a time when huge expenditure is required on several fronts for 3G rollout. Talking of its deep pockets, Hutchison yesterday said it had provided a HK$447.8 million ($57.4m) working capital loan to its 75%-owned local 3G mobile phone unit, Hutchison 3G HK. The other 25% is owned by Japan's NTTDoCoMo Inc which is also Hutchison's strategic partner in the UK and other European 3G ventures, and which several analysts believe may also become involved in the Australian operation. The Hong Kong 3G service, like its Australian counterpart, is scheduled to launch before the end of next year. Meanwhile China Mobile's Hong Kong-listed subsidiary continues to try and shore up its share price and reassure investors. Two days ago it unexpectedly issued a set of partial quarterly results, and this was followed up yesterday by the release to the media of comments company chairman Wang Xiaochu had made to a Merrill Lynch investor conference. Wang told the conference China Mobile HK does not plan to issue new shares or otherwise go to the equity markets to raise funds, but prefers to use internal and debt financing when it decides the time is right to buy out the remaining 18 provincial networks still owned by its Beijing-based parent. He gave no timetable, but said he hoped the acquisition process could start early next year. The release of his remarks had the desired effect, and by the end of play yesterday the shares had gained 8.6%. China's telecoms regulator the Ministry of Information Industry yesterday issued figures for the first nine months of the year showing the whole China Mobile Communications Group recorded a 19.6% year-on-year increase in revenue to 97.81bn yuan ($11.8bn) while rival mobile operator China Unicom saw a 53% increase to 24.5bn yuan ($2.95bn). However revenue growth from the whole telecoms sector was only 12.5% to 257.5bn ($31bn) yuan in the first nine months, with fixed-line incumbent China Telecom's 5.9% growth putting the brakes on. French telecom equipment maker Alcatel has come in for some rare praise from China&'s Minister of Information Industry, Wu Jichaun. Speaking at a ceremony to mark Alcatel's decision to invest $312m for a majority stake in its successful Shanghai joint venture, Wu said Alcatel was the first global company with the vision to open its technology to a mainland Chinese company. Alcatel plans to rename the Shanghai Bell jv as Alcatel Shanghai Bell (ASB) and over a two year period to absorb its 17 other companies in China into ASB. "Establishing ASB is an important milestone in China's telecoms industry and will contribute to the development of world-leading telecoms technologies in China," Wu said. Alcatel chief executive Serge Tchuruk said: "It will have sales of more than $2bn a year and be the first one-stop telecoms shop in China, employing 6,500 people. It will export $1bn over the next three years". Tchuruk confirmed earlier reports that Alcatel is one of several multinationals looking to be in the first batch of foreign companies allowed to list on one of China's two stock exchanges. "This will be a real company that lends itself to listing on the stock market,he said. Alcatel will buy the Belgian government's 8.35% stake in the venture plus another 10% from the Ministry of Information Industry to give it a 50% and one share majority in the company. Alcatel will set up ASB as a global research and development centre with 3,500 engineers, up from the 1,500 it employs now, Tchuruk said. It will become part of the company's worldwide operations and will both export and import technology. If anybody out there is looking to invest in Japan's rapidly-growing broadband Internet access market, there may be a window of opportunity following the reported collapse of negotiations between US-based Qwest Communications International Inc and Tokyo Electric Power Company telecoms subsidiary PoweredCom, Inc. According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, sources at PoweredCom are blaming Qwest's desire for quick returns of its investment for the failure of talks aimed at seeing the US firm pick up a 20% stake in the corporate data communications provider. Earlier this year the two companies signed an MOU which would have enabled the Tokyo company to launch international data services targeted at Japanese companies abroad using Qwest's network. But the sources were quoted as saying PoweredCom's plan only envisions a profit in the 2003/04 financial year while Qwest wanted to see profits much earlier. So PoweredCom is now in the market for another foreign partner with an international network and Internet-based communications technology. Finally, we don't know if 53-year-old Vodafone Group chief executive Chris Gent is starting to feel way over the hill, but Vodafone's Japanese subsidiary Japan Telecom Co has redefined the onset of old age as starting at 45. Like most other telcos around the world Japan Telecom is having to go through a trimming down exercise which will mean cutting jobs. So it is going to offer a golden handshake to 600 workers aged 45 and over if they will take early retirement. Is this the start of a new youth culture at Vodafone? ______________________________________________________________________________ Asia Pacific Telecoms Watch for Friday Oct 26, 2001 ________________________________________________________________________________ Rates for China United Telecommunications'(Unicom's) new CDMA network are not going to be published until early December according to a senior Unicom official, Wang Yingpei. This would suggest commercial launch of the new network won't happen until early next year, rather than later this year as previous statements from Unicom had suggested. Speaking to a Chinese publication, Wang said the CDMA service would target the upper end of the market where subcribers make calls totalling at least 300 to 400 minutes a month. He also said he did not expect the CDMA service to be in competition with Unicom's own GSM service because that was aimed at a different market sector, and was allowed to charge users 10 to 20% less than the rival China Mobile GSM service. Underlining the difference in Unicom's two services, Wang said there would be no prepaid cards when the CDMA service is launched although these make up a large proportion of the GSM business. When the first phase of the CDMA network project is complete by year-end capacity will be 15 million, and by 2003 this will have grown to 50 million. Wang said he thought government estimates of China having between 260 million and 290 million cellphone users by 2005 were conservative. He put the number at more than 300 million, 100 million of whom would be Unicom subscribers with 50 million of these using the CDMA network. The strength of the infocoms industry in China vis-à-vis the rest of the world, particularly in the wake of September 11, may result in Chinese telecoms equipment manufacturers and service providers venturing onto the international stage earlier than most analysts had anticipated. A delegation from the US-based Chinese Institute of Engineering, comprising Chinese executives of US companies, is visiting China at the moment and urging Chinese telecoms industry firms to take advantage of the slump in the US to buy up US-based technology start-ups to cash in on their technologies and research capabilities. Delegation member Li Fung Chang, a technology consultant with AT&T Labs, was quoted in the official China Daily as saying: "Chinese telecoms firms still lack the capability for a core technology breakthrough". She said acquiring US companies might change this. But despite this, she said the delegation had been impressed with leading local equipment manufacturers such as Huawei and Zhongxing which already have an international profile. She said she is discussing potential acquisitions with Huawei's management. A comment attributed by the Hong Kong media to Wang Xiaochu, chairman of China's largest mobile operator China Mobile Communications Group, suggests that it might also be looking offshore for the first time. Wang reportedly said China Mobile would be looking to external acquisitions to further spur growth. One of the world's big three mobile operators, China Mobile is unlike multinational rivals Vodafone Group and NTT DoCoMo Inc as all of its customers are in its domestic market. With other Asia Pacific operators like Singapore Telecommunications, Hutchison Whampoa and Telstra Corp of Australia on the acquisition trial around Asia and the world, China Mobile may soon be spreading its wings. The attractions of the Chinese market to telecom equipment vendors from around the world could be seen this week at the China International Exhibition Centre in Beijing, where more than 200 international companies were exhibiting their wares at the bi-annual Beijing PT Wireless & Networks Comm China. Dominating the displays were 2.5G and 3G technology, including a live demonstration of 3G capabilities using the W-CDMA standard by French firm Alcatel and its Japanese partner Fujitsu. The two companies were using W-CDMA equipment to swap computer files from opposite ends of the exhibition hall. UTStarcom of the US was running demonstrations of the rival CDMA2000 standard which China Unicom hopes to adopt. But with 3G still probably several years away in China most of the multinationals were focusing on products for the 2.5G GPRS network being run out by China Mobile and the CDMA 1X service which Unicom will be offering. Korean service providers and equipment manufacturers who are well advanced both on the 2.5G path and in fixed-line broadband Internet access which was the other main theme of the show, were particularly prominent. Back in Korea, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy announced it plans to invest 10 trillion won ($7.7bn) to expedite the development of new technologies, including infocoms technologies, over the next five years. Bioengineering and nanotechnology will also be beneficiaries of the plan. A report from the ministry said: "The new technology-based industries are expected to register annual average growth of 7.7% by 2010, emerging as the nation's mainstay business". Controversy continues to rage in Thailand over the new telecoms law restricting foreign ownership in Thai service providers to 25%. The government is now obviously trying to find a face saving way of repealing the law, which has been passed by Parliament but has yet to be signed by the King. In the clearest indication yet that not only will the status quo be maintained (with most local non-government telcos being closer to 50% foreign invested), but the law will be altered Finance Minister Somkid Jatusripitak told reporters "If the private sector raises concerns over the issue, the government will be ready to amend the bill to fit the real situation". The private sector has made is abundantly clear it has "concerns", with executives from most Thai telcos being livid. Thai Telecom Association president Kosol Petchsuwan is on record as saying the new law would wreck the credibility of the country and its commitment to liberalisation Somkid went on to say: "Maybe, the law needs amendment to allow foreigners to hold more than 25%. When we receive requests, we will proceed accordingly. Under the present climate, the telecom industry in Thailand needs a huge cash injection from foreigners. The fixed 25% holding might be too small, given the size of the industry". In Thai-speak that's an admission a major cock-up has been made, and a green light to foreign investors to get on with investing. Although the controversial law is grabbing the headlines, liberalisation is proceeding with fixed-line operator the Telephone Organisation of Thailand (TOT) announcing plans to restructure itself ahead of a planned listing on the Stock Exchange of Thailand by the middle of next year. The Ministry of Finance will hold all of TOT Corporation's shares prior to the listing when the company will have 28bn baht ($636m) in registered capital. An IPO and placement of shares with foreign investors is expected to raise 60bn baht ($1.4bn), a ministry official said. The timetable for the share offer is to appoint financial advisers and underwriters by December and to have international roadshows between March and June next year. The TOT has an approximately 50% share of the country's fixed-line market. And finally one of those "could he really have said that?" moments. Mitsuo Horiuchi chairman of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party's General Council, said the government should consider auctioning wireless spectrum for 3G services. He said: "The British government raised 4 trillion yen and Germany raised 5.5 trillion yen from auctioning frequencies". One wonders where he's been living since those heady days, with auctions around the world failing to attract a fraction of what governments had hoped for once the bottom fell out of the telecoms market (after the two auctions in question). Another question which a Japanese spectrum auction raises is leading operator NTT DoCoMo Inc having already launched its 3G service, and already having the requisite spectrum to do so, with the number two and three operators, KDDI Corp and Jtel not far away from launching their rival services. Oh well, back to the drawing board. _____________________________________________________________________________ NB: $ always refers to US$ unless otherwise specified. m = million and bn = billion - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ End of Telecom Digest V2001 #277 ******************************** - To leave this list, send a message containing "unsubscribe" to telecom-digest-request@telecom-digest.org. Date: 29 Oct 2001 06:15:11 -0500 From: owner-telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org (Telecom Digest) To: telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org Subject: Telecom Digest V2001 #278 Telecom Digest Monday, October 29 2001 Volume 2001 : Number 278 In this issue: Re: ACD Reporting with BCMS Vu 2 Re: Emerging telecom technologies Re: Al-Queda Steganography (was Re: "Exploding Manholes the Normin Washington") ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 28 Oct 2001 21:58:06 -0500 From: "Jose Feliciano" Subject: Re: ACD Reporting with BCMS Vu 2 I have bcms Vu also, and have been asked to reproduce the same reports - I have been unsuccessful. Funny - I'll be in Armonk, NY in Avaya - ACD/Vectoring Expert Agent Selection class this week. I'll as the instructor and post the answer. Thanks "Herb Rosenberg" wrote in message news:3BDC8DEF.C6D2552@pacbell.net... > It is possible to produce a historical report with BCMS Vu 2 that > includes the longest call wait for a given period? > > This seems to be one of the most basic data points for > a call center, but I have been told that it cannot be done. > > I see "oldest call" is available on a real time > report, but not a historical one. Yet, I can get an historical report > that includes the average speed of answer for a period of time, so the > longest call data point has to be there, I would think. > > Thanks. > -- > The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail > messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 28 Oct 2001 23:14:50 -0500 From: shail_v@yahoo.com (Shail) Subject: Re: Emerging telecom technologies Thanx hogpilot! Could you please provide me some information on web sites where I can keep myself updated about the latest technologies. regds- Shail "hogpilot" wrote in message news:... > Learn all that you can about DWDM ( Dense Wave Division Multiplexing), > Sycamore , OPTera, and others. Many will tout VOIP, however ,I have yet see > anyone make a go of it bedause of the nature of ATM/Frame Traffic and > dropped cells. > "Shail" wrote in message > news:6f74ae19.0110232030.7ece7cc@posting.google.com... > > Hi All! > > I want to know about emerging technologies in telecom area. > > What are the new fields in telecom where one can proceed? > > thanx & regds- > > shail > > -- > > The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail > > messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 29 Oct 2001 00:08:21 -0500 From: John David Galt Subject: Re: Al-Queda Steganography (was Re: "Exploding Manholes the Normin Washington") > On 27 Oct 2001 23:44:12 -0400, Michael D. Sullivan wrote: >> Actually, the researchers examined only images on eBay. They hope to do a >> more exhaustive review, examining pictures elsewhere on the net, in the >> future. If al-Queda used Usenet porn as the means for exchanging >> steganographic information, it would not have been picked up by the >> researchers. Gary Novosielski wrote: > Yeah, they better get busy scrutinizing. So much porn to examine, so > little time. What was the URL for submitting proposals to DoD again? :D - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ End of Telecom Digest V2001 #278 ******************************** - To leave this list, send a message containing "unsubscribe" to telecom-digest-request@telecom-digest.org. Date: 30 Oct 2001 06:15:11 -0500 From: owner-telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org (Telecom Digest) To: telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org Subject: Telecom Digest V2001 #279 Telecom Digest Tuesday, October 30 2001 Volume 2001 : Number 279 In this issue: Boosting broadband New 'voice over DSL' launch set in Boston Telecom Update (Canada) #306, October 29, 2001 Re: Best Long-distance International Rates? Re: Loop Length Re: long distance rates ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 29 Oct 2001 09:49:49 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Boosting broadband Boosting broadband By Peter J. Howe, Globe Staff, 10/29/2001 Calls for US policy makers to speed the rollout of broadband-speed Internet access to American homes and businesses have gained some new weight since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. With the already battered telecommunications industry seemingly thrown into a prolonged slump, the argument goes, a concerted national effort to boost broadband could be the best elixir to get telecom, and maybe the whole economy, growing again. Businesses disrupted by air-travel restrictions and anthrax scares - and in lower Manhattan, the literal destruction of their offices - have found that enabling employees to work from home can be a crucial contingency plan for coping with disaster, terror-related or otherwise. That calls for more broadband, the high-speed ''always on'' Net connections provided by cable modems, telephone digital subscriber lines, or wireless and satellite technology, because telecommuting by dial-up modem is few people's idea of productivity. At the same time, Sept. 11 crystallized some old arguments. For a nation grappling with how to move forward and foster prosperity, many say, ''universal broadband'' could be as powerful a stimulus to the 21st century economy as the transcontinental railroads, rural electrification, or interstate highway construction of decades past. ... http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/302/business/Boosting_broadband+.shtml - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 29 Oct 2001 09:49:53 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: New 'voice over DSL' launch set in Boston New 'voice over DSL' launch set in Boston By Peter J. Howe, 10/29/2001 In the first big commercial deployment of the technology in Boston, Broadview Networks this week is launching a new ''voice over DSL'' service that uses the same bandwidth-maximizing technology of broadband digital subscriber lines to squeeze up to 16 telephone lines from one standard phone connection. Broadview, a New York-based business phone company, said it is deploying the technology at 10 switching stations serving parts of Boston and 13 suburbs: Cambridge, Everett, Framingham, Lynn, Malden, Medford, Melrose, Newton, Quincy, Swampscott, Winchester, Winthrop, and Woburn. ... http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/302/business/New_voice_over_DSL_launch_set_in_Boston+.shtml - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 29 Oct 2001 10:33:06 -0500 From: Angus TeleManagement Subject: Telecom Update (Canada) #306, October 29, 2001 ************************************************************ TELECOM UPDATE ************************************************************ published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group http://www.angustel.ca Number 306: October 29, 2001 Publication of Telecom Update is made possible by generous financial support from: ** AT&T CANADA http://www.attcanada.com ** BELL CANADA http://www.bell.ca ** GROUP TELECOM http://www.gt.ca ** LUCENT TECHNOLOGIES CANADA http://www.lucent.ca ** PRIMUS CANADA: http://www.primustel.ca ** Q9 NETWORKS: http://www.Q9.com ** TELUS: http://www.telus.com ** UNISPHERE NETWORKS: http://www.unispherenetworks.com ************************************************************ IN THIS ISSUE: ** Cogeco Drops Cable Phone Project ** Ottawa Utility Creates Telecom Company ** Layoff Watch -- Aliant, Microcell ** Quebec Company Charged With Directory Fraud ** Telus Quebec Begins Ethernet Rollout ** Co-Location Rules Eased for Competitors ** Ted Rogers Sells Telesystem Stake ** On-line Phone Book Launched ** Bell Launches Web Products ** CRTC Says Sales Commissions Not Deductible ** BCI Faces Cash Crunch ** Wireless Growth at Bell, Telus ** Carmel Promoted at CRTC ** Pond Retires From Aliant ** Financial Reports Aliant BCE Call-Net JDS Uniphase Lucent MTS Telus ** IVR Guide Goes On-Line ============================================================ COGECO DROPS CABLE PHONE PROJECT: Cogeco Cable has shut down its IP telephony-over-cable project, writing off its entire $30 million investment. The company says the project was too expensive and required an "unforeseen level of effort." ** Cogeco's net income after unusual items for the year ended August 31 was $6.7 million, down from $8.4 million for the previous year. OTTAWA UTILITY CREATES TELECOM COMPANY: Telecom Update has learned that Hydro Ottawa is about to announce formation of a new affiliate company, Telecom Ottawa Limited, with the goal of commercializing the utility's large fibre optic network. LAYOFF WATCH -- ALIANT, MICROCELL: More job losses in telecom: ** Aliant is laying off about 500 people in various divisions and subsidiaries now, and plans to cut another 300 in the near future. ** Microcell Telecommunications has eliminated 133 jobs. Sixty more have been cut at its i5 wireless Internet development subsidiary. QUEBEC COMPANY CHARGED WITH DIRECTORY FRAUD: The Competition Bureau has laid criminal charges against Tamec Inc. and its subsidiaries, Commercial Information Bank of Canada and Deev Inc. The companies are accused of using deceptive telemarketing techniques to sell ads in print and web-based business directories. TELUS QUEBEC BEGINS ETHERNET ROLLOUT: Telus Quebec is deploying optical Ethernet based on Nortel Optera technology. The company says it will begin offering high bandwidth on demand services to corporate customers in Quebec City and Montreal in November. CO-LOCATION RULES EASED FOR COMPETITORS: CRTC Order 2001-780 eases restrictions on equipment that competing carriers may co-locate in telco Central Offices, and directs competitors and telcos to negotiate adjacent co-location if space in the Central Office is not available. (see Telecom Update #241, 287). http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Orders/2001/o2001-780.htm TED ROGERS SELLS TELESYSTEM STAKE: Rogers Telecommunications (Quebec) Inc, a private holding company owned by Ted Rogers, had sold its 7% stake (one million voting shares) in Telesystem International Wireless. ON-LINE PHONE BOOK LAUNCHED: Dominion Directory Services, which publishes Telus directories, has launched www.superpages.ca, an on-line directory containing 1.1 million business and 12 million residential listings from across Canada. BELL LAUNCHES WEB PRODUCTS: Bell Canada has begun offering two new Web services, SmartWeb and SmartStore, to small businesses in Ontario. Development was financed by BCE's Convergence Fund. CRTC SAYS SALES COMMISSIONS NOT DEDUCTIBLE: CRTC Order 2001- 778 turns down an application by Rogers Wireless to allow sales commission expenses as a deduction from contribution- eligible revenues. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Orders/2001/o2001-778.htm BCI FACES CASH CRUNCH: Bell Canada International, 74% owned by BCE, says it needs additional capital to meet "short-term liquidity challenges." BCI, whose Latin American wireless companies have six million subscribers, lost $391 million in the third quarter on sales of $149 million. WIRELESS GROWTH AT BELL, TELUS: In the third quarter: ** Bell Mobility gained a net 151,000 subscribers, 7% more than last year. Monthly per-subscriber revenue was steady at $49; monthly disconnects were 1.5%. Mobile Browser hits totalled 41 million, up 14% from the previous quarter. ** Telus Mobility gained a net 78,300 subscribers, 33% less than last year. Monthly per-subscriber revenue was steady at $60; monthly disconnects rose to 2.17%. CARMEL PROMOTED AT CRTC: Denis Carmel has been named Acting Director General of the CRTC's Communications Branch. He has been Manager of Media and Parliamentary Relations for three years. POND RETIRES FROM ALIANT: Gerry Pond, President of Aliant's Telecom and Emerging Business groups, has retired. Pond joined NBTel in 1966, and became its President and CEO in 1994. No successor has been named -- the divisions he headed will report to Aliant CEO Stephen Wetmore. FINANCIAL REPORTS: Results are for the third quarter: ** Aliant: Revenue and EBITDA each rose 13% over last year, to $641 million and $250 million respectively; net income dropped 22% to $46 million. Telecom operations accounted for 72% of revenue and all net income. ** BCE: Revenue rose 6% over last year to $5.38 billion; EBITDA rose 7% to $1.9 billion. Writedowns of $468 million, mostly related to BCI and Teleglobe, resulted in a net loss of $146 million. Bell Canada accounted for 81% of revenue and 96% of cash baseline earnings. ** Call-Net Enterprises: Revenue of $223 million was down 26% from last year, but revenue after payments to carriers rose 4% to $103 million. A one-time charge of $1.1 billion, related to the 1998 purchase of Fonorola, resulted in a net loss of $1.17 billion. (See Telecom Update #189) ** JDS Uniphase: Revenues were US$329 million, down 45% from the previous quarter and 58% from the previous year. JDS predicts further sales decline in the next two quarters. Net loss: $1.2 billion. ** Lucent Technologies: Sales of US$5.2 billion were down 12% from the previous quarter and 28% from last year. One-time charges of $8 billion contributed to a net loss of $8.8 billion. ** Manitoba Telecom: Revenues of $250.8 million were 21% higher than last year; net income fell 44% to $14.6 million. Bell Intrigna contributed $41 million in sales and $62 million in expenses, both roughly triple last year's level. ** Telus: Revenues rose 19.6% over last year to $1.85 billion, of which $93 million was from out-of-territory operations. "Core earnings" of $87 million were down 42%. Telus is cutting its quarterly dividend to 15 cents a share from 35 cents. IVR GUIDE GOES ON-LINE: Henry Dortmans' guide to building a voice response system your callers won't hate, printed in the October issue of Telemanagement, is now available on-line at http://www.angustel.ca. ** Telemanagement's offer of a three-issue Introductory Subscription for $75 expires October 30. That's $150 off the cover price, the biggest discount ever. ** Subscription details at http://www.angustel.ca -- click the "Save 66%" button. ============================================================ HOW TO SUBMIT ITEMS FOR TELECOM UPDATE E-MAIL: editors@angustel.ca FAX: 905-686-2655 MAIL: TELECOM UPDATE Angus TeleManagement Group 8 Old Kingston Road Ajax, Ontario Canada L1T 2Z7 =========================================================== HOW TO SUBSCRIBE (OR UNSUBSCRIBE) TELECOM UPDATE is provided in electronic form only. There are two formats available: 1. The fully-formatted edition is posted on the World Wide Web on the first business day of the week at http://www.angustel.ca 2. The e-mail edition is distributed free of charge. To subscribe, send an e-mail message to: listmanager@subs.postmastergeneral.com Insert as the subject of your message the two words: subscribe TelecomUpdate To stop receiving the e-mail edition, send an e-mail message to: listmanager@subs.postmastergeneral.com Insert as the subject of your message the two words: unsubscribe TelecomUpdate =========================================================== COPYRIGHT AND CONDITIONS OF USE: All contents copyright 2001 Angus TeleManagement Group Inc. All rights reserved. For further information, including permission to reprint or reproduce, please e-mail rosita@angustel.ca or phone 905-686-5050 ext 500. The information and data included has been obtained from sources which we believe to be reliable, but Angus TeleManagement makes no warranties or representations whatsoever regarding accuracy, completeness, or adequacy. Opinions expressed are based on interpretation of available information, and are subject to change. If expert advice on the subject matter is required, the services of a competent professional should be obtained. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 29 Oct 2001 16:32:54 -0500 From: doctorbeckwith@yahoo.com (Matt Beckwith) Subject: Re: Best Long-distance International Rates? Having said that, I now have learned of an even lower rate--for domestic long-distance calls: OPEX. 4.5 cents per minute beats 20 minutes for 99 cents. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 29 Oct 2001 21:17:58 -0500 From: amfowler@melbpc.org.au (Alan Fowler) Subject: Re: Loop Length "Tad Cook" wrote: >amfowler@melbpc.org.au (Alan Fowler) wrote: > >>I would want to know the attenuation characteristics >>of the cable as well. >> >>In Australia we use four different gauge conductors >>for distribution in the local loop. 10 lb, 6.5 lb, 4 lb & >>2.5 lb, where those figures are the weight per mile of a >>single bare copper wire. I assume USA also uses different >>gauges, and that affects how long a connection you can >>tolerate. > >I think here in the USA most local loop is 24 gauge, with >some 22 gauge. I don't know how this translates to >pounds. Is that a British convention for wire size? > > >Tad Cook >Seattle, WA Tad, lb/m mil ohm/1000 B&S 2.5 12.6 64.9 28 4.0 15.7 40.81 26 6.5 19.7 25.67 24 10.0 25.2 16.14 22 The capacity per mile is different to US cables. All sizes have a capacity of 45 nF/km (70 nF/mile) regards, Alan. >reply to: TAD AT RCIA DOT COM > > >_________________________________________________________________ >Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 29 Oct 2001 22:38:49 -0500 From: johnl@iecc.com (John R Levine) Subject: Re: long distance rates >Having said that, I now have learned of an even lower rate--for >domestic long-distance calls: OPEX. 4.5 cents per minute beats 20 >minutes for 99 cents. If your local telco is one of the RBOCs (Verizon, SBC, Quest, or SBC) there are a bunch of long distance carriers with rates in that range. If you're served by an independent, the best I've found is ECG at about 5 cpm. Needless to say, anyone with a monthly fee or a high minimum per-call charge need not apply. If you're willing to prepay and dial extra digits, people here have said nice things about onesuite.com which offers 2.9 cpm prepaid service. Their international rates aren't bad, either. - -- John R. Levine, IECC, POB 727, Trumansburg NY 14886 +1 607 387 6869 johnl@iecc.com, Village Trustee and Sewer Commissioner, http://iecc.com/johnl, Member, Provisional board, Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ End of Telecom Digest V2001 #279 ******************************** - To leave this list, send a message containing "unsubscribe" to telecom-digest-request@telecom-digest.org. Date: 31 Oct 2001 06:15:12 -0500 From: owner-telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org (Telecom Digest) To: telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org Subject: Telecom Digest V2001 #280 Telecom Digest Wednesday, October 31 2001 Volume 2001 : Number 280 In this issue: Cingular plans technology overhaul Re: Loop Length Health Debate Leads to Second Delay of Sprint PCS Cellphone Project in Boston Re: Loop Length (UK) Liberties fear over mobile phone detail ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 30 Oct 2001 07:28:27 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Cingular plans technology overhaul Cingular plans technology overhaul Multibillion-dollar plan targets next-generation wireless By Shawn Young THE WALL STREET JOURNAL NEW YORK, Oct. 30 - Cingular Wireless, the nation's second-largest provider of wireless-phone service, is expected to announce a sweeping, multibillion-dollar overhaul of its technology to help it offer next-generation wireless data services, people familiar with the matter say. ... http://www.msnbc.com/news/649659.asp - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 30 Oct 2001 10:42:14 -0500 From: "William Moss" Subject: Re: Loop Length In article <3bdd1963.626685@news.melbpc.org.au>, Alan Fowler wrote: >"Tad Cook" wrote: > >>amfowler@melbpc.org.au (Alan Fowler) wrote: >> >>>I would want to know the attenuation characteristics >>>of the cable as well. >>> >>>In Australia we use four different gauge conductors >>>for distribution in the local loop. 10 lb, 6.5 lb, 4 lb & >>>2.5 lb, where those figures are the weight per mile of a >>>single bare copper wire. I assume USA also uses different >>>gauges, and that affects how long a connection you can >>>tolerate. >> >>I think here in the USA most local loop is 24 gauge, with >>some 22 gauge. I don't know how this translates to >>pounds. Is that a British convention for wire size? >> >> >>Tad Cook >>Seattle, WA > >Tad, > lb/m mil ohm/1000 B&S is that ohm/1000 feet? - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 30 Oct 2001 12:56:27 -0500 From: "Cole T. Kracke" Subject: Health Debate Leads to Second Delay of Sprint PCS Cellphone Project in Boston The Boston Globe Oct. 28--The on-again, off-again, on-again plan by Sprint PCS to erect cellphone antennae atop St. Mary's Women and Infants Center is ... off again. After eight months of back-and-forth between Sprint and the community, the six 4-foot high antennae were about to power up about a week ago. Then the city's Commissioner of Inspectional Services, Kevin Joyce, ordered Sprint to stop working on the St. Mary's roof until still-murky health and legal issues are resolved. "The commissioner felt the project needed a timeout," said Lisa Timberlake, a spokeswoman for Inspectional Services. Adrian Paul, a spokesman for Sprint PCS New England, said the company will not fight the city's edict. "We will hold off going on air until we get permission from the city," said Paul. Joyce's intercession came after Dorchester City Councilor Maureen Feeney said she was bombarded with calls from hysterical Jones Hill abutters, about 43 in two days. Residents threatened to move into shelters to avoid being zapped with waves, which they claim might cause headaches, memory loss, and cancer. Feeney said she wants health officials to get a baseline read on any existing emissions in the Windermere Road area. Joyce's intervention may have halted the construction, but not the bad blood that has built up on both sides. Last week, Paul accused the abutters of using a smear strategy to delay the project in court and the court of public opinion. "There are people involved on the other side that are using a misinformation campaign and scare tactics," he said. "There are not related health issues -- there never have been." Jones Hill Civic Association president Daniel Cushing retorted: "They don't care about the health issue -- they're in the business of making money." This was on top of previous sniping, which included Cushing's charges that Sprint had used "bribery and manipulation" to strike a deal with the St. Mary's social-service center to rent roof space for $18,000 a year. Sprint said it was only trying to improve cellphone reception for the people of Dorchester. Meanwhile, Sprint maintained that abutters had lost their legal standing to sue because they missed basic deadlines. Sprint has already weathered neighborhood opposition to win approval from the Zoning Board of Appeal and last week said it was confident the cell antennae will one day operate. "We plan on going forward," said Paul. Cushing has other notions: "We'll keep fighting them." - ----- To see more of The Boston Globe, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.boston.com/globe (c) 2001, The Boston Globe. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. FON, PCS, Publication date: 2001-10-28 - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 30 Oct 2001 14:13:12 -0500 From: t11@syntelsoft.com (JDS) Subject: Re: Loop Length On Wed, 24 Oct 2001 21:18:41, Fred Atkinson wrote: > I have asked the local telephone company to tell me with the distance > is between the C. O. and my residence (cable length distance). They > routinely give this information to their DSL companies but say that > if DSL is not in your area, that the information is 'proprietary'. The distance between the CO and your location is only a small part of the story. The phone company runs a cable containing many pairs out from the CO. The run to your location just taps into one of those pairs. If the cable is 8000' long and you're 200' from the CO, the 7800' tail end is still adding capacitance, noise, and maybe even occasional shorts to your "local loop". In general, the phone company will not chop that tail end, because it makes future use of the pair elsewhere impossible. Typically time domain reflectometers and capacitance measurements are used to work out the effective local loop length. The capacitance data is frequency-dependent... It's reasonable that these measurements are proprietary and furthermore may not be useful to a third party DSL provider. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 30 Oct 2001 21:02:33 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: (UK) Liberties fear over mobile phone detail Liberties fear over mobile phone details Records which map out users' whereabouts held indefinitely Stuart Millar and Paul Kelso Saturday October 27, 2001 The Guardian One of the fastest growing mobile phone providers is indefinitely storing information that allows its customers' movements over the last two years to be mapped to within a few hundred metres. As the government rushes through emergency anti-terror legislation that would require vast amounts of electronic communications data to be retained in the name of national security, the Guardian has established that Virgin Mobile has been storing the location records of its 1m customers since the network launched in November 1999. Last night, the privacy watchdog, the information commissioner, told the Guardian that it would be investigating the practice to establish whether it contravenes regulations governing retention of communications data. ... http://www.guardian.co.uk/mobile/article/0,2763,581763,00.html - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ End of Telecom Digest V2001 #280 ******************************** - To leave this list, send a message containing "unsubscribe" to telecom-digest-request@telecom-digest.org. Date: 1 Nov 2001 06:15:11 -0500 From: owner-telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org (Telecom Digest) To: telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org Subject: Telecom Digest V2001 #281 Telecom Digest Thursday, November 1 2001 Volume 2001 : Number 281 In this issue: Streamies at work BellSouth Loses 3.4 Million Phone Lines Cingular Wireless goes with GSM in network upgrade LD: pay per call, not per minute! Re: Cingular Wireless goes with GSM in network upgrade Re: Cingular Wireless goes with GSM in network upgrade a scam device? Re: a scam device? Re: a scam device? Re: a scam device? Re: Loop Length ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 31 Oct 2001 07:29:29 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Streamies at work Nua Internet Surveys Weekly Editorial Streamies at work October 30, 2001 Last week's report on home broadband subscriptions from the Yankee Group left me slightly perplexed initially. Of all the households interviewed by the Yankee Group about their reasons for getting broadband access, less than 2 percent said that listening to music, watching videos, or gaming online was either a primary or secondary reason for getting a broadband subscription. I had always thought that the main benefit of broadband was precisely that you could listen to high-quality streaming music, or watch high-definition streaming video, or play super-duper online games. Quite the contrary, as it turns out. Although the ability to use top-notch streaming media is undoubtedly one of the benefits of having broadband, the main benefit, according to householders, is that it frees up the phone line. The second main reason was that it provides users with faster Internet access. ... http://www.nua.ie/surveys/analysis/weekly_editorial.html - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 31 Oct 2001 08:27:28 -0500 From: "Cole T. Kracke" Subject: BellSouth Loses 3.4 Million Phone Lines BellSouth Loses 3.4 Million Phone Lines Source: The Atlanta Journal and Constitution Publication date: 2001-10-31 Oct. 31--Like most Americans, David Moses is more connected than ever before. The 33-year-old Dunwoody resident was reached last week via his Nokia 8890 cellphone while driving in Miami on a business trip. "It's incredibly convenient," says Moses, a former Web site operations manager. "Your phone's always with you. It's a paradigm shift in the way of life we're used to carrying on because you're now able to be reached at any moment." If Moses had his druthers, he would get rid of his regular phone at home and rely exclusively on his cellphone. Increasingly, it's an option many are taking. That's one reason BellSouth, for the first time in recent memory, has seen the number of its phone lines decline, by 3.4 million, or 2.2 percent, so far this year. The sliding economy and competition from scores of other providers also have contributed to the numbers drop in its nine-state territory. "We've lost about 12 percent of our market share to competitors," Jere Drummond, BellSouth vice chairman, estimated. He said BellSouth has lost to rivals 24 percent of its business lines and 5 percent of its residential lines. Competitors, such as AT&T, dispute that, arguing BellSouth's loss of lines are far less. The issue is important, since BellSouth wants regulators to grant it permission to offer long-distance service to its customers, not only to overcome any revenue shortfall but to increase its market clout. This can only occur if it proves to government regulators it has opened its turf sufficiently to competition. Showing a loss of lines helps support BellSouth's cause. The stakes are huge. BellSouth executives have estimated that within 12 months of approval it can snare about 25 percent of the $14.5 billion customers spend annually on long-distance service in the Southeast. "What I hope we can do is compete more effectively once we get into the long-distance business," Drummond said. "If I can go to you as a consumer and say, `I can handle all of your telecommunications services with one phone call; and not only that, by bundling them together, I can give you a more attractive price,' then that makes me a much more effective competitor." Telecommunications consultant Nancy Kaplan of Boston-based Adventis, agrees. "If they can do that with local access and long distance, and potentially with additional services from acquisitions, which is highly likely, then they will be able to move the customer up the value chain," Kaplan said. That gives BellSouth the potential to boost revenue and profits and decrease customer churn, despite competition, she said. Right now, that competition is focused on snagging BellSouth's commercial customers, particularly small businesses. No wonder: While the monthly fee for a basic residential line in metro Atlanta is about $17.45, businesses pay $48.38 for the same service, according to BellSouth spokesman Jeff Battcher. So, rivals such as Missouri-based Birch Telecom are targeting that high-profit market, offering to shave as much as 20 percent off the average customer bill. BellSouth doesn't lose all of the revenue from a large portion of its departing customers. That's because many rivals lease BellSouth's network and equipment. "They lose about half of their revenue that that account generated," said David Scott, president and chief executive of Birch Telecom, which aims to boosts its local access lines to 70,000 in five years from about 13,000 currently in metro Atlanta. "The rates we pay to them are supposed to cover all of their costs, plus a profit on top of it." Many of BellSouth's rivals -- competitive local exchange carriers or CLECs -- aren't yet making money. Some, short on capital, are retrenching. Others no longer are in business. "Our billing costs and our repair-center costs and all of the functions that we put in place are largely fixed in nature," Scott said. "We have to achieve pretty substantial size before we start making money as a total company." Scott, whose four-year-old firm now has more than 300,000 access lines in nine states of the Southeast and Midwest, said Birch Telecom expects to be a survivor. It's backed by the Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts investment firm. "We feel we have a deep-pockets investor," Scott said. "Birch is less than a year away from break-even operation, which is a pretty significant achievement." But Scott acknowledges the problems of others have made some commercial customers uneasy about switching from BellSouth. "That's frankly one of the reasons why we've re-energized our advertising campaign here recently," Scott said. "We wanted to get the message out that Birch is solid, secure. We'll be here for the long-term." Kaplan, the telecom consultant, said she believes BellSouth's market position is stronger, given the financial problems of many of its smaller competitors, which makes it harder for them to further cut prices to build market share. "I don't think you're going to see the CLEC penetration increasing," Kaplan said. "I think you will see it declining. If you take a look at the capital expenditures for the CLECs at this point, they are way down and they are on a downward trend." But analyst Jeff Kagan of Atlanta said BellSouth's entry into long-distance will prompt rivals, such as AT&T and MCI-WorldCom, to work more aggressively in the local residential telephone market. Perhaps the stiffest competition BellSouth faces is from alternative technologies like cable and wireless, Kaplan said. "Wireless eats into the wireline a little bit" and could take even more share if the cost of wireless calls drops further, Kaplan said. BellSouth, which owns 40 percent of the Cingular wireless venture that's 60 percent owned by SBC Communications, is seeking to blunt the challenge from cable by spending heavily to offer high-speed DSL Internet access over its telephone lines. BellSouth officials said they expect DSL revenue to double next year to $550 million. Even though a third of DSL customers drop their second phone line because they no longer need it (voice and data can be transmitted simultaneously on one telephone line), BellSouth planners see eventually profit by offering a host of other applications, such as games and music, through the medium. Still, reliance on the traditional phone line isn't likely to be supplanted any time soon, as David Moses discovered. Although his four computers at home are linked to the Internet via DSL service from BellSouth, a year ago he also attached a telephone to that line. The reason: It's cheaper to call his girlfriend, Joanne, who lives in Dublin, Ireland, on a regular phone. "It's 9 to 17 cents a minute with MCI-WorldCom," said Moses, who has his own Web-hosting company. Otherwise, he uses his cell phone for virtually all of his other calls. He pays VoiceSteam Wireless $70 a month for 4,000 minutes. "That's an incredible amount of minutes, and that includes long-distance (in the U.S.)," Moses said. "If you don't have a girlfriend in Ireland, there's no reason to have a land-line." - ----- To see more of The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.ajc.com (c) 2001, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. BLS, T, MCIT, SBC, Publication date: 2001-10-31 - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 31 Oct 2001 09:58:33 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Cingular Wireless goes with GSM in network upgrade Cingular Wireless goes with GSM in network upgrade By Associated Press,, 10/31/2001 ATLANTA - Cingular Wireless said yesterday it has chosen the world's most popular mobile phone technology for an all-digital upgrade of its national network as it moves toward speedy next-generation services. The decision of Cingular, the number two mobile provider in the United States, is a blow to a competing technology, CDMA, or code division multiple access, developed by Qualcomm Inc. of San Diego. CDMA has been deployed mostly in the United States and South Korea while about 70 percent of the world's wireless carriers use GSM, or global system for mobile telecommunication, which is especially dominant in Europe. ... http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/304/business/Cingular_Wireless_goes_with_GSM_in_network_upgrade+.shtml - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 31 Oct 2001 14:13:33 -0500 From: "Shortline Systems Inc." Subject: LD: pay per call, not per minute! Mike Mills of Washington Post had mentioned our service in his 1996 article "On the Web, Finding a Carrier to Fit Your Calling Patterns". Since then we have accomplished many new goals. We have added a nationwide calling to our 50¢ per call regional service. All of our services are based on pay-per-call, talk-as-long-as-you-want principles. Our nationwide service is just $1 per call -- unlike 1010220, we let our customers talk for unlimited time for the same price. All accounts are administered through our secure website, including sign-up, credit card payments and viewing call activity. For those in need of Internet service we have teamed up with TelephoNET Corp. and are offering unlimited dial-up service for just $99 per year. For more details please visit our website at www.shortline.com. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 31 Oct 2001 21:54:37 -0500 From: sjsobol@NorthShoreTechnologies.net (Steve Sobol) Subject: Re: Cingular Wireless goes with GSM in network upgrade >From 'Monty Solomon': >Cingular Wireless goes with GSM in network upgrade > >By Associated Press,, 10/31/2001 > >ATLANTA - Cingular Wireless said yesterday it has chosen the world's >most popular mobile phone technology for an all-digital upgrade of >its national network as it moves toward speedy next-generation >services. > >The decision of Cingular, the number two mobile provider in the >United States, is a blow to a competing technology, CDMA, or code >division multiple access, developed by Qualcomm Inc. of San Diego. This is not big news. Much of Cingular is already GSM anyhow. BellSouth Mobility and the SBC-owned Cellular One outlets that became Cingular were TDMA, but BellSouth DCS and Pacific Bell Wireless have been GSM all along. - -- JustThe.net LLC - Steve "Web Dude" Sobol, CTO - sjsobol@JustThe.net In another world it may be true that "Information wants to be free." Directory Assistance, or lack thereof, is a profit center here and now. - John Myers, speaking in comp.dcom.telecom - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 31 Oct 2001 23:05:58 -0500 From: Jered Floyd Subject: Re: Cingular Wireless goes with GSM in network upgrade >The decision of Cingular, the number two mobile provider in the >United States, is a blow to a competing technology, CDMA, or code >division multiple access, developed by Qualcomm Inc. of San Diego. How is this a "blow to CDMA"? Cingular isn't going to be replacing their existing network, so this is clearly w.r.t. 3G technology. My understanding is that 3G GSM is (going to be) CDMA. - --Jered - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 31 Oct 2001 23:24:32 -0500 From: "Don Russell" Subject: a scam device? I saw an interesting little device advertised on TV and apparently it's available at Radio Shack and others... Apparently it's purpose is to thwart tele-marketers, by sending a "special tone" that tells the tele-marketer's system that your number has been disconnected and you will then automatically be removed from their call list... Can there be any truth to this claim? They say it only works with their (telemarketer's) phone dialing system and will not affect other calls... How can this device send a tone without first going off-hook? And of course going off-hook would indicate the line is valid and the telemarketers have a "live one". Any comments? Thanks Don Russell - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 1 Nov 2001 00:03:07 -0500 From: Jered Floyd Subject: Re: a scam device? "Don Russell" writes: > How can this device send a tone without first going off-hook? And of course > going off-hook would indicate the line is valid and the telemarketers have a > "live one". > > Any comments? (Are there archives? This comes up every few weeks.) Nothing particularly scammy about it, just annoying. It does go off-hook; answers the phone, plays a SIT recoding (Special Information Tone, the rising "doo-doo-doo" you hear that is usually followed by a message like "The number you have dialed is no longer in service. Please check the number and try again."), and *then* rings your phone. Predictive dialers that telemarketers use note lines that generate SIT messages and mark them as invalid. This also means that valid callers get SIT tones before ringing you, which might confuse them. It might be possible to make far less annoying telemarketing-blockers. A friend's brother works (worked?) for a company that builds predictive dialers, and he was working on features like detecting tape hiss (to not send marketroids to analog answering machines) and compression artifacts (to not send marketroids to digital answering machines). You could probably build a filter that tricked these boxes into thinking you were an answering machine. That wouldn't remove you from the lists, though. Just doing a web search while writing this message turned up: Link: Counter-Telemarketing Tactics - Telemarketing Scum Page URL: http://www.scn.org/~bk269/telemarketing.html - --Jered - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 1 Nov 2001 00:05:03 -0500 From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: a scam device? >Apparently it's purpose is to thwart tele-marketers, by sending a "special >tone" that tells the tele-marketer's system that your number has been >disconnected and you will then automatically be removed from their call >list... > >Can there be any truth to this claim? Yes, it's real, it answers the phone and sends the dah-dah-dee tones that precedes an announcement like "the number you have called is not in service". You can get the same effect by recording the tones at the beginning of your answering machine message. - -- John R. Levine, IECC, POB 727, Trumansburg NY 14886 +1 607 387 6869 johnl@iecc.com, Village Trustee and Sewer Commissioner, http://iecc.com/johnl, Member, Provisional board, Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 1 Nov 2001 01:47:46 -0500 From: stox@imagescape.com (Kenneth P. Stox) Subject: Re: a scam device? In article <20011101050501.5418.qmail@xuxa.iecc.com>, johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) writes: > Yes, it's real, it answers the phone and sends the dah-dah-dee > tones that precedes an announcement like "the number you have called > is not in service". > > You can get the same effect by recording the tones at the beginning > of your answering machine message. I did that years ago on my answering machine, and it failed miserably. Friends would call me up at work, and ask why my home phone was disconnected. They wouldn't wait to hear that it was a ploy to get rid of telemarketers. If this device becomes popular, I'm sure the telesleaze will simply ignore the SIT tones in the near future. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 1 Nov 2001 05:59:05 -0500 From: amfowler@melbpc.org.au (Alan Fowler) Subject: Re: Loop Length "William Moss" wrote: >In article <3bdd1963.626685@news.melbpc.org.au>, >Alan Fowler wrote: >>"Tad Cook" wrote: >> >>>amfowler@melbpc.org.au (Alan Fowler) wrote: >>> >>>>I would want to know the attenuation characteristics >>>>of the cable as well. >>>> >>>>In Australia we use four different gauge conductors >>>>for distribution in the local loop. 10 lb, 6.5 lb, 4 lb & >>>>2.5 lb, where those figures are the weight per mile of a >>>>single bare copper wire. I assume USA also uses different >>>>gauges, and that affects how long a connection you can >>>>tolerate. >>> >>>I think here in the USA most local loop is 24 gauge, with >>>some 22 gauge. I don't know how this translates to >>>pounds. Is that a British convention for wire size? >>> >>> >>>Tad Cook >>>Seattle, WA >> >>Tad, >> lb/m mil ohm/1000 ft B&S > >is that ohm/1000 feet? Yes, sorry about forgetting the "ft". I should write the replies off\-line when i can spend more time on them. Alan - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ End of Telecom Digest V2001 #281 ******************************** - To leave this list, send a message containing "unsubscribe" to telecom-digest-request@telecom-digest.org. Date: 2 Nov 2001 06:15:11 -0500 From: owner-telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org (Telecom Digest) To: telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org Subject: Telecom Digest V2001 #282 Telecom Digest Friday, November 2 2001 Volume 2001 : Number 282 In this issue: Re: a scam device? Re: Cingular Wireless goes with GSM in network upgrade eBay: Viking Digital Announcer Re: City identified on NPA-NXX list does not exist The next digital battle: Ring tones Re: ACD Reporting with BCMS Vu 2 Re: ACD Reporting with BCMS Vu 2 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 1 Nov 2001 09:40:20 -0500 From: Gary Novosielslki Subject: Re: a scam device? On 1 Nov 2001 00:03:07 -0500, Jered Floyd wrote: >It does go >off-hook; answers the phone, plays a SIT recoding ... and *then* rings >your phone. Predictive dialers that telemarketers use note lines that >generate SIT messages and mark them as invalid. Actually, it doesn't "go" off-hook, nor does it ring your phone. It waits until someone or something else goes off-hook (such as you, or your answering machine) and *then* just plays the SIT tones into the line. Expect complaints from people wanting to know why your phone is disconnected, expect to be annoyed by hearing the tones every time you pick up the phone, and expect interference to the operation of any automatic fax or modem that you have on that line, that may also be listening for tones just after going off-hook. Although the SIT tones are well defined, much equipment isn't sophisticated enough to tell similar tones apart. Mike Sandman had been marketing a device like this, but it's now off the market due to "a patent dispute". See: . Some years back (like 5-7 years?) I had heard from a friend in New York City who had put the SIT tones on his answering machine message. He was contacted by (then) New York Telephone, and officially told to remove the "offending device" from his line or lose his telephone service. They claimed the tariff prohibited customer equipment from generating "certain tones" reserved for Telco official use, and that the SIT tones fell into that category. He speculated that the tones might be interfering with answer-supervision on some aging equipment somewhere, but of course telco never confirmed or denied that, and he just complied and changed the tape rather than pressing the issue. It seems that telcos are not flying into a tizzy now, as the device is being offered on TV. It either no longer interferes (if it ever did) with answer supervision, or else its very possession might run you into federal prison (like Kevin Mitnik) for having an illegal "access device". - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 1 Nov 2001 11:26:43 -0500 From: Joseph Singer Subject: Re: Cingular Wireless goes with GSM in network upgrade On 31 Oct 2001 21:54:37 -0500, sjsobol@NorthShoreTechnologies.net (Steve Sobol) wrote: >This is not big news. > >Much of Cingular is already GSM anyhow. BellSouth Mobility and the SBC-owned >Cellular One outlets that became Cingular were TDMA, but BellSouth DCS and >Pacific Bell Wireless have been GSM all along. I guess it depends on what you consider how much is much. Currently Cingular is 70% TDMA. Only the systems on the west coast and in North/South Carolina/Tennessee are GSM systems. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Personal replies are likely not read. Please reply in the newsgroup - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 1 Nov 2001 12:06:38 -0500 From: "Jacob E. Goerlich" Subject: eBay: Viking Digital Announcer http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1657736619 - -- Jacob E. Goerlich i79 Productions Administrator - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 1 Nov 2001 13:21:39 -0500 From: Seymour Dupa Subject: Re: City identified on NPA-NXX list does not exist Close - Victory CO is in Parma, Ridge and Southington. Steve Sobol wrote: > There are some other former Ohio Bell Telephone COs in Cleveland with names > that don't correspond to cities. Victory is one of 'em (Cleveland - Old > Brooklyn neighborhood, if I recall correctly) > - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 1 Nov 2001 23:06:18 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: The next digital battle: Ring tones The next digital battle: Ring tones By Ben Charny Special to CNET News.com November 1, 2001, 4:00 a.m. PT The same forces that took on file-swapping companies Napster and MP3.com are quietly setting their sights on what some regard as the next digital copyright battle: selling ring tones for cell phones. Selling ring tones is big business in Europe and Asia, where hundreds of companies offer snippets of popular music to replace the prepackaged tones used to alert someone to a call. More than $300 million in ring tones were sold in Japan last year. Nokia estimates it will make billions selling ring tones by the end of 2005. But the industry is still relatively unregulated. Several industry insiders estimated that up to 65 percent of all ring-tone companies aren't properly licensed. With most of the business taking place in Europe, American licensing agencies like the Harry Fox Agency or the American Society of Composers, Artists and Publishers (ASCAP) weren't doing much about it--until now. ... http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1004-200-7738824.html - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 2 Nov 2001 00:07:11 -0500 From: Herb Rosenberg Subject: Re: ACD Reporting with BCMS Vu 2 Thanks. Please do let me know what you find out. Jose Feliciano wrote: > I have bcms Vu also, and have been asked to reproduce the same reports - I > have been unsuccessful. Funny - I'll be in Armonk, NY in Avaya - > ACD/Vectoring Expert Agent Selection class this week. I'll as the instructor > and post the answer. > > Thanks > > "Herb Rosenberg" wrote in message > news:3BDC8DEF.C6D2552@pacbell.net... > > It is possible to produce a historical report with BCMS Vu 2 that > > includes the longest call wait for a given period? > > > > This seems to be one of the most basic data points for > > a call center, but I have been told that it cannot be done. > > > > I see "oldest call" is available on a real time > > report, but not a historical one. Yet, I can get an historical report > > that includes the average speed of answer for a period of time, so the > > longest call data point has to be there, I would think. > > > > Thanks. > > -- > > The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail > > messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. > -- > The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail > messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 2 Nov 2001 01:12:49 -0500 From: "Jose Feliciano" Subject: Re: ACD Reporting with BCMS Vu 2 Will do.. "Herb Rosenberg" wrote in message news:3BE228FE.B8956F1C@pacbell.net... > Thanks. Please do let me know what you find out. > > > Jose Feliciano wrote: > > > I have bcms Vu also, and have been asked to reproduce the same reports - I > > have been unsuccessful. Funny - I'll be in Armonk, NY in Avaya - > > ACD/Vectoring Expert Agent Selection class this week. I'll as the instructor > > and post the answer. > > > > Thanks > > > > "Herb Rosenberg" wrote in message > > news:3BDC8DEF.C6D2552@pacbell.net... > > > It is possible to produce a historical report with BCMS Vu 2 that > > > includes the longest call wait for a given period? > > > > > > This seems to be one of the most basic data points for > > > a call center, but I have been told that it cannot be done. > > > > > > I see "oldest call" is available on a real time > > > report, but not a historical one. Yet, I can get an historical report > > > that includes the average speed of answer for a period of time, so the > > > longest call data point has to be there, I would think. > > > > > > Thanks. > > > -- > > > The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail > > > messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. > > -- > > The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail > > messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. > -- > The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail > messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ End of Telecom Digest V2001 #282 ******************************** - To leave this list, send a message containing "unsubscribe" to telecom-digest-request@telecom-digest.org. Date: 3 Nov 2001 06:15:12 -0500 From: owner-telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org (Telecom Digest) To: telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org Subject: Telecom Digest V2001 #283 Telecom Digest Saturday, November 3 2001 Volume 2001 : Number 283 In this issue: Re: The next digital battle: Ring tones Re: The next digital battle: Ring tones why need multiple DPCs at SSP ? Re: a scam device? True and clear differences between Class-4 and Class-5 switch Re: The next digital battle: Ring tones 11/02/01 http://ICBTollFreeNews.Com HEADS UP HEADLINES Re: a scam device? Tone frequency/specs ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 2 Nov 2001 16:02:02 -0500 From: haynes@alumni.uark.edu (Jim Haynes) Subject: Re: The next digital battle: Ring tones Somewhat in the same vein, there is a rumor circulating on a mailing list (PIPORG-L) that someone has copyrighted all the approximately 10! (ten factorial) tunes that result from dialing telephone numbers with tone dialers. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 2 Nov 2001 16:38:37 -0500 From: dscheidt@tumbolia.com Subject: Re: The next digital battle: Ring tones Jim Haynes wrote in article : > Somewhat in the same vein, there is a rumor circulating on a mailing list > (PIPORG-L) that someone has copyrighted all the approximately 10! (ten > factorial) tunes that result from dialing telephone numbers with tone > dialers. Well, I rather doubt you could do that. In any event there aren't 3628800 (10!) possible phone number tunes, but 10,000,000,000. There are 10! tunes that use each of the numbers exactly once, maybe that's what was meant. - -- dscheidt@tumbolia.com Bipedalism is only a fad. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 2 Nov 2001 17:50:24 -0500 From: bdutta@hotmail.com (Banibrata Dutta) Subject: why need multiple DPCs at SSP ? hi, i do understand that multiple DPC's (Destination Point Codes, or simply Point Codes to the purist), are needed for applications s.a. Internation Gateway, or a Screening Gateway which is also an SSP (or a CO to be more basic). apart from this, i know only SCP's require multiple DPC (say same SCP hosts LIBD, HLR, VLR say simply for resource sharing). apart from these applications, is there *ANY* other reason why one might like to have the feature of having the ability to host (identify itself as having) Multiple DPC's. let's talk from the Class-5 switch point of view. thanks, bdutta. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 2 Nov 2001 18:26:10 -0500 From: "Gail M. Hall" Subject: Re: a scam device? On 1 Nov 2001 09:40:20 -0500, in comp.dcom.telecom, you (Gary Novosielslki ) wrote: > >It seems that telcos are not flying into a tizzy now, as the device is >being offered on TV. It either no longer interferes (if it ever did) with >answer supervision, or else its very possession might run you into federal >prison (like Kevin Mitnik) for having an illegal "access device". I suspect you live in a dream world. ;-) Being offered on TV is no guarantee that something is OK and above board. Just ask the people in New York dealing with the Miss Cloe "free" psychic readings mess. It seems that "the media" - print or broadcast - are happy to accept advertising dollars regardless of whether the product or service is really legal or ethical or even works as advertised. In their defense, I suspect that if they did check the reliability of their advertisers' claims and advertised themselves as doing that, they could also be held liable for any damages resulting from suits against the advertiser. So we will see the authorities going after Miss Cloe and similar scammers but not the TV networks and stations that accept her money for the infomercials and advertising spots they do. I'm glad the question about this telemarketer "zapper" came up, though. I was also curious about whether it would really work as advertised without interfering with other telephone usage. A huge number of the telemarketing calls we get are recordings. We hang up on them, but we have no way to let them know we want taken off their call list. - -- Gail from Ohio USA - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 2 Nov 2001 18:51:07 -0500 From: bdutta@hotmail.com (Banibrata Dutta) Subject: True and clear differences between Class-4 and Class-5 switch hi: i've seen too many wannebe telecom-heads talk about Class-4 and Class-5 switches with abandon, but i think that's very loose usage of the terms, where they mean Class-5 switch is one which hosts actual subscribers, and Class-4 switch is basically a Trunk switch i.e. has no real subscribers, but hosts trunks only. could someone elaborate on the real definition of Class-4 and Class-5, and from where did these terms come to be. Are there anything like Class-0, 1, 2, 3 also ?? TIA, bdutta. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 2 Nov 2001 20:07:50 -0500 From: Dave Garland Subject: Re: The next digital battle: Ring tones It was a dark and stormy night when haynes@alumni.uark.edu (Jim Haynes) wrote: >Somewhat in the same vein, there is a rumor circulating on a mailing list >(PIPORG-L) that someone has copyrighted all the approximately 10! (ten >factorial) tunes that result from dialing telephone numbers with tone >dialers. 100,000,000,000 numbers (10^11), according to this story: http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/2001/10/04/FFX0PGT0CSC.html The folks that got the patent (http://www.magnus-opus.com, but their server wasn't responding when I tried it) are in Australia. Fortunately they didn't copyright the corresponding rhythm compositions, so you'll be ok if you stick to your old rotary phone. :) - -Dave - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 2 Nov 2001 21:51:30 -0500 From: "Judith Oppenheimer" Subject: 11/02/01 http://ICBTollFreeNews.Com HEADS UP HEADLINES ____________________________________________________ http://ICBTollFreeNews.Com HEADS UP HEADLINES ____________________________________________________ from ICB Toll Free News - Daily News and Intelligence covering the Political, Legal and Marketing Arenas of 800, ENUM and Dot Com. ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ CONTENTS FOR THE PERIOD ENDING NOVEMBER 2, 2001 - - HEADING CONGRESS OFF AT THE PASS - - NEUSTAR - MINI ICANN? - - ICANN'S NEW BEST FRIEND, IS NEUSTAR. - - ICANN'S NEW BEST FRIEND, IS NEUSTAR. PART II - - WHAT'S THE COMMOTION ABOUT, ANYWAY? - - WHAT'S THE COMMOTION ABOUT, ANYWAY?, PART II /=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= advertisement =-=-=-\ Who's representing your numbering interests in ENUM? *** http://ENUMSurvival.com *** \=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=/ - - WHO IS MIKE ROBERTS AND WHY IS HE SPEAKING FOR ICANN? - - .US AWARDED TO NEUSTAR - - AS IF WE REALLY NEEDED ANY MORE REVELATIONS - - HERE'S A NOVEL WAY TO MARKET DOMAIN NAMES. - - JUST IN TIME FOR MDR - - WELL, IS IT OR ISN'T IT? ____________________________________________________ ARTICLE ACCESS CODE LEGEND ICB Toll Free News offers two valuable service options: F = Free - News and Features articles P = Premium - Unlimited Site Access including all Articles and Documents. Registration information is not sold, leased or rented. *** For additional information about topics and stories, keyword search here: http://www.icbtollfree.com/Search.cfm. ____________________________________________________ P - HEADING CONGRESS OFF AT THE PASS "Just like the NTIA didn't want the original .kids bill because it would force the them to micromanage ICANN, they don't want Congress micromanaging them in their oversight of the .us domain, which is what they think this new version would do." CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=5490 F - NEUSTAR - MINI ICANN? You may remember that Neustar had declined to join the CDT-driven effort to put .US policy in the hands of a new ".us Policy Development Corporation," whose decisions would be binding on the registry. Rather, Neustar's documents now explain, Neustar will create a "usTLD Policy Council," whose recommendations it will accept if it feels like it. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=5489 F - ICANN'S NEW BEST FRIEND, IS NEUSTAR. In its proposal to the Commerce Department to operate .us, NeuStar stated that it would set aside kids.us for possible use as a public resource, NeuStar Director of Policy and Business Development Jim Casey told Newsbytes yesterday. Such a compromise would ease concerns about ICANN losing respect in the world community, said ICANN Chief Policy Officer Andrew McLaughlin. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=5487 P - ICANN'S NEW BEST FRIEND, IS NEUSTAR. PART II A congressional hearing was held today to "decide" the fate of .kids, said fate written up three days ago. But reps want to know, what's VoIP got to do with it? CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=5488 F - WHAT'S THE COMMOTION ABOUT, ANYWAY? When applying for governance of the fledgling domain name system in 1997, ICANN promised to form a 19-member board of directors with one president. Nine were to be duly elected representatives from around the world to represent the common Internet user (called at-large members), the other nine were to be selected from the three ICANN supporting organizations. The committee's decision to reduce the number of elected ICANN directors from nine to six is a direct violation of ICANN's promise to the Department of Commerce and the worldwide Internet community, critics say. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=5485 F - WHAT'S THE COMMOTION ABOUT, ANYWAY?, PART II I can't help but notice Roberts' overriding deference for ICANN insiders and concern for "the future welfare of ICANN," rather than "the future welfare of the Internet," or "the future welfare of the Internet community," or even "the future welfare of a secure DNS..." But no doubt Roberts said just what he means. His concern is about ICANN: its political status, and his. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=5486 /=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= advertisement =-=-=-\ - -- Lost and Stolen Number Retrieval -- ENUM Survival Strategies - -- Crisis Resolution -- Vanity Number Issues, Guidance & Navigation - -- Tollfree Number Traces -- Representation at SNAC, ENUM & ICANN Forums - -- Strategic Leadership + Competitive Intelligence -- Custom Research Reports - -- Custom Problem Solving: disputes, litigation support, RespOrg issues, etc. ICB Consultancy -- http://1800TheExpert.com \=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=.=/ Looking for the best 800 and long distance rates available today? Choose from multiple programs - Rates as low as 2.9¢ per minute, with no monthly minimums or hidden service charges! http://www.roibot.com/w.cgi?R1764_CogWSemail \=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=/ F - WHO IS MIKE ROBERTS AND WHY IS HE SPEAKING FOR ICANN? To hear Roberts tell it, ICANN needs to "keep people from being killed by terrorist plots hatched over the net." CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=5482 P - .US AWARDED TO NEUSTAR Is ENUM far behind? Or are those NeuStar-only .us number domains for cornering the zip code space? CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=5484 F - AS IF WE REALLY NEEDED ANY MORE REVELATIONS ICANN's staff has refused to allow alt-root provider New.net to sponsor the General Assembly session scheduled for the upcoming ICANN meeting. Why? In the words of ICANN's potentate Stuart Lynn, "we place bounds around whom we accept as sponsors. And new.net does not fit the package." CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=5483 P - HERE'S A NOVEL WAY TO MARKET DOMAIN NAMES. Don't sell them. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=5481 P - JUST IN TIME FOR MDR ... a new browser plug-in has been released that facilitates access to all TLD's - legacy gTLD's (com, net, org), alt root TLD's, ccTLD's, even New.net domains - that works with all versions of Win32 operating systems; it does IE, Netscape, etc.., and when you enter a URL where colliding domain names exists, it gives you the choice of which one you want to see. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=5480 F - WELL, IS IT OR ISN'T IT? ICANN been caught red-handed manipulating its own rules to protect existing members at the expense of its stated philosophy of openness. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=5479 ___________________________________________________ EVERY 3.6 SECONDS SOMEONE DIES FROM HUNGER http://www.hungersite.com/ ___________________________________________________ ABOUT ICB ICB HeadsUp Headlines is sent by request. Subscriptions to ICB HeadsUp Headlines are free to qualified applicants. Visit http://www.roibot.com/w.cgi?R1764_ICBsignup to sign up. To unsubscribe mailto:editor@icbtollfree.com, subject: unsubscribe. (Unsubs are processed manually, approximately bi-weekly.) ___________________________________________________ ADVERTISING For information on advertising in ICB HeadsUp Headlines, contact Vincent Lemma at Lake Interactive. Telephone: 914-925-2406 Email: http://www.roibot.com/w.cgi?R1764_LakIntEm ____________________________________________________ Only subscribers or registered users of ICB Toll Free News web site will be able to access all or some of the full text of URLs provided. ____________________________________________________ Copyright © 2001 ICB, Inc. All rights reserved. ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ------------------------------ Date: 3 Nov 2001 00:11:23 -0500 From: "Don Russell" Subject: Re: a scam device? As far as things like Ms Cleo go... I think if you can read the "fine print" at the bottom of the pictures, it says "for entertainment purposes only"... Anyway, it did not occur to me that the SIT (Special Information Tones) would do that.... $50 seems awfully expensive.. I'm just going to record the tones onto my answering machine .... "beep beep beep .... Please leave a message after the beep ... beep beep beep". The first set should cause automated equipment to hang up right away.... :-) Granted that won't play the SIT tones when I DO answer the calls, but I usually let the "machine" answer during dinner anyway... ;-) Don Russell "Gail M. Hall" wrote in message news:ch46ut8eit7dsb1qn27ivjt42idf0t3pkh@4ax.com... > On 1 Nov 2001 09:40:20 -0500, in comp.dcom.telecom, you (Gary Novosielslki > ) wrote: > > > > >It seems that telcos are not flying into a tizzy now, as the device is > >being offered on TV. It either no longer interferes (if it ever did) with > >answer supervision, or else its very possession might run you into federal > >prison (like Kevin Mitnik) for having an illegal "access device". > > I suspect you live in a dream world. ;-) Being offered on TV is no > guarantee that something is OK and above board. Just ask the people in New > York dealing with the Miss Cloe "free" psychic readings mess. > > It seems that "the media" - print or broadcast - are happy to accept > advertising dollars regardless of whether the product or service is really > legal or ethical or even works as advertised. > > In their defense, I suspect that if they did check the reliability of their > advertisers' claims and advertised themselves as doing that, they could > also be held liable for any damages resulting from suits against the > advertiser. > > So we will see the authorities going after Miss Cloe and similar scammers > but not the TV networks and stations that accept her money for the > infomercials and advertising spots they do. > > I'm glad the question about this telemarketer "zapper" came up, though. I > was also curious about whether it would really work as advertised without > interfering with other telephone usage. A huge number of the telemarketing > calls we get are recordings. We hang up on them, but we have no way to let > them know we want taken off their call list. > > > > -- > Gail from Ohio USA > -- > The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail > messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. > - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 3 Nov 2001 00:44:39 -0500 From: "Don Russell" Subject: Tone frequency/specs Can anyone provide me a no-cost list of various call progress frequencies and cadences? I'm not looking for the internal switching stuff.... Just the every-day stuff... For example... I have these already: Dial 350 Hz + 440 Hz Steady Reorder (fast busy) 480 + 620 Repeat tones on/off 250mS each Busy 480 + 620 Repeat tones on/off 500mS each Audible Ring 440 + 480 Repeat tones 2 Sec on 4 Sec off Recall Dial 350 + 440 Three bursts on/off 100mSec each, then followed by Dial Tone (above) Special AR (?) 440 + 480 Tones on for 1 Sec followed by 440Hz for 200mSec silence for 3 Sec, repeat Intercept 440 + 620 Repeat alternating tones, each on for 230mSec (+/ 70mS) total cycle time 500mSec (+/- 50mS) Call Waiting 440 One burst of 200 mSec Busy Verification 440 One burst on for 1.75 Sec before attendant intrudes followed by burst of on for 0.65Sec. 8 to 20 seconds apart for as long as the call lasts. Executive Override 440 One burst for 3Sec before overriding station intrudes Confirmation 350 + 440 Three bursts on/off 100mSec each or 100mSec on, 100mSec off, 300mSec on What are "Special AR", "Intercept", "Busy Verification", "Executive Override", "Confirmation"? Are some of these just for PBX-type systems? I also have all the DTMF and MF frequencies, but I'd like to know other "standard" things like the SIT tone specs and what they mean... Example... the "three rising tones" that preceeds "The number you reached is disconnected". I presume this is 350 Hz then 400 then 620 Hz, but for how long each? This stuff should be all "standard", readily available.... Thanks, Don Russell - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ End of Telecom Digest V2001 #283 ******************************** - To leave this list, send a message containing "unsubscribe" to telecom-digest-request@telecom-digest.org. Date: 4 Nov 2001 06:15:09 -0500 From: owner-telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org (Telecom Digest) To: telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org Subject: Telecom Digest V2001 #284 Telecom Digest Sunday, November 4 2001 Volume 2001 : Number 284 In this issue: Miss Cleo (Re: a scam device?) Re: The next digital battle: Ring tones Re: The next digital battle: Ring tones Re: Miss Cleo (Re: a scam device?) Re: The next digital battle: Ring tones Re: Miss Cleo (Re: a scam device?) Re: The next digital battle: Ring tones Lucent Partner ACS Voicemail: What can it do? DID's? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 3 Nov 2001 06:44:21 -0500 From: Joel B Levin Subject: Miss Cleo (Re: a scam device?) In , "Don Russell" wrote: }As far as things like Ms Cleo go... I think if you can read the "fine print" }at the bottom of the pictures, it says "for entertainment purposes only"... I haven't read it yet, but on the topic of Miss Cleo, this looks as if it is extremely informative: http://www.consumer.state.ny.us/pressreleases/2001/DialingForDollars.pdf Regarding legal action the state of NY has taken: http://www.consumer.state.ny.us/pressreleases/2001/Oct312001.htm /JBL - -- Nets: levin/at/bbn.com | "GO TO JAIL. Go directly to jail. Do not pass or jbl/at/levin.mv.com| Go. Do not collect $200." or levinjb/at/gte.net | ARS: KD1ON | -- Parker Brothers - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 3 Nov 2001 06:47:03 -0500 From: Joel B Levin Subject: Re: The next digital battle: Ring tones In <1004737109.978271@brain.mics.net>, dscheidt@tumbolia.com wrote: }Jim Haynes wrote in article : }> Somewhat in the same vein, there is a rumor circulating on a mailing list }> (PIPORG-L) that someone has copyrighted all the approximately 10! (ten }> factorial) tunes that result from dialing telephone numbers with tone }> dialers. } }Well, I rather doubt you could do that. In any event there aren't 3628800 }(10!) possible phone number tunes, but 10,000,000,000. There are 10! tunes }that use each of the numbers exactly once, maybe that's what was meant. This was described on All Things Considered this afternoon. I don't remember the web site, but you can probably find a link if you check the ATC section of www.npr.org and look up the Nov. 2 program, or at least you can play the segment on realaudio. /JBL - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 3 Nov 2001 10:06:18 -0500 From: Dave Garland Subject: Re: The next digital battle: Ring tones It was a dark and stormy night when I wrote: >The folks that got the patent (http://www.magnus-opus.com, That should have been "copyright", of course, as it is for a musical composition. Their website is working this morning, and offers performance licensing for their compositions (some of which you may think of as "your" numbers). It's all a bit tongue in cheek, and poking a bit at the lunacy of governments that issue patents for "business practices", trademarks for common words or colors, copyrights (intended to protect "creative expression") for sequences of machine instructions, and the like. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 3 Nov 2001 12:31:55 -0500 From: tknab@nyx.net (Terry Knab) Subject: Re: Miss Cleo (Re: a scam device?) Joel B Levin wrote: : In , : "Don Russell" wrote: : }As far as things like Ms Cleo go... I think if you can read the "fine print" : }at the bottom of the pictures, it says "for entertainment purposes only"... : I haven't read it yet, but on the topic of Miss Cleo, this looks as if it is : extremely informative: : http://www.consumer.state.ny.us/pressreleases/2001/DialingForDollars.pdf : Regarding legal action the state of NY has taken: : http://www.consumer.state.ny.us/pressreleases/2001/Oct312001.htm NY isn't the only state, Missouri went after her too! Somethning like 94 counts of violating the missouri no-call law. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 3 Nov 2001 13:16:47 -0500 From: zbang@Radix.Net (Carl Zwanzig) Subject: Re: The next digital battle: Ring tones Dave Garland wrote: >It was a dark and stormy night when I wrote: > >>The folks that got the patent (http://www.magnus-opus.com, > >That should have been "copyright", of course, as it is for a musical >composition. > >Their website is working this morning, and offers performance licensing >for their compositions (some of which you may think of as "your" >numbers). It's all a bit tongue in cheek, and poking a bit at the >lunacy of governments that issue patents for "business practices", >trademarks for common words or colors, copyrights (intended to protect >"creative expression") for sequences of machine instructions, and the >like. IMHO, It's also a completely unenforcible copyright, as it has no "substantive creative work" in it. Sort of like the phone book. The list of subscribers has been deemed non-protectable because it's just a list. The formatted version is protected, but the data itself isn't. I do agree, however, that the PTO and LOC have been issuing patents and copyrights to fairly obvious things, with no "novelty" or "creativity". z! - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 3 Nov 2001 20:55:54 -0500 From: "Gail M. Hall" Subject: Re: Miss Cleo (Re: a scam device?) On 3 Nov 2001 06:44:21 -0500, in comp.dcom.telecom, you (Joel B Levin ) wrote: >In , > "Don Russell" wrote: >}As far as things like Ms Cleo go... I think if you can read the "fine print" >}at the bottom of the pictures, it says "for entertainment purposes only"... > >I haven't read it yet, but on the topic of Miss Cleo, this looks as if it is >extremely informative: > > http://www.consumer.state.ny.us/pressreleases/2001/DialingForDollars.pdf > >Regarding legal action the state of NY has taken: > > http://www.consumer.state.ny.us/pressreleases/2001/Oct312001.htm > We can thank Miss Cleo for getting our Ohio lawmakers and attorney general off their seats and serious about passing a no-call law here in Ohio. There have been so many complaints from people in Ohio who have asked to be taken off the Miss Cleo telemarketing list and Ohio can at present do nothing to stop, that the attorney general says she is going to work very hard to get a no-call law passed here. I can't think of any legislator who could work against such a law and expect to be re-elected next time around. :-) As for the fine print on the TV ads, they never leave it on long enough and the print is way too small for many of us to see from a normal viewing distance. You have to get much closer to see that print. Too bad Miss Cleo doesn't have enough psychic ability to know which people would be interested in her "services." Last night I saw an ad on TV for someone called Sylvia, but I don't know if her company plans to do telemarketing. I also wonder about holding the company that sells services to those telemarketers responsible. That would be some kind of phone company! One evening not long ago we got one of those recorded calls offering home loans. I hung up immediately, and immediately they called right back. This happened several times. Not even a minute would go by before they called again. We decided to let the answering machine take the call, but the phone kept on ringing over and over again anyway. The only way we could stop the disturbance was to take the phone off the hook. Obviously that was a malfunctioning machine. I refuse to pay extra for caller ID or the service that is suppose to screen out telemarketers based on no caller ID being given for the call. The phone companies SELL to these telemarketing companies and very likely make BIG BUCKS from that, so they should have to pay for keeping the telemarketers from bothering us when we don't want to be bothered. Because I don't subscribe to caller ID, I would have to pay extra, almost $5 if I remember right, to dial a special number right after hanging up from the troublesome call to report a call as harassment and also call the police. Even at that, it is very likely the call could not be traced that way. The phone company in this case reports only to the police and not to the customer. - -- Gail from Ohio USA - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 3 Nov 2001 23:38:03 -0500 From: haynes@alumni.uark.edu (Jim Haynes) Subject: Re: The next digital battle: Ring tones Yeah, I realized as soon as I said it that 10! is wrong, so I cancelled the article. But not fast enough, apparently. It's of course 10^10 tunes. What I was thinking of at the time was that it's about the same as copyrighting all the possible tone rows in 12-tone music, where it would be 11! compositions. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 4 Nov 2001 02:11:23 -0500 From: brendan@stealthtech.com (Brendan OMara) Subject: Lucent Partner ACS Voicemail: What can it do? DID's? I'm trying to make some decisions regarding the purchase of a Partner system. We want to run multiple business entities from the same Partner system. We figure DID's would solve that problem by routing the phone calls for each business to a specific voicemail box with custom greeting. Is this supported? Are DID's supported on the Partner? How about the older partner models? I realize this information should be available from Lucent, but I sure couldn't find any info on the older used models.. if someone has a web site link to the appropriate older specifications, that would be appreciated as well. Thanks! - -Brendan brendan@stealthtech.com - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ End of Telecom Digest V2001 #284 ******************************** - To leave this list, send a message containing "unsubscribe" to telecom-digest-request@telecom-digest.org. Date: 5 Nov 2001 06:15:10 -0500 From: owner-telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org (Telecom Digest) To: telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org Subject: Telecom Digest V2001 #285 Telecom Digest Monday, November 5 2001 Volume 2001 : Number 285 In this issue: Tone frequency/specs Re: Tone frequency/specs Re: Verizon denying text messaging part of AmericaChoice Re: Miss Cleo (Re: a scam device?) Re: Miss Cleo (Re: a scam device?) Re: True and clear differences between Class-4 and Class-5 switch Re: Miss Cleo (Re: a scam device?) Zenith numbers Miss Cleo Re: Zenith numbers V35 and G.703 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 4 Nov 2001 09:37:16 -0500 From: gpn@techie.com Subject: Tone frequency/specs On 3 Nov 2001 00:44:39 -0500, "Don Russell" wrote: >What are "Special AR", "Intercept", "Busy Verification", "Executive >Override", "Confirmation"? Are some of these just for PBX-type systems? Some of these are PBX-only tones. Special Audible Ring is a ringback sound with a low "boop" at the end. It indicates that you are camped on to the number, i.e. that they have call-waiting, and you're waiting. If they hang up, the tone changes to normal audible ringing. This is PBX only, but it sure would be useful on regular phone service. Intercept is the "Euro Police Siren" tone that occurs if you dial some feature you don't have, or something not allowed in the dial plan. Busy Verification and Executive Override sound the same, except for the length of the tone, but they both mean the same thing: Someone is breaking in on your phone call. In the case of BV it's an operator, in the case of EO, it's the boss. Naturally, EO is a PBX only feature, and many (most?) companies do NOT enable the feature. Right-thinking phone men do not even tell the execs that there is such a thing. Confirmation is three short burst of dial tone, indicating that the feature you just dialed (such as auto callback) has been activated. It sounds just like the stutter at the beginning of a stutter dialtone, but without the steady dialtone at the end. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 4 Nov 2001 10:21:10 -0500 From: Wes Leatherock Subject: Re: Tone frequency/specs On 4 Nov 2001 gpn@techie.com wrote: [ ... ] > Special Audible Ring is a ringback sound with a low "boop" at the end. It > indicates that you are camped on to the number, i.e. that they have > call-waiting, and you're waiting. If they hang up, the tone changes to > normal audible ringing. This is PBX only, but it sure would be useful on > regular phone service. I don't think "Camp-On Busy" is dependent on whether the called party has call waiting. Camp-On Busy is a function on PBXs that allows the _calling party_ to camp on any busy line, regardless of what features the _called party_ has. Wes Leatherock wleath@sandbox.dynip.com - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 4 Nov 2001 19:17:23 -0500 From: Kelly Daniels Subject: Re: Verizon denying text messaging part of AmericaChoice Getting a written contract is a little tougher than you would think. I had a series of problems with Verizon, starting with GTE mobilnet then GTE and then Verizon. The first year, I lost a $75.00 deposit with Mobilnet when I cancelled service and they had sold to us west newvector about 1993. As for introductory offers, what a scam the talk-a-lot plan was witha mobilnet phone that plugged into your house line. pretty darn convenient very useful what a darn good product, some how it was just too beneficial, it was wiped out before GTE could honor the one year contract. Then I ordered DSL and they choose to implement with DMT technology which in few instances has sideboard noise, mostly on electronic phones (ones with full duplex speaker and conference capabilities). They refused to allow me to cancel the contract. They wanted me to buy new $150.00 phones. I thought a better answer was to cancel voice on Line two, Leave DSL on LIne two and have no other problems. no deal. Instead they again sent me to collections. This time I spent approximately 15 hours over a six month period negotiating through the Oregon department of Justice a complaint with all my information. In addition, at each step the Oregon DOJ and I tried to get a written agreement from Verizon. How damn convenient, they just cannot put anything in writing. I feel for you, not even the regulators or the court system can get Verizon Marketing and Billing divisions into fair trade practice. The bummer of it all, is I still cannot find another DSL provider (note while many companies provide DSl, all they are doing is reselling Verizon in my area, which none of them can tell me if the DSLAM will not be DMT). Good Luck on Kyler Laird wrote: > I've had GTE MobilNet/Verizon service since 1991. > With the current set of phones, I got the > AmericaChoice 650 plan for ~$90/month. I've had > those phones since 1999. The AmericaChoice plan > is longer offered, but I've kept it because it > offered unlimited text messaging. (I get e-mail > notification on my phone.) > > I recently learned that I've been paying all > this extra money to stay on a rate plan that > really doesn't offer text messaging. They > decided that text messaging has just been > available on that plan during a two year > "introductory offer". Now they're eliminating > it. > > Because I switched to this plan shortly after we > purchased the phones, I handled it all over the > phone and do not have a written contract. > > I think I'll give up on Verizon (on all of my > mobile and home phones), but I'd feel better > having written proof of their dishonesty. > > Anyone have an AmericaChoice contract around? > > Thank you. > > --kyler > -- > The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail > messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 4 Nov 2001 19:47:52 -0500 From: Rory Francisco Subject: Re: Miss Cleo (Re: a scam device?) My father, who moved to Verizon-New Jersey territory last December, has also been plagued with the automated Miss Cleo telemarketing calls. They've awakened him at 8 in the morning, and have also called during various hours on Sundays (doesn't New York, at least. have laws against sales calls on Sundays?) I picked up one of the calls once. If you listen all the way through Cleo's sales pitch, for about 5 minutes, there is an announcement at the end of the recording saying you can be removed from the list by calling a number in Nebraska (402 area code). I dialed the 402 number, which was another recording simply asking you to type in your ten-digit telephone number to be removed from Cleo's list. It didn't work---several weeks later, the calls to my father started up again. Making things worse, there's not even any way to hang up on the recording. Cleo seizes the phone line until she's finished. There's no question that Miss Cleo is violating the laws of nearly every state by failing to use a "do-not-call" list. But regardless of whether the "do-not-call" list works, is it against the law to have to pay for a toll call to access it? Granted, the call to Nebraska is short, but it does incur a charge, depending on one's LD calling plan. Also, FYI, it seems that Cleo does transmit some sort of Caller ID info. My father doesn't subscribe to CID, but I used the call trace feature (which costs $1 in NJ) and it apparently did flag the call successfully. For most other telemarketers I've tried Call Trace on, the trace has failed due to bogus "out of area" CID transmission on the telemarketer's end. One tip to anyone trying to avoid telemarketers: when signing up for new service or a second line, be sure to ask for a number that has never been in use before. My father receives repeated calls---most from salespeople---for the old tenant. Since he has a non-published number, most of these calls could have been avoided if his number were truly "new." - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 4 Nov 2001 20:55:39 -0500 From: johnl@iecc.com (John R Levine) Subject: Re: Miss Cleo (Re: a scam device?) >My father, who moved to Verizon-New Jersey territory last December, has also >been plagued with the automated Miss Cleo telemarketing calls. They've >awakened him at 8 in the morning, and have also called during various hours >on Sundays (doesn't New York, at least. have laws against sales calls on >Sundays?) Robot sales calls to residences are just plain illegal under the federal TCPA, no state laws needed. You can sue them for $1500/call in state court. (The penalty is $500/call, tripled if it's "willing and knowing" which it clearly is now what with all the cases against them.) - -- John R. Levine, IECC, POB 727, Trumansburg NY 14886 +1 607 387 6869 johnl@iecc.com, Village Trustee and Sewer Commissioner, http://iecc.com/johnl, Member, Provisional board, Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 4 Nov 2001 21:24:09 -0500 From: "Herb Stein" Subject: Re: True and clear differences between Class-4 and Class-5 switch "Banibrata Dutta" wrote in message news:ccecb365.0111021453.4495c2cf@posting.google.com... > hi: > > i've seen too many wannebe telecom-heads talk about Class-4 and > Class-5 switches with abandon, but i think that's very loose usage of > the terms, where they mean Class-5 switch is one which hosts actual > subscribers, and Class-4 switch is basically a Trunk switch i.e. has > no real subscribers, but hosts trunks only. could someone elaborate on > the real definition of Class-4 and Class-5, and from where did these > terms come to be. Are there anything like Class-0, 1, 2, 3 also ?? I'll dig out a book from the Bell System and reply again. There was (is) a big difference going upstream from the class 5, but the lines got blurred long ago when TPC noticed a lot of traffic going from one class 5 to another. So they put trunks between them. The same happened between tandems and even higher class offices. Email me directly and I'll look it up and ask some old-timers. > TIA, > bdutta. > -- > The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail > messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. - -- Herb Stein The Herb Stein Group www.herbstein.com herb@herbstein.com 314 952-4601 - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 4 Nov 2001 22:15:14 -0500 From: tknab@nyx.net (Terry Knab) Subject: Re: Miss Cleo (Re: a scam device?) Rory Francisco wrote: : One tip to anyone trying to avoid telemarketers: when signing up for new : service or a second line, be sure to ask for a number that has never been in : use before. My father receives repeated calls---most from salespeople---for : the old tenant. Since he has a non-published number, most of these calls : could have been avoided if his number were truly "new." I'd love to get a UNUSED number, but the odds of getting one are slim to none. The phone co. has no such things anymore, unless you get itno an overlay situaion or a funky new area code (eg, 816/975) And few telcos allow you to choose a number anymore. SWB is (I think) the only telco that does, and that is if you hit hte lucky service rep who will look for one. I always try to get a phone # that used to belong to businesses becuase they're out of service one year before being reassigned. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 4 Nov 2001 22:54:01 -0500 From: "Al Gillis" Subject: Zenith numbers Some time ago we were discussing Zenith numbers here. Numerous opinions were put forward as to the status of these numbers in today's telecommunications environment. I'd seen Zenith numbers advertised in the late 1950's as a sort of precursor to "800" toll free service. Well, here the latest one I've seen: On the 2000-2001 Official State of Nevada DOT highway map (featuring Governor "Smilin' Kenny" Guinn) the legend says to reach the state Highway Patrol "...dial the Operator and ask for Zenith 1-2000". The map legend further advises that you may dial "*NHP" on your cellular phone. I'm wondering how many operator service providers have a clue about this service and how many cellular companies operating in the state of Nevada recognize that abbreviated dialing number. I did not have an emergency so I did not attempt either of these access methods. Maybe a Carson City Communications expert could inform us of these interesting ideas. Incidentally I just spent an excellent several days in Nevada with beautiful weather, lots of fun, lots of sun and very interesting things to see and do! The State Museum was very good (with a unique mine exhibit). - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 4 Nov 2001 23:44:39 -0500 From: "Andy Ball" Subject: Miss Cleo FamilyNet Newsgate Hello Gail, GMH> Too bad Miss Cleo doesn't have enough psychic ability to know > which people would be interested in her "services." GMH> I refuse to pay extra for caller ID or the service that is > suppose to screen out telemarketers based on no caller ID being > given for the call... We get quite a few tele-marketer calls at work, where we're equipped with caller ID. I believe 'Miss Cleo' is one of the ones that comes in with a CLID of (000) 000-0000. This would presumably circumvent anonymous call rejection. Seeing this raised an interesting question for me: who decides what you can or can't send? My local telephone company charges more for caller ID than we're willing to spend for our residential phone line. Mind you, they also charge extra for DTMF dialling . Come to think of it, I'd be surprised if any of their line interface cards (Northern Telecom switch, I'm guessing that's where the DTMF/pulse decode happens...) /didn't/ support DTMF. I suspect that there's no technical reason for the surcharge, and that it's just 'because they can'. GMH> The phone companies SELL to these telemarketing companies and > very likely make BIG BUCKS from that, so they should have to > pay for keeping the telemarketers from bothering us when we > don't want to be bothered. Perhaps there should be a 'spam-tax' on the telemarketers, money raised to provide caller ID for anyone who wants it. :-) That said, I'd rather see the cause of the problem treated than the symptoms. Regards, - Andy. FamilyNet <> Internet Gated Mail http://www.fmlynet.org - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 5 Nov 2001 02:08:32 -0500 From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: Zenith numbers > I'm wondering how many operator service providers have a clue about > this [ Zenith ] service I'd be amazed if anyone other than Nevada Bell did. Using a Zenith number these days is silly, it's vastly more expensive than an 800 number, since calls are charged as operator assisted collect calls. > and how many cellular companies operating in the state of Nevada > recognize that abbreviated dialing number. According to the Cellular Travel Guide, AT&T, the A carrier in Reno and Las Vegas, and Alltel, the B carrier in Las Vegas do. There's only three other cell carriers in the state, Airtouch, Western Wireless, and the tiny Churchill County Telephone, so I doubt it would be very hard for the cops to get them all to provide it. They all have 911 which I suspect goes to the same place. >Incidentally I just spent an excellent several days in >Nevada with beautiful weather, lots of fun, lots of sun >and very interesting things to see and do! The State >Museum was very good (with a unique mine exhibit). Sounds like fun. How much did you lose? - -- John R. Levine, IECC, POB 727, Trumansburg NY 14886 +1 607 387 6869 johnl@iecc.com, Village Trustee and Sewer Commissioner, http://iecc.com/johnl, Member, Provisional board, Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 5 Nov 2001 03:32:43 -0500 From: marco.carini@snamprogetti.eni.it (marco carini) Subject: V35 and G.703 I would like to know what are the differences between V.35 and G.703 interfaces. Is there anyone who can help me to understand when V.35 interface can be used and when G.703 is preferred? Thanks in advance for your kind answer. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ End of Telecom Digest V2001 #285 ******************************** - To leave this list, send a message containing "unsubscribe" to telecom-digest-request@telecom-digest.org. Date: 5 Nov 2001 20:56:37 -0500 From: owner-telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org (Telecom Digest) To: telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org Subject: Telecom Digest V2001 #286 Telecom Digest Monday, November 5 2001 Volume 2001 : Number 286 In this issue: Telecom Update (Canada) #307, November 5, 2001 Re: Telecom Digest V2001 #285 Re: Tone frequency/specs Called Party Timeout (was: Miss Cleo) Tone frequency/specs Re: True and clear differences between Class-4 and Class-5 switch Re: V35 and G.703 Re: Miss Cleo RE: Miss Cleo (Re: a scam device?) Re: Zenith numbers Re: Telecom Digest V2001 #285 Re: True and clear differences between Class-4 and Class-5 switch Re: Miss Cleo Re: Called Party Timeout (was: Miss Cleo) Re: Called Party Timeout (was: Miss Cleo) Re: unused numbers (was: Miss Cleo) Nortel/Northern Telecom Unity Question Re: Miss Cleo ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 5 Nov 2001 10:37:22 -0500 From: Angus TeleManagement Subject: Telecom Update (Canada) #307, November 5, 2001 ************************************************************ TELECOM UPDATE ************************************************************ published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group http://www.angustel.ca Number 307: November 5, 2001 Publication of Telecom Update is made possible by generous financial support from: ** AT&T CANADA http://www.attcanada.com ** BELL CANADA http://www.bell.ca ** GROUP TELECOM http://www.gt.ca ** LUCENT TECHNOLOGIES CANADA http://www.lucent.ca ** PRIMUS CANADA: http://www.primustel.ca ** Q9 NETWORKS: http://www.Q9.com ** TELUS: http://www.telus.com ** UNISPHERE NETWORKS: http://www.unispherenetworks.com ************************************************************ IN THIS ISSUE: ** Sympatico, Rogers Call Off Price War ** Sympatico High-Speed Slows Down ** Telus, CIBC Form E-Commerce Company ** Is Foreign Ownership Under Review? ** Satellite Merger Cancelled ** 10 Million Wireless Phones ** CRTC Reviews Wireless CLEC Rules ** Regulator Examines Interactivity ** First Nations to Announce Broadband Plan ** Last Big TDMA Carrier Goes GSM ** Losses Increase at AT&T Canada ** MTS Releases "Normalized" Intrigna Results ** Layoff Watch -- Alcatel, Mitel ** Cisco Expands IP Telephony Line ** Report Predicts 9% Annual Telecom Growth ** BCI Exec Steps Down ** Orbit Plans U.S. Expansion ** Meet Us at Communications 2001 ** Is Telecom Competition Working? ============================================================ SYMPATICO, ROGERS CALL OFF PRICE WAR: Both Bell Sympatico and Rogers Communications are raising their six-month promotional rate for high speed Internet access to $24.95 a month, and the permanent rate to $44.95 - a $5.00 increase in each case. Sympatico says that existing customers "will not be impacted at this time." SYMPATICO HIGH-SPEED SLOWS DOWN: One result of the recent high-speed price war: significant slowdowns on the Bell Sympatico network. A Sympatico Service Bulletin blames "a dramatic increase in on-line traffic" since September and says that upgrades to handle the new load will be "substantially completed by the end of November." ** Sympatico TV ads still say that its service -- unlike cable competitors' -- doesn't slow down under heavy use. TELUS, CIBC FORM E-COMMERCE COMPANY: Telus and CIBC have agreed to create a new company to sell PKI-based digital trust services developed by VeriSign Inc. IS FOREIGN OWNERSHIP UNDER REVIEW? On November 29, AT&T Canada CEO John McLennan told reporters and analysts that Ottawa is about to launch a review of foreign ownership limits in telecom and may announce a decision by spring. The same day, at a conference in Ottawa, Industry Minister Brian Tobin said that foreign ownership is "not of the highest priority right now given the other matters that are on the agenda." SATELLITE MERGER CANCELLED: The proposed merger between ICO Global and Teledesic has been cancelled "to allow both companies the greatest flexibility in the current economic market." Both plan to deploy satellite-based data networks. 10 MILLION WIRELESS PHONES: The Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association says that carriers added two million customers in the past 12 months, bringing the total to 10 million -- one-third of the population -- by mid- October. CRTC REVIEWS WIRELESS CLEC RULES: CRTC Public Notice 2001-110 seeks comments on proposals to amend the rules that require wireless CLECs to provide long distance equal access, and on provision of 9-1-1 service by cellular carriers. To participate, notify the CRTC by November 15. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Notices/2001/pt2001-110.htm REGULATOR EXAMINES INTERACTIVITY: CRTC Public Notice 2001-113 seeks information on plans for interactive services and related topics, as part of a fact-finding inquiry. Submissions will be accepted until January 15, 2002. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Notices/2001/pb2001-113.htm FIRST NATIONS TO ANNOUNCE BROADBAND PLAN: Today, the Assembly of First Nations and Telesat will announce plans for "for an advanced, cost-effective national First Nations Broadband Network." The AFN wants Ottawa to include the project in its December budget. LAST BIG TDMA CARRIER GOES GSM: Cingular Wireless, the second-largest U.S. cellphone company, has announced plans to convert its network from TDMA to GSM, the dominant cellular technology outside of North America. ** AT&T, the original developer of TDMA, began converting to GSM earlier this year, as did Rogers AT&T Wireless in Canada. LOSSES INCREASE AT AT&T CANADA: AT&T Canada reports third quarter revenue of $387 million, up 3.2% on the quarter and 1.9% on the year. EBITDA tripled to $30.3 million. The net loss was $209 million, compared to $124 million last year. MTS RELEASES "NORMALIZED" INTRIGNA RESULTS: Manitoba Tel has published "normalized" Bell Intrigna results for the first three quarters of 2001 that show 3% less revenue and a 4% greater EBITDA loss than was indicated in its quarterly financial reports. (See Telecom Update #306) LAYOFF WATCH -- ALCATEL, MITEL: ** Alcatel plans to lay off 10,000 employees in Europe, in addition to the 23,000 worldwide layoffs already announced. Alcatel's third quarter sales of Euro$5.6 billion were down 17% from the previous quarter. Net loss: Euro$558 million. ** Mitel Networks has laid off 65 employees, 5% of its Canadian staff. CISCO EXPANDS IP TELEPHONY LINE: Cisco Systems has announced 12 new IP telephony products, including a new version of CallManager and an audio conferencing option. REPORT PREDICTS 9% ANNUAL TELECOM GROWTH: A new report predicts that the Canadian telecom industry will grow more than 9% a year through 2006. Canadian Telecom Markets 2001, published by Lemay-Yates Associates, includes analyses of 10 large urban markets and the results of a survey of 150 small and medium enterprises. For information, go to http://www.LYA.com. BCI EXEC STEPS DOWN: Louis Tanguay has resigned as CEO of Bell Canada International, in preparation for his retirement later this year. His replacement is Bill Anderson, former Chief Financial Officer of BCE. ORBIT PLANS U.S. EXPANSION: Douglas Lloyd, President of Orbit Canada, says his company will offer Internet telephony services in seven U.S. cities. IBM Canada will install the equipment. MEET US AT COMMUNICATIONS 2001: On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, Angus TeleManagement Group will have a booth at the Communications 2001 trade show and conference at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Please drop by and say hello. http://www.Communications2001.org IS TELECOM COMPETITION WORKING? In the new Telemanagement, available today, Ian Angus examines the latest data on telecom competition in Canada, and Lis Angus reports on the radically different proposals defended at last month's CRTC Price Cap Hearings. ** Also in this issue: A panel discussion on the challenges of network planning in large Canadian organizations today, and a report on how three companies deployed wireless data applications using off-the-shelf technology. ** To subscribe to Telemanagement, call 1-800-263-4415, ext 500, or visit http://www.angustel.ca. ============================================================ HOW TO SUBMIT ITEMS FOR TELECOM UPDATE E-MAIL: editors@angustel.ca FAX: 905-686-2655 MAIL: TELECOM UPDATE Angus TeleManagement Group 8 Old Kingston Road Ajax, Ontario Canada L1T 2Z7 =========================================================== HOW TO SUBSCRIBE (OR UNSUBSCRIBE) TELECOM UPDATE is provided in electronic form only. There are two formats available: 1. The fully-formatted edition is posted on the World Wide Web on the first business day of the week at http://www.angustel.ca 2. The e-mail edition is distributed free of charge. To subscribe, send an e-mail message to: listmanager@subs.postmastergeneral.com Insert as the subject of your message the two words: subscribe TelecomUpdate To stop receiving the e-mail edition, send an e-mail message to: listmanager@subs.postmastergeneral.com Insert as the subject of your message the two words: unsubscribe TelecomUpdate =========================================================== COPYRIGHT AND CONDITIONS OF USE: All contents copyright 2001 Angus TeleManagement Group Inc. All rights reserved. For further information, including permission to reprint or reproduce, please e-mail rosita@angustel.ca or phone 905-686-5050 ext 500. The information and data included has been obtained from sources which we believe to be reliable, but Angus TeleManagement makes no warranties or representations whatsoever regarding accuracy, completeness, or adequacy. Opinions expressed are based on interpretation of available information, and are subject to change. If expert advice on the subject matter is required, the services of a competent professional should be obtained. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 5 Nov 2001 11:00:06 -0500 From: "Daryl Gibson" Subject: Re: Telecom Digest V2001 #285 On 5 Nov 01, at 6:15, Telecom Digest wrote: > > and how many cellular companies operating in the state of Nevada > > recognize that abbreviated dialing number. > > According to the Cellular Travel Guide, AT&T, the A carrier in Reno > and Las Vegas, and Alltel, the B carrier in Las Vegas do. There's > only three other cell carriers in the state, Airtouch, Western > Wireless, and the tiny Churchill County Telephone, so I doubt it would > be very hard for the cops to get them all to provide it. They all > have 911 which I suspect goes to the same place. The B-Side carrier in Las Vegas is no longer Alltel. It was traded with Bell Atlantic, and now is Verizon Wireless. I know *NHP works in the Las Vegas cell area on the B side...I used it when I came across an accident one night. Very quick, very professional. There are signs on the side of the highway noting the number, so I imagine it's supported by all of the carriers. It is not listed as emergency only. In Utah, the equivalent is *11, which gets the Utah Highway Patrol. Daryl - ---------------------------------------------------------------- "As you ramble through life, brother, no matter what your goal, keep your eye upon the doughnut, and not upon the hole" --Dr. Murray Banks, quoting a menu - ---------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.drgibson.com http://www.salesstar.com Personal Motivation and Positive Attitude - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 5 Nov 2001 11:21:18 -0500 From: gpn@techie.com Subject: Re: Tone frequency/specs On 4 Nov 2001 10:21:10 -0500, Wes Leatherock wrote: >On 4 Nov 2001 gpn@techie.com wrote: > >I don't think "Camp-On Busy" is dependent on whether the >called party has call waiting. Camp-On Busy is a function on >PBXs that allows the _calling party_ to camp on any busy line, >regardless of what features the _called party_ has. Well, it's two different features, and like so many things, it's going to depend on the make, model, and feature package of PBX you've got. Typically, you can administer call-waiting on an extension, so ANY calls to it will camp on without the caller needing to dial anything, or have any particular class of service. Without the feature, callers just get a busy. Camp-on Busy is a feature that can be administered for a calling extension that allows it to camp on to a busy whenever it wants to, either by dialing a one-time activation code, or by having that feature active by default. The point is that, regardless of how it comes to pass, once the caller gets camped on to the busy extension, the sound is typically the same: Special Audible Ring, aka "riiiiiing-boop". In English, the SAR sound roughly translates to "the called party is probably on the phone, and has probably been signaled that there is another call waiting. In any case, there is no actual bell ringing anyplace right now, even though you're hearing this sound. If they should hang up, or flash the hook-switch and perhaps dial some code, or do whatever else is required to change this situation, you'll be put through." Interestingly, the tone is usually heard ONLY on calls to single-line extensions, where the called party gets signalled with a "boop" sound. Calls to in-use extensions with multiple call appearances (buttons), though there might be only one actual bell ring or chirp from to the incoming call, normally get the regular ring tone, even though the condition of "no bell is ringing anyplace right now" is equally true. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 5 Nov 2001 11:45:32 -0500 From: "Paul Cook" Subject: Called Party Timeout (was: Miss Cleo) > From: Rory Francisco > Making things worse, there's not even any > way to hang up on the recording. Cleo seizes the phone line until she's > finished. What is the standard timeout for this on switches in North America, 27 seconds? If I call you, you hang up on me, and I remain off hook, it seems to me that if you go off hook again in less than 27 seconds, the call is still there. This can be dangerous, since if I am about to call 9-1-1 because of some real emergency, and I receive a robo-telemarketing call, and then hang up, unless I remain on hook for the full 27 seconds, the caller is likely to still be there. I've heard of this happening, where the frantic 9-1-1 caller goes on hook for a few seconds, goes off hook, hears the robo-telemarketer again, goes on hook for 5 seconds, hears it again, and keeps hearing it as he goes on and off hook again and again, until he remains on hook for the full 27 seconds or the caller hangs up. What is the reason for this feature? So that a called party can hang up a phone and still has time to get to an extension to pick it up again? Paul Cook - Applications Engineer pcook@proctorinc.com 425-881-7000, ext 566 Proctor & Associates 15305 NE 95 St Redmond WA 98052-2517 www.proctorinc.com - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 5 Nov 2001 11:45:33 -0500 From: "Paul Cook" Subject: Tone frequency/specs > From: gpn@techie.com > Special Audible Ring is a ringback sound with a low "boop" at the end. It > indicates that you are camped on to the number, So THAT'S what that means. I never knew that. I've heard that often on what must be DID numbers on corporate PBXs. Paul Cook - Applications Engineer pcook@proctorinc.com 425-881-7000, ext 566 Proctor & Associates 15305 NE 95 St Redmond WA 98052-2517 www.proctorinc.com - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 5 Nov 2001 11:52:13 -0500 From: Marcus Didius Falco Subject: Re: True and clear differences between Class-4 and Class-5 switch At 06:15 AM 11/3/2001, Telecom Digest wrote: >Telecom Digest Saturday, November 3 2001 Volume 2001 : Number 283 >------------------------------ > >Date: 2 Nov 2001 18:51:07 -0500 >From: bdutta@hotmail.com (Banibrata Dutta) >Subject: True and clear differences between Class-4 and Class-5 switch > >hi: > >i've seen too many wannebe telecom-heads talk about Class-4 and >Class-5 switches with abandon, but i think that's very loose usage of >the terms, where they mean Class-5 switch is one which hosts actual >subscribers, and Class-4 switch is basically a Trunk switch i.e. has >no real subscribers, but hosts trunks only. could someone elaborate on >the real definition of Class-4 and Class-5, and from where did these >terms come to be. Are there anything like Class-0, 1, 2, 3 also ?? > >TIA, >bdutta. In the late 60s and early 70s the Bell System implemented a switching hierarchy for re-routing overflow calls. This was entirely electro-mechanical, using the No. 4 Crossbar switch, a 4-wire switch, with the routing information punched into aluminum sheets and read by light beams through the holes. So re-routing had to he hard-wired in, and was difficult. Most class-5 offices, end offices, routed all toll calls to a class-4 tandem switch. There were some direct connections in some places for short-distance toll calls, but they were very exceptional. The class-4 offices had direct routes to most other class-4 offices. However, if they could not find a routing (say from a small class-4 office in one region to a small class-4 office in another), then they would route the call "upstairs" to a class 3 office, which would find a connection to a class-3 office in the region. Every class-4 office was connected to a class-3 office, so there would be a routing. That takes care of the normal routing. There were also class 2 and class 1 offices (there were only 12 class 1 offices in the country), but these dealt, I think, mostly with overflow conditions. The general rule was that there could be no more than 7 switches between the begining and end of a call, so there could be no more than 5 of the tandems involved. Thus a class-4 office in one region might also communicate with a class 3 or higher office in another. Overflows were handled by kicking the call up to a higher level office which might have an overflow trunk to the tandem at the end of the call. There were three levels of overflow, and if the third failed, (no route with fewer 7 switches or fewer could be found, and, remember, all the routes were hard-wired in some switch), then the call went to "all circuits busy." By the late 1970s or early 1980s, with stored-program common-control switches (and the No. 4 ESS as the predominant tandem; and the No. 4 crossbars upgraded to 4A, which had stored program control in an electro-mechanical switch), the levels 3 and above were obsolete and dropped from common terminology. Moreover, the No 5 ESS and then the No 100 DMS from Northern Electric could act as combined local offices and toll tandems, so many offices were combined level 5 and 4 offices. (Some of thsee were major problems to split at the time of divesture in 1983.) There is a book (8x10 paperback) called "4A/4M Orientation", published by the Bell Syetem (as was). This will have the information. If it contradicts anything I've said, rely on the book, since I am working from memory, and I never had hands-on experience. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 5 Nov 2001 12:28:39 -0500 From: matthewm_999@yahoo.com (Matt) Subject: Re: V35 and G.703 Where aren't they different. V.35 simply stated has differential signaling on the datapath with separate clocks (clocks are also differentially signalled).. it has standard modem control signals (CTS,RTS etc...) which use single end-ended signalling.. standard connector is a winchester-connector. Standard (V.35) has been withdrawn by the ITU, so implementations are loose. Typical maximum datarate for V.35 drivers is 10 MHz. V.35 is used between a router and CSU/DSU, when the router doesn't have this function integrated. G.703 defines standard telecom electrical interfaces including such interfaces as DS0, DS1, DS3, E1 and E3. Interfaces use different line codings (B8ZS, HDB3)and different medias for transport (coax, UTP, STP). G.703 would be the interface which is on the "network" side of a CSU/DSU. The diagrams below shows two possible implementations.. WAN --- DS1 ----- CSU/DSU ----- V.35 ----- Router ---- 802.3 --- LAN WAN --- DS1 ----- CSU/DSU/Router ---- 802.3 --- LAN WAN and LAN are networks DS1, V.35 and 802.3 are physical layers. CSU/DSU and Router are communications equipment. Matt marco.carini@snamprogetti.eni.it (marco carini) wrote in message news:<8759c9f6.0111050030.5bd086d@posting.google.com>... > I would like to know what are the differences between V.35 and G.703 > interfaces. Is there anyone who can help me to understand when V.35 > interface can be used and when G.703 is preferred? > > Thanks in advance for your kind answer. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 5 Nov 2001 13:28:15 -0500 From: aes Subject: Re: Miss Cleo In article <003cbd84@fmlynet.org>, "Andy Ball" wrote: > Perhaps there should be a 'spam-tax' on the telemarketers, money raised to > provide caller ID for anyone who wants it. :-) That said, I'd rather see the > cause of the problem treated than the symptoms. I suggest there's a very feasible scheme (technically and legally feasible) which could control telemarketing, or at least enable people who don't want telemarketing calls to protect themselves, without stepping on anyone's free-speech rights or adding significant operational costs for the telemarketers. Simply pass legislation mandating that, through arrangements with the phone companies, all telemarketing or solicitation calls must come from (that is, be identified as coming from) a specified unique telco-provided area code (like 600, 800, 888, 900), and allow individuals to purchase a cheap Radio Shack box that rejects all calls from that area code. Should be simple, cheap, feasible, and effective -- which, of course, is why IMHO it will never happen. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 5 Nov 2001 15:05:55 -0500 From: "CHANCE, MICHAEL A \(SBCSI\)" Subject: RE: Miss Cleo (Re: a scam device?) Lately, Miss Cleo has been running ads here in the St. Louis area, claiming religious persecution and vowing to continue no matter what. That's probably good news to the state Attorney General, because it will mean another lawsuit and judgement to help correct the state budget problems. Michael A. Chance Saint Louis, MO - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 5 Nov 2001 15:53:17 -0500 From: Wes Leatherock Subject: Re: Zenith numbers In many places it was called "Enterprise" instead of Zenith, and in some places "WX." I had an Enterprise number once at my business, but it's my recollection in those days that it was charged at the station paid rate, plus a monthly fee. Wes Leatherock wleath@sandbox.dynip.com On 5 Nov 2001, John R. Levine wrote: > > I'm wondering how many operator service providers have a clue about > > this [ Zenith ] service > > I'd be amazed if anyone other than Nevada Bell did. Using a Zenith > number these days is silly, it's vastly more expensive than an 800 > number, since calls are charged as operator assisted collect calls. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 5 Nov 2001 15:55:09 -0500 From: Wes Leatherock Subject: Re: Telecom Digest V2001 #285 In Oklahoma it's *55, dating from the days of the 55 mph speed limit, but it still gets the Highway Patrol. Wes Leatherock wleath@sandbox.dynip.com On 5 Nov 2001, Daryl Gibson wrote: > The B-Side carrier in Las Vegas is no longer Alltel. It was traded > with Bell Atlantic, and now is Verizon Wireless. I know *NHP > works in the Las Vegas cell area on the B side...I used it when I > came across an accident one night. Very quick, very professional. > There are signs on the side of the highway noting the number, so I > imagine it's supported by all of the carriers. It is not listed as > emergency only. In Utah, the equivalent is *11, which gets the Utah > Highway Patrol. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 5 Nov 2001 16:28:26 -0500 From: Wes Leatherock Subject: Re: True and clear differences between Class-4 and Class-5 switch There were class 4 offices which were not specifically trunks only, but also served local subscribers. You could tell when calling Blackwell, Oklahoma, (class 5) whether your call went over a high-usage (HU) trunk or via the "final" route via the class 4 office at Ponca City, Oklahoma. The Blackwell office was crossbar, so coming off the 4A on an HU trunk it connected almost immediately; but if all the HU trunks were busy it was routed through the step office at Ponca City which had to signal Blackwell with step pulses. The Ponca City step office also served all the local customers including a large Conoco installation--refinery, research center, and I believe their IS operations. Wes Leatherock wleath@sandbox.dynip.com On 5 Nov 2001, Marcus Didius Falco wrote: > In the late 60s and early 70s the Bell System implemented a switching > hierarchy for re-routing overflow calls. This was entirely > electro-mechanical, using the No. 4 Crossbar switch, a 4-wire switch, with > the routing information punched into aluminum sheets and read by light > beams through the holes. So re-routing had to he hard-wired in, and was > difficult. > > Most class-5 offices, end offices, routed all toll calls to a class-4 > tandem switch. There were some direct connections in some places for > short-distance toll calls, but they were very exceptional. The class-4 > offices had direct routes to most other class-4 offices. However, if they > could not find a routing (say from a small class-4 office in one region to > a small class-4 office in another), then they would route the call > "upstairs" to a class 3 office, which would find a connection to a class-3 > office in the region. Every class-4 office was connected to a class-3 > office, so there would be a routing. > > That takes care of the normal routing. There were also class 2 and class 1 > offices (there were only 12 class 1 offices in the country), but these > dealt, I think, mostly with overflow conditions. The general rule was that > there could be no more than 7 switches between the begining and end of a > call, so there could be no more than 5 of the tandems involved. Thus a > class-4 office in one region might also communicate with a class 3 or > higher office in another. > > Overflows were handled by kicking the call up to a higher level office > which might have an overflow trunk to the tandem at the end of the call. > There were three levels of overflow, and if the third failed, (no route > with fewer 7 switches or fewer could be found, and, remember, all the > routes were hard-wired in some switch), then the call went to "all circuits > busy." > > By the late 1970s or early 1980s, with stored-program common-control > switches (and the No. 4 ESS as the predominant tandem; and the No. 4 > crossbars upgraded to 4A, which had stored program control in an > electro-mechanical switch), the levels 3 and above were obsolete and > dropped from common terminology. Moreover, the No 5 ESS and then the No 100 > DMS from Northern Electric could act as combined local offices and toll > tandems, so many offices were combined level 5 and 4 offices. (Some of > thsee were major problems to split at the time of divesture in 1983.) > > There is a book (8x10 paperback) called "4A/4M Orientation", published by > the Bell Syetem (as was). This will have the information. If it contradicts > anything I've said, rely on the book, since I am working from memory, and I > never had hands-on experience. > -- > The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail > messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. > > - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 5 Nov 2001 18:04:21 -0500 From: "Don Russell" Subject: Re: Miss Cleo I'd also (instead?) want the numbers to be blocked by the telco itself, like ACR.... And what my cell phone? There's no way to attach the Radioshack box to my cell phone to block those numbers... And the cell carriers don't seem too interested in provinding blocking capabilities because that's lost revenue to them.... :-( > Simply pass legislation mandating that, through arrangements with the phone > companies, all telemarketing or solicitation calls must come from (that is, be > identified as coming from) a specified unique telco-provided area code (like > 600, 800, 888, 900), and allow individuals to purchase a cheap Radio Shack box > that rejects all calls from that area code. > > Should be simple, cheap, feasible, and effective -- which, of course, is why > IMHO it will never happen. > -- > The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail > messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. > - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 5 Nov 2001 18:14:50 -0500 From: "Don Russell" Subject: Re: Called Party Timeout (was: Miss Cleo) Back in the day, the line was only cleared when the CALLER went back on-hook.... This was a real pain the in &ss for people subject to "prank calls".... a call from a payphone and then the payphone abandoned... left the "callee" with no recourse but to call the telco from the neighbor's phone, the telco would break the call... I guess too many kids were doing that sort of thing, and the telcos changed so that the call would be dropped if EITHER party went on-hook for the required minimum time... I don't think the time-out period is as long as 27 seconds... that's an eternity.... I'll see if I can find the FCC rule on it and post the definitive answer... "Paul Cook" wrote in message news:001801c16619$46b0ec20$0e010059@paul... > > From: Rory Francisco > > > Making things worse, there's not even any > > way to hang up on the recording. Cleo seizes the phone line until she's > > finished. > > What is the standard timeout for this on switches in North America, > 27 seconds? If I call you, you hang up on me, and I remain off hook, > it seems to me that if you go off hook again in less than 27 seconds, > the call is still there. > > This can be dangerous, since if I am about to call 9-1-1 because of > some real emergency, and I receive a robo-telemarketing call, > and then hang up, unless I remain on hook for the full 27 seconds, > the caller is likely to still be there. I've heard of this happening, > where the frantic 9-1-1 caller goes on hook for a few seconds, > goes off hook, hears the robo-telemarketer again, goes on hook > for 5 seconds, hears it again, and keeps hearing it as he goes > on and off hook again and again, until he remains on hook for the full > 27 seconds or the caller hangs up. > > What is the reason for this feature? So that a called party can > hang up a phone and still has time to get to an extension to pick > it up again? > > > Paul Cook - Applications Engineer > pcook@proctorinc.com > 425-881-7000, ext 566 > > Proctor & Associates > 15305 NE 95 St > Redmond WA 98052-2517 > www.proctorinc.com > -- > The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail > messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. > - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 5 Nov 2001 19:08:03 -0500 From: jlurker@bigfoot.com (Justa Lurker) Subject: Re: Called Party Timeout (was: Miss Cleo) It was 5 Nov 2001 18:14:50 -0500, and "Don Russell" wrote in comp.dcom.telecom: | I don't think the time-out period is as long as 27 seconds... | that's an eternity.... I'll see if I can find the FCC rule | on it and post the definitive answer... Try http://www.fcc.gov/ccb/consumer_news/unsolici.html "The FCC's rules require that any prerecorded message call made using an autodialer must release your telephone line within five seconds of the notice by a telephone network signal to the caller that you have hung up. In some areas of the country it may take up to 25 seconds for this telephone network signal to reach the caller. Picking up the telephone receiver before this signal reaches the caller may cause some recorded messages to continue playing. Your local telephone company can tell you if calls in your area immediately disconnect when you hang up on a prerecorded message call, or how long you must wait before picking up your telephone receiver." I do not believe there is a set rule, just an expectation. With up to 25 seconds for your LEC to give the "hung up" signal plus 5 more for their system to disconnect, they are at the 'eternity' mark. Perhaps a tariff filing would have a specific LECs time? One other detail of note from the same page: "The FCC's rules prohibit the use of autodialers in a way that simultaneously engages -- or ties up -- two or more lines of a multi-line business." Those sequential dialers have hit my business (with sequential numbers) and managed to be on two lines at once. JL - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 5 Nov 2001 19:56:01 -0500 From: Rory Francisco Subject: Re: unused numbers (was: Miss Cleo) Unused numbers don't necessarily have to be in overlay areas, since telcos add new prefixes all the time in more densely populated communities. In Maplewood, NJ (South Orange exchange, 973 NPA) where my father lives, there are 5 Verizon landline exchanges last time I checked. 761, 762, 763 (SOuth Orange 1, 2, 3) are the originals---most numbers in town have one of those three prefixes. Then came 378 and 275 a few years ago, and last year Verizon added "313." There are plenty of numbers in the 313 exchange that aren't yet in service, so I'd think people moving to South Orange/Maplewood who want a "new" number could just ask Verizon for a number in the 313 exchange. Perhaps the RBOC's don't have an internal distinction between "never in service" and simply "out of service," but if you know which exchange in town is newest, it's easy to deduce which is which. All numbers in, say, the 762 exchange were probably assigned to someone else at some point, but most 313 numbers have not. And, sure, it's still possible to pick your own number in most places. Verizon offers this for an extra charge in NY/NJ as "Gold Number" service. Terry Knab wrote: >>I'd love to get a UNUSED number, but the odds of getting one are slim to >>none. The phone co. has no such things anymore, unless you get itno an >>overlay situaion or a funky new area code (eg, 816/975) >>And few telcos allow you to choose a number anymore. SWB is (I think) the >>only telco that does, and that is if you hit hte lucky service rep who will >>look for one. >>I always try to get a phone # that used to belong to businesses becuase >>they're out of service one year before being reassigned. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 5 Nov 2001 20:50:13 -0500 From: chsvideo@hotmail.com (Lincoln J. King-Cliby) Subject: Nortel/Northern Telecom Unity Question (Posted to comp.dcom.telecom and comp.dcom.telecom.tech, please followup to one or the other, not both) Hello - I have found the information in these groups very useful, and now have a set of questions I'm hoping someone can help me with: I ended up with 11 Northern Telecom NT4L20AA-35 phones, most of them are marked as "RLS-04 APR XX 92 CCXXXX" (Where X represents variable digits), two of them have large white stickers with barcodes: "UNITY FEATURED: NT4L20AA35 04AFDG A0389856 04/09/93 REMANUFACTURED BY NTI/NRDC (800)251-1758" The questions are (drumroll, please): 1) Programming the butons down the sides to dial a digit (DTMF) sequence is easy enough: [Off Hook][Program Button][Feature Button To Program][Press Keys][On Hook], what other uses can these buttons be assigned? (E.g. is it possible to program something that's not on the dialpad?) 2) How do you program the "Feature in Use" lamp? The card says to see the "Instruction and Programming Guide," which I do not have. Does anyone know how to program the Feature In Use lamp and/or know where I can find a copy of the guide? 3) What are the DIP switches on the bottom of the phone for? 4) When the handset is off hook, it appears that the pins in the RJ connector typically associated with the second line (Black/Yellow or [I think] Orange/White and White/Orange) are shorted. Is this normal? Why does this happen? If anyone wants to e-mail me, the one in the headers works, or you can use lincoln at pe net, which accepts very large attachments (PDFs, etc.) Thanks again Lincoln J. King-Cliby Office Fax: 909-695-7399 - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 5 Nov 2001 20:56:33 -0500 From: aes Subject: Re: Miss Cleo In article <5WEF7.16616$D5.6766272@typhoon.san.rr.com>, "Don Russell" wrote: > I'd also (instead?) want the numbers to be blocked by the telco itself, like > ACR.... And what my cell phone? There's no way to attach the Radioshack box > to my cell phone to block those numbers... The more I can have the blocking be under my control and implemented in my own hardware, rather than depending on the telco to do the job, and having to make arrangements with them, the better I personally like it. The cell phone problem, however, is one I hadn't thought of. Perhaps future cell phones will come with capabilities like this built in -- the additional electronics to do so would be trivial, and if the predicted merging of cell phones and PDAs comes to pass, it will be even easier. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ End of Telecom Digest V2001 #286 ******************************** - To leave this list, send a message containing "unsubscribe" to telecom-digest-request@telecom-digest.org. Date: 6 Nov 2001 06:15:10 -0500 From: owner-telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org (Telecom Digest) To: telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org Subject: Telecom Digest V2001 #287 Telecom Digest Tuesday, November 6 2001 Volume 2001 : Number 287 In this issue: Re: How is Pat doing and what is the status of the list? Re: Caller ID with partner ACS problems Re: Miss Cleo (Re: a scam device?) unsolicited calls, was: Re: Miss Cleo (Re: a scam device?) Re: Lucent Partner ACS Voicemail: What can it do? DID's? Motorola shows new, daring phone Dutch Police 'Bombard' Stolen Cell Phones With SMS Re: Miss Cleo ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 5 Nov 2001 21:01:16 -0500 From: Mike Sandman Subject: Re: How is Pat doing and what is the status of the list? Pat is doing OK. He's currently in a nursing home in Chicago: His cell number is 630-841-7174. He should be back on the net in mid to late December. If you'd like to make a contribution to the Digest, you should probably send it to this address, since mail is moving pretty slowly these - days and it may not get to Chicago before he moves: Patrick Townson Telecom Digest 611 East Poplar Independence, KS 67301 Mike Sandman "Jim Willis" wrote: >Hi Pat how are you doing, are you feeling better ? >what is the status of the list? > >regards... Jim Willis - ----------------------------------------------------------- Mike Sandman 630-980-7710 E-mail: mike@sandman.com WWW: http://www.sandman.com Our 112 page catalog of Unique Telecom Products & Tools is on the World Wide Web. We have a fantastic assortment of Cable Installation Tools and Training Videos to help you use them. NEW "Basic ISDN", "Intro to T1" and Fiber Optic/CAT 5 Training Videos are now available. Also check out our Telephony History Page, which contains ads and articles from telephony related magazines from the first part of the century. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 5 Nov 2001 21:12:43 -0500 From: Mike Sandman Subject: Re: Caller ID with partner ACS problems There's a lot of stuff that works with a Butt-Set on the line. It's odd, but it happens. To simulate the Butt-set, put a 600 ohm (1/2 watt) and .47mf (100V minimum) in series with each other, and across the line. TIP--to---RESISTOR---to---CAPACITOR---to----RING Mike Sandman donlev_2000@yahoo.com (Nate Slate) wrote: >I am working on a partner ACS Rev. 3.0, Line 1 definately has caller >id on it. I can hook up a standard caller id box up to it and get the >caller id information. > >The acs never shows the caller ID info Except when I have my test set >(Butt set) on the line monitoring it. When I am monitoring the line >with my test set it comes through every time on the partner 18 button >display phone. As soon as I take the test set off the caller id info >does not show up any more. > >We have replaced the the processor with a new unit and it still does >not work. We brought the old processor back to the shop and hooked up >to our lines and it works every time. > >We have put on a loop current attenuator to bring the loop current >down to 25 mA and that still did not fix it. We did get it to work a >few times by using resistors on the line, but no more than 2 or 3 >times out of 10. > >I have called Lucent support but they have not been any help. We >cannot figure out what the test set could be doing to the line to >allow the acs to see the caller id info. > >By the way It was working at this location for quite a while, then a >few days ago southwestern bell was working on one of their other lines >and after that it stopped working. Bell has been out there after this >problem was reported and they say it is working as it should. > >thanks for looking at this post, if anybody has any ideas let me know - ----------------------------------------------------------- Mike Sandman 630-980-7710 E-mail: mike@sandman.com WWW: http://www.sandman.com Our 112 page catalog of Unique Telecom Products & Tools is on the World Wide Web. We have a fantastic assortment of Cable Installation Tools and Training Videos to help you use them. NEW "Basic ISDN", "Intro to T1" and Fiber Optic/CAT 5 Training Videos are now available. Also check out our Telephony History Page, which contains ads and articles from telephony related magazines from the first part of the century. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 5 Nov 2001 21:39:01 -0500 From: John David Galt Subject: Re: Miss Cleo (Re: a scam device?) John R Levine wrote: > Robot sales calls to residences are just plain illegal under the > federal TCPA, no state laws needed. You can sue them for $1500/call > in state court. (The penalty is $500/call, tripled if it's "willing > and knowing" which it clearly is now what with all the cases against > them.) Does this apply even to companies you're already doing business with? If not, it ought to. Two weird experiences recently: - - A robot call from PG&E wanted me to schedule an appointment for having my furnace pilot relit. I complained to PG&E but they did it a second time a month later. (I had them light it a month before, but apparently neither this fact nor my complaint got me taken off the list the 'bot uses.) - - SBC's own telemarketers called (with caller id "unavailable" like all the other spammers) trying to sell me custom-calling services. When I asked to be put on their "do not call" list, I was told I'd need to stay on the line to get this done -- as if I were requesting a new service from them. It's too bad neither of these companies has any real competition, so I could switch to one that knows who they work for. - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 5 Nov 2001 22:10:31 -0500 From: danny burstein Subject: unsolicited calls, was: Re: Miss Cleo (Re: a scam device?) In <3BE74D23.DEC71F06@diogenes.sacramento.ca.us> John David Galt writes: >John R Levine wrote: >> Robot sales calls to residences are just plain illegal under the >> federal TCPA, no state laws needed. You can sue them for $1500/call >> in state court. (The penalty is $500/call, tripled if it's "willing >> and knowing" which it clearly is now what with all the cases against >> them.) >Does this apply even to companies you're already doing business with? >If not, it ought to. If you're doing business with them then they do (generally) get a pass on the first call. But if you tell them to stop then that's it. >- A robot call from PG&E wanted me to schedule an appointment for >having my furnace pilot relit. I complained to PG&E but they did it >a second time a month later. This type of contactg might skirt around the ban due to its marginal public safety interest. I'd call it a close call. - -- _____________________________________________________ Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 5 Nov 2001 23:43:13 -0500 From: Carl Navarro Subject: Re: Lucent Partner ACS Voicemail: What can it do? DID's? On 4 Nov 2001 02:11:23 -0500, brendan@stealthtech.com (Brendan OMara) wrote: >I'm trying to make some decisions regarding >the purchase of a Partner system. We want >to run multiple business entities from the >same Partner system. We figure DID's would >solve that problem by routing the phone >calls for each business to a specific >voicemail box with custom greeting. > >Is this supported? Are DID's supported >on the Partner? How about the older partner >models? > >I realize this information should be >available from Lucent, but I sure couldn't >find any info on the older used >models.. if someone has a web site link >to the appropriate older specifications, >that would be appreciated as well. Just in passing I would say, why bother? Do it with a Legend. Your Mermail fits in a card slot, you have control of 150 numbers using phantoms, and the parts are available on the secondary market. Carl Navarro hint: Legend processor 7.x, PBX, DID trunk, call coverage to a MLX display phone, no answer goes to VM. If coverage is removed from the phone, VM goes immediately. > >Thanks! >-Brendan >brendan@stealthtech.com - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 6 Nov 2001 00:45:03 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Motorola shows new, daring phone Motorola shows new, daring phone Publisher: Jørgen Sundgot, 31.10.01 12:26 Aimed initially at the Asia Pacific, Motorola's new dual-band GSM/GPRS v.70 mobile phone is a move the company hopes will bring it back to the glorious days of StarTac fame. In a market that's getting more and more crowded by new models and new manufacturers all the time, it's important to stand out - so important, in fact, that manufacturers finally seem to be willing to break loose and try something new that isn't related to changing covers or LCD colors. Nokia recently did it with its Nokia 5510 thumbboard phone, and now Motorola is taking a refreshing new approach at design that the company hopes will bring back the golden age where the company's StarTac mobile phones were more popular than anything else on the market. ... http://www.infosync.no/show.php?id=1054 - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 6 Nov 2001 00:49:45 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Dutch Police 'Bombard' Stolen Cell Phones With SMS Dutch Police 'Bombard' Stolen Cell Phones With SMS By Andrew Rosenbaum, Special to Newsbytes AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS 05 Nov 2001, 9:30 AM CST The Amsterdam police have been using short messaging system (SMS) missives to block the use of stolen cell phones, and while the campaign has been successful, mobile providers are concerned about the cost and bandwidth strain of the campaign. About four months ago, the Amsterdam police began cooperating with the national telecommunications provider, KPN Telekom. When stolen phones are reported, the police asked KPN to use for the phone to locate the telephone number. Then, every three to five minutes, the police sent SMS messages to the telephone saying, "Warning, this is a stolen telephone, using it is against the law - stealing it is a felony." ... http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/171836.html - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 6 Nov 2001 01:31:00 -0500 From: craigm@ragingbull.com (Craig Macbride) Subject: Re: Miss Cleo aes writes: >The cell phone problem, however, is one I hadn't thought of. Perhaps future >cell phones will come with capabilities like this built in -- the additional >electronics to do so would be trivial, and if the predicted merging of cell >phones and PDAs comes to pass, it will be even easier. One disincentive there'd be is that most big companies are trying to reduce development costs by producing models (wherther it be cars, computers or mobile phones) that are for a worldwide market. Since many (most? the USA is pretty much the exception, isn't it?) countries charge the caller for all calls except those made to special toll-free numbers, and generally charge more for calls to mobile phones in business hours than to land lines, the demand for this system would be ver low on a worldwide scale. - -- Craig Macbride http://www.nyx.net/~cmacbrid "Computer games don't affect kids; I mean if Pac-Man affected us as kids, we'd all be running around in darkened rooms, munching magic pills and listening to repetitive electronic music." - Ross Allen, Nintendo, 1989 - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ End of Telecom Digest V2001 #287 ******************************** - To leave this list, send a message containing "unsubscribe" to telecom-digest-request@telecom-digest.org. Date: 7 Nov 2001 06:15:09 -0500 From: owner-telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org (Telecom Digest) To: telecom-digest@telecom-digest.org Subject: Telecom Digest V2001 #288 Telecom Digest Wednesday, November 7 2001 Volume 2001 : Number 288 In this issue: Sprint to begin a $1.1b network up grade Re: Called Party Timeout (was: Miss Cleo) RE: Tone frequency/specs Re: Called Party Timeout (was: Miss Cleo) Re: Miss Cleo (Re: a scam device?) Need Old Issues of Computer Telephony Magazine! Re: Dutch Police 'Bombard' Stolen Cell Phones With SMS Re: Miss Cleo LAST CALL - 3G WIRELESS TRAINING COMING TO OTTAWA, CANADA ON NOVEMBER 14TH AND 15TH Sprint ION service withdrawal application filed at California PUC Westell 66 Block Question Re: Miss Cleo (Re: a scam device?) Re: Miss Cleo (Re: a scam device?) Sprint ION service discontinuance filing at FCC Re: Motorola shows new, daring phone Re: Dutch Police 'Bombard' Stolen Cell Phones With SMS Re: Miss Cleo Re: True and clear differences between Class-4 and Class-5 switch a type of caller ID box? Re: a type of caller ID box? Re: Westell 66 Block Question ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 6 Nov 2001 08:54:41 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Sprint to begin a $1.1b network up grade Sprint to begin a $1.1b network up grade By Associated Press,, 11/6/2001 NEW YORK - In a $1.1 billion upgrade announced yesterday, Sprint Corp. will begin to transform its entire telephone network so all voice calls are transmitted in ''packets,'' resembling how data are moved on the Internet. Nortel Networks is providing switch equipment and installation services for the four-year project. ... http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/310/business/Sprint_to_begin_a_1_1b_network_up_grade+.shtml - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 6 Nov 2001 10:09:25 -0500 From: Wes Leatherock Subject: Re: Called Party Timeout (was: Miss Cleo) On 5 Nov 2001, Don Russell wrote: > Back in the day, the line was only cleared when the CALLER went back > on-hook.... This was a real pain the in &ss for people subject to "prank > calls".... a call from a payphone and then the payphone abandoned... left > the "callee" with no recourse but to call the telco from the neighbor's > phone, the telco would break the call... > > I guess too many kids were doing that sort of thing, and the telcos changed > so that the call would be dropped if EITHER party went on-hook for the > required minimum time... The tactic was used by telco unions in some cases during strikes by urging their members to call the telco and leave their phones off-hook. I believe it was also used in organized boycotts or strikes against other businesses, too. Wes Leatherock wleath@sandbox.dynip.com - -- The Telecom Digest is currently mostly robomoderated. Please mail messages to editor@telecom-digest.org. ------------------------------ Date: 6 Nov 2001 12:26:57 -0500 From: Steve Hayes Subject: RE: Tone frequency/specs In Telecom Digest V2001 #283, Don Russell asked for information on phone system tones, including SIT tones. I'll attach some information I have on SIT tones below. It's a bit old but is interesting and may still be of use. As I understand it, the Bell System developed these tones to allow automatic equipment to identify the cause of failed calls. The tone sequence was added to each intercept voice message. There are potentially up to 64 possible SIT tones but they all sound much the same to untrained ears. Apparently, the SIT tone system never really worked well for its intended purpose. One problem is that the messages were often played out from tape machines that would go out of adjustment so that the tone frequencies weren't accurate enough to be useful. However, the SIT tones became used for many other purposes (e.g. that anti telemarketing contraption). It appears that the CCITT (ITU) has issued a specification for a generic SIT tone which is wide enough to accommodate all 64 Bell varieties. The CCITT limits are shown in parentheses. Most SIT detecting devices will probably respond to anything within the CCITT limits. Note that I refer to 64 SIT tones (3 segments, each with two possible frequencies and two possible amplitudes) but all the SIT tones below use the same frequency for the third segment. It's a bit like the question of whether the fourth DTMF column digits are ever used. Steve Hayes South Wales, UK SIT TONES TIMINGS per segment: (CCITT 330 +- 70 msec) S - 274 msec, L - 380 msec Silent interval up to 30 msec between segments. FREQUENCIES: 1st segment (CCITT 950 +- 50 Hz) l - 913.8 Hz, h - 985.2 Hz 2nd segment (CCITT 1400 +- 50 Hz) l - 1370.6 Hz, h - 1428.5 Hz 3rd segment (CCITT 1800 +- 50 Hz) l - 1776.7 Hz LEVELS: (CCITT -10 +- 5 dBm0, 3dB max between segments) -13 +- 1.5 dBm0 CODES: TIME FREQ Reorder SLL lhl Vacant Code LSL hll No Connection LLL hhl Intercept SSL lll Reorder Interconnect SLL hll No Connection Intercept LLL lll Future 1 LSL lhl Future 2 SSL hhl EXAMPLE: Vacant code SIT consists of 380 msec (L) of 985.2 Hz (h), followed by up to 30 msec silence, followed by 274 msec (S) of 1370.6 Hz (l), followed by up to 30 msec silence, followed by 380 msec (L) of 1776.7 Hz (l).