From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Apr 26 17:02:06 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id i3QL26G04818; Mon, 26 Apr 2004 17:02:06 -0400 (EDT) Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2004 17:02:06 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200404262102.i3QL26G04818@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V23 #210 TELECOM Digest Mon, 26 Apr 2004 17:02:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 210 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Telecom Update (Canada) #430, April 26, 2004 (Angus TeleManagement) A Digital Video Recorder Leader Lags (Monty Solomon) A Quirky Brilliance vs. the Dreams of Venture Capitalists (M. Solomon) Re: Book Review: 19th Century Telegraphers (Lisa Hancock) Re: Feds: No Analog TV by '09 (J Kelly) Northern Telecom Unity Controller Question (Doug Rorem) VoIP Analogy (Lisa Hancock) Dialpad Launches New Broadband Phone Service (VOIP News) SBC Sues AT&T Over Internet Phone Fees (VOIP News) Linksys Finds its Voice (VOIP News) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk are definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2004 11:21:32 -0400 From: Angus TeleManagement Subject: Telecom Update (Canada) #430, April 26, 2004 ************************************************************ TELECOM UPDATE ************************************************************ published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group http://www.angustel.ca Number 430: April 26, 2004 Publication of Telecom Update is made possible by generous financial support from: ** ALLSTREAM: www.allstream.com ** BELL CANADA: www.bell.ca ** CISCO SYSTEMS CANADA: www.cisco.com/ca ** CYGCOM INTEGRATED TECHNOLOGIES: www.cygcom.com ** GROUP TELECOM: www.360.net ** JUNIPER NETWORKS: www.juniper.net ** PRIMUS CANADA: www.primustel.ca ** SPRINT CANADA: www.sprint.ca ** TELUS: www.telus.com ************************************************************ IN THIS ISSUE: ** Aliant Strike Begins ** CRTC Extends VoIP Review Schedule ** GT Bundles LD with Voice Trunks ** Navigata Launches Local VoIP Service ** Canada Payphone Files for Bankruptcy ** Celestica to Lay Off Another 5,000 ** AT&T Must Pay Fees on "Phone to Phone" IP Calls ** Cities Want Oral Hearing on Allstream Disputes ** Telco Confidentiality Rules Extended to Resellers ** UBS Sues Allstream, Microcell, and Inukshuk ** Motorola Licenses Blackberry Software ** Shaw Offers Global Internet Roaming ** Telus Launches Fast Dial-Up ** Meeting to Review 9-1-1 and VoIP ** EastLink Says Aliant Flouting CRTC Order ** MCI Emerges from Chapter 11 ** FCI Broadband Names New CEO ** Rogers Provides Listings by Text ** UTStarcom Buying Vancouver CDMA Developer ** Telehop Plans Expansion ** Rogers Wireless Operating Profit Up 42% ** Angus at the Podium ============================================================ ALIANT STRIKE BEGINS: 4,300 members of the Council of Atlantic Telecommunications Unions went on strike against Aliant on April 23. Aliant says it will maintain service, but customers should expect delays. CRTC EXTENDS VoIP REVIEW SCHEDULE: In response to requests from telcos and PIAC (see Telecom Update #429), the CRTC has extended the timetable for the VoIP proceeding. Comments and evidence must now be filed by June 18 (instead of April 28), and the public consultation will be September 21-22 (instead of May 19-20). Parties will exchange interrogatories and replies over the summer. www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Letters/2004/lt040422.htm ** So far, 113 interested parties have registered to participate in or monitor the VoIP proceeding. www.crtc.gc.ca/ENG/public/Iplists/pn04-02.htm GT BUNDLES LD WITH VOICE TRUNKS: GT Group Telecom now offers 1,000 minutes of North American long distance calling with each $53.95/month business trunk (minimum three trunks), and 17,000 minutes with T-1 local voice access, in 16 Canadian cities where it sells local service. NAVIGATA LAUNCHES LOCAL VoIP SERVICE: SaskTel subsidiary Navigata Communications has begun offering local phone service over high-speed Internet lines in eight B.C. and Alberta cities. WebCall is initially available in two packages, bundled with 400 or 1,000 minutes of North American long distance for $29.95 or $39.95 a month. A $49.95/month version with multimedia features is "coming soon." CANADA PAYPHONE FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY: Canada Payphone Corporation, the last remaining competitive payphone provider of any size, has requested and received court protection under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. The company says it will file a restructuring plan proposal by May 7. Appel & Co. is trustee. CELESTICA TO LAY OFF ANOTHER 5,000: Toronto-based Celestica, which makes electronic components, says it will lay off about 5,000 employees--up to 15% of its work force--over the next 12 months. First-quarter revenue of US$2.0 billion was up 27% from a year earlier. AT&T MUST PAY FEES ON "PHONE TO PHONE" IP CALLS: The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has ruled that AT&T must pay access fees when its LD calls originate and terminate on traditional PSTN-connected phones, even when the calls travel in part on the Internet. www.fcc.gov CITIES WANT ORAL HEARING ON ALLSTREAM DISPUTES: Toronto and Calgary have asked the CRTC for a "more court-like procedure," including an oral hearing and the right to cross- examine witnesses, when it considers Allstream's application to amend their municipal access agreements (see Telecom Update #424). The cities say the issues cannot be dealt with fairly in a written proceeding. ** Edmonton, Vancouver, and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities have asked for standing in the proceedings. TELCO CONFIDENTIALITY RULES EXTENDED TO RESELLERS: The CRTC says resellers must abide by the rules prohibiting disclosure of confidential customer information without the customer's express consent (see Telecom Update #386). The requirement is imposed through carriers' current and future contracts with resellers. www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2004/dt2004-27.htm UBS SUES ALLSTREAM, MICROCELL, AND INUKSHUK: In the continuing dispute over who has the right to use Inukshuk Internet's 2.5 MHz spectrum, Unique Broadband Systems has filed suit against Allstream, Microcell, and Inukshuk Internet, seeking $150 million in damages. (See Telecom Update #384, 409, 423) MOTOROLA LICENSES BLACKBERRY SOFTWARE: Research in Motion has signed an agreement that allows Motorola to enable specific mobile phones to connect to BlackBerry services. SHAW OFFERS GLOBAL INTERNET ROAMING: Shaw Communications Internet customers can now get roaming access in 100 countries, through a service provided by Minneapolis-based RemotePipes, Inc. TELUS LAUNCHES FAST DIAL-UP: Telus now offers dial-up access at up to 280 Kbps in Alberta and B.C. Fast Dial-Up, which uses data compression technology from SlipStream, costs $2.95/month on top of existing fees; it will be offered in Quebec this summer. MEETING TO REVIEW 9-1-1 AND VoIP: The National Emergency Number Association will hold a "Critical Issues Forum" on E9-1-1 and Voice over IP in Markham, Ontario, May 18-20. The meeting, co-located with the VON Canada conference, will update telecom and public safety personnel on current and future plans for 9-1-1 systems. www.nena.org/Events/CIF/CIF.htm EASTLINK SAYS ALIANT FLOUTING CRTC ORDER: EastLink says Aliant is still offering the Value Packages that the CRTC ruled in Decision 2004-21 must be tariffed (see Telecom Update #427). EastLink accuses the telco of "regulatory gaming" and "disregard for Commission rules." www.crtc.gc.ca/PartVII/eng/2004/8622/e17_200403650.htm MCI EMERGES FROM CHAPTER 11: MCI shed US$35 billion in debt April 20 when it formally emerged from U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company, which has 50,000 employees, says it lost none of its 100 largest customers during bankruptcy proceedings. FCI BROADBAND NAMES NEW CEO: FCI Broadband, a Markham-based Competitive Local Exchange Carrier, has named Nick Melatti as its new President and Chief Executive Officer. ROGERS PROVIDES LISTINGS BY TEXT: Rogers Wireless customers who call Directory Assistance now receive the name, address, and phone number listing by text message at no additional cost. UTSTARCOM BUYING VANCOUVER CDMA DEVELOPER: Telos Technology, a Vancouver-based supplier of CDMA network technology, is being acquired by UTStarcom, a California-based specialist in IP access networking, for between $29 million and $48 million, depending on future revenue. TELEHOP PLANS EXPANSION: Telehop, a Toronto-based long distance reseller, says it plans to expand this year into the Maritimes, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. ROGERS WIRELESS OPERATING PROFIT UP 42%: Rogers Wireless reports first-quarter operating profit of $217 million, 42% higher than a year ago. Sales rose 19% to $593 million. A net loss of $1.0 million was attributed to currency fluctuations. Monthly postpaid disconnects declined to 1.73%; data services accounted for 4.9% of network revenue. ** Rogers Communications lost $65 million on revenue of $1.26 billion. ANGUS AT THE PODIUM: Principals of Angus Telemanagement and Angus Dortmans Associates will speak at several events in May: ** Henry Dortmans speaks on "Your Call Centre Credibility Quotient" at the Alberta Call Centre Association conference in Edmonton, May 12, and on "Call Centre Leadership" at the International Customer Service Association conference in Toronto, May 19. ** Ian Angus speaks on "Implementing Enterprise IP-PBXs" at customer meetings organized by SaskTel in Regina and Saskatoon, May 18 and 19, and moderates a session on the same subject at the VON Canada conference in Toronto, May 20. ** For information on booking Angus speakers for your next meeting, visit www.angustel.ca/SeminarsKeynotes.html or e-mail ianangus@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 www.angustel.ca 2. The e-mail edition is distributed free of charge. To subscribe, send an e-mail message to: join-telecom_update@nova.sparklist.com To stop receiving the e-mail edition, send an e-mail message to: leave-telecom_update@nova.sparklist.com Sending e-mail to these addresses will automatically add or remove the sender's e-mail address from the list. Leave subject line and message area blank. We do not give Telecom Update subscribers' e-mail addresses to any third party. For more information, see www.angustel.ca/update/privacy.html. =========================================================== COPYRIGHT AND CONDITIONS OF USE: All contents copyright 2004 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. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2004 13:48:27 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: A Digital Video Recorder Leader Lags Tales of digital video recorders, devices that record television programs on a hard drive, are finally gaining momentum, a study by IDC, a market research firm, has found. But TiVo, the company that popularized the concept, is increasingly being left behind by the success. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/26/business/media/26MOSTWANTED.html ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2004 13:55:30 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: A Quirky Brilliance vs. the Dreams of Venture Capitalists By SAUL HANSELL Not every company would coyly spurn billions of dollars and front-page attention. Yet Google seems intent on staying private as long as possible despite the clamoring of investors to own a piece of a company that has become synonymous with instant information on the Web. There are many good reasons to avoid a public stock offering and the close scrutiny it brings. Indeed, this week the scrutiny will intensify as the company approaches a deadline to file financial disclosures. But in Google's case, its hesitancy up to this point has been a symptom of a long-running battle for control between its two brainy, headstrong founders and the powerful, strong-willed financiers who gave them the money to turn their graduate school project into one of the world's leading brands, according to several people in and outside Google. The two founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who own perhaps 40 percent of the company, could become billionaires several times over if they take it public. But according to people who have dealt with them, they are less interested in cashing out than in maintaining their ability to direct Google's ambitious strategy and idiosyncratic style. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/26/technology/26google.html ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) Subject: Re: Book Review: 19th Century Telegraphers Date: 26 Apr 2004 07:39:50 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Wesrock@aol.com wrote > Western Union provided a telephone service, primarily long distance, > for many years before and after World War II. Was this a common thing or limited to a few special places? I didn't think WU's circuits could handle voice that well -- voice requires more bandwidth than telegraph (either Morse or Baudot), and that means repeaters, loading, switching, all must take that into account. One of the challenges that the Bell System faced with direct distance dialing (and operator dialing before that) was the proper set up of amplication into the circuit. Too much or too little would make the call inaudible or create nasty echo. The Bell System history (1925-1975) spends considerable space describing what had to be over come. To provide long distance voice, WU would have to do that same stuff, which would be expensive if not their primary business. > One thing that hurt W.U. in later years was the growth of > businesses to areas outside the CBD. Most businesses of any size > had a teletypewriter connection to/from the main W.U. office in town > to send and receive telegrams, and W.U. had extensive wire networks > through the CBD and other heavy user areas. This is true, but I think WU's decline -- in the 1960s -- happened before that many businesses moved out to the suburbs. There were still plenty of traditional customers (banks, newspapers) in the downtown who would make use of WU's plant. I sense that WU, despite having microwave and even satellites, wasn't that interested in its own wire plant, and leased considerable circuits from AT&T pretty early on. Perhaps its city wire plant was old and need of upgrade or replacement but they didn't have the funds or see a justification in the 1960s. > AT&T and its subsidiaries, in particular, wanted to preserve > W.U. as a competitor, if for nothing else to avoid being the only > option for communications and even more open to charges of monopoly. > They sold TWX to W.U., which eventually (but probably too late) > integrated it with their Telex system. Oslin feels the FCC favored AT&T's TWX to the extent it hurt WU's Telex; it was sold way too late to make a difference. > W.U. also became a competitive long distance carrier after > that came into the picture, and at one time I knew their 10XXX > prefix. Again, one wonders why they didn't stick with this. Did they still have their microwave and satellites to use for this service? I remember WU long distance, but they didn't market it very hard and I don't think it lasted very long. Actually, unlike the Bell System which advertised heavily, I don't recall much WU advertising at all. But admittedly, they were focused more for business customers wouldn't advertise on mainstream consumer media. Still, I don't recall ads for them in publications targeting affluent or business customers. The only big thing I remember WU pushing in the 1970s was Mailgram, which they did push hard. I think that service was relatively successful; I know I received quite a few over the years from businesses. Compuserve in its early days had a Mailgram feature. > But the message telegraph business, requiring labor to type up > the messages, and then to deliver them physically, was inherently > high cost. Telephone subscribers enter their messages themselves > (by speaking directly to the other customer, with no transcription > or delivery functions involved). Telegrams remained big business until after WW II because long distance phone rates were so high and not everyone had phones. Once LD rates declined in the late 1950s, telegrams ceased to have an economic advertising. (I wonder in what year the rates balanced out.) > I thought W.U. had given up the message telegram business > entirely and no longer had any circuits of its own. I have read > several places that you can't send (or receive) a telegram now in > the U.S.A., but it might be obscurely available. I doubt they have any circuits of their own, transmitting everything over leased lines. They do offer telegram service, see www.westernunion.com . However, I think they only accept a message from on-line submission payable by credit card, not at any money transfer agents. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Back in the days when '900 Premium > service' was a big thing and AT&T was one of several carriers which > billed for those calls via telephone bills, AT&T decided it wanted > out, since the fraud rate was so high and the customer service > requirements of dealing with dirty old men with bad memories who > could never remember making 'those calls' when questioned by their > wives, etc were so labor intensive. ... I imagine > Bell never thought that arrangement made back in the 1920's would > ever show up to bite them in the ass seventy years later. PAT] One thing I wonder about is how AT&T dealt with toll charge complaints, both paid and collect, back in the days when long distance was very expensive. Keeping toll tickets and accurate recording of them was of course very important in those days. A toll charge of $2 in 1948 equated to $40 today; if someone called coast-to-coast and talked for 10 minutes, the charge would be quite considerable. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: AT&T did keep voluminous records on toll charges. As calls were completed and 'stamped out' they went on a clip and picked up from there by clerks who went around the various switchboard positions roughly every ten to fifteen minutes, twenty-four hours daily. A 'batch' of toll-charge tickets (maybe two or three hour's worth of tickets) were then numerically by time and telephone number *then microfilmed* prior to any further processing. This gave the company backup paper in the event of mishandling later in the processing. The microfilm machine printed indicia on each paper ticket which, combined with the time-clock stamps of 'up and down' gave a very good audit trail. Operator started a toll call, time-clock stamped the paper in; call completed and paper was stamped again, since all operator positions had a little time-clock as part of them. Now with the tickets microfilmed, the original paper work went to the 'ledger posting clerks' who traveled around the file room area with a shopping card size thing with boxes full of the paper tickets, arranged in numerical order, just as the warehouse full of filing cabinets were arranged; i.e. all the toll tickets beginning with the phone number '1' were in order with the files for same in the same order. All the '1's were here, all the '9's were over there a few aisles away, etc. As the ledger clerks pushed their shopping carts along it was sort of like 'reverse shopping'. Stop in front of the files for '1', open the drawer, riffle through the files for the telephone number you wanted, drop the slip of paper in the file, and then on the 'ledger page' on the front of each file, write in the amount of the latest charge, the other details, etc. Now close the file cabinet and move along. Maybe two hours later, when the ledger clerk had emptied her cart of tickets, she maybe went on break or to the bathroom, and then back to the microfilm area where the clerks there had been busy shoving stacks of new tickets into the microfilm machine which whirred along, spitting out microfilmed charge tickets with their indicia on them somewhere. She would load her shopping cart and set out again to the files area doing the same thing again. This went on 24/7. Of course now and then she would get to a queue of file cabinets -- let's say the '7's -- and they would be empty. Not a paper file jacket to be found anywhere. That's because the '7's were out in 'bookkeeping' (the bookkeepers had priority over *almost everyone* in the office; ledger clerks were only one step or so below them.) So then those tickets would be recycled for posting a day or so later, when the '7's files came back from bookkeeping. This was all in the 1930-50's era. The bookkeepers also traveled around the file room area daily, gathering up the files which were going to be 'in bookkeeping' for the next two or three days. They added up and balanced the ledger sheets and bundled up the charge tickets then used a 'comptometer' machine to print out the official bill the customers received. Did you ever hear of the 'Victor Comptom- eter Company'? Victor Comptometer was on the north side of Chicago and sold many of those rather large, heavy machines to companies which did heavy-duty financial stuff. The bookkeepers also printed reports of their activities each day for use by customer service people, toll misbilling investigators and others. The reason files had to be 'in bookkeeping' for three days (and thus unavailable to most of the other employees for *their* work) was because day one was to sort out the tickets and other charge/credit tickets within the files and microfilm them (in their new order) once again; day two was to caculate and balance the ledger sheets and begin printing the statements; day three was to 'finish up' and get the file folders back to the file room and in place. Customer service people were a little bit different. When they got a phone call from a customer at their desk, they put the call 'on hold' and walked into the file area where they located the file, sat down at a nearby utility desk in a stall, plugged in their headset to get the call back, and go over the parts of the bill the customer was questioning. If a ledger posting clerk was walking past and needed the file, she would just snap her fingers or otherwise make a hand motion, then reach over and take the file out of the service rep's hands, make the proper notation on the jacket, drop the ticket in the file and hand the folder back to the rep who was still conversing with the customer and walk away. Usually not a word exchanged. If the service rep went to look for the file and could not find it (because it was in bookkeeping) then she had to tell the customer some excuse such as "I cannot get your file right now, I will look for it and call you back in a day or two with the answer and correction, etc". No one ever took a file 'out of bookkeeping' without permission from the supervisor. 'Bookkeeping' released the file when they were done working on it. And if the rep was in the public cubicle reading the file and talking to the customer when a bookkeeper came around to get it she had the authority to just take it away as needed, but of course etiquette and courtesy dictated to ask the rep and not just take it out of her hands and walk away with it. It happened both ways; no one thought badly about it. Bookkeepers reigned supreme, and ledger posting clerks were a close second. It had to be that way to make the 'system' work as it should. And the overhead loud speaker would come on a few times each day asking service reps "please search on your desks for file (number) which is needed by bookkeeping. If you have the file, call a messenger to get it." Or maybe you came back from lunch prepared to work on that file, and discovered it had disappeared from your desk while you were at lunch. That was because the messenger/office mail carriers were authorized to riffle through *your personal stack of office files* when they came around a few times each day. They always carried with them a sheet of paper called a 'wind up' which was a list of the files (numbers) missing in action being searched for which were needed by other reps or the toll fraud investigators, etc, and those people had to wait in line behind the bookkeepers also. And despite all this, in the old days, customers were always right, had been misunderstood, etc. Telco wrote off some incredibly large debts because of 'misunderstandings'. Despite telco's very sophisticated filing/bookeeping system, it was always 'the service representative misunderstood your request' or 'our operator somehow copied down the wrong number when making up the toll ticket', or maybe, 'our operator somehow forgot to stamp out the ticket on your call which you claim lasted three minutes but our records show lasted for three hours'. Customers (called 'subs' or short for subscribers) would lie through their teeth and the company would say 'sorry, it was our fault' and give them credit anyway. Yes, many mistakes were the company's fault, but the customers were sort of abusive also. PAT] ------------------------------ From: J Kelly Subject: Re: Feds: No Analog TV by '09 Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2004 10:04:51 -0500 Organization: http://newsguy.com Reply-To: jkelly@newsguy.com On Sat, 24 Apr 2004 19:45:57 +0000 (UTC), hes@unity.ncsu.edu (Henry E Schaffer) wrote: > I'm with Clarence. We are considering replacing our 1987 Sears 27" > (something around that size) -- and one of our delays is trying to > decide on what aspect ratio we want or need (4:3 or 16:9). (That's > another thing which may change in the few years.) Unless you are primarily watching 16:9 programming, I would stick with 4:3. My dad bought a 16:9 and it is terribly annoying to watch 99.5% of programming on that thing, it squashes the picture to make it wider so everyone looks 25 lbs overweight. PC Magazine just did an article on TV displays and they recommend 4:3 for most people unless they have a compelling reason to need 16:9. I really thought I wanted widescreen until I watched my dad's set for a couple of days. Now I just plan to buy a bigger 4:3 set, something large enough to still look okay for the widescreen stuff I do watch (mostly DVD's). ------------------------------ From: Doug Rorem Subject: Northern Telecom Unity Controller Question Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2004 14:09:51 -0500 Organization: The University of Illinois at Chicago Hello, I'm wondering if anyone has information on the pinouts for the 25 pair Amp connector to the Unity Controller console? [ours are wired for Parallel usage]. Thanks in advance! (the actual model number is NT4L14AB-35) Doug Rorem rorem@EXTRANEOUSuic.edu remove the EXTRANEOUS to contact me ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) Subject: VoIP Analogy Date: 26 Apr 2004 09:32:30 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Someone explained how VoIP (voice over Internet) isn't paying its share of the costs by the following analogy. Not knowing much about this, I'll leave it others to judge its validity. Imagine two grocery stores, A & B, located across a street from each other. "A" sells soda pop at 50c a can on a shelf. "B" sells chilled soda pop from a refrigerated display case at 75c a can. It was found that customers seeking a chilled soda would buy it from "A" at 50c, then go over and put it in the refrigerator at "B" to cool it. Thus, "B" ended up selling its competitor's product -- and extra expense -- but without the revenue. Our telecom director emphasizes that the Internet is NOT free, and VoIP represents an additional expense. Just because the end consumer pays a flat rate (or nothing at all in the case of employees) doesn't mean that a service is free. The consumers putting soda in a frige to cool it think it isn't costing anything, but it really is, especially when adding up many consumers. ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2004 11:59:31 -0400 Subject: Dialpad Launches New Broadband Phone Service Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/04-26-2004/0002159641&EDATE= Service Designed to Be Compatible With Multiple IP Phone Devices and Adaptors MILPITAS, Calif., April 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Dialpad Communications, Inc. (http://www.dialpad.com), a leading global provider of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services, announced today that it has added a Broadband phone service to its suite of products and services. Dialpad customers equipped with a broadband Internet connection, such as Cable or DSL, can now make low-cost calls over the Internet using their standard phone and an adaptor device. With the broadband phone service, making a call is as easy as picking up the phone and dialing. Dialpad is offering the Cisco ATA 186 and the Sipura SPA2000 gateways for use with this service. Dialpad has also announced that in the coming months it will be adding other broadband phone devices to its offerings and rolling out several special calling features for its broadband phone users. "VoIP technology is changing how we think about communications. Not only are we able to provide huge cost savings to our users while making calls, but also are able to offer a service with a quality that is virtually indistinguishable from the traditional phone service. The addition of the broadband phone devices now makes it even easier for our users to access our service and gives them the increased comfort and familiarity of using their existing phones to make calls. We look forward to adding additional features to this product line over the course of the year," said Dialpad's CEO, Craig Walker. "As a leader in worldwide Internet telephony, Dialpad is in an excellent position to capitalize on the rapid growth in this industry." About Dialpad Communications(R) Dialpad Communications, Inc. is a leading provider of high-quality Internet calling services, generating over 300 million calls in more than 200 countries worldwide. Dialpad's patent-pending technology has made it the Internet's best phone call, with no large downloads or complicated installations required. The company is based in Milpitas, CA and can be reached at (408) 635-1000 or at http://www.dialpad.com. Dialpad Communications and Dialpad are trademarks of Dialpad Communications, Inc., and are registered in certain jurisdictions. This release was issued on behalf of the above organization by Send2Press(TM), a unit of Neotrope(R). http://www.Send2Press.com. SOURCE Dialpad Communications, Inc. Web Site: http://www.dialpad.com How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2004 10:52:49 -0400 Subject: SBC Sues AT&T Over Internet Phone Fees Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.americasnetwork.com/americasnetwork/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=93163 Reuters WASHINGTON, April 23 (Reuters) - SBC Communications Inc., the second-largest U.S. local phone company, has sued long-distance giant AT&T Corp. claiming it avoided paying at least $141 million in connection fees for calls carried partly over the Internet. The lawsuit by SBC, filed in a St. Louis federal court on Thursday, follows a ruling by federal regulators a day earlier that AT&T was improperly deeming long-distance calls it carried over the Internet as local calls and paying local phone companies lower fees than normal. SBC "seeks not only to recover the exchange access charges that AT&T has unlawfully avoided -- which SBC estimates to be at least $141 million and possibly much more -- but also to enjoin AT&T from perpetuating its unlawful conduct," the lawsuit said. AT&T was not immediately available for comment. Full story at: http://www.americasnetwork.com/americasnetwork/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=93163 ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2004 11:37:04 -0400 Subject: Linksys Finds its Voice Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://news.com.com/2008-7352_3-5197172.html?part=rss&tag=feed&tag&subj=news By Winston Chai Special to CNET News.com If Victor Tsao has his way, your next broadband router could bear an uncanny resemblance to your living room telephone. Ten months after his company was bought by Cisco Systems for $500 million, the founder of consumer networking gear maker Linksys plans to embark on an aggressive product expansion trail this year. Beyond latching onto the digital entertainment wave with more offerings for multimedia streaming and wireless console gaming, Tsao will venture into an area where many before him have seen limited success -- Internet telephony. [.....] When do you plan to launch your VoIP products? We have a product right now -- an analog terminal adapter for VoIP. Within a month or two, we will work with some voice service providers in the U.S. to launch this product. That will be the first one. A lot more products will come out in the second part of this year. Full story at: http://news.com.com/2008-7352_3-5197172.html?part=rss&tag=feed&tag&subj=news ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, Yahoo Groups, and other forums. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit, mostly non-commercial educational service offered to the Internet by Patrick Townson. All the contents of the Digest are compilation-copyrighted. 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