From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon May 10 17:29:21 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i4ALTLg12092; Mon, 10 May 2004 17:29:21 -0400 (EDT) Date: Mon, 10 May 2004 17:29:21 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200405102129.i4ALTLg12092@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 #234 TELECOM Digest Mon, 10 May 2004 17:25:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 234 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Telecom Update (Canada) #432, May 10, 2004 (Angus TeleManagement) Obituary: Comedian Alan King (Lisa Hancock) Software to Analyze AT&T OCDD Raw Data (from FTP feed) (Craig Stevenson) Re: Ditching Copper - Getting Fax machines and VoIP to play nice (CharlesH) Re: Firewall (Pix) Not Getting IP (DHCP) on SBC DSL (Daniel J McDonald) AT&T Bill For *Non Existant* Line. What to Do?? (Dr. Joel M. Hoffman) Verizon Wireless "Detail Missing" New Bills (Lisa Hancock) Re: Verizon to Expand DSL Offering With New, Higher-Speed Service (FL@L&ER) Re: Best Price on Home Phone Service? (Steven J Sobol) Re: Best Price on Home Phone Service? (John Levine) 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, 10 May 2004 10:31:10 -0400 From: Angus TeleManagement Subject: Telecom Update (Canada) #432, May 10, 2004 ************************************************************ TELECOM UPDATE ************************************************************ published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group http://www.angustel.ca Number 432: May 10, 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: ** Profits Up at BCE and Telus ** Call-Net Swings to Loss ** MTS Profits Boosted by Bell West Sale ** Higher Expenses Push Microcell to Loss ** BCE Selling Emergis, But Not MTS ** Push-to-Talk Goes International ** CRTC to Review TPIA Rates ** Bell's Revised Tariffs Don't Pass Muster ** Part of Craig-Look Suit Dismissed ** Chatham Internet Project to Use SR Wireless ** Canada Payphone Delays Reorg Plan ** Mitel Completes Financing Deals ** Telus Wins $66 Million IP Contract ** Utility Telcos Form Council ** CAIP Merges with CATA ** VON Canada Program Announced ** Going Beyond Voice in IP Telephony ============================================================ PROFITS UP AT BCE AND TELUS: Canada's two largest telecom companies reported first quarter financial results last week. ** BCE's revenues were $4.7 billion, virtually unchanged from last year, but net earnings were $470 million, up from $451 million. ** Telus's operating revenues were up 3.6% from last year, reaching $1.8 billion, and net income jumped 13.2% to $101 million. ** Some statistics that may indicate trends: - Wireless Revenue: Bell up 18%; Telus up 18.9% - Wireline Long Distance Revenue: Bell down 11.7%; Telus down 8.6% - Local phone lines in service: Bell down 1%; Telus down 1.3% CALL-NET SWINGS TO LOSS: Foreign exchange fluctuations took Call-Net Enterprises to a first quarter net loss of $29.9 million, compared to a gain of $7.6 million last year. Total quarterly revenue was $202.5 million, nearly the same as in 2003. ** Call-Net says it added 34,000 local phone lines in the quarter, bringing total local lines in service to more than 300,000. The company plans a "modest launch" of Internet phone service, probably by September. MTS PROFITS BOOSTED BY BELL WEST SALE: Manitoba Telecom Services' operating income for the first quarter was $211.1 million, up only $400,000 from a year ago, but net income jumped from $24 million to $218.5 million, as a result of the sale of MTS's share of Bell West to Bell Canada. ** Long distance revenue was down 10% from 1Q 2003. Wireless was up 14.4%. HIGHER EXPENSES PUSH MICROCELL TO LOSS: Microcell Telecommunications had a $14.7 million loss in the first quarter. The company attributes the loss to foreign exchange and customer activation costs. ** The wireless carrier reports a net gain of 12,366 subscribers in the first quarter, compared to a net loss of 39,935 in 1Q 2003. BCE SELLING EMERGIS, BUT NOT MTS: BCE has agreed to sell its 64% stake in e-commerce supplier BCE Emergis to an underwriting syndicate for $355 million. BCE CEO Michael Sabia says the company has no plan to sell its 22% stake in Manitoba Tel, despite that company's acquisition of Allstream. PUSH-TO-TALK GOES INTERNATIONAL: Users of Telus Mobility's Mike service in Canada and Nextel's wireless service in the U.S. can now call each other using the push-to-talk Direct Connect feature. ** Telus is now selling the BlackBerry 7510, described as the first BlackBerry device equipped with Direct Connect. CRTC TO REVIEW TPIA RATES: The CRTC has ordered the major telcos and cablecos to file updated Internet access cost studies, so the Commission can review whether their Third- Party Internet Access rates are appropriate. www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2004/dt2004-28.htm BELL'S REVISED TARIFFS DON'T PASS MUSTER: The CRTC has turned down two Bell Canada customer specific arrangement tariffs, both filed for the second time after a first denial (see Telecom Update #426), because they still do not cover costs. Bell must file compliant tariffs in 45 days, or the CRTC will register this decision with the Federal Court. www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Orders/2004/o2004-142.htm www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Orders/2004/o2004-143.htm PART OF CRAIG-LOOK SUIT DISMISSED: The Ontario Superior Court has dismissed the Craig Wireless application for an interim injunction that would have blocked Unique Broadband from voting its shares of Look Communications. (See Telecom Update #421) ** Separately, Craig has withdrawn its Federal Court appeal against a CRTC decision that permitted UBS to acquire a controlling interest in Look. CHATHAM INTERNET PROJECT TO USE SR WIRELESS: SR Telecom says its wireless technology will be used to bring high-speed Internet access to residential customers in the Chatham-Kent area of Ontario over the next year. Chatham Internet Access will receive funding from Industry Canada's BRAND initiative. www.ciaccess.com/ CANADA PAYPHONE DELAYS REORG PLAN: B.C. Superior Court has allowed Canada Payphone Corporation to delay filing its reorganization plan until June 21. The original date proposed when CPC filed for bankruptcy was May 5. (See Telecom Update #430) MITEL COMPLETES FINANCING DEALS: Mitel Networks has obtained $20 million in new equity investment from EdgeStone Capital Partners, and other investors have agreed to convert $50 million in debt to equity. The company says it has also doubled its banking and credit facilities to approximately $65 million. TELUS WINS $66 MILLION IP CONTRACT: Telus says it has signed a six-year, $66 million contract to provide Wide Area, Local Area and voice services to over 600 offices of The Co- operators insurance group across Canada. UTILITY TELCOS FORM COUNCIL: Canadian utilities have formed UTC Canada, to represent their telecom and IT interests. The association is affiliated with the U.S.-based United Telecom Council. http://canada.utc.org/ CAIP MERGES WITH CATA: The Canadian Association of Internet Providers, which has been sharing administrative support with the Canadian Advanced Technology Association since late 2002 (see Telecom Update #363), has voted to merge with the larger organization. The CAIP Board of Directors will become CATA's Internet Advisory Committee. VON CANADA PROGRAM ANNOUNCED: Pulver.com has announced the program for VON Canada 2004, to be held in Markham, Ontario, May 18-20. Speakers at the conference, which focuses on the convergence of the telecom and Internet industries, will include senior executives from Bell Canada, Telus, Mitel, Nortel, Avaya, Primus, and Vonage. www.voncanada.com/schedule.html GOING BEYOND VOICE IN IP TELEPHONY: In the May issue of Telemanagement, John Riddell presents five case studies of advanced applications based on IP PBXs. Also in this issue: - Wireless Substitution: How Accurate are Telco Claims? - Toronto Airport Implements Multi-User IP Network - Understanding and Managing Wi-Fi Performance ** Telemanagement Online subscribers can access this issue, and our extensive library of past issues, columns, editorials, and feature reports, at http://online.angustel.ca. ** To subscribe or to add online access to your existing subscription, go to www.angustel.ca/teleman/tm-sub-online.html. ============================================================ 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. ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) Subject: Obituary: Comedian Alan King Date: 10 May 2004 07:20:44 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Long time comedian and actor Alan King died this weekend at age 76. He was noted for his jokes about life in the suburbs. One of his topics was the telephone. While developed many years ago, his jokes still are funny today. He joked about how his wife was _always_ on the phone, which included multiple calls to her mother and sister all day long. He called the phone company to get basic telephone service -- wanting a simple phone that you can talk on and rings. They countered about a choice of ringer (in those days they pushed the "Bell Chime" which sounded like a doorbell or fire alarm). He suggested two choruses of Jeanette McDonald singing "When I'm Calling You". (Of course, today are cell phones give us just that. I'll never forget Edith Bunker singing that song (or I should say screeching that song) on All in the Family). He didn't like 10 digit dialing (added when he had to use 516 to call home on L.I.) or the loss of exchange names. He didn't like people using the phone to order stuff delivered when they could get off their butt and walk to the store. Other topics included suburbanites obsession for perfect lawns, parents overdone passion at Little League, banks and their undecipherable policies, insurance companies, lawyers, airlines, a night out on the town, and fitness fanactics. He had two classic books, "Help I'm a prisoner in a Chinese Fortune Cookie Bakery" and "Anyone who owns their own home deserves it", as well a more recent book. ------------------------------ From: Craig Stevenson Subject: Software to Analyze AT&T OCDD Raw Data (From FTP Feed) Organization: SBC http://yahoo.sbc.com Date: Mon, 10 May 2004 17:02:06 GMT Is there any software out there (commercial or free/shareware) that will parse and analyze AT&T OCDD raw data records? Minimally, would need software that extracts the data from AT&T's "BCD format" to allow moving the records into an SQL database. Ideally, would like software that will parse through the data to identify all legs of a call (e.g., initial call and subsequent transfers) and combine the records into a single "combined call record". The goal is to allow us to perform call path analysis to answer some basic questions such as those below. Unfortunately, we can only answer these when we have matched the "from" and the "to" call records in OCDD. -- How many hops (transfers) are executed for each type of toll free call -- When a call center transfers calls, to which site(s) are those calls sent? -- For calls transferred to a site, from which site(s) did those calls come? Thanks, Craig Stevenson ------------------------------ From: hoch@exemplary.invalid (CharlesH) Subject: Re: Ditching Copper - Getting Fax Machines and VoIP to Play Nice Date: 10 May 2004 17:21:44 GMT Organization: http://newsguy.com In article , VOIP News wrote: > The question now is, does the same > method allow users to conquer one of the last great VoIP roadblocks: > allowing your DirecTV/Tivo modem to dial out via your VoIP connection. Wait a minute ... if you have VoIP, you have broadband of some sort. And a TiVo can be configured to use a broadband connection to "call home" rather than use dialup. So why is TiVo an issue here? ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Firewall (Pix) Not Getting IP (DHCP) on SBC DSL Organization: io.com From: djmcdona@fnord.io.com (Daniel J McDonald) Date: Mon, 10 May 2004 12:49:36 -0500 In article , jsinger986 wrote: > My Cisco Pix 501 doesn't seem to be obtaining an IP address over my > SBC Yahoo DSL connection. When I was afflicted with SBCglobal DSL, I had to use PPPoE on my PIX 501. > Here is some info from the Pix: > Cisco PIX Firewall Version 6.1(1) That's like FCS code for that hardware -- maybe 3 years old. If you can get 6.3.3 on there it may help as well. Daniel J McDonald CCIE # 2495, CNX Visit my website: http://www.austinnetworkdesign.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 10 May 2004 14:32:01 GMT From: joel@exc.com (Dr. Joel M. Hoffman) Subject: AT&T Bill For *Non Existant* Line. What to Do?? Organization: Excelsior Computer Services My parents recently started receiving a bill from AT&T for a *non-existant* line. They have always had two numbers on the same line, a main number ("line 1"), and a second number ("line 2") that rings on the same line but with a special ring pattern. (This is called identi-ring here. It has other names.) Last Fall they discontinued their AT&T LD service and switched to Verizon. About two months ago, though, they started getting bills from AT&T for *line 2*! Line 2 doesn't exist, and cannot make outgoing calls! They are being charged about $3.50 for a "standard line." and then a handful of regulatory nonsense that brings the bill up to about $7.50/month. This seems like out and out fraud. But it has been my experience, that, by and large, AT&T earns money with decpetive but legal practices, unlike the fly-by-night outfits that earn money illegally. Is this likely to be just a clerical error on AT&T's part? Is it willful deception? Has AT&T done this to anyone else? More importantly, which regulatory office should receive a copy of the letter I'm going to write to AT&T? Surely it must be illegal to bill for a non-existant number. Thanks. -Joel [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: AT&T would probably tell you, and whichever regulators you chose to complain to, that Verizon made the mistake by informing them that the identi-ring line was an actual existent number instead of just an alias pointing at your first line. I would not blame AT&T for this -- not at first, anyway -- I would blame Verizon for whatever good it would do. Identi-ring alias numbers, by whatever name they go under -- are relatively rare phenomena, at least according to the chairman's office at SBC. People seem to prefer actual, physical second lines in most instances, and telco does not sell a lot of indenti-call service. I know when I got my identi-call line, SBC looked me as though I was nuts (and who knows, maybe I am). The local tech here at the Independence central office over at 6th and Maple said to me he could not recall anyone around town here ever ordering one before. My main reason was with my relatively low phone usage, I did not need a 'second' line; I wanted a way to have my 800 line get a different ringing cadence so I could use the appropriate answer-phrase (and to discretely know whose nickle was paying for the call without having to ask the caller.) As luck would have it, the number assigned to me as the alias identi-ring had formerly been one of our town's most notorious deadbeats, so for quite a while I did not know if a good person using my 800 number was calling me when the ring-ring sound was heard, or if it was a collection agency calling for the deadbeat, dialing straight in on it. AT&T was one such caller (on the ring-ring line) since the deadbeat had taken them also. Took me a *long* time to get them to stop calling on that ring-ring line. PAT] ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Minter) Subject: Verizon Wireless "Detail Missing" New Bills Date: 10 May 2004 08:44:26 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Verizon Wireless (cell phones) has introduced what they call a: "shorter, simpler, 'streamlined bill' thatt is simpler to understand while using less paper". Nonsense. What they did is remove the detailed billing listings. It's funny on how in the two months they've done this, my cell phone bill is $5-$10 more than it usually is, especially when I rarely use it. I have no idea what they've billed me for. It's very possible they made errors; they have made errors in bill calculations in the past (1-they charged me peak rates for offpeak usage and 2-overcharged the landline fee). I tried to get a detail listing online, as they encourage, but I don't want to give them my email address (required) because I do not want to receive "news items that may interest me" on my email. So I called them, went through the long phone mail jail ladder, waited for a customer service rep who put me on hold then disconnected me, then got someone else, and complained. They can't fax me bill detail, but will mail it to me and include detail in the future. It annoys me when companies claim they're doing something wonderful and special for us customers when in reality they're saving themselves money. A lot of companies do this now. Whenever they say "for your protection" or "for better customer service", I know it really means better for THEM, not me. FWIW, elimaining the detail listing on my cell phone didn't save them any paper at all-it was still three pages long, including a full page of "news". FWIW, when I was a kid the phone company managed to put our bill a single SMALL piece of paper -- not 8.5 X 11", but only 8.5 x 4". They had service/equipment, message units and taxes on one side, and tolls calls on the other. If there were many toll calls, they used multiple slips of paper. Their advertising was on a separate leaflet of glossy paper. The power company did even less: They used a postcard -- name and address on the right side, beg/end KWH usage, tax, and total on the left side. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Lisa, the phone bill I found in my grandmother's things after she died (12-31-1978) came from Southwestern Bell Telephone Company dated *1924*; it was the size you mentioned, written out in pen and ink in a most ecquisite handwriting, (obviously a bookkeeper/school teacher style of writing) stating her total bill for that month was $6.28 which included the long distance charges. The other old phone bill among her stuff was dated *1931* and it was typewritten, like an old fashioned invoice, for about $7.50 if I recall correctly. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Temporary FL@L&ER Subject: Re: Verizon to Expand DSL Offerings With New, Higher-Speed Service Date: Mon, 10 May 2004 00:50:50 -0500 Reply-To: w9vhe@arrl.net Unless I am mistaken, on Tue, 04 May 2004 21:39:45 -0400, VOIP News wrote: > http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/05-04-2004/0002166780&EDATE= > First-Quarter Record Sales of Verizon Online DSL Help Fuel DSL Industry > Market-Share Growth > NEW YORK, May 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Building on momentum from a record > DSL sales quarter, Verizon will spur its home broadband growth by > offering an additional higher-speed DSL service to consumers this > summer and by developing new service packages that include residential > voice-over-Internet-protocol (VoIP) services. "We've created one of > the best overall values in broadband today, with content, speed, and > great service at a very affordable price," said Judy Verses, senior > vice president -- marketing for Verizon's Retail Markets Group. "Our > sales growth shows that when consumers in the mass market think about > broadband, more and more often they're choosing DSL for their > high-speed connection. And we're not stopping now." > Faster DSL speeds are coming this summer when Verizon Online plans to > add a new, additional tier of consumer DSL service with a maximum > connection speed of 3Mbps/768Kbps for qualified customers. In > addition, when Verizon introduces its consumer VoIP service this > quarter, the company will provide it to qualifying Verizon Online DSL > customers at a discount. "Fifty-one percent of Verizon's residential > customers have purchased local calling in combination with either > Verizon long-distance or Verizon DSL, or both," said Verses. "Our > ability to offer customers a compelling array of local, long-distance, > wireless, broadband and video services is unmatched by our cable > competitors. Expanding our DSL service will allow us to offer even > more innovative packages that include services like voice over IP." > Pricing for the higher-speed DSL service and VoIP package will be > announced later. Verses said that, like all Verizon Online DSL > offerings, pricing for these services will be highly competitive. > This quarter Verizon Online will triple to 384Kbps the upstream speed > of its basic DSL offering for qualifying customers. The price for > this 1.5Mbps/384Kbps service will remain the same as the current > 1.5Mbps/128Kbps service -- $34.95 a month for stand-alone service or > $29.95 a month when purchased as part of a package of local and > long-distance calling services. > Verizon Helps Fuel DSL Market Share Growth > A recent Pew Internet & American Life study shows that DSL now has > a 42 percent share of the home broadband market, up from 28 percent in > March 2003, and that more and more Internet-users are moving from > dial-up to broadband. The study also shows that the number of DSL > users at home has more than doubled since March 2003, while the number > of home cable-modem users grew by less than one-quarter. > Last week, Verizon announced record sales for its Verizon Online > DSL business with the addition of 345,000 new high-speed Internet > customers in the first quarter of 2004, representing a 46 percent > year-over-year growth rate. The company now has 2.7 million DSL lines > in service. > Several Verizon Online initiatives during 2003 contributed to this > growth. In May 2003, Verizon Online doubled the maximum connection > speed of its entry-level DSL offering to 1.5Mbps/128Kbps while > lowering the price of the up to 1.5Mbps service from $59.95 a month to > $34.95 a month. At the same time, Verizon lowered the price of basic > DSL service to $29.95 a month when purchased as part of a package of > Verizon local and long-distance calling services. > Also in May, Verizon launched its partnership with MSN and began > offering its DSL customers the broadband-enabled content and services > of MSN 8 at no additional charge. Today the MSN service has been > upgraded to MSN Premium, which includes critical tools like firewalls, > virus protection and parental controls. > Customer satisfaction has improved. The company streamlined its > do-it-yourself DSL installation kit, reducing the process to three > steps and providing an online tutorial that takes customers through > the process from start to finish. The company also continued to make > improvements in service-provisioning and customer-care processes. > In 2003 Verizon also made DSL service available to 10 million more > lines. Aggressive deployment of DSL in remote terminals allowed > Verizon to provide service to more households in communities where > Verizon central offices are already provisioned with DSL. In 2004, > the company plans to make 7 million more of its lines capable of > delivering the service. > snip What most folks fail to realize is that most of Verizon's customers are in an urban environment, which is much cheaper and easier to deploy DSL technology. In their lower tiered markets, and the larger switches in areas considered "rural", don't even offer it, despite the big push in 2003 to deploy DSL in their DLC systems. Still the Bell + GTE mentality at work. Use the usual techniques if you wish to reply via email. Molon Labe! ------------------------------ From: Steven J Sobol Subject: Re: Best Price on Home Phone Service? Date: Sun, 09 May 2004 22:47:57 -0500 Dave Hauss wrote: > DSL is available on my line and I have ordered it. BUT what about MCI > Neighborhood? My relatives who live right near me have it ... I think > it was only $39.95? then can I still get DSL? Not from the ILEC (Verizon, in your case), who will probably require you to get the phone line from them. On the other hand, MCI are a bunch of criminal thugs. I wouldn't give them any money. JustThe.net Internet & New Media Services, Apple Valley, CA PGP: 0xE3AE35ED Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / 888.480.4NET (4638) / sjsobol@JustThe.net Domain Names, $9.95/yr, 24x7 service: http://DomainNames.JustThe.net/ "someone once called me a sofa, but i didn't feel compelled to rush out and buy slip covers." -adam brower * Hiroshima '45, Chernobyl '86, Windows 98/2000/2003 ------------------------------ Date: 10 May 2004 00:38:29 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: Best Price on Home Phone Service? Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > DSL is available on my line and I have ordered it. BUT what about MCI > Neighborhood? My relatives who live right near me have it .. I think > it was only $39.95? then can I still get DSL? Everyone I know who's done business with MCI has ended up regretting it. I sure did, I had to get rid of two collection bureaus trying to collect on calls they knew I didn't make. Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.com, Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies", Information Superhighwayman wanna-be, http://www.johnlevine.com, Mayor "I shook hands with Senators Dole and Inouye," said Tom, disarmingly. ------------------------------ 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. You may reprint articles in some other media on an occasional basis, but please attribute my work and that of the original author. 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Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. ************************ --------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. End of TELECOM Digest V23 #234 ******************************