From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri May 28 14:18:51 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i4SIIpD03993; Fri, 28 May 2004 14:18:51 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 14:18:51 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200405281818.i4SIIpD03993@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 #264 TELECOM Digest Fri, 28 May 2004 14:18:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 264 Inside This Issue: Happy Memorial Day Weekend to All! RCN Files Chapter 11 Restructuring Plan (Monty Solomon) Cingular Lags Rivals in High-Speed Wireless Data (Monty Solomon) Comment Requested on A La Carte and Themed Tier Programming (Monty Solomon) Media Bureau Seeks Comment on Over-Air Broadcast Television (Monty Solomon) TiVo, Say It Ain't So (Monty Solomon) Comcast and T-Mobile to Create Philadelphia's First-Ever (Monty Solomon) Comcast to Offer Phone Service to 40 Million in 2006 (Monty Solomon) Maryland Governor Signs Tough Anti-Spam Law (Monty Solomon) Verizon to Offer 'Naked' DSL (Monty Solomon) BBC Prepares to Put TV Archive on Web (Monty Solomon) 'Pirate Act' Raises Civil Rights Concerns (Monty Solomon) For Some, the Blogging Never Stops (Monty Solomon) Re: DSL vs. Cable Modem? (Barry Margolin) Re: DSL vs. Cable Modem? (Fred Atkinson) Health Insurance, was Re: The Strike Goes On (Danny Burstein) Re: Verizon DSL Newsgroup Provider (Gordon S. Hlavenka) +88234, a Country Code to Antarctica (Mr.R.) Phone Plug (Steve) A Query on World's Advanced Data Networks (Rohith) How Linux is Inadvertently Poised to Remake the Telephone (VOIP News) Juniper Research: Voice-Over-IP (VoIP) to Account for Over 12% (VOIP News) Welcome to Summer (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: Fri, 28 May 2004 09:09:24 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: RCN Files Chapter 11 Restructuring Plan By JEFFREY GOLD AP Business Writer PRINCETON, N.J. (AP) -- RCN Corp., a telecommunications upstart that packages phone, Internet and cable service but has been shedding assets and employees, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Thursday and said it has support from creditors for a restructuring plan. The company's troubles stem from poor timing and its expensive decision to challenge telecom and cable giants such as Verizon Communications Inc. and Comcast Corp. by building its own network _ laying expensive fiber optics instead of leasing lines from bigger players. RCN spent $1.88 billion on its network between the beginning of 2000 and the end of 2002. But revenue didn't keep pace, reaching only $542 million by 2002. Others in the telecom industry were also building or expanding their networks, planning for a surge in traffic that never developed. Since the tech bubble burst in 2000, a spate of bankruptcies, price wars and stock declines have roiled the industry. The company said the filing, in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District Court of New York, is not expected to result in any service disruption to customers. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41691440 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 09:14:53 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Cingular Lags Rivals in High-Speed Wireless Data By Sinead Carew NEW YORK, May 28 (Reuters) - Cingular Wireless (NYSE:SBC) is falling behind nimbler rivals in offering high-speed mobile services that let customers easily view the Internet and e-mail on phones and other wireless gadgets. Cingular, which will surpass Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ)(LSE:VOD) as the biggest U.S. carrier when it buys AT&T Wireless Services Inc. (NYSE:AWE) this year, said it is unlikely to offer the highly anticipated service until as late as 2006 and 2007. That could be as much as two years behind Verizon, which already offers a high-speed service in two markets. If Sprint (NYSE:FON) uses the same technology -- known as EV-DO -- as Verizon it could have a service next year. Cingular, which faces the task of welding its network to that of AT&T Wireless, is also waiting for equipment suitable for the airwaves it plans to use for its high-speed data. Cingular is using a technology popular in Europe known as UMTS rather than EV-DO, first used in Korea. Because of the delay it will need to offer a more compelling service to win subscribers, especially lucrative business customers, who need fast data, according to analysts. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41701703 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 09:28:30 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Comment Requested on A La Carte and Themed Tier Programming Released: 05/25/2004. COMMENT REQUESTED ON A LA CARTE AND THEMED TIER PROGRAMMING AND PRICING OPTIONS FOR PROGRAMMING DISTRIBUTION ON CABLE TELEVISION AND DIRECT BROADCAST SATELLITE SYSTEMS. (DA No. 04-1454). (Dkt No 04-207). Comments Due: 07/08/2004. Reply Comments Due: 07/23/2004. MB. Contact: Ben Golant at (202) 418-7111 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 09:34:24 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Media Bureau Seeks Comment on Over-The-Air Broadcast Television Released: 05/27/2004. MEDIA BUREAU SEEKS COMMENT ON OVER-THE-AIR BROADCAST TELEVISION VIEWERS. (DA No. 04-1497). (Dkt No 04-210). Comments Due: 07/12/2004. Reply Comments Due: 08/05/2004. MB. Contact: Rick Chessen at (202) 418-7200 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 08:43:44 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: TiVo, Say It Ain't So By adding new services, the DVR company may be making a fatal mistake. By Phillip Swann Washington, D.C. (May 26) -- TiVo, the Digital Video Recorder service, yesterday reported that it added 264,000 subscribers in the last quarter, bringing its total to 1.6 million. Normally, that would be good news. However, in a conference call with investors, TiVo CEO Mike Ramsay said something that could spell doom for TiVo. Ramsay indicated that his company would spend more time and money on developing new features for TiVo, such as satellite radio, digital photo editing and the ability to surf the Internet. The executive believes that the new services will generate more revenue from current subscribers, enabling the company to survive despite competition from unbranded DVRs used by cable and satellite TV operators. Many analysts believe that the unbranded DVRs will eventually dominate the market, leaving TiVo with a niche audience of less than 10 million people. Considering that the DVR market is getting crowded, it's understandable that TiVo would seek new revenues. However, the company's plan to add non-DVR features puts its most valuable asset at risk -- its brand. http://www.tvpredictions.com/tivo052604.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 08:48:38 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Comcast and T-Mobile to Create Philadelphia's First-Ever Outdoor Comcast and T-Mobile to Create Philadelphia's First-Ever Outdoor Wi-Fi HotSpot at South Street's Headhouse Square - May 26, 2004 08:02 AM (PR Newswire) Residents, Visitors, Business People can Connect to Internet Without Wires at Historic Headhouse Square Plaza PHILADELPHIA and BELLEVUE, Wash., May 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Comcast and T-Mobile USA, Inc. today announced the planned June launch of Philadelphia's first-ever outdoor Wi-Fi wireless Internet service located at Philadelphia's historic Headhouse Square Plaza. The T-Mobile HotSpot network, supported at Headhouse Square by the Comcast high-speed data network, will give residents and visitors the ability to get online at wireless broadband speeds with a Wi- Fi enabled laptop computer or personal data assistant (PDA). The launch will create one of the nation's largest Wi-Fi "hotspots," available in most indoor and outdoor areas of the plaza, covering Second Street between South and Pine Streets. The introduction of Wi-Fi, or "wireless fidelity," further enhances the vibrant shopping, dining and living experience available in the broader South Street business district. The network will enable Wi-Fi users in Headhouse Square Plaza to catch up on email, access company intranets, make restaurant reservations, take advantage of special offers from merchants, and generally enjoy on-the-go information and entertainment that only a wireless broadband connection can deliver. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41649162 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 08:51:45 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Comcast to Offer Phone Service to 40 Million in 2006 NEW YORK, May 26 (Reuters) - Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ:CMCSA), the nation's largest cable television operator, said on Wednesday it will offer telephone service to more than 40 million households in 2006, in a significant challenge to local telephone companies. Comcast also said that non-Executive Chairman C. Michael Armstrong has stepped down and will be replaced by Chief Executive Brian Roberts. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41652546 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 08:59:37 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Maryland Governor Signs Tough Anti-Spam Law By Andy Sullivan WASHINGTON, May 26 (Reuters) - Internet "spam" purveyors who hide behind false e-mail addresses could face up to 10 years in jail and fines of $25,000 per day under a new state law signed Wednesday by Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich. The Maryland Spam Deterrence Act allows state officials to arrest and fine those who engage in a variety of deceptive tactics to send junk e-mail. The law was hailed as the nation's toughest by Internet provider America Online (NYSE:TWX)., which has helped officials in other states track down spammers who send out fraudulent messages. But one anti-spam activist said it would do little to stop the unsolicited bulk messages that now account for up to 83 percent of all e-mail, because most of those already violate anti-fraud laws. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41660480 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 01:47:38 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Verizon to Offer 'Naked' DSL By Marguerite Reardon Staff Writer, CNET News.com Verizon Communications will soon become the second Baby Bell in the United States to offer broadband to consumers regardless of whether those customers also buy its local phone service. The company confirmed on Wednesday that it plans to offer what's been called "naked" digital subscriber line (DSL) service to customers within its local phone region by the end of 2004. Qwest Communications in February announced plans to offer a similar service to its customers. Up until that point, the Baby Bells typically offered DSL as part of a package with local phone service. Customers who switched local phone providers risked losing their DSL service. Consumer groups argued that this practice locked customers into services with the Baby Bells, while shutting out other DSL competitors. But now local phone companies seem to be having a change of heart. Some experts say it is a result of more customers abandoning their local phone lines for wireless services and voice over Internet services. The Baby Bells also have lost some local lines to competing phone companies such as AT&T and MCI. http://news.com.com/2100-1034-5221095.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 02:15:04 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: BBC Prepares to Put TV Archive on Web Graeme Wearden ZDNet UK The BBC's decision to let British surfers download TV footage and share it between friends could help to drive broadband and the take-up of new, faster PCs. The BBC has given a major boost to the Creative Commons movement this week by revealing how it plans to open up its archive of broadcasting material to UK Internet users. The corporation has decided to allow surfers to download, distribute and modify digital clips of BBC television programmes through an initiative called the Creative Archive. While users won't be allowed to resell the material, they will enjoy increased access to content that many potential users effectively paid the BBC to create through their licence fees. A Creative Commons licence allows content creators to dictate whether or not anyone can copy their own work, creative derivative works from it, or use it for commercial purposes. It is an attempt to create a middle-ground rather than making content owners choose between putting something fully into the public domain or controlling it tightly through copyright. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/0,39020369,39156023,00.htm ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 01:42:52 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: 'Pirate Act' Raises Civil Rights Concerns By Declan McCullagh Staff Writer, CNET News.com File swappers concerned about getting in trouble with record labels over illegal downloads may soon have a major new worry: the U.S. Department of Justice. A proposal that the Senate may vote on as early as next week would let federal prosecutors file civil lawsuits against suspected copyright infringers, with fines reaching tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. The so-called Pirate Act is raising alarms among copyright lawyers and lobbyists for peer-to-peer firms, who have been eyeing the recording industry's lawsuits against thousands of peer-to-peer users with trepidation. The Justice Department, they say, could be far more ambitious. One influential proponent of the Pirate Act is urging precisely that. "Tens of thousands of continuing civil enforcement actions might be needed to generate the necessary deterrence," Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said when announcing his support for the bill. "I doubt that any nongovernmental organization has the resources or moral authority to pursue such a campaign." The Pirate Act represents the latest legislative priority for the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and its allies, who collectively argue that dramatic action is necessary to prevent file-swapping networks from continuing to blossom in popularity. http://news.com.com/2100-1027-5220480.html [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Do I read this correctly? It will no longer be required to have an announced or alleged 'victim' of a crime in order to have government intervention? The government will now be the 'victim' (and the judge and the jury) for the 'crime' of making copies of things? PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 00:09:19 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: For Some, the Blogging Never Stops By KATIE HAFNER TO celebrate four years of marriage, Richard Wiggins and his wife, Judy Matthews, recently spent a week in Key West, Fla. Early on the morning of their anniversary, Ms. Matthews heard her husband get up and go into the bathroom. He stayed there for a long time. "I didn't hear any water running, so I wondered what was going on," Ms. Matthews said. When she knocked on the door, she found him seated with his laptop balanced on his knees, typing into his Web log, a collection of observations about the technical world, over a wireless link. Blogging is a pastime for many, even a livelihood for a few. For some, it becomes an obsession. Such bloggers often feel compelled to write several times daily and feel anxious if they don't keep up. As they spend more time hunkered over their computers, they neglect family, friends and jobs. They blog at home, at work and on the road. They blog openly or sometimes, like Mr. Wiggins, quietly so as not to call attention to their habit. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/27/technology/circuits/27blog.html ------------------------------ From: Barry Margolin Subject: Re: DSL vs. Cable Modem? Organization: Looking for work Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 01:41:01 -0400 In article , Tony P. wrote: > Far as I know, you can't get consumer cable IP feed without > subscribing to cable television. That's not true with Comcast. They offer discounts if you purchase multiple services, but they don't require you to. Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu Arlington, MA *** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me *** ------------------------------ From: Fred Atkinson Subject: Re: DSL vs. Cable Modem? Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 11:43:32 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net Well, I'm not so sure that DSL is a cost effective alternative to DSL. I've just exhausted the 'six months of cablemodem for $29.95 per month'. So now, the cost is now a little over fifty dollars. I am looking for a way to cut costs. I looked into adding DSL to the local line here. For the DSL light (one hundred and twenty-eight kbps upstream and two hundred and fifty-six kbps downstream), they want about thirty-five per month. Considering the difference in speed, I hardly think it is competitive. I also am running Vonage. According to the Vonage folks, you need ninety kbps per call (in other words, if you use a service that requires two calls (such as using three-way calling or call waiting), you need one hundred and eighty kbps in each direction. So, one hundred and twenty-eight kbps. So, if I get the next highest package, I'm paying the same as I'm paying for the [much faster] cablemodem. And besides, if you have to pay for local service as well as the Vonage line, that kind of kills the deal anyway. So for the time being, I'll stick with cablemodem until someone offers me a better deal. Road Runner is offering a reduced deal, but I've already had a special from them within the last year, so I am not eligible for that promotion. Regards, Fred On 27 May 2004 07:56:14 -0700, hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) wrote: > My local telephone company (Verizon) and cable TV company (Comcast) > have been running an aggressive TV ad campaign pushing their > respecting high speed data services. Verizon is pushing DSL while > Comcast is pushing cable modem. Each says they're far superior > (faster data and more reliable) and cheaper than the other. > Any opinions on cable modems vs. DSL in today's world? > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: As long as DSL is effectively the 'property' > of the established, traditional telephone companies, (that is, give up > your traditional telephone service and you cannot have DSL), then a lot > of subscribers are left high and dry. Telco seems to be betting that > this 'all from us or nothing from us' approach will work to their benefit. > In fact, it may hasten the demise of Bell even more. Take my case, > which I think is sort of typical: I was spending a hundred dollars > plus per month on phone and DSL from Southwestern Bell, and extra for > what little long distance I use. Cable was another $50-60 per month, > for a limited package of basic stuff only (60 channels). By > eliminating Bell totally (I use Prairie Stream in a combined local > phone and LD package) which costs $25 per month and cable internet > which includes all the 'premium' cable television channels for $100 > per month, I save a little money on the total bill. If Bell ever released > their tight grip on DSL as a general rule, it might be different, but > for those of us who are disabled and with fixed incomes from Social > Security, we just cannot afford to get huge packages from Bell in > order to use our computers effeciently *and* a package from cable as > well. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein Subject: Health Insurance, was Re: The Strike Goes On Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 04:03:19 UTC Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC In curtisccr@sbcglobal.net (Curtis CCR) writes: [ big snip ] > premiums, but the employee co-pays are going from something like $10 > to $25. > I read an analysis on the medical coverage issue saying that it sort > of screws both sides later. SBC will save a couple of billion dollars > in the immediate future by raising co-payments, but the rising cost of > insurance will quickly overtake the savings again. All they did was > buy time -- both sides are going to be facing this issue again in 5 > years. We're getting off telco stuff into more general social issues here, but this is actually a realistic health related settlement for two key reasons (and five years is a pretty long time...) : First: under the new Medicare drug regs, the costs to the company for covering their retired workers will be going DOWN in a couple of years. The exact amount is far from obvious and lots and lots of things can and will change between now and then (partly in response to the different cost structure ...) but realistic guesses are in the 30-40% range. That's a BIG savings which will be available as an offset to paying for the working folk. And second: in a few months there's an election coming up. In two years there's another Congressional one. And in four years, there's another Presidential race. National healthcare coverage is an important issue, and (if we don't find ourselves in even "hotter" warfare) will move more and more to the national front. Every dollar that gets picked up by the Feds (i.e. the general taxpayer) is a dollar the company doesn't have to pay. _____________________________________________________ Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 00:28:35 -0500 From: Gordon S. Hlavenka Reply-To: nospam@crashelectronics.com Organization: Crash Electronics Subject: Re: Verizon DSL Newsgroup Provider gnj2@ridgenet.net asked: >> I'm planning on switching to Verizon DSL for my ISP. Talked to their >> technical information person to ask who Verizon gets their Newsgroup >> feed from. Her answer: "What's a newsgroup?" Is there someone using >> Verizon DSL here who can answer this for me. Steve replied: > Try news.verizon.net Steve, I don't think this answers the question. One of my past ISPs simply leased access to somebody else's newsgroup server; you set your reader to "news.[name-of-my-isp].net" and that was all there was to it on the users' end. But the ISP simply redirected that to somebody else's hardware -- so when the newsfeed went down (which it did quite a bit) it was a nightmare to get it fixed. The ISP could do nothing themselves except to call their nooz provider. Another possible interpretation is, "Who is the upstream feed to whatever news server Verizon uses?" Does Verizon hang their server directly on a backbone and take their own news? Or do they let somebody else do that (since it requires considerable horsepower) and then buy a newsfeed from them? If the latter, it matters very much who they buy their news from; not only from a reliability standpoint but also completeness as different providers capture different subsets of newsgroups. Gordon S. Hlavenka http://www.crashelectronics.com "If we imagined he could _find_ the car, we could pretend it might be fixed." - Calvin ------------------------------ From: gsmrules2000@yahoo.ca (Mr.R.) Subject: +88234, a Country Code to Antarctica Date: 28 May 2004 00:17:53 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Interesting article about the phone calls to Antarctica, I wish the service was on few years ago when I had a chance to visit there, I could have used my cell phone!!! ... well, next time. Two thumbs up! GSM network coverage soon in Antarctica by Global Networks, Inc. GSM is the proven Global roaming standard, already 593 Operators in 203 Countries have adopted the system. Global Networks, Inc. will deploy the GSM network to the last continent in the world, where is no GSM network yet, but thousands people living there. "ITU ( International Telecommunication Union) is pleased to assign to Global Networks, Inc. shared E.164 country code and identification code 88234 and shared E.212 MCC and MNC code 90113, for the purpose of providing mobile telephony services to the few areas of Antarctica," says Houlin Zhao Director, Telecommunication Standardization Bureau. "Antarctica is the last untouched continent in the world without GSM network and we are very excited to offer GSM services there. The service should be up and running in 2004 There are 35 scientific stations in Antarctica where people live all year round, and even the South Pole tourism is not a mass market, it has increased rapidly in the last ten years, to about 13,000 in 2002-2003. Even though the population is minimal and this is one of the most rural areas in the world, there is a need for GSM network to be used by scientists and even their equipment, collecting valuable research data of our precious planet. It is a remarkable test and development ground for our various mobile technology solutions, including voice and data services. So, we are not trying to sell ice to Eskimos nor Polar Bears since there are none, but next time when you visit Antarctica, take your GSM phone with you." says Pekka Maunuksela, Chief Information Officer of Global Networks, Inc. (http://gni-usa.com) ------------------------------ From: marsh@khl.com (Steve) Subject: Phone Plug Date: 28 May 2004 02:51:04 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hey all! Poor question really coz I should know this but I would like to put a phone plug thing (dont have a clue what they are called!) in a room that doesnt have one. This is because I want to put Sky in there and plug it in so no-one complains! I heard that depending on the wiring, there is phone cabling under the floorboards in a random fashion of most rooms, and this was because when the original upstairs phone ports where installed, electricians slack off some extra cable in case of possible expansion? This could be complete bullsh** but as I don't have a clue this is sadly what I have to believe. Anyways, if it is or its not, how would I set one of these bad boys up?! Many thanks if you can help! Steve ------------------------------ From: rohithkn@rediffmail.com (Rohith) Subject: A Query on World's Advanced Data Networks. Date: 28 May 2004 05:08:46 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi all, I was searching for information regarding networks that are in existence today, I need data on: 1) The top networks in terms of number of users/size of the network, 2) The service providers who are using the latest technology, 3) The kind of services that they are offering, and data on any other parameter that you can come up with. Thanks, Rohith K N ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 11:15:07 -0400 Subject: How Linux is Inadvertently Poised to Remake the Telephone Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com Comment: Cringely goes on another flight into the improbable, but there may be a bit of useful information in this article: http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/pulpit20040527.html The Little Engine That Could By Robert X. Cringely One of the cheapest Linux computers you can buy brand new (not at a garage sale) is the Linksys WRT54G, an 802.11g wireless access point and router that includes a four-port 10/100 Ethernet switch and can be bought for as little as $69.99 according to Froogle. That's a heck of a deal for a little box that performs all those functions, but a look inside is even more amazing. There you'll find a 200 MHz Intel processor and either 16 or 32 megs of DRAM and four or eight megs of flash RAM -- more computing power than I needed 10 years ago to run a local Internet Service Provider with several hundred customers. But since the operating system is Linux and since Linksys has respected the Linux GPL by publishing all the source code for anyone to download for free, the WRT54G is a lot more than just a wireless router. It is a disruptive technology. ... look at it this way: the WRT54G with Sveasoft firmware is all you need to become your cul de sac's wireless ISP. Going further, if a bunch of your friends in town had similarly configured WRT54Gs, they could seamlessly work together and put out of business your local telephone company. Full story at: http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/pulpit20040527.html Slashdot comments on this article: http://slashdot.org/articles/04/05/28/1249235.shtml?tid=106&tid=137&tid=185&tid=193&tid=215 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: Fri, 28 May 2004 11:21:26 -0400 Subject: Juniper Research: Voice-over-IP (VoIP) to Account for Over 12% Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2004/May/1044725.htm Juniper Research: Voice-over-IP (VoIP) to Account for Over 12% of All Telephony Revenues by 2009 Ian Cox, Broadband Specialist, said VoIP brings new revenue generating opportunities to the telephony market, by combining voice services with other IP applications. This will redefine the telephone bringing brand new services, with telephony at its core. The challenge to service providers will be to carefully manage this convergence, balancing new VoIP revenues against declines in traditional fixed line revenues. Flat-rate IP-based voice tariffs will gradually replace time and distance related tariffs. Full story at: http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2004/May/1044725.htm ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 12:15:26 -0400 Subject: Welcome to Summer Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com The Memorial Day weekend is traditionally the kickoff of Summer here in North America. It is also the time when people start taking vacations, and those who are not on vacation have to do the work that might normally be done by their vacationing co-workers. In past years I have noticed a sharp decline in real, hard news between Memorial Day and Labor Day (and even slightly thereafter - people don't seem to get into the mindset to do real work until about October in some companies!). So if you see the output of news go down, rest assured that's a normal summer phenomenon, and not an indication that I'm not at least trying to keep up with the news. At the same time, once in a while during the summer I will probably get occupied with some project or other and may not get to the news until later in the day. So, if you post something to the list and are waiting for it to be moderated, don't panic unless it is late in the evening and it still hasn't gone out (actually this is more likely to be the case from about September to November since I tend to try to stay indoors during REALLY hot weather, which in Michigan is anything above about 75 degrees!). Anyway, I hope everyone has a great extended weekend, and if you can afford to drive anywhere with today's gas prices being what they are, please drive safely. And, if you are staying home and have absolutely nothing else to do, tell a friend or two about the VoIP News and/or MI-Telecom mailing lists -- as far as list subscribers go, the more the merrier! [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Thank you, Jack, for your continued hard work with VOIP News. Like your news area, ours here at TELECOM Digest and comp.dcom.telecom, the flow of LEGITIMATE news (as compared to spam and virii things) also goes down over the summer months; it is sort of like one long extended weekend now through Labor Day in the United States which is the first Monday in September. And as 'they' used to say about drunken drivers (of which there are still plenty on the roads) 'death takes no holidays and frequently works overtime on holiday weekends'; just like spam and virii (which I suspect as soon as the amount of legitimate email/news versus the other stuff will soon reach into the ninetieth percentile -- it is now 83 percent pure rot) will spell just one more step in the long awaited 'death of the net'. **So please be careful if you drive anywhere in the next few days; I hate having to print obituary notices as I did for Bill Pfieffer and other guys. Regards the cost of gas, that does not bother me a lot; almost all my trips 'away from home' -- if one or two miles could be considered 'away' -- are done via Independence Taxicab Company for a flat rate of $1.50 per ride anywhere in town; the usual rate for taxicab is $4.50 anywhere in town; the three dollar difference is subsidized by City of Independence for old people and handicapped people of which my age qualifies me on the first count and my brain desease covers the second part. I'll be around a little over the weekend, with at least one or two issues of the Digest, and our Western Union material for this weekend will be the Business Week magazine article from the 1960's when 'things looked bright and rosy for Western Union' as the article implied. So, stay tuned for at least a little bit of this Digest over the summer months unless we get days like last summer where the temp- erature reached 115 degrees several days and my irregular blood pressure gets out of control and I have to check into Sisters of Mercy Hospital here for emergency treatment. I hope that will happen, if it does, of my own volition (calling the cab, paying $1.50 and a coupon to go over to Mercy Hospital), rather than having my housekeeper or Lisa or other friends finding me comatose and calling 911 for the EMTs and/or paramedics. Anyway, to our US readers, do have a happy Memorial Day. PAT] ------------------------------ 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. Contact information: Patrick Townson/TELECOM Digest Post Office Box 50 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 620-402-0134 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. 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