From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Jul 20 14:52:06 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i6KIq5s03035; Tue, 20 Jul 2004 14:52:06 -0400 (EDT) Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 14:52:06 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200407201852.i6KIq5s03035@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 #342 TELECOM Digest Tue, 20 Jul 2004 14:52:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 342 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson CNET Takes PSTN's Side on VoIP (VOIP News) Covad Releases White Paper on Future of VOIP (VOIP News) WE 302 Troubleshooter Wanted (Michael Muderick) Re: NYS AG Spitzer Settles With Spammer (Scott Dorsey) Re: Verizon Fios - Fiber-to-the-Premises Network (Don W. McCollough) Re: Congressional Panel to Vote on Bill to Ban VOIP Taxes (Dave Close) Re: Power of the Net in Next Election (Dave Close) Re: Getting Out of Norvergence Contracts (Dave Huizenga) BellSouth Map From 1995 (kclagg) Re: Lingo vs. Packet8 (Wolfgang S. Rupprecht) ATT Wireless Launches Commericial 3-G Service (Monty Solomon) 3-G UMTS Service in United States (Monty Solomon) Motorola and ATT Wireless Bring 3-G to North America (Monty Solomon) Changing The Channel On TV Viewing (Monty Solomon) 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jack Decker Date: Mon, 19 Jul 2004 12:20:54 -0400 Subject: CNET Takes PSTN's Side on VoIP Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com This is from the VoIP Watch blog at http://andyabramson.blogs.com/voipwatch/ . I saw the referenced story but did not post about it here because I also felt it was wildly slanted and inaccurate in many respects. So, I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who felt this way about that particular piece of not-so-great journalism: http://andyabramson.blogs.com/voipwatch/2004/07/cnet_takes_pstn.html July 19, 2004 CNET Takes PSTN's Side on VoIP UPDATED--I don't know what it is with the folks at CNET, but it seems their thoroughness is somewhat lacking these days. The most recent CNET account about VoIP leaves lots of holes and really fails to tell the facts correctly. First, all PVRs are not Tivo's and thus some, like Reply have broadband access to the program and channel guides. While the report did not mention Replay, the claim that people with TIVO's can't update their guides may not be 100 percent accurate. The RJ-11 connects to an internal modem. Since a modem is able to dial a phone, and the telephone adapters work to convert analog to digital, then it may be able to work. Second, the issue of not being listed in the phone book. My mom has been unlisted for years and still has credit, gets deliveries. I've been unpublished, with only my town listed. I have no problem getting deliveries and my mail goes to a different address and has since I arrived in San Diego County. Lastly, the issue of power failures. Sure a PSTN line won't be effected, but saying BPL (broadband over power lines) will not be affected is hilarious. A power failure effects the grid, not the house. Maybe if the reporter was talking about a blown fuse or breaker, but that's minor and not a brown out or black out. One of the six cannons of PR from my mentor, Sy Roseman, was always know the facts, because some reporters never let facts get in the way of a good story. I think that happened here, and candidly, I'm surprised, because Ben Charney is usually on the mark. Maybe he was edited poorly. UPDATE--SEEMS THE SLASHDOT CROWD -- agrees with me. Boy did CNET get roasted http://slashdot.org/articles/04/07/19/1240204.shtml?tid=126&tid=95&tid=1 July 19, 2004 in VoIP 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: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 10:56:47 -0400 Subject: Covad Releases White Paper on Future of VOIP Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20040720005320&newsLang=en Covad Releases White Paper on Future of Voice-over-Internet-Protocol --VoIP-- Service Offerings SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 20, 2004-- Moving Forward, Business-Quality Services Offered by Facilities-Based Providers Well-Positioned to Succeed Covad Communications Group, Inc. (OTCBB:COVD), a leading nationwide provider of integrated voice and data communications, today released a white paper that reviews the current status of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and compares offerings from the industry's main sectors. The paper, the first in a series, concludes that facilities-based competitive providers are best positioned to take advantage of VoIP because of their proprietary networks and minimal investments in legacy networks. "Virtual providers, meaning those providers who do not own and manage their own networks, have helped to get VoIP on the map," said Charles Hoffman, president and chief executive officer of Covad. "Facilities-based providers like Covad who own and manage their own networks can control the quality of voice traffic over it. Covad is especially well-positioned to succeed in the small and medium-sized business category by offering a true replacement for local phone company service that includes other innovative features." VoIP is a telephony term for a set of facilities for managing the delivery of voice information using Internet Protocol (IP). This means sending voice information in digital form in electronic packets rather than in the traditional public switched telephone network (PSTN). With Voice over IP -- businesses are given the ability to manage calls at the IP layer which enables productivity enhancing features and services never before available at affordable prices. According to a report from research firm In-Stat/MDR, by 2007 the U.S. VoIP market is forecast to grow to more than five million subscribers, a five-fold increase over 2002 levels. The Internet Protocol-PBX market, which has just under 100,000 lines today, is expected to grow to more than 1.7 million lines by 2007, according to Forrester Research. Covad acquired VoIP provider GoBeam earlier this year to leapfrog the industry in the small-business segment. IDC senior telecommunications analyst William Stofega said at the time of the GoBeam announcement: "Covad's national network is a perfect fit for GoBeam's distribution model and enables Covad to transition from a broadband provider to a national integrated communications provider." The white paper highlights several areas where VoIP is especially likely to thrive, such as the distributed enterprise space, which consist of restaurant franchises or retail stores that have multiple locations. A VoIP provider can easily set up a large "virtual" telephone network at competitive pricing with features beyond those currently available. For example, calls between locations can be treated as internal intercom calls and dialed as a four-digit extension. Covad is currently network ready for VoIP in 17 markets on the east and west coasts and will be reaching more than 100 of the top Metropolitan Statistical Areas MSAs in 35 states by year end. Full press release at: http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20040720005320&newsLang=en ------------------------------ From: Michael Muderick Subject: WE 302 Troubleshoot Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 04:18:10 -0400 I just picked up a nice 302 phone. But there is no specific model stamped anywhere. What's curious is the variety of dates on the pieces from 40 to 54. So it was probably a refurbish. Further, it has an f4 handset. I had never seen this. It uses the same elements as the G handsets with plastic adapting rings and a 3 wire cloth covered coil cord. Now for the question. I can't break dialtone. I get low level side tone when I pick it up but it doesn't break dial tone. Could it be wired for party line? Might the condenser or transformer be bad? Also, the lugs at the end of the line cord don't have the "U" shape piece. Were they broken off by someone or is this indicative of some special model. TIA for any answers. Michael@muderick.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: As best as I can recall (it has been years since I had that style of phone in daily use) they all had the 'U' shaped lugs at the end of each wire for ease of connection. *Someone* broke/cut them off for some reason. There was a type of 302 which functioned as the mouth/earpiece for a payphone. And most all those 302 phones had a 'side ringer' or box on the wall with the bell to ring for incoming calls. So, if its not too late, you might want to go to wherever the phone was liberated and look for the side ringer box (or coin deposit box -- much the same difference) and look for some capacitors, etc, and check the wiring there also. If you want to rig the 302 to work as it stands now, make sure one side of the phone pair travels through the dial on the phone (the little 'finger-like' metal contacts inside the phone) which connect and disconnect very rapidly as the dial is spun. That rapid connection and disconnection of the little 'fingers' is what breaks the dial tone. And I definitly would swap out the mouth and earpiece; they do go bad after several years of little or no use. DO NOT hold the earpiece close to your head until you add the necessary pieces to cut back on the noise heard when you spin the dial and cut the dial tone. The clicks tend to be quite noisy and 'pop' in your ear. Back in the 1960's a phone man gave me one of these as a gift when I expressed some interest in them. The one he gave me had a brown *straight* (not curly) *cloth-covered* cord from the base to the handset and from the base to the nearby side ringer. It was solid metal, not the plastic/hard rubber/various colors with plastic dials in use in the 1960's. I asked him if he wanted any money for it, he said most 'telephone men' considered them to be 'crap'. The relatively big, huge receiver/mouthpiece was the heaviest part of all. On the bottom of the phone a message was stamped in the metal base saying 'Property of WECO, July, 1931'. He did not have the side-ringer to go with it, so when I hooked it up it had to be as an 'extension' on a line with another phone on it (which had a bell inside it.) PAT] ------------------------------ From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: NYS AG Spitzer Settles With "optinrealbig.com" Spammer Date: 20 Jul 2004 14:38:31 -0400 Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000) In article , Danny Burstein wrote: > I'm not elated about the low cost to the spammer, but at least it's > something: > "State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer today announced the settlement > of a lawsuit against email marketer Scott Richter and his company, > OptInRealBig.com, LLC. The suit alleged that unsolicited emails, or > spam, sent on defendants' behalf contained falsified headers, > falsified routing information, and deceptive subject lines, and were > illegally routed through a worldwide network of more than 500 > vulnerable computers." > http://www.oag.state.ny.us/press/2004/jul/jul19a_04.html Something? This is nothing. Why is this man not being locked in jail for God's sake? Between he and Richter, they are probably responsible for 50% of the total incoming mail I see on my servers. --scott "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." ------------------------------ From: letters@softhome.net (Don W. McCollough) Subject: Re: Verizon Fios - Fiber-to-the-Premises Network Date: 20 Jul 2004 08:45:52 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Monty Solomon wrote in message news:: > Verizon Poised to Deliver First Set of Services to Customers Over > Its Fiber-to-the-Premises Network > 'Verizon Fios' Initially Will Offer Three High-Speed Data Options > Including Speeds 10 Times Faster Than Current Consumer Broadband > Services and Prices as Low as $34.95 > Additional Fiber Deployments Under Way in California and Florida > NEW YORK, July 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon customers in Keller, Texas, > soon will be the first to receive groundbreaking high-speed Internet > services over Verizon's fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) network. The > company is raising the bar on consumer broadband today by introducing > data speeds of up to 30 megabits-per-second (Mbps) in Keller later > this summer and in other markets later this year. Prices start at > $34.95 per month. > The company also announced additional fiber deployments that are under > way in California and Florida. > The new suite of fiber-optic services will be called Verizon Fios(sm) > (FYE-ose). FTTP technology utilizes fiber-optic connections -- > instead of copper wire -- directly into homes and businesses to enable > a broad array of voice, data and video applications. > Fios consists of three consumer Internet access services. At 30 Mbps, > the fastest data service is ten times faster than consumer broadband > speeds typically available today. Entry and mid-level services at > speeds of 5 Mbps and 15 Mbps also beat the speeds and prices of > today's consumer broadband. > - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42575405 Wow! Cheap too. Watch out, P2P applications. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Jul 2004 20:47:58 -0700 From: Dave Close Subject: Re: Congressional Panel to Vote on Bill to Ban VoIP Taxes Organization: Compata, Costa Mesa, California VOIP News writes: > A U.S. Senate bill that would ban states from taxing and regulating > Internet phone calls will face its first hurdle in a committee vote > next week. If something similar is not adopted, we could be left with the worst of both situations. VoIP could be taxed as a phone service to support "universal" phone service, AND phone service could be taxed partly to support cheaper Internet access for some customers. Ah, the messy web we weave when we try to make social policy with subsidies. Dave Close, Compata, Costa Mesa CA +1 714 434 7359 dave@compata.com dhclose@alumni.caltech.edu "Political campaigns are the graveyard of real ideas and the birthplace of empty promises." -- Teresa Heinz Kerry ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Jul 2004 20:47:54 -0700 From: Dave Close Subject: Re: Power of the Net in Next Election Organization: Compata, Costa Mesa, California Wesrock@aol.com writes: > As someone noted on another list, the Congress sets the dates for > elections, not the Constitution, which says in Article II, Section 1: > "The Congress may determine the time of > chusing [sic] the Electors, and the Day > on which they shall give their Votes; > which Day shall be the same throughout > the United States." > Note that both the date of the election, and the date on which the > Electoral College will meet, are designated by Congress. A quibble. In most or all States, electors are not directly chosen. The State legislature must actually elect the electors at some time after the election, and it may be that date to which the above sentence refers. If that interpretation held, it might be possible to hold elections on different dates in various States, so long as the official confirmation of the results occurred at the same time everywhere. No where that I know actually lists the electors on the ballot. That lists the persons those electors are committed to support, leading many to believe erroneously that there is such a thing as a popular vote. Dave Close, Compata, Costa Mesa CA +1 714 434 7359 dave@compata.com dhclose@alumni.caltech.edu "Political campaigns are the graveyard of real ideas and the birthplace of empty promises." -- Teresa Heinz Kerry ------------------------------ From: Dave Huizenga Subject: Re: Getting Out of Norvergence Contracts Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 07:54:32 -0500 Has anyone taken the time to review section 2a of the Uniform Commercial Code regarding leases. I am not an attorney but there may be some answers in this section. Here is a link: http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/statutes/bc.toc.htm Dave Huizenga ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 12:50:57 CDT Subject: Bell South Map From: kclagg@iesi.com Just curious if you might be able to tell me where I can get a telcom map for Atlanta GA. and all surrounding suburbs showing me the prefixes assigned in 1995? ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Lingo v. Packet8 From: Wolfgang S. Rupprecht Organization: W S Rupprecht Computer Consulting, Fremont CA Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 17:00:33 GMT > My experience with Packet8 was good. I would grade the voice quality > as better than cellular, not quite toll quality. Are there any VOIP termination services that will simply pass on your PCM-ulaw without screwing with it? I just bought an FXO (sipura-3000) so that I can make calls to the PSTN from my VOIP phones, but it would be nice to not have a digital-analog-digital conversion step just to get the digital signal from my phone to the RT 1k cable feet down the street. Wolfgang S. Rupprecht http://www.wsrcc.com/wolfgang/ New toy: Voice over ip phone. Sounds much better than an analog phone. http://www.wsrcc.com/wolfgang/voip.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 13:35:58 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: AT&T Wireless Launches Commercial 3G Services Powered by Nortel AT&T Wireless Launches Commercial 3G Services Powered by Nortel Networks; North America's First UMTS Networks Will Offer High Speed, Advanced Wireless Services DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 20, 2004--AT&T Wireless Services (NYSE:AWE) and Nortel Networks (NYSE:NT)(TSX:NT) have launched North America's first commercial UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) wireless networks, including the first to operate at the 1900 MHz radio frequency -- a requirement for North America. These networks -- launched in Detroit, Phoenix, San Francisco and Seattle -- allow AT&T Wireless to increase capacity for voice and data traffic, reduce costs and increase data speeds for delivery of sophisticated new mobile services. Using Nortel Networks core and radio access UMTS wireless solutions, they will also provide AT&T Wireless subscribers and enterprise customers in these four markets with high speed VPN (Virtual Private Network) access, multimedia audio and video applications, and advanced location-based and m-Commerce features. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42602881 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 13:37:12 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: AT&T Wireless Delivers 3G UMTS Service in The United States Working with NTT DoCoMo, Company Launches Commercial 3G Service in Four Cities Provides Streaming Video Services Gives Businesses High-Speed Mobile Data Access SEATTLE, July 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AT&T Wireless (NYSE:AWE) today began offering customers in Detroit, Phoenix, San Francisco and Seattle broadband mobile wireless services with its launch of the first commercially available true 3G UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) network in the United States. The company said it is also deploying UMTS technology in Dallas and San Diego, and expects to offer service in these markets before the end of this year. AT&T Wireless said its wireless broadband service turns these markets into "metropolitan hotspots," offering customers continuous, high-speed wireless connections. Customers can now use a handset, PDA or laptop to receive streaming audio and video services; create and share video clips; experience richer and more visually compelling content; and connect to critical business information, in most areas throughout these cities. The company also noted that it launched commercial service in these four cities in fulfillment of NTT DoCoMo's shareholder rights agreement. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42602512 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 13:40:18 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Motorola and AT&T Wireless Bringing 3G/UMTS to North America Motorola and AT&T Wireless Bringing 3G/UMTS to North America - Jul 20, 2004 11:57 AM (PR Newswire) Consumers Gain Mobile Broadband Capabilities -- Video Streaming*, High-Resolution Imagery and Rich Data Experiences -- via New A845 Handset Network Launch Expands Motorola Lead in 3G/UMTS LIBERTYVILLE, Ill., July 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Motorola, Inc. (NYSE:MOT), a global leader in wireless communications, and AT&T Wireless (NYSE:AWE) today announced the availability of the Motorola A845 on North America's first 3G/UMTS network. The launch of AT&T Wireless' network and the availability of the model A845 makes mobile broadband a reality in the United States. Delivering higher speeds than ever before, the AT&T Wireless 3G/UMTS network paired with the Motorola A845 brings consumers richer data experiences including video streaming*, video capture and playback, MP3 downloading and multi-media messaging. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=42603232 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 13:09:03 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Changing The Channel On TV Viewing Lisa DiCarlo, 07.19.04, 3:00 PM ET NEW YORK - On an early spring evening in 1998, supermarket shoppers were rushing through the aisles, grabbing items and racing to the checkout, impatiently tapping their toes and checking their watches. Why? They had to be home for the series finale of Seinfeld. Today, of course, we are not slaves to network TV schedules. Today, about 5% of Americans don't view network programming on the network's schedule. Instead they watch it on digital video recorders, or DVRs, like TiVo on their terms; whatever they want, whenever they want. By 2007, nearly one-third of Americans will watch TV this way. That's why DVRs and video-on-demand services represent the most profound changes to the television industry since the advent of cable. http://www.forbes.com/home/services/2004/07/19/cx_ld_0719ondemand.html ------------------------------ 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'. 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