From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Dec 15 14:20:01 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id iBFJK1V16136; Wed, 15 Dec 2004 14:20:01 -0500 (EST) Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2004 14:20:01 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200412151920.iBFJK1V16136@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 #600 TELECOM Digest Wed, 15 Dec 2004 14:20:00 EST Volume 23 : Issue 600 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Sprint Acquires Nextel in $35 Billion Deal (Lisa Minter) FCC to Vote on Wireless Access on Planes (Lisa Minter) Cross Battery and Verizon (Joe Perkowski) Sprint, Nextel Directors Approve Merger Plan (Telecom dailyLead) Sprint Nextel, No. 3 With A Bullet (Eric Friedebach) Alltel, Cingular, AT&T Wireless (Wesrock@aol.com) AT&T CallVantage Service -- Your Thoughts (Lanceman) Re: Is 'Transitional Fair Use' The Wave Of The Future? (John Bartley) Re: Strange Wireless Problem (William Warren) Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the Internet. 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. 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Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Lisa Minter Subject: Sprint Acquires Nextel in $35 Billion Deal Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2004 09:52:32 EST NEW YORK - Telecommunications giant Sprint Corp. is acquiring Nextel Communications Inc. in a $35 billion deal that would create the nation's third largest wireless telephone service provider. The widely rumored transaction, announced Wednesday, would create a company called Sprint Nextel with about $40 billion in combined yearly revenue and more than 35 million wireless subscribers, trailing only Cingular Wireless and Verizon Wireless. Sprint would get access to Nextel's 15.3 million subscribers, many of whom are business customers, and Nextel would avoid a costly upgrade of its own network. The companies estimated the merger would save them $12 billion in operating costs and network upgrades. The combination comes as the cost of wireless calls continue to drop and the industry begins to look like the long-distance business looked five years ago: Three big competitors constantly undercutting each other's prices. After completion of the deal, which the companies described as a merger of equals, Sprint's local telecommunications business would be spun off to the combined firm's shareholders. The local telecom business accounted for about $6 billion of their combined revenues. Sprint chairman and chief executive Gary D. Forsee will become president and CEO of Sprint Nextel, and Timothy M. Donahue, currently president and CEO of Nextel, will become chairman of the new company. The new company's board would consist of 12 members with six from each company. "This merger positions Sprint Nextel for greater success than either company could have achieved alone," Forsee said in a statement. Sprint currently ranks as the nation's third biggest wireless company as well as the third largest in long-distance service. Nextel ranks fifth in U.S. wireless service. Nextel agreed last month to move its network to a more expensive band of broadcast spectrum because of fears of interference between its phones and emergency response radios. Now, according to a press release from the companies, Sprint's next-generation technology will be used for the combined network. After the takeover, the three largest wireless companies will carry about 75 percent of traffic, according to telecom analyst Jeff Kagan. At the top is Cingular Wireless, a joint venture between BellSouth Corp. and SBC Communications Inc. that recently completed the $41 billion acquisition of AT&T Wireless. No. 2 Verizon Wireless is a joint venture owned by Verizon Communications Inc. and Vodafone Group PLC, the world's largest mobile-phone operator. Under terms of the deal, Sprint shareholders would get one share of the new company for each Sprint share while Nextel shareholders would get the equivalent of 1.3 Sprint Nextel shares for each of their shares. At today's rates, each Nextel share would be exchanged for 1.28 Sprint Nextel shares and 50 cents in cash. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra . New articles daily. *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This Internet discussion group is making it available without profit to group members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of literary, educational, political, and economic issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. I believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner, in this instance Yahoo News.. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: Lisa Minter Subject: FCC to Vote on Wireless Access on Planes Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2004 09:57:07 EST [Lisa Minter note: As this issue of the Digest was being edited and prepared, the Associated Press news radio announced that the vote had been done and approved. Lisa M.] WASHINGTON - Federal regulators plan to vote Wednesday whether to allow air travelers wireless high-speed Internet access. And they plan to talk about, without a vote, whether to end the cell phone ban. The Federal Communications Commission also is looking again at the contentious issue of how to increase competition for local phone service. First, however, commissioners plan to deal with the airline issue. When it comes to communication, commercial airline passengers go from the Internet Age to the Stone Age once a plane takes off. They can't get a high-speed connection for their laptops. They can't use a wireless connection to check e-mail on domestic flights. They can't use their cell phones at all. David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association, a passenger group, said the changes under consideration would "make business travelers more efficient and while away the time for a lot of other passengers. This is all the wave of the future here." Currently, the only way passengers on domestic flights can communicate with the ground is through phones usually built into the seat backs. That service isn't very popular: It costs far more than conventional or cell phones; about $3.99 a minute; and the reception often is poor. Of the three companies that initially offered that service on commercial jets, only Verizon Airfone remains. It has phones on about 1,500 jets. The FCC is considering a measure that would restructure how frequencies for such "air-to-ground" services are used and allow the airlines to offer wireless high-speed Internet connections. Debate continues over how many companies the FCC would allow, through an auction, to offer such services. Verizon Airfone maintains that letting one company handle the service would ensure the best quality, and existing technology can't support two competitors. Others including Boeing Co. and AirCell argue for two competitors to prevent one company from having a monopoly. Once plans are completed and planes outfitted with the equipment, wireless high-speed Internet access might be found on commercial domestic flights by 2006, said Jack Blumenstein, chairman and CEO of Louisville, Colo.-based AirCell. The timeline on when air travelers would be able to start using cell phones in flight is murkier, in part because both the FCC and the Federal Aviation Administration ban the practice. The FCC took up the issue Wednesday in an effort to start public discussion, and commissioners might eventually relax the rules or lift the ban entirely. Of most concern to FCC officials is how using a cell phone in an airplane would interfere with cell phone use on the ground. The FAA is worried mainly about how airborne cell phone use would interfere with a plane's navigation and electrical systems, agency spokeswoman Laura Brown said. The technology used on seat-back phones and being considered for use for wireless Internet hookups causes no interference. The FAA has commissioned a private, independent firm to study the issue, and results aren't due until 2006. The FAA will not make its decision on cell phone use until after the study is completed, Brown said. Allowing high-speed Internet access and cell phone use on planes could offer cash-strapped airline companies a new source for revenues, said Doug Wills, spokesman for the Air Transport Association, the major airlines' trade group. Still, airlines must weigh the demand for such service against the desire of other passengers for a quiet cabin, Wills said. "Some people see a cell-free environment as a good thing," he said. The FCC could also take another stab Wednesday at rewriting regulations about local phone competition. The FCC's efforts have been overturned by courts three times, most recently in March by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. The court threw out agency rules that allowed states to require regional carriers to lease parts of their networks to competitors at deep discounts. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra . New articles daily. *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This Internet discussion group is making it available without profit to group members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of literary, educational, political, and economic issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. I believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner, in this instance Yahoo News. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ Subject: Cross Battery and Verizon From: nospamperkowski1@optonline.net (Joe Perkowski) Organization: Your Organization Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2004 14:01:52 GMT Hey ppl, Does anyone know what is "cross battery"? We put in a NBX 2 months ago running fine. Now, we are getting static and crosstalk on some of our incoming lines. We have had a great deal of rain these past 2 weeks, and have had previously problems with Verizon due to old copper in our area. The Verizon guy is telling us "cross battery" is causing this? What is "cross battery" if anyone knows...? Thanks. Joe ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2004 12:58:22 EST From: Telecom dailyLead from USTA Subject: Sprint, Nextel Directors Approve Merger Plan Telecom dailyLead from USTA December 15, 2004 http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=18135&l=2017006 TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * Sprint, Nextel directors approve merger plan BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * Analysis: What's next for Nextel * EchoStar considers satellite Internet offering * Semiconductor sales to rise as VoIP adoption grows USTA SPOTLIGHT * McCormick Calls For Market-Driven Environment for Communications EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES * Phone music isn't just for on hold anymore REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * FCC approves in-flight Internet use * MPAA hits back at DVD pirates Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=18135&l=2017006 ------------------------------ From: Eric Friedebach Subject: Sprint Nextel, No. 3 With A Bullet Date: 15 Dec 2004 10:29:44 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com David M. Ewalt, 12.15.04, Forbes.com NEW YORK - Sprint and Nextel Communications announced a $35 billion combination today, setting in motion plans that could create a new, significantly strengthened No. 3 wireless carrier in the United States. "This creates three big wireless competitors carrying about 75% of the traffic," says independent telecom analyst Jeff Kagan. "Three major carriers can help keep prices low for customers, expenses lower for the companies and innovation high. The wireless industry needed this wave of consolidation." The new company -- to be called Sprint Nextel -- will boast a particularly strong base of corporate customers, and a total subscriber base of around 40 million customers. That will put it close behind No. 1 Cingular Wireless -- a joint venture between SBC Communications and BellSouth -- and No. 2 Verizon Wireless -- a joint venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group. Under the terms of the deal, existing Sprint shares will remain outstanding, and each Nextel common share will be converted into new company shares and a small per-share amount of cash. The exact stock/cash allocation will be determined when the deal closes, but at current values, Nextel shareholders would receive about 1.28 Sprint Nextel shares and about 50 cents in cash for each share. The aggregate amount of the cash payment will not exceed $2.8 billion. http://www.forbes.com/services/2004/12/15/cx_de_1215sprintnextel2.html Eric Friedebach /KMPX Rocks!/ ------------------------------ From: Wesrock@aol.com Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2004 09:37:39 EST Subject: Alltel, Cingular, AT&T Wireless From The Daily Oklahoman (Oklahoma City) for December 15, 2004. Wes Leatherock wesrock@aol.com Cell phone users puzzled by change of carriers By Jim Stafford The Oklahoman Welcome to the bizarre world of Julie Solow and Dawson Blacklee, two Oklahoma City residents who are living in their own private versions of "cell hell" in the wake of the recent Cingular Wireless takeover of AT&T Wireless. Their world is filled with confusion over who is their wireless service provider and the prospect of paying early termination fees of nearly $200 for each cellular telephone they own. "All I did was call to get my landline fixed," Solow said Monday. "Now they (AT&T Wireless) are saying I owe more than $200." It all began when Cingular became the nation's largest wireless telephone service provider at the end of October with its purchase of AT&T Wireless. AT&T Wireless subscribers became Cingular customers except in Oklahoma City, 12 surrounding Oklahoma counties and a few other areas nationwide. The government ordered Cingular to sell AT&T assets in those areas, which it did. It sold Oklahoma City area assets to Little Rock, Ark.-based Alltel. Apparently, the requirement to sell the Oklahoma properties contributed to confusion for both consumers and some company representatives. Solow, a speech pathologist for the Putnam City School District, stumbled into her personal twilight zone innocently enough at the end of November. She called SBC Communications about problems with her SBC landline and was pointed to a toll-free 800 number on a follow-up call. The SBC representative offered Solow deals on broadband communications, as well as switching to Cingular, which is owned in a partnership between SBC and BellSouth. The salesman told her that AT&T Wireless customers could switch to Cingular because of the recent buyout. The offer appeared to be a bargain and Solow agreed to drop her AT&T Wireless service for Cingular and would receive a "cute little flip phone," and a $50 gift card all for a total of $18. However, later she found out about the early termination fee and soon was stuck with her new cell phone service and a big bill from her former wireless provider. "It's been terribly frustrating," Solow said. "I am just amazed. It wasn't like I was trying to find a new wireless company. "This is a big huge company. It's like giving someone a puppy and saying 'I'm going to take care of all of the vet bills' and then say, 'Oh, you can't have that puppy,' or 'If you keep that puppy, you have to pay all the vet bills for it.'" Tuesday, Solow said a Cingular representative had contacted her and promised the company would help her settle the early termination penalty with AT&T Wireless. Blacklee, an Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper, walked into his twilight zone when he decided to switch to Cingular because he assumed that AT&T Wireless was owned by Cingular. He canceled two contracts and switched. Then he learned that AT&T Wireless was not owned by Cingular and he owed $175 early termination fee on each of two phones that he owned. Blacklee's efforts to negotiate with AT&T Wireless have been fruitless, and he said he fears many more customers are in the same situation. "I bet you that not one of them knew they were not going to be part of Cingular," he said. "Most of those people did not have a clue their contracts are going to Alltel and not Cingular." Cingular spokesman Frank Merriman said the company is working to minimize confusion caused by the takeover and the Oklahoma City area's exclusion from it. "I do apologize for customer confusion," he said. "You are not talking about a simple process." AT&T Wireless customers can wait, and by early next year, they will become Alltel customers, Merriman said. "Yet everyone of their commercials say 'AT&T, welcome to the Cingular family,'" said Blacklee, clearly unconvinced. ------------------------------ From: Lanceman Subject: AT&T CallVantage Service -- Your Thoughts Date: 15 Dec 2004 07:29:52 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi - I am considering switching my local landline to the AT&T CallVantage service. I have also looked at Vonage, but am unable to move my local number with them. Anyone out there have good or bad experiences with the CallVantage service? Thanks in advance for your replies. Lance ------------------------------ From: John Bartley Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2004 12:25:44 -0500 Subject: Re: Is 'Transitional Fair Use' The Wave Of The Future? On Tue, 14 Dec 2004, Clark W. Griswold, Jr. wrote: > Dishplayer or one of the newer DVRs? What was the feature? 7100 w/ HD upgrade. IIRC, Search now has two new tick boxes; title only, or title and description. Like it. Topic drift alert. >>> In article , Monty Solomon >>> wrote: >>>> A middle-level executive at Time Warner has approached several cable >>>> companies and broached the idea of restricting the ability of >>>> customers who use those company's Digital Video Recorders to record >>>> several popular Time Warner TV programs. >> On Mon, 13 Dec 2004, in comp.dcom.telecom Barry Margolin >> wrote: >>> Sounds like another good reason to support standalone DVRs, like >>> ReplayTV and TiVo, rather than cableco-supplied DVR services. > In article , I wrote: >> Sadly, this is not an adequate solution. Unless you record a program >> off to tape, disc or PC media, programs can be deleted through the >> capabilities of existing, standalone equipment. >> TiVo and ReplayTV have already demonstrated their ability to change >> the programming on DVRs without the consent of the user, as has DISH >> Network. Unless the user hacks the hardware and its current code to >> prevent it, the DVR manufacturer can slipstream the ability to do >> exactly what Time Warner wants into a user's DVR. On Wed, 15 Dec 2004, in comp.dcom.telecom Barry Margolin wrote: > Sure, they *can* reprogram our systems. But I think these vendors > that are independent of the content providers and distributors are > less likely to do so. Yes, I know they've made some concessions to > content providers (ReplayTV removed Internet Video Sharing and > Commercial Advance from their newest DVR models, although they didn't > reprogram the older models that already had these features, and > hackers discovered how to add them back to the new models). But I > think they would be shooting themselves in the feet if they disabled > some of the basic functionality of the devices. Let's not forget, Tivo has also pledged to add their own commercials over the top of playback when a user fast forwards. If that isn't targeting the pedal extremities, I will invite a Californian to move next door to me. The downgrades from Tivo and ReplayTV and the no-consent upgrade of my Dish Player's software demonstrate the capability. The control over that is in the hands of the providers, not the consumer. Historically, that only means to compete, the provider has to distract the consumer, when the new and uninformed consumer makes a buying decision, or simply be the least worst provider, carefully avoiding making the thing so bad as to overcome consumer inertia. Solution? Consumer advocacy: Be smart, share info here and in other forums, document what's going on in web logs and link to them, explain the case we ll to others, and don't fergit to let Charlie Ergen (big banana at Echostar /DISH Network) and other industry suits know this is a deal-breaker for you After all, if it turns to trash, we can all go read a good e-book (e.g., < http://www.baen.com/library > ). ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Strange Wireless Problem From: William Warren Organization: Church of the Infinite Possibility Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2004 14:32:55 GMT On 13 Dec 2004 13:36:47 -0500, Rich Greenberg wrote: > In article , Matt B. > wrote: >> Hello all, >> I'm having a strange problem and I hope you can help ... A few >> co-workers are using wireless-enabled laptops. They are able to >> receive e-mail from the POP3 server, but are unable to send. They get >> the error "The server has timed out ... might be server problems, >> etc.." If they plug in to a wired connection, it works fine. >> Everyone is using Outlook 2000 or 2003. It doesn't matter where they >> are using the wireless connection -- at home, at the office, at >> great-grandma Edna's ... it all does the same thing ... and we are at >> a loss! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! > This is just a WAG, but the SMTP server may be set up to not accept > incoming wireless connections, or to accept them only on a different > port than the usual 25. I'd guess that the laptops are associating with wireless access points _OUTSIDE_ the company where they work; i.e., that they're able to retrieve POP mail because the POP server is accessible from anywhere on the Internet, but that the SMTP server they are reaching is (correctly) rejecting their login codes, since it's not at your company. I suggest a NetStumbler scan to find the nearby access points: you'll probably find serveral in nearby firms that you've been using by accident. You may either set your own access points to use encryption, or program the laptops to associated _only_ with the SSID's on your network. HTH. YMMV. William (Filter noise from my address for direct replies) ------------------------------ 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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