29 Years of the Digest ... founded August 21, 1981

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The Telecom Digest for March 24, 2011
Volume 30 : Issue 75 : "text" Format

 

Messages in this Issue:
Re: AT&T buys T-Mobile USA(Koos van den Hout)
Re: Information on small scale optical systems(Stephen)
Re: bye, bye T-Mobile(Adam H. Kerman)
Re: What to do with a switchboard(Jim Haynes)
Re: Regarding that proposed ATT takeover of TM(Steven)
Re: Regarding that proposed ATT takeover of TM(Rob Warnock)
Re: Annoyance Calls(tlvp)
Re: What to do with a switchboard(Lisa or Jeff)
Re: Regarding that proposed ATT takeover of TM(Martin Bose)

====== 29 years of TELECOM Digest -- Founded August 21, 1981 ======

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Date: Tue, 22 Mar 2011 19:13:12 +0000 (UTC) From: Koos van den Hout <koos+newsposting@kzdoos.xs4all.nl> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: AT&T buys T-Mobile USA Message-ID: <imasc8$9uh$13@kzdoos.xs4all.nl> John R. Levine <johnl@iecc.com> wrote in <alpine.BSF.2.00.1103201549400.24982@joyce.lan>: > In a deal that makes a lot more sense than the ones that have been > rumored, AT&T is buying T-Mobile USA The best response I read: FARK.com headline submitter wins the Internets: "AT&T is getting married to T-Mobile. There will be no reception afterwards." Koos -- Koos van den Hout, PGP keyid DSS/1024 0xF0D7C263 via keyservers koos@kzdoos.xs4all.nl IPv6: Think ::/0, act ::1.
http://idefix.net/ Are you ready to switch to IPv6?
Date: Tue, 22 Mar 2011 20:56:44 +0000 From: Stephen <stephen_hope@xyzworld.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: Information on small scale optical systems Message-ID: <sf2io6dhee7mum54abb21ghhb1o6f7914p@4ax.com> On Sun, 20 Mar 2011 9:26:22 -0700, "Martin Bose" <martyb@sonic.net> wrote: > >I work in a shipyard that is 19th century as far as telecom goes. It's >served by a couple of 50 pair cables with a couple of T-1 lines for >data. They need over a hundred phone lines and better data service, >plus the ability to provide customers with short-term phone and data >service to ships that are pierside or in our drydock. Some of the >customers want Gigabit-level data service, along with the ability to >have a block of phone lines with a call director for a secretary. > >When I worked in Telecom 10 years ago it was fairly common to put a >compact OC-48 box on a customer premise and lease them whatever >bandwidth and configuration they wanted. I'm guessing the technolgy >has progressed a lot since then. you might be offered pt - pt microwave access - a shipyard may have issues with getting easy duct access for fibre. > >What I imagine is a redundant fiber ring around the complex, with >terminals in the main buildings and the shops where our CNC equipment >is, and additional weather-proof terminals in several locations in our >Syncrolift area, our drydock and our pier space. We have a >climate-controlled server room in our main building that would be >termination point for the incoming fiber link. On one hand it would be >nice to be able to run fiber to a remote box onboard the ship and >break everything out at that point, but I'm not so sure that running >exposed fiber is a good idea in a shipyard environment. Everything >would probably have to be AC-powered. > >There have been discussions with our carrier about bringing fiber in, >so that part is probably doable. I'd like to get some pointers on what >kind of equipment is available that might meet our needs, as well as >an idea of the cost. I'm thinking that an OC-12 might be enough, but >would consider an OC-48 if the equipment wasn't much more expensive. > optics / interface costs on muxes mean not much cost uplift from STM-1 / OC-3 -> OC-12 -> OC-48 - except that you tend to need a bigger box :) work uses the ex Marconi / Ericsson muxes (OMS range) - but i suspect non european suppliers may dominate in the US. >Anyone have any suggestions? physically running in the cable is most of the cost, so a few extra glass cores to allow you to run several parallel services is not going to cost much for the cable (hardware might be different of course). my experience is in europe where the carrier will either want 1 clean handover point or to provide voice service all the way to the end points so you need to think about what you want and how to get it. you need to think about where the service will split between the private and public networks, which runs which bits and so on. all the PBX suppliers have Voip / IP telephony offerings (and many dont have traditional TDM / copper stuff any more) - Cisco / Avaya/ Mitel and plenty of others, so you may be better off with LAN type connections around the site. if you need data as well, then you might think about using IP deliverd voice and building a "converged" network using Gigabit Ethernet. Also many companies now make "industrial" style LAN kit, IP phones and so on - no recommendations though for you on suppliers. Note you should build it using IP kit which is QoS capable if you want a network mixing voice and data. You might want to look for a local company that can build or rent you a service? -- Regards stephen_hope@xyzworld.com - replace xyz with ntl

Date: Wed, 23 Mar 2011 14:28:49 +0000 (UTC) From: "Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: bye, bye T-Mobile Message-ID: <imd031$i0p$3@news.albasani.net> Adam H. Kerman <ahk@chinet.com> wrote: >danny burstein <dannyb@panix.com> wrote: >>[press release] >>
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110320005040/en/ATT-Acquire-T-Mobile-USA-Deutsche-Telekom >>Dallas and Bonn, Germany (Business Wire)- AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) and >>Deutsche Telekom AG (FWB: DTE) today announced that they have entered >>into a definitive agreement under which AT&T will acquire T-Mobile USA >>from Deutsche Telekom [Moderator snip] >> ------ >>I'm not happy. >It's not a Great Day at T-Mobile, sigh. I am a subscriber too. Hahahaha T-Mobile's dreadful ad campaign versus AT&T Wireless, ripped off of Mac versus PC, is still running on tv.
Date: Wed, 23 Mar 2011 11:48:48 -0500 From: Jim Haynes <jhaynes@cavern.uark.edu> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: What to do with a switchboard Message-ID: <4dqdnQu9gL_tuRfQnZ2dnUVZ_o6dnZ2d@earthlink.com> On 2011-03-23, Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> wrote: > A friend has just bought an old house. Therein, among sundries too > numerous to enumerate, is a telephone switchboard. Wooden case, about > 30 plug cables, new enough to have a 50s-type (?) dial on a pedestal > to operator's right, hand crank to operate a ringer magneto(?). Maybe > 6' tall by 24" wide. No immediately obvious external maker's tag. > > Is anyone here eager to buy such a thing? If not, are there many > people elsewhere known to be keen to have one? Any advice on how my > friend could profit from disposing of this lovely but unwanted object? > > Or should he just procede directly to eBay? > There is a Yahoo group named singingwires devoted to telephone collectors. Switchboards get traded fairly often there.

Date: Wed, 23 Mar 2011 18:29:59 -0700 From: Steven <diespammers@killspammers.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: Regarding that proposed ATT takeover of TM Message-ID: <ime6qn$c3r$1@dont-email.me> > ***** Moderator's Note ***** > > I thought that Sprint used PCS, not CDMA. Is that correct? Also, I > was under the impression that T-Mobile's GSM used a different > frequency band than does AT&T's GSM. > > In any case, I feel that the technical differences are not a factor: > no matter which handset a former T-Mobile user has, it's the ability > to set rates for calls that counts. > Bill Horne > Moderator > Sprint uses CDMA, it is just called PCS by them, I have Sprint service and have installed switches for Sprint and Verizon, both are the same. -- The only good spammer is a dead one!! Have you hunted one down today? (c) 2011 I Kill Spammers, Inc. A Rot in Hell Co. ***** Moderator's Note ***** We've gotten lost in the technology here. The point I was trying to make is that Sprint's PCS phones aren't compatible with the "CDMA" phones used by Verizon, i.e., that even if that both use CDMA, they are not inter-operable. In other words, I don't think that the issue of AT&T/T-Mobile having one island of users, stranded by their GSM technology, and Verizon/Sprint having another, is as significant as some of the readers have opined. While it's true that if Verizon Mobile merges with Sprint, and if AT&T merges with T-Mobile, users wouldn't be able to just plug in a SIM card and switch from one to the other, that isn't the important factor in my way of thinking. Handsets are disposable, and cost (generally) less than three month's worth of cellular billing fees, so the most important thing to me is that the merged companies would be much more likely to raise rates and (as someone else pointed out) to sell "their" customers as digital cattle in each company's data corral. Bill Horne Moderator

Date: Wed, 23 Mar 2011 21:08:23 -0500 From: rpw3@rpw3.org (Rob Warnock) To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: Regarding that proposed ATT takeover of TM Message-ID: <w_2dnaiTjo0KOhfQnZ2dnUVZ_tednZ2d@speakeasy.net> Doug McIntyre <merlyn@geeks.org> wrote: +--------------- | >***** Moderator's Note ***** | >I thought that Sprint used PCS, not CDMA. Is that correct? Also, I | >was under the impression that T-Mobile's GSM used a different | >frequency band than does AT&T's GSM. | | T-Mobile's different frequency band is only for its 3G data features. | | It uses the same frequency bands as AT&T for its voice and Edge | (ie. 2G) Data Features. | | You can mix-and-match AT&T and T-Mobile phones, although if you want | 3G data speeds, then you need to use the correct hardware on the | correct network. Ie. I swapped my SIM regularly between the phone AT&T | issued, and the phone T-Mobile issued. +--------------- Also, a generation of phones are hitting the market that are compatible with both data bands, e.g.:
http://phandroid.com/2011/03/23/t-mobile-g2x-equipped-with-atts-4g-bands/ T-Mobile G2X Equipped With AT&T's 4G Bands by Rob Jackson on March 23rd, 2011 at 1:07 am Either T-Mobile is already requesting manufacturers produce their phones to future-proof them for the AT&T acquisition or LG realizes the benefits of economies of scale. While I'd predict the latter, either way it seems the latest hot handset from T-Mobile will be equipped not only with T-Mobile 4G but also with AT&T 4G. ... And while this doesn't say it does both, it's implied: http://phandroid.com/2011/03/23/lg-optimus-3d-passes-fcc-with-t-mobile-3g-bands/ LG Optimus 3D Passes FCC with T-Mobile 3G Bands by Kevin Krause on March 23rd, 2011 at 7:46 am -Rob +--------------------------------------------------------------+ Rob Warnock <rpw3@rpw3.org> 627 26th Avenue http://rpw3.org/ San Mateo, CA 94403
Date: Wed, 23 Mar 2011 22:22:33 -0400 From: tlvp <tPlOvUpBErLeLsEs@hotmail.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: Annoyance Calls Message-ID: <op.vstsvvq0itl47o@acer250.gateway.2wire.net> On Tue, 22 Mar 2011 20:21:46 -0400, Fred Atkinson <fatkinson.remove-this@and-this-too.mishmash.com> wrote: > Well, I got a reply from the Texas PUC. > > They mailed it to me at my home address in New Mexico. > > They told me that I have to contact the Colorado PUC since I live in > Colorado. > > Did they miss something? Maybe in their book Colorado and New Mexico are the same state? Cheers, -- tlvp -- Avant de repondre, jeter la poubelle, SVP

Date: Wed, 23 Mar 2011 19:51:56 -0700 (PDT) From: Lisa or Jeff <hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: What to do with a switchboard Message-ID: <2808bfec-e534-4a38-a054-995f638fa9e2@d28g2000yqc.googlegroups.com> On Mar 22, 8:05 pm, Mike Spencer <m...@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> wrote: > Is anyone here eager to buy such a thing? If not, are there many > people elsewhere known to be keen to have one? Any advice on how my > friend could profit from disposing of this lovely but unwanted object? > Or should he just procede directly to eBay? One challenge with selling is shipping as these things are very heavy and bulky (been there, done that). If you do post it for sale, could you let us know where it was posted? Thanks. > ***** Moderator's Note ***** > > Sound like a WE 555 cord board. How could you tell it was a 555? Very generally speaking, there were five types of Bell non-multiple PBX's. (This doesn't count specialty boards, answering service boards, or boards used in a C.O.). --551--cords arranged in two rows, front and back, with two rows of little levers plus lights; manual service-- station jacks had lights -- 552--cords arranged in two rows, front and back, with two rows of little levers plus lights; dial service-station jacks did not have lights and there was an attendant strip. --555-- cords arranged in one row, a row of knobs, and a row of push buttons plus lights; manual service-- station jacks had lights --556-- cords arranged in one row, a row of knobs, and a row of push buttons plus lights--dial service--station jacks did not have lights and there was an attendant strip --608 beige instead of black background, push buttons.

Date: Wed, 23 Mar 2011 17:43:12 -0700 From: "Martin Bose" <martyb@sonic.net> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: Regarding that proposed ATT takeover of TM Message-ID: <0C0AAF15451CAA3E2A113E84870AF5E@sonic.net> Telecom Digest Moderator said: > (snip) I thought that Sprint used PCS, not CDMA. Is that correct? > (snip) One of the notches on my belt was being the Project Manager for the first Sprint PCS network to go live, Fresno, California. At least on the west coast all of the initial Sprint installations were 1900 mHz CDMA; later on they started roaming on other networks. Somewhere in a box I still have the prototype Qualcomm handset that I used while we were checking the Sprint billing system before we could put paying customers on it. Marty ***** Moderator's Note ***** OK, I'm very confused now. I thought PCS systems could not inter-operate with others: i.e., that the Sprint network's customers always had to get a new handset to switch to Verizon Mobile or AT&T. Let's just get that much clear, and I'll try to keep up. ;-) Bill Horne Moderator
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