---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-ID: <20170921213048.GA1706@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Thu, 21 Sep 2017 17:30:48 -0400 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: AT&T: Five Scary Charts To Take Seriously Summary * We are moving away from our news coverage segments to instead focus on more detailed analyses, original insights. * Everyone mentions the AT&T debt, but no one really analyzes it. * We discuss the growing burden and projections, the risk to credit ratings, and what can be done with support of visualizations to illustrate the problem. * We hope this piece serves as a springboard for future research and we want your feedback. https://seekingalpha.com/article/4108299-t-five-scary-charts-take-seriously -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ------------------------------ Message-ID: <20170921211321.GA1369@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Thu, 21 Sep 2017 17:13:21 -0400 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: Re: RoboCaller now Showing Legitimate Numbers in CallerID On Wed, Sep 20, 2017 at 04:37:21PM -0400, Pete Cresswell wrote: > Per John Levine: > > > > No, they could script that. > > "Please press 1 for Joe, 2 for Sue, 3 for Sam...... 9 to really talk > to somebody" and take a predetermined action on the first wrong > keypress? Sorry, that's not effective: there are only three or four major voice-mail providers, and the 80/20 rule applies, but the "80" is on the scripters' side. > The one that really got to me was the recent effort (apparently > approved by the RNC) to allow dropping spam advertisements into > people's voicemail - without them even getting a "Call". > > [It's called] "Ringless Voicemail." That's less of a problem with "Millennial" customers, who tend to ignore their phone's voice-mail and rely on texts or caller ID to determine who gets a callback. Bill -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ------------------------------ Message-ID: <tuj5sch26oense75jtore0ljb3mr3389aa@4ax.com> Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2017 16:37:21 -0400 From: Pete Cresswell <PeteCress@invalid.telecom-digest.org> Subject: Re: RoboCaller now Showing Legitimate Numbers in CallerID Per John Levine: > > No, they could script that. "Please press 1 for Joe, 2 for Sue, 3 for Sam...... 9 to really talk to somebody" and take a predetermined action on the first wrong keypress? I can imagine a scripting scenario using voice recognition, but it's pretty involved. The one that really got to me was the recent effort (apparently approved by the RNC) to allow dropping spam advertisements into people's voicemail - without them even getting a "Call". [It's called] "Ringless Voicemail." viz: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/03/business/phone-ringless-voicemail-fcc-telemarketer.html https://www.engadget.com/2017/05/24/republicans-back-straight-to-voicemail-robocall-plan/ https://www.recode.net/2017/5/23/15681158/political-campaign-robocall-ringless-voicemail-without-ringing-cellphone-republican -- Pete Cresswell ------------------------------ Message-ID: <20170921212421.GA1597@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Thu, 21 Sep 2017 17:24:21 -0400 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: CenturyLink Moves Closing Date for $34B Level 3 Acquisition to October By Jane Edwards CenturyLink (NYSE: CTL) has pushed back the projected closing date for its pending $34 billion acquisition of Level 3 Communications (NYSE: LVLT) through a cash-and-stock transaction from Sept. 30 to mid-to-late October. The revised timeframe for the transaction's intended closure was based on the California administrative law judge's recommendation for the California Public Utilities Commission to clear the deal at its Oct. 12 meeting, CenturyLink said Tuesday. https://www.govconwire.com/2017/09/centurylink-delays-projected-completion-of-planned-34b-level-3-purchase-to-october/ -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ------------------------------ ********************************************* End of telecom Digest Fri, 22 Sep 2017