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The Telecom Digest for January 15, 2012
Volume 31 : Issue 15 : "text" Format
====== 30 years of TELECOM Digest -- Founded August 21, 1981 ======
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Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the
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Date: Sun, 15 Jan 2012 02:16:15 -0500
From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: AT&T responds to Senator Franken's questions about Callier IQ
Message-ID: <20120115071615.GB9498@telecom.csail.mit.edu>
AT&T has sent a letter to Senator Al Franken, denying that it has used
Caller IQ software for snooping on its customers. The letter, which
appears on the Senator's official website, was sent by Timothy
P. McKone, AT&T Executive Vice President for Federal Relations.
McKone's opening paragraph:
I am responding to your letter to AT&T Inc. regarding AT&T's use
of Carrier IQ ("CIQ") software. Let me start by saying that AT&T
uses CIQ software only to collect diagnostic information about
its network to improve the customer experience. We do not use CIQ
to obtain the contents of cuttomers' communications, to track
where our customer go on the Internet, or to track customer
location. The information is protected in secure storage with
restricted access.
The rest of the letter is at
http://tinyurl.com/7njk85z
.
The cynic in me wonders why the denial was so clearly limited to
Caller IQ: does AT&T have and/or use the capabilities mentioned,
implemented via other means?
--
Bill Horne
(Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly)
"Down at the courthouse coffee shop, they stared in disbelief
As a pack of thirsty lawyers started filling out their briefs"
- Julie Gold
Date: Sat, 14 Jan 2012 15:46:28 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Ringing Finally Ended, but There's No Button to Stop Shame
Message-ID: <nDbw8.A.QtC.S2nEPB@telecom>
Ringing Finally Ended, but There's No Button to Stop Shame
By DANIEL J. WAKIN
January 12, 2012
They were baying for blood in the usually polite precincts of Avery
Fisher Hall.
The unmistakably jarring sound of an iPhone marimba ring interrupted
the soft and spiritual final measures of Mahler's Symphony No. 9 at
the New York Philharmonic on Tuesday night. The conductor, Alan
Gilbert, did something almost unheard-of in a concert hall: He
stopped the performance. But the ringing kept on going, prompting
increasingly angry shouts in the audience directed at the malefactor.
After words from Mr. Gilbert, and what seemed like weeks, the
cellphone owner finally silenced his device. After the audience
cheered, the concert resumed. Internet vitriol ensued.
But no one, it seems, felt worse than the culprit, who agreed to an
interview on Thursday on condition that he not be identified - for
obvious reasons.
...
http://tinyurl.com/7hazd7s
***** Moderator's Note *****
Cellphones are inherently anti-social devices. Carrying one around and
answering it in public places is an announcement to the world that you
think your time and convenience is more important than anyone
else's.
The "Patron X" mentioned in the NY Times story claimed that his
employer had just switched him from a blackberry to an iphone, and
that the sound was actually an alarm signal, not the phone
ringing. Sounds like revisionist history ex post factotum to me, but
even if it's true, that only proves that the person in question felt
entitled to take an active electronic device into a concert hall
without bothering to RTFM. The gaul of some people!
Bill Horne
Moderator
Date: Sun, 15 Jan 2012 01:48:36 -0500
From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Federal agency finds that LightSquared's LTE network would
Message-ID: <jetss6$p52$1@dont-email.me>
from the PhoneDog blog:
By Alex Wagner January 14, 2012 9PM
LightSquared's been running into some issues with its plans to build out
a 4G LTE network that's integrated with satellite spectrum for some time
now, as there are concerns that it could cause interference with GPS
systems. Recently LightSquared hit perhaps its biggest stumbling block
yet, as a group of nine federal agencies known as the National
Space-Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing Executive Committee have
unanimously decided that both the company's original and revised plans
for its LTE network would interfere with many GPS receivers. The group
added that it believes that there aren't any practical solutions that'd
allow LightSquared to operate its network without GPS interference any
time in the next few years, so as of now it's not planning to do any
additional testing on LightSquared's network.
http://tinyurl.com/7svstoh
--
Bill Horne
(Remove QRM from my address to write to me directly)
Date: Sun, 15 Jan 2012 01:07:34 -0500
From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: LightSquared Network Causes 'Harmful Interference' to GPS, No
Message-ID: <jetqf9$i19$1@dont-email.me>
by Dave Murphy, PC Magazine
January 14, 2012 05:39pm EST
Did federal officials just slam the final nail into the coffin for
LightSquared? A letter released Friday by the Federal Aviation
Administration certainly makes the case. According to officials,
LightSquared's proposed (and controversial) plan to launch a new LTE
network - and then sell access rights to the service to regional and
rural wireless carriers, and other partners - interferes too greatly
with existing GPS systems.
http://tinyurl.com/85crkvt
--
Bill Horne
(Remove QRM from my address to write to me directly)
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