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| Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2014 23:32:57 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: 2 Drug Chains Disable Apple Pay, as a Rival Makes Plans
Message-ID: <1EA1BA35-E5FE-4D20-965F-1BC67C9C1FB5@roscom.com>
Two Drug Chains Disable Apple Pay, as a Rival Makes Plans
A consortium of merchants plans to introduce a payment system next
year that will supplant the use of credit and debit cards.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/27/technology/personaltech/2-drug-chains-disable-apple-pay-as-a-rival-makes-plans-.html
|
| Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2014 23:26:51 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Donald Pels, 86, Dies; Media Executive Saw Cellphone Future
Message-ID: <3F731DC2-14DA-40F4-81E4-C54E5F5C9AA8@roscom.com>
Donald Pels, 86, Dies; Media Executive Saw Cellphone Future
Mr. Pels, whose early investment in cellphone networks paid off for
his company and for himself, had become a major philanthropist in his
later years.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/24/business/media/donald-a-pels-media-executive-and-philanthropist-dies-at-86.html
|
| Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2014 01:45:51 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: F.C.C. Delays Auction of TV Airwaves for Mobile
Message-ID: <312EB0C1-FC87-46DB-B27B-5C5042895DB4@roscom.com>
F.C.C. Delays Auction of TV Airwaves for Mobile
A lawsuit challenging the sale said that the commission's
initial rules would cause some stations to lose some of their coverage
area and viewers.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/25/technology/fcc-delays-auction-of-tv-airwaves-for-mobile-use.html
|
| Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2014 05:46:43 -0400
From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net>
To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: It's a mystery to me
Message-ID: <m2l49s$jq2$1@dont-email.me>
As it happens, I used to be a computer programmer at NYNEX, and I
worked on the system that handled service orders - the mechanism by
which customers' decisions were communicated to the groups responsible
for making changes.
I remember that everything worked well for almost all ordinary
transactions: a new business line (1MB) would flow through the
distribution system (a separate entity) to the central office control
center and to the Installation & Repair group.
However, unusual or one-of services could be problematic, with
customer service reps entering line after line of "remarks" that
described what the customer actually wanted - for example, a request
from two people who shared an apartment to have the two numbers of a
two-party line installed at the same location. If there wasn't a USOC
code to describe it, things got a lot slower.
That system is long gone now: I don't know what replaced it, but it
seems that it's still hard to accomplish certain tasks. As it happens,
I ordered toll restrictions placed on my home phone many years ago,
since my son was running up large bills talking to friends from his
school in Vermont. We obtained a Google Voice account, and have been
using it for all our long distance ever since.
My son is a young man now, and living on his own, so the month before
last, I sent a letter to Verizon and gave them permission to remove
the toll restrictions. Google Voice is nice, as far as it goes, but it
was impossible to dial any number outside my "Contiguous" service area
without having to use it, and (more importantly) I couldn't retrieve
numbers from my Caller ID list and dial them automatically.
On Friday, my wife left to attend the her cousin's funeral (I couldn't
go: I just started a new job). I came home on Friday to find a note
saying that my wife couldn't call anyone. I determined that the
"Speed-Dial 30" service wasn't on my line anymore, and I spent the
weekend waiting for Verizon to fix what I thought was a software
glitch that probably affected a large block of customers.
As of 4 am today, it was still out. The Verizon repair person told me
that it's not on my account. She transferred me to Service Orders, and
they told me that an order had been filed for changes to my line on
October 23rd: the long-awaited removal of the toll restrictions. It
seems, however, that something went wrong in the process, and the
Service Order person told me that "Speed-Dial 30" is now a "grand-
fathered" offering, not available to new subscribers, but she
referred the problem to the "offline group" who will call me within 24
to 72 business hours.
I just can't think of a way that removing a toll restriction would
translate into removing a Speed Dialing feature: it's a mystery to me.
Bill
--
Bill Horne
(Remove QRM from my address to write to me directly)
|
| Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2014 22:46:38 +0000 (UTC)
From: David Scheidt <dscheidt@panix.com>
To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: It's a mystery to me
Message-ID: <m2mi0e$b38$1@reader1.panix.com>
Bill Horne <bill@horneqrm.net> wrote:
:As of 4 am today, it was still out. The Verizon repair person told me
:that it's not on my account. She transferred me to Service Orders, and
:they told me that an order had been filed for changes to my line on
:October 23rd: the long-awaited removal of the toll restrictions. It
:seems, however, that something went wrong in the process, and the
:Service Order person told me that "Speed-Dial 30" is now a "grand-
:fathered" offering, not available to new subscribers, but she
:referred the problem to the "offline group" who will call me within 24
:to 72 business hours.
:I just can't think of a way that removing a toll restriction would
:translate into removing a Speed Dialing feature: it's a mystery to me.
Most likely explanation is that "modify" is not directly supported by
the system that does the switch/adjunct provisioning, or by the system that
provisions the system that does switch/adjunct provsioning (or, since
this is Verizon, the system that provisons that...).
Modify is then "remove line/all features from line" followed by "add
line with the set of features it's supposed to have". It would not
surprise me to learn that even a straight add of a feature worked like
that. Since your feature is no longer available to be added, it would
not be in list of features added; don't expect to get it back,
either...
--
sig 1
|
| Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2014 02:48:01 -0400
From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net>
To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Will AT&T's price cuts keep its wireless customers on the line?
Message-ID: <20141028064801.GA3806@telecom.csail.mit.edu>
AT&T says it's giving people what they want: more choice.
Not surprisingly, many are choosing to spend less on their wireless bills.
AT&T cut some monthly prices early this year, as part of a shift away
from subsidizing new phones. Rather than upgrade handsets every two
years, as was once the custom, some are keeping them longer. Others
are pulling out older phones when signing up for AT&T service.
http://www.dallasnews.com/business/columnists/mitchell-schnurman/20141027-schnurman-will-atts-price-cuts-keep-its-wireless-customers-on-the-line.ece
-or-
http://goo.gl/xT19BC
--
Bill Horne
Moderator
I think about you all the time
But I don't need the same
It's lonely where you are come back down
And I won't tell em your name
- Goo Goo Dolls
|
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