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Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2010 19:33:48 -0800
From: Thad Floryan <thad@thadlabs.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: AT&T mobile data growth eases -- to 30x
Message-ID: <4CE49E9C.5090200@thadlabs.com>
http://www.itworld.com/mobile-amp-wireless/127888/atampt-mobile-data-growth-eases-30x
AT&T mobile data growth eases -- to 30x
by Stephen Lawson
November 17, 2010, 10:34 AM IDG News Service
The estimated growth in data traffic on AT&T's mobile network has slowed,
the carrier's CTO said Tuesday, though it remains explosive at more than
3,000 percent over the past three years.
The volume of mobile data traffic grew from just over 1 billion megabytes
in the third quarter of 2007 to about 30.3 billion megabytes in the third
quarter of this year, CTO John Donovan told an audience of developers at
the Sencha Conference in San Francisco. That growth rate of about 30 times
is down from three-year growth of about 50 times earlier this year, he
said. However, expansion is hardly screeching to a halt.
"If you look in absolute numbers, it's still a tremendous growth rate,"
Donovan said. He attributed the change to the difficulty of an already very
large number to keep increasing rapidly.
AT&T has come under much criticism over the past few years for not keeping
up with the demand for data capacity from the popular iPhone and other
mobile devices. The carrier continues to upgrade its network to meet that
demand, deploying HSPA+ this year and planning a LTE (Long-Term Evolution)
rollout next year.
Eighty percent of AT&T's mobile network has been upgraded to HSPA+, which
will offer two or two-and-a-half times the performance of HSPA 7.2, AT&T's
current top-end cellular technology, Donovan said Tuesday. The carrier
recently introduced USB modems that can use HSPA+ as well as LTE. It is
also upgrading the backhaul from its cell sites to Ethernet on fiber links.
Backhaul improvements do not proceed in lockstep with base-station upgrades
but are ongoing across the whole network, said AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel.
The HSPA+ technology has a theoretical maximum speed of 21M bps (bits per
second), Siegel said, though he cautioned that individual subscribers won't
experience that type of speed. T-Mobile USA also uses an HSPA+ system rated
for that speed, and refers to it as a "4G" network because it represents a
significant jump up from its older 3G system. (T-Mobile says its HSPA+
delivers up to 5M bps downstream to a phone and 12M bps to a USB modem.)
AT&T believes such speed comparisons are less important to consumers than
the overall user experience, Siegel said.
Part of what is driving data growth is the growing popularity of
"integrated devices," which AT&T defines as handsets with QWERTY keyboards
and voice capability, typically smartphones. Today, 57 percent of AT&T's
postpaid subscribers have integrated devices, up from 23.3 percent in 2008,
he said.
Donovan also told the developers about AT&T's efforts to aid in development
of mobile applications, which he believes are just beginning to
proliferate. Sencha, which sponsors the conference, is a provider of
application frameworks based on Web standards.
AT&T is working on making it easier for small software houses to deal with
a large carrier, avoiding delays that come from being referred back and
forth among different groups, Donovan said. The aim is to help get
applications onto AT&T's network in one-third the time, or quickly turn
down those it's not interested in, he said. "We're trying to de-clutter our
organization," he said. AT&T has invested "tens of millions of dollars" in
the effort, he said.
The carrier has established innovation centers in Palo Alto, California,
Plano, Texas, and near Tel Aviv, Israel to work more closely with software
creators, he said. The carrier wants to talk to 400 developers per year; it
has met with 150 so far this year and expects to talk with 100 more this
quarter.
The next big opportunity for mobile developers is in enterprise tools,
Donovan said. Business applications require different skills than consumer
mobile software because components such as security, privacy and device
control are basic requirement. But enterprises are now embracing personal
mobile devices, he said.
"CIOs have stopped fighting the concept that someone would rather bring a
$500 device that's their own into the business and use it, rather than
carry it alongside a $100 device that the enterprise gave you," Donovan said.
Overall, software needs to become more standardized, in the same way that
networks converged around IP (Internet Protocol) over the past decade,
Donovan said. For example, software needs to talk to other software and
share data now.
"The vertical stacks which were so great to rapidly stand up the Web have
become insufficient to drive really rich applications," he said.
As part of this trend, AT&T strongly supports HTML5, but there is more work
to be done before that next-generation Web development language can be used
for rich mobile applications, Donovan said. HTML5 applications will need
access to services on a device such as cameras and location, and access to
information that provides context. AT&T is working with Sencha to
prioritize the many elements that HTML5 applications will need, he said.
Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2010 21:19:06 -0800
From: Bob <RBF1147-UN@YAH0O.C0M>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: History--computer based information operator terminal system
Message-ID: <ic2d04$2dp$1@news.eternal-september.org>
On 11/16/2010 21:26, Lisa or Jeff wrote:
> On Nov 15, 11:22 pm, Richard <r...@richbonnie.com> wrote:
>
> The Bell Labs history (published in 1975) says they already forsaw the
> need to do away with that old rule and were converting switches. But
> it obviously wasn't a rush thing, I think NJ didn't require a 1 prefix
> until the mid 1980s. (Today NJ has plenty of area code splits but
> still only 7 digit dialing for within the area code).
In 1972, 1+10D dialing was first required in the 213 area (Los Angeles)
for calls outside the area. Shortly afterward, n0x and n1x office codes
were introduced. Since then, many area code splits have occurred, and
in recent years overlays have replaced splits. 1+10D dialing in the
home area is permissible throughout California, but required only in
overlay areas.
--
My email address has no numeric zeroes
Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2010 22:02:58 -0800
From: John David Galt <jdg@diogenes.sacramento.ca.us>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: History--computer based information operator terminal system
Message-ID: <ic2fiu$deq$1@blue.rahul.net>
Neal McLain wrote:
> The dial-1-first was a "temporary" artifact of SxS (and possibly other)
> switching equipment that wasn't capable of examining a second digit to
> route a call. Dialing the 1 switched the call to some other more-capable
> switch. Thus, thousands of communities across the US and Canada got used
> to the idea of dial-1-first.
Is that why so many rural places had you dial 1 first for all calls outside
a few local exchanges? This, and not the "1 means an area code" method, was
standard in most of California until about 1977, when the state PUC mandated
"1 means an area code" statewide.
Maybe in metro Los Angeles, "1 meant an area code" much earlier than that,
but not in the Bay Area, which allowed 7-digit dialing between its portion
of 408 and all of 415 (but required "1" + 7 digits to reach the rest of 408,
roughly the part that is now the 831 area code plus Morgan Hill and Gilroy).
After 1977, we went to "1 does not break dial tone" until preparation for
NXX area codes began in the '80s.
> In due time, the initial 1 took on cultural significance. Unfortunately,
> the cultural significance wasn't consistent from state to state.
Not to mention GTE areas, where common services like directory assistance,
repair, and time were 11X numbers rather than N11. I don't know if any
exchanges like that still exist.
Date: 18 Nov 2010 15:11:36 -0000
From: John Levine <johnl@iecc.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: History--computer based information operator terminal system
Message-ID: <20101118151136.26960.qmail@joyce.lan>
>> The dial-1-first was a "temporary" artifact of SxS (and possibly other)
>> switching equipment that wasn't capable of examining a second digit to
>> route a call.
>Is that why so many rural places had you dial 1 first for all calls outside
>a few local exchanges?
Yes. SxS switches were common in rural areas, and they needed 1+ for
toll. Panel and later crossbar switches were more common in urban
Bell areas, and they could route calls without the 1+ hint.
>repair, and time were 11X numbers rather than N11. I don't know if any
>exchanges like that still exist.
They're long gone. The N11 numbers have been standardized for quite a
while.
R's,
John
Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2010 09:59:07 EST
From: Wes Leatherock <wesrock@aol.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: History--computer based information operator terminal system
Message-ID: <97755.5f906cc7.3a16993b@aol.com>
In a message dated 11/18/2010 8:06:42 AM Central Standard Time,
jdg@diogenes.sacramento.ca.us writes:
> Not to mention GTE areas, where common services like directory
> assistance, repair, and time were 11X numbers rather than N11. I
> don't know if any exchanges like that still exist.
That was true in many Bell areas, too. How about Dallas, Houston,
Austin, San Antonio, Fort Worth, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Wichita plus
all the less urban areas in Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and
Missouri?
Wes Leatherock
wesrock@aol.com
wleathus@yahoo.com
Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2010 08:38:56 -0800 (PST)
From: Lisa or Jeff <hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: History--computer based information operator terminal system
Message-ID: <b40ee3b8-6551-4972-be0e-839ad4cea3d6@fj16g2000vbb.googlegroups.com>
On Nov 18, 9:59 am, Wes Leatherock <wesr...@aol.com> wrote:
> > Not to mention GTE areas, where common services like directory
> > assistance, repair, and time were 11X numbers rather than N11. I
> > don't know if any exchanges like that still exist.
>
> That was true in many Bell areas, too. How about Dallas, Houston,
> Austin, San Antonio, Fort Worth, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Wichita plus
> all the less urban areas in Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and
> Missouri?
Yes, some Bell places in Pennsylvania and NJ also used 11n.
I think it was that step-by-step used 11n and panel/crossbar used n11.
I think 11n today is used for test codes. Anyone have a list?
As to toll dialing prefixes, the Bell Labs history mentions there were
various ways to tie SxS into the toll network, depending on the
traffic and the toll switch. Sometimes intermediate registers were
used to store dial digits until a trunk and receiver became available.
As time went on, some SxS were 'senderized' in various ways to get
more efficiency and extend their life.
In the 1970s, I recall reading in some small towns a more elaborate
toll dialing prefix was required and sometimes a wait for a second
dial tone.
Date: 18 Nov 2010 04:41:09 -0000
From: John Levine <johnl@iecc.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: History--computer based information operator terminal system
Message-ID: <20101118044109.72793.qmail@joyce.lan>
>> (Today NJ has plenty of area code splits but
>> still only 7 digit dialing for within the area code).
>
>Are you sure? NJ has three overlays, and FCC rules require 10D (or
>1+10D) dialing for all calls within an overlay.
It's 7D in 609, 908 and 856 which are not overlaid.
In the overlaid areas it's supposed to be 10D within the same area
(regardless of toll) and 1+10D elsewhere.
R's,
John
Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2010 19:44:43 -0800
From: Thad Floryan <thad@thadlabs.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: John's Phone Launched for Technophobe's
Message-ID: <4CE4A12B.1020003@thadlabs.com>
http://www.eweekeurope.co.uk/news/johns-phone-launched-for-technophobes-13591
picures at the above URL
John's Phone Launched for Technophobes
November 17, 2010 by Pichayada Promchertchoo
A Dutch company has launched what it calls "the world's simplest
phone', targeting users who are sick of new-generation models
Only capable of making and receiving calls, John's Phone is dubbed the
world's simplest mobile phone, specifically designed for anti-smartphones
users.
It does not provide any hi-tech features. No apps. No Internet. No
camera. No text messaging. All you have to do -- in fact, all you can
do -- is call, talk and hang up.
Named after the company that created it -- John Doe, a full-service
advertising agency in Amsterdam -- the phone is designed for users who are
fed up with smartphones and their hi-tech functions.
Its extreme simplicity is designed to appeal to technophobes, the elderly
and young kids buying their first phones.
"John's Phone is easy to use wherever you go. It's the no-contract cell
phone you've been waiting for, without any frills or unnecessary features",
the company stated. Retro Look
In an effort to make it extremely retro, John Doe also provides a small
paper-based address book and a pen for storing contacts. They can be slid
into the back of the phone.
Other features include a 1200 mAh battery with three weeks stand-by time, a
single ringtone, speed dial with enough memory to store ten numbers and a
hands-free kit. It is 10.5 x 6 x 1.5 cm and weighs in at 95 grams.
The phone is available in five colours: white, black, brown, greyish-green
and pink. The prices range from around £60 to £80.
***** Moderator's Note *****
God does hear our prayers!
Bill "GodDammit, where are my glasses? W@#)($W@_(* text message!" Horne
Moderator
Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2010 22:15:21 +0000 (UTC)
From: "Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: [OT] Public Interest Registry whois date stamp error
Message-ID: <ic1k5o$i9i$1@news.albasani.net>
************************************************************************
* Moderator's Note: Although OT, I think this post will help some poor *
* sod to avoid the same mistake my sisters made when they lost the *
* domain name for their business. Followups have been set to *
* net.internet.dns.policy, which is a better place for this thread. *
************************************************************************
Public Interest Registry is the current holder of root DNS of .org .
An organization I am associated with lost control of its domain name.
godaddy.com has a backorder process that monitors changes in domain status
to put in bids immediately upon a domain becoming available for registration
by anyone. I am using this process to reclaim the domain.
Domain names must be renewed in advance by the registrant. When that doesn't
happen, the name is renewed for a year by the root registry. The old
registrar retains control of the domain for 45 days (or shorter, but they
all sit on it for the maximum period) waiting for the old registrant to
renew it. If the old registrant has not renewed it, there is a 30 day
redemption grace period during which the old registrant still has an
opportunity to renew the domain through the old registrar.
If the old registrant still hasn't renewed the domain, it goes into
redemption hold period for five days, and then is released. The old
registrant cannot renew the domain during RHP.
I knew that today was the 75th day since the domain's registration expired,
so I was expected to note that it was now in RHP status. I didn't get an
automated message from godaddy.com and the log of status message changes
had not been updated.
Registrars rely upon the whois server maintained by PIR for notice of
status changes. When I checked PIR's whois server myself, I found
that the domain is in RHP but the date stamp was October 17. I brought
this to godaddy's attention, concerned that godaddy.com won't put the bid in
at the correct time and I'll miss the opportunity to reclaim the name on
the off chance that someone else awaits it.
Alas, godaddy.com said they would not send a query to PIR. I contacted PIR.
I was surprised that someone took my call. However, she said PIR relies on
the old registrar to report status changes on a timely basis and the PIR
cannot correct false information. She invited me to use ICANN's dispute
resolution process.
Finally, I contacted the old registrar and found someone who would write up
notes and pass it along to the person in charge of domains, so we'll see
if the status's date stamp gets corrected.
Given the political pitfalls and potential for favoritism in registering
domain names, it's very curious indeed one of the root registries lacks
basic safeguards against receiving status changes with a false date stamp.
Should a date stamp 31 days in the past cause the submission to be rejected
and sent back to the registrar?
I assume this was a glitch that will be corrected now that I've brought
it to the registrar's attention. Nevertheless, if someone was trying to
gain unfair advantage in order to obtain a domain name with potentially
significant commercial value, with no safeguards to check on date stamps,
this might be an invitation to cause trouble.
Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2010 16:59:50 -0800
From: Thad Floryan <thad@thadlabs.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: US may disable all in-car mobile phones
Message-ID: <4CE5CC06.1020203@thadlabs.com>
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/11/17/mobile_phone_shutoff_in_cars/
{I've inlined the URLs to coincide with flanking article text}
US may disable all in-car mobile phones
By Rik Myslewski, 17th November 2010 22:46 GMT
The US government may require cars to include scrambling tech that would
disable mobile-phone use by drivers, and perhaps passengers.
"I think it will be done," US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood said
on Wednesday morning, according to The Daily Caller.
http://dailycaller.com/2010/11/16/secretary-of-transportation-lahood-were-looking-into-technology-to-disable-cell-phones-in-vehicles/
"I think the technology is there and I think you're going to see the
technology become adaptable in automobiles to disable these cell phones."
LaHood is on a self-described "rampage"
http://fastlane.dot.gov/2010/02/dot-crafts-sample-bill-for-states-model-languagesupports-efforts-to-ban-texting-while-driving.html
against distracted driving, and if making it impossible to use a mobile
phone while in a car can save lives, he's all for it -- although, according
to TDC, LaHood also emphasized the role of "personal responsibility."
In a Tuesday blog post
http://fastlane.dot.gov/2010/11/faces-of-distracted-driving-video-series-tells-the-stories-behind-the-statistics.html
announcing an online video series, "Faces of Distracted Driving",
http://www.distraction.gov/faces/index.html
which presents first-person accounts of distracted-driving tragedies,
LaHood noted that "Just last year, nearly 5,500 people were killed and
500,000 more were injured in distracted driving-related crashes.
"These lives, and too many others like them, were cut short -- not because
of malice, but because of carelessness," he added.
The problem is that the average driver doesn't think that he or she is an
average driver: nearly two-thirds of drivers think of themselves as safer
and more skillful
http://www.ambulancedriving.com/research/WP65-rateaboveav.html
than a driver of median safety or skills -- a statistical impossibility, of
course.
When faced with the prospect of automotive mobile phones being disabled,
we'd be willing to bet that most drivers, suffused with confidence in their
own skills, will think in terms of personal inconvenience and a restriction
on personal freedom.
Perhaps it might be better to think of the guy texting in the lane to your
left, or the gal yelling at her ex on her iPhone in the lane to your right,
and think not of your own inconvenience, but of some distracted dolt
killing you.
Remember one unassailable statistic, as explained by the late, great George
Carlin:
http://thinkexist.com/quotation/just-think-of-how-stupid-the-average-person-is/348028.html
"Just think of how stupid the average person is, and then realize half of
them are even stupider!"
LaHood may be right. Disabling mobile phones in cars should not be looked
at as a way of protecting you from yourself, but instead as a way of
protecting you from the stupid.
TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecom-
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