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The Telecom Digest for February 6, 2012
Volume 31 : Issue 37 : "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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See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details
and the name of our lawyer, and other stuff of interest.
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Date: Sun, 5 Feb 2012 20:17:34 -0500
From: Henry Horne <horneht@gmail.VALID-IF-THIS-IS-ELIDED.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Google offers explanation for removing Galaxy Nexus phone from
Message-ID: <CAOhpKK8e=9FfgbXj09RN7Q5UgsP4W1XLW55x_uaC73yMSJpiSg@mail.gmail.com>
Verizon Galaxy Nexus, other CDMA devices, no longer listed with Google developer support
by Kevin Krause on February 3rd, 2012 at 4:22 pm
UPDATE: The Android Team's Dan Morrill has posted an explanation
https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!topic/android-contrib/phz3S5ZdveU
for the removal of the Galaxy Nexus
http://phandroid.com/galaxy-nexus/
and other CDMA devices from the official developer support page. This has
nothing to do with Google Wallet (we never thought it did) and everything to
do with the way the Android code is compiled for CDMA devices. In short, if
a dev were to simply compile the pure AOSP source code for the Verizon Galaxy
Nexus the build would be lacking in full telephony functionality. Google
still plans to support the devices directly via software updates.
A quick visit to the Android developer support page
http://source.android.com/source/building-devices.html
reveals some startling news. It appears as if Google is dropping the
"developer device" tag of once-listed CDMA models. The Samsung Nexus S 4G
http://phandroid.com/nexus-s-4g/
Verizon's Motorola XOOM, and even the LTE Galaxy Nexus have disappeared
from the site, leaving us with a note explaining exactly which versions of
these devices will be supported moving forward. For the XOOM, only the
"wingray" WiFi-only version of the slate gets developer designation. The
GSM "crespo" version of the Nexus S also retains support. For the Galaxy
Nexus, the GSM/HSPA+ "maguro" build is supported, but only if it originally
shipped with the "yakju" build of Android 4.0.
Rest at:
http://phandroid.com/2012/02/03/verizon-galaxy-nexus-other-cdma-devices-no-longer-listed-with-google-developer-support/
Bill Horne
Date: Sun, 5 Feb 2012 20:08:14 -0500
From: Henry Horne <horneht@gmail.VALID-IF-THIS-IS-ELIDED.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Federal regulators taking a hard look at $3.6 billion Verizon
Message-ID: <CAOhpKK9fGWRYKZai6QDO7A5e3b3WD=7vkw=THBYuJg3tJHKVsA@mail.gmail.com>
{{ from The Hill newspaper }}
Federal regulators taking a hard look at $3.6 billion Verizon cable deal
By Brendan Sasso - 02/04/12 03:25 PM ET
Verizon's $3.6 billion deal with a coalition of cable companies is raising
eyebrows in Washington and could come under intense regulatory scrutiny.
Verizon agreed in December to buy wireless airwave licenses, or spectrum,
from a group of cable companies, including Comcast and Time Warner. Under a
separate deal announced simultaneously, Verizon and the cable companies
agreed to cross-sell each other's services.
Rest at:
http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/208683-federal-regulators-taking-a-hard-look-at-verizon-cable-deal
Bill Horne
Date: Sun, 5 Feb 2012 19:59:29 -0500
From: Henry Horne <horneht@gmail.VALID-IF-THIS-IS-ELIDED.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Judge says RIAA can identify Internet users
Message-ID: <CAOhpKK8N_S9MVoNO4SXzx7_dp-8DZF2FrotQgwCKB6qzg6vkYQ@mail.gmail.com>
I don't know how old this decision is, and I don't see a date on the .pdf
file, but I don't think it has appeared in the Digest before.
Long story short: a judge has ruled that Internet Service Providers have to
hand over the identities of their users when the RIAA serves a subpoena.
Verizon had claimed that, since the allegedly infringing data wasn't on
Verizon's servers, that they didn't have to do anything. The Judge sided
with the RIAA, saying that Verizon had to provide the identity of their
user.
I'm curious what others think about this isse: as I wrote a few weeks ago,
allowing companies to sue anyone they claim is violating copyright would
effectively remove all reference material on older technologies from the
Internet, thus making it much more difficult for small CLECs to avoid
paying for new equipment.
Decision is at:
http://fl1.findlaw.com/news.findlaw.com/wp/docs/verizon/inreverizon12103opn.pdf
Bill Horne
Date: Sun, 05 Feb 2012 23:05:03 -0800
From: Thad Floryan <thad@thadlabs.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Judge says RIAA can identify Internet users
Message-ID: <4F2F7B9F.7000900@thadlabs.com>
[ Discussion of the 'age' of this decision is now closed. ]
[ As the content is 'old news', anything related to that ]
[ will require contemporary content. -- rdb, acting mod. ]
On 2/5/2012 4:59 PM, Henry Horne wrote:
> I don't know how old this decision is, and I don't see a date on the .pdf
> file, but I don't think it has appeared in the Digest before.
Above the signature line on page 35 of the PDF [URL below] is the date:
January 21, 2003
[ moderator snip ]
`
> Decision is at:
>
> http://fl1.findlaw.com/news.findlaw.com/wp/docs/verizon/inreverizon12103opn.pdf
>
Oddly, the "Subject:" within the PDF envelope is:
"January 21, 2002 Memorandum Opinion and Order"
and the PDF was created using PDP90 with a Corel PDF Engine Version 9.654.
I would assume the date above the judge's signature is the correct date and
the exactly-one-year-earlier date in the PDF "envelope" is a computer error.
** Moderator note:
The document name in the URL (above), parsed as:
"in re Verizon 1{/}21{/}03 op{inio}n"
would seem to confirm.
Date: Sun, 5 Feb 2012 14:22:49 -0500
From: T <kd1s.nospam@cox.nospam.net>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: History--SF Chronicle`-telephone photos
Message-ID: <MPG.2998a110ade5a916989d85@news.eternal-september.org>
In article <TizonC.A.HzE.V6XLPB@telecom>, bernies@netaxs.com says...
>
> One of the historical telephone photos in that series at
>
> http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/thebigevent/detail?entry_id=107304
>
> show a Touch-Tone payphone with what appears to be a 2-line
> vacuum-fluorescent display. Does anyone on the list know what that
> is? Is it Caller ID? I've never seen a payphone with that feature.
>
> -bernieS
>
> ** Moderator note:
>
> It appears that Bernie is talking about photo #9 in the series, as it is
> the only Touch-Tone pay phone. The caption indicates it is the first
> Touch-Tone pay phone installed in S.F., and is dated Feb 11, 1972.
>
> This pre-dates the deployment of Caller-ID by roughly 15 years, and thus,
> that possibility can be safely ruled out. Leaving the question of "what
> IS it for?" unanswered.
Fascinating look back. I note in photo 18, I have one of those phones.
Mine was originally beige and then painted green.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kd1s/3110671683/
sitting next to my 1D2.
The model number stamped inside the housing:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kd1s/3110902013/
D-180574 C.S.
I should also add that the TouchTone (DTMF) pad on that photo uses the
standard dark gray/white combination. Later versions use a metalized key
with the number embossed and filled with black paint.
Date: Sun, 5 Feb 2012 19:44:59 -0500
From: Henry Horne <horneht@gmail.VALID-IF-THIS-IS-ELIDED.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Complaints about Verizon Fios
Message-ID: <CAOhpKK_ZUSpfNvp=5Lt=OzragjNhOiMNrH6W-y=LnncyWP-X5A@mail.gmail.com>
{{ from the 'consumer affairs' website }}
Laura of Round Hill, VA on Feb. 5, 2012
Since 2009, I've had to fend off a Verizon collection agency to advise them
that I do not owe the debt in collection, or any portion thereof. In
October 2009, I signed up for a one-month free trial residential high speed
internet account. It took countless telephone calls to Verizon and multiple
Verizon technicians home visits to troubleshoot the lack of connection
issue. To help remedy the problem, a Verizon employee opened up a separate
account number in my name without closing the existing original account,
making it appear that I had more than one internet account.
Then Verizon started sending me bills for separate internet accounts! I
made regular payments on the bill for my original account, but when I
refused to pay the other duplicate, illegitimate account; they closed my
connection and sent my account to collection. For an entire year I invested
my personal time and money trying to get Verizon customer service personnel
and various managers to remedy this issue, but they insisted that they were
unable to close the duplicate account until I paid the account in full and
then they would send me a refund.
Rest at:
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/internet/verizon_fios.html
Bill Horne
Date: Sun, 5 Feb 2012 19:06:13 -0500
From: Henry Horne <horneht@gmail.VALID-IF-THIS-IS-ELIDED.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: LightSquared's GPS-Interference Controversy Comes to a Boil
Message-ID: <CAOhpKK_+FKr0P+06Oz+_8jsEDUEjRUTkES9RoRFxB5DQt8KS4w@mail.gmail.com>
{{ From the IEEE }}
LightSquared's GPS-Interference Controversy Comes to a Boil
Cellular wannabe can't reach a deal with GPS community
By David Schneider / February 2012
Lightsquared
http://www.lightsquared.com/
a Reston, Va.-based provider
of satellite communications, intends to start up a new 4G cellular
communications network using a portion of the radio spectrum traditionally
reserved for mobile-satellite communications. That should be good news to
the many U.S. consumers hungry for more bandwidth. The trouble is,
LightSquared's cellular base stations could interfere with
<http://ttp//spectrum.ieee.org/riskfactor/telecom/internet/lightsquared-network-faces-interference-of-its-own-making>
certain GPS receivers
http://spectrum.ieee.org/riskfactor/aerospace/satellites/are-we-getting-overly-reliant-on-gps-systems
tuned to the adjacent satellite-navigation band.
Groups with an interest in the matter have been waging a public-relations
battle
http://spectrum.ieee.org/riskfactor/telecom/wireless/gps-interference-lightsquared-blames-gps-industry-for-not-following-standards-gps-industry-says-hogwash
over the past year, and members of the U.S. military and Congress have
weighed in, too. Sadly, much of this discourse has shed more heat than
light on the controversy. But more levelheaded engineers have also
scrutinized the problem in detail, and the technical issues appear to be
understood well enough to suggest possible work-arounds. Time to forge a
solution, though, may have run out.
Rest at:
http://spectrum.ieee.org/telecom/wireless/lightsquareds-gpsinterference-controversy-comes-to-a-boil
Bill Horne
Date: Mon, 6 Feb 2012 01:24:11 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Apple's iPhone Business Alone Is Now Bigger Than All Of Microsoft
Message-ID: <sIo6JC.A.mtH.YP4LPB@telecom>
Apple's iPhone Business Alone Is Now Bigger Than All Of Microsoft
Henry Blodget
Business Insider
February 4, 2012
(Business Insider, company filings, CQ4 2011 revenue.)
Tech writer MG Siegler just noted a remarkable fact:
Apple's iPhone business alone is now bigger than Microsoft.
Not Windows. Not Office. Microsoft.
Think about that.
The iPhone did not exist five years ago. And now it's bigger than a
company that, 15 years ago, was dragged into court and threatened
with forcible break-up because it had amassed an unassailable and
unthinkably profitable monopoly.
The iPhone also appears to be considerably more profitable than Microsoft.
...
http://articles.businessinsider.com/2012-02-04/tech/31023911_1_steve-ballmer-iphone-microsoft-ceo
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