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The Telecom Digest for January 9, 2012
Volume 31 : Issue 8 : "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: Sat, 7 Jan 2012 23:08:16 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: PBS Takes On the Premium Channels
Message-ID: <p06240807cb2ec6e35831@[10.0.1.9]>
PBS Takes On the Premium Channels
By AMY CHOZICK
January 1, 2012
In an effort to freshen its image and lift revenue, the Public
Broadcasting Service is trying to be more like HBO - without the
monthly cable bill.
Emboldened by the success of the British period drama "Downton
Abbey," one of the most critically acclaimed shows on television, PBS
now faces the challenge of translating the buzz and enthusiasm for
the show into donations to local stations and public financing. A
stodgy pledge drive or traditional pleas for contributions would
probably fall flat with viewers. So, PBS decided to fit "Downton
Abbey," which begins its second season on Sunday, into a broader
effort to spruce up its prime-time lineup.
The goal is to attract new viewers to PBS and make audiences think of
public television more like the top-tier programming of HBO, Showtime
and other channels they are willing to pay for. "Think of PBS and the
local stations as premium television on the honors system," said John
Wilson, senior vice president and chief television programming
executive at PBS.
Around the time the first season of "Downton Abbey" had its premiere
on the "Masterpiece" anthology series last January, PBS began taking
a more strategic approach to programming. It has branded nights with
clusters of shows about one subject - for example, the arts, science
or the literary imports from "Masterpiece." The anthology introduced
younger and more male-skewing shows like "Sherlock," a mystery series
set in modern-day London that had its premiere in 2010, and a
continuation of the popular British series "Upstairs, Downstairs."
This fall, PBS embarked on a marketing blitz to promote Ken Burns's
"Prohibition" documentary miniseries, including a joint round-table
discussion with Mr. Burns and the creators of HBO's drama "Boardwalk
Empire," which takes place during the Prohibition era.
An aggressive promotional campaign helped "Downton Abbey" win six
Emmy Awards, including best mini-series or movie, away from
competitors on HBO and Starz.
...
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/02/business/media/pbs-shifts-tactics-to-reach-wider-audience.html
Date: Sat, 07 Jan 2012 14:21:48 -0600
From: "John F. Morse" <john@invalid.telecom-digest.org>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: [comp.dcom.telecom] Re: Fwd: Telephone Exchange Names
Message-ID: <pan.2012.01.07.20.21.48.134892@example.invalid>
On Fri, 06 Jan 2012 22:37:17 -0500 Bill Horne wrote:
> I came across this article in Wikipedia: hope it's of interest.
>
> During the early years of telephone service, communities that required
> more than 10,000 telephone numbers, whether dial service was available
> or not, utilized exchange names to distinguish identical numerics for
> different customers.
>
> When dial service was introduced (typically during the period of 1910 to
> 1970), in such multiple exchange communities, customers would normally
> dial the first two or three letters of the exchange name, followed by
> the numeric digits.
>
>
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_exchange_names
>
This was a common practice in the Kansas City area for exchanges along the
Kansas-Missouri border.
Some I remember were:
(Missouri office codes listed first with the Kansas side second):
>From the HIghland C.O. (CLLI=KSCYMO02)
DElmar 333 and FEderal 334 (Panel)
HIland 444 and GIlbert 442 (Panel)
JAckson 523 and LAclede 522 (Panel)
EMerson 363 and ENdicott 362 (1XB)
>From the WEstport 1XB C.O. (CLLI=KSCYMO05)
JEfferson 531 and KEndall
LOgan 561 and JOhnson 562
PLaza 753 and SKyline 752
WEstport 931 and YEllowstone 932
Both the WEstport and HIland buildings served some Kansas customers,
mainly in the Johnson County suburbs. The names were different to keep
billing separate (different tariffs, taxing, etc.). Long before 9-1-1 so
get that out of your mind.
Later on (c. 1960s) the HEdrick C.O. (CLLI=KSCYKSJO) took over the Kansas
customers, whose numbers changed to HEdrick 2, RAndolph 2, COlfax 2 and
ADams 6 (using one originating 1XB marker group with 8 OMs, but two
terminating marker groups with 6 TMs each).
Around 1967, a second marker group, ENdicott 2 and TErrace 1 (5XB) was
added. Then around 1974 an ESS with 677, 676, 588, and some FX from the
DRexel CO. Around 1979 it was upgraded to a 1A-ESS, and took over both the
1XB and 5XB load, and now is a huge DMS, with a lot more NNX codes.
The lucky people who had an ENdicott number from the EMerson 1XB switch in
HIghland got to keep it. The TErrace "B" exchange was actually the name of
this 5XB office, which basically took over the DRexel C.O. (CLLI=KSCYKS10)
subscribers in the Argentine area of Kansas City, KS, which was between a
hillside and the Kaw (Kansas) River. Hence the name "TErrace."
Some of the HIghland C.O. Kansas subscribers were absorbed by the DUpont
C.O. (CLLI-KSCYKSNA), which housed three 5XB Marker Groups: DUpont 1 and
MItchell 9 (mostly all wire spring 5XB), NIagra 2 and NIagra 8 (old flat
spring 5XB), and a new wire spring 383 5XB which never was called DUpont
3.
Further west adjoining HEdrick's area was the Shawnee, KS 5XB office
(CLLI-KSCYKSSH), containing MElrose 1 and FRanklin 5. The MElrose numbers
were assigned to subscribers in Johnson County, KS, and the FRanklin
numbers were for subscribers in Wyandotte County, KS. Again, for tariff
separation purposes.
The names of the central offices were used by the "inside" craftsmen. You
worked at HEdrick, DRexel, DUpont, HIghland, WEstport, etc.
The outside plant workers (cable splicers, cable repair, linemen, etc.)
usually referred to the offices by their address. For instance DRexel was
"901 North Tenth" and HEdrick was "7400 Johnson Drive."
The CLLI codes for Kansas exchanges mostly used KSCYKSxx for Kansas City,
Kansas, then the street the C.O. was on. Even for C.O.s in the adjoining
cities in Johnson County.
KSCYKS10 DRexel C.O. at 901 N. 10th St. KC, KS.
KSCYKSPA SUnset C.O. at 64th and Parallel. KC, KS.
KSCYKSJO HEdrick C.O. at 7400 Johnson Dr. in Overland Park, KS.
KSCYKSNA DUpont C.O. at 9444 Nall in Overland Park, KS.
Exceptions were for Shawnee (KSCYLSSH), Lenexa (KSCYKSLE), Bonner Springs
(KSCYKSBS), and Basehor (KSCYKSBN which meant "Bonner North").
In Missouri, the CLLI codes were assigned a numerical value, which had
little rhyme or reason to their age or size. I remember the following:
KSCYMO01 is the Benton C.O. at 1123 Cleveland Ave., KCMO.
KSCYMO02 is the Highland C.O. at 6213 Holmes, KCMO.
KSCYMO03 was the old ~28-story VIctor building at 324 East 11th St. in
downtown KCMO. It contained six floors of VIctor 2-GRand 1 and BAltimore
1-HArrison 1, two 1XB originating marker groups but which terminated
individually due to the heavier daytime traffic. Other floors in the
building housed an XBT, a government SXS (816-275), a government 5XB
(816-374), etc.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:OakTower_Kansas_City_Missouri.jpg
All of the Victor building lines were cut to a new 1A ESS around 1980, in
a newly built office called McGee, located at 1102 McGee, KCMO. It was
across the street from the old Victor building, a splicers dream, and has
a CLLI of KSCYMO55. It has a DMS100 now, and serves around 57 NNX codes,
and a ton of cellular and other telco companies.
http://www.telcodata.us/view-switch-detail-by-clli?clli=KSCYMO55DS1
http://www.telcodata.us/search-area-code-exchange-by-clli?cllicode=kscymo55
KSCYMO04 is the Wabash CO at 3901 Montgall Ave., KCMO
KSCYMO05 is the Westport CO at 107 E. 39th St., KCMO.
KSCYMO09 is the AT&T (formerly LongLines) building at 1425 Oak, KCMO.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ATT_Longlines_Kansas_City_MO.jpg
The numbering then goes up to the KSCYMO2n series for outer tier metro
COs, then more at KSCYMO4n for further out suburbs.
--
John
When a person has -- whether they knew it or not -- already
rejected the Truth, by what means do they discern a lie?
Date: Sun, 8 Jan 2012 11:36:16 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: ATT's Plight is our Plight
Message-ID: <p06240818cb2f74418e38@[10.0.1.9]>
ATT's Plight is our Plight
Bob Frankston
June 23, 2011
Updated: July 22, 2011
Abstract
ATT's planned acquisition of T-Mobile is an occasion to look at the
fundamental issues facing the entire telecommunications industry. The
business model that worked for telegrams does not work for bits.
Very simply - we are asking providers to add capacity but we're not
willing to let them share in the value created (as with a VoIP call).
Worse, the more capacity there is the less valuable the carriers' own
services are.
Telecommunications is a funding model based on the assumption that a
network service provider is adding the value as in days when the
network carried voice and not just bits.
We need to shift to a funding model that doesn't work at cross
purposes with the Internet's generativity. This generativity comes
from decoupling our ability to exchange bits from what we create
using those bits. It requires that we fund the whole, i.e.
infrastructure, rather than having to make each part profitable in
its own right as we do now.
Imagine if we tried to fund public pavements as a profit center by
making people pay for each walk they took.
With telecommunications, we take the abundant and inexpensive wires
and radios and then pay large amounts of money to confine bits to
billable paths.
Just as we pay for the wires and radios in homes, offices and
campuses we can fund the wires and radios in our neighborhoods and
cities.
We can do this by acting locally within our communities by creating a
local commons and aggregating our purchase of transit outside the
neighborhood. Eventually these local efforts will interconnect to
form a new global commons.
We need to recognize that the limits on capacity are driven by
markets and not fundamental limits of technology.
...
http://frankston.com/public/?n=Plight
http://frankston.com/public/?name=Plight&pdf=t
Date: Sun, 08 Jan 2012 18:55:17 -0500
From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: US State Dept: Don't Censor The Net! Unless We Order You To ...
Message-ID: <4F0A2CE5.7020505@horne.net>
US State Dept: Don't Censor The Internet! Unless We Order You To, As We
Did In Spain...
by Mike Masnick
We've discussed how the State Department, and Hillary Clinton in
particular, have been spending a lot of time talking up the importance
of internet freedom, and speaking out against countries that censor
the internet. That even resulted in Joe Biden's unintentionally
hilarious explanation of why internet censorship is horrible... while
he supports internet censorship at home.
http://tinyurl.com/8x4l5yh
--
Bill Horne
339-364-8487
Date: Sun, 8 Jan 2012 21:02:23 -0500
From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Outsmarting Your Smartphone
Message-ID: <20120109020223.GA3851@telecom.csail.mit.edu>
>From NPR:
Outsmarting Your Spying Smartphone
That shiny new smartphone you got for Christmas boasts cool features
and games, but buried deep in the software are tools that collect
personal information. What exactly is being collected, and how should
you take caution? Host Michel Martin speaks with John Verdi, senior
counsel for the Electronic Privacy Information Center.
http://tinyurl.com/8xe9h9b
--
Bill Horne
(Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly)
Date: Sun, 08 Jan 2012 21:48:48 -0500
From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: PBS Takes On the Premium Channels
Message-ID: <jedkih$os$1@dont-email.me>
On 1/7/2012 11:08 PM, Monty Solomon wrote:
>
> PBS Takes On the Premium Channels
>
> By AMY CHOZICK
> January 1, 2012
>
> In an effort to freshen its image and lift revenue, the Public
> Broadcasting Service is trying to be more like HBO - without the
> monthly cable bill.
PBS has become a sorry excuse for the network it once was, and a
harbinger of the media world to come, and this is just the official
notice of the terminal illness that has rotted away any chance of having
a public broadcasting network in the United States.
Commerical television corrupts everything it touches, and PBS has been
taken over by commercial interests that have turned it into a
continuous replay of "The Truman Show", where everything is paid for
with product placement advertising.
Don't get me wrong: I'm no purist. I never minded that The French Chef
sold cookbooks, since nobody was forced to buy them, after all. I never
thought the less of other PBS regulars selling books: Norm Abrams'
"Measure Twice, Cut Once" has a place on my bookshelf next to the book
that Ken Burns sold during the Civil War series.
However, over the past generation of PBS viewers, the fundamental
paradigm of the network has changed. "The Muppets" appeared on toy store
shelves as soon as the program became popular, and it wasn't until years
later that I found out that PBS was sharing in the sales revenue. "This
Old House" was, AFAIK, the first professionally-produced PBS program
designed to sell products to adults, with every episode now featuring a
GMC truck grill bellying up to the camera, Porter-Cable and DeWalt tools
in constant use, with the corporate logos always turned toward the
camera, and assorted gadgets promoted as "mystery guests" on a "What is
it" segment of the follow-on program "Ask this old house".
It's wrong, and hypocritical. If the US Congress doesn't choose to fund
a public broadcasting service, then PBS should be shut down.
Bill
--
Bill Horne
(Remove QRM from my address to write to me directly)
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