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Message Digest
Volume 28 : Issue 171 : "text" Format
Messages in this Issue:
Re: Pulse dialing overhead, was: ANI vs. Caller ID
Re: Pulse dialing overhead, was: ANI vs. Caller ID
Re: Subject: Re: Pulse dialing overhead, was: ANI vs. Caller ID
Re: Pulse dialing overhead, was: ANI vs. Caller ID
Re: Pulse dialing overhead, was: ANI vs. Caller ID
Re: Pulse dialing overhead, was: ANI vs. Caller ID
Re: Pulse dialing overhead, was: ANI vs. Caller ID
Re: AT&T Usenet Netnews Service Shutting Down
Re: Pulse dialing overhead, was: ANI vs. Caller ID
Old analog cell phones--uses/disposal?
Re: Old analog cell phones--uses/disposal?
Goodbye to copper?
Re: Goodbye to copper?
Re: Goodbye to copper?
Re: Goodbye to copper?
Re: Goodbye to copper?
Re: Goodbye to copper?
Good news from... Detroit: Spam King Ralsky pleads guilty
Re: Good news from... Detroit: Spam King Ralsky pleads guilty
Should legacy technologies be allowed to remain forever?
Re: Should legacy technologies be allowed to remain forever?
Re: Should legacy technologies be allowed to remain forever?
Re: Should legacy technologies be allowed to remain forever?
Cable TV Broadcast Retransmission Consent Feuds "Ease Up"
====== 27 years of TELECOM Digest -- Founded August 21, 1981 ======
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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.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 22 Jun 2009 19:49:26 EDT
From: Wesrock@aol.com
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: Pulse dialing overhead, was: ANI vs. Caller ID
Message-ID: <c10.5fbb262d.37717286@aol.com>
In a message dated 6/22/2009 9:29:44 AM Central Daylight Time,
hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com writes:
On Jun 21, 11:49 am, Mark Smith <marklsm...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>> In Rhode Island, New England Bell did not have enough pairs to support
>> the boom in the 50s of suburbia. . . .
> This was a common problem after WW II. There was a huge backlog in
> service requests and the country had a great deal of prosperity,
> resulting in a big demand for service. In addition, the cold war had
> an expanded Defense Department which took up a lot of Western's
> Production. Hollywood made a silly Doris Day movie about it, "Pillow
> Talk".
There were a lot of held orders, not only for subsriber lines but for
interoffice trunks between offices in the exchange area but for toll trunks.
I remeber when I was in the Austin division office of SWBell in the
mid-1950s there were discussions about held upgrade orders for
customers in Waco, presumably party-line customers who wanted a higher
grade of service, dating back to 1934 (the Great Depression intervened
and then Worl War II). snother discussion was about an oil company in
Beaumont that wanted an FX to Houston. There were 20 toll trunks
between Houston and Beaumont, no relief in sight, and completing the
FX order would mean turning down 1 of the 20 trunks to provide the FX.
(Trunks were expensive then, much different than today.)
Company headquarters in Stl. Louis couln't (or wouldn't) believe the
forecast for much of Texas, leading to such things as when the initial
dial office was built in Odessa, before it was cut over to service the
wall of the building had been knocked out to provide for the first
addition to the office, which required an addition to the building.
Wes Leatherock
wesrock@aol.com
wleathus@yahoo.com
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 22 Jun 2009 20:21:26 EDT
From: Wesrock@aol.com
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: Pulse dialing overhead, was: ANI vs. Caller ID
Message-ID: <c23.63579041.37717a06@aol.com>
In a message dated 6/22/2009 9:29:54 AM Central Daylight Time,
xanadu@example.invalid writes:
> So, maybe the cost of labor was creeping up and Ma Bell decided to
> run 5XB in a more automatic mode to cut down on tat cost?
WEco and the Bell Labs were always working to reduce costs. So do most
buinesses,
Wes Leatherock
wesrock@aol.com
wleathus@yahoo.com
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:48:08 -0400
From: T <kd1s.nospam@cox.nospam.net>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: Subject: Re: Pulse dialing overhead, was: ANI vs. Caller ID
Message-ID: <MPG.24aaed746d5c3761989a82@reader.motzarella.org>
In article <c23.63579041.37717a06@aol.com>, Wesrock@aol.com says...
>
> In a message dated 6/22/2009 9:29:54 AM Central Daylight Time,
> xanadu@example.invalid writes:
>
> > So, maybe the cost of labor was creeping up and Ma Bell decided to
> > run 5XB in a more automatic mode to cut down on tat cost?
>
> WEco and the Bell Labs were always working to reduce costs. So do most
> buinesses,
>
> Wes Leatherock
> wesrock@aol.com
> wleathus@yahoo.com
So much so that if you're a VoIP subscriber today there is no additional
cost for long distance calls.
But Bell was cagey, they were keep LD rates artificially high to
subsidize the local service.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:53:32 -0600
From: Robert Neville <dont@bother.com>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: Pulse dialing overhead, was: ANI vs. Caller ID
Message-ID: <1um245pb2t7cfmifiulmq37q2d82fh298d@4ax.com>
T <kd1s.nospam@cox.nospam.net> wrote:
>But Bell was cagey, they were keep LD rates artificially high to
>subsidize the local service.
In all fairness to Bell - that was at the bequest of the various state PUCs who
saw long distance as a luxury or business service. Regular people wrote letters
by post for interstate communication to friends and relatives.
In effect, taxing long distance to subsidize the local service was a political
decision. It fell apart as all subsidies eventually do, when businesses got
tired of paying inflated rates and challenged the laws that prevented alternate
services like MCI.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:06:00 -0500
From: "Kenneth P. Stox" <stox@sbcglobal.net>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: Pulse dialing overhead, was: ANI vs. Caller ID
Message-ID: <YoZ%l.500$kA.269@nlpi068.nbdc.sbc.com>
> Would anyone know if the No. 4 ESS is still used as the long distance
> switch or has it been superceded?
As of 2007, 150 were still in service. The 5ESS only surpassed the 4ESS
in raw call capacity in the last decade, and not by a significant
margin. They are expected to be phased out around 2015.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:30:01 -0400
From: T <kd1s.nospam@cox.nospam.net>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: Pulse dialing overhead, was: ANI vs. Caller ID
Message-ID: <MPG.24aae931a5b79121989a80@reader.motzarella.org>
In article <YoZ%l.500$kA.269@nlpi068.nbdc.sbc.com>, stox@sbcglobal.net
says...
>
> > Would anyone know if the No. 4 ESS is still used as the long distance
> > switch or has it been superceded?
>
> As of 2007, 150 were still in service. The 5ESS only surpassed the 4ESS
> in raw call capacity in the last decade, and not by a significant
> margin. They are expected to be phased out around 2015.
The 5ESS is an interesting switch. It can do pretty much any job in a
system and still keep going strong, which probably explains why there
are a few 5E's even here in RI under Verizon's network.
------------------------------
Date: 23 Jun 2009 09:42:25 -0400
From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey)
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: Pulse dialing overhead, was: ANI vs. Caller ID
Message-ID: <h1qm41$h9p$1@panix2.panix.com>
Michael Grigoni <michael.grigoni@cybertheque.org> wrote:
>In a very interesting 1963 short film, Ray Bradbury tours what appears to
>be a 1XB office, and also describes the story development for the
>haunting tale "Dial Double Zero", about spontaneous emergence of intelligence
>in a telephone switch. I recommend downloading the MP4 or OGG video here:
>
>http://www.archive.org/details/RayBradburyStoryOfAWriterByDavidL.Wolper
We hope to be showing a 16mm print of this film at the Arisia Science
Fiction Convention in January. www.arisia.org.
>I have strong memories of seeing a complete film version of "Dial Double
>Zero" but cannot find any references to a release, either on film or
>other media. Does anyone else have a recollection of it or know more
>about it?
I don't know. WGBH adapted a number of Bradbury stories in the early
1970s. This one would be an interesting one to do. I don't see any
reference to it in any of the 1970s directories of educational films that
I have here, though.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Jun 2009 04:03:58 GMT
From: tlvp <PmUiRsGcE.TtHlEvSpE@att.net>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: AT&T Usenet Netnews Service Shutting Down
Message-ID: <op.uvylk1flwqrt3j@acer250.gateway.2wire.net>
On Wed, 17 Jun 2009 09:30:00 -0400, <news-admin@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
>
> Please note that on or around July 15, 2009, AT&T will no longer be
> offering access to the Usenet netnews service. If you wish to continue
> reading Usenet newsgroups, access is available through third-party
> vendors.
>
> For further information, please visit http://support.att.net/usenet.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Your AT&T News Team
>
> Distribution: AT&T Worldnet Usenet Netnews Servers
Hmm ... this must have been in the works for quite some time ... I see the
suggested URL displays the following copyright announcement towards the
bottom of the page:
> © 2008 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. ...
Cheers, -- tlvp
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:43:37 -0400
From: T <kd1s.nospam@cox.nospam.net>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: Pulse dialing overhead, was: ANI vs. Caller ID
Message-ID: <MPG.24aaec38cd22bab6989a81@reader.motzarella.org>
In article <61c42$4a3f1b80$4aded8bf$21446@EVERESTKC.NET>,
xanadu@example.invalid says...
> 5XB was designed for small COs in suburbs, usually to replace SXS. 1XB
> was designed for large metropolitan COs, often replacing Panel, or those
> monster SXS designs.
>
>
That is interesting because New England Telephone chose a #5XB to server
Pawtucket, and parts of North Providence, Lincoln, and Cumberland in RI.
Total population now in those communities is: 162,646 people. Of that I
could pull the number but it comes out to roughly 64,000 households.
I'd say that the 5XB could handle a bit more.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Jun 2009 12:11:05 -0700 (PDT)
From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Old analog cell phones--uses/disposal?
Message-ID: <8e48d09a-976e-4ad0-be39-08576e54ecac@f19g2000yqo.googlegroups.com>
Do old analog cell phones and accessories (AC charger, car charger)
have any value or usefulness?
This was discussed a year ago. The only use suggested at that time
was a donation to a soldiers' service group but it was not clear
whether analog phones had any value to them.
Thanks.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:47:40 -0600
From: Reed <reedh@rmi.net>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: Old analog cell phones--uses/disposal?
Message-ID: <qfSdnSP0T6FxGNzXnZ2dnUVZ_uOdnZ2d@earthlink.com>
hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:
> Do old analog cell phones and accessories (AC charger, car charger)
> have any value or usefulness?
>
> This was discussed a year ago. The only use suggested at that time
> was a donation to a soldiers' service group but it was not clear
> whether analog phones had any value to them.
>
> Thanks.
>
Programs like http://www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com/ get money for the
phones from recyclers like http://recellular.com/index.asp. Then they
donate airtime cards to the soldiers. They don't actually re-use the
phones for anything.
They accept *any* old phone.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:39:20 -0400
From: Telecom digest moderator <redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Goodbye to copper?
Message-ID: <20090623193920.GA28353@telecom.csail.mit.edu>
I'm passing along an email from the "discuss" mailing list run by the
Boston Linux & Unix User Group. Mr. Ritter has given permission.
Comments?
Bill Horne
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: Goodbye to copper?
Date: Mon, 22 Jun 2009 21:15:21 -0400
From: Dan Ritter <dsr@tao.merseine.nu>
To: [Redacted]
CC: blug <discuss@blu.org>
On Mon, Jun 22, 2009 at 08:37:20PM -0400, [Redacted] wrote:
> I recently overheard a discussion from a FIOS tech saying at some
> point in the near future the existing copper infrastructure is simply
> so old it will be ripped out, apparently forcing existing landline
> customers to switch to fiber...??? Didn't quite sound right, but
> maybe the backbone infrastructure (poles/street) will be making way to
> fiber?
>
> Was this tech telling the truth, providing an assumption, or maybe
> offering what he hopes might happen?
Every time VZ puts in a FIOS deployment, they rip out the
copper. This is because copper is regulated and must be re-sold
to their competitors, but fiber is not. The next people to ask
for a copper service (or a competitor) will have to pay for an
all-new install.
-dsr-
--
http://tao.merseine.nu/~dsr/eula.html is hereby incorporated by reference.
You can't defend freedom by getting rid of it.
_______________________________________________
Discuss mailing list
Discuss@blu.org
http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
--
E. William Horne
William Warren Consulting
Computer & Network Installations, Security, and Service
http://william-warren.com
781-784-7287
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Jun 2009 23:03:07 +0000 (UTC)
From: David Lesher <wb8foz@panix.com>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: Goodbye to copper?
Message-ID: <h1rmvb$126$2@reader1.panix.com>
Telecom digest moderator <redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu> writes:
>Every time VZ puts in a FIOS deployment, they rip out the copper. This
>is because copper is regulated and must be re-sold to their competitors,
>but fiber is not. The next people to ask for a copper service (or a
>competitor) will have to pay for an all-new install.
Clearly this must be a misunderstanding. Why, the senior PR flack for
Verizontal, VP Tom Tauke, in his 2 Oct 2007 House testimony resoundingly
DENIED that his company would/could ever cut down your copper.....
Thus the dozen-odd people I have spoken to who swear such happened to
them must be victims of mass delusion.
http://tinyurl.com/ms4q7f [From the MD PSC site...]
Page ~59-61.
--
A host is a host from coast to coast.................wb8foz@nrk.com
& no one will talk to a host that's close........[v].(301) 56-LINUX
Unless the host (that isn't close).........................pob 1433
is busy, hung or dead....................................20915-1433
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:23:22 -0400
From: jmnormand.removethis@removethistoo.yahoo.com
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: Goodbye to copper?
Message-ID: <E1MJFKk-00007R-T3@telecom.csail.mit.edu>
------Original Message------
Subject: Goodbye to copper?
Sent: Jun 22, 2009 8:37 PM
> I recently overheard a discussion from a FIOS tech saying at some
> point in the near future the existing copper infrastructure is simply
> so old it will be ripped out, apparently forcing existing landline
> customers to switch to fiber...??? Didn't quite sound right, but
> maybe the backbone infrastructure (poles/street) will be making way to
> fiber?
>
> Was this tech telling the truth, providing an assumption, or maybe
> offering what he hopes might happen?
>
> Inquiring minds want to know...
>
> Thanks.
Much of the back bone is already fiber. The copper is just the "last
mile", basically the lines into the houses, on smaller streets and in
rural markets. It will be decades before much of that last mile is
replaced. Nor does it need to be in most cases.
Now if the price of copper returns to the levels it saw last year, you
may likely see new wiring switching to all fiber in the not to distant
future. But at the moment its still at half the cost it was, and
gigabit ethernet is fast enough for most people building new houses
and small office buildings.
As for forcing customers to "switch", this is just telco propaganda to
scare customers into higher priced plans they don't need. Much like
they used the "digital" tv switch to scare customers into high priced
cable plans. They basically charge more for "digital" plans, even
though it saves them billions to switch customers over. I'm not sure
what level tech you over heard but many of the verizon fios techs
don't know anything that isn't writen in their verizon books. Much
like the geek squad, they are pretty hit or miss on skill level.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:58:42 -0700 (PDT)
From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: Goodbye to copper?
Message-ID: <379641ef-a865-401e-ba53-b659f3f64e6f@h28g2000yqd.googlegroups.com>
On Jun 23, 7:26 pm, jmnormand.removet...@removethistoo.yahoo.com
wrote:
> As for forcing customers to "switch", this is just telco propaganda to
> scare customers into higher priced plans they don't need.
I have heard nothing about any telco propaganda. Around they have
FIOS but no pressure at all.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:57:41 -0700 (PDT)
From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: Goodbye to copper?
Message-ID: <cd45d1a0-b5e2-46ef-951b-5f6e426e2c4e@x5g2000yqk.googlegroups.com>
On Jun 23, 3:44 pm, Telecom digest moderator
<redac...@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu> wrote:
> > I recently overheard a discussion from a FIOS tech saying at some
> > point in the near future the existing copper infrastructure is simply
> > so old it will be ripped out, apparently forcing existing landline
> > customers to switch to fiber...??? Didn't quite sound right, but
> > maybe the backbone infrastructure (poles/street) will be making way to
> > fiber?
Undoubtedly there is old loop plant that is old and needs replacing.
It will be replaced with whatever the most cost-effective medium--for
that location--is at the time. It certainly could be new copper. But
it could also be a carrier system, perhaps coax or perhaps fibre.
Much depends on the specific situation--distance and traffic volume.
The technical medium is different than the service provided,
especially with regulated offerings. Basic residential telephone
service is regulated so it must be supplied. Whether it comes from
open wire on poles or fibre is irrelevent.
> > Was this tech telling the truth, providing an assumption, or maybe
> > offering what he hopes might happen?
As this was an informal conversation we can't read very much into it.
Also, policies will vary from one area to another.
> Every time VZ puts in a FIOS deployment, they rip out the
> copper. This is because copper is regulated and must be re-sold
> to their competitors, but fiber is not. The next people to ask
> for a copper service (or a competitor) will have to pay for an
> all-new install.
Again, the service, not the technology, is regulated.
They certainly did NOT "rip out copper" around here when they put in
FIOS. Not everyone wants or needs FIOS.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Jun 2009 22:17:20 -0400
From: T <kd1s.nospam@cox.nospam.net>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: Goodbye to copper?
Message-ID: <MPG.24ab56b98662ed1d989a83@reader.motzarella.org>
In article <20090623193920.GA28353@telecom.csail.mit.edu>,
redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu says...
>
> I'm passing along an email from the "discuss" mailing list run by the
> Boston Linux & Unix User Group. Mr. Ritter has given permission.
>
> Comments?
>
> Bill Horne
>
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: Re: Goodbye to copper?
> Date: Mon, 22 Jun 2009 21:15:21 -0400
> From: Dan Ritter <dsr@tao.merseine.nu>
> To: [Redacted]
> CC: blug <discuss@blu.org>
>
>
> On Mon, Jun 22, 2009 at 08:37:20PM -0400, [Redacted] wrote:
> > I recently overheard a discussion from a FIOS tech saying at some
> > point in the near future the existing copper infrastructure is simply
> > so old it will be ripped out, apparently forcing existing landline
> > customers to switch to fiber...??? Didn't quite sound right, but
> > maybe the backbone infrastructure (poles/street) will be making way to
> > fiber?
> >
> > Was this tech telling the truth, providing an assumption, or maybe
> > offering what he hopes might happen?
>
> Every time VZ puts in a FIOS deployment, they rip out the
> copper. This is because copper is regulated and must be re-sold
> to their competitors, but fiber is not. The next people to ask
> for a copper service (or a competitor) will have to pay for an
> all-new install.
>
> -dsr-
>
> --
> http://tao.merseine.nu/~dsr/eula.html is hereby incorporated by reference.
>
> You can't defend freedom by getting rid of it.
> _______________________________________________
> Discuss mailing list
> Discuss@blu.org
> http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
And I did my good turn recently, I took a Verizon FiOS box off my
property.
The tennant had moved out. My building, my rules.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:50:24 -0400
From: danny burstein <dannyb@panix.com>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Good news from... Detroit: Spam King Ralsky pleads guilty
Message-ID: <Pine.NEB.4.64.0906231650150.24617@panix5.panix.com>
[Detroit Free Press]
W. Bloomfield spam king pleads guilty
International spam king Alan Ralsky pleaded guilty this afternoon in U.S.
District Court in Detroit to charges of violating federal anti-spam laws by
sending millions of emails in a stock-fraud scheme.
A 41-count indictment last year said Ralsky, 63, of West Bloomfield; his
son-in-law, Scott Bradley, 47, also of West Bloomfield, and nine other people
used unsolicited e-mail to pump up the price of penny stock in Chinese
companies to artificially high prices and then sold it, reaping huge profits
for themselves and leaving Internet subscribers who purchased it holding the
bag.
------------
rest:
http://www.freep.com/article/200906221248/NEWS05/90622041
__________________________________________________
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
dannyb@panix.com
[to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]
***** Moderator's Note *****
There _is_ a God!
It's not like "Pump and Dump" schemes will ever go away, but this guy
is the worst of the bad actors in the spam world.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:56:24 -0700
From: Steven Lichter <diespammers@ikillspammers.com>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: Good news from... Detroit: Spam King Ralsky pleads guilty
Message-ID: <h1rj5m$aig$1@news.eternal-september.org>
danny burstein wrote:
> [Detroit Free Press]
>
> W. Bloomfield spam king pleads guilty
>
> International spam king Alan Ralsky pleaded guilty this afternoon in
> U.S. District Court in Detroit to charges of violating federal anti-spam
> laws by sending millions of emails in a stock-fraud scheme.
>
> A 41-count indictment last year said Ralsky, 63, of West Bloomfield; his
> son-in-law, Scott Bradley, 47, also of West Bloomfield, and nine other
> people used unsolicited e-mail to pump up the price of penny stock in
> Chinese companies to artificially high prices and then sold it, reaping
> huge profits for themselves and leaving Internet subscribers who
> purchased it holding the bag.
> ------------
>
> rest:
> http://www.freep.com/article/200906221248/NEWS05/90622041
>
> __________________________________________________
> Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
> dannyb@panix.com
> [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]
>
>
> ***** Moderator's Note *****
>
> There _is_ a God!
>
> It's not like "Pump and Dump" schemes will ever go away, but this guy
> is the worst of the bad actors in the spam world.
>
They sure are not getting much prison time. They should be put in cells
with a monitor that just has thousands of spam e-mail on them and make
sure their eyes are glued open
--
The Only Good Spammer is a Dead one!! Have you hunted one down today?
(c) 2009 I Kill Spammers, Inc. A Rot In Hell Co.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 24 Jun 2009 10:57:38 +1000
From: David Clayton <dcstar@myrealbox.com>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Should legacy technologies be allowed to remain forever?
Message-ID: <pan.2009.06.24.00.57.36.988005@myrealbox.com>
Having read the recent posts about people being cut off copper for fiber,
and also being compelled to switch to Digital TV, it occurs to me that the
underlying question should be is it really fair to retain - essentially
ancient - technologies?
Perhaps we should evaluate the ongoing costs/benefits of retaining or
replacing these technologies, as it seems that the costs may well be
outweighing the benefits now and in the future.
I can see good arguments myself for both sides, but in reality a lot of
these things are a bit like allowing "horse and buggy" vehicles onto a
freeway and then requiring the freeway to accommodate them safely by
providing legacy infrastructure (maybe a special lane just for them) or
slowing everyone else down to their maximum capability - possible (and
good for the horse and buggy user) but really tying up resources that
newer technologies can use more efficiently.
Telecom seems to be an area where the cost of retaining legacy
infrastructure may well be increasing the costs of better infrastructure
right now and/or slowing down the future deployment of even better
infrastructure.
Is it worth it? (let the debate begin, I'm sure there are plenty of people
with good points for both sides in this NG.....)
--
Regards, David.
David Clayton
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Knowledge is a measure of how many answers you have, intelligence is a
measure of how many questions you have.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:49:50 -0700 (PDT)
From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: Should legacy technologies be allowed to remain forever?
Message-ID: <5ffefae1-9870-4642-925f-0c2cb9f99fef@e39g2000yqh.googlegroups.com>
On Jun 23, 10:10 pm, David Clayton <dcs...@myrealbox.com> wrote:
> Having read the recent posts about people being cut off copper for fiber,
> and also being compelled to switch to Digital TV, it occurs to me that the
> underlying question should be is it really fair to retain - essentially
> ancient - technologies?
In any discussion like this we first must get out facts straight.
These days, it includes separating out technology from policy, and
marketing issues.
We certainly don't know for sure if people were actually cut off from
copper for fiber (I know I wasn't, and they seem in no rush to get me
on fibre even if I wanted it). Likewise, we don't know if people were
_compelled_ to switch to digital TV. (I do know someone who was
falsely induced to switch to digital by a cable tech, though his bill
remains the same. Of course, my own observations are quite limited.
Just because a few techs or sales people are scumbags does not mean
everyone is.)
The second issue is that _any_ change in technology costs money. The
new equipment must be purchased, installed, and employees and
customers trained on it. There is a shakedown period. Capial itelf
has a cost (interest or dividends) and capital is not unlimited--we
must choose our purchases. Obviously the new technology must bring
about enough cost savings and new featurse to truly justify its own
cost. Too often marketing or techie types push new technologies
before they're truly ready or exaagerate their benefits.
Companies have been ruined by bad technological implementations.
> Perhaps we should evaluate the ongoing costs/benefits of retaining or
> replacing these technologies, as it seems that the costs may well be
> outweighing the benefits now and in the future.
This isn't a "perhaps", but rather an "absolute must in all cases".
> I can see good arguments myself for both sides, but in reality a lot of
> these things are a bit like allowing "horse and buggy" vehicles onto a
> freeway and then requiring the freeway to accommodate them safely by
> providing legacy infrastructure (maybe a special lane just for them) or
> slowing everyone else down to their maximum capability - possible (and
> good for the horse and buggy user) but really tying up resources that
> newer technologies can use more efficiently.
An extremely tiny minority of vehicles these days are horse and
buggy. They wouldn't use a freeway, but old country roads. Indeed, a
freeway is to their advantage as it takes cars off old roads.
For our disucssion purposes, let's say old cars that max out at 50 mph
and that many people still have them.
A freeway is built by public funds and open to the public. As such,
it must accomodate all or most of the public, not just a select few.
If many drivers are using old cars then the freeway must accmoodate
them. Indeed, that is the case today, not so much old cars but some
drivers who aren't comfortable going too fast. (On the roads
newsgroup, many there have no use for slow drivers; they expect
everyone to go 75 or more.)
In our situation, we must ask WHY so many people have old cars. It
may very well be the cost of upgrade. They cars may run perfectly
well for their purposes and they see no point in conversion.
(This just happened to me. I was very happy using film, but film and
developing got harder to get. I finally broke down and bought a $$$
digital camera. I just heard Kodachrome, the 'gold standard' of
films, is being discontinued. So it goes.)
I should point out that IBM, when introducing newer computer models,
always made sure there was an easy transition path from earlier
models. Old programs could be run on the new machine without change,
despite a big difference in internal architecture. That was a major
selling point.
> Telecom seems to be an area where the cost of retaining legacy
> infrastructure may well be increasing the costs of better infrastructure
> right now and/or slowing down the future deployment of even better
> infrastructure.
Actually, exactly where and what is the "cost of retaining legacy
infrastructure"? The telcos can't upgrade the entire plant overnight.
I also want to point out that while some old technologies do totally
fade away, others just take a smaller role. It took the Bell System
years to get rid of operators--in the 1970s automated world they had
_more_ than they did in manual days because traffic was so high!
(There are still some today.) Many people still use Dixon Ticoneroga
No. 2 pencils. Some audiophiles swear by vinyl records and vaccum
tube amps. Streetcards, powered by 600 volt DC motors, still play
their way in some cities. Some trains use 11,000 V 25 Hz current
which is ancient (as are the substations). Heck, this ASCII
conversation and dial-up protocol dates from 1962.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Jun 2009 23:41:18 -0500
From: Dave Garland <dave.garland@wizinfo.com>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: Should legacy technologies be allowed to remain forever?
Message-ID: <fpidnTa68bx4MNzXnZ2dnUVZ_sqdnZ2d@posted.visi>
David Clayton wrote:
> Telecom seems to be an area where the cost of retaining legacy
> infrastructure may well be increasing the costs of better infrastructure
> right now and/or slowing down the future deployment of even better
> infrastructure.
>
> Is it worth it? (let the debate begin, I'm sure there are plenty of people
> with good points for both sides in this NG.....)
Part of the question is, who benefits? There is almost no question to
which that answer is "the public", it is always some segment or
another. In the case of telecom, for example, people who make many
long-distance calls may benefit at the expense of those who don't.
People who want to receive TV from their telco may benefit at the
expense of those who don't even own a TV. Those who move large
quantities of data via the line may benefit at the expense of those
who send/receive two non-spam emails a week. In almost all cases, the
telco will benefit at the expense of the customers (else it would just
balk and say the change was not practical).
If "retaining legacy infrastructure" _increases_ costs of "better
infrastructure", will getting rid of the legacy infrastructure
_decrease_ costs to the customer? Not usually, not for the same level
of service. (Touchtone service increased my costs, rather than
decreasing them.)
(It is reported that) telco rips out copper when they install FIOS.
Does the consumer benefit? No, having the copper drop is not a
drawback to most customers. Ripping it out serves to prevent the
consumer from switching to another vendor.
To some extent, "needs" change at a different time scale than
technology. Needs are clocked in generations, which is a biological
time-scale, while technology changes with the sweep hand of the clock.
Modernizing infrastructure brought us DTV. That gave us higher
resolution and more channels, but did not give us better programs to
watch, and provides worse OTA fringe-area reception.
Dave
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 24 Jun 2009 04:49:55 +0000 (UTC)
From: wollman@bimajority.org (Garrett Wollman)
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Re: Should legacy technologies be allowed to remain forever?
Message-ID: <h1sb9j$ims$1@grapevine.csail.mit.edu>
In article <pan.2009.06.24.00.57.36.988005@myrealbox.com>,
David Clayton <dcstar@myrealbox.com> wrote:
>Telecom seems to be an area where the cost of retaining legacy
>infrastructure may well be increasing the costs of better infrastructure
>right now and/or slowing down the future deployment of even better
>infrastructure.
In other industries, where there's still a market for older
technology, there are often specialized businesses who buy up the
assets that the market leaders don't want to carry on their balance
sheets. For example, semiconductor companies regularly sell the mask
rights for older, less-profitable chips to someone else who
specializes in making replacement parts for customers (like the
military) who can't easily upgrade.
If the regulators were to allow it, I could easily see a Verizon or a
Thenewatt spinning off their entire copper infrastructure to a new
company, which could then lease back to the ILEC only the parts needed
to serve customers who haven't been converted over to fiber yet.
They'd get a depreciating asset off their books, the new company would
get an infrastructure that still has some remaining utility, and
eventually, the copper could be pulled out and shipped to some
third-world country to be stripped and sold to the Chinese. The ILEC
would no longer be in the business of renting infrastructure to the
competition. (The new company could effectively be a new sort of
REIT.)
-GAWollman
--
Garrett A. Wollman | The real tragedy of human existence is not that we are
wollman@csail.mit.edu| nasty by nature, but that a cruel structural asymmetry
Opinions not those | grants to rare events of meanness such power to shape
of MIT or CSAIL. | our history. - S.J. Gould, Ten Thousand Acts of Kindness
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Jun 2009 23:33:16 -0500
From: Neal McLain <nmclain@annsgarden.com>
To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu
Subject: Cable TV Broadcast Retransmission Consent Feuds "Ease Up"
Message-ID: <4A41AC8C.4070500@annsgarden.com>
| Multichannel News, June 20, 2009
| Retransmission Feuds Ease Up
| Era of Feuding May Be Over, Analysts Say — At Least for Big MSOs
| by Mike Farrell
|
| Broadcasters and pay TV service providers may have informally
| turned down the retransmission-consent volume over the past
| several months, as the nation moved through some potentially
| dicey regulatory periods — the analog-to-digital transition
| and the new presidential administration.
|
| And though it is likely that a few heated discussions will pop
| up over the next few years, some analysts believe that, at
| least for now, the old days of bitter, drawn-out fights
| between cable operators and station groups may be over.
This article (including comments from me writing as texascableguy)
continues at:
http://www.multichannel.com/article/talkback/295393-Retrans_Feuds_Ease_Up.php
Prior to 1975, virtually all programming carried by cable TV systems
consisted of local or nearby television broadcast stations, with a few
channels originated locally by the cable TV company itself ("local
origination") or dedicated to PEG (public, educational, and government)
access. FCC rules in force at the time specified:
- Which stations MUST BE carried.
- Which stations could be carried at the cable company's option.
- Which stations COULD NOT be carried.
Cable companies did not have to obtain a station's permission before
carrying it. Most broadcast station licensees didn't even know how many
cable systems were carrying their signals, or where they were.
In 1975, Time, Inc. began to transmit HBO nationwide via satellite.
Shortly thereafter two more satellite-delivered cable-only channels were
launched: Ted Turner's Atlanta UHF station WTCG (now TBS Superstation)
and Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network (now ABC Family).
Within a few years, numerous other channels were launched. Today,
hundreds of satellite-delivered channels are available from dozens of
suppliers.
Programmers charge cable systems for the right to carry their channels.
License fees vary widely, ranging from zero (religious and
home-shopping channels) to over $2.00 per subscriber per month (ESPN).
But the old FCC rules governing the retransmission of broadcast
television stations remained largely unchanged until 1992.
In 1992, Congress enacted the Cable Television Consumer Protection and
Competition Act of 1992. This act gave broadcast station licensees
control over cable-system carriage of their signals. Under this Act,
each licensee has the right to choose two options with respect to any
give cable system:
- MUST CARRY: The cable system must carry the signal under technical
rules specified by the FCC. However, the station cannot charge for the
use of its signal.
- RETRANSMISSION CONSENT: The cable system is required to obtain the
permission of the licensee. The licensee is free to demand compensation
or impose other requirements.
Most large regional independent stations and major network affiliates
usually elect retransmission consent. Less popular stations usually
elect must carry.
For several years after 1992, stations electing retransmission consent
did not demand financial compensation. However, many of them demanded
that cable systems carry (and pay for) co-owned non-broadcast
programming. Example: Disney required cable systems to carry most
Disney-owned non-broadcast channels (Disney Channel, Lifetime, A&E,
History, ESPN and its clones).
With the rise of satellite television (DirecTV and Dish) and
telco-delivered television (FIOS, U-Verse), similar
must-carry/retransmission-consent procedures were put in place.
In recent years, station licensees have been demanding financial
compensation as a condition for granting retransmission consent.
Example: as I noted here two years ago, Univision affiliates now charge
$1.00/subscriber/month for the signal. http://tinyurl.com/mnobou
This situation has led to some notable battles. In a few cases, when
retransmission negotiations failed, cable/sat companies have simply
stopped carrying certain broadcast stations.
Of course, whichever side wins these battles, the subscribers lose. If
a cable/sat company drops a station's signal, the subscribers lose a
channel. If the cable/sat company gives in and agrees to pay a larger
fee, the cost is passed along to the subscribers.
Although this situation has hit all cable and sat providers, it has hit
small cable operators particularly hard. The American Cable
Association, representing small cable companies, has led an effort to
get Congress to provide some relief from ever-increasing retransmission
consent fees.
http://www.americancable.org/issues/page/Retransmission_Consent
The Mutlichannel News article linked above notes that "Broadcasters and
pay TV service providers may have informally turned down the
retransmission-consent volume over the past several months..." Perhaps
so, but ACA, led by its president Matt Polka, will certainly continue to
fight for lower rates.
Neal McLain
aka texascableguy
------------------------------
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