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The Telecom Digest for July 10, 2010
Volume 29 : Issue 186 : "text" Format

Messages in this Issue:
Federal USF Out of Control(Robert Neville)
How to Send Email to SMS Cell Phones, By Carrier(Thad Floryan)

====== 28 years of TELECOM Digest -- Founded August 21, 1981 ====== Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the Internet. All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk are definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer, and other stuff of interest.
Date: Thu, 08 Jul 2010 17:26:42 -0600 From: Robert Neville <dont@bother.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Federal USF Out of Control Message-ID: <4C365EB2.7070808@bother.com> The Federal Universal Service Fund along with the Al Gore "I Invented the Internet - You Must Pay For It" slush fund extension is skyrocketing out of control. In January this year the tax was raised to 14.1%, and as of July 1, was raised again to 15%. Now that cellphone companies such as TracFone can tap it to underwrite the cost of "free" cell phones for so-called disadvantaged users, expect the USF to quickly approach the taxation levels previously only seen in hospitality and rental car receipts.
Date: Thu, 08 Jul 2010 20:56:23 -0700 From: Thad Floryan <thad@thadlabs.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: How to Send Email to SMS Cell Phones, By Carrier Message-ID: <4C369DE7.6030702@thadlabs.com> Earlier today I came across an interesting emergency alert service for residents of Santa Clara County (Silicon Valley), California. As they state on the "About" page (http://www.alertscc.com/about.html): " AlertSCC is a free, easy, and confidential emergency alert service " built on the BlackBoard Connect platform, which is used by counties, " school districts, colleges, and other entities around the country. " The system utilizes telephone voice messages, emails, and text " messages to send alerts. " " The County of Santa Clara has purchased 911 and 411 databases for " the system. Email addresses and phone numbers for mobile devices " must be registered with the system (via this website) to receive " alerts. This alert system is an integral piece of a comprehensive " emergency communications system that the County and cities will " use to communicate with the public during an emergency. Intrigued, I first examined the Blackboard Connect page: http://www.blackboard.com/Alert-Notification/Connect-Platform.aspx I then wanted to sign up for the service in my county and was puzzled by the question "SMS telephone number?". A Google search on "SMS telephone number format" revealed this URL: http://www.appscout.com/2007/10/how_to_send_email_to_sms_cell.php and then I recognized that was how email can be sent to a cellphone and I had forgotten the format for my carrier, AT&T Wireless, since it's been ages since I setup the servers at work (I'm now retired) to call me whenever overtemp, power outage, and other problems hit the data centers. I hope the above URL will prove useful to others, but I'm curious why they list Cingular Wireless and Cellular One. In 1992 I signed up with Cellular One for my first cellphone account and I've kept the account all the way through Cingular to AT&T today (with incredible service and what seems a perpetual monthly free 5,000 minutes among other things; no joke: no dropped calls and extremely strong signal anywhere I travel in the SF Bay Area). Back to the Blackboard Connect: they state on their web pages: " MASS NOTIFICATION " " The Blackboard Connect service provides millions nationwide " with time-sensitive information – via voice, text, e-mail and " more. It’s the proven way to alert your stakeholders and enhance " their safety by keeping them informed, involved and prepared. Anyone here know HOW they can do that without swamping COs and the cellphone service carriers?
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End of The Telecom Digest (2 messages)

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