---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-ID: <20171223190025.GA8246@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Sat, 23 Dec 2017 14:00:25 -0500 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: Season's Greetings It's that time of year again, and so I'll say "Season's Greetings" to all my readers, and I hope that you enjoy the best of the coming year and that you had a great 2017. Merry/Happy/Joyous! Bill -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ------------------------------ Message-ID: <AFD65F38-8E92-4BC4-9DC3-BAA69E5BF825@roscom.com> Date: Sat, 23 Dec 2017 12:02:51 -0500 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> Subject: Apple addresses why people are saying their iPhones with older batteries are running 'slower' Apple addresses why people are saying their iPhones with older batteries are running "slower." Because of a Reddit post and the loose interpretation of subsequent benchmark tests posted by Primate Labs' John Poole, the "Apple throttles old iPhones" meme has reared its ugly head again. The gist, as it always is, is that Apple is being super petty and trying to force customers to upgrade their phones by making their old phones run slower. https://techcrunch.com/2017/12/20/apple-addresses-why-people-are-saying-their-iphones-with-older-batteries-are-running-slower/ ------------------------------ Message-ID: <p1l3if$v5p$1@dont-email.me> Date: Sat, 23 Dec 2017 08:19:27 -0000 (UTC) From: rpw3@rpw3.org (Rob Warnock) Subject: Re: CenturyLink drops holiday bonus a week before Christmas Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> quotes: +--------------- | By Bonnie Bolden | 'Twas the week before Christmas and CenturyLink CEO Glen Post sent a | letter to employees telling them that there would be no holiday bonus | this year. +--------------- Meanwhile, other telecoms claim GOP tax bill allows them to give *big* bonuses, e.g.: Oh, Cool: Big Telecom Got a Massive Break from the GOP Tax Bill, and It's Raising Prices. But, you know, some employees will get a one-time holiday bonus so it's all fine. ... Both AT&T and Verizon tried to spin their impending windfall by announcing they'll give out $1,000 one-time bonuses to some of their employees, but that pales in comparison to the ton of money the corporations will get to keep. ... https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/qvwkdm/how-tax-bill-impacts-telecom-comcast-att -Rob +--------------------------------------------------------------+ Rob Warnock <rpw3@rpw3.org> 627 26th Avenue <http://rpw3.org/> San Mateo, CA 94403 ------------------------------ Message-ID: <20171223192316.GA8842@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Sat, 23 Dec 2017 14:23:16 -0500 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: Verizon Communications Rating Lowered to Hold at HSBC Verizon Communications was downgraded by investment analysts at HSBC from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Thursday, December 14th, Marketbeat reports. They presently have a $42.80 price objective on the cell phone carrier's stock, down from their prior price objective of $54.83. HSBC's price objective would suggest a potential downside of 19.53% from the company's current price. The analysts noted that the move was a valuation call. https://ledgergazette.com/2017/12/23/verizon-communications-vz-rating-lowered-to-hold-at-hsbc.html -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ------------------------------ Message-ID: <3f6f5639-6240-4afe-bab9-5a3dc7f9ae9f@googlegroups.com> Date: Sat, 23 Dec 2017 13:13:16 -0800 (PST) From: HAncock4 <withheld@invalid.telecom-digest.org> Subject: Re: Any lawful device: Revisiting Carterfone On Friday, December 22, 2017 at 7:16:30 PM UTC-5, Bill Horne wrote: > Nearly 50 years ago, the Federal Communications Commission issued one > of the most important Orders in its history, a ruling that went > unnoticed by most news sources at the time. It involved an application > manufactured and distributed by one Mr. Thomas Carter of Texas. The > "Carterfone" allowed users to attach a two-way radio transmitter/ > receiver to their telephone, extending its reach across sprawling > Texas oil fields where managers and supervisors needed to stay in > touch. Between 1955 and 1966, Carter's company sold about 3,500 of > these apps around the United States and well beyond. > https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/12/carterfone-40-years/ This is only half the story. Here is the other half: Until Carterphone, federal and state regulators _deliberately_ created various telephone company policies to serve the social interest. Specifically, everyone agreed that universal service-- providing very low cost telephone service so it was affordable by many people--was a desirable social goal. However, to widely offer service at $3/month (which included a durable telephone set and all wiring and set maintenance) required a subsidy. That subsidy came--deliberately--from pricing other telephone services at a high profit. When the telephone companies (both Bell and independent) recognized the world was changing, they prepared to change their world, too. For instance, in the 1970s, Bell planned to eliminate flat rate pricing for all plans. Western Electric developed new CAMA technology to track local calls on step-by-step offices*. However, beyond a few trial places, this policy was not implemented. One policy that was widely implemented was changing for Directory Assistance calls. This is covered in detail in the good book, "Heritage and Destiny: Reflections on the Bell System in Transition" by Alvin Von Auw. * A description of the new CAMA equipment may be found in: http://www.telephonecollectors.info/index.php/browse/bruce-crawford-library/western-electric/300-1973-1974-automatic-message-accounting-brochures-4/file P.S. The Bell System did allow certain customer owned equipment to be connected to its network. This included public address systems connected to the switchboard and dial controlled dictation machines. ------------------------------ Message-ID: <20171224102318.GA11161@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Sun, 24 Dec 2017 05:23:18 -0500 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: Verizon, Other ISPs Won't Say How Badly They Plan to ... Verizon, Other ISPs Won't Say How Badly They Plan to Fuck You Over Now By Tom McKay Now that the Republican-controlled Federal Communications Commission has decided to toss a massive favor to their friends in the telecom industry and revoke open internet rules, there may soon be no regulatory barrier preventing ISPs from implementing paid prioritization schemes or outright blocking or censoring competitors. It's okay, though! They say they won't do it. Er, actually, it's more like none of them are explicitly denying they might roll out fast lanes and slow lanes, and some even refuse to deny they might start blocking parts of the web. https://gizmodo.com/verizon-other-isps-wont-say-how-badly-they-plan-to-fuc-1821485436 -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ------------------------------ ********************************************* End of telecom Digest Sun, 24 Dec 2017