---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-ID: <20170621032903.GA16701@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Tue, 20 Jun 2017 23:29:03 -0400 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: Verizon already killed its secret unlimited hotspot deal By Chris Mills In this week's special edition of We Can't Ever Have Nice Things, Verizon has killed off a quiet unlimited hotspot deal it was providing to the Family Motor Coach Association. While it lasted, the deal gave you a free hotspot and unlimited data for $50 per month, a steal compared with regular pricing. Unfortunately, it seems that the deal was way more popular than anticipated. It was picked up on forums and social media, and people started joining the FMCA (for $50/year) in order to take advantage. Thanks to the sudden demand, Verizon isn't honoring any orders and has pulled the deal completely. http://bgr.com/2017/06/20/verizon-unlimited-hotspot-deal-fmca-no-more/ -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ------------------------------ Message-ID: <20170620211904.GA15847@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Tue, 20 Jun 2017 17:19:04 -0400 From: David Lesher <wb8foz@panix.com> Subject: Farewell to the 1A ESS Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: RIP 1AESS Organization: NRK Clinic for habitual NetNews Abusers - Beltway Annex Seen: In the early hours of June 3, 2017 an era ended at AT&T with the retirement of the last 1AESS switch in service. The 1AESS switch at the Lincoln Central Office in Odessa, TX was converted to a new G6/G5 switch. The Lincoln switch was put in service February 25, 1979. It saw over thirty-eight years of call processing service. The final conversion was a flawless success the switch had service turned down on Friday, June 3, 2017. "This is truly the end of an era for AT&T. Decades ago the 1AESS switch was a workhorse for our network services and for more than 50 years took our services to a new level. Many of our team members have spent their career maintaining it," said Bill Huber, SVP Technical Field Services. Western Electric's #1ESS switching system was designed for areas where large numbers of lines and lines with heavy traffic are served. It generally serves between 10,000 and 65,000 lines. The final 1AESS replacement program began January 30, 2010. During that time 56 1AESS were retired and 707,328 wired lines were migrated. Thanks to the noteworthy combined efforts of many organizations within AT&T and partner contractors, this project was a true testament to exceptional leadership and extraordinary focus. Thank you to all who were a part of this great accomplishment. - - - - - Comments: An amateur radio friend had been detailed from Ohio Bell Telephone (OBT) Transmission Engineering to NJ in the 1960's to inject hands-on telco experience into the design team; from his stories it was badly needed. I thought all the 1A's were long gone domestically, as they didn't support Equal Access well. I recall that Telcom Digest greybeard Al Varney mentioned that post-retirement he'd gotten a part-time job on 1A support; I believe for Latin America. --

------------------------------ Message-ID: <20170621033244.GA16723@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Tue, 20 Jun 2017 23:32:44 -0400 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: Watchdog Refers Verizon To FCC And FTC Over Broadband Ads By Wendy Davis An ad industry watchdog says it will refer Verizon to the Federal Communications Commission and Federal Trade Commission for refusing to participate in an investigation of ads touting broadband service. The move by the National Advertising Division, a self-regulatory unit administered by the Better Business Bureau, stemmed from cable company Comcast's challenge to Verizon's ad boasts, including claims that "Only FiOS gives you equal upload and download speeds" and that FiOS is the "fastest" and "most reliable" Internet service. https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/303170/watchdog-refers-verizon-to-fcc-and-ftc-over-broadb.html -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ------------------------------ Message-ID: <20170621045951.GA17437@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Wed, 21 Jun 2017 00:59:51 -0400 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: AT&T makes preparations for Tropical Storm Cindy AT&T says it is ready for Tropical Storm Cindy with an arsenal of disaster response equipment and personnel on standby. The company says that it has started its storm preparedness process as we closely monitor weather conditions in the Gulf of Mexico. Preparation includes topping off fuel generators, testing high-capacity back-up batteries at cell sites and protecting physical facilities against flooding. AT&T has also staged emergency response equipment in strategic locations. Its national reliability center is monitoring outages for quick action. http://www.katc.com/story/35710812/att-makes-preparations-for-tropical-storm-cindy -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ------------------------------ ********************************************* End of telecom Digest Wed, 21 Jun 2017