Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa25747; 22 Aug 95 19:25 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id MAA17973 for telecomlist-outbound; Tue, 22 Aug 1995 12:08:16 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id MAA17964; Tue, 22 Aug 1995 12:08:14 -0500 Date: Tue, 22 Aug 1995 12:08:14 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Message-Id: <199508221708.MAA17964@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #351 TELECOM Digest Tue, 22 Aug 95 12:08:00 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 351 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Book Review: "CDMA: Principles of Spread Spectrum Communication" (R. Slade) Billing Goofups (Gary Novosielski) Convert DID Voice System to ISDN BRI Voice System (Rick Strobel) CFP: 4th UK/Australian Int. Symposium on DSP (Tadeusz Wysocki) Telecommunications Short Courses (Bill Bond) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily represent the views of Microsoft. ------------------------------------------------------------ Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 22 Aug 1995 01:40:52 EST From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "CDMA: Principles of Spread Spectrum Communication" BKCDMASS.RVW 950526 "CDMA: Principles of Spread Spectrum Communication", Andrew Viterbi, 1995, 0- 201-63374-4, U$59.25 %A Andrew Viterbi %C 1 Jacob Way, Reading, MA 01867-9984 %D 1995 %G 0-201-63374-4 %I Addison-Wesley Publishing Company %O U$59.25 416-447-5101 fax: 416-443-0948 markj@aw.com tiffanym@aw.com %O 800-822-6339 617-944-3700 Fax: (617) 944-7273 %P 272 %T "CDMA: Principles of Spread Spectrum Communication" The use of a "spread spectrum", or multiple frequencies, for communication is known in some frequency-division multiplexed local area networks, and in some proprietary high-speed modems. Its use in wireless communications has historically been limited to the military, where the reliability and security in hostile environments have been worth the additional engineering. With the increasing use of, and interest in, mobile and cellular communications, code- division multiple access (CDMA) technology is quite desirable. As well as security, it offers much greater efficiencies of available bandwidth, location and velocity information, and improved "hand off" performance when crossing cell boundaries. Intended as a text for a graduate course in electrical engineering or communications, the book covers advanced topics in frequency reuse and bandwidth, synchronization, power considerations, interleaving and other topics. (Students are advised to keep texts from earlier courses as Viterbi does not always define terms or acronyms, and there are errors in the index.) While principles are outlined, the bulk of the book is devoted to detailed calculations of the practicalities of CDMA design. Chapter six is specifically devoted to the design of digital cellular systems. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1995 BKCDMASS.RVW 950526. Distribution permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated publications. Rob Slade's book reviews are a regular feature in the Digest. Vancouver roberts@decus.ca | "Metabolically Institute for Robert_Slade@sfu.ca | challenged" Research into slade@freenet.victoria.bc.ca | User rslade@CyberStore.ca | politically correct Security Canada V7K 2G6 | term for "dead" ------------------------------ From: gary.novosielski@sbaonline.gov Organization: Small Business Administration Date: Mon, 21 Aug 95 14:13:08 -0400 Subject: Billing Goof-ups > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: About twenty years ago I had a situation > such as you describe. I had a business line with an unusually high number > of local message units on it for about three months in a row. The phone > office serving that number had just about the same time been converted > to ESS. I had almost a mirror image experience to yours on my residence line about the time our local central office cut over to ESS in the early '80s. I suddenly *stopped* getting long distance charges altogether. Calls to numbers within my home NPA (201) got billed as usual, but anything with a foreign area code simply didn't show up on my bill. (This was before the "breakup," so everything was normally billed by New Jersey Bell regardless of destination. Still, something "different" about long-distance billing was clearly in place already.) I suspected something went wrong in the reprogramming of the new central office, but I didn't call NJB, since I was curious to see how long it would take for them to discover it on their own. I was careful to put aside the "savings" on the phone bill each month, since I was certain the day would come when they discovered the error and demanded payment. As the months dragged on, I found myself paying a little less attention to how long I stayed on the phone, or how many times I dialed an out-of-town BBS, but I didn't go nuts. Still, it was a full year before I got a "that call" at work from my wife. She said a nice lady from the phone company had called and started off the conversation with "Are you sitting down?" (always a bad sign) and had left a number. I called. It wasn't all that bad. My LD bill had run up to a tad over 700 bucks. I tried to sound surprised, but I don't know how well I did. It turns out, says the "nice lady," that when they reprogrammed the CO, my telephone number (let's say NNX-6147, was erroneously programmed to appear on the bill of a local business who had seven trunks beginning with 6140. Somebody added in their head and forgot to start counting with zero, it seems. She couldn't explain why my short-distance calls weren't affected. Anyway, the business hadn't noticed anything odd for a year, but finally questioned the numbers they were seeing, and got the phone company to discover their snafu and issue them a credit. I asked for and received a full listing of the calls, and sure enough they seemed to be familiar for the most part, but I figured it couldn't hurt to try and cut a deal with Telco. I called them and said that even though I couldn't remember every call I'd made for the past year, let's assume for the sake of argument that all the calls were mine. Did they expect me to just write them a check for 700 dollars? No, no, said the "nice lady." Since the billing error was their mistake, they were prepared to accept a small amount each month. How much? Oh, say, five or ten bucks tacked on to each bill. So we're talking about six to twelve years before they would recover the full amount, right? Um, yeah, she guessed that was right. Well, if she'd accept fifty cents on the dollar, I offered, I'd write her a check the next day, and we'd call it even, and what did she think about that? Well, she wasn't prepared to do the math in her head, but she was clearly familiar with the concept of Net Present Value, which rather precisely calculates what a bird in the hand is worth, in terms of birds in the bush, at a given interest rate (which back then would have been double digit). Uh, could she call me back in fifteen minutes? Sure. Three minutes later, the phone rang. She had talked to her supervisor, she said. And? And, just to confirm, I *had* said the $350 would be in the mail *tomorrow* right? Yup -- first thing in the morning, I assured her. "Done," she says. "Let me give you a post office box number to mail it to." And I haven't seen a billing error since. GaryN GPN Consulting gnovosielski@mcimail.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: About 1976 I had a case similar to that. I was living in a building which had a switchboard for the tenants at the front desk and I decided to get my own personal phone installed as well. They put in my phone but never sent me a bill for anything, period, for about one year. Apparently plant never sent the paperwork to the accounting department saying the installation was complete. Since in those days we had a category of service where you got unlimited local calling (which is what I had ordered), provided there were no coin-rated calls on the bill (which I was careful to avoid) there was never any reason for anything to hit the accounting department out of the ordinary. Then one day some #$&^# phreak somewhere made a phraud thirty-party call and billed it to my number. Hmmm ... well of course the charges were forwarded to Illinois Bell from whatever telco was involved (or maybe it was intra- LATA all via Illinois Bell, I don't remember) and the end result was when the charges got into the system they 'fell out' for lack of an account to bill them to. Unbillable charges go into a suspense account and there are clerks whose job it is to be constantly cleaning out the suspense ledger and moving the charges to where they belong. This can be done by charging it back to the telco from which it originated, or by trying to investigate locally, etc. As part of the investigative process, if it is just a couple dollars or less then the clerks usually write it off on the assumption it costs more to do the paperwork charging it back to the other telco and arguing with the other telco about it ("you sent it to us"; "no we didn't, you must have gotten it from another telco"). And sometimes for whatever reason in those days the paperwork would get so mutilated and banged up they did not know where they got the charge from so they had to write it off. This time around, someone decided to dial the number and see if it was actually in service or not. Of course it rang; of course I answered. Bingo, that set off an audit with accounting making an inquiry of plant to see what the actual status of the line was. Plant reconstructed what paperwork they had on it and accounting had to turn on the service after the fact. Like yourself, I had been putting aside money for that day, and one day here comes a bill in the mail for installation charges and monthly service for about *one year* to date. Like yourself, I made a fuss about it, but not a very loud one. I mean, I knew what I was doing all along, so I had no legitimate gripe. I could have inquired about it a year before I did. They did however take off the phraud call which had been billed to me, and the supervisor got a big laugh out of the way things had all come together. PAT] ------------------------------ From: rstrobel@infotime.com (Rick Strobel) Subject: Convert DID Voice System to ISDN BRI Voice System Date: 21 Aug 1995 23:41:52 GMT Organization: InfoTime Could someone please help me find a solution to this problem: I need to replace DID circuits with ISDN BRI. Here's how my current system works: There are several DID trunks connected to an Exacom DID SF-200 interface box, which is connected to a Dialogic voice card on a voice mail system. There are 140 phone numbers assigned to the DID trunks. When a call comes in, the Exacom box signals the voice card and passes the last 4 digits of the phone number to the voice card. The voice mail system then answers, looks up the 4 digit number and then plays the associated greeting. The main problem is that DID circuits are very expensive in my area (the other, less important for now, issues include that DID is inbound only, and I feel that ISDN would be a better technology for the future). ISDN can provide the same functionality for 1/3 the monthly cost. Here's what I want: I want an ISDN device that will accept an ISDN line on one end and provide two analog phone lines on the other. The analog lines should be able to signal my voice card in the same way that the Exacom box does (in band DTMF). (If that is not possible I may be able to take the signalling info from a D channel via (maybe) a serial interface, that would provide the info out of band. But the former is MUCH preferred). Exacom said they were going to make a product like this in the future, the rep called it an ISDN to loop converter with DTMF. They did not provide a time-table, so I suspect it would be at least a year or more -- so I don't want to wait for them. If there's not an off-the-shelf product for this, I'd be interested in any tips on how I could build one myself. BTW, I've contacted all the vendors I could think of, and nobody seems to have anything remotely close. There were a lot of PRI devices, but not BRI. Can anyone recommend any products, vendors, etc that may be able to help me convert from DID to ISDN? Any and all advice is welcomed and REALLY appreciated. Rick Strobel InfoTime Fax Communications voice: 502-426-4279 fax: 502-426-3721 email: rstrobel@infotime.com ------------------------------ From: Tadeusz Wysocki Subject: CFP: 4th UK/Australian Int. Symp. on DSP for Communication Systems Date: 22 Aug 1995 13:01:26 GMT Organization: Edith Cowan University 4th UK/AUSTRALIAN INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON DSP FOR COMUNICATION SYSTEMS CO-SPONSORED BY: IEEE, CRC for BTN, IEE EDITH COWAN UNIVERSITY, JOONDALUP CAMPUS, PERTH, WESTERN AUSTRALIA SEPTEMBER 23-27, 1996 Communication System worldwide have provided a rapidly growing a useful services and are continuing to evolve using Digital Signal Processing. UK/Australian International Symposium was planned by a group of academics and professionals from both Australia and the UK to examine the plans for the future and the progress that has already been made in the field of DSP and their applications to communication systems. The organising committee of the symposium decided to hold the 4th UK/Australian Symposium on DSP for Communication Systems in Perth from 23 - 27 September 1996. A major objective of the symposium will be to pursue the progression from communication and information theory through to the implementation, evaluation and performance of practical communication systems using DSP technology. Papers are invited over the full range of Communication System, Communication Theory and Signal Processing. Examples of such areas are: Error Control Coding Modulation, Demodulation & Multiple Access Data Compression & Speech Coding Channel Characterisation Simulation & Modelling Synchronisation DSP Algorithms & Applications Information Theory Cryptography & Protocols Implementation Consideration Design & Analysis Paper will be reviewed on the basis of extended abstracts of about 1000 words. S e n d A b s t r a c t s t o: DR S H Razavi School of Electrical & Computer Engineering Curtin University of Technology GPO BOX U1987 PERTH WA 6001 AUSTRALIA Fax: 619.351.2584 Email: Razavi_SH@cc.Curtin.edu.au S e n d A b s t r a c t s from E u r o p e, A f r i c a and the M i d d l e E a s t to: Prof. B Honary School of Engineering, Computing & Mathematical Sciences Lancaster University LANCASTER LAI 4YR UK Fax: 441.524.594207 Email: B.Honary@Lancaster.ac.uk D e a d l i n e: Extended Abstract: 31 January 1996 Notification of Acceptance: 15 April 1996 Camera Ready Copies: 15 June 1996 I n q u i r i e s: All correspondence concerning the symposium organisation should be addressed to: Dr. T Wysocki CRC, Australian Telecommunications Research Institute Curtin University of Technology GPO Box U1987, PERTH WA 6001 AUSTRALIA Fax: 619.351.3244 Email: Tad@ATRI.Curtin.edu.au or T.Wysocki@cowan.edu.au O r g a n i s i n g C o m m i t t e e Prof. A Cantoni (CRC for BTN) Australian Telecommunications Research Institute Dr. H Razavi (CRC for BTN) Curtin University of Technology Dr. T Wysocki (CRC for BTN) Edith Cowan University Prof. B Honary (Lancaster University) United Kingdom Dr. H Eren (Electrical & Computer Engineering) Curtin University of Technology ------------------------------ From: bond@utdallas.edu Subject: Telecommunications Short Courses Date: 21 Aug 1995 15:29:21 -0500 Organization: The University of Texas at Dallas Telecommunications Short Courses September - October, 1995 The University of Texas at Dallas Center for Continuing Education P.O. Box 830688, CN 1.1 Richardson, Texas 75083-0688 (214) 883-2204 ADAPTIVE SIGNAL PROCESSING IN TELECOMMUNICATIONS Adaptive signal processing algorithms are central to network echo cancellation, speech enhancement and acoustic echo cancellation (for hands-free teleconferencing and wireless communications), channel equalization, interference rejection in CDMA cellular, smart antennas, and active noise control. The course will give an overview of the Least Means Squares (LMS) and Recursive Least Squares (RLS) adaptive filter algorithms. It will focus on how these algorithms are used in the above telecommunications applications. September 11-12, 1995; 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.; UTD Conference Center; Instructor, Eric Dowling, Ph.D.; fee - $595, CEU's 1.4; for additional information, call Barbara Johnson at (214) 883-2204. MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS ENGINEERING In the past decade, the mobile communications industry has enjoyed an exponential growth in its customer base. This has forced many industries to respond to the demands of this exciting field. This course introduces engineers and other professionals to the basic elements of mobile communications engineering. Principle, practice, and system overview of mobile systems will be discussed. The main objective of this two-day course is not to provide an in-depth coverage of all the elements of this field, but to focus on the key elements, such as cell geometry, cochannel interference, modulation schemes, and channel effects. The key elements of TDMA and CDMA emerging digital cellular systems will be introduced. Subsequently, a comparison of these emerging systems in the face of channel impairments will be discussed in terms of the performance measures introduced in this course. September 15-16, 1995; 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.; UTD Conference Center; Instructor, Kamran, Kiasaleh, Ph.D.; fee - $595; CEU's 1.4; for additional information, call Barbara Johnson at (214) 883-2204. OBJECT-ORIENTED ANALYSIS AND DESIGN Object-Oriented Programming has become the methodology of choice in the 1990's. This course aims to equip students with knowledge of the principles of sound analysis and design techniques for programs that will be implemented in C++ or Smalltalk. Students will learn by experience as designs are formulated through the use of several case studies. The chosen methodology will mainly be based on Rumbaugh's OMT, although brief overviews of FUSION and Booch's methodology will also be given. September 21-22, 1995; 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.; UTD Conference Center; Instructor, Ivor Page, Ph.D.; fee - $595; CEU's 1.4; for additional informa- tion, call Barbara Johnson at (214) 883-2204. VIDEO DIAL TONE Video-based services, such as Video Dial Tone (VDT), are witness- ing rapid growth. This growth is likely to accelerate as some of the regulatory barriers faced by cable companies, local exchange carriers and interexchange carriers are removed by the Congress. In order to meet the higher bandwidth requirements of the video signals, telephone and cable companies are introducing new transport and switching technologies in the network. The stan- dards organizations such as ITU-TS and committee T1 and the ATM Forum are also defining new standards for handling video servic- es. This course is designed to bring students up-to-date with the market dynamics of the video industry and to provide techni- cal details, from data storage to different delivery architec- tures for the VDT services. September 25-26, 1995; 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.; UTD Conference Center; Instructor, Sudhir Gupta; fee - $595; CEU's 1.4; for additional information, call Barbara Johnson at (214) 883-2204. DESIGN OF FIBER COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS The design of high data rate/bandwidth short haul and long haul fiber communications systems is becoming important because of the high demand for large data rate/bandwidth transmission. Efforts are on the way to seamlessly connect the cellular networks to fiber networks whereby more services can be offered. This course introduces engineers, scientists and managers working in the telecommunications industries to the basic elements of fiber communication. Principle, design, practice and system overview of analog and digital fiber communication will be discussed. After completing the two-day course, the participants will have enough knowledge to understand, design as well as to evaluate digital and analog fiber systems. Design of 10Gbits/s digital systems, fiber communication for video transmission, wavelength division multiplexed systems, systems with concatenated fiber amplifiers, dispersion compensators and external modulators are some of the topics that will be discussed. The data rate impair- ments due to nonlinearity and methods to combat them will also be discussed. October 17-18, 1995; 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.; UTD Conference Center; Instructor, Lakshman Tamil, Ph.D., fee - $595; CEU's 1.4; for additional information, call Barbara Johnson at (214) 883-2204. Bill Bond bond@utdallas.edu ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #351 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa26741; 22 Aug 95 20:38 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id OAA22847 for telecomlist-outbound; Tue, 22 Aug 1995 14:21:20 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id OAA22833; Tue, 22 Aug 1995 14:21:13 -0500 Date: Tue, 22 Aug 1995 14:21:13 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Message-Id: <199508221921.OAA22833@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #352 TELECOM Digest Tue, 22 Aug 95 14:21:00 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 352 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson New Newsletter on 800,900 Numbers: inTELigence (Judith Oppenheimer) Area Code Crisis -- A Different Viewpoint (Fritz Whittington) Re: Seven Digits Across NPA Lines (Bob Goudreau) Re: Seven Digits Across NPA Lines (Wes Leatherock) Re: Seven Digits Across NPA Lines (James E. Bellaire) Re: Seven Digits Across NPA Lines (Patrick L. Humphrey) Re: Seven Digits Across NPA Lines (Carl Moore) Re: Shanghai to Raise Telephone Numbers to Eight Digits (Sam Spens Clason) Re: Shanghai to Raise Telephone Numbers to Eight Digits (Michael Jennings) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily represent the views of Microsoft. ------------------------------------------------------------ Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Judith Oppenheimer Date: Tue, 22 Aug 1995 09:56:15 -0400 Subject: New Newsletter on 800, 900 Numbers: inTELigence Newsletter Separates Fact From Fiction For Users Of 800, 900 Telephone Services New York, NY -- The alleged exhaustion of available 800 telephone numbers and proposed new rules on how the system is to be administrated has spawned a newsletter to keep users of 800 and 900 exchanges up-to-date. inTELigence, published by Interactive CallBrand, tracks actions being considered by the rule-making bodies involved as well as proposals from the telephone service providers. "We separate fact from rumor," said Judith Oppenheimer, president of Interactive CallBrand. "The newsletter tracks the regulators and the service providers and compares their claims with what's actually going on in the marketplace. That way we can advise users about what proposals they may want to make to the rule-making bodies." Several months ago regulators became concerned about the dwindling supply of 800 numbers and they predicted the current supply could be exhausted by February, 1996. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and other bodies are reviewing how to allocate the current supply of numbers and is overseeing the addition of a new 888 toll-free exchange which is supposed to be ready for use in March, 1996. "The next few months will be critical and proposed rules will be changing from week to week. Our clients needed some way to keep up and that's why we started inTELigence," Oppenheimer said. Interactive CallBrand and its clients are concerned that doubling the toll-free database will cause quality of service to be compromised. A decline in service could mean slower phone service for customers who have come to depend upon the 800 and 900 systems. inTELigence will also be monitoring plans by service providers to educate the public about the new 888 service and changes in the telephone system that may be needed to accommodate it. These issues are critically important not only to the technical people who will have to implement the new system, but also to marketers who need 800 and 900 services for customer sales and who want access to the new 888 exchange. Subscription information is available by calling ICB at 212-684-7210. For More Information Contact: Judith Oppenheimer, 212-684-7210 Judith Oppenheimer, President Interactive CallBrand(TM): Strategic Leadership, Competitive Intelligence Producer@pipeline.com. Ph: +1 800 The Expert. Fax: +1 212 684-2714. Interactive CallBrand is a leading source of information and support on 800 and related issues, representing user positions before the FCC, State Department, Int'l. Telecommunications Union, and domestic industry forums. ------------------------------ From: fritz@mirage.hc.ti.com (Fritz Whittington) Subject: Area Code Crisis -- A Different Viewpoint Date: Tue, 22 Aug 95 10:23:19 CDT Reply-To: fritz@mirage.hc.ti.com There is an extremely interesting document available at: http://www.open.gov.uk/oftel/oftelwww/oftcons.htm which explains how the UK intends to handle the area-code and number shortage problems, in a very flexible and user-friendly way. Makes me wonder why we couldn't do it the same way (I know, North America is a lot bigger and has more people, but the scheme is scaleable). It also (horrors!) asks for *feedback* and *comments* on the various proposals. But we know it would never work here -- the opening statement is: "*TELEPHONE NUMBERS BELONG* to people and businesses and they need to be treated as a national resource. OFTEL took over responsibility for the UK Numbering Scheme from BT in 1994. This means that OFTEL now makes plans for the future use of numbers and allocates numbers to telephone companies to allow them to provide service to their customers. To help us make the right decisions, we are committed to consulting all those with an interest - residential customers, business users and the telecommunications industry." (Emphasis mine.) And other heresies like: "When you call a person with the same area code, you usually dial only their local number -- this is known as local dialing. But you can dial the full national number if you prefer. Your call will be connected and the charge is the same either way." Fritz Whittington Texas Instruments, P.O. Box 655474, MS 446 Dallas, TX 75265 Shipping address: 13510 North Central Expressway, MS 446 Dallas, TX 75243 fritz@ti.com Office: +1 214 995 0397 FAX: +1 214 995 6194 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You're right! It would never, never do here in the USA, where we have the only really correct way of doing these things. I should have censored your message entirely rather than risk allowing these heresies to become known to telecom admins here. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 21 Aug 1995 11:32:57 -0400 From: goudreau@dg-rtp.dg.com (Bob Goudreau) Subject: Re: Seven Digits Across NPA Lines Carl Moore writes: >> Inter-NPA 7D dialing is the exception, not the rule, even in >> rural areas. > It refers only to LOCAL calls to other area codes. Of course. And I repeat: 11D (or 10D) dialing for such calls seems far more prevalent than 7D. Bob Goudreau Data General Corporation goudreau@dg-rtp.dg.com 62 Alexander Drive +1 919 248 6231 Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA ------------------------------ From: wes.leatherock@hotelcal.com (Wes Leatherock) Subject: Re: Seven Digits Across NPA Lines Date: Mon, 21 Aug 1995 14:51:00 GMT bellaire@tk.com (James E. Bellaire) wrote: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: There really is no reason to ever go to > eleven digits as in 1+anything. The reason is that when we get to the > point that all calls must be dialed as AC + seven digits, we will no > longer need the initial '1' as a flag. Right now it serves as a flag > to indicate that an area code is following rather than a prefix. When > we get to where we always begin with an area code, then switches can > be modified to always expect ten digits and always expect the first > three to be an area code. PAT] I believe there is another reason for this, Pat. The leading "1" identifies the call as a call for which a charge is made. In Southwestern Bell territory, at least, originally the leading "1" was not required. A great many calls to the business office were generated by people making 7D calls to numbers which were interzone or toll. They had no indication that the calls were chargeable. It eventually became apparent that a large number of customers were not comfortable with the fact they could not tell from the way they had to dial the call whether the call was toll or not. (Note that virtually all service in Southwestern Bell territory was, and is, flat rate.) So the driving force in adopting "1+" in Southwestern Bell territory, at least, was the demand from customers and the number of calls that had to be written off. Those in this newsgroup tend to feel that everyone is, or should be, as knowledgable as they are about communications matters. The great majority of customers are not, and furthermore they don't want to be and don't see why they should be forced to be. And in the long run they will vote if that's what is required to make telephone service convenient for them. It is, perhaps, one of the penalties that has to be paid for the telephone's becoming such an integrated part of the fabric of life in the U.S.A. that the great body of the public thinks it is theirs and should be operated for their benefit. Even in a corporate environment, it is very hard to educate the users about how to use the telephone service. Most of them don't know; they may learn how to use a few features that are advantageous to them. I have been a part of such education efforts. JEB> Q. Why should users be forced to use area codes when dialing across JEB> NPA boundries? JEB> A. They are not. Suprised? In many rural areas users can dial across JEB> NPA and state lines with 7 digits. The only time 10 or 11 digits JEB> are used is in major metropolitan areas. There are some cases where this is true, but they tend to be special situations. One of the most notable cases is the Kansas City metropolitan area (certainly not a rural area) where cross-NPA and cross-state line (they are the same thing there) are indeed 7D for local calls. But this is limited to calls within the Kansas City metropolitan exchange. If you call outside the flat rate area, you have to use 1 + NPA + 7D. Note that when cross-NPA 7D dialing is used, the NXX has to be "protected" in the other NPA. So the number of available NXXs is reduced by the number of NNXs that can be dialed 7D across the boundary. So I imagine the days of that arrangement in metropolitan Kansas City are numbered. In the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area, that time has already arrived. Local calls in the same area code are dialed as 7D. Local calls across the NPA boundary are dialed as AC+7D (10 digits). Chargeable calls to any point, whether within the same area code or not, are dialed as 1+AC+7D (11 digits). JEB> In residential areas an overlay could be perfomed by allowing 7 digit JEB> dialing to all exchanges within the community, and 11 digit dialing to JEB> zone dialing or LD locations. That way neighbors could call each JEB> other using 7 digit dialing. Since in cities of any size the percentage of intra-wire center calls is quite low, this wouldn't be of any great benefit. And wire center boundaries don't usually follow "residential area" or "community" boundaries anyway. JEB> Business areas would not be able to do this because of their high use JEB> of NXXs, but the problems are their creation and a split would be JEB> worse. (See previous messages about stationary and advertising costs JEB> associated with a split.) Since almost all "areas" (wire center areas? metropolitan exchanges? what kind of area?) are a mix of residential and business, and served from the same COs, it's hard to see how, or why, this distinction could be made or implemented. As to stationary and advertising costs, these occur whenever a wire center boundary is changed, when a business relocates or gets a centrex or other types of inward dialing arrangements. And if the business expects to ever get a call from outside its own narrow area, it's going to need to show its area code anyway. Most businesses are fairly small, with a few lines at most (many have only one). But unless it's the local barber shop, most of them expect someone will call them long distance at some time and will want to show their area code anyway. (Even the local barber shop may expect to get calls from vendors outside the local area, and not just unsolicited sales calls, either; businesses need vendors to supply their needs.) Wes Leatherock wes.leatherock@hotelcal.com wes.leatherock@f2001.n147.z1.fidonet.org [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Wait a minute. We went through this several years ago here about the meaning and purpose of 'one'. The One True Religion says that 'one' indicates the three digits following consitute an area code. I had thought that all those heretics who kept insisting that 'one' meant 'the call you are now dialing has a toll charge involved' had long since been excommunicated from this Digest and that those who then persisted in their heresy had been beheaded. ... Now here you are back to pester me again! ... Even if we assume there is some validity in the 'one = toll' argument -- and it probably was valid a number of years ago when area codes did not change with every street corner and back yard neighbor's fence -- there is not a lot of consistency there now. One does not equal toll for large segments of customers in 312/708 who are near each other. There are many many cases now where inter-areacode dialing is purely local. I'll grant you in more rural and lesser populated areas of the USA -- let us take Wyoming, or Montana as examples -- you still have to go the entire state before you change area codes and toll generated from seven digit dialing is pretty common. But do they dial 1 plus seven digits in that case, in order to catch the attention of the originator of the call? I would think they would do that if alerting the caller to the existence of toll was the reason for the leading one. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Aug 1995 12:52:18 -0500 From: bellaire@tk.com (James E. Bellaire) Subject: Re: Seven Digits Across NPA Lines I, bellaire@tk.com (James E. Bellaire) wrote: >> Q. Why should users be forced to use area codes when dialing across NPA >> boundries [sic]? >> A. They are not. Suprised? In many rural areas users can dial across >> NPA and state lines with 7 digits. The only time 10 or 11 digits are used >> is in major metropolitan areas. goudreau@dg-rtp.dg.com (Bob Goudreau) replied: > This latter statement is certainly false. Inter-NPA 7D dialing is the > exception, not the rule, even in rural areas. In *most* area where you may dial local across an NPA boundry you dial 7D. 'The rule' in *most* rural areas is 'if it is local, it is 7D' regardless of NPA. The exception is in *metropolitan* areas where you dial 10D or 11D to cross NPAs. Check the boundry lines between NPAs in 'rural' areas, such as the=20 Michigan/Indiana border, where South Bend, IN, can call Niles, MI, and Elkhart, IN, can call Union and Edwardsburg, MI. Along every NPA border there are several rural communities who can dial across the line 7D. Look at Indiana --- 317-564 Delphi to 219-652 Burrows / 219-686 Camden / 219-859 Deer Creek / 219-943 Idaville / 219-965 Yeoman (and back); 317-981 LaFontaine to 219-563/568/569 Wabash (and back); 317-964 Union City to 513-968 Union City, OH (as expected); 317-732 West College Corner to 513-523/529/798 College Corner, OH and 513-796 Morning Sun, OH; ALL of these offer 7D local across NPA borders. The only 1+ NPA requirement I have seen in all of Indiana is from East Chicago, Hammond, and Whiting, Indiana who can call Calumet City, Illinois, locally by dialing 1+708. Where there is a cross NPA local call in rural areas you are *most likely* to find 7D dialing. The exception is 10D or 11D. Inter-NPA 7D dialing is the rule, especially in rural areas. In other news cogorno@netcom.com (Steve Cogorno) added: > While I don't disagree that overlays are a good idea, it will take > some consumer education. I don't like the idea of an overlay for > landline phones though, because I don't want to have to remember what > area code my friend has (seven digits to remeber is enough for me :-). It > would be easier to put all wireless services into an overlay, then > tell customers XXX is for wireless. All NEW services in the overlay, regardless of use. Most would be cellular/ paging/PBX uses since that is where most of the growth is. 1+NPA would always be allowed and suggested as the 'norm' with 7D being allowed for local calls (all exchanges at your CO plus a few close neighbors). Nobody should ever have to change their phone number unless they move. That would include wireless services. Every time a cell operator has to move their NXX from one NPA to another they must get every customer to bring in their phone to change the MIN. The same NXX cannot be used in the old NPA for cell service untill all the changes are made. Paging companies are easier to move since DID to their switches need not contain the NPA. As far as cellular in Chicago goes, there are a few NXX conflicts that prevent moving all cellular in 708 and 312 directly to a new NPA without changing a few NXX's. But the majority of NXX's in use for cellular are not duplicated in the other Chicago NPAs. It would be nice not to ever change your NPA. But that is part of progress. Have you noticed how many CO names changed when DDD was introduced? The recent discussions of Seattle, New Orleans and Chicago exchange histories show a few of these. Based on 1940's estimates the exaustion of NPAs in 1994 was right on target. The original plan was 'no resplit within 10 years'. It is a shame to see resplits within 5 years but that is part of the change in technology. Overlays would fix this IF all users would accept numbers in the new area and NO user would be removed from the old area. James E. Bellaire (JEB6) bellaire@tk.com Twin Kings Communications - Sturgis, MI [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It is quite interesting that you mention the Hammond, Whiting and East Chicago area of northern Indiana in your article. I remember when those all dialed 7-D to reach anywhere in 312. Hammond's exchanges WEstmore-1, 2, and 3 along with TIlden 4 and 5, plus East Chicago's EXport-7 and 8 had to be dialed 219 + 7D from the Chicago side however. Note, it was not 1 + 219 + 7D since we did not dial a leading '1' here until about 1980 or so. Even when Chicago had to dial 219+7D to reach northern Indiana (but not the same way in reverse) for a few years thereafter Calumet City could still dial 7-D to get Hammond/Whiting. Of course this meant that the prefixes 397,398,659, 844,845,931,932,933 could not be assigned in the 312 area. A similar case existed in Antioch, Illinois and North Antioch, Wisconsin where 312-395 could dial 414-396 as seven digits and vice-versa. This did not however prevent the use of 396 elsewhere in northern Illinois; the rule was that subscribers in Antioch had to dial 1+ to reach anywhere in northern Illinois *other than their immediate local area*. I think at one point they asked for community input on the decision and everyone decided they would prefer to be able to call the Wisconsin side of their community with seven digits (instead of ten or eleven) even it if meant having to dial eight digits (1+7D) for everywhere else in the same area code. That was a long, long time before the 312/708 split of course. PAT] ------------------------------ From: plh@hic.net (Patrick L. Humphrey) Subject: Re: Seven Digits Across NPA Lines Date: Tue, 22 Aug 1995 09:58:51 -0600 In article , goudreau@dg-rtp.dg.com (Bob Goudreau) writes: > bellaire@tk.com (James E. Bellaire) writes: >> Q. Why should NPAs be required to split rather than be overlaid? >> A. They should not. NPA overlays have been in use for several years in >> New York and California. > New York City's 917 NPA has certainly existed for several years, but > as far as I know, it is the *only* overlay in the entire NANP (though > overlays almost happened in other places like Chicago, Miami and > Atlanta). What California NPA were you referring to? There is another one in place and operating right now -- 281 here in Houston, and 972 will be overlaid on 214 (i.e., Dallas) six months from now. >> This means 10 or 11 digit dialing for local calls, with the old >> users being able to keep their numbers. Sometimes 7 digit dialing is >> allowed IF the area code is the same. > What service areas are there that *don't* allow intra-NPA local calls > to be dialed using 7D? I'm not aware of any yet, although mandatory > 10D dialing has been mooted as a future option for some metro areas > that might receive overlay NPAs. Indeed, 10D is in its permissive period right now here in 713 (but *not* in the 281 overlay -- any calls made from or to that NPA _must_ be dialed 10D now), and next March 1 10D will become mandatory on all local calls within 713. >> Q. Why should users be forced to use area codes when dialing across NPA >> boundries [sic]? >> A. They are not. Suprised? In many rural areas users can dial across NPA >> and state lines with 7 digits. The only time 10 or 11 digits are used >> is in major metropolitan areas. > This latter statement is certainly false. Inter-NPA 7D dialing is the > exception, not the rule, even in rural areas. It's still in place in the Kansas City area as of a month ago, from personal observation, and in a few border communities in South Dakota (also as of a month ago, from the same personal observation), but in my travels across sixteen states last month, those are the only places I found it. Patrick L. "staying with 713 -- old habits are hard to break" Humphrey ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Aug 95 08:25:09 EDT From: Carl Moore Subject: Re: Seven Digits Across NPA Lines goudreau@dg-rtp.dg.com (Bob Goudreau) includes this question and (his) answer: >> A. They are not. Surprised? In many rural areas users can dial across NPA >> and state lines with 7 digits. The only time 10 or 11 digits are used >> is in major metropolitan areas. > This latter statement is certainly false. Inter-NPA 7D dialing is the > exception, not the rule, even in rural areas. It refers only to LOCAL calls to other area codes. cogorno@netcom.com (Steve Cogorno) writes: > 542 may be an overlay, but that is two years from now. Did you mean 562? It was just announced as a geographical split, which means a second area code change in less than ten years for some people who switched from 213 to 310. And 760 has been announced for split of 619. ------------------------------ From: d92-sam@filsun09.nada.kth.se (Sam Spens Clason) Subject: Re: Shanghai to Raise Telephone Numbers to Eight Digits Date: 21 Aug 1995 16:53:58 GMT In Peter_Mansfield@australia.notes.pw.com writes: >> It will be the fourth city in the world with eight-digit phone >> numbers, after Paris, Tokyo and Hong Kong. > I'm sure that there are other places that I have missed where > eight-digit numbers are already in use. The outer Stockholm suburbs have had eight digit numbers for several years. Those are the old 07xx-xxx xx numbers that were merged with 08 between 1991 (?) and 1993. Those numbers then became 08-5xxx xxxx (we write them 5xx xxx xx). The government regulatory, Post- & Telestyrelsen (PTS), has decided that all new Swedish number series are to be 0 plus nine digits but there is no plan to move all numbers to at least 0 plus eight. I guess dominant operator (& former monopoly) Telia isn't going to change those unless PTS makes them. I wonder if not the competitors would want numbers that are of (almost) equivalent length to that of Telia's ... Sam www.nada.kth.se/~d92-sam, sam@nada.kth.se, +46 7 01234567 ------------------------------ From: M.J.Jennings@amtp.cam.ac.uk (Michael Jennings) Subject: Re: Shanghai to Raise Telephone Numbers to Eight Digits Date: 22 Aug 1995 00:37:54 GMT Organization: University of Cambridge DAMTP In article , Glenn Shirley =WA TELEC ENG= wrote: > bkron@netcom.com (BUBEYE!) writes: >> It will be the fourth city in the world with eight-digit phone >> numbers, after Paris, Tokyo and Hong Kong. > Depends what you mean by metropolis, I suppose. Melbourne, Australia > (only about three million people I think -- not quite the same scale) > changed to eight digits in May 1995. Parts of Sydney have already but > won't be entirely changed until about half way through next year. > Brisbane was planned for August this year, Adelaide was August next > year, Perth was September 1997 although these were the timetable they > have probably changed. They could hardly be called metropolis' > although Sydney and Melbourne would probably be. A difference is that the Australian area codes don't just cover the cities mentioned. Each of the new Australian area codes will cover at least one whole state. I belive Denmark and Norway also have eight digit codes for wide areas consisting of more than one city. France excluding Paris is also like this. I _think_ that Paris, Tokyo and Hong Kong are the only cities that have an area code for the city that is not shared with anywhere else and which has entirely eight digits numbers. I think that this is what the original statement meant, although it is not exactly what it said. The question as to what other cities should have an arrangement like this but don't will largely be left as an exercise to the reader. (I would argue London, certainly. It might have made sense for places like New York and Los Angeles, too, but the US decided long ago to go for a uniform three + seven digits which rules it out). Michael Jennings Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics The University of Cambridge. mjj12@damtp.cambridge.ac.uk ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #352 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa26424; 22 Aug 95 20:22 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id OAA23654 for telecomlist-outbound; Tue, 22 Aug 1995 14:44:34 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id OAA23645; Tue, 22 Aug 1995 14:44:31 -0500 Date: Tue, 22 Aug 1995 14:44:31 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Message-Id: <199508221944.OAA23645@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #353 TELECOM Digest Tue, 22 Aug 95 14:44:00 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 353 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson TRW Versus Inmarsat - Patent Wars in Outer Space (PATNEWS via M. Solomon) 4th Int'l. Conference on Spoken Language Processing '96 (Jim Polikoff) New Area Code Test Numbers (Phillip M. Dampier) Book Review: "Educator's Internet Companion" by Giagnocavo (Rob Slade) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily represent the views of Microsoft. ------------------------------------------------------------ Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 22 Aug 1995 13:37:45 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: TRW Versus Inmarsat - Patent Wars in Outer Space Reply-To: monty@roscom.COM Forwarded FYI to the Digest: Date: Sun, 20 Aug 1995 23:04:32 -0400 From: srctran@world.std.com (Gregory Aharonian) To: patents@world.std.com Subject: PATNEWS: TRW versus Inmarsat - patent wars in outer space One of the reasons that the professional IP community has been so apathetic to the problem of software prior art is that for the big boys, software patent lawsuits are more of a nuisance than anything else (and even then, when you lose you often can win, if you look at Microsoft's final arrangements with Stac and Wang). As big as a million dollars maybe to the rest of us, in some circles it isn't that much. A billion dollars, well that's big bucks to pretty much everyone, including two outer space companies, TRW and Inmarsat, amounts currently at stake over a patent with a very curious history for which the fat lady has yet to sing. It's hard to be apathetic to billion dollar actions. Last May, I had sent an IPNS news item on a patent TRW was seeking dealing with satellite configurations in medium Earth orbit, based on an article I had seen in the London Financial Times. TRW had been suggesting in the space community that it's patent was broad enough to prohibit anyone else from using medium Earth orbit's for satellite systems. While not many of us are trying to do so, one other company was doing so, Inmarsat. Both TRW and Inmarsat are spending billions to establish satellite telephone constellations, big stakes. Coincidently, the day after I sent out that news item, the patent issued, kind of. The "kind of" was that for awhile that day the patent was prepared to be issued, and made it to the PTO's patent text database long enough for me to download the text and mail it out as a news item, only for the patent to be retracted by the Patent Office and therefore never formally issued (TRW claimed to know of only two other such instances in the past 100 years). The action puzzled many. "All I can say is that the Patent Office told us they wanted more time to review their internal quality control methods", one TRW spokesman said. "We had expected to receive the patent certificates on May 16, as scheduled. It was not until that date that we were told otherwise". I quess that it is rare that a patent gets this far before being pulled. "It is our responsibility to not knowingly issue an invalid claim", said Stephen Kunin, the Patent Office's deputy assistant commissioner for patent policy and projects. "If, on internal review, it comes to our attention that we may have a claim that should not go out, and we have strong evidence that this is the case, we try to prevent it from going out. TRW will most certainly be given an opportunity to get the case ship shape. They may end up with the claims they thought they would get. From our standpoint of administering the law, we want to be sure we have done the job we are paid to do", Kunin said. I suspect Inmarsat must have some good lobbyists and pulled a few strings [The timing of the above events, with the patent temporarily issuing, is in conflict with the timing of an internal review catching the patent in time]. As it should, and should be able to, given that Inmarsat is investing $2.6 billion in its satellite telephone constellation system that will compete with TRW's Odyssey. As TRW was claiming that their patents would stop Inmarsat from deploying its satellites, Inmarsat must have done something to get the PTO to reconsider (though Inmarsat denies doing anything), especially given skepticism many in the space industry have about satellite orbit patents in general. Earlier in the year, TRW had said it would sue Inmarsat once the patents issued. TRW was notified in April that their patents were to be awarded, and due to TRW press releases, the PTO had been repeatedly contacted by members of the space industry to find out what was up. As Olof Lundberg, CEO of the Inmarsat project stated, "We have always been of the view that the concept of using intermediate circular orbits in connection with global mobile satellite communications has been known for decades and that any patent obtained by TRW for this general concept would be of questionable validity". The rivalry between the two companies is intense. Last June, TRW petitioned the Federal Communications Commission to deny the application of Comsat Corp. for authority to participate in the purchase of facilities of Inmarsat-P, the proposed private off-shot of Inmarsat. Comsat is the US signatory to Intelsat. Last month, TRW was awarded one patent, 5,433,726. Interestingly, the issued patent had 35 claims, while the original version that was reconsidered had 51 claims. TRW shortly thereafter warned Inmarsat that it could be infringing TRW's patent. According to Bruce Gerding, TRW vice president and managing director of the company's Odyssey program, "The broad scope of its coverage poses a major concern for any aspiring imitators in the field of space-based personal communications systems. We believe that any imitator would have difficulty in launching a commercially viable medium Earth orbit system without infringing our patent". Inmarsat's Lundberg countered, "We are certainly not in the business of infringing other people's patents. We cannot believe that any patent office would issue patents that are so broad that they cover orbits and the general ability to communicate through satellites. Our detailed system design is quite different from our competitor's." According to industry analysts, TRW has the fewest partners and the least capital and is least likely to get its system off the ground, and suspect TRW will use the patent offensively to buy time and raise more resources. (Other than Inmarsat, TRW also is competing with two low Earth orbit ventures which all will be targeting the personal communication systems market). Here are some of the details of the patent: 5433726 Medium-earth-altitude satellite-based cellular telecommunications system ABSTRACT A satellite-based cellular telecommunications system employing a constellation of telecommunications satellites in medium earth orbit to provide multibeam radio frequency (rf) communications links for worldwide cellular telephone service with a minimum number of satellites. The telecommunications satellites are placed in a plurality of inclined orbits about the earth at an altitude of between approximately 5600 and 10,000 nautical miles. The characteristics of the orbits, such as the number of orbits, the inclination of each orbit, the number of satellites in each orbit and the altitude of the satellites, are tailored to maximize the coverage area of the satellites and their related line-of-sight elevation angles, while minimizing propagation time delays, the number of beam-to-beam and satellite-to-satellite handovers, and the total number of satellites. The present invention also includes several additional features which essentially eliminate beam-to-beam and satellite-to-satellite handovers, thus dramatically reducing the likelihood of dropouts. between the plug and the anchor to prevent the plug from entering the opening in the vessel. CLAIM ONE A method of providing medium-earth-orbit satellite-based communications between low-power mobile handsets having an omni-directional antenna and a gateway station through a satellite forming part of a satellite constellation, comprising the steps of: launching a plurality of satellites to an orbiting altitude between 5600 and 10,000 nautical miles, wherein at least one satellite has a reduced antenna field of view (FOV) less than full earth coverage; orienting said satellites in a plurality of orbital planes which are inclined at a predetermined inclination angle with respect to the equatorial plane of the earth; receiving, by at least one of said satellites, radio frequency (RF) signals from a plurality of mobile handsets which transmit said RF signals using their omni-directional antennas; and overlapping a portion of a coverage region of a departing satellite with a portion of a coverage region of an arriving satellite, including assignment means having a predetermined criterion of assignment that calls placed to or from a user located within the coverage overlap region are assigned to said arriving satellite. Interestingly, the prior art cited includes 59 US patents, 8 foreign patents, and 36 literature references, which is a pretty good amount compared to most other patents, though no NASA or DoD technical reports were cited. I am curious to see what prior art will be dug up if the patent is ever challenged. In the end, all of this will end up in the courts. Stay tuned, the fireworks should be great. As a bit of advice to the PTO, there is a pending biotech patent that will cause a global morality outroar when it is issues. I suggest you crank up the internal reviews, and save yourself a massive headache. Greg Aharonian Internet Patent News Service P.O. Box 404, Belmont, MA, 02178 617-489-3727, patents@world.std.com (for info on free subscription, send 'help' to patents@world.std.com ) (for prior art search services info, send 'prior' to patents@world.std.com ) (for WWW patent searching, try http://sunsite.unc.edu/patents/intropat.html ) ------------------------------ From: polikoff@castle.asel.udel.edu (Jim Polikoff) Subject: 4th Int'l. Conference on Spoken Language Processing '96 Date: 22 Aug 1995 10:59:16 -0400 Organization: AI duPont Institute Fourth International Conference on Spoken Language Processing October 3-6, 1996 Wyndham Franklin Plaza Hotel Philadelphia, PA, USA __________ICSLP 96 Organizers___________ H. Timothy Bunnell, Chair Richard A. Foulds, Vice-Chair Applied Science & Engineering Laboratories Wilmington, DE, USA ICSLP unites researchers, developers, and clinicians for an exchange on a wide variety of topics related to the spoken language processing of humans and machines. Conference presentations range from basic acoustic phonetic research to clinically oriented speech training devices to speech-based natural language interfaces for man-machine interaction. ICSLP 96 will feature technical sessions of both oral and poster format, plenary talks, commercial exhibits, and daily special sessions. In addition, satellite workshops will be held in conjunction with the conference in the areas of interactive voice technology, spoken dialogue, speech databases and speech I/O, and gestures and speech. A new emphasis for ICSLP 96 will be on the clinical applications of speech technology, including the use of speech technology based applications for persons with disabilities. _________________________Conference Update_________________________8/10/95 Dates to Note: January 15, 1996 - Paper abstracts due for review March 15, 1996 - Acceptance notification May 1, 1996 - Deadline for papers (camera-ready, 4 pages) Prospective authors are invited to submit papers relevant to spoken language processing in any of the conference Technical Areas. Abstracts of proposed papers must be received by the ICSLP 96 Organizing Committee no later than January 15, 1996. Papers will be selected by the ICSLP 96 Technical Program Committee and assigned for presentation in poster or oral format. English is the working language for the conference. Submission of an abstract implies a commitment to submit a four page, camera-ready version of the paper and to present the paper in either an oral or poster session if the abstract is accepted. Participants will be expected to pay their own registration fees, travel, and accommodations for ICSLP 96. _____________________Submission of Abstracts____________________________ Abstracts must be received by the ICSLP 96 Organizing Committee no later than January 15, 1996. Abstracts may be submitted either by post or by e-mail following these guidelines: + One page, 400 word maximum + Technical Area(s) indicated in order of preference using the codes (A - X) below. + Title of the proposed paper clearly indicated + Preference for paper or poster clearly indicated + If sent by post, submit four (4) copies of the abstract + If sent by e-mail, use plain text (ASCII) format only Each abstract must also include the following contact information: + Author name(s)* + Postal mailing address + Phone number + Fax number + E-mail address E-mailed abstracts will be acknowledged by e-mail within 48 hours of submission. If you do not receive e-mail confirmation, we have not received your abstract! Please check the e-mail address and resubmit. Please do not e-mail multiple copies for any other reason. *Please be sure that the primary contact person is noted if it is someone other than the First Author. Mail or send abstracts to: ICSLP 96 Applied Science & Engineering Laboratories A.I. duPont Institute P.O. Box 269 Wilmington, DE 19899 E-mail: ICSLP-abstract@asel.udel.edu ________________________Technical Areas___________________________________ A. Production of spoken language B. Perception of spoken language C. Robust speech modeling and speech enhancement D. Speech coding and transmission E. Automatic speech recognition F. Spoken language processing for special populations G. Phonetics and phonology H. Spoken discourse analysis/synthesis I. Synthesis of spoken language J. Applications for people with speech/language/hearing disorders K. Databases and standards for speech technology L. Prosody of spoken language M. Speech analysis and parameterization N. Spoken language acquisition/learning O. Integrating spoken language and natural language processing P. Hardware for speech processing Q. Neural networks and stochastic modeling of spoken language R. Dialects and speaking styles S. Instructional technology for spoken language T. Speaker/language identification and verification U. Human factors and assessment in spoken language applications V. Spoken language dialogue and conversation W. Gesture and Multimodal Spoken Language Processing X. Other ________________________Satellite Workshops___________________________ The following Satellite Workshops will be held immediately before or after the ICSLP 96 conference. 1. IVTTA - The 3rd IEEE workshop on Interactive Voice Technology for Telecommunications Applications (IVTTA) will be held at the AT&T Learning Center, Basking Ridge, New Jersey, from September 30 - October 1, 1996. The IVTTA workshop brings together applications researchers planning to conduct or who have recently conducted field trials of new applications of speech technologies. Due to workshop facility constraints, attendance will be limited primarily to contributors. For further information about the workshop, contact: Dr. Murray Spiegel Bellcore 445 South Street Morristown, NJ, USA e-mail: spiegel@bellcore.com Phone: 1-201-829-4519; Fax: 1-201-829-5963 Submit abstracts (400 words, maximum 1 page) before April 1, 1996 to: Dr. David Roe IEEE IVTTA `96 AT&T Bell Laboratories, Room 2D-533 Murray Hill, NJ 07974 e-mail: roe@hogpb.att.com Phone: 908 582-2548; Fax: 908 582-3306 2. ISSD-96 The 1996 International Symposium on Spoken Dialogue (ISSD-96) will be held on October 2 and 3 at the venue of ICSLP 96. It is intended to be a forum of interdisciplinary exchange between researchers working on spoken dialogues from various points of view. The first day is devoted to invited lectures followed by sessions of both invited and contributed papers, which will be continued on the second day as special sessions of ICSLP 96. Papers submitted to ICSLP 96 (Technical Areas H,L,O,U,&V) may be selected for presentation at the symposium. For further information about the symposium, contact: Prof. Hiroya Fujisaki, Chairman, ISSD-96 Dept. of Applied Electronics Science University of Tokyo 2641 Yamazaki, Noda, 278 Japan e-mail: fujisaki@te.noda.sut.ad.jp Phone: +81-471-23-4327; Fax: +81-471-22-9195 3. COCOSDA Workshop 96 COCOSDA Workshop 96 will be held on Monday, October 7 at the Wyndham Franklin Plaza Hotel. The International Coordinating Committee on Speech Databases and Speech I/O Systems Assessment (COCOSDA) has been established to promote international cooperation in the fundamental areas of Spoken Language Engineering. Previous meetings have taken place in Banff 1992, Berlin 1993, Yokohama 1994 and Madrid 1995. Program and registration information for COCOSDA 96 will be forthcoming in later announcements. For more information about COCOSDA, consult the Web Page at http://www.itl.atr.co.jp/cocosda. 4. Workshop on Gesture and Speech The Applied Science and Engineering Laboratories of the University of Delaware will host a Workshop on Multimodal use of Gesture and Speech October 7 - 8, 1996. This Workshop will consider the integration of gesture and spoken language in intelligent human/computer interfaces, in advanced assisitve technology for individuals with disabilities, in telemanipulation and robotics systems, and in human conversation. Gestures including hand postures, dynamic arm movements, facial expression, and eye gaze will be considered along with more traditional lip shapes and handwriting movements. For further information, contact: Dr. Lynn Messing A. I. duPont Institute P.O. Box 269 Wilmington, DE 19899 e-mail: messing@asel.udel.edu Phone: +1 302 651 6830; Fax: +1-302-651-6895 _____________Sponsoring and Cooperating Organizations_________________ The Acoustical Society of America American Speech and Hearing Association (Pending) The Acoustical Society of Japan Canadian Acoustical Association European Speech Communication Association IEEE Signal Processing Society International Phonetic Association Others - contact ICSLP 96. ______________For more information, contact____________________________ ICSLP 96 Applied Science & Engineering Laboratories A.I. duPont Institute P.O. Box 269 Wilmington, DE 19899 Phone: +1 302 651 6830 TDD: +1 302 651 6834 Fax: +1 302 651 6895 Email: ICSLP96@asel.udel.edu WWW: http://www.asel.udel.edu/speech/icslp.html FTP: zeppo.asel.udel.edu:pub/ICSLP A two-page PostScript format copy of the most recent Conference Announcement and Call for Papers can also be obtained by anonyomus ftp. Connect to host zeppo.asel.udel.edu, cd to directory pub/ICSLP96, and get call.ps.Z in binary mode. The file must be uncompressed with a unix compatable uncompress program before being printed. This plain text version of the announcement is located in the same directory as file call.txt _______________________International Advisory Board_______________ Hiroya Fujisaki Science University of Tokyo Tokyo, Japan Jens Blauert John Ohala Ruhr-Universitat Bochum University of California Bochum, Germany Berkeley, CA, USA Anne Cutler Lawrence Rabiner Max Planck Institute for AT&T Bell Labs Psycholinguistics Murray Hill, NJ, USA Nijmegen, The Netherlands Gunnar Fant Katsuhiko Shirai Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) Waseda University Stockholm, Sweden Tokyo, Japan John Laver Kenneth Stevens Humanities Research Board of Massachusetts Institute the British Academy of Technology Edinburgh, Scotland Cambridge, MA, USA Joseph Mariani Yoh'ichi Tohkura LIMSI-CNRS ATR Human Information Orsay, France Processing Research Lab Kyoto, Japan J. Bruce Millar Victor Zue Australian National University Massachusetts Institute Canberra, Australia of Technology Cambridge, MA, USA ------------------------------ From: philjohn@eznet.net Date: Tue, 22 Aug 1995 13:50:51 -0400 Subject: New Area Code Test Numbers US West issued a press release on August 17th that included supposedly "toll-free" test numbers for reaching new area codes. These are generally used by people who are concerned whether their PBX's have been updated sufficiently to allow calls to new area codes. I can't be certain these are toll-free, but calling them gets you what sounds like a standard intercept. State Old AC New AC Test Number ======================================================================= Alabama 205 334 (334) 223-0600 Arizona 602 520 (520) 782-0100 Colorado 303 970 (970) 241-0022 Georgia 404 770 (770) 666-9999 Oregon 503 541 (541) 334-0057 or 276-0192 (*) Texas 713 281 (281) 792-8378 Washington 206 360 (360) 532-0023 or 576-0023 (*) - Effective November 5, 1995 Phillip M. Dampier + Fidonet: 1:2613/225 3176 Elmwood Avenue + E-Mail: philjohn@eznet.net Rochester, New York 14618-2096 + Faxes: +1 716 461 3169 ** PhilJohn Home Page: http://roch0.eznet.net/~philjohn ** ** Rochester Free-Net: http://www.vivanet.com/freenet ** ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Aug 1995 14:49:31 EST From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "Educator's Internet Companion" by Giagnocavo BKEDINCM.RVW 950529 %A Gregory Giagnocavo jgg@wentworth.com %A Tim McLain %A Vince DiStefano %A Chris Noonan Sturm cnsturm@wentworth.com %C 1866 Colonial Village Lane, PO Box 10488, Landcaster, PA 17605-0488 %D 1995 %G 0-932577-10-5 %I Wentworth Worldwide Media, Inc. %O U$39.99/C$53.99 800-638-1639 fax 717-393-5752 connect@wentworth.com %P 271 %T "Educator's Internet Companion" "Educator's Internet Companion", Gregory Giagnocavo, 1995, 0-932577-10-5, U$39.99/C$53.99 The video which accompanies this book (little more than an ad for Internet access -- and "Classroom Connect") states at one point that the Internet's educational resources are almost uncharted. This is true only in comparison to the overexposure that other topics get. "Educator's Internet Companion" is, too, almost a sampler of other Wentworth products. Still, it is worth consideration for some practical ideas and a quick, easy-to-follow resource guide. The lesson plans of chapter one are quite terse and provide more suggestions and sites than usable curriculum. Still, the thirty outlines do cover a range of topics and activities (albeit they rely heavily on Gopher, and World Wide Web). The idea of "guided" tours through menu-driven systems is odd, but the Internet can be daunting initially. The lists of Gopher, telnet, ftp, and WWW sites, as well as mailing lists and newsgroups, are brief, but to the point and easy to read. A discussion of funding sources is limited in specifics to the United States, but possibly extremely helpful there. A series of appendices cover, concisely, Internet concepts and tools, acceptable use policies, and the major commercial online services. Wentworth seems to be quite serious about the educational market, and their offerings are practical in both content and prices. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1995 BKEDINCM.RVW 950529. Distribution permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated publications. Rob Slade's book reviews are a regular feature in the Digest. Vancouver roberts@decus.ca | "If a train station Institute for Robert_Slade@sfu.ca | is where a train Research into rslade@cyberstore.ca | stops, what happens User Rob_Slade@mindlink.bc.ca | at a workstation?" Security Canada V7K 2G6 | Frederick Wheeler ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #353 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa29471; 23 Aug 95 2:46 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id UAA02271 for telecomlist-outbound; Tue, 22 Aug 1995 20:24:14 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id UAA02263; Tue, 22 Aug 1995 20:24:11 -0500 Date: Tue, 22 Aug 1995 20:24:11 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Message-Id: <199508230124.UAA02263@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #354 TELECOM Digest Tue, 22 Aug 95 20:24:00 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 354 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson IntegreTel/VRS Billing-Bulk Block Procedure (Joshua G. Fenton) Re: Integratel Customer Service (John Levine) WKP, Infotext, and Carrier Assignments (Van Heffner) Re: Allnet Tries to Hide Adult Services (Nathan Duehr) Re: Allnet Tries to Hide Adult Services (Darryl Kipps) Re: Allnet Tries to Hide Adult Services (bkron@netcom.com) Re: Allnet Tries to Hide Adult Services (David Devereaux-Weber) 2500 Set Schematics Wanted (Charles B. Robey) Re: Seven Digits Across NPA Lines (Linc Madison) Sending Telegrams via the World Wide Web (Nigel Allen) AT&T Credit For Cut Calls (Steven Lichter) Government Restricts Internet!! (John Bach) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily represent the views of Microsoft. ------------------------------------------------------------ Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Joshua G. Fenton Organization: Augustana College - Rock Island IL Date: Tue, 22 Aug 1995 07:03:21 CST Subject: IntegreTel/VRS Billing-Bulk Block Procedure Pat, The accounts payble administrator here has been working very hard to get through to IntegreTel, Inc. & VRS Billing Systems, Inc. to block numbers from our campus. After several weeks, she managed to get a decent rep who provided the following information via fax: (My paraphrasing, exact text is denoted by "") To block 10 numbers or less, call 1-800-BLOCKME (800-256-2563) [TELECOM Editor's Note: Really, 1-800-4-BLOCKME (800-425-6256, optional 3) See my note at the end of this file. PAT] Larger quantities of numbers, you can send an ASCII text file on diskette. The file must be a flag text file, not WordPerfect, Excel, etc. Each phone number should be on a separate line, 10 digit number, followed by carriage return. No dashes, commas, or blanks. "If numbers are within a range, please include the range in a cover letter". Enclose a cover letter with: company, organization, or institution name, address, contact person with phone number in case of processing errors. Mail diskette to: IntegreTel/VRS Billing Systems, Inc. Consumer Relations Department PO Box 611987 San Jose CA 95161-1987 Questions should be directed to the 1-800-BLOCKME number. "Please note: This blocking services if free of charge and normally takes 10 working days to take effect. This blocking service takes advantage of modern blocking technology that should prohibit access to services, but is not 100% guaranteed and only effective for such services that are billed by VRS Billing Systems and/or IntegreTel." Hope all of you find this information helpful! Joshua Fenton ccjf@augustana.edu or joshuaf@sparc5.augustana.edu Joshua G. Fenton, Augustana College Computing Services Phone +1.309.794.7309, Fax +1.309.794.7431 639-38th Street, Rock Island IL 61201-2296 USA [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I tried it your way and got a sort of irritated lady who told me it was 4-BLOCK-ME **not** BLOCK-ME. So I redialed it as suggested and did indeed get through to an automatic service. I only have a couple of complaints about it and both are minor. Your ANI is delivered to them at the time you call, and if you indicate you wish to block your home number, they respond by blocking the ANI given to them without an opportunity to block *additional* residence numbers unless apparently you call them from each line involved, one at time. They offer the choice of blocking '800 callback services' as well as 'international services'. A third option is to block 'all services billed by Integratel/VRS'. They do offer a menu selection for blocking of business phones but I did not try that one. Perhaps it allows more than one entry per call. To repeat though, as the irritated lady told me -- after apparently receiving many such calls -- 'the number for those people is eight digits long': (1-800) 4BLOCK-ME, or 1-800-425-6256. What you do with the '3' on the end is up to you, I guess. Maybe this could be the start of something new in the USA: Eight digit numbers, with Integratel boldly providing the leadership and setting the example for other telco organizations -- even Bellcore! PAT] ------------------------------ From: johnl@iecc.com (John Levine) Subject: Re: Integratel Customer Service Date: Tue, 22 Aug 1995 04:11:25 GMT > me: "I can be charged for 800 number calls? I thought they were free." > Her: "You sure can - calls to psychic hotline, chat lines, others." > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: She was speaking a little shorthand in > the call and should have perhaps been more precise. There is no charge > to the caller for carriage of his traffic to an 800 number. ... I was under the distinct impression that IXCs were permitted to charge to an 800 caller's line only with a prior written agreement, under a recent FCC rule. We went around with this a while ago, with many people pointing out that often someone who was using a phone to call an 800 number had no authority to charge anything to that phone line. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It can be a 'verbal agreement' as well, or an 'agreement' that is implied by some single action on the part of the caller such as pressing a touchtone button. In fairness to the folks who run those services, bear in mind that many magazine and mail order purchases come with forms already addressed in your name with your only action required being to check a box entitled "YES ... send me a subscription and bill me later." Those have been upheld as legal, with the rule being that as long as the respondent is required to take 'some positive action in agreement with the proposal made by the seller' then the contract is enforceable. If you and I mutually agree that your pressing a button on the phone and causing the phone to make a noise that my computer understands to mean 'yes' will commence the sale or delivery of my goods or services to you, then I gotcha! Since voicemail and the pressing of buttons on phone to communicate requests and decisions is very common these days, one can hardly claim that the same principle, when used by Information Providers is somehow too unusual or different in nature. Check a box ... press a button ... etc. The other thing the IP's successfully claimed was that in 'regular telephone calls' the operator is allowed to accept your verbal approval to charge your number for a collect call. No prior written agreement is required when the operator asks, "I have a collect call will you accept the charges." Therefore, the IP's said it is an unfair advantage for telco to be able to work with verbal agreements on charges to telephone accounts but for us to be required to have written agreements." And in these times in which we live -- the era of post-divestiture and all -- the telco is required to deal with one and all at 'arms length' as they say. If Western Union, an entity separate and not associated with telco, is permitted to speak with you on the telephone and charge the cost of your transaction to your telephone bill based on your verbal statements, then other vendors similarly situated must be permitted to do so as well said one IP. You dial an 800 number to speak with the Western Union operator don't you? It never occurred to you that you were being 'charged for a call to an 800 number' when Western Union charges were placed on your phone bill, did it? Good ... now we understand one another. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Aug 1995 09:51:27 -0700 From: vantek@northcoast.com (VANTEK COMMUNICATIONS) Subject: WKP, Infotext, and Carrier Assignments I don't know of any way to identify 500 carrier assignments at the moment, but if you are looking for 800/900 number assignments there is a relatively quick (and cheap) way to do so. Infotext Magazine (the trade journal of the pay-per-call industry) sponsors a toll-free audiotext service called The Interactive Exchange. It contains some useful information, including: * 800 & 900 NXX CARRIER ASSIGNMENTS Let's you quickly access 800 and 900 NXX assignments. Just enter the 3-Digit NXX code. * WEEKLY NEWS Weekly news updates on the pay-per-call industry. * STATE INFORMATION Enter the two-letter state postal abbreviation to hear pay-per-call regulatory news for that state. A list of all area codes (including NANP) for that state is also given. * CARRIER INFORMATION Supposedly updated information on new carrier features. All I ever hear when using this feature is the carrier's address and phone number. Press 'A' for AT&T, 'M' for MCI, and 'S' for Sprint. THE INTERACTIVE EXCHANGE: 1-800-321-TEXT Like any voicemail-type IVR system, it seems to send you to the wrong places at times, and can be a bit confusing. The price is right though! You don't even have to pay for the phone call (and NO, it is not an 800 number that bills you back onto your phone bill). I would also highly recommend reading {Infotext Magazine}. It is really the only publication (left) that caters to the 'service bureau industry'. Just reading some of the ads from the service bureaus gives an interesting insight into what is going on in the industry. It is free to qualified subscribers. You can find subscription info at our FAQ File homepage below. P.S. FYI, I just looked at their latest issue, and guess who has the centerfold ad? WKP, Incorporated! Here is a little snippet of their ad: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: WKP is the audiotext industry's only full-service carrier serving domestic and international markets. WKP has emerged as the leader in the US market providing solutions for all forms of domestic and international dialing. WKP Offers: * All transport, switching, call processing and accounting. * Multiple dialing plans including: 10XXX, 011, 500, 800 and many alternative transport vehicles. * A choice of service bureaus that provide audiotext, live one-on-on (SIC), psychic, conference calling and many other live and recorded services. * Billing company choices that process call records at WKP tariffed/dominant carrier rates. * 800 billing on LEC Calling Card, Visa/Mastercard and Check Debit. * Comprehensive fraud control and caller screening. * Customized tag messaging. * No start-up fees, no number fees and no minimum volumes required. For more information (on WKP) please contact Brayton Johnson at 206-622-4187. WKP INCORPORATED 1200 Fifth Ave., #1206 Seattle, WA 98101 Tel: (800) 882-9215 (!) Fax: (206) 622-3708 ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: BTW, I have ABSOLUTELY NO association with Infotext or WKP whatsoever. I do find Infotext facinating reading though. Van Hefner Publisher Discount Long Distance Digest vantek@northcoast.com FAQ FILE HOMEPAGE http://www.webcom.com/~longdist/dldfaq.html ------------------------------ From: nduehr@rmii.com (Nathan Duehr) Subject: Re: Allnet Tries to Hide Adult Services Date: Tue, 22 Aug 1995 01:20:59 GMT Organization: Rocky Mountain Internet Inc. Reply-To: nduehr@rmii.com Michael Fumich <0003311835@mcimail.com> wrote: [Clipped a big story about how Michael called Allnet Long Distance and was trying to find out who is responsible for some phony 500 numbers that are sending calls overseas to "adult phone services" at horrendous rates. Allnet responded that they don't do that kind of business, and that their company practice is not to do so.] > The plot thickens!: > When I dial 10718-1-700-555-4141, the equal access test number, I find > that I have reached "The Equal Access Dialing" network. When I dial > 10718 +0 + # to reach an operator the call does not complete and gives me > Switch "WCCH2". > The exact same thing happens with 10509, assigned to International > Audiotext Network Inc. , also of Seattle WA. In fact, several PIC's > known to be used by Adult Service Providers gave me the recordings > described above. > The heart of the matter?: > "WCCH2" in fact indicates the call is being handled by WCT, Inc. a > long distance company located in San Luis Obispo CA. I was informed > that "Worldcall" was one of their brands. WCT is owned by Frontier > Communications International as is (surprise!) ALLNET. I probed > further (and higher up) and when I mentioned WKP? BOOM! "Who are YOU!" > "What do you REALLY want?" "No Comment!" etc., etc. etc. There is no secret here, Allnet and WCT were both purchased by Frontier Communications *very recently*. In fact, Allnet's shareholders just agreed to the merger Wednesday. Other companies purchased include ConferTech, American Sharecom, Schneider Communications, LinkUSA, and ETI. The only company expected to be operating under their old name after the merger is complete is LinkUSA. All of the other companies will become Frontier Communications. > My mother had a saying she was rather fond of ... "Oh what a tangled > web we weave, when we practice to deceive" . This is a very tangled > web indeed! I think you are looking in the wrong place. My guess would be that as these companies merge, their traffic will be handled on the "other" company's switches, etc. Allnet probably has no idea that they are carrying this traffic. Nathan Duehr, Technical Service Associate ConferTech International, Wholly Owned by ALC Communications (Allnet) The opinions above are my own, and not the opinions of ALC. I guess I'd better say that. ------------------------------ From: dkipps@globalcom.net (Darryl Kipps) Subject: Re: Allnet Tries to Hide Adult Services Date: 22 Aug 1995 05:07:50 GMT Organization: Shentel In article , 0003311835@mcimail.com is: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well readers, if your PBX is capable of > screening as far the prefix within an area code, you might want to Snip > also. And don't forget 900-999. That one is very bizarre and very > expensive. Pat ... are you referring to (900) 999-XXXX or (500) 900-XXXX thru 999-XXXX? > And I do not grouse about them because they do sex talk on the phone. > My complaint is that they moved out the tidy little box we had for > them known as 900/976 where phone system admins could be protected > against abuse, and began abusing 800 as well. I don't care what anyone > chats about on the phone or their computer as long as they pay their > own bills, and 900/976 along with billed number screening was one way > to assure that was pretty much done. PAT] AMEN! Darryl Kipps dkipps@globalcom.net CIS: 72623.456 Winchester, VA [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I was referring to 900-999. Those can really get raunchy, and quite expensive. I guess we can assume the adult phone services are like any other business in the 'community' which a large segment of the community finds distasteful. Consider the adult bookstore in your community: how many different times have petitions been passed and motions made at city council meetings to have them closed down or moved to a different location under the guise of zoning restrictions, etc. People say adult bookstores and prostitution should all be confined to a so-called 'red light district' and as to be expected, the people involved in those businesses fight such efforts to restrict them. You say they bring down the neighborhood and cause a lot of 'victimless crimes' to occur. There is no such thing as victimless crime (if some action has been codified as a crime, then by definition there are victims involved), but that is not the point I wish to make. It takes a major effort to remove nuisances of that sort if indeed there is any constitutional right to remove them at all. We sort of had it nicely controlled before with the equivilent of a 'red light district' in the 900/976 territory. But when business started to go to down because the assigned district was so out of the way and difficult to reach that most citizens did not go past there on a regular basis anyway, the merchants in that district decided they needed to expand. They moved out on Main Street once again with their wares in plain view, knowing full well that as the poet John Bunyan said, "what we say, and what we do, in real life are often two." So here they are once again on Main Street: Alexander Graham Bell Boulevard, with new and shiny storefronts in the 500 block, instead of their old location down in the 900 block where no one goes any longer except a few people who still know ways of getting around all the barricades the community put up down there. So *now* what do you propose to do people? Block 500's as well? PAT] ------------------------------ From: bkron@netcom.com (BUBEYE!) Subject: Re: Allnet Tries to Hide Adult Services Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Tue, 22 Aug 1995 08:11:20 GMT jensoft@blarg.com (Jensoft) writes: > Baylan Communications Inc > Vienna VA It's actually in Sterling, VA. > International Audiotext Network > Seattle WA > 206-286-5200 This one answers "Callback Services" with a voice-prompt menu offering to connect you with various departments. When you select "information about our services" and are routed to the "telesales" department, you get a live human being ... at 1 o'clock in the morning! > This last one isn't exact, but it's a likely culprit! > W K Enterprises Inc > Tacoma WA Hardly! They're a cabinet shop here in Washington state! ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Aug 1995 12:49:29 -0500 From: David Devereaux-Weber Subject: Re: Allnet Tries to Hide Adult Services Pat, I have reservations about distributing this information, but it may help someone who is attempting to investigate this company. Regarding WKP.COM: If you point your World Wide Web browser at http://www.wkp.com you get "Internet Strip Show". For $15(?) per day (charged to your VISA or Mastercard), you can watch "live strippers" over the Internet. David Devereaux-Weber, P.E. djdevere@facstaff.wisc.edu The University of Wisconsin - Madison Division of Information Technology Network Engineering (608)262-3584(voice) (608)265-5838(FAX) [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: How fascinating. I wonder if as a service to bored office workers sitting around at four in the afternoon waiting for five o'clock to come they also allow you to charge it to the phone number to which your modem is connected? That would sure get things in an uproar wouldn't it ... ... Speaking of c-sex, I am amazed at the large number of office workers and assorted bureaucrats with computers and modems at their disposal one will find on Compuserve CB in the middle of the afternoon. Check it out sometime. Login to the adult CB simulator some afternoon and see all the business executives, etc sitting on there, purportedly reading 'email' or working on the company's latest 'contract proposal' ... PAT] ------------------------------ From: chuckr@Glue.umd.edu (Charles B. Robey) Subject: 2500 Set Schematics Date: 22 Aug 1995 19:58:18 GMT Organization: Project GLUE, University of Maryland, College Park, MD I have a friend who has, squirreled away in his garage, a very old wood telephone, with the crank and all. I offered to get it working for him if he could find me an old 2500 set, to take the network from. He got it, but when I went looking for my old ITT maintenance manual, well, I couldn't find it. Does anyone have a schematic for a 2500 set, so I can figure how do the wiring involved with this? If this is in computer form, could you mail it to me? I don't work in telecom any more, but I know what to do with it. Chuck Robey chuckr@eng.umd.edu 9120 Edmonston Ct #302 Greenbelt, MD 20770 (301) 220-2114 ------------------------------ From: lincmad@netcom.com (Linc Madison) Subject: Re: Seven Digits Across NPA Lines Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Tue, 22 Aug 1995 05:49:41 GMT James E. Bellaire (bellaire@tk.com) wrote: > Q. Why should NPAs be required to split rather than be overlaid? > A. They should not. NPA overlays have been in use for several years in > New York and California. This means 10 or 11 digit dialing for local > calls, with the old users being able to keep their numbers. Sometimes > 7 digit dialing is allowed IF the area code is the same. This is utterly false. There are no (zero) NPA overlays in California and there is only one that is in VERY limited use in New York. The 415/510 split was a split, not an overlay. The 213/818/310 and 714/619/909 splits were splits, not overlays. The 212/718/718 split (I list 718 twice because the Bronx initially kept 212 but later moved into 718) was a split, not an overlay. The 917 overlay on 212/718 is used only by a small number of cellular phones. In none of these cases were old users able to keep their numbers, except to the extent that the original plan for 917 was abandoned. (The plan was to force all cellular and beeper numbers into 917.) There is one planned NPA overlay coming to California, but the details are still in flux. I believe the first fully operational overlay in the U.S. will be Houston, Texas, ACs 713/281, and the people in Houston are NOT happy about it, either. In California, all calls to a different NPA, whether local or toll, must be dialed as 11 digits. All calls within a given NPA, whether local or toll, may be dialed as 7 digits. Thus, from my home in San Francisco, a local call to Oakland is 11 digits but a toll call to Palo Alto is 7. Linc Madison * San Francisco, California * LincMad@Netcom.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Aug 1995 07:47:29 -0400 From: ndallen@io.org (Nigel Allen) Subject: Sending Telegrams via the World Wide Web Unitel Communications Inc. now allows users to file telegrams using the World Wide Web. If your Web browser supports forms, go to http://www.alliance9000.com/E/10/ORDER.HTML to send your telegram. For more information, see http://www.alliance9000.com/E/10/10.HTML I realize that the telegram is now largely obsolete, but it's interesting seeing Unitel do this. It's quite a change from walking down to CNCP's Halifax telegraph office late at night eighteen or nineteen years ago to have stories from the student newspaper at Dalhousie University sent as press-rate telegrams to the telex machine in Ottawa of Canadian University Press, the co-operative news agency of student newspapers. Nigel Allen (formerly of The Dalhousie Gazette) 52 Manchester Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M6G 1V3, Canada Internet: ndallen@io.org http://www.io.org/~ndallen Telephone: (416) 535-8916 ------------------------------ From: slichte@cello.gina.calstate.edu (Steven Lichter) Subject: AT&T Credit For Cut Calls Date: 22 Aug 1995 10:51:22 -0700 Organization: GINA and CORE+ Services of The California State University It seems that AT&T now has a new policy on giving you credit for calls of one minute. My BBS calls its Hub during the night to get its mail and newsgroups. At times for one reason or another the call will get cut off; maybe because of something in the network or noise or god knows what; remember it is a modem and not voice. Up until this month when I called to get the credit; most times it is just a few cents and never amounts to much, but money is money when you run a BBS and don't charge. Now they will not give you credit unless there is another call right after the bad one. Well this last month was a real bad one and in one case my system tried 14 times right in a row and never got connected; other times it was just a time or two and then maybe did not get connected because the other end got busy or did not answer. I took my complaint through the system and yesterday got a call from the Ofice of The Chairman of AT&T, who said that a credit would be issued for a grand total of $4.95 with tax. It seems that the manager with AT&T at a lower level was willing to lose a customer for such a be issued for a grand total of $4.95 with tax. It seems that the manager with AT&T at a lower level was willing to lose a customer for such a small amount because of their so called new policy. They would have lost both my phones as well as my wats line, which is a lot more. This person told me that they could not say that they would issue a credit each month this happens, but if it is just a couple of times I never even bother. The reason behind this policy is they can't be sure if it is their equipment, local equipment or the subscriber's equipment on either end and besides the phone circuts are made for voice. Right on all of the above, but I never got anything for the call since I was cut off, and the newer modems are made to work over the voice network just fine as is proved by my 95% trouble free operation. I also pointed out that the modems we are using are made by AT&T Paredyne, so maybe there is a problem with them. Also AT&T now has Internet access and they will have the same problems we all have. He agreed that this is an ongoing problem that they will live with, this was not the chairman and I don't think he will even hear about it, but should this occur again I will move my service as with the small users the costs are almost all the same, I have checked. The above are my ideas and have nothing to do with whoever my employer is. SysOp Apple Elite II and OggNet Hub (909)359-5338 2400/14.4 24 hours, Home of GBBS/LLUCE Support for the Apple II. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: They were not 'willing to lose your business over $4.95', they were willing to lose your business because you nickle and dime them to death month after month over credit for stuff that in all likely- hood is *not* their fault. People seem to feel that whenever there is a problem with a phone call the phone company is automatically at fault and should be required to absorb the loss. I disagree. AT&T and the local telcos are usually more than generous about making allowances when there is any question at all about who is at fault. The local telcos routinely write off small amounts as a courtesy to the IXC's rather than charge them back for investigation and the IXC's do the same for the local telcos. Rarely is it worth the time to investigate *where* the fault occured in a telephone connection. Both the IXC's and the local telcos also write off a lot of charges due to just plain customer stupidity and stubborness also; it costs less than it does to have to respond to a commission complaint filed by a subscriber who read some consumer journal and knows his rights by God! and wants his money back. Everyone knows that the human ear is far less sensitive to noise on the line than a modem, and that the human brain can make sense out of things a modem would be completely confused by. Telephones come with receivers which are placed against your ear, not with modem connections. That over simplfies it a little, but I have seen idiots ask for credit on the dumbest things. A few years ago a lady goes to a payphone and dials my *modem* number in error. Or rather, she dialed it correctly because her basic premise -- the number she thought she wanted -- was incorrect. She stands there at the payphone and makes five calls in a row to my modem, then has the unmitigated gall to call up repair service and report my number out of order 'because there are just loud noises on the line when I call it.' The repair guy calls me on my other line to ask me if there is a problem. I told him there was not, and he tells me about this lady, and how after turning me in to repair then wants to know how to get back the money she lost in the payphone due to this 'phone company screwup' ... everything is the phone company's fault, you see. Ask the newspapers, ask any talking head on your television set. Area codes change on every street corner? Must be a plot by the phone company to turn more local calls into long distance ones. As we used to say in years past to CB'ers with poor quality radios, "Take it back to K-Mart or Radio Schlock and demand a refund. Tell 'em to give you back your welfare check for this month then go by a decent radio that doesn't sound like pooh!" Put in 1995 terms, check those modems and their settings. Look for loose connections on your own premises. Consult with other users of the same hub and see if they also have hassles like this every night during the National Mail Hour. Ask the sysop of your hub to relate his experiences. Once you have completely eliminated yourself and your hub as the source of this problem ... or at least 75 percent of it, *then* go to telco and get your refund for this month. Otherwise quit bothering them. And by the way, if you think AT&T is stingy with refunds due to customer goodwill, try one of the others you highly tout. See how soon they get a bellyful of your complaints also. PAT] ------------------------------ From: johnbach@net.ix.netcom.com (Restrict) Subject: Government Restricts Internet!! Date: Tue, 22 Aug 1995 21:40:36 GMT Organization: Netcom [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This one could be retitled as a "Last Laugh!", my periodic joke feature ... but then I realized the guy is serious. Read on ... PAT] SPEAK UP AMERICA -- MAKE YOUR VOTE COUNT Question: Should the United States Government interfere and put restrictions on the use of the Internet?? CALL: 1-900-945-5600 ext 163 and cast your vote. Cost: $1.98 per call (NOT per minute) Call Today Must be 18+/Touch Tones Only InfoService/Studio City, CA/213-993-3366 Results of this survey will be compiled and sent to members of the House and Senate. Thank you for casting your vote and for making your voice heard. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Isn't that precious! I wonder what he thinks 202-225-3121 is used for? I wonder if he has ever heard of whitehouse.gov or of the various representatives in Congress who have email addresses? *Why* -- pray tell -- would anyone with an Internet address who reads his message not simply send email to the proper people? Oh? You don't know what net addresses to use? That's okay, I have dozens of long winded messages in my queue here from the EFF/ACLU/CPSR and other groups who will be more than glad to tell you who you should be email bombing on a daily basis. Not only that, they know just what you should say when you write. When this guy wrote me, he cross-posted to about a hundred other groups on Noisenet. I suspect when the software saw me in there (moderated) it probably jinxed his message from reaching all the other groups. At the same time as the above arrived, I got another one touting a 900 'dateline' service, where if I so choose, I may meet the man of my dreams. He wanted that one printed also, to the same hundred or so noisegroups. Perhaps as a courtesy, I should carefully remove my name out of the newsgroups line, and feed the whole thing back into the stream again so that others may be as amused as I was by this fellow. So you see, it isn't just AOL that comes up with rather incredible people sending out messages. Obviously netcom has a few stashed away also. As I said, a last laugh for today ... but not a very funny one. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #354 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa29255; 23 Aug 95 2:37 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id UAA02816 for telecomlist-outbound; Tue, 22 Aug 1995 20:58:07 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id UAA02807; Tue, 22 Aug 1995 20:58:04 -0500 Date: Tue, 22 Aug 1995 20:58:04 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Message-Id: <199508230158.UAA02807@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #355 TELECOM Digest Tue, 22 Aug 95 20:58:00 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 355 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Bell Canada Calling Cards (Chris Gettings) Re: Door-to-Door Ethernet (Jon Mellott) Re: Some Questions on HR1555 (James E. Bellaire) Re: Bell Atlantic: A Scandal Ready to Blow Up in its Face (Erez Levav) Re: Bell Atlantic: A Scandal Ready to Blow Up in its Face (Thomas Lapp) Re: AT&T Business Practices (Mike King) Re: AT&T Business Practices (Bhaktha Keshavachar) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily represent the views of Microsoft. ------------------------------------------------------------ Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 21 Aug 1995 14:34:00 -0600 From: gettings@tcel.com (Chris Gettings) Subject: Re: Bell Canada Calling Cards > Unitel and Bell Canada are in competition. As a result, AT&T will > *not* 'validate' (check on and accept) Bell Canada calling cards! MCI > and Sprint will accept Bell Canada calling cards. This suprises me. I have an AGT Calling Card which *is* accepted by AT&T. I used it extensively this past week in Missouri, Colorado and Montana. AGT is the provincial phone company for Alberta, a member of Stentor, the Canadian phone cartel. Bell Canada is also a Stentor company. Bell Canada provides service in Ontario and Quebec. BC Tel is the Stentor in British Columbia, Manitoba Tel in Manitoba etc. MCI is allied with Stentor as a whole, not Bell Canada individually so if they were blocking Bell Canada cards it would seem that they would also block AGT and other Stentor cards. Are you sure AT&T blocks Bell Canada cards or were you just told this by someone at Bell? Stentor thrives on this kind of "dis-information" and other dirty tricks to try to keep their monopoly grip on Canada. Stentor is determined to thwart true competition despite laws providing for it and the regulators are frustrated and powerless against Stentor's financial muscle. Stentor has armies of lawyers and lobbyists to dilatory tactics and obfuscate the truth when responding to CRTC queries. Potential competitors are destroyed by Stentor's predatory pricing and unfair competition; and Stentor is too stupid, closed minded and anachronistic to realize that all the Bell Companies and AT&T have benefited from competition in the United States. Sales and profits are up and markets are expanding for the Bells in the States. Who suffers in Canada? Canadian individuals and businesses who can ill afford it considering the state of their economy. Chris Gettings N5589D BE-35H email: gettings@tcel.com http://canam.dgsys.com/cg/planes.html ------------------------------ From: jon@mu.ee.ufl.edu (Jon Mellott) Subject: Re: Door-to-Door Ethernet Date: 22 Aug 1995 01:42:32 GMT Organization: EE Dept at UF In article , Dan Cromer writes: > NIMLI (sp? - I've heard it said, not actually seen it written) is > offered in Gainesville, Florida, by Southern Bell/BellSouth. I think > that stands for something like "Native IP Mode LAN Interface", and is > a fiber(?) connection to the premise equipment, which then can either > be ethernet or token ring and offer full LAN speed connections. I > didn't pay too close attention to the specifics, since the original > pricing was ~$1200/month, though I think that price has perhaps been > cut in half to about $600/month over the last year or two, especially > since local Cox Cable was seriously discussing using set-top boxes to > do a similar thing with reserved 6mHz channels on the TV cable. The municipal utility company (Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU)) that currently handles (reasonably competently) electric, water, and gas is also beginning to participate in the telecom market. GRU is currently leasing access to its fiber network for implementation of MAN service. The most notable use of this network has been by Shands Hospital which is affiliated with the University. Due to physical plant constraints a lot of outpatient facilities have been distributed around Gainesville with the facilities linked via a MAN allowing the remote sites to have the same sort of bandwidth available within the primary facility. I recall a quote attributed to a city commissioner who said something to the effect that GRU would be providing local phone service throughout Gainesville. I find this idea to be a little unsettling: I doubt that the electric company (which has little or no experience in telecom) is going to be able to compete with the big boys. > [...] I wanted ISDN for my home and due to a "hairpin turn" > environment, whatever that is, I was offered a special assembly of > $130/month, not the $52/month in the tariff. Interesting. Gainesville seems to have one of the cheaper ISDN rates that I've seen: last year I was quoted $34/month for a residential BRI within 15,000 feet of the switch with no usage charges for local connections. Jon Mellott (jon@alpha.ee.ufl.edu) ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Aug 1995 16:40:33 -0500 From: bellaire@tk.com (James E. Bellaire) Subject: Re: Some Wuestions on HR1555 In TD347 ng@mprgate.mpr.ca (Steve Ng) wrote: > I am a newcomer to the telecom regulations (and the US legislative > procedures), please excuse for my novice questions: > What is the difference between HR1555 "The Telecommunications Act of > 1995" and s652 "Telecommunications Competition and Deregulation Act of > 1995"? The HR version was passed by the House of Representatives, the S version was passed by the Senate. These two bodies are seperate halves of our legislative branch. Once each decides independently what they want in a bill, sometimes each holding separate hearings, the two bills are sent to a conference committee made up of a few members of the House and a few members of the Senate. They decide what is the same in each bill and take the differences and try to decide which way to go. Once the conference committee decides how the unified bill will look it goes back to both the House and the Senate and must be passed by both in its final form. If passed it is sent on to the president, the leader of the Executive branch of our government, for him to sign into law. If President Clinton decides to veto the bill (he has threatened this) he sends it back for another possible vote in the House and Senate. If both the House and Senate each vote a 2/3rds majority in favor of the bill then they 'override' the veto and it becomes law. > When do you expect HR1555 and s652 be passed? will these become a law > (legislation) or a FCC regulation? (or what do we call them when they > are passed?) When the conference committee gets done with the bill it will be voted on again. I don't believe that they have even started looking at it yet. HR1555/S652 will become a law when it gets through the remaining steps. Reading through HR1555 shows that the law will require the FCC to set up regulations to enforce this law. If anyone does not agree that the FCC regulations are the same as the law they can go to court (the judicial system is the third branch of government). > Appearently, each State can introduce its own telecom regulations. I > have read some articles talking about the Public Service Commission > (from one of the State) has allowed a LEC to offer intraLATA services. > Is this correct? How is this related to HR1555 or s652? When HR1555 is > passed, what kind of impact will we see on LEC? allowing them to offer > interLATA services? (I guess the IXC can offer local access services if > HR1555 is passed, right?) The states have similar arrangements as the federal government. Each body as its own method of getting bills passed into laws requiring the PUC to write a conforming regulation. The federal government has authority over the state governments. The states cannot do anything that violates a federal law. Likewise the PUCs must form regulations within their state's law. If the federal law or conforming FCC regulation does not prohibit an activity and the state law does not prohibit the activity then the PUC can allow the activity. LEC intraLATA service was permitted (and is standard) since the breakup of the Bell system. Your LEC is the default carrier for all IntraLATA calls. Recently the IXCs have been asking people to use the 10xxx codes so that the IXC carrier carries the intraLATA calls. The LECs want to provide interLATA service. That is part of HR1555. The IXCs want to provide LEC service. Some PUCs have approved this based on certain loopholes in the federal law, FCC regulations, and their state laws. HR1555 will permit this kind of service, and force the old LECs to compete based on national rules instead of state rules. James E. Bellaire (JEB6) bellaire@tk.com Twin Kings Communications - Sturgis, MI ------------------------------ From: levav@yulara.fccc.edu (Erez Levav) Subject: Re: Bell Atlantic: A Scandal Ready to Blow up in its' Face Date: 22 Aug 1995 21:43:37 GMT Organization: Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA Reply-To: levav@yulara.rm.fccc.edu (Erez Levav) In article , Paul Robinson writes: > No, the problem lies with what happens to orders which are received by > the company and are either being performed internally or are being > scheduled for processing by a technician, or are otherwise not > finished. Since the issue is over cost, the "back office" processing > which is handled, allegedly by a contractor's employees, is not only > being done badly, in some cases *it isn't even being done at all*! > Both a Federal Government Employee in that agency's telecom section, > and a C&P Telephone Installer, who each work in two different states, > have both independently told me that when orders come into the back > office processing center, the clerks there more-or-less enter them > into the system, and there's really either no- or not-much quality > control. And there's simply not enough people to handle all the > orders that come in to enter them all in the same day without running > overtime, which they are of course, not going to do. So the employees > have a method of handling the excess orders that they can't get done > by the end of their shift. > ** They throw them in the wastebasket without even processing them! ** > That means that the order has been entered, the customer has probably > either been billed for the service or expects it to be changed, but > the order was never even done by the back-office clerks! > And *this* explains why sometimes I place an order for service and > don't get it done. It also explains why I've had orders that are done > incorrectly unless they were complicated; a simple order, the > back-office clerk just throws in the system any-old way, but a > complicated order probably requires that the clerk look up the coding > to process it. BA horror stories? Should we start a contest? Not that I dispute the above, but I have a fresh-from-the-press story that indicates that all is not well at the "front-office" either: Last week I ordered another line. I was told that since I do my own on-premises-wire maintainnence, I do *NOT* have to be there for the installation. When I came back from my client site the day installation was supposed to happen there was a note and phone message telling me that they could not install the line since I was not there. Hmm, interesting -- but expected. So, I called and was promised an early installation (the next morning between 8 - 10). When 10am passed without a show from our friend at BA, I called. I had to wait about 20 minutes to get through. Then I was informed that they do not have my new number as an install-item. Ok, so "we" trace the order by my current number. Found. Now I'm told that the person assigned is delayed at another job. Now I start to get annoyed. First, they promised to be within the time frame. Second, if they have a problem -- they can call, after all they are the *PHONE* co. I inform the lady on the other end that I'm waiting just for the installer, and that since I am paid by the hour I expect them to come ASAP. She promises me that the person will stop what he is doing and come to my place NOW. I wait. I wait. it is 11:15, no one is here. I call again -- using a different number to try and cut the on-hold time. That worked. I speak to another person (that still can't find the record of my new number ...) and when she finaly finds it I'm told that there was *NO ONE* assigned to the install, and it will not be done before 5pm. Now I'm angry -- real angry! I ask to talk to a supervisor. The super is all apologies, yes they screwed-up, yes there is a problem, what can they do to make me happy? Of course, I say come install the line *NOW*. Well, since it is after 11:30, and the union rules dictate a 12 - 1 lunch break, she can not promise me anything will be done until sometime after 1pm. By now I wasted 3 1/2 hours, so I figure I cut the losses, and try for the next day. She promisses me (1) my install will be the first one done the next day (right after 8am) (2) she will call to make sure it was done right. Next day: 8:50 - no one here. I call. As I'm being transferred, a knock on the doorr. It took an hour to get here? I can drive from center city Phila to Princeton NJ or past Wilmingtom DE in that time span. But, at least some one is here. The installer does what they usually do, and comes back after 30 minutes with the big news: he can not get a tone to any of the three free pairs I have. It seems the five pair I have goes somewhere, but not far enough (note that I have two pairs working fine). So this is a job for the cable crew. He tells me there was a cable-person around the corner, and he told him about the problem and it will be handled soon. I insist on a phone number where I can check on the status of the installation. As soon as he leaves I call. What number? We can't find it ... oh, that works order, no -- we do not have a cable crew assigned. The next available crew just started a job and we don't know when they will be over. Time now: 10:30 or so. I'm pissed. I tell them that this is not acceptable, and I demand someone to come *now*. OK, they say -- we will tell them to stop and come to your place. Good. I wait. I wait some more. An hour later -- no one here (do I sound like a broken record???). I call -- by the time I reach the supervisor, a knock on the door. The cable guy is here. Great!? Not quite. He tests the wires and informs me that they seem to be 180 and 100 feet long. That distance goes nowhere close to the junction box where they are supposed to terminate. So, for the next two 1/2 hours he tries to figure out where the cables goes. He can't. The microfiche says one thing, reality is not quite the same. By 1:30 he gives up. There is one possibility he can't check (cuz the people are not there) so he will ask the next crew to try that location. At this point I'm ready to kill. It is pretty clear that I'm not willing to just sit there and wait, and we agrees to a temp solution: he will extend the three pairs and leave the ends "exposed" outside, so the other team can test and look, etc. They will mark the "live" pair when it is done. Today is the day after -- needless to say, the supervisor did NOT call back. Also there was no sign that anyone was testing the pairs last night when I came back ... So, after this long saga, and almost a week after the order, there is no line and not even an idea when one will be there. I do have a question: does anyone know if there is a legal basis for me to bill the BA for the wasted time (the first day -- when they acknowledge that someone did lie to me and messed-up big time)? Thanks for listening, Erez Levav Fox Chase Cancer Center E_Levav@fccc.edu 7701 Burholme Avenue (215) 728-3160 Philadelphia, PA 19111 ATT: 0-700-2xpress 0-700-2101010 (FAX) ------------------------------ From: thomas@menno.com (Thomas Lapp) Subject: Re: Bell Atlantic: A Scandal Ready to Blow Up in its Face Date: Tue, 22 Aug 1995 08:19:36 EDT > ** They throw them in the wastebasket without even processing them! ** > That means that the order has been entered, the customer has probably > either been billed for the service or expects it to be changed, but > the order was never even done by the back-office clerks! On the other hand, this can result in benefits to the customer, so it isn't always the customer that loses. Example: When I switched LD carriers, the new one put in the order to switch from 222 to 333 on my line. The order was put in, and the business office duly noted the change, charged me the switching charge (which I'd already received a check from 333 to cover). But the switch program was never changed. So, 222 closed my account, 333 created one for me, and I continued to use 1+ LD dialing. The result: 222 kept getting charged for the calls, 333 had a zero balance, and I never saw the charges for calls made during that time, since I no longer had an account with 222. So, I won, 222 lost, and if there is a scam, I would think that 222 would want to expose it to keep from getting billed for closed accounts. I actually didn't consider it a scam: more like technical doesn't communicate very well with billing and so there are lots of discrepencies. It happens with any large company. In the end, a call to repair to explain the situation got everything corrected, since the tech could go in and look at the billing office record, see that a change SHOULD have been made, then go in and change the switch on the spot to match. tom internet: thomas@menno.com ------------------------------ From: mk@TFS.COM (Mike King) Subject: Re: AT&T Business Practices Date: Mon, 14 Aug 1995 15:32:21 PDT In TELECOM Digest, V15 #342, keshavac@enuxsa.eas.asu.edu (Bhaktha Keshavachar) wrote: > Last week a AT&T long distance rep called me at home and offered > me a deal (aka a sweet package) so that I switch to them. The deal [...] > Now this week I call them and they reply saying that they haven't > heard of such a deal! I thought it was rather funny. A rep called me one night and I wanted time to think about the package and compare what I'd pay (and the "rewards") against what I currently pay (and the rewards I get) using Sprint. I asked for a number to call back once I'd decided, and the rep gave me a number, but cautioned that the people at the inbound call center do not have the authority to offer the same deals as the reps at the outbound call center. Makes sense. My guess is the reps who originate the calls have a bigger list of enticements than the inbound call center. After all, if someone calls AT&T, then they must already be somewhat interested -- they're less likely to make a compulsive decision. Mike King * mk@tfs.com * Oakland, CA, USA * +1 510.645.3152 ------------------------------ From: KESHAVAC.SMTMHS@smtmhs.sharpwa.com (Bhaktha Keshavachar) Date: Mon, 14 Aug 1995 17:21:00 PST Subject: Re: AT&T Business Practices In TELECOM Digest, V15 #342, keshavac@enuxsa.eas.asu.edu (Bhaktha Keshavachar) wrote: > A rep called me one night and I wanted time to think about the package > and compare what I'd pay (and the "rewards") against what I currently > pay (and the rewards I get) using Sprint. I asked for a number to call > back once I'd decided, and the rep gave me a number, but cautioned that > the people at the inbound call center do not have the authority to > offer the same deals as the reps at the outbound call center. Hmm... interesting. > Makes sense. My guess is the reps who originate the calls have a > bigger list of enticements than the inbound call center. After all, if > someone calls AT&T, then they must already be somewhat > interested -- they're less likely to make a compulsive decision. True. But there should be a way to handle cases like what happened to me. Maybe the rep who offered me the deal could have made a entry in their data bases against my phone number, so that when I called back whoever received the call would know that. I was under the impression that AT&T service was better than the others (well ... I was a AT&T customer back in Arizona before moving to NorthWest) but now I would think twice before switching to AT&T (with or withour $100 !) Bhaktha ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #355 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa04079; 24 Aug 95 21:49 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id OAA09758 for telecomlist-outbound; Thu, 24 Aug 1995 14:04:13 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id OAA09744; Thu, 24 Aug 1995 14:04:09 -0500 Date: Thu, 24 Aug 1995 14:04:09 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Message-Id: <199508241904.OAA09744@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #356 TELECOM Digest Thu, 24 Aug 95 14:04:00 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 356 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Seven Digits Across NPA Lines, 1+ And All That (John Levine) Re: Seven Digits Across NPA Lines (Stan Schwartz) Re: Seven Digits Across NPA Lines (Al Varney) Re: Seven Digits Across NPA Lines (Matthew P. Downs) AT&T Moving Into Local Exchange Market (Neeraj Vora) International Plus North American Area Codes (Richard Shockey) Re: Bell Canada Calling Cards (Mark Williston) Wiltel: No More Caller ID? (B.J. Guillot) Snakes In The Net (was Allnet Tries to Hide....) (Michael Fumich) Reward for Private Line Information (Greg Nemec) New Twist in SJ Network (Steve Cogorno) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily represent the views of Microsoft. ------------------------------------------------------------ Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: johnl@iecc.com (John Levine) Subject: Re: Seven Digits Across NPA Lines, 1+ And All That Date: Thu, 24 Aug 1995 03:30:58 GMT > In *most* area where you may dial local across an NPA boundry you dial > 7D. 'The rule' in *most* rural areas is 'if it is local, it is 7D' > regardless of NPA. The exception is in *metropolitan* areas where you > dial 10D or 11D to cross NPAs. Don't you hate it when people think the entire world is just like their neighborhood? In NYNEX territory, you cannot dial any inter-NPA calls with seven digits. None, zero, zip. This is equally true in New York City as it is in Derby Line VT. It used to be the case that local calls across NPA borders such as 617->401 and 802->819 could be dialed with seven digits, but a year or so ago they changed the rules so now all inter-NPA calls are 11D, even free local calls. It seems to vary by operating company: in highly urban New Jersey, they've still managed to protect enough prefixes that all intra-state local calls can be dialed with 7 digits (11D also works) although with the continued growth in 201 and 908 it's hard to say how much longer that'll be the case. In the related area of whether 1+ means toll or means 11D, that's also a deeply religious issue where the religion varies from area to area. In New York, New Jersey, and California, toll dialing was never closely associated with 1+, so in those states you dial intra-NPA calls with 7D and inter-NPA calls with 11D, regardless of whether they're local or toll. But in New England they must have had more SxS exchanges since the PUCs in 5 out of 6 states mandated that all toll calls must be dialed with 11D. (In New Hampshire it's a customer option.) Local inter-NPA calls are dialed 11D as well, so 1+ means "toll, maybe". This leads to some rather silly situations, e.g. if you're in Boston, all but about 25 of the prefixes in 617 are considered local, so you have to remember a special rule for dialing Marblehead, Marshfield, Whitman and a few other places in 617 that are toll from Boston. This is particularly silly since Boston has a peculiar combination of rates so that the message rate charge for a 7D "local" call to Lexington can be considerably higher than for a "toll" call to Marblehead. Regards, John R. Levine, Trumansburg NY Primary perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies" and Information Superhighwayman wanna-be ------------------------------ From: Stan Schwartz Date: Wed, 23 Aug 1995 23:27:43 -0400 Subject: Re: Seven Digits Across NPA Lines Linc Madison wrote: > James E. Bellaire (bellaire@tk.com) wrote: >> Q. Why should NPAs be required to split rather than be overlaid? >> A. They should not. NPA overlays have been in use for several years in >> New York and California. This means 10 or 11 digit dialing for local >> calls, with the old users being able to keep their numbers. Sometimes >> 7 digit dialing is allowed IF the area code is the same. > This is utterly false. There are no (zero) NPA overlays in California > and there is only one that is in VERY limited use in New York. The > 415/510 split was a split, not an overlay. The 213/818/310 and > 714/619/909 splits were splits, not overlays. The 212/718/718 split > (I list 718 twice because the Bronx initially kept 212 but later moved > into 718) was a split, not an overlay. The 917 overlay on 212/718 is > used only by a small number of cellular phones. In none of these > cases were old users able to keep their numbers, except to the extent > that the original plan for 917 was abandoned. (The plan was to force > all cellular and beeper numbers into 917.) You'll have to define "small number of cellular phones". As far as cellular is concerned, last year CellOne NY/NJ forced all of its existing 212 customers to have their phones re-programmed for new 917 numbers (the customers did NOT get the same number in 917, as the plan is/was to combine all wireless services from 212 and 718 into 917). They told 718 customers that they would have to be reprogrammed sometime in the future. BAMS/NYNEX "asked" their customers to change earlier this year. As of Jan 1, 1994 (or maybe even earlier), new cellular customers were no longer assigned numbers in 212 or 718. The last I heard, there was talk about moving upper Manhattan land lines to either 917 or a new NPA within the next two years. The problem with moving landlines to 917 NOW is that a customer is not guaranteed the same number in the new NPA, since it has been in use for a few years. Stan ------------------------------ From: varney@ihgp4.ih.att.com (Al Varney) Subject: Re: Seven Digits Across NPA Lines Organization: AT&T Date: Wed, 23 Aug 1995 13:16:59 GMT In article , James E. Bellaire wrote: > I, bellaire@tk.com (James E. Bellaire) wrote: >>> Q. Why should users be forced to use area codes when dialing across NPA >>> boundries [sic]? >>> A. They are not. Suprised? In many rural areas users can dial across >>> NPA and state lines with 7 digits. The only time 10 or 11 digits are used >>> is in major metropolitan areas. > goudreau@dg-rtp.dg.com (Bob Goudreau) replied: >> This latter statement is certainly false. Inter-NPA 7D dialing is the >> exception, not the rule, even in rural areas. > In *most* area where you may dial local across an NPA boundry you dial > 7D. 'The rule' in *most* rural areas is 'if it is local, it is 7D' > regardless of NPA. The exception is in *metropolitan* areas where you > dial 10D or 11D to cross NPAs. In general, 'the rule' is not based on metropolitan vs. rural, but on a state-by-state LEC basis. For example, the "Indiana rule" is for Foreign NPA Local calls is '7D'. The "Illinois rule" is '1+10D'. > The only 1+ NPA requirement I have seen in all of Indiana is from East > Chicago, Hammond, and Whiting, Indiana who can call Calumet City, Illinois, > locally by dialing 1+708. I believe the "1 + NPA local" communities in Indiana are really served by Illinois Bell (or at least are part of the Chicago LATA). So they follow the "Illinois rule". > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It is quite interesting that you mention > the Hammond, Whiting and East Chicago area of northern Indiana in your > article. > A similar case existed in Antioch, Illinois and North Antioch, Wisconsin > where 312-395 could dial 414-396 as seven digits and vice-versa. This > did not however prevent the use of 396 elsewhere in northern Illinois; > the rule was that subscribers in Antioch had to dial 1+ to reach anywhere > in northern Illinois *other than their immediate local area*. North Antioch, while in Wisconsin, is served by the Antioch switch, is in Illinois Bell territory and part of the Chicago LATA. They do have to make 'Toll calls' using 1+708 to reach Blue Island, violating the usual Illinois rule of Home NPA Toll calls being '7D'. And they violate the Illinois rule for Foreign NPA Local calls by permitting '7D' to North Antioch. For all practical purposes, Illinois Bell treats North Antioch as part of the 708 NPA, except for taxes, PUC rules, etc. But for MOST purposes, cross-NPA local calls are dialed '1 + NPA' in Illinois, Alabama, Alaska (are there any such calls from Alaska?? To Canada, perhaps?), California, Michigan, Nevada, Ohio, Wisconsin and virtually all of the East Coast and the traditional Southern states (Texas excepted). Maryland, part of Virginia 703 NPA (DC area treated like Maryland)), DC itself, Missouri in the St. Louis area (314 NPA), Texas and all of Canada have cross-NPA local calls dialed as '10D'. The rest (most of the West minus Pac Bell/Nevada Bell, and the Plains states) uses '7D' for cross-NPA local calling. Or doesn't have such calling at all. Note that there are exceptions to the 1 + NPA and 10D rules in such states, usually when a Foreign NPA is served by a switch in another NPA. This happens a lot in Independent areas, which are typically 'rural'. Thus the observation that '7D' is a 'rural rule'. Al Varney [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: While Hammond, East Chicago, Whiting and Gary, Indiana *were* part of Illinois Bell in the past, they have been part of Indiana Bell for many years now. How they got to be part of Illinois Bell in the first place is an interesting bit of history. If you go back to the start of this century or before, John Rockefeller had his offices in Chicago, but his refinery in Whiting. William Gary had the offices of US Steel in Chicago, but the steel mill in a small company town named after himself on the shore of Lake Michigan just east of Whiting. As phones increased in popularity and usage and it got to the point that every company had to have at least one , Mssrs. Gary and Rockefeller both thought it would be a good idea to have this new form of rapid communication between their offices in Chicago and their respective plant and refinery superintendents. The Chicago Telephone Company (Illinois Bell's predecessor here prior to its purchase by AT&T in the early 1920's) was more than happy to oblige, and soon wires were strung all the way to the southern shore of Lake Michigan. Telephone directories for the period about 1900 show but one entry each for that area: the Whiting Refinery, ask operator for Whiting Toll Station 1; and the United States Steel Gary Works, ask operator for Gary Works. US Steel also had their 'South Chicago Works' running but it was served by the South Chicago exchange of CTC (which is perhaps why in much more recent years when they were still in business there their phone number was SOUth Chicago-2111.) The CTC was more than pleased to get phone lines installed all across the part of northern Indiana at the southern tip of Lake Michigan with the industrial barons largely footing the bill for the initial work. When AT&T bought CTC and put it into the 'Bell System' family of companies under the name 'Illinois Bell' the existing contracts and arrangements in place were simply kept intact. Earliest instance of 'reseller' that I can think of: when workers in Gary (the company town) inquired about getting telephones of their own -- those who could afford it since Mr. Gary was chintzy with wages and most of the 'salary' earned by the workers went back to US Steel to pay for rent and merchandise from the company store -- who do you suppose supplied it? The Turner Telephone Exchange ... a subsidiary of US Steel run by an executive of US Steel named, ummm .. Turner I think ... In the early 1920's the United States Supreme Court divested US Steel, just as happened to AT&T sixty years later. Part of the deal was they had to divest themselves of the Gary Municipal Corporation and anything to do with the town. CTC/Illinois Bell took over the phone service aspect of it. They all thought so highly of Mr. Turner that they retained his name for the exchange, not once mind you -- but six times as the (now indepen- dent) town of Gary, Indiana grew, prospered and required more and more telephone service; i.e. Turner-2, Turner-3, Turner-4, Turner-5, Turner-6 and Turner-7. The exchange split six times over the next forty or so years, with the subscribers asking the operator for five digit numbers of the form 2xxxx through 7xxxx. Gary 'went dial' in 1956 and it finally evolved to where it is today as 219-882 through 219-887. Things, you see, don't just happen by chance. There are reasons things are numbered the way they are as often as not, especially where the very, very old telephone prefixes are concerned. Then one day US Steel for all intents and purposes closed down its Chicago area operation, and Gary went belly-up. It, like the 'downtown' areas of Hammond, Whiting and East Chicago is now mostly just boarded up storefronts, and deserted streets. Another early 'reseller' of phone service was George Pullman. His company town by the same name was just south of Chicago, and along with rent and groceries which the workers bought at stores he operated in the town he owned, they could get phone service from him also if they could afford it. When he became 'enlightened' and decided to stick to making railroad sleeping cars and servicing them (when attached to railroad trains around the USA) he sold off the town of Pullman to the workers who incorporated with their own government. Eventually the town of Pullman was annexed into the City of Chicago whence it became the Chicago neighborhood known as Pullman as it is today. From the days when the Emperor owned everything in sight and had the telephone exchange named after himself comes our present day 312-785 or PULlman, named after the man who used to own it all. PAT] ------------------------------ From: mpd@adc.com (Matthew P. Downs) Subject: Re: Seven Digits Across NPA Lines Date: 23 Aug 1995 11:37:49 GMT Organization: ADC Telecommunications To sum it all up, people are not happy about area code splitting, nor are they happy about area code overlays. So damned if you do and damned if you don't. Just suck it up and go to 10 digits for every thing! Matt ------------------------------ From: NEERAJ VORA Subject: AT&T Moving Into Local Exchange Market Date: 23 Aug 95 11:12:05 EDT Organization: Univ of Miami IR There are reports that AT&T is all set to enter the local call arena and provide some fierce competition. According to Newsbytes reports they are ready to take a beating at first to gain ground in the market. What are the implications of this move? How is AT&T going to do it? Can we be looking at an era where we could get local, long distance, cellular, pager, PCS and even online services through the same provider? What about monopoly fears, you think the courts/DOJ/FCC will like this? Neeraj "Nick" Vora Programmer/Analyst Dept of Pathology Unversity of Miami NICKVORA@UMIAMI.IR.MIAMI.EDU [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: As long as there are 'several monopolies' to choose from, there should be no objection. There was quite a large article in the {Wall Street Journal} a couple days ago discussing this very same thing. According to WSJ, the 'secret plans' of AT&T call for a massive strike entry into the market early in 1996. I really suspect they must have gone back and studied closely how Ted Vail did business when he ran the company a century ago: move in, take such huge losses at first that you bankrupt all your competition in the process, then consolidate it all back into one large company. Ted Vail was like that, you know. When the patent on the telephone expired, and AT&T no longer could prevent other people from manufacturing them, that is when all the small independent telcos started appearing all over the USA. Vail would send his representatives into a small town with an independent telco to make an offer to buy the company. Some would sell out when the price was good enough but even then, back in the early part of this century, there was sufficient hostility to AT&T that many of the small telcos flatly refused to sell out. Outraged, they would tell anyone who wanted to listen that, 'we will never become part of the Bell ...'. They wanted to retain their independence. Vail's response would be, "then fine, don't sell. See how much value your service is to anyone when you can't interconnect with anyone else." He would pull the plug, literally, and refuse interconnection, leaving a small town telco with just whatever subscribers it had and nowhere to connect them except each other. Then he would start a competing telco in the very same town and of course, as part of the 'System' it would be interconnected with other 'Bell System' telcos. **Then he would give the service away to all new subscribers for six months or so ... whatever it took.** The day the independent was driven out of business by these tactics was the day the susbcribers to the new 'Bell System' company in that town had to start paying, and paying plenty to make up for the losses to date. What's interesting about this alleged plan by AT&T to 'take over' local service next year is that they already have several new switches in place largely sitting idle waiting for the day to arrive when they go in service and (according to the WSJ story) AT&T plans to do something quite ridiculous and offer their existing long distance customers 'local area service' for some very small amount of money; far less than what the BOCs are getting. Full custom calling features, the works. Interesting times. PAT] ------------------------------ From: rshockey@ix.netcom.com (Richard Shockey) Subject: International Plus North American Area Codes Date: Wed, 23 Aug 1995 23:36:57 GMT Organization: Nuntius Corporation Is there a site that has the current lists (Hopefully in Binary form) of all current and anticipated North American Area Codes as well as all International Dialing Country codes? Richard Shockey Nuntius Coropration 8045 Big Bend Blvd S.110 St. Louis, MO 63119 Voice 314.968.1009 FAX 314.968.3163 Internet rshockey@ix.netcom.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well Mr. Shockey, you might look at the Telecom Archives. Our list is as good as any these days with all the changes going on. Use anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. When connected, then 'cd telecom-archives'. If you do not have anonymous ftp at your site then use the Telecom Archives Email Information Service by sending email to 'tel-archives@lcs.mit.edu'. If you need the help file for using the email service, just send me a note asking for it. PAT]. ------------------------------ From: Mark Williston Subject: Re: Bell Canada Calling Cards Date: Thu, 24 Aug 95 07:40:18 CST Organization: Nova Scotia Technology Network Reply-To: On Mon, 21 Aug 1995 14:34:00 -0600, Chris Gettings wrote: > Stentor thrives on this kind of "dis-information" and other dirty > tricks to try to keep their monopoly grip on Canada. The Stentor group plays the same game the competition plays. And, what do you classify as dirty tricks? Pricing competetive? Thats the name of the game. "Squish the competition!" Like all other companies trying to make it in this world. > Stentor is determined to thwart true competition despite laws > providing for it and the regulators are frustrated and powerless > against Stentor's financial muscle. Stentor has armies of lawyers > and lobbyists to dilatory tactics and obfuscate the truth when > responding to CRTC queries. What the heck is real competition? We have a regulated competition here in Canada. The CRTC regulates the pricing of the Stentor telcos the same as they did when they were not in competition. If we want true competition, get rid of the CRTC. Anything the government touches here always goes to hell. This one will too! > Potential competitors are destroyed by Stentor's predatory > pricing and unfair competition; You mean Stentor's LD pricing is cheaper that the competition. That's not unfair, that's competition! > and Stentor is too stupid, closed minded and anachronistic to > realize that all the Bell Companies and AT&T have benefited from > competition in the United States. Sales and profits are up and > markets are expanding for the Bells in the States. Who suffers in > Canada? Canadian individuals and businesses who can ill afford it > considering the state of their economy. Until the local competition is implemented in a year or three, things are not going to be like the USA up here. After local goes, LD rates here will drop drastically. The Stentor group still has to up keep the local network. Policies of the past dictated that people out in the boon-docks 60 miles away deserved telephone service as did the city dwellers. Since LD traditionally helped upkeep this local network and LD rates now being lowered below this help point, one of two things have to happen. The Stentor group either drops out of local, which won't happen, or the local rates go up. (Way UP!) As this happens, local competition will start popping up because it becomes a viable business. (At this point, it's not.) Then, with local costs not digging into the funds anymore, LD prices go down as the competition comes in. ]\/[ark ]/\[illiston - Freelance Games & Graphics Programmer Author of: Two Bit Poker, Lucky Sevens & Ringing Bells. ------------------------------ From: bjg@bgfax.com (B.J. Guillot) Subject: Wiltel: No More Caller ID? Date: 23 Aug 1995 21:08:37 GMT Organization: Tranquility Base Reply-To: bjg90783@jetson.uh.edu (B.J. Guillot) Can anyone give me a yes-or-no answer on whether Wiltel has stopped passing Caller ID from one area to the next? I regularly call from Houston to Colorado. The Houston numbers are using a Wiltel reseller, and the Colorado number would always get my Houston telephone number on their Caller ID box. For the past month, the Colorado Caller ID box has been getting "OUT OF AREA" every time I call it. When I call my Wiltel reseller, they are clueless. So, I call the Wiltel operator (00#), and they give me some 800 number to call for more information. At this 800 number, they say they "can't tell me" the answer and that I will have to call my reseller to find out the answer. (Runaround). The funny thing is, when I first signed up with this reseller, I would ask "you transmit Caller ID" and I'd get "you betcha" from everybody. Now, everyone seems to have forgotten what Caller ID is. Caller ID was transmitted, and was very useful, but it's gone, and my reseller even raised by rates about two months ago. Argh! Regards, B.J. Guillot ... Houston, Texas USA ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Aug 95 16:05 EST From: Michael Fumich <0003311835@mcimail.com> Subject: Snakes In The Net (was Allnet Tries to Hide....) Yesterday I spoke with a high-level AT&T person who has put me on the right information track in the "500" number situation. He informed me of the following. Bellcore is the agency that handles prefix assignments for the 500 NPA. 500-200 & 500-938 are actually ASSIGNED to WKP Communications/ Long Distance. 500-738 is assigned to International Teleservices Ltd. of Los Angeles CA. Brian Cartmell of WKP made the application for the prefixes for both companies, so they may be related. My source indicated to me that there are certain guidelines to be followed with use of the 500 NPA by companies, among them, that they are not to be used by "Adult Services". He said he was aware of Mr. ("an old hand in that business") Cartmell and WKP. My source also stated they were aware of WKP's reputation but that they were assured by WKP that everything would fall within the guidelines. My source said he would forword those guidelines to me and I will post them here when received. He was very disturbed by my report. He stated if there was a FORMAL COMPLAINT and/or WKP was in violation of the guidelines, or they willfully misrepresented themselves in the application, THE PREFIXES CAN BE REVOKED!!! ;+) So, ALLNET/Frontier et al may NOT be directly aware after all of what is going on. Many times the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing, and my impression is this was so filtered that they truly did not know. They know NOW however :+), as the numerous calls from various VP's indicate. So "tentative" apologies to ALLNET. Pat, you are absolutely right in your analogy of the adult bookstore and the "red light" district. I am not concerned about the content of what they do, in fact I am a STRONG free speech advocate. But it really galls me that these people polluted the 800 "block", and now the "500" block of our neighborhood. You indicated in one response that you thought it would be a good public service of TELECOM Digest to expose these people. I AGREE!! I am willing to act as a clearing house for this information, post file's and "alert" lists to the archives, and to post findings and reports to this Digest. Interested? One further note, (if you would indulge me for a few more lines) the LAMEST phone call I received over the past few days was a d00d (sorry) from "Bank One", whom I have no business relationship with whatsoever. He said please call 800-939-3306 ext xxxx "it's important". WHY do you suppose this number gets a reorder from pay phones and only works from "regular" lines? WHY do you suppose there is no attendant, or live person available anywhere or at any extension? (I don't have any collection agencies after me.) Maybe that person will see this and leave a more detailed message on my Voice Mail. Pretty lame attempt to get a direct voice number (ANI) if you ask me. I wasn't born yesterday! Michael L. Fumich / E-Mail: <3311835@mcimail.com> / Phone: 708-461-5770 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Someone is looking for you apparently. You may have been placed with an agency and don't yet realize it. Remember folks, whenever you get a postcard or a call saying 'call this 800 number to extension xxx' it is very likely the person or company sending it is trying to get your phone number using ANI provided with 800 service. So take care. You might want to call it from some number other than your home. PAT] ------------------------------ From: gnemec@merle.acns.nwu.edu (Greg Nemec) Subject: Reward for Private Line Information Date: 23 Aug 1995 16:48:04 GMT Organization: Northwestern University, Evanston, IL. USA I'm working a study which compares the ordering and installation performance of major providers of communications services and I will pay a cash reward to qualified people who will participate in a 15-20 minute phone interview. If you have ordered the following within the past 60 or next 60 days: Interlata private line (DS0 - 56/64K, DS1/T1 - 1.544 Mbps, Fractional T1, or DS3 - 45 Mbps) or Frame Relay service from AT&T, MCI, Sprint, or WilTel (LDDS) and/or Intralata private line from Ameritech, Bell South, or PacTel Please e-mail your name and phone number to gnemec@merle.acns.nwu.edu. You can then be called for a quick phone interview. Thank you, Greg gnemec@merle.acns.nwu.edu ------------------------------ From: cogorno@netcom.com (Steve Cogorno) Subject: New Twist in SJ Network Date: Wed, 23 Aug 1995 08:54:23 -0700 (PDT) In yesterday's {Mercury}, there was another article about Pacific Bell's new network in San Jose. A San Jose woman refused to allow Pacific Bell to connect her house to the new network. She legally has this right, because Pacific Bell cannot install equipment more than ten feet from the property line. She said she is not interested in video or internet service: though she does own a computer she doesn't have a TV. Pacific Bell finally agreed not to hook up her home, but they also told her that she would lose her POTS service in a year or so when the copper network is abandoned. She said that was fine with her, because she doesn't want any part of the new technology. The CPUC said that Pacific Bell has agreed to not pass network costs on to customers through their basic service phone charges. The article also mentioned that since locla competition may be coming to California, another company may buy Pacific Bell's then obsolete copper network. Steve cogorno@netcom.com ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #356 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa09485; 25 Aug 95 6:45 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id WAA27141 for telecomlist-outbound; Thu, 24 Aug 1995 22:18:55 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id WAA27133; Thu, 24 Aug 1995 22:18:53 -0500 Date: Thu, 24 Aug 1995 22:18:53 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Message-Id: <199508250318.WAA27133@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #357 TELECOM Digest Thu, 24 Aug 95 22:18:00 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 357 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Allnet Tries to Hide Adult Services (Eric Bennett) Re: AT&T Credit For Cut Calls (Steven Lichter) Re: Wideband SATCOM Nets to Support WWW (Darren Alex Griffiths) Re: Seven Digits Across NPA Lines (Stan Schwartz) Re: Seven Digits Across NPA Lines (Leonard Erickson) Re: Seven Digits Across NPA Lines (Nevin Liber) Re: Seven Digits Across NPA Lines (Ralph Hyre) Re: PacBell's New Network (Steven Lichter) Re: PacBell's New Network (Steve Cogorno) Re: Questions on ISDX's (Mark Beresford) Re: Atlanta Automated 411 (pbxtalk@ccnet.com) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily represent the views of Microsoft. ------------------------------------------------------------ Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: bennett@hpel.umd.edu (Eric Bennett) Subject: Re: Allnet Tries to Hide Adult Services Date: 23 Aug 1995 05:30:03 GMT Organization: Horn Point Labs,Cambridge MD,USA In article , Darryl Kipps wrote: > In article is: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I was referring to 900-999. Those can > really get raunchy, and quite expensive. I guess we can assume the > adult phone services are like any other business in the 'community' > which a large segment of the community finds distasteful. This analogy is flawed, (unless I have misunderstood). People are not objecting to the existance of these services but to their billing practices. To extend your scenario, the adult bookstore sends the bill to me because whoever shopped there happened to get to main street via my driveway. It seems to me unfair to have a product the cost of which cannot be determined until the purchase is made. I think a mechanism should exist for dynamically charging calls. Imagine how long the teleslime would last if that $5/min popped up on a display before the call was connected. Obviously this would take a big investment for only marginal gain. Encoding the "Billing Class" by using certain number forms (900) is a fair trade-off. > So *now* what do you propose to do people? Block 500's as well? PAT] What other option is there? 500s are a billing lottery unless you trust who/what ever you are calling. Folks who can't get through to 500s being used as intended will come to my attention much sooner than people who are "only making a long distance call" to some landmine 500. Eric B. ------------------------------ From: slichte@cello.gina.calstate.edu (Steven Lichter) Subject: Re: AT&T Credit For Cut Calls Date: 23 Aug 1995 22:33:06 -0700 Organization: GINA and CORE+ Services of The California State University > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: They were not 'willing to lose your business > over $4.95', they were willing to lose your business because you nickle and > dime them to death month after month over credit for stuff that in all > likelyhood is *not* their fault. People seem to feel that whenever ... Right after I made the post I got a call from a tech at AT&T, they had opened a ticket since there had been several complaints over a number of months. It turned out that the Hub I call is right next to an Interstate and the noise is truckers running hight powered CB radios. They had been aware of it for years, but PacBell never took any action. They are putting a filter; if that will help, never did on my TV; to take care of the problem. By the way, I only called AT&T when there were a lot of them, not just a few, and it was not the money as I said it was always just under $5.00, but this was a real pain since it slowed the net down. The above are my ideas and have nothingg to do with whoever my employer is. SysOp Apple Elite II and OggNet Hub (909)359-5338 2400/14.4 24 hours, Home of GBBS/LLUCE Support for the Apple II. slichte@cello.gina.calstate.edu ------------------------------ From: dag@ossi.com (Darren Alex Griffiths) Subject: Re: Wideband SATCOM Nets to Support WWW Date: 23 Aug 1995 09:20:32 GMT Organization: Fujitsu Open Systems Solutions, Inc. Kramer <102564.2255@CompuServe.COM> writes: > Is there a market to support the wideband download of data (imagery, > video, bulk files, etc.) from www sites based on narrow band requests? > Considering developing asymetrical net using DBS satellites (similar > to Spaceways concept) to provide 23MBS downlink to 20cm antennas and > embedded terminals with 14.4 teresstial and/or satcom uplinks for > request channel. Price targets $1/2k per terminal. $3/4 per 15 > second @ 23MBS. What do you think? I don't know what the demand is, but cable TV companies have already thought about this. For a while there was a company that distributed a full newsfeed via the veritcal blank of WTBS (I think) and it was available to anyone who bought a special modem and payed a monthly fee, actually that service may still be around. You got a high speed, cheap, newsfeed but you had to send news via conventional nntp of uucp methods. There was also talk of cable companies setting up ppp connections over regular phone lines, you'd send over the phone line but you'd receive data via your cable TV hookup. I've never heard of that going beyond some test customers, but with the advent of deregulation it could become more popular. Cheers, Alex Griffiths Senior Software Engineer Fujitsu Open Systems Solutions, Inc. ------------------------------ From: Stan Schwartz Subject: Re: Seven Digits Across NPA Lines Date: Wed, 23 Aug 1995 01:10:57 -0400 The new Southern Bell (BellSouth) phone book for Charlotte, NC arrived this week, and I bet there are others on the Digest like me who do the Steve Martin routine when they hear the phone book slam against the door ("The new phone book's here!"). To quote directly from Page 10 of the White Pages: "Calls into Charlotte's expanded area within North Carolina may be dialed with just seven digits. Calls into Charlotte's expanded area within South Carolina require the 803 area code plus seven digits - no need to dial '1' before the area code." I guess this is another case of "1+ means toll". I had assumed that all of the 10D inter-NPA areas had been changed to 11D. I guess not. Charlotte has a local calling area that covers a 40-mile radius from the city all for a flat rate (something I'm not used to, coming from NYNEX/NY). It was also recently mentioned that Atlanta has the world's largest local calling area. Can someone confirm this? Stan ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Seven Digits Across NPA Lines From: shadow@krypton.rain.com (Leonard Erickson) Date: Wed, 23 Aug 95 05:43:25 PDT Organization: Shadownet Our Esteemed Moderator writes: > Even if we assume there is some validity in the 'one = toll' argument -- > and it probably was valid a number of years ago when area codes did not > change with every street corner and back yard neighbor's fence -- there is > not a lot of consistency there now. One does not equal toll for large > segments of customers in 312/708 who are near each other. There are many > many cases now where inter-areacode dialing is purely local. I'll grant > you in more rural and lesser populated areas of the USA -- let us take > Wyoming, or Montana as examples -- you still have to go the entire state > before you change area codes and toll generated from seven digit dialing > is pretty common. But do they dial 1 plus seven digits in that case, in > order to catch the attention of the originator of the call? I would think > they would do that if alerting the caller to the existence of toll was > the reason for the leading one. PAT] They did do that. Heck, here in Oregon and Washington, up until the introduction of N0X and N1X exchanges forced a change, the rules were as follows: Local inside NPA: xxx-yyyy Toll inside NPA: 1-xxx-yyy Toll outside NPA: 1-NPA-xxx-yyy I don't know of any cases of local calls acroos NPA boundaries, but I suspect that they were dialed as seven digits, because my older copies of exchange info for NPA 503 list a number of "protected" exchanges for 708 and the like. Of course, since Jan 15, 1995, 1 + seven digits is not allowable *anywhere* in the NANP. But both from previous discussions here, and helping people across the US and Canada set up dialing translation tables for Fidonet mailers, I'd have to say that the practice of "1 means toll" was far more prevalent than the reverse (going both by area, and number of NPAs). Take a good look at how long distance is dialed *now* (after the the introduction of NNX area codes). There's a pretty clear pattern of "1 means toll" vs "dial it all as 7 digits" (10 for inter-NPA). It's places like Califormia, New York, and Chicago that are not using 1 to indicate toll. And these are the places where other "comsumer unfriendly" practices such as *mandatory* measured service exist. "1 means toll" is alive and well. And maybe someday, it'll penetrate to the telephone hells like Chicago and LA. :-) BTW, I have no problem with *allowing* 10/11 digit dialing of local numbers. I think it makes sense. But I do think it'd a good idea to have to dial a 0 or 1 before any long distance call. If nothing else, it makes programming dialing equipment easier, because you can set some defaults such that you won't accidentally treat a new exchange clear across the state as a local call. Forcing the call to wait until "cheap" time doesn't interfere seriously with delivering the email, but it certainly prevents unpleasant surprises. (this is less critical now that in-state rates are getting rational. But it's still a good thing). ------------------------------ From: nevin@cs.arizona.edu (Nevin Liber) Subject: Re: Seven Digits Across NPA Lines Date: Thu, 24 Aug 1995 13:37:44 -0700 Organization: University of Arizona CS Department, Tucson In article , lincmad@netcom.com (Linc Madison) wrote: > In California, all calls to a different NPA, whether local or toll, > must be dialed as 11 digits. All calls within a given NPA, whether > local or toll, may be dialed as 7 digits. That must be a fairly recent change. About two years ago, I remember having to make some phone calls at pay phones from Monterey to Sunnyvale (both in 408) and having to dial the 1 before the seven digits. Nevin ":-)" Liber nevin@CS.Arizona.EDU (520) 293-2799 ------------------------------ From: rhyre@pitbull.uhc.com (ralph hyre) Subject: Re: Seven Digits Across NPA Lines Date: 22 Aug 1995 20:54:13 GMT Organization: United HealthCare Corporation James E. Bellaire (bellaire@tk.com) wrote: > Q. Why should users be forced to use area codes when dialing across NPA > boundries? > A. They are not. Suprised? In many rural areas users can dial across NPA > and state lines with 7 digits. The only time 10 or 11 digits are used > is in major metropolitan areas. In CBT-land (parts of 513, 606, 317) we can use seven digits for 'local' calls. I can call across NPA boundaries to points in Northern Kentucky (606) and Southeastern Indiana (317) We recently lost the ability to do 1+ seven digits (now all TOLL calls are 1+ ten digits), but that's a small price to pay. > The plan: > Overlay the area with a new area code. > Require 1+NPA+local number for LD and ZONE calls. > Permit 7 digit dialing to local exchanges, regardless of NPA. > Prohibit 7 digit dialing to same NPA, except for local exchanges. > Allow 1+NPA dialing for all calls AND BILL AT THE PROPER RATE. > I doubt if the telcos would want to mess with cross-NPA 7 digits in > major metropolitan areas, so I don't expect this to be implemented > without PUC or FCC pressure. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: There really is no reason to ever go to > eleven digits as in 1+anything. The reason is that when we get to the > point that all calls must be dialed as AC + seven digits, we will no > longer need the initial '1' as a flag. The Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana Public Utilities Commissions disagree with you. 1+ still serves a 'Toll-Alerting' feature, indicating that the call will cost more than a local call. When the phone companies react to Internet Telephony and make all calls cost the same, then we won't need the 'toll alerting' feature anymore, I suppose :-) ------------------------------ From: slichte@cello.gina.calstate.edu (Steven Lichter) Subject: Re: PacBell's New Network Date: 24 Aug 1995 12:02:49 -0700 Organization: GINA and CORE+ Services of The California State University cogorno@netcom.com (Steve Cogorno) writes: > It seems the issues between Pacific Bell and the City of San Jose (CA) > have been resolved and PacBell has resumed installing it's new > network. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I think PacBell should appeal the city's > ruling regards negotiations with each property owner. Most cases involving > utility easement rights over the years have gone in favor of the utility > and that is how I think it should be. PAT] The above it not always true. Some years ago the City of Riverside, California put a transformer in my back yard next to my house on the ground. They did it without asking or checking for right-a-way or easement. They did a lot of damage working on it over the years. I always claimed they had not right to put it there, but they said they had my permission in writing, they would not or could not show me their claim. In time it finally after years fighting them I got it to court, the paper they had was an eaement, but it was a copy and from what it looked like they had copied my signature onto it from something else and then just copied it over. They could never produce the form They then claimed that even though they may not have had the paper they had the right to have it there since it was needed to supply me my power. That did not hold up since it also supplied the whole block. It turned out because of a change in the planning department that the city required for the builder to get his permits, the house was build there, where that would have been the street. What finally happened was I was paid for ten years of it being there and they finally moved it. The judge said that they did not have the the right to just take the property and on top of that the placment violated the cities own electrical regulations. The above are my ideas and have nothing to do with whoever my employer is. SysOp Apple Elite II and OggNet Hub (909)359-5338 2400/14.4 24 hours, Home of GBBS/LLUCE Support for the Apple II. ------------------------------ From: cogorno@netcom.com (Steve Cogorno) Subject: Re: PacBell's New Network Date: Thu, 24 Aug 1995 19:37:14 PDT > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I think PacBell should appeal the city's > ruling regards negotiations with each property owner. Most cases involving > utility easement rights over the years have gone in favor of the utility > and that is how I think it should be. PAT] Yes, but PacBell wants to install equipment where they currently have no easement rights. Remember, these boxes are to be placed *every 10 to 12 houses* in the front yard. The city contends that since there will be so many of these amplifier boxes, Pacific Bell should try to negotiate the location with the homeowner. I certainly wouldn't want the telco coming out and saying "Well, we're putting our box here and we want to rip out this concrete work here, and some of your trees." I personally wouldn't mind have an amplifier box in my yard, but I would like to have a little control over *where* it would be placed (ie: somewhere that's not very noticeable). Steve cogorno@netcom.com ------------------------------ From: markb@ncp.gpt.co.uk (Mark Beresford) Subject: Re: Questions on ISDX's Date: Thu, 24 Aug 95 09:04:55 GMT Organization: GPT Business Systems (I.S. Dept) In article , dsumka@NetVision.net.il says: > I am hoping someone out there might be able to give me some information > about GPT's ISDX PBX's. (that was enough initials for a while). > I have heard rumours that these PBX's sometimes "lose" switch information, > does anyone know anything about that? > Also, can anyone reccomend good Call Detail Recording software for these > switches? The software we are using currently seems to lose calls and > minutes when we compare that data to the invoices from our carriers, more > then a 5% loss in duration. GPT Business Systems read with concern the recent information on the Internet regarding the GPT iSDX. GPT prides itself in the quality of the iSDX and its resilience. GPT would like to assure all iSDX users and readers of this note that the iSDX is a long standing and very reliable product now being actively supported and sold in over 40 countries world-wide. It does not have any problems of loss of information relating to switched call traffic. With reference to "Call Detail Recording software" for the iSDX, GPT has always maintained an open policy on records output on the V.24 port. As a result over 40 companies have been registered with GPT to receive the descriptions of the call logging records. Prominent amongst these are Databit, SR Comms, BTS, Datapulse, TISL, Wayland, Moscom, ASL, Christie Softech and Tiger. We hope that all readers will feel renewed in their confidence with regard to this issue. Anyone who has any further questions or queries regarding iSDX should contact the GPT Help Desk on + 44 115 943 3015. ------------------------------ From: pbxtalk@ccnet.com Subject: Re: Atlanta Automated 411 Date: 24 Aug 1995 01:34:13 GMT Organization: RBOC Wage Slaves of America In article , Nick Vora wrote: > In article , kpolking@nyx10.cs.du.edu > (Kent Polkinghorne) writes: >> Andrew B. Hawthorn writes: >>> Atlanta has recently added an automated directory assistance system >>> and I was curious if anyone knew how it works. When a person dials >>> 411, they are connected to a recorded female voice that says "What >>> city please?" The caller responds and the voice asks "What listing?" >>> The caller replies. > Miami (Southern Bell) has a similar (if not the same system). The > operator comes on line to confirm any discrepancies with you and then > patches you through to an automated voice that tells you the number > and informs you that for an additional charge it can be dialed for > you. However I've found that even when there is no doubt and no > discrepancy the operator comes on line, if only to say "Thank you" and > then patches you through? Is there a reason beyond alleviating the > fears of people who believe machines are taking over? Can't the > computer system handle it fully?! You want it fully automated? I think it's scary! But then again, I know 411 operators, they support their families with their jobs, etc, yakity shmack. I know you probably don't care, so I won't go on. But the first thing I thought of was Berbet Doodah. When I was working 411 one night, we had a caller come in who wanted Berbet Doodah. The operator looked for it, checked the spelling, didn't find it, and the customer would not accept that. So he was routed to the SA. Now I get him. We checked the spelling again, phonetically, "B for Bravo?" "Chess!" "E for Echo?" "Chess!"etc. until we had spelled out Berbet Doodah. I checked the whole area code, reversed the words (Doodah Berbet) and even went through the Residence files. No Berbet Doodah! I informed him of this, and now he was very upset. I asked him if he was sure of the spelling, and he started to spell it phonetically again, only this time, it was "B as in Bictory, E like Edward, L rike Rarry, B like Bictory, E like Edward, T like Tango, nest vord T like Tango, U like Umbrella," etc, etc. until he had spelled out enough to parse it together as "Velvet Turtle", a local restarant. As I was giving him the number, I was glad I wasn't his waitress. ;-) Let's see what your automated system does with Berbet Doodah! pbxtalk@ccnet.com "The right to be heard does not include the right to be taken seriously." Hubert H. Humphrey ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #357 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa02341; 27 Aug 95 11:27 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id WAA27493 for telecomlist-outbound; Thu, 24 Aug 1995 22:37:12 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id WAA27485; Thu, 24 Aug 1995 22:37:09 -0500 Date: Thu, 24 Aug 1995 22:37:09 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Message-Id: <199508250337.WAA27485@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #358 TELECOM Digest Thu, 24 Aug 95 22:37:00 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 358 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Before You Call Telco (was Re: AT&T Credit For Cut Calls) (Peter M. Weiss) UCLA Short Course on Optical Fiber Communications (Bill Goodin) What Does Internet Information Transmission Really Cost? (A. E. Siegman) Online Telephone Directories Wanted (Bob Coret) Text to Speech Test Assistants Wanted (David A. Rivkin) Re: Telecom and the End of WW-2 (Mark Brader) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily represent the views of Microsoft. ------------------------------------------------------------ Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 24 Aug 1995 16:21:48 EDT From: Peter M. Weiss Subject: Before You Call Telco (was Re: AT&T Credit For Cut Calls) Organization: Penn State University Here is a checklist that PSU computer support personnel have developed for dialup network users. Though it was customized to the PSU community, I think it is worthy of consideration in many environments. The author is Herman "Skip" Knoble who has given permission for me to re-post for non-commercial use. Pete Weiss -- Penn State Subject: Why Did My PSU Dial Up Connection Drop? - A Check List Organization: Penn State University Date: Fri, 18 Aug 1995 10:11:23 EDT From: H. D. Knoble (Qualified feedback to this posting is solicited, particularly for platforms not mentioned herein. Please send to: Skip Knoble, hdk@psuvm.psu.edu) Why Did My Penn State Successful Dial-Up Connection Drop? A Checklist by H. D. Knoble 08/15/95 The Pennsylvania State University Center for Academic Computing Library Computing Services Office of Administrative Systems Office of Telecommunications Once an Access dial-up connection is established at a data rate compatible with your modem and serial port to Penn State TCP/IP services, the connection may drop; the following is a check list of possible reasons for this specific scenario. We recommend that you copy and check this list before calling for technical assistance if and when you experience seemingly random connection drops (disconnections). This not only will help us; but it will help you improve the reliability of your microcomputer communications. The checklist follows: (1) a) Between the hours of Monday-Thursday -- noon to midnight, Friday -- noon to 6:00 p.m., and Sunday -- 6:00 p.m. to Midnight, the CAC Serial Protocol (dial-up) servers (xxx-xxxx, xxx-xxxx, and phone numbers at other Penn State locations) drop data (drop the modem connection) after 1 hour of Internet activity or after 15 minutes of inactivity. "Inactivity" is defined as no Internet data exchange. E.g., using Eudora to compose a letter taking more than 15 minutes to compose it while using no other Access clients; e.g., while connected using any Windows applica- tions that are not Access clients - like Word Perfect, Excel, etc. - for more than 15 minutes at a time would cause no Internet data exchange and so would be considered Internet "inactivity." b) Twenty-four hours per day, the OTC Serial Protocol (dial-up) servers (xxx-xxxx) drop everyone after one hour of inactivity. "Inactivity" is defined as no Internet data exchange. This was done because some people were staying connected (using a Server rack modem) for hours (sometimes 24 hours) at a time, even when not using their PC; therefore many others were often getting a BUSY signal when dialing the Servers. (2) In addition to (1) above, when accessing specific hosts through Telnet/TN3270 the following applies: a) For LIAS (or dial-up connections to LIAS) after approximately 6 minutes of inactivity, the connection is dropped. After 5 minutes of inactivity a message and a beep is sent; then after 1 more minute of activity the connection to LIAS will be dropped. b) For OAS, 15 minutes of inactivity causes re-authentication via password; after one hour of inactivity, the connection is then dropped. (3) For both CACSLIP (DOS clients) and CACTWIN (Windows clients) (rarely for MacTCP), some screen savers (some TSR's in general) do interfere with communications. Typical symptoms in this case are "random" line drops (when screen saver kicks in/out), and file transfer via FTP interrupted and aborted. We do not recommend running screen savers or other timer-related DOS Terminate and Stay Ready programs when using modems--period. (4) For Windows Access clients, a Windows GPF (General Protection Fault) may cause the connection to be dropped. Please see the file: pub/dos/windows/gpfguide.txt on FTP.CAC.PSU.EDU for more about Windows General Protection Faults. (5) There are lots of external (environmental) causes for faulty modem communications, especially (but not only) for high-speed (14.4/28.8) connections. Most of these are related to the phone line itself. Sometimes (but rarely) this is a Bell Atlantic problem. More often the problem is related to the phone line between the phone jack and modem, or serial connection between modem and microcomputer serial port. Our recommendations, based on years of experience and experiments involving actual cases, follow: a) Do not route the phone line within three inches of any electrical cord or extension cord, or PC CPU cord, or Printer cord, or Monitor cord, or any electrical appliance or power supply. This often means taping or stapling the phone line away from such places between jack and modem. Symptoms are random dropping of the line, problems with TCP/IP clients, logging in, etc. Inductance from electrical lines wreaks havoc with phone lines. b) Do not route a phone line being used by a modem through answering machines. Some of the "smarter" (and cheaper) ones have been known to intercept/inject data, which of course is undesirable. c) Do not route a phone line underneath a carpet since people probably will walk on it, thus crushing the very fine wires therein. The same is true for running phone lines where doors will close on them, etc. d) Do not use old phone lines from jack to modem. Use a new phone line of the correct length, without splicing (splicers also have been known to cause loose connections, and thus problems, in some cases). e) For external modems, if your serial adaptors or serial cable is old, adaptor pins bent, or cable cracked, replace them. Make sure your serial connections are TIGHT. Parts (a) and (c) above above also apply to serial cables. f) For internal modems, and for all microcomputers in general, dust buildup on internal components compromises built-in PC cooling systems. While any PC is running, fans circulate air around internal components. We recommend that after unplugging all related electrical connections, you remove the CPU cover and carefully blow dust off all computer components, including internal modem cards, at least once a year; compressed air cans (purchased where electronic components are sold) or reversible vacuum cleaners may be used this purpose. Dust free components PREVENT communications problems. g) Surge protectors for both computer power and phone connections are recommended. But we recommend that you unplug your computer and modem during electrical storms (which may do more than interfere with a TCP/IP dial up connection). 6) When dialing with a modem through a phone with the Bell Atlantic feature "Call Waiting", if "Tone Block" is not activated (i.e.,Call Waiting is not canceled for this call) then if someone calls after such a dial-up connection has been made, it is highly likely that the data connection will be dropped. (Please see page 43 of the 1995-1996 Bell Atlantic phone book for State College for information.) That in fact is most often the case if the connection is via CACSLIP or CACTWIN via CAC or OTC Serial Protocol servers. One activates tone block (downtown State College) by prefixing the four characters "*70," to the phone number to be computer dialed; for example: *70,xxx-xxxx. The CACTWIN and CACSLIP install/customization menus provide the option to select dial-up numbers with the tone block prefix. (7) Hours of availability for the Penn State Data Backbone are advertised as follows by OTC: "Normal operating hours for the Data Backbone are from 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 a.m.; 5:00 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. is the time designated for normal maintenance. Most often, the historical record shows that the maintenance period was given over to normal operations. However, normal maintenance may disrupt the data backbone so no guarantees about quality are made for the normal maintenance time." (8) Finally, the Backbone, a Nameserver, Router, or Mainframe (such as PSUVM, LIAS, or OAS) is down or was down (or hung, or overloaded) when the problem was being experienced. One of the CAC Help Desks can help confirm these instances. Call them AFTER you checked out possibilities (1) thru (6) above: (1) and (2) can be monitored by being alert and using a watch; (3) thru (6) should be attended to as regular maintenance as good computing practice. ------------------------------ From: Goodin, Bill Subject: UCLA Short Course on Optical Fiber Communications Date: Thu, 24 Aug 95 18:37:00 PDT On September 26-29, 1995, UCLA Extension will present the short course, "Optical Fiber Communications: Techniques and Applications", on the UCLA campus in Los Angeles. The instructors are Tran V. Muoi, PhD, President, Optical Communication Products, Del Hanson, PhD, Principal Engineer, Hewlett-Packard, and Richard E. Wagner, PhD, District Manager, Bellcore. This course offers a review of optical fiber communications fundamentals, then focuses on state-of-the-art technology and its applications in present and future communication networks. The course begins with the major building blocks of optical fiber communications systems (fiber and passive components, sources and transmitters, detectors and receivers). Actual design examples of fiber optic links for short-haul and long-haul applications are studied, and recent technological advances in addressing problems due to fiber loss and dispersion are presented. The impact of fiber optic technology on communications is highlighted in the latter half of the course. Recent developments in local and metropolitan area networks to support multimedia traffic (i.e., data, voice, and video) and their evolving architectures and standards are fully covered. The treatment on telecommunications systems includes various technological options for subscriber networks, exchange networks, and the global undersea networks. Network architectures evolving from the traditional telephone and CATV networks are contrasted. Technology trends and directions for realizing the so-called information superhighway are examined as well. Finally, optical networks using wavelength routing and multi-wavelength cross-connects are presented. The course fee is $1295, which includes extensive course materials. For additional information and a complete course description, please contact Marcus Hennessy at: (310) 825-1047 (310) 206-2815 fax mhenness@unex.ucla.edu ------------------------------ From: siegman@ee.stanford.edu (A. E. Siegman) Subject: What Does Internet Information Transmission Really Cost? Date: Thu, 24 Aug 1995 17:54:23 -0800 Organization: Stanford University Out of curiosity, and an engineer's natural tendency to want to understand the order of magnitude costs of things, I'd like to have even the roughest estimate of what it costs to send, say, a megabyte of data from one point to another over the Internet? I appreciate this is a very poorly defined quantity and that these costs are spread (and hidden) all over the place. But, let's say we peel out all the costs (hardware, software and peopleware) associated with what people do with Internet data after they get it, or the costs of generating it before they send it, and just consider some reasonable estimate of the transmission costs (phone lines) plus some reasonable estimate of the real costs associated with the activities of individual Internet nodes in receiving, processing and passing on data that flows through them. How much, averaged in some way over all the worldwide links, to send a megabyte (or a gigabyte, if a megabyte is too small) from here to there? ------------------------------ From: b.coret@cs.utwente.nl (Bob Coret) Subject: Online Telephone Directories Wanted Date: Thu, 24 Aug 95 15:28:08 PST Organization: University of Twente, Netherlands Does anyone know of on-line telephone directories? Currently I found the following: - France (minitel) >> http://www.epita.fr:5000/11/ - Italy (Electronic Yellow Pages) >> http://www.saritel.interbusiness.it/pge/LoginPgeEn.html - Switserland (Telecom) >> http://etv.eunet.ch/cgi-bin/etvq I need to look up adresses and telephonenumber for my genealogical research. Please mail me if you know any other online telephone directories. Bob Coret, The Netherlands b.coret@cs.utwente http://www.cs.utwente.nl/~coret/ [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Don't forget the service available on Compuserve. Although not a complete listing of all USA telephone numbers, it is rather large and quite useful. PAT] ------------------------------ From: RivkinDA@PE-Nelson.COM (David A. Rivkin) Subject: Text to Speech Test Assistants Wanted Date: 24 Aug 95 20:41:29 GMT Organization: PE-Nelson I am looking for people to evaluate a few text to speech systems and grade the quality based on fidelity and proper conversion to spoken English (American). This will be blind test where you will receive wave(.wav) file output from the various systems and the text that they all read and a questionaire to fill out and return. Please let me know if you can help me out. I am not a developer of any of these, just wanting to get several peoples opinions on the systems. Thanks, David Rivkin Rivkin Science and Technology, Inc. RivkinDA@PE-Nelson.com ------------------------------ From: msb@sq.com (Mark Brader) Subject: Re: Telecom and the End of WW-2 Organization: SoftQuad Inc., Toronto, Canada Date: Fri, 25 Aug 1995 02:39:53 GMT Pat writes in Volume 15 Issue 349: > ... I was very privileged to be a nearby neighbor of Laura Fermi, the > widow of Enrico Fermi. She often took her dinner in the Anchorage, > which was the name of the hotel dining room as did I, and she told a > story once ... Her words from this point forward ... Except that the story has appeared in this newsgroup/digest twice before -- in January 1990 in Volume 10 Issue 12, and again two and a half years later in Volume 12 Issue 667. It turns out that the previous posting was transcribed by Pat from tape, but this time he was reconstructing the story from memory. It was at my suggestion that Pat reran the article in 1992, but after making the suggestion then, it occurred to me to have a look at the applicable section of Richard Rhodes's superb book "The Making of the Atomic Bomb" (Simon & Schuster, 1986, ISBN 0-671-44133-7). The book turns out to imply, on pretty good evidence, that there is something quite wrong with Mrs. Fermi's story. Following is the "rebuttal" which I wrote in 1992. Text quoted with "|" signs is from the accurate version of the story, as posted then. Notes that are [[double-bracketed, like this]] are being added this time, in 1995. ---+--- Let me summarize the timetable: | "The test was set for 4:30 AM the next morning, so we returned to the | hotel and went to bed early. We got up at 3 the next morning and drove | out to the location ... The chronology that she gives after that is: 4:45... they return to town to telephone, but can't get the operator. 5:00 or just after... Fermi finds and wakes up the operator. They are back at their observation point 5 minutes before the explosion. | .... later, we got together with the others who had | been assigned there and found out that it wasn't the rain that delayed | things; it was that woman asleep; you see, the main people responsible | were linked by phones through Alamogordo; they had to coordinate what | they were doing and sychronize their work. All of them got the same | thing on the phone we got: no answer from the operator for 45 minutes! So this would imply that the operator's nap started at about 4:15, if not earlier. Okay, now to Rhodes. On page 664 of my copy: # [Robert] Oppenheimer, [Gen. Leslie] Groves, [Kenneth] Bainbridge, # [Gen. Thomas] Farrell, [Richard] Tolman and an Army meteorologist met # with [the meteorologist for the test, Jack] Hubbard at McDonald Ranch # at four that afternoon [the day before the test] to consider the # weather. ... They decided to wait and see. They had scheduled # a last weather conference for the next morning at 0200 hours; # they would make up their minds then. The shot was set for 0400 # and they let that time stand. As a source for at least part of this paragraph, Rhodes cites "The Day the Sun Rose Twice" by Ferenc Morton Szasz (Univ. of N.M. Press, 1984). Now on page 666: # Thunderstorms began lashing the Jornada [del Muerto] at about 0200 # hours ... Winds gusted to thirty miles an hour. Hubbard hung # on at Zero for last-minute readings -- only misting drizzle had yet # reached the tower area -- and arrived eight minutes late for the # 0200 weather conference at Base Camp, to find Oppenheimer waiting # for him outside the weather center there. Hubbard told him they # would have to scrub 0400 but should be able to shoot between # 0500 and 0600. Oppenheimer looked relieved. # # Inside they found an agitated Groves waiting with his advisors. # "What the hell is wrong with the weather?" the general greeted # his forecaster. ... Groves demanded to know when the storm would # pass. Hubbard explained its dynamics: a tropical air mass, night # rain. Afternoon thunderstorms took their energy from the heating of # the earth and collapsed at sunset; this one, contrariwise, would # collapse at dawn. Groves growled that he wanted a specific time, # not an explanation. I'm giving you both, Hubbard rejoined. ... # # Oppenheimer applied himself to soothe his bulky comrade. Hubbard # was the best man around, he insisted, and they ought to trust his # forecast. The others at the meeting--Tolman and two army meteor- # ologists, one more than before--agreed. Groves relented. "You'd # better be right on this", he threatened Hubbard, "or I will hang # you." He ordered the meteorologist to sign his forecast and set # the shot for 0530. Then he went off to roust the governor of New # Mexico out of bed to the telephone to warn him he might have to # declare martial law. For all of this material, Rhodes again cites Szasz, but he notes that Szasz in turn cites Hubbard's *contemporary* personal journal. This is pretty solid evidence, unless Hubbard had some reason to falsify it. The signed forecast would be even better evidence: has anyone seen it or seen it reproduced somewhere? According to Rhodes, Hubbard gave it to Bainbridge at "about 0508", following which the master switches were unlocked and the bomb fired with a 20-minute delay. There is further evidence that the telephones were not all down during the period that Mrs. Fermi mentions. From page 667 of Rhodes: # The meteorologist prepared his final forecast at S-10000 [the command # center, 10000 yards south of Zero]. He called Bainbridge at 0440. # "Hubbard gave me a complete weather report", the Trinity director # recalls, "and a prediction that at 5:30 am the weather would be # possible but not ideal. ... I called Oppenheimer and General # Farrell to get their agreement that 5:30 would be T = 0." Hubbard, # Bainbridge, Oppenheimer and Farrell each had veto power over the shot. # They all agreed. Rhodes cites a different source for this: "All in our Time" by Jane Wilson (Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 1975). There is a further problem with Mrs. Fermi's story, which is this: the Trinity test site is 60 miles from Alamogordo! From her account it seems to be at most a 25-minute drive from the telephone exchange to the observing point, which she says is 15 miles from the site. (Unfortunately, while Rhodes mentions something about what Fermi did during the test, he doesn't mention where he did it.) [[ In the version posted this year, she doesn't say how far the observing point is from the Trinity test site, but does say it's 5 miles from Alamogordo, and refers to people being stationed *50* miles out. I guess Pat remembered *part* of this exchange of postings from 1992, and unconsciously adjusted the distances this time to fit the times. Before I found out that the recent posting was unreliable for fine detail, it occurred to me that Mrs. Fermi might still have had an Italian accent in 1965, really said "50 miles", and Pat misheard it when transcribing the tape in 1990. Unfortunately for this explanation, the complete sentence is: | It was set up that the scientists were deployed over about a | two hundred square mile area; we were about fifteen miles from | the target. A circular area of 200 square miles would have a radius of just 8 miles. Of course, the observing locations need not have formed a complete circle. In fact the main observing points were 10 miles out. I don't know if Fermi was at one of those points, though. ]] I am left with three possible interpretations. One is that Mrs. Fermi's story simply never happened. A second is that it happened exactly as she said, except that after 20 years she got some of the times wrong, while Hubbard participated in a cover-up, and Wilson's source was also misleading. And the third, which I think most likely, is that Fermi's drive into town did happen, but the operator's nap did not really affect the timing of the test. In this interpretation, not all the telephones for everyone went through that operator; perhaps it was only the lines between the test site and the hotels where the scientists were staying, say. (Also, maybe the operator was not in Alamogordo but in a smaller town closer to the site, such as Tularosa or Carrizozo.) Maybe what someone really said was that they had been afraid that the test would have to be cancelled because certain people couldn't be telephoned, and then it was all right. I dunno. I'd like to believe the original story. But the evidence... Mark Brader, msb@sq.com, SoftQuad Inc., Toronto "But even though they probably certainly know that you probably wouldn't, they don't certainly know that although you probably wouldn't there's no probability that you certainly would." -- Sir Humphrey Appleby ("Yes, Prime Minister") on nuclear deterrence My text in this article is in the public domain. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #358 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa23925; 26 Aug 95 2:59 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id VAA18745 for telecomlist-outbound; Fri, 25 Aug 1995 21:13:43 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id VAA18737; Fri, 25 Aug 1995 21:13:40 -0500 Date: Fri, 25 Aug 1995 21:13:40 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Message-Id: <199508260213.VAA18737@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #361 TELECOM Digest Fri, 25 Aug 95 21:13:00 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 359 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson A Few More Notes About TWX (Mark Cuccia) India's VSNL Offers Corporate Domains, Internet Access (Rishab A. Ghosh) Re: Smartcard Phone Spotted in Oshawa Ontario! (Sam Spens Clason) Re: AT&T Moving Into Local Exchange Market (Robert Levandowski) Re: Area Code Crisis -- A Different Viewpoint (Richard Barry) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily represent the views of Microsoft. ------------------------------------------------------------ Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Mark Cuccia Subject: A Few More Notes About TWX Date: Fri, 25 Aug 95 13:47:00 GMT This article is about the operation of a TWX from a user's view, during the DDD period, 1962-1982, when TWX was an *integral* part of the DDD Telephone network- whether AT&T owned it outright, or during the 1970's, when it was a marketing function of WUTC but still routed/switched/numbered/dialed over the Bell System's DDD Telephone network. This is when The Bell System DDD (AT&T Long Lines with its Bell Op.Companies, and interconnecting 'independent' GTE's, etc) was a predominantly Crossbar switched network, and Common Channel Signalling was only a theory at Bell Labs, when inbound MF address and SF supervisory signals were the thing. When Bell automated the TWX network and retrofitted Model 28 teletypes with a dial/handset-earpiece/modem/keyset control, and the 'teen' series (Model 10, 14, 15) teletypes had a '6-line-keyset-500-deskset' telephone (with mouthpiece insert removed/disconnected) in 1962/63, all TWX teletype machines were only 3-row keyboards, 60-66 Baud, 5-level Baudot punch-tape code. They had numbers assigned with their geographic telephone NPA, plus seven digits, using a centrally located NNX code for that city or region, ususally that of a #5XB. A year or so later, Bell began the N10 special areacode series of TWX, 4-row keyboards, Model 33 & 35 TTY machines, 8-level ASCII punch-tape code, and 100-150 Baud rate, with a built in speaker, dial or touchtone pad, modem, and built in 6-keyset control. For dialing purposes- you pressed 'originate' on the control keyset (or associated modified 500 deskset telephone), listened for regular dialtone thru the 'half-a-handset', earpiece, or microphone-disabled 500 set handset. You dialed *the full ten digit number* of the TWX customer you wished. There was NO prefix of 1+ no matter WHAT type of TWX machine you were calling from, even if your area DID USE a mandatory 1+ for toll telephone DDD. For the most part, TWX machines got dialtone from a #5XB office, regardless of where they were located. Even if a TWX was out in the 'sticks', it usually was FX-ed to get dialtone from a nearby specially modified #5XB office, however, INCOMMING calls could be routed thru its own local telephone Step by Step, Panel, #1XB, or non-modified #5XB office. This special arrangement was known as 'divided-line' access. I think that many TWX's on the 510 special areacode were the original divided line access customers, altho' they could have been upgraded later on, but still kept the 510 special areacode. Within a matter of seconds, you either got ringing, busy, reorder, recording, whatever. If it rang and was answered manually or automatically, you then heard the 'modem' high pitched tone for a few seconds, handshaking occurred, then the loud high tone was disabled from your speaker or earpiece, and data/text transmission occurred (answerbacks first). As I stated in my earlier article, for the most part, regular telephones could NOT dial N10 areacodes, but 3-row keyboard TWX machines (with regular geographic telephone areacodes) could; they'd HAVE to, since they were TWX to TWX calls! N10 (4-row keyboard) TWX machines could dial to ANY N10 or geographic telephone NPA-NXX code, EVEN IF THE TELEPHONE NUMBER WAS A TELEPHONE! Since there was no way to speak, the person on the telephone receiving the call would just keep saying 'Hello, Hello, Hello' and then hang up, thinking they were getting a 'bad' call, just like fax users or data users today dialing (by mistake) telephone users. You would hear ALL voice/speech thru your earpiece or half-a-handset or built-in-speaker. You COULD enter the full ten digit number for any local Time/Weather/Temp service and 'broadcast' it on the speaker on Model 33 & 35's! If you were on a N10 4-row keyboard machine, you'd probably chalk-up a charge for that call, since it was ID'd by the #5XB as a N10 origination. However, a 3-row keyboard geographic telephone NPA machine *might* not chalk-up any charges, since it was 'local-telephone' call (this was WELL BEFORE any 976-PAY-PAY-PAY-per-call-numbers, too!). I remember visiting the local offices of WUTC, WUIntl, ITT, RCA Americom/Globcom, TRT, etc. back when I was in high school in the late 1970's, requesting TWX/Telex directories and user's manuals, and seeing how the USER managed a TWX machine, including calling up the local weather report's telephone number! Using a TELEX machine involved pressing an originate key, but NOT hearing any dialtone. On WUTC Telex, a lamp lit up under the rotary dial, you spun the dial just like a telephone, and when there was a data connection, the motor in the machine turned on, answerbacks were exchanged, and you could send/type your message. On ITT, RCA, WUI, TRT, FTC, etc. domestic telex 'private' networks arranged for primarily international calls, you either pressed originate, or you turned a knob switch from 'off' to line, your motor turned on right away, a line and data connection was established with that IRC's switch, you got the switch's ID code, and you TYPED your destination's telex number, similar to the way it was in many foreign countries, according to THEIR telex directories instructions pages! Busy circuits and other 'call progress' info was TYPED by the switch onto your machine's paper roll-except for WU Telex machines, where the lamp underneath the plastic dial would blink or flash at specified rates. BTW, the dial or touchtone pad on TWX terminals did NOT have the letters- only numbers! Except for the oldest (teen series model 10, 14, 15) terminals which had an associated BLACK 500-deskset, rotary dial, with 6-key controls- THAT had the regular dialface with letters, numbers, 'Operator' over the zero! BUT since telephone numbers were assigned to TWX in 1962/63 (when automated by integrating it with the DDD Telephone network), 'ALL-NUMBER-CALLING' was being phased in, and even if the NPA-NNX code for TWX had an exchange name at one time, NO TWX numbers were ever identified as '504-VAlley-2-5XXX'; only as 504-822-5XXX, which was the series of numbers used in the New Orleans metro area for 3-row keyboard TWX machines in the 1960's and 70's. How far we've come now with email & the Internet! (and let's not forget Fax machines, too!). MARK J. CUCCIA PHONE/WRITE/WIRE: HOME: (USA) Tel: CHestnut 1-2497 WORK: mcuccia@law.tulane.edu |4710 Wright Road| (+1-504-241-2497) Tel:UNiversity 5-5954(+1-504-865-5954)|New Orleans 28 |fwds on no-answr to Fax:UNiversity 5-5917(+1-504-865-5917)|Louisiana(70128)|cellular/voicemail ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 Aug 1995 13:07:19 -0700 From: Rishab Aiyer Ghosh Subject: India's VSNL Offers Corporate Domains, Internet Access -==This Indian Techonomist bulletin (C) Copyright 1995 Rishab Aiyer Ghosh India's VSNL offers corporate domains, Internet access for $800 August 25, 1995: India's overseas communications monopoly, Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL), will allow corporate users of its new Internet service to have their own domain names. Although individuals can pay $160 for 250 hours of use, institutions have to pay $300 to $800 for the same use, if they choose to connect through dial-up lines. Amitabh Kumar, VSNL's Chief General Manager for Planning told The Indian Techonomist that corporate users will be able to register their own domain names - such as techonomist.com.in - through VSNL's name server, and will have multi-user accounts. The only previously announced distinction between institutional and individual dial-up accounts was that the former would only get shell access. Although VSNL's service is a result of loopholes defining its monopoly - it is strictly speaking a "gateway" to the Internet outside India, and cannot provide connectivity within the country - it seems happy to encourage competition. This is not very surprising, as VSNL makes money anyway - the overseas communications link must be acquired from it, even by competing Internet providers. Competing providers don't exist, thanks to government restrictions on datacom (see http://dxm.org/techonomist/dcom.html) - but Mr Kumar said VSNL is "discussing [this] with the DoT," and would "prefer to work with Internet service providers while providing wholesale services to them." Mr Kumar adds that VSNL is prepared "to meet the requirements" of datacom after deregulation of restricted "value added services." Meanwhile, the first week after the launch of VSNL services has gone reasonably well, with individual accounts growing the most rapidly. Service is available through the Department of Telecom's national X.25 network, I-NET, and through local calls from Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta and Madras. VSNL claims it will connect Bangalore and Pune, two centres of much hi-tech activity, later this year. The excuse for this delay of some months is lame - apparently a lack of space to locate their servers. A more likely reason is the nature of the loophole that lets them offer the service at all - their limited rights to provide last-leg connectivity for overseas traffic. GPSS, an old VSNL X.25 gateway, is also available only in India's four major cities. For the pricing structure and more on VSNL, see http://dxm.org/techonomist/news/vsnl.html -==(C) Copyright 1995 Rishab Aiyer Ghosh. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. -==Licensed for ELECTRONIC distribution, including commercial, provided -==this notice is attached. This bulletin is from The Indian Techonomist, -==the newsletter on India's information industry. -==http://dxm.org/techonomist/ - e-mail rishab@arbornet.org -==Phone +91 11 6853410; H-34-C Saket, New Delhi 110017, INDIA. The Indian Techonomist - newsletter on India's information industry http://dxm.org/techonomist/ rishab@dxm.org Editor and publisher: Rishab Aiyer Ghosh rishab@arbornet.org Vox +91 11 6853410; 3760335; H 34 C Saket, New Delhi 110017, INDIA ------------------------------ From: d92-sam@dront.nada.kth.se (Sam Spens Clason) Subject: Re: Smartcard Phone Spotted in Oshawa Ontario! Date: 25 Aug 1995 18:37:32 GMT In srdawson@interlog.com (Scott Robert Dawson) writes: > Last week I was in Oshawa visiting friends and we stopped at a food > store. The pay phones in the lobby were the standard Nortel 'Millennium' > model, but the top housing above the screen was bright blue with the > new Bell logo, and the card reader housing was bright yellow. Both of > these were changed from the previous grey-blue. The graphic by the > card slot showed two cards, one with a stripe and one with a small > square. > Intrigued, I remembered them and turned to the Web when I got home. > Earlier, I had seen an ad in French for a new Bell phone card with a > chip, in a promotional magazine for the Montreal Jazz Festival. Bell > Canada serves most of Ontario and part of Quebec. > A check of Bell's Web site, http://www.bell.ca, turned up a media > release dated 7 April, which described the new card and its rollout > across Quebec and (in September) Ontario. The card was supposed to be > easily buyable in convenience stores, depanneurs, etc. > My question is: are these cards reusable? Can you put more money in > them when they run out? Will they be refillable in an ATM? Is there > some sort of standard for these cards so that they could be used, say, > in other countries? Will other countries' cards work in a Bell phone? > All this hints at a vast behind-the-scenes transaction network > rivaling the banks'. We have this kind (?) of telephone cards in Sweden. They're not reusable and only carries a number of units. Of course this will be expanded to real smart cards sometime in a not to distant future. I think the French have real smart cards in their pay-phones, I'm almost sure they've got cards that don't run out of units. Whether they're smarter than that I don't know. Using smart cards for identification is very secure and can be used by e.g. banks. There are a great number of tests being carried out at the moment, I don't know all to much about France and France Telecom. But they've been pushing for smart cards for a looong time now. There has been French tests with pay-phone-and-ATM card all in one. There was however great administrative problems since neither France Telecom nor the banks wanted to give up to much control to the other part. Ergo failure. We have smart card styled SIM cards carrying the equivalent of the ESN etc in GSM phones and there are no technical problems with expanding this for home use, i.e. having a home terminal plugged in the wall and thus implementing UPT. The main driving force for smart card home terminals isn't very likely going to be UPT but rather new banks not wanting to invest in offices having a lot of staff etc. Of course the telecom business has be active so that they can use the terminals and the cards for telephone services too. I.e. not only secure transportation and identification over the telephone network but also personal telecom services. "New banks" could be insurance companies, larger corporations etc. This will revolutionize the banking business -- and if the telcos play their cards right -- and the telecom business. The major obstacle is again who's to have control over the system and especially the identification part while still maintaining all services -- financial and communicational -- integrated. Sam www.nada.kth.se/~d92-sam, sam@nada.kth.se, +46 7 01234567 ------------------------------ From: rlvd_cif@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (Robert Levandowski) Subject: Re: AT&T Moving Into Local Exchange Market Organization: University of Rochester - Rochester, New York Date: Fri, 25 Aug 95 18:17:01 GMT In NEERAJ VORA writes: > There are reports that AT&T is all set to enter the local call arena > and provide some fierce competition. According to Newsbytes reports > they are ready to take a beating at first to gain ground in the > market. Then Pat writes: > What's interesting about this alleged plan by AT&T to 'take over' local > service next year is that they already have several new switches in place > largely sitting idle waiting for the day to arrive when they go in > service and (according to the WSJ story) AT&T plans to do something quite > ridiculous and offer their existing long distance customers 'local area > service' for some very small amount of money; far less than what the BOCs > are getting. Full custom calling features, the works. Interesting times. AT&T is one of the companies providing competitive local phone service here in Rochester, NY. As you may know, Rochester Telephone (a division of Frontier Communications) is an independent phone company, not a RBOC. RochTel came up with an Open Market Plan where "Rochester Telephone" would have regulated rates, but other companies could buy time on the RochTel networks and switches to resell as dialtone to consumers. AT&T is one such reseller here. Time Warner Communications, the local cable co., is also offering phone service via their fiber-optic CATV distribution network, which means they don't have to give RochTel money for the network. Anyhow, a few months ago AT&T was complaining that they were having trouble competing in Rochester, because it was taking so long for RochTel to configure their equipment as necessary to process new customers. Apparently AT&T has to ask RochTel to set up each new customer in the switches or something ... and it means long delays in getting hooked up to AT&T or if you need repair as an AT&T customer. Sounds like another case of what goes around, comes around. Frontier, RochTel's parent company, is partners with Nynex and several other cellular providers in New York and New England. In the next few months, the current company -- RochesterTel Mobile Communications / NYNEX Cellular / Advantage Cellular / Mountain Cellular -- will become Frontier Cellular throughout New York State and other markets in the Northeast. Frontier Communications International, the long distance company, has been buying up other LD carriers left and right. Right now, they are the fifth largest LD carrier, behind AT&T, Sprint, MCI, and LDDS. (In my opinion, they also offer far better customer service than most other LD carriers I've tried, including AT&T.) Frontier owns local telephone companies in several states throughout the Northeast and midwestern states, including Frontier Communications of Minnesota. While I'm not unhappy with RochTel/Frontier service, I must say that recently they've been reminding me a bit of a younger, leaner, meaner AT&T -- a juggernaut. Since they were never part of Bell, they have much more of a free hand than the RBOCs and AT&T ... and I wonder if they don't aim to be the next pre-breakup AT&T. Rob Levandowski Computer Interest Floor associate / University of Rochester macwhiz@cif.rochester.edu [Opinions expressed are mine, not UR's.] ------------------------------ From: rbarry@iol.ie (Richard Barry) Subject: Re: Area Code Crisis -- A Different Viewpoint Date: Fri, 25 Aug 1995 04:45:13 GMT Organization: Ireland On-Line Reply-To: rbarry@iol.ie fritz@mirage.hc.ti.com (Fritz Whittington) wrote: > There is an extremely interesting document available at: > http://www.open.gov.uk/oftel/oftelwww/oftcons.htm > which explains how the UK intends to handle the area-code and number > shortage problems, in a very flexible and user-friendly way. Makes me > wonder why we couldn't do it the same way (I know, North America is a > lot bigger and has more people, but the scheme is scaleable). It also > (horrors!) asks for *feedback* and *comments* on the various > proposals. I wouldn't suggest that anyone looking for an ideal numbering strategy look at the UK model (except on a what not to do basis!) The reason the authorities there are entering a pretent public consultation process is because they have done so much damage and screwed up so badly up to now. There is no long term numbering strategy in the UK - it changes virtually every year, which is great for the printing industry! Since "PhONEday", the UK has enough numbering space for about 8 billion phone lines, which means that phone numbers are much longer than they need be, under any population / user terminal growth scenario. You can't tell which part of the country an area code is located from the first digit or two, as one can in virtually every other European country -- (eg area code 01232 is Belfast, Northern Ireland while 01233 is in Kent in the South East of England). The UK has several codes for toll-free and similar numbers including 0800, 0500, 0345 and 0645. In surveys, about 20% of the population don't know that 0800 is toll free and nearly half the population don't know that 0500 is toll-free. Mobile phone numbers, paging, and premium rate numbers are found all over the numbering space. Instead of giving London 8 digit local numbers (like Paris and Tokyo), it now has two area codes, which can mean having to dial 11 digits to reach someone in a neighboring suburb. Anyone looking for logical or radical numbering plan ideas should consider other numbering plans such as found in Switzerland or Ireland or Denmark or Norway (where they have done away area codes altogether). Most European numbering plans have the following characteristics: *Hierarchical area code structure* (like the US Zip code. While one mightn't know where Zip 90234 is precisely, even a non-American can guess that it is on the West coast and probably in California. Someone who knows California can probably guess it is in the LA area, etc.) This structure follows on to some extent from the country code layout (eg all country codes beginning with 3 are in Europe). *Variable number length* so that cities that outgrow 7 digits can have 8 digit local numbers. No multiple area code confusion. Small towns can have even shorter local numbers, if desirable. *Distinctive non-geographic codes* so that anyone can tell a mobile number or a pager or a premium rate number from a regular phone number easily. *A single code for a single function* - all toll-free numbers should begin with the same code to assist public recognition. So if you run out of numbering space in the 800 range, add an extra digit to the bit that follows 800 - (ie 800 nnnn nnnn). This goes back to variable number length flexibility. Richard Barry rbarry@iol.ie ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #359 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa12952; 25 Aug 95 10:41 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id CAA29985 for telecomlist-outbound; Fri, 25 Aug 1995 02:12:42 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id CAA29977; Fri, 25 Aug 1995 02:12:40 -0500 Date: Fri, 25 Aug 1995 02:12:40 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Message-Id: <199508250712.CAA29977@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #360 TELECOM Digest Fri, 25 Aug 95 02:12:00 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 360 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Seven Digits Across NPA Lines (Scott Robert Dawson) Questions: History of AC 905; What's a TWX? (Scott Robert Dawson) Digital Dictation Equipment (D. Matthew Ford) V&H Questions (Douglas Frank) IntegreTel/VRS Billing-Bulk Block Procedure (Randal L. Schwartz) Billing Goof-ups (Tony Pelliccio) Re: Bell Canada Calling Cards in USA (Scott Robert Dawson) Smartcard Phone Spotted in Oshawa Ontario! (Scott Robert Dawson) L.A. Times 800-Number Article (Carl Moore) 860 Working Early (Scott D. Fybush) Future of 809 D.A.? (Linc Madison) Re: AT&T Moving Into Local Exchange Market (S. Bapat) Re: War on Payphones (Rich Szabo) Re: War on Payphones (Dave Levenson) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily represent the views of Microsoft. ------------------------------------------------------------ Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: srdawson@interlog.com (Scott Robert Dawson) Subject: Re: Seven Digits Across NPA Lines Date: Fri, 25 Aug 1995 04:10:39 GMT Organization: InterLog Internet Services bellaire@tk.com (James E. Bellaire) wrote: > I, bellaire@tk.com (James E. Bellaire) wrote: >>> Q. Why should users be forced to use area codes when dialing across NPA >>> boundries [sic]? >>> A. They are not. Suprised? In many rural areas users can dial across >>> NPA and state lines with 7 digits. The only time 10 or 11 digits are used >>> is in major metropolitan areas. > goudreau@dg-rtp.dg.com (Bob Goudreau) replied: >> This latter statement is certainly false. Inter-NPA 7D dialing is the >> exception, not the rule, even in rural areas. > In *most* area where you may dial local across an NPA boundry you dial > 7D. 'The rule' in *most* rural areas is 'if it is local, it is 7D' > regardless of NPA. The exception is in *metropolitan* areas where you > dial 10D or 11D to cross NPAs. > Check the boundry lines between NPAs in 'rural' areas, such as the=20 > Michigan/Indiana border, where South Bend, IN, can call Niles, MI, and > Elkhart, IN, can call Union and Edwardsburg, MI. > Along every NPA border there are several rural communities who can dial > across the line 7D. A viewpoint from Ontario (Bell Canada country) ... In the National Capital Region (613: Ottawa, Ontario and 819: Hull, Quebec) there is 7D _local_ dialing across the NPA boundary (also the Ottawa River, the provincial boundary, and if Quebec separates from Canada, an international boundary). By contrast, the Greater Toronto Area was recently split (1993) with Metro Toronto remaining 416 and the outlying region becoming 905. (This must have used one of the last remaining NZX style area codes). Local calls across this NPA boundary are dialed 10-digits only; however there are areas on the outer boundary of 905 where one can dial 7D local across the NPA boundary to other area codes (519, 705, 613). No local calls are dialed with a 1 in front. However, all long-distance calls between or within NPAs are dialed as either 0+ or 1+ ten digits. (Up to about five years ago it was still possible to dial 1+ 7D for long-distance within the same NPA. This ended when the NZX area codes started to run out). It was not until I started to go to the States, and also talk to US enployees of the company I work for, that I realised that many people dial 1+ for local calls. Is this because 'local' service in the States can be metered? All our local service is flat-rate. Bell got stomped when it recently tried to introduce metered local service for business. There was mention of this on this group not long ago. I suspect the 1+ now tends to signify some kind of metered service, and as far as the user is concerned, the difference between 'local' or 'long-distance' service becomes more a matter of cost. Incidentally, we do not have the same separation between local and long-distance carriers also; Bell Canada operates the local monopoly in its territory, and also competes in the long-distance market. (The 400-kilo gorilla ...) Scott Robert Dawson srdawson@interlog.com http://www.interlog.com/~srdawson/scothmpg.htm ------------------------------ From: srdawson@interlog.com (Scott Robert Dawson) Subject: Questions: History of AC 905; What's a TWX? Date: Fri, 25 Aug 1995 04:14:01 GMT Organization: InterLog Internet Services I've two questions: 1) Old catalogues at my work give 905 as the area code for northern Mexico, and 903 as the area code for Mexico City! 905 is now _my_ area code in southern Ontario (outside Toronto). Mexico is country code 52 now. What happened? Did their phone system get rebuilt and centralised? Was north and central Mexico part of country code 1 once, and then the whole country was put under country code 52? 2) What is or was a TWX? The same old catalogues give 10-digit TWX numbers all in what are now area codes N10 (310, 410, 510... ); but the locations are much more scattered, and don't correspond to the present area codes. Scott Robert Dawson srdawson@interlog.com http://www.interlog.com/~srdawson/scothmpg.htm [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Gee, I feel old today. These are both topics we have covered here in the past, but a brief summary might be good for people new to the Digest in recent months. Mexico never was in code 1. They were always 52. But for a number of years, international direct dialing was in flux here in the USA with some people able to do it and others not able. For those who were not able to place a call to Mexico using 011-52, the 903/905 hack was available. These were two previously unused area codes which were set up to call Mexico. They were never actually known by those numbers; instead the official rule was that one could call Mexico by dialing '90' followed by '3' and the local number in many towns in northern Mexico or '5' followed by the loal number in Mexico City. Once IDDD was universal throughout the USA, there was no longer a need for 90-3 or 90-5 and they were retired from service pending assignment as regular area codes elsewhere. What is TWX, the man asks. Well, the yperiter Echange was AT&T's competition to Western Union's Telex, or egraph change. Earlier in this century, Western Union had expanded their telegraph services to include a 'do it yourself' network where telegrams (essentially messages typed out on paper transmitted long distances over wires) no longer had to be sent from a public telegram office. Businesses could lease a telegraph sending/receiving machine and do it themselves in their offices via a switched network Western Union constructed, in large part with the help of their very good freind, AT&T. After awhile, AT&T thought that Telex looked like a very profitable thing, so they decided to do it themselves. They had to call it a different name of course, so they chose TWX, which is pronounced 'Twix'. They were also just getting into area codes about the same time, so they reserved area codes 310,410,510,610,710,810 and 910 for TWX machines. Where 310,410,510 and 710 covered the eastern part of the USA, 910 covered the entire western part of the USA from Chicago westward. 610 was Canadian TWX and 810 was Mexican TWX, although I never once saw a single example of 810 back in those days. One day Western Union got in a snit about the success of AT&T's TWX network and filed suit to force AT&T out of that business. Their claim was that they (WUTCO) had the exclusive rights to written communication by wire just as AT&T had the exclusive right to verbal communication by wire. Remember, this was *long* before divestiture; I guess it was in the early to middle 1960's. AT&T lost the case and the Supreme Court ordered them to divest themselves of TWX. 'Conveniently', WUTCO was more than happy to purchase it. The purchase was made 'in place' with the switching equipment, etc, remaining in AT&T (really local telco) central offices, but belonging to WUTCO. The 'area codes' assigned for TWX use went along with it, and for about twenty years or longer, WUTCO operated two separate and distinct networks, their original Telex network and their TWX network, with Telex network switches and equipment in their custody and maintained by them and TWX network switches and equipment owned by them but maintained by the various local Bell System telcos under contract. Is that all clear as mud now? . A number of years ago WUTCO decided to change the name of the service from TWX to 'Telex II'. Then they started 'Easy Link' with a gateway into both Telex and Telex II from Easy Link. Easy Link subscribers got email, and those who wanted an address for the receipt of telegrams were assigned network addresses in the 910 'area code' regardless of where they were. Then AT&T eventually bought the whole thing back from WUTCO, and I guess all the Telex II (TWX) machines were moved over onto the original Telex network and all the reserved area codes were put back into service for voice telephony. Honestly, I have no idea these days who -- if anyone -- operates and maintains the Telex network, if it even still exists. Does AT&T still operate it domestically in the USA? I know that the company known as 'Western Union International' which was never part of Western Union, is owned by MCI, or at least it was. Anyone have updated stuff on this? PAT] ------------------------------ From: dmatthewf@aol.com (DMatthewF) Subject: Digital Dictation Equipment Date: 24 Aug 1995 21:53:11 -0400 Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) Reply-To: dmatthewf@aol.com (DMatthewF) I am looking for PC-based dictation equipment (like Dialogic cards) that can be used for transcription. Mainly looking for a way to control voice playback with a foot pedal - start, stop, ff, rew, etc. Our current setup is dictation is called into a pc with 32 ports of Retorex cards. Transcriptionist get voice via a VDI superstation, which is essentially a DTMF pad with a volume knob and a foot pedal connection. The foot pedal is a Sony FS-75 which has three switches in it. The VDI is programmed to send the appropriate DTMF when the foot pedal is pressed. I have checked with Dialogic, and Retorex and they dont make anything like that. Does anyone have any suggestions? D Matthew Ford Programmer Analyst DMatthewF@aol.com ------------------------------ From: dougf@startel.com (Douglas Frank) Subject: V&H Questions Date: Fri, 25 Aug 1995 04:49:08 GMT Organization: Silicon Beach - Business Internet Services Can anyone tell me where V&H coordinates came from, and how they actually represent distances in the U.S.? Does anyone know how to translate V&H coordinates (such as those found in Bellcore's LERG data) into standard lattitude and longitude? I am creating a real-time network map, and need this translation. The answer in any form would be appreciated, though programming code or algorithm form would be best. Thanks, Doug Frank STAR Telecommunications Santa Barbara, CA ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Aug 1995 10:43:39 -0700 From: Randal L. Schwartz Subject: IntegreTel/VRS Billing-Bulk Block Procedure > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I tried it your way and got a sort > of irritated lady who told me it was 4-BLOCK-ME **not** BLOCK-ME. > So I redialed it as suggested and did indeed get through to an > automatic service. I only have a couple of complaints about it > and both are minor. Your ANI is delivered to them at the time you > call, and if you indicate you wish to block your home number, they > respond by blocking the ANI given to them without an opportunity > to block *additional* residence numbers unless apparently you call > them from each line involved, one at time. They offer the choice of > blocking '800 callback services' as well as 'international services'. Do they read the ANI to you? If they do, we now have another way of getting ANI. (I'm trying it as soon as I get off line.) Name: Randal L. Schwartz / Stonehenge Consulting Services (503)777-0095 Email: Snail: (Call) PGP-Key: (finger merlyn@ora.com) Web: My Home Page! [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Yes, they read the ANI back but only after you have indicated you want the line blocked. I guess you could use them to find out the number on lines which are unidentified as long as you or the owner of the line don't object to being blocked from Integratel charges. The way they phrase it is cute: "As a courtesy, your local telephone company forwarded your number to us at the time they connected your call. The number we are blocking is xxx-xxx-xxxx." ------------------------------ From: tonypo1@delphi.com (Tony Pelliccio) Subject: Re: Billing Goof-ups Date: 24 Aug 1995 01:03:47 GMT Organization: Delphi Internet Services Corporation > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: As part of the investigative process, > if it is just a couple dollars or less then the clerks usually write > it off on the assumption it costs more to do the paperwork charging it > back to the other telco and arguing with the other telco about it > ("you sent it to us"; "no we didn't, you must have gotten it from > another telco"). And sometimes for whatever reason in those days the > paperwork would get so mutilated and banged up they did not know where > they got the charge from so they had to write it off. This time > around, someone decided to dial the number and see if it was actually > in service or not. Of course it rang; of course I answered. Bingo, > that set off an audit with accounting making an inquiry of plant to > see what the actual status of the line was. Plant reconstructed what > paperwork they had on it and accounting had to turn on the service > after the fact. You're fortunate that they found it. It took me over eight months to convince Nynex that they made the exact same mistake on my line. I'd call them FROM the line through an operator and have the operator read back the number to customer service. The nice lady on the other end of the phone would always come back with "I have no record that the number exists." to the amusement of both myself and the operator. They never did find all my toll charges but I know where they went. Seems that the local VA hospital is on the same exchange as me but their numbers are xxx-71xx where mine is xxx-071x ... so it's obvious that someone shifted a digit. I found out because in years of old I used to, well, know my way around other carrier's networks and a friend in NJ called me and asked if I was up to old tricks again. I got a bill for eight months of flat rate local service -- which came to a grand total of $160 because even the end-user charges weren't added in. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It would happen a lot that if the subscriber was on the same premises as some major account (for instance, a switchboard serving most of a large building) that the installer who came to do the work 'just assumed' without reading the order carefully that the new install was part of the larger customer's account, and they would turn the service on but not submit the paperwork correctly. Likewise, a major organization or institution occupies most -- but not all -- of an exchange with a centrex account and then here and there a few independent subscribers are stuck in on the same exchange ... the centrex admin had better watch out, because someone processing the paperwork says 'oh, exchange xxx, that is all used by the Universal Amalgamated Corporation,' and just toss the new charges on their bill. PAT] ------------------------------ From: srdawson@interlog.com (Scott Robert Dawson) Subject: Re: Bell Canada Calling Cards in USA Date: Thu, 24 Aug 1995 23:44:19 GMT Organization: InterLog Internet Services A week or so ago I wrote that Bell Canada calling cards would not be accepted by AT&T in the States. Several people have replied to me, stating that they've had no problems using their cards. I checked with my source and she admitted that, okay, it sometimes works. But then sometimes it doesn't. I guess this is something that bears watching. I _am_ going to the States soon and I'll be sure to give this a test ... more info later. Scott Robert Dawson srdawson@interlog.com http://www.interlog.com/~srdawson/scothmpg.htm ------------------------------ From: srdawson@interlog.com (Scott Robert Dawson) Subject: Smartcard Phone Spotted in Oshawa Ontario! Date: Fri, 25 Aug 1995 00:04:26 GMT Organization: InterLog Internet Services Last week I was in Oshawa visiting friends and we stopped at a food store. The pay phones in the lobby were the standard Nortel 'Millennium' model, but the top housing above the screen was bright blue with the new Bell logo, and the card reader housing was bright yellow. Both of these were changed from the previous grey-blue. The graphic by the card slot showed two cards, one with a stripe and one with a small square. Intrigued, I remembered them and turned to the Web when I got home. Earlier, I had seen an ad in French for a new Bell phone card with a chip, in a promotional magazine for the Montreal Jazz Festival. Bell Canada serves most of Ontario and part of Quebec. A check of Bell's Web site, http://www.bell.ca, turned up a media release dated 7 April, which described the new card and its rollout across Quebec and (in September) Ontario. The card was supposed to be easily buyable in convenience stores, depanneurs, etc. My question is: are these cards reusable? Can you put more money in them when they run out? Will they be refillable in an ATM? Is there some sort of standard for these cards so that they could be used, say, in other countries? Will other countries' cards work in a Bell phone? All this hints at a vast behind-the-scenes transaction network rivaling the banks'. Scott Robert Dawson srdawson@interlog.com http://www.interlog.com/~srdawson/scothmpg.htm ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Aug 95 17:37:54 EDT From: Carl Moore Subject: L.A. Times 800-Number Article Today (Aug. 22) the {Baltimore Sun} had a reprint of an {L.A. Times} article "800 numbers have the ring of success" by Roy Rivenburg. There is no hint of area code 888 or the rumbles involving it, but it does note that 800 numbers are relatively new with regard to consumer affairs (the phones replace at least some of the mail). Also, it says: "The granddaddy of toll-free product numbers emerged at Whirlpool, which christened its 'Cool Line" in 1967, the year AT&T introduced 800 service." ------------------------------ From: fybush@world.std.com (Scott D Fybush) Subject: 860 Working Early Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA Date: Fri, 25 Aug 1995 03:08:44 GMT NYNEX is already allowing calls to Connecticut's new 860 NPA, two weeks before permissive dialing is scheduled to start. I can call 860 from my office in 617-254 (Brighton MA), although not through the office PBX, which does not yet recognize 860. SNET's announced test number, 860-203-0950, is not yet operational. I'd be interested to know whether other areas are getting early access to 860. BTW, on a trip to New Jersey the last weekend of July, I passed a glass-company truck on the highway that had already been altered to show (860) instead of (203) ... and this a full month before permissive dialing started! Glad to see the message is getting through to some people. Scott Fybush - fybush@world.std.com ------------------------------ From: lincmad@netcom.com (Linc Madison) Subject: Future of 809 D.A.? Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Fri, 25 Aug 1995 06:36:56 GMT I was reading in TELECOM Digest recently that plans are being made to allow any of the various small countries and territories in area code 809 to get its own area code. The first of these is Bermuda, area code 441, going into effect later this year. Under the current system, directory assistance for all of 809 is centralized (I think somewhere in Florida) -- you reach the same operator for Bermuda, Puerto Rico, or Jamaica. However, if each of those has its own area code, they could decide independently whether to continue contracting with the folks in Florida (or wherever) or to set up their own operation. Conceivably they could even try to set different charges for access to their directory assistance. Ironically, if every different country got its own area code, it would simplify the determination of rates: only the area code would be needed to figure the cost of a call, instead of the area code and prefix. Just one of those little bits of technotrivia that preoccupy me when I really should be asleep. Linc Madison * San Francisco, California * LincMad@Netcom.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I think 809-555-1212 is physically located in South Carolina. PAT] ------------------------------ From: bapat@gate.net (S. Bapat) Subject: Re: AT&T Moving Into Local Exchange Market Date: 25 Aug 1995 01:34:45 -0400 TELECOM Digest Editor noted: > What's interesting about this alleged plan by AT&T to 'take over' local > service next year is that they already have several new switches in place > largely sitting idle waiting for the day to arrive when they go in > service and (according to the WSJ story) AT&T plans to do something quite > ridiculous and offer their existing long distance customers 'local area > service' for some very small amount of money; far less than what the BOCs > are getting. Full custom calling features, the works. Interesting times. Interesting, indeed. Taking this argument to its logical extreme, since now there are no restrictions as to who can be in whose market, it is possible that using Ted Vail's old tactics AT&T might end up buying USWest, PacTel, SWBT, Nynex, BellAtlantic, BellSouth, Ameritech, and GTE, and we will be back to square one. S. Bapat bapat@gate.net [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: No, I don't think they could buy up those companies. I think all those former AT&T companies have to be left alone where AT&T is concerned. That is what I meant by saying 'several monopolies'. Today, a hundred years after the government-ordered breakup of the Standard Oil Trust owned by John Rockefeller, any of the various parts of the former oil monopoly (Exxon, Amoco, Chevron, etc) are by themselves larger than the original monopoly. Competition, eh? So let's open a gasoline refinery and oil producing business and see how far it gets us ... Within the next dozen years or so watch and see if each of the Baby Bells are just as powerful and sassy as AT&T ever was in the old days if not more so. No one today remembers when Exxon, Chevron and Amoco were all one and the same; and I venture to say in a few years very few Americans around will still remember when there was a single 'telephone company'. Instead there will be a half-dozen or so large, major players in the industry, each a complete full service phone company with long distance service, local service and everything else they offer. So instead of one monopoly to 'choose from' we will have six to choose from. Still, I guess that's better than just one. PAT] ------------------------------ From: ac220@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Rich Szabo) Subject: Re: War on Payphones Date: 24 Aug 1995 11:05:08 GMT Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA) Reply-To: ac220@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Rich Szabo) In a previous article, dave@westmark.com (Dave Levenson) says: > It has previously been recounted here. The War on Drugs turns into a > War on Payphones. The politicians have finally found a way of > accomplishing something visible; the payphones don't fight back. [much snipped] This brings to mind a terrifying episode that occurred when my wife was about to give birth to our daughter. We were in a public building at the time my wife realized that the baby's movements were very diminished, which indicates that the baby could be dying. We called the OB/GYN from a payphone and the answering service wanted our number for a return call. I read the fine print on the phone which said "no incoming calls accepted". The service refused to give us the OB/GYN's home number. We panicked for a short time until I realized we had our brand new cell phone in the car which we were able to receive the OB's calls on. Rich Szabo ------------------------------ From: dave@westmark.com (Dave Levenson) Subject: Re: War on Payphones Organization: Westmark, Inc. Date: Thu, 24 Aug 1995 14:50:25 GMT Pat writes: > ...even the County Jail, where the payphones are among the worst > ripoff phones to be found anywhere. PAT] Even the telephone companies know a `captive market' when they see one, no? Dave Levenson Internet: dave@westmark.com Westmark, Inc. UUCP: uunet!westmark!dave Stirling, NJ, USA Voice: 908 647 0900 Fax: 908 647 6857 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #360 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa21184; 25 Aug 95 19:08 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id MAA08545 for telecomlist-outbound; Fri, 25 Aug 1995 12:11:18 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id MAA08537; Fri, 25 Aug 1995 12:11:15 -0500 Date: Fri, 25 Aug 1995 12:11:15 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Message-Id: <199508251711.MAA08537@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #361 TELECOM Digest Fri, 25 Aug 95 12:11:00 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 361 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Mexico and TWX (was History of 905, etc) (Mark Cuccia) Re: Smartcard Phone Spotted in Oshawa Ontario! (Jeff Bamford) Re: Seven Digits Across NPA Lines (Fred R. Goldstein) Re: Future of 809 D.A.? (Randy Finder) Re: AT&T Moving Into Local Exchange Market (Steven Lichter) Determining Your Telephone Number (Mark J. Cuccia) Re: War on Payphones (p23610@email.mot.com) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. 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Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Mark Cuccia Subject: Mexico and TWX (was History of 905, etc) Date: Fri, 25 Aug 95 09:58:00 +6C PAT, PLEASE, PLEASE lets get the history of Mexico and TWX correct - Only yesterday I was looking thru the TD ftp archives of older back issues and found some replies dated 18 Jan 1989 regarding TWX and 'supplementary' Area Codes postings in the Guide to N.America/Area Codes. FIRST, MEXICO. Mexico had been developing its OWN internal automated network probably in the 1950's, but most likely during the 1960's. The EXTREME Mexican northwest border with the US (California, Arizona, New Mexico), covering about a dozon or so border towns in the Mexican states of Baja California (N), Sonora, and Chihuahua were 'assigned' a special Area Code of 903 (not 905) circa 1962 or 63. Whether they were readily dialable or not in 62/63 I don't know. I was unaware of 903 for NW Mexico until the early 1970's when researching out-of-town telephone directories at the Public Library. The New Orleans directory did NOT list 903, 808, 907, or 809 (or 905) until around the mid 1970's. 903 was ALSO used as a 'billing-identification' or 'mark-sense' code for 'all' of rural (non-dial, local manual) Mexico as well. Automated Mexico (within +52) was also operator dialable from US/Canada using routing code 180+the eight digit Mexican National number, and became customer dialable (if you had IDDD) as 011+52+the eight digit Mexican National Number around 1979 or 80. Northwest Mexican 903 border towns 'seem' to have had a NNX-XXXX number, as I have seen such in various travel/tourist/hotel guides from back in the 1960's and 70's, and I even remember seeing 903 as the (N.American) areacode for such towns as Ensenada, Tijuanna, Rosarito, etc. in *other* countries' telephone books. While 903 was in use in the 1970's (and 60's), those border towns were NOT listed in the Mexico City directory as dialable towns using Mexico's internal automated dial toll network (+52). In 1970, Mexico City became dialable from many points in US/Canada using 90-5. Mexico City's +52 city code is a single digit, 5. Their local numbers are seven digits long. This makes up an eight digit Mexican National numbers. Some towns (dialable, too) on the outskirts of Mexico City had *five-digit* local numbers, and a Mexican (dialable) city code of *three* digits, beginning with 5. Any Mexican (dialable) city code starting with '5' could be dialed from (most/many) US/Canadian points as (1+/0+) 90+ the eight digit Mexican National Number IF it began with a '5'. In 1980, AT&T Long-Lines and Telefonos de Mexico re-arranged the Mexican border towns in '903'. They were re-numbered and re-routed to conform with Mexico's internal numbering scheme, and were assigned city codes beginning with '6'. Mexico's zone 6 covered a LARGE chunk of northwest Mexico, but prior to 1980 did not include those dozon or so border towns. In 1980, it did. I haven't had a chance to compare pre-1980 with post-1980 Tijuana directories, but its pre-1980 numbers of 903-NNX-XXXX were changed to (+52) 66 + a six digit local number. I don't know how the 'central-office' codes were changed, other than that they were 'shortened'. You could reach ALL of Mexican Zone 6 points now (from US/Canada) with (1+/0+) 70+ the eight digit Mexican National Number IF it began with a '6'. ANYONE in the US/Canada could use 90-5 and 70-6, although AT&T promoted the IDDD method (011/01+52+eight digits) and ONLY publicized the 1+/0+ 70-6 & 90-5 for those who did NOT have IDDD, altho' even IDDD capable customers COULD use them as well. By 1991, Bellcore 'reclaimed' 90-5 and 70-6, and insisted on IDDD access *only* as they reassigned 905 to the 416 Ontario split which took place in 1993, and 706 to the 404 Georgia split which took place in 1992. 903 had been reclaimed in 1980, and was reassigned to the 214 Texas split in 1990. NOW for TWX (TeletypeWriter eXchange service) AT&T began its TWX network as far back as *1931* as a MANUALLY connected teletype service. It was NOT an integrated part of the telephone network, and had its OWN numbering scheme. It only served the continental US. In the mid 1950's, CNCP (now Unitel) began automated telex service in Canada. By 1958, Western Union began an automated telex network in the US. Mexico as well had a telex service by the late 50's or early 60's. All of these networks, including AT&T TWX used 5-level punch tape Baudot code, at a speed of roughly 60 to 66 baud. AT&T's TWX was still manual by 1960, but traffic was growing and connection set up times were getting longer. In 1962, AT&T did a splash cut of TWX from manual to automated. There is an article in a 1962 issue of 'Bell Laboratories Record' magazine describing this. MOST TWX terminals were retrofitted with an attatchment consisting of a modem, '6-line-keyset', rotary-dial, and a 'half-a-handset'. The half-a-handset was like a 500 telephone set's handset cut in half with only an earpiece on it. Some of the oldest teletype TWX machines had an actual 500-desk-set with the 6-keys hooked up to it. In those, the transmitter insert was either removed or it was disconnected. The 6-keys were not actually lines, but controls. One was for originate, one was for (attendant) answer (altho' later machines had an auto-answer capability), one was for clearing or releasing the connection, another for testing, and another for 'local' or more specifically offline typing or tape-punching. I don't know what the other key was used for right now. ALL TWX customers were assigned 'telephone' numbers, using their OWN GEOGRAPHIC telephone areacode, and a 'centrally' located NNX code, which was usually that of a #5Crossbar office in that city or in the larger town nearby. TWX machines could DIAL telephone numbers, but couldn't talk to them, and telephones could DIAL to TWX machines!!! All of these TWX machines had three rows on the keyboard, and still used 5-level-Baudot code, just like the telex machines in telegraphy. About a year after AT&T had automated their TWX network by *integrating* it with the DDD Telephone network, they announced that there would be a *new* TWX service, using 8-level-ASCII code, faster speeds, and 4-row keyboards (Model 33 & 35 teletype machines). They reserved FIVE special areacodes for this service: 510, 610, 710, 810, 910. Please note: 210, 310, 410 were NOT used for TWX- 410 was used in many parts of the country for reaching telephone Repair Service, while all three were used in some areas for various testing purposes such as ANAC (Auto reading back of your telephone number) or Ring-Back. Pat, please note the geography of the TWX N10's in the 1960's: 610 TWX Canada 710 TWX US (Northeast - states now serviced by NYNEX, Bell Atlantic, So.NewEnglandTel) 810 TWX US (Midwest/Southeast - states now serviced by Bell South, Cincinnati Bell, Ameritech- Michigan, Ohio, Indiana EXCEPT the NW corner near Chicago) 910 TWX US (Midwest, West of Mississippi River- states now serviced by US West, SW Bell, Pac*Bell/Nevada*Bell, and the remainder of Ameritech- Wisconsin, Illinois, northwest corner of Indiana near Chicago) 510 TWX US (smaller towns ALL OVER the US, which were not near a #5XB office at the time) 710, 810, 910 were part of the 'TWX Switching Plan' (TWX-SP) 610 (Canada) was not initially part of the TWX-SP 510 was NOT part of the TWX-SP The Independents worked closely with AT&T Long-Lines to provide TWX as well. TWX was routed over the DDD Telephone network, but for the most part, regular telephone NPA's could NOT dial to a N10-NNX TWX machine, but a 3-row 5-level TWX machine with its own telephone NPA could. N10 TWX machines could dial ANY telephone NPA, including telephone numbers. Model 33 & 35 TWX teletypes had a built in 6-key control set, dial or touchtone pad, and a speaker instead of a handset earpiece. This is the 'snit' that Western Union got into. They brought complaints against AT&T for this newer and faster TWX service, stating that AT&T shouldn't be involved in telegraphy! By 1970, after legal/court/FCC hearings and investigations, AT&T agreed to 'sell' its TWX (ALL of it) over to WUTC. Canada was NOT involved in this. TWX in the US thus became the 'marketing domain' of WUTC. For the next ten or so years, TWX was *still* numbered, dialed, routed, switched over the Bell System's DDD Telephone network *as-if-it-were* an integral part of the Bell System. WUTC 'sold' the service, billed the customers, repaired the terminals, and leased loops and trunks (and the switching capability) from AT&T, Bell, and the independents. Canadian TWX was always the part of the telephone companies themselves up in Canada. 3-row slower speed TWX machines in the US (using their geographic telephone NPA codes) were declining thru the 70's, and by 1979 were discontinued altogather. Throughout the 1970's, WUTC and AT&T were planning for WU to do its OWN routing/switching of TWX (US ONLY). By 1982, WU completed the 'removal' of TWX from the DDD telephone network (US only). Within a year or two, there was no need for geographic meanings of the N10 codes, so WU began assigning numbers ANYWHERE from ANY N10 (510, 710, 810, 910). There was also no more need for geographic meaning to the NNX's within any N10, and WU also began to assign 'central office' codes of the form N0X, N1X, and even 0XX and 1XX! (I have TWX/Telex directories from 1978, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1989/90, and 1991). As far as AT&T (and later Bellcore) were concerned, the N10's were now reclaimed, except for 610 Canada. The VERY FIRST N10 to be re-assigned was 710, to the US Federal Government for some still unspecified private service. It was assigned sometime around 1983 or 84. I was not aware of its use until I saw it in a Bellcore LERG in 1990 in a list of NPA codes. In the meantime, WU had plans for the other N10's on TWX -- the only one I ever saw being used was 310. It was a special access prefix to be used for TWX customers to directly dial US Telex terminals (WU and the other IRC Domestic US Telex networks) without having to go thru WU's 'Infomaster' store-and-forward setup computer. 210 was 'supposed' to be used for WU US TWX to dial direct to CNCP/Unitel's Canadian Telex, and 410 was to be used for WU US TWX to dial direct to Mexico's Telex (BTW, Mexico, Hawaii, Alaska, Caribbean never had TWX as such; only Telex, altho' they have had telephone numbers for Data and Fax, of course). I saw references to plans for 210+ & 410+ but never saw any actual instructions in WU's TWX/Telex directories as such, only actual references to 310+. The other N10 codes for TELEPHONE purposes have been 'reassigned' as such: 510 to the 415 California split, 1991 410 to the 301 Maryland split, 1991 310 to the 213 California split, 1991 210 to the 512 Texas split, 1992 910 to the 919 North Carolina split, 1993 810 to the 313 Michigan split, 1993 610 to the 215 Pennsylvania split, 1994 Canadian 610 TWX had been on the decline in the 1980's, and incidently never did reach the popularity of CNCP/Unitel's Telex service. The local telephone companies of Telecom-Canada (now Stentor) began to introduce ISDN and Data services on non-TWX central office NNX codes of the 610 NPA thru-out the 1980's. By 1993, when Bellcore needed to use 610 for telephone purposes, Canada and Bellcore agreed to 'splash-cut' all remaining TWX machines and new data services on 610 over to the new 600 special areacode. According to ITU-T (CCITT), the 'international telex country code' for Canadian TWX has been discontinued since Stentor Canada discontinued TWX altogather in 1984. The Data services on 600 have their own ITU-T (CCITT) Data network country codes, tho'. And, the 600-NXX codes used in Canada are being assigned to 'carriers' similar to the way 900-NXX & 500-NXX codes are being assigned today, and the way 800-NXX codes were assigned before 'portability' (1985-1993 timeframe). Western Union began its EasyLink email type of service in the early to mid 1980's using its own numbering scheme. By 1990, AT&T purchased all of TWX (WU began calling it 'Telex-II), Telex-I, and EasyLink from WUTC. I have the AT&T directory from 1991 and was told last year (1994) that it is the most recent directory available. AT&T continued to have 'EasyLink' numbers and network, Telex-I, and Telex-II (known again as TWX), and ALL using the numbering schemes still used by WUTC. TWX still used N10's (510, 710, 810, 910), but there was no geography to the N10's, nor to the 'central office' code portions, now NNX, NXX, 0XX and 1XX, but AT&T had this as a PRIVATE NETWORK SERVICE, not an *integral* part of the AT&T *telephone* long-distance network as it had back in the 60's, and even 70's. I don't know how thin an AT&T message services directory would be if one were printed today. With email, Internet, Fax machines, and other dedicated data networks, traditional/nostalgic TWX & Telex in the US and Canada have continued to shrink. AND, I have been TRYING to compile a numerical listing and assignments of the OLD TWX N10-NNX codes- If ANYONE has an old listing (with assignments to cities & states/provinces) down to the central office NNX code level of the OLD (circa 1960's/70's) TWX 510, 610, 710, 810, 910, I would appreciate it VERY much if you could email, mail, or fax me a copy. Thanks in advance! AND THANK YOU PAT! MARK J. CUCCIA PHONE/WRITE/WIRE: HOME: (USA) Tel: CHestnut 1-2497 WORK: mcuccia@law.tulane.edu |4710 Wright Road| (+1-504-241-2497) Tel:UNiversity 5-5954(+1-504-865-5954)|New Orleans 28 |fwds on no-answr to Fax:UNiversity 5-5917(+1-504-865-5917)|Louisiana(70128)|cellular/voicemail [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: My goodness; you are the one to be thanked today for a great bit of history and some good weekend reading. PAT] ------------------------------ From: jeffb@audiolab.uwaterloo.ca (Jeff Bamford) Subject: Re: Smartcard Phone Spotted in Oshawa Ontario! Organization: Audio Research Group, University of Waterloo Date: Fri, 25 Aug 1995 10:27:22 -0400 In article , Scott Robert Dawson wrote: > Last week I was in Oshawa visiting friends and we stopped at a food > store. The pay phones in the lobby were the standard Nortel 'Millennium' > model, but the top housing above the screen was bright blue with the > new Bell logo, and the card reader housing was bright yellow. Both of > these were changed from the previous grey-blue. The graphic by the > card slot showed two cards, one with a stripe and one with a small > square. I've actually had one of these cards for a couple of months now. I participated in Bell's contest at their web site (http://www.bell.ca) and they sent me one with $10 on it. It seems to mimic using cash. That is, local calls are $0.25 and long distance calls are direct-dialled rates plus the operator-surcharge of around $2 (the same as if you used cash). The long distance surcharge goes against what the pamphlet said, the surcharge was only supposed to be $1. That might be because they're really not in use here yet. The card looks like a regular phone-card except that it has no numbers on it (i.e. card number), and a nice picture of "Chute aux Rats, Mont-Tremblant" (a water fall). [Questions deleted] > All this hints at a vast behind-the-scenes transaction network > rivaling the banks'. Well from what I gathered they contain a small microchip in them that stores how much money you have in them. I doubt that they could be used in a bank machine as they don't rely on a magnetic strip. That's why Bell are changing over the Millennium pay-phones to the yellow readers. However, they should be reusable but I don't really know. The value of the card is printed in the upper-right hand corner. This might indicate that it is not reusable, or at least can only hold $10. The prime locations for these new phones seems to be Colleges and Universities. I've also seen the occasional one popping up in other locations, but they seem to be concentrating their initial targets at students. They're very convenient for local calls but the high-surcharge for long distance would make me want to swipe my calling-card instead. If they brought the surcharge down to the same level as the calling-card ($0.75) it would be a pretty good deal. However, with the new card the phone tells you exactly how much the call will cost (initial charge and additional minute for long distance or 25 cents for local). I find this very convenient, it also gives you a timed countdown (minutes & seconds) of how much longer you have on the card for the current long distance call. I find it very nice to know *exactly* how much the call is going to cost when I make it! Jeff Bamford Email - jeffb@uwaterloo.ca -- NeXT Mail welcome Office/Lab: +1 519 885 1211 x3814 Fax: +1 519 746 8115 WEB Page: A.R.G. Home Page ------------------------------ From: fgoldstein@bbn.com (Fred R. Goldstein) Subject: Re: Seven Digits Across NPA Lines Date: Fri, 25 Aug 1995 12:33:14 ELT Organization: BBN Planet Corp. My own comments: As I noted before with regard to overlays vs. splits, Americans believe that once they've learned something, then it must ALWAYS be true. This also applies to the meaning of 1+ and the meaning of "toll". The reason 1+ means "toll" in SOME places is historical: With step-by-step switches, dialing 1 immediately cut through to a toll trunk, and a toll switch ate the rest of the digits directly. The 1 was literally an access code for a different switch, one which had call detail billing. Local calls never had detail billing, and never hit the toll switch. In areas that used mostly crossbar and/or panel (which did NOT cleanly interwork with step, so panel and step were geographically isolated), the crossbar ate the first 3 digits, and routed the call accordingly. So there was no need for 1+. These areas generally did not use 1+ for toll. New Jersey, New York, and San Francisco were examples. I grew up in New Jersey where 1+ meant "your finger slipped on the hookswitch, but the CO knows better than to interrupt dial tone because of it". 7-digit dialing between area codes requires one of two solutions. One is to make intra-NPA toll REQUIRE dialing 1+10d. But it's counterintuitive to get a different NPA by omitting your own. So even where NYNEX (in MA) was ordered by the state to use 1+10d for intra-NPA toll, they don't allow 7d inter-NPA. Besides, this fails if the same prefix is local in both NPAs. For 617, where 90% of prefices are "local" to each other, this couldn't work for calls to 508. Thus it's 1+10d. The other solution is "code protection", where near-border NXX codes aren't assigned in both NPAs. This wastes codes, and can no longer be afforded in most NPAs. (Still okay in a few, but bad form.) That was the original way in some places, especially places like NJ where there was never 1+ dialing. Of course in some cases, "local" costs less than "toll" (Boston local zone 2, 9-16 miels, during weekends costs 5.5c/min, vs. 3.6c for the longest intra-LATA toll call), so the 1+ rule is less useful than it sounds. Fred R. Goldstein k1io fgoldstein@bbn.com Bolt Beranek & Newman Inc., Cambridge MA USA +1 617 873 3850 Opinions are mine alone; sharing requires permission. ------------------------------ From: naraht@drycas.club.cc.cmu.edu (Randy Finder) Subject: Re: Future of 809 D.A.? Date: 25 Aug 95 11:45:42 -0400 Organization: Carnegie Mellon Computer Club In article , lincmad@netcom.com (Linc Madison) writes: > Under the current system, directory assistance for all of 809 is > centralized (I think somewhere in Florida) -- you reach the same > operator for Bermuda, Puerto Rico, or Jamaica. However, if each of > those has its own area code, they could decide independently whether > to continue contracting with the folks in Florida (or wherever) or to > set up their own operation. Conceivably they could even try to set > different charges for access to their directory assistance. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I think 809-555-1212 is physically located > in South Carolina. PAT] I called, I asked. They are in Miami. And as opposed to every other directory assistance location, I've called, they don't say: "What City, Please?", they say: "What Island, Please" Randy Finder Leadership, Friendship and Service - Alpha Phi Omega ------------------------------ From: slichte@cello.gina.calstate.edu (Steven Lichter) Subject: Re: AT&T Moving Into Local Exchange Market Date: 25 Aug 1995 00:41:51 -0700 Organization: GINA and CORE+ Services of The California State University NEERAJ VORA writes: > There are reports that AT&T is all set to enter the local call arena > and provide some fierce competition. According to Newsbytes reports > they are ready to take a beating at first to gain ground in the > market. AT&T Bought Cross Country Cable last month. Come January 1,1996 they will be able to offer dial tone to all of these subscribers and bypass the LEC. Right now this company offers toll bypass for large companies. The above are my ideas and have nothing to do with whoever my employer is. SysOp Apple Elite II and OggNet Hub (909) 359-5338 2400/14.4 24 hours, Home of GBBS/LLUCE Support for the Apple II.slichte@cello.gina.calstate.edu [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Whenever we reach the point that a company is actually able to supply its own dial tone over its own wires and have no need to rely on the traditional local telco, that will be the day that local competition begins. The reports coming to me are that AT&T plans to come crashing onto the scene in a big way beginning in January. No more negotiating with the local telcos; none of that stuff. They are just going to move right in and start doing business. It is really exciting! PAT] ------------------------------ From: Mark J. Cuccia Subject: Determining Your Telephone Number Date: 25 Aug 1995 16:36:52 GMT Organization: Tulane University perezju@fiu.edu (Julio J. Perez) wrote: > I tried 1-800-MY-ANI-IS when dialing outside the building I'm calling from, > only to get a telephone number that does not have even the remotest > resemblance to the number i'm actually calling from. Please remember that 1-800-692-6447 (MY ANI IS) will quote back the telephone number of your line OR TRUNK-line that the call is being placed out on. Most PBX and Cellular systems do NOT pass out the seven/ten digit number of the actual PBX extension or Cellular unit. The particular outgoing trunk-line IS identified and that is what is being quoted back on 800-MY-ANI-IS or a local telco C/O ANAC-out code. Most PBX and Cellular systems I have run across also don't pass out the actual extension or cellphone number to a Caller-ID box. Our PBX here at work will have the outgoing trunklines' numbers show up on a caller-ID box on outgoing local calls (or quoted out on the 800 'ANI' number). BellSouth Mobility calls show up as 'Out-Of-Area' at the called party's Caller-ID box. 800-MY-ANI-IS will quote back the 'same' trunkline number of BSM New Orleans (I don't remember exactly what it is right now, but it is always the same 504-45x-xxxx). My actual cellular number is 504-460-xxxx, New Orleans ratecenter, for BSMobility Cellular, and MOST 46X's in 504 are not New Orleans, but the Kenner LA (suburb of New Orleans) rate center. (BTW, 504-460 is 'new', comming on line in April '95; MOST one-armed bandit slot-machine damnable COCOT private payphone pieces of CRAP here don't have 460 programmed in as a local NNX code- they either claim invalid number or 'default' it to a NPA 504 TOLL nnx code, requesting something like $3.00 a minute!!!!!) When I go to Mississippi Gulf Coast (Cellular South) or points just south of New Orleans such as Houma, Thibadeaux, Plaq.Parish, Lafitte, etc. (MobilTel), I get an entirely DIFFERENT number when I 800-MY-ANI-IS, which is the trunkline being used by that cellular service. If I roam to Baton Rouge LA (another BellSouth Mobility cellular service area), I would get a Baton Rouge area number if I'd 800-MY-ANI-IS, the outgoing trunkline for that area. As for determining the actual number of a PBX extension, I would guess that each PBX manufacturer has some time of ANAC code for the PBX ext's. Maybe you could call the PBX operator or administration for assistance in that matter. Many PBX systems do have internal PBX Caller-ID, so call up another extension you know has a displayphone or box, or maybe dial the PBX '0' Operator! There ARE some PBX to Public Telco interfaces which DO identify the number of the extension, but I haven't run across any myself. Centrex systems for the most part DO give the actual telephone number, however, since Centrex is USUALLY a TELCO public central office switch based large-business system instead of a PBX on a customer's premesis. MARK J. CUCCIA PHONE/WRITE/WIRE: HOME: (USA) Tel: CHestnut 1-2497 WORK: mcuccia@law.tulane.edu |4710 Wright Road| (+1-504-241-2497) Tel:UNiversity 5-5954(+1-504-865-5954)|New Orleans 28 |fwds on no-answr to Fax:UNiversity 5-5917(+1-504-865-5917)|Louisiana(70128)|cellular/voicemail ------------------------------ From: snake Subject: Re: War on Payphones Organization: MOTOROLA Date: Fri, 25 Aug 1995 15:47:58 GMT dave@westmark.com (Dave Levenson) wrote: > Pat writes: >> ...even the County Jail, where the payphones are among the worst >> ripoff phones to be found anywhere. PAT] > Even the telephone companies know a `captive market' when they see > one, no? Don't forget the payphones installed in Las Vegas casinos, which are rigged to keep your quarter even if your call doesn't go through. At least the slot machines give you a chance at a payout. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Twenty-five cents just for the right to touch the phone, pick it up and try to get someone, eh? Actually if you ask Mark Cuccia (see the message before this one) about it, he would probably tell you that the people who manufacture slot machines and other gambling devices are the same people who make COCOTS, and probably using a lot of the same circuit boards at that! Grin. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #361 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa26055; 29 Aug 95 20:11 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id NAA10481 for telecomlist-outbound; Tue, 29 Aug 1995 13:21:54 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id NAA10472; Tue, 29 Aug 1995 13:21:44 -0500 Date: Tue, 29 Aug 1995 13:21:44 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Message-Id: <199508291821.NAA10472@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #362 TELECOM Digest Tue, 29 Aug 95 13:21:00 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 362 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Area Code Crisis -- A Different Viewpoint (Fritz Whittington) Re: Area Code Crisis -- A Different Viewpoint (Clive D.W. Feather) Re: Area Code Crisis -- A Different Viewpoint (Tony Harminc) San Francisco Area Codes (Peter Mansfield) Re: Allnet Tries to Hide Adult Services (Dave Levenson) Re: IntegreTel/VRS Billing-Bulk Block Procedure (Randal L. Schwartz) Re: Snakes In The Net - Adult Services Auto-Block Numbers (Michael Fumich) Re: Wideband SATCOM Nets to Support WWW (Tom Hicks) Re: V&H Questions (Les Reeves) Re: V&H Questions (John N. Dreystadt) Re: V&H Questions (Stu Jeffery) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily represent the views of Microsoft. ------------------------------------------------------------ Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 28 Aug 95 18:28:42 CDT From: fritz@mirage.hc.ti.com (Fritz Whittington) Subject: Re: Area Code Crisis -- A Different Viewpoint In comp.dcom.telecom rbarry@iol.ie (Richard Barry) writes: > fritz@mirage.hc.ti.com (Fritz Whittington) wrote: >> There is an extremely interesting document available at: >> http://www.open.gov.uk/oftel/oftelwww/oftcons.htm >> which explains how the UK intends to handle the area-code and number >> shortage problems, in a very flexible and user-friendly way. > I wouldn't suggest that anyone looking for an ideal numbering strategy > look at the UK model (except on a what not to do basis!) The reason > the authorities there are entering a pretent public consultation > process is because they have done so much damage and screwed up so > badly up to now. Agreed, but they now *seem* to be trying to correct for that. OFTEL took over the numbering plan only last year, from BT. A large part of the problem seems to have been inherited from the fact that a country so relatively small was divided into so many 'area' codes: "The present geographic scheme - now using 01 numbers - was designed by the Post Office in the 1950s and is based around 638 areas, each of which has a code. With the exception of London and some other major cities, all these areas are of similar size." This gives the potential of 800 000 numbers for some small towns of a few hundred people. > There is no long term numbering strategy in the UK - it changes > virtually every year, which is great for the printing industry! Since > "PhONEday", the UK has enough numbering space for about 8 billion > phone lines, which means that phone numbers are much longer than they > need be, under any population / user terminal growth scenario. "NOBODY will *ever* need more than 64K of memory." --Eubanks, ca. 1976 "NOBODY will *ever* need more than 640K of memory." --Gates, ca. 1981 > You can't tell which part of the country an area code is located from the > first digit or two, as one can in virtually every other European > country -- (eg area code 01232 is Belfast, Northern Ireland while 01233 > is in Kent in the South East of England). ... > Mobile phone numbers, paging, and premium rate numbers are found all > over the numbering space. The article is very critical of this, and suggests that an "02" series of *much larger* area codes be overlaid on the current "01" series, with only 020-029 used. Presumably, these would be few enough for people to remember their geographical relationship. *BOTH* the 01 and the 02 area codes could be used permissively. Also, "numbers beginning 04 can in future be used for mobile services; 07 for Personal Numbering services; and 08 for special services such as freephone, services charging national calls at local rate and some information services." While I respect your views and agree with many of your observations (mostly the ones I deleted without comment), I suspect that you haven't really read the article thoroughly. Fritz Whittington Texas Instruments, P.O. Box 655474, MS 446 Dallas, TX 75265 Shipping address: 13510 North Central Expressway, MS 446 Dallas, TX 75243 fritz@ti.com Office: +1 214 995 0397 FAX: +1 214 995 6194 Since I am not an official TI spokesperson, these opinions contain no spokes. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Area Code Crisis -- A Different Viewpoint Date: Tue, 29 Aug 1995 11:16:59 +0100 (BST) From: Clive D.W. Feather In 15.359.5 Richard Barry wrote: > I wouldn't suggest that anyone looking for an ideal numbering strategy > look at the UK model (except on a what not to do basis!) By coincidence, I'd just received the following in email from Nick Leverton, and forward it with his permission: > I liked "Pulp Video"'s sketch last week ... Scene, the National > Lottery draw. The balls drop down one by one, the number > flashes up on the screen, a breathless announcer gasps "1 34 8 > 12 26 38 ... that, ladies and gentlemen, is the new dialing > code for Manchester!". > I think that about sums up Oftel's present credibility problem concerning > lack of planning :-( Clive D.W. Feather | Work: clive@demon.net | Gateway House Senior Manager | Home: clive@stdc.demon.co.uk | 322 Regents Park Road Demon Internet Ltd. | Tel: +44 181 371 1000 | Finchley | Fax: +44 181 371 1281 | London N3 2QQ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Aug 95 13:33:20 EDT From: Tony Harminc Subject: Re: Area Code Crisis -- A Different Viewpoint rbarry@iol.ie (Richard Barry) wrote: [UK numbering scheme not recommended as a model] > You can't tell which part of the country an area code is located > from the first digit or two, as one can in virtually every other > European country -- (eg area code 01232 is Belfast, Northern Ireland > while 01233 is in Kent in the South East of England). This is not different from North America. And unlike the NANP, where area codes were assigned pretty much at random, the UK codes started out as alphabetics related to the place name. So 01232 (then 0232) was originally 0BE2 - BE for Belfast, while 0234 was 0BE4 for Bedford, 0484 was GUildford, and so on. This broke down after a while, and there was never any way of guessing what the 4th digit would be, but it is the basis for those numbers. > Most European numbering plans have the following characteristics: > *Hierarchical area code structure* (like the US Zip code. While one > mightn't know where Zip 90234 is precisely, even a non-American can > guess that it is on the West coast and probably in California. > Someone who knows California can probably guess it is in the LA area, > etc.) This structure follows on to some extent from the country code > layout (eg all country codes beginning with 3 are in Europe). The French system is nothing like this. The Departement numbers are scattered randomly around the country, so you can't tell where a number is unless you have memorized the list. > *Variable number length* so that cities that outgrow 7 digits can have > 8 digit local numbers. No multiple area code confusion. Small > towns can have even shorter local numbers, if desirable. This is terrible idea, for the one simple reason that telephones don't have Enter keys. So the switch has to decide when you've finished dialing by some means, usually a timeout. Or if the switch is smart enough it may be able to avoid timeouts on certain calls, but the result is inconsistent behaviour. > *Distinctive non-geographic codes* so that anyone can tell a mobile > number or a pager or a premium rate number from a regular phone number > easily. The NANP has this for 900 and such, though there are some local variations (976 and the like are not universal). There is no need to know that yo are calling a mobile number if the mobile user is paying, Indeed many people would consider it a privacy violation for the phone company to tell all their callers what kind of service they have by assigning special numbers to mobiles. Tony Harminc [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Actually, telephones do have 'enter' keys or 'carriage return' keys. It is the '#' key located underneath the '9'. Sometimes known as the Octothorpe, the signal from this key is generally understood to mean the end of the dialing string has occurred. For example, try dialing just 0 for the operator, then 0# for the operator and note how much faster the latter connects, since no time-out is needed. Likewise try calling the number to which your calling card is assigned (which allows entry of just the calling card pin rather than the whole number) and after entering the four digit pin then do nothing ... it will time out eventually and process your call. Do it again adding # after the four digit pin and note the difference. If some specified number of digits are expected and required, then the use of # will not affect the timing one way or the other. For example punching in the seven digits of a local call followed by # has no affect whatsoever. A non-working two or three digit combination followed by # will have no affect whatsoever; that is the network will continue waiting patiently for more input from you. But if some two digit combination (for example 72 ro call forward or 67 to suspend transmission of caller ID) is presented and these can also serve as the first two digits of some longer combination, then adding # will make a difference, and the network will go right to work on what (two digits or other less than 7/11 combination) you have entered. So why don't we have telephone numbers of any length with the understanding that when the subscriber has finished giving the instructions, a # is used to indicate conclusion. The network would then process what had been given in the proper context. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Peter_Mansfield@australia.notes.pw.com Date: Mon, 28 Aug 95 08:22:23 +1000 Subject: San Francisco Area Codes Reading Mark Cuccia's interesting and informative history of the Mexican hacks and TWX, this reminded me of something I read in Carl Moore's history.of.area.splits in the Telecom Archives a while back dealing with the introduction of area code 318 in 1951, which I'm interested in finding out more about. Carl writes: > 415/318 California, 1951 > 318 was used for San Francisco only, during the Englewood (N.J.) > Customer DDD Trials; Oakland remained in 415. Sometime before 1957, > 318 was reclaimed for future use, and San Francisco returned to 415. > 504/318 Louisiana, 1957 > 318, used earlier for San Francisco, had been reclaimed by this time. Furthermore, in 1959, according to Carl Moore's file, 415 did a *three-way split* with West Central California moving to 408 and North West California moving to 707, with the San Francisco Area retaining 415 (which, as we know, later split again to form 415/510). So, do any historians out there know anything more about these DDD trials, specifically why a new NPA was allocated, and then reclaimed several years later. Also, was it a full cutover, or simply some kind of optional 'overlay' where either 318 or 415 could be used to reach San Francisco? If San Francisco was still in 318 for some time after 1951, why then did it return to 415, which was obviously nearing capacity, as it split three ways a few years later? Finally, are there any other known cases such as this, where an area code is split and is later reclaimed, or changed back to the former code or somehow reshuffled (apart from another split or overlay)? Incidentally, the above three-way split of 415 in 1959 seems to indicate that the current three-way split planned for Chicago cannot claim to be the first, especially since the Chicago split/reorganization is being implemented over about two years, and not all at once. (I don't think anyone actually claimed that it *was* the first, just that that it was the only one that anybody could think of!) Peter Mansfield Sydney, Australia Tel: +61 2 256 7940 Fax: + 61 2 256 7777 Email: Peter_Mansfield@australia.notes.pw.com ------------------------------ From: dave@westmark.com (Dave Levenson) Subject: Re: Allnet Tries to Hide Adult Services Organization: Westmark, Inc. Date: Tue, 29 Aug 1995 15:56:43 GMT Eric Bennett (bennett@hpel.umd.edu) writes: > It seems to me unfair to have a product the cost of which cannot be > determined until the purchase is made. I think a mechanism should > exist for dynamically charging calls. Imagine how long the teleslime > would last if that $5/min popped up on a display before the call was > connected. 900 information providers are required, under current law, to voice a `disclaimer announcement' during the initial 24 seconds after answering. This announcement must state the name of the information provider, and the price of the call (stated as a per-call amount, or a per-minute amount, as appropriate). The announcement must then state that the caller may disconnect NOW to avoid charges. This announcement normally ends with a beep signifying the beginning of the chargeable call. If the caller disconnects before the beep, no charge is made. The information provider generally pays the long distance carrier for these calls. > What other option is there? 500s are a billing lottery unless you > trust who/what ever you are calling. Folks who can't get through to > 500s being used as intended will come to my attention much sooner than > people who are "only making a long distance call" to some landmine > 500. For telecom resellers, PBX administrators, COCOT-owners and such, there is generally no other option than to completely block calls to 900, 976, and now, 500 numbers. If credit-card billing is accepted to these numbers, then 0+ calls to such numbers may be allowed if billed-number screening is also effective. Dave Levenson Internet: dave@westmark.com Westmark, Inc. UUCP: uunet!westmark!dave Stirling, NJ, USA Voice: 908 647 0900 Fax: 908 647 6857 ------------------------------ From: merlyn@stonehenge.com (Randal L. Schwartz) Subject: Re: IntegreTel/VRS Billing-Bulk Block Procedure Date: 29 Aug 1995 09:25:11 -0700 Organization: Stonehenge Consulting Services; Portland, Oregon, USA Reply-To: merlyn@stonehenge.com >>>>> "Randal" == Randal L Schwartz writes: > Do they read the ANI to you? If they do, we now have another way > of getting ANI. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Yes, they read the ANI back but only after > you have indicated you want the line blocked. I guess you could use them > to find out the number on lines which are unidentified as long as you or > the owner of the line don't object to being blocked from Integratel charges. > The way they phrase it is cute: "As a courtesy, your local telephone company > forwarded your number to us at the time they connected your call. The > number we are blocking is xxx-xxx-xxxx." No, you can get ANI without taking any action. Here's the sequence: 1-800-4BLOCKME wait through first message (cannot be interrupted) as soon as the menu starts: 3 2 (you can do these fast together) "As a courtesy, your local... xxx-xxx-xxxx" *if you press "1" here, you get blocked, "2" you don't. Just hang up. Thank you, Integretel, for giving us ANI from an 800 call, even if it takes a minute and we have to hear your name four times. :-) Name: Randal L. Schwartz / Stonehenge Consulting Services (503)777-0095 Keywords: Perl training, UNIX[tm] consulting, video production, skiing, flying Email: Snail: (Call) PGP-Key: (finger merlyn@ora.com) Web: My Home Page! Quote: "I'm telling you, if I could have five lines in my .sig, I would!" -- me ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Aug 95 13:22 EST From: Michael Fumich <0003311835@mcimail.com> Subject: Re: Snakes In The Net - Adult Services Auto-Block #'s It was mentioned in a previous article that Integretel (a misnomer if you ask me), has 800-425-6256 (800-4BLOCKME) available to block any adult services calls that may be billed by them. American Telnet, another company of this type also has one. That number is 800-204-2569. This number must also be dialed from the number that you wish blocked. Their Customer Service number is 800-460-0307. I don't know if these numbers will block 500 calls however. I will post more as they become available. Michael L. Fumich / E-Mail: <3311835@mcimail.com> / V-Mail: 708-461-5770 ------------------------------ From: thicks@hns.com (Tom Hicks) Subject: Re: Wideband SATCOM Nets to Support WWW Date: 28 Aug 1995 20:07:03 GMT Organization: Hughes Network Systems Inc. Kramer <102564.2255@CompuServe.COM> writes: > Is there a market to support the wideband download of data (imagery, > video, bulk files, etc.) from www sites based on narrow band requests? > Considering developing asymetrical net using DBS satellites (similar > to Spaceways concept) to provide 23MBS downlink to 20cm antennas and > embedded terminals with 14.4 teresstial and/or satcom uplinks for > request channel. Price targets $1/2k per terminal. $3/4 per 15 > second @ 23MBS. What do you think? Hughes Network Systems has such a beast for sale, called DirectPC. It provides up to 400Kbps commited rate, but I think it can burst up to 3 Mbps. 14.4K POTS link is available for outgoing traffic. I'm not sure if there are plans to add more user data bandwidth. I think price is between $1/2K per terminal. I think they sell the Internet connectivity package under the title of "Turbo Internet". So it is technically feasible. Not sure about the market. Tom Hicks thicks@hns.com ------------------------------ From: lreeves@crl.com (Les Reeves) Subject: Re: V&H Questions Date: 29 Aug 1995 10:51:02 -0700 Organization: CR Labs Douglas Frank (dougf@startel.com) wrote: > Can anyone tell me where V&H coordinates came from, and how they > actually represent distances in the U.S.? > Does anyone know how to translate V&H coordinates (such as those found > in Bellcore's LERG data) into standard lattitude and longitude? I am > creating a real-time network map, and need this translation. The > answer in any form would be appreciated, though programming code or > algorithm form would be best. This question (albeit a good one) appears often enough that it might deserve it's own place in the FAQ {hint, hint}. I can provide the equation used to compute miles, given two V&H numbers. It is in most IXC and/or intra-lata tariffs, mine is circa 1984. I realize this is not what you want, unless you happen to have the exact longitude and latitude of one end. Even with that you only get a distance, but no vector. And let's don't even consider whether or not the equation covers the Earth's curvature. There is a program, called NPA, which will do what you want. To get all the goodies, you must register it. The unregistered version is not exactly crippled, but it *will not* give you what you want. Here is the info on the latest version: NPA for WINDOWS <04Jul95> - Comprehensive area code (NPA), prefix (NXX), and city name locator. Contains 90,000,000 ZipCode to NXX mappings ranked by frequency of occurrence, county name, estimated county population, lat/long for each NXX for inter-city or inter-NXX mileage calculation, NXX use type (landline/cellular), city time zone, and more for over 20,000 cities in the USA & Canada. Nearly 60,000 NPA/NXXs in all! All fields except lat/long & county population are key searchable! Tie US ZipCodes & Canadian Postal Codes to NPA/NXXs. Print, file output, and Optional Data Export. Most complete area code program you've ever seen! I tried to find an contact number for the author, but this is a WINDOZE program, and everything but the file description is in the form of a Windows .hlp file. He also has a DOS version. The author goes by the name of PC Consultant, and is located in Houston. This is an excellent program. I have been using the DOS version for a couple of years. E-Mail me if you need contact info, although I think Pat may have it at hand). ------------------------------ From: johnd@falcon.ic.net (John N. Dreystadt) Subject: Re: V&H Questions Date: 29 Aug 1995 02:51:56 GMT Organization: ICNET... Your Link To The Internet... +1.313.998.0090 Reply-To: johnd@falcon.ic.net In article , dougf@startel.com says: > Can anyone tell me where V&H coordinates came from, and how they > actually represent distances in the U.S.? > Does anyone know how to translate V&H coordinates (such as those found > in Bellcore's LERG data) into standard lattitude and longitude? The V&H system was invented by Bellcore (O.K. Bell Labs at the time but the current organization is Bellcore. This is an attempt to turn the U.S which is a curved area on a sphere into a flat plane with the least amount of overall error when doing distance calculations. Works reasonably well. Each V or H represents .1 miles so distance = sqrt((V.Orig - V.Dest) ^ 2 + (H.Orig - H.Dest) ^ 2 ) / 10 Some locales have special rules if the result is a small number but 99% of the time, the above formula gets the right answer. Serious errors crop up when using this for locations at the fringe, (i.e. AK to HI). The code to convert V&H to K&L (Latitude/Longitude) is interesting (I did this for a company I used to work for). If you are willing to buy the code, call Lynn-Arthur Associates in Ann Arbor and see what the license fee is. Sorry but I did that work for them and cannot share the results. To reproduce it, you would need access to the original formulas from Bellcore for converting K&L into V&H and be good at writing algorithms backwards. Be warned, I had to do some iterative loops to approximate the answer and this is harder than it looks as you are doing things in two dimensions. Have fun. John Dreystadt ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Aug 1995 00:16:38 -0800 From: stu@shell.portal.com (Stu Jeffery) Subject: Re: V&H Questions Attached is a C program that will do what you want. I don't know anything more than what is here. I think it was posted in a news group, so use at your own legal risk. I have compiled it and it works fine. Going the other way is a bit more complicated. Probably the simplest way is by successive approximation. Good Luck. ----------------------------------------- /* * ll_to_vh.c -- computes Bellcore/AT&T V & H (vertical and horizontal) * coordinates from latitude and longitude. Used primarily by * local exchange carriers (LEC's) to compute the V & H coordinates * for wire centers. * * To compile: cc -o ll_to_vh ll_to_vh.c -lm * * This is an implementation of the Donald Elliptical Projection, * a Two-Point Equidistant projection developed by Jay K. Donald * of AT&T in 1956 to establish long-distance telephone rates. * (ref: "V-H Coordinate Rediscovered", Eric K. Grimmelmann, Bell * Labs Tech. Memo, 9/80. (References Jay Donald notes of Jan 17, 1957.)) * Ashok Ingle of Bellcore also wrote an internal memo on the subject. * * The projection is specially modified for the ellipsoid and * is confined to the United States and southern Canada. * * Derived from a program obtained from an anonymous author * within Bellcore by way of the National Exchange Carrier * Association. Cleaned up and improved a bit by * Tom Libert (tom@comsol.com, libert@citi.umich.edu). * * CASH REWARD for copies of the reference papers, or for an * efficient (non-iterative) inverse for this program! (i.e. * a program to compute lat & long from V & H). */ #include #include #define D_TO_R(d) (.0174532925199433*(d)) /* Degrees to radians */ /* Polynomial constants */ #define K1 .99435487 #define K2 .00336523 #define K3 -.00065596 #define K4 .00005606 #define K5 -.00000188 /* PI in various forms */ #define M_PI 3.1415926535898 #define M_PI_2 1.57079632679489661923 /* EX^2 + EY^2 + EZ^2 = 1 */ #define EX .40426992 #define EY .68210848 #define EZ .60933887 /* WX^2 + WY^2 + WZ^2 = 1 */ #define WX .65517646 #define WY .37733790 #define WZ .65449210 /* PX^2 + PY^2 + PZ^2 = 1 */ #define PX -.5559778217300487 #define PY -.3457284881610899 #define PZ .7558839026055240 /* COS77 is actually cos(76.597497064) */ #define COS77 .231790398 #define SIN77 .972765753 #define K6 6363.235 #define K7 2250.700 #define K8 12481.103 #define K9 (K8*COS77) #define K10 (K8*SIN77) #define EVER ;; ll_to_vh(lat, lon, iv, ih) double lat, lon; int *iv, *ih; { double lon1, lat1, latsq, x, y, z; double e, w, vt, ht, v, h, cos_lat1; /* Translate east by 52 degrees */ lon1 = lon + D_TO_R(52.); latsq = lat*lat; /* Use Horner's Rule for efficiency (standard trick for computing polynomials) */ lat1 = lat*(K1 + (K2 + (K3 + (K4 + K5*latsq)*latsq)*latsq)*latsq); cos_lat1 = cos(lat1); x = cos_lat1*sin(-lon1); y = cos_lat1*cos(-lon1); z = sin(lat1); e = EX*x + EY*y + EZ*z; w = WX*x + WY*y + WZ*z; e = e > 1.0 ? 1.0 : e; w = w > 1.0 ? 1.0 : w; e = M_PI_2 - atan(e/sqrt(1 - e*e)); w = M_PI_2 - atan(w/sqrt(1 - w*w)); ht = (e*e - w*w + .16)/.8; vt = sqrt(fabs(e*e - ht*ht)); vt = (PX*x + PY*y + PZ*z) < 0 ? -vt : vt; v = K6 + K9*ht - K10*vt; h = K7 + K10*ht + K9*vt; #ifdef DEBUG printf("v = %17.16f, h = %17.16f\n", v, h); #endif /* DEBUG */ *iv = v + .5; *ih = h + .5; } /* * Converts lat/long in ddmmssXdddmmsssY format * to separate latitude and longitude in radians. */ int dms_to_lat_lon(char *dms, double *lat, double *lon) { int deg1, min1, sec1, deg2, min2, sec2; char dir1, dir2; int num; fflush(stdout); num = sscanf(dms, "%02d%02d%02d%c%03d%02d%02d%c", °1, &min1, &sec1, &dir1, °2, &min2, &sec2, &dir2); if (num != 8) { fprintf(stderr, "\"%s\": illegal format\n", dms); return(1); } *lat = M_PI*(60.*(60.*deg1 + min1) + sec1)/(180.*3600.); if (dir1 == 'S') *lat = -(*lat); *lon = M_PI*(60.*(60.*deg2 + min2) + sec2)/(180.*3600.); if (dir2 == 'W') *lon = -(*lon); return(0); } main() { long lat_d, lat_m, lat_s; long lon_d, lon_m, lon_s; double lat, lon; int v, h; char loc[256]; printf("Computes V&H (vertical and horizontal) coordinates\n"); printf("given latitude and longitude.\n\n"); printf("Example (Ann Arbor, MI):\n\nEnter location: 421700N0834445W\n"); printf("v = 5602, h = 2919\n\n"); for (EVER) { printf("Enter location: "); gets(loc); if (feof(stdin)) break; dms_to_lat_lon(loc, &lat, &lon); #ifdef DEBUG printf("lat = %17.16f, lon = %17.16f\n", lat, lon); #endif /* DEBUG */ ll_to_vh(lat, lon, &v, &h); printf("v = %d, h = %d\n", v, h); } } -------------------------------------------------------- Stu Jeffery Internet: stu@shell.portal.com 1072 Seena Ave. voice: 415-966-8199 Los Altos, CA. 94024 fax: 415-966-8456 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #362 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa26384; 29 Aug 95 20:21 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id OAA11498 for telecomlist-outbound; Tue, 29 Aug 1995 14:07:31 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id OAA11488; Tue, 29 Aug 1995 14:07:27 -0500 Date: Tue, 29 Aug 1995 14:07:27 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Message-Id: <199508291907.OAA11488@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #363 TELECOM Digest Tue, 29 Aug 95 14:07:00 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 363 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Book Review: "OS/2 Warp Internet Connection" by Morrison (Rob Slade) Enterprise Management Summit '95 - Keynotes (summit@ix.netcom.com) Free Fax Testing Service (Mike Rehmus) GSM Operators - Updated List (Robert Lindh) Usenet Like CB? No (Mike Wengler) Working Around Capacity Problems (Doug McIntyre) Nynex Blows it Again! (Tony Pelliccio) Employment Opportunity: Buffalo, NY DSP, Modem, C (jobs@vocal.com) Early Dialing Into 1-888-555-1212, 1-888-888-8888 (Rich Szabo) How to Distinquish Local From Long Distance Numbers (Thomas Chen) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily represent the views of Microsoft. ------------------------------------------------------------ Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 28 Aug 1995 22:02:34 EST From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "OS/2 Warp Internet Connection" by Morrison BKOS2WIC.RVW 950615 "OS/2 Warp Internet Connection", Deborah Morrison, 1995, 1-56884-465-4, U$24.99/C$34.99/UK#23.99 %A Deborah Morrison %C 155 Bovet Road, Suite 310, San Mateo, CA 94402 %D 1995 %G 1-56884-465-4 %I IDG Books Worldwide %O U$24.99/C$34.99/UK#23.99 415-312-0650 fax: 415-286-2740 kaday@aol.com %P 233 %T "OS/2 Warp Internet Connection" For a product-specific book, this is not bad at all. Basic Internet concepts are covered without going overboard. Many books mention RFCs (Request For Comment documents), but few present information on how to get them (and which ones to get) in as simple and useful a form. The definition of client/server isn't accurate (it doesn't work for X, for example), but is good enough to be getting on with. IBM wants, of course, to promote its own Internet Connection Service as the Internet provider of choice, and the setup to ICS is the simpler of the two. They may, however, have taken simplicity a bit too far. If the book is correct, there is no provision for a modem initialization string. The directions for the use of other access providers is quite clear, but it states that the IP address assigned to the user is "required." This would create difficulty for providers that use dynamic allocation. The script language for automated calling is not described, although sample scripts appear to be provided in Appendix B. The description of the various applications (Gopher, World Wide Web, email, news, telnet, and ftp) is basically limited to explanations of the interface, although organized in a functional style. Ironically, one of the few exceptions to the "just the interface" tutorial recommends the use of "block files" (apparently directly analogous to the more common kill files) as providing censorship for those with children. There is no indication of any means to prevent said children from removing this "protection." copyright Robert M. Slade, 1995 BKOS2WIC.RVW 950615. Distribution permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated publications. Rob Slade's book reviews are a regular feature in the Digest. Vancouver ROBERTS@decus.ca | "It says 'Hit any Institute for Robert_Slade@sfu.ca | key to continue.' Research into rslade@vanisl.decus.ca | I can't find the User Rob_Slade@mindlink.bc.ca | 'Any' key on my Security Canada V7K 2G6 | keyboard." ------------------------------ From: summit@ix.netcom.com Subject: Enterprise Management Summit '95 - Keynotes Date: 28 Aug 1995 19:36:55 GMT Organization: Netcom Keynote speakers and events have been finalized for the Enterprise Management Summit to be held this October 23-27 at the Dallas InfoMart. ** Managing Information In The Next Millennium ** Monday, October 23, 1:00PM Don Haile, General Manager, IBM Networking Software Division, will take the wraps off IBM's networking strategy for the rest of the 90s and beyond. Mr. Haile will discuss practical networking and software solutions as enterprises work to improve their bottom line by exploiting new technologies. He will cover the impact of the Internet, and the debate over true interoperability in the distributed client/server environment. He will also discuss the growing role of systems management tools and services to help enterprises obtain and manage the information they want, when they want it, from wherever it resides. Mr. Haile is responsible for the development of programming and support of all IBM communications platforms. The Networking Software Division contributes over $2.5 Billion in revenue annually. Mr. Haile has been with IBM for 31 years, holding a number of management positions in software development, telecommunications, systems management, and operating systems. He was named by IBM Chairman, Louis Gerstner, to IBMs Worldwide Management Council in 1994, and was appointed to the Board of Directors of Siemens-Rolm Corporation in 1995. ** Microsoft's Back Office Strategy ** Tuesday, October 24, 1:00PM Jonathan Roberts, Director of Windows NT Marketing for Microsoft Corporation, sets the direction for Microsoft's entire networking and enterprise management strategy including Back Office, a key component of Microsoft's product direction as it expands beyond the desktop. In one of the most important keynotes of 1995, Mr. Roberts will answer the question that everyone has been asking, Is Microsoft going to be a player in the management arena or not? He will cover Microsoft's strategy for Windows 95 and NT Advanced Server, as well as it's position with regard to developing management platforms and a comprehensive set of products that work across multiple systems, networks, and applications. Before his present postion, Mr. Roberts was in charge of rolling out Windows 3.0, Windows 3.1, and Windows for Workgroups.Products under his control include Windows NT, Windows NT Advanced Server, Daytona, Cairo, Hermes, and SNA Server. ** Making Enterprise Management Work - A Real World Perspective ** Wednesday, October 25, 10:15AM Join the Chief Information Officers from five business sectors for a discussion of the state of enterprise management today. These top CIO's will include a look at the state of enterprise management in their organizations and the benefits which they are realizing. They will also take a look into the future, examine what areas represent the greatest need to them, and outline which enteprise management technologies hold the most promise. This keynote session is sponsored by {Network Computing Magazine}. Moderator: Patricia Schnaidt, Editor-in-Chief, {Network Computing Magazine}. The Enterprise Management Summit '95 will be held this October 23-27 at the Dallas InfoMart. Conference discounts and free exhibit passes are available through our Systems Integrator sponsors (Booz-Allen and Hamilton, Ernst and Young, SSDS, and LAN Systems). For more information (and phone numbers for conference discounts), visit the Summit Web site at http://www.summit.micromuse.com, or contact the Summit. Phone: 800-340-2111, 415-512-0801. Email: amotive@mcimail.com. ------------------------------ From: Mike Rehmus Subject: Free Fax Testing Service Date: 28 Aug 1995 17:49:41 GMT Organization: Portal Communications (service) We've upgraded our free TestBack fax testing service and you are once again invited to try it. Send a one page fax with data (data also gets tested and folks who send blank pages are not getting all the information they could). It would be nice, but not necessary, if you put your name and e-mail address on the page so we can contact you if you have questions. It is so hard to sort blank pages to find yours! You will receive a short report with major errors, if any, pointed out. To try this: Fax a page to: (510) 828-5617. Wait 10 seconds (overseas no wait necessary) Poll (510) 828-5617. If you don't get the correct report, E-mail mrehmus@grayfax.com and we'll try to find your report. Blank pages excepted. The way this works is that we receive the call, then analyze it after the call is completed and make it available for the next Polling call. This can have problems but we cannot think of another way to accomplish this automatically without the possibility of other errors creeping in or without greatly increasing the expense and engineering time consumption. Best regards, Mike Rehmus Gray Associates ------------------------------ From: etxlndh@eos.ericsson.se (Robert Lindh) Subject: GSM Operators - Updated List Date: 28 Aug 1995 13:24:08 GMT Organization: Ericsson (Changes in the list marked by "*") Date 1995-08-23. Country Operator name Network code Tel to customer service ------ ------------- ------------ ----------------------- Andorra STA Argentina Australia Optus 505 02 Int + 61 2 978 5678 Telecom/Telstra 505 01 Int + 61 18 01 8287 Vodafone 505 03 Int + 61 2 415 7236 Austria PTV Austria 232 01 Bahrain Batelco Belgium Belgacom 206 01 Int + 32 2205 4000 Brunei Cameroon China Croatia Cyprus CYTA 280 01 Denmark Sonofon 238 02 Int + 45 80 20 21 00 Tele Danmark Mobil 238 01 Int + 45 80 20 20 20 Egypt Estonia EMT 248 01 Int + 372 2639 7130 Int + 372 2524 7000 Radiolinja Estonia 248 02 Fiji Finland Radiolinja Finland 244 05 Int + 358 800 95050 Telecom 244 91 Int + 358 800 7000 France France Telecom 208 01 Int + 33 1 44 62 14 81 SFR 208 10 Int + 33 1 44 16 20 16 Germany D1, DeTeMobil 262 01 Int + 49 511 288 0171 D2, Mannesmann 262 02 Int + 49 172 1212 Gibraltar GibTel 266 01 G Britain Cellnet 234 10 Int + 44 1753 50 45 48 Vodafone 234 15 Int + 44 1836 1100 Greece Panafon 202 05 Int + 30 944 00 122 STET 202 10 Int + 30 93 333 333 Guernsey * Guernsey Telecom Hong Kong HK HTCLGSM 454 04 SmarTone 454 06 Int + 852 2880 2688 Telecom CSL 454 00 Int + 852 2803 8450 Hungary Pannon GSM 216 01 Int + 36 1 270 4120 Westel 900 216 30 Int + 36 30 303 100 Iceland Post & Simi 274 01 Int + 354 96 330 India PT SATELINDO Indonesia TELKOMSEL 510 10 Iran T.C.I. Ireland Telecom Eireann 272 01 Int + 353 42 31999 Israel Cellcom Israel Ltd Italy Omnitel 222 10 SIP 222 01 Int + 39 6615 20309 Japan Jersey Jersey Telecom 234 50 Int + 44 1534 88 28 82 Kuwait MTC Laos Latvia LMT 247 01 Int + 371 2256 7764 Int + 371 2256 9183 Int + 371 2934 0000 Lebanon Libancell Liechtenstein 228 01 Lithuania Mobilios Telekom Luxembourg Telekom 270 01 Int + 352 4088 7088 Macao Malaysia Malta Advanced Marocco Monaco France Telecom 208 01 SFR 208 10 Namibia MTC Netherlands PTT Netherlands 204 08 Int + 31 50 688 699 New Zealand Bell South 530 01 Nigeria Norway NetCom 242 02 Int + 47 92 00 01 68 TeleNor Mobil 242 01 Int + 47 22 03 03 01 Oman Pakistan Phillipines Portugal Telecel 268 01 Int + 351 931 1212 TMN 268 06 Int + 351 1 793 91 78 Qatar Qatarnet 427 01 Rumania Russia Mobile Tele... Moscow Int + 7 271 00 60 NW GSM, St. Petersburg SaudiArabia Singapore Singapore Telecom 525 01 Slovenia South Africa MTN 655 10 Int + 27 11 445 6000 Vodacom 655 01 Int + 27 82 111 Sri Lanka MTN Networks Pvt Ltd Spain Airtel Telefonica Spain 214 07 Sweden Comviq 240 07 Int + 46 586 686 10 Europolitan 240 08 Int + 46 708 22 22 22 Telia 240 01 Int + 46 771 91 03 50 Switzerland PTT Switzerland 228 01 Int + 41 46 05 64 64 Syria SYR-01 223 01 SYR MOBILE SYR 263 09 Taiwan Thailand TH AIS GSM 520 01 Int + 66 2 299 6440 Turkey Telsim 286 02 Turkcell 286 01 Int + 90 800 211 0211 UAE UAE ETISALAT-G1 424 01 UAE ETISALAT-G2 424 02 Uganda Vietnam ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Aug 1995 06:14:10 -0500 From: wengler@ee.rochester.edu (Mike Wengler) Subject: Usenet Like CB? No. PAT discoursed on how the USENET had become like CB at its worst. The USENET and the Internet both are fascinating things themselves, but are also meta-fascinating as various pundits analyze them as though they were something else already known. Is it a telephone network? A mail system? A newspaper? A library? PAT suggests USENET is like radio spectrum in his last effort, and recently like CB radio in the seventies. However, the important differences are overwhelming. 1) you can always start a new newsgroup ... there are around 5,000 available to most people now. Compared to 40 (?) CB channels with no new ones in sight. And the USENET channels are very different from each other, based on name/subject matter. Many of us are happy with the groups we read ... alt.dcom.telecom and alt.cellular.technology in my case are fine. Very little SPAM or noise, no forged cancels, etc. 2) USENET can be changed. That cancels are so easily forgeable is just the way the news protocols have been defined. Almost without doubt, these protocols will be enhanced and USENET will survive. "Death of the USENET predicted, news at 11" is one of the quintessential self-referential cliches of the USENET which give it its unique charm. "Secure News" or SNEWS is the buzzword for the next generation. With CB, there wasn't much chance of changing broadcast or reception protocols to protect against the "Spam" PAT described, so it was CB itself which died. Of course, PAT must not be faulted for his attempt at "The USENET is a phone group. No, the USENET is a magazine. No, the USENET is a soapbox. No, the USENET is CB Radio." The USENET is new, and we don't have a consensus on how or even whether it should be regulated. The USENET has problems. We are being assaulted by the psychotic/commercial interests of scientology, and the "for your own good with a gun" interests of congress. We BETTER start comparing USENET to something, hopefully something which is protected from interference, so we can buffalo the g-men into protecting it for us, from themselves and others. (Is g-man for government-man or gun-man?) But really, cancel forgeries need to get fixed in the software, not in terms of getting people to behave differently. And the new software is being debated and developed, even as we continue to exist in our warm fantasy of free, non-commercial speech. IMHO of course, as always. Mike Wengler Save $1 on every Travel Card call, info and application at http://www.he.net/~wengler/VoiceNet/ Phone/Fax: 716 244-0238 Cell: 716 748-1930 ------------------------------ From: merlyn@icicle.winternet.com (Doug McIntyre) Subject: Working Around Capacity Problems Date: 28 Aug 95 14:24:14 GMT Organization: StarNet Communications, Inc What do people do to get large numbers of phone lines, especially when, say US West, won't plan ahead for capacity? Right now we have about 240 phone lines coming in, but can't get any more until US West decides where to drop a pair gaining switch into our premises. Up until this point they were content with dropping us copper, (in fact, that was their only solution, they don't mux out T-1's anymore, or anything), but now that all distribution pairs in the street are used up, they don't know what to do. We've been pushing on them for us needed a large number of phone lines since last year when we moved into this building, and we've been putting in large orders scheduled out two or three months in advance, and then cutting them back the day before they are scheduled to what we needed at that point, but until they ran out of wires in the street, they did nothing to plan out. The pair gain switch is scaring me, since all lines are data lines, and I've seen other installations where you can't get full speed out of 28.8 v.34 modems going through an SLC. Typically getting 24k or 26.4k connections max. I've been waiting now for two months on my last line order with still no lines in sight for them to drop. (Also having problems getting DDS lines as well, I have no idea where they think they are going to be getting T-1's to pair gain off of). What are my options? (I am already considered buying a channel bank, but that seems to be extreme, just to work around US West's problems) to get US West to deliver on lines? The tarrif states that they have to get us lines, but doesn't specify a time frame. Doug McIntyre merlyn@winternet.com Write to info@winternet.com for more information about Winternet's Internet services and dialups. ------------------------------ From: tonypo1@delphi.com (Tony Pelliccio) Subject: Nynex Blows it Again! Date: 29 Aug 1995 05:58:39 GMT Organization: Delphi Internet Services Corporation Just thought I'd relate how technically backward the folks at Nynex are. Caller-ID was recently made available to most of Rhode Island but here are some problems with it: a) It's calling number and date/time delivery only. Duh - I don't need time/date but the name would be nice. Good going Nynex! b) A call from an associate in MA shows as OUT OF AREA. I called my long distance provider (who is also the friend's LD provider) and they've verified that their network will indeed pass Caller-ID information along. I call Nynex and ask them what the deal is. Turns out, according to some droid that Nynex "Doesn't have the technology to do that.". I wish Mary Alice Williams would stop talking about "Nynex Now!" and start talking about the real problems with what I propose is the worst telephone company around other than GTE. Tony Pelliccio, KD1NR tonypo1@delphi.com ------------------------------ From: jobs@vocal.com (Human Resources) Subject: Employment Opportunity: Buffalo, NY DSP, Modem, C, Assembler Date: 29 Aug 1995 17:06:54 GMT Organization: VoCAL Technologies, Ltd. VoCAL Technologies, Ltd., Amherst, New York VoCAL Technologies, a communications software technology firm is seeking highly motivated engineers and programmers to fill positions made available due to expansion of the company. Highly competitive salary and incentive program for top-notch employees. -------------------------------------------- Electrical Engineer - Full time BSEE or MSEE C and Assembler programmer. Experience in embedded systems and DSP's a plus. Must be very comfortable with assembly language programming. Electrical Engineer - Full time BSEE or MSEE Digital Signal Processing. 1 year minimum DSP experience required. Background course work in speech processing, image processing, or communications is preferable. Programmer - Full time. C programming for the PC. Must have Windows application development and low level hardware I/O software experience. ------------------------------------------------------- Interested applicants should email or mail their resume in confidence to: jobs@vocal.com Human Resources VoCAL Technologies, Ltd. 1576 Sweet Home Road Amherst, NY 14228 ------------------------------ From: Rich Szabo Subject: Early Dialing Into 1-888-555-1212, 1-888-888-8888 Date: Mon, 28 Aug 1995 18:31:45 EDT Organization: APK - Internet Provider for Ohio. When I tried calling the above-mentioned numbers, I received the following: 1. Bo-doo-weep tones 2. Harsh noise for about ten seconds 3. click then silence Curiously, the "SPKR" LED on my ATT Speakerphone then sort of FADED away slowly, but the "LINE IN USE" LED stayed on. Normally, when I get the CPC reverse polarity after a hangup on the speaker phone, the "SPKR" LED goes out followed by the "LINE IN USE" LED. Rich Szabo [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Here in northern Illinois, Ameritech is not yet programmed to recognize 888 as an area code. When I tried your experiments here, dialing 1+888, etc, it went to the message saying 'When calling a number inside your area code dial only the seven digits. When calling a number outside your area code dial 1 plus the area code and the seven digits.' Interestingly though, throughout the entire intercept message (and even for a couple seconds before it started) there was a constant 'clicking' noise, or perhaps 'ticking' noise at about two second intervals. The 'when calling a number' intercept message is very common; it always plays out when a one is entered before a non-working area code; but for whatever reason when 888 is selected you get that tick/click sound along with it which is not part of the recording. It sounds in a way like someone taking a phone on and off hook repeatedly at about two second intervals. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Aug 1995 11:29:22 -0400 From: Thomas Chen Subject: How to Distinquish Local From Long Distance Numbers How can one determine whether certain numbers are within the calling area and certain numbers are not? For instance, I am in 301.294.xxxx and if i call 301.762.xxxx its a local call. If I call 202.xxx.xxxx, its also a local call, but if I call 301.428.xxxx, its a toll call. Is there any information online about how the calling areas are divided? Can one from the first six digits (npa) figure out which calling area he belongs to? Is there any logic to those numbers (sequential??? correlate to zip code?) tom [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Your best bet is to ask the local telco what is and is not part of your calling area. This gets very messy and could (and has) consumed much time and space here as we go round and round on the variances from one community to the next. If you ask, your local teleco will supply you with a list of all the exchanges which are considered part of your local calling area; you may assume exchanges not listed are toll calls. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #363 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa01897; 30 Aug 95 7:45 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id WAA20933 for telecomlist-outbound; Tue, 29 Aug 1995 22:22:08 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id WAA20925; Tue, 29 Aug 1995 22:22:05 -0500 Date: Tue, 29 Aug 1995 22:22:05 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Message-Id: <199508300322.WAA20925@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #364 TELECOM Digest Tue, 29 Aug 95 22:21:00 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 364 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson CPUC Proposal (David Gershwin) Job Posting - Telecom Applications Engineer Wanted (Don Whitney) Unabomber in the News, Again (TELECOM Digest Editor) Enrollment Form - EXPLORING THE INTERNET (register@pacificnet.net) Anyone Else Been Lied to by AT&T? (Earl Vickers) Keeping Smart on Mobile Technology (jankwig@panix.com) 1-800-555-xxxx (David B. Horvath) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily represent the views of Microsoft. ------------------------------------------------------------ Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 29 Aug 1995 14:51:38 PDT From: David Gershwin Subject: CPUC Proposal I'm actually going to be attending the meeting in L.A. on 9/20. While I may not know what the implications of this mean in reality, I'd probably like to see PacBell get some competition -- or at the very least, offer improved service for the kinda crap I seem to get now. Here are some of my beefs -- if anyone has any ideas on which ones would work, other points, etc., they would be welcome. E-mail me before the meeting ... (1) PacBell offers priority ring -- will it work with someone calling outside of PacBell's local calling area? Say, someone five miles away in GTE turf? Nope. Sorry, dude. (2) I'd like busy number redial -- won't work outside of my PacBell local calling area -- and that would include GTE turf as well. (3) I'd also like to see some competition with respect to rates for Zone Unit/local long-distance calls -- PacBell and the biggies pulled a big one when they convinced Gov. Wilson's PUC appointees that it's a "good idea" to have the default billing for local long-distance calls to be with one's local service provider, unless one enters a five-digit prefix before dialing -- then you still don't know what kind of prices you'll be getting. Just don't pick Oncor, that's for sure. I'd like to see *declared* prices for toll calls -- sort of like when you go to the supermarket, you can see the price tags, when you go to a gas station ... (4) I'd also like to see local phone companies stop deceptive practices like charging someone a dollar a month for an unlisted nubmer when someone can just pick a different name to be listed under, i.e. Joey Ramone; like not really explaining to people how much of a profit center/equivalent of extended warranty service contract rip-off "inside wire maintenance" contracts are, with anything wrong usually involving a three dollar piece of hardware. (5) My local phone company should provide me with *any* phone book in my local metropolitan area free of charge. Right now, PacBell wants me to fork over twenty clams for the privilege of using what should be public information, and for what would conceivably be "good" for PacBell directory advertisers ... End of rant, In vino veritas. David Gershwin gershwin@cinenet.net WWW Pages: http://www.cinenet.net/users/gershwin ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Tue, 29 Aug 1995 11:44:39 -0700 (PDT) From: mvd@cpuc.ca.gov To: David Gershwin Subject: Re: CPUC proposal fact sheet request California Public Utilities Commission San Francisco, California August 1995 PHONE SERVICE FOR EVERYONE THE FACTS ABOUT UNIVERSAL SERVICE WHAT IS UNIVERSAL SERVICE? Universal Service means providing virtually everyone in the state with a basic level of telecommunications services at reasonable rates. It ensures that low-income customers and customers in areas that are expensive to serve (like mountain communities or less populated areas) receive the same access to services as other customers. Universal service is not a new idea. As described later, universal service programs have been in effect for some time. This fact sheet provides a summary of the issues and proposed rules contained in the CPUC proposal which would govern all telecommunications carriers in California that provide basic telephone service. THE LOCAL COMPETITION SITUATION Currently, there is only one company providing local phone service in your area. However, in 1994, the California Legislature passed Assembly Bill 3606, allowing other companies to offer local phone service by January 1, 1997. Local telephone competition will allow you to choose a local telephone company the same way most people now choose their long-distance company. Rules recently issued by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) will allow long-distance service providers, cable television companies and other companies to become competitive local telephone companies as early as January 1, 1996. These companies will be able to offer local telephone services in addition to their current service offerings. Local telephone competition is expected to lower costs for you, the consumer, while giving you the choice of newer, high quality services, in addition to basic telephone service. This competitive marketplace will foster economic growth and lead to an improved telecommunications infrastructure for California. What the CPUC is doing for you: Principles guiding the Commission: Ensuring that high-quality basic telecommunications services remain available and affordable to all Californians regardless of geographic, linguistic, cultural, ethnic, physical, or income considerations; Providing consumers with the ability to choose among competing telephone companies; Providing for the addition of new services to the basic service package as these new services become more widely used, in order to avoid some people having inferior access to information compared to others; Ensuring that customers have access to sufficient information to make informed choices about basic service and universal lifeline telephone service; and Ensuring that telephone companies follow reliability, privacy and security guidelines. THE CPUC UNIVERSAL SERVICE PROPOSAL Background: The prospect of local telephone competition has raised some concerns about a telephone company's "universal service" responsibilities in a competitive environment. In 1994, the California Legislature passed Assembly Bill 3643, which requires the California Public Utilities Commission, the state agency which regulates telephone companies, to develop universal service policies in a competitive environment. The CPUC recently issued proposed rules for public comment which outline its plan for maintaining affordable, high quality service within a competitive environment. The Commission released proposed rules on July 17, 1995, (Decision 95-07-050) for public comment. The document outlines the definition of minimum basic service, methods for subsidizing high cost service areas, discounts for low-income consumers, and the need for consumer information. A final set of rules will be developed following public hearings, filing of comments regarding the proposed rules, and following any evidentiary hearings and/or legislative changes, if necessary. What is Basic Service? Basic service is the set of features and capabilities consumers expect when they order telephone service. Basic service is not static, but changes over time. In the proposed universal service rules, the Commission proposes a definition of what basic service is now, and how it may change over time to include new services. The Commission proposes that basic service should include what Californians have come to expect when they order telephone service. This includes a connection to the telephone network (the ability to place and receive calls); access to the larger telephone network, such as access to long distance carriers and information services; free access to 911 emergency services; touch tone dialing; and billing options, such as choice of flat and measured service. As technology advances, new services will be offered. Over time these services may become so commonly used that they may be considered essential. Touch tone was once considered a premium service. Over time it became widely used and essential for many activities. Touch Tone is now included as part of basic service. The Commission expects that other, more advanced services may also become essential. For this reason, the universal service rules propose reviewing the definition of basic service every three years. During these reviews the Commission will consider the following factors: (1) Is the service essential for participation in society? (2) Do a majority of residential customers subscribe to the service? (3) Will the benefits of adding the service to the basic service exceed the costs? What About Service To Less Populated Areas? Universal service also ensures that customers in areas that are expensive to serve (like rural and mountain communities) receive the same access to services as other customers. In areas that are expensive to serve, rates have been kept low in two ways. First, the California High Cost Fund (CHCF) reduces rates for customers of small telephone companies. All telephone customers currently contribute to the CHCF through a small charge on their monthly phone bill. Second, by requiring large telephone companies to charge the same rate for basic service within their territory, rates are kept at reasonable levels in their high cost areas. By introducing local competition, the Commission must consider new ways to keep rates at reasonable levels. Under the proposed universal service rules, if you live in a designated high cost area, you will be able to get a credit, or voucher, on your bill so your rates remain affordable. If there is more than one local telephone company serving your high cost area, you can receive a similar credit regardless of which telephone company you choose. The purpose of this credit is to ensure that rates remain affordable in areas where the costs of serving that community are high. The credit represents the difference between the cost of providing service in an area and the rate the Commission considers affordable. In order to receive this credit for the customers it serves, a company must be willing to accept an obligation to serve all customers in an area. To fund this universal service voucher program, the Commission proposes a charge based on telephone company revenues. Unlike the current high cost fund, no direct charge would appear on your bill. What About Low-Income Consumers? Another aspect of universal service is providing lower rates for low income customers. The current Universal Lifeline Telephone Service (ULTS) program for low income consumers will remain unchanged, with the exception that it will be expanded to offer the choice of ULTS providers. Eligible low income customers will continue to pay either $5.62 for residential flat rate service, or $3.00 for residential measured service throughout the state. This program is funded by a small charge on all telephone bills. What Information Do Customers Need? The CPUC is concerned about what information consumers need to make informed choices about competing local telephone companies. It proposes that all local phone companies must provide customers basic service information in a standard format. Consumers will then be able to make easy comparisons between basic service rates of different local phone companies can be easily compared. This is similar to the way credit card companies present their rates. CONSUMER PROTECTIONS The CPUC recently established consumer protection rules governing new local telephone companies in a related, ongoing CPUC proceeding. These are interim rules, and will become effective January 1, 1996. Consumer protection rules govern rate increase notice requirements, disclosure of information to consumers when signing customers for service, required procedures for handling billing complaints, requirements for printing on bills information on how to receive help, customer deposit return requirements, rules to provide for easy credit establishment, privacy protection rules, and free blocking of 900 and 976 information service requirements. HOW YOU CAN GET INVOLVED The CPUC wants your comments on its proposed universal service rules. To provide an opportunity for comment, we will be holding public hearings throughout California in September and October (as listed below). The meetings will consist of a 15 minute presentation by Commission staff, followed by an open public comment period. Comments can be oral or written and CPUC staff will be available to respond to your questions. September 20, 1995 7:00 p.m., Los Angeles State Office Building, 107 South Broadway Auditorium September 26, 1995 7:00 p.m., San Bernardino City Hall , 300 North "D" Street Council Chambers September 27, 1995 7:00 p.m., Barstow City Hall, 220 E. Mountain View Street Council Chambers September 29, 1995 7:00 p.m., San Francisco State Office Building, 505 Van Ness Avenue Auditorium October 2, 1995 7:00 p.m., San Diego County Board of Supervisors, 1600 Pacific Highway Board Room, Room 310 October 5, 1995 7:00 p.m., Fresno State Office Building, 2550 Mariposa Mall Auditorium October 11, 1995 7:00 p.m., Roseville Maidu Community Center, 1550 Maidu Drive October 12, 1995 7:00 p.m., San Jose City Council, 801 North First Street Council Chambers October 12, 1995 7:00 p.m., Volcano Armory Hall, #2 Consolation Street October 19, 1995 7:00 p.m., Redding City Council, 1313 California Street Council Chambers October 24, 1995 7:00 p.m., Eureka County Courthouse, 825 Fifth Street Board of Supervisors Chambers HOW TO CONTACT US If you cannot attend one of the hearings, but would like to submit written comments, please write to: The Public Advisor California Public Utilities Commission 505 Van Ness Ave., Room 5303 San Francisco, CA 94102 or send electronic mail to: public.advisor@cpuc.ca.gov Mention that you are writing about "Universal Service Rules" (D.95-07-050). Indicate if you wish a written response, otherwise no reply will be sent. Your letter will be forwarded to the Commissioners and will become part of the formal correspondence file for this proceeding. ------------------------------ From: dkw@mlb.semi.harris.com (Don Whitney) Subject: Job Posting - Telecom Applications Engineer Wanted Date: 29 Aug 1995 21:54:11 GMT Organization: Harris Semiconductor, Melbourne, FL Reply-To: dkw@mlb.semi.harris.com Hello, Harris Semiconductor is looking for an Applications Engineer for its Telecom IC products. Wanted: Knowledgeable and experienced engineer in the following areas: Subscriber Line cards, SLICs (Subscriber Line Interface Circuits), CODEC, and Lightning protection devices. Experience with semiconductor design and/or manufacturing is a plus. Good oral and writing skills necessary since part of job function includes publication of papers and app notes. BSEE or higher required. Harris Semiconductor is a manufacturer of solid state Subscriber Line Interface Circuits (SLICs), CODECs and lightning protection devices. It is located in Melbourne, Florida about 60 miles east of Orlando on the Alantic coast. Please reply to: David Ridgley (HR) email: dridgley@harris.com Fax: 407-729-4140 Phone: 407-729-5421 Donald Whitney (Design Engineer) email: dkw@semi.harris.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Aug 1995 21:18:05 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Unabomber in the News, Again So ... now they have decided -- as I did sometime back -- that the mystery person known as Unabomber had his roots here in the northern Illinois area. A few weeks ago, I expressed my belief, based on conversations with some net people, that Unabomber is a fellow whose initials are P.M.G. The 'M' stands for Michael ... and the 'P' ... ummm ... oh what the heck, it stands for Patrick. Well we had an interesting event right here in our little village of Skokie yesterday. It seems the FBI came to visit the school teachers in a large group meeting to discuss with them the case and ask them -- at least the ones who have been around as teachers for thirty years or so -- to rack their brains and try to identify who this former pupil of theirs might have been. Back in the era involved -- the 1960's -- we only had one high school in Niles Township (the sub-division of Cook County, Illinois in which Skokie is located) and it was known in those days as 'Nilehi' for short. Then came a second school and they called it Niles West with the original Nilehi becoming Niles East. Then came Niles North (a couple blocks from my house) in the middle 1970's and then later the closing of Niles East entirely as enrollment dropped. But hey! What the heck are they looking *over here* for? My message on the subject told them this fellow grew up in the Park Ridge and Des Plaines area: that's the next township west, called Maine Township. So now the FBI people are going to go over and question all the old-time school teachers over there at the Maine Township high schools, and see what they know about it. What the FBI needs to be doing is looking at the 'G' family when they were living at 1030 Horne Street in Des Plaines, phone VAnderbilt 7-6895, back in the late 1960's and see if that direction gets them anywhere. It is my belief that PMG's father was a fellow named GG at that address who also operated for many years a company in Park Ridge called G(xxxxxx) Builders and Development Company at 709 Devon in Park Ridge, phone TALcott 5-6654. They built homes, you know, like carpenters ... the children would have gone to the Maine Township schools, not the schools over here in Skokie for chrissakes! I wonder if they have looked at the connection I gave them for GG out in San Fransisco, where the GG stands for the same name as the one here in those days and the fellow who answers the phone seems figity and nervous and lies through his teeth and admitted he used to live here in the area back in the 1970's, 'but only as a way to dodge the draft'. Nah, they probably have not had time to do all that ... after all, there is a rumor going around on the Internet that some fellow in Alaska logged in on the Internet one day and thinks he might possibly have seen a message about kiddie porn somewhere; all available agents have been sent up there to kick in his door, seize all his computer equipment, inspect the encrypted files on his disk drive bit by bit, interogate all his family members as material witnesses, etc. No time left to be getting all involved looking for Patrick Michael G ... priorities, you know. I would apply for the million dollar reward they offered for information leading to his arrest, but it is likely they would weasel out of that also. You know how much dislike they have for this hotbed of perversion and anarchy known as Internet, and they surely could never bring themselves to admit that the people on this net helped solve their mystery. We are supposed to be causing them all their grief, not helping resolve it, and don't you forget that. So as exciting as it would be to find out that Unabomber grew up as a child right here in our own little village of Skokie, I'm afraid the FBI guys are looking a little too far to the east. They need to take the advice of the author who said 'go west, young man ...' Like maybe about ten miles west out to Park Ridge/Des Plaines. ----------------------------------- In other Unabomber news, I got mail from James Bellaire and a few other people who took me to task for claiming that the email I got from the FBI on subject was fraudulent and forged. The folks who wrote me about my 'stupid letter of the day' commentary enclosed evidence that indeed, fbi.gov gets their feed from the service provider mentioned. So, I guess that letter from the 'unabom task force' was for real. You who read it here will recall they thanked me for my input and said that if further information was required they would be in contact. Then what do they do but show up here in Niles Township to talk to the teachers ... hey guys, for the last time, try Maine Township, okay? Check the school records over there, and check with the old, probably retired employees of the Builder and Development Company. If I have to discuss this topic here again -- and personally I find it repugnant -- I may just name him completely and forget to use initials. PAT ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Aug 1995 18:50:51 -0700 From: Register@Pacificnet.Net Subject: Enrollment Form - EXPLORING THE INTERNET [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I believe very strongly in the work being done by SPECTRUM Virtual University and suggest that readers of this Digest may be interested in learning more about SPECTRUM by signing up for the free workshop -- a virtual workshop -- that they are offering. Everything will be conducted via email, and this will be an excellent opportunity for newcomers to the net -- and even some experienced old- timers who have not kept up as well as they should -- to learn what is going on. Particularly, those of you who participate via the non-traditional sites, i.e. Compuserve, AOL and other commercial services for whom Internet connectivity has only recently become available will benefit from this course. It is free, and as easy to join as filling out the form which appears below. PAT] ------------------------------ SPECTRUM Virtual University Spectrum@PacificNet.Net Priority Correspondence FAX (818) 834-8221 "The World Meets Here -- The Future Begins Here." Welcome to our Fall/Winter 1995 workshop, "EXPLORING THE INTERNET." This *free* workshop is sponsored by Spectrum Virtual University to raise public awareness and provide greater access to the information- rich highways of cyberspace. To complete your enrollment, just follow the instructions below. This form may be freely copied and distributed. If you wish to enroll a group of people in your school or office, simply send us their e-mail addresses and we will send a form to each person. Please use "Subject" header "GROUP REQUEST 811" to expedite handling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TO ENROLL BY E-MAIL: Type your answers below. If you cannot type on this form, retype the headings and your answers in a new message. E-mail completed form to register@pacificnet.net TO ENROLL BY FAX: Print form and fax to (818) 834-8221. Please fax only the form! It is not necessary to fax back these instructions. TO ENROLL BY TOUCHTONE PHONE: Call our 24-hour Fast Touch registration line at (818) 899-7888. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = cut here = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = ENROLLMENT FORM SPECTRUM Virtual University Fall, 1995 Program Name : Exploring The Internet #811 Your Student ID : ####### Your Full Name : E-Mail Address : Organization : Title : Street Address : City/Province : Postal ZipCode : Country: : Where did you hear about this workshop? (Type answer in space below) : What do you hope to learn from this workshop? (Please be specific!) : [end of form] ------------------------------ From: earl@netcom.com (Earl Vickers) Subject: Anyone Else Been Lied to by AT&T? Date: Tue, 29 Aug 1995 21:39:30 GMT In early July, AT&T (or their representatives) called me up and offered me $50 to switch to AT&T. In a couple weeks, I got a check for $10, and a $10 Preferred Customer Voucher. I called to complain and was told that it takes four to six weeks to get the $50 check. So I waited. Today I called and complained again. They apologized and offered to send me a check to make up the difference of what they had promised. So, to get my $50, I have to stay on hold for 20 minutes, talk to three or four different people, mail in a coupon that isn't good until late September, and cash two checks if indeed I get the second one. This is not what I was promised, and if I hadn't persisted with them I wouldn't have gotten that much. This is classic bait and switch. Maybe it's AT&T lying to me, maybe it's their contractors trying to pull a fast one, or maybe it was an honest error, I don't know. Regardless, I'm filing a complaint with: The California Public Utilities Commission Consumer Affairs Branch 505 Van Ness Ave., Room 2003 San Francisco, CA 94102, and the Federal Communications Commission Common Carrier Bureau 1919 M. St., NW, Washington, DC 20554 And maybe if this has happened to enough of us, a class action lawsuit might be in order. Where's Crackers the Corporate Crime-fighting Chicken when you need him? Earl Vickers earl@netcom.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Aug 1995 20:45:11 EDT From: jankwig Subject: Keeping Smart on Mobile Technology Hello. Last week, I submitted a request for some adhoc responses to a very informal survey I was conducting on how mobile technology users (individuals, consumers, etc.) get smart and stay informed or educated on the technology *that they use for themselves*. This last emphasis was apparently not clear: the focus is on individual private use of any type of mobile technology. If you'd allow me to, I would like to request recipients of this mailing to consider responding to this survey again, considering the focus on mobile technology of any kind (cellular, laptop, printers, PDAs, etc.) *which you use for yourselves*. Hence, please respond back concerning the methods you utilize other than books or magazines, such as attending trade shows, speaking to dealers, speaking to colleagues or friends, using online discussion groups, etc. A single, quick email response listing the manner in which you stay up to date on mobile technology would suffice. Thank you again for your assistance. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Aug 1995 21:07:10 EDT From: David B. Horvath, CDP Subject: 1-800-555-xxxx It looks like the 1-800-555 number space is available for "normal" toll free phone numbers. I got a call from a Contract-programmer broker in Texas (they wanted to know if I was interested in a job down there), when I mentioned that I wasn't interested but might be able to pass the lead on to a friend who was interested in moving to TX, I was given a 1-800-555- number. I confirmed the number to make sure I heard it correctly. Now what are the movies going to use to show someone dialing a toll free number? David B. Horvath, CCP dhorvath@goldey.gbc.edu Consultant, Adjunct Professor, International Lecturer [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I don't know what they will do now. Maybe the YANG! principle should be applied. YANG = Yet Another Noise Group. Should I put up a message in news.groups calling for a discussion on what to name the new group which will discuss how Hollywood should handle the use of telephone numbers when telco no longer has the luxury of providing them with numbers that won't disturb the real people? PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #364 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa29499; 1 Sep 95 1:27 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id TAA11399 for telecomlist-outbound; Thu, 31 Aug 1995 19:09:02 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id TAA11393; Thu, 31 Aug 1995 19:09:00 -0500 Date: Thu, 31 Aug 1995 19:09:00 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Message-Id: <199509010009.TAA11393@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #365 TELECOM Digest Tue, 29 Aug 95 23:05:30 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 365 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: San Francisco Area Codes (Mark J. Cuccia) Re: AT&T 1-500 Number - Any Advice? (Glenn Foote) Re: V&H Questions (James E. Bellaire) Re: AT&T Moving Into Local Exchange Market (David Breneman) Re: Telex History (pjk@ssax.com) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily represent the views of Microsoft. ------------------------------------------------------------ Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Mark J. Cuccia Subject: Re: San Francisco Area Codes Date: 29 Aug 1995 19:27:14 GMT Organization: Tulane University Peter_Mansfield@australia.notes.pw.com wrote: > Reading Mark Cuccia's interesting and informative history of the > Mexican hacks and TWX, this reminded me of something I read in Carl > Moore's history.of.area.splits in the Telecom Archives a while back > dealing with the introduction of area code 318 in 1951, which I'm > interested in finding out more about. Carl writes: >> 415/318 California, 1951 >> 318 was used for San Francisco only, during the Englewood (N.J.) >> Customer DDD Trials; Oakland remained in 415. Sometime before 1957, >> 318 was reclaimed for future use, and San Francisco returned to 415. >> 504/318 Louisiana, 1957 >> 318, used earlier for San Francisco, had been reclaimed by this time. > Furthermore, in 1959, according to Carl Moore's file, 415 did a > *three-way split* with West Central California moving to 408 and North > West California moving to 707, with the San Francisco Area retaining > 415 (which, as we know, later split again to form 415/510). I was the one who faxed Carl Moore a few months back with this info, to help him fill in the gaps in his Area Code history. It was photocopies of NPA maps from various time periods in the late 1940's and throughout the 1950's, from articles on Long-Distance, numbering and dialing, switching, etc. from Bell Telephone Magazine, Bell Laboratories Record magazine, Bell System Technical Journal, and from AT&T's Notes on the Network (1955 edition which was then titled "Notes on Nationwide Dialing"), and from a historical list of NPA assignments that my contact at Bellcore faxed me last year. > So, do any historians out there know anything more about these DDD > trials, specifically why a new NPA was allocated, and then reclaimed > several years later. Also, was it a full cutover, or simply some kind > of optional 'overlay' where either 318 or 415 could be used to reach > San Francisco? If San Francisco was still in 318 for some time after > 1951, why then did it return to 415, which was obviously nearing > capacity, as it split three ways a few years later? All press-releases in newspapers (microfilm back issues of the {New York Times}) or back issues of {Time, Life, Newsweek}, etc. had a brief blurb of an article in late 1951 stating that the Mayor of Englewood NJ called the mayors of San Francisco and nearby towns. Calls to points east of San Francisco Bay (Oakland) were dialed 415 + NNX-XXXX (there was NO 1+; just straight ten digits). The call from the Englewood NJ mayor to the San Francisco mayor was dialed 318 + NNX-XXXX. The call from Englewood to towns north of the Golden Gate were also dialed 318 + NNX-XXXX. AT&T's publication entitled Events In Telecommunications History also refers to the Englewood NJ trials. Incidently, it was not known at that time as DDD (Direct Distance Dialing) but something like Customer Toll Dialing or Nationwide Customer Dialing (something like what the UK used to call STD-Subscriber Trunk Dialing). There were also articles on this in magazines such as {Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, and Popular Electronics}. 318 was also mentioned. BTW, the 'official' maps in Bell's magazines in the early 1950's did *not* include 318! WHY was there this *special* code I don't know for sure. I can only guess that maybe there were some Central Office code/naming/letter conflicts within the SF Bay area? or maybe it was a routing determination? Incidently, when Englewood NJ was able to dial long-distance in 1951, it was *only* to specified towns/cities, such as Northern NJ area, NY City Metro area, Boston, Washington DC, SF Bay area, Chicago, Philadelphia, etc. These larger metro areas were predominantly Panel and Crossbar (#1 and #5) switching regions, with little or no Step-by-Step, although there were still some operator/ manual local central offices in these cities. Automated Toll Switching was handled on a #4XB switch. Maybe since only specific *cities* were identified by the dialable areacode, it *could* be that AT&T wanted to identify Oakland as 415 and San Francisco as 318, until customers were more familiar with nationwide toll dialing. It could be that AT&T wanted to eliminate accidental wrong numbers (which would have been billed a MUCH higher toll charge than we know today; unless you are using Integratel or other AOSlime! ). If a NJ customer intended to dial 318 (San Francisco), but followed with the seven dial pulls which was actually an Oakland number (in error), then they *might* have gone to an intercept recording/operator. I don't know how long 318 was actually used to dial San Francisco -- I have nothing in print showing when it was 'put-back-into' 415 or whatever, other than I do know that when Louisiana's 'single' NPA, 504, was split in 1957, with 504 remaining for southeast Louisiana (New Orleans, Baton Rouge, etc), and 318 covering western/northern Louisiana (Lafayette, New Iberia, Shreveport, Monroe, Alexandria, Lake Charles, etc). In an early 1950's issue of {Bell Telephone Magazine}, there was mention of a Customer instruction booklets for Long-Distance dialing, for those areas which *could* dial LD. There was a small photo of the cover of a booklet and also some of the inside. However the resolution of the photo was NOT good, and I could not make out any text of the booklet itself in the magazine photo. It seems that the booklet gave Area Codes for those points which were customer direct dialable from that particular point at that time, and the Exchange Names and cities within the area code that could be dialed. Even tho' today I can get all of the current NPA-NXX info I want from Bellcore, I'd give 'anything' -- well not really for a copy of one of those 40+ year old booklets. > Finally, are there any other known cases such as this, where an area > code is split and is later reclaimed, or changed back to the former > code or somehow reshuffled (apart from another split or overlay)? I wouldn't actually call the use of 318 for San Francisco a split -- but that is the only case I know of this. Other than the fact that 903 had been used for the *extreme* border of northwest Mexico but reclaimed in 1980 when 70-6 was used (when AT&T and Telefonos de Mexico placed these border towns more specifically in +52-6XX..), and then 70-6 and 90-5 being reclaimed; and lets not forget the TWX special Areacodes (N10's) were 'reclaimed' when TWX was 'removed' from the Bell System's DDD switching network. All of these codes (318, 903, 706, 905, 510, 610, 710, 810, 910) have uses today which were NOT there original use. And, BTW, from Events in Telecommunications History (AT&T): on 15 June 1966, it is mentioned that Lowell Wingert of AT&T Long Lines placed a call from Philadelphia to Geneva Switzerland by dialing 200-233-1011. Of course this was some kind of special 'patch' code, since I had read in issues of Bell's magazines dated prior to 1966 that 011+ was going to be the IDDD access prefix, and that there were plans for Country Codes as we know them today. There is NO use of 41 for Switzerland in this demonstration international call. > Incidentally, the above three-way split of 415 in 1959 seems to indicate > that the current three-way split planned for Chicago cannot claim to > be the first, especially since the Chicago split/reorganization is > being implemented over about two years, and not all at once. (I don't > think anyone actually claimed that it *was* the first, just that that > it was the only one that anybody could think of!) And, while I don't have exact dates (month, date) only the year of introduction of Area Codes back in the 1940's, 50's, early 60's, I don't think that 415 was split three-ways overnight into 408, 707, and a smaller 415. Also, I don't think that areacodes reaching 'capacity' meant the same that it does today. Back then, the electromechanical switches diddn't handle the capacity of lines and trunks, unlike the ESS and Digital switches of today. Even #4XB and #5XB had special routing considerations when assigning Central Office codes. Back then there was also a lot more 'protection' of C/O codes when a 'community of interest' straddled an areacode boundary. These days there will be less and less of code protection in the North American numbering plan, and rather more mandatory ten-digit dialing, both across an NPA boundary, and even within NPA's. John Higdon is from the San Jose / San Francisco area. Maybe he might have some info to enlighten us on 318's use for calling into SF from outside of CA, or maybe some Bay area Exchange Name history -- (and SF was probably the only area of the country that used 55X numbers before All Number Calling -- KLondike-x (55X) WAS used in San Francisco, while most areas of the country never seemed to use the 55X range prior to the 1960s). MARK J. CUCCIA PHONE/WRITE/WIRE: HOME: (USA) Tel: CHestnut 1-2497 WORK: mcuccia@law.tulane.edu |4710 Wright Road| (+1-504-241-2497) Tel:UNiversity 5-5954(+1-504-865-5954)|New Orleans 28 |fwds on no-answr to Fax:UNiversity 5-5917(+1-504-865-5917)|Louisiana(70128)|cellular/voicemail ------------------------------ From: glnfoote@freenet.columbus.oh.us (Glenn Foote) Subject: Re: AT&T 1-500 Number - Any Advice? Date: 29 Aug 1995 16:02:07 -0400 Organization: The Greater Columbus FreeNet In response to a query on misc.consumers I recently responded to the above request. I am posting the reply here too in an effort to continue the discussion regarding 500 numbers, their problems, and the impact that their failure has on the providors and users. Comments are always welcome. [Hi Pat, is _your_ 500 number working yet ??] To: Gina Waterman From: Glenn "Elephant" Foote Date: Tuesday August 29, 1995 at 15:33 Re: AT&T 500 numbers = Bad News ... > From: Gina Waterman > Newsgroups: misc.consumers > Subject: 1-500#--Any advice? > Date: 28 Aug 1995 20:53:35 GMT > Has anyone used AT&T's 1-500 Easy Reach Service? > I would appreciate any advice as I am looking into using it for > business purposes. > Please email. Thanks--Gina Gina, Let me start off by explaining that I am a semi-retired independent telecommunications consultant (voice systems and networks) with over 25 years experience in the industry. I have had the 500 service since that day after it was announced. My experience is that is just doesn't work! The reasons are many, but the result is the same from many places. Even in the US, access to 500 numbers is restricted and not just from pay phones (where it is really needed), and privately owned systems (PBX's), but also from homes and business accounts as well. This is true even when the long distance carrier for that number is AT&T. The concept is fine, just walk up to a phone, dial 1+500+xxx-xxxx and be connected. (0+500 is also an option, more on that later) The reality is that in over 25 _personal attempts_ to do this from various sites around the country, the call is denied UNLESS I first dial 10+ATT or 1-800-CALL-ATT. For the astute business person, or someone who is really determined to use the number (like myself) this _sometimes_ works. For others who are not so sophisticated the process is a disaster. _AT&T_ operators have told _me_ the following: "Those are porn numbers ... they can't be dialed from a pay phone." (I wonder how many of my clients heard that one!) "There is no such thing as a 500 number ... you must mean an 800 number ... please try your call again ... thank you for using AT&T ... ... buzzz ..." (nice try ... time to use another service) "We can't connect you to that number, it must be dialed directly." (AT&T states that when calling from outside the US, to contact them to complete the call.) "My equipment won't accept that number as a valid number." (Maybe not, but your billing equipment does.) There _are_ many more, but I can't remember all of them, fortunately. In my _considered signed personal opinion_ (which I normally charge good money for) the 500 service from AT&T _should not be considered_ as a viable option at this time. When I see AT&T making a serious attempt to correct the myriad of problems that plague this service I _may_ reconsider that opinion. Until then, and because of the broken promises in relation to this service, which I consider symptomatic of a growing problem with the quality of service and serious lack of integrity at AT&T, I am doing the following: I have started reviewing _all_ of my past recommendations to clients regarding the selection of a long distance carrier. My professional decision factors involving recommendations for service have always taken into account more than price. The real issue is this: When a company no longer can be counted on to deliver what it promises in quality or quantity it is time to re-evaluate it's role as a supplier. Over the course of my consulting career I made recommendations totaling much more than $19 million dollars (per year) in long distance usage. I expect current use has increased that figure. After my most recent discussion with an AT&T customer service supervisor regarding a significant failure of an AT&T operators refusal to accept my 500 number (plus pin) as a credit card number (from a restricted, dial disabled, pay phone in North Carolina), which you are _supposed_ to be able to do, and the total failure of AT&T to address the myriad of problems surrounding this 500 (and other) issues, I have decided to go back to those clients and (for free) perform another analysis of their long distance costs. The point is this: If we take the supposed business integrity of AT&T (or any other company) out of the picture, there is little to nothing to separate them other than price. If that is the case, and I believe that THEY have made it so, then I expect that many of the new analysis will show AT&T in a less than favorable light. This is doubly sad because it is within their power to address and fix these issues. For some reason, they choose not to do so. And, if they choose not to be a responsible organization, I choose take that irresponsibility into account when determining recommendations for any clients; future, present or past. So, Gina, all that aside; my recommendations for your problems: Get a _very_good_ 24 hour telephone seven days per week answering service. Communicate with them frequently. Let them know where you are at all times. Pay whatever it cost. If you _need_ the service, the cost will be well worth it. Glenn "Elephant" Foote ...... glnfoote@freenet.columbus.oh.us [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Actually my experience has, in general been the opposite of yours. I have never seen a payphone which rejected 500 calls (other than the bug in the system a month ago reported here which was fixed fairly promptly). I have never had to dial 10288 to get through on 500, and furthermore, dialing 10288 would not make a whit of difference anyway; we all know that the local telco examines all the data given first and *then, provided they find it in their routing tables* hand it off to the requested carrier. I can see a situation where the local telco might examine the 500 prefix and hand it to the carrier who is assigned that prefix or number, as is done with 800 calls now, but in that case your use of 10xxx would not matter either, just as 10xxx means nothing when dialing an 800 number. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Aug 1995 21:33:03 -0500 From: bellaire@tk.com (James E. Bellaire) Subject: Re: V&H Questions Note: The original question was regarding converting VH to lat/long to global mileage. In TD362 lreeves@crl.com (Les Reeves) wrote: > There is a program, called NPA, which will do what you want. > Here is the info on the latest version: > NPA for WINDOWS <04Jul95> - Comprehensive area code (NPA), prefix > (NXX), and city name locator. [SNIP] > I tried to find an contact number for the author, but this is a > WINDOZE program, and everything but the file description is in the > form of a Windows .hlp file. > The author goes by the name of PC Consultant, and is located in Houston. He also goes by the name Robert Ricketts. Last I knew (April '95) his email was . He also is 73670.1164@compuserve.com. His snail address: PO Box 42086 Houston, TX 77242-2086. His contact number is (713) 826-2629, V-MAIL ONLY, but he does call back quickly most of the time (especially if you want to register!). The contact information is on the 'setup tab' in the program. Press (MORE) from the main program screen to read it. > This is an excellent program. I have been using the DOS version for a > couple of years. I second that. Mr. Ricketts keeps up with all the new NPA's too. The new version adds multiple ZIPs per NXX as well as labeling NXXs based on type (USA only, Cellular or Landline). Although there are a few errors in which NXXs are assigned to cellular, probably carried from his source. BTW: The new version is available via CompuServe (GO TELECOM). It hasn't appeared elsewhere on the net yet. James E. Bellaire (JEB6) bellaire@tk.com ------------------------------ From: david.breneman@mccaw.com (David Breneman) Subject: Re: AT&T Moving Into Local Exchange Market Date: 29 Aug 1995 22:11:38 GMT Organization: McCaw Cellular Communications, Inc. In article -TELECOM Digest Editor noted: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: No, I don't think they could buy up those > companies. I think all those former AT&T companies have to be left alone > where AT&T is concerned. That is what I meant by saying 'several monopolies'. > Today, a hundred years after the government-ordered breakup of the Standard > Oil Trust owned by John Rockefeller, any of the various parts of the former > oil monopoly (Exxon, Amoco, Chevron, etc) are by themselves larger than the > original monopoly. Competition, eh? So let's open a gasoline refinery and > oil producing business and see how far it gets us ... Hey, my girlfriend's father did just that! He quit his job at Chevron and opened his own refinery. While it didn't make him another Rockefeller, she did grow up in a "two boat family". He passed away several years ago, but the company he founded, Associated Petroleum, is a major local (Puget Sound area) provider of petroleum products. "Only in America..." I know thia doesn't have anything to do with telecom issues, but it shows what's possible. :-) David Breneman Unix System Administrator Mail: david.breneman@mccaw.com IS - Operations (Beginning September 11th: ~@attws.com) McCaw Cellular Communications, Inc. Phone: +1-206-803-7362 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You are right of course. It can happen here, but sadly a lot less often than it used to many years ago. Remind me sometime to tell the story of a fellow nicknamed 'Cappy' who worked for Illinois Bell back in the 1950-60 era. One day he got fed up, and with a fellow worker they withdrew all their profit sharing/pension plan money and moved to some little town in Arizona where they bought the local telephone cooperative which was on the verge of bankruptcy. They found wires strung along cattle ranchers fences through the countryside, susbcriber equipment dating back to the 1930's, etc ... a horrible mess. But by golly they cleaned it up over a period of a few years and later sold it for a huge profit. Indeed, it can be done. And what about that fellow in (I think) Utah with the tiny little telco with a grand total of eight subscribers? Is he still around? You are right ... only in America. PAT] ------------------------------ From: The Big Guy Subject: Re: Telex History Date: Tue, 29 Aug 95 10:51:15 CDT Organization: R&D, Advanced Products - 16th Floor The discussion of telex machines brings back memories of an interesting story ... In 1986 I was hired to automate a travel agency which did African Tours. This being before FAX machines were widespread, most of the correspondence to Africa was done via Telex. The agency was rapidly growing, had purchased a computer, and was seeking to automate operations wherever possible. Easylink (store and forward telex via E-mail) from WUTCO had become available, so with a few hacks to sendmail (UNIX mail program) I was able to gateway mail into the telex network. Before then, the company had a full time telex operator, and telexes were frequently delayed, went out with the usual mis-spellings due to bad transcription, etc. Now people could type their own telexes at their desk, and send them immediately. So, was everybody happy? Of course not. As the case with most travel agencies, annual turnover was close to 100%, so every month, I would get a call from the new person, asking "Where's the telex machine?". I would explain that you prepared telexes with the word processor, and then e-mailed them to the telex network. "Ok, how to I punch the tape, then?" ... After a few rounds of this, I dug a telex machine out of the dump, cleaned it up, hooked it to the computer using the current loop interface, and wrote some shell scripts to simulate connecting to the telex network. This worked great for a while. Then, while I was in Africa, on a tour, I started getting *telegrams* from the agency, that the telex machine was broken, and that WUTCO refused to fix it. The office was in a total uproar, and they couldn't do business. In the meantime, they messengered telexes to the local WUTCO office to carry on. When I got back, I looked at the computer to troubleshoot the problem. There was no dial tone at the modem. I saw a shiny new FAX machine in the office and noticed its phone line was plugged into ... THE MODEM LINE!!!!!! I placed a call to WUTCO, had them install a hard-wired line to the the telex network, and everybody was happy ever after ... until WUTCO got out of the telex business. But, by then, the African travel boom was over and FAX was king. Moral of the story: User Interface is everything! Cheers, etc., PJK ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #365 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa26348; 31 Aug 95 19:49 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id MAA01122 for telecomlist-outbound; Thu, 31 Aug 1995 12:03:07 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id MAA01114; Thu, 31 Aug 1995 12:03:04 -0500 Date: Thu, 31 Aug 1995 12:03:04 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Message-Id: <199508311703.MAA01114@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #366 TELECOM Digest Thu, 31 Aug 95 12:03:00 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 366 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: 1-800-555-xxxx (William Brownlow) Re: 1-800-555-xxxx (Mark J. Cuccia) Re: 1-800-555-xxxx (Brig C. McCoy) Re: 1-800-555-xxxx (Carl Moore) Re: 1-800-555-xxxx (Bob Keller) Re: San Francisco Area Codes (Roger Fajman) Re: San Francisco Area Codes (John David Galt) Re: Allnet Tries to Hide Adult Services (John E. Briggs) Re: How to Distinquish Local From Long Distance Numbers (Jim Donaldson) Re: How to Distinquish Local From Long Distance Numbers (Barry Margolin) Re: Area Code Crisis -- A Different Viewpoint (Sergio Gelato) Other "Special" Areacodes (Mark J. Cuccia) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily represent the views of Microsoft. ------------------------------------------------------------ Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: wbrownlo@csc.com (William Brownlow) Subject: Re: 1-800-555-xxxx Date: 30 Aug 1995 09:21:37 -0400 Organization: Computer Sciences Corporation DavidB.Horvath wrote: > It looks like the 1-800-555 number space is available for "normal" > toll free phone numbers. > I got a call from a Contract-programmer broker in Texas (they wanted > to know if I was interested in a job down there), when I mentioned > that I wasn't interested but might be able to pass the lead on to a > friend who was interested in moving to TX, I was given a 1-800-555- > number. I confirmed the number to make sure I heard it correctly. > Now what are the movies going to use to show someone dialing a toll > free number? > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I don't know what they will do now. Maybe > the YANG! principle should be applied. YANG = Yet Another Noise Group. > Should I put up a message in news.groups calling for a discussion on what > to name the new group which will discuss how Hollywood should handle the > use of telephone numbers when telco no longer has the luxury of providing > them with numbers that won't disturb the real people? PAT] I remember reading a blurb in {The Washington Post} about using 555 numbers. It stated that Bellcore had agreed with the movie studios certain combinations would not be issued. These combinations could and would continue to be used in movies and television programs. Thus, as an example, 555-1234 would not be issued and would be available for use by the entertainment and advertising industries. A few years ago a Charles Bronson movie, Telephon, was released. The distributor, Universal(?) set up an 800 number for some purpose which was reached by dialing 1.800.TELEPHO(n). I wonder who has 1.800.835.3746 now? ------------------------------ From: Mark J. Cuccia Subject: Re: 1-800-555-xxxx Date: 30 Aug 1995 13:23:11 GMT Organization: Tulane University David B. Horvath, CDP wrote: > It looks like the 1-800-555 number space is available for "normal" > toll free phone numbers. (snip) > I was given a 1-800-555- number. I confirmed the number to make sure I > heard it correctly. > Now what are the movies going to use to show someone dialing a toll > free number? (snip) > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I don't know what they will do now.,,,, Yes, 800-555 was made available to "regular" numbers sometime last year, I think in December. Maybe Judith Oppenheimer has some more details on this. I remember seeing it in Bellcore TRA's INPG fiche (Industry Numbering Plan Guide) and LERG when I last ordered them in December 1994. I also remember that one of my free mailings from Bellcore NANPA last year stated that 800-555 was going into the "general" portability pool. Some of my Bellcore free mailings from NANPA, the ICCF, and the INC have talked about *other* NPA's using the 555 exchange code for services *other* than regular Directory Assistance or other telco services. Bellcore NANPA is working with 555-XXXX line number assignments, and it *seems* that this will be yet *another* 976-type of code! :-( There are plans for single NPA assignments of particular 555-XXXX numbers, regional or multiple-NPA assignments of a particular 555 number to a particular subscriber, and national/NANP-wide/most-NPA's assignments of a specific 555-XXXX number. MANY 555 numbers, it seems, are now in *conflict* according to one of my mailings from Bellcore/ICCF/INC. There were *simultaneous* requests for the same groups of XXXX line-numbers, such as 6397 (NEWS), 8255 (TALK), 5683 (LOVE), etc. The mailings I got listed the line numbers which are in *conflict*, along with the multiple *simultaneous* requesting companies, but not the "letter" mnuemonics. There were even some numericals which would even spell out profanities, but as I said, the mailing only listed XXXX numbers- NOT letters/names. BTW, Cap.Cities/ABC (Radio & TV News, etc) requested some of the form 7777, and I think that CBS-The Columbia Broadcasting System had requested some 2222 or the like. ABC-TV owns several TV stations in the US on Channel 7, while CBS has many Channel 2's. Or even if they don't *own* the station, many affiliates are on those channels. For motion-picture/TV/Radio/dramatic fiction, etc, the 0100 to 0199 block of line numbers are NOT going to be assigned to working numbers within the NPA-555-XXXX service. I don't know how this is going to apply to 800-555-XXXX, tho'. MARK J. CUCCIA PHONE/WRITE/WIRE: HOME: (USA) Tel: CHestnut 1-2497 WORK: mcuccia@law.tulane.edu |4710 Wright Road| (+1-504-241-2497) Tel:UNiversity 5-5954(+1-504-865-5954)|New Orleans 28 |fwds on no-answr to Fax:UNiversity 5-5917(+1-504-865-5917)|Louisiana(70128)|cellular/voicemail ------------------------------ From: brigc@world.std.com (Brig C McCoy) Subject: Re: 1-800-555-xxxx Organization: Southeast Kansas Library System, Iola, KS Date: Wed, 30 Aug 1995 13:34:31 GMT DavidB.Horvath wrote: > It looks like the 1-800-555 number space is available for "normal" > toll free phone numbers. Noticed the same thing with 1-900-555 yesterday, as the Priority support number for Artisoft is 1 900 555-8324, used it in resolving a LANtastic problem, so I know it wasn't a typo. :) Brig C. McCoy | Automation Consultant Southeast Kansas Library System | Internet: brigc@world.std.com 218 East Madison | Voice: 316 365-5136 Iola, KS 66749 | Fax: 316 365-5137 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Aug 95 10:47:12 EDT From: Carl Moore Subject: Re: 1-800-555-xxxx Speaking of Hollywood (and its use of 555-xxxx, not just in area 800, in movies etc.): I Love Lucy had telephone numbers in it from time to time. They changed from time to time, too; the phone company supplied them to ensure there would be no answer if fans tried calling them. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Aug 1995 14:15:35 -0400 From: Bob Keller Subject: Re: 1-800-555-xxxx In TELECOM Digest V15 #364, David B. Horvath, CDP queried: > Now what are the movies going to use to show someone dialing a toll > free number? Here's a thought. Perhaps the movies should get rid of the 555 thing altogether and instead use real live 1-900 numbers. Then, if anyone is curious enough to dial the number heard in the movie, the studio could collect revenue at the rate $X.XX per minute. Hey, that might offset at least some of the cost of Waterworld! [Note to any Hollywood type reading this list: In consideration of my valuable intellectual property rights in the above concept, I do, of course, excep royalties on all calls received should you decide to implement this scheme. ] Bob Keller (KY3R) mailto:rjk@telcomlaw.com Law Office of Robert J. Keller, P.C. http://www.his.com/~rjk Federal Telecommunications Law Telephone 202.416.1670 ------------------------------ From: Roger Fajman Date: Wed, 30 Aug 1995 18:27:11 EDT Subject: Re: San Francisco Area Codes > John Higdon is from the San Jose / San Francisco area. Maybe he might > have some info to enlighten us on 318's use for calling into SF from > outside of CA, or maybe some Bay area Exchange Name history -- (and SF > was probably the only area of the country that used 55X numbers before > All Number Calling -- KLondike-x (55X) WAS used in San Francisco, while > most areas of the country never seemed to use the 55X range prior to > the 1960s). So am I, born in Oakland and raised in the East Bay. I don't remember the 318 area code at all, but I was only 6 in 1951, so that's not surprising. We had the very neat Hayward phone number of LUcerne 2-3456. But sometime, probably the late fifties, many people's phone numbers were changed and ours became BRowning 6-xxxx. I don't know the reason. Maybe a new CO was built. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I meant to comment on this the other day but forgot to do so. Although John Higdon is from the San Jose and San Fransisco area *now*, I don't believe he lived around that area in 1950-60 period. I believe he moved out there only in the latter part of the 1970's. PAT] ------------------------------ From: John_David_Galt@cup.portal.com Subject: Re: San Francisco Area Codes Date: Wed, 30 Aug 95 22:33:19 PDT Seven-digit dialing between 415 and the Bay Area portion of 408 existed until some time in 1983, and the prefix list in the front of the phone book did not distinguish the area codes either. (In the few cases where duplicate prefixes existed, usually in 415/707 or 408/707, they inserted an asterisk with the note, "Some prefixes serve more than one community.") To my knowledge, there was never seven-digit dialing between 415 and 707 (or 408 and 707, which are not adjacent). However, the split was before I moved here. John David Galt ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Aug 1995 12:24:57 -0700 From: John E. Briggs Subject: Re: Allnet Tries to Hide Adult Services dave@westmark.com (Dave Levenson) wrote: > For telecom resellers, PBX administrators, COCOT-owners and such, > there is generally no other option than to completely block calls to > 900, 976, and now, 500 numbers. If credit-card billing is accepted to > these numbers, then 0+ calls to such numbers may be allowed if > billed-number screening is also effective. I gather that there are some tech support services offered via 900 numbers, as well as some fax-on-demand services that also use a 900 number. Since these may be "legitimate" business services I was wondering if call blocking is (generally) sophisticated enough to permit blocking of, say, all 900 numbers except an approved list of legit numbers. Are most people stuck with all or nothing blocking? Was MCI's directory assistance 900 service badly damaged by call blocking by businesses? Also, while on the general topic of, uhh, entertainment services via telephone, I am aware that some such service providers have resorted to deals with foreign country telephone companies to avoid 900/976 style blocking. I am curious about why we have, as far as I know, thus far been spared a 10-XXX (appropiate, yes?) phone service? Does the FCC sufficiently regulate long distance companies to prohibit "dial 10-HOT-SEX-TALK" or have other mechanisms been easier to implement for the 900 industry? John Briggs (jebriggs@indirect.com AZ, USA) ------------------------------ From: Jim Donaldson Subject: Re: How to Distinquish Local From Long Distance Numbers Date: 30 Aug 1995 16:51:02 GMT Organization: InternetMCI Thomas Chen wrote: > How can one determine whether certain numbers are within the calling > area and certain numbers are not? Tom, A phone number is comprised of NPA-NXX-EXTN. Your local telco will have a list of the NPA-NXX's that are local. All other NPA-NXX's are toll and will be charged at different rates. Your phone book may have the list but usually not. By the way, I suggest dialling your long distance carrier's code prior to making those calls that are not considered local by your telco. This will save you big bucks. Just dial 10XXX before dialing your number where: XXX is 222 for MCI, 333 for Sprint, and 288 for AT&T. Hope this helps, Jim ------------------------------ From: Barry Margolin Subject: Re: How to Distinquish Local From Long Distance Numbers Date: 31 Aug 1995 08:30:35 -0400 Organization: BBN Planet Corp., Cambridge, MA In article Thomas Chen writes: > How can one determine whether certain numbers are within the calling > area and certain numbers are not? In Massachusetts, the list depends on the calling plan you've signed up for. There are also two local calling areas, called Zone 1 and Zone 2; the definition of these zones depends on the calling exchange, and anything not in one of the zones is long distance. Zone 1 is also divided into Local and Other. The service levels in the Boston Metropolitan area include: * Measured: all calls are toll calls, with the rate depending on the zone; * Unlimited: unlimited, untimed calls to Local Zone 1, otherwise like Measured; * Measured Circle: Measured or Unlimited, plus 2 hours/month of calls to exchanges outside Local Zone 1 but within 25 miles; * Circle: Unlimited calls within 20 miles; * Suburban: unlimited calls within your own exchange and to Metropolitan Boston exchanges *except* for Boston Central exchanges (I can't imagine why anyone would get this -- who *doesn't* call Boston?); * Metropolitan: unlimited calls to Metropolitan Boston and selected exchanges depending on where you're calling from; * Bay State East: unlimited calls to Metropolitan Boston plus 2 hours/month of calls to other exchanges in Eastern Massachusetts *except* 9AM-Noon weekdays. All the relevant exchanges and rates are listed in the local phone books. Barry Margolin BBN PlaNET Corporation, Cambridge, MA barmar@bbnplanet.com Phone (617) 873-3126 - Fax (617) 873-5124 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Aug 1995 13:05:41 +0200 From: Sergio Gelato Subject: Re: Area Code Crisis -- A Different Viewpoint Tony Harminc (>) commented on Richard Barry's (>>) words: >> Most European numbering plans have the following characteristics: >> *Hierarchical area code structure* (like the US Zip code. While one >> mightn't know where Zip 90234 is precisely, even a non-American can >> guess that it is on the West coast and probably in California. >> Someone who knows California can probably guess it is in the LA area, >> etc.) This structure follows on to some extent from the country code >> layout (eg all country codes beginning with 3 are in Europe). > The French system is nothing like this. The Departement numbers > are scattered randomly around the country, so you can't tell where > a number is unless you have memorized the list. The department numbers (which were originally assigned alphabetically; since then additions and renamings have spoiled the regularity) have also never had anything to do with telephone area codes. The 1985 reorganisation was prompted to a large extent by the fact that all possible area codes had been assigned at that point. Strange situations resulted, with (7) for the city of Lyon but (76) for Grenoble (which meant that Lyon numbers could and did have 7 digits, but that they could not begin with 6). Tony Harminc's remark is pertinent to French postal codes (which are based on the departement numbers), but that is not very relevant to telecom. [About variable length numbers] > This is terrible idea, for the one simple reason that telephones don't > have Enter keys. So the switch has to decide when you've finished > dialing by some means, usually a timeout. Or if the switch is smart > enough it may be able to avoid timeouts on certain calls, but the > result is inconsistent behaviour. Here in Italy, where variable-length numbers are the norm, the system is constructed so that it is always possible in principle to determine from the digits dialled so far whether the number is complete or not. That is, 2345 67 and 2345 678 cannot both be valid numbers, but you can have 2345 67 and 2345 680, 2345 681, etc. In theory, this means that timeouts are never absolutely necessary. Of course for long distance calls it will not be practical for the originating exchange to store the detailed number length tables for every possible remote exchange, but the information can be requested from the destination exchange during call setup. I don't know whether this is actually being done: I'm not obsessed with having the shortest possible call setup time myself. (Even a timeout would be much shorter than the time spent waiting for the person at the other end to pick up the phone.) > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Actually, telephones do have 'enter' keys > or 'carriage return' keys. It is the '#' key located underneath the '9'. Irrelevant to the discussion of variable length numbers in Europe: my switch doesn't interpret the # key that way, and attempts to use it are treated as misdialed numbers. But I know it works in the USA. > So why don't we have telephone numbers of any length with the understanding > that when the subscriber has finished giving the instructions, a # is used > to indicate conclusion. The network would then process what had been given > in the proper context. PAT] I suspect that the cost of reprogramming all that data entry software that expects NXX-NXX-XXXX for phone numbers is the real reason the USA are trying to stick to 3+7 for as long as possible. As you note, there is no intrinsic reason from the point of view of the network itself. (Related question: why are the USA still using only nine digits for Social Security Numbers, despite all the obvious shortcomings?) ------------------------------ From: Mark J. Cuccia Subject: Other "Special" Areacodes Date: 30 Aug 1995 13:43:45 GMT Organization: Tulane University Since I have made recent posts on Mexico, TWX, and the use of 318 for San Francisco, and since I mentioned (in "809 in Jeopardy") the 'replace' code for "Caller-Pays-800" including the 'self-assigned' use of 300 & 400 by Caribbean countries/islands for "caller-pays-800", I wanted to mention some *other* special NPA codes. I had mentioned about 880 being planned as a *standard* replace-type of code if the caller wants to pay for an 800 number not available from his calling area (at least from International/Overseas). At the time I posted this to TD, I stated that I didn't know what was going to be used for the 'replace' code for the new toll-free 888 code. Recently, one of my free mailings from Bellcore stated that 881 is being planned for 'replace' for Caller-Pays-888. NOW, I do NOT know how this will 'interwork' with the 'mark-sense' codes for billing- identification purposes for remote manual operator-connect-only 'Ring-Down' points. 880 is NOT used for ring-down points, but 881-XXX IS! Also, 888-XXX is used as well! We have had 800 for Toll Free since circa 1966/67. 900 was reserved for 'mass-calling' as a 'choke' code in 1970, but its use as a nationwide or continentwide PAY-PAY-PAY-per-call special areacode didn't come into use until around 1981 or 82. There were the TWX codes, 510, 610, 710, 810, 910. 610 remained the Canadian TWX (and later Data services) until it was splash cut to 600 in 1993. 510, 710, 810, 910 (while probably still used on the now-again AT&T 'non-telco' TWX/Telex-II) were 'removed' from the DDD Telephone Switching Network by 1982 or so and along with 610 have been re-assigned as regular telephone NPA's. Specifically, 710 was reassigned circa 1983 to the US Federal Government, but it was about 10 years before many of us saw any other reference to it (for the GETS-Government Emergency Telephone Service/System), and that is *still* somewhat unspecified. We have *also* known about 700 since around 1983/84, being reserved for 'carrier-services' sometime around divestiture. I understand that Canada is now using 700 numbers, similar to the way we use them here. And, of course, there is the 500 special areacode. There is yet *another* special areacode, and its details/assignments are still somewhat cloudy. Back in 1993, Bellcore reserved the 456 (new format) areacode for "International Inbound" purposes. There IS a NANPA IL (Information Letter) explaining it, as well as mailings from ICCF/INC. It will be assigned to carriers, *similar* to the way 500-NXX, 600-NXX, 900-NXX are being assigned now, and (prior to portability), 800-NXX; HOWEVER, due to some foreign telco or International Carrier code translations, a carrier requesting 456-NXX codes will be assigned a *block-of-ten* NXX codes- the carrier will have ALL TEN codes within a particular 456-NX. I haven't purchased a Bellcore TRA LERG or INPG (or other product) in almost a year, but there was NO listing of any 456-NX(X) assignments when I purchased them last December. Incidently, there were also no assignment listings of any 555-XXXX (for ANY NPA) in them neither. MARK J. CUCCIA PHONE/WRITE/WIRE: HOME: (USA) Tel: CHestnut 1-2497 WORK: mcuccia@law.tulane.edu |4710 Wright Road| (+1-504-241-2497) Tel:UNiversity 5-5954(+1-504-865-5954)|New Orleans 28 |fwds on no-answr to Fax:UNiversity 5-5917(+1-504-865-5917)|Louisiana(70128)|cellular/voicemail [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: When I first made mention of '710' here as the code for 'Special Government Services' or 'Government Special Services' I had someone write me to say they had contacted a friend or relative working at the Pentagon to ask for more details about it, possibly to report in an article in the Digest. My correspondent said his contact at the Pentagon almost choked when he found out that 'other people' knew about it. Supposedly it is a highly classified secret matter. Despite various requests and hints that more information for readers here would be very much appreciated, no one yet has ever responded in a definitive way to explain the workings of 710; how it is (to be) used, etc. I wish someone who actually knew something about it would write an article. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #366 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa29705; 1 Sep 95 1:34 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id SAA11074 for telecomlist-outbound; Thu, 31 Aug 1995 18:43:22 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id SAA11066; Thu, 31 Aug 1995 18:43:19 -0500 Date: Thu, 31 Aug 1995 18:43:19 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Message-Id: <199508312343.SAA11066@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #367 TELECOM Digest Thu, 31 Aug 95 18:43:00 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 367 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Wireless Modem and Data Compression Equipment For Pictures (Liu Young) PacBell Presents ISDN Seminar, Sept 26 (Cherie Shore) Unblockable Called-ID (Ken Levitt) Phone-Mail Woes (RISKS Digest via Monty Solomon) Re: Area Code Crisis -- A Different Viewpoint (David Hough) Correction to Bell Atlantic Article (Paul Robinson) About Errors in Articles Posted (Paul Robinson) Ringing Signal and Service Tones (Ang Swee Koon) AT&T Telemarketing Not Same as Service! (Mike Wengler) New NPA in CT (jlbene@aol.com) Caller ID Status in CA? (Don McLaughlin) Tone Decoders (Richard T. Mills) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily represent the views of Microsoft. ------------------------------------------------------------ Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Liu Young Subject: Wireless Modem and Data Compression Equipement For Pictures Date: 31 Aug 1995 19:05:54 GMT Organization: LinkAGE Online Ltd Trade opportunities from China. Wireless modems and equipements of data compression for moving pictures wanted. We're now developing a real-time wireless image transmission system, used in fire reporting, traffic reporting, public security, emergency treatment, etc. This system mainly consists of two parts. The first part is data compression equipments for moving pictures, either color or BW. The second part is wireless modems. Good stability and large covering area (40km in radius) are required. We're now searching for the suppliers of this equipement. Fax or air mail reply are prefered. Thanks. Fax: +86 755 2243055 Tel: +86 755 2240079 Mail: Liu Young Shenzhen Information Center 1 Tongxin road, Shenzhen, P. R. of China E-mail: lauyung@hk.linkage.net ------------------------------ From: cashore@PacBell.COM (Cherie Shore) Subject: PacBell Presents ISDN Seminar, Sept 26 Date: 31 Aug 1995 01:14:46 GMT Organization: Pacific Bell Pacific Bell is proud to announce another in our very popular series of ISDN seminars. The seminar will include an overview of ISDN, how it can be used, where it is available and Pacific Bell's ISDN rates. Our guest vendor will be Digi International, one of the leaders in ISDN remote LAN access equipment market, who will provide an overview of their product line and a live demonstration of ISDN Internet access. This seminar will be held on: September 26, at 9:30am at: 1010 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles. Parking is provided in our parking structure on St Paul St, 1/2 block North of the building. To reserve your seat, contact Kay at 818-578-4353. Cherie Shore cashore@pacbell.com ISDN Technology Manager, PacBell ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Aug 95 17:30:52 EDT From: levitt@zorro9.fidonet.org (Ken Levitt) Subject: Unblockable Called-ID In TELECOM Digest V 15 # 363 Tony Pelliccio writes: Subject: Nynex Blows it Again! > A call from an associate in MA shows as OUT OF AREA. I called my > long distance provider (who is also the friend's LD provider) and > they've verified that their network will indeed pass Caller-ID > information along. I call Nynex and ask them what the deal is. Turns > out, according to some droid that Nynex "Doesn't have the technology > to do that.". I have the opposite problem. I have Caller-ID sent on long distance calls with no way to block it. This may be happening to other people without their knowledge. My local exchange does not have SS7 and does not have Caller-ID. The blocking code for Caller-ID produces an error message. When I call from MA (508) to CT (203) my number appears on the ID box in CT. Nynex confirmed that they are not generating any Caller-ID information and are only passing the billing information the the LD carrier. My LD carrier (Corporate Telemanagement Group) at first insisted that what I was saying was impossible. I went through several people and finally ended up with their technical person who also insisted it was impossible. After I insisted several times the it WAS happening, he finally admitted that they subcontract their New England traffic to another carrier (WIL-TEL) who may be doing something strange. They promised to check it out and get back to me. If any interesting information comes back, I'll send it along. Ken Levitt - On FidoNet gateway node 1:16/390 UUCP: zorro9!levitt INTERNET: levitt@zorro9.fidonet.org or levitt%zorro9.uucp@talcott.harvard.edu ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 31 Aug 1995 10:11:56 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Phone-Mail Woes Reply-To: monty@roscom.COM FYI. Excerpt from RISKS DIGEST 17.30. Date: Sat, 26 Aug 1995 17:14 -0400 From: Bob_Frankston@frankston.com Subject: Phone-mail woes In anticipating traveling internationally, I decided to get CO-based phone mail since I thought it would be more reliable to connect to than my analog answering machine. Because I've got two lines, I decided that I'd put the service on the second line and then forward the first to the second when I need to. I tried testing the forwarding and found that when I called the first number, instead of just giving me voice mail, it asked me to key in a number, presumably the number I was calling -- the first number. So I obliged, and got a message from someone saying he was in Central America and couldn't answer the calls. * The request to key in the number is clearly a bug since the caller doesn't know that I've forwarded the call nor the number to which I forwarded the call. * Since my ownership of both number predates the installation of the switch, it seemed that the caller gets directed into hyperspace. * When asking for the service, I was told that they were planning to drop the stutter dialtone since it didn't work reliably! * I did not test the interactions with distinctive ringing numbers. I feared the worst but didn't have the time. In speaking to the service people about this, the basic response is that this is a problem with the DMS-100 (Northern Telecom) switch and not necessarily the ATT ESS switches. This is the same DMS that, on my ISDN line, requires two numbers for a 2B call whereas the ESS needs only one. I don't know what profound lessons there are to learn except that I'm amazed out the presence of such a gross bug in an expensive production CO. It would never be tolerated in a $29.99 software package. This is a feature interaction but unlike the problems with ad-hoc interaction between separately produced features, this should be testable. Note, though, that voice mail is often provided by a third party, such as Octel, and the bug could be due to version interactions between two disparate systems. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Something is wrong here with his account of what happened (is happening) ... generally the reason it asks for the caller to enter the number he is calling is because somehow the network did not deliver ANI properly to voicemail. Had voicemail known who was being called, the proper greeting would have played out rather than the generic 'please enter the number' message. Anyone can forward their line to whatever number is used in their community for voicemail, however if the incoming call is not from someone calling a recognized voicemail subscriber, the voicemail system is going ask them in effect what they are doing there and what they want. I imagine voicemail must have seen the number of his first line (which as I understand is not subscribed to voicemail) and was in effect asking 'how did you get here?', not realizing that an actual subscriber (his second line) was transferring the call there. It would be interesting also to find out if he conducted his tests using *the same phone lines involved* or if he went to some third-location where the response might be different. PAT] ------------------------------ From: David Hough Subject: Re: Area Code Crisis -- A Different Viewpoint Date: Wed, 30 Aug 95 08:43:04 GMT Organization: Chaotic In article rbarry@iol.ie (Richard Barry) writes: > There is no long term numbering strategy in the UK - it changes > virtually every year, which is great for the printing industry! Not quite that bad - and a lot of it comes from needing overlap periods between old and new. Previous to the recent '01', the last major change in the UK scheme was shifting London numbers from 01-xxx-yyyy to 081- and 071-. By doing this, it freed up the whole of the 01 number space which allowed the most recent change to occur. Other minor changes have been steadily taking place, which often mean the changing of numbers to have the same number of digits and reducing the number of area codes in use. > The UK has several codes for toll-free and similar numbers including > 0800, 0500, 0345 and 0645. In surveys, about 20% of the population > don't know that 0800 is toll free and nearly half the population don't > know that 0500 is toll-free. > Mobile phone numbers, paging, and premium rate numbers are found all > over the numbering space. The eventual plan, according to the consultative document, is for all mobile prefixes to be grouped together, all toll-free numbers to be grouped together etc. Obviously this couldn't happen until after the 01 change on geograpic numbers because until then you couldn't prefix all mobile codes with 03 (which I believe i suggested for mobiles). Now the numbering space has been freed up, it may be that 0336, 0860 etc will change to 03336, 03860 etc, thus showing them to be mobile numbers. There is method in the madness somewhere -- you just have to look hard for it! > *Distinctive non-geographic codes* so that anyone can tell a mobile > number or a pager or a premium rate number from a regular phone number > easily. > *A single code for a single function* - all toll-free numbers should > begin with the same code to assist public recognition. So if you run > out of numbering space in the 800 range, add an extra digit to the > bit that follows 800 - (ie 800 nnnn nnnn). This goes back to > variable number length flexibility. As mentioned, this principle was in the original plan. From memory, the suggestions were: 01 and 02 for geographic codes, 03 for mobiles, 07 for portable numbers, 08 for toll-free and 09 for premium rate. Whether it actually happens like that remains to be seen ... Dave djh@sectel.com Tel +44 1285 655 766 Fax +44 1285 655 595 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Aug 1995 06:31:24 EDT From: Paul Robinson Organization: Tansin A. Darcos & Company/TDR, Inc. Silver Spring, MD USA Subject: Correction to Bell Atlantic Article In a prior article which I realize had no correction, dealing with the practice of the back-office contractor staff taking unprocessed telephone service orders and throwing them into the wastebasket undone, I reported that Bell Atlantic, the local telephone company for DC, MD, VA, PA, WV and NJ (and perhaps other states) was headquartered in Richmond, VA. According to an anonymous Bell Atlantic employee who called me to tell me something about the story I wrote, and by a reader of the Digest, The actual headquarters of Bell Atlantic Corporation is in Philadelphia, PA. Paul Robinson General Manager Tansin A. Darcos & Company/TDR, Inc. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Aug 1995 06:34:55 EDT From: Paul Robinson Organization: Tansin A. Darcos & Company/TDR, Inc. Silver Spring, MD USA Subject: About Errors in Articles Posted Organization: Tansin A. Darcos & Company/TDR,Inc. Silver Spring, MD USA I'd like to add a followup item to a recent correction of an article I submitted here. Let me note that in any kind of publication - a digest such as this, regular Usenet Newsgroup Articles, and especially in the daily papers and weekly magazines - there are going to be errors, mistatements, and misquotations of material. This point was brought home to me by the cablecast yesterday of the tv series "Lou Grant," in which the same reporter had exclusive stories on two days in a row, and both stories were wrong. In the case involved, the reporter had the facts correct, but what he read from those facts gave him a conclusion -- which, given what had happened, a reasonable person of intelligence, without biases, would have made the identical one -- and his conclusion was wrong. In other cases, facts are in error, or are misunderstood, or in some cases are intentionally reported wrong, either to prevent someone from becoming subject to blame or sanctions, or to allow someone to determine if blame or sanctions should be placed on someone else, and/or to preserve the ability to investigate or punish some wrongdoing. And sometimes it's done to cover up for someone or to make some scapegoat take the fall for someone else. One example being when I wrote up some of my comments regarding the Oklahoma City Bombing and the effect on telephone service there as well as changes here in the Washington, DC. Area. Almost every story that came out required changing because as more information became known, the facts became more substantial, and could be better substantiated (or those who were hiding things had more time to practice their lies). I do not remember hearing any serious criticism of this constant requirement to change erroneous or misreported facts, and I believe the reason is simple: people who watch TV or read newspapers can understand that not all the evidence is available right away, and in some cases what is reported is discovered to be incorrect or was incomplete. We have to accept this inaccuracy as part of the "cost of doing business" in order to have very-fast reporting of information. Checking and rechecking details from multiple sources is time consuming. Where the results of the error could be harmful or injurious to others, it should, if reasonably possible, be checked for accuracy. It may still be wrong, but at least rechecking shows that they are acting responsibly. In some cases, if a fact is received from a reasonable source, reporting it as it stands with the realization (whether or not stated) that it may be wrong, is reasonable. For example, in any similar incident involving a disaster, reporting there are 20 dead when there are actually 80, or estimating deaths to be 3,000 when the number was around 300, is not going to be as serious as misreporting a specific person was dead when they were not, especially for the relatives of the victim. So, a small suggestion to people -- when you read something in this Digest or *especially* on Usenet -- if you notice something is wrong, you should report that if you have evidence to suggest otherwise, but you should not be flaming or insulting someone for their errors (you shouldn't be doing that anyway, but that's another issue altogether). None of us is omnipotent, we all make mistakes and errors. The correct stance is to learn to understand that not all incorrect material is the result of intentional bias (although, I'm sure that some is), but can often can be traced back to simple misunderstanding or human error of a minor detail. In short, take it easy, and don't take things you see or read in the media all that seriously. And sometimes consider if what you are reading is true, a lot of people intentionally lie or misstate the facts in order to promote some social goal, and you may or may not support that particular goal. In the end, your best judge of the truth is your own intelligence: does what they say seem reasonable? Is what they are saying is happening true? Is what they want to happen soon, and what does happen now in the world compatible with each other? And most importantly, does their own lifestyle or standard of living capable of being sustained if what they want is proposed? The first tells you if they are truthful. The second tells you if they are demanding the impossible, or want to impose things on the public, even if it means shoving an unwanted standard upon people down their throats whether they want it or not. The third tells you if they are hypocrites. You can't know all the answers to everything; there's not enough time to learn enough to know the correct side of the issue. But you can try to find out why some people support some sides. Or you can listen to some people that you agree with on a large number of points and hear their opinions. But in the end, whatever you choose to believe, is your own responsibility, and if that belief in whatever fact or opinion you accept as valid is wrong, then you have to take the consequences. Paul Robinson General Manager Tansin A. Darcos & Company/TDR, Inc. ------------------------------ From: cwcangsk@leonis.nus.sg (Ang Swee Koon) Subject: Ringing Signal and Service Tones Date: 30 Aug 1995 11:38:31 GMT Organization: National University of Singapore I am trying to find more information on the dial tone, ringing tone and busy tone ie their standard. Is there any different for difference country around the world? Are the frequency and periodicity the same? If anyone has any informations, pls email at the following address. Thanks, Ang Swee Koon cwcangsk@leonis.nus.sg ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 31 Aug 1995 06:14:45 -0500 From: wengler@ee.rochester.edu (Mike Wengler) Subject: AT&T Telemarketing Not Same as Service! From: KESHAVAC.SMTMHS@smtmhs.sharpwa.com (Bhaktha Keshavachar) >> A rep called me one night and I wanted time to think about the package >> and compare what I'd pay (and the "rewards") against what I currently >> pay (and the rewards I get) using Sprint. I asked for a number to call >> back once I'd decided, and the rep gave me a number, but cautioned that >> the people at the inbound call center do not have the authority to >> offer the same deals as the reps at the outbound call center. (snip...snip...snip) > Maybe the rep who offered me the deal could have made a entry in > their data bases against my phone number, so that when I called back > whoever received the call would know that. I was under the impression > that AT&T service was better than the others ... AT&T *hires* or *contracts* out their telemarketing! My mother has been solicited with "business opportunities" to telemarket AT&T on contract. Guess what ... if a telemarketer can make money by signing you up, but you want to think about it and call back, they will not make that money. (Plus there's the old thing in sales about "CLOSE THE DEAL!", once you're off the phone you are probabilistically history anyway.) Even if AT&T *service* is or is not any better than the competitors, its *marketing* is constrained by the same pirhanic laws of nature as everybody elses. Benefits of competition and all that. The are *selling* you their reputation for serice. Their reputation. Not the service itself. That would go on the cost side of the balance sheet, not the revenue. > ...now I would think twice before switching to AT&T (with or withour > $100 !) Months of investigation have lead me to conclude you should ALWAYS cash those checks. Then take the next incentive to switch to the next place. With a small residential account, those checks are the ONLY way to cut your long distance "rates" significantly ... that $100 check probably pays three to five months of your LD bill! Mike Wengler Phone/Fax: 716 244-0238 Cell: 716 748-1930 ------------------------------ From: JLBENE@aol.com Date: Thu, 31 Aug 1995 11:59:04 -0400 Subject: New NPA in CT I am very unhappy about the decision to split the NPA in CT, adding 860 to the current 203, especially because MY phone number has to change. I would rather have an overlay and dial 10D to a local call. (But I also seem to easily remember numbers like my car's VIN, my driver's license number, etc.) Anyway, now that this change is happening, I need to reprogram my cell phone. I could just go to the dealer to have it done, but that's the easy way out. Why can't the manual that came with my phone tell me ALL of the functions? I have a Motorola flip phone -- I know there are various models -- can anyone tell me how to reprogram it, or if there is an ftp site full of data on cell phones? I feel rather useless when I must depend on the technician or salesperson at the phone dealer for such a trivial matter. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The September/October, 1995 issue of Tom Farley's magazine {Private Line} has an article on this very topic written by Damien Thorn entitled "Cellular Test Mode Scanning", and although at first glance one might think the purpose of the article was to help instruct phreaks in ways to defraud cellular phone carriers and invade the privacy of cellular phone users, I suppose a point could be made that the article can also help persons in the same situation as yourself. You can send email to 'privateline@delphi.com' to inquire about subscriptions to the magazine. PAT] ------------------------------ From: dmclaughlin@jpl.nasa.gov (Don McLaughlin) Subject: Caller ID Status in CA? Date: 31 Aug 1995 18:35:32 GMT Organization: JPL Reply-To: host@netline-fddi.jpl.nasa.gov Does anyone know the status of Caller ID for California? I heard a rumor that it would be available in October '95. Don McLaughlin ------------------------------ From: rtmills@iol.ie (Richard T. Mills) Subject: Tone Decoders Date: Thu, 31 Aug 1995 23:00:19 GMT Organization: Ireland On-Line Does anyone know of a way of decoding telephone dialing codes? Is there any way of doing it by using a soundblaster card? I have the recorded tones on tape. Thanks, Richard ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #367 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa01248; 1 Sep 95 4:07 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id UAA12413 for telecomlist-outbound; Thu, 31 Aug 1995 20:38:42 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id UAA12405; Thu, 31 Aug 1995 20:38:40 -0500 Date: Thu, 31 Aug 1995 20:38:40 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Message-Id: <199509010138.UAA12405@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #368 TELECOM Digest Thu, 31 Aug 95 20:38:00 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 368 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: AT&T Moving Into Local Exchange Market (Richard F. Masoner) CryptoCom Secure Modems (Tyler Proctor) GSM Compatible Cellular Phones (edgewd@aol.com) Need Foreign X.25 Service Providers (Richard Brandt) Re: War on Payphones (Robert Jacobson) Re: War on Payphones (Mark J. Cuccia) Listening in to Cellular (Mike Wengler) 860 Startup Problem (Gerry Belanger) Re: Area Code Crisis -- A Different Viewpoint (Sam Spens Clason) Major MFP Developer Conference 9/28 - 9/29 (Tom Geldner) Re: Seven Digits Across North America (Wes Leatherock) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily represent the views of Microsoft. ------------------------------------------------------------ Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: richardm@cd.com (Richard F. Masoner) Subject: Re: AT&T Moving Into Local Exchange Market Date: 31 Aug 1995 21:22:38 GMT Organization: Central Data Corp. David Breneman (david.breneman@mccaw.com) wrote: > [middle-class to riches story] > (Puget Sound area) provider of petroleum products. "Only in America..." > I know thia doesn't have anything to do with telecom issues, but it > shows what's possible. :-) > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You are right of course. It can happen > here, but sadly a lot less often than it used to many years ago. Remind Just tell that to all the instant millionaires who work for Spyglass or Netscape who all used to work at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications in Urbana, Illinois. Richard ------------------------------ From: Tyler Proctor <75260.710@CompuServe.COM> Subject: CryptoCom Secure Modems Date: 30 Aug 1995 19:13:09 GMT Organization: CompuServe, Inc. (1-800-689-0736) Jeff Sweitzer of Western Datacom will demonstrate the new line of CryptoCom V.32V.34 pocket modems at Cellucomm 95. CryptoCom utilizes DES encryption and is N.I.S.T approved. The modem boasts a base data rate of 28.8 kbs (V.34) and utilizes MNP levels 2 through 5 for dial up and MNP10EC for cellular connect rates up to 14.4 kbs. The line includes the 528 CryptoCard rackmount unit designed for host communications. The 528 CryptoCard utilizes DES encryption and Caller ID technology to secure both dial up and cellular calls. When used with the Line Guard 6000 Network Management System, the user can manage 960 modems and up to 10,000 users from a central site. Western Datacom will also have it's 800 series "Quadra Press" Network Data Compressors, 528 Synchronous Node cellular modem, and the Line Guard 6000 dial up modem management products. Using compression technology, Western Datacom's products are capable of providing throughput of up to 56kbps over a cellular connection. Cellucomm 95 is the place to see the latest the cellular data industry has to offer. For more information on attending, e-mail 75260.710@ compuserve.com or call 800-594-5102. ------------------------------ From: edgewd@aol.com (EDGEWD) Subject: GSM Compatible Cellular Phones Date: 31 Aug 1995 10:39:04 -0400 Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) Reply-To: edgewd@aol.com (EDGEWD) Any information on obtaining GSM Cellular phones would be greatly appreciated. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: What do you mean by 'any information'? That's a very large topic with many angles and opinions. You might want to check back issues of this Digest in which GSM articles have appeared, and talk directly to the authors of those articles. PAT] ------------------------------ From: rbrandt@redwood.DN.HAC.COM (Richard Brandt) Subject: Need Foreign X.25 Service Providers Date: 31 Aug 1995 19:11:43 GMT Organization: Hughes Aircraft Company I am needing to use X.25 to link several sites in the following locations worldwide. If someone can tell me who to contact about data rates and equipment compatibility I would really appreciate it. Thanks. Countries: England, Hong Kong, Berlin, Mexico, Argentina, Capetown SA, Sidney AU. Richard L. Brandt Hughes Aircraft Company (303) 344-6586 rbrandt@redwood.dn.hac.com ------------------------------ From: cyberoid@u.washington.edu (Robert Jacobson) Subject: Re: War on Payphones Date: 31 Aug 1995 04:00:18 GMT Organization: University of Washington I served as principal telecommunications policy analyst with the CA legislature as the move toward removing payphones gained full force, in the mid-1980s. Although it's fun and popular to attribute controversial policy decisions, like the removal of payphones, to stupid politicians "battling" drugs, in fact this policy originated with the local telephone companies themselves. I remember in particular a PUC action designating payphones a "competitive" market, which all knew originated with the telcos and had their full support. The telcos' idea was, and remains, to maximize profit by limiting service to high-security, high-spending venues (like airports, upscale shopping malls, and tourist hotels). Private firms take over the marginal phones, charging more through AOS to ensure a profitable ROI even though the cost of maintaining marginal phones may be higher and their use less intense. Payphones that neither the telcos nor the private firms wanted to operate are simply removed. The drug thing was strictly a red herring, though historically fortuitous as a ruse. In CA, a bill requiring a neighborhood hearing before a phone was removed was watered down to simply require a notice to be slapped on a phone before it was yanked. I think the advance notice was 14 days, just enough time to call the PUC and request redress -- but not soon enough to actually interfere with the removal of the payphone. Just wanted to set the story straight. Bob Jacobson Principal Consultant (Analyst) CA State Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee, 1981-1989 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: What you say may have happened in Calif- ornia, but here at least, Illinois Bell flatly denied for the record on a couple of occassions having anything at all to do with the manipulation of payphone locations and the working characteristics (i.e. no coin after dark, etc) of payphones. They stated it was purely in response to community pressures and law enforcement requests. The reason this came up was because persons who were stuck with the 'no coin after dark' rule went to Bell demanding a rebate on operator surcharges saying that it was not their desire to use the operator to place a call (via calling card), and that they should not be penalized with a surcharge for their inability to 'dial direct'. You will recall that for however long, telcos routinely handled non-dialable calls at the direct dial rate rather than penalize customers. Illinois Bell's response was to speak with the self-proclaimed 'community representatives' who put the pressure on the 7/Eleven stores regards the pay phones in their parking lots, etc. On those payphones located on the public way, i.e. a sidewalk where the 'subscriber' to the telephone was given in records as Illinois Bell itself, their response was that they operated those phones at the pleasure of the City of Chicago and its City Council whose mandates had to be observed, again, i.e., the police want to see the phone set up as one way outbound only, no coins after dark, or removed completely, etc. So, said IBT, talk to the community, not us. It is all in who you know of course, and whether your politician friends and attorney can suck-up better than my politician friends and attorney. Although just as many drug transactions are done each day by the cocaine- snorting people who work at the Chicago Board of Trade and other financial houses on LaSalle Street downtown, you don't presume *their* payphones would ever be removed or modified do you? PAT] ------------------------------ From: Mark J. Cuccia Subject: Re: War on Payphones Date: 31 Aug 1995 19:08:10 GMT Organization: Tulane University snake wrote: > Don't forget the payphones installed in Las Vegas casinos, which are > rigged to keep your quarter even if your call doesn't go through. At > least the slot machines give you a chance at a payout. and our Esteemed Moderator noted: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Twenty-five cents just for the right > to touch the phone, pick it up and try to get someone, eh? Actually > if you ask Mark Cuccia (see the message before this one) about it, > he would probably tell you that the people who manufacture slot machines > and other gambling devices are the same people who make COCOTS, and > probably using a lot of the same circuit boards at that! Grin. PAT] I enjoy gambling (in Louisiana, its legally known as 'GAMING' not gambling). We now have a landbased casino in New Orleans proper and various gambling boats in suburban areas. I haven't yet been to them in New Orleans, but I do enjoy gambling on the boats in Mississippi (601) along the Gulf Coast. I just do NOT enjoy gambling that the payphone (COCOT) will put my call thru at the correct rates, via the carrier *I* want. About a month ago, the New Orleans City Circus -- Council -- no maybe circus was right the first time -- passed an ordinance that bars and liquor stores cannot have an outside payphone, even if it is on private property. This is 'supposed' to help out on the 'war' on drugs and crime. Most of these payphones are not SCBell telco payphones, but -- you guessed it -- COCOTS. AND, could the City be trying to squeeze out payphone competition? About a year and a half ago, City Hall cancelled its contract with South Central Bell (Bell South) for payphones on City-owned property -- whether in City office buildings, or outside on City parks, grassy "Neutral-Grounds" (what we call boulevard medians here), or on the city side of the property line on sidewalks. Over a period of six to eight months, Bell was one by one removing outside payphones on the city contract, and 'GLOBAL' Telslime - I mean Telcoin - came in. These charged overtime for local calls, did not have all local NNX c/o codes programmed in as local (some newer ones like my 460 for my cellular STILL isn't programmed as local), and the usual. Initially, Global's PAY-PAY-PAY-PHONIES would NOT give you a LEC (Bell) operator on a single 0 or on 0+ inTRA-Lata. After a few months and several complaints to the Public Service Commission, they were reprogrammed to route you to Bell operators for 0- and InTRA-LATA 0+. (I CAN get 950-XXXX, 1-800-, and 10-XXX+ access to other carriers okay; I only wish SCBell and ALL Local Exchange Carriers had a 10-XXX/101-XXXX, 950- and 800 number as well) Global (aka Schlumberger Industries) has been in and out of trouble with the PSC before. Global is HIGHLY connected politically with other state and various local political figures. They have also had the 'prison' contract with the state over the past several years. There have been MANY complaints over the past three to five years from families, relatives and friends of prisoners at the State Pen and other low-security prisons from around the state that they have been billed HUGE collect or third party charges on their local telco bill due to the unregulated AOSlime that Global's prison phones use. The PSC is ALWAYS trying to get after Global, but due to the other political connections Global has, it seems to be only a slap on the wrist. Maybe the FCC should step in and pre-empt various states who don't keep Private-Payphones/AOSlime in line. If a state's regulations could be proven to be even tougher than that of the FCC, then that state's regulations would be the law in that state. Theodore Vail must be turning in his grave, probably since 1 Jan 1984! (I'll let Pat explain who Mr. Vail was, for those who don't know.) MARK J. CUCCIA PHONE/WRITE/WIRE: HOME: (USA) Tel: CHestnut 1-2497 WORK: mcuccia@law.tulane.edu |4710 Wright Road| (+1-504-241-2497) Tel:UNiversity 5-5954(+1-504-865-5954)|New Orleans 28 |fwds on no-answr to Fax:UNiversity 5-5917(+1-504-865-5917)|Louisiana(70128)|cellular/voicemail [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Ted Vail was the chairman of American Tele- phone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) at the beginning of the twentieth century. *He* built the Bell System into what it was before Judge Harold Greene came along and wrecked it. Greene, who never attempted to hide his animosity and prejudice where Bell was concerned, let it be known to some cronies in the United States Department of Justice -- and don't get me started on them please! ... those software pirates -- that he would entertain their motions to divest AT&T. Now and then people write to remind me that the Judge did not *order* anything; that AT&T 'voluntarily' signed the consent decree. ... that's like me holding a gun to your head and telling you want I want, and because I don't have to actually shoot you, reach in your pocket and get what I want that I then claim you did it 'voluntarily'. You didn't see any guns in Greene's courtroom? Where the United States government is concerned, there is always the *implied presence of guns*. It rarely gets that far of course because everyone understands the basic rules here. They always start out like gentlemen. If anything here in the Chicago area, the city council favors Illinois Bell over the COCOT people. Maybe its because IBT people pay bigger bribes to the council members to keep the exclusive contract on payphones at Ohare Airport. When that scandal broke here a few years ago, everyone just said 'ho-hum' and went on about their business. But in fairness to the COCOT people, if they were not serving the jails and prisons, no one would be. AT&T said they were more than happy to leave the corrections industry business to 'the others'. The rate of fraud and other inappropriate calls made from correctional center pay phones is astronomical. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 31 Aug 1995 06:14:30 -0500 From: wengler@ee.rochester.edu (Mike Wengler) Subject: Listening in to Cellular Chris.Farrarr@p1.f20.n246.z1.fidonet.org is right: it is not illegal to own or even sell an old cellular capable scanner in the US. It is illegal in the US to listen to cellular phone calls with one, however. Chris.Farrarr@p1.f20.n246.z1.fidonet.org writes> > Here in Canada, your neighbour to the north, listening to cellular > phones (as well as cordless phones and baby monitors) with a scanner > is 100% legal, provided you don't profit from what you hear. I wonder if doing a statistical survey of cellular usage patterns, and then selling it would be profiting from what you hear? It would be about the most accurate information I could imagine on phone usage patterns ... without tapping in on inter-CO trunks. Cellular provides a skewed database, but the opportunity to sample randomly within that database. PAT wrote: >> just are *not interesting*, and furthermore, all you get are just fleeting >> whisps of conversation as the cars drive past. There is no continuity in >> the conversations overheard ... Not true. First, you monitor the base station channels broadcasting 100W, not the mobiles broadcasting max 3W. So you hear the conversation continuously while the "mobile" is in good contact with a particular base station, which has a much better antenna/amplifier than your scanner. Not just while some car is driving past you. And de facto, it seems well less than one in six calls does get handed off. This is based on listening to calls, (although I am not saying it is me that did the listening.) Some real fraction of the calls get made with the mobile standing still. And with good enough reception, you'd be able to scan and find the new frequency of the same conversation at its next base station in a few seconds of scanning. Until digital, you should assume your call is being listened to on cellular. I predict legislation will not accomplish what digitization and encryption will trivialize. Mike Wengler Phone/Fax: 716 244-0238 Cell: 716 748-1930 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Of course not, we understand you are not saying that you did the listening. You are merely reporting what they call 'anecdotal evidence' from unknown third parties. I am not saying this is *you*, but you know, it always amazes me the way phone phreaks -- cellular or landline or both -- and others who think nothing of deliberatly invading the privacy of others through interception of their phone calls, breaking into their computer accounts, etc are often among the biggest whiners when it comes to *their own* 'privacy' being invaded, often in the most malign of ways, i.e. a clerk in Radio Shack asking their name for the printed receipt, or some innocent teenage kid working the courtesy counter at Safeway 'having the audacity' to ask them for a social security number in the process of getting approval to issue a check cashing card, etc. Read some of the newsgroups and see if it isn't true: one day they are telling us how to use technology to stick our nose illegally into someone else's affairs then the next day the same person writes about what an affront it was to them when the five dollar an hour clerk at Sears or wherever made them sign a form or show some ID. PAT] ------------------------------ From: wa1hoz@a3bbak.nai.net (Gerry Belanger) Subject: 860 Startup problem Date: 31 Aug 1995 00:24:05 GMT Organization: North American Internet Company I ran into a couple of 203/860 split problems. Being over-eager, I tried stuff on August 27. I was able to dial my ISP's 860 pop from 203-426 fine. But I could not dial the test number 1-860-203-0950. It was apparently a translation problem in the 2B-ESS serving me. It was fixed by the time I got home today. At work, I tried to call it and got an intercept. Since my employer does not use SNET for long distance, I dialed 00 and got a Sprint operator. I explained the problem. She could not complete to the test number either. So a trouble report was filed. I also tried AT&T, 10288-1-860-203-0950. Intercept. Called AT&T operator. She claimed 860-203 is not a valid exchange. Explained the problem to a supervisor. She transferred me to repair. Explained to her. Apparently SNET chose to put the test number in an NXX that was never used before, and neglected to tell the industry. The moral of this story? Make sure your LD carrier can route before you suspect your PBX. IMHO, SNET's PR people got too fancy in selecting the test number. Gerry Belanger, WA1HOZ wa1hoz@a3bbak.nai.net Newtown, CT g.belanger@ieee.org [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Telcos are not supposed to turn on new exchanges without letting the other telcos know about it so that all tables can be updated. PAT] ------------------------------ From: d92-sam@dront.nada.kth.se (Sam Spens Clason) Subject: Re: Area Code Crisis -- A Different Viewpoint Date: 30 Aug 1995 15:40:45 GMT In Tony Harminc writes: > rbarry@iol.ie (Richard Barry) wrote: > [UK numbering scheme not recommended as a model] > The French system is nothing like this. The Departement > numbers are scattered randomly around the country, so you > can't tell where a number is unless you have memorized the > list. The French are about to split their "0 + 1" area codes in five. Ile de France (greater Paris, code 1) stays the same but the rest of France (which lacks area code) is divided in four quadrants. I haven't read about the details but this is of course a great chance to set anything that mightn't be right right. >> *Variable number length* so that cities that outgrow 7 >> digits can have 8 digit local numbers. No multiple area >> code confusion. Small towns can have even shorter local >> numbers, if desirable. > This is terrible idea, for the one simple reason that > telephones don't have Enter keys. So the switch has to > decide when you've finished dialing by some means, usually a > timeout. Or if the switch is smart enough it may be able to > avoid timeouts on certain calls, but the result is > inconsistent behaviour. What?! In Sweden phone numbers ranges from 0 + 7D to 0 + 9D and I've never experienced any timeout problems. Stockholm numbers (08) can be six, seven or eight digits long. In fact calls between AXE10 stations (~90% of the subscribers) connect immediately after I've entered the last digit regardless of if the called number is in Kiruna (1500 km north of Stockholm) or to my mum four blocks away. I applausd the concept of adding an extra digit when the area code has been outgrown. We've done that here over the last five years and it's an excellent idea. If BT had decided to add an extra digit to the old London numbers (01) instead of splitting in 071 and 081 I guess Londoners would be dancing in the streets right now. A real example is the Swedish island of Gotland. It used to be 0498 (west coast including Visby) and 0497 (the rest. Visby was growing "too much" so either a split of 0498 or longer numbers. I guess in this case 0499 could have been used but this is not always a possibility. Instead a 2 was added before the 0498 numbers and 0497 was merged with 0498. Since then extra digits have been added before some of the old five digit number series to make even more room. Advantage; Gotland became one code, most Gotlanders never call outside their island => shorter dialing on average. No strange area code which didn't fit the "hierarchy" had to be used. And finally: it's so damned flexible! >> *Distinctive non-geographic codes* so that anyone can tell >> a mobile number or a pager or a premium rate number from a >> regular phone number easily. All GSM mobiles are in 070 (Telia Mobitel = 0705, Comviq = 0707, Europolitan = 0708 etc) and all NMT mobiles are in 010. However I did count the different UK mobile prefixes and I found them to be 17, and as someone stated earlier they're scattered all over the numbering space. Denmark, Norway, Finland are equally well organized. Apart from that I don't know except for Germany which I've heard is a great mess because of some 20 million new citizens that came knocking on their door a couple of years ago (former East Germany). I've tried to make a more thorough description on my web pages (soon to be changed to .../~sam). Sam www.nada.kth.se/~d92-sam, sam@nada.kth.se, +46 7 01234567 ------------------------------ From: TGeldner@megaweb.com (Tom Geldner) Subject: Major MFP Developer Conference 9/28 - 9/29 Date: Thu, 31 Aug 1995 11:18:47 Organization: MFPA Are you involved with developing products that print, fax, scan or communicate? Are you interested in standards issues? Protocols? Host-to-device communication? Device-to-device communication? If so, you need to attend this conference. Many of the top companies in the computer industry will be attending and making presentations including IBM, Microsoft, QMS, Xerox, Intel, Motorola, Hewlett-Packard, BIS Strategic Decisions, Novell and Eastman Kodak. Over 21 seminar sessions are offered. Dates: 9/28 - 9/29 Place: Del Mar Hilton, Del Mar, CA (near San Diego) Sponsor: MultiFunction Peripheral Association Cost: $595 members, $695 non-members - discounts available. For more info call 1-800-603-MFPA. Or set your WWW pointer to: http://www.cognisys.com/browse/mfpa Tom Geldner GELDNER ASSOCIATES Marketing, Advertising and Public Relations ------------------------------ From: wes.leatherock@hotelcal.com (Wes Leatherock) Subject: Re: Seven Digits Across North America Date: Thu, 31 Aug 1995 01:03:00 GMT Stan Schwartz wrote: [ ... text deleted ... ] > It was also recently mentioned that Atlanta has the > world's largest local calling area. Can someone confirm this? Oklahoma City has the largest local calling area. Atlanta's has more telephones, but is smaller in area. fgoldstein@bbn.com (Fred R. Goldstein) wrote: > The reason 1+ means "toll" in SOME places is historical: With > step-by-step switches, dialing 1 immediately cut through to a toll > trunk, and a toll switch ate the rest of the digits directly. The 1 > was literally an access code for a different switch, one which had > call detail billing. Local calls never had detail billing, and never > hit the toll switch. In Southwestern Bell territory, 1+ was used in crossbar offices long before there was any CAMA (centralized automatic message accounting) which was required for toll dialing with step-by-step switches. In Oklahoma, for historical reasons almost entirely step, when conversions to common control (then #5 XB) offices began, most of them went in with subscriber toll dialing. Except for the first one or two, 1+ was standard on all of them to identify a toll call. The curious result of this was that much of outstate Oklahoma had toll dialing before Oklahoma City and Tulsa (which required CAMA to serve their many step offices) and the usual question by customers in Oklahoma City and Tulsa was not "what is DDD (Direct Distance Dialing) and how does it work?" but "When are we going to get DDD?" One result was that when the CAMAs were turned up in Oklahoma City and Tulsa, customer-dialed calls reached the projected one year (or may be it was two year) percentage after one week. (Usually customer education and promotion was expected to be required over many years to get people to use DDD; in Oklahoma City and Tulsa the percentage of people who knew what DDD was and how to use it was very high, since they already knew from friend, relatives and business contacts in the outstate area. As soon as they knew it was available, they started using it. Has quite an effect on the loads and the facilities required.) Wes Leatherock wes.leatherock@hotelcal.com wes.leatherock@oubbs.telecom.uoknor.edu wes.leatherock@f2001.n147.z1.fidonet.org ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #368 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa10914; 1 Sep 95 18:01 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id JAA20786 for telecomlist-outbound; Fri, 1 Sep 1995 09:25:42 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id JAA20778; Fri, 1 Sep 1995 09:25:39 -0500 Date: Fri, 1 Sep 1995 09:25:39 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Message-Id: <199509011425.JAA20778@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #369 TELECOM Digest Fri, 1 Sep 95 09:25:00 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 369 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson HELP on LD Directory Assistance Billing (Lou Jahn) Email -> Pager Gateway? (Eric De Mund) Hey AT&T, Tell Me How Much Your Services Cost! (Howard G. Page) WATS Extender (Jeff Shaver) T1 Direct to Modem Bank (Gary Secor) Re: Area Code Crisis -- A Different Viewpoint (Martin D. Kealey) LEC Blocked From Providing Intralata DA (bkron@netcom.com) Looking For CHEAPER Domestic/International Long Distance (Kevin Lipsitz) AT&T Wireless AKA McCaw Screws up Again (jensoft@blarg.com) Re: Questions: History of AC 905; What's a TWX? (Rich Szabo) Re: AT&T Moving Into Local Exchange Market (Steven Lichter) Telephone Numbers Used in Entertainment Fiction (Mark J. Cuccia) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily represent the views of Microsoft. ------------------------------------------------------------ Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 30 Aug 95 00:04:52 EDT From: Lou Jahn <71233.2444@compuserve.com> Subject: HELP on LD Directory Assistance Billing Can anyone shed some light as to the varies parts of LD Directory Assistance charges? I once asked the question related to the tarrif build-up, now with a credit I find I need to deal with two firms. If I call NPA-555-1212 my IXC carrier charges me $.75. When I was charged for two DA calls where they had no number to release to me, I called to complain. I was offered an immediate "partial" credit but was told I had to call Bell Atlantic for the credit of the remainder of the charge. I was told this was necessary as the IXC had already paid BA for that part of the call. Can anyone help me understand the mechanics of the charging and then billing for Directory Assistance calls. I have previously noted the $.75 charge seems like an over-charge to me. In Pennsyvania a 411 call costs $.25 to from a local phone. If I call 215-555-1212 from NJ I pay the $.75 charge -- now if I was allowed to place a LD call to 215-411, I'd save money. My LD rates is 15.5 cents during the day. Thus my call to 215-411 (if it were allowed) would only cost 40.5 cents. The two part credit I mentioned above drove me to consider why/how the charge got to $.75 and which firms get what part of the money chain. Anybody have any answers? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: 555-1212 is treated like an 800 number in the sense that the recipient of the call pays the charges, which would always be some telco somewhere. They have to pay your telco somewhere for handling the call, and they want to make something for their own time and effort as well, thus the various components of the overall (usually) 75 cent charge. I'm amazed they gave you any refund at all. The charge is *not* for providing you with information, it is for *seeking out* the information, if any exists. If none exists, too bad; they still spent their time looking. On local directory assistance (411) that is certainly the case. If you spend their time talking to them, you pay, regardless of results. PAT] ------------------------------ From: ead@netcom.com Date: Fri, 01 Sep 1995 02:06:41 -0600 Subject: Email -> Pager Gateway? Organization: Netcom Is there an email -> pager gateway? I'd like to be able to have clients send email to my MobilComm alpha pager at its 1 (800) number. Thank you, Eric De Mund gopher://netcom.com:79/0ead [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You need to speak with Doug Reuben about the service he and his associates offer. It has been discussed here in the Digest in the past, but not too much recently. Perhaps in response, Doug will send a general update about his service to us. I can't find him on the mailing list right now or I would include his email address here. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 01 Sep 1995 06:25:37 -0700 From: hpage@netcom.com (Howard G. Page) Subject: Hey AT&T, Tell Me How Much Your Services Cost! Several days after receiving my AT&T calling card statement, I started thinking about how much it really cost to to complete a call via my AT&T calling card. I called the "800" number listed on the back of the statement. I requested from the AT&T representative who answered a a list of the various rates for completing a call on the AT&T network with my AT&T calling card. He replied that there is no such list of rates to send me. I asked to speak to a supervisor. The supervisor agreed, there is no list of the type requested, that is, he agreed that I am supposed to use my AT&T caling card to purchase a service from AT&T, but AT&T isn't able to tell how much I'll pay. Hey AT&T, are you listening? Tell me how your services cost! Thanks. Howard G. Page hpage@netcom.com 415-548-1902 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Generally the only difference in rates is for the first minute and the calling card surcharge. The second and subsequent minutes are billed at the same rate as if you had dialed the call yourself from your home phone. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 31 Aug 1995 18:16:41 MDT From: Jeff Shaver Subject: WATS Extender Is there anyone who was able to find an inexpensive WATS extender? I have seen several posts here in the last few months, but heard nothing of the results. Hello Direct was of no help; the two people I spoke with laughed and had no idea what I was talking about. I'm looking for a simple way to make local calls (as in local to the wats extender), utilizing my 800 number, while traveling. I would prefer to have at least some primitive security measures, but extra features aren't high priority. Thanks for any leads or suggestions anyone can give me! Jeff Shaver jshaver@cscu.csc.edu [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Those devices used to be a very important part of life for business people who were out of the office all day since they allowed one to dial into the office phone system and the connect with the 'extender' and dial back out on the WATS line. But that was back in the days when WATS (Wide Area Telephone Service) calls were almost as expensive as DDD is now. Prices have gone down so much on long distance in the past decade that devices like WATS extenders and other sorts of customer-owned patch devices to put in the line have become almost obsolete. PAT] ------------------------------ From: glsecor@ix.netcom.com (Gary Secor) Subject: T1 Direct to Modem Bank Date: 31 Aug 1995 11:07:24 GMT Organization: Netcom I have some switched 800 lines now dumping on a centrex hunt group (16 lines). I want to look at a T1 that replaces these switched lines since it should result in lower cost per minute and some better disaster recovery redirection options. What can I connect the T1 to that will allow it to connect to 16 modems? I suspect there may be a card that goes in a pc that can look like 23 or 24 analog lines. What is it called and what might it cost? Who has such an animal? Any other suggestions appreciated. I can use existing modem rack or am willing to look at a new one if it fits the situation. All thoughts appreciated! ------------------------------ From: martin@kurahaupo.kurahaupo.gen.nz (Martin D Kealey) Subject: Re: Area Code Crisis -- A Different Viewpoint Date: Fri, 1 Sep 1995 18:47:49 NZST Richard Barry wrote: > *Variable number length* so that cities that outgrow 7 digits can have > 8 digit local numbers. No multiple area code confusion. Small > towns can have even shorter local numbers, if desirable. Tony Harminc wrote: > This is terrible idea, This is a *wonderful* idea. :-) > for the one simple reason that telephones don't > have Enter keys. So the switch has to decide when you've finished > dialing by some means, usually a timeout. Or if the switch is smart ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ > enough it may be able to avoid timeouts on certain calls, but the > result is inconsistent behaviour. ... > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Actually, telephones do have 'enter' keys > or 'carriage return' keys. It is the '#' key located underneath the '9'. Tony seems to think that we who live in countries where variable length local numbers are the norm (or at least were until recently) spend our time waiting for "timeouts". This is nonsense, and it amazes me that people in the telecom industry can have such a blinkered view of things (but then no wonder the NANP is such a mess)! We *NEVER* have timeouts during dialing, not even for operator, nor do we have to use the octothorpe key, so there is no "inconsistent behaviour" either. If you're in NANP then you already have "local" numbers in three standard lengths (seven, ten and three) and it doesn't take a timeout to distinguish them; consider this: * Is there any timeout when you dial "911" before the switch decides that you aren't going to dial any more digits? (There'd better not be!) * Is there a timeout after you dial a 7-digit number before the switch decides you're not going to dial a 10-digit number? (No?) Well, why should seven and eight digit versions of local numbers be any harder to deal? As long as no short number ever forms a prefix for any longer number, the switch can always tell how many more digits to expect after the first few digits. [I don't know, never having been there, but I would expect that even in Germany where DDI numbers can have a variable length inward dialing suffix, the PBX would know still when to initiate an immediate connection because this no-prefix policy also applies to extension numbers (eg no ordinary extension numbers start with a 0). Can anyone in +49 confirm or deny this?] NANP got this badly wrong when they assigned 0 for operator and also used it as a lead-in code for other functions, so now it needs a timeout (or octothorpe) to distinguish them. > The NANP has this for 900 and such, though there are some local > variations (976 and the like are not universal). There is no need to > know that you are calling a mobile number if the mobile user is paying, ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ That would be true if this were the case, but it is not; the reason that mobile services have separate area codes here is exactly so the *caller* can be billed for the call. This is fairly common (although not universal) outside NANP. [For this, we get automatic full national coverage with a flat-rate per minute; no "roaming" charges to the caller.] There is something to be said for having all national numbers of a uniform length to avoid other countries having to maintain digit-length tables, but this doesn't constrain length-variability of local numbers. Another mystery, why in NANP does a calling-card number *follow* the phone number -- surely it's just a specialized version of carrier selection? Imagine having to dial carrier-selection 10XXX after the number ... Pressing octothorpe in the middle of a number here will definitely get a disconnection; the only time I use it is when dialing internationally, as everything else goes through immediately. Martin D Kealey 36.88888S/174.72116E ## Science Fiction Modellers' Club of ## New Zealand voice +64-9-8150460 fax +64-9-8150529 ## all SF catered for; email for info ------------------------------ From: bkron@netcom.com (BUBEYE!) Subject: LEC Blocked From Providing Intralata DA Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Fri, 25 Aug 1995 22:20:21 GMT Here's an unexpected twist: With the new 360 area code now implemented in Washington state (carved out of the 206 area code), there are now, of course, two area codes serving the same area as was previously served by one. If you are in Seattle and want to call DA for someone's phone number in Olympia (same LATA), you can't call 1-206-555-1212 anymore. You have to dial 1-360-555-1212. However, according to US West, all traffic to 360 DA from the 206 area code must be routed on IEC lines, meaning no more DA allowance for the calls, and a much higher cost (.95 for AT&T, for example). Interestingly, though, any "regular" toll calls between Seattle and Olympia are automatically PIC'd to US West since it is intralata (unless you override with 10-XXX). ------------------------------ From: krazykev@kjl.COM (Kevin Jay Lipsitz, President) Subject: Looking for CHEAPER Domestic/International Long Distance Date: 31 Aug 1995 22:42:33 -0000 Organization: Krazy Kevin Mag Clu/ Collegetown Magazine Subscription Services If you are a USA long distance re-seller, we would consider your services if you can save us money. Here is what we *don't* want: -to pay a monthly fee of any sort -to be in the long distance business in order to get reduced rates -T-1 -to sign a contract - you will keep us as long as you are cheapest -a salesman who wants to analyze our bill. I have done this myself and know exactly what I am looking for. Here is what we want: -six second minimum on domestic calls -six second billing on domestic calls -no more than 30 second mimimum on international calls. -T-1 rate range without the hassle of the equipment and fees. -low international rates with a flat rate or two rate period plan. But we already get 1/2 off of MCI's best rates for six months, so you will have to be really cheap on international to get our attention. We spend around $10,000.00 per month on all aspects of our telecommunications needs. It is unlikely that you will get all of it, but you may get a lot of it, depending on what you can do for us. If you can meet the conditions we are looking for, we welcome your pitch. Make your pitch via email and if you have a good plan, I will invite you to pitch me personally via phone. Thanks, Sincerely, Kevin Jay Lipsitz, President :-) KRAZY KEVIN MAGAZINE CLUB, THE INTERNET DIVISION OF COLLEGETOWN MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES: "Managing Magazines for Cost-Conscious Busy Professionals, Students, Educators and Regular Consumers Internationally Since 1973." krazykev@kjl.com ------------------------------ From: jensoft@blarg.com (Jensoft) Subject: AT&T Wireless AKA McCaw Screws up Again Date: 31 Aug 1995 21:26:22 -0700 Organization: Blarg! Online Services - 206/784-9681 I got my AT&T Wireless bill today. After AT&T bought McCaw, they were required to implement equal access for long distance usage for their customers. A nice ballot went around with three or four random picks for your LDC: AT&T, Access (in my case), and some other nobody (Sprint, I think). Not wanting to choose AT&T or Sprint, and being unable to select Working Assets, I chose Access. I make no long distance calls, so it's not an issue. I mailed in my ballot. I got a call a few weeks later from AT&T asking for my long distance carrier. I asked for a list; I chose Access, again. She duly made typing noises and thanked me for my call. I got a letter a few weeks later saying that if I didn't choose a long distance company, my LD would be turned off. No loss, so I let it pass. Besides, the nice lady had told me that there was a letter in the mail and to ignore it. Cool. Then I tried to make an LD call. Blocked. I call the 800 directory to get Access's number; I call them. Never heard of me. "AT&T never tells us anything; I don't think they send us our ballots". He does tell me that I can use a code, however, to get around the tomfoolery and make an LD call. It's a secret, though, don't tell anyone (by now, I was drooling). "Just type 102 881 and the phone number you want, sir." WHOA! He gave me *AT&T*'s PIC. That was funny. I asked if they had one, (a PIC); he said he didn't know. He did say to call the same number next week during 8-5 hours and talk to Access. I did. The lady I talked to was very helpful, but she said I would need to perform the switch by calling AT&T and having it done. I did. Today I got my bill. A nice insert telling me CNID delivery will start soon for TDMA customers (Hooray!) and on page 5, under "Airtime and long distance charges", "Your selected long distance company is ACCESS LD." THEY GOT IT RIGHT! But wait. On page 11, it says (for my old phone number) "You have not chosen a long distance company. Please make your selection today." AHHHH the light goes on! I changed my MIN some time ago. My account number stayed stable, but they apparently tacked my LD info onto the new account. Apparently, the switch (or some item in the loop) checks the first account on the MIN for LD access choice. Which, for me, on that number, would be nobody. Uh, can we say, bogus? I tried (just now) to make an LD call. I got an intercept from Access saying I needed to activate my account. Great! ------------------------------ From: Rich Szabo Subject: Re: Questions: History of AC 905; What's a TWX? Date: Fri, 01 Sep 1995 00:33:19 EDT Organization: APK - Internet Provider for Ohio. [much good stuff snipped, then Telecom editor's note:] > They had to call it a different name of course, so they chose TWX, which > is pronounced 'Twix'. ... This brings to mind an story which happened in 1987, when I was trying to figure out a cheap way of dialing into my IBM mainframe from home using a 300-bps async modem and a VT100 emulator. IBM communication front-end processors at the time knew only a few protocols -- the proprietary Bisync and SDLC being the most popular -- and the IBM 3270 terminal was king. When I asked my old-school IBM Systems Engineer if the mainframe could communicate with an async terminal such as the DEC VT100, he responded as if I were referring to some virulent disease. "Oh, you mean yer Twix terminals -- like start/stop." At that time, async terminals could not operate with the mainframe in full-screen video mode -- only in line mode. Async was supported only enough to make somebody's teletypes work in some obscure application. As far as IBM was concerned, "TWX" and "start/stop" were the complete definition of async. Rich Szabo ------------------------------ From: slichte@cello.gina.calstate.edu (Steven Lichter) Subject: Re: AT&T Moving Into Local Exchange Market Date: 31 Aug 1995 21:53:20 -0700 Organization: GINA and CORE+ Services of The California State University > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Whenever we reach the point that a company > is actually able to supply its own dial tone over its own wires and have > no need to rely on the traditional local telco, that will be the day that > local competition begins. The reports coming to me are that AT&T plans > to come crashing onto the scene in a big way beginning in January. No more > negotiating with the local telcos; none of that stuff. They are just going > to move right in and start doing business. It is really exciting! PAT] Cross Country Wireless Cable has 18" dishes on subscribers roofs, they have done a real bang up job of draining the cable companies in this area. The cities don't like it much either since they can't collect franchise fees. There will be no need for wires in this area, at least it sure does not appear like it will. In Palm Springs a company has built a whole new CO and several companies have asked for co-location in our CO's. This really is going to be interesting. If all are equal players then you may wind up getting your phone and cable servce from the phone companies, since many plan on buying the others. slichte@cello.gina.calstate.edu ------------------------------ From: Mark J. Cuccia Subject: Telephone Numbers Used in Entertainment Fiction Date: 1 Sep 1995 13:32:34 GMT Organization: Tulane University Carl Moore's recent article in TD about the telephone numbers in I Love Lucy brought to mind some of what my subject line states. AT&T/Bell-System/Western-Electric print/magazine ads back in the later 1940's and most of the 1950's in {Time, Life, National Geographic, etc} frequently showed a picture of a WE #202 or #302 (or later #500) style telephone. The number card *always* stated the number MAin-0-2368. The use of a '0' (zero) was RARELY used in practice as the third digit in locations with '2L-5N' local numbering. [New Orleans had WHitehall-0 only VERY BRIEFLY in 1959/60, assigned not within the other 'WHitehall' region, but adjacent to it in then undeveloped but growing New Orleans East. WHitehall-0 was a small step office in a house trailer, while CHestnut-2's building to house New Orleans' very first #5XB exchange was being constructed. The reason that '0' zero was not recommended in exchange name days was that in the US/Canada, the Letter O is associated with the digit 6-MNO, and there could be customer dialing confusion.] Back in the 1930's and earlier 40's, the Bell ad's telephones had the number CHElsea-2368. Sometime in the very late 1950's or very early 1960's, the telephone number on the 500 series and Princess phones (and keysets, business phones, 'card-dialers', etc) in AT&T print ads was changed to KL5-2368 or "Area Code 311, KL5-2368". Only letters were shown for the Exchange Name. Later on, the number was (311) 555- 2368. 311 has never been an Areacode in North America, but reserved for *local* service code uses. Many locations used N11 codes for ringback, testing, ANAC, etc, as well as 211 for Long Distance Opr, 411 for Information, 611 Repair, 811 Business Office, and later 911 for Emergencies. Letters for 55X are hard to compose a name, other than possibly KLondike (which was used in San Francisco in the old days). There are no vowels on the '5'. Most Bell telcos used 55 or 55X for test numbers, and I remember seeing something in "Notes on Nationwide Dialing" (AT&T, 1955) that 55X, 57X, 95X and 97X were going to be reserved for dialing mobile radiotelephones in the future. Many older Radio, TV and Movie fiction/drama/etc. used actual exchange names of the town/city the play took place in. (I Love Lucy used MUrray-Hill, CIrcle, etc; the CBS Suspense radiodrama 'Sorry Wrong Number' used PLaza, TRafalgar, MUrray-Hill, and for the time-of-day recording, MEridien-x-1212!) If the location itself was fictitious, well then the exchange names were 'generic'. Sometimes, fictitious/generic exchange names were used for real locations. Many times, the Hollywood producers co-operated with telco, but at times they didn't. If they co-operated, the last four digit line numbers quoted in fiction were usually from the 9XXX series, sometimes even 99XX series. The 9-thousands were frequently used for payphones, test numbers, and non-assigned numbers specifically reserved for fictitious purposes. I would guess that today, Hollywood doesn't *always* use the 555. The early 1960's NBC-TV series "HAZEL" had a very amusing telephone episode in its first season (61/62), [the first season was in Black-and- White, while the remainder of its run was in Color]. The Baxters were getting sick and tired of receiving telephone sales calls at all hours of the day or night. [The word telemarketing wasn't used at that time, tho']. They decided to change their listed number to a non-published number. Telco mailed them the number card with the new non-pub number along with a letter stating when their new number would take effect. However, someone accidently lost or discarded the numbercard before anyone had a chance to note it down! The old and new telephone numbers were referred to as "KLondike-5" xxxx. The camera close up on the number card showed KL5-xxxx. The numericals of KL5 are, of course, 555! The episode, "Night Call" from TWILIGHT ZONE in its fifth season, 1963/64 was about an old woman receiving strange calls in the middle of the night during a thunderstorm. She had a WE #202 phone, and the numbercard showed KL5-xxxx. Most TV shows began to use the fictitious KL5 or 555 sometime in the early 1960's, but when areacodes were quoted, they usually used a real one. Sometimes, if a location was a fictitious one, they would use 311 for the areacode, just like Bell's magazine/print ads in the 1960's-on. I was told that San Francisco never had a KLondike-5 (or any name for 555) back in the exchange name days, altho' they did have other KLondike-x exchanges. I also remember seeing late 1950's Bell journals/magazines describing a 'future' way to customers to direct dial to Information (Directory Assistance) outside of your home area. The 555-1212 was referred to as "KLondike-5-1212" in some of those Bell journals! MARK J. CUCCIA PHONE/WRITE/WIRE: HOME: (USA) Tel: CHestnut 1-2497 WORK: mcuccia@law.tulane.edu |4710 Wright Road| (+1-504-241-2497) Tel:UNiversity 5-5954(+1-504-865-5954)|New Orleans 28 |fwds on no-answr to Fax:UNiversity 5-5917(+1-504-865-5917)|Louisiana(70128)|cellular/voicemail ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #369 ****************************** From telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu Tue Sep 5 11:45:11 1995 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id LAA07030; Tue, 5 Sep 1995 11:45:11 -0500 Date: Tue, 5 Sep 1995 11:45:11 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Message-Id: <199509051645.LAA07030@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #370 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Tue, 5 Sep 95 11:45:00 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 370 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Book Review: "The Usenet Handbook" by Harrison (Rob Slade) A Systems Level View of the SNET Network (Gerry Belanger) Developer and Standards Conference (Tom Geldner) Digital Scope FAQ Available (John Seney) Updated GSM List (Jurgen Morhofer) Centrex vs PBX/KEY Market Research (Matthew Harttree) Last Laugh! International Phone Ripoff Chain Letter Spam (John Levine) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily represent the views of Microsoft. ------------------------------------------------------------ Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 05 Sep 1995 00:06:42 EST From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "The Usenet Handbook" by Harrison BKUSNTHB.RVW 950607 %A Mark Harrison usenet-handbook@ora.com %C 103 Morris Street, Suite A, Sebastopol, CA 95472 %D 1995 %G 1-56592-101-1 %I O'Reilly & Associates, Inc. %O U$24.95 800-998-9938 707-829-0515 fax: 707-829-0104 nuts@ora.com %O 519-283-6332 800-528-9994 rick.brown@onlinesys.com %P 372 %T "The Usenet Handbook" "The Usenet Handbook", Mark Harrison, 1995, 1-56592-101-1, U$24.95 I am not quite sure what to say about Harrison's book, but one thing I *do* know -- it's unique. The first two chapters give a very sound overview of what Usenet news is, and how it works. Chapters three to six, and a part of chapter eight, give some instruction on reading news with nn, tin, gnus, Trumpet Newsreader and Netscape. Posting is covered in chapter seven, while eight to ten cover miscellaneous advanced topics. Chapter eleven, somewhat oddly, talks about email. Appendices include a table of geographic distribution limiters, five good (and classic) articles on Usenet UNIX wildcards and regular expressions, sources for the software described in the book, and the Spafford/Lawrence lists of groups and alt groups. The material is clear and easy to read. It does, however, have something of a "techie" feel, confirmed by the suggestion that programming your own newsreader is a good way to learn news, or the directions for WAIS indexing of articles. The organization is generally good, but could be improved or enhanced with cross-references. For example, chapter seven tells you not to post an article until you've read the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions list)--but doesn't tell you about the MIT mail-server source for FAQs until chapter eight. Some of the content is much more comprehensive, such as the excellent collection of hoax messages that shouldn't be reposted. On the other hand, as useful as they might be in general, do we really need a chapter on email, most of one on ftp, and an appendix on UNIX wildcards? That space might better be used for missing information such as mail-to-news gateways. (A sidebar does describe anonymising servers. And the Usenet FAQ in Appendix B lists one--the Digital site which is now permanently out of service.) The material on newsreaders could be expanded either to include more of them, or more details. For anyone wanting to become involved with the thousands of topical discussions ongoing under Usenet news technology, this book will get you started and *won't* steer you wrong. It is written by someone who firmly understands the Usenet culture, and Valerie Quercia's frequent sidebars provide interesting comments along the way. Harrison's topic choices may be technical, but his explanations are not. This book can be for anyone. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1995 BKUSNTHB.RVW 950607. Distribution permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated publications. Rob Slade's book reviews are a regular feature in the Digest. ROBERTS@decus.ca, RSlade@sfu.ca, Rob Slade at 1:153/733 RSlade@cyberstore.ca "Internet, the information network you _can't_ outgrow." - Ido Dubrawsky Author "Robert Slade's Guide to Computer Viruses" 0-387-94311-0/3-540-94311-0 ------------------------------ From: wa1hoz@a3bbak.nai.net (Gerry Belanger) Subject: A Systems Level View of the SNET Network Date: 5 Sep 1995 00:34:24 GMT Organization: North American Internet Company The following notice is from the Sept/Oct 1995 issue of "The CONNector", the Newsletter of the Connecticut Section of the IEEE: MEETING NOTICE (PLEASE POST) Title: A System Level View of the SNET Network Date: Tuesday, September 12, 1995 Time: 7:00 PM (Registration)/7:15PM (Presentation) Location: Pitney Bowes; Shelton, CT. Charge: Free Admission, Non-members welcome. Contact: Greg Boria @ 203-778-6811 ext 212 Description: A fresh look at the multifaceted aspects of the network design problem is required in an era of increased competition and rapidly changing technology supporting new services. The skills and knowledge of the network designer must be founded upon a solid engineering and mathematical basis combined with a systems view of the problem. John Yanosy will discuss this system view of the network design problem and some of the design aspects that a network designer faces in this environment. Perspectives will be drawn from experiences in designing and planning for high speed enterprise data networks to the newer aspects of multimedia networks as well as the significant opportunities that ATM and SONET offer. Speaker: John Yanosy, Technical Director at SNET John has over 24 years of engineering experience characterized by an interdisciplinary, holistic approach to system design and analysis. He has been involved with: network service and technology planning and assessment, system design including protocol architecture development, protocol development, software development, real time packet switching design, mathematical analysis and computer simulation of large scale parallel computer architectures. In addition, he also has experience in hands on development of products that were manufactured and sold. He is currently working on SNET's Interactive Digital Video Tone Network. This involves exploring alternative broadband network architectures and their sensitivity to technology and market parameters. This Meeting Is Being Presented By The Computer Society. Gerry Belanger, WA1HOZ wa1hoz@a3bbak.nai.net Newtown, CT g.belanger@ieee.org ------------------------------ From: TGeldner@megaweb.com (Tom Geldner) Subject: Developer and Standards Conference Date: Tue, 05 Sep 1995 10:16:07 GMT Organization: MFPA MultiFunction Peripheral Association to Host Major Developer and Standards Conference, September 28-29 in Del Mar, California. Michael J. Miller, Editor-in-Chief of PC Magazine, to Keynote Event. SAN DIEGO, CA / August 30, 1995 - The MultiFunction Peripheral Association (MFPA) and PC Magazine today announced that Michael J. Miller, Vice President and Editor-in Chief of PC Magazine and well-known computer industry spokesperson, had been named as the keynote speaker for the MFPA's upcoming "Integrated Office Conference '95" (IOC '95). The event is scheduled for September 28 and 29 at the Del Mar Hilton in Del Mar, California and is expected to draw over 200 top computer development professionals, marketers and executives. Held in cooperation with the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) and Business Technology Association (BTA, formerly NOMDA/LANDA), the Integrated Office Conference '95 will offer critical technical and strategic information about the design and development of multifunction peripherals (MFP's or products that combine fax, data transfer, scanning, copying and/or printing features in one unit) as well as stand-alone products that need to communicate with such products. IOC '95 will also provide a forum for product development professionals to directly influence proposed industry standards for MFP's. The conference features a full range of seminars, presentations, panel discussions and speeches as well as hosted meals and special events. Three tracks of eighteen sessions covering technical, light technical and marketing/channel issues are scheduled. Also planned are presentations and discussions of the MFPA's own Multifunction Peripheral Interface (MFPI) standard; which has been accepted by the TIA as its interim standard IS-650. Designed to facilitate communications between MFP's as well as for compatibility with popular network and operating system architectures, the MFPI standard promises to make multifunction products easier to develop, less expensive and more compatible across a wide range of platforms. The registration fee for the MFPA Integrated Office Conference '95 is $595 for MFPA members and $695 for non-members. Admission includes access to all conference sessions, continental breakfasts, a hosted luncheon, networking receptions, a "Del Mar-garita" party plus a complete conference binder. Audio transcriptions will also be available for most conference sessions. Discounts are available for multiple registrations. IOC '95 will be held at the new Del Mar Hilton located next to the Del Mar Racetrack and Fairgrounds (just minutes from the city of San Diego and the world famous beaches of Del Mar and La Jolla). Special below-season room rates are available for the event. For further information, contact the MFPA toll-free at 800-603-MFPA, via fax at 619-447-6872 or by mail at: MFPA,1010 Old Chase Avenue, Suite B, El Cajon, CA 92020. Information is also available via Internet by sending an e-mail message to: mfpa-request@cognisys.com with the subject "Send IOC 95 Info." You can also visit the MFPA's WWW site at: http://www.cognisys.com/browse/mfpa --------------- The Multifunction Peripheral Association (MFPA) is a non-profit, industry association established for the promotion and development of multifunction computer peripheral devices and uniform standards for computer-based faxing, data transfer, scanning, printing and copying. Member companies and sponsors of the MFPI / IS-650 standard include AMP, Brother International, Canon USA, Cognisys, Danka/Omnifax, Destiny Technology, Fujitsu, IBM, InfoNetwork, Konica Business Machines, Lanier Worldwide, Matsushita Electric, Minolta, Mita Copystar, Motorola, National Semiconductor, Oce Graphics, Peerless Systems, QMS, Ricoh, Rockwell International, Sharp, Torrey Pines Research, Toshiba, Xerox and Xionics Document Technologies. ------------------------------ From: john@wd1v.MV.COM (John Seney) Subject: Digital Scope FAQ Available Organization: MV Communications, Inc. Date: Tue, 5 Sep 1995 13:31:38 GMT FALL / 1995 DIGITAL SCOPE.FAQ - VERSION 2.00 Dear Technologist(s): This Digital Storage Scope.FAQ file contains many (but not all) of your answers to the more "Frequently Asked Questions" re: Digital Storage Oscilloscopes (DSOs). The answers and suggestions come from > a decade of my experience as a DSO sales engineer in Boston, MA. The opinions are mine and represent no company or service -- they are meant simply to be helpful, generic, and easy to understand. Thanks to the hundreds of responses to the earlier versions of this FAQ. Feel free to contact me anytime (john@wd1v.mv.com) if you have additional questions or comments. If you want the next version of this file sent to you automatically, send an EMAIL where the subject field contains the text "subscribe scope.faq". KEY ISSUES REVIEWED IN THIS FAQ (in order of appearance) * DSO INDUSTRY TRENDS (Whats happening in DSO technology this year?) * DSO FORM FACTORS (What types of DSOs are there?) * PRIMARY DSO FUNCTIONS (What can DSOs actually do?) * COMPARISONS (How can I best compare various models) * APPLICATIONS (What are the most common DSO applications?) * ADCs (What speed do I really need on each channel?) * BANDWIDTH & TRIGGER (What numbers and functions are right?) * ARCHIVAL & MEMORY (How fast, how deep, and can I get more?) * DISPLAYS (What am I really looking at?) * MEASUREMENTS (How much is my signal changing over time?) * DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING (How can I obtain more useful information?) * DEMOS & PURCHASING (How can I see and get the DSO I really need?) Best regards, John D. Seney, WD1V Internet: john@wd1v.mv.com 144 Pepperidge Drive America On Line: jseney@aol.com Manchester, NH 03103-6150 AX.25 Pkt: wd1v@wb1dsw.nh.usa.na (H) 603-668-1096 Ampernet: wd1v@wd1v.ampr.org LeCroy Sales Engineering - Maine, New Hampshire, and Northeastern Massachusetts (O) 800-553-2769 (F) 603-627-1623 (P) 800-SKYPAGE #5956779 To obtain the latest copy automatically, simply send me an EMAIL with "subscribe scope.faq" in the subject field. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 5 Sep 1995 17:31:24 +0200 From: Jurgen Morhofer Subject: Updated GSM list (Changes in the list marked by "*") Date 1995-09-03. Country Operator name Network code Tel to customer service Andorra * STA-Mobiland 213 03 Argentina Australia Optus 505 02 Int + 61 2 978 5678 Telecom/Telstra 505 01 Int + 61 18 01 8287 Vodafone 505 03 Int + 61 2 415 7236 Austria PTV Austria 232 01 Bahrain Batelco Belgium Belgacom 206 01 Int + 32 2205 4000 Brunei Cameroon China Croatia Cyprus CYTA 280 01 Denmark Sonofon 238 02 Int + 45 80 20 21 00 Tele Danmark Mobil 238 01 Int + 45 80 20 20 20 Egypt Estonia EMT 248 01 Int + 372 2639 7130 Int + 372 2524 7000 Radiolinja Estonia 248 02 Fiji Finland Radiolinja Finland 244 05 Int + 358 800 95050 Telecom 244 91 Int + 358 800 7000 France France Telecom 208 01 Int + 33 1 44 62 14 81 SFR 208 10 Int + 33 1 44 16 20 16 Germany D1, DeTeMobil 262 01 Int + 49 511 288 0171 D2, Mannesmann 262 02 Int + 49 172 1212 Gibraltar GibTel 266 01 G Britain Cellnet 234 10 Int + 44 1753 50 45 48 Vodafone 234 15 Int + 44 1836 1100 Greece Panafon 202 05 Int + 30 944 00 122 STET 202 10 Int + 30 93 333 333 Guernsey Guernsey Telecom Hong Kong HK HTCLGSM 454 04 SmarTone 454 06 Int + 852 2880 2688 Telecom CSL 454 00 Int + 852 2803 8450 Hungary Pannon GSM 216 01 Int + 36 1 270 4120 Westel 900 216 30 Int + 36 30 303 100 Iceland Post & Simi 274 01 Int + 354 96 330 India PT SATELINDO Indonesia TELKOMSEL 510 10 Iran T.C.I. Ireland Telecom Eireann 272 01 Int + 353 42 31999 Israel Cellcom Israel Ltd Italy * Omnitel 222 10 Int + 39 2 41431 SIP 222 01 Int + 39 6615 20309 Japan Jersey Jersey Telecom 234 50 Int + 44 1534 88 28 82 Kuwait MTC Laos Latvia LMT 247 01 Int + 371 2256 7764 Int + 371 2256 9183 Int + 371 2934 0000 Lebanon Libancell Liechtenstein 228 01 Lithuania Mobilios Telekom Luxembourg Telekom 270 01 Int + 352 4088 7088 Macao Malaysia * Celcom Malta Advanced Marocco * O.N.P.T. 604 01 Monaco France Telecom 208 01 SFR 208 10 Namibia MTC Netherlands PTT Netherlands 204 08 Int + 31 50 688 699 New Zealand Bell South 530 01 Nigeria Norway NetCom 242 02 Int + 47 92 00 01 68 TeleNor Mobil 242 01 Int + 47 22 03 03 01 Oman Pakistan Phillipines Portugal Telecel 268 01 Int + 351 931 1212 TMN 268 06 Int + 351 1 793 91 78 Qatar Qatarnet 427 01 Rumania Russia Mobile Tele... Moscow Int + 7 271 00 60 NW GSM, St. Petersburg SaudiArabia Singapore Singapore Telecom 525 01 Slovenia South Africa MTN 655 10 Int + 27 11 445 6000 Vodacom 655 01 Int + 27 82 111 Sri Lanka MTN Networks Pvt Ltd Spain Airtel Telefonica Spain 214 07 Sweden Comviq 240 07 Int + 46 586 686 10 Europolitan 240 08 Int + 46 708 22 22 22 Telia 240 01 Int + 46 771 91 03 50 Switzerland PTT Switzerland 228 01 Int + 41 46 05 64 64 Syria SYR-01 223 01 SYR MOBILE SYR 263 09 Taiwan Thailand TH AIS GSM 520 01 Int + 66 2 299 6440 Turkey Telsim 286 02 Turkcell 286 01 Int + 90 800 211 0211 UAE UAE ETISALAT-G1 424 01 UAE ETISALAT-G2 424 02 Uganda Vietnam Jurgen Morhofer jurgen@flashnet.it Tel:+39-6-780-8093 FAX:+39-6-780-8777 GSM:+39-335-281929 Rome, Italy ------------------------------ From: mth@IndyNet.indy.net (Matthew Harttree) Subject: Centrex vs PBX/KEY Market Research Date: 5 Sep 1995 14:26:43 GMT Organization: IndyNet - Indys Internet Gateway (info@indy.net) Hey Y'all: I am currently doing some planning studies for some software design and I need to have an idea of CENTREX penetration in various industries (I.E. Heathcare and Hopsitals Centrex has XX% share of the market). I am also interested in your general opinions and thought on why CENTREX service would be better than a PBX (RBOC Marketing whizzes this means you!) If you have information or suggesstions why a PBX is a superior choice "on the average" I would love to hear that as well. Please send any relevant data to mth@indy.net. Thanks, mth@indy.net Matthew T. Harttree Indianapolis IN USA ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 05 Sep 1995 10:20:14 -0400 From: John Levine Subject: Last Laugh! International Phone Ripoff Chain Letter Spam Here's a slightly edited version of a message that fell into my mailbox this morning. It's a unique combination of all of the most annoying new developments in telecom: * a usenet spam * a chain letter * a pay-per-call disguised as an international call The number is in the Seychelles, a small island nation off the east coast of Africa whose main income comes from European and South African tourism. I hadn't heard of them getting into rebate phone numbers before, but the rates from here to there are plenty high to support this sort of nonsense -- my long distance company's off-peak rate is $3.32/min with a 30 second minimum. ---spam follows--- Subject: Make thousands of dollars EASY!!! NOT a chainletter!!! Here's how: * Call 011-24-831-3131 * Wait for a beep, press 1 * Repeat last step * Listen to recorded message and follow instructions * When asked for account number, enter 000000 [actual number was here] Here's how it works: When you call and enter my ID number, I will be given 50 cents. But then, the person who calls also gets their own ID number so that they can advertise the number and have people call it so they can start making thousands too! So don't waste time and call TODAY!! Also, please don't post a follow up, since its a massive cross-post. [PS to Pat, this was never actually posted to the net, since one of the groups he cross-posted to was the moderated comp.compilers, and I forwarded it to his postmaster so they can cancel his account]. Regards, John R. Levine, Trumansburg NY Primary perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies" and Information Superhighwayman wanna-be [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I love it! This has got to be one of the best ones yet ... the nineties version of an old chain letter that's been making the rounds for at least fifty years: send me money and add your name to the bottom of the list so people can send you money also. But John, you should not tamper with important news articles like that which are sent to Noisenet. You should do like I do: carefully remove your own name from the newsgroups line (and as a courtesy, any other moderated groups you see there which may cause the distribution process to stall) then feed it all back into the news stream again so that others can share in the wisdom presented. My sincere belief is that if the spams become massive enough in their distribution, and ridiculous enough in their premise, it will bring a halt to this form of communication once and for all. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #370 ****************************** From telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu Tue Sep 5 14:15:42 1995 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id OAA10279; Tue, 5 Sep 1995 14:15:42 -0500 Date: Tue, 5 Sep 1995 14:15:42 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Message-Id: <199509051915.OAA10279@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #371 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Tue, 5 Sep 95 14:15:30 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 371 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Boston Area Telephone Exchange Name History (Jim Jacobs) Digital Broadcasting In Japan (Telecom Tribune) Get Busy and Forward to Yourself (Les Reeves) Q.931 (I.451) Series Recommendation Required Urgently (chana1@und.ac.za) Names For That Key Under the 9 (Martin D. Kealey) Voting by Phone in the Netherlands (Alex van Es) Power Line Phones and Modems (Thomas Hinders) Beyond V.34, V.34bis and Rockwell's 33.6 (Matthew A. Earley) Employment: Head of Telecommunications (Luc Nicolai) Employment: Western Union, Senior Account Executive (Nigel Allen) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily represent the views of Microsoft. ------------------------------------------------------------ Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: LDDSGUY@aol.com Date: Mon, 4 Sep 1995 11:42:30 -0400 Subject: Boston Area Telephone Exchange Name History Since other contributors have recently provided information about the histories of the Chicago and New Orleans telephone systems, I decided to do a listing of exchanges for central offices located within 10 miles of Boston in 1959, the year before all-number calling made it's debut in this area. Since I now live more than 1000 miles from Boston, I do not have the opportunity to visit a public library to obtain information from old telephone books. All of the information below comes from my memory and a list of current ANIs for the area. In 1948, exchange names went from three letters to two letters and one number. For example CAPitol became CApitol 7. This allowed New England Telephone to use the same exchange name with several suffix numbers. Some Boston exchange names came from the history of the area which is also the story of the beginnings of the United States. Since Boston was the birthplace of the telephone (and the original headquarters city of AT&T), some exchanges were named after telephone pioneers. It is also interesting to know that sections of the City of Boston, have a seperate telephone identity. A long distance call made to the Roxbury section of the city (only three miles from downtown) will be billed as a call to Roxbury, not to Boston. This is also true for calls made to Dorchester, West Roxbury, Hyde Park, Brighton, Charlestown, South Boston, and East Boston. BOSTON TELEPHONE EXCHANGES - 1959 LOCATION REASON FOR NAME COMMENTS OR NAME BEFORE 1948 DOWNTOWN - 185 Franklin St. Office ** CApitol 3 State Capitol Building Federal Govt. offices only CApitol 7 State Capitol Building CAPitol LAfayette 3 Revolutionary War Hero LAFayette MEridian 7 Time-of-day information MEridian 7-1234 (only) RIchmond 2 Richmond Street RIChmond SHerwin 3 Telephone Pioneer N.E. Telephone Co. offices only WEather 6 Weather information WEather 6-1234 (only) DOWNTOWN - 8 Harrison Ave. Office ** DEvonshire 8 Devonshire Street Only Boston Police (DE 8-1212) and pay phones had this prefix HAncock 1 Revolutionary War Hero Only for John Hancock Ins. Co. HAncock 6 Revolutionary War Hero HANcock HUbbard 2 Telephone Pioneer HUBbard LIberty 2 Patriotic word LIBerty DOWNTOWN - BACK BAY ** CIrcle 7 Name origin unknown Only pay phones on this exchange COngress 2 Not a local name Created in 1950s COmmonwealth 6 Commonwealth Ave. COMmonwealth COpley 7 Copley Square COPley KEnmore 6 Kenmore Square KENmore ** Denotes CENTRAL EXCHANGE OFFICE. Residential customers in other areas had the option of unlimited calling plans for calls made outside these areas, however ALL calls made to these areas were message unit calls. Also, residences within these areas were offered only message unit calling plans. ARLINGTON MIssion 3 / 8 Not a local name Replaced manual office in 1950s HUnter 3 / 8 Not a local name {Served customers of ARlington manual {exchange located in W. Medford. BELMONT IVanhoe 4 / 9 Not a local name Replaced manual office in 1950s. BRIGHTON / ALLSTON ALgonquin 4 Name origin unknown ALGonquin STadium 2 Harvard Stadium STAdium BROOKLINE BEacon 2 Beacon Street BEAcon ASpinwall 7 Aspinwall Avenue ASPinwall LOngwood 6 Longwood Avenue LONgwood REgent 4 Not a local name Created in 1950s CAMBRIDGE ELiot 4 Eliot Street ELIot KIrkland 7 Kirkland Street KIRkland Trowbridge 6 Trowbridge Street TROwbridge UNiversity 4 Harvard University UNIversity UNiversity 8 Harvard University UNIversity CHARLESTOWN CHarlestown 2 Name of area served CHArlestown CHELSEA TUrner 4 / 9 Not a local name Replaced CHelsea 3 manual office 1957 DORCHESTER BAyside 9 Dorchester Bay Created in 1950s COlumbia 5 Columbia Road COLumbia AVenue 2 / 8 Dorchester Avenue? Created in 1948 GEneva 6 Geneva Avenue GENeva TAlbot 5 Talbot Avenue TALbot EAST BOSTON Logan 7 / 9 Logan Airport {Replaced EAstboston 7 manual office {approx 1957 HYDE PARK --------- EMpire 1 / 4 Not a local name {Replaced HYdepark 3 manual office {approx 1955 EDgewater 3 Not a local name [Served customers formerly in [HYdepark 3 located in Milton JAMAICA PLAIN JAmaica 2 / 4 Name of community JAMaica LEXINGTON VOlunteer 1/3 Patriotic name Replaced manual office in 1950s (Minute Man) MALDEN DAvenport 2 /4 Not a local name Replaced manual office in 1950s. MEDFORD EXport 5 / 6 Not a local name Replaced manual office in 1950s. MILTON / MATTAPAN BLuehills 8 Blue Hills Reservation Split in 1959 CUnningham 6 Cunningham Park Split in 1959 CYpress 6 Not a local name Mattapan customers prev. on CU6 CYpress 8 Not a local name Mattapan customers prev. on BL8 OXford 6 Not a local name Milton customers prev. on CU6 OXford 8 Not a local name Milton cistomers prev. on BL8 NOTE: BLuehills and CUnningham customers had dial service long before 1959. After the 1959 split, Mattapan and Milton customers were still served from a central office located in Milton. Throughout the 1960's, I lived in Mattapan and my number was CYpress 6-5356. However, calls dialed as OXford 6-5356 still went through to my phone. NEEDHAM HIllcrest 4 Not a local name Replaced NEedham 3 manual office NEWTON BIgelow 4 Name origin unknown BIGelow DEcatur 2 Name origin unknown DECatur LAsalle 7 LaSalle Junior College LASalle WOodward 9 Not a local name Created in 1950s QUINCY GRanite 2 / 9 Local granite quarry GRAnite MAyflower 9 Pilgrims' ship MAYflower PResident 3 Quincy is birthplace of Presidents John Adams & J.Q.Adams REVERE ATlantic 4 /9 Revere located on ocean {Replaced REvere 8 manual office {approx 1957 ROXBURY GArrison 7 William Lloyd Garrison GARrison (Abolitionist) HIghlands 2 /5 Roxbury Highlands HIGhlands SOMERVILLE MOnument 6 Name origin unknown Replaced manual office in 1950's PRospect 6 Name origin unknown Replaced manual office in 1950's SOUTH BOSTON ANdrew 8 / 9 Andrew Square {Replaced SOuthboston 8 manual {office in early 1950's WALTHAM TWinbrook 3 /9 Not a local name Replaced manual office in 1950's WATERTOWN WAlker 4 / 6 Not a local name {Replaced WAtertown 3 manual office {in 1950's Note: WAlker was used as the new prefix even though Watertown began with WA WEST ROXBURY FAirview 3/5/7 Not a local name Replaced manual office approx 1954 HOmestead 9 Not a local name {Used for Brookline customers served (by W. Roxbury central office WINTHROP VIking 6 Not a local name Replaced manual office in 1950s Compiled by Jim Jacobs, Senior Communications Consultant with LDDS / WorldCom, Tampa Florida. Office voice +1-813-276-5155 Office fax +1-813-229-6373 E-mail jim.jacobs@pchelp.com Voice mail +1-813-330-2500 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 4 Sep 1995 15:47:33 +0900 From: ttribune@shrine.cyber.ad.jp (Telecom Tribune) Subject: Digital Broadcasting In Japan Following is a story which we ran in our August issue of The Telecom Tribune. We are a trade journal covering Japan's high-tech and telecommunications industry in English. We hope you find this story interesting and useful and you can send comments and questions regarding this or any of TT's stories to Kevin Scherrer at ttribune@shrine.cyber.ad.jp You can view our newly revamped online edition at http://www.tokio.co.jp/ ---- Begin Story ---- Satellite Digital Broadcasting to Launch in Japan By Noriko Takezaki On August 29, a satellite is scheduled to be launched from Cape Canaveral, in the U.S., bearing the hopes of the Japanese for the country's first satellite digital broadcasting, the much anticipated ISDB (integrated services digital broadcasting) which will help realizing the convergence of communications and broadcasting. A subsidiary of Japan Satellite Systems Inc. (JSAT), DMC Corp., is to inaugurate satellite digital broadcasting next year via the eight transponders of JSAT's satellite, JCSAT-3. The broadcasting with about 50 channels is scheduled to start in April, with full-scale broadcasting service commencing in Autumn next year. "Japan is just about to catch up with the world's trend toward digital broadcasting," said Mr. Ken Churiki, vice president of DMC. "Our objective is to realize digital broadcasting services with much higher quality than our forerunners elsewhere in the world." DMC, originally established in 1994 as DMC Planning Co., Ltd. in preparation of the digital broadcasting business, decided to move to an operating company last July to become a service provider of satellite digital broadcasting. In accordance with its shift to being a service provider, DMC increased its operating capital to =B41 billion, and plans to further increase this to about =B410 billion by the next year. DMC's stocks are commonly shared with five companies, each holding 20%: JSAT and four major general trading companies including Itochu Corp., Mitsui & Co., Ltd., Nissho Iwai Corp., and Sumitomo Corp. While the uplink service of the satellite is handled by JSAT, DMC will offer satellite digital broadcasting with about 50 channels of programming initially. These services include scrambling and its key control, billing and production of electronic program guide (EPG) and promotion channel. DMC plans to increase the number of channels up to 100 in the future, upon consideration of market needs. For possible competition with other broadcasting services, DMC aims at "coexistence with cable TV for the realization of multichannel and multimedia services with entirely new concepts," according to Mr. Churiki. Targeting mainly non-cable TV home-passed households, DMC expects to acquire nearly two million subscribers, about 7% of non-cable TV home-passed households, by the year 2000. Regarding another possible competitor, BS (Broadcasting Satellite) services, DMC itself doesn't feel menaced by it. "Because we think digital broadcasting is an entirely new service beyond the conventional concept of broadcasting," said Mr. Churiki. "This is a means of multichannel and multimedia services." For the realization of satellite digital broadcasting, MPT's advisory body, the Telecommunications Technology Council (TTC), took action in late July to facilitate the production of satellite digital broadcasting systems. TTC submitted to the MPT minister a partial report on technical requirements for the systems, such as for information coding systems (encoding of video and sound programs), channel coding, modulation, framing structure and scrambling system. In the TTC's recommendation, the information coding systems are to adopt MPEG-2 which was standardized by the ITU. Scrambling systems are unified so as to secure compatibility among receiving equipment, while key control system for scrambling is open. Channel coding, modulation and framing are to adopt the QPSK (quadrature phase shift keying) system used by the European DVB. In accordance with the TTC's recommendation, MPT has started working on for establishment of related ministerial ordinances to allow commercialization of the satellite digital broadcasting in April next year. And major consumer electronics companies, like Sony, Toshiba Corp. and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., have started development of receiving terminals and other required equipment for satellite digital broadcasting to be in time for the service start. Satellite digital broadcasting is, therefore, almost ready to launch here technically. However, there is still a concern: whether there are sufficient number of programs to attract many people. Toward this concern, DMC is optimistic. "Possibility (of producing good quality programs) itself is quite strong," says Mr. Churiki. "The point is to make specified, segmented, and well-targeted programs. Like magazines, if the contents are interesting, there is always room for new stuff." For the concern regarding contents production and application development, MPT also offers help. MPT is scheduled to establish the Digital Broadcasting Center (tentative name) within this fiscal year to help potential service providers acquire knowledge and expertise of digital broadcasting technology, and to encourage more people to enter this field. "This is the field people in the industries expect much," says Mr. Tomofumi Yasunari, MPT's Director of Digital Broadcasting Systems Development Div. "Since digital broadcasting can be directly connected with PCs, PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants), storage media and ATM communications, it can realize multimedia services with convergence of communications and broadcasting." Securing a 1 billion yen budget in total for two years, the Center provides facilities to the service providers for such technologies as digital compression and multiplexing, and monitoring of digital broadcasting. MPT anticipates the participation of the broadcasters, entrusted broadcasters and communications service providers in the Center's activities. "Through utilization of digital technologies, we anticipate further growth of the media industry as a whole," said Mr. Yasunari. --- end story --- The Telecom Tribune is a monthly English language newspaper about the Japanese telecommunications industry. Send email to ttribune@shrine.cyber.ad.jp for more information. A sample of Telecom Tribune stories can be viewed via WWW at http://www.tokio.co.jp/tel-trib/TTindex.html ------------------------------ From: lreeves@crl.com (Les Reeves) Subject: Get Busy and Forward to Yourself Date: 5 Sep 1995 03:57:29 -0700 Organization: CR Labs For the first time since 1975, it is now possible to set up call forwarding to you own number. This may sound like a "so what?" kind of thing, but from the standpoint of 1ESS/1AESS sanity it is significant. I should point out that this has become possible in Atlanta because of the upcoming split of the 404 NPA into 404/770. And from the CO's standpoint your are not forwarding to your own seven digit number (that is still not possible), but rather to 404 + your seven digit number. I can call another number in my CO with seven digits, and the call stays in my CO. If I prepend a 404 to it, it goes out to the LATA tandem and comes back. The net result is that you make your line busy, and you get a reminder ring every time someone calls your number. This can be handy. Now for the folklore. In 1974 it *was* possible to set up call forwarding to your own seven digit number in a 1ESS. Back then generics went by the designation "Centrex 2" as opposed to the current "1AE12" type of designation. I have no idea what generic my CO was running in 1974. So after you set up forwarding to yourself, you were able to have some real fun. At least to a nineteen-year-old phone nut it was fun . If you called your number during the day, you got a *long* audit. No doubt a bunch of stuff spewed out of the model 33 maintenance terminal at the CO, and the poor CO tech probably said something like "oh s**t, its him again". I think at times this may have caused a phase, but I can't prove it. After 6 PM, when you called your number you got sent off to AIS. The remarkable thing is that the number AIS read back was the number of the last call processed by the 1ESS! So you could amuse yourself for hours by getting some *serious* SMDR from your serving CO. I am told this bug had something to do with pointers to route index zero. Perhaps David G. can shed some light on why this happened. BTW, this same generic allowed *free* IDDD calls from payphones. I made lots of friends in England that year :-) Les lreeves@crl.com Atlanta,GA 404.874.7806 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The early ESS we had in Chicago back in the middle 1970's also had bugs, but I don't think it ever allowed you to forward to yourself; I can't remember. I do know one thing back then disallowed was 'chain forwarding'. A could forward to B and B could in turn forward to C; no matter, persons calling A *always* stopped at B regardless of what B was doing. At the same time, calls to B would always be forwarded to C. The theory was that B has the right to have his calls forwarded to C if desired, however he has no right to speak for what A wants done with his. Now this is assuming all three parties A, B, and C were on the same switch of course. The switch definitly knew how B came to receive the call in question (whether to forward it per B's instructions or drop it on B regardless). On calls that left the switch however, things were different. Our first ESS here was on the 'near north side' in 1972. The first ESS downtown came in 1973 with the cutover of a very antiquated stepping switch. They got rid of it first and left the crossbar (which was still in reasonably good condition) for later. Opening day of the first ESS for downtown: I had WEbster-9-4600 in my office; the nearby Sears, Roebuck store with the national Sears credit card office in the same building on State Street had WAbash-2-4600. I had a mere two line installation with a single phone with a turn button for the two lines; Sears had a five position manual cordboard which rocked around the clock literally; thousands of calls daily to the credit office, etc. Guess what? In the conversion process, someone got their translations wrong, with calls to 922-anything actually winding up on 939-the-same. For two days running, my phone rang continuously with people trying to get Sears. I would hang up on one wrong number and the phone would ring again instantly. I must have gotten a couple thousand calls, and no doubt Sears did not notice anything wrong at all. Once I got through to repair service they promised to look into it right away and they did fix it. A lot of 939 customers were affected, especially those with numbers which related to *large* subscribers on 922 including the Hilton Hotel (4400), the Chicago Police Administrative Offices (4747) and Western Union (4321 for general offices, 7111 for message taking operators). After moving out of that office downtown, I went several years with crossbar service until about 1983 when Chicago-Rogers Park finally got cut over. PAT] ------------------------------ From: chana1@elaine.ee.und.ac.za Subject: Q.931 (I.451) Series Recommendation Required Urgently Date: Tue, 5 Sep 1995 09:15:08 GMT Organization: Elec. Eng., Univ. Natal, Durban, S. Africa I am working on an ISDN project to build an interface for a PABX. I don't need any of the fancy features that can be implemented with other ISDN protocols. I need the Q.931 (or I.451) series recommendation which is the ISDN user- network interface layer 3 specification. The ITU has a server with the Q and I series recommendations on it but I can't seem to find the Q.931. I got the listserver to send me a Road Map which is a couple months old and has Q.931 on it. But when I request the file from the server it says that it can't fint it. I then e-mail it for a listing of the Q-series directory but the Q.931 does not have any file associated with it or a file reference number. I have also not received any replies that I asked the listserver to forward to the staff. Could someone who possibly has the Q.931 specification or downloaded it previously please e-mail to me. Thanks, I appreciate any help that can be provided. e-mail to: chana1@elaine.ee.und.ac.za ------------------------------ From: martin@kurahaupo.gen.nz (Martin D Kealey) Subject: Names For That Key Under the 9 Date: Tue, 5 Sep 1995 10:45:57 NZST I have two questions: (1) how many different names are used for the octothorpe key; so far I've heard: cross-hash key cross-hatch key enter key hash key noughts-and-crosses key number-sign key octothorpe key pound key pound-sign key Anyone add to this list? (2) what is the derivation for the term "pound key", since the symbol on telephones bears no similarity to that used for British currency. I would hazard to guess that the answer to this derives from confusion over the standard computer character set used in the UK, which differs from ASCII by only one character, decimal 35. Then when asked "what is the symbol `#' called in the UK"... (Of course, this is merely speculation on my part; maybe there's a better answer.) # # # # # # # ######### ## # # # # # ##### ######### # # # # # # ######## Octothorpe Pound Sign Martin D Kealey 36.88888S/174.72116E ## Science Fiction Modellers' Club of ## New Zealand voice +64-9-8150460 fax +64-9-8150529 ## all SF catered for; email for info [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: We covered this in excruciating, exhaustive detail here once before, but I don't fault you if you can't remember it, since it was several years ago. Volume 8, issue 190 of this Digest, dated December 1, 1988 was devoted entirely to theories about the naming of #. This followed an inquiry just like yours in mid-November of that year, and a number of reply messages which ran from then through the end of the month and culminated in the special issue of December 1. And no, I am not like Ann Slanders or her sister Scabby Van Buren. I do not re-run letters I got years ago on days when the mail is a little light, which it never is around here anyway. Mr. Kealey did write and ask the question just recently. Anyone interested in 'How the Octothorpe Got its Name' as that issue was called, can pull it from the Archives. Look in the dusty old volume 8 stuff. Maybe I *should* re-run it. Opinions? PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 4 Sep 1995 16:36:54 +0200 From: alex@worldaccess.nl (Alex van Es) Subject: Voting by Phone in the Netherlands Every four year there are elections in the Netherlands, and because of different reasons (bad weather or having to work) many people never even bother to go to the polling booth. In order to make voting easier the Dutch government made it possible last year for people who live in the city of Utrecht to vote at the railway station, so they would be able to do it on their way to work. Yet, many people don't travel by train to work, and even if they do, they might not have the time at the railway station to stand in line. Therefor the government is currently considering the option of voting by phone. People who decide to vote by phone will have to call a special access number. The number will be one of a 06 (900 type) kind, leading to the call factory in Rotterdam. The call factory is a special exchange for handling up to 1,6 million phone calls an hour. At this moment most time is invested in making sure the system is safe, and fraud will not be possible. If this system is going to be used in the future, the Netherlands will be the first country to make televoting for parliamentary elections possible. Alex van Es Alex@Worldaccess.NL, Apeldoorn, The Netherlands Phone:+31-55-421184 Pager:+31-6-59333551 (CT-2 Greenpoint) Voicemail: +31-6-59958458 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Suggestions -- and for that matter, full- bodied, substantial proposals -- regarding 'vote by phone' have been made here in the USA also, but nothing has come of it. All the usual excuses ('there would be too much fraud', etc) have been tossed out as reasons it would not work, even though fraud prevention techniques have been provided. Then there were the privacy freaks who insisted that the tighter the fraud controls, the more likely there would be massive invasions of privacy in the 'voting booth' if controls were established identifying the phone number being used and some other personal identifier such as social security number, etc. They can't seem to understand that there *are* ways to identify the user and validate his *right to vote* without necessarily examining the vote being cast. Nor can they seem to understand that there are competent programmers who share a love for their country and a sense of patriotism which would develop the needed software in an instant -- as fraud-proof and fool-proof as the present manual system if not more so -- if it meant that more Americans would participate in the process. They would do so with a sense of integrity and ethics which would *never* willfully violate anyone's privacy. Even starting on a small scale for 'beta testing' purposes seems to be out of the question. The Chicago Board of Election Commissioners (an independent government agency responsible for administering elections of all sorts within the city) has been shown how telephone voting, either with modem and computer or by touch tone buttons alone) would work quite well. They have been shown how, with the cooperation of the banking network, voting could be done at any ATM machine. Of course *not everyone* has an ATM card, and of course *not everyone* has a computer and modem, but these would be two additional ways of 'getting out the vote'. They have been shown how even in conventional voting booth arrangements, a terminal hooked to their central computer could be used to eliminate a huge amount of manual tabulating required, and the fraud that can accompany same, to say nothing of being able to eliminate many of the 'middle-man' election judges found at each polling place. They'll hear none of it ... which is odd, considering how desparate they are getting to find voters these days. They do registrations now at all sorts of places -- even at the Cook County Jail where they always get *thousands* of voters each year for selected candidates -- just to round up anyone they can who is willing and wants to bother to vote. They keep harping on the fraud problem using phone voting, but believe me you, nothing compares to the fraud we have here now with the crooked election judges and the low-level Democratic politicians who hang around the polling places on election day, bringing in voters by the bus load from old-people's homes, etc. We could have had tele-voting here years ago had they wanted it. As they say in Chicago, 'vote early and often!' PAT] ------------------------------ Date: 05 Sep 1995 08:47:08 EDT From: Hinders, Thomas Subject: Power Line Phones and Modems I've seen one or two products that provide additional phone connections via AC wiring. Will these devices provide enough bandwidth to service a 14.4 laptop modem? Thanks in advance, Tom H IBM/Lotus/Soft-Switch ------------------------------ From: mearley@acsu.buffalo.edu (Matthew A Earley) Subject: Beyond V.34, V.34bis and Rockwell's 33.6 Date: 4 Sep 1995 22:51:47 GMT Organization: UB Is anyone aware of a new or proposed standard that enhances the capabilities of ITU's V.34? I beleive there may be a V.34bis in the works. I recently upgraded my USR V.Everything to 33.6 but have been unable to connect to the USR BBS at a rate above 21.6. Is the 33.6 a proprietary USR standard or is it part of the proposed V.34bis? Any insight, information or comments to the topic would be appreciated. Matthew A. Earley SUNYAB, Buffalo NY ------------------------------ From: NICOLOSO@ix.netcom.com (LUC NICOLAI) Subject: Employment: Head of Telecommunications Date: 5 Sep 1995 03:48:28 GMT Organization: Netcom Searching for Senior-level telecommunications expert for a highly confidential Head of Telecommunications position. The company is a MAJOR national transaction-based teleservicing organization. Position issues include: massive upgrade of the current system to include or improve on digital switching system, intraflowing/loadsharing, Automated Voice Response and front-end messaging. Requirements: technical telecommunications expertise in integrated phone systems, digital switches, DID trunk lines, Sentrex lines, order fulfillment and computer printout of transactions. Travel among 16 phone centers around the country. MUST be confident of technical expertise and leadership skills to handle strong internal personalities. Salary open. Send confidential replies/resumes to my private mail box for consideration. I will respond to all inquiries. Heavily experienced only. LRN ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 2 Sep 1995 16:56:15 -0400 Subject: Employment: Western Union, Senior Account Executive From: ndallen@io.org (Nigel Allen) Organization: Internex Online, Toronto I saw the following help wanted ad in the {Globe and Mail}, Toronto, today, and thought that some Telecom readers might be intrigued by the possibility of working for Western Union. Senior Account Executive Do you have the proven success record to develop new business and increase market share? Then set your sights on Western Union. We're the recognized leader in money transfer and a dynamically evolving company where innovative changes are occurring. In this challenging position, you'll sell Commercial Money Transfer prospects, coordinate/implement marketing programs, and assume overall responsibility for meeting sales objectives. To qualify, you must have at least five years' related business-to- business sales experience. A Bachelor's degree in a business-related field is preferred. Candidate must have a proven record in selling and developing new business; some key account experience is preferred. We provide a competitive sakary, comprehensive benefits package and strong growth potential. To arrange for an immediate interview, fax/mail your resume with salary requirements to: Fax: (303) 449-3159 Western Union 2500 Pearl Street, Suite 310 Boulder, Colorado 80302 Western Union Money Transfer The fastest way to send money worldwide forwarded to the TELECOM Digest by Nigel Allen, Toronto, Ontario, Canada ndallen@io.org http://www.io.org/~ndallen [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Memories .... memories. A typewritten notice on the bulletin board in the high school cafeteria in 1956 offering employment: "Good job for a responsible boy or girl at least sixteen years old. Good knowledge of geography is essential, along with accurate and fast typing skills, good penmanship and ability to correctly count money and make change. You'll learn to operate a telegraph machine in an exciting new career with Western Union. Apply to the agent on duty at the telegraph office, northeast corner of the bus terminal building downtown. Bring a note of reference from your teacher or principal. Work about ten or fifteen hours per week evenings and weekends. Starting salary will be 95 cents per hour with a ten cent per hour raise in two months if your work is satisfactory." A friend of mine back then applied for the job and got it. He was very pleased and proud of his position which was, in the pecking order of things in those times, a much better job than working for example as a movie theatre cashier (which was above being a movie theatre usher) a dishwasher in a restaurant or a grocery bagger. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #371 ****************************** From telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu Wed Sep 6 09:08:34 1995 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id JAA29288; Wed, 6 Sep 1995 09:08:34 -0500 Date: Wed, 6 Sep 1995 09:08:34 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Message-Id: <199509061408.JAA29288@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #372 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Wed, 6 Sep 95 09:08:00 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 372 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: War on Payphones (Jim Gottlieb) Re: War on Payphones (Robert Jacobson) Re: War on Payphones (Jack Winslade) Re: War on Payphones (Scott Gordon) Re: Area Code Crisis -- A Different Viewpoint (Steve Cogorno) Re: Area Code Crisis -- A Different Viewpoint (Martin D. Kealey) Re: Area Code Crisis -- A Different Viewpoint (Ed Ellers) Re: Area Code Crisis -- A Different Viewpoint (Patrick Raffin) Re: Area Code Crisis -- A Different Viewpoint (Denis McMahon) Re: Voting by Phone in the Netherlands (Fritz Whittington) Re: Voting by Phone in the Netherlands (Clive D.W. Feather) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily represent the views of Microsoft. ------------------------------------------------------------ Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 5 Sep 95 23:53 PDT From: jimmy@denwa.info.com (Jim Gottlieb) Organization: Info Connections, San Diego, California Subject: Re: War on Payphones > Although it's fun and popular to attribute controversial policy > decisions, like the removal of payphones, to stupid politicians > "battling" drugs, in fact this policy originated with the local > telephone companies themselves. The drug thing was strictly a red > herring I was in Los Angeles the other day and attempted to use the Pacific Bell payphone located inside the restaurant where I was eating lunch. My pager had just gone off, telling me I had a voice mail message waiting. However, after I dialed any number on this phone, the touch-tone pad was shut off. I expect this kind of behavior from COCOTs, but not from P*B phones. I called the telco to complain and they explained to me that this was done purposely because that telephone is in "a high-crime area". So what am I supposed to do? Hit the streets in this "high-crime area" to find a COCOT that will let me check my voice mail? And how many crimes do you think the disabling of those touch-tone pads has averted? If I really thought that this action was helping the local community I might understand. But it just seems to be so much of a meaningless action that does nothing but inconvenience the honest citizen. Jim Gottlieb | E-Mail: jimmy@denwa.info.com | In Japan: jimmy@denwa.linc.or.jp Voice: +1 619 497 4788 | V-Mail: +1 619 260 6912 | Fax: +1 619 497 4777 URL: http://www.info.com | Snail: PO Box 927591, San Diego CA 92192-7591 USA [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Why didn't you tell the person you were speaking with that their answer was unsatisfactory and that you were going to escalate it further? Of course what they are counting on is that you have neither the time nor resources available for the escalation, so many service reps say whatever comes to mind in order to get you off the line so they can move along to the next customer. PAT] ------------------------------ From: cyberoid@u.washington.edu (Robert Jacobson) Subject: Re: War on Payphones Date: 4 Sep 1995 20:04:09 GMT Organization: Worldesign Inc., Seattle I'm not sure I follow Patrick's argument, although it's clear he has good knowledge of the situation in Illinois. From experience traveling around the nation, not only talking about payphones but actually trying to use them (my current business is very dynamic and I call from everywhere, all the time), I think the California situation is more typical. Of course, this brings to the fore, once again, the arbitrariness of regulation and policy in a regime which is totally and unreasonably fractured. In this environment it is difficult, if not impossible, for citizens to reasonably share knowledge across boundaries between corporate fiefs, let alone do anything about it. In a footnote to a previous posting, Patrick levels the boom on Judge Greene for compelling the breakup of the AT&T Bell System, presumably on its current lines. As one who was involved, working for a state government policy body at the time, I cannot imagine a more distorted picture of what occurred. The AT&T diversiture case had been running for years before it reached a head in Judge Greene's court. As I recall quite clearly, the Justice Department under Reagan, in the person of its antitrust assistant secretary, went and cut a very private deal with AT&T's executives. What had started as a proceeding to divest AT&T of its manufacturing facilities turned into a dissection of the national network, because at that time AT&T perceived its future to lie with long-distance, not local service. We (in the policy realm) were all stunned to see the settlement drawn up in that fashion, as it obviously had not been the goal of the proceedings before the Justice-AT&T huddle. Judge Greene's later amendments to the Consent Decree were trivial compared to this basic structural deviation from what preceded it. Patrick may not have liked Judge Greene's self-referential method of governing the Decree, once it was drawn up, but revising history to cast more aspersions on him only has the effect of letting the real culprits off the hook. I can't imagine this as Patrick's goal. Bob Jacobson [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: An article in the {Chicago Sun Times} on Monday, Labor Day, discussed how bad the situation is getting here in certain neighborhoods. There are areas you can go on the west side of Chicago for several blocks without finding a payphone, and then when you do find one, it is out of order. The article said hundreds of outside payphones have been removed in poorer, minority neighborhoods as part of the war on drugs. The rule now is there can no longer be payphones in or around liquor stores as well, since these were used by 'gang members'. The odd part is, they still have lots of payphones in the Board of Trade Building and up and down LaSalle Street in the financial district downtown, and those people use illegal drugs also. They have payphones all over City Hall as well, and the gang which owns that turf has been known on occassion to use something other than Bayer Asprin. Regards the kindly old judge, enough already! I woke up in a good mood today and want to stay that way. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 03 Sep 95 10:10:06 CST From: Jack.Winslade@f1.n30102.z1.omahug.org (Jack Winslade) Subject: Re: War on Payphones Organization: DRBBS Technical BBS, Omaha snake wrote: > Don't forget the payphones installed in Las Vegas casinos, which are > rigged to keep your quarter even if your call doesn't go through. At > least the slot machines give you a chance at a payout. Uh, I've been known to play occasionally in Las Vegas and since the 1970's I've made notes of their phone system as well. I have yet to encounter a pay phone, real or cocot, that intentionally keeps coins on an incomplete call. (Or at least more of them there than anywhere else. ;-) #include One ironic thing that I find in one hotel where we frequently stay, they have a flat $.50 per day for all the local calls you can eat, but zing you $.75 for an 800 call. I find myself using the room phone for local calls and the lobby pay phone for 800 calls. Funny thing I've found out about pay phones in LV, at least a few years back, is that the real ones tended to be non-Bell and those that looked like genuine ones were almost always cocots. Good day JSW DRBBS - Omaha, somewhere in Middle America (1:285/666.0) ------------------------------ From: SBBS@SBBS.NET Subject: Re: War on Payphones Date: 5 Sep 1995 21:54:55 GMT Organization: Delphi Internet Services Corporation Ameritech has recently changed all of its payphones to no longer allow customers to call pager/voice mail boxes for FREE anymore. It now requires a 35 cent deposit. Ameritech did this with no forewarning whatsoever, even to the resellers to re-sell the pager products. Can Ameritech go do this? We had many un-happy customers, and we didn't have a good answer to provide them with. Currently were offering our customers a $0.179 calling card which is billed in 6 second increments. This wasn't the best answer, but at least the customers don't have to give Ameritech the 35 cents. Has anyone else been faced with this type of problem? Scott Gordon - Internet ID: GORDONSBBS@DELPHI.COM Need A Pager and/or Cellular Phone? You need it, I've got it! *** E-Mail SBBS@SBBS.NET For Current SBBS Wireless Promotions *** ------------------------------ From: cogorno@netcom.com (Steve Cogorno) Subject: Re: Area Code Crisis -- A Different Viewpoint Date: Wed, 6 Sep 1995 00:21:57 PDT Martin D Kealey said: > Another mystery, why in NANP does a calling-card number *follow* the > phone number -- surely it's just a specialized version of carrier > selection? Imagine having to dial carrier-selection 10XXX after the > number ... What do you mean here? There is no NANP calling card format. I think you are talking about LEC calling cards which (usually) mean NPA-NXX-XXXX YYYY where YYYY is the PIN. It has nothing to do with carrier selection; in fact, the call will be placed over the carrier that that particular phone is presubscribed to (unless that carier doesn't accept LEC cars - unlikely). Most IXC calling cards are not composed of a particular phone number, though you can have the card number reflect your home number, since it is usually possible to choose the number. Steve cogorno@netcom.com ------------------------------ From: martin@kurahaupo.gen.nz (Martin D Kealey) Subject: Re: Area Code Crisis -- A Different Viewpoint Date: Wed, 6 Sep 1995 18:01:04 NZST Steve writes: > Martin D Kealey said: >> Another mystery, why in NANP does a calling-card number *follow* the >> phone number -- surely it's just a specialized version of carrier >> selection? Imagine having to dial carrier-selection 10XXX after the >> number ... > What do you mean here? There is no NANP calling card format. I think you > are talking about LEC calling cards which (usually) mean NPA-NXX-XXXX YYYY > where YYYY is the PIN. It has nothing to do with carrier selection; in > fact, the call will be placed over the carrier that that particular phone is > presubscribed to (unless that carier doesn't accept LEC cars - unlikely). > Most IXC calling cards are not composed of a particular phone number, though > you can have the card number reflect your home number, since it is usually > possible to choose the number. Maybe I have read the wrong thing into descriptions which of activities that describe dialing 0 + 10D + code? Does this not mean "dial 0 then the number you wish to reach then your activation code", or have I got it wrong? Even the "Bit-Fax" software (from USA) has that as the default order ... Maybe I've got the wrong term when I say "calling card"; that is just the generic term which is applied here to the concept I thought I was referring to. You have a point that it doesn't alter the default carrier that a particular phone is presubscribed to, but it is a payment authorisation, and that is what I was trying to get at. Martin ------------------------------ From: Ed Ellers Subject: Re: Area Code Crisis -- A Different Viewpoint Date: Wed, 6 Sep 95 02:27:35 -0500 Organization: Delphi (info@delphi.com email, 800-695-4005 voice) Martin D Kealey writes: > Another mystery, why in NANP does a calling-card number *follow* the > phone number -- surely it's just a specialized version of carrier > selection? Imagine having to dial carrier-selection 10XXX after the > number ... It doesn't just follow the phone number, it follows the handoff (if any) to the long distance carrier. (Which, among other things, means that if you are using pulse dialing you have to switch to tone to enter the card number.) When this system came into use in the 1970s it was the only way to do it without a *lot* of reworking in step-by-step and crossbar central offices, and today it probably has value in preventing hanky-panky on the part of the local phone companies (since they don't have to decode and pass on the card numbers, there's no opportunity to capture them for other uses). ------------------------------ From: P.Raffin@frcl.bull.fr (patrick raffin) Subject: Re: Area Code Crisis -- A Different Viewpoint Date: 5 Sep 1995 10:41:20 GMT Organization: Fluctuat nec mergitur (as of today) Reply-To: P.Raffin@frcl.bull.fr In article , Tony Harminc writes: > rbarry@iol.ie (Richard Barry) wrote: > [UK numbering scheme not recommended as a model] >> You can't tell which part of the country an area code is located >> from the first digit or two, as one can in virtually every other >> European country -- (eg area code 01232 is Belfast, Northern Ireland >> while 01233 is in Kent in the South East of England). >> Most European numbering plans have the following characteristics: >> *Hierarchical area code structure* (like the US Zip code. While one >> mightn't know where Zip 90234 is precisely, even a non-American can >> guess that it is on the West coast and probably in California. >> Someone who knows California can probably guess it is in the LA area, >> etc.) This structure follows on to some extent from the country code >> layout (eg all country codes beginning with 3 are in Europe). > The French system is nothing like this. The Departement numbers > are scattered randomly around the country, so you can't tell where > a number is unless you have memorized the list. Do we talk about department numbers as found on motor cars or about phone numbers? Departement numbers are somewhat alphabetical, from 01 Ain to 89 Yonne, plus 90 Belfort for historical reasons and the new 91-95 departments which once were parts of the Seine (which includes only Paris now). Add one or two oddities (Corse: 20 splitted into 2A and 2B, Yvelines 78 which was Seine et Oise in the past), and that's it. Phone area codes *were* somewhat geographical: they were two digit codes, with the 2x assigned to the North, 3x to Normandy, 4x to the West, 5x to South-West, 6x to South, 7x to Rhone-Alps, 8x to the East, and 9x divided between Riviera and Brittany. A phone number was then: (AB) PQ MC DU (AB was the departement code, PQ the central office, and MCDU stands for milliers, centaines, dizaines, unites: thousands, hundreds, tenths, units) But they had to split some areas that were assigned to two or more departements when these departements grew more than predicted. (79 was assigned to both Savoie and Haute Savoie: Haute Savoie received 50, formerly Vendee, although it was in the 7x area...). Then these two digit codes were integrated into the national phone number, and two areas were introduced: 1 for the Parisian area and *no code* for the rest of France. A phone number is now: (Z) AB.PQ.MC.DU Next year they will anew introduce geographical area codes, 0x, with x being 1 for Paris, 2 to 5 for North, West, South, East of France, 6 to 8 for special purposes (mobiles, freephone, etc). So, if you know a bit of history and geography, you can tell where a number is! (Well, perhaps not anybody could :-) Patrick Raffin e-mail : P.Raffin@frcl.bull.fr Bull S.A Tel : +33(1) 30.80.61.05 Rue Jean Jaures B.P.68 , C4/022 Bullcom: (23)76105 78340 Les Clayes sous Bois FRANCE Fax : +33(1) 30.80.75.95 ------------------------------ From: dmcmahon@edlgu4.ericsson.se (Denis McMahon) Subject: Re: Area Code Crisis -- A Different Viewpoint Date: Wed, 06 Sep 1995 10:07:05 GMT Organization: Ericsson Telecommunications Ltd Reply-To: dmcmahon@edlgu4.ericsson.se martin@kurahaupo.kurahaupo.gen.nz (Martin D Kealey) wrote: >>> *Variable number length* so that cities that outgrow 7 digits can have >>> 8 digit local numbers. No multiple area code confusion. Small >>> towns can have even shorter local numbers, if desirable. >> This is terrible idea, > This is a *wonderful* idea. :-) >> for the one simple reason that telephones don't >> have Enter keys. So the switch has to decide when you've finished >> dialing by some means, usually a timeout. Or if the switch is smart > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >> enough it may be able to avoid timeouts on certain calls, but the >> result is inconsistent behaviour. > If you're in NANP then you already have "local" numbers in three > standard lengths (seven, ten and three) and it doesn't take a timeout > to distinguish them; consider this: > * Is there any timeout when you dial "911" before the switch decides that > you aren't going to dial any more digits? (There'd better not be!) > * Is there a timeout after you dial a 7-digit number before the switch > decides you're not going to dial a 10-digit number? (No?) > Well, why should seven and eight digit versions of local numbers be > any harder to deal? As long as no short number ever forms a prefix for > any longer number, the switch can always tell how many more digits to > expect after the first few digits. No problem, except that the digit supervision is defined in the switch you are connected to, not the switch at the far end. > [I don't know, never having been there, but I would expect that even > in Germany where DDI numbers can have a variable length inward dialing > suffix, the PBX would know still when to initiate an immediate > connection because this no-prefix policy also applies to extension > numbers (eg no ordinary extension numbers start with a 0). Can anyone > in +49 confirm or deny this?] Not from here, but there are two ways this can work: 1) Get a speech path to the PBX and then dial your additional digits; or 2) Define either fixed (with additional analysis) or variable (with timeout) length numbers in *ALL* exchanges where the PBX could be called from, and that's a lot op places ... > There is something to be said for having all national numbers of a uniform > length to avoid other countries having to maintain digit-length tables, but > this doesn't constrain length-variability of local numbers. OK, but for every country any variable length national numbers will invariably mean variable length international ones as well. ie in the UK we have a mix of 10 and 11 digit national numbers, and that means that +44 can be followed by either 9 or 10 digits!! This means that for calls to the UK, either the shorter number length has to time out, or analysis has to be done at the next digit - which is another ten lines of data to maintain in every switch worldwide that supports international dialing! Denis McMahon = dmcmahon@edlgu4.ericsson.se, ECN: 832-5495, memo: etl.etldsmn TEL: +44-1483-305495 / +44-802-211797 FAX: +44-1483-305261 / +44-1483-305080 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 5 Sep 95 17:14:40 CDT From: fritz@mirage.hc.ti.com (Fritz Whittington) Subject: Re: Voting by Phone in the Netherlands > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Suggestions -- and for that matter, full- > bodied, substantial proposals -- regarding 'vote by phone' have been > made here in the USA also, but nothing has come of it. All the usual . . . > all sorts within the city) has been shown how telephone voting, either > with modem and computer or by touch tone buttons alone) would work quite > well. They have been shown how, with the cooperation of the banking > network, voting could be done at any ATM machine. Of course *not everyone* > has an ATM card, and of course *not everyone* has a computer and modem, > but these would be two additional ways of 'getting out the vote'. I think that's exactly the key reason that the group in charge doesn't want it. They probably believe that the persons most likely to own computers, modems, touch-tone phones, and ATM cards are also more likely to be affluent, educated, and concerned individuals. Making it easier for more of them to vote (as opposed to the poor, uneducated, pliable folk whose votes can be bought) is probably against their best interests. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Voting by Phone in the Netherlands Date: Wed, 6 Sep 1995 10:17:04 BST From: Clive D.W. Feather > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: > Then there were the privacy freaks who insisted that > the tighter the fraud controls, the more likely there would be massive > invasions of privacy in the 'voting booth' if controls were established > identifying the phone number being used and some other personal identifier > such as social security number, etc. If I vote by phone from home, how do you know there isn't someone pointing a gun at my head telling me how to vote? That is the *basic* point behind public polling stations. And people's SSNs are, in general, far too easy to find (though I suspect people might have more trouble finding out mine [*]). [*] This is a public challenge. I have a USA SSN, though I am not and never have been a resident or citizen of the USA. Anyone who can determine it is welcome to ask Pat to post it here. > Nor can they seem to understand that there are competent programmers > who share a love for their country and a sense of patriotism which > would develop the needed software in an instant -- as fraud-proof and > fool-proof as the present manual system if not more so -- if it meant > that more Americans would participate in the process. They would do so > with a sense of integrity and ethics which would *never* willfully > violate anyone's privacy. Fine. Now how do I ensure one of those programmers writes the system actually used? Clive D.W. Feather | Work: clive@demon.net | Gateway House Senior Manager | Home: clive@stdc.demon.co.uk | 322 Regents Park Road Demon Internet Ltd. | Tel: +44 181 371 1000 | Finchley | Fax: +44 181 371 1281 | London N3 2QQ [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Because there would be but a single system or type of software used. Either it would have been written correctly and certified for use in elections or it would not be allowed. Since you are so worried about fraud, how do you know the election judge is not tampering with the ballot box while you are not watching? Did you know in the USA the election judges don't even count the write in votes? They just ignore them. They only count the votes for the Republicrats or the Demopublicans plus now and then a third party if one becomes strong enough that they cannot be ignored. Regards the gun at your head argument, what makes you think the public polling places are that much different here? To get in, you have to run the gauntlet of electioneers standing outside handling out their pamphlets and holding up their signs. They don't have guns of course, but there is in many polling places an intense amount of pressure put on the voter to vote 'the right way'. At some polling places in Chicago, you see gang members hanging around out in front, often times chatting with the police officer assigned there. I would much rather be able to vote in the privacy of my home via telephone. And actually, much of the software is already in place. Just some modifi- cations for security reasons would be needed. We could use no-charge 900 numbers (getting back to their orginal, mass-calling intentions) to vote. After all, if the newspapers and radio stations run popularity polls and opinion polls now on 900 numbers I'm sure a secure way could be devised to conduct a legitimate election via that method also. Preservation of privacy and integrity in elections has *nothing* to do with the technology used. They are separate issues entirely, and if anything, technology can be used to enhance privacy and integrity. Manual elections are very much subject to fraud and spying on voters. Manual voter registration records are considered public in most places, although *how* the person voted is secret. Even if you wish to stick with the public polling place concept, why are these not automated? Why can't voters walk into a small cubicle with a terminal, properly validate themselves, and have a list of candidates for various offices appear on the screen? They would move the pointer around, selecting the ones of their choice. Votes would be instantly tallied and the the accumulating totals made available for inspection. The main problem here, as any good Chicago Democratic politician would tell you is that it would be hard to get dead people from the cemetery to sit upright at the terminal and keyboard. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #372 ****************************** From telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu Thu Sep 7 15:19:44 1995 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id PAA12781; Thu, 7 Sep 1995 15:19:44 -0500 Date: Thu, 7 Sep 1995 15:19:44 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Message-Id: <199509072019.PAA12781@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #373 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Thu, 7 Sep 95 15:19:00 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 373 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson India Recieves $82 Billion in Telecom Service Bids (Rishab Aiyer Ghosh) Re: T1 Direct to Modem Bank (Les Reeves) Re: Area Code Crisis -- A Different Viewpoint (Steve Cogorno) Re: Boston Area Telephone Exchange Name History (Scott D. Fybush) Re: E-Mail -> Pager Gateway? (Doug Reuben) Selling Off Municipal Phone System (Peter S. Goodman) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily represent the views of Microsoft. ------------------------------------------------------------ Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 7 Sep 1995 11:29:00 -0700 From: Rishab Aiyer Ghosh Subject: India Receives $82 Billion in Telecom Service Bids ==This Indian Techonomist bulletin (C) Copyright 1995 Rishab Aiyer Ghosh India receives $82 BILLION in bids for telecom services August 31, 1995: Bids for basic telecom services across India were opened today. Sixteen companies submitted the 80 bids for 20 regions (or "circles"); they were worth a total of $82 BILLION in licence fees alone. The total bids for likely winners - one private provider is to compete with the government Department of Telecommunications (DoT) in each circle - were worth $35.6 billion spread over the next decade. The surprise star of the show was HFCL, a company with political connections and a joint venture with Israel's Bezeq, led in all nine circles for which it bid a total of over $27 billion, between two and five times the value of the nearest bids in the nine circles. HFCL bid for the most lucrative areas; Reliance, a large group with diverse interests and nearly 3 million shareholders, bid very low for all circles, and got most of the weakest circles, classified "C" by the government. However, in the desert state of Rajasthan, where competing Shyam (with China's PTT Guangdong) bid $350 million, 80 times higher than Reliance, the latter may yet win as Shyam is rumoured to be disqualified on technical grounds. That makes 15 circles out of 20 divided between two companies. Denro Ispat, a steel firm in cooperation with America's Hughes, bagged the wealthy western states of Karnataka and Maharashtra (which includes Bombay). BPL, a consumer electronics company, won the southern state of Tamil Nadu in cooperation with US West. This will end the controversy over US West's pilot project in semi-rural Tamil Nadu involving broadband and wireless services, which was negotiated directly, bypassing the bidding process. Big losers included AT&T, who bid along with Birla Communications; Bell Atlantic who bid with Essar; Bell Canada who bid with the Tatas, another conglomerate; and Japan's NTT which bid with Itochu and India's RPG group. The Indian Techonomist spoke to Dr N Ravi, General Manager of Reliance's Telecommunications Group. He was pessimistic about any speedy resolution of the bids. Licences have to be awarded after a weighted evaluation of the other portion of the bids, including a development plan and rural infrastructure. However, the skewed bidding and relative lack of competition will cause problems, as it did with bids for cellular services, opened three weeks ago. There may be "caps" - limits on the number of licences for a single company, two in the case of cellular services. There may be backdoor deals. There may well be a re-arrangement of Indian and foreign partners, perhaps forming new "friendships" between till-now competing companies. Caps would be good for AT&T; they would also be good for HFCL. For if it did not seriously misjudge the value of the market, HFCL probably hoped that the government's caps would, in effect, give it a free post-bid choice. At this point it seem that although contracts for cellular services may be awarded soon - though not by the government target of September 15th - those for basic services will be considerably delayed. Apart from the complications caused by the bidding itself, there's a court order against awarding contracts, which will probably be appealed. And there's the Parliament, which doesn't want to pass a stop-gap amendment allowing the government to set up a regulator until more permanent legislation is ready - Opposition parties claim they want to make the regulator a statutory body right away, although in fact they just enjoy troubling the government. Besides, the government has the imminent general elections - due in the middle of next year - on its mind. And the assasination, a few hours after the bids were opened, of the Chief Minister of the wealthy state (and - it was expected - profitable telecom market) of Punjab. Telecom services will be privatised, after a gap. A most interesting gap - the fun has just begun. The complete list of bids for basic services will be available in a few hours at http://dxm.org/techonomist/news/bids.html See also: Telecom regulation - http://dxm.org/techonomist/regu.html and Cellular services - http://dxm.org/techonomist/news/cellular.html -==(C) Copyright 1995 Rishab Aiyer Ghosh. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. -==Licensed for ELECTRONIC distribution, including commercial, provided -==this notice is attached. This bulletin is from The Indian Techonomist, -==the newsletter on India's information industry. -==http://dxm.org/techonomist/ - e-mail rishab@arbornet.org -==Phone +91 11 6853410; H-34-C Saket, New Delhi 110017, INDIA. The Indian Techonomist - newsletter on India's information industry http://dxm.org/techonomist/ rishab@dxm.org Editor and publisher: Rishab Aiyer Ghosh rishab@arbornet.org Vox +91 11 6853410; 3760335; H 34 C Saket, New Delhi 110017, INDIA ------------------------------ From: lreeves@crl.com (Les Reeves) Subject: Re: T1 Direct to Modem Bank Date: 7 Sep 1995 08:53:11 -0700 Organization: CR Labs Gary Secor (glsecor@ix.netcom.com) wrote: > I have some switched 800 lines now dumping on a centrex hunt group (16 > lines). I want to look at a T1 that replaces these switched lines > since it should result in lower cost per minute and some better > disaster recovery redirection options. What can I connect the T1 to > that will allow it to connect to 16 modems? I suspect there may be a > card that goes in a pc that can look like 23 or 24 analog lines. What > is it called and what might it cost? Who has such an animal? Any other > suggestions appreciated. I can use existing modem rack or am willing to > look at a new one if it fits the situation. All thoughts appreciated! If you want to use your existing modems, you will need a channel bank with 16 2WFXS (two-wire FX station) cards. Telco Systems makes excellent channel banks. However, I am somewhat biased since I sold them for three years . Les lreeves@crl.com Atlanta,GA 404.874.7806 ------------------------------ From: cogorno@netcom.com (Steve Cogorno) Subject: Re: Area Code Crisis -- A Different Viewpoint Date: Thu, 7 Sep 1995 10:46:33 PDT Sergio Gelato said: > Here in Italy, where variable-length numbers are the norm, the system As I understand it, they won't be the norm much longer. As the network converts to digital, aren't the numbers becoming standardized lengths? > is constructed so that it is always possible in principle to determine > from the digits dialled so far whether the number is complete or not. > That is, 2345 67 and 2345 678 cannot both be valid numbers, but you > can have 2345 67 and 2345 680, 2345 681, etc. In theory, this means > that timeouts are never absolutely necessary. Of course for long The main problem with variable length phone numbers is NOT technical as you have pointed out; it is difficult for humans to use. It is very confusing to not know how many digits to expect. Suppose you have a form that someone has filled out and there are only six digits. Does this mean that the number is incomplete, or is it actually correct? > I suspect that the cost of reprogramming all that data entry software > that expects NXX-NXX-XXXX for phone numbers is the real reason the USA > are trying to stick to 3+7 for as long as possible. As you note, there > is no intrinsic reason from the point of view of the network itself. Well there is in that the USERS of the network expect the numbers to be in the NPA-NXX-XXXX format. Additionally, why is there are need for variable length numbers? With the new NPS system, there are at least 2.7 BILLION numbers available. > (Related question: why are the USA still using only nine digits for > Social Security Numbers, despite all the obvious shortcomings?) There are one billion possible numbers of SSN. I believe the numbers are reused after a file has been closed for a number of years. For what it's worth, the first three digits of an SSN determine where the card was issued (sort of like an area code). Steve cogorno@netcom.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 7 Sep 1995 13:31:34 -0400 From: fybush@world.std.com (Scott D Fybush) Subject: Re: Boston Area Telephone Exchange Name History Interesting to note how, with just a few exceptions, all of these exchanges have survived for 35-plus years now, intact: > DOWNTOWN - 185 Franklin St. Office ** > CApitol 3 State Capitol Building Federal Govt. offices only > CApitol 7 State Capitol Building CAPitol > LAfayette 3 Revolutionary War Hero LAFayette > MEridian 7 Time-of-day information MEridian 7-1234 (only) > RIchmond 2 Richmond Street RIChmond > SHerwin 3 Telephone Pioneer N.E. Telephone Co. offices only > WEather 6 Weather information WEather 6-1234 (only) 223, 227, 523 and 742 are all still around, all served out of Franklin Street. 637-1234 and 936-1234 still get the time and weather. And NYNEX offices are still the sole users of 743. > DOWNTOWN - 8 Harrison Ave. Office ** > DEvonshire 8 Devonshire Street Only Boston Police (DE 8-1212) > and pay phones had this prefix > HAncock 1 Revolutionary War Hero Only for John Hancock Ins. Co. > HAncock 6 Revolutionary War Hero HANcock > HUbbard 2 Telephone Pioneer HUBbard > LIberty 2 Patriotic word LIBerty 421, 426, 482, and 542 are all still around. So is 338, which is now in general use. > DOWNTOWN - BACK BAY ** > CIrcle 7 Name origin unknown Only pay phones on this exchange > COngress 2 Not a local name Created in 1950s > COmmonwealth 6 Commonwealth Ave. COMmonwealth > COpley 7 Copley Square COPley > KEnmore 6 Kenmore Square KENmore 262, 266, 267, and 536 are all still around. So is 247, which served the Boston Police PBX until just about two years ago, when they moved to 617-343. 247 is now in general use. > ARLINGTON > MIssion 3 / 8 Not a local name Replaced manual office in 1950s > HUnter 3 / 8 Not a local name {Served customers of ARlington manual > {exchange located in W. Medford. 643 and 648 are still around. So are 483 and 488, now known as the "West Medford" exchange (but still billed identically to Arlington). > BELMONT > IVanhoe 4 / 9 Not a local name Replaced manual office in 1950s. 484 and 489 are not only still around, but are STILL the only exchanges in Belmont. > BRIGHTON / ALLSTON > ALgonquin 4 Name origin unknown ALGonquin > STadium 2 Harvard Stadium STAdium 254 and 782 still exist...in fact I have a couple of 254 lines on my office telephone. > BROOKLINE > BEacon 2 Beacon Street BEAcon > ASpinwall 7 Aspinwall Avenue ASPinwall > LOngwood 6 Longwood Avenue LONgwood > REgent 4 Not a local name Created in 1950s 232, 277, 566, and 734 are all still around. > CAMBRIDGE > ELiot 4 Eliot Street ELIot > KIrkland 7 Kirkland Street KIRkland > Trowbridge 6 Trowbridge Street TROwbridge > UNiversity 4 Harvard University UNIversity > UNiversity 8 Harvard University UNIversity 354, 547, 876, 864, and 868 are all still there, accompanied nowadays by a slew of 49X exchanges, most belonging to Harvard, and several MIT exchanges as well. > CHARLESTOWN > CHarlestown 2 Name of area served CHArlestown 242's still there, and it spawned 241 a few years later. > CHELSEA > TUrner 4 / 9 Not a local name Replaced CHelsea 3 manual office 1957 Still there as 884 and 889. There's now an 887 as well, created after the old 617-887 Boxford became 508-887 in 1988. > DORCHESTER > BAyside 9 Dorchester Bay Created in 1950s > COlumbia 5 Columbia Road COLumbia > AVenue 2 / 8 Dorchester Avenue? Created in 1948 > GEneva 6 Geneva Avenue GENeva > TAlbot 5 Talbot Avenue TALbot Here's one that's gone. 229 is now a Burlington exchange, but a fairly recent one. Perhaps BAyside 9 became 929? 265, 282, 288, 436, and 825 are still around. > EAST BOSTON > Logan 7 / 9 Logan Airport {Replaced EAstboston 7 manual office > {approx 1957 567 and 569 - still there. There's 561 and 568 now as well, the latter added after 617-568 Hudson became 508-568 in 1988. > HYDE PARK > --------- > EMpire 1 / 4 Not a local name {Replaced HYdepark 3 manual office > {approx 1955 > EDgewater 3 Not a local name [Served customers formerly in > [HYdepark 3 located in Milton 361 and 364 are still there (the mayor's home phone is on 364). 333 is around as well, but now counted as a Milton exchange with 696/698 - see below under Mattapan/Milton. > JAMAICA PLAIN > JAmaica 2 / 4 Name of community JAMaica 522 and 524 - still around. > LEXINGTON > VOlunteer 1/3 Patriotic name Replaced manual office in 1950s > (Minute Man) 861 and 863 are still in Lexington, now with 860 and 862 as well. > MALDEN > DAvenport 2 /4 Not a local name Replaced manual office in 1950s. 322, 324...still in use, along with 321. > MEDFORD > EXport 5 / 6 Not a local name Replaced manual office in 1950s. As 395 and 396, these remain in use today. > MILTON / MATTAPAN > BLuehills 8 Blue Hills Reservation Split in 1959 > CUnningham 6 Cunningham Park Split in 1959 > CYpress 6 Not a local name Mattapan customers prev. on CU6 > CYpress 8 Not a local name Mattapan customers prev. on BL8 > OXford 6 Not a local name Milton customers prev. on CU6 > OXford 8 Not a local name Milton cistomers prev. on BL8 The BL8 and CU6 exchanges both returned much later -- 258 as an MIT exchange in Cambridge, 286 in Revere. 296/298 still serves Mattapan, 696/698 still serves Milton. > NEEDHAM > HIllcrest 4 Not a local name Replaced NEedham 3 manual office 444. Still in use, along with 449, 455, and 433 added later. > NEWTON > BIgelow 4 Name origin unknown BIGelow > DEcatur 2 Name origin unknown DECatur > LAsalle 7 LaSalle Junior College LASalle > WOodward 9 Not a local name Created in 1950s 244, 332, 527, and 969 all still exist...along with about a dozen more recent additions. > QUINCY > GRanite 2 / 9 Local granite quarry GRAnite > MAyflower 9 Pilgrims' ship MAYflower > PResident 3 Quincy is birthplace of Presidents John Adams & J.Q.Adams MA9 - or 629 - no longer exists. 472, 479, and 773 are all still there, with several more recent editions. The 629 exchange was assigned much later to Somerville. Besides GR9/479, there are no other XX9 exchanges in Quincy even now. > REVERE > ATlantic 4 /9 Revere located on ocean {Replaced REvere 8 manual office > {approx 1957 284 and 289 are still around, along with 286 (see Milton/Mattapan, above). > ROXBURY > GArrison 7 William Lloyd Garrison GARrison > (Abolitionist) > HIghlands 2 /5 Roxbury Highlands HIGhlands 427, 442, 445 - all still there. Very little phone growth there - the only new addition in 35 years was 541 a few years back. > SOMERVILLE > MOnument 6 Name origin unknown Replaced manual office in 1950's > PRospect 6 Name origin unknown Replaced manual office in 1950's 666 and 776 remain in existence, along with several newer exchanges. > SOUTH BOSTON > ANdrew 8 / 9 Andrew Square {Replaced SOuthboston 8 manual > {office in early 1950's 268 and 269 are still around, along with newer 463 and 464 exchanges. > WALTHAM > TWinbrook 3 /9 Not a local name Replaced manual office in 1950's Waltham has seen explosive phone growth, fueled by DID-heavy users in office parks along Route 128. 893 and 899 are still around, with 890, 891, and 894 arriving a few years later, and literally dozens of new exchanges in the last decade. Many of the new "Waltham" exchanges are used by Cellular One, which used to have its local headquarters in Waltham. > WATERTOWN > WAlker 4 / 6 Not a local name {Replaced WAtertown 3 manual office > {in 1950's > Note: WAlker was used as the new prefix even though Watertown began with WA Hmm ... I'd always just assumed it was WAtertown! 924 and 926 are still there, plus 923 and 972, the last for town government only. > WEST ROXBURY > FAirview 3/5/7 Not a local name Replaced manual office approx 1954 > HOmestead 9 Not a local name {Used for Brookline customers served > (by W. Roxbury central office 323, 325, 327 -- and that's still it. 469 is still in existence too, but now counted as a "Brookline" exchange. I believe there's still a geographic area along the Brookline/W.Roxbury/Newton line where ALL customers are assigned 469 and only 469. > WINTHROP > VIking 6 Not a local name Replaced manual office in 1950s 846 - still around and only recently joined by 539. Great list! -- and fun to see how far back many of today's exchanges go. -=Scott Fybush - fybush@world.std.com - Waltham MA=- ------------------------------ From: dreuben@interpage.net (Doug Reuben) Subject: Re: E-Mail -> Pager Gateway? Date: Thu, 7 Sep 1995 18:29:34 EDT Recently, Eric De Mund wrote: > Is there an email -> pager gateway? I'd like to be able to have clients > send email to my MobilComm alpha pager at its 1 (800) number. To which Pat responded: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You need to speak with Doug Reuben about > the service he and his associates offer. It has been discussed here in > the Digest in the past, but not too much recently. Perhaps in response, > Doug will send a general update about his service to us. I can't find > him on the mailing list right now or I would include his email address > here. PAT] Well, to answer Eric's question, yes, indeed, we offer exactly the service you seem to need, and in many cases (as is the case for existing MobilComm Nationwide customers) at a flat monthly rate. Give us a call, check out our (messy :) ) WWW site, or send us some e-mail for details. I'll gladly respond to personal e-mail with specific questions about the service. See address/contact info, below. As to not being too active on the Digest lately: This is certainly a regret of mine - regular readers may recall (somewhat long :) ) posts from me regarding cellular service around the country which I think I enjoyed posting more than most people enjoyed reading (and reading, and reading...:) ). And the volume hasn't dwindled because of a lack of subject matter nor a lessening of my interest - if anything, there are so many developments going on right now that I'd need to post a good deal more than I used to in order to keep up. For example, Cell One/NY (now "AT&T Wireless"...errr..yeah) has had a recent switch upgrade which prevents calls to 500 numbers from being placed with 0-500 anymore. AT&T has also stopped supervising 500 *platform* calls (ie, where you don't talk to anyone and just connect to the platform) which means I don't pay for the 500 call until I talk to someone. This makes people much more likely to call my 500 from a cellphone, since they don't pay if I don't answer my 500#. AT&T has promised to allow 1-500 dialing from carphones (did they REALLY think this through? Or will they only allow 1-500 from a class of "non-International" 500? Or can they do special non-fixed-rate billing through cellcos?...Doubt it..). However, this misses the point: Allow NON-superivising 0+ access for ALL calls, 500, 700, and calling card. No one wants to pay to reach a busy or non-answering number (except on LA's A and B systems, where they don't have a choice :( ), and AT&T puts its 500, 700, and Calling Card services at a disadvantage by continuing to supervise them at the AT&T "chime", instead of when the destination party is reached. Sprint, MCI, et. al. already do this, as do most of the "800" access calling cards, so why pay more to use AT&T, when you may not even connect to your party? Anyhow, as to what Interpage (TM) is doing, well, briefly, since we started a little over a year ago, we've gone "International" by sending e-mail, news, and other information to SMS and GSM phones in Europe (Vodaphone, Orange, SONOFON), as well as traditional alpha and numeric paging to BT, London Paging, Hutch (UK and Hong Kong), Cantel, and just about anyone else who asks. :) Although we have pretty low rates (25 cents per page to the UK), we would like to lower this even further. I realize we can never get "flat rate" (unlimited) paging like we do for some US carriers, but if there is any long distance carrier/reseller out there who can offer us less than 30-second minimums and/or "lower than the rest of the Wiltel reseller's" rates, I'd be happy to hear from you. (Please fax an International rate quote to our fax #, below. No voice calls please... E-Mail is OK, but include prices - we know more or less what is out there - if you think you are better, please have something to show for it. I'm not trying to be difficult, but we don't need a lot of resellers calling us with rates that are commonplace...) I'd also be glad to hear from carriers with less than 12 cent daytime rates for direct dial (no T-1, yet!). We have also started to provide our news and information services to a number of paging carriers, so if you see the news/sports/weather-cast on your pager saying "Interpage" or "InfoNews", well, that's us! :) Some carriers and other firms use us to disseminate their own news via a news "editor" on our system which they use to input their own information to their customers/employees on a regular or "as needed" basis. If you *do* receive "Interpage" or "InfoNews" stories, please let us know what you think, and of course, tell us how we can improve and/or augment these services. Are there any additional services would you like to see? For example, is there any interest in aviation weather forecasts on a pager? Horoscopes? We tried a few of these, but found little interest... We are also the only paging service provider (I think) to put weather and stock information on any *numeric only* pager, so you do not need to get a more expensive alpha pager in order to receive this information. We have not, however, figured out how to get news stories on a numeric yet...:) In June, we started to offer our Enhanced Pager Overlay Services (EPOS). Working with Arch and SDC, we can provide e-mail, weather, re-programmable 800 access, voicemail, "Meet Me", faxmail, and most recently, fax broadcast to literally hundreds of recipients via a single 800 number which you can access from anywhere in the US and most areas of Canada. This package builds upon our initial notion of allowing ANY alpha or numeric pager to receive e-mail and other services, but goes beyond this by providing one single number for people to contact you at for e-mail, voice, voicemail, fax and fax broadcast services. (Our Web site has a detailed explanation of this if you want more details on how EPOS works, etc.) We have also made some substantial additions to our fax services. Besides our InFax (SM) (automatic INcoming e-mail -> fax [and pager]) and OutFax (SM) (you send text e-mail or postcript level 1 or 2 to one or more faxes), we have recently started to offer our FaxUp (SM) service, which allows people to send a fax to us, and we will automatically convert it into a graphics file and send it along as e-mail to you. FaxUp can also be used to re-distribute and broadcast faxes: You send us a fax, and we re-transmit it to a list of fax and/or e-mail addresses which you may upload to the system, or configue/modify via telnet access to your personal account. InterTalk (SM), our e-mail voice response server has also been improved since my last post to the Digest - well, we didn't *have* InterTalk at the time of my last posting so I guess anything is an "improvement". InterTalk allows you to retrieve and hear e-mail subject headers from any touch tone phone. Thus, to check to see if you received any new e-mail messages, you would call into InterTalk, enter your account and password, and then have the option to go through the headers of all your most recent mail. We also recently added the ability to call into InterTalk and add or delete weather forecasts as you travel. If you travel from city to city a good deal, you can add a weather forecast for the city you happen to be in (or any city for that matter) and tell our system at what time you want to be paged. Subsequently, you will be paged with that city's forecast at your requested time. It makes a good "wake up" service which also gives you the day's weather, assuming you don't normally receive pages in the middle of the night! :) And finally, we consolidated a number of our services for WWW customers under the "WebReach" (SM) banner. Interpage's WebReach services allow WWW page owners on any system (not just ours) to be faxed when a customer browsing their web page sends and order or requests more information. This allows individuals and firms to have a WWW/Internet presence, without having to log on continuously to ensure timely response to potential customers. We can also store documents and informational sheets on our system which will be faxed to customers "on demand". If you have a pager, we can also create a "callback" service, eg., a customer clicks on a hot button on your page which will alert you on your pager that you have a potential customer who would like an immediate callback at the number provided. Additionally, direct mapping of WWW pages without the need for complicated URL's is something new which we recently implemented. Thus, if you have registered the domain "hello.com" and have your Web page on our system, you can give out your URL as "www.hello.com", instead of the actual URL which would look like "www.interpage.net/misc/others/hello.html". Anyhow, now that I've bored everyone with all of our newest and greatest services and features, I'll suggest that you may want to check out our WWW server (http://www.interpage.net) for more information. We'd also be happy to fax some literature and brochures to anyone who asks. So now do you see what I mean by LONG posts? :) Before I close, I would however like to thank all the people who have helped us along in the past, especially those Digest participants who encouraged us during our beta-test stage last year and enabled us to grow quite rapidly. Your comments, constructive criticsms, and of course your patronage have all been greatly appreciated! My next post will be much more telecom-related, and soon... I promise! :) Doug Reuben / Interpage(TM) Network Services Inc. dreuben@interpage.net +1 (203) 499 - 5221 (800) 624 - 6964 (EPOS) FAX(718) 793 - 6081 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 07 Sep 95 20:41:43 GMT From: Peter S. Goodman Organization: Anchorage Daily News Subject: Selling Off Municipal Phone Service Quick question: I'm a reporter with the {Anchorage Daily News} in Alaska. Our city government is proposing to sell our phone company, Anchorage Telephone Utility, which I gather is the largest municipally owned phone company in the country. I'm trying to find examples of other cities selling similarly sized phone companies. (ATU is about 145,000 access lines.) I want to see what happened in other places, vis. rates, layoffs, etc. Where can I find other examples? Any help gratefully received. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #373 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa11165; 8 Sep 95 3:16 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id UAA21359 for telecomlist-outbound; Thu, 7 Sep 1995 20:58:37 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id UAA21351; Thu, 7 Sep 1995 20:58:35 -0500 Date: Thu, 7 Sep 1995 20:58:35 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Message-Id: <199509080158.UAA21351@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #374 TELECOM Digest Thu, 7 Sep 95 20:58:00 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 374 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Split of Area Code 305 (Toby Nixon) New Data/Fax Phone - Cellular (aircom1@aol.com) Re: War on Payphones (Wes Leatherock) Re: War on Payphones (Steven Lichter) Re: War on Payphones (Henry Mensch) Re: War on Payphones (Gordon D. Woods) Re: War on Payphones (Stan Schwartz) Pay Phones in Poor Neighborhoods (Bob Schwartz) Re: Boston Area Telephone Exchange Name History (Garrett A. Wollman) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily represent the views of Microsoft. ------------------------------------------------------------ Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Toby Nixon Date: Thu, 7 Sep 95 15:08:41 PDT Subject: Split of Area Code 305 The North American Numbering Plan Administration has announced the impending split of the 305 NPA (South Florida). The following information is quoted from Bellcore letter IL-95/08-011, dated 23 August 1995: We have been advised by BellSouth Telecommunications that substantial telephone number growth in southeastern Florida necessitates splitting the existing 305 NPA and the simultaneous introduction of a new 954 NPA. Dade and Monroe Counties, which include the Miami metropolitan area, will retain the 305 NPA. The Broward County portion of the current 305 NPA, including Fort Lauderdale, will change to the new 954 area code. The split of the 305 NPA, and the beginning of a permissive dialing period, is scheduled for 12:01 AM EDT on September 11, 1995. During the permissive dialing period, either 305 or 954 will be acceptable in a dialed number terminating in the new 954 NPA. The end of permission dialing and the beginning of mandatory dialing is scheduled for different services as follows: 12:01 AM EDT on April 13, 1996 for PAGERS; 12:01 AM EDT on June 1, 1996 for WIRELINE (POTS); and 12:01 AM EST on January 1, 1997 for CELLULAR. After each permissive period expires, calls dialed with incorrect NPA codes, as defined in the NPA split information published in the Local Exchange Routing Guide (LERG), will be routed to intercept. The 954 NPA prefix codes (NXXs) appear in the current version of the LERG. Central offices in the area to be served by the 954 NPA will be modified on a progressive basis to transmit "954" in the calling number Automatic Number Identification (ANI). BellSouth will convert all pertinent records to 954 the weekend of September 8, 1995. This includes customer service records and associated NPA information in other systems. After September 11, 1995, all inquiries must refer to the correct NPA code. The attached map [not included in this message] illustrates the 305 and the 954 NPA configuration after the split. A listing of the communities and exchange prefixes to be included in each area code after the split is also attached. Test calls to verify routing to the new 954 interchangable NPA code may be made by dialing 954-236-4242, effective immediately. A recorded announcement will indicate that the test call has been successfully completed. The following dialing procedures will exist for the 305 and 954 NPAs: * All intra-NPA "local" calls will be dialed on a 7 digit basis with no prefix; i.e., NXX+XXXX (7 digits). * All intra-NPA direct dialed "toll" calls (generally calls that incur an additional charge) will be dialed with a prefix "1" and 10 digits; i.e., 1+NPA+NXX+XXXX (1 + 10 digits). * All inter-NPA direct dialed local calls will be dialed with 10 digits and no prefix; i.e., NPA+NXX+XXXX (10 digits). * All inter-NPA direct dialed toll calls will be dialed with a prefix "1" and 10 digits; i.e., 1+NPA+NXX+XXXX (1 + 10 digits). * All operator-assisted calls (both intra- and inter-NPA) including credit card, collect, and third-party calls will be dialed with either a "0" or a "10XXX+0" prefix and 10 digits; i.e., 0+NPA+NXX+XXXX; or, 10XXX+0+NPA+NXX+XXXX. Questions concerning this NPA relief project may be directed either to John Serenci, BellSouth Telecommunications, on (305) 492-1037, or to Stan Washer, BellSouth Telecommunications, on (205) 977-2668. Copies of this letter are being forwarded to achieve the widest possible industry distribution and may be reproduced for further distribution as needed. Questions concerning the contents of this letter may be referred to Jim Deak, Bellcore, at (908) 699-6612. /signed/ J. N. Deak North American Numbering Plan Administration 954 Exchanges: Coral Springs, Deerfield Beach, Ft. Lauderdale, Hollywood, Pompano Beach. 305 Exchanges: Big Pine Key, Homestead, Miami, North Dade, Islamorada, Key Largo, Key West, Marathon, North Key Largo, Perrine, Sugar Loaf Key. [No time today to transcribe all the exchange codes; sorry!] ------------------------------ From: aircom1@aol.com (AIRCOM1) Subject: New Data/Fax Phone - Cellular Date: 7 Sep 1995 04:07:36 -0400 Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) Reply-To: aircom1@aol.com (AIRCOM1) Air Communications Introduces Next Generation Cellular Data Fax Phone. Revolutionary, industry-first product delivers all-in-one connectivity, convenience in a pocket-sized device, the new AirCommunicator. SUNNYVALE, Calif., September 5, 1995 -- Air Communications Inc., a pioneer of cellular data technology and communications devices, today introduced the new AirCommunicatorx, an innovative hand-held cellular data fax phone that forges a new category of wireless devices. This small, value-driven product offers convenience in an all in one solution that acts as an extension of the user's desktop. It delivers unmatched, integrated wireless connectivity and functionality, bringing the flexibility of fax, voice mail and voice communications to users without the need for a computer. It also uses a serial port connection to any PC, Macintosh, notebook or PDA to complete e-mail and remote access operations. AirCommunicator answers the needs of a broad range of users who require remote access to information. While there are an estimated one million mobile data subscribers in the United States today, that number is expected to grow to 9.9 million subscribers by the year 2000. Today's mobile professionals are juggling an unwieldy assortment of devices aimed at keeping them in touch with their businesses and families. The new AirCommunicator is targeted at this market segment, which makes up approximately 47 percent of the growing market for mobile data users. In addition, many of today's 28 million cellular voice subscribers will be looking to upgrade to add data communications capabilities over the next five years. "The new AirCommunicator ushers in a new level of convenience for people on the move," said Dan Seale, president and CEO of Air Communications. "We've pioneered a product that works as a fully-featured data communications tool -- in essence, replicating the user's desktop environment. It is the first wireless product to reliably send, receive and store faxes, all without attaching to a computing device, so it is ideal for the large number of mobile professionals who don't carry a portable computer." Features: The new AirCommunicator will be offered in two different versions, the Lite and the Executive. The two models offer users different levels of message and fax storage capacity. Talk, data transmission and standby time also vary, and the two versions feature different types of rechargeable batteries -- Ni-Cad, Nickel Metal Hydride and Lithium Ion -- each providing a technical match to the varying usage patterns of Air's target markets. In addition, the Executive comes with the AirDock, a state-of-the-art charging station, complete with speaker and microphone for hands-free operation of the AirCommunicator. For example, the user can simply hook up the unit to the vehicle's cigarette lighter to conserve battery power and recharge while driving, or utilize the RJ-11 jack for landline capability in a hotel room. A key differentiator for the product is its ability to both send and receive faxes without the need for a computer. Current products on the market don't offer the same functionality or flexibility. Users can store frequently used faxes, such as directions or inventory forms, on their AirCommunicator and send them directly from the device without plugging in to a computer. Another advantage is that users can receive and store faxes while on the road, and later view or print them either by sending the fax to a nearby fax machine or using standard fax software on a computer. "The ability to receive faxes is what sets this product apart from competitive solutions," said Andy Seybold, publisher of Andy Seybold's Outlook on Mobile Communications and Computing. "The most frequently used type of data transmission is facsimile, with e-mail, file transfer and dial-up connections making up the remainder. The need to access these forms of data don't change just because a person is on the road. With AirCommunicator, users have that access and can count on it to work reliably." Features include: Feature AirCommunicator Lite - AirCommunicator Executive; Digital Answering Machine 2.7 minutes message storage - 16 minutes message storage; Fax Storage 6 pages - 37 pages; Talk Time 90 minutes - 100 minutes; Data Transmission Time 50 minutes - 60 minutes; Standby Time 8 hours - 9 hours; Battery Type (rechargeable) Nickel-Cadmium - (NiCad) Lithium Ion; Phone Weight 11.9 ounces - 9.9 ounces; AirDock Not included - Included Data and Fax Performance 14.4K Baud - 14.4K Baud Software The new AirCommunicator includes bundled software that enables users to better monitor and manage their communications: x AirController reports continuous on-line status such as connection rate, throughput and cellular event status. It also allows users to set advanced preferences such as minimum signal conditions and maximum error levels, achieving the most efficient use of cellular airtime. A user-friendly interface on the device or on the computer screen helps users manage their mobile data communications. x Auto Phone Updater provides users with easy remote wireless access to software upgrades, including the latest in modem firmware, to add new features and functionality to the AirCommunicator. The device never becomes obsolete. Users simply call in to a specified number to download the upgrade wirelessly -- there's no need for a computer or to visit a service center. Underlying Technology AirCommunicator's unmatched performance and reliability is derived from its state-of-the-art underlying technology, AirTrue. AirTrue leverages the existing AMPS cellular network to provide ubiquitous access, high throughput rates for data (14.4K and higher), and ease of use. In addition, because AirTrue integrates radio frequency (RF) and modem technologies, it achieves significantly higher first time connect rates of 94 percent -- far exceeding those of its nearest competitors. It also allows users to connect to any modem at any time without the need for special host-end technology, dramatically reducing or eliminating implementation costs. Pricing and Availability The AirCommunicator Lite and Executive models will be available in September 1995 with street pricing expected to start at $695. About Air Communications Air Communications Inc., headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif., was founded in 1992 to be the global leader in providing innovative mobile connectivity solutions that meet the needs of today's users. To achieve its vision, the company has pioneered its AirTrue cellular data technology, and has integrated the technology into its family of AirCommunicator products. Air Communications' products are sold through cellular carriers and mobile communications dealers nationwide. For further information on the company, call 1-800-AIR DATA. Air Communications, AirCommunicator, AirController and AirTrue are trademarks of Air Communications Inc. ------------------------------ From: wes.leatherock@hotelcal.com (Wes Leatherock) Subject: Re: War on Payphones Date: Thu, 7 Sep 1995 00:27:00 GMT Jack.Winslade@f1.n30102.z1.omahug.org (Jack Winslade) wrote: [ ... text deleted ... ] > Funny thing I've found out about pay phones in LV, at least a few > years back, is that the real ones tended to be non-Bell and those that > looked like genuine ones were almost always cocots. Has the Las Vegas exchange been sold? It used to be owned by a firm called, I believe, Centel, and was one of the largest non-Bell exchanges in the country. So the "real ones" in Las Vegas *are* non-Bell. jimmy@denwa.info.com (Jim Gottlieb) wrote: > I was in Los Angeles the other day and attempted to use the Pacific > Bell payphone located inside the restaurant where I was eating lunch. > My pager had just gone off, telling me I had a voice mail message > waiting. > However, after I dialed any number on this phone, the touch-tone pad > was shut off. I expect this kind of behavior from COCOTs, but not > from P*B phones. > I called the telco to complain and they explained to me that this was > done purposely because that telephone is in "a high-crime area". So > what am I supposed to do? Hit the streets in this "high-crime area" > to find a COCOT that will let me check my voice mail? And how many > crimes do you think the disabling of those touch-tone pads has averted? In Southwestern Bell territory, many telephones in such areas have been changed to rotary dial. Curiously, if you want to make a credit card call, you can dial the calling card number using the rotary dial, at least for intraLATA calls. The only case I've found where you can dial your calling card number with a rotary dial. Wes Leatherock wes.leatherock@hotelcal.com wes.leatherock@oubbs.telecom.uoknor.edu wes.leatherock@f2001.n147.z1.fidonet.org ------------------------------ From: slichte@cello.gina.calstate.edu (Steven Lichter) Subject: Re: War on Payphones Date: 6 Sep 1995 23:57:30 -0700 Organization: GINA and CORE+ Services of The California State University I sure don't know where they come up with the idea that shunting the pad after connect will help fight crime. For less then $20.00 you can get a portable Touch Tone generator about the size of a small calculator and for a little more one with lots of memory. I'm sure the drug dealers have the best. I was forced to get one because of the COT's. The above are my ideas and have nothing to do with whoever my employer is. SysOp Apple Elite II and OggNet Hub (909)359-5338 2400/14.4 24 hours, Home of GBBS/LLUCE Support for the Apple II. slichte@cello.gina.calstate.edu ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 6 Sep 1995 19:52:32 -0700 From: henry@q.com (henry mensch) Subject: Re: War on Payphones > I called the telco to complain and they explained to me that this was > done purposely because that telephone is in "a high-crime area". So > what am I supposed to do? Hit the streets in this "high-crime area" to > find a COCOT that will let me check my voice mail? And how many crimes > do you think the disabling of those touch-tone pads has averted? Gee ... if this is a high-crime area, how am I supposed to call 911? # henry mensch / / pob 14592; sf, ca 94114-0592; usa # http://www.q.com/henry/ [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Uh, no backtalk from you please! Let's not have any consistency here; it adds too many problems. If you were in Chicago, you could always go downtown to the Board of Trade Building and use their payphones; regardless of how much cocaine gets passed around in the men's restrooms there each day, no changes will ever be made in the way their payphones operate. Or you could go over and use the phones at the Cook County Criminal Courts Building, 26th and Cali- fornia Avenue. They stand in the hallways there -- right outside of 'Drug Court' mind you! -- and peddle their wares, and the payphones there -- although not in the jail next door -- are still working fine. I guess it all depends on who you know; hasn't it always been that way? PAT] ------------------------------ From: gdw@fozzie.wh.att.com (-gordon.d.woods) Subject: Re: War on Payphones Organization: AT&T Date: Thu, 7 Sep 1995 15:37:41 GMT In article , Dave Levenson wrote: > In Boonton Township, New Jersey, a new municipal ordinance advances > courageously in the ongoing battle. Under this ordinance, all outdoor > payphones must be removed by October 1, 1995. Bell Atlantic and > [TELEOCM Digest Editor's Note: If ignorance was bliss, some Chicago > aldermen would be the happiest people in the world. We have some snip, snip... > anywhere. PAT] But Boonton is a nice town! [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: How many the City Fathers there have been sent to the penetentiary in the past couple decades? In the past twenty years or so, we have had *48* aldermen, judges, commissioners, etc sent up the river. The most recent of course to be convicted was Congressman Reynolds on the sex charges. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Stan Schwartz Subject: Re: War on Payphones Date: Thu, 7 Sep 1995 19:17:31 -0400 SBBS@SBBS.NET wrote: > Ameritech has recently changed all of its payphones to no longer allow > customers to call pager/voice mail boxes for FREE anymore. It now > requires a 35 cent deposit. Ameritech did this with no forewarning what- > soever, even to the resellers to re-sell the pager products. You had it pretty good for some time and now you're just coming into line with the rest of us. In NYNEX/NY land and BellSouth/NC, calling into the CO-based e-mail service is a local call, and charged as such. If you're at a payphone, then it's whatever the cost of the call would be regardless of whether you were calling a pager, voice mail, or your mother. For these kinds of calls, I use a TotalTel card, which has some very competitive rates. What annoys me more, though, is that the City of Charlotte has genuine-Bell- looking COCOTs imbedded into the city bus shelters along Tryon Street (the main drag through town). They have red inserts boasting .25/minute to call anywhere in the USA. However, they also charge .25 for an 800 call. When I dialed 211 to ask if this was a mistake, the representative (who had probably heard this question more than once before) told me that the North Carolina commission that controls such things approved this charge in December 1993. I scurried into an office building that had a BellSouth payphone to make my call. Geez, what a hassle! Stan ------------------------------ From: bob@bci.nbn.com (Bob Schwartz) Subject: Pay Phones in Poor Neighborhoods Date: Wed, 06 Sep 1995 09:32:56 -0800 Organization: BCI Pat, It occured to me that pay phones could be getting removed from poor neighborhoods in order to stimulate the new instalation of LIFELINE service! Wasn't there some dialogue about the low penetration of Service to poor, minority, and immigrant neighborhoods late last year? I believe that regulators decreed something *encouraging* LECs to promote Lifeline service in such areas. Regards, *BOB* [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Could be, but Lifeline service is not a big profit center. IBT had to be 'encouraged' by the Illinois Commerce Commission before they would do much with it. Seems like a hard way to earn a profit if you ask me. You could be right though. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 7 Sep 1995 11:04:02 -0400 From: Garrett A. Wollman Subject: Re: Boston Area Telephone Exchange Name History On Wed, 6 Sep 1995 22:46:07 -0400 (EDT), fybush@world.std.com (Scott D Fybush) said: >>BRIGHTON / ALLSTON > >> ALgonquin 4 Name origin unknown ALGonquin >> STadium 2 Harvard Stadium STAdium > 254 and 782 still exist...in fact I have a couple of 254 lines on my > office telephone. >> BROOKLINE >> BEacon 2 Beacon Street BEAcon >> ASpinwall 7 Aspinwall Avenue ASPinwall >> LOngwood 6 Longwood Avenue LONgwood >> REgent 4 Not a local name Created in 1950s > 232, 277, 566, and 734 are all still around. Interesting that the 27 in 277 did not stand for BRookline... (People in my part of Brighton are served out of the 277 exchange, which results in a continuing inability on the part of NYNEX to print my address correctly. Many people in my neighborhood probably consider this a good thing.) >> ELiot 4 Eliot Street ELIot >> KIrkland 7 Kirkland Street KIRkland >> Trowbridge 6 Trowbridge Street TROwbridge >> UNiversity 4 Harvard University UNIversity >> UNiversity 8 Harvard University UNIversity > 354, 547, 876, 864, and 868 are all still there, accompanied nowadays > by a slew of 49X exchanges, most belonging to Harvard, and several > MIT exchanges as well. There is also an extensive network of tie lines. My MIT phone system guide lists the following places I can call internally: American Academy of Arts & Sciences (3D) Bates Linear Accelerator (3D) Draper Labs (5D) Harvard (5D) Lincoln (4D) Mass. General (4D) [might be good for B&W now, too?] MASCO (5D) Mt. Auburn Hospital (4D) Tech Coop (3D) Wellesley (4D) Woods Hole (4D) >> MILTON / MATTAPAN >> BLuehills 8 Blue Hills Reservation Split in 1959 >> CUnningham 6 Cunningham Park Split in 1959 >> CYpress 6 Not a local name Mattapan customers prev. on CU6 >> CYpress 8 Not a local name Mattapan customers prev. on BL8 >> OXford 6 Not a local name Milton customers prev. on CU6 >> OXford 8 Not a local name Milton cistomers prev. on BL8 > The BL8 and CU6 exchanges both returned much later -- 258 as an MIT > exchange in Cambridge, 286 in Revere. 296/298 still serves Mattapan, > 696/698 still serves Milton. 258 is not exclusively MIT; Draper has numbers in the bottom half, and there may be others (One Kendall Square?). 253 and 258 are served out of the Bent St. CO in East Cambridge, which occasionally causes problems due to a bad trunk between Bent St. and Ware St. I occasionally get calls from people who should have dialed 8-xxxx rather than 3-xxxx. (Not to mention all the people who want to dial 369-94zz and forget to dial 9 first.) >> SOMERVILLE > >MOnument 6 Name origin unknown Replaced manual office in 1950's > >PRospect 6 Name origin unknown Replaced manual office in 1950's > 666 and 776 remain in existence, along with several newer exchanges. And, of course, the origin of the name PROspect should be fairly obvious to anyone who lives nearby as referring to Prospect Hill (the Somerville one, not the Waltham one!). Garrett A. Wollman wollman@lcs.mit.edu [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Regards forgetting to dial '9' ... in the early 1970's I was working at the Amoco/Diners Club credit card office when it was here in Chicago. All the phones were 312-856-xxxx. My extension was (if i remember correctly) 7262. I could set my watch by it: everyday at 11:30 AM, the start of the first lunch hour my phone would ring. I would answer to be greeted with someone on the other end saying '$%%@#' and hanging up. I finally found out it was some dimbo in the mail room trying to call the bar and grill on the first floor to put in their lunch take out order. The phone number down there? RAndolph-6-2-something. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #374 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa17452; 8 Sep 95 15:52 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id IAA27414 for telecomlist-outbound; Fri, 8 Sep 1995 08:06:34 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id IAA27406; Fri, 8 Sep 1995 08:06:32 -0500 Date: Fri, 8 Sep 1995 08:06:32 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Message-Id: <199509081306.IAA27406@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #375 TELECOM Digest Fri, 8 Sep 95 08:06:00 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 375 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Area Code Crisis -- A Different Viewpoint (Fred R. Goldstein) Re: Area Code Crisis -- A Different Viewpoint (Wes Leatherock) Re: Area Code Crisis -- A Different Viewpoint (Sam Spens Clason) Re: Area Code Crisis -- A Different Viewpoint (Dik Winter) UC Berkeley Short Courses on Broadband and Wireless Comm (Harvey Stern) Variable Length Phone Numbers (Christian Weisgerber) Excel Telecommunications Cited For Slamming (DLD Digest via Mike Troutman) Re: Names For That Key Under the 9 (Mark Brader) Re: Names For That Key Under the 9 (Paul O'Nolan) Re: Names For That Key Under the 9 (John R. Covert) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily represent the views of Microsoft. ------------------------------------------------------------ Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: fgoldstein@bbn.com (Fred R. Goldstein) Subject: Re: Area Code Crisis -- A Different Viewpoint Date: 6 Sep 1995 20:26:43 GMT Organization: Bolt Beranek & Newman Inc. In article , dmcmahon@edlgu4.ericsson.se says... With regard to variable-length numbers and why they work in Europe and not in the USA or Canada ... >> [I don't know, never having been there, but I would expect that even >> in Germany where DDI numbers can have a variable length inward dialing >> suffix, the PBX would know still when to initiate an immediate >> connection because this no-prefix policy also applies to extension >> numbers (eg no ordinary extension numbers start with a 0). Can anyone >> in +49 confirm or deny this?] > Not from here, but there are two ways this can work: > 1) Get a speech path to the PBX and then dial your additional digits; > or > 2) Define either fixed (with additional analysis) or variable (with > timeout) length numbers in *ALL* exchanges where the PBX could be > called from, and that's a lot op places ... Neither is the reality. In practice, the way variable-length numbers works is based upon the trunk signalling (two l's, British spelling) method used in Europe, which is different from the trunk signaling (one l, American spelling) in the USA. The European networks (pre-SS7) used compelled signaling (such as MF/R2), in which each digit is sent on an open trunk down to the next, and ack'd at the far end. When the far end has enough digits, it sends the appropriate signal and the call goes ahead. This had some obvous round-trip-delay issues, but was plenty fast for the old steppers that dominated Europe. (This is a stepper-friendly scheme.) The USA, on the other hand, implemented toll dialing in crossbars, which have digit registers that store dialed digits. Thus the trunk isn't selected until a three-digit (or six-digit with NPA) prefix is dialed, and the dialed number is sent en-bloc once all seven or ten digits (plus the 1 in some cases, but that wasn't actually part of the number) are collected. In the American system, the originating switch needs to know how many digits will be there. IDDD time-outs, of course, are a hack that were added because of this incompatibility. With SS7 (or ISDN), digits can still be sent en-bloc or "compelled", as required. Fred R. Goldstein k1io fgoldstein@bbn.com Bolt Beranek & Newman Inc., Cambridge MA USA +1 617 873 3850 Opinions are mine alone; sharing requires permission. ------------------------------ From: wes.leatherock@hotelcal.com (Wes Leatherock) Subject: Re: Area Code Crisis -- A Different Viewpoint Date: Thu, 7 Sep 1995 00:26:00 GMT martin@kurahaupo.gen.nz (Martin D Kealey) wrote: [ ... text deleted ... ] > What do you mean here? There is no NANP calling card format. I think you > are talking about LEC calling cards which (usually) mean NPA-NXX-XXXX YYYY > where YYYY is the PIN. It has nothing to do with carrier selection; in > fact, the call will be placed over the carrier that that particular phone is > presubscribed to (unless that carier doesn't accept LEC cars - unlikely). > Most IXC calling cards are not composed of a particular phone number, though > you can have the card number reflect your home number, since it is usually > possible to choose the number. This varies all over the place. Some IXCs typically *do* issue a calling card number that corresponds to your telephone number. I have had such cards from AT&T, MCI and Sprint, as well as my LEC, but also some which are non-conforming from the same IXCs. Calling cards are consistently used to make calls over carriers other than the one the calling phone is presubscribed to -- by dialing 10XXX+0+, or by dialing an 800 number. Sprint a year or two ago, and may still, have an arrangement to call using your Discover card. This is a different 800 number for this purpose, and you dial your Discover card number (16 digits) as your calling card number. Most carriers do accept calls on LEC cards or in that format, particularly carriers such as Oncor and other ones which charge excessive rates, since they have no other way to bill your call except through your LEC account. (Surely no one has an Oncor calling card[!].) Wes Leatherock wes.leatherock@hotelcal.com wes.leatherock@oubbs.telecom.uoknor.edu wes.leatherock@f2001.n147.z1.fidonet.org ------------------------------ From: sam@hotblack.nada.kth.se (Sam Spens Clason) Subject: Re: Area Code Crisis -- A Different Viewpoint Date: 7 Sep 1995 16:30:49 GMT In dmcmahon@edlgu4.ericsson.se (Denis McMahon) writes: > martin@kurahaupo.kurahaupo.gen.nz (Martin D Kealey) wrote: >> There is something to be said for having all national >> numbers of a uniform length to avoid other countries having >> to maintain digit-length tables, but this doesn't constrain >> length-variability of local numbers. > OK, but for every country any variable length national > numbers will invariably mean variable length international > ones as well. ie in the UK we have a mix of 10 and 11 digit > national numbers, and that means that +44 can be followed by > either 9 or 10 digits!! > This means that for calls to the UK, either the shorter > number length has to time out, or analysis has to be done at > the next digit - which is another ten lines of data to > maintain in every switch worldwide that supports > international dialing! In the good old days when calling grandma I'd dial 0175 (area code), wait for second dialtone and then dial her local number. Dialing 0175 actually connected me to her area code main exchange from where I then dialed her local number. This way my local or area code exchange needn't know anything about the numbering in 0175. Today there are some 300 AXE10 local and transport switches in Sweden. But there are only a few *gateway* switches. They'd be the only ones that need to deal with foreing numbering. Sam http://www.nada.kth.se/~sam, sam@nada.kth.se, +46 701234567 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 8 Sep 1995 02:06:52 +0200 From: Dik.Winter@cwi.nl Subject: Re: Area Code Crisis -- A Different Viewpoint Steve Cogorno writes: > The main problem with variable length phone numbers is NOT technical > as you have pointed out; it is difficult for humans to use. It is > very confusing to not know how many digits to expect. Suppose you > have a form that someone has filled out and there are only six digits. > Does this mean that the number is incomplete, or is it actually > correct? As variable length is/was just about the norm in Europe I can attest that it was not confusing. In the Netherlands the norm was that the first digit of the subscriber number told the number of digits. When expansion was needed some numbers got an additional first digit, again based on the original first number. So the (actual) number in Amsterdam 59121 was changed to 359121 and later to 6395121. The intercept is easy to understand: "The number has been changed, dial now first the digit 3 followed by the old number". What is the intercept after the grace period when you dial a number by its old area code in the US? The argument about forms is bogus. There are many cases where the number of figures is not fixed in something you can fill out in a form. When in the UK something fills in his car registration number as "V 5", would somebody wonder whether it was incomplete or actually correct? (Yes, that number does exist; I have seen it.) When somebody fills in his Dutch giro-account as 4832 does this mean the number is incomplete, or actually correct? (Again, that number does exist together with 5, 6 and 7 digit numbers. Probably also numbers with less digits.) Variable length phone numbers appear to be confusing to those not used to it; that does not mean it is generally confusing! dik t. winter, cwi, kruislaan 413, 1098 sj amsterdam, nederland, +31205924098 home: bovenover 215, 1025 jn amsterdam, nederland; e-mail: dik@cwi.nl ------------------------------ From: southbay@garnet.berkeley.edu Subject: UC Berkeley Short Courses on Broadband and Wireless Comm. Date: 7 Sep 1995 18:51:03 GMT Organization: University of California, Berkeley U.C. Berkeley Continuing Education in Engineering Announces 4 Short Courses on Broadband Communications, Wireless Networks SONET/ATM-BASED BROADBAND NETWORKS: Systems, Architectures and Designs (November 29-December1, 1995) It is widely accepted that future broadband networks will be based on the SONET (Synchronous Optical Network) standards and the ATM (Asynchronous transfer Mode) technique. This course is an in-depth examination of the fundamental concepts and the implementation issues for development of future high-speed networks. Topics include: Broadband ISDN Transfer Protocol, high speed computer/network interface (HiPPI), ATM switch architectures, ATM network congestion/flow control, VLSI designs in SONET/ATM networks. This course is intended for engineers who are currently active or anticipate future involvement in this field. Lecturer: H. Jonathan Chao, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Brooklyn Polytechnic University. Dr. Chao holds more than a dozen patents and has authored over 40 technical publications in the areas of ATM switches, high-speed computer communications, and congestion/flow control in ATM networks. MODERN TELECOMMUNICATIONS: Wide Area Networks, Personal Communication Systems, Network Management and Control, and Multimedia Applications (November 2-3, 1995) This course is designed as a gentle but comprehensive overview of telecommunications including current status and future directions. This course traces the evolution of telecommunications, starting from its voice roots and progressing through local, metropolitan, and wide area networks, narrowband ISDN, asynchronous transfer mode, broadband ISDN, satellite systems, optical communications, cellular radio, personal communication systems, all-optical networks, and multimedia services. Lecturer: Anthony S. Acampora, Ph.D., Professor, Electrical Engineering, Columbia University. He is Director, Center for Telecommunications Research. He became a professor following a 20 year career at AT&T Bell Laboratories, is an IEEE Fellow, and is a former member of the IEEE Communications Society Board of Governors. NETWORKS FOR DIGITAL WIRELESS ACCESS: Cellular, Voice, Data, Packet, and Personal Communication Systems (November 8-10, 1995) This comprehensive course is focused on the principles, technologies, system architectures, standards, and market forces driving wireless access. At the core of this course are the cellular/microcellular/ frequency reuse concepts needed to enable adequate wireless access capacity for Personal Communication Services (PCS). Presented are both the physical-level issues associated with wireless access and the network-level issues arising from the inherent mobility of the subscriber. Standards are fully treated including GSM (TDMA), IS-54 (North American TDMA), IS-95 (CDMA), CT2, DCT 900/CT3, IEEE 802.11, DCS 1800, and Iridium. Emerging concepts for wireless ATM are also developed. This course is intended for engineers who are currently active or anticipate future involvement in this field. Lecturer: Anthony S. Acampora, Ph.D., Professor, Electrical Engineering, Columbia University. He is Director, Center for Telecommunications Research. He became a professor following a 20 year career at AT&T Bell Laboratories, is an IEEE Fellow, and is a former member of the IEEE Communications Society Board of Governors. ATM DATA COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS: Internetworking, Signaling and Network Management (November 27-28, 1995) This short course examines the key issues involved in designing and implementing high-performance local and wide area networks. Topics include: technology drivers, data protocols, signaling, network management, internetworking and applications. Lecturer: William E. Stephens, Ph.D., is the Head of the Wireless and ATM Networking Group at the David Sarnoff Research Center. Prior to this he was Director, High-Speed Switching and Storage Technology Group, Applied Research, Bellcore. Dr. Stephens has over 40 publications and one patent in the field of optical communications. He has served on several technical program committees, including IEEE GLOBECOM and the IEEE Electronic Components Technology Conference, and has served as Guest Editor for the IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications. For more information (complete course descriptions, outlines, instructor bios, etc.) send your postal address or fax to: Harvey Stern or Loretta Lindley U.C. Berkeley Extension/Southbay 800 El Camino Real Ste. 150 Menlo Park, CA 94025 Tel: (415) 323-8141 Fax: (415) 323-1438 email: southbay@garnet.berkeley.edu ------------------------------ From: naddy@mips.pfalz.de (Christian Weisgerber) Subject: Variable Length Phone Numbers Date: Thu, 7 Sep 1995 00:16:38 MET Recently, comp.dcom.telecom has seen some talk on the viability of variable length phone numbers within a country (or any specific network, for that matter). Many posters, especially those from North America, insist on their belief that phone numbers have to be of constant length, otherwise one must have timeouts etc. First, let me state that I see *no reason whatsoever* why there can't be variable length phone numbers or why a switch would have to know the total length of the number. If you think there is a need for such restrictions, please explain why you think so. Your reasons are not obvious. I would also like to point out that in Germany, where I live, telephone numbers vary in length, in fact my voice number is +49.621.5870460 and my modem number is +49.621.583214, area codes vary in length (2..5 digits), we have DID numbers of different lengths, and all of this without any kludges like second dial tones, timeouts, etc. Claiming that this is impossible is ridiculous in face of the facts. What is a phone number? For the most part, a phone number is a *route* through the network. The last few digits are a unique ID that maps onto a particular line in the destination switch. (Whether the destination switch is a telco CO or a PBX does not matter.) What must a switch do during call set-up? It receives dialing information (single or multiple digits) from an inbound trunk (or from the line card, if it is the caller's switch), and, after collecting enough of these, selects an outbound trunk. Further dialing info it receives is passed on to the switch on the outbound trunk. Note that no trunk line has to be actually connected yet. The destination switch collects dialing info until a line that it serves is identified, then it initiates a ring signal. Information about this is passed back the chain of switches to the caller's switch which locally feeds a "remote is ringing" signal. When the called line answers, again information is passed back to the caller's switch, and now the speech circuit is actually activated along the switch chain. Of course the above is somewhat simplified, but it is the principle a call set-up works by. In the ISDN age, the switches communicate using SS7 or, in the case of ISDN BR and PRIs, both of which can be used to connect PBXes by the way, the D channel protocol preferred in your part of the world. This system works with SS7/ISDN. It also worked with the prior German phone technology, purely electro-mechanical switches. (That's relays, levers, etc. No transistorized technology whatsoever.) With that technology speech circuits were connected through to the next switch already during dialing, though. So, you want to give me a call? Okay, you dial +49 or within Germany 0. Now you're on the long distance level of the German Telekom network. You dial selects - <6> South western Germany. - 6<2> The Ludwigshafen/Mannheim area. - 62<1> The cities of Ludwigshafen and Mannheim themselves. - 621 <5> Ludwigshafen. - 621 5<8> The particular part of Ludwigshafen I live in. - 621 58<70460> That's my line. My phone is ringing! (Actually, the final 0 helps selecting a particular device on my ISDN line.) When I answer the phone, the call circuit will be established and voila! Easy, isn't it? Christian 'naddy' Weisgerber naddy@mips.pfalz.de See another pointless homepage at . ------------------------------ From: Mike Troutman Subject: Excel Telecommunications Cited For Slamming Date: 8 Sep 1995 13:38:36 GMT Organization: Wheat WASHINGTON, D.C. -- EXCEL TELECOMMUNICATIONS, INC. Is apparently liable for a forfeiture of $80,000 in slamming cases (switching a person's primary long distance carrier without their prior authorization). Common Carrier Action by the F.C.C. August 18 by NAL (Notice of Apparent Liability) (DA 95-1833). According to Anna M. Gomez, a spokesperson for the F.C.C., "apparently solid facts", have been brought to the F.C.C.'s attention concerning two specific slamming incidents. The complainants Mr. Bruce Adelman of Los Angeles, CA and Mrs. Robert J. Blake of Altadena, CA both had their long distance services wrongfully switched to Excel through the use of both forged signatures AND forged social security numbers. To see if there was a trend here, Discount Long Distance Digest also checked with the California State Public Utilities Commission to investigate whether Excel has slamming complaints pending against them on a state level. According to Marko Valente, Manager of Consumer Affairs at the CPUC, Excel has had approximately 10 informal slamming complaints (24 total) made against them by California residents during 1995. None have resulted in more serious 'formal' complaints. The figures seem to be at, or even below, the average level for a long distance provider. Chris Dance, VP of Legal Affairs at Excel stated, "It is the first penalty ever implied upon Excel by the F.C.C. The 'slams' in question were committed by certain independent contractors of Excel, and Excel intends to pursue and prosecute the independent sales representatives involved in order to recover these amounts". Dance also stated that Excel will file a petition for reconsideration with the F.C.C. within the week. Excel currently has approximately 300,000 independent sales representatives. [Ed: Uh ... make that 299,998 independent sales agents!] ------------------------------ From: msb@sq.com (Mark Braderc) Subject: Re: Names For That Key Under the 9 Organization: SoftQuad Inc., Toronto, Canada Date: Thu, 7 Sep 1995 21:27:11 GMT > Anyone add to this list? Square. > (2) what is the derivation for the term "pound key", since the symbol on > telephones bears no similarity to that used for British currency. One use for the symbol is pounds weight, as in non-metric measure. In my experience (in Canada, with heavy exposure to US writing) this is much rarer than its use as a number sign. > I would hazard to guess that the answer to this derives from confusion > over the standard computer character set used in the UK, which differs > from ASCII by only one character... No; either that's a coincidence or else someone thought it was a good idea to make the substitution in the position of a symbol sometimes called by a similar name. The use for pounds weight is much older than ASCII. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: We covered this in excruciating, exhaustive > detail here once before ...] Yes, and all of it anecdotal. I say let it die, unless this time we can actually hear from someone with *evidence*. Mark Brader msb@sq.com SoftQuad Inc., Toronto ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 08 Sep 95 01:15:08 PDT From: Paul O'Nolan Subject: Re: Names For That Key Under the 9 > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: We covered this in excruciating, exhaustive > detail here once before, but I don't fault you if you can't remember it, > since it was several years ago. Volume 8, issue 190 of this Digest, dated > December 1, 1988 was devoted entirely to theories about the naming of #. > This followed an inquiry just like yours in mid-November of that year, and > a number of reply messages which ran from then through the end of the month > and culminated in the special issue of December 1. > And no, I am not like Ann Slanders or her sister Scabby Van Buren. I do > not re-run letters I got years ago on days when the mail is a little light, > which it never is around here anyway. Mr. Kealey did write and ask the > question just recently. Anyone interested in 'How the Octothorpe Got its > Name' as that issue was called, can pull it from the Archives. Look in the > dusty old volume 8 stuff. Maybe I *should* re-run it. Opinions? PAT] Rerun it! [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Okay I will, following this issue of the Digest. Thus far the mail responses are running heavily in favor of seeing it again. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 8 Sep 95 08:50:54 EDT From: John R. Covert Subject: Re: Names For That Key Under the 9 martin@kurahaupo.gen.nz (Martin D Kealey) asks: > what is the derivation for the term "pound key", since the symbol on > telephones bears no similarity to that used for British currency. Neither does the name for the key. "#" is the "pound sign" commonly used in Civil and Mechanical Engineering to represent pounds of weight or force. john ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #375 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa01470; 12 Sep 95 23:23 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id OAA17527 for telecomlist-outbound; Tue, 12 Sep 1995 14:20:07 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id OAA17519; Tue, 12 Sep 1995 14:20:05 -0500 Date: Tue, 12 Sep 1995 14:20:05 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Message-Id: <199509121920.OAA17519@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #376 TELECOM Digest Tue, 12 Sep 95 14:20:00 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 376 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson FCC Warning on International Dial-a-Porn (Bob Keller) Cell One/NY Discontinues ATT 500 Service When ATT Takes Over! (Doug Reuben) Book Review: "MH & xmh: Email for Users and Programmers" (Rob Slade) Writers Wanted For PCSense Magazine (Roy Chartier) Bell Canada Calling Cards in the USA (Terry Flanagan) A Very Taxing Situation: TAX-1040 (Washington Post via Carl Moore) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily represent the views of Microsoft. ------------------------------------------------------------ Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 8 Sep 1995 18:20:20 -0400 From: Bob Keller Subject: FCC Warning on International Dial-a-Porn Here is the text of a recent FCC Consumer Alert regarding international dial-a-porn: FCC CONSUMER ALERT Office of Public Affairs Public Service Division Federal Communications Commission 1919 M Street NW Washington, D.C., 20554 202-418-0200/TT 202-418-2555 International Dial-a-Porn August 1995 Q. What is meant by "International Dial-a-Porn?" A. The term "International Dial-a-Porn" refers to indecent or obscene, recorded or live, conversations that are offered over the telephone on a commercial basis by information providers located in foreign countries. International Dial-a-Porn is one of a growing number of "information services." Other types of international information services include horoscopes, "psychic hotlines," work-at-home schemes and chat groups. The charges for such services appear on the customers' monthly local telephone bill as international long distance calls. There has been an increase in the number of such international calls, stemming in part to Congressional regulations tightening up on abuses in these services in the United States. Due to consumer complaints about fraudulent billing and the unauthorized use of their telephones to place such calls, Congress, in 1992, restricted the ability of information-service providers to use domestic pay-per-call ("900" or "976") telephone numbers in the provision of their services. As a result, many providers of such services moved their operations to points outside the United States. Q. Why is International Dial-a-Porn a problem? A. Because the blocks applied to prevent the use of domestic 900 and 976 calls for information services do not block international long distance calls, minors and other unauthorized users can use a subscriber's telephone line for access to an International Dial-a-Porn or other information service without the subscriber's knowledge or permission. Furthermore, because the charges for international information services are simply added to a telephone subscriber's bill, without a prior credit arrangement, and because they are based on substantial per-minute charges that are generally not disclosed in advance, a telephone subscriber can receive a bill for calls to information services that is unexpectedly large. Q. Are 800 telephone numbers used for access to international Dial-a-Porn services? A. Because calls to 800 numbers are widely understood by telephone users to be toll free, it is a violation of federal law for providers of Dial-a-Porn or other information services to offer service over an 800 number and then to charge a caller for service (unless the provider has entered into a prior arrangement with the caller to bill him or her separately for the service or to charge the service to the caller's credit card). An information provider is allowed to use 800 numbers to advertise its services. It is also allowed to advertise an 800 number and, when a caller dials the 800 number, direct the caller to hang up and place an international call that will be billed at international per-minute rates. Telephone subscribers should, when calling information services, beware of an unlawful practice engaged in by some information-service providers. That is, when a caller dials an advertised 800 number, the information-service provider will direct the customer, without hanging up, to dial additional numbers, often described as an "access code." Dialing such numbers often converts the call into an international, direct-dial long distance call that will be billed at relatively high international rates. Q. How do I recognize an international telephone number? A. It's not always easy to tell. Most international telephone numbers are preceded by the numbers 011. Telephone numbers in Canada and the Caribbean region, however, have area codes that make them look like U.S. telephone numbers. For example, calls to British Columbia, Canada start with the area code 604 and calls to the Caribbean begin with area code 809. Moreover, advertisements for Dial-a-Porn and other information services sometimes direct customers to dial a string of numbers that contains the 011 international call designator, disguised so as to hide the fact that the call is in fact an international call. For example, the number in the advertisement might be 1-0xxx-011-xx-xx- xxx-xxxx (where x is any digit). In this example, the first five digits,1-0xxx, are the access code of a U.S. international carrier and the 011 is the prefix to an international telephone number. Similarly, as more fully explained in the previous question, the use of an 800 telephone number to arrange access to an international Dial-a-Porn service could mislead customers into thinking that they are dialing a domestic telephone number. If you are unfamiliar with an area code advertised, we suggest that you look it up in your telephone book or ask a telephone operator whether the telephone number is an international one. Q. What should I do if I disagree with a telephone bill listing charges to international Dial-a-Porn numbers? A. You should first try to resolve your complaint with the local telephone company on whose bill the charge appears. In some cases, however, your local telephone company may refer you directly to the long distance company or to the company that provided the Dial-a-Porn or other information service. This is because the local company merely acts as a billing agent for the long distance company or the information-service provider and does not resolve their billing disputes. All of the major U.S. local telephone companies have agreed to work with subscribers, long distance companies and information-service providers during the first billing cycle (that is, the first billing period for which information-service charges appear on the local bill) to resolve subscriber complaints that they did not make the calls or that the calls were not authorized. They will seek to ensure that the Dial-a-Porn provider, rather than the subscriber, bears the cost of the disputed calls. Be aware, however, that not every local telephone company has agreed to this policy. If your local telephone company does not agree to participate, your refusal to pay disputed charges could result in its terminating your telephone service. If you are unable to persuade one of these companies to adjust the charges, and you feel that such refusal was unreasonable, you can file a written complaint with the FCC. Although the FCC cannot adjust your telephone bill, the FCC will investigate your complaint and determine whether any of the companies have violated the Communications Act or FCC regulations and whether to initiate an enforcement action. To file a complaint, simply send a letter describing your complaint, in your own words, to: Federal Communications Commission Common Carrier Bureau Informal Complaints and Inquiries Branch Enforcement Division Stop Code 1600A2 Washington, D.C. 20554 Your complaint letter should include your name and address, the telephone number or numbers involved with your complaint, the telephone number where you can be reached during the business day, the names of all companies involved with your complaint, and a copy of the bill(s) listing the charges that you are disputing. It will expedite processing of your complaint if you circle on the copy of the bill(s) all call charges that you are disputing. Q. What should I do if I believe that an advertisement for an international Dial- a-Porn or other information service was false or deceptive? A. The Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") is responsible for preventing the distribution of false or deceptive advertisements in consumer products. If you feel that a company's advertisement was false or misleading, you should call your regional FTC office or write to: Federal Trade Commission Correspondence Branch Washington, D.C. 20580 While the FTC does not resolve individual disputes, your comments help in its law enforcement efforts. Additionally, you may wish to contact your state's consumer protection office, the consumer-protection division of your state's Attorney- General's office, or the office of your local District Attorney. You also may wish to contact the National Fraud Information Center at 1-800-876-7060. The National Fraud Information Center is a private, non-profit national consumer organization that will report your complaints to the appropriate federal or state governmental agency. Q. What can consumers do to protect against unauthorized access by minors to International Dial-a-Porn services? A. As a first step, you can, of course, instruct your children to refrain from making calls to International Dial-a-Porn or other information services that encourage long, expensive telephone calls. At present there is no way selectively to block the use of your telephone from being used to call International Dial-a-Porn or other international information services. You can, however, request your presubscribed long distance telephone company to block your telephone line so that it cannot be used to make calls directly to any international telephone number. Your presubscribed long distance company should generally make blocking of international calls available at no charge, but you should be aware that such a block will affect only international calls made using that presubscribed long distance company. It is possible for you or someone using your telephone to evade a blanket international call block by dialing the access code for one of the U.S. international long distance telephone companies and then using that company to dial the international telephone number. Q. What steps is the Commission taking to prevent unauthorized minors and other users from gaining access to international Dial-a-Porn or other information services? A. The FCC cannot prevent unauthorized use of a subscriber's telephone. It is the responsibility of telephone subscribers to control access to their own telephones. The FCC, however, has taken actions to deal with abuses by providers of international Dial-a-Porn. As a result of the recent increase in complaints about abuses by international Dial-a-Porn providers, the FCC is taking several steps to protect telephone subscribers who have been billed for international Dial-a-Porn calls they did not authorize. First, the FCC is working with local, long distance and foreign telephone companies to put in place procedures to resolve consumer billing disputes promptly and fairly. The FCC also has adopted rules to ensure that telephone companies comply with federal law in this area and will vigorously enforce them. Second, the FCC is writing to foreign countries that attract the highest number of Dial-a-Porn calls from the United States to ask for assistance in addressing abuses committed by providers located within their countries. Third, the FCC is educating consumers about international Dial-a-Porn and other information services so that they can take steps to prevent unauthorized use of their telephones by minors or others to gain access to such services. The FCC has also asked U.S. local and long distance telephone companies to do the same for their customers. - FCC - Bob Keller (KY3R) mailto:rjk@telcomlaw.com Law Office of Robert J. Keller, P.C. http://www.his.com/~rjk Federal Telecommunications Law Telephone 202.416.1670 ------------------------------ From: dreuben@interpage.net (Doug Reuben) Subject: Cell One/NY Discontinues ATT 500 Service When ATT Takes Over! Date: Tue, 12 Sep 1995 05:29:46 EDT After recently abandoning the widely recognized "Cellular One" name and calling themselves "AT&T Wireless Services", Cell One/NY completed a number of dialing procedure changes which currently do not allow anyone on the CO/NY (00025) system to place 0-500 calls to AT&T's 500 service. ("B" Side NYNEX customers have no problem in completing 0-500 calls.) When AT&T introduced 500 service, most of the McCaw properties immediately accepted 0-500 calls, and in some cases, since AT&T *wisely* chose not to supervise (start "billing", sort of) 0-500 calls until the called party answered, no airtime charges where incurred. This had a number of benefits: -Those who called me on my 500 number from their carphones would NOT have to pay any airtime charges if I did not answer. Most 0+ calls on AT&T, including the older 0-700 service, DO immediately supervise, and thus, even if you never get connected to anyone, you pay an airtime charge. It is precisely because of this that I never use my AT&T card from my cellphone, and why I dropped my 700 number. (And let's not hear how "correct" this is or why we should all be billed airtime for calls to the AT&T "bong" tone; almost every other LD co's calling card service does NOT supervise until the called party answers. If AT&T doesn't want to help lower my airtime charges, why should I use their overpriced calling card service at $1 per shot when there are 17.5 cent per minute, 6-second billing, no surcharge calling cards out there which do NOT supervise until the call is answered?) -I could program my 500 number from my carphone for no charge, thus directing calls to my cellphone when I was in the car, and making it more likely that someone would call me. CO/NY benefited from this as my airtime usage went up as I was able to be easily reachable by the single number - my 500 number - that many people try to reach me on. As a result of "AT&T Wireless'" dialing changes, it seems that there is no way to dial 0-500 calls, and thus AT&T's 500 service is becomming increasingly useless. I contacted CO/NY, and they have been much less responsive on this issue than they normally are on others. This may be attributed to their lack of knowledge regarding the 500 service, but they even told me that OTHER CO/NY customers have been complaining about no longer being able to access AT&T's 500 service, and so far, nothing has been done, and they do not seem to consider it to even be a problem. It seems in many ways indicative of how AT&T's "right hand" doesn't know what it's "left hand" is doing. The premier McCaw/AT&T Wireless market on the eastern seaboard, which USED to readily accept 0-500 calls, for some reason, after the "conversion" to "AT&T Wireless", can no longer accept calls to AT&T's primary personal number service. This pathetic illustration of how a service *specifically* dsesigned for a highly mobile and telecom-literate subscriber base is not only unsupported, but also unavailable, is telling of the (seemingly poor) state of affairs at AT&T these days, and an issue which they should rapidly remedy. The mere fact that 0-500 dialing worked BEFORE they assumed control of CO/NY, and that right after they did 0-500 dialing stopped simply adds insult to injury. I hope that CO/NY's unresponsiveness in this situation is constrained to this instant case, and that in general, the AT&T takeover did not in any way reduce their spirit of service and responsiveness which has resulted in some (generally) positive posts by myself and other Digest readers in the past. If any other CO/NY subscribers or roamers on CO/NY's system have experienced similar difficlties, please let me know. Doug Reuben * dreuben@interpage.net * +1 (203) 499 - 5221 Interpage Network Services -- http://www.interpage.net, telnet interpage.net E-Mail Alpha/Numeric Local/Nationwide Paging, LinkAlert, EMail <-> Fax Svcs ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 11 Sep 1995 12:51:23 EST From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "MH & xmh: Email for Users and Programmers" by Peek BKMH_XMH.RVW 950803 "MH & xmh: Email for Users & Programmers", Peek, 1995, 1-56592-093-7, U$34.95 %A Jerry Peek %C 103 Morris Street, Suite A Sebastopol, CA 95472 %D 1995 %G 1-56592-093-7 %I O'Reilly & Associates, Inc. %O U$34.95 800-528-9994 800-998-9938 707-829-0515 fax: 707-829-0104 %O nuts@ora.com rick.brown@onlinesys.com %P 738 %T "MH & xmh: Email for Users & Programmers" Other than being terse, the UNIX mail command is not very UNIX-like. It combines a large number of functions into one program and, while it is possible to shell out between operations, the ability to perform specific tasks relies upon lengthy command line switch sequences, rather than being the default. MH is much more akin to the UNIX culture, with a variety of logical commands for specific operations which can be combined, as necessary, into shell script or programming routines. Thus, it would be understandable to see MH as, primarily, a programmer's toolkit. With the explosion in UNIX-based Internet providers, the MH commands would provide quick tie-ins to BBS front-end menus, or even such ambitious tasks as a fully tutorial, but fully functional, email "lesson". The perception of MH as only a development tool would, however, be unfortunate. As Peek's book very clearly shows, MH is fully viable alongside mail, though probably more demanding than elm or PINE. The tutorial section manages to give a clear picture of a basic mail system, in very short order. Peek has done an admirable job with this book. It manages to be not only a tutorial, but a solid technical reference as well. The material is approachable without ever becoming sappy; accurate without being pedantic; and, complete without being verbose. The content is *very* thoughtful: at one point a command is given which would invoke an editor, and the editor's exit command is given for those who might be unfamiliar with it. The UNIX system is assumed but knowledge is not, and any rational reader would be able to understand this work in full. This third edition adds material on MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) and multimedia. This book is recommended for those developing mail "front ends", for UNIX users wanting another (very functional) mail operation, or for technical writers wanting an excellent example of documentation. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1994, 1995 BKMH_XMH.RVW 950803. Distribution permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated publications. Rob Slade's book reviews are a regular feature in the Digest. ROBERTS@decus.ca, RSlade@sfu.ca, Rob Slade at 1:153/733 RSlade@cyberstore.ca Author "Robert Slade's Guide to Computer Viruses" 0-387-94311-0/3-540-94311-0 ------------------------------ From: ubik@sonetis.com (Roy Chartier) Subject: Writers Wanted For PCSense Magazine Date: 11 Sep 1995 09:43:09 GMT Organization: UBIK Graphic Design, Ottawa Canada PCSense Magazine is looking for writers. Writers wanted for articles and possibly a regular column to discuss topics relevant in this newsgroup. A technology background, strong writing skills and a strong knowledge of this field is required. If interested, please e-mail your resume and one writing sample in text format to the email address listed in the above header. Deadline for submissions is midnight, September 24th. Thank you for your interest. Roy Chartier Editor-in-Chief, PCSense Magazine ------------------------------ From: Terry Flanagan Subject: Bell Canada Calling Cards in the USA Organization: Bell Canada Date: Tue, 12 Sep 1995 15:03:51 GMT A recent post to this newsgroup stated that Bell Canada Calling Cards will not be validated by AT&T for calls to Canada from the US. This is not true. From most locations in the United States customers can reach Canada by dialing 302 plus the number they want to reach. In recent times, calling long distance from the US has been complicated by the many small telephone companies springing up in many states. Many of these smaller companies do not accept the Bell Canada Calling Card. Due to this, Bell has now instituted Canada Direct from the US. By dialing 1-800-555-1111 in circumstances such as this customers will be able to use their Bell Canada Calling Card to place their calls. There is no service charge for using Canada Direct. Calls are charged at Canadian rates on customers' Bell Canada Calling Card. Canada Direct can be accessed from most home, office or pay phones and, because the service is offered toll free to hotels internationally, expensive hotel surcharges can be avoided. We just wanted to set the record straight. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Sep 95 9:54:01 EDT From: Carl Moore Subject: A Very Taxing Situation: TAX-1040 8 April 1995 {Washington Post}, page H5 column 3 had this: IRS has toll-free number 1-800-TAX-1040, and some people in Washington DC have been misinterpreting the instruction (provided in the income-tax return booklet) "Do not dial 1-800 when dialing a local number." Specifically, they have been omitting the 1-800; this reaches 202-TAX-1040, which is being used by a tax service NOT AFFILIATED WITH I.R.S., and its owner was being driven crazy by such misdirected calls. The IRS, according to the article, insists its instruction is clear. The article does not say this, but 202-TAX-1040 is not being reached in this manner from Maryland and Virginia suburbs, because they have to use area code 202 to call DC even though it is local. I looked in an income-tax return booklet myself. I remembered (correctly) that the local numbers given for the IRS are given without an area code. For the Chicago area, it gives a seven digit number for Chicago and "1-312" plus the same number for the suburbs. What is the problem with this: Print all local numbers with an area code. Is there a problem with people figuring out it is a local call for them? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The 'local' IRS number here in the Chicago area is 312-435-1040. The reason I say 'local' in this way is because I called it once and the person who I spoke with was located in Kansas City, which is where tax documents for this area are processed. She said that yes, there were IRS people in Chicago, but 'sometimes we take calls here also from that area.' Most of 312-435 -- all of it for quite a few years -- was devoted to the Federal Court in Chicago. Although located on the upper floors of the federal building here (where most phones are 312-353), the courts always had their own centrex on 312-435. And yes Carl, there is a problem for some people figuring out anything where phones are concerned. Just a couple days ago I heard yet another ignorant raving by someone on a radio talk show claiming that the new area code for our region (847) effective in January is 'just a plot by telco' to decrease the local toll-free calling area and increase the number of 'long distance calls' people have to make. I mean, they could have discussed the affect this will have on switchboards that are programmed incorrectly and the problems people may have getting through to one of the newer and unfamiliar area codes, but instead they were on that other tired, worn-out tangent. And now we have been advised that the deep-pockets on LaSalle Street downtown will not tolerate any new area codes for themselves. I reported here recently that the inner-city itself was to have the new area code 773 while outlying areas of the city would retain 312. But oh no ... it would be too much of an imposition to ask the Board of Trade, First National Bank, the Federal Reserve and the downtown department stores to change their code, so the other two million nine hundred thousand residents of Chicago will have to change theirs instead. They will get 773, so that American Express, et al don't have to risk getting any wrong numbers or possibly not getting calls intended for them. What makes this get really kinky, telephonically speaking, is that while on the south end of 'downtown' there is a fairly even breaking point from one central office to the next and you can more or less cross from one side of the street to the other and be in different area codes if you wish, the north side offices affected by the 312/773 split are not carved up quite as nicely. The boundaries go up and down little side streets with 'fingers' of the downtown exchanges extending northward to Fullerton Avenue (2400 north) in a couple cases and only to North Avenue (1600 north) in other cases. Here and there it stops at the river when working westward, while other times stopping its westward outreach at Halsted Street (800 west). So like it or not, the folks on the near north side of Chicago will have an overlay arrangement between 312/773 by default; by virtue of the geography involved. They are already howling, and the cut is not due for more than a year. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #376 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa02076; 13 Sep 95 0:52 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id PAA20349 for telecomlist-outbound; Tue, 12 Sep 1995 15:58:13 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id PAA20336; Tue, 12 Sep 1995 15:58:09 -0500 Date: Tue, 12 Sep 1995 15:58:09 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Message-Id: <199509122058.PAA20336@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #377 TELECOM Digest Tue, 12 Sep 95 15:58:00 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 377 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson FCC Rules Against Carrier Kickbacks to ESPs (Michael D. Sullivan) An Idea for LECs to Communicate Area Code Splits (Richard Layman) # Means #; Number Means a Telephone Number (Mark J. Cuccia) OC-X to Modem at AOL (Stephen Balbach) Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers (Jan Ceuleers) Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers (db@barc.com) Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers (Linc Madison) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily represent the views of Microsoft. ------------------------------------------------------------ Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: mds@access.digex.net (Michael D. Sullivan) Subject: FCC Rules Against Carrier Kickbacks to ESPs Date: 12 Sep 1995 10:58:04 -0400 Organization: Wilkinson, Barker, Knauer & Quinn (Washington, DC, USA) The FCC staff issued a letter ruling on September 1 that ruled against a variety of techniques used by enhanced service providers to provide "services" such as international dial-a-porn and free BBS/internet access by means of kickbacks to the ESP and/or restricting access to the ESP to a single IXC. Here's the text of the ruling: -----------Text of FCC decision------------ Federal Communications Commission Washington, D.C. 20554 September 1, 1995 DA 95-1905 Ronald J. Marlowe, Esq. Cohen, Berke, Bernstein, Brodie, Kondell & Laszlo Terremark Centre 19th Floor 2601 South Bayshore Drive Miami, Florida 33133-5460 Dear Mr. Marlowe: This is in response to your informal request for a staff ruling regarding the legality of certain information and/or entertainment programs provided pursuant to tariffed rates for international communications services. Your inquiry is made on behalf of clients who apparently are interested in tariffing "international long distance services" for the transmission of information and/or entertainment programs. You present scenarios whereby calls to foreign destinations providing audio information programs would be transmitted through three different dialing sequences: (1) 10XXX + international number; (2) 1-500-NXX-XXXX; or (3) 1-700-NXX-XXXX. In each case, the calls would be transmitted by an entity authorized to provide international direct dialed telecommunications services pursuant to Section 214 of the Communications Act (the Act) at a tariffed rate. Calls to the international information programs would be billed to telephone subscribers at that tariffed rate as standard toll charges. No charges would be assessed by the information provider directly to the caller or subscriber. You ask whether the legality of the arrangement would be affected if: (1) the carrier remits a portion of the transport charge to the party advertising the destination number; or (2) the carrier remits a portion of the transport charge to the destination entity for providing the information. You also inquire whether the arrangement is lawful if steps are taken so that the destination number could not be accessed through any other carrier, and whether such calls may be billed on a separate page with consumer disclosures as non-deniable (so that disputes do not lead to disconnection of service). As explained below, the staff concludes that it is a violation of federal law for any entity to provide tariffed common carrier communications services in an arrangement -- whether domestic or international -- where charges are assessed for calls to information programs in the manner you describe and/or when the carrier blocks access to a number from other carriers. Common carriers engaged in such practices are not providing common carrier communications services in a just and reasonable manner as required by Section 201(b) of the Act, and are violating both the letter and spirit of Section 228 of the Act. Traditionally, information and entertainment programs have been provided to telephone subscribers at rates exceeding the tariffed transmission rates charged by the transmitting common carrier. Such interstate information services are regulated as "pay-per- call" services under the Telephone Disclosure and Dispute Resolution Act (TDDRA) (codified at Section 228 of the Act) and implementing regulations adopted by both this Commission and the Federal Trade Commission. Our rules require that all pay-per-call services must be provided on the 900 service access code. Common carriers involved in either transmitting and/or billing subscribers for pay-per-call services are subject to several statutory requirements intended to ensure that consumers are able to prevent access to or charges for unwanted information services. Specifically, the TDDRA requires carriers to offer telephone subscribers the option of blocking access to pay-per-call services and prohibits the disconnection of basic telecommunications services for failure to pay pay-per-call charges. While the statute establishes a comprehensive system for federal regulation of pay-per-call services, it specifically exempts from pay-per-call status "any service the charge for which is tariffed" and services offered pursuant to a "presubscription or comparable arrangement." In determining whether an entity licensed as a common carrier may lawfully provide service in the manner you describe, we note first that information programs should not be tariffed as common carrier services. Rather, common carriers may offer information programs only as non-tariffed "enhanced" services in accordance with Section 64.702 of the Commission's rules. Moreover, it is a basic and central principle of common carriage that a carrier may provide tariffed service only as an objective conduit of a customer's communication, without influence or control in determining either the content of the communication or the destination of a customer's calls within its authorized service area. See Amendment of Parts 2, 91, and 99 of the Commission's Rules Insofar as They Relate to the Industrial Radiolocation Service, Report and Order, 5 FCC 2d 197, 202 (1966). Through payments to an information provider or destination entity (other than standard settlement payments), a carrier would abandon objectivity and acquire a direct interest in promoting the delivery of calls to a particular number for the provision of a particular communication. This precept applies regardless of the particular dialing sequence used to place calls. Also, any carrier that is involved, either directly or indirectly, in blocking access to the called number by other carriers or in determining or influencing the content of the communications delivered through its network is not, we believe, offering a common carrier service. We recognize that long distance carriers lawfully assign numbers in limited circumstances and are the sole carrier to transport calls to such numbers. Restricting access to a particular telephone number that has been assigned for access by multiple carriers, however (or creating fictitious numbers), so that calls to that number can be completed only on one carrier's system is anticompetitive and an unjust and unreasonable practice, because that action deprives consumers of their right to use their preferred carrier. A carrier may lawfully provide service to information providers is only if it has absolutely no involvement or interest in the communications made through its network and does not engage in any action to encourage calls to a particular number or limit access to that number to callers using its transmission services. In summary, in the service scenarios you describe the carrier would appear to be providing an enhanced service, not a basic common carrier communications service. Accordingly, imposing tariffed charges for the service would be an unjust and unreasonable practice under Section 201(b) of the Act. This conclusion is reinforced by the implication that your clients apparently plan to deliver calls only to a limited group of people (information providers), rather than making their service available to call any number at competitive rates using standard communications operator and billing procedures. The services you describe are also unlawful under Section 228 of the Act and the Commission's implementing rules. It appears from your description of the proposed services that your clients desire to operate within the "tariffed service" exception to the definition of pay-per-call service, and thus evade the letter and spirit of those provisions and the important consumer safeguards for information services. The Commission is committed to eliminating abusive practices which deprive consumers of their statutory rights concerning such services. Although Congress exempted from the pay-per-call definition services that are provided on a tariffed basis, we do not believe that the service you describe is encompassed within that exception. The fact that the consumer does not directly pay the information provider does not exclude the service from the definition of pay-per-call if the payment is simply paid to the information provider by the carrier and then recovered from the consumer through the transport charge. In this case, the transport tariff is a sham; the consumer has, in fact, paid the carrier for transport and the provider, albeit indirectly, for the information. Section 64.1506 of the Commission's rules requires that such calls be provided only on the 900 service access code. Clearly, Congress did not intend that the carefully crafted provisions of the TDDRA and Section 228 of the Act could be evaded by the arrangement you describe. The payment of commissions in this instance is not comparable to carriers' payments to aggregators such as pay telephone owners. Those commissions simply compensate aggregators for their costs of making services and facilities available to the transient public for its communications need. See AT&T's Private Payphone Compensation Plan, 3 FCC Rcd 5834, 5836 (Com. Car. Bur. 1988), recon. and review denied, 7 FCC Rcd 7135 (1992). The Commission has found that such commissions are a legitimate business practice so long as callers are not prevented from using any other carrier to place a call. Id., National Telephone Services, Inc., 8 FCC Rcd 654, 655 (Com. Car. Bur 1993). In contrast, the proposed payments to information providers are expressly designed to evade the consumer safeguards set forth in the TDDRA and the Commission's rules. Finally, we note that carriers are issued certificates of authorization under Section 214 of the Act when the Commission determines that such issuance serves the public interest and convenience. We believe that the inherently evasive and anti-consumer and anti-competitive actions that you describe are contrary to the Section 214 mandate applicable to carriers providing international service even absent specific violations of the Act and the Commission's rules. For example, assigning a 500 number to an information provider for termination in a country where the terminating carrier pays the provider to route calls to that location would be, in the staff's view, inconsistent with the public interest mandate in Section 214. Thus, entities who have applied for or hold such authorizations may place such applications or authorizations in jeopardy if they conduct such activities. Because the staff believes that the calling arrangements you describe would violate Sections 201(b) and 228 of the Act, and would be inconsistent with the public interest considerations set forth in Section 214 of the Act, we need not address the manner in which the calls may be billed. Carriers may not bill subscribers for unlawful calls. This is a staff ruling issued pursuant to Section 0.291 of the Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R. 0.291. Applications for review must be filed within 30 days of public notice of this action. See 47 C.F.R.  1.115. Sincerely, /s/ John B. Muleta Chief, Enforcement Division Common Carrier Bureau -----------End of FCC decision------------ Michael D. Sullivan | INTERNET E-MAIL TO: mds@access.digex.net Bethesda, Md., USA | also avogadro@well.com, 74160.1134@compuserve.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Very interesting, indeed! Does this mean that those services operating under what has been called 'The Nevada Plan' are now illegal? Is it now the case that all those dial-porns operating out of Netherland Antilles, Guyana and elsewhere are going to have to make it on thier own without their kickbacks from AT&T and the other carriers? Are we now to assume that direct delivery of long distance traffic direct from a carrier to a subscriber via T-1 -- eliminating the possibility of non-subscribers (to that carrier) from reaching the called party -- are now illegal? Now, what will happen if a subscriber changes his legal status from that of 'subscriber' to that of 'telco'? By that I mean the telcos have always exchanged traffic among themselves and compensated each other for traffic carried through the others' facilities, etc. Suppose instead of being just an end-subscriber accepting traffic who is no longer able to receive commissions from an LD carrier I become a telco and expect to be paid for the traffic the LD carrier delivers to me for processing? Suppose at my telco, my two (and only two) 'subscribers', i.e. the two women who work the phone room are only allowed to make outgoing calls on a collect basis, and I, as telco, file a tariff charging thirty dollars per minute. My subscribers return calls to their clients -- on a collect basis of course -- and I submit my billing tapes in the usual way. For example, heretofore, I 'reached out and touch a new friend' on a conference bridge operating in Nevada expecting only to pay toll with no additional charge. The carrier took care of compensating the bridge tender with a kickback from toll -- now deemed illegal. Suppose now I take your call of one minute or less duration and I advise you that 'your call will be returned in one minute or less, on a collect basis, using the services of the Bridge Telephone Company. All you need to do is accept our collect call when your phone rings.' Now the bridge tender uses the telephone company which he owns to place calls to customers on a collect basis at the rate he establishes. Presumably that will be legal, where the (in my opinion) more straightforward kickback from toll paid by the carrier is not? Can it be then, that the clients of Integratel who do in fact go through the formalities of actually calling back collect (as opposed to simply converting the billing method in mid-stream) are operating legally? PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Sep 1995 09:08:59 EDT From: Richard Layman Subject: An Idea for LECs to Communicate Area Code Splits Nationally Toby Nixon's post about the upcoming split of the 305 area code, made me remember an idea I've thought about that LECs could use to communicate area code splits nationally. Phone companies like NYNEX and Bell Atlantic, and presumably all the others spend a lot of money communicating area code splits within their regions, such as ads in the local newspapers which detailing the changes in exchanges, and at least with Bell Atlantic, putting (I seem to remember) printing on the back of the phone bill envelope listing the exchanges that were now part of the new area code. Why don't the LECs work together to use the billing envelope to communicate area code splits nationwide? Sure that might not get to everyone who needs to know in a business, but it would get the word out to most every household in the U.S., for probably not that much money when you think about. For example, the September phone bill envelope I get from Bell Atlantic could break out the 305/954 split, and list the exchanges that are now going to be in 954. BellSouth could do the same for the 703/540 split in Virginia, etc. I could then check my databases, address books, etc. Although printing a special insert would be expensive, and unfortunately, probably ignored by many, I don't think people would ignore the actual envelope, and the printing on it. Similarly, there could be a statement on all the envelopes about the new types of area codes like "334" and why organizations need to take steps to deal with the implications to their calling systems. Then there might be fewer problems down the line. Although I guess with Ft. Lauderdale getting one of those kind of area codes, most businesses won't let it slide anymore -- cf "I don't call Alabama anyway, why change our phone system now?" Just a thought that BELLCORE ought to look into. Richard Layman, Mgr., Business Development, and Research Producer Computer Television Network, 825 6th St. NE, Washington, DC 20002 (202)544-5722 - (202)543-6730 (fax) - rlayman@capaccess.org http://www.phoenix.net/~ctn (... I know, it needs work) ------------------------------ From: Mark J. Cuccia Subject: # Means #; Number Means a Telephone Number Date: 12 Sep 1995 17:59:59 GMT Organization: Tulane University With the recent thread of the '#' button's name, I have a gripe about some people who post to TELECOM Digest and use phrases such as 'Calling an 800#'. PLEASE, please when wanting to abbreviate the phrase 'Telephone Number' or 'Number' or NXX-XXXX or 'seven digits', PLEASE don't use '#'. The '#' is *also* a SPECIFIC touchtone button which has special purposes in numbering/addressing or telco functions (as well as private voicemail, auto attendant, etc). For telco, '#' will time out a central office register when dialing *variable-length* strings, such as NX-# instead of NX and waiting -- in some Custom Calling applications -- # will indicate 'end-of-dialing' on international strings. There is also 10-XXX-# 'cut-thru' dialing, and one can get their Operator without having to wait for a time-out with 0-# (LEC) and 10-XXX-0-# (IXC indicated by 10XXX). 0-# does NOT indicate zero plus the number- It means ZERO-POUND (or whatever you call the '#' button). '#' as a first entry key has been proposed (by Bellcore) for 'Facility Codes' of the form #-XX. The 'XX' indicates a type of circuit or transmission facility request, such as broadband, video, etc. #-56 is proposed for requesting a 56 kbps circuit. Note that the other #-XX codes aren't really assigned (yet) and there might possibly be no standardization of their assignments/uses. I don't know what equipment or codes ISDN users go by, but ISDN might just obsolete any plans for #-XX facility codes, however. For Historical Interest: Back in the later 1960's (and early 70's), when AT&T/Bell-System was planning on a future Picturephone service (the CRT type with Co-ax loops/trunks), they planned on an initial '#' button to request a call with the video loop as well as the regular audio telephone loop. One would have called another picturephone as #-(1)-NPA-NNX-XXXX, local picturephone calls as #-NNX-XXXX, and a Picturephone Assistance Operator as #-0-(#). Service calls to Picturephone Information or Picturephone Repair would have been dialed #-N11. Calls to regular voice, non-video numbers, operators and services would continue to have been dialed as normal, without the initial #. (The initial '#' would also control AMA billing, as use of the video loop was charged more than just the audio). When abbreviating, lets try to say something like 0+num. or 0+nmbr. or 0+A/C+num. for 0-NXX-NXX-XXXX (etc). Just my 2-cents for the day, Pat. MARK J. CUCCIA PHONE/WRITE/WIRE: HOME: (USA) Tel: CHestnut 1-2497 WORK: mcuccia@law.tulane.edu |4710 Wright Road| (+1-504-241-2497) Tel:UNiversity 5-5954(+1-504-865-5954)|New Orleans 28 |fwds on no-answr to Fax:UNiversity 5-5917(+1-504-865-5917)|Louisiana(70128)|cellular/voicemail [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I use my heavy-handed editor's red pencil to change that notation when it appears here. I get a lot of messages where people write something like "I tried to call that #" ... and I *always* change '#' to the word 'number' before releasing the article. Speaking both of Picturephone and 'adult' information providers in the same issue as we are this time, I am reminded of the fellow down in south Florida who experimented with this for a few years in the 1980's. This guy was an oldtime 'swinger magazine' publisher -- a 'paper dealer' as we used to call them. You submitted ads and photos to his little magazine and he ran them along with others. Then of course he made a commission as the reader/writers exchanged personal correspondence based on the ads in the magazine, all of which had to be forward through his remail service, at least the first time. If a 'woman' (hint, hint! like the games they play on Compuserve CB at night) submitted her picture and message to the magazine, she could be assured of getting *TONS* of mail in her post office box a couple months later from men all over the USA with various lewd photos and letters in re- turn. This guy made his money from all the ten dollar fees to run your picture and message in the magazine along with the one dollar bills received to forward your response to the advertiser. He got paid from both directions. He decided one day to get into picturephone one day with live people at his end who would chat and display themselves to callers. He bought up a huge surplus of the 'slow scan' type picture phones; the ones that only change their image every ten or fifteen seconds. He offered these on a purchase or lease basis to the subscribers of his magazine or said they could purchase their own from whatever source, and of course with billing approved by your credit card company, you could call in to chat with (and view) other members of his club ... I don't know whatever came of it or how successful it was, but it occurs to me if some of the present-day adult information providers got into picturephone there could be a lot of money in it. Do you remember how, many years ago -- nah, you are all too young to remember -- when tape players and cassette players were very new, how the Columbia Record Club offered to send you a portable tape cassette player -- for free, mind you! -- if you promised to join the Club and purchase some minimum number of tapes each year? More people got their first tape cassette player (this was back in the era when we were seeing a conversion from the old 'wire recorders' to magnetic tape recorders, in the early 1950's) as a free gift from the Columbia Record Club (later renamed the Columbia Record and Tape Club; nowdays Columbia House or perhaps CBS Products, but still in Terre Haute, Indiana) by sending in those coupons found in magazines and the Sunday papers .... Battery operated tape players were the rage when I was in high school; little pieces of magnetic tape in a case that would unwind onto another spool and play the music therein ... more people became aware of that 'new technology' in the fifties because of taking the bait and signing up with Columbia Record Club ... and please check the box if you want classical, country and western, or whatever. I think you had to promise to buy one tape each month for two years from the 'club magazine' sent to you in the mail each month. If you did not return the card they sent then you got the tape they selected and got billed for it anyway. Now it occurs to me that if the telcos would really like to see picture phone take off in a big way, they should cut a deal with the adult IPs in a similar way. The IP could start a club and offer to supply picture phones to new club members either free or at a greatly reduced price in exchange for the new club member's promise to use the IP's services on some regular basis. "Phone our service and chat with us at least once each week for a year and we will send you at no charge a picturephone to use when you call, because the young ladies and gentlemen here want to be able to show you what they are doing as they chat with you about it." Probably they would bill your credit card for a few hundred dollars and send you the picturephone, then give you credit toward a certain number of minutes/hours of service with them in the process. The IP's would cut a deal with telco to get the units as cheap as possible, in the same way Columbia Record Club cut a deal with (I think it was) the old Zenith people to get those portable radios with the tape players built in. The obvious drawbacks: the IPs would need to have legitimate people there, and not the nasty ones (in real life) they use now. grin. PAT] ------------------------------ From: stephen@clark.net (Stephen Balbach) Subject: OC-X to Modem at AOL Date: 12 Sep 1995 16:47:27 -0400 Organization: Clark Internet Services, Balt/DC, mail all-info@clark.net I was speaking with someone who was speaking with a Bell Atlantic technician who does some of the work for AOL in Virginia. Was curious how they bring in thier modem traffic and it is by OC-X (where X is some number Im not sure). There has been a lot of talk about terminating modems using T1's, but what equipment is there to terminate at the T3 or OC level? Thats a lot of POTS lines. Stephen Balbach "Driving the Internet to Work" VP, ClarkNet due to the high volume of mail I receive please quote info@clark.net the full original message in your reply. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 11 Sep 1995 08:59:32 +0200 From: Jan Ceuleers Subject: Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers In article 6@eecs.nwu.edu, naddy@mips.pfalz.de (Christian Weisgerber) writes: > First, let me state that I see *no reason whatsoever* why there can't be > variable length phone numbers or why a switch would have to know the > total length of the number. If you think there is a need for such > restrictions, please explain why you think so. Your reasons are not > obvious. In situations where compelled signalling is used on one stretch of the network, and non-compelled on the next, the switch that implements this tandem function needs to know the exact number of digits or implement a timeout (and leave the principle of compelled signalling). Let me give you a specific example. A large Belgian organisation has its own private network, which it uses for least-cost routing. This private network uses R2 signalling (compelled). The PBX that routes calls it receives from the private network back onto the public network needs to know how many digits to expect, so that it knows when to send the backward A-6 signal to indicate end-of-dialing instead of the A-1 signal that asks for the next digit. This is needed both in case the PBX is connected to the public network by means of analogue trunks, and in the ISDN T0/T2 case where en-block sending is used. If this PBX does not know the number of digits to expect, it must always send the A-1 signal anyway, and send a pulsed A-6 signal if no additional digit has been received within a timeout (see Q.442). This is however an ugly kludge that can cause problems, both in the signalling and in the ergonomy of the user. We luckily don't have to struggle with this problem, since the Belgian numbering plan is closed. However, if the private network is ever going to be used for international least-cost dialing, we'll have a problem ... > I would also like to point out that in Germany, where I live, telephone > numbers vary in length, in fact my voice number is +49.621.5870460 and > my modem number is +49.621.583214, area codes vary in length (2..5 > digits), we have DID numbers of different lengths, and all of this > without any kludges like second dial tones, timeouts, etc. Claiming that > this is impossible is ridiculous in face of the facts. You are quite right that this works fine if the signalling system is compelled end-to-end. Jan Ceuleers Alcatel Bell Telephone hw/sw devt. engineer Business Systems & Networks Division vox +32-3-450-3145 fax +32-3-450-3579 ceuleerj@bsg.bel.alcatel.be #include "std/disclaimer.h" ------------------------------ From: db@barc.com Subject: Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers Reply-To: db@barc.com Date: Mon, 11 Sep 1995 05:42:52 GMT In , naddy@mips.pfalz.de (Christian Weisgerber) writes: Ok ... I didn't see the original posting, and am completely the layman here, but some things come to mind. (If I'm wrong, someone will correct me ... and I'll definitely learn something ... the reason I'm here in the first place :)) > First, let me state that I see *no reason whatsoever* why there can't be > variable length phone numbers or why a switch would have to know the > total length of the number. If you think there is a need for such > restrictions, please explain why you think so. Your reasons are not > obvious. ..stuff deleted... > What must a switch do during call set-up? It receives dialing > information (single or multiple digits) from an inbound trunk (or from > the line card, if it is the caller's switch), and, after collecting > enough of these, selects an outbound trunk. Further dialing info it > receives is passed on to the switch on the outbound trunk. Note that > no trunk line has to be actually connected yet. The destination switch > collects dialing info until a line that it serves is identified, then > it initiates a ring signal. Information about this is passed back the > chain of switches to the caller's switch which locally feeds a "remote > is ringing" signal. When the called line answers, again information is > passed back to the caller's switch, and now the speech circuit is > actually activated along the switch chain. Is this truely how it works? I can understand the written logic of it, but see problems is several areas (1) dymanic routing of calls (2) the anticipated 'number transportability' (3) routed calls like 800- 500-, etc. It seems like in the above situation, the full number would be required -up front-, or, as you mentioned, there would need to be some time-out mechanism or 'end key' (like a #, *, etc), to signify termination of the sequence. Then again, I could easily be all wet. If all numbers are available from the start, it seems like the routing sequence would have less traffic than if there were a continual transmission of the 'next' number involved in the dialing sequence. It seems to make sense logically. But it also seems to make sense that, at least currently, all numbers are required before the sequence starts or wouldn't things like trunk busy signals, the recordings about 'all circuits are busy' etc., come before we finished dialing all the numbers? instead of waiting until all digits are dialed first? (I remember some cities didn't require '1' before dialing long distance, but I believe that's no longer true, so that one is moot.) > It also worked with the prior German > phone technology, purely electro-mechanical switches. (That's relays, > levers, etc. No transistorized technology whatsoever.) With that > technology speech circuits were connected through to the next switch > already during dialing, though. Coming from the old crossbar, strowger switches as a kid, that seems easier. But even then, number lengths were fixed locally in my hometown. Five digit numbers were private lines or pbx's, six were always party lines (same as five digits, and last was used to differentiate the frequency of the ringing current to ring the correct party). ------------------------------ From: lincmad@netcom.com (Linc Madison) Subject: Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Mon, 11 Sep 1995 00:31:53 GMT Christian Weisgerber (naddy@mips.pfalz.de) wrote: > Many posters, especially those from North > America, insist on their belief that phone numbers have to be of > constant length, otherwise one must have timeouts etc. > First, let me state that I see *no reason whatsoever* why there can't be > variable length phone numbers or why a switch would have to know the > total length of the number. If you think there is a need for such > restrictions, please explain why you think so. Your reasons are not > obvious. Within the North American phone system, telephone numbers must be of an easily predictable length. That is because much of the hardware in our switching system is designed with the requirement that the originating switch know when the subscriber has finished dialing, without inquiring of the terminating switch. Here is a sketch of what happens in North America when you dial. The letter N represents a digit other than 0 or 1. 011 - international call, expect minimum 7, maximum 12 digits to follow. Dialing must conclude with time-out or # key 01N - international call, but operator assisted; as above 00 - long distance operator; no further digits permitted 0 - local operator; dialing requires time-out or # key 11 - special service code -- exactly two digits follow, then restart dialing sequence. 10 - carrier selection code -- exactly 3 digits follow, then restart dialing sequence [this does not account for 101XXXX codes] 0N - operator-assisted call, expect 0-NXX-NXX-XXXX 1N - direct-dialed call, expect 1-NXX-NXX-XXXX N - examine first three digits for special cases (911, 411, etc., and in some areas an area code in the local area; in each of those cases, the number of digits to be expected is determined from the first three numbers dialed); otherwise, local number: NXX-XXXX The only cases I know of where the total number of digits expected cannot be determined from the first three digits dialed are international calls (length varies) and in some areas the special case 141, which may be 1+411 or 1+41X-NXX-XXXX. (In Southwestern Bell territory, you dial 1+411 because there is a charge for the call.) In any case, with the exception of international calls, the number of digits expected is known within the first four digits of dialing. The advantage of this scheme is that the originating switch does not need to open a path all the way to the terminating switch until dialing has been completed. The originating switch stores the entire number and then opens a path and sends it along its way, or may open a path part way through the dialing process and pass the initial digits and then pass the remaining digits in real time. In either case, it knows when dialing is complete and can take the dialing register off that line. Other countries have systems that use variable-length numbers without requiring time-outs, because they open the path as the subscriber dials and the terminating switch returns an indication that dialing has been completed. So, in sum, variable-length numbers work fine in systems designed for variable-length numbers. They work terribly in systems designed for fixed-length numbers. In order to use variable-length numbers in the North American system, we would have to replace large segments of our switching system. We could implement a scheme that said, for example: 1212, 1213, 1214, 1312, 1314, 1305, 1713 -- eight digits follow all other 1-NPA combinations -- seven digits follow and program each local switch to know whether local numbers are seven or eight digits. This would allow each area code to have EITHER seven-digit or eight-digit local numbers, but not both. That would require analyzing at least five digits to determine expected length. The other problem with this scheme is that permissive dialing would be essentially impossible: all numbers would have to be splash-cut at once in the affected cities. The other minor impediment is that not only every local C.O. switch would have to be reprogrammed, but also every single PBX in North America. Given that we've seen how well PBX managers bury their heads in the sand when faced with something as simple as NXX prefixes and NNX area codes, expecting them to cope with eight-digit numbers in some area codes would be a bit of a reach. Linc Madison * San Francisco, California * LincMad@Netcom.com ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #377 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa01415; 12 Sep 95 23:22 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id QAA21349 for telecomlist-outbound; Tue, 12 Sep 1995 16:27:14 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id QAA21339; Tue, 12 Sep 1995 16:27:11 -0500 Date: Tue, 12 Sep 1995 16:27:11 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Message-Id: <199509122127.QAA21339@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #378 TELECOM Digest Tue, 12 Sep 95 16:27:00 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 378 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Secretary General of ITU to Speak at USF (Dennis Foote) Split of 314 (Missouri) NPA (Toby Nixon) V.34+ Documentation Wanted (Matthew A. Earley) Need Advice on a Norstar PBX Upgrade (Robert McMillin) Question on RBOCs, Long Distance and Legislation (John Crowley) CBTA Telecon '95 - Vancouver, BC, Canada Sept 12-14 (Greg Habstritt) GTE's Role in Mexican Gold Course Questioned (Nigel Allen) Bell Canada to Close Five Toronto-area Operator Locations (Nigel Allen) Re: Area Code Crisis -- A Different Viewpoint (Larry Ludwick) Re: Area Code Crisis -- A Different Viewpoint (Tye McQueen) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily represent the views of Microsoft. ------------------------------------------------------------ Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 12 Sep 1995 13:50:51 PDT From: DENNIS FOOTE Subject: Secretary General of ITU to Speak at USF INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY A Symposium featuring Dr. Pekka Tarjanne Secretary General of the ITU San Francisco, Friday, September 29th, 1995 In recognition of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations in San Francisco, the Telecommunications Management and Policy Program in the McLaren School of Business at the University of San Francisco is pleased to host a symposium to examine the future global role of telecommunications and information technologies: INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY. Keynote speaker at the symposium will be Dr. Pekka Tarjanne, Secretary General of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). This conference presents a unique opportunity for telecommunications professionals in California to hear from the Secretary General. The ITU is the United Nations agency responsible for telecommunications. Based in Geneva, the ITU now has more than 185 member nations, and is responsible for global allocation of radio frequencies and standards for telecommunications. Following the Secretary General's address, panelists from the telecommunications industry, major users, policy makers and development experts will respond. Dr. Tarjanne will be present throughout the symposium to respond to the panelists' presentations and questions from the audience. Topics to be addressed include: * What is the role of the ITU in the 21st century? * What is the Global Information Infrastructure (GII)? How do we get to GII? * How can telecommunications contribute to Asia/Pacific development? * How will the globalization of business affect the telecommunications industry? * What new technologies and services will be growth leaders in the Asia/ Pacific region? The symposium is hosted by the Telecommunications Management and Policy Program in the McLaren School of Business at USF, in cooperation with co-sponsors Space Systems/Loral and AT&T Submarine Systems. The Telecommunications Program is a specialization within the MBA program at USF. The Telecommunications Program prepares graduates for Information Age careers, and conducts research on the impact of changes in technology and services in both U.S. and international environments. DATE: Friday, September 29, 1995 TIME: 9:00 am to 12:30 pm (On-site registration from 8:30 to 9:00) LOCATION: Pacific Rim Room, Lone Mountain Conference Center University of San Francisco (Front entrance on Turk, between Masonic and Parker) PARKING: Behind Lone Mountain (Enter from Parker between Turk and Anza) REGISTRATION FEE: $85 if preregistered, $95 on-site (Non-profits, members of professional associations: $45) TO PREREGISTER, PLEASE SEND CHECK PAYABLE TO "TELECOMMUNICATIONS PROGRAM, USF" TO: Telecommunications Program McLaren School of Business University of San Francisco 2130 Fulton Street San Francisco, CA 94117-1080 For additional information, you may contact us at: Telephone: 415-666-2506 Fax: 415-666-2502 E-Mail: telecom@usfca.edu [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: And for those of you who attend, please greet Dr. Tarjanne and thank him for the support shown by ITU to this Digest over the past couple of years. The Telecom Information Exchange Service project at ITU provides a continuing grant to me for my work with this Digest. It would be *very hard* to continue the Digest without their support. Please let Dr. Tarjanne know your feelings about this. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Toby Nixon Date: Tue, 12 Sep 95 12:03:06 PDT Subject: Split of 314 (Missouri) NPA A Bellcore Letter received today announces the split of the 314 NPA and creation of the 573 NPA. Here is the text of the letter. Letter Number: IL-95/08-015 Type: Informational Date: 8-31-95 Title: NANP-Split of 314 (Missouri) Numbering Plan Area (NPA) To: Recipients of North American Numbering Plan (NANP) information Entitled Companies: Unrestricted From: J. N. Deak - North American Numbering Plan Administration Abstract: This IL provides industry notification of the impending split of the 314 NPA We have been advised by Southwestern Bell Telephone Company that substantial telephone number growth in the eastern half of Missouri necessitates splitting the existing 314 NPA and the simultaneous introduction of a new 573 NPA. The St. Louis metropolitan area will retain the 314 NPA; Jefferson City, Columbia and the other towns in outstate Missouri will change to the 573 NPA. The split of the 314 NPA, and the beginning of a permissive dialing period, will take place 11:59 PM CST on Sunday, January 7, 1996. The permissive dialing period will end 11:59 PM CDT on Sunday, July 7, 1996. During the permissive dialing period, either 314 or 573 will be acceptable in a dialed number terminating in the new 573 NPA. After the permissive period, calls dialed with incorrect NPA codes, as defined in the NPA split information published in the Local Exchange Routing Guide (LERG), will be routed to intercept. All international and domestic carriers are asked to ensure that the new 573 NPA has been activated throughout their networks prior to January 7, 1996. A test number for the new 573 NPA will be established on or about December 15, 1995. The test number will be 573-792-8378. Local exchange carriers, alternative access providers, PBX equipment vendors and others are also being asked to make this number available to business customers by the start of permissive dialing. The attached map [not included in this message] illustrates the 314 and the 573 NPA configuration after the split. A listing of the communities to be served by each area code after the split is also attached. The dialing plan for the new 573 and 314 NPAs will be the same: * All home NPA (HNPA) "local" calls will be dialed on a 7 digit basis with no prefix; i.e., NXX+XXXX (7 digits). * All HNPA direct dialed "toll" calls (generally calls that incur an additional charge) will be dialed with a prefix "1" and 10 digits; i.e., 1+HNPA+NXX+XXXX (10 digits). * All foreign NPA (FNPA) direct dialed "toll" calls will be dialed with a prefix "1" and 10 digits; i.e., 1+FNPA+NXX+XXXX (1 + 10 digits). * Operator assisted calls including credit card, collect, and third party calls will be dialed with a "0" prefix and 10 digits; i.e., 0+NPA+NXX+XXXX (0 + 10 digits). [Transcribers note: the letter does not mention FNPA local calls; perhaps there won't be any after the split.] Questions of a technical nature should be directed to Pam Rak, Southwestern Bell, on (314) 957-1604. General questions should be referred to Lynda Meyer, Southwestern Bell, on (314) 957-6804. Copies of this letter are being forwarded to achieve the widest possible industry distribution and may be reproduced for further distribution as needed. Questions concerning the contents of this letter may be referred to Jim Deak, Bellcore, at (908) 699-6612. /signed/ J. N. Deak North American Numbering Plan Administration Towns remaining in 314 NPA: Antonia, Augusta, Cedar Hill, Chesterfield, Dardenne, Defiance, De Soto, Eureka, Fenton, Festus, Foley, Foristell, Gray Summit, Harvester, Hawk Point, High Hill, High Ridge, Hillsboro, Holstein, House Springs, Imperial, Jonesburg, Manchester, Marthasville, Maxville, Moscow Mills, New Melle, O'Fallon, Old Monroe, Orchard Farm, Pacific, Pevely, Pond, Portage de Sioux, St. Charles, St. Clair, St. Louis, St. Peters, Town & Country, Troy, Truxton, Union, Valley Park, Ware, Warrenton, Washington, Wentzville, Winfield, Wright City Towns changing to 573 NPA: Advance, Annapolis, Argyle, Ashland, Auxvasse, Beaufort, Belgrade, Bell City, Belle, Belleview, Bellflower, Benton, Berger, Bernie, Big Springs, Birch Tree, Bismarck, Bland, Bloomfield, Bloomsdale, Blytheville, Bonne Terre, Boss, Bourbon, Bowling Green, Brazito, Bunker, Caledonia, California, Campbell, Canton, Cape Girardeau, Cardwell, Caruthersville, Center, Centertown, Centerville, Centralia, Chaffee, Chamois, Charlestown, Cherryville, Clark, Clarksburg, Clarksville, Clearwater, Climax Springs, Clubb, Columbia, Crocker, Cuba, Deering, Delta, Dexter, Dixon, Doniphan, Durham, East Prairie, Edgar Springs, Eldon, Ellington, Ellsinore, Elsberry, Eminence, Eolia, Essex, Eugene, Ewing, Fairdealing, Farber, Farmington, Fisk, Flat River, Fort Leonard Wood, Frankford, Fredericktown, Freeburg, Fremont, Frohna, Fulton, Garwood, Gerald, Gideon, Grandin, Gravois Mills, Greenville, Hallsville, Hannibal, Hatton, Hayti, Hermann, Holcomb, Hornersville, Horseshoe Bend, Holts Summit, Hunnewell, Huzzah, Iberia, Irondale, Ironton, Jackson, Japan, Jefferson City, Kennett, Laddonia, La Grange, Leadwood, Leasburg, Lesterville, Lewistown, Licking, Lilbourn, Linn, Louisiana, Lyon, Macks Creek, Malden, Marble Hill, Marston, Martinsburg, Meta, Mexico, Middletown, Mokane, Monroe City, Montauk, Montgomery City, Monticello, Morehouse, Morrison, Mount Sterling, Naylor, Neelyville, New Bloomfield, Newburg, New Florence, New Hartford, New Haven, New London, New Madrid, Oak Ridge, Oates, Old Appleton, Olney, Oran, Osage Beach, Owensville, Oxly, Palmyra, Parma, Patterson, Patton, Paynesville, Perry, Perryville, Philadelphia, Piedmont, Pocahontas, Ponder, Poplar Bluff, Portageville, Potosi, Puxico, Qulin, Redford, Rhineland, Richland, Richwoods, Risco, Rocheport, Rolla, Russelville, Safe, Salem, Santa Fe, Scott City, Senath, Shelbina, Shelbyville, Sikeston, Silex, Spring Bluff, St. Elizabeth, Ste. Genevieve, St. James, St. Marys, St. Robert, St. Thomas, Steele, Steelville, Stoutsville, Stover, Stanton, Sturgeon, Sullivan, Sunrise Beach, Sweetwater, Taos, Tebbetts, Timber, Tuscumbia, Van Buren, Vandalia, Versailles, Viburnum, Vichy, Vienna, Wappapelo, Wardell, Waynesville, Wellsville, Wesphalia, West Quincy, Williamsburg, Williamstown, Williamsville, Winona, Wyatt ------------------------------ From: mearley@acsu.buffalo.edu (Matthew A Earley) Subject: V.34+ Documentation Wanted Date: 12 Sep 1995 17:58:49 GMT Organization: UB I recently logged onto the US Robotics BBS and found the files necessary to upgrade my V.Everything to a 33.6k data-transmission rate. What standard does this faster data rate follow. I would guess it is USR or Rockwell proprietary, or is it a V.34+ from ITU? Does anyone know anthing about V.34+ or V.34 annex A? Where can I get more information? Who is primarily responsible for developing it? Last, is anybody aware of which companies have filed patents for or related to V.34 and/or V.34+? Thanks, Matthew ------------------------------ From: rlm@netcom.com (Robert McMillin) Subject: Need Advice on a Norstar PBX Upgrade Date: Tue, 12 Sep 1995 04:58:33 GMT Hi, folks, this is my first post in a long time ... my old UUCP-connected 486 has stopped working, so I'm stuck using Netcom's overloaded machines for now. I have a little problem with my Northern Telecom Norstar switch. We're now at about two dozen incoming lines, half voice incoming and outgoing to the PBX, and the rest dedicated to things like fax machines. Our company is expanding like crazy. We're rapidly coming to the end of usefulness of this PBX in terms of extensions. The other problem we're having is that our long-distance bill is enormous: over the last two months, we've averaged $5.3k, a great deal of which consists of calls to France. (This works out to about $300 per employee, an astonishing figure!). So, as a side task, I've been looking into whether digital entrance facilities would help lower the cost of long distance. AT&T's guesstimate is that it could, but we have to know the cost of upgrading the PBX. My question to the audience: has anyone done this recently? Do I have to replace the whole shebang to make it work? Is there some add-on I can use without throwing away the existing hardware? We OWN this PBX, so leasing equipment also entails selling off what we have. Are there more cost-effective systems than the Option 11 switch, the next step up from Northern Telecom? Thanks for any input. Robert L. McMillin | rlm@helen.surfcty.com | Netcom: rlm@netcom.com Jail to the Chief! | WWW: ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/rl/rlm/home.html Ein Reich, ein Volk, ein Bubba! ------------------------------ From: jcrow@bu.edu (John Crowley) Subject: Question on RBOCs, Long Distance and Legislation Date: 12 Sep 1995 17:39:25 GMT Organization: Boston University Any information that anyone may have would be of a tremendous help. Q1) If telecom reform legislation continues and the RBOCs are allowed back into the 'long distance' game, how are the RBOCs going to compete? For example, Bell Atlantic has created a subsidiary Bell Atlantic Long Distance, Inc., but Bell Atlantic has neither a network or facilities outside of it's territory. How, therefore, will they carry and switch traffic across the country? Q2) Do any of the other RBOCs have an equivalent entity to Bell Atlantic's subsidiary Bell Atlantic Long Distance, Inc? If so, what are they? Q3) How can companies such as Bell Atlantic Long Distance, Inc. plan to compete against such traditional carries as AT&T and Sprint? I know these questions are somewhat broad, but I'ld appreciate any information or advice that anyone may be able to supply. John ------------------------------ From: HABSTRIG@cia.com (Greg Habstritt) Subject: CBTA Telecon '95- Vancouver, BC, Canada Sept 12-14 Date: 12 Sep 1995 04:31:12 GMT Organization: Intellitech Just wondering if anyone's attending the show this week in Vancouver? It's the biggest telecom show in Canada. Should be pretty good. Everyone who's anyone in telecom in Canada is there. habstrig@onair.cia.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I've not received any mail on it yet but if anyone cares to make a report when they get home, it will be welcome here. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Sep 1995 02:52:57 -0400 From: Nigel Allen Subject: GTE's Role in Mexican Gold Course Questioned Organization: Internex Online Here is a press release from Essential Information. I downloaded the press release from the U.S. Newswire BBS in Maryland at (410) 363-0834. I do not work for or belong to Essential Information or the organizations that signed this letter. Jack Nicklaus, GTE Tee Off Mexican Community, National Park Contact: Andrew Wheat of Essential Information, 202-387-8034 WASHINGTON, Sept. 6 -- Seven U.S. and environmental leaders called on Jack Nicklaus and GTE to withdraw support for a controversial recreational, residential and business development slated to be built on national park land near Cuernavaca, Mexico. The letter to GTE Data Services President Don Hayes and golf course designer Jack Nicklaus reads in part: As you know, the "El Tepozteco" development would be a multi-purpose luxury residential, recreational and business development eight miles south of Cuernavaca in the state of Morelos. It is estimated that Tepozteco's golf course alone will consume more than 4,000 cubic meters of well water a day, about five times the amount of this scarce resource than the entire town of Tepotzlan now consumes. Community members are also cncerned about the golf course's expected heavy use of agrochemicals and the potential for them to enter the water table and harm the region's rich bio-diversity. Another reason that El Tepozteco -- which would cover 187 hectares with 800 luxury homes, a five-star hotel, a business park, a helicopter pad and recreational facilities -- is so controversial is because it would be built on unusually beautiful land 45 miles from Mexico City, land that has legally enjoyed multiple layers of federal protection. El Tepozteco's site sprawls across land that has been federally recognized as: El Tepozteco National Park; Ajusco-Chichinautzin biological corridor; and "communal property" of 800 local "comuneros." ...the financing of the entire project hinges on GTE's commitment to invest $27.1 million in a "state-of-the-art data processing facility." The golf course designed by Nicklaus would be the anchor of the residential and recreational portion of the development. The international prestige attributed to Nicklaus courses is viewed as a magnet that would sell the development's residential and recreational facilities. GTE and Golden Bear have great influence over the outcome of this mislocated project. We are calling on you to exercise that influence responsibly by withdrawing your participation. Ralph Nader Corporate Accountability Research Group, Washington, D.C. Carl Pope Executive Director, Sierra Club, San Francisco, CA Barbara Dudley Executive Director, Greenpeace-USA, Washington, D.C. Brent Blackwelder Executive Director, Friends of the Earth, Washington, D.C. Lori Wallach Global Trade Watch Director, Public Citizen, Washington, D.C. Ed Maschkel Director, California Public Interest Group, Santa Barbara, CA Andi Liebenbaum Executive Director, People for Parks, Los Angeles, CA ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Sep 1995 03:21:48 -0400 Subject: Bell Canada to Close Five Toronto-area Operator Locations From: ndallen@io.org (Nigel Allen) Organization: Internex Online, Toronto Bell Canada's Toronto-area operators learned yesterday that the company plans to close five Operator Services offices in Metropolitan Toronto by the end of the year. Two of the offices (both located at Main Square, near the intersection of Danforth Avenue and Main Street) are located in rented premises. The others are in Bell-owned buildings. I'm not clear whether the offices being closed provide directory assistance, long distance services or both. I'm also not clear whether other locations outside Metropolitan Toronto are also being closed. Aggressive cost-cutting at other telephone companies, such as U S West, has led to service quality falling below levels that regulatory commissions would tolerate. I hope that Bell Canada can maintain adequate service levels after these offices are closed. Nigel Allen ndallen@io.org http://www.io.org/~ndallen/ ------------------------------ From: Larry.Ludwick@gte.sprint.com (Larry Ludwick) Subject: Re: Area Code Crisis -- A Different Viewpoint Date: 12 Sep 1995 12:04:40 GMT Organization: GTE Telephone Operations > If you're in NANP then you already have "local" numbers in > three standard lengths (seven, ten and three) and it > doesn't take a timeout to distinguish them; consider this: > * Is there any timeout when you dial "911" before the > switch decides that you aren't going to dial any more > digits? (There'd better not be!) No other number in the world (as dialed from North America) begins with 911. This makes it easy for the telephone switch to figure out. > * Is there a timeout after you dial a 7-digit number > before the switch decides you're not going to dial a > 10-digit number? (No?) Well, yes there is. With the introduction of NPAs that look like NXXs the switches now have to wait to see if any more digits are coming before routing the call. Although the prefix of 1, and the mandatory ten digit dialing of intraLATA toll calls, generally makes it simpler, the switches still have to watch out for those wierd combinations that cause trouble. > Well, why should seven and eight digit versions of local > numbers be any harder to deal? As long as no short number > ever forms a prefix for any longer number, the switch can > always tell how many more digits to expect after the first > few digits. I'm not sure I understand this one. If all (or most) seven digit numbers are in use (which is the only reason anyone would want an eight digit number in the first place), then all eight digit numbers would have the complication of having their fist seven digits be a working station somewhere else. In summary; eight digit phone numbers would not be significant problem for state of the art telephone switches, but not all switches in North America are state of the art. The majority of telco switches are state of the art, but not all. Variable length numbers would be a nightmare for private switch owners -- both equipment and administration. I feel sure it would be a major administrative problem. I'm not sure the gain in phone numbers would be worth the hair pulling. Let's just add new NPAs for a couple of more decades until the telephone system is replaced by whatever your vision is of the information superhighway. Larry Ludwick ------------------------------ From: tye@metronet.com (Tye McQueen) Subject: Re: Area Code Crisis -- A Different Viewpoint Date: 12 Sep 1995 11:44:26 -0500 Organization: Texas Metronet, Inc (login info (214/705-2901 - 817/571-0400)) dmcmahon@edlgu4.ericsson.se (Denis McMahon) writes: > martin@kurahaupo.kurahaupo.gen.nz (Martin D Kealey) wrote: > >>> *Variable number length* > >> This is terrible idea, >> This is a *wonderful* idea. :-) > >> So the switch has to decide when you've finished > >> dialing by some means, usually a timeout. > > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I'd rather go to usually hitting "Enter" (for example "#") for all calls. Once you are entering more than about five digits, the chance of accidentally skipping a digit or inserting a digit are fairly high. The first is caught by a timeout. The second is not caught. I know because my office phone contains a repeated digit (say, 234-567-8890) so I get a lot of mis-directed calls from people trying to call any 234-567-890_ numbers. It used to seem (to me at least) that most USA IVRUs (Interactive Voice Response Units -- these don't usually respond _to_ voice, they respond, _with_ recorded voice, to the caller entering DTMF tones -- touch tones) standardized on requiring "#" after a string of digits has been entered. It is becoming much more common for these to not allow "#" after entries of fix-length digit strings, so I guess I'm in the minority. This is probably at least partially because Americans are used to _not_ entering "#" after dialing numbers. Of course, I often enter "#" after dialing numbers either because they are international and the calling card system and our PBX both must timeout otherwise or because I got in the habit after a TelCo pamphlet on using those "extra" features suggesting using "#" after each code so the feature would be activated more quickly. I recall some times when normal (local or national) calls seem to have been connected faster due to my entering "#" at the end, but I could have been mistaken. Perhaps the cellular phone craze will change this as people have to get used to hitting "Send" after they "dial" the number. Tye McQueen tye@metronet.com || tye@doober.usu.edu Nothing is obvious unless you are overlooking something http://www.metronet.com/~tye/ (scripts, links, nothing fancy) ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #378 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa03863; 13 Sep 95 5:46 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id VAA25336 for telecomlist-outbound; Tue, 12 Sep 1995 21:13:28 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id VAA25328; Tue, 12 Sep 1995 21:13:26 -0500 Date: Tue, 12 Sep 1995 21:13:26 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Message-Id: <199509130213.VAA25328@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #379 TELECOM Digest Tue, 12 Sep 95 21:13:00 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 379 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Cellular Telephone and Modems (John Grana) NANP Area Codes - History, was Re: Area Code Crisis (Bud Couch) Pros and Cons About Making One Channel of T1 Data Line (Rolland Suh) Wierd Phone Problem (Steve Cogorno) Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers (Fred R. Goldstein) Re: Beyond V.34, V.34bis and Rockwell's 33.6 (Fred R. Goldstein) Re: Beyond V.34, V.34bis and Rockwell's 33.6 (Lionel Ancelet) Re: T1 Direct to Modem Bank (Jill W. Lander) Re: T1 Direct to Modem Bank (bubba@insync.net) Re: T1 Direct to Modem Bank (Jeff Robinson) Re: T1 Direct to Modem Bank (Roger Fajman) Dialing 911 Instead of Police 7D Number Slowed Things Down (Robert Casey) Dial 10288 for ATT ... Not (mstandrew@aol.com) Re: Bell Canada Calling Cards in the USA (Mark J. Cuccia) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: jjg@pt.com (John Grana) Subject: Cellular Telephone and Modems Organization: Performance Technologies, Incorporated Date: Tue, 12 Sep 1995 21:40:46 GMT I cannot find much information on hooking up a cellular telephone to a 28.8 modem. The modem is INSIDE my home computer. The reason I would like to connect such a strange combination is two-fold. One, my local cell providers have a deal where I have free airtime from 7 PM to 7 AM weekdays and all weekend. That's pretty much the time I am likely to us my system to dial in work, AOL, the net etc. Two, since my kids are getting older, I really don't want to tie up the house line too much during the above time periods ... so The problem thus far is I am getting the impression that the cable that connects the modem and phone costs over $100! Is this cable "active"? Isn't there just a TIP and RING signal hangin out on the tiny connector (the phone I am looking at is a Nokia 2XX). If its TIP and RING, why couldn't I find a suitable plug and make my own cable? Last but not least, do cellular phone systems have the bandwidth to support 28.8 modems? My Supra usually runs at 26400 with a local provider. Thanks, John Grana, Performance Technologies Incorporated jjg@pt.com 315 Science Parkway, Rochester, New York 14620 uupsi!ptsys1!jjg Phone: (716) 256-0200 Fax: (716) 256-0791 ------------------------------ From: bud@kentrox.com (Bud Couch) Subject: NANP Area Codes - History, was Re: Area Code Crisis Organization: ADC Kentrox Industries, Inc. Date: Tue, 12 Sep 1995 19:45:45 GMT In article Tony Harminc writes: > This is not different from North America. And unlike the NANP, where > area codes were assigned pretty much at random, the UK codes started Actually, although later codes were "pretty much at random", the first 10 or so codes assigned were not. Remember (well, I do, at least) that in the early fifties, "tone dialing" was MF, only available to operators. The black 300, or 500, or 80 phone out there had a rotary dial. As well, many of the trunks in place still used pulse dialing for signaling information transmission. Therefore, to minimize holding time in the incoming registers, the area codes were assigned so as to have the fewest pulses associated with the highest calling volume. Therefore, 212 was NYC (five pulses), 312 was Chicago (six pulses), LA was 213, Detroit was 313, Pittsburgh was 412, Dallas was 214, Philladelpghia was 413, St. Louis was 314, etc. I remember the hoopla surrounding the introduction of DDD. Our serving CO (Valley -823) was the first DDD exchange in the Pittsburgh area, and the building was just a couple of blocks from home. There were bands, speeches, ballons, etc. One day we lifted the phone to get "Number, please", and the next day we could dial 9 digits (no "1" access) to call my aunt who lived in LA. Bud Couch - ADC Kentrox When correctly viewed, everything is lewd. bud@kentrox.com (192.228.59.2) -Tom Lehrer ------------------------------ From: rolland@mcs.com (Rolland Suh) Subject: Pros and Cons About Making One Channel of T1 Data Line Date: 7 Sep 1995 18:15:22 -0500 Organization: MCSNet Services Hi, We are thinking about getting 56KB dedicated line to the Internet. We already have a T1 voice line, and wondering if it would be cost effective for us to use one of the channels of existing T1, over getting a new dediccated line. Any idea on this? Thanks, rolland ------------------------------ From: cogorno@netcom.com (Steve Cogorno) Subject: Wierd Phone Problem Date: Tue, 12 Sep 1995 19:44:50 PDT I have an AT&T Cordless two-line phone, model 4952 and it's acting strangely. Tonight it started doing something I'm calling a double ring -- I've never heard it before from this phone. Both the base and the cordless handset ring two short rings extremely loudly. These repeat at regular intervals, though farther apart than normal phone ringing. Here's the odd part: there is no call coming in and the visual line indicators do not light! So far it has done this four times tonight: three times I was on the line from a different (corded) phone when it was happening, so it can't be a telco generated thing. The battery is completely charged (there's an visual indicator of battery strength, and the audio indicator is just a quiet beep). One time I was able to stop it by returning the handset to the base, but it may be a coincidence because it didn't work the second and third times (eventually it just stopped). The fourth time I was not on the line, but the line 1 light came up as "in use." I activated that line, and the phone stopped ringing but it would not release the line for several minutes. This is very un-nerving because the ring is incredebly loud, and not knowing what it's from is starting to freak me out :-). Any insights? Steve cogorno@netcom.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Is it possible that some other source of radio interference is causing the phone to think it has a call? PAT] ------------------------------ From: fgoldstein@bbn.com (Fred R. Goldstein) Subject: Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers Date: Tue, 12 Sep 1995 11:02:22 ELT Organization: Bolt Beranek & Newman Inc. In article naddy@mips.pfalz.de (Christian Weisgerber) writes: > Recently, comp.dcom.telecom has seen some talk on the viability of > variable length phone numbers within a country (or any specific > network, for that matter). Many posters, especially those from North > America, insist on their belief that phone numbers have to be of > constant length, otherwise one must have timeouts etc. > First, let me state that I see *no reason whatsoever* why there can't be > variable length phone numbers or why a switch would have to know the > total length of the number. If you think there is a need for such > restrictions, please explain why you think so. Your reasons are not > obvious. The "need" is quite simple. In the USA, we do NOT use compelled signaling on trunks. Inter-switch signaling is sent en-bloc. Therefore the originating switch MUST know that the ENTIRE destination number is received, as it cannot "send more digits" when the receiving switch asks. > What must a switch do during call set-up? It receives dialing > information (single or multiple digits) from an inbound trunk (or from > the line card, if it is the caller's switch), and, after collecting > enough of these, selects an outbound trunk. Further dialing info it > receives is passed on to the switch on the outbound trunk. That is how it works on a stepper, and with compelled signaling. In the North American network, with MF (pre-SS7) signaling, CCIS6 or typical US SS7, it is not possible to pass on additional digits. The trunk is selected, the digits are sent, and that's it. This was much easier to implement with crossbar tandems, and is what everything else was designed to meet. > no trunk line has to be actually connected yet. The destination switch > collects dialing info until a line that it serves is identified, then > it initiates a ring signal. Information about this is passed back the > chain of switches to the caller's switch which locally feeds a "remote > is ringing" signal. When the called line answers, again information is > passed back to the caller's switch, and now the speech circuit is > actually activated along the switch chain. Such overlap signaling is part of the ISDN user-to-network interface spec, and is how telephone sets deal with the local CO, but inter-switch trunk protocols in North America don't work like that. Fred R. Goldstein k1io fgoldstein@bbn.com Bolt Beranek & Newman Inc., Cambridge MA USA +1 617 873 3850 ------------------------------ From: fgoldstein@bbn.com (Fred R. Goldstein) Subject: Re: Beyond V.34, V.34bis and Rockwell's 33.6 Date: Tue, 12 Sep 1995 11:05:28 ELT Organization: Bolt Beranek & Newman Inc. In article mearley@acsu.buffalo.edu (Matthew A. Earley) writes: > Is anyone aware of a new or proposed standard that enhances the > capabilities of ITU's V.34? I beleive there may be a V.34bis in the > works. > I recently upgraded my USR V.Everything to 33.6 but have been unable > to connect to the USR BBS at a rate above 21.6. Is the 33.6 a > proprietary USR standard or is it part of the proposed V.34bis? The problem is that you can't actually go 28.8 on most lines, let alone 33.6, because the required signal-to-noise ratio and bandwidth aren't there. The 33.6 is based on running a higher baud (signaling) rate than used at 28.8. This requires either an analog hard-wire connection (say, within a single 1AESS analog reed-relay switch) or a very, very good codec that passes up to 3.7 kHz rather than the more common ones that cut off around 3.4 kHz. In a magazine test of 28.8's a few months ago, the AT&T 33 kbps modem was able to to go that fast on maybe 5% of calls. V.34 is the "end of the line" for the vast majority of modems, and any faster speeds will be of little use to most subscribers. ISDN bashers will, of course, be disappointed. Fred R. Goldstein k1io fgoldstein@bbn.com Bolt Beranek & Newman Inc., Cambridge MA USA +1 617 873 3850 ------------------------------ From: Lionel Ancelet Subject: Re: Beyond V.34, V.34bis and Rockwell's 33.6 Date: Tue, 12 Sep 1995 21:46:19 GMT mearley@acsu.buffalo.edu (Matthew A Earley) wrote: > I recently upgraded my USR V.Everything to 33.6 but have been unable > to connect to the USR BBS at a rate above 21.6. Is the 33.6 a > proprietary USR standard or is it part of the proposed V.34bis? Based on what I know, only about 70 percent of the phone lines in the USA are able to handle 28.8 kbps. That means that, if you pick to lines randomly, on average you'll be able to establish a 28.8 kbps connection in less than 50% of the cases. For example, when I use my 28.8 modem at home, I generally get only 26.4 kbps when calling a certain number in the same area code. And, by the way, 33.6 is not a standard yet. Lionel C. Ancelet Houston, Texas --- USA ------------------------------ From: jilander@cerf.net (Jill W. Lander) Subject: Re: T1 Direct to Modem Bank Date: 12 Sep 1995 18:42:41 GMT Organization: Marketing DataComm If you're willing to dump the existing modems, try an integrated T1/channel bank/modem pool product. The two best are made by 3Com Primary Access, San Diego, CA, 619-675-4100, and U.S. Robotics, Skokie, Illinois, 708-982-5200. Modem pools contain every modem speed/type imaginable, plus error correcting protocols, also, excellent diagnostics on the T1, but, it's not cheap. Jill ------------------------------ From: bubba@insync.net Date: Tue, 12 Sep 95 17:25:37 -0700 Subject: Re: T1 Direct to Modem Bank lreeves@crl.com (Les Reeves) wrote: > Gary Secor (glsecor@ix.netcom.com) wrote: >> I have some switched 800 lines now dumping on a centrex hunt group (16 >> lines). I want to look at a T1 that replaces these switched lines >> since it should result in lower cost per minute and some better >> disaster recovery redirection options. What can I connect the T1 to >> that will allow it to connect to 16 modems? I suspect there may be a >> card that goes in a pc that can look like 23 or 24 analog lines. What >> is it called and what might it cost? Who has such an animal? Any other >> suggestions appreciated. I can use existing modem rack or am willing to >> look at a new one if it fits the situation. All thoughts appreciated! > If you want to use your existing modems, you will need a channel bank > with 16 2WFXS (two-wire FX station) cards. > Telco Systems makes excellent channel banks. However, I am somewhat > biased since I sold them for three years . USRobotics makes a rack system that interfaces DIRECTLY to one or two T1 lines into a single chassis which can be equipped with up to 48 modems. ASCEND also makes a similar product, tho it's intended to interface directly with up to 4 PRI ISDN lines (95B+D) It services analog callers as well as isdn callers. Point your web browser to http://www.usr.com or http://www.ascend.com Have your checkbook ready. Both products are deep in the five-figure range. Both products fall into the category of "nifty-keen" albeit somewhat expensive. Definitely a class act and the way to go to get around all the excessive D:A conversions associated with channel bank use. Either product comes highly recommended. ------------------------------ From: jrobinson@hearst.com (Jeff Robinson) Subject: Re: T1 Direct to Modem Bank Date: 12 Sep 1995 22:03:00 GMT Organization: ICD/The Hearst Corp. In message - lreeves@crl.com (Les Reeves) writes: > If you want to use your existing modems, you will need a channel bank > with 16 2WFXS (two-wire FX station) cards. > Telco Systems makes excellent channel banks. However, I am somewhat > biased since I sold them for three years . Total Control from USRobotics will do what you want also. Jeff Robinson jrobinson@hearst.com ------------------------------ From: Roger Fajman Date: Tue, 12 Sep 1995 21:10:12 EDT Subject: Re: T1 Direct to Modem Bank > I have some switched 800 lines now dumping on a centrex hunt group (16 > lines). I want to look at a T1 that replaces these switched lines Check out U.S. Robotics. They sell a modem bank that uses a T1 for the incoming lines. They have a WWW page at http://www.usr.com. ------------------------------ From: wa2ise@netcom.com (Robert Casey) Subject: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number Slowed Things Down Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest) Date: Tue, 12 Sep 1995 02:48:49 GMT A week or two ago, an accident occured at a problem intersection near my parent's house in Oradell, NJ. And a few months ago, we had 911 installed in town. So, I reach for the phone to report the accident. Times before, we'd dial 261-0200 and get our town's police quickly. But I dialed 911, and found that there was a delay in getting my report to the town police. Appears the 911 operator has to identify what town I'm in, and then transfer me to my town's police. Takes about 1/2 minute. "911, what's your emergency?" me: "there's an accident at Oradell (ave) and Summit (ave)". "Ah, hold on, I need to transfer you to the Oradell police". Then I told the Oradell police "There's an accident at Oradell and Summit". A couple minutes, the cops show up. I don't know if a half minute is that important in reporting an accident (someone was injured) or a fire or some other emergency. Think I'll dial up the 7D police number when another situation occurs. ------------------------------ From: mstrandrew@aol.com (MSTRANDREW) Subject: Dial 10288 for ATT ... Not Date: 12 Sep 1995 11:02:44 -0400 Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) Reply-To: mstrandrew@aol.com (MSTRANDREW) This past week I was in Silverton Oregon (503-873, Local exchange carrier: GTE NW) and attempted to call from a residential telephone a number in Portland, Oregon (503-249, Local exchange carrier: US West). Both locations are in the Portland LATA. My experience has been it is cheaper to use my ATT card calling rather than US West. So, I dialed 10288-0-503-xxx-xxxx to use ATT. I was connected to a live operator. I gave the card number and the operator responded: "Thank you for using GTE". Confused, I hung up and dialed again and experienced the same process. On the third try, I dialed 10288-0 and waited. The operator answered GTE! I asked for a ATT operator and was cheerfully connected. I would appreciate any observations. Since the breakup, I have always lived in areas served by a Bell company. I have no personal experience how independent telcos are suppose process calls. Is this the way it is supposed to work? In my mind, at best this is a system flaw and at worst it is fraud. [Telecom Digest Editor's Note: There is no fraud going on nor any system flaws. Local telco operators often times process calls for AT&T. When I went just now to check my bill for last month I found a few calls which were entitled 'local area calls processed by AT&T on behalf of Ameritech', and I found a couple others entitled 'Calls processed by Ameritech on behalf of AT&T.' I think it has to do with whose calling card or billing you are relying on many times. For example, when I make calls to my own 500 number from around this area, they are always on the *Ameritech* part of my account with the notation, 'processed by Ameritech on behalf of AT&T'. You'd think they would be on the AT&T page since its AT&T's program. Now if I call a 500 number outside this LATA, then the charges show up on the AT&T page. When someone called my 500 number from outside the LATA and used a pin so I would get billed, it showed up on the AT&T page ... and yet when we conducted an experiment with me forwarding my 500 calls to their second line (so that the call stayed totally in their LATA), when they dialed my 500 line and used the same pin, once I got the bill it was guess where? On the AT&T page, despite it starting and ending in the same LATA. However when he dialed it 1-500 so that it rang through direct to his second line, that one showed up on his local telco account as a 'call processed by NYNEX on behalf of AT&T'. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Mark J. Cuccia Subject: Re: Bell Canada Calling Cards in the USA Date: 12 Sep 1995 21:44:37 GMT Organization: Tulane University Terry Flanagan wrote: > A recent post to this newsgroup stated that Bell Canada Calling Cards > will not be validated by AT&T for calls to Canada from the US. This > is not true. From most locations in the United States customers can > reach Canada by dialing 302 plus the number they want to reach. !!! I myself thought that the earlier posts regarding Calling Cards issued by Canada's Stentor (and independent) telcos, namely Bell Canada, not being accepted by AT&T was incorrect (though these days with divestiture, deregulation, and competition, you can't always assume the obvious anymore). *Most* calling cards issued by Canada's telephone companies are line-number based (similar to the local Bell and independent LEC issued line-number based calling cards here in the US), although there can be 'non-line-number' based cards which are rather based on an RAO or CIID code, which is a Bellcore (and Stentor, etc) North American numbering standard which began under the AT&T/Bell-System days. Some competitive Long Distance carriers here in the US *do* issue non-line-number based (CIID) cards which are usually accepted by the local telcos on Intra-LATA calls placed through the LEC's TOPS operator facilities/services. Many LD carriers, however, issue cards or accounts which are NOT interoperable with other carriers, not even the LEC's IntraLATA service. Even AT&T has their 'True-Choice' card which is an optional card one can get and is NOT part of the Bellcore/Stentor/etc. standard, and is accepted ONLY by the AT&T OSPS facility. It can NOT be used for IntraLATA calls which are placed via LEC's TOPS operator services. AT&T DOES accept the standard 14-digit calling cards issued by the local telcos throughout North America (whether line-number-based or not) if they conform to the Bellcore/Stentor standards for Calling Card numbers. AT&T itself continues to issue a CIID format card (CIID is a Bellcore standard, but is NOT based on the line-number). BUT, what is this '302' code plus the (ten-digit?) Canadian telephone number to access Canada from the US that Terry Flanagan refers to? I only know of 302 as the standard North American NPA (area code) for Delaware, although it is assignable as a NXX Central Office Code within NPA's which are now using N0X and N1X codes. I've never heard of 302+ to access Canada from the US! Is 302 reserved as a standard when Canadian card users are calling from Motel/Hotel/Hospital PBX systems (with AOSlime operators and Long Distance) here in the US? I don't travel much, but I know that there ARE many PBX systems in the hospitality industry with special codes to reach the long distance carrier of the calling party's choice. And of course there are 950-XXXX and 1-800- numbers which are 'supposed' to be dialable (and free, but we know otherwise -- many people get an extra charge on their room bill when they check-out) to reach the carrier of their choice. And I think that there are ALSO motel/hotel PBX's (and other business PBX's) which DO allow 9(or 8)+10-XXX(or 101-XXXX) + 0+ONLY plus the ten-digit-number. Those outgoing trunks are also supposed to be screened by the carrier's operator or computer as hotel PBX lines, and not to charge-back to the trunk but rather to a card/collect/ 3rd-Party/etc. Could it be that '302' is really part of a 950-XXXX (fg.B) number or maybe a 10-XXX or 101-XXXX (fg.D) equal access over-ride code? I have seen references to 10-363+ for Bell Canada, and other Stentor members have their OWN fg.B/D access numbers/codes as well! (Competition withIN Canada is here today, too!) MARK J. CUCCIA PHONE/WRITE/WIRE: HOME: (USA) Tel: CHestnut 1-2497 WORK: mcuccia@law.tulane.edu |4710 Wright Road| (+1-504-241-2497) Tel:UNiversity 5-5954(+1-504-865-5954)|New Orleans 28 |fwds on no-answr to Fax:UNiversity 5-5917(+1-504-865-5917)|Louisiana(70128)|cellular/voicemail ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #379 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa14091; 14 Sep 95 1:56 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id SAA15522 for telecomlist-outbound; Wed, 13 Sep 1995 18:38:13 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id SAA15513; Wed, 13 Sep 1995 18:38:11 -0500 Date: Wed, 13 Sep 1995 18:38:11 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Message-Id: <199509132338.SAA15513@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #380 TELECOM Digest Wed, 13 Sep 95 18:38:00 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 380 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: An Idea for LECs to Communicate Area Code Splits Nationally (M Cuccia) Re: Area Code Crisis -- A Different Viewpoint (Dik Winter) Re: Area Code Crisis -- A Different Viewpoint (Martin D. Kealey) Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers (Dik Winter) Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers (Jeffrey Rhodes) Re: War on Payphones (coyne@thing1.cc.utexas.edu) Re: War on Payphones (Bob Schwartz) Re: War on Payphones (db@barc.com) Who is VolTelecom? (Mark E. Kaminsky) Information on GeoTel Requested (Ken Lubar) Discouraging Small Users (Wes Leatherock) Simulation of SDL-Diagrams? (Roland Welte) LATA/Exchange Boundary Maps Wanted (Craig Macfarlane) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily represent the views of Microsoft. ------------------------------------------------------------ Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Mark J. Cuccia Subject: Re: An Idea for LECs to Communicate Area Code Splits Nationally Date: 12 Sep 1995 22:18:11 GMT Organization: Tulane University Here in Louisiana (and other SCBell/BellSouth states?), business class of service customers DO receive a small page in their monthly bill showing new NXX codes within NPA's in Bell South states, whether the NXX is to a Bell South exchange or to an independent telco exchange. The idea is for PBX administrators to program in any necessary new dialing/code information. I know that NPA 334 was listed in these fliers back in late 1993 and during 1994 as a new areacode for Alabama (SCBell/BellSouth). I don't know if any new NPA's for NON-BellSouth states have also been listed in those fliers. BTW, there is usually a note in the flier which states that the complete North American Numbering Plan NPA and NXX information can be obtained (for a cost) from Bellcore and continues on with the areacode (and address?) for Bellcore's Traffic Routing Administration. But I think that all local telcos within North America SHOULD give at least new NPA information for any new NPA's anywhere in the North American system. I remember when Virginia had their 703 split to 703 & 804 some 20+ years ago, South Central Bell's 'Louisiana Bell Notes' monthly bill insert gave that information. Yes, this was still when we had a 'corporate' Bell System, some 10+ years prior to Greene's divestiture of the Bell System, but let' remember that Area Code information is Carrier NEUTRAL! Bellcore is one of the 'co-ordinating' entities for North American telephony- It IS owned 1/7th each by the seven divested Regional Bell Corporations, but IT is part of the NPA assignments- and most people get their dialtone (or their phone rings) from their own local telco. BTW, the local telcos DO give a US/Canada map of NPA's in the front of their local directories. However, in Louisiana (and other SCBell states?), there is a notice stating "Areacodes for places not listed..." (a small town not able to have its dot on the map or name in the list) "...can be obtained from *Directory-Assistance*." We get ONE free available call to 1-411 every month. Any calls above and beyond that (in Louisiana) are 31-cents. (and automated voice instructions are NOW being used here, too). Try calling 1-411 and asking for an areacode for ANY town outside of your own state/lata (even for a MAJOR metro area) and you'll probably get the response that you should call your LD company! And, either lose your free call or chalk-up another 31-cents! (of course, you CAN demand credit). I've even dialed a single-0 and asked for NPA info. Instead of her connecting me with AT&T or asking me what carrier I wanted for a 00 operator, she just put me through to Directory and (if it answered) set it to charge me 31-cents PLUS a 30-cents 'Operator Assistance service charge'!!! (I did call and get credit, however!) I have mentioned this BLATANTLY ERRONEOUS information to the Public Service Commission (on a few occasions over the past 10 years) but nothing has been done yet! Is Bell just trying to charge 31-cents to people who are unwitting? I don't normally call 1-411 on my own anymore, but it only a few years ago, SCBell did NOT itemize your 411 calls with time & date. They gave you only the number of times you called 411 in that billing month (at 31-cents/call minus your one free) and the total amount! Even AT&T carried (NPA)-555-1212 calls (when Bell did more of the AMA tracking for AT&T a few years back) were just 'lumped' togather. There was NO itemization for time, date, nor NPA-itself that was called. Now, AT&T does more AMA tracking of its carried calls, and it is itemized as such here in Louisiana on the AT&T pages of my monthly SCBell bill. But back to the (erroneous) instructions stating that Directory Assistance is to be called for 'areacodes for places not listed'. People would be dialing Information (Directory Assistance), being told that they should call their long-distance company (and probably dialing single-0 anyway thinking that the 0 Operator is long-distance), being charged 31-cents since DA returned answer supervision to the AMA machine, and not finding out about the charge until they get their bill. If all 411 charges are lumped togather as a sum total, they would have a bit of a problem trying to determine WHY they are charged and getting credit. But is it because Bell really WANTS it that way!?!?! My two-cents. My views are my own, and not *necessarily* that of anyone else. MARK J. CUCCIA PHONE/WRITE/WIRE: HOME: (USA) Tel: CHestnut 1-2497 WORK: mcuccia@law.tulane.edu |4710 Wright Road| (+1-504-241-2497) Tel:UNiversity 5-5954(+1-504-865-5954)|New Orleans 28 |fwds on no-answr to Fax:UNiversity 5-5917(+1-504-865-5917)|Louisiana(70128)|cellular/voicemail ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 Sep 1995 03:24:20 +0200 From: Dik.Winter@cwi.nl Subject: Re: Area Code Crisis -- A Different Viewpoint (Larry Ludwick) Larry Ludwick and Tye McQueen both had something to this to which I wish to reply: Larry: >> Well, why should seven and eight digit versions of local >> numbers be any harder to deal? As long as no short number >> ever forms a prefix for any longer number, the switch can >> always tell how many more digits to expect after the first >> few digits. > I'm not sure I understand this one. If all (or most) seven digit > numbers are in use (which is the only reason anyone would want an > eight digit number in the first place), then all eight digit numbers > would have the complication of having their fist seven digits be a > working station somewhere else. This is were you surmise wrong. In Europe the digit length is not extended when the number of phone numbers runs out but fairly long before that time (in most cases no local number starts with a particular digit). For instance in Amsterdam we had for a long time 5 and 6 digit numbers. 5 digit numbers started with 5 and 6 digit numbers with 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8 and 9. The phone company was careful not to assign any number starting with 35. When a shortage of phone numbers was imminent, all numbers starting with 5 got a 3 prepended; this freed leading digit 5 (with leading digit 6 still free). At that time all numbers were 6 digits. Still later new numbers were introduced: 7 digit numbers starting with 5; so at that time there were 6 and 7 digit numbers. At *no* time a shorter number was the initial part of a longer number. The key is that you do not start with longer numbers when all or most shorter numbers are exhausted but that you allow a much longer time. Tyne: > This is probably at least partially because Americans are used to > _not_ entering "#" after dialing numbers. I would like to adjust that. Most people all over the world do not enter "#" after dialling a number. I do not because I can't. My rotary dials do not have the ability to dial "#". (Yes, I have two telephones, both have rotary dials, can be quite bothersome with some menu driven systems, but not with others.) Still I never experience a time-out. dik t. winter, cwi, kruislaan 413, 1098 sj amsterdam, nederland, +31205924098 home: bovenover 215, 1025 jn amsterdam, nederland; e-mail: dik@cwi.nl ------------------------------ From: martin@kurahaupo.gen.nz (Martin D Kealey) Subject: Re: Area Code Crisis -- A Different Viewpoint Date: Wed, 13 Sep 1995 13:59:55 NZST dmcmahon@edlgu4.ericsson.se (Denis McMahon) wrote: > in the UK we have a mix of 10 and 11 digit national numbers, and that > means that +44 can be followed by either 9 or 10 digits!! > This means that for calls to the UK, either the shorter number length > has to time out, or analysis has to be done at the next digit - which > is another ten lines of data to maintain in every switch worldwide > that supports international dialing! Is already done routinely, mainly to avoid having to deal with guaranteedly invalid numbers. For example, two months ago I was blocked by my *local* switch from dialing +44-701-xxxxxxx for a friend's "personal" number in the UK. Now, I know the UK is a "special case" since they've just had a big shake-up, but similar blocking occur on invalid area codes in other countries; eg, I get a local intercept if I try +1-0000000000 or +1-9999999999. On the other hand, waiting for a five second digit timeout on an international call isn't that big a deal -- calls to some places may take another 20 seconds to start ringing anyway ... As far as I can tell, depending on carrier, this is the default for most international calls from here (dial, wait five seconds, click, local intercept). ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 Sep 1995 04:05:56 +0200 From: Dik.Winter@cwi.nl Subject: Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers Linc Madison: > The advantage of this scheme is that the originating switch does not > need to open a path all the way to the terminating switch until dialing > has been completed. The originating switch stores the entire number and > then opens a path and sends it along its way, or may open a path part > way through the dialing process and pass the initial digits and then > pass the remaining digits in real time. In either case, it knows when > dialing is complete and can take the dialing register off that line. > Other countries have systems that use variable-length numbers without > requiring time-outs, because they open the path as the subscriber dials > and the terminating switch returns an indication that dialing has been > completed. Indeed. I agree with your assesment of the different schemes but would like to point out another difference. If variable length numbers are used by the system, the system also allows an intercept on the first digit that violates a valid phone number. For instance, if I dial "1" overhere I get an immediate intercept. Same happens with all other digits except "0", "4", "5" and "6". (Since we have gone to seven digits local all local numbers start with "4", "5" or "6".) But when going non-local there is a big advantage. When I dial "0" (non-local access) followed by "291" I get an immediate intercept warning me that the area code is not in use. This is because the terminating "1" is not a valid part. This is not done locally but by the compelled forward and back-signalling of digits. And it makes it easy to add area codes. There is only one switch that must be updated; the switch that handles the initial part. Compare this to the US where due to late update of switches some of the new area codes can not be dialled. dik t. winter, cwi, kruislaan 413, 1098 sj amsterdam, nederland, +31205924098 home: bovenover 215, 1025 jn amsterdam, nederland; e-mail: dik@cwi.nl ------------------------------ From: jcr@creator.nwest.attws.com (Jeffrey Rhodes) Subject: Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers Date: 12 Sep 1995 20:24:50 GMT Organization: AT&T Wireless Services, Inc. Reply-To: jcr@creator.nwest.attws.com In article 6@eecs.nwu.edu, naddy@mips.pfalz.de (Christian Weisgerber) writes: > Recently, comp.dcom.telecom has seen some talk on the viability of > variable length phone numbers within a country (or any specific > network, for that matter). Many posters, especially those from North > America, insist on their belief that phone numbers have to be of > constant length, otherwise one must have timeouts etc. Cellular switches can handle call setup with variable length phone numbers since the numbers are sent "en-bloc", eg. the number is entered at a cell phone and then the SEND key sends the numbers in a block over the air waves to the switch. > First, let me state that I see *no reason whatsoever* why there can't be > variable length phone numbers or why a switch would have to know the > total length of the number. If you think there is a need for such > restrictions, please explain why you think so. Your reasons are not > obvious. A landline switch with line terminations must provide inter-digit timing, or the dialer must terminate the phone number with the End-Of-Dialing indicator such as the # number on a touch-tone phone. Rotary dial phones cannot dial #, so inter-digit timing is needed to determine that no further digits are coming in. This timer is only needed for variable length numbers that have conflicts such as: 312-456-1234 and 312-456-123. For this sequence, the inter-digit timer is only needed on the 9th digit. The timer is typically set to 2 seconds, which means there is an additional 2 second call setup delay for conflicting number sequences that are not terminated by a # digit. Jeffrey Rhodes at jcr@creator.nwest.mccaw.com or if that doesn't work: jeffrey.rhodes@attws.com ------------------------------ From: coyne@thing1.cc.utexas.edu Subject: Re: War on Payphones Date: 13 Sep 1995 00:12:09 GMT Organization: The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas In article henry@q.com (henry mensch) writes: >> I called the telco to complain and they explained to me that this was >> done purposely because that telephone is in "a high-crime area". So This attribution looks wrong, but it does not matter. What difference does it make to drug dealers whether or not they can use the key pad? I am not a drug dealer myself, and I do not have any friends in that trade, but I am quite curious about this. What is there in the basic procedure of dealing drugs as practiced in high crime or any other area that makes it telecommunication dependent? I can see that you have to have a phone for carriage trade clientel that wants delivery service. Why do you need one to sit out on a street corner and deal drugs or sex or anything else? Are they phoning in mastercard approvals? Are they back ordering out-of-stock products? Are they checking customer references? Are they getting up to the minute price quotations from the Columbian drug exchange? Are they checking on drug interactions with the poison control center? Do they need it to call 911? What are they doing on the phone that is so vital to their trade? Somebody please enlighten me. ------------------------------ From: bob@bci.nbn.com (Bob Schwartz) Subject: Re: Pay Phones in Poor Neighborhoods Date: Wed, 13 Sep 1995 00:39:19 -0800 Organization: BCI In article , bob@bci.nbn.com (Bob Schwartz) wrote: > It occured to me that pay phones could be getting removed from poor > neighborhoods in order to stimulate the new instalation of LIFELINE > service! > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Could be, but Lifeline service is not a > big profit center. IBT had to be 'encouraged' by the Illinois Commerce > Commission before they would do much with it. Seems like a hard way to > earn a profit if you ask me. You could be right though. PAT] Now it becomes more clear. The FCC has an ongoing investigation of UNIVERSAL service. Lifeline was a wrong (but perhaps related) thought. At the heart of the investigation are demographic revelations that ubiquity of service is fast becoming a myth when gauged by the inner cities. Second to that is the pressure LECs, who are negotiating to let competition into their markets, are putting on legislators and comissioners around the issue of Lifeline service and forcing would be competitors to both offer it and or to mandate contribution through a universal service pool. As long as LECs must offer this service then would be competitors must too. This alone would have an effect on the capital structure of would-be competitors and serve to inflate their rates. It's not so much a way to earn a profit as a way to placate the investigators AND to kill competitors' cash in one fell swoop and it's all wraped / warped up with politics, and the war on drugs. There are just too many arguments peircing the veneer like the lack of safety (911), pocket dialers etc. for the war on drugs to be the full reason for the elimination of so many PROFITABLE payphones. It's typical, and smart, telco style to get someone else to tell them to do what they want to do anyway. Regards, *BOB* ------------------------------ From: db@barc.com Subject: Re: War on Payphones Reply-To: db@barc.com Date: Wed, 13 Sep 1995 08:17:47 GMT In , slichte@cello.gina.calstate.edu (Steven Lichter) writes: > I sure don't know where they come up with the idea that shunting the pad > after connect will help fight crime. For less then $20.00 you can get a > portable Touch Tone generator about the size of a small calculator and > for a little more one with lots of memory. I'm sure the drug dealers have > the best. I was forced to get one because of the COT's. He did mention he was in the L.A. area when that happened. I wonder if he was in one of the GTE service areas instead of PacBell. I grew up in one, and they always 'disabled' the tone pad after the call was made ... it was more the switch then 'intentional', if I recall. . I do remember that the 'touch tone' wasn't real, but converted to pulse. They still use these switches in GTE land in Indiana where I grew up. I woudln't doubt that they do still have the ancient hardware in CA as well. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 Sep 95 09:59:18 PDT From: kaminsky@clipper.robadome.com (Mark E. Kaminsky) Subject: Information Wanted on VolTelecom Just out of curiosity, have you ever heard of this company? They have been working in manholes in Santa Clara, CA (one of their trucks here has a South Carolina license plate; that's what got me curious: I thought commercial vehicles would have to get a CA plate right away - here, private vehicles can keep their current plate until it expires) across the street from the Great America amusement park, and in Sunnyvale, CA, along the Cal Train (Southern Pacific?) railroad tracks. Mark Kaminsky ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Sep 1995 21:34:48 -0400 From: klubar@emiboston.com (Ken Lubar) Subject: Information on GeoTel Requested Pat - Perhaps one of your readers could shed some light on a new company called GeoTel. As far as I can tell, they are developing a software/hardware system that allows real-time, call-by-call routing of 800 number calls. For example, using a database lookup, independent of the 800 number dialed, a call could be routed to the dealer that served the customer last time, or deadbeat customers could be routed directly to the collections department. Looks like it works nationally, and hooks directly into the signaling system of the carriers. I would be interested in hearing if any of your readers have used the system, or have any experience with its reliability. Thanks, Kenneth Lubar EMI One Appleton Street Boston, MA 02116 Phone: +1 617 451-9451 x-126 Fax: +1 617 451-1193 Email: klubar@emiboston.com ------------------------------ From: wes.leatherock@hotelcal.com (Wes Leatherock) Subject: Discouraging Small Users Date: Wed, 13 Sep 1995 17:26:00 GMT Recently I got a notice in my AT&T Universal Card (Visa card) bill that "any current AT&T Universal Card calling card discount will no longer be available." (My account provides -- or provided -- for a 10 per cent discount [from what?] on credit card calls made with the AT&T Visa card.) Now "you'll be guaranteed competitive AT&T calling card rates on your first $10 of qualifying calling card calls each month, and enjoy up to 25 per cent savings when you make over $10 in qualifying credit card calls." Note the "UP TO"; it doesn't say what "savings" is actually applicable. It probably depends on volume, but doesn't say so, or what the lowest tier "savings" is and how much you have to use to get 25 per cent. Wes Leatherock wes.leatherock@hotelcal.com wes.leatherock@oubbs.telecom.uoknor.edu wes.leatherock@f2001.n147.z1.fidonet.org ------------------------------ From: Roland Welte <100070.3321@CompuServe.COM> Subject: Simulation of SDL-Diagrams? Date: 13 Sep 1995 14:34:33 GMT Organization: CRYPTO AG I am looking for PC-Software that would allow me to simulate a protocol which has been described with SDL symbols. I am primarily interrested in simulating SDL diagrams and not their code generation. Any comments, pointers and help with this will be greatly appreciated. Roland ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 Sep 1995 11:12:47 -0400 Subject: LATA/Exchange Boundary Maps? From: Craig Macfarlane Hi Folks, I'm looking for boundary maps that show exchanges as well as the LATAs for the northeastern US. My ideal would be PS or some other computer useable format, but any pointers would help a great deal! Thanks, Craig Macfarlane The Internet Access Company Director of Services 175 Great Road, Bedford MA 01730 http://www.tiac.net/ 617-276-7200v 617-275-2224fax ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #380 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa14917; 14 Sep 95 3:59 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id UAA17183 for telecomlist-outbound; Wed, 13 Sep 1995 20:10:05 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id UAA17173; Wed, 13 Sep 1995 20:10:03 -0500 Date: Wed, 13 Sep 1995 20:10:03 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Message-Id: <199509140110.UAA17173@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #381 TELECOM Digest Wed, 13 Sep 95 20:10:00 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 381 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Beach House Payphone (Steve Bunning) Pacific Bell Pay Phones (Robert Deward) UCLA Short Course: Multirate Digital Filters and Applications (B. Goodin) UCLA Short Course: Advanced Communication Systems Using DSP (Bill Goodin) Cellular Service Along NY Route 17 (Aninda DasGupta) Nortel Goes to Vietnam (Dave Leibold) ACC Buys Metrowide (Dave Leibold) Employment: OSI/CMISE Object Modeling, SNMP, HP OpenView (sccstech@mars) Area Code News (Steve Grandi) Online Services: Technology, Applications, Vendors (S. R. Sadasivam) California: Outrageous Telephone Rates (Jerald Pendleton) DSC Transcoder Enhancement (Tyler Proctor) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily represent the views of Microsoft. ------------------------------------------------------------ Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 13 Sep 1995 18:54:38 -0400 From: bunning@acec.com (Steve Bunning) Subject: Beach House Payphone A couple of weeks ago, I was vacationing at Corolla in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The rental house I stayed in had an interesting arrangement for phone service. As you might imagine in a rental house, the phone did not allow 1+ dialing. 00 and 0+ calls went to an operator, but after that things started to get more interesting. 10XXX0- and 10XXX0+ calls did not complete and _certain_ 800 calls also did not complete. The 800 numbers that were blocked included 1-800-OPERATOR, 1-800-CALL-ATT, and 1-800-COLLECT. I did some additional checking and found that the operator services were being handled by Teltrust (operators located in Salt Lake City). The line restrictions and operator connections seemed to be accomplished via a dialer installed in the house by a company called ATI. When I spoke to the ATI customer service reps about the trouble I had dialing certain 800 numbers, they said something about not having the 800 numbers "programmed in". I have to believe that they are deliberately "programming out" specific 800 numbers rather than programming in all of the 800 numbers in the US. The rep provided 800 access numbers for AT&T and MCI which worked, but they weren't the well known ones. My more obscure 800 access number for Cable & Wireless long distance also worked without a problem. The Teltrust/ATI 0+ (credit card, no operator) rates for a call from Corolla to Washington, D.C. (about 300 miles) were quoted as $2.75 for the first minute and $.45 for each additional minute. Not what I would call cheap. This caused me to wonder if this form of service (beach house, dialer based, coinless payphone) is regulated? If so, is the service provider permitted to block or impede 800 access to other carriers? I suppose the service provider would claim it was still possible to reach the other carriers even though most people would just give up and dial 0+ after their initial 800 attempts didn't work. To my mind, this is another example of the ongoing war against consumers some of the operator service providers seem to be engaged in. Steve Bunning | American Computer and Elec. Corp.| 301 258-9850 (voice) Product Manager | 209 Perry Parkway | 301 921-0434 (fax) TEL*COMM Division| Gaithersburg, MD USA 20877 | bunning@acec.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Wouldn't it have been easier to just unplug or bypass the dialer somehow? PAT] ------------------------------ From: bobd@well.sf.ca.us (Robert Deward) Subject: Pacific Bell Pay Phones Date: 13 Sep 1995 21:51:30 GMT Organization: The Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link, Sausalito, CA I want to respond on behalf of Pacific Bell to two postings: The first was by Bob Jacobson on August 30 wherein he alleged that Pacific Bell doesn't want to locate coin phones in high crime areas because these phones don't bring in enough money. He said telcos seek 'to maximize profit by limiting service to high-security, high-spending venues (like airports, upscale shopping malls, and tourist hotels).' He added that a bill to remove coin phones was watered down (presumably at telcos' urging) to make it difficult for customers to interfere with a coin phone's removal by giving them little time to object. First of all, it is an unwarranted assumption that coin phones in high crime areas are not profitable. In fact, if city authorities cause Pacific Bell to remove a coin phone in such an area, a competitor, who is not governed by the same rules as Pacific, frequently moves in to claim the revenue. When the Chicago City Council decided in October 1994 to ban outdoor coin phones on residential streets, outside liquor stories and on vacant buildings and lots, Pacific Bell voiced its opposition. Pacific believes concerns about crime need to be balanced with the very real need of people, especially those with low or limited incomes, to have access to the local telephone network for local and long distance calls and for reporting 9-1-1 emergencies. In some cases, these pay phones are the only way people have to communicate with others. Pacific Bell has not removed any coin phone for the past five years for providing a low payout or being unprofitable unless a site owner has demanded it. To keep its coin phones in areas having problems with public order, Pacific Bell cooperates with police, neighborhood groups, and local government to address noise, loitering and crime concerns. Furthermore, where there is a public need but little likelihood a coin phone would ever be profitable, another procedure exists to establish what are called 'public policy pay telephones.' Pacific is the only pay phone provider to install stations primarily for public health, safety, and welfare where there otherwise would not be a public phone. Pacific Bell maintains some 900 of these in California including such remote sites as along desert highways and mountain trails. A few years ago I looked at the cost of maintaining a policy phone booth out in the Mojave Desert. It ran close to $200 per month! Users are few. But when they need it, they need it indeed. Concerning Jeff Gottlieb's experience -- where the (allegedly) Pacific Bell coin phone in a Los Angeles restaurant had an inoperative touch tone pad -- , Mr. Gottlieb was right when he said he didn't expect that from Pacific Bell: We don't do that. But he is not the first to be fooled. Competitors' phones often resemble ours. Here are the countermeasures Pacific Bell applies to retain coin phones in high crime areas: eliminate incoming calls; relocate the station to a nearby but more observable site; install a lock-up box or a cut-off key to confine use to specific hours; modify the existing phone enclosure; install high intensity lighting; or convert to a charge-a-call (calling card, collect, third-party billed) phone, and establish remote call screening. In the latter case we can deny incoming calls, deny coin calls, deny calling card calls, deny international dialing, and provide screening by time of day. Anyone having further questions about PacificUs coin phone policies is welcome to contact me directly. Bob Deward, Pacific Telesis External Affairs, S.F. voice: 415-394-3646 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Thanks very much for taking the time to write to the Digest with this clarification. Here in Chicago, Illinois Bell has likewise denied at one time or another that they tamper with payphone arrangements -- as to location or number of phones; how the phones operate, etc -- for any reason other than in response to concerns voiced by the community and the police. And you are quite correct about how 'slick' some of the competitors have become in making their phones look *exactly* like Genuine Bell to anyone without a very trained eye. They've done it that way on purpose, knowing that you always follow what the winner is doing, and that the 'average user' won't know one operator service from another, nor be in a position to make a sophisticated response to the price gouging so many COCOTS engage in. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Goodin, Bill Subject: UCLA Short Course: "Multirate Digital Filters and Applications" Date: Wed, 13 Sep 95 09:53:00 PDT On November 29-December 1, 1995, UCLA Extension will present the short course, "Multirate Digital Filters and Applications", on the UCLA campus in Los Angeles. The instructor is Professor frederick harris, Electrical and Computer Engineering, San Diego State University. This course is an introduction to multirate digital filters, which are variants of non-recursive filters, and incorporate one or more resamplers in the signal path. These embedded resamplers affect changes in sample rate for upsampling, downsampling, or combinations of both. Changes in sampling rate as part of the signal processing is a feature unique to sampled data systems. and has no counterpart in continuous signal processing. Benefits include reduced cost for a given signal processing task and improved levels of performance for a given computational burden. This economy of computation has become an essential requirement of modern communication systems, particularly battery-operated equipment. Specific course topics include: Introduction to sample rate conversion, Non-recursive (finite impulse response) filters, Prototype FIR filter design methods, Decimation and interpolation, Multirate filters, Two-channel filter banks, M-channel filter banks, Proportional bandwidth filter banks and wavelet analysis, Polyphase recursive all-pass filter banks, Multirate filter applications. The course fee is $1095, which includes extensive course materials. For additional information and a complete course description, please contact Marcus Hennessy at: (310) 825-1047 (310) 206-2815 fax mhenness@unex.ucla.edu ------------------------------ From: Goodin, Bill Subject: UCLA Short Course: "Advanced Communication Systems using DSP" Date: Wed, 13 Sep 95 09:56:00 PDT On December 4-8, 1995, UCLA Extension will present the short course, "Advanced Communication Systems Using Digital Signal Processing", on the UCLA campus in Los Angeles. The instructors are Bernard Sklar, PhD, Communications Engineering Services, and frederick harris, MS, Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, San Diego State University. As part of the course materials, each participant receives a copy of the text, "Digital Communications-Fundamentals and Applications", by Bernard Sklar. This course provides comprehensive coverage of advanced digital communications. It differs from other communications courses in its emphasis on applying modern digital signal processing techniques to the implementation of communication systems. This makes the course essential for practitioners in the rapidly changing field. Error-correction coding, spread spectrum techniques, and bandwidth-efficient signaling are all discussed in detail. Basic digital signaling methods and the newest modulation-with-memory techniques are presented, along with trellis-coded modulation. Topics that are covered include: signal processing overview and baseband transmission; bandpass modulation and demodulation; digital signal processing tools and technology; non-recursive filters; channel coding: error detection and correction; defining, designing, and evaluating systems; signal conditioning; adaptive algorithms for communication systems; modulation and coding trade-offs and bandwidth-efficient signaling; and spread spectrum and multiple access techniques. The course fee is $1495, which includes the text and extensive course notes. For additional information and a complete course description, please contact Marcus Hennessy at: (310) 825-1047 (310) 206-2815 fax mhenness@unex.ucla.edu ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 Sep 95 15:08:39 EDT From: add@philabs.philips.com (Aninda DasGupta) Subject: Cellular Service Along NY Route 17 I will be doing a lot of driving along Route 17 in New York State (between Westchester county and the Finger Lakes region). With the coming Winter, I want peace of mind in case of roadside emergencies. I was wondering if anyone knows what kind of cellular coverage exists along the Catskills mountains region of Route 17 if I sign up with one of the following two carriers: AT&T Wireless/Cellular One NY Bell Atlantic/NYNEX Mobile. Among the pros and cons of the two carriers that I am considering are the following (in decreasing order of importance): - Bell Atlantic/NYNEX Mobile being the "second carrier," I may not get good coverage in all parts of Route 17 -- they couldn't tell me how good is their coverage; - Bell Atlantic covers all of NY and NJ (I will pay no roaming charges along NY Route 17); with AT&T, I will end up paying 99c/min if I use my phone outside my county; - Bell Atlantic requires (or so the representative told me) that I use a Motorola Flip phone that they will sell to me, while with AT&T I can use any phone of my choice. I'd appreciate any comments from those familiar with the area, or those who use Bell Atlantic/NYNEX Mobile or AT&T/Cell One NY in general. Aninda DasGupta (add@philabs.philips.com) Ph:(914)945-6071 Fax:(914)945-6552 Philips Labs 345 Scarborough Rd Briarcliff Manor\n NY 10510 "Err.., Phillips Petroleum gives you gas; fortunately Phillips Chemical makes antacid. Philips is with one "el"; we make lightbulbs, and other stuff." ------------------------------ From: Dave.Leibold@superctl.tor250.org (Dave Leibold) Date: 12 Sep 95 23:52:50 -0400 Subject: Nortel Goes to Vietnam Organization: Gateway: The Super Continental - North York, Canada [from Bell News, 4 Sept 1995 - Bell Canada's version of events] Nortel to build network in Vietnam Our sister BCE company, Northern Telecom, has sealed a deal to build the major portion of Vietnam's fiber-optic telephone network. Northern will lay 3000 miles of fiber-optic cable and install switches to meet the demand of Vietnam's businesses for state-of-the-art telecommunications. "The network will allow Vietnam to significantly strengthen its access to the global business community," points out James Deas, president of Nortel Asia South Pacific. Northern was chosen to build the network by Australia's Telstra International Ltd., the prime contractor of the Vietnamese project. Fidonet : Dave Leibold 1:250/730 Internet: Dave.Leibold@superctl.tor250.org ------------------------------ From: Dave.Leibold@superctl.tor250.org (Dave Leibold) Date: 12 Sep 95 23:52:58 -0400 Subject: ACC buys Metrowide Organization: Gateway: The Super Continental - North York, Canada [from press release via CNW] ACC TELENTERPRISES ANNOUNCES ACQUISITION OF METROWIDE COMMUNICATIONS TORONTO, Aug. 14 /CNW/ - ACC TelEnterprises Ltd. (ACC) has announced that it has acquired Metrowide Communications. Metrowide is based in Toronto and provides local and long distance services to Ontario based customers. The purchase is expected to add over $10 million to ACC's annualized revenue. ACC is scheduling a teleconference at 2pm, today, August 14, 1995. Parties interested in more detail on the acquisition are asked to dial (416) 695-5801 five minutes prior to conference time. Commenting on the acquisition, Steve M. Dubnik, Chairman, President and CEO of ACC TelEnterprises said, "The purchase of Metrowide Communications strengthens our ability to be all things to some people. ACC's acquisition of Metrowide will add several significant telecommunication services to the company's current product lines including Centrex resale and wide area local calling. The fit between ACC and Metrowide, in addition to its traditional long distance services, is that while primary local service provides business consumers with the ability to receive and place local calls at a fixed monthly rate, it does not provide any of the advanced telecommunication services of Centrex service or PBX equipment." Metrowide currently buys Centrex services from Bell Canada in bulk, and resells them at a discount to businesses that require under 100 local lines per office. The offshoot of Centrex provisioning allows Enhanced Extended Area Service or EAS which is the expansion of local free calling areas. Metrowide also provides packages for inbound calling similar to a Foreign Exchange Service whereby the call is free to the originating caller anywhere within approximately 30 miles of Toronto. In addition, we expect this acquisition will have a positive impact on operating cash flow and operating income in 1996." ACC TelEnterprises Ltd. is a publicly traded telecommunications holding company headquartered in Toronto. The stock is traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Montreal Exchange under the symbol ACL. Business operations and service is provided across Canada by its wholly owned subsidiary ACC Long Distance Inc. ACC Long Distance Inc., together with its affiliates, ACC Long Distance Corp. in the United States and ACC Long Distance UK Ltd. in the United Kingdom, is a multinational provider of enhanced telecommunications services. As one of the nation's premier non-facilities based carriers, the company has an annualized revenue run rate in excess of $110 million. ACC provides worldwide voice and data long distance services to over 100,000 businesses and residential customers in Canada. Fidonet : Dave Leibold 1:250/730 Internet: Dave.Leibold@superctl.tor250.org ------------------------------ From: sccstech@mars.superlink.net (sccstech) Subject: Employment: OSI/CMISE Object Modeling, SNMP, HP OpenView Date: 13 Sep 1995 14:27:42 GMT Organization: SuperLink Internet Services, NJ (908) 828-8988 SCCS Technologies, Inc is a provider of information technology products and services to telecommunications, engineering, and financial/banking industry clients. The rapid merging of the telecommunications, video/cable and entertainment industry has created one of the fastest growing markets for new technology. SCCS is poised be an industry leader. If you have the right skills and interests, let us know! If you know people with this background, please mention to them. We do have referral arrangements. EXCELLENT COMPENSATION and FREE TRAINING for qualified candidates! These exist in Central New Jersey, Current Opportunities: Network Mgmt: HP OpenView, NetView, SunNet Manager, TMN6000, X.25, SNA, TCP/IP Network Element Mgmt: OSI/CMISE object modeling, SNMP Systems Eng: Telecom (SONET, ATM, Broadband, AIN), Loop Maint Send resume to: SCCS Technologies, Inc., Parag Rastogi, 100 Jersey Ave Suite-D, New Brunswick, NJ-08901 email them : sccstech@mars.superlink.net ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 Sep 1995 07:50:03 -0700 From: grandi@noao.edu (Steve Grandi) Subject: Area Code News Some news on the area code front: The split of AC 904 in North Florida has been clarified. Contrary to earlier reports, the new AC created in the split will be 352 and not 850. The southern part of AC 804 will become 352, the Panhandle retains 904. Daytona Beach (and Volusia Co.) were originally to be moved to the new code, but the consortium of landline and wireless companies planning the split decided to keep it in 904, at least for a while. 352 will contain Gainesville, Leesburg, Ocala; 904 will retain Daytona Beach, Jacksonville, Panama City, Pensacola, Tallahassee; The split is effective 12/3/95 and the permissive period ends 5/20/96. AC 320 has been assigned to the split of AC 612 in central Minnesota (to take place sometime in March 1996). Metro Minneapolis/St.Paul will keep 612, the rest of Central Minnesota will move to AC 320. As part of the the 612/320 split, 5 communities SE of the Twin Cities (the biggest of which seems to be Red Wing) will switch from AC 612 to AC 507. My complete file on area code changes in 1995 may be obtained by anonymous FTP to gemini.tuc.noao.edu in pub/grandi/npa1995.txt Steve Grandi, National Optical Astronomy Observatories, Tucson, Arizona USA Internet: grandi@noao.edu Voice: +1 520 318-8228 ------------------------------ From: ssadasiv@ix.netcom.com (S. R. Sadasivam ) Subject: Online Services: Technology, Applications, Vendors? Date: 13 Sep 1995 14:30:46 GMT Organization: Netcom I am doing a research paper on "Online Services: Technology, Applications, and Vendors." If anyone has information that may help or know places where I can find information, please send the details directly to my e-mail address: ssadasiv@ix.netcom.com Thanks in advance for your help. ------------------------------ From: jerald@wrs.com (Jerald Pendleton) Subject: California: Outrageous Telephone Rates Date: 13 Sep 1995 18:08:33 GMT Organization: Wind River Systems, Inc. I recently recieved a bill I incurred during a recent vacation. I made several phone calls from my motel room to numbers within the state of california. They charged me $9.13 for a four minute call (apparently four minutes is the minimum). I was billed through Pac-Bell by Communication Telesystems International for this. I have absolutely no intention of paying this bill. Can anyone suggest grounds by which I can get this overturned at the PUC? The phone was blocked (we tried 102880). Thanks, Jerald R. Pendleton (Jerry) - Tech Support Lead Engineer - Wind River Systems Corporate Headquarters: 1010 Atlantic Ave, Alameda, Ca. 94501 email:jerald@wrs.com phone:1-510-814-2563 Non-WRS-email:pendleto@ix.netcom.com ------------------------------ From: Tyler Proctor <75260.710@CompuServe.COM> Subject: DSC Transcoder Enhancement Date: 13 Sep 1995 19:00:14 GMT Organization: CompuServe, Inc. (1-800-689-0736) DSC Communications (214-519-4358) will announce enhancements to it's TC421 Transcoder at Cellucomm 95. The enhancments will improve performance in transmitting data over voice networks. Since data traffic does not lend itself to voice-style compression, previous four to one transcoders, designed primarily for voice traffic, have been limited to a data rate of 9.6 kbs or lower. The enhancements to this product will improve performance dramatically. The TC421 Transcoder is a part of the comprehensive DSC transmission product portfolio, which is integrated via DSC's network management line. DSC is a leading designer, developer, manufacturer and marketer of digital switching, transmission, access and private network system products for the worldwide telecommunications marketplace. DSC's new transcoder is one of many exciting products being announced and displayed at Cellucomm 95. If you would like information on attending, e-mail 75260.710@compuserve.com or call 517-337-3995. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #381 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa16503; 14 Sep 95 7:27 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id WAA18609 for telecomlist-outbound; Wed, 13 Sep 1995 22:19:17 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id WAA18599; Wed, 13 Sep 1995 22:19:14 -0500 Date: Wed, 13 Sep 1995 22:19:14 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Message-Id: <199509140319.WAA18599@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #382 TELECOM Digest Wed, 13 Sep 95 22:19:00 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 382 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson AT&T Phone Number Listing (TELECOM Digest Editor) New NPA/NXX'S (stuff@gdi.net) Tariffs, What is Ahead in Telecommunications (Jeff Gerhardt) A Way to Introduce Eight-Digit TNs to the US (Richard Eyre-Eagles) Bell Canada Tests "Soft" Dial Tone (Dave Leibold) New Bell Canada Stored-Value Phone Cards (Dave Leibold) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily represent the views of Microsoft. ------------------------------------------------------------ Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 13 Sep 1995 20:23:47 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Subject: AT&T Phone Number Listing A very common problem expressed by many people when trying to 'reach out and touch someone' at AT&T who can address a specific problem or assist with technical help is their inability to *actually get through* to anyone who knows anything. Time and again, one will get shunted from one location to another, from one department to another. With that in mind, I've compiled a listing of several numbers at AT&T which you may want to keep as a permanent reference. Any additions or corrections will be welcome. All of these are 800 numbers unless noted **, in which case they are 908 numbers. --------- All are 1-800, then 1A2 Repairs 526-2000 3B2 Messaging Server Help 852-8935 --- A --- Access Electronic News 242-6005 Accessible Comm. Products Center (ACPC) 233-1222 Account Inquiry Center 325-0138 Business LD Accounts Accumaster Network Managment Help 637-0007 Accunet Switched 56 Service 367-7956 Amcom Software Help 852-8935 Anixter Brothers, Inc. 228-7585 --- B --- Business Office (federal accounts) 492-6769 Business Office (non-federal) 247-7000 Business Office (state/local govt) 551-3364 --- C --- Call Aquisition/Fault Management Help 422-6622 Call Center Help 344-9670 Calling Card Calls CALL-ATT (225-5288) Capital Corporation 527-9876 Customer Access Newsletter 242-6005 Customer Information Center (CIC) 432-6600 Customer Maintainence Contact Center 242-2121 Arrange large repairs Customer Service (state/local govt) 551-3364 Customer Service Center (federal) 492-6769 Customer Service Center (non-federal) 247-7000 --- D --- Definity System Help 225-7585 Definity System Repairs 628-2888 Definity Users Group (Global) 847-6871 Definity Users Group (National-USA) 334-6489 Definity Users Group Info Hotline 953-7117 ** Area Code 908 --- E --- Easy Link Email Service 624-5672 --- F --- Fault Management Help 422-6622 Fax Products Repair 628-2888 --- G --- GBCS Buyback Program 953-6900 ** Area Code 908 GBCS Customer Assistance Program 953-2600 ** Area Code 908 GBCS Customer Training and Education 255-8988 GBCS Publications Fulfillment Center 457-1235 Gift Certificates GIFT-ATT (443-8288) Global Information Solutions Hardware 262-7782 Global Information Solutions Safari 531-2222 Global Information Solutions Software 543-9935 -H, I, J, K- Key System Phone Repairs and Help 526-2000 --- L --- Language Line Service 752-6096 Leased Equipment Orders/Repairs 555-8111 Long Distance Repair/Cust. Service 222-3000 Residence LD Accounts --- M --- Megacom Inbound Service 222-1000 Megacom Outbound Service MEGACOM (634-2266) Merlin Legend Repairs 628-2888 --- N --- National Service Assistance Center 628-2888 Merlin repairs Network Integration Center (Federal) 492-6769 Network Sales (Federal and FTS-2000) 253-3846 Network Sales (non-Federal) 222-0400 Network Security Department 821-8235 Non-AT&T Equipment Repair (Small) 628-2888 Non-AT&T Equipment Repair (Large) 242-2121 --- O --- Older Equipment 'standalone' Repairs 526-2000 1A2, ComKey, Horizon --- P --- Paradyne Product Maintainence Support 237-0016 Partner Repairs 628-2888 Passageway Telephony Server Help 344-1096 Payphone Repair (Military/Federal) 533-4543 Payphone Repair (Non-Military) 922-0086 Payphone Service Center 352-4003 Professional Services Help 344-1096 --- Q --- QualNet Enhanced Support Program 342-5677 --- R --- Residential Purchased Equipment Repair 222-3111 Retail Products Sales Locations 222-3111 To locate store near you Russo, Patricia GBCS President 953-8500 ** Area Code 908 --- S --- Satellite (Tridom) Service and Sales 346-1174 Single Line Leased Equipment Service 555-8111 Single Line Purchased Equipment Service 222-3111 Small Business Division Sales Office 247-7000 Sales and leasing Small Business Service and Repair 526-2000 1A2 Horizon repairs Software Solutions (Sales & Service) 462-8146 Sold Equipment Repair 222-3111 1-2 line small businesses Sourcebook Catalog Billing Inquiries 227-3251 8:30-5:30 EST M-F only Sourcebook Catalog Fax Orders 458-2389 Sourcebook Catalog Phone Orders 451-2100 Spirit Repairs 628-2888 System 75 Repairs 628-2888 System Management Help 548-8861 --- T --- T-1 Private Line Service 325-1230 Technical Service Center 242-2121 Teleconferencing Service 544-6363 Toll Fraud Crisis Intervention 242-2121 Training Solutions ATT-LEARN (288-5327) Tridom Sales, Service and Information 346-1174 --- U --- Universal Credit Card Corporation 423-4343 User Groups Fax Information Hotline 854-9123 --- V --- Video Conferencing Systems Repair 242-2121 Video Training, Services and Help VIDEO-GO (843-3646) Voice Messaging Help 56-AUDIX (562-8349) -W, X, Y, Z- Walker, James VP Sales and Service 953-7100 ** Area Code 908 World Wide Web Network Connection www.att.com Worldworx (tm) Solutions Help 828-WORX (828-9679) ------------------------------ From: stuff@gdi.net Date: Wed, 13 Sep 95 21:33:59 PDT Subject: New NPA/NXX'S List of new NPA/NXX's added to North American Number Plan September 1995. Note: NPA's which have been used in the past but for the first time appear in a new state are also shown here. NEW NPA Count: 5 334 FL 423 NC 423 TN 562 CA 954 FL NEW NPA-NXX Count: 799 201-597 NJ 201-815 NJ 203-609 CT 203-610 CT 203-612 CT 203-614 CT 203-615 CT 203-703 CT 205-864 AL 205-931 AL 206-269 WA 206-301 WA 206-401 WA 206-460 WA 206-470 WA 206-490 WA 206-497 WA 206-509 WA 206-520 WA 206-580 WA 206-590 WA 206-710 WA 206-729 WA 206-731 WA 206-739 WA 206-749 WA 206-806 WA 206-808 WA 206-901 WA 206-904 WA 207-386 ME 207-681 ME 207-826 ME 209-238 CA 209-450 CA 209-494 CA 209-570 CA 209-623 CA 209-789 CA 210-444 TX 210-495 TX 210-550 TX 215-207 PA 215-799 PA 216-206 OH 301-516 MD 301-614 MD 302-326 DE 303-365 CO 304-767 WV 305-603 FL 305-605 FL 305-705 FL 305-706 FL 305-713 FL 305-718 FL 305-740 FL 305-805 FL 309-687 IL 310-663 CA 310-771 CA 310-845 CA 312-674 IL 312-695 IL 313-433 MI 313-716 MI 313-852 MI 314-552 MO 314-719 MO 314-810 MO 315-201 NY 315-202 NY 315-731 NY 316-220 KS 316-220 KS 316-220 KS 316-220 KS 316-220 KS 317-476 IN 318-870 LA 334-385 AL 334-736 AL 334-813 AL 334-833 AL 334-931 FL 334-992 AL 334-994 AL 360-308 WA 360-415 WA 360-546 WA 360-709 WA 360-807 WA 401-478 RI 401-745 RI 401-864 RI 402-445 NE 402-758 NE 402-777 NE 404-232 GA 404-318 GA 404-379 GA 404-575 GA 404-777 GA 404-829 GA 404-937 GA 405-590 OK 407-803 FL 408-278 CA 408-328 CA 408-421 CA 408-430 CA 408-536 CA 408-537 CA 408-558 CA 408-868 CA 408-935 CA 409-630 TX 409-946 TX 410-629 MD 410-729 MD 412-230 PA 412-275 PA 412-278 PA 412-620 PA 412-755 PA 412-851 PA 412-968 PA 413-441 MA 413-575 MA 413-780 MA 415-401 CA 415-612 CA 415-657 CA 415-938 CA 417-890 MO 423-208 TN 423-209 TN 423-213 TN 423-215 TN 423-216 TN 423-217 NC 423-220 TN 423-224 TN 423-229 TN 423-234 TN 423-235 TN 423-236 TN 423-238 TN 423-239 TN 423-241 TN 423-245 TN 423-246 TN 423-247 TN 423-253 TN 423-257 TN 423-261 TN 423-263 TN 423-265 TN 423-266 TN 423-267 TN 423-278 TN 423-279 TN 423-281 TN 423-282 TN 423-283 TN 423-288 TN 423-295 TN 423-301 TN 423-312 TN 423-318 TN 423-323 TN 423-332 TN 423-334 TN 423-336 TN 423-337 TN 423-338 TN 423-339 TN 423-344 TN 423-345 TN 423-348 TN 423-349 TN 423-354 TN 423-357 TN 423-365 TN 423-376 TN 423-378 TN 423-392 TN 423-396 TN 423-410 TN 423-417 TN 423-422 TN 423-426 TN 423-428 TN 423-429 TN 423-430 TN 423-434 TN 423-435 TN 423-436 TN 423-442 TN 423-448 TN 423-450 TN 423-453 TN 423-457 TN 423-458 TN 423-461 TN 423-462 TN 423-463 TN 423-470 TN 423-471 TN 423-472 TN 423-474 TN 423-475 TN 423-476 TN 423-477 TN 423-478 TN 423-479 TN 423-480 TN 423-481 TN 423-482 TN 423-483 TN 423-487 TN 423-490 TN 423-493 TN 423-494 TN 423-495 TN 423-496 TN 423-497 TN 423-499 TN 423-507 TN 423-509 TN 423-510 TN 423-514 TN 423-515 TN 423-517 TN 423-521 TN 423-522 TN 423-523 TN 423-524 TN 423-525 TN 423-531 TN 423-538 TN 423-539 TN 423-541 TN 423-542 TN 423-543 TN 423-544 TN 423-545 TN 423-546 TN 423-547 TN 423-549 TN 423-550 TN 423-555 TN 423-558 TN 423-559 TN 423-562 TN 423-564 TN 423-566 TN 423-568 TN 423-570 TN 423-573 TN 423-574 TN 423-575 TN 423-576 TN 423-577 TN 423-578 TN 423-579 TN 423-581 TN 423-584 TN 423-585 TN 423-586 TN 423-587 TN 423-588 TN 423-590 TN 423-594 TN 423-595 TN 423-602 TN 423-608 TN 423-609 TN 423-613 TN 423-616 TN 423-622 TN 423-623 TN 423-624 TN 423-625 TN 423-626 TN 423-629 TN 423-631 TN 423-632 TN 423-634 TN 423-636 TN 423-637 TN 423-638 TN 423-639 TN 423-640 TN 423-642 TN 423-652 TN 423-656 TN 423-658 TN 423-671 TN 423-673 TN 423-674 TN 423-675 TN 423-679 TN 423-680 TN 423-681 TN 423-687 TN 423-688 TN 423-689 TN 423-690 TN 423-691 TN 423-693 TN 423-694 TN 423-697 TN 423-698 TN 423-705 TN 423-717 TN 423-725 TN 423-727 TN 423-733 TN 423-743 TN 423-744 TN 423-745 TN 423-751 TN 423-752 TN 423-753 TN 423-755 TN 423-756 TN 423-757 TN 423-764 TN 423-767 TN 423-768 TN 423-772 TN 423-775 TN 423-778 TN 423-784 TN 423-785 TN 423-787 TN 423-795 TN 423-810 TN 423-814 TN 423-818 TN 423-819 TN 423-821 TN 423-825 TN 423-828 TN 423-837 TN 423-842 TN 423-843 TN 423-844 TN 423-846 TN 423-854 TN 423-855 TN 423-856 TN 423-867 TN 423-869 TN 423-870 TN 423-873 TN 423-874 TN 423-875 TN 423-877 TN 423-878 TN 423-882 TN 423-884 TN 423-886 TN 423-887 TN 423-892 TN 423-894 TN 423-899 TN 423-909 TN 423-913 TN 423-915 TN 423-917 TN 423-922 TN 423-925 TN 423-926 TN 423-927 TN 423-928 TN 423-929 TN 423-932 TN 423-933 TN 423-938 TN 423-942 TN 423-944 TN 423-945 TN 423-947 TN 423-953 TN 423-954 TN 423-961 TN 423-966 TN 423-968 TN 423-970 TN 423-971 TN 423-974 TN 423-975 TN 423-977 TN 423-981 TN 423-982 TN 423-983 TN 423-984 TN 423-985 TN 423-986 TN 423-988 TN 423-989 TN 423-992 TN 423-993 TN 423-995 TN 423-996 TN 501-206 AR 501-312 AR 501-815 AR 501-910 AR 502-670 KY 502-752 KY 503-512 OR 504-399 LA 504-399 LA 504-399 LA 504-399 LA 504-399 LA 504-680 LA 504-779 LA 504-780 LA 505-323 NM 505-878 NM 508-956 MA 510-335 CA 510-556 CA 512-246 TX 512-435 TX 512-896 TX 513-214 OH 513-670 OH 516-215 NY 516-557 NY 516-973 NY 517-244 MI 517-272 MI 517-273 MI 520-626 AZ 520-882 AZ 520-884 AZ 540-724 VA 540-729 VA 540-851 VA 540-986 VA 562-561 CA 601-421 MS 601-821 MS 601-990 MS 602-463 AZ 602-599 AZ 602-626 AZ 602-662 AZ 602-667 AZ 602-669 AZ 602-679 AZ 602-683 AZ 602-712 AZ 602-793 AZ 602-806 AZ 602-851 AZ 602-857 AZ 602-882 AZ 602-884 AZ 602-923 AZ 606-632 KY 606-794 KY 609-218 NJ 609-317 NJ 609-406 NJ 610-206 PA 612-707 MN 615-815 TN 615-904 TN 615-909 TN 616-391 MI 617-660 MA 617-796 MA 619-615 CA 619-651 CA 619-784 CA 619-819 CA 619-820 CA 702-220 NV 702-233 NV 702-257 NV 702-260 NV 702-380 NV 702-638 NV 702-650 NV 702-740 NV 702-862 NV 702-869 NV 703-233 DC 703-588 VA 703-839 VA 703-851 VA 703-864 VA 703-897 VA 704-213 NC 704-214 NC 704-320 NC 704-660 NC 704-730 NC 704-752 NC 704-797 NC 707-793 CA 708-761 IL 713-767 TX 714-371 CA 714-985 CA 714-986 CA 716-348 NY 716-469 NY 717-972 PA 770-232 GA 770-379 GA 770-735 GA 770-829 GA 770-893 GA 770-937 GA 801-274 UT 801-343 UT 801-493 UT 803-802 SC 803-804 SC 803-812 SC 803-814 SC 803-817 SC 804-773 VA 804-897 VA 805-345 CA 805-587 CA 805-676 CA 805-691 CA 805-742 CA 805-957 CA 808-686 HI 810-608 MI 813-204 FL 813-256 FL 813-307 FL 813-354 FL 813-517 FL 813-548 FL 816-313 MO 816-350 MO 816-512 MO 816-554 MO 818-849 CA 860-610 CT 860-612 CT 901-256 TN 901-288 TN 901-321 TN 903-453 TX 903-591 TX 903-681 TX 904-607 FL 904-704 FL 904-740 FL 908-263 NJ 908-617 NJ 908-620 NJ 909-416 CA 910-779 NC 910-856 NC 912-271 GA 912-379 GA 912-426 GA 913-360 KS 913-397 KS 913-652 KS 913-859 KS 914-568 NY 916-693 CA 916-821 CA 916-935 CA 917-235 NY 917-481 NY 917-672 NY 917-779 NY 917-889 NY 918-740 OK 919-777 NC 941-373 FL 954-207 FL 954-209 FL 954-215 FL 954-231 FL 954-236 FL 954-240 FL 954-244 FL 954-249 FL 954-259 FL 954-269 FL 954-286 FL 954-303 FL 954-307 FL 954-309 FL 954-340 FL 954-341 FL 954-344 FL 954-345 FL 954-346 FL 954-351 FL 954-355 FL 954-356 FL 954-357 FL 954-359 FL 954-360 FL 954-370 FL 954-390 FL 954-396 FL 954-398 FL 954-402 FL 954-403 FL 954-405 FL 954-408 FL 954-409 FL 954-412 FL 954-413 FL 954-415 FL 954-419 FL 954-420 FL 954-421 FL 954-422 FL 954-423 FL 954-424 FL 954-425 FL 954-426 FL 954-427 FL 954-428 FL 954-429 FL 954-430 FL 954-431 FL 954-432 FL 954-433 FL 954-434 FL 954-435 FL 954-436 FL 954-437 FL 954-438 FL 954-450 FL 954-452 FL 954-454 FL 954-455 FL 954-456 FL 954-457 FL 954-458 FL 954-459 FL 954-462 FL 954-463 FL 954-466 FL 954-467 FL 954-468 FL 954-469 FL 954-472 FL 954-473 FL 954-474 FL 954-475 FL 954-476 FL 954-480 FL 954-481 FL 954-484 FL 954-485 FL 954-486 FL 954-489 FL 954-490 FL 954-491 FL 954-492 FL 954-493 FL 954-497 FL 954-503 FL 954-506 FL 954-507 FL 954-508 FL 954-509 FL 954-512 FL 954-513 FL 954-514 FL 954-515 FL 954-516 FL 954-517 FL 954-518 FL 954-519 FL 954-521 FL 954-522 FL 954-523 FL 954-524 FL 954-525 FL 954-527 FL 954-528 FL 954-537 FL 954-546 FL 954-561 FL 954-562 FL 954-563 FL 954-564 FL 954-565 FL 954-566 FL 954-568 FL 954-570 FL 954-574 FL 954-619 FL 954-630 FL 954-631 FL 954-675 FL 954-676 FL 954-677 FL 954-679 FL 954-680 FL 954-690 FL 954-695 FL 954-698 FL 954-705 FL 954-720 FL 954-721 FL 954-722 FL 954-723 FL 954-724 FL 954-725 FL 954-726 FL 954-728 FL 954-730 FL 954-731 FL 954-733 FL 954-735 FL 954-739 FL 954-752 FL 954-753 FL 954-755 FL 954-756 FL 954-760 FL 954-761 FL 954-763 FL 954-764 FL 954-766 FL 954-767 FL 954-771 FL 954-772 FL 954-776 FL 954-777 FL 954-781 FL 954-782 FL 954-783 FL 954-784 FL 954-785 FL 954-786 FL 954-788 FL 954-796 FL 954-801 FL 954-802 FL 954-803 FL 954-804 FL 954-808 FL 954-810 FL 954-830 FL 954-849 FL 954-850 FL 954-875 FL 954-877 FL 954-878 FL 954-879 FL 954-894 FL 954-896 FL 954-897 FL 954-898 FL 954-920 FL 954-921 FL 954-922 FL 954-923 FL 954-924 FL 954-925 FL 954-926 FL 954-927 FL 954-928 FL 954-929 FL 954-938 FL 954-941 FL 954-942 FL 954-943 FL 954-946 FL 954-958 FL 954-960 FL 954-961 FL 954-962 FL 954-963 FL 954-964 FL 954-966 FL 954-967 FL 954-980 FL 954-981 FL 954-983 FL 954-985 FL 954-986 FL 954-987 FL 954-989 FL 954-992 FL Paula Stuff Software 407-290-2301, stuff@gdi.net ------------------------------ From: jgerha3274@aol.com (JGerha3274) Subject: Tariffs, What is Ahead in Telecommunications Date: 12 Sep 1995 20:40:48 -0400 Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) Reply-To: jgerha3274@aol.com (JGerha3274) I just wanted to start up a thread that I will be posting to over the next few weeks, as the court battles over gerneral equal access application play out. This will be primarily of interest of large users (with traffic in excess of $2,500.00) who want lower rates, and the intelligent network services (isdn, T-1, ect) offered by the big boys. My company is not related to any long distance provider, so I am hoping that the material to come will be unbiased. By the way, some of you smaller users may have some interest in this as well. Equal access alllows smaller users to jump on reseller and aggregator tariff, without putting up with the BS. Find a good consultant who knows tariff, and off tariff negotiation; and you will have a good mix of price and service. Jeff Gerhardt ------------------------------ From: rec@goodnet.com (Richard Eyre-Eagles) Subject: A Way to Introduce Eight-Digit TNs to the US Organization: GoodNet Date: Wed, 13 Sep 1995 02:45:15 GMT We have all of these new area codes available with a lot of wide open spaces. Why not try this: When a area is ready for a "metropolitan split" (like the upcoming 312/774? or the possible split I have heard about for 818). Instead of slicing a portion of the area and splitting it up even more, take the area code and change it to *two* NEW area codes where the first two numbers are the same (like 953 and 954). Existing telephone numbers will be moved into one of the two area codes (for this example, we will use 953). If you are dialing within the affected area code you will dial eight-digits (the last digit of the area code and the seven digit number). All new prefixes will go into the new NPA and calls are still dialed the same. Let's say my current telephone number is 311-867-5309, during the split, my telephone number will be changed to 953-867-5309. If I was calling from within my area code, I would now dial 38-67-53-09. Outside the NPA, I woudl dial 1-953-867-5309. My number would be displayed on letterhead, etc as (95)3-867-5309. In the meantime, a whole block of NPAs would be reserved for this area based on predicted growth. For this example, NPA's 952 thhrough 959 can be reserved. Of course, area codes ending with xx0 and xx1 would still be assigned to seven digit numbers. During the permissive dialing period, if only seven digits are dialed, the switch will hesitate and time out and complete the call. After the permissive period is over, calls will route to either a VCA or an informative recording advising of the new dialling instructions. Doing this will avoid those corporations that do not want to change their area code because **EVERYONE CHANGES THEIR AREA CODE!!!!**. With this in place, an area can have the equivlent of seven area code splits in one area and a customer will not have to change their *10* DIGIT number. Of course, there where will be more public confusion than a normal area code split (there are still Van Nuys customers who still think they are in 213 (and I am not talking about FXS customers)). But I think the NP + 8D dialing system will be a long term solution for our current area code crises. I think for the electronic switches, there should be no problem with the translations, it's the electromechanical switches (they still have some of those) in the eight-digit areas that I cam concerned with. P.S. Why can't they do this with 800? Reserve the whole 882-889 block for toll free services and advertise the numbers as "88" numbers. Including a possible mandatory change for existing 800 NPA numbers to one of the 88x NPAs. Maybe you can give existing customers a choice for their first digit. Example, 1-800-FLOWERS can be code 1-88-4-FLOWERS. Hello Bellcore? Hello FCC? Anyone out there? What do you all feel about this? Richard Eyre-Eagles, KJ7MU Tempe, Arizona ------------------------------ From: Dave.Leibold@superctl.tor250.org (Dave Leibold) Date: 12 Sep 95 23:52:34 -0400 Subject: Bell Canada Tests "Soft" Dial Tone Organization: Gateway: The Super Continental - North York, Canada [from Bell News, 4 Sept 95 - Bell Canada's version of events ... the feature described may be in service elsewhere] McMaster University students first to test our Soft Dial Tone - a new way to set up phone service We're holding a field trial for a new way of activating phone service, and students living in residence at Hamilton's McMaster University are going to be the first to test its effectiveness. The two-month field trial of Soft Dial Tone began last Wednesday (August 30). That day, rooms in McMaster residences (Bates Residence excluded) were provided with partially active phone lines. Students need only to plug in a phone to obtain what sounds like a normal dial tone. What they are getting, however, is Soft Dial Tone. With it, students can call 310-BELL (310-2355) from their residence room to activate full service within four hours. If they go to any Bell Phonecentre store, their order will be processed in the standard way, and they will have phone service within two days. (By dialing 310-BELL from any other location students will also be able to initiate regular phone service.) The benefit of Soft Dial Tone is that it saves students in residence from making a visit to a Bell Phonecentre store to activate their service. A secondary benefit of Soft Dial Tone is that, in the event of an emergency, students can call 911 emergency service without having regular phone service during September and October. Incoming and outgoing calls, however, can't be made with Soft Dial Tone until full phone service is established. Within the next year, field trials for Soft Dial Tone on single line residential services are planned for residential and business locations in Ontario and Quebec. Depending on the results of the field trials, Soft Dial Tone could be the standard approach to setting up phone service in businesses and residences over the next couple of years. Phone numbers are pre-assigned to the rooms which is an advantage for Bell because we can make a positive confirmation that the line is working. If the student calls 310-Bell from a residence room, the service representative will automatically know the address of the residence room. McMaster University was chosen for the field trial because its administrators saw the advantages it would offer to students, including the 911 emergency service feature. The telecommunications network at McMaster was also suitable for the field trial. Fidonet : Dave Leibold 1:250/730 Internet: Dave.Leibold@superctl.tor250.org ------------------------------ From: Dave.Leibold@superctl.tor250.org (Dave Leibold) Date: 12 Sep 95 23:52:20 -0400 Subject: New Bell Canada Stored-Value Phone Cards Organization: Gateway: The Super Continental - North York, Canada Bell News (4 Sept 95) has details on the introduction of the new Bell Canada QuickChange payphone cards. Each of the new cards contains an EEPROM (Erasable Electronic Programmable Read Only Memory) chip that maintains a credit balance. The current balance of a card can be displayed and deducted on specially- equipped payphones. The pre-paid cards begin at a set amount ($10 and $20 value cards will be available), then the balance stored on the card chips is reduced as calls are made. Such "smart card" systems are widely used in many countries, but are only beginning service in North America. Bell's Millennium payphones are being equipped with a yellow-coloured card reader. Three-quarters of campus payphones are reportedly converted, since post-secondary students will be among the first to have the new cards. A few other payphones around Toronto and Montreal have also been converted. 15 000 payphones should be converted this fall to accept the QuickChange cards, with conversions continuing through early 1997. The card readers will also accept existing telco calling cards and credit cards (such as Visa and MC). The passes themselves will begin sales in central Ontario (416 and 905 area codes) beginning January 1996. Availability in other regions will eventually follow. In Quebec, the French name for the cards is "LaPuce". Currently, Bell Canada has the traditional calling card technology, plus the Hello phone pass (a pre-paid card, based on access to an 800 number and an accounting system). The QuickChange card offers local calls at 25c each, the same rate as coin calls; calling card local calls cost 75c, while the Hello cards are unsuitable for local calling at 50c/minute. Bell Canada is also setting up a card collectors club, given the burgeoning worldwide interest in telephone card collection. Special deals, and members- only card issues are planned. According to Bell News, the club is free and open to anyone. Information is available at 1 800 404.7823 or fax requests to join to (514) 343.4133. Fidonet : Dave Leibold 1:250/730 Internet: Dave.Leibold@superctl.tor250.org ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #382 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa01682; 14 Sep 95 21:36 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id MAA06156 for telecomlist-outbound; Thu, 14 Sep 1995 12:14:50 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id MAA06147; Thu, 14 Sep 1995 12:14:48 -0500 Date: Thu, 14 Sep 1995 12:14:48 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Message-Id: <199509141714.MAA06147@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #383 TELECOM Digest Thu, 14 Sep 95 12:14:00 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 383 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson FBI Arrests Dozens of America OnLine Users (TELECOM Digest Editor) Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number (Luis Rodriguez) Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number (Peter Laws) Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number (Nick Hingtgen) Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number (Robb Topolski) Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number (David Levine) Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number (kevray@mcs.com) Re: Dial 10288 for ATT ... Not (Steven Lichter) Re: Dial 10288 for ATT ... Not (Wes Leatherock) Re: Dial 10288 for ATT ... Not (Steve Cogorno) Re: NANP Area Codes - History (Mark J. Cuccia) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily represent the views of Microsoft. ------------------------------------------------------------ Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: FBI Arrests Dozens of America OnLine Users Date: Thu, 14 Sep 1995 10:00:00 GMT The FBI made dozens of arrests and searched 120 homes and personal computers on Wednesday as part of an investigation into child pornography on America OnLine. Management of America OnLine has, over a two year period, supplied the FBI with the names and addresses of users 'suspected' of 'being involved in' child pornography and/or arranging sex with children. The raids on Wednesday marked the first time federal agents were called upon by an online service to investigate the behavior of their subscribers in private chat rooms. Attorney General Janet Reno spoke in support of the actions of America OnLine and FBI agents, noting, "We are not going to permit exciting new technology to be misused to exploit and injure children." The raids were conducted throughout the day Wednesday in 57 of the 94 FBI districts in the United States. They were mostly concentrated on the east coast, however arrests and confiscation of computer equipment took place all over the country in such diverse cities as Miami, New York, Dallas and Trenton, NJ. Carlos Fernandez, an FBI spokesperson in Washington, DC said that 'quite a few more arrests are expected in the next several days' and that the Bureau would wait until those arrests had been effected before discussing the case in detail. Pam McGraw, a spokesperson for America OnLine, based in Viennna, VA admitted that the company monitored email and private conversations seeking out persons who use their network to transmit pornographic material. She said they always provide the FBI with the names of users suspected of involvement in child pornography. Ms. McGraw also discussed an online 'neighborhood watch' program in effect on AOL where users are encouraged to oberve each other's activities and report on them to management of the online service. Although child pornography certainly is not allowed in public areas of AOL, according to Ms. McGraw it 'usually is transmitted in email between users, or in private chat rooms'. She did not indicate how AOL's interception of email for the purpose of examining it for 'pornography' or their monitoring of private conversations between subscribers could be reconciled with various privacy laws, apparently because it can't be. FBI spokesperson Fernandez said the federal investigation of AOL users showed that child pornographers are turning to online networks 'more and more' to lure curious children. He said, "the utilization of online services and bulletin board systems is rapidly becoming one of most prevalent tech- niques for individuals to create and share pornogrpahic pictures of children as well as to identify and recruit children into sexually illicit relation- ships." Raids and arrests of other AOL subscribers 'suspected of being involved in child pornography' will continue over the next few days until all the user-suspects have been located. I don't know about you, but I'm going to purge all the AOL sofware from my computer today. Child porn does not interest me in the least, but having AOL scanning my mail and checking up on my in private conversations with other users there is of great concern. It is hard for me to imagine how any online service could violate the trust of their users in this way, by getting into their email and personal files, regardless of the intentions. We have known for some time that AOL was 'cooperating' with federal agents in their investigation of child pornography, but until the massive raids and arrests commenced on Wednesday followed by AOL's admission that the 'evidence' was found in email and private chat, we did not know the extent to which AOL was abusing their subscribers in the process of cooperating. PAT ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Sep 1995 10:03:54 -0500 From: lrodrgz@free.org (Luis A. Rodriguez) Subject: Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number Slowed Things Down In article , wa2ise@netcom.com (Robert Casey) wrote: > A week or two ago, an accident occured at a problem intersection near > my parent's house in Oradell, NJ. And a few months ago, we had 911 > installed in town. So, I reach for the phone to report the accident. > Times before, we'd dial 261-0200 and get our town's police quickly. > But I dialed 911, and found that there was a delay in getting my > report to the town police. Appears the 911 operator has to identify > what town I'm in, and then transfer me to my town's police. Takes > about 1/2 minute. "911, what's your emergency?" me: "there's an > accident at Oradell (ave) and Summit (ave)". "Ah, hold on, I need to > transfer you to the Oradell police". Then I told the Oradell police > "There's an accident at Oradell and Summit". A couple minutes, the > cops show up. > I don't know if a half minute is that important in reporting an > accident (someone was injured) or a fire or some other emergency. > Think I'll dial up the 7D police number when another situation occurs. The main advantage of 911 is that the operator is able to determine the address the phone call is beign made from. This way if the person calling is unable to talk, either because of the emergency situation or because speech impairemen, the 911 operator can dispatch emergency vehicles to this address. Luis A. Rodriguez lrodrgz@free.org ------------------------------ From: plaws@comp.uark.edu (Peter Laws) Subject: Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number Slowed Things Down Date: 14 Sep 1995 14:44:52 GMT Organization: University of Arkansas wa2ise@netcom.com (Robert Casey) writes: > I don't know if a half minute is that important in reporting an > accident (someone was injured) or a fire or some other emergency. > Think I'll dial up the 7D police number when another situation occurs. Yes, 1/2 minute makes a difference. You can bleed a *lot* in 30 seconds. Instead of dialing the 7D of the PD, you should be dialing the 7D of the 9-1-1 authority and raising a stink. Let them know that as a taxpayer you're unhappy with the service. E9-1-1 provides the town, the system should be routing the call automatically to the appropriate PSAP. Raise a stink. Peter Laws ex-NREMT-P Peter Laws All original portions of this posting are Copyright 1995, Peter Laws ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 Sep 1995 12:31:00 -0400 From: nick hingtgen Subject: Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number Slowed Things Down I do not know why the 911 system in Oradell, NJ is operating in the way you describe. The call should be routed straight to the proper answering point based on the ANI of the originating party if your area is served by enhanced 911. A database which associates your ANI with an answering point (gross simplification) is used to route the call. This database is updated any time a change is made to a telephone line (new service, delete service, move service,...) The ANI is then supplied to the answering point and is used to display the identity and location of the caller (usually derived from the billing name and address). Generally, most 911 calls are routed to a police department responsible for the geographic area you are calling from. Some 911 networks route calls from a large geographic or densely populated area to a central answering point and then dispatch the proper service from there. If the system is set up properly, the operator who handles your call should be able to transfer you directly to whatever service you require by pressing 1 button. Police, Fire, Ambulance, EMT,... and so forth can be connected to in a matter of seconds. Why this took a "1/2 minute" is beyond my comprehension. There are a number of reasons why this wouldn't happen: 1.) An ANI fail occurred while outpulsing to the switch responsible for routing your 911 call properly, 2.) Your parent's ANI is not associated with the proper answering point in the database. 3.) Your parent's ANI is not in the database used to properly route 911 calls. This can happen for a number of reasons: - parents have just moved and database has not been updated yet, - parents are served by a telephone company or CAP that is different than the company that owns the database and the information has not or will not be supplied to the database. 4.) Your parent's have a multiparty line and the proper ANI could not be determined, 5.) Your 911 service routes all calls to a central location and the calls have to be manually sorted out there (Basic 911?). I suggest you call your parent's local telephone company and demand an explanation. Expedient routing of a 911 call may mean the difference between life and death. Notice that the 911 operator did not specifically ask you for the city you were calling from according to the dialog you supplied in your post. Either the address you were calling from was available to the operator or the operator was somewhat familiar with the geographic area and assumed that the corner of Oradell and Summit is located in Oradell, NJ. How many Main streets are there in NJ? In order to save money, many municipalities are consolidating their 911 centers which means that the operators are being asked to handle calls from larger and larger geographic areas. At the same time, the telephone companies are consolidating their 911 routing into just a few switches for a whole state. An article in the NENA (National Emergency Number Association) News, Vol. 12 No. 4, November 1994, showed that NJ has three (3) switches which are used to route 911 calls from 567 different municipalities and 3 different phone companies (Bell Atlantic, Sprint-United, and Warwick Valley). Nick Hingtgen ndanger@bnr.ca E911 Design and Support - Nortel/BNR RTP, NC ------------------------------ From: Robb Topolski Subject: Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number Slowed Things Down Date: 13 Sep 1995 23:29:24 GMT Organization: Intel Corporation wa2ise@netcom.com (Robert Casey) wrote: > A week or two ago, an accident occured at a problem intersection near > my parent's house in Oradell, NJ. And a few months ago, we had 911 > installed in town. So, I reach for the phone to report the accident. > Times before, we'd dial 261-0200 and get our town's police quickly. > But I dialed 911, and found that there was a delay in getting my > report to the town police. Appears the 911 operator has to identify > what town I'm in, and then transfer me to my town's police. Takes > about 1/2 minute. "911, what's your emergency?" me: "there's an > accident at Oradell (ave) and Summit (ave)". "Ah, hold on, I need to > transfer you to the Oradell police". Then I told the Oradell police > "There's an accident at Oradell and Summit". A couple minutes, the > cops show up. In almost every area of the country, the Public-Safety Answering Point (PSAP) is the local police department. As a former long-term public-safety dispatcher, I can think of five possibilities for the above scenerio: 1. You reached the wrong default agency because you were calling from a boundry. The accident was in City 1 and you crossed a jurisdictional line into City 2 to use the payphone. 2. You reached the wrong default agency because the 9-1-1 system is new and when a PSAP is not programmed for a particular phone you get the PSAP for where the telco's central office is located. Or, the wrong PSAP is programmed due to a clerical error and your call arrives in the wrong city. The 9-1-1 operator is supposed to detect this and arrange for a correction. 3. You dialed from a cellular phone. These are handled differently -- in some areas the agency with highway/freeway jursidiction answers. In other areas you get the PSAP for the city/county in which the cell is located. 4. There was an ANI or ALI failure. When this happens, the PSAP where the central office is located answers. 5. Your PSAP is handled by a separate agency. I've heard of this, but it's extremely rare and the reasons for it range from political problems between public-safety agencies to political pork spending. Robb Topolski Robb_Topolski@ccm.jf.intel.com ------------------------------ From: David Levine Subject: Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number Slowed Things Down Date: 13 Sep 1995 11:29:04 GMT Organization: Sony Not to change the subject, but the police probably took longer because there was traffic on Kinderkamack and they couldn't get from the Dunkin Donuts in Emerson to Oradell Avenue any quicker. Only kidding! As I was reading your post, my initial guess as to the intersection you were describing was Soldier Hill Road and Forest Ave. My wife grew up on Soldier Hill Road, and her best friend still lives at the corner house at Soldier Hill and Forest. Of course this has nothing to do with why you posted. If all that 911 in Bergen County is going to do is transfer the call to a local police station, then maybe all they should ask for is what town you are in. If the caller is not from the area and doesn't know, then the 911 operator can ask more questions. David Levine mailto:levined@ccmail.nhq.sony.com Sony Electronics phone: (201) 930-7039 Sony Drive - MD#3D2 fax: (201) 930-6361 Park Ridge, NJ 07656 http://www.sony.com ------------------------------ From: kevray@mcs.com (kevray) Subject: Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number Slowed Things Down Date: 13 Sep 1995 08:30:19 -0500 Organization: MCSNet Services Unfortunately if they did it as they did in our town when it went to 911 (about fifteen years? now) you'll have the same wait (possibly). If two calls come in (let's assume two different emergencies) with one on the 7D number and the other on the 911 the dispatcher (and in small towns usually only ONE) will answer the 911 line FIRST letting the 7D police line just ring. About eight or ten years ago we had a fire in my parents home (small, thank God :-) and I had the 7D number burned in my head since childhood. I called the number and on the fourth ring I picked up the other line and dialed 911. 911 answered on the second ring while the other call was STILL ringing ... she answered the other call after the 911, but I dropped the phone and was heading for the door at that time... :-) ------------------------------ From: slichte@cello.gina.calstate.edu (Steven Lichter) Subject: Re: Dial 10288 for ATT ... Not Date: 13 Sep 1995 16:14:30 -0700 Organization: GINA and CORE+ Services of The California State University There could be a programming problem, or the number you were dialing could have been within the same LATA which may not have allowed using anything but the Local Carrier. I know in California you can use anyone you want, but some areas still don't have equal access. The above are my ideas and have nothing to do with whoever my employer is. SysOp Apple Elite II and OggNet Hub (909)359-5338 2400/14.4 24 hours, Home of GBBS/LLUCE Support for the Apple II. slichte@cello.gina.calstate.edu ------------------------------ From: wes.leatherock@hotelcal.com (Wes Leatherock) Subject: Dial 10288 for ATT ... Not Date: Thu, 14 Sep 1995 00:31:00 GMT mstrandrew@aol.com (MSTRANDREW) wrote: [ ... text deleted ... ] > My experience has been it is cheaper to use my ATT card calling rather > than US West. So, I dialed 10288-0-503-xxx-xxxx to use ATT. I was > connected to a live operator. I gave the card number and the operator > responded: "Thank you for using GTE". Confused, I hung up and dialed > again and experienced the same process. On the third try, I dialed > 10288-0 and waited. The operator answered GTE! I asked for a ATT > operator and was cheerfully connected. A couple of years ago I was calling from a coin telephone in either the Hearne or Bryan-College Station, Texas, market area (like a LATA, only GTE). I got in an argument with the GTE operator about using (or not using) AT&T. She informed that AT&T had contracted with GTE in this area to provide operator service for them and that she *was* the AT&T operator as well as the GTE operator. GTE, of course, is not forbidden by the MFJ to do this, as an RBOC would be. Wes Leatherock wes.leatherock@hotelcal.com wes.leatherock@oubbs.telecom.uoknor.edu wes.leatherock@f2001.n147.z1.fidonet.org [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Except I believe GTE signed off on that consent decree also with the understanding that the Justice Department was going to come after them next if they did not. I think they are bound by much the same terms as AT&T is now. Also, while it is true that the 'GTE operator is also the AT&T operator' in cases such as you have described, the local Bells also have this don't they? It seems to me at one of the major centers here in the Chicago area the operators answer for both Ameritech as well as AT&T. Am I mistaken on that? PAT] ------------------------------ From: cogorno@netcom.com (Steve Cogorno) Subject: Re: Dial 10288 for ATT ... Not Date: Wed, 13 Sep 1995 15:22:27 PDT MSTRANDREW said: > responded: "Thank you for using GTE". Confused, I hung up and dialed > again and experienced the same process. On the third try, I dialed > 10288-0 and waited. The operator answered GTE! I asked for a ATT > operator and was cheerfully connected. GTE does this in the Northern California too. I was a bit confused by it the first time I used a GTE payphone, because it was clearly labeled that long distance calls are handled by AT&T. I dialed "00" and sure enough, the operator answered "GTE How may I help you?" I told her I was trying to reach an AT&T operator, and she said that she *was* an AT&T operator, and that they handled GTE calls on behalf of GTE. Steve cogorno@netcom.com ------------------------------ From: Mark J. Cuccia Subject: RE: NANP Area Codes - History Date: 13 Sep 1995 17:07:21 GMT Organization: Tulane University I have looked thru the Telecom Archives from time to time, looking at back issues of TELECOM Digest and many of the other files, and have seen various articles regarding the original assignments of areacodes. Most of us know by now that N0X codes were identified with states/provinces with ONE areacode and if a state needed MORE than one areacode, it was assigned codes from the N1X set. Bud Couch's (bud@kentrox.com) recent TD submission mentioned that codes with shorter dial spins were assigned to regions where a larger volume of incomming calls were anticipated -- i.e. Metro areas. (I don't know why 413 for Philadelphia area was noted in his submission -- probably a type. 215 has always been southeast Pennsylvania and 413 has always been western Mass.) A few months ago, I faxed Carl Moore with many notes, lists, maps that I'd compiled over the years of research from back issues of Bell's journals, regarding areacodes, long-distance dialing, etc. so that he could fill in the gaps, particularly those gaps from the late 1940's and thru-out the 1950's (and even early 1960's). Carl lists the original 1947 assignments alphabetically by state and then provinces. I have put the codes in a NUMERICAL chart/grid showing how the shorter dial pulls/pulses were assinged to dense areas and longer ones assigned to remote states/regions. Please note that the lower right-hand portion of the N0X chart is blank in 1947. Also note that a smaller part of the lower right-hand part of the N1X chart is also blank, and also notice that there is a blank diagonal in the N1X chart. Since N1X states/provinces (those with two or more areacodes) were states with larger metro areas, they probably anticipated that they would split first. The shorter N1X codes were assigned to the metro area and the longer N1X codes assigned to rural/remote parts of a state with multiple codes. My charts only identify the two-letter code for the state (or province) and not the city or regions within a state, but they still are more-or-less the same today, if one needs more detail. The diagonal was probably reserved if when a metro area split, the inner area (or more dense area) could keep their original code, and the suburbs -- outer area -- less dense area could get a code from the diagonal, rather than a longer pulse code from the lower righthand part of the chart. If one looks thru the actual year by year assignments in Carl Moore's files at the ftp archive site, you'll see that the first codesp assigned after 1947 were indeed from that diagonal: 219, 318 (*temporarily* for San Francisco, 1951), 417, 516, 714. Bell more-or-less abandoned this pattern by 1953, as well as the rigid meanings of N0X vs. N1X. Also please note that N09 codes weren't assigned until around 1957, some 10 years AFTER the areacode format was finalized in 1947. BTW, I saw in a 1953 (GTE) Automatic Electric publication similar to AT&T's Notes on Nationwide Dialing that there were 128 possible NPA codes- i.e. the N09's, N10's, N00's and N11's were not included. And most of us know that the N11's have never intended to be NPA codes since they had been in use since the 1920's (in mostly Panel and Crossbar localities) for local service codes. The N00's were reserved from assignment until the mid-60's when 800 was used for toll-free. The N10's (another long dial pull series) was originally used for TWX beginning in the early 1960's. MARK J. CUCCIA PHONE/WRITE/WIRE: HOME: (USA) Tel: CHestnut 1-2497 WORK: mcuccia@law.tulane.edu |4710 Wright Road| (+1-504-241-2497) Tel:UNiversity 5-5954(+1-504-865-5954)|New Orleans 28 |fwds on no-answr to Fax:UNiversity 5-5917(+1-504-865-5917)|Louisiana(70128)|cellular/voicemail FINALIZED ORIGINAL NPA ASSIGNMENTS (1947) (86 CODES TOTAL) NOn Form (States/Provinces with only ONE code assigned) (40 codes assigned) 201 NJ 301 MD 401 RI 501 AR 601 MS 701 ND 801 UT 901 TN 202 DC 302 DE 402 NE 502 KY 602 AZ 702 NV 802 VT 902 mrtm.prv. 203 CT 303 CO 403 AB 503 OR 603 NH 703 VA 803 SC 204 MB 304 WY 404 GA 504 LA 604 BC 704 NC 205 AL 305 FL 405 OK 505 NM 605 SD 206 WA 306 SK 406 MT 207 ME 307 WY 208 ID N1N Form (States/Provinces with several codes assigned) (46 codes assigned) 212 NY 312 IL 412 PA 512 TX 612 MN 712 IA 812 IN 213 CA 313 MI 413 MA 513 OH 613 ON 713 TX 913 KS 214 TX 314 MO 414 WI 514 PQ 614 OH 814 PA 914 NY 215 PA 315 NY 415 CA 515 IA 715 WI 815 IL 915 TX 216 OH 316 KS 416 ON 616 MI 716 NY 816 MO 916 CA 217 IL 317 IN 517 MI 617 MA 717 PA 218 MN 418 PQ 518 NY 618 IL 319 IA 419 OH N = {2,...,9} ; n = {1,...,8} ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #383 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa01952; 14 Sep 95 21:39 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id OAA09170 for telecomlist-outbound; Thu, 14 Sep 1995 14:05:09 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id OAA09162; Thu, 14 Sep 1995 14:05:07 -0500 Date: Thu, 14 Sep 1995 14:05:07 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Message-Id: <199509141905.OAA09162@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #384 TELECOM Digest Thu, 14 Sep 95 14:05:00 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 384 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Fonorola Network Plans (Dave Leibold) France Area Code Split - Any Details Yet? (Dave Leibold) Simulation of SDL-Diagrams? (Roland Welte) Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number (Greg Abbott) Re: FCC Rules Against Carrier Kickbacks to ESPs (Andy Finkenstadt) Re: Bell Canada Calling Cards in the USA (Terry Flanagan) Analog Delay Line HW Needed (Matt Noah) Re: Cellular Telephone and Modems (Lynne Gregg) Re: Discouraging Small Users (Rob Schutte) Re: Need Advice on a Norstar PBX Upgrade (Karen Jensen) Cellular "Emergency" Use (Mark Earle) CLSI New Modems (Tyler Proctor) Modern Calling Cards All via 800 Numbers (Jeffrey Mattox) Re: Last Laugh! International Phone Ripoff Chain Letter Spam (Art Walker) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily represent the views of Microsoft. ------------------------------------------------------------ Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Dave.Leibold@superctl.tor250.org (Dave Leibold) Date: 13 Sep 95 23:52:44 -0400 Subject: Fonorola Network Plans Organization: Gateway: The Super Continental - North York, Canada [from Bell News, 4 Sept 95 - Bell Canada's version of events] Fonorola to build tri-city network Montreal-based Fonorola Inc., a long distance reseller, plans to get into the carrier business. It has just placed a $9 million order with Nortel for its OC-48 SONET transmission equipment that will carry voice, video and data traffic along the busy Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto loop. Despite its ambitious growth plans, industry analysts look upon Fonorola with a jaundiced eye. It has recorded multimillion dollars losses since it set up shop in 1993, with the money-losing trend still holding sway. Last year, its president left the company after only eight months on the job. Fidonet : Dave Leibold 1:250/730 Internet: Dave.Leibold@superctl.tor250.org ------------------------------ From: Dave.Leibold@superctl.tor250.org (Dave Leibold) Date: 13 Sep 95 00:02:58 -0400 Subject: France Area Code Split - Any Details Yet? France is expected to modify its numbering plan to introduce a new area code system (fall 1996 was the planned date, I recall). The 1995 Paris phone books as available in Toronto libraries don't seem to mention this yet. Is there a conversion table or area code boundary map available to indicate which places will get what area code (other than the existing Paris area, to become 01 area)? Fidonet : Dave Leibold 1:250/730 Internet: Dave.Leibold@superctl.tor250.org ------------------------------ From: Roland Welte <100070.3321@CompuServe.COM> Subject: Simulation of SDL-Diagrams? Date: 13 Sep 1995 15:24:57 GMT Organization: CRYPTO AG I am looking for PC-Software that would allow me to simulate a protocol which has been described with SDL symbols. I am primarily interrested in simulating SDL diagrams and not their code generation. Any comments, pointers and help with this will be greatly appreciated. Roland ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 Sep 1995 14:34:36 CST From: Greg Abbott Reply-To: gabbott@uiuc.edu Subject: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number Slowed Things Down wa2ise@netcom.com (Robert Casey) wrote: > A week or two ago, an accident occured at a problem intersection near > my parent's house in Oradell, NJ. And a few months ago, we had 911 > installed in town. So, I reach for the phone to report the accident. > Times before, we'd dial 261-0200 a get our town's police quickly. > But I dialed 911, and found that there was a delay in getting my > report to the town police. Appears the 911 operator has to identify > what town I'm in, and then transfer me to my town's police. Takes > about 1/2 minute. "911, what's your emergency?" me: "there's an > accident at Oradell (ave) and Summit (ave)". "Ah, hold on, I need to > transfer you to the Oradell police". Then I told the Oradell police > "There's an accident at Oradell and Summit". A couple minutes, the > cops show up. The main idea behind 9-1-1 as the nations emergency number is so people don't have to know the local emergency numbers if they need to call for assistance. In this situation, had you not been from the area and known the emergency number, you would have had to probably call the operator who would have had to determine where you were calling from and then transfer you to the appropriate agency. Very rarely will you get an operator located in the same community from which you are calling (most often they are in another city or state) so they normally will not have any idea what streets are where or what have you. This process of determining your location will add considerable time to the response. The 9-1-1 system you reached transfers calls to the police department in question either because the police department does not want the 9-1-1 center to direct dispatch them, or because the 9-1-1 system does not provide any dispatch services. A direct dispatch 9-1-1 system (like the one where I work) is certainly the most efficient way to go. We strive to have every call in and out of our center within 60 seconds. This is from the time we answer the incoming 9-1-1 call till an emergency unit is dispatched. Obviously, there are times when this can not occur (excessive work load (like during storms, etc.), shortage of emergency responders, non-emergency calls, etc.) but we strive to achieve the 60 second mark on every call. We in the 9-1-1 community are really our own worst enemy. We drill the 9-1-1 number into the heads of citizens as the only number they need to know to get help. Then when someone calls (like in this case) and the response is slow or an error occurs, the 9-1-1 system failed. The 9-1-1 number is nothing more than a telephone number with some fancy caller ID built in. The basic emergency response system has not changed substantially because of 9-1-1 telephone number. An additional problem occurs when people call the 9-1-1 number for every kind of assistance they need. We get hundreds of 9-1-1 calls per day which are for things like stopped up toilets, barking dogs, loud music, etc. These calls clog up the 9-1-1 lines and tie up the 9-1-1 operators. We are to blame for this though, in most cases we do not take the time to educate the citizens that 9-1-1 is for life threatening emergencies *ONLY*. > I don't know if a half minute is that important in reporting an > accident (someone was injured) or a fire or some other emergency. > Think I'll dial up the 7D police number when another situation occurs. In this situation, I don't know if the 30 seconds impacted the response substantially, but it is certainly faster than an operator could have located the correct 7-digit number and transfered you. I would still recommend calling 9-1-1 because in Enhanced 9-1-1 systems the operator will know where you are calling from (except cellular.... for now) and this information alone can substantially speed up the emergency response. Just my .02 worth! 99999 11 11 GREG ABBOTT 9 9 1 1 INTERNET: GABBOTT@UIUC.EDU 9-1-1 COORDINATOR 99999 == 1 == 1 COMPUSERVE: 76046,3107 9 1 1 VOICE: 217/333-9889 METCAD 9 1 1 FAX: 217/384-7003 1905 E. MAIN ST. 9 111 111 PAGER: 800/222-6651 URBANA, IL 61801 PIN # 9541 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Something I have never been able to under- stand in Chicago is the apparent contradiction in instructions given on the one hand by 911 supervisors (themselves police officers) and the instructions given at the local police station level. On the one hand we are told that 911 is for *emergency use only* when immediate intervention by police/fire/paramedic people is required; ie. my house in on fire now or I am having a heart attack now or someone has invaded my home and is standing here with a gun pointed at me now. We are not to use 911 for trivial matters. That makes good sense! But on the other hand, when we attempt to discuss trivial (by comparison) matters with the police at the local district police station on their direct phone, we are told we must call 911 to get a police officer to come out. Now no matter how you look at it, if you come home from work and find your home was burglarized while you were gone, or your car stolen sometime in the past day or so, that is *not* an emergency. It is certainly an important matter, but it is *not* a life-or-death situation which requires *immediate* police intervention. Our phone books tell us to use 911 only for emergencies. The local police stations in Chicago on the other hand tell us to use 911 for everything. Who is correct on this? It is probably just more of business as usual in Chicago, since here in our village of Skokie on the other hand, both 911 and 708-982-2800 get the village police. The same police officers will come out after a call to either number, but they tend to come with sirens blaring and lights flashing on 911 calls while driving more slowly and taking a bit longer to arrive on calls to the other number. Do you think you people who are in charge of 911 could clarify this once and for all? Should people in Chicago really be calling 911 when their cat gets stuck in a tree and they want the Fire Department to send someone with a ladder? Maybe part of the reason 911 takes so long to answer at times -- although in any dire emergency, a few seconds seems like an eternity -- is because of all the foolishness they have to deal with. PAT] ------------------------------ From: genie@panix.com (Andy Finkenstadt) Subject: Re: FCC Rules Against Carrier Kickbacks to ESPs Date: 13 Sep 1995 02:21:16 -0400 Organization: GEnie(R) Internet RoundTable Reply-To: genie@panix.com In our Esteemed Moderator noted: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Very interesting, indeed! Does this mean > that those services operating under what has been called 'The Nevada Plan' > are now illegal? I wouldn't think so. The carrier is not blocking the call by creating an otherwise illegally formed number. The subscriber who wishes to use digital entrance facilities happens to also own the phone line attached to the LEC onto which they've put either a recording or a busy. > Is it now the case that all those dial-porns operating > out of Netherland Antilles, Guyana and elsewhere are going to have to > make it on thier own without their kickbacks from AT&T and the other > carriers? Most probably, yes. > Are we now to assume that direct delivery of long distance > traffic direct from a carrier to a subscriber via T-1 -- eliminating the > possibility of non-subscribers (to that carrier) from reaching the called > party -- are now illegal? See first paragraph. :-) Also consider virtual private networks like area code 710, access code 762 (aka SDN = Software Designed Network), the FTS-2000 system, GE's Dialcomm system, and so on. Only authorized users of those networks can gain (or should gain) access in the first place. There are some systems in TX that arranged for delivery of calls over the three major long distance networks (AT&T, MCI, Sprint) via dedicated circuits (T-1 or faster) to avoid the LEC access charges, and the oddball connections come in over LEC lines. Andrew Finkenstadt | Engineer, Tailored Software Services | andy@tssi.com Gaithersburg, MD | GEnie Postmaster & Internet RT Sysop | andy@genie.com 301-340-4391 work | GEnie Internet Services | andyf9@is.ge.com 301-975-9890 home | | genie@panix.com ------------------------------ From: Terry Flanagan Subject: Re: Bell Canada Calling Cards in the USA Organization: Bell Canada Date: Wed, 13 Sep 1995 15:27:59 GMT Terry Flanagan wrote: > A recent post to this newsgroup stated that Bell Canada Calling Cards > will not be validated by AT&T for calls to Canada from the US. This > is not true. From most locations in the United States customers can > reach Canada by dialing 302 plus the number they want to reach. !!! Mark J. Cuccia wrote: > BUT, what is this '302' code plus the (ten-digit?) Canadian > telephone >number to access Canada from the US that Terry Flanagan > refers to? Sorry Mark, somehow "0" got changed to 302 when I posted to this group. The correct quotation should of course be "From most locations in the United States, customers can reach Canada By dialing "0" plus the number they want to reach. Sorry for the confusion. Cheers, Terry ------------------------------ From: mjn@sage.acti.com (Matt Noah) Subject: Analog Delay Line HW needed Date: Thu, 14 Sep 1995 16:02:04 GMT Organization: ACT Networks, Inc. Reply-To: matt@acti.com I am looking to buy an analog delay line suitable for emulating echo delay. I would like to be able to reproduce with high fidelity an input signal N milliseconds later at the output where N is an element of the set [0, 1, 2, 3, ... 100 ] milliseconds. Input/Output connectors are preferrably RJ-11/45. Please respond if you know where I can obtain this piece of hardware. If it is just a piece of a more feature-rich piece of test equipment, that is acceptable. ------------------------------ From: Lynne Gregg Subject: Re: Cellular Telephone and Modems Date: Wed, 13 Sep 95 09:37:00 PDT jjg@pt.com (John Grana) asked about modem cables for connection to cellular phones (in his case, a Nokia model). I don't believe John mentioned the make of his integrated modem -- or whether it contains some form of cellular EDAC protocol (i.e., MNP or ETC). First, $100 for a cellular interface cable is a competitive price. Even if you could kludge one, it probably wouldn't be worth the trouble. Chances are, you couldn't do it since the connector on the Nokia phone is proprietary. The connection on the modem, may be as well. If your modem is an AT&T KIT modem, you can order the interface cable from Nokia or AT&T. If you would like further support, you may post to me directly and I'll be glad to lend a hand. I'm highly experienced at cellular data communication and have used a range of modems and cellphones. Regards, Lynne lynne.gregg@attws.com ------------------------------ From: schutte@ix.netcom.com (Rob Schutte) Subject: Re: Discouraging Small Users Date: 14 Sep 1995 04:58:17 GMT Organization: Netcom In wes.leatherock@hotelcal.com (Wes Leatherock) writes: > Recently I got a notice in my AT&T Universal Card (Visa card) > bill that "any current AT&T Universal Card calling card discount will > no longer be available." (My account provides -- or provided -- for a > 10 per cent discount [from what?] on credit card calls made with the AT&T > Visa card.) > Now "you'll be guaranteed competitive AT&T calling card rates > on your first $10 of qualifying calling card calls each month, and > enjoy up to 25 per cent savings when you make over $10 in qualifying > credit card calls." > Note the "UP TO"; it doesn't say what "savings" is actually > applicable. It probably depends on volume, but doesn't say so, or > what the lowest tier "savings" is and how much you have to use to get > 25 per cent. It seems that with all the stuff going back and forth between ATT/MCI/Sprint and who knows who else, discount rate plans change constantly. The Universal Card is in my experience a charge card first and a calling card second and I've continued to use the ATT Calling card for simplicity. This of course does not mean that the discounts plans stay the same. Recently the "savings" plan I was on was discontinued and automatically changed to another "new" one. I was actually surprised that the discont rate did affect my monthy bill in a positive manner. Check out the AT&T WEB page, http://www/att.com. I think they list all that stuff there. ------------------------------ From: danny@magtek.com Subject: Re: Need Advice on a Norstar PBX Upgrade Date: 14 Sep 1995 05:47:28 GMT In rlm@netcom.com (Robert McMillin) writes: > My question to the audience: has anyone done this recently? Do I have > to replace the whole shebang to make it work? Is there some add-on I > can use without throwing away the existing hardware? We OWN this PBX, > so leasing equipment also entails selling off what we have. Are there > more cost-effective systems than the Option 11 switch, the next step > up from Northern Telecom? Robert: My company just installed an opt 11 about one year ago. 1/2 my bill is international. My total bill was running 6k/mo. Before we got our new system, we had a TIE CX with a Newbridge channel bank hooked to Sprint. The channel bank goes from T1 to 24 COTs. I got a great quote from LDDS(World Com) that blew Sprint, MCI and ATT away. I was able to drop my T-Span and go to switched service with LDDS and cut my monthly bills by almost 1/2. I have not had one problem with LDDS international service. The switched service allowed me to lower the trunk count going into my switch because I could receive local calls in and place calls out on the same trunk. The dedicated T1 service required me to have dedicated outbound trunks. One problem I did have when I stopped dedicated service was that the line quality was poor and the CO copper lines. I did end up buying a T1 card for my opt 11 and ordering a Digital Entrance Fac. service from Pac Bell. Pac Bell provided this service at no cost. If you are interested I have a used Newbridge channel bank for sale. Danny@magtek.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Sep 1995 09:19:33 -0500 From: Mark Earle Subject: Cellular "Emergency" Use A while back (but sometime this year, I think) someone posted about a cellular carrier that would take registrations via fax/mail with credit card payment. The idea was that this carrier would activiate your phone, and then you could roam legitimately in any market. The per minute rate was quite high, but there were minimal monthly fees. This service was intended primarily for 2nd or 3rd phones used only in true times of need and not for casual use. I've searched the archives (mine and the "official" ones) and cannot locate this reference. Would some kind soul either point me to the original article, or maybe remember the name of this company? Thanks! mwe mwearle@mcimail.com ------------------------------ From: Tyler Proctor <75260.710@CompuServe.COM> Subject: CLSI New Modems Date: 14 Sep 1995 15:07:23 GMT Organization: CompuServe, Inc. (1-800-689-0736) Current Logic Systems will display it's line of 14.4 and 28.8 host and remote solutions at Cellucomm 95. The line utilizes MNP10 EC and features bundles targeted to the cellular circuit switched access market. Host end platforms will include internal and external 14.4 and 28.8 MNP10 EC units as well as small footprint four port 28.8 devices. Also on the host end, CLSI will show the VOMAX line of stand alone voice and fax messaging systems. This line is targeted at the small and home office customer requiring remote access to voice and fax messages. For the remote end, CLSI will show 14.4 and 28.8 PC Cards with embedded phone specific drivers. Embedded drivers removes requirement for users to manually load a driver prior to cellular operation. For additional information on Current Logic Systems' products contact Kevin Asay 510-252-5206 or point your web browser to http://www.modems.com/. Cellucomm 95 is the place to see the latest that the cellular data industry has to offer. For more information on this exciting conference, e-mail 75260.710@compuserve.com or call 517-337-3995. Hurry! Cellucomm 95 starts Sept. 21!!! ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Sep 1995 10:51:20 -0500 From: jeff.mattox@heurikon.com (Jeffrey Mattox) Subject: Modern Calling Cards All via 800 Numbers My local phone company is changing their system so that I must dial an 800 number to use my calling card. I can no longer dial 10-xxx to get the carrier of my choice. I called AT&T and US Sprint and they have already converted to this method. My phone company told me it was to "improve my service" and was "a benefit me," but one compnay revealed the real reason is to make it harder for AOS-slime to get calls. Many people forget to enter 10-xxx and the call will go through on the AOS, but the 800 number MUST be dialed to use the new cards. I'm for avoiding AOS-slime, but I do not consider this a service to me -- I always used 10-xxx and now I have to remember and dial a much longer number to make calls. This is not progress. Is there any LD company around that still allows 10-xxx access? Jeff jeff@heurikon.com CIS: 71044,2356 (71044.2356@compuserve.com) Cartoon of the day: http://www.heurikon.com ------------------------------ From: walker@mnscorp.com (Art Walker) Subject: Re: Last Laugh! International Phone Ripoff Chain Letter Spam Date: 14 Sep 1995 16:18:25 GMT Organization: Synergy Communication Inc. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I love it! This has got to be one of the > best ones yet ... the nineties version of an old chain letter that's been > making the rounds for at least fifty years: send me money and add your > name to the bottom of the list so people can send you money also. But > John, you should not tamper with important news articles like that which > are sent to Noisenet. You should do like I do: carefully remove your own > name from the newsgroups line (and as a courtesy, any other moderated > groups you see there which may cause the distribution process to stall) > then feed it all back into the news stream again so that others can share > in the wisdom presented. My sincere belief is that if the spams become > massive enough in their distribution, and ridiculous enough in their premise, > it will bring a halt to this form of communication once and for all. PAT] Spamming, or Usenet? Art Walker, Somewhere In Iowa | Art.Walker@mnscorp.com alt.sex/alt.binaries.pictures.erotica/alt.sex.bestiality, etc. At best, the regulars of these groups are failed phone sex customers... - SPY, Jul/Aug 94, Page 85 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Good question, Art! I'm *glad* you brought it up ... I really am. Except that since we are just about out of time for this issue, I'll have to put off answering your question until another day when we have more time. I notice the infamous 'Dave Rhodes letter' is making the rounds again. It appears to have been posted in one of the Noisenet telecom groups yesterday or today by some fellow from South America. I hope by now the sysadmin at his site has slapped him silly and smashed his PC or workstation into thousands of tiny pieces. Now we also seem to have in our midst a Ms. Janet Dove of the Association of International Students who is posting everywhere on the way one can buy magazines at a discount through some association with which she is affiliated. I must have killed her message at least a dozen times in the past two weeks with its massive (screen after screen after screen) list of noisegroups intended for cross posting. Perhaps it is the International Association of Students, I forget which. "... Don't bother writing back to me, I am a busy person as a student ..." and of course when you do write to her your mail bounces as 'no such user' at the site. Do you recall the article many years ago about the teenage CB radio user who was wreaking havoc on the airwaves with his games? Finally, some CB vigilantes locate him, go into his house and use a hammer to smash his radio into a million pieces while the kid, horrified, watches. The kid goes running into the other room crying and screaming "oh mother, these bad guys smashed up my radio!" The mother goes over to the vigilantes, extends her hand and says "thank you very much", and they respond, "you are quite welcome, madame ....". PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #384 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa08716; 15 Sep 95 0:17 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id PAA12927 for telecomlist-outbound; Thu, 14 Sep 1995 15:48:29 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id PAA12919; Thu, 14 Sep 1995 15:48:25 -0500 Date: Thu, 14 Sep 1995 15:48:25 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Message-Id: <199509142048.PAA12919@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #385 TELECOM Digest Thu, 14 Sep 95 15:48:00 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 385 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson LEC v. AT&T (was Dial 10288 for ATT- NOT!) (Mark J. Cuccia) Re: FBI Arrests America Online Users (Joshua Cole) Fraud or Screw-Up (Kee Chan) Re: FCC Warning on International Dial-a-Porn (Clive D.W. Feather) Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers (Clive D.W. Feather) Re: Pros and Cons About Making One Channel of T1 Data Line (Betsy Sharp) Re: Pros and Cons About Making One Channel of T1 Data Line (Tim Dillman) Re: Beyond V.34, V.34bis and Rockwell's 33.6 (Doug McIntyre) Re: Bell Canada Tests "Soft" Dial Tone (Kevin Paul Herbert) Re: Simulation of SDL-Diagrams? (Rolf Lokoey) Sync For CAP With Muliple IXCs (Scott Nelson) Re: Still More By George! Gilder's Latest Essay (A. E. Siegman) Euro Dialable Wideband Service (Azriel Heuman) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily represent the views of Microsoft. ------------------------------------------------------------ Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Mark J. Cuccia Subject: LEC v. AT&T (was Dial 10288 for ATT- NOT!) Date: 14 Sep 1995 18:38:46 GMT Organization: Tulane University While I really haven't had many postdivestiture experiences with independent (non-Bell) Telcos, I would like to share the following: Before Bell South Mobility changed their New Orleans Mobile Telephone Switch to a digital one a few weeks ago, when I'd dial- excuse me- ENTER 00-Send, I'd *still* get a South Central Bell operator. (I now go directly to an AT&T Opr). If I'd tell the LEC Opr. that I entered 00 from my cellular and wanted AT&T (which is also my primary IXC from my Cellular account), I'd be quizzed as to *where* I was calling. I'd ALWAYS say out-of-state, and then be connected. The same quizzing by the Bell Oprs. occurrs if a single-0 call comes in from a POTS/wireline phone and one request connection to an AT&T Operator. I think that Bell (here) can also pass you on to MCI, Sprint, etc. AT&T and Bell South Mobility suggested that I enter 10-288-0(0)-Send. That worked when 00 didn't as it still does now. I can NOT use 10-XXX+1/0+ten-digits-Send from my cellular, however. *Other* 10-XXX-0(0)-send does work to get other LD oprs (MCI, Sprint, etc), since AT&T *is* my primary. The future format 101-XXXX does NOT presently work from Bell South Mobility. (Current 10-XXX codes are in the process of migrating to 101-0XXX, with NEW codes being assigned by Bellcore as 101-5XXX and 101-6XXX. Eventually present 10-XXX codes won't exist and one will have to use the 101-XXXX formats. Most wireline telco switches in New Orleans -- and from what I understand elsewhere DO allow 101-0XXX and some newer 101-5XXX and 101-6XXX codes). When SCBell started 'Operator Take Back' here in 1986 with their Northern Telecom TOPS equipment, Bell's payphones did NOT allow you to dial 00. AT&T was the primary carrier for ALL Bell payphones for 1+/0+ InTER LATA calls, however, but 00 got you a 'call cannot be completed as dialed' from Bell payphones in 1AESS offices. We still had two remaining #5XB offices at that time, but I don't remember what 00 did from coin and regular lines there. From Equal Access (1AESS) offices, you COULD dial 10-288-0(#) from Bell's payphones and get an AT&T Operator. Since 10-XXX-0 must wait for a timeout (i.e. 10-XXX-0+ calls, 10-XXX-01/011+ Intl,) I usually used 10-XXX-00 from phones where I didn't know who the primary carrier was. But 10-XXX-00 also got blocked at Bell payphones in 1AESS offices at that time, so I did 10-XXX-0#. Prior to about 1989, AT&T Operators would handle inTRA-LATA calls at SCBell's rates, and the charges would appear on the SCBell part of the bill. The *other* carriers, however, would route inTRA-LATA calls at OCC (cheaper) rates, if you reached them on 950-XXXX or 1-800 numbers. Only *one* LATA in Louisiana allowed the use of 10-XXX+1/0+inTRA-LATA, and only for one specific *other* carrier. If I dialed 10-XXX(even 288)+1/0+NNX-XXXX, and the number was in my New Orleans LATA, I'd get 'It is not necessary to dial a LD company access code for the number you've dialed; Please hang up and redial withOUT the LD company access code', meaning the call would route thru Bell, at Bell's higher rates! Sometime around 1989 when location owners who had Telco's payphones could choose the 0+ inTER LATA carrier, AT&T operators began to REFUSE to assist on any InTRA LATA call, unless it was an 'emergency situation'. If my 0+ calling card call was an AT&T (inTER-LATA) call, I could only make 'sequence' calls to inTER LATA points. AT&T's TSPS system knew my LATA by my NPA-NXX originating phone, and matched it up with sequence call NPA-NXX codes. Pressing the # after the first (and subsequent) calls hung up (or were busy/no-answer) gave the recording "You may dial another AT&T HANDLED call now". Entering an Intra-LATA NPA-NXX would give you "You may ONLY dial another AT&T ...". We went OSPS sometime around 1990. AT&T could handle InTRA-LATA sequence calls, but still at Bell's rates/revenue. Live/Human AT&T operators still wouldn't casually put thru assistance on InTRA-LATA calls. In 1991, the Louisiana PSC began to allow 10-XXX competition in ALL of Louisiana LATA's, for any carrier that was regulated by the La.PSC. (The Bell network just unblocked all 10-XXX carriers for InTRA-LATA access, if that carrier had origination access from that switch. Many carriers have been completing instate InTER-LATA calls by all forms of access for 10+ years, and have NEVER had a nod-of-approval from the La.PSC. AT&T filed its OWN InTRA-LATA tarriff structure for Louisiana, and their rates are LESS than SCBell's (except for AT&T handled calls within the traditional Local calling area- i.e. 0+ calls from payphones, etc. SCBell is 88cents FLAT, AT&T charges by the minute). Lower Lafourche Parish (county) is served by LATELCO (Lafourche Tel.Co.), an independent which homes on Bell (and probably has direct homing on major LD carriers, too). LATELCO also has a TOPS operator facility and a Tandem switch of its own (or did a few years ago). They are NOT their own LATA, but are part of the New Orleans LATA. They *will* connect you to AT&T when requested, but just like SCBell, quiz you as to *where* you want to call. They wouldn't connect me to an SCBell Opr, when requested but LATELCO and SCBell are 'one-in-the-same' as far as InLATA rates are concerned. The East bank of upper St.John's Parish (Reserve, LA & Garyville, LA) is served by the Reserve Tel.Co. They are part of the New Orleans LATA, but do NO toll or tandem functions on their own. They also haven't done any operator services on their own since probably the manual days or at least since 1972 when New Orleans got a TSPS. When I dialed 0 from a phone (Reserve Telco owned payphone -- Northern Telecom equipment), I would frequently get an operator answering something like: "South Cen/... excuse me, Reserve Telephone Operator" So I'd say "Well what are you -- South Central Bell? or Reserve Telco? In this case, they WERE South Central Bell's Operators, but acting on behalf of the Reserve Telephone Company. They were answering as Reserve Telco in 1989, but in '91, they answered simply South Central Bell. Most of the east bank of Ascension Parish (EATEL East Ascension Telephone Co) is part of the Baton Rouge LATA, and while they might have a tandem, they don't have their own operator facilities. Their telco payphones are GTE Automatic Electric equipment. Again, in 1989 dialing 0 would usually be answered: "South Central Bbb ... ummm ... East Ascension Operator" Again, by 1991 they too answered simply South Central Bell. Back in 1988 thru 1992 time period, I'd frequently have problems gaining access to 950- and 10-XXX+ from phones in independent telco territory. Even without equal access, I SHOULD have been able to get 950-XXXX, maybe prefixing a 1 or 0 in front of it. Even that didn't always work! BUT the multi-carrier environment 800 worked okay (even back in the 80's and early 90's when 800-NXX codes identified a carrier or function), including the 800 numbers to get a carrier's 'dialtone' (such as 800-CALL-ATT or 800-3210-ATT). For those dialing 10-288-0(+) from GTE territory, maybe using AT&T's 800 access numbers might bypass you from the GTE facilities and route you directly to the AT&T OSPS centers. AT&T and GTE/ other major indep's might still have contracts in force for 'joint' or 'shared' facilities. And, in some areas, GTE (or another major indep) *is* a LATA, but most independent areas are actually part of the larger Bell (or a different, but larger independent) LATA. One OTHER interesting point here: When I dial (10(10)288) + 1 + NPA-555-1212, many times before getting the 'What City' I get either a 'AT&T's directory link can complete your call automatically for an additional- (whatever)- To accept Press x to reject press y' (I usually ignore and time out to the 'reject'). Usually I get 'Directory Link' on 0 + NPA-555-1212, but sometimes I get it on 1 + NPA-555-1212. Other times on AT&T carried 1+ NPA-555-1212, I get 'Thank you for using AT&T' before getting 'What City'. I know that Directory Assistance centers are being centralized more and more -- even to voice automation as we've read here in TD over the past few months. Some states' DA provides a STATEWIDE residential name directory availability -- I remember last year asking an Arkansas (501) directory oper. for a number and she said that there was no one with a listing *anywhere in the STATE* by that name. Of course, Arkansas is more rural. But even if they cannot easily look up a single statewide database, the DA operator you connect to could be several states away from the listing she/he is looking up for you. AND, AT&T is even getting into the providing DA operators. If I dial (10(10)288)-NPA-555-1212 for a Bell Atlantic NPA, I found out that I am usually NOT getting a Bell Atlantic employed DA operator, but rather an AT&T listings operator. I don't know whether AT&T has its OWN copy of a listings database, or if they buy realtime 'lookup' to the LEC (RBOC) listings databases. MARK J. CUCCIA PHONE/WRITE/WIRE: HOME: (USA) Tel: CHestnut 1-2497 WORK: mcuccia@law.tulane.edu |4710 Wright Road| (+1-504-241-2497) Tel:UNiversity 5-5954(+1-504-865-5954)|New Orleans 28 |fwds on no-answr to Fax:UNiversity 5-5917(+1-504-865-5917)|Louisiana(70128)|cellular/voicemail ------------------------------ From: Joshua Cole Subject: Re: FBI Arrests America Online Users Date: Thu, 14 Sep 1995 14:44:42 EDT Pat- If you read Steve Case's note to the America Online Community dated September 13, 1995, you will see that he states: "When material is forwarded to us which we believe is illegal, we notify law enforcement and upon receipt of a court order or subpoena, we cooperate fully." Note that they will only do this when they receive a *legal* demand for the information. I am not an AOL employeee, but have been a member since shortly after its inception and know that this has always been their policy and their operational behavior. In other words, the "snooping" that is being done at AOL is because they have been ordered to do so. In addition, as a corporate citizen of the US, it is AOL's duty to help law enforcement apprehend people who are in violation of the law. One more thing that I'd like to add. America Online is a service that is owned and operated by a private sector company. Their hardware, software and service is owned completely by them. They are not a public or quasi-public corporation nor are they a common carrier. They have every right to read all e-mail, instant messages, postings, chat room conversations and other data that resides on their systems. They choose *not* to do this unless they find out that there is a possible violation of the law. You have every right to cancel your account, but when you agree to their Terms of Service agreement when you subscribed, you also agree to abide by their code of conduct and the consequences of violating those codes. Sincerely, Joshua Cole America Online Member since January, 1990 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I appreciate your early response to the message which ran here just two issues ago on Thursday afternoon. It is quite admirable that you wish to defend them. I don't think anyone disputes that they are entitled to run their system however they see fit, the same way Prodigy can run theirs as they see it, and for that matter, Compuserve. It is their property to do with as they wish. I do not think however, that most users there are/were aware that AOL gets into their email and monitors their private chats. I do not think most users there are/were aware that AOL was making up these little lists of people they 'suspected' and turning them over to the FBI. The 'Terms of Service' thing there is a joke. Depending on the mood and general disposition of the 'Guide' -- many of whom seem to very much enjoy playing like little gestapo police, you'll see that ever-present macro about 'Violation! Read Your Terms of Service' message time and again in the public chat areas. Unlike the [HELPER] people on Compuserve who seem genuinely interested in helping new users learn about the system, the AOL Guides seem far more interested in meeting some quota for the number of people to be written up for one reason or another. And yes, of course, that's their perfect right. They own the system, they have people of their own mindset who congregate there and seek out positions on the system as Guides, and they are all free to do their own thing just as you point out. If you don't like it, then leave; lots of users have. There is such a thing as 'taking a big stick and stirring the pot to see what will come up' also. By this I mean that yes, as you point out, a 'good citizen' will cooperate with authorities, and if something comes up right under his nose, the 'good citizen' will inform the authorities. You point out that AOL is only responding to *legal demands* i.e. subpoenas made for files on their network, but it just seems to me they are going a bit beyond the call of duty as 'good citizens'. It seems to me they are being a bit too snoopy, and a bit too inviting of the authorities. It is like "we know that you, as the government cannot tap into the email and files and stuff without legal authority that stems from probable cause, and we know that is hard for you to obtain, so suppose we do it on this end and make your job a lot easier for you." And although Steve Case may claim that they only respond to things which are brought to them by other (presumably offended) users, I will suggest that ninety-nine times out of a hundred, the 'offended user' was one of the Guides and not one of the regular subscribers. I will also suggest that there is a certain amount of entrapment, with some of those people arrested yesterday guilty of nothing more than viewing a piece of mail which was sent to them without their request. That's like saying that a plainclothes police officer cannot proposition a prostitute, lie about his position, and then arrest her when she agrees to his offer. He can, but its a sleazy, dispicable tactic. I'd not be surprised at all as these latest arrests work their way through 'the system' to hear at a least a few defenses of the form that unwanted mail found its way to them; that users heretofore unknown to them lured them into a chat room, etc. How come Compuserve -- around three times as long, and just as large if not larger -- never seems to have ruckuses like this? PAT] ------------------------------ From: kee@ssceecs.harvard.edu (Kee Chan) Subject: Fraud or Screw-Up Date: 14 Sep 1995 17:46:40 GMT Organization: Division of Applied Sciences, Harvard University Reply-To: kee@das.harvard.edu I came home one day and found an envelope from MCI to me with a slightly misspelled name. Since misspelling is quite a common occurrence, I opened the mail and found a MCI calling card and a flowery letter in Spanish telling "me" that I had joined the "Friend and Family" plan of MCI. Other than the "misspelled name", they have my address and phone number right except that my NYNEX phone account belong to my "correctly spelled name". I used to work for AT&T and have had no problem with AT&T service. So, I called MCI immediately and notified them I had never authorized them to switch. From MCI, I found out that an agent from Colorado had put it the paperwork to switch "my-misspelled-self" with my address and telephone number. I am wondering is this an intentional fraud or some mistake? Any of you have any idea who would be responsible for checking, especially with the misspelling between my NYNEX account and this fictitious MCI account, plus the fact that an agent from Colorado enrolling someone from Mass? Kee kee@eecs.harvard.edu ------------------------------ Subject: Re: FCC Warning on International Dial-a-Porn Date: Thu, 14 Sep 1995 10:55:06 BST From: Clive D.W. Feather > Telephone subscribers should, when calling information services, > beware of an unlawful practice engaged in by some information-service > providers. That is, when a caller dials an advertised 800 number, the > information-service provider will direct the customer, without hanging > up, to dial additional numbers, often described as an "access code." > Dialing such numbers often converts the call into an international, > direct-dial long distance call that will be billed at relatively high > international rates. Can someone explain this bit to me, please? Surely, once a call is connected, nothing I do on the line (apart from a flash) can change the call setup status -- I have an 800 call in action, and not a charged one. Clive D.W. Feather | Work: clive@demon.net | Gateway House Senior Manager | Home: clive@stdc.demon.co.uk | 322 Regents Park Road Demon Internet Ltd. | Tel: +44 181 371 1000 | Finchley | Fax: +44 181 371 1281 | London N3 2QQ [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You dial my 800 number. You have an 800 call in action; so far so good. Now I direct you to punch '1' if you want a little hoochie and punch '2' if you want a little coochie or punch '3' if you want to hear a heavenly choir of homosexual high school basketball coaches singing 'Onward Christian Soldiers' or whatever. You make your selection. I now take your ANI and I set up a new call *using your ANI* to the desired program. To the network, it appears you are making a call to that number. I gave you a one second warningwithall thewordsruntogetherandslurredtellingyouthatyouwouldbebilledfiftynine dollarsperminuteifyoustayedonthelineandpressedyourkeys. PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers Date: Thu, 14 Sep 1995 10:59:10 BST From: Clive D.W. Feather > But it also seems to make sense that, at least currently, all > numbers are required before the sequence starts or wouldn't things > like trunk busy signals, the recordings about 'all circuits are busy' > etc., come before we finished dialing all the numbers? instead of > waiting until all digits are dialed first? That's what happens in the UK. You get an intercept message as soon as the system knows you have dialled an invalid prefix. Thus: 01800 [intercept, because this is not a valid area code] 01223 78 [intercept, because there are no 78XXXX numbers in Cambridge] 74 [intercept, because there are no 74XXXX numbers in my area] 01223 469153 [intercept, because that number hasn't been allocated] Clive D.W. Feather | Work: clive@demon.net | Gateway House Senior Manager | Home: clive@stdc.demon.co.uk | 322 Regents Park Road Demon Internet Ltd. | Tel: +44 181 371 1000 | Finchley | Fax: +44 181 371 1281 | London N3 2QQ ------------------------------ From: sharpb@kentrox.com (Betsy Sharp) Subject: Re: Pros and Cons About Making One Channel of T1 Data Line Organization: ADC Kentrox Date: Thu, 14 Sep 1995 11:02:01 GMT In article , rolland@mcs.com (Rolland Suh) wrote: > We are thinking about getting 56KB dedicated line to the Internet. We > already have a T1 voice line, and wondering if it would be cost > effective for us to use one of the channels of existing T1, over > getting a new dediccated line. Any idea on this? Check the fractional T1 Frame Relay and 56K Frame Relay costs in your area vs. leased lines. A T1 DSU will cost you more than a 56K DSU typically, too. If you need more info on this and WAN Access Service choices contact us at info@kentrox.com for helpful booklets and a catalog. Regards, Betsy ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Sep 95 08:18 EST From: Tim Dillman <0006540276@mcimail.com> Subject: Re: Pros and Cons About Making One Channel of T1 Data Line There are only a things that you need to keep in mind. If you are using a channel bank for your T-1 you will need to remove a voice card and insert a data card and do some rewiring on your 66 blocks. (If you're not comfortable doing this call your vendor.) This will not affect the quality of you current voice traffic. If you're terminating the T-1 to a DTI card in your PBX you will need to make sure that your PBX can split out a channel of data. If not you will need something like a Larse Split-T sitting in front of your PBX on the network side. Using your existing T-1 for data is a very good idea and very common. Most carriers can give you better discounts on a data circuit when the voice traffic is included. Good luck and happy networking! Tim Dillman Technical Consultant - MCI ------------------------------ From: merlyn@icicle.winternet.com (Doug McIntyre) Subject: Re: Beyond V.34, V.34bis and Rockwell's 33.6 Date: 13 Sep 95 20:23:16 GMT Organization: StarNet Communications, Inc Lionel Ancelet writes: > mearley@acsu.buffalo.edu (Matthew A Earley) wrote: >> I recently upgraded my USR V.Everything to 33.6 but have been unable >> to connect to the USR BBS at a rate above 21.6. Is the 33.6 a >> proprietary USR standard or is it part of the proposed V.34bis? > Based on what I know, only about 70 percent of the phone lines in the > USA are able to handle 28.8 kbps. That means that, if you pick to > lines randomly, on average you'll be able to establish a 28.8 kbps > connection in less than 50% of the cases. For example, when I use my > 28.8 modem at home, I generally get only 26.4 kbps when calling a > certain number in the same area code. And of course, between my house and ISP, I can 99% of the time get a connection faster than 28.8. Most of the time it is 33.6.. Just the luck of the draw for the phone line situation. Doug McIntyre merlyn@winternet.com Write to info@winternet.com for more information about Winternet's Internet services and dialups. ------------------------------ From: kph@cisco.com (Kevin Paul Herbert) Subject: Re: Bell Canada Tests "Soft" Dial Tone Date: Wed, 13 Sep 1995 21:33:14 -0700 Organization: Cisco Systems, Ashland, OR US West has been using soft dialtone on some of its switches for about a year now. When a line is set for soft dialtone, it can only call "611" for the business office, and "911" for emergencies. Interestingly, US West does not use "611" at all for lines which are not set soft dialtone. Although you can dial "611" when you move into your house to establish service, once they turn up the service, "611" no longer works, and you have to dial an 800 number for customer service. Kevin [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I think the reason for that choice of numbers might be that some people, on hearing dialtone, would be confused and think perhaps the line was working normally. On attempting to make calls and never getting connected anywhere, a logical response would be to call 'repair service' which often times is 611. By the way, what kind of intercept *is* given out on other calls? Do you receive a 'call cannot be completed as dialed' message, or a rapid re-order tone, or some other message, tones, etc? PAT] ------------------------------ From: rl@nera.no (Rolf Lokoey) Subject: Re: Simulation of SDL-Diagrams? Date: Thu, 14 Sep 1995 08:24:46 GMT Organization: Nera AS Roland Welte <100070.3321@CompuServe.COM> wrote: > I am looking for PC-Software that would allow me to simulate a > protocol which has been described with SDL symbols. I am primarily > interested in simulating SDL diagrams and not their code generation. Try the SDL home page: http://www.tdr.dk/public/SDL/. Here you will find links to various tools, for example Telelogic, whose SDT Tool exists in a Windows version (http://www.telelogic.se/). Rolf Lokoey Nera AS Address: PO Box 91, 1361 Billingstad email: rl@nera.no Norway Phone: +47 66844822 Fax: +47 66982267 ------------------------------ From: 73773.2220@compuserve.com (Scott Nelson) Subject: Sync For CAP With Muliple IXCs Date: Thu, 14 Sep 1995 11:43:17 GMT I am engineering a hub site for a competitive access provider where several interexchange carriers meet. The network will have an OC-12 link into AT&T running 2-4 DS3 initially equipped with M13 on the CAP end. MCI and a number of other smaller carriers will have OC-3 links to them. The OC-3 links will carry DS1 traffic via byte synchronous multiplexed DS1. BTW, all SONET and M13 equipment is AT&T DDM-2000 and DDM-1000. My question is how do we synchonize the CAP's network? I assume that network sync will be provided by all of the carriers, but I must choose one -- most likely AT&T. Then this sync source must somehow be distributed on the fiber links to all the CAP's local customers. The OC-12 and OC-3 links to all the IXCs will also need to be sync'd together. So do I take the sync signal off of the OC-12 from AT&T and run it into sync input ports on the OC-3 running to the other IXCs? Couldn't this possibly cause slips? Where does a BITS clock fit into this scenario? ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Sep 1995 11:59:59 -0800 From: siegman@ee.stanford.edu (A. E. Siegman) Subject: Re: Still More By George! Gilder's Latest Essay Organization: Stanford University I agree totally with Gilder's essay -- a few weeks of Yahooing and Lycosing around the Web have changed my fundamental conception of the worlds of communication and information. And just wait until he and all his relatives and friends and neighbors can do this not with a puny 14.4 or 24.6 kB modem but an Ethernet/really high-capacity Internet connection like I'm lucky enough to have on my university office desk. But I do want to voice one small niggle at his opening question: > What will it take to launch a new Bill Gates -- an Archimedean > man who sharply shifts the center of the sphere, alters the axes of > technology and economy, and builds a new business empire . . . I don't wish to attack Bill Gates, or rehash all the Mac vs PC debates, at all. But I think we should recognize that it really was the people at Apple and their intellectual predecessors, who developed the Macintosh gui, who truly "shifted the center of the sphere, (and) altered the axis of (computing) technology". Gilder's grandmother is able to _click_ on a Web bookmark, and see the results on a bitmapped graphics screen, and do it all so easily, because of Steve Jobs, or whomever, at Apple and Xerox PARK and SRI. Bill Gates built an empire, for sure, but he didn't alter any axes. ------------------------------ From: Azriel Heuman Subject: Euro Dialable Wideband Service Date: Thu, 14 Sep 1995 15:05:07 GMT Organization: Telrad Ltd. Is there a European equivalent to Dialable Wideband Service? Is there a standard (ETSI or National) for such a service in Europe? Best Regards, Azriel Heuman ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #385 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa03816; 16 Sep 95 0:43 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id QAA06722 for telecomlist-outbound; Fri, 15 Sep 1995 16:17:33 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id QAA06714; Fri, 15 Sep 1995 16:17:31 -0500 Date: Fri, 15 Sep 1995 16:17:31 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Message-Id: <199509152117.QAA06714@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #386 TELECOM Digest Fri, 15 Sep 95 16:16:30 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 386 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson AOL and Expectations of Privacy (A. Padgett Peterson) Re: FBI Arrests America Online Users (Daniel Rosenbaum) Re: FBI Arrests America Online Users (Grover McCoury) Re: FBI Arrests America Online Users (Bob Izenberg) Re: FBI Arrests America Online Users (Steven Lichter) Re: FBI Arrests America OnLine Users (Richard F. Masoner) Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number (Greg Abbott) Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number (Andrew C. Green) Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number (Eric Ewanco) Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number (Gordon Baldwin) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily represent the views of Microsoft. ------------------------------------------------------------ Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 15 Sep 95 10:31:30 -0400 From: padgett@tccslr.dnet.mmc.com (A. Padgett Peterson) Subject: AOL and Expectations of Privacy PAT writes: > I don't know about you, but I'm going to purge all the AOL sofware from > my computer today. Child porn does not interest me in the least, but > having AOL scanning my mail and checking up on my in private conversations > with other users there is of great concern. It is hard for me to imagine > how any online service could violate the trust of their users in this way, > by getting into their email and personal files, regardless of the intentions. Think this is a bit simplistic. The Internet is the world's biggest party line. Unless you encrypt your transmittals, a great many people can read them. This is something that many of us have been aware of for years. (read RFC 1281 for some pointers). Personally, I *expect* that lurkers read whatever is sent and take precautions whenever sensitive matter is sent (ViaCrypt PGP - plug). The fact is that E-mail is not like a sealed envelope, and though the courts in this country have yet to decide (and there have been a number of cases -- in each case I know of the "lurker" has been acquitted.) I would not be surprised to find that E-mail is considered to be the same as a postcard and with no expectation of privacy (might also look at the DoJ suggested logo -- essentially says the above plus reports of illegal behavior will be made to appropriate law enforcement. So don't pull the plug on AOL unless you are prepared to pull the plug on *every* provider. Warmly, Padgett ------------------------------ From: drosenba@panix.com (Daniel Rosenbaum) Subject: Re: FBI Arrests America Online Users Date: 15 Sep 1995 11:46:33 -0400 Organization: Panix You wrote (among other things): > How come Compuserve -- around three times as long, and just as large if > not larger -- never seems to have ruckuses like this? PAT] First of all, AOL is bigger than Compuserve: something like 3.5 million users for AOL and two to three million for CIS. Secondly, AOL has pitched its services directly to the mass market, while CIS is sold largely to professional business users. (That is probably about to change, for what it's worth.) Thirdly, CIS's method of file exchange has long been on the hostile side; if you're looking for simple ease-of-use, AOL is where you go. All of this is by way of explaining why AOL seems to be having more trouble with this stuff than CompuServe. It's an inevitable result of adding eight million commercial on-line users to the net in a single year. As for the rest of your rant -- AOL's power-tripping monitors, and the like -- it seemed light on evidence and cites and heavy on suspicion and implication. If you have a real problem, document it. This is a high-quality, high-signal group; you do a great job here, Pat. Pleae don't raise the noise level by posting paranoia. Best, Dan Rosenbaum Editor NetGuide drosenba@cmp.com drosenbaum@panix.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: How about this for documentation of sorts ... of over 100 doors kicked in on Wednesday by the FBI, a grand total of *twelve* arrests. Now a point could be raised about the incompetence in general of our Federal Bureau of Investigation (certainly they have had long enough to catch Mister P.M. Unibomber and lord knows they have been time and again pointed at him) and the fact that 12 out of 100+ is only about ten percent of the names on the list provided them by Steve Case. I wonder whatever happened to the concept of probable cause? Ten percent does not come close. By the way is it true that a group of those who were confronted by the FBI -- then dismissed out of hand after the FBI had inspected their computer and ransacked their houses, etc. have now consulted with an attorney about a *class action* against AOL? That's what I am hearing over here, that they intend to file a lawsuit charging false and malicious defamation of character, invasion of privacy in their email, etc ... charging that AOL with callous disregard for facts of any sort caused their arrest and albiet temporary detentions. By the way, two of the arrested parties were here in the Chicago area. Eric Zemke, age 31, 5200 West Agatite, Chicago, was released Thursday on his recognizance (that is, his promise to appear in court as ordered) and electronic home monitoring. An affidavit filed in U.S. District Court here by FBI agents stated that Zemke admitted distributing child pornography via AOL, and agents further stated that the same was located on his computer. Zemke, a computer consultant, surrendered to the United States Marshall after learning that his home had been searched in his absence. Zemke pleaded guilty in an earlier 1986 case to child molestation. As a condition of his release on bond pending trial, he has been ordered to have no contact with children without another adult present, including his own three year old child. Also charged was Craig Zucker, 5100 Winona Lane, Gurnee, Illinois. Gurnee is a small town in the north suburbs of Chicago. Zucker was not present at the search of his home, and his whereabouts remain unknown. A federal warrant has been issued for his arrest. In affidavits filed, FBI agents said both Zemke and Zucker were tracked down through telephone numbers used to connect them to the AOL network. Undercover agents allegedly recieved ten electronic pictures from Zemke depicting young boys in various sexual activities. An AOL informant turned over to the FBI three pictures involving young girls in porno- graphic settings which the AOL informant claimed were sent by Zucker in email. But only twelve out of a hundred? Come on Steve Case, you should have been more careful putting your list together. Now it looks like you are going to get sued by a few of the people you defamed. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Grover McCoury Subject: Re: FBI Arrests America Online Users Date: 15 Sep 1995 12:35:54 GMT Organization: Scientific Atlanta Suspect your on-line provider may be snooping into your personal Email messages? There is an easy solution! It's called PGP. If I used AOL, Prodigy, Delphi, etc. I would *assume* that they would snoop when they wanted to *therefore* I would utilize an encryption scheme. Yet another $.02 worth from... Grover C. McCoury III @ Scientific-Atlanta, Inc. physical: P.O Box 6850, ATL-52D Norcross, GA 30091 USA audio: 770-806-7702 electronic: grover.mccoury@sciatl.com ------------------------------ From: Bob Izenberg Subject: Re2: FBI Arrests America Online Users Date: Fri, 15 Sep 1995 02:13:31 -0500 (CDT) Reply-To: bei@io.com In TELECOM Digest Volume 15 Issue 385, PAT replied to Joshua Cole: > ...it just seems to me they are going a bit beyond the call of > duty as 'good citizens'. They're only good citizens some of the time. Ask any Usenet reader how many chain letters and other forms of fraud come out of aol.com . I hope that AOL is as vigilant in informing law enforcement officials of this less headline-worthy type of crime as they are in going after child pornography distributors and consumers. Both are worthy of investigation. Bob Izenberg home: 512-442-0614 bei@io.com work voice/fax: 512-250-4227/250-6424 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: As they say, ROFL ... I am laughing so hard my side hurts. Sure they will ... sure they will. PAT] ------------------------------ From: slichte@cello.gina.calstate.edu (Steven Lichter) Subject: Re: FBI Arrests America Online Users Date: 14 Sep 1995 16:30:09 -0700 Organization: GINA and CORE+ Services of The California State University Joshua Cole writes: > If you read Steve Case's note to the America Online Community dated > September 13, 1995, you will see that he states: > "When material is forwarded to us which we believe is illegal, we > notify law enforcement and upon receipt of a court order or subpoena, > we cooperate fully." Now if they would only police their members that spam the Internet with all this "LEGAL" "REALLY" chain letter. Of the 30 or so I have seen in the last several month 23 of them have cpome from AOL and all always have the same 20 names on them. I know that they are not the only ones and they claim to be the largest but they should be able to stop or limit it since each user is given the rules of conduct The above are my ideas and have nothing to do with whoever my employer is. SysOp Apple Elite II and OggNet Hub (909)359-5338 2400/14.4 24 hours, Home of GBBS/LLUCE Support for the Apple II. slichte@cello.gina.calstate.edu ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Sep 1995 16:40:39 -0500 From: richardm@cd.com (Richard F. Masoner) Subject: Re: FBI Arrests Dozens of America OnLine Users In article you wrote: : Although child pornography certainly is not allowed in public areas of AOL, : according to Ms. McGraw it 'usually is transmitted in email between users, : or in private chat rooms'. She did not indicate how AOL's interception of : email for the purpose of examining it for 'pornography' or their monitoring : of private conversations between subscribers could be reconciled with : various privacy laws, apparently because it can't be. Is this for real? AOL reading private mail? Where'd you hear this? (You didn't give any citations of your sources; not that I don't believe, I'd just like to know where this came from) Richard [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Her press release, printed by myself and lots of other newspapers said "It is not in the public areas. It is usually transmitted in email between users." My question is, **how would she know that?** How do I know what email you send to someone else unless one of you reveals it (very unlikely) or I intercept it and read it. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 15 Sep 1995 09:45:49 CST From: Greg Abbott Reply-To: gabbott@uiuc.edu Subject: Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number In message Thu, 14 Sep 1995 14:05:07 -0500, TELECOM Digest Patrick Townson writes: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Something I have never been able to under- > stand in Chicago is the apparent contradiction in instructions given on > the one hand by 911 supervisors (themselves police officers) and the > instructions given at the local police station level. On the one hand we > are told that 911 is for *emergency use only* when immediate intervention > by police/fire/paramedic people is required; ie. my house in on fire now > or I am having a heart attack now or someone has invaded my home and is > standing here with a gun pointed at me now. We are not to use 911 for > trivial matters. That makes good sense! But on the other hand, when we > attempt to discuss trivial (by comparison) matters with the police at > the local district police station on their direct phone, we are told we > must call 911 to get a police officer to come out. > > Now no matter how you look at it, if you come home from work and find > your home was burglarized while you were gone, or your car stolen sometime > in the past day or so, that is *not* an emergency. It is certainly an > important matter, but it is *not* a life-or-death situation which requires > *immediate* police intervention. Our phone books tell us to use 911 only > for emergencies. The local police stations in Chicago on the other hand > tell us to use 911 for everything. Who is correct on this? > > It is probably just more of business as usual in Chicago, since here in > our village of Skokie on the other hand, both 911 and 708-982-2800 get > the village police. The same police officers will come out after a call > to either number, but they tend to come with sirens blaring and lights > flashing on 911 calls while driving more slowly and taking a bit longer > to arrive on calls to the other number. Do you think you people who are > in charge of 911 could clarify this once and for all? Should people in > Chicago really be calling 911 when their cat gets stuck in a tree and > they want the Fire Department to send someone with a ladder? Maybe part > of the reason 911 takes so long to answer at times -- although in any > dire emergency, a few seconds seems like an eternity -- is because of > all the foolishness they have to deal with. PAT] You're right Pat, you will get different instructions from different people. Like Skokie, we have a hunt group of "non-emergency" line (217/333-8911) which rings into the same room and is answered by the same people as the 9-1-1 lines. At every public presentation and on almost all of our handout material, we try to stress that this number should be called for the non-life threatening emergencies. These non-emergency lines are typically answered as fast as the 9-1-1 lines (when things are quiet). But when things are busy you can see them ring for 45 seconds or longer while the operators are all taking 9-1-1 calls. Our main concern is that everyone's idea of an emergency is different. To you and I, a fire and a heart attack are clearly life-threatening emergencies. To one of our neighbors though, a car parked blocking the fire hydrant in front of their house may be a life-threatening emergency. I remember one night when I was still a dispatcher and I got a call from a lady who had called a couple other numbers before calling our non-emergency line. She started off saying that she didn't want to bother me by calling and asking if I was busy. I assured her she wasn't bothering me, nor was I busy. She then started to tell me about how she had been to the mall and then had to stop by the grocery store to pick up a cake because it was her grandson's birthday and she had just gotten home. I asked her how I could help her. She said she was getting to that. She continued that her grandon was 8 and her daughter had moved away with her husband when he got a good job with a software company in St. Louis and they had not been back here for a visit in three years and this was the first birthday party that she had hosted for her grandson in some time. I asked again what the problem was. She said she didn't know if it was an emergency or not, and she didn't want to **CALL** 9-1-1 and bother those nice people... but when she came home she found her husband laying on the floor of the kitchen and she didn't know what was wrong with him. ARRRRRGG! Then, like I said in the previous message, we get calls from people who's toilets are backing up on 9-1-1 lines, so you see, everyone's idea of an emergency is different. In short, every public safety official will probably tell you a different method by which to report a crime or situtation. It is certainly up to each jurisdiction as to how they will handle calls and who will answer them. I have seen cops here on campus drive down the street and when flagged down by a burglary victim or something they'll just tell the citizen to go to a phone and call 9-1-1. The problem is one of public education for the citizens and public safety officials alike. One more story: A very foreign speaking man calls on night (on 9-1-1) and we can just barely understand what he is saying but he is pretty excited and keeps saying something that sounds like "explosion". We trace the line and send police, fire and medical units screaming that way (not knowing what was wrong and knowing how excited he was acting we didn't want to take a chance on not having the right equipment there for whatever they were to find). Well, it turns out the one piece of equipment they needed ... they didn't have ... a plunger. It turns out this guy's toilet was backing up into this bathtub. To him an emergency, certainly for any of us a stressful situation, but certainly, by no stretch of the imagination a call for 9-1-1. 99999 11 11 GREG ABBOTT 9 9 1 1 INTERNET: GABBOTT@UIUC.EDU 9-1-1 COORDINATOR 99999 == 1 == 1 COMPUSERVE: 76046,3107 9 1 1 VOICE: 217/333-9889 METCAD 9 1 1 FAX: 217/384-7003 1905 E. MAIN ST. 9 111 111 PAGER: 800/222-6651 URBANA, IL 61801 PIN # 9541 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 15 Sep 1995 14:24:09 -0500 From: Andrew C. Green Subject: Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number Greg Abbott writes: > The main idea behind 9-1-1 as the nations emergency number is so > people don't have to know the local emergency numbers if they need to > call for assistance. In this situation, had you not been from the > area and known the emergency number, you would have had to probably > call the operator who would have had to determine where you were > calling from and then transfer you to the appropriate agency. I sense that this is missing the point somewhat; the original poster's complaint was that he couldn't get the police department he wanted until the 9-1-1 operator who answered his phone figured out where he was. Imagine the problems if he _was_ from out of town and neither he nor the operator knew exactly where he was. On a side note, our Moderator comments: > Our phone books tell us to use 911 only for emergencies. The local > police stations in Chicago on the other hand tell us to use 911 for > everything. Who is correct on this? I'm sure it varies from place to place; the thing to do would be to call the non-emergency number for your community beforehand and simply ask. In the suburb of Arlington Heights, for example, if you want to temporarily park on the street overnight for a few days, you must call in your license plate and car description to the police ... by calling 9-1-1. Why? Because after hours, the only public service people at the town hall are at the 9-1-1 emergency services console, where a three-ring- binder for overnight parking info sits on the desk. It doesn't make much sense to me to do it that way, but if that's how they want us to use the 9-1-1 system, that's the way we'll do it. Andrew C. Green (312) 266-4431 Frame Technology Corporation Advanced Product Services 441 W. Huron Internet: acg@frame.com Chicago, IL 60610-3498 FAX: (312) 266-4473 ------------------------------ From: Eric Ewanco Subject: Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number Date: 15 Sep 1995 14:43:12 GMT Organization: XYPLEX TELECOM Digest Editor wrote: > instructions given at the local police station level. On the one hand we > are told that 911 is for *emergency use only* when immediate intervention > by police/fire/paramedic people is required; ie. my house in on fire now > or I am having a heart attack now or someone has invaded my home and is > standing here with a gun pointed at me now. We are not to use 911 for > trivial matters. That makes good sense! But on the other hand, when we > attempt to discuss trivial (by comparison) matters with the police at > the local district police station on their direct phone, we are told we > must call 911 to get a police officer to come out. That reminds me of my experience when my car was stolen (in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh). I spent a good long period of time trying to find the right seven digit number to call, because the phone directory only listed "911" for police and finding the appropriate non-emergency number was not a trivial task. I think I had to look it up alphabetically in the Blue Pages or something. So I called that number and they referred me to another seven digit number. (Apparently I had reached some sort of administrative office or something.) So I dialed that SEVEN DIGIT NUMBER and imagine my surprised when I hear, "911, please report your emergency." What ensued was a somewhat tense conversation, because I was understandably confused as I stayed on the line and argued that I didn't call 911, but a seven digit number. (In retrospect I probably should have just apologized and hung up. Understandably the dispatcher was a bit curt as she explained that I had dialed the seven digit number which patched into the 911 system.) > Now no matter how you look at it, if you come home from work and find > your home was burglarized while you were gone, or your car stolen sometime > in the past day or so, that is *not* an emergency. It is certainly an > important matter, but it is *not* a life-or-death situation which requires > *immediate* police intervention. Our phone books tell us to use 911 only > for emergencies. The local police stations in Chicago on the other hand > tell us to use 911 for everything. Who is correct on this? Well, I think that with the shift of emphasis to 911, the organization and promotion of seven-digit police numbers has become chaotic through neglect. 911 is put on the front page whereas the seven-digit numbers are relegated to alphabetical listings in the middle, with no indication which ones are for police dispatchers, which ones are administrative, which ones are for which communities, and so forth. The telephone pinball I had to put up with in this experience was inexcusable, as one number directed me to another and another, or maybe nobody answered or whatever. Part of the fault lies with the police department then, I think, for failing to provide a clearly defined and effective alternative to 911 for non-emergency numbers. Hence it may be no wonder that people are more inclined just to dial "911" when they want the police for whatever reason. I think the solution is to clearly identify emergency and non-emergency numbers, and under what circumstances they should be called, and then make sure that the people who answer them can direct them correctly. Eric Ewanco eje@world.std.com Software Engineer, Xyplex Inc. Littleton, Mass. ------------------------------ From: Gordon Baldwin Subject: Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number Date: Fri, 15 Sep 95 9:20:23 PDT Pat sez: > Now no matter how you look at it, if you come home from work and find > your home was burglarized while you were gone, or your car stolen sometime > in the past day or so, that is *not* an emergency. It is certainly an > important matter, but it is *not* a life-or-death situation which requires > *immediate* police intervention. Our phone books tell us to use 911 only > for emergencies. The local police stations in Chicago on the other hand > tell us to use 911 for everything. Who is correct on this? I had a similar situation to this. About ten years ago I lost my wallet in downtown Seattle. When I got home I decided I should call the police to report it missing. Well I dug up my phone book and finally located the non emergency number and after being transfered about a half dozen times ended up talking to the right person. They then told me to call back and report if the wallet was found. Ok fine, what number should I call to avoid the transfer mess I just went through? "Just call 911." This was at a time when there were news reports about how busy the 911 system was and it shouldn't be used except for emergency situations. Gordon Baldwin gbaldw@usin.com Olympia Washington ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #386 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa10095; 19 Sep 95 1:41 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id PAA19199 for telecomlist-outbound; Mon, 18 Sep 1995 15:57:03 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id PAA19191; Mon, 18 Sep 1995 15:57:00 -0500 Date: Mon, 18 Sep 1995 15:57:00 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Message-Id: <199509182057.PAA19191@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #387 TELECOM Digest Mon, 18 Sep 95 15:56:30 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 387 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: FBI Arrests America Online Users (ssatchell@bix.com) Re: FBI Arrests America Online Users (Lon Lowen) Re: FBI Arrests America Online Users (Stephen Balbach) Re: FBI Arrests America OnLine Users (Andy Finkenstadt) Re: FBI Arrests America OnLine Users (Deacon Maccubbin) Re: FBI Arrests America Online Users (Robert Friedman) Re: FBI Arrests America OnLine Users (Ronell Elkayam) Re: FBI Arrests America OnLine Users (Willis H. Ware) Re: FBI Arrests America OnLine Users (p23610@email.mot.com) Re: FBI Arrests America OnLine Users (Nevin Liber) Re: FBI Arrests America OnLine Users (James Sweetman) Re: AOL and Expectations of Privacy (Mike Harpe) AOL Faces Court Order on User ID (Norm deCarternet) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily represent the views of Microsoft. ------------------------------------------------------------ Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ssatchell@BIX.com (ssatchell on BIX) Subject: Re: FBI Arrests America Online Users Date: 16 Sep 95 00:04:36 GMT Organization: Delphi Internet Services Corporation The FBI proved itself "mostly clueless" during the NuPrometheus flap. I was called into Reno (I live in Inclie Village, NV) for an "interview" because my name was on a roster of conventioneers that the FBI picked up. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: And they proved themselves mostly clueless this time around also. Imagine: Steve Case gives them about 120 names he wants checked out; they go banging on doors all over the USA and come away with a dozen out of more than a hundred. Ten percent? PAT] ------------------------------ From: lllowen@netcom.com (Lon Lowen) Subject: Re: FBI Arrests America Online Users Organization: Netcom Online Communications Date: Sat, 16 Sep 1995 17:32:48 GMT In article , Daniel Rosenbaum wrote: > This is a high-quality, high-signal group; you do a great job here, Pat. > Pleae don't raise the noise level by posting paranoia. 100% agreed. Thank you. Pat, I don't know what has gotten into you ... but give it a rest. You have yet to provide any documentation that AOL initiated reading any private email. All they stated is that private email was forwarded to them. Provide clear sources, or keep your opinions just that -- opinions. Since Pat is the moderator here, I honestly expected a little more objectivity from him. Lon Lowen lllowen@netcom.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That's what they said back in the 1950's also: that anyone who claimed various private organizations cooperated with federal authorities to root out communists had to be paranoid. Why, everyone 'knew' back then that the news organizations did not supply the FBI with information from confidential informants and the like. Just like everyone knows now that CBS does not supply the government with 'outtakes' ... that is, video footage they are not going to use on the air for whatever reason with stuff the government wants to know about. No siree! They would not violate people's privacy like that and anyone who says they would must be paranoid. And America OnLine is a fine organization also. PAT] ------------------------------ From: stephen@clark.net (Stephen Balbach) Subject: Re: FBI Arrests America Online Users Date: 16 Sep 1995 15:20:30 -0400 Organization: Clark Internet Services, Balt/DC, mail all-info@clark.net Child Pornography has no constitutional protection eg. if AOL was found in knowing violation of the law they would NOT be protected by constitutional rights of free speech. Considering the existence of Guides and the existence of undercover agents, AOL could not have claimed ignorance to the activities of pornographers and as such was "under the gun" to come up with a list of names for the FBI. > How come Compuserve -- around three times as long, and just as large if > not larger -- never seems to have ruckuses like this? PAT] That is question begging. A ruckus is somthing you hear about, for all we know it may have already happened but Compuserve elected not to tell anyone about it. Stephen Balbach VP, ClarkNet info@clark.net ------------------------------ From: genie@panix.com (Andy Finkenstadt) Subject: Re: FBI Arrests Dozens of America OnLine Users Date: 16 Sep 1995 17:41:12 -0400 Organization: GEnie(R) Internet RoundTable Reply-To: genie@panix.com In richardm@cd.com (Richard F. Masoner) writes: >> Although child pornography certainly is not allowed in public areas of AOL, >> according to Ms. McGraw it 'usually is transmitted in email between users, >> or in private chat rooms'. She did not indicate how AOL's interception of >> email for the purpose of examining it for 'pornography' or their monitoring >> of private conversations between subscribers could be reconciled with >> various privacy laws, apparently because it can't be. > Is this for real? AOL reading private mail? Where'd you hear this? > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Her press release, printed by myself and > lots of other newspapers said "It is not in the public areas. It is > usually transmitted in email between users." My question is, **how > would she know that?** How do I know what email you send to someone > else unless one of you reveals it (very unlikely) or I intercept it and > read it. PAT] One possible legal method for explaining the press release: AOL (nor any other online service that I know of, including my own, GEnie) does not routinely monitor the contents of electronic mail. The Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) prohibits this practice on any system where some expectation of privacy is present, in practice usually by private mailboxes being in a separate "area" from the public bulletin boards. There are circumstances where an online-service is permitted to disclose the contents of electronic mail, and circumstances where they are REQUIRED to disclose the contents: (in brief, since my copy of ECPA is at home) -- 1. If during the course of routine maintenance contents which are clearly illegal are observed, they must be disclosed to the appropriate authorities (usually with corporate counsel doing the contact). I =doubt= this is the proximate cause for the monitoring. 2. If during an investigation of a complaint about the contents of email sent to one or more subscribers the illegal contents are found, they must be disclosed. 3. If you are under a search warrant or subpoena to produce information related to Such-and-Such activity, you must comply or face contempt charges. Obviously one would hope that warrants or subpoenas are obtained under probable cause, such as a complaint made by one recipient, followed by investigation of the complaint, followed by the determination that other evidence can be obtained based on this file (such as a statement within the body stating "keep on trading..."), followed by routine monitoring as required and permitted under the law. I don't think that the "highly unlikely" situation of "one of you" revealing it to the AOL administrators is so unlikely. Many are the nights that I have popped onto a room and suddenly been deluged with pictures or sounds for "trade" MERELY because I was in the room. Yick! I'm not worried about continuing to use AOL myself. Andrew Finkenstadt | Engineer, Tailored Software Services | andy@tssi.com Gaithersburg, MD | GEnie Postmaster & Internet RT Sysop | andy@genie.com 301-340-4391 work | GEnie Internet Services | andyf9@is.ge.com 301-975-9890 home | | genie@panix.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, I am not particularly 'worried' about using it, I am just getting a bad taste in my mouth from it. Like yourself, I have been on there and merely entered a chat area only to be *immediatly* confronted with the 'morf question': Are you m or f? how old? I have been immediatly been invited to chat with all sorts of people I never knew, and that's fine, it is fun sometimes to meet new people on line but I am very reluctant now to do it thinking that maybe the person on the other end is an off-duty guide trying to earn some extra brownie points or an undercover agent looking for some reason to bust someone. And by the way, since they have to, under the law, report illegal things they find in the mail, I wonder how many times they have gone to the FBI with those damnable chain-letters their users are always sending out? Nah, that doesn't count, does it? PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 16 Sep 1995 18:39:23 -0400 From: lambda@clark.net (Deacon Maccubbin) Subject: Re: FBI Arrests America OnLine Users Reference is made to the TELECOM Digest Editor's article, "FBI Arrests Dozens of America OnLine Users." Rarely have I seen more errors of fact in something written to resemble a news article. > Management of America OnLine has, over a two year period, supplied the FBI > with the names and addresses of users 'suspected' of 'being involved in' > child pornography and/or arranging sex with children. AOL does supply that information, but only in response to authorized search warrants. Failure to do so would, itself, be a crime. > Pam McGraw, a spokesperson for America OnLine, based in Viennna, VA admitted > that the company monitored email and private conversations seeking out > persons who use their network to transmit pornographic material. McGraw said no such thing, and AOL does not monitor e-mail or other private communications themselves, a point that AOL (and McGraw) has made repeatedly. They only become involved when a member of AOL forwards e-mail or private communications to them with a complaint. Otherwise, they do not concern themselves with the content of e-mail or private communications. > Ms. McGraw also discussed an online 'neighborhood watch' program in effect > on AOL where users are encouraged to observe each other's activities and > report on them to management of the online service. This sounds terribly sinister ... until you realize that what is being referred to here is an AOL release that tells members that pornography and illegal activities are not permitted online, and that if they receive messages dealing with such, they can forward their complaint to AOL for action. The same thing happens on the internet, except that there is no corporate entity to handle the intermediary role so complainers simply forward the material directly to the FBI or other law enforcement agencies. And just as the FBI and others have people surfing the internet looking for violations, they probably also have accounts on AOL, Compuserve, and Prodigy doing the same thing. But these are actions of the agencies involved and NOT of the corporate entities owning the services. > [McGraw] did not indicate how AOL's interception of email for the > purpose of examining it for 'pornography' or their monitoring of > private conversations between subscribers could be reconciled with > various privacy laws, apparently because it can't be. Or, more truthfully, because they DON'T intercept anyone's mail, nor do they monitor private conversations. > We have known for some time that AOL was 'cooperating' with federal agents > in their investigation of child pornography, but until the massive raids > and arrests commenced on Wednesday followed by AOL's admission that the > 'evidence' was found in email and private chat, we did not know the extent > to which AOL was abusing their subscribers in the process of cooperating. And it is apparent that you STILL don't know, since you've allowed your overactive imagination to run away with you in ascribing to AOL policies and actions that they do not have and do not take. No one at AOL is snooping through your e-mail. How you jumped to that erroneous conclusion is a mystery to me. /s/ Deacon Maccubbin * LAMBDA RISING BOOKSTORES - E-mail: lambdarising@his.com * Every Gay/Lesbian Book in Print - Videos, Music, & Gifts, Too! * FREE Catalog by Mail - Out-of-Print Book Search Service * Visit our forum on America Online - use keyword GAYBOOKS [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You mention that 'AOL does supply that information, but only in response to subpoena ... '. May I ask *how* the government becomes knowledgeable enough of any given user's email to know to ask for the subpoena which AOL will then graciously honor? Let's say a user becomes offended at some other user whose only 'offense' is they happen to be gay -- like you for example. And that user happens to be very homophobic (not at all an unusual status on AOL), so he goes to AOL and says 'I got a letter from this child molestor'. Now you know and I know that 'gay' does NOT equal 'molestor'. But the homophobic user still turns you in, maybe embellishes the story a little, etc. Now what does AOL do at that point? Do they just go to their government contact and say 'we have a new suspect, would you like to get a warrant for this one so we can tap the mail'? Or do they attempt any verification at all of what some user complains about before going to the FBI? If they attempt any verification at all, how do they do this verification? Do they get one of their own people to try and entice the suspect into further conversations/email? In other words, no matter which way they go on this, how can they help but cause hassles? If they pass the user's unverified complaint to the FBI with an invitation to the FBI to supply the warrant (which is what I suspect they do) then all sorts of innocent people get caught up in this mess by and large because of the homophobic reactions of some users. If on the other hand, AOL attempts to verify the complaint, how can they do it without having to secretly monitor the user themselves for some period of time? It would be far better if AOL's posture was 'we are a common carrier with no interest in the matter at all. If you have complaints about any given user, then *you* take your complaints to the FBI. If/when the FBI then comes to us with a warrant, we will respond. Until then, we respect the privacy of our subscribers.' I'd think that you, as a gay person, would be very concerned about how things pertaining to sex can get totally out of context as the result of some homophobe. Haven't you seen it happen in the gay chat room there on AOL? Do you realize that out of the large number of raids which took place last week versus the tiny number of people actually arrested, that quite a few of the ones hassled and raided and then released were gay and had the misfortune of running into some homophobic person on line who said 'oh, there goes one of those child molestors' ... I can appreciate you wishing to stand up for and defend AOL. The service has provided forums for gay people and done so in an open minded and fair way. But when Steve Case decided to start making his list of alleged child molestors, he blew it big time. Maybe he listened to too many of the homophobes there or too many of the teenagers with active imaginations. Whatever ... a lot of the people who were scandalized last week and yet completely innocent are not going to respond like the 1950's where folks ran for cover hoping they would not be named again as 'communists'. This time their response is going to be legal action against AOL, asking the same goverment which visited them last week to now charge AOL with numerous willful violations of EPCA. This in addition to legal action charging defamation of character, etc. PAT] ------------------------------ From: inwood@pipeline.com (Robert Friedman) Subject: Re: FBI Arrests America Online Users Date: 16 Sep 1995 20:41:51 -0400 Organization: The Pipeline On Sep 14, 1995 14:44:42 in article , 'Joshua Cole ' wrote: > when you agree to their Terms of Service agreement when you > subscribe, you also agree to abide by their code of conduct and the > consequences of violating those codes. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The 'Terms of Service' thing there is > a joke. ... you'll see that ever-present macro about 'Violation! (Depending on the particular Guide on duty that night) > Read Your Terms of Service' message time and again in the public chat > areas. > How come Compuserve -- around three times as long, and just as large > if not larger -- never seems to have ruckuses like this? PAT] Earlier this year the NY Times published an article titled, "A Child's Internet Sins Visited on the Parent." The gist of the story is that the subscriber's account was terminated because his 11-year-old daughter was "guilty" of three TOS violations. However, the parent had never been informed of the *alleged* infractions and had no opportunity to discuss the matter with his child or implement any controls that he may have felt necessary. To get reinstated, he basically had to grovel. The same situation befell one of his colleagues, and I know at least two other parents (myself and a friend) who were also cut off. According to the article, AOL's Pam McGraw said "We're growing faster than any other on-line service ... you're going to have some people who violate the rules." However, Compuserve's Daphne Kent said they have expelled "probably less than ten people in the last couple of years." Prodigy's Brian Ek said they have bounced "a handful over the years." James Gleick, founder of The Pipeline, said he had bounced 1 of 10,000 subscribers, and that for repeatedly posting commercial messages. He also believes that using your real name, and not hiding behind screen names, tends to discourage offensive or illegal behavior. AOL would like to have its cake and eat it too. Its role vis a vis the law enforcement community is therefore suspect; they evidently feel the end justifies the means. Bob Friedman, NYC [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Your final paragraph is where my feelings lie. I don't support child porn and its purveyors. And people who read my stuff long enough know I sometimes take a pretty narrow view of what should be legitimatly private. It just seems like AOL has found a good way to get the government to help them enforce their Terms of Service. It all just seems so cozy; as though they welcome undercover agents, informers, snitches and spies to help them run things there. Someday it would be nice to see Pam McGraw address the question of the 'rules' where the constant barrage of junk mail which flows into Usenet from AOL is concerned. Maybe Steve Case's next project can be to make a list of all the people who have committed mail fraud over there with their chain letters, etc. I logged in one day over there and had six big humongous letters in my box over there (AOL mailbox) from users who had cc'ed everyone they could think of -- hundreds of cc's on each letter; screen after screen of cc names before you even got to the letter itself -- with one of those 'this letter is sent to you for good luck' things. You know, the one about the missionary in South America who started the chain going in 1947 and the letter has now been around the world nineteen times, etc. PAT] ------------------------------ From: relkay01@fiu.edu (Ronell Elkayam) Subject: Re: FBI Arrests America OnLine Users Date: 17 Sep 1995 01:31:50 GMT Organization: FIU > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Her press release, printed by myself > and lots of other newspapers said "It is not in the public areas. It > is usually transmitted in email between users." My question is, > **how would she know that?** How do I know what email you send to > someone else unless one of you reveals it (very unlikely) or I > intercept it and read it. PAT] According to a recent article in the {Miami Herald} (they caught two pedophiles from South Florida -- one a Scouts leader), the way they did it was by having undercover "wanna-be-pedophiles" get the filth directly from the later-to-be-defendants. This probably *did* happen, but *after* AOL monitored the pedophiles email activities and targeted them specifically (trapped them to send email to the feds). W/love, Ron Miami, FL [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Something no one has mentioned yet is the 'software improvement' AOL installed in their email some time ago. It had previously been that when you finished reading a letter you could erase it if you wanted to do so ... not any longer! Now it is moved automatically to a folder of 'mail read' and it stays there. If you try to erase it completely, you get a system notice saying 'oh there is no need to do that, we now automatically delete mail after XX days, so we have removed the delete function on email since you don't need it any longer.' So now you get something -- nice, nasty, chain letter, enticement mail from an AOL Guide or whatever -- in your mail you don't want you CANNOT get rid of it until XX days have passed and it gets deleted automatically. Maybe the backlog of unread 'suspected pedophile mail' was getting so huge AOL did not have time to read it all before the users were deleting it, so they had to prevent further mail deletion. PAT] ------------------------------ Reply-To: willis@rand.org Subject: Re: FBI Arrests America OnLine Users Date: Sun, 17 Sep 95 09:50:56 PDT From: Willis H. Ware Pat: In regard to the discussion about FBI, AOL, reading e-mail, etc., I'd like to add some hopefully relevant discussion. I am taking no position about the matter, nor am I being critical of either side. I am addressing the situation as one of importance in the future of networks and their services. 1. The AOL spokesperson is quoted as saying that AOL would cooperate with law enforcement if a search warrant or subpoena were served. By implication, this may have happened but the AOL releases that I have seen do not explicitly state this fact. So, very much to the point, is whether due process has been carefully followed in this incident [e.g., was there a reasonable cause to expect that a crime had been committed vs. a fishing expedition], whether relevant law [e.g., Electronic Computer Privacy Act] was followed, etc. Perhaps AOL can be persuaded to be more forthcoming in just exactly what it did, and what the sequence of its interactions with law enforcement were. In the interests of reassuring its customer base, it would seem that AOL should be willing to say more. And it should certainly be up front about stating its policy to present and potential customers. For example, did AOL or the FBI make the initial approach to the other? How were the suspects identified at the very beginning? Was the complete daily e-message traffic of AOL scanned? Did the FBI, through its other resources, have a list of suspects about whom there was reasonable cause to suspect that a crime had been committed and only the traffic of these suspects examined? Some possibilities are more socially palatable than others, so let's get the facts. 2. The allegation is that AOL "read" e-mail. The statement is ambiguous because the casual interpretation would be that some person scanned it, but the volume could have been so large that some automated process "looked at" the mail. If the latter, the simple approach would have been a filter that triggered on suspect words and identified "hits" that matched. As the government found out when it started its computer matching of databases and as subsequent Federal law requires, hits must be manually verified before passing them onward for action. If an automated process was used by AOL, was there some manual [i.e., human] verification that presumably suspect messages were in fact pornographically related or was there a blind forwarding of everything that the filter found? For example, suppose one had been discussing with a professional colleague the sexual activity and habits of dinosaurs, a perfectly respectable topic which was discussed in a TV show not long ago. I can imagine that a filter would flag some or all such message traffic as suspect. So the questions become, if an automated process were used: o Was the selection process well done, well thought out, properly implemented? Or was it some quickie software job that simply looked for individual word matches? o Were the hits manually verified before passing to law enforcement? Might perfectly innocent people have been called to the attention of law enforcement for innocent activity? Why raise such questions? This event is among the first to involve the interplay of network service providers and law enforcement. Similar events are going to happen again and in various contexts, espcially as the country creates its NII. We ought to get the legal obligations, the legal status, the policy of responding to law enforcement, etc. of service providers straightened out now and stated before the situation gets out of hand. And we should make sure that the means for law enforcement to acquire such information is consistent with law, with constitutional protections, with appropriate judicial oversights, with proper accountability, etc. And last, but not least, let's straighten it out at the Federal level so that state and local law enforcement actions will follow suit. Willis H. Ware Santa Monica, CA [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You ask which side made the first over- tures to the other and it is my belief Steve Case made the first overture. I believe he realized that violations of ECPA would land the corporation in very hot water; yet it was essential that they be able to read mail, etc. I think they encouraged their Guides and a few other people to specifically 'watch for this kind of thing' and turn over *mail addressed to themselves which they had already read* for further examination. That kept them in the clear initially. PAT] ------------------------------ From: snake Subject: Re: FBI Arrests America OnLine Users Organization: MOTOROLA Date: Mon, 18 Sep 1995 01:00:00 GMT TELECOM Digest Editor wrote: > The FBI made dozens of arrests and searched 120 homes and personal computers > on Wednesday as part of an investigation into child pornography on America > OnLine. > Management of America OnLine has, over a two year period, supplied the FBI > with the names and addresses of users 'suspected' of 'being involved in' > child pornography and/or arranging sex with children. The raids on Wednesday > marked the first time federal agents were called upon by an online service > to investigate the behavior of their subscribers in private chat rooms. > user-suspects have been located. > I don't know about you, but I'm going to purge all the AOL sofware from > my computer today. Child porn does not interest me in the least, but > having AOL scanning my mail and checking up on my in private conversations > with other users there is of great concern. It is hard for me to imagine > how any online service could violate the trust of their users in this way, > by getting into their email and personal files, regardless of the intentions. > We have known for some time that AOL was 'cooperating' with federal agents > in their investigation of child pornography, but until the massive raids > and arrests commenced on Wednesday followed by AOL's admission that the > 'evidence' was found in email and private chat, we did not know the extent > to which AOL was abusing their subscribers in the process of cooperating. I'd imagine AOL covered their keisters with some legal "fine print" included in the disclaimer clause of their sign-up. You know, something like " ... use of this client software implies relinquishing all rights of privacy ..." OF COURSE they rolled over when sqeezed by the feds. AOL is a business and only the very biggest of businesses can resist being squeezed (ie. Microsoft). A business exists to make money, and there's plenty of money to be lost by protecting the rights of a tiny minority of their clients rather than just spying on their clients and handing them over. As they say in the mafia, "Nothing personal, it's just business." The feds have chosen child pornography as The Issue to try to gain control of the Internet in the USA. Our esteemed elected public officials have discovered that the 'net is a powerful force of the people. And politicians fear powerful forces that they don't control (see the excellent article on this topic in the current issue of {Internet World} magazine). I predict we'll be seeing more raids in the months ahead as the feds go after other easily "painted" targets like militias and encryption proponents. The Digital Telephony bill is now law and will eventually give the feds fingertip access to every bit travelling through US phone lines -- and the 'net is connected by -- you guessed it -- phone lines. So they'll have the technology in place -- now they need the legal angle in place to broaden its use. Enough ranting. Bottom line: those purveyors of smut were naive to think a) nobody was listening, b) their service provider would protect them. Idiots. But it does serve as a warning to the rest of us. "If you don't want what you say to appear in tomorrow's local news, don't say it on the Internet". And use PGP. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Where PGP and 'easily painted targets' are concerned, look at how they are crucifying Phil Becker right now. That's a shame, it really is. Something that has never been totally clear to me also is the connection between America OnLine and their division called Chicago OnLine. COL is very big with the {Chicago Tribune}. The Tribune distributes the AOL/COL software via large newspaper ads that run every week, and everyone who writes in the Tribune has an AOL/COL email address. You can read the entire paper on line each day. I think the Tribune parent company may have some ownership in America OnLine. COL has two or three of its own chat rooms as well. A very structured environment, the COL 'host' for the day (like a Guide, only in this case they call them 'Host') sets the topic of discussion and all must adhere to it or leave the room. No unmoderated conversation allowed in the COL chat rooms. I wish I knew more about the relationship between the {Chicago Tribune} and AOL. PAT] ------------------------------ From: nevin@cs.arizona.edu (Nevin ":-]" Liber) Subject: Re: FBI Arrests America OnLine Users Date: Mon, 18 Sep 1995 01:09:30 -0700 Organization: University of Arizona CS Department, Tucson Arizona For those people who weren't scared by PAT's original posting, here are a few excerpts where all I did was change of few of the names to reflect an earlier time in the history of the United States. -------------------------- The FBI made dozens of arrests and searched 120 homes and personal computers on Wednesday as part of an investigation into Communists on America OnLine. United States Senator Joseph McCarthy spoke in support of the actions of America OnLine and FBI agents, noting, "We are not going to permit exciting new technology to be misused by the Red Threat." She [AOL spokesperson] said they always provide the FBI with the names of users suspected of involvement in communist activities. Ms. McGraw also discussed an online 'neighborhood watch' program in effect on AOL where users are encouraged to oberve each other's activities and report on them to Committee on Un-American Activities. Raids and arrests of other AOL subscribers 'suspected of being members of the Communist Party will continue over the next few days until all the user-suspects have been located. ------------------------ Personally, I know better than to send anything via email that I wouldn't write on a postcard. Nevin ":-)" Liber nevin@CS.Arizona.EDU (520) 293-2799 ------------------------------ From: sweetman@netcom.com (James Sweetman) Subject: Re: FBI Arrests America OnLine Users Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Mon, 18 Sep 1995 12:33:07 GMT Richard F. Masoner (richardm@cd.com) wrote: > In article you wrote: >> Although child pornography certainly is not allowed in public areas of AOL, >> according to Ms. McGraw it 'usually is transmitted in email between users, >> or in private chat rooms'. She did not indicate how AOL's interception of >> email for the purpose of examining it for 'pornography' or their monitoring >> of private conversations between subscribers could be reconciled with >> various privacy laws, apparently because it can't be. > Is this for real? AOL reading private mail? Where'd you hear this? > (You didn't give any citations of your sources; not that I don't > believe, I'd just like to know where this came from) > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Her press release, printed by myself and > lots of other newspapers said "It is not in the public areas. It is > usually transmitted in email between users." My question is, **how > would she know that?** How do I know what email you send to someone > else unless one of you reveals it (very unlikely) or I intercept it and > read it. PAT] As stated in the press reports here in DC, AOL's policy is thus: They do not monitor private e-mail or chat rooms. They do monitor public chat rooms. When a user presents them with evidence that another user may be pariticipating in illegal activities, they pass that information on to law enforcement. They cooperate with judicial orders (such as subpeonas) to monitor individual users. Effectively, it works like this. They're not going to monitor random user traffic (and they can't monitor it all, due to volume). But, when a user sends them a message that came from another user with a potentially illegal file attached, they pass it on (since they would be on weak legal grounds to decide themselves what costitutes illegal pornography). If, based on such evidence, a court orders that a user's mail be monitored, they comply (just as phone compaines do with wiretap orders.) I see nothing nefarious in this, just responsible management for a large corporation. Same thing with the "neighborhood watch" concept. AOL has positioned itself as a "family-friendly" service. They have the right to take whatever actions they feel are necesary to protect that environemnt. And you have the right, if you don't like it, not to subscribe. But do so based on facts, not an ASSUMPTION that they randomly monitor private e-mail. James R. Sweetman sweetman@netcom.com Arlington, VA 72120.3367@compuserve.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: So a homophobic user says to the management "I got paged by a child molestor" when what really happened was he got an instant message asking if he was gay. **Still, an inappropriate question for an instant message to a stranger, but it happens on AOL a lot**. Now what does management do with this complaint? How do they act on it? And it is funny you mention that 'AOL has positioned itself as a family- friendly service' since no matter how you slice it, a lot of the chat rooms are just plain filthy; hardly the sort of conversation that the 'American family' (as AOL would seem to define it, or certainly as our illustrious congress would define it these days) would sit around having in the evening. PAT] ------------------------------ From: mike@hermes.louisville.edu (Mike Harpe) Subject: Re: AOL and Expectations of Privacy Date: 18 Sep 1995 11:28:57 -0400 Organization: University of Louisville, Louisville KY USA This is interesting. I have an AOL account and I am continually amazed at the amount of activity of a sexual nature on there. There are escorts soliciting men visiting larger towns, homosexuals soliciting partners, and just ordinary straight people looking for partners. I am also amazed at some of the GIF pictures they allow people to post. I have personally received solicitations from all of the above totally cold, no prompting at all on my part. I could have had a prostitute in a major city arrested had I wanted to. My point is that they seem to cater to this crowd to a certain point. AOL is making money off of sexual activity. While no one supports kiddie porn, I think this whole thing is a "cover their butts" exercise designed to make them look wholesome and clean. I think Pat is probably correct in saying there will be a lawsuit. Their method of deciding who is dirty and who is not will never hold up in Court. I am not surprised that the FBI is all over this, given the dreadful failure of The War on Drugs. They need some wins right now. 12 percent is not a good hit rate, though. I would be interested to know how THEY feel. If the FBI could not find enough evidence (and they generally don't need much) to make arrests, it must have been pretty clear that nothing was wrong 88 percent of the time. I am very surprised the rate was that low. They must not have done any of their own research before pursuing this. This will be around for a long time, I think. Michael Harpe, Communications Analyst III Information Technology Internet: mike@hermes.louisville.edu University of Louisville (502) 852-5542 (Voice) (502) 852-1400 (FAX) Louisville, Ky. 40292 WWW: http://www.louisville.edu/~meharp01 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Sep 95 13:13:35 EDT From: Norm deCarteret Subject: AOL Faces Court Order on User ID The following is an abstract done of an article off the AP and in today's {St. Pete Times}. Some errors and assumptions may be mine. A Caribbean resort asked a Chicago judge to force America Online to reveal an 'anonymous' userid in order to prosecute her for libel. - 'Jenny TRR' posted to an AOL scuba diving bulletin board; - she claimed a bad experience with an instructor at a resort. o the resort was notified by another AOL user who was often a guest; - their pursuit of the claim determined it was false; - since much of their business comes from online, they felt injured; - their post to the bulletin board calling for apology went unanswered. o ED: the article doesn't say if AOL was asked for, and denied, the name. - the resort filed a motion in Cook County (IL) Court; - so far, no response, and no calls to AOL were returned; o technology experts fear an onflood of court cases. - are computer users responsible for what and where they say online? "What this case brings up is the spectre of millions of libel suits every time there's a disagreement on the Internet. I think it's a critical issue" Daniel Weitzner, Ctr For Democracy & Technology dir. "The person who used this abused the privilege of being able to communicate with people worldwide on America Online. This has serious repercussions in businesses" Lawrence Levin, plaintiffs lawyer. Norm deCarteret [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: What's goofy about AOL is their total lack of security. Screen names can be changed randomly; you can have up to five 'screen names per account active at any given time; there is no real way for other users to find out the absolute ID of mail they receive or chats they are in, etc. Now on Compuserve, you can change handles at will in CB (unlike AOL where you apparently have to log off entirely and log back in with a different 'screen name'), but at least the UID is always available if you wish to turn on the display. So I can be whatever name I want to be, and whatever sex I want to be and whatever on Compuserve, but the sophisticated user will do /who or /pro from time to time in the chat to see the actual User ID (the 7xxxxx or 10xxxx number) of the person they are chatting with. If you keep a little filebox of index cards near your terminal as I do, or you keep files on your harddrive, then when approached for a chat with 'Joe' you can look at your index cards under that UID and note that last week 'Mary' with the same UID requested chat. So no matter what the person wishes to say, there is an absolute identity to fall back on, a lot like Caller-ID. I may not know who the person really is, but I know where the chat or email came from. On AOL, 'Joe10256' this week can be 'Joe65201' next week, or even five minutes later if he logs out and changes screen names then comes right back on line. "John Brown" today is "John A. Brown" tomorrow. There were some users swept up in the raids last week who had nothing at all -- literally nothing -- to do with child porn. Their problem was their screen name looked similar to another one. Kid goes crying to mommie that he got a nasty message on line. Message scrolls off or gets erased somehow before it is captured. Kid *thinks* it came from John Brown. Mother, in her homophobic lust goes on line, finds a name that 'must be the one' and gives it to AOL. AOL tells FBI, here is another one, etc ... one of the raids last week wound up with someone whose account *had been hacked*. In other words, it was not the account holder at all. It was some company with two or three AOL accounts. Granted they should have watched their acocunts more closely. One of the accounts had been hacked and was being used by someone. FBI goes to the real owner of account, he is astounded to hear of any of this at all. Yeah, ten percent of the list is not a very good batting average, and I suspect AOL and Steve Case are going to pay dearly before this is all over and done with. I have not been on there in quite awhile myself but a current subscriber said this whole discussion is being pretty well squelched in discussions there. If it comes up in a chat room a Guide is soon on hand to issue a TOS violation for 'disruptive behavior' for having the audacity to even bring the topic up. Remember how in the 'hacking' trial of Craig Neidorf in Missouri things were going along with the government making their spiel and all, based on what their 'good and reliable contacts' at Bell had told them ... then someone pointed out that the 'thousands and millions of dollars in 911 software' which had been ripped off from telco was actually available for sale from Bellcore for a few dollars? .... I think we are seeing the same thing here. The FBI assumed AOL would be a good and reliable source of information -- and I don't mean the {Chicago Tribune} online -- and it turns out that the informant has axes of his own to grind; but don't they all ... otherwise why would anyone filthy their hands in this kind of stuff? PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #387 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa04757; 19 Sep 95 22:51 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id OAA13527 for telecomlist-outbound; Tue, 19 Sep 1995 14:41:54 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id OAA13508; Tue, 19 Sep 1995 14:41:47 -0500 Date: Tue, 19 Sep 1995 14:41:47 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Message-Id: <199509191941.OAA13508@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #388 TELECOM Digest Tue, 19 Sep 95 14:41:30 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 388 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson The Day a City's Phones Died (Rich Szabo) Help Define the Best Network Products (Stephanie Elggren) Book Review: "Internetworking" by Smythe (Rob Slade) Need Help To Deal With "Slamming" (Quoc Pham) Detailed Description of "Raw" Caller-ID Data Needed (sp@questor.org) Question About NPA Overlays (Linc Madison) Digital Assists French Company Begin Mobile Phone Company (Monty Solomon) Had This Been a Real Emergency ... (Dave Levenson) Warning! Directory Assistance Imposter! (bkron@netcom.com) Netscape Secure Connection Technology Hacked! (M. Troutman) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily represent the views of Microsoft. ------------------------------------------------------------ Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Rich Szabo Subject: The Day a City's Phones Died Date: Tue, 19 Sep 1995 16:25:04 EDT Organization: APK - Internet Provider for Ohio. The phone system died Saturday morning September 16 in Cleveland Ohio. This is a city with a metropolitan population of two million people. Apparently a good portion of them were trying to use the phone to get Cleveland Indians baseball playoff tickets at 8 AM that morning. That's when tickets went on sale, and the phone was the only method for reserving the tickets. As of 9 AM that day I was unable to dial the exchanges that I wanted -- office, my wife's pager, and so on. After receiving a dial tone as usual without delay, I dialed a number, and got an immediate polarity- reversing CPC "click" and then a dial tone. No intercept, nothing. This went on for roughly four hours. 10222-1-216-nnn-nnnn did work to get through to numbers in my local area. However, other carrier access codes failed with "all circuits are busy." My cell phone was also able to get through. These were expensive if workable alternatives. Ameritech was clearly overloaded. An article in the 9/17/95 {Cleveland Plain Dealer} reports that Ameritech expected heavy volume, and that they thought the problem would clear itself up, but it did not. The article made mention of a few instances where doctors were unable to be paged or call out, and it implied that there was no big problem. I wonder how many doctors and others who rely on the phone system would agree with that statement. The article also mentioned that an ATT team was called in for emergency help, since they sold Ameritech the switching equipment. The article also said that more tickets for the second round of the playoffs (getting a little ahead of ourselves, now, aren't we, fans?) would be sold via the same calamitous method on 9/23/95. Lastly, the article quoted a Cleveland Indians official as being sorry for the inconvenience, and gee, doesn't this show how popular the team really is, anyway? Three cheers for mob psychology, anarchy, and chaos (not). Rich Szabo Cleveland OH Not an Indians fan and now never will be. ------------------------------ From: LSE003@email.mot.com (Elggren_S) Subject: Help Define the Best Network Products Organization: MOTOROLA Date: Mon, 18 Sep 1995 20:00:01 GMT The corporate network has become a vital strategic business asset for most companies. Expectations (and the reality) of what each corporate network must support continues to escalate and the job of today's corporate network planners is ever more challenging. Motorola is looking to solicit input from a select group of corporate network planners to ensure our upcoming products best address your needs. If you are interested in particpating in a research project to help define the transmission products that can best address your requirements, please e-mail me. LSE003@email.mot.com Stephanie Elggren Marketing Manager - Motorola ISG ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 19 Sep 1995 16:55:50 EST From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "Internetworking" by Smythe BKNTRNKG.RVW 950606 "Internetworking", Colin Smythe, 1995, 0-201-56536-6, U$37.75 %A Colin Smythe %C 1 Jacob Way, Reading, MA 01867-9984 %D 1995 %G 0-201-56536-6 %I Addison-Wesley Publishing Company %O U$37.75 800-822-6339 617-944-3700 Fax: (617) 944-7273 tiffanym@aw.com %P 473 %S Data Communications and Networks %T "Internetworking" In the "Series Preface," Smythe points out the dichotomy between academic texts, with an abundance of theoretical detail, and expanded technical manuals, with no foundational background. There is a vast gap between these two groups of the literature. Smythe's aim is to fill that gap and, at the same time, produce a work acceptable to the two polar camps. I submit that he has succeeded admirably, with a work accurate enough to be used as a course text, and practical enough to become a technical reference. The text is clear, the examples and illustrations taken from both proprietary and open systems, and the material up to date. The basics of network architecture and internetworking are covered in the first two chapters, while the next two introduce protocols and the OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) structure for thinking about communicating systems. Chapters five to eight look at local area networks, Ethernet, Token ring and proprietary systems. The various types of relays -- repeaters, bridges, and routers -- are discussed in chapters nine to twelve. Chapters thirteen to seventeen address the more practical and holistic aspects of connecting different network architectures, management design, and new developments. While not sufficiently detailed as to be a programming guide, this is an excellent introduction to the concepts and terminology, and a very practical guide for design. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1995 BKNTRNKG.RVW 950606. Distribution permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated publications. Rob Slade's book reviews are a regular feature in the Digest. DECUS Canada Communications, Desktop, Education and Security group newsletters Editor and/or reviewer ROBERTS@decus.ca, RSlade@sfu.ca, Rob Slade at 1:153/733 DECUS Symposium '96, Vancouver, BC, Feb 26-Mar 1, 1996, contact: rulag@decus.ca ------------------------------ From: KC6891@megaweb.com (KBC6891) Subject: Need Help To Deal With "Slamming" Date: Tue, 19 Sep 1995 22:21:47 Organization: Megaweb A friend of mine in Mass was ripped off by some small long distance company by illegal connection without consent. That person has had some deep discount package to call with MCI so he/she called abroad alot unknowing that the line had been slammed to some other company. That result to a very, very big LD bills with some outrageous charges. That person called the sleazy company to complaint and asked for record of consent to hook up. The customer service gave some run around then said they don't have any proof other than it might be local telco's mistakes or might be some one in the family has given the permission. My friend is not afluent in English, neither am I, that makes the situation even tougher to deal with the fly-by-night company. So far, my friend has sent a letter to Nynex and FCC to complain. My friend also talked to MCI trying to figure out the right amount if they had made the calls with them to determine the differences. It was a big one, surprise, surprise :-). Of course, the line has been connected back to the company of choice. What else could my friend do other than refuse to pay the full amount? Any pointers, feedbacks would be greatly appreciated. Quoc Pham (kc6891@megaweb.com) [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Tell him to pay only the amount he would have been billed had MCI handled the calls. Tell him to write a check to the company which slammed him for the amount he would have paid MCI and to note on the check that it is 'payment in full'. PAT] ------------------------------ From: sp@questor.org Subject: Detailed Description of "Raw" Caller-ID Data Needed Date: 19 Sep 1995 12:05:57 -0700 Organization: The Questor Project, Vancouver, BC - voxfon: +1 604 687 4777 I am searching for a detailed description of the "raw" data received as Caller-ID info. Specifically, what the various data bits mean and how they are decoded (stuff like "privacy", "long-distance", "message- waiting" and so on). As an example, my ZyXEL modem "normally" displays data as text and/or numbers, however when invoked with ATS48=1, will display "raw" data. Following are a few lines of what I mean: % TIME: 08-26 14:06 % CALLER NUMBER: 6810670 % ats48 % OK % ats48? % 000 % OK % ats48=1 % OK % RING % 80130108303832363134303803073638313036373051 % RING % ats48? % 001 % OK % ats48=0 % OK % RING % TIME: 08-26 14:10 % REASON FOR NO CALLER NUMBER: PRIVACY % ats48=1 % OK % RING % 80130108303832363134313103073638313036373057 % RING FREE ACCESS TO E-MAIL & NEWS - INFO on Environment, Science, Medicine, AIDS, Native (Indigenous) Issues and more. We sell ZyXEL and other products world-wide to support this Free service. :::::> Info from: mail-server@questor.org <::::: ------------------------------ From: lincmad@netcom.com (Linc Madison) Subject: Question About NPA Overlays Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Tue, 19 Sep 1995 03:37:03 GMT I've been reading about the overlays of the Houston and Dallas (and possibly Fort Worth) areas in Texas. Houston has already been overlaid with area code 281, Dallas will be overlaid with 972, and area code 817 (including Fort Worth, Waco, and Wichita Falls) is rumored to be planned for an overlay. One of the common threads I've seen in these overlay plans is "all new numbers after XX/XX/XX will be in the new area code." This raises a couple of obvious dumb questions: * For how long? Presumably at *some* point, discontinued numbers in the original area code will be made available for service. * What about little tiny towns that only use maybe 1/10 of 1 prefix? Will they have an entire new prefix assigned just to adhere to the "all new numbers after X" rule? (It also seems quite silly for a town with only one prefix to have ten-digit local calling, but some of that will certainly happen if 817 overlays.) On a tangent, speaking of little tiny towns in Texas with only one prefix, my ancestral home town of Goliad has undergone some major changes in the last year or two: * they now have to dial SEVEN whole digits for local calls, instead of only five digits (the first two always being 53, 52, or 58); * their local calling area has expanded enormously, now including the city of Victoria, 27 miles away; * they finally have equal-access long distance! * there is talk of getting a cell in Goliad, instead of having to rely on the Beeville and Victoria cells for coverage. The city of Goliad, located at the junction of US-59 and US-183/77A, occupies the 512-645 prefix. It's the second-oldest town in Texas. There are a couple of other towns in Goliad County that are much smaller, but have their own prefixes (Charco 512-269, Berclair 512-439, and Weesatche and Fannin, whose prefixes I couldn't find). Linc Madison * San Francisco, California * LincMad@Netcom.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 19 Sep 1995 00:43:13 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Digital Assists French Company Begin Mobile Phone Company Reply-To: monty@roscom.COM FYI DIGITAL ASSISTS FRENCH TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANY TO BEGIN NATIONWIDE MOBILE PHONE SERVICE MAYNARD, Mass. -- September 15, 1995 -- Digital EquipmentCorporation today announced a three-year, multi-contract relationship with the French PCS (Personal Communications System) operator Bouygues Telecom to provide a sophisticated mobile phone service which includes a customer care and billing system, telecom network management, and a full range of solution and support services. Selected by the French government in October 1994 as France's DCS 1800 Mobile Operator, Bouygues Telecom has committed to have a nationwide mobile phone system starting with full coverage of the Paris area during the first half of 1996. Initial plans call for the rapid growth of subscribers. According to Yves Francois, director of information technology at Bouygues Telecom, "We chose Digital because of their complete under- standing of our business needs, and their superior telecommunications technology and solutions capability to manage a vast and complex radiotelephone network from a single point." Jean-Claude Sainctavit, Digital's worldwide vice president for the telecommunications industry, said that "Digital's industry- leading Alpha technology, along with our clustering, solutions and support capabilities will provide Bouygues Telecom with a lower cost of operations and an almost immediate network problem solution capability with scalable advanced technology." He added that "our partnership with co-contractor SEMA Group, the use of our TeMip (Telecommunications Management Information Platform) platform, and the experience gained from managing similar telecom projects worldwide, most recently, for example, in Germany and Malaysia, were the final determining factors in our selection by Bouygues Telecom." Bouygues Telecom is a company controlled by Bouygues (a major multi-trade group). Bouygues Telecom brings together the principal operators of DCS 1800 networks in Europe, Cable & Wireless (United Kingdom), Veba (Germany), and US West (United States), along with the Jean-Claude Decaux Group, Banque Nationale de Paris, and Compagnie Financiere de Parisbas. Bouygues officials noted that the technical performance, high- capacity and attractive price of this new generation of easy-to-use mobile phones will meet the expectations of a wide public. Bouygues Telecom plans to gain a significant share of a market estimated at more than 10 million customers over the next 10 years. The company will base its development on the quality of its customer service. The arrival of Bouygues Telecom as the third licensed mobile operator in France is expected to further stimulate the development of mobile phones, and help France catch up with the other main European countries in this field. Personal telephony is a major line of development for Bouygues - already present in the telecommunications sector since 1987 (3RP Public Access Mobile Radio, ERMES paging network). Digital Equipment Corporation is the world's leader in open client/server solutions from personal computing to integrated worldwide information systems. Digital's scalable Alpha platforms, storage, networking, software and services, together with industry- focused solutions from business partners, help organizations compete and win in today's global marketplace. #### Digital and the Digital logo are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation. ------------------------------ From: dave@westmark.com (Dave Levenson) Subject: Had This Been a Real Emergency ... Organization: Westmark, Inc. Date: Tue, 18 Sep 1995 18:19:27 GMT I did not call 911, because it was not an emergency. I was, however, in a hurry to catch a train when I walked past a vacant house in New Jersey in mid-winter. There was water running out of the side of the house, and there was ice all over the wall and the driveway below. I did call 411 (from a pocket cellular phone I usually carry). "Welcome to Bell Atlantic" said James Earl Jones, followed by "What city, please?" in a different voice. "Long Hill Township, Police Department, non-emergency number, please" I replied, while walking briskly toward the Stirling station on the New Jersey Transit line. "908-647-1800" was the reply (in a third voice). I entered that number and pressed SEND. The train coasted to a stop and I boarded, still waiting for the call to go through. Eventually, ring-back. "Long Hill Police, Sergent XXX" a voice said. "I would like to report a burst water pipe in a vacant house," I said. "Where?" he asked. "289 Main Avenue, Stirling," I replied. "Where's that?" he asked! "Next door to 285 Main Avenue." I replied, somewhat taken aback at his question. "But where is it?" the officer asked. "On the East side of Main Avenue, between Essex and Union Streets," I told him. "Oh," he said, "is that the house where the old man died?" "I don't know if anyone died there, Sir, but the house has been vacant since July." I explained. The train was about to stop in Gillette. I had, by how, paid for several minutes of air time. The conductor came by my seat saying something about tickets. "Round trip to Hoboken, please," I told the conductor, while pulling out my wallet. I thought I had covered the mouthpiece of the pocket-phone, but... "Hoboken?" said the officer on the phone. "No, Stirling!" I told him. "Where in Stirling?" the policeman asked. I was beginning to wish I hadn't bothered. I was, after all, only trying to help a property-owner I didn't know, and perhaps save some water. I was glad it wasn't an emergency. I gave him the address again, and suggested that perhaps he could contact the water company or the property-owner. The phone now displayed almost 5:00 of airtime, and I wanted to sit back and enjoy the trip to the Big Apple. That afternoon, as I walked back to my office from the railroad station, I saw a plumber's truck parked in front of 289 Main. The flow of water had stopped. A roll of damaged carpet was on the front porch ... A Bell Atlantic truck was also parked in front of the house. The network interface device, previously on the outside wall of the house, was now lying face-down in a pool of icewater on the ground. Dave Levenson Internet: dave@westmark.com Westmark, Inc. UUCP: uunet!westmark!dave Stirling, NJ, USA Voice: 908 647 0900 Fax: 908 647 6857 [The Man in the Mooney] ------------------------------ From: bkron@netcom.com (BUBEYE!) Subject: Warning! Directory Assistance Imposter! Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Tue, 19 Sep 1995 00:59:40 GMT WARNING! Directory Assistance may be giving you bad information! Usually, calls to 1-NPA-555-1212 (DA) get routed to an operator center owned and operated by one of the "Baby Bells" and they use telco-compiled data to search for your request. This data is updated daily and is the most accurate information available. However, there has been a change recently involving interlata calls to DA. If your default IEC is not AT&T, or you route your DA call over an IEC other that AT&T, your DA call may actually be routed to a third-party DA "boiler room" located in Missouri. This company has been hired by MCI to provide DA service to MCI and others for increasing numbers of areas of the country. Our experience with this operation is dismal. We routinely get quoted the wrong telephone number or we get incorrect "not found" reports. They must use the same obsolete and innaccurate data that MCI used on their ill-fated CALL-INFO experiment. Furthermore, operators there tell us that the equipment they use is antiquated in that it lacks sophisticated search engines which include phonetic sound-alikes and street arguments -- features in use at Bell facilities for over ten years. Subsequent calls to a "real" DA operator through AT&T circuits substantiates this claim because we will then get the correct information. It is fairly easy to tell if you're getting this slipshod operation. First, their standard greeting is a terse "City and name in your request." Second, their autoquote system simply hangs up on you instead of telling you that if you need more information, an operator will return. The operators are dripping with underenthusiasm. In other words, it has MCI written all over it. One area of the country for which we regularly need DA service and this is happening is Idaho. Our call to US West's Director of Information Services in Denver confirmed that this practice is spreading, but is limited to MCI and other IEC's who use MCI circuits for DA (like Wiltel). This is bad news because Wiltel's charge for DA is substantially less than AT&T. But for an increasing number of areas, you will have to use AT&T to have any confidence in what you are told. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Hasn't that always been the case, that you pay for quality and confidence in telephone service? What you are saying is just another reason to stick with AT&T. PAT] ------------------------------ From: M. Troutman Subject: Netscape Secure Connection Technology Hacked! Date: 19 Sep 1995 14:38:28 GMT Organization: PSI Public Usenet Link I heard that a couple students broke the Netscape secure connection technology ... it was on the newswire at 2:00am last night. Anyone heard the full story yet? MT Wheat Int'l [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Nothing on it yet here other than the newswire report you mention. Please -- anyone with details on this -- bring us up to date as soon as you can. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #388 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa04924; 19 Sep 95 22:52 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id PAA14962 for telecomlist-outbound; Tue, 19 Sep 1995 15:13:13 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id PAA14949; Tue, 19 Sep 1995 15:13:07 -0500 Date: Tue, 19 Sep 1995 15:13:07 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Message-Id: <199509192013.PAA14949@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #389 TELECOM Digest Tue, 19 Sep 95 15:13:00 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 389 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Partial Re-Tendering of Indian Telecom Bids Likely (Rishab Aiyer Ghosh) Colorado Bill of Rights in a Competitive Market (Steve Howard) Using Internet For International LD Carrier Legality? (Thomas G. Edwards) An Interesting Telecom Service (via CompuServe Information Service) 1-800-555-1212 Blocking at State University Illegal? (Thomas G. Edwards) Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives (Dave Yost) Re: FBI Arrests America OnLine Users (Jason Hillyard) Re: FBI Arrests America OnLine Users (Bill Blackwell) Re: FBI Arrests America Online Users (Andrew C. Green) Re: AOL Faces Court Order on User ID (Richard Shockey) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily represent the views of Microsoft. ------------------------------------------------------------ Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 19 Sep 1995 08:44:55 -0700 From: Rishab Aiyer Ghosh Subject: Partial Re-Tendering of Indian Telecom Bids Likely -==This Indian Techonomist bulletin (C) Copyright 1995 Rishab Aiyer Ghosh September 19, 1995: India's telecom privatisation programme is the biggest in the world, so confusion is not unexpected. The tenders for nationwide basic telecom services, which attracted bids worth a total of $82 billion, are now the main source of confusion. Two bidders, HFCL and Reliance, managed to carve up 14 of the 20 regions available. HFCL bid $27 billion for nine of the best; Reliance bid $15 million for five poor regions. As the privatisation process was intended to further competition, this is not acceptable. In an exclusive interview to The Indian Techonomist today, Telecom Secretary R K Takkar indicated that a partial re-tendering is likely. He did insist that no decision on caps - limits on the number of licences per company - will be taken until the return of the Communications Minister later this week. But he was willing to discuss the "hypothetical", but probable, case that caps would be imposed, or that the highest bidder would renege on its commitments. He made it clear that "if no one [else] matches the highest offer" - in case the highest bidder itself opts out - then the government "has no option but to re-tender." HFCL, with a 1994-95 turnover of under $35 million, is widely considered ready to back out of its bids - three times as much the next highest bids - in some regions, even though the company denies this loudly. In most cases, the other bidders are almost certainly not going to match HFCL's bids. Retendering, at least for the regions that pose problems, appears to be the only way out. Speaking about the tenders for cellular services, opened on August 5th, Mr Takkar clarified that, contrary to what has been reported elsewhere, the cap of two in profitable A circles is not yet decided. The Minister for Communications, Sukh Ram, had made a statement about this cap just before leaving the country for medical treatment three weeks ago, and it has lead to much speculation. Mr Takkar said that the government has prepared a study of the effects of these proposed caps, about which an actual decision will be taken upon the Minister's return. Mr Takkar also said that the government was preparing legislation making the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) a statutory body. An amendment to create the body under government prerogative powers was withdrawn last month following opposition in Parliament. Mr Takkar said there would be no major problems with creating a statutory TRAI immediately - either in the next session of Parliament, or by executive order - rather than after a two-year trial period as originally planned. There will still be scope for future modification of the authority, including its merger with the proposed Indian Broadcasting Authority. Mr Takkar said that the government hopes to award contracts for cellular services by the end of this month, although basic services may take longer. He said that the government had made it clear to Parliament that the setting-up of the TRAI and the granting of licences were not connected, as the government retains the licensing role and will be the contracting party. Mr Takkar stated that as the Supreme Court had vacated a stay order on the telecom tenders, the government would go ahead, although it would, of course, be subject to any future Court ruling. -==(C) Copyright 1995 Rishab Aiyer Ghosh. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. -==Licensed for ELECTRONIC distribution, including commercial, provided -==this notice is attached. This bulletin is from The Indian Techonomist, -==the newsletter on India's information industry. -==http://dxm.org/techonomist/ - e-mail rishab@dxm.org -==Phone +91 11 6853410; H-34-C Saket, New Delhi 110017, INDIA. The Indian Techonomist - newsletter on India's information industry http://dxm.org/techonomist/ rishab@dxm.org Editor and publisher: Rishab Aiyer Ghosh rishab@arbornet.org Vox +91 11 6853410; 3760335; H 34 C Saket, New Delhi 110017, INDIA ------------------------------ Subject: Colorado Bill of Rights in a Competitive Market Date: Mon, 18 Sep 95 10:33:11 MDT From: Steve Howard I received the following letter last week from the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (IMHO, these people usually do a pretty good job!). I thought Digest readers might enjoy it. If you have any comments/advice re: local phone competition, please e-mail me. I will go to one of these meetings next week and any helpful comments would be appreciated! (All typos are mine!) Steve ------------------------------------------- Dear Colleague, You may be aware that the Colorado Legislature approved a bill in the 1995 legislative session which changes the monopoly status of the local phone market. The legislation instructs the Colorado Public Utilities Commission to have rules in place by July 1, 1996. These rules would allow for competition for local phone service throughout the state. The legislation called for various appointed committees to study the issues involved in changing from a monopoly system to a competitive local phone service marketplace. These committees have been asked to draft rules, which will be presented to the Commission by the end of 1995. The Commission will then start a rulemaking in 1996. The Commission wants to ensure that the public's concerns are addressed in the rulemaking. I am holding fourteen public meetings across the state to obtain public input about a competitive local phone service marketplace. The schedule of meetings is enclosed, and I hope you will take the time to attend the one nearest you. Also enclosed in a proposed Telecommunications Consumers' Bill of Rights, which has been drafted by Commission staff. The proposed Bill of Rights covers many issues which we believe are important to consumers, such as, "If I change local phone companies, will I be able to keep my phone number", or "Will my local phone company be changed without my authorization?" I'm sure you may have other issues that are not covered by the proposed Bill of Rights. The Commission is open to all comments and would like to obtain your views. The proposed Bill of Rights should serve as a stepping stone to other discussion points. If you are unable to attend any one of the meetings, I hope you will still provide the Commission with your comments. Please feel free to write to the PUC. Address your comments by Oct. 31, 1995 to Docket No. 96R-001T, 1580 Logan St., OL2, Denver, CO 80203. With your help the Commission will be able to adopt rules which will provide a smooth transition to a competitive marketplace, and will provide choices for consumers. Sincerely, [signed] Bruce N. Smith PUC Director ------------------------- PROPOSED TELECOMMUNICATIONS CONSUMERS' BILL OF RIGHTS IN A COMPETITIVE MARKET 1) All consumers will have an incread choice of telecommunications provider(s) and services within reasonable timeframes. 2) All consumers throughout the state will have an equal opportunity to access basic and advanced telecommunications services within reasonable timeframes. There will continue to be free access to 911 in each county. 3) All consumers will receive better quality services at prices comparable to today's price or less. Eligible customers as determined by state law will receive calls using any provider without dialing extra codes or experienceing a reduction in transmission quality. 4) All consumers will use a telecommunications network which is set-up so that it appears seamless to the consumer. The consumer will be able to make and receive calls using any provider without dialing extra codes or experiencing a reduction in transmission quality. 5) All consumers will be able to keep their telephone numbers when they change provider(s) if they remain within their same neighborhoods. This number will be listed in a central directory. 6) All consumer choices of providers and services will not be changed without the authorization of the consumer. 7) All consumers will be provided with easily-understood descriptions of telecommunications services, how to use the services, and how much such services will cost. Consumers will be notified by their provider(s) about any pending changes in prices and services. 8) All consumer conversations and transmitted data will be confidential. All companies will respect the consumers' right to a non-listed, or/and non-published number. The consumer will be protected from unauthorized use of his or her equipment, records and/or payment history. 9) All consumers having problems with their provider(s) and/or services will have the ability to contact a consumer hotline staffed by each provider. These hotlines will afford consumers the opportunity to resolve problems. 10) All consumers will receive effective consumer protection by PUC complaint resolution, efficient monitoring and effective enforcement by the Colorado Public Utilities Commission. Steve Howard Town of Breckenridge, Colorado steveh@ci.breckenridge.co.us The opinions expressed above are not necessarily those of my employer. Finger steveh@colorado.net for PGP key. ------------------------------ From: tedwards@Glue.umd.edu (Thomas Grant Edwards) Subject: Using Internet For International LD Carrier Legality? Date: 18 Sep 1995 15:10:51 -0400 Organization: Project Glue, University of Maryland, College Park What is the legality of selling an internet service which provides international voice communications over the internet using a POTS interface on one or both sides (i.e. you call up the access number, enter the international POTS number or IP number you are calling, and then go to voice communications with the other side)? I recognize there are financial and technical problems with this, but I am only asking a question of legality. Thomas ------------------------------ From: via compuServe Information Service <102626.2742@CompuServe.COM> Subject: An Interesting Telecom Service Date: 18 Sep 1995 21:31:56 GMT Organization: CompuServe, Inc. (1-800-689-0736) Here is some Interesting information for Telecom professionals looking for Telecommunications Consultants. The company is called American Telecommunications Consultants (ATC) and it is based in Baltimore, Maryland. This company offers an on-line, national database comprised of hundreds of independent telecommunications consultants in virtually every specialty area. The database is menu driven and fairly easy to understand. Menus allow you to search by consultant name, location, experience, specialization or any combination thereof. I have found it to be very helpful and the cost is only a long distance telephone call. The network access number is 410.857.9110. ------------------------------ From: tedwards@Glue.umd.edu (Thomas Grant Edwards) Subject: 1-800-555-1212 Blocking at State University Illegal? Date: 18 Sep 1995 15:06:50 -0400 Organization: Project Glue, University of Maryland, College Park University of Maryland College Park currently blocks 1-800-555-1212. Some students have claimed that this is illegal, is this true? Thomas ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Sep 95 01:44:24 -0700 From: DYost@Taurus.Apple.com (Dave Yost) Subject: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives Organization: Dave Yost's house Our telephone systems should be straightforward enough that any child capable of remembering their phone number can be taught how to pick up any phone and dial their home phone number or 911. Try it sometime with a five-year-old. You can teach her her phone number, and you can teach her about 911, but it's really hopeless to explain what to do in all the various telephone situations: * calling home or 911 from an office phone requiring 9+; * calling home or 911 from a hotel room requiring 9+ or 8+ or worse; * calling home from a pay phone with no money; * calling home from her own area code if you've taught her her complete phone number, or from outside her area code if not. It doesn't have to be this way. Telephone systems are now sufficiently programmable that we can fix this over time if we decide to. We should work toward a standard that would allow a child to dial simply 1 + area code + number from any phone, whether it be a business phone, a pay-phone, whatever, and get connected to their home. Better yet, 0 + country code + area code + number from anywhere in the world. I wonder how many lost children would have been found if they could have successfully dialed their home phone when they had an opportunity. Problems to be solved: Business and Hotel phones: Business phones usually require you to dial 9 for an outside line. Hotels sometimes require 8. There was a time, back in the old pulse-dial days, when this made some sense. Now it doesn't. PBX systems with push-button phones could use the * or # key to access internal dialing, and allow normal dialing to the outside without a prefix. We could require new systems to offer this facility, and old ones could be required to offer it as a software upgrade if feasible. (The phone system manufacturers should welcome this revenue opportunity.) Pay phones: Pay phones are not child-friendly when you dial 1 + area code + number without using the correct amount of change. They could be reprogrammed to say something like this: "Don't hang up. Someone will come on the phone to help you, or you can insert 20 cents (or whatever) to connect your call automatically." Immediately and automatically, the called party should be contacted with a recording that says "Someone is trying to call you from a pay phone in without paying. Say "yes" if you agree to pay for the call." If callee has lost a child, they will know what to do! If not and they decline, then an operator should talk with the person at the pay phone and handle the situation, possibly initiating a collect call with the name of the caller or forwarding the call to 911. Calling from within the area code: If you dial your own area code, you get a recording saying you did something wrong. This should be reprogrammed so that such a call goes through as a normal local call. Special hookups for emergencies: In the case of a lost or kidnapped child, a subscriber should be able to request that a special unblockable Caller ID logging unit be attached to their line so that the police or FBI can trace a relevant incoming call when alerted. If we make these changes, then eventually even a very young child can be taught that in a jam, they can just "pick up any phone, dial our home telephone number, and we'll answer. Even if you don't get to speak, it will help to know where you called from." If you know the electronic or paper mail address of any group to whom I should send this idea, please tell me. Some possibilities: missing children groups, telephony standards organizations, government regulators, lawmakers, ...? Thank you, Dave Yost Software Designer Apple Computer DYost@Taurus.Apple.com 408 974 1861 voice ------------------------------ From: upsetter@mcl.ucsb.edu (Jason Hillyard) Subject: Re: FBI Arrests Dozens of America OnLine Users Date: 19 Sep 1995 19:46:47 GMT Organization: University of California, Santa Barbara I find it very interesting that there were published reports alluding to this raid back in June. "Computer Underground Digest" Volume 7 issue 54 (http://sun.soci.niu.edu/~cudigest/CUDS7/cud754) mentions a story in {USA Today} that states "The FBI intends to raid the homes and businesses of more than 3000 people" for viewing child porn through AOL. It seems the magnitude of the raid was exaggerated, but they got other details correct. Apparently the story originated from the {Cincinnati Enquirer.} Jason ------------------------------ From: bear@electrotex.com (Bill Blackwell) Subject: Re: FBI Arrests America OnLine Users Date: Tue, 19 Sep 1995 09:52:21 -0600 > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: So a homophobic user says to the management > "I got paged by a child molestor" when what really happened was he got an > instant message asking if he was gay. **Still, an inappropriate question for > an instant message to a stranger, but it happens on AOL a lot**. Now what > does management do with this complaint? How do they act on it? ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I think that this, in a nutshell, is what this is about. Authentication and verfication. I would _hope_ that AOL would require a copy of the message (or the attached file...) from a user wishing to lodge a complaint. Even then, this _does_ require some sort of judgment call by AOL as to whether the message violated its TOS. Then, they have the legal recourse to forward this to the "proper" authorities. (I'm assuming that anything illegal, and some things that aren't would violate the AOL TOS [yea acronyms]) With the TOS, AOL reserves the right to police itself. Whether this is a Good Thing, or a Bad Thing is up to AOL and its subscribers. I think a better discussion of common carrier rights and responsibilities vis-a-vis the Feds would be to start with Steve Jackson (what was the final result of that?) and go from there. Bill Blackwell bear@electrotex.com Houston, Texas, USA ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 19 Sep 1995 09:57:36 -0500 From: Andrew C. Green Subject: Re: FBI Arrests America Online Users > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: What's goofy about AOL is their total lack > of security. Screen names can be changed randomly; you can have up to five > 'screen names per account active at any given time; there is no real way for > other users to find out the absolute ID of mail they receive or chats they > are in, etc. I believe PAT has hit upon the common thread which ties the FBI Arrests topic to the AOL Chain Letter topic to the Stoned Scuba Diver Libel topic: America On-Line really has no idea who the heck is using their system. One of the big differences between AOL and, say, my company account is _not_ that the former is granting Internet access to any goofball with a PC, but that the latter is verifying identities first, and holding me personally accountable for my Internet activity. One of AOL's biggest problems, to the detriment of its Internet image and the increase of its internal grief, is its infuriating tendency to give away 10 hours of Internet access for free before even the most perfunctory account verification. It's not alone in this (Prodigy seems to have a lock on the Phone Sex Ad game), but nevertheless this goes a long way towards increasing the noise/kiddieporn/junk-Email problems endemic today. Were AOL to institute some fundamental changes, such as read-only access until account identity is verified through billing details, and cancellation of those stupid CB-like handles, they might alleviate some of the grief that's currently landing on them. If this is to be a (shudder) "Information Superhighway," AOL needs to recognize that they ought to be licensing their drivers. Andrew C. Green (312) 266-4431 Frame Technology Corporation Advanced Product Services 441 W. Huron Internet: acg@frame.com Chicago, IL 60610-3498 FAX: (312) 266-4473 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I've heard from a few people that there is a considerable problem with new-user fraud at AOL involving those 'ten free hours'. Apparently teenage hackers and others who know something about credit card and 'check-free' validation schemes latch onto lots of the free software disks out of the back of magazines, etc. then use them for whatever they are worth by enrolling under bogus names and credit cards. Compuserve gets the same problem: they have free disks in magazines with trial offers, etc. and people milk those for what they are worth also. PAT] ------------------------------ From: rshockey@ix.netcom.com (Richard Shockey) Subject: Re: AOL Faces Court Order on User ID Date: Tue, 19 Sep 1995 00:51:55 GMT Organization: Nuntius Corporation Norm deCarteret wrote: > "What this case brings up is the spectre of millions of libel suits > every time there's a disagreement on the Internet. I think it's a > critical issue" Daniel Weitzner, Ctr For Democracy & Technology dir. > "The person who used this abused the privilege of being able to > communicate with people worldwide on America Online. This has > serious repercussions in businesses" Lawrence Levin, plaintiffs lawyer. At this juncture It would be wise for members of this group to take a look at the excellent book "Make NO Law" written by Anthony Lewis of the {New York Times}. It is the history of {Sullivan v. New York Times} which established the principal of "Wilful malice" as the standard for libel and slander. In addition the Electronic Frontier Foundation archives //www.eff.org has a excellent collection of documents relating to this issue. One of the theories that EFF is developing is that since Net users "Thrust themselves into the Public Spotlight" by the very act of being on the Net ... their statements must meet the Sullivan tests of libel. More work for lawyers I'm afraid. Richard Shockey Developers of Fax on Demand Systems President For Business, Industry, Government Nuntius Corporation and Media Markets. 8045 Big Bend Blvd. Suite 110 St. Louis, MO 63119 For a Demonstration Call: Voice 314.968.1009 x110 314.968.3461 FAX 314.968.3163 Internet rshockey@ix.netcom.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I dunno ... I think that's stretching things a bit to say that the average user here is 'in the public spotlight'. Now perhaps with moderators, forum managers and the like that might come close. We after all, do in effect publish our own newsletters, etc. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #389 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa05560; 20 Sep 95 0:18 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id QAA17721 for telecomlist-outbound; Tue, 19 Sep 1995 16:25:02 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id QAA17713; Tue, 19 Sep 1995 16:25:00 -0500 Date: Tue, 19 Sep 1995 16:25:00 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Message-Id: <199509192125.QAA17713@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #390 TELECOM Digest Tue, 19 Sep 95 16:25:00 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 390 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number (sp@questor.org) Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number (Martin McCormick) Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number (Mark Brader) Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number (Robert Levandowski) Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number (Wes Leatherock) Re: Bell Canada Calling Cards in the USA (Mark Brader) Re: Bell Canada Tests "Soft" Dial Tone (Kevin Paul Herbert) Re: Bell Canada Tests "Soft" Dial Tone (Steve Granata) Re: Bell Canada Tests "Soft" Dial Tone (Robert Levandowski) Re: Bell Canada Tests "Soft" Dial Tone (Garrett A. Wollman) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily represent the views of Microsoft. ------------------------------------------------------------ Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: sp@questor.org Subject: Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number Date: 19 Sep 1995 10:27:34 -0700 Organization: The Questor Project, Vancouver, BC - voxfon: +1 604 687 4777 In article , Greg Abbott wrote: > TELECOM Digest Editor noted: >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Something I have never been able to under- >> stand in Chicago is the apparent contradiction in instructions given on >> the one hand by 911 supervisors (themselves police officers) and the >> instructions given at the local police station level. On the one hand we >> are told that 911 is for *emergency use only* when immediate intervention >> by police/fire/paramedic people is required; ie. my house in on fire now >> or I am having a heart attack now or someone has invaded my home and is >> standing here with a gun pointed at me now. We are not to use 911 for >> trivial matters. That makes good sense! But on the other hand, when we >> attempt to discuss trivial (by comparison) matters with the police at >> the local district police station on their direct phone, we are told we >> must call 911 to get a police officer to come out. We have an almost identical situation here in Vancouver, BC. Upon calling the administrative 7D number listed in the phone book, we are generally referred to the 911 number instead, the resaon stated is that they cannot connect you anyhwere from the 7D number. I have a suspicion that what they want is access to the CallerID database so that they have your name, address and phone number on all incoming calls (for they certainly do have it when you access them on 911). FREE ACCESS TO E-MAIL & NEWS at +1 604 681 0670. INFO on Environment, Science, Medicine, AIDS, Native (Indigenous) Issues and more. We sell ZyXEL, Penril, Telebit and more world-wide to support this Free Public Community Service. :::> Info from: mail-server@questor.org <::: ------------------------------ From: Martin McCormick Subject: Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number Date: 19 Sep 1995 19:44:22 GMT Organization: Oklahoma State University Stillwater, OK In Oklahoma, there has been very little controversy about how to properly use 911. The idea is that it is only to be used for situations that effect the safety of people or property in which very quick response is needed. In Stillwater, there are no 911 operators as such. The voice you hear answer the 911 line is a police and fire dispatcher who is also the same voice you will hear if you dial the seven-digit number for the police station. The 911 lines terminate at a console in the dispatchers' office in the basement of City hall. Since we have enhanced 911, the dispatcher sees the name and address of the caller before the telephone is even answered. One of our local amateur radio clubs toured the dispatcher's office at around 8:00, one evening. It was very quiet and orderly with three or four people at their work stations taking the occasional telephone or radio call. There were no 911 calls while we were there, but the usual routine radio and telephone traffic for a town of 30,000 people was in full swing. I said something to one of the dispatchers about those cases in which people have accidentally dialed 911 while trying to program a telephone or through some other mistake. He said that dispatchers are much more understanding if you stay on the line long enough to explain what happened than if you just hang up because they don't know whether somebody just got hit over the head or they are having telephone trouble or what. When enhanced 911 came to Tulsa and Oklahoma City, the media featured many stories about what it did and how to use it. One of the things that was repeated several times was an admonition to the public not to test it since this would clog the lines with unnecessary calls. Both Tulsa and Oklahoma city have had the occasional minor problems with equipment failures and human mixups, but we are fortunate not to have had some of the more terrifying scandals as have happened in other cities. Martin McCormick WB5AGZ Stillwater, OK 36.7N97.4W OSU Center for Computing and Information Services Data Communications Group ------------------------------ From: msb@sq.com (Mark Brader) Subject: Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number Organization: SoftQuad Inc., Toronto, Canada Date: Tue, 19 Sep 1995 06:57:50 GMT > 911 is put on the front page whereas the seven-digit numbers > are relegated to alphabetical listings in the middle ... This is true here in Toronto, but a few years ago it certainly was not. The emergencies pages at the front used to show 911 (and before that 361-1111 and before that EM1-1111) for emergencies, all right. But right below that, in smaller print, they used to give the regular police number (324-2222, and before that 967-2222). Seems eminently sensible to me. Anyone know why Bell decided to change it? It's not as if a call to 324-2222 couldn't be transferred to the dispatchers at 911. They added those hideous hyphens in the middle of 911, too. Is there any actual evidence for the popular account of someone so stupid they looked for an 11 key? (But presumbly not so stupid as to look for a hyphen key?) Incidentally, the EM exchange was really EMpire. The EMergency number continued to be written with the EM for years after other 36- numbers were written with digits. > ... with no indication which ones are for police dispatchers, which > ones are administrative, which ones are for which communities, and > so forth. ... At least we don't have that problem, at least not if you can figure out how to use the "easier to use" government pages. Right there in the Metro Toronto section: "METROPOLITAN TORONTO POLICE .. 324-2222". Interestingly, there is no listing for 911 there. In the business section we have both: METROPOLITAN TORONTO POLICE 40 College ..................... 324-2222 EMERGENCIES Life Threatening ................ 9-1-1 Crimes in Progress .............. 9-1-1 TDD-Only ........................ 9-1-1 before it continues with the administrative and individual department numbers. There is also a listing under P: POLICE EMERGENCY CALLS - APPELS D'URGENCE 9-1-1 Police Commission (Metropolitan Toronto) 40 College ..................... 324-2222 (The police commission is not actually the same as the police, but as they have the same address and phone number...) And not to forget, they also have: AMBULANCE EMERGENCY CALLS - APPELS D'URGENCE 9-1-1 FIRE EMERGENCY CALLS 9-1-1 The residential section also has the last two listings. Their listing under P is sort of amusing: POLICE Emergency Calls - Appels d'Urgence 9-1-1 Ray 31 Upper Canada Dr ......... XXX-XXXX I suppress Mr. Police's number. Mark Brader msb@sq.com SoftQuad Inc., Toronto My text in this article is in the public domain. ------------------------------ From: rlvd_cif@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (Robert Levandowski) Subject: Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number Slowed Things Down Organization: University of Rochester - Rochester, New York Date: Tue, 19 Sep 95 02:22:02 GMT In Greg Abbott writes: > We in the 9-1-1 community are really our own worst enemy. We drill > the 9-1-1 number into the heads of citizens as the only number they > need to know to get help. Then when someone calls (like in this case) > and the response is slow or an error occurs, the 9-1-1 system failed. > The 9-1-1 number is nothing more than a telephone number with some > fancy caller ID built in. The basic emergency response system has not > changed substantially because of 9-1-1 telephone number. An > additional problem occurs when people call the 9-1-1 number for every > kind of assistance they need. We get hundreds of 9-1-1 calls per day > which are for things like stopped up toilets, barking dogs, loud > music, etc. These calls clog up the 9-1-1 lines and tie up the 9-1-1 > operators. We are to blame for this though, in most cases we do not > take the time to educate the citizens that 9-1-1 is for life > threatening emergencies *ONLY*. As a human-factors psychologist in training, I found this paragraph very, very interesting. It makes a good point: 9-1-1 is good human factors, because it is short, easy to remember, and CONSISTENT across most of the United States. If you're in a strange city, you can feel pretty confident that 9-1-1 will work. The flip side is: there is no NON-emergency police number which is consistent across wide geographic areas. That's bad human factors; it requires a person to have fairly extensive customized knowledge about abstract digits in order to get non-emergency help. Since people are fundamentally lazy, they dial what they can remember: 9-1-1. If you're in a strange city at a payphone with no phone book and you don't have the change for directory assistance, the operator will probably put you through to 9-1-1 anyway. So, I think that a nationwide standardized NON-emergency police number should be established. I'm not sure what it should be, but it should be easy to remember, preferably by way of being composed of bits of knowledge that people already have. IF there are no good technical reasons why not, I'd suggest 555-5911 as a possibility -- pick up a phone in any city, dial 555-5911, and it will redirect you to the geographically appropriate non-emergency telephone number. That would be a local police number if it could be determined, or state police for cellular or other indeterminate locations. People know 555 -- it's in virtually every TV show and movie, after all. They know 555-1212 is information. They know 911 is police. So, 555-5911 would be easy to remember, because it's made up of chunks of knowledge that people probably already have, so it can be easily reconstructed. What do the telecom experts think? Am I reinventing a wheel that's already been discarded? Or has 9-1-1 overload not yet been considered *that* big a problem? Rob Levandowski News Administrator and UNIX Technical Assistant, UNIX Group University of Rochester Computing Center -- Rochester, New York rlvd_cif@uhura.cc.rochester.edu [Opinions expressed are mine, not UR's.] [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: For how many ever years, things used to be pretty standard around here with xxx-2121 for the police and xxx-2131 for fire. If there were two small towns each with their own police and fire departments but served by the same phone exchange, then one of them got 2161/2171 instead. 1212 and 1313 were also commonly used. In Chicago, the numbers were POLice 1313 and FIRe 1313. Later the L and the R were replaced by 5 and 7 respectively. 312-765 and 312-347 have long since been assigned to other uses, but back then they had a most interesting way of telling where you were calling from. In the case of police, your telephone central office saw your request for 765-1313 and translated it to another number entirely, *then* sent it to the police dispatchers on that number. It would always be some other exchange-1313 when the police got it, and a large map in the dispatcher's office had lights on it that would flash to tell them where (in general) the call was coming from. So if the police got a call on their HARrison-1313 line the area on the map known as Rogers Park would illuminate. On the other hand if the call came in on WABash-1313 then another neighborhood would light up. There were ten or fifteen such general geographic areas in the city, each with its own exchange-1313 phone line, but all the public had to remember was to dial POlice-5-1313. The dispatchers would then notify officers by radio as they do now. When Chicago was using that system until about the early 1970's, a lot of the neighborhood police stations still had xxx-2121 as their local phone, since many older people still insisted on calling the local station direct, and 2121 was left over from a much earlier time when there was no consolidated dispatch; indeed many of the older police stations in the neighborhoods had been the location of the police in the village or town prior to its annexation as part of Chicago. In the case of the Fire Department, all central offices north of 39th Street translated their calls to the number DEArborn-1313 which rang at the main fire alarm office in City Hall. Central offices south of 39th Street translated their calls to TRIangle-0002 for some odd reason, which was the number of the Englewood Fire Alarm Office on the south side. 39th Street roughly divides the city in half since the south side is much, much larger than the north side. The dispatchers would notify the local fire stations by radio and an alarm signal they could set off. The fire stations all had 'annunciator' boards -- large mechanical devices with lights and buzzers which would go off when one of the 'pull boxes' on a street corner had been activated. A common method of calling the Fire Department fifty or sixty years ago was to run out of your (presumably on fire) house and up to the corner where a red box was mounted on a telephone pole. You pulled open the little trap door and yanked down a lever. A spring-wound mechanism inside started doing whatever, and the firemen got the signal in their station. The annunciator told them what general vicinity (within a block or so) to go to. I cannot praise 911 highly enough when it works properly. Having the full name, address and a narrative about the circumstances (such as a map or details of nearby streets, etc) displayed on the screen is very helpful. In the old days, people would get panicy and forget what their address was ... seriously ... the fire phone would ring, and the dispatcher would hear someone on the other end screaming for help because their house was on fire ... 'hurry to 2503 Halsted Street' the person would scream and then slam their phone down as they were running out the door. Well the problem was ..*which* 2503 Halsted? 2503 North Halsted or 2503 South Halsted ... and of course they had to dispatch men and equipment to both locations knowing that one would report back a false alarm. Speaking of false alarms: they went down to almost zero -- at least those of a malicious nature -- once 911 was implemented. In the 1960's the Chicago Fire Department used to receive as many as 150-200 false alarms some days; just malicious and/or sick people who got off hearing the sirens and watching all their neighbors in a panic, etc. Of course they had to respond to each one, to the detriment of someplace where they were really needed. During 1968 and the considerable amount of discontent that was present all over due to Vietnam, and the riots we had twice that year, there were days we listened to the sirens all day long as firemen would rush from one place to another only to be greeted (at best) with a false alarm and other times (at worst) with shots fired at them, their tires flattened while they were inside a building looking for a non-existent fire, or their fire station looted of their personal possessions, food, etc while they were all out. Citizens would volunteer to go stand watch at the fire house while all the men were out just so that when they returned, their food would still be in the refrigerator and their television set had not 'walked off'. Most false alarms were written off as 'mistaken citizen trying to be helpful' but now and then they caught someone at it. 911 was most welcome here when it was installed, although the usual group of privacy freaks and ACLU'ers were just postive this would mark the end of freedom as we know it; i.e. people would be 'afraid' to call the police to snitch their neighbors if the police knew who they were. People would 'not want to get involved' in reporting accidents, etc. for the same reasons. PAT] ------------------------------ From: wes.leatherock@hotelcal.com (Wes Leatherock) Subject: Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number Date: Tue, 19 Sep 1995 14:02:00 GMT plaws@comp.uark.edu (Peter Laws) wrote: > wa2ise@netcom.com (Robert Casey) writes: >> I don't know if a half minute is that important in reporting an >> accident (someone was injured) or a fire or some other emergency. >> Think I'll dial up the 7D police number when another situation occurs. > Instead of dialing the 7D of the PD, you should be dialing the 7D of > the 9-1-1 authority and raising a stink. Let them know that as a > taxpayer you're unhappy with the service. E9-1-1 provides the town, > the system should be routing the call automatically to the appropriate > PSAP. Raise a stink. I don't find in Mr. Casey's post where he said the service was E911. There are several other versions of 911 which do not have all those features and cannot route the call to the right agency, only to a central PSAP. The central PSAP often the police or fire dispatcher in the largest city in the area, and in some cases they may be less diligent with calls from other jurisdictions and agencies they're taking calls for. At least some people have so claimed. nick hingtgen wrote: > I suggest you call your parent's local telephone company and demand an > explanation. Expedient routing of a 911 call may mean the difference > between life and death. Notice that the 911 operator did not > specifically ask you for the city you were calling from according to > the dialog you supplied in your post. Either the address you were > calling from was available to the operator or the operator was > somewhat familiar with the geographic area and assumed that the corner > of Oradell and Summit is located in Oradell, NJ. How many Main > streets are there in NJ? I'm not sure why you would call the local telephone company to demand an explanation. The telephone company provides the service that is ordered. While they might like to provide a better type of 911 service, it's a matter of what the cities, etc., are willing to pay for. "The 911 operator" does not work for the local telephone company but is an employee of whatever agency operates the PSAP. Unless there was a failure on the part of the local telephone company (possible, but not likely since the type of operation described is used in many places) calling the telephone company would not be of value. Wes Leatherock wes.leatherock@hotelcal.com wes.leatherock@oubbs.telecom.uoknor.edu wes.leatherock@f2001.n147.z1.fidonet.org ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 19 Sep 95 03:41:27 EDT From: msb@sq.com (Mark Brader) Subject: Re: Bell Canada Calling Cards in the USA Organization: SoftQuad Inc., Toronto, Canada >> BUT, what is this '302' code plus the (ten-digit?) Canadian >> telephone number to access Canada from the US that Terry Flanagan >> refers to? > Sorry ... somehow "0" got changed to 302 when I posted to this group. The moral of which is, when posting to Usenet, *keep to the 7-bit ASCII character set*. Terry obviously used some 8-bit character set where hex B2 and B3 are left and right quotation marks, and the top bit got deleted along the way. Actually, a lot of Usenet these days is 8-bit clean; in my experience lately it tends to be email channels where 8-bit characters get mangled (either losing their high bit, or being converted to MIME in the hope that the recipient can read that). This being a moderated newsgroup, of course its postings *are* emailed. But even 8-bit-clean transmission doesn't help unless the *same* 8-bit character set is used by sender and recipient. In my case, if the characters had gone through intact, I would have seen them as superscript-2 and superscript-3, which is what hex B2 and B3 are in ISO 8859-1. ObTelecom (and please change the Subject line if you answer): When are they going to start using city codes in Britain that don't start with (0)1? Mark Brader, msb@sq.com SoftQuad Inc., Toronto My text in this article is in the public domain. ------------------------------ From: kph@cisco.com (Kevin Paul Herbert) Subject: Re: Bell Canada Tests "Soft" Dial Tone Date: Tue, 19 Sep 1995 10:57:18 -0700 Organization: Cisco Systems, Ashland, OR In article , kph@cisco.com (Kevin Paul Herbert) wrote: > ... By the way, what kind of intercept *is* given out on other > calls? Do you receive a 'call cannot be completed as dialed' message, > or a rapid re-order tone, or some other message, tones, etc? PAT] You receive a special intercept informing you to dial 611 to activate your phone service, and 911 for emergencies. The switch waits until you dial 7D to give this message. The number readback code also works, yielding a valid 7D number in the switch that when called from a working phone provides a vacant (not in service) message. Kevin ------------------------------ From: sgranata@ix.netcom.com (Steve Granata) Subject: Re: Bell Canada Tests "Soft" Dial Tone Date: 19 Sep 1995 00:30:05 GMT Organization: Netcom > Within the next year, field trials for Soft Dial Tone on single line > residential services are planned for residential and business > locations in Ontario and Quebec. I commend Bell Canada for this great leap forward in customer service. I can think of a few 'Bell' companies here in the U.S. who could stand to take a lesson from Bell Canada. My local Bell Operating Company just treated me to a $38.50 off-site (i.e. on-line) activation charge to turn up service at my new townhouse - a substantial charge to accomplish roughly the same thing Bell Canada is doing with its "Soft" Dial Tone. My recent experience points to the overwhelming need for deregulation and competition. With the $38.50 "activation" charge, my RBOC is selling the perception that it is installing a new line that didn't exist previously. In fact, they are selling an installation in cyberspace, that will occur with a few strokes of the keyboard. This selling of services based on the perception of technolgical or other synergies reminds me of the pre- and early-divestiture AT&T, charging for line conditioners and customer premises equipment, and maintaning market share through brand-name recognition, etc. I welcome the day when market competition will drive our RBOCs to Bell Canada's level of customer service. Steve Granata ------------------------------ From: rlvd_cif@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (Robert Levandowski) Subject: Re: Bell Canada Tests "Soft" Dial Tone Organization: University of Rochester - Rochester, New York Date: Tue, 19 Sep 95 02:31:21 GMT In kph@cisco.com (Kevin Paul Herbert) writes: > US West has been using soft dialtone on some of its switches for about > a year now. When a line is set for soft dialtone, it can only call > "611" for the business office, and "911" for emergencies. > Interestingly, US West does not use "611" at all for lines which are not > set soft dialtone. Although you can dial "611" when you move into your > house to establish service, once they turn up the service, "611" no longer > works, and you have to dial an 800 number for customer service. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I think the reason for that choice of > numbers might be that some people, on hearing dialtone, would be confused > and think perhaps the line was working normally. On attempting to make > calls and never getting connected anywhere, a logical response would be > to call 'repair service' which often times is 611. By the way, what > kind of intercept *is* given out on other calls? Do you receive a > 'call cannot be completed as dialed' message, or a rapid re-order tone, > or some other message, tones, etc? PAT] Pat, I think you missed the point ... it's good that the soft-dialtone phones can dial 611, because it's a pseudo-standard. Like you said, most areas use 611 for repair. However, it's bad that once you get real dialtone, 611 doesn't work anymore, and you have to dial some other number. How unnecessarily confusing! Your first experience with your new phone is "611 is for repair/service." The next time you have a problem, most likely you think, "611 is for repair" -- and it doesn't work. You probably get a recording or a reorder tone, and perhaps you have to find the phone book and look up the number, which probably isn't easy to remember. If the company is NOT going to use 611 for most repair calls, they shouldn't use it for soft-dialtone, either. That way, it won't be confusing, and it won't encourage new users to start out by learning the wrong number. Rochester Telephone is one of those companies that doesn't use the 611 standard. Instead, you need to dial 777-1611 -- 777 is RochTel's internal prefix, but until you play a few games of phone tag with the phone company, you probably won't realize that. :) At least they used "611" in the number ... but IMHO, they should've just used "611" to begin with. Rob Levandowski News Administrator and UNIX Technical Assistant, UNIX Group University of Rochester Computing Center -- Rochester, New York rlvd_cif@uhura.cc.rochester.edu [Opinions expressed are mine, not UR's.] ------------------------------ From: wollman@ginger.lcs.mit.edu (Garrett A. Wollman) Subject: Re: Bell Canada Tests "Soft" Dial Tone Date: 19 Sep 1995 15:15:09 GMT Organization: MIT Laboratory for Computer Science In article , Kevin Paul Herbert wrote: > [stuff about `soft dial tone' in USWEST land] My recollection is that NYNEX has been using this for at least three years (although they still called themselves "New England Telephone" at the time). Probably implementation varied depending on the kind and maintenance record of the switch. Certainly this was the case back in 1992 when I moved into a new apartment in Burlington, Vermont, and last year when I left there and came to Boston. The PAT asks: > By the way, what kind of intercept *is* given out on other calls? > Do you receive a 'call cannot be completed as dialed' message, or a > rapid re-order tone, or some other message, tones, etc? If this is an emergency, dial 9-1-1. If you would like to establish telephone service on this line, please call NYNEX customer service at NXX-XXXX. If you would like to speak to an operator, dial 0. (This is from memory, so the exact wording is probably wrong, but those were the three choices given out.) Garrett A. Wollman wollman@lcs.mit.edu Opinions not those of MIT, LCS, ANA, or NSA ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #390 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa06138; 20 Sep 95 2:13 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id RAA19928 for telecomlist-outbound; Tue, 19 Sep 1995 17:49:08 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id RAA19920; Tue, 19 Sep 1995 17:49:06 -0500 Date: Tue, 19 Sep 1995 17:49:06 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Message-Id: <199509192249.RAA19920@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #391 TELECOM Digest Tue, 19 Sep 95 17:49:00 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 391 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers (Juergen Ziegler) Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers (David H. Close) Voice Compression on T1s (Jim McGrath) Erlang Traffic Engineering Software (Rob Clark) Wanted: Fixed Network Planning Tools (Martien Kuunders) Re: War on Payphones (Paul Buder) Re: War on Payphones (David Adrian) Re: War on Payphones (Edmund C. Hack) Re: War on Payphones (Maurice R. Baker) Evidence for Switching LD Carriers (Larry Rubin) Modem Bridging (Christopher Rupnik) Gladwin COCOT Documentation Wanted (Matt Bancroft) Re: 1-800-555-1212 Blocking at State University Illegal? (John Romano) New Developments in AOL/FBI Case (John Sullivan) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily represent the views of Microsoft. ------------------------------------------------------------ Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 19 Sep 95 11:24 MET From: juergen@jojo.sub.de (Juergen Ziegler) Subject: Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers Organization: Private UUCP Site, Buehl (Baden), Germany Christian Weisgerber (naddy@mips.pfalz.de) wrote: > Recently, comp.dcom.telecom has seen some talk on the viability of > variable length phone numbers within a country (or any specific > network, for that matter). Many posters, especially those from North > America, insist on their belief that phone numbers have to be of > constant length, otherwise one must have timeouts etc. > First, let me state that I see *no reason whatsoever* why there can't be > variable length phone numbers or why a switch would have to know the > total length of the number. If you think there is a need for such > restrictions, please explain why you think so. Your reasons are not > obvious. Well, you are right. But I think this discussion is rather technical. Besides the different requirements for the signalling systems between a fixed lenght and a variable lenght numbering system, there are obvious reasons in favour of a fixed length numbering system. If you want to implement a fixed length numbering system in a network, then you have to take serious precautions in your design of the system into account. So in fact, you have to think quite seriously about the future number demand and other developments, that are crucial to the design of such a numbering system. A variable lenght numbering system on the other hand, does not require such emphasis on those considerations. Well, you just start to assign numbers, and if the available numbering space is completely used, then you have to do changes to the current numbers. In Germany this is usually done by adding some digits to a current number. Such changes usually create additional cost to the network operator, and the subscribers dont like such changes at all. Therefore a fixed length numbering system has major advantages as the need to change any numbers is rather low. Then, in the long term, fixed length numbering system tend to have shorter numbers in average than variable length numbering systems. This is true for Germany. Germany in fact has a total population of 80 millions, and there are 11 digit numbers in use. Well, those long numbers are still rather seldom to find, but Telekom seems to use such long numbers nowadays on a regular bases. On the other side, the world zone 1, which incorporates the USA, Canada and some Caribbean countries, has just 10 digit phone numbers. But the world zone 1 has a total population of nearly 300 millions. Therefore it should be asked, how such a large population can be served using just 10 digit numbers, wheras on the other hand, Germany with a significantly smaller population needs 11 digit numbers in some places? I think the answer is rather simple. As I stated earlier, there is no need to define such a numbering system rather precisely. Instead you may add and add and add digits to accomodate the "need" of local numbers. But as there is no general outline or design structure available, such systems tend to use the theoretcial numbering space quite inefficiently. Local aministrations will usually start to assign short numbers. And if it will become obvious, that such short numbers will not suffice the upcoming demand, then you have to introduce longer numbers. And whats even worse, most German local numbers are not just rather short, they are in fact way too short! The German city of Karlsruhe has a population of around 200'000. If you consider a large number of businesses that have a high demand for DID numbers, then the minimum length should be 6 digits. Well, but in that city there are also 5 digit numbers. And on the other side, Telekom has also assigned 7 and 8 digits numbers. If you add the local area code to such a 8 digit number, then you end up with 11 digits, which does not include the leading 0 to initiate an area code prefixed call. So if you want to reach someone in Karlsruhe, then you may have to dial more digits, than to reach any subscriber in a large US metro area. One of the reasons for this inefficient use of phone numbers are DID numbers. Most companies in Germany have DID lines. If you want to reach the extension 123 you could dial 6454-123. But if you want to reach the company's operator then you just dial 6454-0. As a result of this -0 number, you "waste" 99 phone numbers. If you do this rather often, then you will even waste hundreds of millions of phone numbers. Another major design flaw of variable length phone numbers that will become obvious is the introduction of different long distance and local networks. This design flaw aroses from the fact, that local numbers have no "structure" or no structure that can be easily predicted. But this will become neccessary to allow in local networks an efficient routing. The way this is done in the USA is rather simple. Any local network operator can get portions of 10'000 phone numbers. Such a portion consists of a 3 digit prefix and 4 digit numbering space from 0000 to 9999. For the routing the fixed length of the prefix will work extremely well, as you may add any number of such prefixes to a routing table, even if those prefixes are used "chaotic". So a nearly unlimited number of local operators may get such a compact portion of phone numbers. This allows an efficient distribution of phone numbers, and there is a single and simple routing possible, as the number of significant digits for the routing in a phone number is limited to 3 digits. But fixed length phone numbers have also a very obvious advantage for the subscribers. Because you always know, if a number is complete or not. In a variable length numbering system, you will never be able to tell, if the number is complete, as within the country, or even within a city, there are shorter or longer numbers in use. For me it seems obvious that in the long run, all major countries will implement fixed length numbering systems. Juergen Ziegler * juergen@jojo.sub.de * 77815 Buehl (Baden) * Germany ------------------------------ From: dhclose@alumni.caltech.edu (David H. Close) Subject: Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers Date: 19 Sep 1995 06:53:30 GMT Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena lincmad@netcom.com (Linc Madison) writes: > Within the North American phone system, telephone numbers must be of an > easily predictable length. There are quite a few variable-length phone numbers presently in use in North America. These are found in automated attendant systems which prompt a caller to enter the extension of the person desired. The difficulty is, of course, that the additional digits cannot be entered until the call is answered and the automaton is ready. What would it take for an originating switch to accept digits beyond those it figures are necessary to complete the call, buffer them, and then transmit them after the call is supervised? If the called party was not an automaton, the tones might be slightly annoying to a human, but not an insurmountable obstacle. If the caller didn't enter extra digits when they were needed, he would still be prompted as today. Wouldn't a scheme like this make it possible to effectively move to variable-length numbers without a need to alter the fundamental character- istics of the system? Later, after everyone got used to the new technique, real variable-length numbers could be introduced transparently. Of course, companies which advertise vanity numbers of more than seven characters might have some problems... Dave Close, Compata, Costa Mesa CA "Politics is the business of getting dave@compata.com, +1 714 434 7359 power and privilege without dhclose@alumni.caltech.edu possessing merit." - P. J. O'Rourke ------------------------------ From: Jim_McGrath@gw.pps.com (Jim McGrath) Subject: Voice Compression on T1s Date: 19 Sep 1995 18:21:45 GMT Organization: PrePress Solutions I would like to hear from anyone with experience using voice compression techniques in T1 muxes. I need as much of the bandwidth of my T1s as possible for data, but had to cost-justify the T1s by including reductions in voice telco expenses. I will probably be using Newbridge muxes (3600 & 3624), which seem to support a voice-path at as low as 8kbps. Although it leaves more for data, I'm concerned about degraded quality. Of 8, 16 or 32kbps, I'm sure 32 is the least objectionable for the telemarketing people who will be on the phones, but what kind of quality might I expect? Are there other mux vendors who provide better quality at low bandwidths? mark ------------------------------ From: clark@iinet.net.au (Rob Clark) Subject: Erlang Traffic Engineering Software Date: 19 Sep 1995 11:55:30 GMT Organization: Wantree Development Anyone interested in finding some software to do Erlang type traffic engineering calculations? If so - please checkout http://www.iinet.net.au/~clark ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 19 Sep 1995 11:22:56 GMT From: m.m.l.kuunders@research.ptt.nl (Martien Kuunders) Subject: Wanted: Fixed Network Planning Tools Organization: KPN Research, The Netherlands I'm trying to get an overview of the fixed telecom network planning tools which are on the market. These are tools (generally PC or workstation based) which, given certain traffic needs, costs, and other restrictions, determine (semi)automatically the number of switches needed, positions of the switches, and transmission capacity needed between the switches. If you know the names and/or the suppliers of such tools, I'd appreciate it if you'd let me know. M. Kuunders, m.m.l.kuunders@research.ptt.nl, +31-703326049 ICBM 52.05N 4.24E- KPN Research, P.O. Box 421, 2260 AK Leidschendam, The Netherlands ---------- ------------------------------ From: paulb@teleport.com (Paul Buder) Subject: Re: War on Payphones Date: 19 Sep 1995 17:43:15 -0700 Organization: Teleport - Portland's Public Access (503) 220-1016 In coyne@thing1.cc.utexas.edu writes: > What difference does it make to drug dealers whether or not they can > use the key pad? I am not a drug dealer myself, and I do not have any > friends in that trade, but I am quite curious about this. For pagers. The dealers don't need them, their customers do. They dial the dealer's pager and the dealer calls them back. And your average street junkie probably isn't going to Radio Shaft to buy a tone device -- at least until that becomes the only way to make the call. paulb@teleport.COM Not affiliated with teleport. ------------------------------ From: cyd@rmii.com (David Adrian) Subject: Re: War on Payphones Date: 19 Sep 1995 01:25:41 GMT Organization: Second Law Incoporated In article , coyne@thing1.cc.utexas.edu says: > What is there in the basic procedure of dealing drugs as practiced in > high crime or any other area that makes it telecommunication > dependent? I can see that you have to have a phone for carriage trade [...] > vital to their trade? Somebody please enlighten me. Okay, since you asked nicely -- Pagers. adrian ------------------------------ From: echack@crl.com (Edmund C. Hack) Subject: Re: War on Payphones Date: 15 Sep 1995 08:54:16 -0700 Organization: CRL Network Services (415) 705-6060 [Login: guest] In article , wrote: > In article henry@q.com (henry mensch) writes: >>> I called the telco to complain and they explained to me that this was >>> done purposely because that telephone is in "a high-crime area". So > This attribution looks wrong, but it does not matter. > What difference does it make to drug dealers whether or not they can > use the key pad? I am not a drug dealer myself, and I do not have any > friends in that trade, but I am quite curious about this. > What is there in the basic procedure of dealing drugs as practiced in > high crime or any other area that makes it telecommunication > dependent? The drug and prostitution trade is heavily dependent on the use of pagers and cell phones. For example, if you call your local dealer, Bill, for a delivery, he pages a runner to make the delivery. The runner, who may be a juvenile (won't do time that way), picks up the drugs, makes the delivery and returns with the cash. Or he may just make the delivery to an intermediary who then delivers to you. Again, all this is coordinated via pagers and/or cell phones. In the sex trade, if you call an "escort service" or a "nude maid service", the dispatcher calls a girl in via pager. If you make a streetcorner deal with a pimp, he coordinates his men or women via pagers. Here in Houston, the "war on payphones" has taken two tacks. At some locations (mainly convenience stores) the payphones are disabled at night. At other locations, the payphones are blocked from calling pager and/or cellular phone exchanges. Since they started doing this, I haven't noticed a great decrease in the drug or sex for pay trade, but it sure makes the Telco and the Stop-N-Rob corporations look as if they are doing something. Edmund Hack echack@crl.com Houston, TX ------------------------------ From: Maurice.R.Baker@att.com Subject: Re: War on Payphones Reply-To: mrbaker@hodcs.att.com (Maurice R. Baker) Organization: AT&T Bell Labs Date: Tue, 19 Sep 1995 20:02:01 GMT > What difference does it make to drug dealers whether or not they can > use the key pad? I am not a drug dealer myself, and I do not have any > friends in that trade, but I am quite curious about this. I suspect that one big use is to interact with paging services, in order to activate their cohort's pagers/display a callback number/etc. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I have a pager here from Mobile Comm, which is a Bell South Company. It is the brand being sold by Radio Shack in this part of the country at the present time. Although you can use a touch tone phone to send a message to the display window, you can also just use it as a signal for an answering machine. If someone calls from a rotary phone or a phone where the touch tones have been disabled, all they need to do is dial the number and leave a message anyway. In that case, the pager shows its own number in the display. So, it requires an extra phone call: one to call voicemail and see who left the message and a second call to the actual person calling. I don't think that would be any big extra problem for a drug dealer. PAT] ------------------------------ From: larry@access.digex.net (Larry Rubin) Subject: Evidence for Switching LD Carriers Date: 19 Sep 1995 16:43:24 -0400 Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, MD USA I am trying to find out what is considered ample evidence that the LD company has authorization to switch someone's LD service to them. I get a lot of calls from LD carriers wanting to switch my service, and they say they can do it over the phone, that there is nothing to sign. Do they record these calls? What steps do they take to protect themselves against accusations of slamming? Larry Rubin larry@access.digex.net N3QGH +1-500-OSSUARY [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I think their rate of return for legitimate orders versus slamming accusations is good enough they don't care if a few bogus orders go through now and then. They are far more interested in making it as easy as possible for new customers who want to use their service than they are in protecting the rights of customers of other services slammed in error. If they get hundreds of new customers over some period of time via phone call solicitation versus a couple of bad ones, its easier to settle with the bad ones. Remember the door-to-door encyclopedia salesmen of years ago? Are they still around? They had lists of which people in the community had school age children, and they tended to work in poorer, rural communities. As a sample, they had the *one* volume of their crummy twenty-five volume encyclopedia which had a picture in it; a nice glossy photo of President Roosevelt. They went door to door taking orders with their gimmick being you were selected by the publishers to get the entire encyclopedia for free; all you have to do is purchase the annual updates for the next ten years. If you said you would take the free enclycopedia but were not interested in the updates then the salesman 'questioned' whether or not he wanted to leave such valuable books at the home of someone who 'did not care enough' to keep them up to date. They appealed to very poor minority parents who in all fairness wanted the best education for their children they could have. Needless to say, plenty of poor, uneducated people fell for the gimmick and signed papers committing to how much they would pay each month on the annual updates, which after ten years came to *four times* the price of a good, recognized encyclopedia set. The set of books would show up by parcel post a few days later and the paperwork was sent to Chicago where it was processed by 'the loan company which lent you the money to purchase the books for your children'. The first thing the 'loan company' did was verify the order. You see, the door-do-door sales people were these young guys -- social dropouts for the most part -- who were not above lying and misrepresenting the product they were selling. And the 'loan company' had a woman do the verifying who taped the entire conversation. Originally they had not done that but the stinks to the Federal Trade Commission and others got so bad about door-to-door salespeople in general (this was 1950-60's) that the FTC and other government agencies cracked down hard. They made all the 'acceptance companies' (that is, the companies which forwarded the money to the salesmen then tried to collect it from the salesmen's customer/suckers) *prove without a doubt* that their orders were legal and in fact existed. The verifier was completely honest, although deceptive in her choice of words. She told the people she was calling to verify their decision to 'accept the wonderful free gift the publisher was making available to school children in the community' and how much it would cost each month for the 'free gift'. She told them she was tape recording the conversation, and asked their approval to do so (which was also on the tape.) Remember, she was speaking with awfully dumb people to begin with. At the close of the verification conversation she would thank them 'for allowing me to tape record this as we have been speaking so there will not be any errors in the way your order is handled.' And six months or so later, when the order invariably went to the loan company's collection agency (same people just wearing different hats and using other phone lines) the recipients of the free encyclopedia would insist they did not know why they were getting letters and phone calls from collectors for a 'loan company in Chicago' that 'we don't owe any money to.' Meanwhile, the salesmen were busy selling their books at another town somewhere, staying in a sleazy motel for a few days while they milked all the suckers there before moving on. PAT] ------------------------------ From: chrisr@speedware.com (Christopher Rupnik) Subject: Modem Bridging Date: Tue, 19 Sep 1995 11:58:19 -0400 Organization: Speedware Research and Development Is it possible to bridge using modems? I would like to be able to bridge netbeui/appletalk/ipxspx and tcp/ip over a normal modem line. I currently use ISDN lines and Ascend Pipeline 50's to do this, but of course this is a bit expensive. Is there any software that will allow me to do that? Thanks, Chris Rupnik chrisr@speedware.com Speedware Corp. 514-337-5007 ------------------------------ From: bancroft@cis.umassd.edu (Matt Bancroft) Subject: Gladwin COCOT Documentation Needed Date: 19 Sep 1995 13:51:29 GMT Organization: University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Where can I obtain programming instructions for a Gladwin Customer Owned Coin Operated Telephone model number G05225. The phone has a manufacture date of September, 1985. The last adress I can find for Gladwin is: Gladwin Old Oakwood Rd. Oakwood, Georgia 30566 (404)536-6023 Neither the above telphone number or address appear to be valid. Matt Bancroft bancroft@cis.umassd.edu [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: As I recall, that paticular model was one of the first in their series. Programming was rather easy. You take the modular cord that normally plugs into the phone line and you plug it into an AC electric line instead for five minutes. This allows the circuit board to get properly burned in so you can then install the new code ... when you see a little bit of smoke start to come up from the circuit board and a peculiar odor is in the air then you know the circuit board has been properly modified. Now you take it outside your house, probably in an alley somewhere and you set it down and walk away. Come back in a couple days and if it is still sitting there and has not been too badly cannibalized or de-gutted by junk collectors who walk through alleys at night looking in trash cans then it should be ready for use. grin ... I don't know where those people are now located and I am not sure I would tell you if I did! Those are the devil's instruments if ever I saw any! Maybe some reader knows something. PAT] ------------------------------ From: John Romano Subject: Re: 1-800-555-1212 Blocking at State University Illegal? Date: 19 Sep 1995 21:36:00 GMT Organization: The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory tedwards@Glue.umd.edu (Thomas Grant Edwards) wrote: > University of Maryland College Park currently blocks 1-800-555-1212. > Some students have claimed that this is illegal, is this true? Unless the routing was changed in the past two months, 800-555-1212 should not be blocked from student phones (I went to great pains to program the campus PBXs to not block this number). There will be some phones it will not work from: courtesy phones, etc. that are restricted to campus only calling. As far as whether its 'illegal' or not; the University, because it is considered an 'aggegator' by FCC ruling, had to open equal access for dorm resident phones. For those phones it might be ... for other phones provided for University employees I doubt its any more illegal than it is for any other company to restrict access to certain numbers. John Romano Telecommunications Engineer JHU/Applied Physics Laboratory Eyes: smiley@aplcomm.jhuapl.edu Ears: (301) 953-6061 :-) ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 19 Sep 95 17:16:32 PDT From: John Sullivan Subject: New Developments in AOL/FBI Case I now have copies of two of the criminal complaints filed against AOL users arrested in the operation. Granted, this is only two cases out of 12 arrests and a lot of search warrants. However, neither mentions AOL monitoring mail or listening in on chat rooms. In one case actual files, NOT random unwarranted assertions, were forwarded to the FBI by a confidential informant. The complaint describes this person as a "concerned citizen" who has been cooperating with the FBI for about 12 months and makes it clear that he or she is not a suspect in any criminal matter. There is certainly no shortage of such concerned citizens who would be willing to forward things they came across to authorities. Several of them testified before Congress when they were doing hearings on the CDA and the Dole/Grassley Bill. One had been collecting images and reporting the senders to AOL for quite some time and was frustrated that no action seemed to be taking place. I have no difficulty whatsoever believing that this individual would gladly collect information for an FBI operation designed to put it to a stop. In the other case, the images were obtained by an FBI agent who went into a chat room posing as a 15 year old boy and had images sent to him directly from the suspect. In both cases, the only mentioned involvement on the part of AOL is that AOL under subpoena, gave the FBI the user profile of the two screen names. This included the actual name of the account holder, his AOL account number, account status, mailing address and telephone numbers, and other screen names associated with that account. The FBI went on to check telephone records to confirm that calls were being placed from the suspect's phone number to AOL dialup numbers, as well as other odd bits of data. In one case they confirmed what kind of car the suspect drove in some way that wasn't mentioned. They also checked install dates for telephone and electric service - presumably to prove that the AOL profile information was correct before obtaining search warrants. Say what you will about any of this, but it seems clear that AOL was involved as little as possible, responding to subpoenas with information which was not derived from monitoring of protected communications. Nor is there any evidence of an AOL "enemies list" of suspected child pornographers. More may come to light as other filings become available, but for now (gall me though it may to defend AOL) it seems clear that Pat's take on what happened is not supported by the facts. John Sullivan contributing editor Internet Week sullivan@interramp.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Would you mind sharing those criminal complaints with us? Are they by chance about the two fellows here in this area who were among the twelve charged? I know it will be a lot of typing unless you can scan it in, but I am sure readers would like to see them. Thanks. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #391 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa24662; 21 Sep 95 18:45 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id JAA28870 for telecomlist-outbound; Thu, 21 Sep 1995 09:55:08 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id JAA28862; Thu, 21 Sep 1995 09:55:05 -0500 Date: Thu, 21 Sep 1995 09:55:05 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Message-Id: <199509211455.JAA28862@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #392 TELECOM Digest Thu, 21 Sep 95 09:55:00 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 392 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Netscape SSL Implementation Has Been Cracked (John Shaver) Netscape Security Breach (James E. Bellaire) Netscape Encryption Bug (John R. Levine) Speaking of Netscape Encryption (John R. Levine) Re: Netscape Secure Connection Technology Hacked! (Juha Veijalainen) Re: Netscape Secure Connection Technology Hacked! (leob@netcom.com) Re: Netscape Secure Connection Technology Hacked! (Brian Brown) Re: Netscape Secure Connection Technology Hacked! (Keith R. Watson) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily represent the views of Microsoft. ------------------------------------------------------------ Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 20 Sep 95 12:41:23 MST From: John Shaver Subject: Netscape SSL Implementation Has Been Cracked -------------- Forwarded ----------- From: chas@mercury.sfsu.edu at WOODY Date: 9/19/95 9:46PM To: John Shaver at E.M.E.T.F. This little article found its way into the New York Times today. Funny to see it on the Internet as well ... although, that's where The Times got its story. Charles. On Tue, 19 Sep 1995, Keith Bostic wrote: Forwarded-by: Wendell Craig Baker There are NYT and WSJ articles on the SSL cracking issue today (6/19/95). First is the original letter. Following that are some comments by Tim May explaining the strategy behind this social protest activity. To: Cypherpunks From: Ian Goldberg Subject: Netscape SSL implementation cracked! Date: Sun, 17 Sep 1995 21:41:01 -0700 (PDT) As some of you may recall, a few weeks ago I posted a reverse-compilation of the random number generation routine used by netscape to choose challenge data and encryption keys. Recently, one of my officemates (David Wagner ) and I (Ian Goldberg ) finished the job of seeing exactly how the encryption keys are picked. What we discovered is that, at least on the systems we checked (Solaris and HP-UX), the seed value for the RNG was fairly trivial to guess by someone with an account on the machine running netscape (so much so that in this situation, it usually takes less than 1 minute to find the key), and not too hard for people without accounts, either. See below for details. I've included the header to a program we wrote to do this key-cracking below. I would like to get some information, though: o Where should I put the full source (1 file, ~12k) so that ITAR lovers don't get mad at me? o Where can I find a version of netscape that does RC4-128? It is likely that it suffers from the same problem, and even a brute-force search of the entire seed space is _much_ less than 128 bits. Happy hacking, - Ian "who just saw _Hackers_ today with some other Bay Area cypherpunks, and it put me in the mood" /* unssl.c - Last update: 950917 Break netscape's shoddy implementation of SSL on some platforms (tested for netscape running RC4-40 on Solaris and HP-UX; other Unices are probably similar; other crypt methods are unknown, but it is likely that RC4-128 will have the same problems). The idea is this: netscape seeds the random number generator it uses to produce challenge-data and master keys with a combination of the time in seconds and microseconds, the pid and the ppid. Of these, only the microseconds is hard to determine by someone who (a) can watch your packets on the network and (b) has access to any account on the system running netscape. Even if (b) is not satisfied, the time can often be obtained from the time or daytime network daemons; an approximation to the pid can sometimes be obtained from a mail daemon (the pid is part of most Message-ID's); the ppid will usually be not much smaller than the pid, and has an higher than average chance of being 1. Clever guessing of these values will in all likelihood cut the expected search space down to less than brute-forcing a 40-bit key, and certainly is less than brute-forcing a 128-bit key. Subsequent https: connections after the first (even to different hosts) seem to _not_ reseed the RNG. This makes things much easier, once you've broken the first message. Just keep generating 16 bytes of random numbers until you get the challenge-data for the next message. The next key will then be the 16 random bytes after that. main() and bits of MD5Transform1 by Ian Goldberg and David Wagner . The rest is taken from the standard MD5 code; see below. This code seems to want to run on a big-endian machine. There may be other problems as well. This code is provided as-is; if it causes you to lose your data, sleep, civil liberties, or SO, that's your problem. #include On the command line, give the time in seconds, the pid, the ppid and the SSL challenge data (each byte in hex, separated by some non-hex character like a colon) of the _first_ SSL message generated by the instance of netscape. This program will search through the microsecond values. You may need to run it again with a slightly different value for the seconds, depending on how accurately you know the time on the system running netscape. The output will be the master key (all 16 bytes; note you never even told the program the 11 bytes you knew) and the value for the microseconds that produced it. As a benchmark, this code runs in just under 25 seconds real time (for an unsuccessful search through 1<<20 values for the microseconds) on an unloaded HP 712/80. */ To: Cypherpunks Date: Mon, 18 Sep 1995 21:34:23 -0700 From: tcmay@got.net (Timothy C. May) Subject: NSA and Netscape Crack (Re: NYT on Netscape Crack) At 3:00 AM 9/19/95, John Young wrote: > The New York Times, September 19, 1995, pp. A1, D21. > Security Flaw Is Discovered In Software Used in Shopping > By John Markoff > The discovery is the second reported security weakness in > the Netscape program to be posted on the Cypherpunks list > in the last month. In August, Damien Doligez, a student at Seriously, where's the NSA when you really need 'em? If the "flaws" are being found by our group, as John notes, just what is the NSA doing in the _second_ role it is supposed to have, it's "COMSEC," or communications security, role? (Note: As outlined by Bamford, and others, the Agency has a dual role: penetrating communications it is chartered to penetrate, and helping to secure communications it is chartered to help secure. Traditionally, the penetrating side is called SIGINT or COMINT, and the securing side is called COMSEC. The names may have changed by now.) Personally, I don't actually _want_ them vetting the work of others, but I think this whole series of events with Netscape makes it abundantly clear that the supposed "dual role" of the NSA in both breaking ciphers and in ensuring higher security is a farce. If the NSA had not found the flaws our two Berkeley grad students found, we've grossly overestimated them as a threat. And if they found the flaws but said nothing, what does this say about their claimed COMSEC benefits to American interests? (Granted, not all of us are Americans, but I think you understand my point about the NSA claiming it has a role, then doing nothing concrete, and even being misleading in its plans and programs.) If the NSA _really_ wants to really help secure communications against fraud, eavesdroppers, and foreign intelligence agencies, it can do so by immediately relaxing the restrictions on crypto export. While this may not stop things like weak random number generators, it moves us to an era of "strong" crypto and away from the "toy" crypto the NSA seems to want us to have. I think, however, it's clear by now that they have little interest in helping to secure communications and that weak "toy" systems are their preference. Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Higher Power: 2^756839 | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders are just speed bumps on the information superhighway." ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 20 Sep 1995 23:04:58 -0500 From: James E. Bellaire Subject: Netscape Security Breach POTENTIAL VULNERABILITY IN NETSCAPE PRODUCTS NETSCAPE RESPONDING IMMEDIATELY TO UPGRADE CUSTOMERS AND MINIMIZE RISK OF FUTURE THREATS During regular monitoring of Internet security newsgroups, Netscape has discovered a potential vulnerability in the current version of Netscape Navigator. Late Sunday evening, two U.C.-Berkeley students posted a message to the Internet detailing their efforts to reverse-engineer some security capabilities of Netscape Navigator. Their efforts revealed how the program generates session encryption keys, enabling them to replicate these keys with a moderate amount of computing power and decipher messages sent across the Internet. The potential vulnerability has since been confirmed by Netscape engineers. With this knowledge, an experienced computer programmer could decrypt messages sent by Netscape Navigator to other computers in a few hours of computation time. Netscape secure software has been in use for almost a year on the Internet by millions of customers and no thefts of actual customer information protected by our security have been reported - this posting on the Internet reported a potential vulnerability, not the actual theft of customer information. Netscape plans to address this vulnerability quickly by providing updated software as soon as possible via the Internet. An updated version of Netscape Navigator 1.1 for Mac OS and Unix and Netscape Navigator 1.2 for Windows 3.1 and Windows 95 will be available for downloading by existing customers on the Internet next week. In addition, Netscape Navigator 2.0, which was announced on September 18 and will be available next week in beta versions, includes this improvement as well as a number of additional security features. TECHNICAL BACKGROUND Current versions of Netscape Navigator use random information to generate session encryption keys of either 40 or 128 bits in length. The random information is found through a variety of functions that look into a user's machine for information about how many processes are running, process ID numbers, the current time in microseconds, etc. The current vulnerability exists because the size of random input is less than the size of the subsequent keys. This means that instead of searching through all the 2^128 possible keys by brute force, a potential intruder only has to search through a significantly smaller key space by brute force. This is substantially easier problem to solve because it takes much less compute time and means 40-bit or 128-bit key strength is substantially reduced. SOLUTION Netscape is already implementing a fix to the specific portion of our software where this vulnerability exists. We plan to address the problem by significantly increasing the amount of random information that cannot be discovered by external sources from approximately 30 bits to approximately 300 bits. In addition, the random information will be made much more difficult to replicate because we will greatly expand the techniques and sources used to generate the random information. Once this improvement is made, protection of the random information will be as strong as the rest of the security built into Netscape Navigator. Netscape has also begun to engage an external group of world-class security experts who will review our solution to this problem before it is sent to customers. These experts will validate Netscape's solution and insure that it is complete and effective in solving this vulnerability. The group will be used on an ongoing basis to work with Netscape's internal security experts to review the design and implementation of security in Netscape's products and to provide an additional measure of assurance that these products implement the highest levels of security possible. This discovery does not affect the strength or security of SSL (Secure Sockets Layer), RC4, or any other portions of our security implementations. The fix will restore Netscape security across all products to the true 40-bit level for export and true 128-bit level for U.S. customers intended before this discovery. Current versions of Netscape Navigator should be replaced with updated versions that will be made available next week. The risk of vulnerability is significantly less on the Netscape Commerce Server, particularly if administrative access to the computer is restricted. Netscape will nevertheless issue a patch for all its Commerce Server customers. UPDATING CUSTOMERS Netscape will provide the fix for export (40-bit) versions of Netscape Navigator next week for downloading by customers on the Internet. Similarly, the Commerce Server patch for export versions (40-bit) will be made available from our home page. Because downloading from the Internet of 128-bit versions of the software is still not permitted by U.S. law, U.S. customers of Netscape Navigator, Netscape Navigator Personal Edition, and Netscape Commerce Server using 128-bit versions can request the replacement from Netscape for delivery through the regular mail. For additional information or replacements for 128-bit versions of software that you have already purchased, please call the Netscape Replacement Desk at 415/528-3600, email replace@netscape.com, or contact your existing Netscape representative directly. We will inform you immediately when the updated software is available for download. Find out more about Netscape at info@netscape.com, or call 415/528-2555. Copyright 1995 Netscape Communications Corporation ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Sep 1995 22:46:10 -0400 From: John R Levine Subject: Netscape Encryption Bug According to published reports, Netscape's encryption software contains a very well known security bug. It generates a key using a "random number" generator routine. I use the quotes because typical library routines are not in fact very random. Using this knowledge a couple of students were able to narrow down the possible keys enough to test and break them in a minute or two. This same bug occurred on Unix systems probably 20 years ago when someone had the bright idea to generate random passwords for their Unix users to prevent them from using common words and other known bad passwords. Unfortunately, the random number generator they used was so poor that there were only 4096 different passwords generated, which made it easy to find them all by enumeration. Netscape says they'll have a bugfix version of their browser out in a few days. This points out that for all its enormous stock market valuation, Netscape is a very small company with bright but not terribly sophisticated employees. I still use their browser, but I'd short their stock like crazy if I could. Regards, John R. Levine, Trumansburg NY Primary perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies" and Information Superhighwayman wanna-be ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Sep 1995 22:54:44 -0400 From: John R Levine Subject: Speaking of Netscape Encryption I got a press release today that said that Cylink had won its patent suit against RSA, and the court agreed that RSA had infringed Cylink's patents on public key encryption. The release was from Netmanage, Inc., who sell the popular Chameleon TCP/IP suite. It alluded to Netscape's security problems, and then said: "NetManage and CYLINK, along with other major software and hardware developers, will be announcing next week the release of a publicly available security implementation which allows for 'plug & play' interoperability for users of Internet security, and the endorsement of protocol extensions which improve the reliability of current proposed Internet security standards. This open implementation will not lock software or hardware developers into the use of encryption technology from any one vendor." Netmanage has done some other open interfaces in the past, e.g. the one that people use for Windows ISDN TCP/IP connections. Regards, John R. Levine, Trumansburg NY Primary perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies" and Information Superhighwayman wanna-be ------------------------------ From: Juha Veijalainen Subject: Re: Netscape Secure Connection Technology Hacked! Date: 20 Sep 1995 19:27:08 GMT M. Troutman wrote: > I heard that a couple students broke the Netscape secure connection > technology ... it was on the newswire at 2:00am last night. Anyone > heard the full story yet? > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Nothing on it yet here other than the > newswire report you mention. Please -- anyone with details on this -- > bring us up to date as soon as you can. PAT] You'll find more information at http://www.brute.cl.cam.ac.uk/brute/ If I've understood correctly, they've broken the 40 bit 'secure' system -- the only one that is allowed to be used internationally. I could be wrong, though. This news has been around for a while -- at least a month. There's been a lot of discussion on this, for example in 'comp.risks' Juha Veijalainen (Helsinki, Finland) ------------------------------ From: leob@netcom.com Subject: Re: Netscape Secure Connection Technology Hacked! Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Wed, 20 Sep 1995 21:58:30 GMT There is an update on that at http:/www.netscape.com/, but in brief Netscape used too little random info to generate the key; about 30 random bits to generate 40- or 128-bit key. Of course, once they knew that, by reverse engineering (I suspect by looking at the stolen source code rather than by disassembling) they were able to run the exhaustive search of 2^30 possible keys instead of 2^40 or 2^128. So the problem is _NOT_ in the Connection Technology, but in Netscape itself. The fix will be quite easy as well - just add more randomness. Leo PS. Imagine an automatic system that chooses an ATM password for you (to make it "more random"). The password will be 6-digits, but the system only asks for your age and sex to generate the password, and does not use any more random info. You bet, there won't be much more than 140 different passwords. Similarly for Netscape: they allegedly used the current time (in seconds, that is, about 15 random bits if the exact time of the transaction is not known, but the date is known; much less otherwise), and the process ID (about 15 random bits in UNIX, no randomness in DOS/Windows). ------------------------------ From: bfbrown@csn.net (Brian Brown) Subject: Re: Netscape Secure Connection Technology Hacked! Date: 20 Sep 1995 09:43:39 -0600 Organization: Colorado SuperNet, Inc. Today's {Denver Post} got a hold of this story and attempted an "ordinary person" explanation. What it looks like is that two grad students, whose names I cannot remember but were published in the article, were able to narrow down the key netscape automatically creates because it was derived from an apparently fairly trivial algorithm based upon time, network address, and some other easy-to-figure-out stuff. It looks like they narrowed it to within a range they could provide to an application they wrote, which would then take the encrypted sequence and figure it out within a minute or two. OOPS - I guess Netscape didn't allocate enough of thier multi-billion dollar influx to testing their security algorithms ... BB ------------------------------ From: keith.watson@gtri.gatech.edu (Keith R. Watson) Subject: Re: Netscape Secure Connection Technology Hacked! Date: 21 Sep 1995 12:04:07 GMT Organization: GTRI/AIST Check out the Webster article at: it has a good bit of detailed information. Keith R. Watson GTRI/AIST Computer Services Specialist IV Georgia Institute of Technology keith.watson@gtri.gatech.edu Atlanta, GA 30332-0816 404-853-0836 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #392 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa25025; 21 Sep 95 19:18 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id KAA29941 for telecomlist-outbound; Thu, 21 Sep 1995 10:14:07 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id KAA29932; Thu, 21 Sep 1995 10:14:04 -0500 Date: Thu, 21 Sep 1995 10:14:04 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Message-Id: <199509211514.KAA29932@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #393 TELECOM Digest Thu, 21 Sep 95 10:14:00 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 393 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson ATT Splits Into Three Parts (M. Troutman) AT&T Breakup Costs 8,500 Jobs (James E. Bellaire) Split of Area Code 216 Announced (LDDSGUY@aol.com) Book Review: "What's On the Internet" by Gagnon (Rob Slade) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily represent the views of Microsoft. ------------------------------------------------------------ Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: M. Troutman Subject: ATT Splits Into Three Parts Date: 20 Sep 1995 15:12:13 GMT Organization: PSI Public Usenet Link Pulled off of ATT home page... Adele Ambrose 908-221-6900 aambrose@attmail.com Jim Byrnes 908-221-7876 jbyrnes@attmail.com Dick Gray 908-221-5057 ragray@attmail.com Jane Moulton 908-221-8422 jmoulton@attmail.com FOR RELEASE WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1995 AT&T announces major restructuring for 21st Century NEW YORK -- AT&T Chairman Robert E. Allen today announced plans for a strategic restructuring that would separate AT&T into three publicly traded, global companies. Allen said the company was taking this bold step to capitalize on the opportunities in each business' segment of the global information industry -- communications services, communications equipment, and transaction-intensive computing. Under the plan, AT&T shareowners would hold shares in each company. A fourth business -- AT&T Capital Corporation -- would be sold. The AT&T Board of Directors approved pursuing the restructuring plan at a special meeting this morning. AT&T hopes to complete all transactions by the end of 1996. "Changes in customer needs, technology and public policy are radically transforming our industry," said Allen. "We now see this restructuring as the next logical turn in AT&T's journey since divestiture. It will make AT&T's businesses more valuable to our shareowners, even more responsive to their customers, and better able to focus on the growth opportunities in their individual markets. "Under the plan announced today," Allen said, "one of the new companies would focus on providing the world's best `anytime, anywhere' communications and information services." Operating under the familiar "AT&T" brand name, the services company would consist of AT&T's current Communications Services Group, the AT&T Universal Card Services Corporation, the newly established AT&T Solutions consulting and systems-integration organization, and AT&T Wireless Services, formerly McCaw Cellular Communications. The company also plans to create an AT&T Laboratories unit around the core of Bell Laboratories people dedicated to research and development in communications services. In 1994, AT&T's services units had combined revenues of more than $49 billion, making them the world leader in the communications services market. "AT&T's product and systems businesses, along with world-renowned Bell Laboratories, would constitute a communications systems and technology company that would immediately be the global leader in its industry," said Allen. It would include AT&T's Network Systems Group, Global Business Communications Systems, Consumer Products, AT&T Paradyne and Microelectronics. In 1994, these businesses had total sales of approximately $20 billion. The new company, as yet unnamed, would be a powerful competitor in the fast-growing communications systems market. AT&T is considering an Initial Public Offering for approximately 15 percent of the shares of the new equipment company in the first half of 1996. "Our services and systems businesses are at the intersection of tremendous change and opportunity," said Allen. "This restructuring ensures that each can follow the path of greatest opportunity without worrying about bumping into each other along the way." The company's computer unit, AT&T Global Information Solutions, would be launched as an independent company by spinning it off to AT&T shareowners, following an aggressive turnaround effort also announced today. GIS Chairman and CEO Lars Nyberg is taking decisive action to create a smaller, more focused and swifter business. GIS will continue to develop, manufacture and market computer platforms for any industry, but will focus its unique capabilities on the three key industry segments where it has a leading position -- financial, retail and communications. "Lars Nyberg is the right leader to get our computer business back on track," said Allen. "His goal is to be world-class in a few targeted industry segments and in delivering high-quality computer platforms and services. I believe that's not only worth doing, but doable. GIS's customers and employees can count on AT&T's complete support during this transition." Nyberg assumed his post in June following a 20-year career at Philips Electronics NV, where he turned around that company's computer business. As part of its turnaround effort, GIS will halt manufacture of personal computers, ceasing distribution through value-added resellers and retail outlets. It will continue to offer customers personal computers as part of total solutions through an agreement with an outside supplier that it expects to announce soon. GIS will continue to support and service all its current hardware and software installations and will aggressively market its service capabilities to all industries. And it will continue to have a strong commercial relationship with Bell Laboratories. GIS -- which currently employs about 43,000 people in more than 120 countries -- also announced a major cost-cutting initiative that will lead to the elimination of approximately 8,500 jobs. AT&T will incur a one-time, pre-tax charge estimated at approximately $1.5 billion against third-quarter earnings to cover the costs of the GIS restructuring, reducing 1995 earnings by $1 billion, or 66 cents per share. Excluding this charge, AT&T said it continues to target earnings-per-share growth of at least 10 percent in 1995. In addition, AT&T plans to sell its remaining interest in AT&T Capital Corporation to the general public or to another company. AT&T holds in excess of 80 percent of Capital Corp. shares, having sold a minority interest to the general public in 1993. Capital Corp. is already one of the largest equipment leasing and financing companies in the United States. In 1994, it had revenues of approximately $1.4 billion and was profitable. Proceeds from the sale of Capital Corp. and from the initial public offering of the new equipment business will be used to retire current AT&T debt, giving each of the new businesses balance sheets appropriate to its industry. The company intends to adjust each business' capital structure to ensure that it has the flexibility to raise resources as it needs them. AT&T recognizes the importance of its relationship with its debt holders. The company said its ability to satisfy its obligations to its debt holders will not be impaired as a result of these transactions. AT&T said that each of the businesses it is establishing will have everything it needs to meet customers' needs. Each already has seasoned management and a productive work force. Each has significant global operations. The service, equipment and computer businesses each has the sophisticated systems-integration capabilities necessary to provide complete solutions to its set of customers. And, where it makes sense to partner in serving a customer's needs, the new businesses could establish commercial relationships with each other. "Our first priority throughout this transition period is to ensure that none of our businesses misses a beat on any customer commitment," Allen said. Financial details on the transactions will be released as they become available in accordance with securities regulations. AT&T, which currently has some 303,000 employees, said it is too early to estimate the exact employment impact of the planned restructuring. On the one hand, all three new companies will need additional resources to establish themselves as free-standing, independent companies. However, each company participates in a hotly competitive market and will continue to size its operations as efficiently as possible. On balance, it is likely that the combined new companies will have fewer employees than the present AT&T. The company said it will ensure that any employees dislocated by the restructuring will have access to job opportunities across the total corporation, as well as to a full range of assistance, ranging from job counseling to retraining. Allen, who will continue as chairman and CEO of the new AT&T, will chair a committee of senior AT&T executives to oversee the restructuring. The committee members are Hal Burlingame, senior vice president of Human Resources; Marilyn Laurie, senior vice president of Public Relations and Employee Communications; Rick Miller, executive vice president and chief financial officer, and John Zeglis, senior vice president and general counsel. Allen also appointed senior officers to lead the transition of each new company. They are: Alex J. Mandl, CEO of the Communications Services Group, for the communications services company; Richard A. McGinn, CEO of the Network Systems Group, for the systems and technology company; along with the incumbent CEOs of GIS, Lars Nyberg, and AT&T Capital Corporation, Thomas C. Wajnert. Allen said that the company's Board of Directors would name the permanent executive leadership at the appropriate time. All of these transactions are expected to be tax-free to shareowners. AT&T intends to seek rulings from the Internal Revenue Service with respect to the tax-free treatment of the transactions. While AT&T does not anticipate the need for regulatory, Department of Justice or decree court approvals, the company did call attention to the complexity of the issues to be resolved in the months ahead. For example, immediate disposition of AT&T's final 20 percent interest in AT&T Capital Corp. would require modifications to certain existing agreements. While AT&T is confident of its ability to resolve all these issues, there can be no guarantee that the restructuring plan will be implemented or that changes in the plan will not be made. The investment banking firm of Morgan Stanley and the law firm of Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz are serving as advisers to AT&T. Editors' Note: AT&T Chairman Robert E. Allen will hold a news conference at 2 p.m. EDT at AT&T's World Headquarters at 32 Avenue of the Americas in New York City. The news conference will also be available by teleconference. Reporters in the United States can call 1-800-260-0718 or 612-235-1623 from outside the U.S. Beginning at 5 p.m. EDT today, a rebroadcast of the news conference audio will be repeated for 48 hours at 1-800-475-6701 in the United States or 612-365-3844 from outside the U.S.; access code 602744. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 20 Sep 1995 20:20:34 -0500 From: James E. Bellaire Subject: AT&T Breakup Costs 8,500 Jobs >From : CNN - AT&T breakup - Sept. 20, 1995 AT&T to quit PC business, split into three companies Huge corporate breakup means loss of 8,500 jobs September 20, 1995 Web posted at: 11:35 a.m. EDT NEW YORK (CNN) -- Telecommunications giant AT&T announced a bold new strategy Wednesday, one that marks the biggest corporate breakup in history. In an effort to slash bloated budgets and focus on long-distance communications, AT&T said it will eliminate its personal computer business and divide into three separate companies. The move means the end of 8,500 jobs in AT&T's Global Information Solutions (GIS) unit, including 1,000 from the unit's Dayton, Ohio, headquarters. Overall, GIS employs some 43,000 people in more than 120 countries. The division's chairman described the restructuring as "painful." "The realities of declining margins and cost-cutting across the computer industry require us to take this step now, painful and difficult as it is," said Lars Nyberg, chairman and CEO of AT&T GIS. "We must dramatically reduce our costs to be competitive." Towards that goal, the AT&T powerhouse also announced the creation of three new companies, each to focus on a crucial market in the global information industry. Areas to be targeted include communications services, communications equipment and transaction-intensive computing, which is the main thrust of AT&T GIS. According to the strategy, AT&T shareholders will hold stock in each of the new companies. A remaining business, AT&T Capital Corp., will be sold. AT&T stock rose almost $5 a share immediately after the breakup was announced. Wednesday's announcement came just four years after AT&T entered the quickly evolving computer arena by acquiring NCR, which then form the center of the GIS division. And as a result of the decision to close up shop, the company will take another financial hit. AT&T must cough up a $1.5 billion pre-tax charge against earnings to cover the move. The company said the charge will be taken against third-quarter tax earnings. The end result: 1995 after-tax earnings will drop by around $1 billion, or 66 cents a share. AT&T said it will continue to offer personal computers as part of "total solutions," but will cease manufacturing and selling its own line. GIS expects to announce a new PC supplier soon. Copyright 1995 Cable News Network, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ------------------------------ From: LDDSGUY@aol.com Date: Wed, 20 Sep 1995 22:45:54 -0400 Subject: Split of Area Code 216 Announced NORTHEAST OHIO TO HAVE THREE AREA CODES CLEVELAND, Sept. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Northeast Ohio will soon have not one but three area codes as telecommunications companies add new phone numbers to accommodate rising demand. Under a two-stage plan announced today, the area now designated as area code 216 will be divided next year into a northern portion that will retain the 216 designation and a southern portion that will be assigned area code 330. In a second stage scheduled to take place in 1997-1998, the northern portion will be subdivided by introducing a second new area code. The number designation and geographic boundaries of this third Northeast Ohio area code have not yet been determined. Each new area code makes possible the addition of 792 three-digit prefixes that can be used to assign new seven-digit phone numbers. Each area code has a capacity of 7.8 million telephone numbers. In its current configuration, the 216 area code will reach capacity next year. The area code plan was developed by the Northeast Ohio telecommunications Industry Planning Group, whose 19 member companies provide local, long distance, cellular and paging services within the present 216 area code. The group has been working within the guidelines of the industry's North American Numbering Plan to develop practical plans to accommodate continuing demand for telephone numbers in Ohio's burgeoning Northeast quadrant. In developing its plan for Northeast Ohio, the industry group examined several alternative proposals and consulted with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio and with Bellcore, the New Jersey-based industry consortium that serves as national administrator of area code assignments. The Northeast Ohio group also weighed results of an extensive opinion research effort which asked consumers and representatives of large and small businesses to evaluate several alternative proposals. The two-phase plan emerged from this research as the clear choice of those surveyed. "We have been looking for the most practical and least disruptive way of meeting this area's needs for expanded communications capabilities, and we think this plan meets that challenge," said Regional Numbering Plan Administrator and Ameritech Manager Warren Mickens. "The companies within this industry group will be working hard for the next several months to make the introduction of these new area codes as smooth as possible for all their customers," Mickens said. To ease the transition to the new 330 area code, the industry will launch an optional dialing period during which calls to locations within the 330 area may be dialed using either the new 330 or the old 216 area code. This optional transition period will begin March 9, 1996, and will continue until the new dialing pattern becomes mandatory beginning on June 29, 1996. Conversion to mandatory dialing patterns will take approximately two weeks to accomplish. Phase II is scheduled to begin in June, 1997, with the introduction of a second new area code. This second new code will subdivide the 216 area code designated under Phase I. From late June 1997 through early January 1998, calls to locations affected by Phase II will be completed whether callers dial the 216 area code or new code yet to be designated. Use of the new Phase II area code is scheduled to become mandatory beginning in January 1998. An advisory panel comprised of Metropolitan Cleveland area civic leaders will provide input to the Industry Planning Group in establishing boundaries for the Phase II implementation. Implementation of this plan will not change the cost of placing or receiving calls. Existing customers will retain their present seven-digit numbers, even if their area code must change. In opting for the two-phase, three area code plan, the industry group considered several benefits only this plan will deliver to consumers, governmental agencies and businesses throughout Northeast Ohio. These benefits include: -- continuation of geography-based area code designations, -- maintaining seven-digit calling patterns for virtually all local calls, -- each telephone number will only experience a single area code change, -- a longer-lasting plan that will keep Northeast Ohio from running out of phone numbers for at least 10 years. Telecommunications companies serving Northeast Ohio will be working over the next several months to reconfigure their networks to accommodate new dialing patterns required by the new area codes. The companies advise that residential and business users of fax machines, pagers, cellular phones, computer modems, and pre-programmed speed dialers, telephone switchboards and security alarms will need to reprogram their equipment and should take advantage of the scheduled optional periods to do so. In addition, businesses and individuals will want to consider how best to revise advertising, stationery, signage and other items that carry complete phone numbers whose area codes will change under the plan. Telecommunications companies within the Northeast Ohio Industry Planning Group are designing communications programs to inform their customers about implementation procedures and to assist customers in making necessary changes at the appropriate times. The Industry Group consists of the following telecommunications companies: Airtouch Paging, ALLTEL, Ameritech, Ameritech Paging, Cellular One, Century Telephone, Conneaut Telephone, GTE Mobilnet, GTE North, MCI, Nextel, Orwell Telephone Pagenet, Pattersonville Telephone, Sprint Cellular, Sprint/United Telephone, USA Mobile, Wallace Data, Youngstown Cellular. /NOTE TO EDITORS: Free maps to accompany this story are available immediately via Wieck Photo Database to any media with telephoto receiver or electronic darkroom, PC or Macintosh, that can accept overhead transmissions. To retrieve the maps, please call 214-392-0888.//CONTACT: Kevin Donahue, Kathy Jeavons, or Hazel Rivera, of Dix & Eaton, 216-241-0405/ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 20 Sep 1995 00:16:00 EST From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "What's On the Internet" by Gagnon BKWHTINT.RVW 950806 "What's On the Internet", Gagnon, 1995, 1-56609-184-5, U$19.95/C$25.95 %A Eric Gagnon gagnon@interramp.com %C 2414 Sixth Street, Berkeley, CA 94710 %D 1995 %G 1-56609-184-5 %I Peachpit Press %O U$19.95/C$25.95, trish@peachpit.com, 510/548-4393, Fax: 510/548/5991 %P 366 %T "What's On the Internet" There should be a correction to this title. The book is *not* about "What's On the Internet," but rather, "What's On Usenet." Although some other Internet applications are mentioned (all the graphics in the book, for example, have been "ftp"ed from Internet sites), the central resource here is a listing, with descriptions, of 2200 of the 11,000 Usenet newsgroups available to the authors. The descriptive listings are divided into chapters on the Internet, business, politics, culture and philosophy, hobbies and travel, Clarinet, entertainment, science and education, computers and telecom, sports, local groups, and finishing with "Off the Wall, Singles and Adult". The listings contain a headline, group name, some description, possibly some sample subject lines and files available in the rtfm.mit.edu /pub/usenet directories. There is an alphabetical listing of the 11,000 newsgroups available to the authors, and a subject index. The decision as to what to include was based upon a minimum of ten messages posted over a three-day period. This makes for some interesting omissions. comp.risks, the Usenet news mirror of the RISKS-FORUM Digest, is missing, in spite of its being universally hailed as one of the best groups/lists on any topic. comp.binaries.ibm.pc wanted and comp.binaries.ibm.pc.d are there--but not comp.binaries.ibm.pc, the whole point of the exercise. (The newsgroup index is in error on this point.) Unless the group caught the author's attention, descriptions are limited to a single sentence, and seem to be primarily the author's interpretation of what the group *should* talk about. In almost every case of a newsgroup with which I am personally familiar, the description failed to catch the reality of the discussion. But then, what can you expect from someone who thinks that Bitnet is the predecessor of Usenet news, or that the Internet Protocol (IP) is what is used to organize and format newsgroups. The citations to the rtfm ftp site are helpful, but there is no explanation of the (arguably easier) mail server. There is little here to promote this work over descriptive lists such as Gene Spafford's (sarcasm and all), or even a simple review of newsgroup titles. However, it may be a helpful printed reference for those wanting a quick overview of the range of topics for Usenet news. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1994, 1995 BKWHTINT.RVW 950806. Distribution permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated publications. Rob Slade's book reviews are a regular feature in the Digest. DECUS Canada Communications, Desktop, Education and Security group newsletters Editor and/or reviewer ROBERTS@decus.ca rslade@vanisl.decus.ca DECUS Symposium '96, Vancouver, BC, Feb 26-Mar 1, 1996, contact: rulag@decus.ca ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #393 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa25622; 21 Sep 95 20:47 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id KAA01102 for telecomlist-outbound; Thu, 21 Sep 1995 10:51:31 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id KAA01092; Thu, 21 Sep 1995 10:51:28 -0500 Date: Thu, 21 Sep 1995 10:51:28 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Message-Id: <199509211551.KAA01092@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #394 TELECOM Digest Thu, 21 Sep 95 10:51:00 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 394 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Warning! Directory Assistance Imposter! (Lou Jahn) Re: Warning! Directory Assistance Imposter! (John Thompson) Re: Warning! Directory Assistance Imposter! (James G. Gorman) Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives (James E. Bellaire) Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives (John Levine) Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives (Steve Cogorno) Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives (Paul S. Sawyer) Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number (Martin McCormick) Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number (Stanley Ulbrych) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily represent the views of Microsoft. ------------------------------------------------------------ Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 21 Sep 95 11:03:31 EDT From: Lou Jahn <71233.2444@compuserve.com> Subject: Warning Directory Assistance Imposter In BKRON@NETCOM.COM's Spetmeber 19, 1995 Note-- He covered problems with Directory Assistance (DA) service via MCI. He assumes that using AT&T the caller is connected to Bell Operators. That is no longer the case even with AT&T. I've heard from reliable sources, that AT&T recently moved their 1-716-555-1212 traffic from NYNEX operators to an operator firm out in Phoenix,AZ. All of a sudden Rochester Tel began to get complaints from non-pub susbscribers asking why their telehpone number was being released through DA service. Guess what? It was not Rochester releasing them via 411 calls, but AT&T via their 1-716-555-1212 operations. Apparently the operator service AT&T now uses for 716-555-1212 (and their 1-900-555-1212) is using a non-RBOC database which in part comes from credit, DMV, etc. type records and includes normally non-pub numbers. However, people in good faith put them on their driver or car registrations. Once these are sold -- you are no longer non-pub. This leads to several questions: 1. If you contract for non-pub is with you local telephone company and they refuse to sell/lease their database, is the alternate DA service doing anything wrong in giving out your telephone number? 2. As Local Telephone competition arises -- will LEC's share their subscriber numbers with each other for 411 and directory purposes? You must view this question from the new-LEC point of view -- if you spent large sums of dollars to capture say 5,000 subsribers in any RBOC territory, would your next step be to turn your success list over to you major competition? A. If you think the many calls for your long distance business is a problem -- add potential calls from LECs seeking to serve you. B. If you were in competition with a bunch of new-LECs wouldn't you desire to understand which marketing programs work to get people to move off of your service (thus the new-LEC helps you market research for free giving you numbers)? 3. If new LECs don't provide their numbers to a 411 service -- how do you find a telephone number? Call each LEC? Years ago California had a similar problem in the LA area between GTE and PacBell each having about 50% market share -- they brought in a third party (Volt Delta I think it was) to handle the directory publication to avoid the in fighting (then just for Yellow Page advertising). DOes anyone following the local competition trends see any PUCs looking toward independent 411 services? 4. If local number portability takes off -- and you tell your RBOC you're moving to the ABC LEC -- the enter a disconnect order removing you from their DA service -- how long will it be before you get reinserted by ABC if at all? Has anyone studied the potential impact of portability on operator and DA services? 5. Bell Atlantic Mobile does not use Bell Atl (ROBC) DA services -- they have an alternate DA provider. Several BAM users tell me they get poor DA service via BAM and it costs the Air time in addition to 411 costs. One friend received a large BAM usage credit after complaining to the President abour their poor DA service (wrong three out of three calls one day -- and couldn't find his own number which He's had over 25 years). So poor DA service is not limited to BKRON's experience with MCI. Lastly, AT&T and MCI have already opened markets for Alternate Directory Assistance services via NPA-555-1212, 1-900-555-1212 and 1-800-GET-INFO. One press article claimed a Bell Atlantic reduced their DA operator force in the C&P region almost 20% dure to AT&T moving their 703, 202 and 301 calls over to an outside operator service. Is this the start of total restructuring of the network's Services and Support markets? If so who owns the accuracy responsiblities -- the FCC? They don't think so? TIA for comments, Lou Jahn ------------------------------ From: jthompson@monmouth.com (John Thompson) Subject: Re: Warning! Directory Assistance Imposter! Date: Wed, 20 Sep 95 04:49:14 GMT Organization: Monmouth Internet Corporation In article , bkron@netcom.com (BUBEYE!) wrote: > WARNING! Directory Assistance may be giving you bad information! > Usually, calls to 1-NPA-555-1212 (DA) get routed to an operator center > owned and operated by one of the "Baby Bells" and they use telco-compiled > data to search for your request. This data is updated daily and is > the most accurate information available. > However, there has been a change recently involving interlata calls to DA. > If your default IEC is not AT&T, or you route your DA call over an IEC > other that AT&T, your DA call may actually be routed to a third-party DA > "boiler room" located in Missouri. This company has been hired by MCI to > provide DA service to MCI and others for increasing numbers of areas of > the country. > Our experience with this operation is dismal. We routinely get quoted > the wrong telephone number or we get incorrect "not found" reports. > They must use the same obsolete and innaccurate data that MCI used on > their ill-fated CALL-INFO experiment. I have used the 1-900-GET-INFO number, and have also had bad results. My worst experience with them was when I tried to get the number for MCI's New York City office. I called five times to get the correct number before I gave up. I got all incorrect listings. One number was disconnected, another rang unanswered, another was a reorder tone, and still another was another company named MCI. Don't forget, this was MCI I was calling for MCI's phone number! My experience with AT&T's 1-900-555-1212 number has been much more positive. The DA operator I spoke to politely asked, "What city and state, please?" When he found no listing for the person I was calling, he placed me on hold "while I check further." (I assume he was calling telco's DA). It turns out that I asked for the wrong city. I think I'd rather pay AT&T's 75 cents for accurate information instead of MCI's 85 cents for outdated or otherwise inaccurate information. John Thompson thompson@interpage.net ------------------------------ From: jg6164.databank.com@news1.databank.com (James G. Gorman) Subject: Re: Warning! Directory Assistance Imposter! Date: Wed, 20 Sep 1995 01:51:52 GMT Organization: Databank InterNet News Host Be careful about AT&T also. I understand that they are considering "taking back" their DA because they think the RBOC's charges are too high. This means getting telephone listings any way they can. The shame is that without regulatory relief the RBOC's cannot allow interlata calls to their DA operators even if the customer has no other way to get there. Even the use of 800 service provided by an IXC is forbidden. Jim [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: What there *ought* to be is a single directory assistance standard, or method of operation. All telcos would supply their *published, listed* numbers to a database, and all who wished to operate a DA service could do so, drawing their information out of that database. The use of 555-1212 would be limited to a single organization owned by all the telcos (something in the way Bellcore is independent but all the telcos use their services). All telcos would be required to cooperate with this agency or organization. The fee would be established by tariff. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 20 Sep 1995 05:24:01 -0500 From: James E. Bellaire Subject: Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives In TD389, Dave Yost wrote: > Our telephone systems should be straightforward enough that any child > capable of remembering their phone number can be taught how to pick up > any phone and dial their home phone number or 911. Nice thesis - I Agree. [snip descriptions of dialing wierdness] > Problems to be solved: > Business and Hotel phones: > Business phones usually require you to dial 9 for an > outside line. Hotels sometimes require 8. There was > a time, back in the old pulse-dial days, when this > made some sense. Now it doesn't. PBX systems with > push-button phones could use the * or # key to access > internal dialing, and allow normal dialing to the > outside without a prefix. We could require new > systems to offer this facility, and old ones could > be required to offer it as a software upgrade if > feasible. (The phone system manufacturers should > welcome this revenue opportunity.) No thanks. I like being able to dial direct digits on inside calls. * and # are used for accessing specific functions on PBXs (like remote call pickup and direct trunck selection) so requiring all PBXs to change would lose the availability of these features. > Pay phones: > Pay phones are not child-friendly when you dial 1 + > area code + number without using the correct amount > of change. They could be reprogrammed to say > something like this: > "Don't hang up. Someone will come on the phone to > help you, or you can insert 20 cents (or whatever) to > connect your call automatically." So far so good ... > Immediately and automatically, the called party > should be contacted with a recording that says > "Someone is trying to call you from a pay phone in > without paying. Say "yes" if you agree to pay > for the call." If callee has lost a child, they will > know what to do! If not and they decline, then an > operator should talk with the person at the pay phone > and handle the situation, possibly initiating a > collect call with the name of the caller or > forwarding the call to 911. Absolutly NOT. I don't want some kid (or competitor with an attitude) calling my phone for free from any payphone in the US/Canada however wide you are making this. If all I know is the city I won't know until I pay who is calling. And even if I refused to accept I still get interrupted. 911 centers are going to love to get calls from citizens who have no coins. What is the number for 911? 911! If you want 911 you should dial it. The operator option is acceptable, since they could offer transfers to 911 or a suitable authority, or accept a calling card for the call. But then the phone would have to know not to require coins for this connection. I'll believe it when I see a COCOT do it! The intercept could be changed to add 'for help, dial 0 for an operator' as it is in some areas. > Calling from within the area code: > If you dial your own area code, you get a recording > saying you did something wrong. This should be > reprogrammed so that such a call goes through as a > normal local call. Absolutely. All local calls should be connected and billed as local calls regardless of 1+, NPA+, or 7D (where permitted) pattern used. This would help travelers more than missing children since they would not have to reprogram their pocket dialers (or minds) every time they changed local calling areas. >Special hookups for emergencies: > In the case of a lost or kidnapped child, a > subscriber should be able to request that a special > unblockable Caller ID logging unit be attached to > their line so that the police or FBI can trace a > relevant incoming call when alerted. Available on a limited basis now (for prank calls mainly). Just dial a * something code and the number is logged. Report the call to the police or telephone company and they investigate (without telling you the number). Call-back * codes could also be used to store this number in some switches. > If we make these changes, then eventually even a very young child > can be taught that in a jam, they can just "pick up any phone, dial > our home telephone number, and we'll answer. Even if you don't get to > speak, it will help to know where you called from." Train the child to dial 911. Universal 911 is growing and should be the most well known way to get help. '0' is another option in areas where 911 does not work. (Including switchboards with an attendant.) My nephews all know 'if you get lost and you need help dial 911'. If PBX administrators would make 911 (as well as 9-911) work from any phone it would be helpful too. Not too many people would be attempting to reach 9-1-1xx-xxx-xxxx numbers (unless they thought they were dialing 011 for IDDD access). > If you know the electronic or paper mail address of any group to whom > I should send this idea, please tell me. Some possibilities: missing > children groups, telephony standards organizations, government > regulators, lawmakers, ...? Sounds like a good list, but give them a different message, to set a 'national policy on telephone dialing' that includes OPTIONAL 1+NPA local dialing (billed as dialed local) and suggesting 911 be permitted along side 9-911 where the PBX can handle it. (All comments are based on the US telephone system.) James E. Bellaire (JEB6) bellaire@tk.com ------------------------------ From: johnl@iecc.com (John Levine) Subject: Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives Date: Wed, 20 Sep 1995 18:06:32 GMT Organization: I.E.C.C. > * calling home or 911 from an office phone requiring 9+; > * calling home or 911 from a hotel room requiring 9+ or 8+ or worse; Many PBXes are set up so that 9+11 turns into 911, since almost nowhere does a useful number start with 11 (just some pulse equivalents of *72 et al which are useless behind a PBX.) > Pay phones are not child-friendly when you dial 1 + > area code + number without using the correct amount > of change. They could be reprogrammed to say > something like this: > "Don't hang up. Someone will come on the phone to > help you, or you can insert 20 cents (or whatever) to > connect your call automatically." Oh, wow. All coin calls time out to auto-collect? I think not. It's easy enough to teach the kid to dial 0+number and say "collect". > Calling from within the area code: > If you dial your own area code, you get a recording > saying you did something wrong. This should be > reprogrammed so that such a call goes through as a > normal local call. This is only the case in states where short-sighted people have forced the 1+ = toll nonsense. In New Jersey, the Land of Perfect Dialing, this is how it's always worked, you can dial all calls with 11 digits even within your own exchange and it handles them correctly. I believe it's the case in most areas where you can dial all intra-NPA calls with 7 digits. > Special hookups for emergencies: > In the case of a lost or kidnapped child, a > subscriber should be able to request that a special > unblockable Caller ID logging unit be attached to > their line so that the police or FBI can trace a > relevant incoming call when alerted. Call Trace serves this function now. It does what caller-ID is frequently misrepresented as doing, collecting the calling number of a call that you need to report to the cops. Regards, John R. Levine, Trumansburg NY Primary perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies" and Information Superhighwayman wanna-be ------------------------------ From: cogorno@netcom.com (Steve Cogorno) Subject: Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives Date: Wed, 20 Sep 1995 12:12:41 PDT DYost@Taurus.Apple.com said: > Problems to be solved: > Business and Hotel phones: > Pay phones: > Calling from within the area code: > If you dial your own area code, you get a recording > saying you did something wrong. This should be Actually this is changing -- in most areas you CAN dial 1 plus the area code (in your own area code) and still get through. > Special hookups for emergencies: > In the case of a lost or kidnapped child, a > subscriber should be able to request that a special > unblockable Caller ID logging unit be attached to > their line so that the police or FBI can trace a > relevant incoming call when alerted. This is also available as "Call Trace" from Pacific Bell. Hang up, dail the access code, and a report will be provided to the police. As for the rest of the situation you mentioned, I see a far simpler solution than changing the entire phone network: Tell your child to dial "0" for Operator. This should work EVERYWHERE. Payphones, homes, businesses will ring their private operator, hotels will ring front desk, etc. The child can say "Im lost. THis is my number XXX." Don't you think it would be better for a REAL person to handle the call instead of the possibility of the child getting an answering machine or worse an intercept? The operator should be able to call emergency service if needed. Far simpler, and probably more efficient. Steve cogorno@netcom.com ------------------------------ From: PAUL_SAWYER@unh.edu (Paul S. Sawyer) Subject: Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives Date: 20 Sep 1995 20:27:54 GMT Organization: University of New Hampshire - Durham, NH In article DYost@Taurus.Apple.com (Dave Yost) writes: > Our telephone systems should be straightforward enough that any child > capable of remembering their phone number can be taught how to pick up > any phone and dial their home phone number or 911. When I was five, we had such a system ... we did not have 911, and we only had 4-digit (later 5) local dialing, no DDD, no area codes ... but we could dial (rotary) one digit... "Dial 0 and say 'I need help' if you ever need help," my parents told me. And they told me when THEY were young, you could skip the "Dial 0" step! Paul S. Sawyer Paul.Sawyer@UNH.edu UNH Telecommunications Voice: +1 603 862 3262 50 College Road FAX: +1 603 862 4545 Durham, New Hampshire 03824-3523 ------------------------------ From: Martin McCormick Subject: Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number Slowed Things Down Date: 20 Sep 1995 16:01:14 GMT Organization: Oklahoma State University Stillwater, OK In article TELECOM Digest Editor noted: > You pulled open the little trap door and yanked down a lever. A spring- > wound mechanism inside started doing whatever, and the firemen got the > signal in their station. What happened was something that dates back to the 1840's. The spring-wound mechanism was probably much like that of a music box. As the spring unwound, a wheel with notches cut in to it rotated past a switch. The notches were cut so that a code was sent via telegraph wires to the central fire station. The mechanism probably had a governor of some kind to make sure that the speed was fairly constant as the spring unwound. A book about the history of fire fighting in the United States credits the city of Boston with having the first alarm box system in the 1840's. When you take in to account that the Morse telegraph wasn't invented until the early 1840's, this was comparable to one of today's cities installing fiber optic ATM links to all the buildings in the downtown area. The officials who installed this system anticipated malicious alarms and made one very big mistake. They locked the alarm boxes and left the keys to them at nearby homes or businesses so that one had to first get somebody in one of those places to bring out the key to send in the alarm. I have never been to Boston, but their fire department used radio frequencies that sometimes propagate in to Oklahoma. I noticed that they had their street boxes tied directly in to the radio system so that when somebody pulled a box, one would hear a long tone to get everyone's attention followed by the box number pulsed out much like a very slow rotary dial telephone. I seem to remember that the beeps were about three or four per second so a person could easily count them to determine the number. After a couple of repeats, the human dispatcher would confirm the box number and make sure that the correct engines were heading for the fire. The alarm boxes vanished from streets in Tulsa and Oklahoma City as well as many other places as soon as 911 became the method of choice to report emergencies. I also remember that many of the street boxes had a glass window that one had to break with an attached hammer to activate the alarm. This always seemed dumb and dangerous to me, but I am sure there was a good reason for it. Martin McCormick WB5AGZ Stillwater, OK 36.7N97.4W OSU Center for Computing and Information Services Data Communications Group ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Dialing 911 Instead of Police's 7D Number From: stanley.ulbrych@enest.com (STANLEY ULBRYCH) Date: Wed, 20 Sep 95 12:08:00 -0500 Organization: Eagle's Nest Communications, Inc. PVD, RI US 401-621-4600 Reply-To: stanley.ulbrych@enest.com (STANLEY ULBRYCH) > We have an almost identical situation here in Vancouver, BC. Upon > calling the administrative 7D number listed in the phone book, we are > generally referred to the 911 number instead, the resaon stated is > that they cannot connect you anyhwere from the 7D number. I have a I work as a volunteer in the emgerency room of the Providence Rhode Island hospital. A family member of a patient had to contact the East Providence Police (a seperate city, bordering on Providence). I looked up the number in a phone book on my desk, gave it to the family. The husband comes back upset, saying he can't get through. Turns out the local number for the police had been changed last year. The recording simply stated that "the number you dial is no longer working. See your directory for the new number." Turns out I was using an old telephone book. But even so, I would have thought some other message should have stated the number is now xxx-xxxx. Or am I asking for too much in life?? stan@enest.com [Internet] 401-437-9448 (FAX) [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: For the past six months or so, Ameritech's business office has been on a daytime only schedule. They used to have people there around the clock to take calls. The monthly phone bill *still* says 'you can reach us 24 hours per day at 800-244-4444'. What one area of telco is doing seldom seems to get known in other areas for a long time. You'd think also they might have intercepted that number with a live operator who then connected it to the proper police department, but they probably did not think of that either. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #394 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa26447; 21 Sep 95 22:20 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id MAA04313 for telecomlist-outbound; Thu, 21 Sep 1995 12:38:20 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id MAA04304; Thu, 21 Sep 1995 12:38:17 -0500 Date: Thu, 21 Sep 1995 12:38:17 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Message-Id: <199509211738.MAA04304@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #395 TELECOM Digest Thu, 21 Sep 95 12:38:00 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 395 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Satellite Video Conference: User Interface Strategies '96 (Glenn Brown) JSC Special Issue on Executable Temporal Logics (Mehmet Orgun) Free ISDN Layer 1 Testing Seminars (Gregory Paul Wolynes) 312/773 Split (Crain's Chicago Business via Stan Schwartz) "Discriminatory" Overlay Area Codes (Linc Madison) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft to assist with publication expenses. 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Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Glenn Brown Subject: Satellite Video Conference: User Interface Strategies '96 Date: 21 Sep 1995 15:08:57 GMT Organization: U of MD Instructional Television System You and members of your organization are invited to participate in a live satellite downlink titled: User Interface Strategies '96: Quality Usability Engineering Wednesday, December 13, 1995 11am - 5pm Eastern (US time zone) COURSE DESCRIPTION: Three leaders in the field present their perspectives on why the user interface is a central focus for expanding applications of computers in business, education, the home, etc. They offer their visions and suggest exciting opportunities for the next decade's developments. Demonstrations, new software tools, guiding principles, emerging theories, and future scenarios will be presented. Please see additional details about this course on the World Wide Web at http://www.glue.umd.edu/itv/. BENEFITS: After completing this course, you will: - Understand how new user interface technologies and scientific breakthroughs will improve your work; - Learn design techniques for appealing and successful web sites vs. one that ends up on the list of the ten worst; - Learn how to improve interface quality while decreasing the cost and time of software development; - Learn about methodologies and tools to develop systems with effective user interfaces; INTENDED AUDIENCE: User interface designers, programmers, software engineers, interface evaluators, managers in the computing and communications fields, technical writers, human factors specialists, trainers, marketing personnel. SCHEDULE: One live, 6-hour broadcast. All times in Eastern US time zone. 11:00 - 12:00 Lecture 1: User Interface Update Presented by Ben Shneiderman, University of Maryland - Evaluate user interface design, internet web sites and the National Information Infrastructure. - Discuss low cost webtop computers, competing windowing system (Windows 95, OS/2 Warp, Macintosh), direct manipulation vs. agentry, speech recognition, and novel pointing devices; - Demonstrate visualization methods such as starfields, dynamic queries and lifelines for personal histories. 12:00 - 12:30 30 minute break 12:30 - 1:25 Lecture 2: Designing and Evaluating Effective Web Sites Presented by Ben Shneiderman, University of Maryland - Discuss basic principles of interface design as applied to websites such as impact of screen size, transmission time, cognitive load, and visual design; - Demonstrate the difference between an appealing successful site and one that winds up on the list of ten worst - Learn page layout, use of graphics, structural design, navigation methods and landmarks. 1:25 - 1:35 10 minute break 1:35 - 2:30 Lecture 3 Designing Software for Usability: The Cognetics Design Methodology Presented by Charles B. Kreitzberg, President Cognetics Corp. - Discuss early stages of high concept formation, task analysis, key-screen design, and usability testing. - Learn how to decrease the cost and time of software development and how to increase return on investment by using six stages of development; 1. Product Concept, 2. Project Planning, 3. Design Concepts, 4. Iterative Design Refinement, 5. Implementation and 6. Rollout. 2:30 - 3:00 30 minute break 3:00 - 3:55 Lecture 4: Software Engineering Strategies for User Interface Design Presented by Ed Yourdon, Yourdon, Inc. - Learn about strategies and tools to develop systems with good user interfaces and a well-engineered architecture for today's GUI-based applications and the next-generation of user interfaces. - Discuss interface design and how to avoid a software engineering disaster. 3:55 - 4:05 10 minute break 4:05 - 5:00 Discussion: Panel discussion with all three speakers - Phoned-in and faxed questions from the viewers. PRESENTERS: Ben Shneiderman is Head of the Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory, Professor of Computer Science, and Member of the Institute for Systems Research all at the University of Maryland, College Park. He is the author of Designing the User Interface, 2nd Edition and Software Psychology, and the co-author of the hyperbook/disk Hypertext Hands-On!. Dr. Shneiderman is editor of the Ablex Publishers series on Human-Computer Interaction, on the editorial board of 6 journals, the author of 180 technical papers, and the creator of the Hyperties hypertext system. His lectures and consultancies have included Apple, AT&T, IBM, Library of Congress, NASA, NCR, and NEC. Charles B. Kreitzberg, Ph.D. is founder and President of Cognetics Corp., which since 1982 developed and applied usability engineering methods to software products. His award-winning work, which synthesizes, computer technology with human cognition, includes designs of automated teller machines, multimedia CD-ROM's, on-line systems, software re-engineering, hypertext, training, and interactive television. Dr. Kreitzberg has been an international consultant and lecturer for AT&T, Aetna, Ameritech, Citibank, Chase Manhattan Bank, Dow Jones, the Library of Congress, Harvard, Princeton, etc. Cognetics Corporation's Design Methodology was developed to provide interactive designers, software engineers and project managers with a structure to plan and manage product development efforts, ensuring that highly usable software is produced. Edward Yourdon is a software engineering consultant, and is widely known as the developer of the "Yourdon method" of structured systems analysis and design, as well as the co-developer of the Coad/Yourdon method of object-oriented analysis and design. He is also the editor of three software journals - American Programmer, Guerrilla Programmer, and Application. Mr. Yourdon has worked in the computer industry for 30 years, including positions with DEC and General Electric. In 1974, Mr. Yourdon founded his own consulting firm, Yourdon Inc., to provide educational, publishing, and consulting services in state-of-the-art software engineering technology. Ed Yourdon is the author of over 200 technical articles; he has also written 20 computer books, including a novel on computer crime and a book for the general public entitled Nations At Risk. His most recent books are Mainstream Objects (1995), Object-Oriented Systems Development (1994), and Decline and Fall of the American Programmer (1992). Enrollment: This symposium will be broadcast live through out North America via unscrambled C Band and Ku Band satellite from the University of Maryland Instructional Television System (ITV) and on the National Technological University (NTU) Network. Access to satellite dish is necessary. In order to arrange a satellite down link, contact your organization's training office or a college/university near you. Your organization might be a member of the NTU or the ITV network. A list of NTU and ITV sites is included at the end of this post. *If you live in the Baltimore or Washington DC Metropolitan area you can come to College Park and be a member of our studio audience please send an e-mail request for details about how to become part of the studio audience. E-mail itv@eng.umd.edu The down link site license for this course is $1,600; this includes permission to videotape. If you cannot watch the broadcast live or make a videotape, ITV will make a videotape for you at the cost of $1,800. All videotape purchases are restricted for internal use by your organization. Send check, money order, or purchase order (made out to the University of Maryland) along with the attached form to: Professional Development Assistant (UIS '96), University of Maryland, Instructional Television System (ITV), 2104 Engineering Classroom Building, College Park, MD 20742. On the check or purchase order please write UIS '96. To process your live satellite downlink registration, we ask that you register by December 6, 1994. When we receive payment, we will send the technical information and one set of notes that can be reproduced to accommodate the number of viewers at your location. For more information, please call (301) 405-4905 or FAX (301) 314-9639. e-mail itv@eng.umd.edu Name: _____________________________________ Title: ______________________________________ Organization: ________________________________ Street Address: _______________________________ City: _______________________________________ State: _______ Zip: ___________________________ Phone: _____________________________________ FAX: _______________________________________ Check one __ Live downlink $1,600 __ video tape $1,800 The list of ITV sites in the Washington DC/Baltimore area are; University of Maryland College Park (studio audience) Bureau of the Census Department of Defense, Ft. Meade/FANX NASA Goddard Defense Mapping (DMA) Naval Research Lab Social Security Admn. CTA General Accounting Office SAIC World Bank Ft. Ritchie For more details on attending this broadcast in the Maryland/DC Virginia area Call ITV Marketing at 301-405-4905. FAX: (301) 314-9639 Or e-mail itv@eng.umd.edu Your organization can join the ITV Network. Send e-mail for details itv@eng.umd.edu *If you are an employee or member of the following organizations/ universities, you are member of the NTU Network and your organization has the capability to receive this broadcast. Contact your NTU Site Coordinator for more information. If you need their name and phone number, call ITV Marketing at 301-405-4905. Or e-mail itv@eng.umd.edu When you send e-mail please tell us the name and location of your organization. Participating Organizations: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc Aeroquip Corporation Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. ALCOA Alliance for Higher Education Allied Signal Aerospace Company American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) AMP Incorporated Analog Devices, Inc. Applied Research Laboratory Argonne National Laboratory ARINC Armco Steel Co., L.P. Army Research Laboratory AT & T AT & T Global Information Solutions AXIOHM IPB Bellcore BNR Inc. 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U.S. Air Force U.S. Air Force Academy U.S. Army U.S. Bureau of Mines U.S. Department of Energy U.S. Mine Safety & Health Admistration U.S. Navy US Signal Corporation Westinghouse Electronic Corporation Whirlpool Corporation Xerox Corporation Zenith Data Systems Arizona State University Colorado State University Columbia University Cornell University The George Washington University Georgia Institute of Technology GMI Engineering & Management Institute Illinois Institute of Technology Iowa State University Kansas State University Lehigh University Michigan State University Michigan Technological University New Jersey Institute of Technology New Mexico State University North Carolina State University Northeastern University Oklahoma State University Old Dominion University Purdue University Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Southern Methodist University The University of Alabama University of Alaska at Fairbanks The University of Arizona University of California at Berkeley University of California, Davis University of Colorado at Boulder University of Delaware University of Florida University of Idaho University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign University of Kentucky The University of Maryland College Park University of Massachusets at Amherst The University of Michigan University of Minnesota University of Missouri-Rolla The University of New Mexico University of South Carolina University of Southern California The University of Tennessee, Knoxville University of Washington University of Wisconsin-Madison If you need help contacting the Satellite Coordinator at these universities, call ITV Marketing at 301-405-4905. Or e-mail itv@eng.umd.edu *Unfortunately, this course is only available by satellite throughout the North American Continent. For other areas of the world, a videotape will be available. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 20 Sep 95 10:05:45 EST From: mehmet@titanic.mpce.mq.edu.au (Mehmet ORGUN) Subject: JSC Special Issue on Executable Temporal Logics The Journal of Symbolic Computation ----------------------------------- [Editor-in-Chief: Bruno Buchberger] Special Issue on Executable Temporal Logics Guest Editors: Michael Fisher, Shinji Kono, Mehmet Orgun Call For Papers --------------- BACKGROUND: Logical representations have been widely used in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence. In recent years, particularly with the advent of languages such as Prolog, the direct execution of such representations has been shown to be both feasible and useful. Logic-based languages have been used, not only for applications such as the animation of logical specifications, the characterisation of database queries and knowledge representation, but also as high-level programming languages in their own right. However, as the problems tackled have become more complex, the requirement for more powerful logical representations has been growing. In particular, since the concept of time is of central importance to an increasingly wide range of applications, including the representation of time-dependent data and the specification and verification of concurrent and distributed systems, many logics incorporating temporal notions are being developed and applied. It is not surprising, therefore, that executable temporal logics have been proposed in order to provide system developers with access to these, more powerful, logical techniques. Just as the development of sophisticated, and relatively efficient, theorem-proving techniques for first-order logic led to executable forms, such as Prolog, so the development of executable methods for temporal logics has often been based on temporal theorem-proving techniques. However, each particular executable temporal logic combines not only a logical perspective, but also an operational model, drawn from its intended application areas. Thus a wide range of languages have appeared, exhibiting a variety of characteristics and execution mechanisms. Consequently, such languages have a variety of application areas, such as temporal databases, temporal planning, animation of temporal specifications, hardware simulation, and distributed AI. OBJECTIVES: The Journal of Symbolic Computation is planning a special issue on Executable Temporal Logics, scheduled to appear in 1996. High quality original research papers are solicited on all aspects relating to the foundations, implementation techniques and applications of languages based upon temporal logic. The research described must not only incorporate an adequate level of technical detail, but must also provide a clear indication of both the utility and the applicability of the results. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, * theoretical issues in executable temporal logics * design of executable temporal logics * relationship between execution and temporal theorem-proving * operational models and implementation techniques * programming support and environments * comparative studies of languages * relationship of executable temporal logics to (temporal) databases * applications and case studies Because of the nature of the journal, it is particularly important that submissions, even purely theoretical ones, indicate the algorithmic relevance and applicability of the approach. Papers must be original and must not have been previously published or simultaneously submitted for publication elsewhere. The papers will be reviewed based on their originality and technical quality, relevance to the special issue theme, and the extent to which they will advance the frontiers of knowledge in this area. In addition to longer papers, we would welcome short papers (5 to 10 pages) describing specific features or novel applications of executable temporal logic. Submissions should follow the JSC style guide available from ftp://ftp.risc.uni-linz.ac.at/pub/jsc LaTeX users are encouraged to use the jsc.sty file. Electronic submission is strongly encouraged (either as self-contained LaTeX, or postscript). Submissions, either electronic or a paper copy of the full paper, should arrive no later than October 15th 1995, and should be sent to the principal guest editor: Michael Fisher Department of Computing Manchester Metropolitan University Manchester M1 5GD United Kingdom Tel: +44 161 247 1488 Fax: +44 161 247 1483 Email: M.Fisher@doc.mmu.ac.uk GUEST EDITORS: Michael Fisher (details as above) Shinji Kono Sony Computer Science Laboratory, Inc. 3-14-13, Higashi-gotanda Shinagawa-ku Tokyo 141 Japan Email: kono@csl.sony.co.jp Mehmet Orgun Department of Computing Macquarie University Sydney NSW 2109 Australia Email: mehmet@mpce.mq.edu.au IMPORTANT DATES: Submissions of full papers due: October 15th, 1995 Notification of acceptance/rejection: January 15th, 1996 Revised final manuscripts due: April 15th, 1996 Queries concerning this special issue are welcome and should be forwarded to the email addresses above. Information about the special issue will be available via the WWW page: http://www.doc.mmu.ac.uk/RESEARCH/jsc-extl.html ------------------------------ From: Gregory Paul Wolynes <75054.754@CompuServe.COM> Subject: FREE ISDN Layer 1 Testing Seminars Date: 20 Sep 1995 20:40:45 GMT Organization: CompuServe, Inc. (1-800-689-0736) The Agenda for the Seminars is: Time Agenda Topic 9:00-9:10 Introduction and Meeting Overview 9:10-9:30 Technical Concept of ISDN 9:30-9:50 Quality Concepts in ISDN Equipment 9:50-10:00 Break 10:00-10:15 Design Considerations for U Interface devices 10:15-11:00 Verification of U Interface devices 11:00-11:20 Production Testing of U Interface devices 11:20-11:45 Questions and Answers 11:45-12:45 Lunch 12:45-1:00 Design Considerations for S Interface devices 1:00-1:30 Verification of S Interface devices 1:35-1:45 Production Testing of S Interface devices 1:45-2:00 Break 2:00-3:00 Service Testing of ISDN Networks 3:00-4:00 Additional Questions and Answers and Wrap-up To find out more information (such as exact location) or to indicate that you wish to attend email contact information to - Greg Wolynes 75054.754@compuserve.com or fax contact information to - David Brewster at 770-740-3796. The current set of seminars are at: Date City 10/11/95 Boston MA 10/13/95 Edison NJ 10/16/95 Boca Raton FL 10/18/95 Houston TX 10/20/95 Los Angles CA 10/23/95 Santa Clara CA 10/25/95 Chicago IL 10/27/95 Washington DC Additonal seminars may be possible if a number of people can't attend the current set. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Sep 95 10:17:16 GMT From: Stan Schwartz Subject: 312/773 Split All contents copyrighted by Crain's Chicago Business September 11, 1995 IN OR OUT? THE AREA CODE PLAN: AMERITECH MAPS PROPOSED 312 / 773 SPLIT By MARK VEVERKA Ameritech Illinois has unveiled its much-anticipated boundary proposal for two area code zones in Chicago. The shrunken 312 area code in the city center would be larger than originally announced -- peaking north of Armitage Avenue and extending to 35th Street on the south, Western Avenue on the west and the lakefront on the east. Everywhere else within the city limits would be in a new 773 area code. The plan must be approved by the Illinois Commerce Commission, which also is considering an alternative that would create an "overlay" area code for all new users in the existing 312 geographic area. Although Ameritech prefers an overlay, it has agreed with other telecommunications companies to support a dual geographic zone configuration. But because of technological limitations, boundaries for such a configuration would not follow straight lines, such as streets. "That means you have a jagged (border) that corresponds to no known geography" says Martin Cohen, executive director of the Citizens Utility Board (CUB). "The way the lines will run will be very confusing to those who are on the borders." Despite some of the plan's imperfections, Mr. Cohen's utility watchdog group endorsed Ameritech's dual area code solution. Originally, CUB argued that an outer ring should get the 312 designation -- because the area has more residential users, who are the organization's primary constituency. However, 70% of the city's businesses are in the core zone, and preserving 312 for Chicago's commercial center, including the Loop, is at the heart of the phone company's plan. "Businesses incur a lot of out-of-pocket expenses when an area code gets changed," says an Ameritech Illinois spokeswoman. The 773 area code would go into effect in October 1996. "It will be an inconvenience at first that will cost us some money to change some forms -- but eventually, everybody will get used to it," says Steve Larrick, chief executive of Chicago-based Chernin's Shoes, whose North Halsted Street store would be just north of the 312 border in the 773 area. The phone company says the area code reconfiguration should prevent a numbers shortage beyond 2000 -- but it gave the same assurances when it implemented the 708 area code in 1989. "The thinking was that (708) would last until the next century. It did not," the Ameritech spokeswoman says. ------------------------------ From: lincmad@netcom.com (Linc Madison) Subject: "Discriminatory" Overlay Area Codes Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Thu, 21 Sep 1995 11:26:02 GMT I was just looking through some of Steve Grandi's notes about upcoming area code splits and overlays, and something caught my attention, specifically in regard to the Chicago area. The original plan was that 630 would be implemented as an overlay of 312 and 708, with all wireless services (cellphones and beepers) moving into the new 630 area code. The cellular providers protested that such a move was "discriminatory on class of service" and succeeded in changing the setup. Their point was that the landline carriers (Ameritech and any future competition) would have an unfair advantage by keeping 312 and 708. The new plan is that 708 will split twice into 708, 630, and 847, and 312 will split into 312 and 773. All fine and well, except for one bit of fine print: cellular phones located in areas whose area code is changing WILL NOT be required to change in the splits. WHY? If it is "discriminatory on class of service" to force ONLY the wireless providers to switch to the new area code, then it is also "discriminatory on class of service" to force EVERYONE BUT the wireless providers to switch. Personally, I still think that wireless overlays would've been a great idea, much better for both wireless and landline customers than the current mess of splits and universal overlays. Linc Madison * San Francisco, California * LincMad@Netcom.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Just as with the flip-flop on 312/773, it all depends on who you know and how well you can twist arms, etc. Ameritech originally said close to three million subscribers should not have to change their area code when a small number of subscribers in the downtown area could do so instead. The problem is, the large businesses downtown have lawyers, and other highly placed contacts at the state and city government level and they make a lot of noise. Why should they have to go out and buy new letterheads and rubber stamps? Why should they have to hire someone to reprogram their PBX equipment who knows anything about it, etc. I think the aggregate cost of close to three million people having to change *their* phone number is a lot more than a few businesses downtown having to change theirs. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #395 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa26742; 21 Sep 95 22:34 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id NAA06179 for telecomlist-outbound; Thu, 21 Sep 1995 13:41:40 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id NAA06171; Thu, 21 Sep 1995 13:41:37 -0500 Date: Thu, 21 Sep 1995 13:41:37 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Message-Id: <199509211841.NAA06171@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #396 TELECOM Digest Thu, 21 Sep 95 13:41:00 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 396 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Unabomber Manifesto Available on Web (Danny Burstein) Call Center Magazine Article re 800/888 (Judith Oppenheimer) Conflict of Interest (Lowell Kim) Help Needed Increasing UTP Segments (Chris Gettings) New PCS Services in Hong Kong (jlbt@ix.netcom.com) ROLM ACD Users Wanted (Chris Kiser) Employment Opportunity: Senior DSP Software Engineers (Darin Okuyama) AT&T Credits (Steven Lichter) Re: Area Code Split Dates (Linc Madison) Re: Netscape Encryption Bug (Michael Shields) Re: Colorado Bill of Rights in a Competitive Market (Gerry Belanger) Re: Detailed Description of "Raw" Caller-ID Data Needed (rpadula@aol.com) Re: Split of Area Code 305 (and Others) (Pierre Thomson) Re: California: Outrageous Telephone Rates (Tom Crofford) Re: FCC Rules Against Carrier Kickbacks to ESPs (Tony Harminc) Correction Re: AT&T Phone Numbers (Fran Menzel) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily represent the views of Microsoft. ------------------------------------------------------------ Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: dannyb@panix.com (danny burstein) Subject: Unabomber Manifesto Date: 20 Sep 1995 22:07:40 -0500 Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, 20 Sep 1995 11:10:52 EDT From: Elliott Parker <3ZLUFUR@CMUVM.CSV.CMICH.EDU> Subject: Unabomber Manifesto Courtesy of Dwight Silverman at the {Houston Chronicle}, the manifesto is on the WWW at http://www.pathfinder.com/pathfinder/features/unabomber/manifesto.html Elliott Parker Bitnet: 3ZLUFUR@CMUVM List Owner, SEASIA-L and CARR-L Internet: elliott.parker@cmich.edu Department of Journalism Less certain possibilities: Central Michigan University eparker@igc.apc.org Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859 USA CompuServe: 70701,520 Office tele: +1 517 774 3196 The WELL: eparker@well.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I was going to print it all here, but it would have taken a lot of typing (I don't have a scanner). If someone wants to send a copy, I will put it in the Telecom Archives for review. After that brief flurry of activity here in Skokie a few weeks ago when the FBI came to question all the old school teachers about the mysterious Patrick Michael Unabomber, nothing further seems to have happened here at least. I wonder if they have gone over to the towns to our west and interviewed old-timers in the Maine Township Schools. That's where he went to school; not over here in Niles Township. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Judith Oppenheimer Date: Thu, 21 Sep 1995 09:56:49 -0400 Subject: CALL CENTER Magazine Article re 800/888 If you would like to receive a fax copy of the following article, email me your name and fax number. CALL CENTER Magazine, September 1995 issue, page 22, articled titled "YOU SHOULD BE WORRIED" Subhead: "We almost ran out of 800 numbers. The changes made to protect the supply have changed the face of the toll-free number industry. Here's what you need to know." Judith Oppenheimer, President Interactive CallBrand(TM): Strategic Leadership, Competitive Intelligence Producer@pipeline.com. Ph: +1 800 The Expert. Fax: +1 212 684-2714. Interactive CallBrand (ICB) is a leading source of information and support on 800 and related issues, representing user positions before the FCC, State Department, Int'l. Telecommunications Union, and domestic industry forums. ICB publishes inTELigence, the newsletter that separates fact from fiction. Call or email for a sample issue, and subscription information. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Ms. Oppenheimer sent me a copy of the article to my fax machine yesterday. It was an informative article and well written. If you don't see the publication otherwise, you might want to contact her and ask for a copy. In the meantime Judith, what's the latest on this? Can you give us any updates? PAT] ------------------------------ From: lowellkim@aol.com (Lowellkim) Subject: Conflict of Interest Date: 21 Sep 1995 16:24:27 -0400 Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) Reply-To: lowellkim@aol.com (Lowellkim) I work full-time for a company that was recently purchased by Bell Atlantic. My problem is that I also work for a long-distance telephone company part-time. I have heard an ugly rumor that I will be forced to give up my work with the long-distance company. The company that I work for full-time has nothing to do with telephone service or communications. Anyone know about this? ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 20 Sep 1995 10:15:27 -0600 From: gettings@econnect.net (Chris Gettings) Subject: Help Needed Increasing UTP Segments The maximum length of an ethernet UTP segment is said to be 300 feet or 100 meters. Does anyone know of a low cost repeater or amplifier to allow more than this length between the hub and the workstation? Chris Gettings email: gettings@econnect.net http://www.econnect.net ------------------------------ From: jlbt@ix.netcom.com Subject: New PCS services in Hong Kong Date: 20 Sep 1995 23:21:46 GMT Organization: Netcom Hi, I would like to know if anyone has any information on the upcoming PCS service offerings in Hong Kong. So far, I know that several PCS licenses were issued in November 1994, but I would like to find out how long these licenses last and what are the technical specifications of PCS in Honk Kong. If you have any information or know of a source of information on Cellular or PCS in Hong Kong or any other Asia Pacific country, please reply by e-mail. Thank you in advance for your help. JLBT ------------------------------ From: ckiser@bga.com (Chris Kiser) Subject: Rolm ACD Users Wanted Date: 20 Sep 1995 02:05:21 GMT Organization: Real/Time Communications - Bob Gustwick and Associates Are there any Rolm ACD users here? I have been trying to see their WWW page and keep getting an error message. I would like to correspond with other users or employees of ROLM (especially Techs). Thanks, Chris Kiser ------------------------------ From: okuyama@netcom.com (Darin Okuyama) Subject: Employment Opportunity: Senior DSP Software Engineers Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Wed, 20 Sep 1995 03:16:41 GMT Stanford Telecom, an industry leader in digital telecommunications, currently has several openings for Senior DSP Software Engineers. In these positions (use Job #INRB-2 when referring to these positions in all correspondence), you will be responsible for designing, coding, unit testing and integration testing of real-time embedded software. You will support a commercial, wireless communication system. The positions require experience with DSP processors and knowledge of DSP techniques and/or communication theory. Both a BSCS/EE/Math or equiv- alent with 5+ years of related experience and C programming expertise is also required. Experience in a UNIX development environment is a plus. Principals only please. Please FAX your resume, including the Job # of interest, to: (408)745-0318. Or mail to: Stanford Telecom Dept. HR-AM P.O. Box 3733 Sunnyvale, CA 94088 ------------------------------ From: slichte@cello.gina.calstate.edu (Steven Lichter) Subject: AT&T Credits Date: 20 Sep 1995 21:32:58 -0700 Organization: GINA and CORE+ Services of The California State University A few weeks ago I had posted about a problem I had getting credit for long distance call that I had made using my modem and then getting cut off. Our Moderator blasted me because he said I was just nickel and diming them. Well after a few these this week working with several AT&T Tech's out of their Denver center we found the problem. It seems that when you dial a call using their network in it a zero lose/gain trunk; which means there is nothing to up the signal. Local (PacBell) they have the local trunking set for .05db loss and it appears that both of my phones are right at the limit. Normal voice there is not a problem, but with the modem any noise as you all know will cause problems. Since I have error correcting modems they will try to keep connected. Since the phone lines are made for voice there is not much that I can get done. I have complained about it and they tell me to get data grade lines, that is just great except what happens when I go into the regular network and call a system that just has a voice line. I guess in time it will all change since PacBell is getting into the IP business and they will get a lot of complaints unless they do fix the cable that is in trouble. I guess I'll just live with it or move closer to the office so my loop is not as long. The above are my ideas and have nothing to do with whoever my employer is. SysOp Apple Elite II and OggNet Hub (909)359-5338 2400/14.4 24 hours, Home of GBBS/LLUCE Support for the Apple II. slichte@cello.gina.calstate.edu ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Sep 1995 07:34:13 -0700 From: lincmad@netcom.com (Linc Madison) Subject: Re: Area Code Split Dates Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) I was going through Steve Grandi's list of area code splits (FTP from gemini.tuc.noao.edu, /pub/grandi/npa1995.txt) and thought I would add a summary just listing the dates that area code splits become final. This list only includes geographic splits, not overlays, and it only includes those splits for which both the initial effective date and the final (end of permissive dialing) date have been announced. Check Steve's file for more details. The splits are listed in order by the date of the END of permissive dialing. NEW OLD START FINAL ST Place/Comment -- --- ----- ----- -- ------------------------------------------- 334 205 01/15/95 05/13/95 AL Montgomery, Mobile, Dothan, Selma 360 206 01/15/95 08/20/95 WA Bellingham, Vancouver, Olympia 970 303 04/02/95 10/01/95 CO Ft. Collins, Grand Junction, Durango 520 602 03/19/95 10/21/95 AZ Tucson, Flagstaff, Yuma (all but Phoenix) 770 404 08/01/95 12/01/95 GA Marietta, Lawrenceville, Norcross 540 703 07/15/95 01/27/96 VA Roanoke, Blacksburg, Fredericksburg 423 615 09/11/95 02/26/96 TN Knoxville, Chattanooga 941 813 05/28/95 03/03/96 FL Sarasota, Bradenton, Ft. Myers, Lakeland 847 708 01/20/96 04/20/96 IL Evanston, Waukegan, Elgin *NOTE 1* 864 803 12/03/95 05/01/96 SC Greenville, Spartanburg, Anderson 352 904 12/03/95 05/20/96 FL Gainesville, Ocala, Leesburg 954 305 09/11/95 *NOTE 2* FL Ft. Lauderdale, Broward County *NOTE 2* 541 503 11/05/95 06/30/96 OR Corvallis, Eugene, Medford, Klamath Falls 573 314 01/07/96 07/07/96 MO Jefferson City, Cape Girardeau, Hannibal 441 809 10/01/95 09/30/96 Bermuda 860 203 08/28/95 10/04/96 CT Hartford, Norwich, New London 250 604 10/19/96 06/01/97 BC Victoria, Nanaimo, Kamloops, Dawson Creek 562 310 02/01/97 08/01/97 CA Los Angeles area; details not finalized NOTE 1: 630 is already in use for some wireless services, overlaying 708. 708 will do a three-way split into 708/847/630 in two steps in 1996. The second phase of the split is scheduled to begin 08/03/96, but the final date has not been set. 708 will be southern suburbs, 847 northern suburbs, and 630 western suburbs of Chicago. Cellular numbers may not necessarily move to the correct new area code. NOTE 2: The end of permissive dialing for the 305/954 split will be in three phases: pagers 04/13/96, landlines 06/01/96, cellular 01/01/97. (The landline date was used for placing this split in the list.) OVERLAYS: NEW OLD START ST Place/Comment -- --- -------- -- -------------------------------------------------- 630 708 01/07/95 IL Chicago area; see NOTE 1 above; wireless only 281 713 03/01/95 TX Houston; wireless only 03/01/96 all services, mandatory 10-digit local dialing 972 214 02/01/96 TX Dallas; mandatory 10-digit local from 08/01/96 The information above is just a reformatted presentation of Steve Grandi's work; thanks, Steve, for keeping us up to date. Linc Madison * San Francisco, California * LincMad@Netcom.com ------------------------------ From: shields@tembel.org (Michael Shields) Subject: Re: Netscape Encryption Bug Date: 21 Sep 1995 16:23:42 -0000 Organization: Tembel's Hedonic Commune In article , John R Levine wrote: > According to published reports, Netscape's encryption software contains a > very well known security bug. It should be pointed out that this is not a bug, but a design flaw. Netscape works as intended, but it doesn't use enough entropy to seed the generator. (Entropy is the formal measure of unpredictability.) This attack has only been shown to work in the 40-bit version because that's all the attackers had access to, but it has nothing to do with the weakened RC4 and the commercial version is likely vulnerable too. Those working with algorithms that depend on something being hard to guess should read RFC 1750. > This same bug occurred on Unix systems probably 20 years ago when someone > had the bright idea to generate random passwords for their Unix users to > prevent them from using common words and other known bad passwords. > Unfortunately, the random number generator they used was so poor that there > were only 4096 different passwords generated, which made it easy to find > them all by enumeration. This may not be true; it's a common sort of bug, but the more likely number is 2^15 or 2^16 (just as 2^31 is a number often found on today's 32-bit machines). When 4096 is mentioned along with Unix passwords, it almost always refers to the novel "salting" technique that allows each encrypted password to have 4096 possible ciphertexts. This makes precomputed dictionary attacks harder and makes it unlikely that two users with the same password would know it from the ciphertexts. Shields ------------------------------ From: wa1hoz@a3bbak.nai.net (Gerry Belanger) Subject: Re: Colorado Bill of Rights in a Competitive Market Date: 21 Sep 1995 16:46:27 GMT Organization: North American Internet Company E-mail to Steve bounced, so here is my followup. Steve Howard (steveh@townhall.ci.breckenridge.co.us) wrote: > I received the following letter last week from the Colorado Public > Utilities Commission (IMHO, these people usually do a pretty good > job!). Steve, You might suggest that consumers be guaranteed a line of sufficient quality to use Faxs and Modems of at least 14.4. So telco repair cannot use the excuse, "We don't need to support modems". Gerry Belanger, WA1HOZ wa1hoz@a3bbak.nai.net Newtown, CT g.belanger@ieee.org ------------------------------ From: Rpadula@aol.com Date: Thu, 21 Sep 1995 13:42:00 -0400 Subject: Re: Detailed Description of "Raw" Caller-ID Data Needed sp@questor.org wanted to know: > I am searching for a detailed description of the "raw" data received > as Caller-ID info. Specifically, what the various data bits mean and > how they are decoded (stuff like "privacy", "long-distance", "message- > waiting" and so on). I know everybody will say "call Bellcore," but here's a solution that may be as close as your local library. Find the July 1994 issue of {Electronics Now}. This magazine used to be called {Radio Electronics}. They ran an article describing both the single and multiple data message formats in this issue. But, if you must run to Bellcore, the article's references were TR-NWT-000030, TR-NWT-000031, and TR-NWT-001188. I'll go through one of your examples to get you started ... Pretty data: > % TIME: 08-26 14:06 > % CALLER NUMBER: 6810670 Raw data: > % 80130108303832363134303803073638313036373051 80 - MDMF data to follow 13 - Total message length starting with next byte (hex) 01 - Date & Time parameter message to follow 08 - Parameter length 30 - ASCII 0 38 - ASCII 8 32 - ASCII 2 36 - ASCII 6 (your date 08-26) 31 - ASCII 1 34 - ASCII 4 30 - ASCII 0 38 - ASCII 8 (your time 14:08, also, end of date & time parameter) 03 - Number parameter (although the article says this should be 02) 07 - Parameter length 36 - ASCII 6 38 - ASCII 8 31 - ASCII 1 30 - ASCII 0 36 - ASCII 6 37 - ASCII 7 30 - ASCII 0 (your phone number 681-0670) 51 - checksum Hope this was educational. ------------------------------ From: Pierre Thomson Subject: Re: Split of Area Code 305 (and Others) Date: 21 Sep 1995 21:40:05 GMT Organization: MHVNet, the Mid Hudson Valley's Internet connection Toby Nixon wrote: > The North American Numbering Plan Administration has announced the > impending split of the 305 NPA (South Florida). The following > information is quoted from Bellcore letter IL-95/08-011, dated 23 > August 1995: -- SNIP SNIP SNIP -- > [No time today to transcribe all the exchange codes; sorry!] No need to. I did it for you! http://www1.mhv.net/~Bruderhof/npanxx.htm has the NXX listings for all current and past splits since 1/95. Mostly transcribed from Bellcore letters and LEC informational publications, the info should be helpful to many in the industry. Pierre Thomson Telecom Manager Rifton Enterprises email: mmommsen@mhv.net ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Sep 1995 12:24:59 -0500 From: tomc@ionet.net (Tom Crofford) Subject: Re: California: Outrageous Telephone Rates jerald@wrs.com (Jerald Pendleton) wrote: > I recently recieved a bill I incurred during a recent vacation. I > made several phone calls from my motel room to numbers within the > state of california. They charged me $9.13 for a four minute call > (apparently four minutes is the minimum). > I was billed through Pac-Bell by Communication Telesystems International > for this. I have absolutely no intention of paying this bill. Can > anyone suggest grounds by which I can get this overturned at the PUC? > The phone was blocked (we tried 102880). I am currently contesting a billing from an ITA corporation for 'voicemail' that appeared on my Southwestern Bell bill. SBC told me they could refuse the billing, but that ITA would likely use a collection agency to further pursue the billing. I contacted ITA, and they told me they were simply billing for a NY based corporation that could only be reached via US Mail (I guess they don't have a phone, fax machine, etc.). I also refuse to pay for this, since I do not believe anyone in my household knowingly contracted for this service. I contacted my Senator. He is now in contact with the FCC. Based on the convoluted billing arrangements that can now exist, I don't know of any simpler way to do this. I'd sure like to know if someone has a better idea. Tom Crofford tomc@xeta.com 918-664-6876 fax ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Sep 95 19:04:39 EDT From: Tony Harminc Subject: Re: FCC Rules Against Carrier Kickbacks to ESPs > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Very interesting, indeed! Does this mean > that those services operating under what has been called 'The Nevada Plan' > are now illegal? Is it now the case that all those dial-porns operating > out of Netherland Antilles, Guyana and elsewhere are going to have to > make it on their own without their kickbacks from AT&T and the other > carriers? ...] What seems to be missing in all this is that there are at least two carriers involved in every international call. The FCC can regulate the US ones all it likes, but it obviously has no control over the ones in other countries. Non-US providers of dial-a-porn and such will presumably continue to make suitable kickback deals with the carrier that provides their incoming service. The US caller will dial as usual, the US carrier will do the settlements with the non-US carrier as usual, and the non-US carrier will direct some of the money to the service provider. It seems implausible that the FCC would attempt to tell US carriers that they may not connect to certain numbers outside the US based either on the content of certain calls or on the (presumably confidential) billing arrangements between the non-US carriers and their subscribers. Tony Harminc ------------------------------ From: f.s.menzel Date: Thu, 14 Sep 1995 09:08:30 -0400 Subject: Correction Re: AT&T Phone Numbers A correction: the repair number for large system customers, who typically have: System 75 System 85 Definity Dimension Voice mail and other adjunct systems associated with the PBXs above is 1-800-242-2121 I'm confident that the folks at 1-800-628-2888 will make a smooth handoff for folks who might call them for large system repairs, but this may cut out a bit of the thrashing. Thanks for providing a number for toll fraud crisis intervention. At customer request, we recently added a new, more direct (fewer prompts) number for this service: 1-800-643-2353. Fran Menzel fsm@mtbcsa.att.com 908-957-5615 AT&T Bell Laboratories Global Business Communicatiosn Systems Security Core team ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #396 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa27367; 22 Sep 95 0:20 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id OAA08191 for telecomlist-outbound; Thu, 21 Sep 1995 14:51:13 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id OAA08182; Thu, 21 Sep 1995 14:51:11 -0500 Date: Thu, 21 Sep 1995 14:51:11 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Message-Id: <199509211951.OAA08182@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #397 TELECOM Digest Thu, 21 Sep 95 14:51:00 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 397 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Evidence for Switching LD Carriers (arora@risky.ecs.umass.edu) Re: Evidence for Switching LD Carriers (Ben Combee) Re: Bell Canada Tests "Soft" Dial Tone (Wes Leatherock) Re: Warning! Directory Assistance Imposter (Lynne Gregg) Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers (John Levine) Questions Regarding Past Network Disasters (Eric A. Carr) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily represent the views of Microsoft. ------------------------------------------------------------ Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: arora@risky.ecs.umass.edu Subject: Re: Evidence for Switching LD Carriers Date: 21 Sep 1995 01:11:44 GMT Organization: University of Massachusetts, Amherst May I suggest the following book by Erik Larson published by Penguin ISBN 0-14-023303-2 Title : The Naked Consumer It goes over in a very easy-to-read manner how this is all done in an electronic age. Fascinating book. Sid 1-500-Hi-Sid-Hi // +1 413 253 7395 arora@kira.ecs.umass.edu s.arora@dpc.umassp.edu s.arora@ieee.org ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Sep 95 13:42:42 -0500 From: combee@ptsg-austin.sps.mot.com (Ben Combee) Subject: Re: Evidence for Switching LD Carriers Reply-To: combee@ptsg-austin.sps.mot.com In article , you wrote: > I get a lot of calls from LD carriers wanting to switch my service, > and they say they can do it over the phone, that there is nothing to > sign. Do they record these calls? > What steps do they take to protect themselves against accusations of > slamming? I recently switched LD carriers to MCI (and I may switch to someone else very soon, considering MCI's November discount rate change). It was all handled over the phone, and after I had given my information to the MCI representative, I was transferred to an independent verifier who asked for all my information again and checked to make sure that I knew I was changing carriers and that the local phone company would add a charge to my bill. I don't remember any comments about the phone conversation being taped, but that might have been mentioned. Ben Combee Motorola Paging Products Group combee@ptsg-austin.sps.mot.com ------------------------------ From: wes.leatherock@hotelcal.com (Wes Leatherock) Subject: Re: Bell Canada Tests "Soft" Dial Tone Date: Thu, 21 Sep 1995 14:24:00 GMT rlvd_cif@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (Robert Levandowski) wrote: [ ... text deleted ... ] > Pat, I think you missed the point ... it's good that the soft-dialtone > phones can dial 611, because it's a pseudo-standard. Like you said, > most areas use 611 for repair. However, it's bad that once you get > real dialtone, 611 doesn't work anymore, and you have to dial some > other number. Your statement that 611 is a "pseudo-standard" for repair is puzzling. I have never lived or worked in a place where 611 was used for repair, nor have I ever needed to call repair in a place where 611 was used. Wes Leatherock wes.leatherock@hotelcal.com wes.leatherock@oubbs.telecom.uoknor.edu wes.leatherock@f2001.n147.z1.fidonet.org ------------------------------ From: Lynne Gregg Subject: Re: Warning! Directory Assistance Imposter Date: Thu, 21 Sep 95 11:12:00 PDT I thought I'd post this response to several posts about Alternative Operator Services for DA. Generally speaking, AT&T contracts with RBOC's and LEC's (owners of the numbers) to provide Directory Assistance services. As TD readers point out, these providers naturally have the highest degree of accuracy. If a subscriber in their region changes a number today, their DA database is updated virtually instantaneously and it disallows the delivery of non-pub numbers. This compares to a third party service providers methods which may not catch a number change for 30 days or more (unless of course, they're on line to the LEC database, which most are not). As for comments regarding the cost of service, it is rare that a third party can beat the cost of RBOC DA service. In order to do so, they usually have to cut quality. Regards, Lynne [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Lynne, isn't that the story of our life these days? Cutting quality in the hopes the average member of the public won't know the difference as the slow and gradual degredation of the US public telephone network continues. PAT] ------------------------------ From: johnl@iecc.com (John Levine) Subject: Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers Date: Thu, 21 Sep 1995 02:29:41 GMT Organization: I.E.C.C. > What would it take for an originating switch to accept digits beyond those > it figures are necessary to complete the call, buffer them, and then > transmit them after the call is supervised? A major hardware and/or software upgrade to every piece of phone equipment in the U.S. that stores or processes phone numbers, including everything from central office switches through PBXes to memory phones. No dice. That's why when organizations go from attendant or DISA to DID they arrange to get an appropriately sized chunk of numbering space so that the total length of the number remains 10 digits. Outside North America the phone switches are set up to do incremental routing and to pass digits on demand. But here the 3+3+4 format is graven in a great deal of granite. Europeans sometimes sniff that they adhere to the international ITU-T standard and we don't, but that mostly reflects the historical situation that 40 to 50 years ago the relatively small phone systems in Europe had to negotiate among themselves for dial interconnection, using the CCITT (now the ITU-T) as their forum, while here in the USA (which had at the time more phones than the rest of the world together) AT&T came up with a design that worked here and we've used it ever since. Regards, John R. Levine, Trumansburg NY Primary perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies" and Information Superhighwayman wanna-be ------------------------------ From: Carr-C10973@email.mot.com (Eric A. Carr) Subject: Questions Regarding Past Network Disasters Organization: Motorola iDEN Systems Engineering Date: Thu, 21 Sep 1995 13:17:08 -0500 There were two incidences that got brought up in a discussion during a seminar that no one had too much information on other than they knew about them; the 1984 Mother's Day fire at the switching center in Hinsdale, Illinois, and the time where a software glitch brought down AT&T's long distance network a few years ago. Does anyone know more of the specifics on these two incidences, i.e. the actual causes and event sequences, what was the class of the C.O. in Hinsdale, etc? Any information would be appreciated. Eric Carr Carr-C10973@email.mot.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The Hinsdale disaster was May 8, 1988, not 1984. In addition to that and the glitch you referred to, there have been other fires and disasters. In 1990 the phones in St. Louis went out for awhile due to a fire. In 1974-75 (?) phones were out for a few days in New York City due to a major fire in a switching center. By comparison, things prior to that seem almost minor, but as a note in passing, a fire in a phone company office in one of the northwest suburbs of Chicago in 1946 knocked out service in that (manual) exchange for about two weeks. In an even earlier situation, a fire in 1939 at the Chicago Union Stockyards destroyed a large part of the physical plant there, injuring several workers and killing a large number of the animals although most of the animals were led to safety. The Union Stockyards was served by a central office on its premises called YARds, and later YArds-7. That same central office served the surrounding neighborhood which was and is still known as 'Back of the Yards' although the stockyards have now been closed for many, many years and the phone exchange relocated. Although the phone exchange itself was spared in the fire which involved several processing buildings around it, the only way people in those times -- the summer of 1939 -- could stay cool was by having windows open for what cool breezes happened to come through since air conditioning was largely unheard of. In those days, offices just had all their windows open and usually ceiling fans which circulated the air. On the day of the fire which was an extremely hot and muggy day, the operators were choking from the thick smoke which came in and even after closing their windows the smoke kept getting in. The exchange was put on emergency-only service and throughout the day and into the night the poor operators sat there coordinating telephone calls between stockyard employees and firemen in the fire-fighting effort and answering calls from frantic residents of the immediate neighborhood where rumors were rampant that the fire had gotten out of control (for awhile it had) and was going to consume the entire complex and surrounding homes. When it appeared that the phone exchange was going to catch on fire, the operators were given permission to leave, but many said they would remain until the last minute in order to continue calling neighborhood residents one by one to keep them updated and to assist the fire fighters with badly needed communications. So they sat there choking in the smoke and operating their switchboards. Today, 55 years later, the YARds exchange is known as 312-927; it still serves the 'Back of the Yards' community on Chicago's mid-southwest side, around 43rd and Halsted Streets. Can't you see that kind of spirit today? [sad smile] ... No matter how bad you think the old Bell System might have been, there was a dedication to the job that is sadly lacking today. Regards Hinsdale, and Mother's Day, 1988: here are some excerpts from TELECOM Digest during May, 1988. Many were written by yours truly, beginning with a report that Sunday evening. The entire file is available in the Telecom Archives in the 'history' directory. PAT] -------------------------------- Below are issues of the Digest during May, 1988 which specifically commented on the Illinois Bell/Hinsdale, IL fire on May 8, 1988 which caused extensive damage to phone service in northern Illinois during May/June, 1988. [NOTE: Just *some* of the files in this 1995 repeat.] Service was largely restored by the end of May. The digests below are only the opnes immediatly afterward. An occassional article appeared during June as well. TELECOM Digest Tuesday, May 10, 1988 8:04PM Volume 8, Issue 75 Today's Topics: Re: (none) (really Maryland +1 dialing) Continuously Ringing Telephone (on VHF) Submission for comp-dcom-telecom Running out of area codes Re: "Party" lines Chicago telco disaster? "Party Lines" Subject: Chicago telco disaster? Date: 10 May 88 16:40:10 GMT I have been trying to call an exchange in Chicago for the past two days to no avail. A recording states that "Due to local telephone company problems in the area you are calling, your call cannot be completed. Please try again later". After a few calls to the AT&T operator and their long distance repair number, I finally found out that an Illinois Bell building serving the Chigago area caught fire and there was serious damage. I'm told that hundreds of exchanges are affected. (!!) Calls via MCI, Sprint, etc. also came up with similar results, just different recordings. From what I understand, Ill. Bell is working on the re-routing of calls through the office that burned, and service *may* be restored by Wednesday. Anyone else have any info. regarding this? Is this similar to the fire that hit the CO in New York City a couple years ago? I thought that disasters like these were preventable to a large extent by using halon and other measures... How can something of this degree occur with relatively modern equipment? Enough questions, I'm just curious.. A posting to this newsgroup would probably be most appropriate for discussion. Thanks for sharing! David M. Kurtiak UNC - Greensboro UUCP: dmkdmk@ecsvax.UUCP {decvax,rutgers,gatech}!mcnc!ecsvax!dmkdmk Bitnet: DMKDMK@ECSVAX.BITNET (mail ONLY) Internet: dmkdmk@ecsvax.uncecs.edu ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest Tuesday, May 10, 1988 10:36PM Volume 8, Issue 76 Today's Topics: Central Office Fire in Chicago The Great Fire Re: Continuously Ringing Telephone (on VHF) From: Patrick_A_Townson@cup.portal.com Subject: Central Office Fire in Chicago Date: Sun May 8 21:13:57 1988 A fire Sunday, May 8 caused severe damage at the Illinois Bell switching center in Hinsdale, IL. Hinsdale is a western suburb of Chicago. As of this posting (11:00 PM Central time) the entire center is off-line, and nearly one hundred thousand subscribers in the west suburban area served from the Hinsdale office are without phone service. There is no estimate at this time as to when service to the affected communities will be restored. The Hinsdale office is also responsible for communications relating to air traffic control between Midway and Ohare Airports in Chicago and the FAA Center in Aurora, IL. Consequently, voice communications between control locations which depended on landline phones has been severely disrupted. Many airlines whose reservation systems are located in other cities also have foreign exchange service through the Hinsdale office, and this has been halted. The fire was struck about an hour after it started, but damage estimates are not yet available, nor specific plans made for the restoration of service to the affected area. Another update will be posted as soon as I have specifics. You can hear more precise reports by calling the internal employee newsline at the General Headquarters Building -- The Illinois Bell Communicator - 312-368-8000 Calls to the affected area at the present time are being intercepted with a recording 'all circuits are busy now'. ------------------------------ From: Patrick_A_Townson@cup.portal.com Subject: The Great Fire Date: Mon May 9 23:19:29 1988 In my earlier posting, details were very sparce and I was unable to be specific in describing the disaster which struck us here over the weekend. I now have a more detailed accounting for the net -- An extra alarm fire broke out Sunday, May 8 at 5:30 PM in the Illinois Bell Central Office, 120 North Lincoln Avenue, Hinsdale, Illinois. At the time of the fire, the Chicago area, and the west suburbs in particular, were experiencing a very bad electrical storm. There had been a great deal of lightning; rain was quite heavy, and winds were about 40 miles per hour. Fire Departments from 15 nearby communities battled the blaze before bringing it under control at about 8:30 PM. The fire was officially struck at 11:30 PM Sunday night. Deemed the worst disaster in the history of Illinois Bell, and one of the worst disasters ever in the telephone industry, the fire virtually gutted the two story building. The Hinsdale central office is a *major* switching center for the west suburban area. In addition to serving ten prefixes covering various communities including Oak Brook, Westmont, Darien, Hinsdale and others, the office housed the Directory Assistance Data Base for downstate Illinois; it served as the communications apex for air traffic control between Ohare, Midway, and the Aurora, IL aviation center; it was the headquarters for a majority of the cellular phone service in the greater Chicago area; *and* it handled long distance calls in and out of most of Dupage County, Will County and southern Cook County. *And the office is now almost gutted* The reason for the fire has not been detirmined, but fire department officials have reason to believe the building was struck by a tremendous bolt of lightning during the worst of the electrical storm which was in progress when the first fire alarms were called in at 5:30 PM. The fire caused another problem: the emission of toxic fumes which required the evacuation of several blocks of homes in the vicinity. These fumes came from batteries described as 'highly toxic' which were stored in the premises and a large amount of fiber optic cable. The Hinsdale office was very much a fiber optic center in the area. Because of the toxic release, at one point firemen working in the building had to be called out, in the interest of their own safety, and as firemen relieved each other working inside in ten to fifteen minute shifts, they were required to strip to their underwear and be hosed down with a special solution so that the contamination would not be carried elsewhere. After the fire was first reported, Illinois Bell employees on duty at the time followed company procedures by first notifying the Fire Department. Others then began fighting the fire, and a few began a process known as an emergency telephone tree, calling other employees and company management at home to notify them of the circumstances. Each employee thus notified was responsible for calling a few more employees. Within about an hour, while the fire was raging at its worst, several dozen employees had already gathered on location, waiting for a go ahead to begin clean up and restoration work. *But no one dreamed it would be nearly as bad as it was* Although the fire was struck at 11:30 PM, fire officials would not permit anyone to enter the building for several more hours, pending exhaustion of the toxic fumes. Illinois Bell employees were allowed access to the building beginning at 4:00 AM to survey the damage. Most of Monday was spent merely bailing out the water and removing the rubble from the fire. Emergency lighting was installed and cleaning crews began scrubbing soot from the walls, ceilings and floors. The cleanup was still in progress late Monday afternoon. At this writing (12:50 AM Tuesday, May 10), Illinois Bell has not announced any date that service will be restored. It is estimated that it will be at least 4-5 days before *emergency* service is restored. Hinsdale, you see, is also the main center for 911 services in over a dozen west suburban communities. Ordinarily in circumstances like this, the phone company will set up special phones in public areas. They will often times be mobile or cellular type instruments available for the public to use for emergency calls. But since Hinsdale *is* the cellular center for Chicago, even this option is not available. When the first firemen arrived on the scene, heavy black smoke was pouring out of all the windows on the first floor. By that time, employees were evacuating after having given up on their own emergency proceedures. What we are faced with now is a *major* traffic jam on the network in the Chicago area. Long distance calls in and out of the area are very sluggish in getting through. Directory Enquiry in downstate Illinois is only able to handle about ten percent of the calls they are receiving, those being requests that are being searched manually through paper directories on hand in the communities affected. Hinsdale was the major center for MCI/Sprint long distance also....and those services are severely crippled in the area. Obviously, data transmission lines and the like are dead. About 40,000 subscribers, representing 100,000 residents are without phone service for the indefinite future. In Hinsdale and the other communities affected, the Police Departments have stationed patrol cars a few blocks apart on the street, and residents have been told to go to the nearest police car to report emergencies. Illinois Bell has not announced -- as of Monday evening -- any schedule of priorities for restoration of service. Jim Eibel, vice president of operations for Illinois Bell said emergency phones would be set up within a day or two, when crews were able to reroute at least limited traffic through the LaGrange, IL center. Of equal importance of course is the restoration of 911 service, and the restoration of long distance service. Eibel said restoring service to the ten prefixes in the area, which would return regular phone service to local residents would probably not occur for 'several' days. Naturally, cellular service also has to be placed in the table of priorities somewhere. About fifty percent of the cellular service in the entire Chicago area is out right now due to the fire. Other Bell companies around the nation have responded by dispatching emergency crews to come to the aid of Illinois Bell, and these out of town crews will remain on site for several weeks as needed. In addition, while the fire was in progress, executives from MCI and Sprint met with their counterparts from Illinois Bell on location and immediatly offered their full assistance and cooperation during the period of turmoil we will be facing for the next several weeks. For up to the minute announcements during the next several days, it is recommended that you call a special recorded announcement service for company employees. Called the 'Illinois Bell Communicator', this recorded announcement will be updated 4-5 times daily, and can be recieved by dialing 312-368-8000, a number at IBT Chicago Headquarters Building. It goes without saying on this forum that everyone is requested to avoid making all but emergency calls into the Chicago west suburban area for at least the next several days. And if your call is met with an 'all circuits busy' message, kindly refrain from repeated dialing attempts, as this simply clogs the network even worse. A further update will be posted here when I have news available. The last fire to occur in a telephone center was in Manhattan a few years ago. You may recall the resulting damage and confusion from that situation. The last fire *in the Chicago area* occurred in the River Grove, IL central office in 1946...then an all manual exchange. Unlike that fire, considered bad at the time, the fire in Hinsdale this past weekend was many times worse, since Hinsdale is responsible not only for its local calling area but so many of the overall network services for the Chicago area. Patrick Townson TELECOM Digest Saturday, May 14, 1988 1:31AM Volume 8, Issue 78 Today's Topics: Re: Chicago telco disaster? link between internet and MCImail Continuously Ringing Phone Re: Continuously Ringing Telephone (on VHF) Re: (none) (really Maryland +1 dial From: netsys!len@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Len Rose) Subject: Re: Chicago telco disaster? Date: 12 May 88 00:15:27 GMT Reply-To: netsys!len@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Len Rose) I also noted that many of our 800 calls are now being affected. Repeated calls to the ATT repair line,have revealed that no one knows when they will be back online.. So much for the damned Bell System breakup.. Len Rose - len@ames.arc.nasa.gov TELECOM Digest Monday, May 16, 1988 8:44PM Volume 8, Issue 79 Today's Topics: proposed rate cut in western Fairfax Co., Va. Fiber optics Five-Year Plan TOLLS/LOCAL CALLS 2600? Hinsdale - Wednesday night update From: Patrick_A_Townson@cup.portal.com Subject: Hinsdale - Wednesday night update Date: Wed May 11 17:14:34 1988 The cleanup and service restoration goes on, slowly it seems, yet an overview shows tremendous progress at the Illinois Bell Hinsdale Central Office, in the wake of the disasterous fire Sunday night which gutted what IBT has termed 'one of the four super centers in the Chicago area'. Bell officials have still given no date for the complete restoration of service. The closest estimate is 'several days - perhaps another week'. Wednesday brought these accomplishments -- Five additional emergency telephone centers were installed in various areas. In addition to the center located outside the burned out building at 120 N. Lincoln Street, the huge communication trailers have been moved into shopping malls and near the City Hall. These centers are operating and attended 24 hours per day. Calls are placed free of charge for anyone with urgent business. The calls are limited to a few minutes and two calls per person. The users are then requested to go to the back of the line(s) and wait their turn again. The one center open on Tuesday was literally swamped for hours with hundreds of people waiting in several lines, snaking their way forward to the phones. Illinois Bell attendants rushed around taking notes and helping the customers establish connections. The five additional centers opened on Wednesday should relieve the crowding. Moving vans and trailer trucks blocked Lincoln for several blocks Tuesday night and Wednesday. Each contained new equipment and supplies for the office which is literally being built from scratch. As a truck was unloaded, another vehicle moved up into its place. Two Greyound busses were parked nearby, serving as places for employees to eat, rest and clean up between work shifts. I was amazed to see a virtual ant-hill like atmosphere when passing by earlier today. Dozens of people were busy at their assigned tasks. Some were painting and cleaning. Others were installing lighting, air conditioning and such. Carpenters were working to intall doors and windows. Several people were working with circuit boards, assembly line fashion, passing them along to others. The main switch, which they had hoped to save, now looks like it will have to be replaced -- if not in its entirety, then with virtually one hundred percent new components. The corrosion and rust from the high humidity level of Sunday night and Monday are very evident. The work is going on 24 hours per day. Workers take breaks when they must. When they quit after several hours, others who had been eating/sleeping in the Greyhound busses take their places. Directory Assistance has been restored for everyone except in the immediate area. The data base was rerouted through another central office. Microwave dishes have been installed and are being used by the hospitals, police and fire departments in the troubled area. Although residents still have no phone service and must go out into the street to locate police help, the police are now able to communicate among themselves, as are the hospitals. On Tuesday and Wednesday, Illinois Bell employees visited schools and shopping malls throghout the area. School children were given notices to take to their parents giving the locations of the emergency communication centers. *Do Bell employees have dedication to their calling?* I would say so... the internal newsline for employees (Illinois Bell Communicator 312-368-8000) on Wednesday asked that, 'employees not specifically assigned to restoration should *NOT* come to the site to assist. The limited working space was already overcrowded with people, working in some cases only 2-3 feet apart from each other at their tasks. Yet show up they did, by the hundreds if it was otherwise their day off Tuesday or Wednesday. Some came after their regular work was done; some to assist in the public communications centers; others to man the rest/feeding busses. How badly has the fire hurt folks? Hardest hit are not the teenagers of the village of Hinsdale, as they would claim (smile), but the businesses which relied heavily on data services. 400 agents of the Illinois State Lottery are off line.... Several dozen ATM's serving the banks are off line.... Two major telemarking firms have closed 'for the duration', idleing several hundred employees.... Stock and Option guys are tearing their hair out..... Radio Shack reports that several hundred cellular units have been sold in the past two days...units that function on channels assigned to Bell's competitor and are in service.... I'll have more news for you tomorrow, and will continue to provide updates until the crisis has passed. Patrick Townson TELECOM Digest Wednesday, May 18, 1988 10:44PM Volume 8, Issue 82 Today's Topics: Hinsdale - Thursday update Hinsdale Update (Friday) Special Spkr Phone wanted... More Fun With COCOTs From: Patrick_A_Townson@cup.portal.com Subject: Hinsdale - Thursday update Date: Thu May 12 18:12:59 1988 Life goes on.... Jim Eibel, Vice President Operations for Illinois Bell announced a restoration schedule for Hinsdale at a press conference on Thursday. While the news was not pleasant, it probably is realistic. Until now, IBT had responded to inquiries about service restoration by saying, 'in a few days'. The switch has been abandoned. Due to extensive corrosion from the water damage the night of the fire, the switch cannot be salvaged. Replacement will take 10-14 days of technicians working around the clock. Residents of Hinsdale, Clarendon Hills, Darien and Oak Brook who have no service should not expect to have service restored until *near the end of the month*. About 35,000 subscribers, representing a population of 100,000 people in those communities will continue to use the emergency communication trailers set up about town until further notice. Most emergency requirements in the area have been met by rerouting through the LaGrange, IL center. Emergency service for hospitals, police and fire agencies and certain other government agencies is in place now, or will be by the evening of May 15. The long distance toll center operation at Hinsdale has been rerouted to other centers for the most part, and residents of the several south suburban communities who have been only able to make strictly local calls for the past week will have their full service restored by May 15, albeit under somewhat cramped network facilities. Pagers, beepers, cellular service and similar functions are largely restored and the restoration will be complete by the evening of May 15. Again, some network congestion is to be expected for at least a couple weeks until the Hinsdale office is fully operational once again. WAS THE DAMAGE INTENSIFIED BY IMPROPER EMERGENCY HANDLING? The [Chicago Sun Times] for Thursday, May 12 reported an interview with an 'unnamed executive of Bell' who gave a somewhat different accounting of the tragic events last Sunday. According to this source, the fire was first noted in Springfield, IL, when an emergency alarm was automatically tripped by the Hinsdale office. This was about 4:30 PM. A human being in Springfield called the duty supervisor for Hinsdale to ask what was going on. According to the newspaper report, by the time office personnell got around to calling the Fire Department, *the lines had already burned out* -- making the call impossible. A supervisor stuck his head out the door at a minute or two before 5 PM and told a passer by to please go to the Fire Department immediatly. Apparently the person did not do so. Finally someone -- as yet unknown or unnamed -- went to the police station in Hinsdale to report the fire at about 5:15 PM...by that time, the phones throughout the area had already been dead for half an hour. If this report is true, then there need to be some very serious discussions at corporate level to find out why local employees discovered the fire *after* someone downstate manning a computer terminal, and why it took another 45 minutes for someone to go to the Fire Department personally if necessary, to rouse the firemen. Bell executives would not comment on the [Sun Times] report. For most intents and purposes then, the word is that network services for the greater Chicago area will be restored in total by Sunday evening. Local residents will be brought up gradually over the next 10-14 days as the new switch is installed. Updates can be heard on the Illinois Bell Communicator: 312-368-8000 TELECOM Digest Sunday, May 22, 1988 7:33PM Volume 8, Issue 84 Today's Topics: Re: TOLLS/LOCAL CALLS? Submission for comp-dcom-telecom Re: Mass 550 numbers Date: Thu May 19 17:12:36 1988 From: mordor!lll-crg!lll-winken!ddsw1!karl@rutgers.edu (Karl Denninger) To: codas!comp-dcom-telecom Path: ddsw1!karl From: karl@ddsw1.UUCP (Karl Denninger) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Chicago telco disaster? Summary: One view of the impact and other items of interest. Keywords: Great fire of '88?? Message-ID: <1097@ddsw1.UUCP> Date: 19 May 88 22:12:34 GMT References: <5058@ecsvax.UUCP> Reply-To: karl@ddsw1.UUCP (Karl Denninger) Organization: Macro Computer Solutions, Inc., Mundelein, IL Lines: 96 In article <5058@ecsvax.UUCP> dmkdmk@UNCECS.EDU (David M. Kurtiak) writes: > > >I have been trying to call an exchange in Chicago for the past two days >to no avail. A recording states that "Due to local telephone company >problems in the area you are calling, your call cannot be completed. >Please try again later". After a few calls to the AT&T operator and >their long distance repair number, I finally found out that an >Illinois Bell building serving the Chigago area caught fire and there >was serious damage. I'm told that hundreds of exchanges are affected. (!!) >Calls via MCI, Sprint, etc. also came up with similar results, just >different recordings. From what I understand, Ill. Bell is working on >the re-routing of calls through the office that burned, and service >*may* be restored by Wednesday. > >Anyone else have any info. regarding this? Is this similar to the >fire that hit the CO in New York City a couple years ago? I thought >that disasters like these were preventable to a large extent by using >halon and other measures... How can something of this degree occur >with relatively modern equipment? Enough questions, I'm just curious.. > >A posting to this newsgroup would probably be most appropriate for >discussion. Thanks for sharing! Well, we're on the outside of Chicago, and luckily a good ways from the hub that burned. Illinois Bell's central office facilities in Hinsdale were nearly destroyed by fire May 8th. The building was gutted, all the equipment (read: the switch) is being replaced. They are currently re-wiring the building, top to bottom, and have stated that 30,000 of the 35,000 lines that were completely off the air now have a dialtone -- sometimes. IBT also openly admits that service will be spotty and horrid in general for some time (probably mid-June). The fire's exact cause is still undetermined, but it is believed that it started in one of the racks on the lower floor. In any event, it was over an *hour* from the time the first alarm was seen in Springfield's monitoring station until fire equipment arrived on the scene! The fire alarm was not locally connected, there was no halon or sprinkler system, and phones were already out by the time someone tried to call it in from the local area (about 20-30 minutes after the first indication of a problem). Our first indication that something was wrong was when we went to complete a wiring job on that Sunday AM and found that the cellular phones didn't work -- all throughout the city. The real fun and games began Monday, when we tried to contact some of our business customers -- and got nowhere. The situation is not nearly back to normal yet -- several of our clients still cannot dial or receive long distance calls, our service here (50 miles away) is spotty as well. It's very common to redial a call a dozen or more times before it goes through; the remaining capacity is badly overloaded. Today things seem better -- for the first time since the fire we got a normal news feed, a good sign that our computers (and humans) can once again reach each other by phone. It also seems a little better -- calls that were a "no chance" attempt a few days ago now go through after a half-dozen tries or so.... And my car-phone is working properly again. There are a few questions I want to ask of Illinois Bell: 1) Why was that building, which is (obviously) extremely important to the integrity of the network: a) Un-manned (a single person would have prevented this) b) Not have a fire alarm connected with local fire departments c) Have no fire-suppression system installed (yeah, Halon is expensive. How expensive is something like *this*?) 2) Who's going to pay for this obvious negligence. We the customers? 3) What is IBT going to do to *prevent* future occurrances? I believe that IBT should be forced to bear, without passing through, the cost of this disaster. As with other businesses who make mistakes, they should have to pay out of their own pockets (and/or insurance, if there was any -- somehow I doubt that there was considering that they didn't even bother with a local fire alarm!) When I moved to Chicago about three years ago, it took IBT three weeks to get two residential lines correctly installed. My phone would ring and no one would be on the other end -- and calls to my number would ring someone else's phone! IBT failed to make good on their "will be working by xxx" time at least a half-dozen times -- and when the phone finally did ring, my custom calling features were missing. Two more weeks elapsed before those worked, and even then the "*70" disable for call waiting was inoperative (this they told me they *couldnt* fix). That little episode left me with a strong feeling that IBT was incapable of performing their job with competence. This fiasco leaves no room for doubt. Ps: To all of the IBT employees who are working right now to restore to normalcy the phones in Chicagoland -- a big thanks. I have a few more choice words for IBT management, but those I will keep to myself. -- Karl Denninger | Data: +1 312 566-8912 Macro Computer Solutions, Inc. | Voice: +1 312 566-8910 ...ihnp4!ddsw1!karl | "Quality solutions for work or play" These were (some of) the articles during May, 1988. A few minor follow up articles appeared in June, 1988. Most of the reports were written by myself from Portal Communications. As a resident in Chicago, I was affected first hand by the fire, although my personal service was not disrupted. As a point of information, on May 18, 1989 (Thursday), phones in the same area were down for four hours, from 9:30 AM until 1:40 PM due to some unidentified failure in the computer in that phone office. See Digest Volume 9 #170-171 and later issues for this report. Patrick Townson TELECOM Digest Moderator (jsol was Moderator at the time of the fire in May, 1988). ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #397 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa27624; 22 Sep 95 0:28 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id QAA10314 for telecomlist-outbound; Thu, 21 Sep 1995 16:03:24 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id QAA10303; Thu, 21 Sep 1995 16:03:19 -0500 Date: Thu, 21 Sep 1995 16:03:19 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Message-Id: <199509212103.QAA10303@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #398 TELECOM Digest Thu, 21 Sep 95 16:03:00 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 398 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers (Tony Harminc) Re: Cellular "Emergency" Use (Curtis Wheeler) Re: Fonorola Network Plans (sp@questor.org) Re: Pacific Bell Pay Phones (Robert Jacobson) Re: Beach House Payphone (Collin Park) Re: Need Help To Deal With "Slamming" (Glen Roberts) Re: FBI Arrests America OnLine Users (Mike Stockman) Pole Mounted City Fire Alarm Boxes (Tony Harminc) Re: An Idea for LECs to Communicate Area Code Splits (Leonard Erickson) Re: Beyond V.34, V.34bis and Rockwell's 33.6 (Stephen Palm) Re: V.34+ Documentation Wanted (Christian Weisgerber) Windows Software For Keith K110 Telephone Exchange (Jerome Komen) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily represent the views of Microsoft. ------------------------------------------------------------ Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 20 Sep 95 13:43:43 EDT From: Tony Harminc Subject: Re: Variable Length Phone Numbers naddy@mips.pfalz.de (Christian Weisgerber) wrote: Most of this has been dealt with by people pointing out that compelled signalling is widely used in Germany and other parts of Europe, but is essentially unknown in North America. One point remains to be covered, however: > What is a phone number? For the most part, a phone number is a *route* > through the network. This is absolutely not true in North America. One of the fundamental principles of the NANP long distance network from the earliest days is that of Destination Code Routing. Each switch in the network is capable of doing a database lookup on (typically) six digits of the phone number to determine the action to take to advance the call. The individual digits of the number in no way specify the route the call is to take through the network; this is a decision made by each switch as needed, and is based on much more than the digits in the number. Currently available trunks, congestion, previous routing history, and many other factors can be taken into consideration to make routing decisions. I say "database lookup" advisedly: in the early days the database consisted of plastic cards read mechanically, and database updates were made by manually punching new cards. These days, of course, the database is more what we think of when we use that word in a computer context: tables in memory or on disk. The relationship between the digits in a phone number and the routing of a call to that number is weakening even further. Right now, there is no connection at all between the digits of an 800 number and its routing - the entire ten digits are looked up in a database and only then are routing decisions made. As local competition increases, this will be true of all calls - even local ones. Tying the routing of a call to the digits in the number is the huge failing of SxS switching systems. > Okay, you dial +49 or within Germany 0. Now you're on the long distance > level of the German Telekom network. > You dial selects > - <6> South western Germany. > - 6<2> The Ludwigshafen/Mannheim area. > - 62<1> The cities of Ludwigshafen and Mannheim themselves. > - 621 <5> Ludwigshafen. > - 621 5<8> The particular part of Ludwigshafen I live in. > - 621 58<70460> That's my line. My phone is ringing! > (Actually, the final 0 helps selecting a particular > device on my ISDN line.) > Easy, isn't it? Easy yes -- but a disaster for planning and orderly growth. This sort of design ensures that Germany will not have portable numbers for a long time. Okay -- you are in Germany and you start to dial +1 40 ... Now with your scheme, the local switch would have to pick up a trunk to somewhere -- to where ? It isn't even known what country you are calling yet! Then you dial 3 as the next digit, and the switch in Germany knows you are calling Canada rather than the USA. But Germany has trunks to at least two points in the area covered by area code 403 - which one should it pick up ? The next digit is 9, but still nothing is known - it could be somewhere near Calgary, or over a thousand miles north in the Northwest Territories. Only after two more digits (say 79) is it finally known what local area the called line is in. Tony Harminc ------------------------------ From: Curtis Wheeler Subject: Re: Cellular "Emergency" Use Date: 21 Sep 1995 20:19:54 GMT Organization: CITC Mark Earle wrote: > A while back (but sometime this year, I think) someone posted about a > cellular carrier that would take registrations via fax/mail with > credit card payment. The idea was that this carrier would activiate > your phone, and then you could roam legitimately in any market. > The per minute rate was quite high, but there were minimal monthly > fees. This service was intended primarily for 2nd or 3rd phones > used only in true times of need and not for casual use. > I've searched the archives (mine and the "official" ones) and cannot > locate this reference. Would some kind soul either point me to the > original article, or maybe remember the name of this company? Our rep from MCSI was talking about this with me not too long ago. She said that one of the carriers in Las Vegas (A or B -- can't remember) had a really low basic rate with a pretty steep per min rate. People from outside Vegas were doing exactly what you described in order to have a phone for emergencies for something like 9.95/month. And I think 911 calls are free of airtime charges to roamers on most/all systems, aren't they? But -- the reason we were discussing it was because some of our personnel were having roaming trouble. She was telling me about other people doing the Vegas thing and having trouble when they went to use the phone for the first time. Seemed that if your phone was never used on the "home" system, it may look invalid and not be able to roam. Curtis Wheeler - Pleasanton, CA ------------------------------ From: sp@questor.org Subject: Re: Fonorola Network Plans Date: 21 Sep 1995 12:33:26 -0700 Organization: The Questor Project, Vancouver, BC - voxfon: +1 604 687 4777 In article , Dave Leibold wrote: > [from Bell News, 4 Sept 95 - Bell Canada's version of events] > Despite its ambitious growth plans, industry analysts look upon > Fonorola with a jaundiced eye. It has recorded multimillion dollars > losses since it set up shop in 1993, with the money-losing trend > still holding sway. Last year, its president left the company after > only eight months on the job. I suspect this is Bell's propaganda to its employees. A recent issue of the Financial Post cited Fonorola as one of three such companies in Canada which were expected to do well and were holding their own, while Unitel and a few others were in quite a bind. FREE ACCESS TO E-MAIL & NEWS at +1 604 681 0670. INFO on Environment, Science, Medicine, AIDS, Native (Indigenous) Issues and more. We sell ZyXEL, Penril, Telebit and more world-wide to support this Free Public Community Service. :::> Info from: mail-server@questor.org <::: ------------------------------ From: cyberoid@u.washington.edu (Robert Jacobson) Subject: Re: Pacific Bell Pay Phones Date: 21 Sep 1995 00:19:39 GMT Organization: University of Washington, Seattle Bob Deward in an earlier posting defends Pacific Bell's policies on payphone removal. In my own comments, I indicated that a California bill to curtail payphone removal, primarily in inner-city neighborhoods but anywhere where subscriptions were lower than the average, was watered down by telephone company lobbyists to a law requiring merely two weeks notice before a payphone was removed. I stand by my account. I did not identify Pacific Bell as a major antagonist in this effort, but if Bob wants to assume the mantle, so be it. I never heard mention one by any telephone company lobbyist regarding drug use or civic order as a rationale for removing a payphone; it was always due to economic reasons, at least during the passage of the law we are discussing. Bob Jacobson Principal Consultant/Staff Director Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee CA Legislature, 1981-89 ------------------------------ From: collin@hpjsdivb.kobe.hp.com (Collin Park) Subject: Re: Beach House Payphone Date: 21 Sep 1995 05:04:42 GMT Organization: HP Asia Pacific Product Operations, Kobe, Japan Two experiences along these lines, one of them second-hand. Steve Bunning (bunning@acec.com) wrote: > of North Carolina. The rental house I stayed in had an interesting < arrangement for phone service. An understatement! Mine was near Lake Tahoe, California. In my case, 10288 was blocked, so I called the operator and asked how to get to an AT&T operator. "Is there any way I could place the call for you?" I didn't say "hell, no", just "No." The number she gave me was 1-800-321- 0288, which worked fine. Now, the other part of the experience: I normally use a callback service from here (in Japan), wherein I call a number in the US and hang up as soon as it starts to ring. The service calls me back and presents me with a US dial tone, and I can talk anywhere in the US for about 55 cents/minute 24 hours a day. This 55 cents is the Japan rate; intra-US it's even cheaper. So I used my AT&T access to call my callback service to inform it of the new number -- but once the call was completed, any attempted tones from the touch-pad resulted in a disconnect! > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Wouldn't it have been easier to just unplug > or bypass the dialer somehow? PAT] A fascinating idea. Is it a foregone conclusion that the dialer had to be on the premises? In the rental house we used, there was a locked closet for which we weren't given the key. Could that have been the location of the mystery dialer? Maybe if we had cut off the main breaker, the dialer would have automagically just become a straight-thru connect to the local phone company? I wonder. The second experience, which is second hand: a friend of mine lives in a "company dorm" here in Japan. The telephone "service" there is also very interesting. All phone calls go thru Axxx telephone service, which charges more for long-distance calls than NTT or KDD do. This is absolutely astonishing. Anyway, use of the touch-pad after a call is completed results in the call's being disconnected!! This prevents use of some call-back services, as well as preventing employees from using the company's voice-mail system. Making use of a particular rip-off telecom carrier a condition of rental is probably illegal in the US, but here in Japan I believe it to be a not uncommon practice. The goverment's official position seems to have nothing to do with consumer welfare here, which as an American I find a little annoying. My personal two yen's worth, and absolutely not a statement of my employer. Collin ------------------------------ From: glr@ripco.com (Glen Roberts) Subject: Re: Need Help To Deal With "Slamming" Organization: Ripco Internet BBS, Chicago Date: Wed, 20 Sep 1995 13:02:25 GMT KBC6891 (KC6891@megaweb.com) wrote: > A friend of mine in Mass was ripped off by some small long distance > company by illegal connection without consent. That person has had > some deep discount package to call with MCI so he/she called abroad > alot unknowing that the line had been slammed to some other company. > That result to a very, very big LD bills with some outrageous charges. > That person called the sleazy company to complaint and asked for > record of consent to hook up. The customer service gave some run > around then said they don't have any proof other than it might be > local telco's mistakes or might be some one in the family has given > the permission. Are you obligated (legally) to pay for services or products foisted upon you, that you did not order or contact for? Might the answer to slamming, simply be to refuse to pay any bills issued, and when the company makes an attempt to collect the debt, sue/counter-sue them for violate of your state's consumer protection statute? All the time you keep using their service, until they (at no charge to you) put things back the way they were. After you receive your first bill for their bogus service, reply with a certified letter that you did not order nor contact the services, you will not pay for them, and they are liable to you for damages under your state's consumer protection act. Glen L. Roberts, Host Full Disclosure Live (WWCR 5065khz - Sundays 8pm eastern) (WOYL AM-1340, Oil City, PA). Tech Talk Network; Telstar 302, Ch 21, 5.8 Audio Look for articles, catalog, downloadable programs and great links on: http://pages.ripco.com:8080/~glr/glr.html [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The thing is you did 'order and contract for the service'. Your dialing of the telephone served as your instructions. Your local telco routed it via an incorrect vendor based on their most- likely good faith misunderstanding of your intentions based on what they were told by the intruding carrier. And when you say 'all the time you keep using their service until they put things back as they were' you are going to have a problem there also. You have a legal obligation to mitigate the losses which result in any dispute. If you continue to use their service knowing that you do not intend to pay and knowing that the carrier did not willfully (that is, with their knowledge) extend their services to you in a bonafide customer relationship then you are guilty of unlawful enrichment; that is, taking advantage of someone else's mistake, which under the law, you may not do. Now if you can *prove* that the carrier change was done willfully with an intent to defraud by the carrier which did it, you then of course can sue them for tampering with your phone service, but if it was an error then you have the responsibility to call attention to the error but *not abuse it*. You do have pay (assuming it was an error and not willful) the carrier the amount you would have paid to the carrier of your choice; after all you did purchase communication services. You certainly do not have to pay any administration fee to your local telco for the error regards getting your line changed back again. But I would take care about continuing to use the wrong carrier expecting not to have to pay for any of it. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Stockman@jaguNET.com (Mike Stockman) Subject: Re: FBI Arrests America OnLine Users Date: Wed, 20 Sep 1995 21:15:15 -0400 Organization: jaguNET Access Services In article , our illustrious moderator wrote: > Let's say a user becomes offended at some other user whose only 'offense' > is they happen to be gay -- like you for example. And that user happens > to be very homophobic (not at all an unusual status on AOL), so he goes > to AOL and says 'I got a letter from this child molestor'. Now you know > and I know that 'gay' does NOT equal 'molestor'. But the homophobic user > still turns you in, maybe embellishes the story a little, etc. Now what > does AOL do at that point? AOL probably does nothing at this point. Here's why: AOL's "Terms of Service" instructions say that when you get offensive or "violating" e-mail from somebody, you should forward (not copy and paste) the message to the TOS police. Why? Because the AOL software forwards a message *without* letting the user edit it first. You can only forward an unchanged, original message. If the AOL cops receive a copied-and-pasted message, they say they won't act on it because it's not an original and could have been edited. This is a responsible way to work. Your scenario -- blowing an innocent e-mail out of proportion and getting some poor person put under surveillance -- can't happen as described. It would take a real message, not an imagined one, for AOL to take action (if you believe they follow their own rules). While I appreciate your paranoia and would never suggest that you give it up, AOL has still not shown any indication of having read private e-mail without the consent of either sender (unlikely) or recipient. They're as secure as, say, mail over the Internet or CompuServe ... which is to say, no more secure than a postcard. Mike Internet: stockman@jagunet.com AOL: MStockman CompuServe: 72500,3110 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Sep 95 15:37:04 EDT From: Tony Harminc Subject: Pole Mounted City Fire Alarm Boxes Martin McCormick wrote: [Fire alarms boxes that pulsed out their location] > The alarm boxes vanished from streets in Tulsa and Oklahoma > City as well as many other places as soon as 911 became the method of > choice to report emergencies. I also remember that many of the street > boxes had a glass window that one had to break with an attached hammer > to activate the alarm. This always seemed dumb and dangerous to me, > but I am sure there was a good reason for it. Even today many fire alarm pull handles have a glass strip or other device that doesn't automatically reset itself. It's to ensure that misuse can be punished: there can be no excuses like "I was just looking at it to see how it worked, and I accidently set it off". You have to take a very positive action to give the alarm. It (the dangling handle and/or broken glass) also makes it obvious to the repair/inspection people that the unit has been set off and needs work. Toronto lost its pole-mounted fire alarm boxes as recently as 1980, as I remember. There are still a few poles with strips of red paint around them to be found. One point that has perhaps not been made clear is the reason these boxes had clockwork code senders in the first place: they were all connected in parallel on the same wire. (Well, there were subsets, of course, but typically all the boxes that rang in one station were on one line.) If each box had had a direct wire back to the station there would have been no need for pulses and clockwork. As I remember, the wires on the Toronto poles were very thick -- perhaps 10 gauge or thicker. These wires were strung on the municipally owned Hydro (electric power) poles and not on telephone poles. I have no idea what voltage was used. Tony Harminc ------------------------------ Subject: Re: An Idea for LECs to Communicate Area Code Splits Nationally From: shadow@krypton.rain.com (Leonard Erickson) Date: Thu, 21 Sep 95 11:03:58 PDT Organization: Shadownet Mark J. Cuccia writes: > BTW, the local telcos DO give a US/Canada map of NPA's in the front of their > local directories. However, in Louisiana (and other SCBell states?), there > is a notice stating "Areacodes for places not listed..." (a small town not > able to have its dot on the map or name in the list) "...can be obtained > from *Directory-Assistance*." Here in US Worst territory, I get the new phone book in November. The area code map info is (apparently) "set" for when preparing the books for folks in areas that get their books in January, and NOT UPDATED for the rest of the year as they crank out books for other areas. Either that, or they just don't bother checking the info all the time ... The books that arrived in November 94, (deadline for number changes making it into the book is early August) shows only the 3334 and 360 splits. That's better than the year before, which only showed the 210, 905 and 909 splits (in other words, it showed as *upcoming* the splits that took place *before* the book ever arrived, and *none* of the ones that took place in the rest of the year!) When we get to the NXX tables for the NPAs in our area, there are large gaps. Thankfully, when the 541 code goes into effect for the rest of the state that'll leave 503 covering the area where the exchange list is more accurate. And the four different places that list the *local* exchanges don't agree with each other! They are also usually *several* years behind. Leonard Erickson leonard@qiclab.scn.rain.com (aka Shadow) shadow@krypton.rain.com (preferred) FIDO: 1:105/51 Leonard.Erickson@f51.n105.z1.fidonet.org ------------------------------ From: palm@tokyo.rockwell.com (Stephen [kiwin] PALM) Subject: Re: Beyond V.34, V.34bis and Rockwell's 33.6 Organization: Rockwell International Japan, JEDC Date: Thu, 21 Sep 1995 05:52:19 GMT "Earley" == Matthew A Earley wrote: > Is anyone aware of a new or proposed standard that enhances the > capabilities of ITU's V.34? I beleive there may be a V.34bis in the > works. Actually a "V.34bis" is NOT in the works ... however an Annex to V.34 is being planned. It will be discussed next month in Munich at the SG14 Working Party meeting and will come before SG14 in March in Geneva. If all goes well it could be officially part of V.34 around June of 1996. Higher speeds are one of the items being considered for the Annex. > Is the 33.6 a proprietary USR standard or is it part of the roposed > V.34bis? Currently, all rates above 28.8 are proprietary. See above for ITU schedule. Regards, Stephen [kiwin] Palm TEL (Voice mail): +81-3-5371-1564 Rockwell - Multimedia Communications Division COMNET: 930-1564 Japan Engineering Design Center (JST=PST+17hours) FAX: +81-3-5371-1507 palm@tokyo.rockwell.com s.palm@ieee.org spalm@cmu.edu palm@itu.ch ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Sep 95 15:58 MET From: naddy@mips.pfalz.de (Christian Weisgerber) Subject: Re: V.34+ Documentation Wanted Matthew A Earley writes: > I recently logged onto the US Robotics BBS and found the files necessary > to upgrade my V.Everything to a 33.6k data-transmission rate. > What standard does this faster data rate follow. I would guess > it is USR or Rockwell proprietary, or is it a V.34+ from ITU? No standard so far. ITU-T Study Group XIV is working on an annex to V.34. AT&T has proposed extensions covering: - 1664 point constellation; - encoding 10 bits per symbol instead of 9 (or 8); - Each of the symbol rates (except 2400) can have one notch up for it's highest data rate; (Summary courtesy of Stephen "kiwin" Palm from Rockwell.) The revised V.34 specification should be adopted in spring '96, if everything works according to plan. Currently, AT&T (Comsphere 38x0+) and USRobotics (Courier) have implementations of what they call "V.34+". Christian 'naddy' Weisgerber naddy@mips.pfalz.de currently reading: Stephen King, The Stand ------------------------------ From: komen@komen.knoware.nl (Jerome Komen) Subject: Windows Software For Keith K110 Telephone Exchange Date: Thu, 21 Sep 1995 00:46:29 Organization: Knoware Internet Hello, I have just purchased a Keil K110 telephone exchange. It is supposed to be controllable by a Windows application, but this software is not available in Holland yet. Does somebody have a copy? Please (also) email me at komen@phil.ruu.nl Thanks, Jerome ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #398 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa28093; 22 Sep 95 1:58 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id SAA14286 for telecomlist-outbound; Thu, 21 Sep 1995 18:25:04 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id SAA14278; Thu, 21 Sep 1995 18:25:02 -0500 Date: Thu, 21 Sep 1995 18:25:02 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Message-Id: <199509212325.SAA14278@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #399 TELECOM Digest Thu, 21 Sep 95 18:25:00 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 399 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Cellular Telephone and Modems (Tony Zuccarino) Re: Pros and Cons About Making One Channel of T1 Data Line (Lou DeFonzo) Re: What is Required to Switch LD Service (Bryan Roberts) Re: Bell Canada Tests "Soft" Dial Tone (Scott Temaat) Re: Bell Canada Tests "Soft" Dial Tone (Rick Scholl) Re: Bell Canada Tests "Soft" Dial Tone (Steve Cogorno) 911 From Unsubscribed Lines: Bell Canada Limits to Two Months? (M. Wengler) Re: AOL and Expectations of Privacy (Fredrick J. Strelzoff) Looking at AOL and Compuserve From France (JeanBernard Condat) Re: Modem Bridging (Eric Ewanco) Multiplexing Over Digital Line? (Andrew Oliver) Re: Cellular Telephone and Modems (Steve Cogorno) Re: T1 Direct to Modem Bank (Craig Nordin) Re: Cell One/NY Discontinues ATT 500 Service When ATT Takes Over! (bkron) Re: Beyond V.34, V.34bis and Rockwell's 33.6 (Steve Forrette) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily represent the views of Microsoft. ------------------------------------------------------------ Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: tony.zuccarino@nb.rockwell.com (Tony Zuccarino) Subject: Re: Cellular Telephone and Modems Organization: Rockwell International Date: Thu, 21 Sep 1995 01:51:58 GMT In article , jjg@pt.com (John Grana) wrote: > I cannot find much information on hooking up a cellular telephone to a > 28.8 modem. The modem is INSIDE my home computer. The reason I would > like to connect such a strange combination is two-fold. > One, my local cell providers have a deal where I have free airtime > from 7 PM to 7 AM weekdays and all weekend. That's pretty much the > time I am likely to us my system to dial in work, AOL, the net etc. > Two, since my kids are getting older, I really don't want to tie up > the house line too much during the above time periods ... > The problem thus far is I am getting the impression that the cable > that connects the modem and phone costs over $100! Probably! > Is this cable "active"? Isn't there just a TIP and RING signal hangin > out on the tiny connector (the phone I am looking at is a Nokia 2XX). Yes, there is special conditioning (not necessary but best for performance) command interpretation and signal re-routing to adapt tip/ring to the analog cell phone connector. Remember that a cell phone with an RJ11 input is a rare if not never existent bird indeed. RJ11 doesn't mean anything to a cellphone. For obvious reasons. > If its TIP and RING, why couldn't I find a suitable plug and make > my own cable? No. That connector on Nokia is control lines and analog tx/rx lines. Nothing at all like tip/ring. Proprietary interface. > Last but not least, do cellular phone systems have the bandwidth to > support 28.8 modems? My Supra usually runs at 26400 with a local > provider. Doubt it. In fact no. Not until the cell carrier installs modem pools that have protocol/signal conditioning that exactly matches what your cell modem would have. Hopefully MNP10EC (shameless Rockwell plug). You probably won't get better than 14.4 if you're lucky. Tony Zuccarino Internet: tony.zuccarino@nb.rockwell.com Product Marketing Rockwell International ------------------------------ From: Lou DeFonzo Subject: Re: Pros and Cons About Making One Channel of T1 Data Line Date: 21 Sep 1995 18:47:52 GMT Organization: Stanford University rolland@mcs.com (Rolland Suh) wrote: > We are thinking about getting 56KB dedicated line to the Internet. We > already have a T1 voice line, and wondering if it would be cost > effective for us to use one of the channels of existing T1, over > getting a new dediccated line. Any idea on this? Assuming that you are not using all 24 DS0s, this would be an excellent way of gaining internet access. However, this will depend on who your carrier is for the T1 and who you are planning to use for your Internet Access Provider. This will require that your CSU is capable of providing Drop and Insert capability and that it can support a DSU. Basically a DSU/CSU with Drop and Insert capability. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 20 Sep 95 12:03 EST From: Bryan Roberts <0005194087@mcimail.com> Subject: Re: What is Required to Switch LD Service This is to reply to Larry Rubin on what evidence is required to switch LD service. In response to the question of "what is evidence is required" to switch long distance service. Currently there are only three ways your service can legally be switched by you personally, calling into the local phone company, via third party verification, or a signed letter of authorization. If you are solicited by a telesales person and make a switch it is required by law that you receive a second call from an independent third party to verify the sale. Usually the third party call will consist of a very short script, did you know you were switching, do you know of all the fees, here are the services you agreed to, and is this address correct. A signed LOA is usually required for large line (50+) transactions, special circumstances, or if it is requested. If you are uncomfortable with the commitment over the phone insist on an LOA. If the company that you are dealing with resists or says that it is not possible I would relook my commitment. I am concerned with the encyclopedia salesman analogy. I do admit the influx of new LD companies has created a concern (in some cases well founded) for "slamming". I am the Business Manager for a telesales center with MCI. We go to great lengths to insure against unethical sales. Each of our associates receives four weeks of training before they are allowed to start on the sales floor. The last two weeks of this is in a specialized training bay. Once on the floor they receive an additional two hours of training every two weeks. We also have two organizations that blind monitor live calls to insure quality. Each sale is verified thru an independent company via a second call or signed LOA each of which can cancel the sale before it effects your service. I hope that I have made some headway in dispelling the "encyclopedia salesman" image. We are a professional sales organization that takes pride in our company and products. Bryan Roberts 5194087@mcimail.com ------------------------------ From: stemaat@aol.com (STemaat) Subject: Re: Bell Canada Tests "Soft" Dial Tone Date: 20 Sep 1995 23:09:56 -0400 Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) This is very similar to sa service started in the Mississippi service area of BellSOuth on July 31. All phone jacks now have the "soft" dial tone -- with only two numbers allowed: 6-1-1 (customer service) and 9-1-1 (emergency). As a 9-1-1 dispatcher, I think it's a great thing -- we only have two small problems with it: (1) the line shows up on the ALI (Automated Location Indicator) as a business number, which can be misleading to someone not familiar with an area, or in an area that's mixed business/residential. (2) the number, although it displays for us, cannot accept incoming calls. therefore we can't call back if disconnected. Also, the caller, obviously, won't know the number. I would prefer to see an indicator (such as NOPR for Non-operative), in place of the BUSN (Business) designation for these numbers. We should also have some sort of Operator-override available (as I believe we should on pay phones that don't accept incoming calls). By this, I mean we could call the "0" operator, identify ourselves, and have the operator ring the number back on disconnect. (This is the same procedure we use for emergency traces when people call on an administrative line and can't tell us where they are, and their condition is too bad to trust that they can reconnect through 9-1-1 -- a process which can take up to ten minutes if they don't know the number they're at.) Best, Scott [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The problem is, even the operator cannot ringback to lines which are one-way outgoing only service *unless she had the call up to start with and has not released it*. Just 'cold dialing' by the operator into a one-way outgoing line will get her the same results it gets you: an intercept saying it cannot be reached. Now if she got the call to start with and has not yet released it, then she can ring back on the line. What 911 needs obviously is the ability to hold up a trunk on an incoming call and only release it when they get ready to do so. PAT] ------------------------------ From: news-server!scholl@uunet.uu.net (Rick Scholl) Subject: Re: Bell Canada Tests "Soft" Dial Tone Date: 21 Sep 1995 21:11:58 GMT Organization: University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee Robert Levandowski (rlvd_cif@uhura.cc.rochester.edu) wrote: > In kph@cisco.com (Kevin Paul Herbert) writes: >> Interestingly, US West does not use "611" at all for lines which are not >> set soft dialtone. Although you can dial "611" when you move into your >> house to establish service, once they turn up the service, "611" no longer >> works, and you have to dial an 800 number for customer service. >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I think the reason for that choice of >> numbers might be that some people, on hearing dialtone, would be confused >> and think perhaps the line was working normally. On attempting to make >> calls and never getting connected anywhere, a logical response would be >> to call 'repair service' which often times is 611. By the way, what > Pat, I think you missed the point ... it's good that the soft-dialtone > phones can dial 611, because it's a pseudo-standard. Like you said, > most areas use 611 for repair. However, it's bad that once you get > real dialtone, 611 doesn't work anymore, and you have to dial some > other number. How unnecessarily confusing! Your first experience > with your new phone is "611 is for repair/service." The next time you > have a problem, most likely you think, "611 is for repair" -- and it > doesn't work. I've heard that the reason companies are moving away from 611 is that the RBOC's use it and the competitive access providers have to use a seven digit number, so as a CAP comes into place the RBOC is ordered to switch to a seven digit number so they don't have a saleable advantage. Richard C. Scholl Internet: scholl@mpm1.mpm.edu Electronic Systems Engineer (414) 278-6161 FAX (414) 278-6100 Milwaukee Public Museum, Inc. 2 meter/440 Ham Radio: N9EJO 800 W. Wells Street Milwaukee, WI 53233 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That really is pathetic in a way. Telco is never supposed to have any advantages over the others, and yet if it were not for telco's expertise and extensive outside plant, most of the others could not exist at all. I wonder how come the next time these come-latelys protest about something telco is doing that is an unfair advantage telco does not tell them (a) to start stringing their own wires and (b) to move out of the central offices where they are co-located and start building their own facilities. If I were operating a telco and got the static and grief from some of the competitors that Bell gets, I would tell them invest in your own outside plant, construct your own central offices, stay out of my hundred year's or so worth of research and technology and do your own instead. Then, in thirty or forty years -- if you are lucky and all goes smoothly -- come back and see me. I will hand you some wire pairs out the door to be used for your interconnections and that is it. None of those people care one iota about the consumer or end user. They just want a piece of the action no matter what the ultimate cost to the industry and the public network as a whole. PAT] ------------------------------ From: cogorno@netcom.com (Steve Cogorno) Subject: Re: Bell Canada Tests "Soft" Dial Tone Date: Thu, 21 Sep 1995 23:07:43 PDT Kevin Paul Herbert said: > US West has been using soft dialtone on some of its switches for about > a year now. When a line is set for soft dialtone, it can only call > "611" for the business office, and "911" for emergencies. I don't think this is all that new. Pacific Bell has been doing something similar for at least five years: although no dial tone is provided. Basically when someone disconnects service, PacBell instructs the switch to disallow service -- however they don't actually pull the circuit. They do this for the primary line, however if there are multiple lines in a residence, they will physically disconnect them to re-use for other customers. Since the line is physically connected to the switch, it would be nice if they did provide soft dialtone so that a new customer wouldn't have to find a payphone to establish service. Steve cogorno@netcom.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Sep 1995 10:45:23 -0500 From: wengler@ee.rochester.edu (Mike Wengler) Subject: 911 From Unsubscribed Lines: Bell Canada Limits to Two Monhts? In the article describing Bell Canada's introduction of soft dialtone on unsubscribed lines, it was stated: > A secondary benefit of Soft Dial Tone is that, in the event of an > emergency, students can call 911 emergency service without having > regular phone service during September and October. Can Bell Canada really be so cavalier to only provide 911 service for two months? I rented an apartment in Westchester County, NY (914) for a few months. Plugging in the phone I brought with me, I discovered dial tone! Trying to dial out ANY number except 911 and the business office number, I reached an intercept saying that only calls to 911 and XXX-XXXX, the business office number could be made from this phone. The phone would NOT let me make credit card calls, all 800 nums and access codes got me the same intercept. 911 was always available, though, not just for the first two months I was in the apartment! If the report on Bell Canada is accurate, I have to wonder why they will take 911 only during September and October. What will the intercept to 911 say after October? "You should have subscribed and paid us. Now you can be robbed and killed for all we care, cheapskate non-cutomer! If you do survive, call our business office to subscribe." Mike Wengler Save $1 on every Travel Card call, info and application at http://www.he.net/~wengler/VoiceNet/ or ftp://he.net/pub/wengler/index.txt Phone/Fax: 716 244-0238 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I don't think telco is required to provide its services for free on an unlimited basis. Where would you draw the line? What about the other utility services which cut off service for non-payment and then some emergency occurs as a result? There are laws here in Illinois that prevent gas/electric shutoffs during winter months or at any time when 'a medical condition would be aggravated by the loss of service', and telco here is obligated to follow the latter also. But even then, it is not unlimited in scope. If your medical condition would worsen as a result of not having a phone to call your doctor, then you supply proof of same to telco and they keep your service on for sixty days. But I think sixty days is more than fair. PAT] ------------------------------ From: dark@twain.oit.umass.edu (Fredrick J Strelzoff) Subject: Re: AOL and Expectations of Privacy Date: 21 Sep 1995 06:08:30 GMT Organization: University of Massachusetts, Amherst I would also like to say that AOL offers an easy access to scammers over the internet. By hiding finger infomation and having a non responsive postmaster also helps. AOLers can get a temporary account and use it to sell stuff over the internet like these newsgroups. They can ship COD and when the packages gets there, the unlucky soul pays the Mailboxes etc or UPS guy ... then when he opens a empty box, there is nothing he can do. When you consult AOL about this, they respond 'Its the wild west.' Well ... whats a multi million $ company doing in the wild west besides taking advantage of it? If I had some money maybe I would be able to hire a lawyer, as I was the one who recieved the empty box. Fred Strelzoff University of Massachusetts Department of Computer Engineering Respond: dark@titan.ucs.umass.edu [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Try this address for complaints about AOL: send email to TOSAdvisor@aol.com. 'TOS Advisor' is an internal address members can write to, however all screen names at AOL seem to be addressable from the internet by sliding all the letters together as one word then adding '@aol.com'. I went on there a couple nights ago for the first time in a few months ... and what did I find in my mail but these big massive chain letters with hundreds of cc's still shown. I forwarded the whole thing to TOS Advisor with my compliments and a note saying I wished it was still possible to delete mail from my mailbox I was not interested in. Just try forwarding mail to that address with a short cover note saying 'this appears to be a violation of TOS by one of your members.' I don't know what it will achieve, but since they get their jollies writing up violators, pass along a few they may not have seen or heard about yet. Worst that will happen is your mail will bounce or 'virtually bounce', i.e. they get it and pitch it. PAT] ------------------------------ From: JeanBernard_Condat@eMail.FranceNet.fr (JeanBernard Condat) Reply-To: JeanBernard_Condat@eMail.FranceNet.fr Subject: Looking at AOL and Compuserve From France Date: 16 Sep 1995 11:52:11 GMT Organization: FranceNet Pat, bonjour: I receive today _Telecom Digest_ v15 #386 and will be please to react from my poor little country France. We have an uncredible terminal called Minitel with more than 32,000 services that work very good: you can reserve train tickets, look the weather, found a parent address, etc. for no money ... The poor Paris's headquarters of CompuServe give all the students the opportunity to have an expensive Internet access (with a crazy Spry viewer), a poor file transfer system and some very easy-to-use forums. I am the sysop of the french forum (GO FRFORUM). It's a marvelous place, but only for strange guys sending ten-words-long messages in a poor French language ("Ou est la Tour Eiffel a Paris?"). CompuServe is a great company for poor member without culture. If you look at the group conversation, the level is the same that in a teenagers classroom. On the 500 hours of daily connection, I note that 95% of the users are French lovers ... and no typical French guys. AOL try to visit all the French company to found a real French market. They send two uncredible crazy guys ... speaking a bad French language to explain what email really is. No sex, no ads ... nothing. A French relation without sex, sun and sea ... is like a day without woman for me. Please said to CompuServe and AOL to go out from France with all the pudibond forums ... and don't visit my forum (FRFORUM) in which only no-French guys speak on "un-sexual" and "un-interessant" matter. Regards, Jean-Bernard Condat 75162,767@CompuServe.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I did not edit the above because I am not quite sure in all respects what the writer is saying or meant to say. I can tell you that Compuserve has a huge number of European subscribers and a large number of subscribers from all over the world. The way to tell is look for the 100xxx user ID's. While the 7xxxx numbers are generally USA members who have been around for at least a few years with 700xx and 701xx being among the charter subscribers going *way back* into the early 1980's, and the 102xxx numbers are the more recent (past several months) arrivals (with 1027xx and 1028xx being very new members in the past month or less, at least at this writing), the 100xxx people are all from other countries. Some of the Europeans have 7's if they have been around awhile, but most have 100's. Check out CB in the early morning hours around 5-7 AM by our time here. There will be a few -- very few -- die hards from the USA still on there promoting their hustles and what not and just a few 100's. This morning I called in to check my email about 7:00 AM and went over to peek at CB. Between the general and the adult machines combined there were about sixty users in total, mostly from Europe. That, compared to midnight in the USA when over a thousand people are on CB at one time. Last weekend I think it was closer to 1500 people at one point. You'll see a shift in the user base there as the day goes on. All morning long CB is full of 100's as the teenagers in the UK, France and those areas get home from school and start logging in. By mid-afternoon, the load is balanced between USA people and Europeans, and Australians seem to get on there a lot also. As the evening wears on, the 100's begin dropping off, and the 102's with their new computer and 'try it for free' signup package start logging in. I got a letter here once from a fellow in Australia who said to me the 'only good thing I like about Compuserve and their outrageous rates' (this was back when they were getting about nine dollars per hour flat rate a few years ago) 'is using the CB Simulator for c-sex' ... I wrote him back and said I found that sort of incredible because after all, Compuserve CB is heavily populated by Americans; about 95 percent of the crowd there are from the USA, and we Americans tend to do 'it' on weekend nights. What was he going to find at night over there except a mostly empty CB Simulator while the Americans were at their places of employment or sleeping, etc? His answer back was equally incredible: people on that side of the world long ago accepted that they have to login Sunday afternoon 'while it is still Saturday night in the States' if you want to 'get in on the fun'. So I thought to myself, no wonder some of the Brits I meet on there are so crabby and distempered; I would be also at seven oclock on Sunday morning if I were up and about in order to see what the Americans were up to with their computers at the same time. .... PAT] ------------------------------ From: eje@eje.xyplex.com (Eric Ewanco) Subject: Re: Modem Bridging Date: 21 Sep 1995 13:59:21 GMT Organization: XYPLEX In article chrisr@speedware.com (Christopher Rupnik) writes: > Is it possible to bridge using modems? > I would like to be able to bridge netbeui/appletalk/ipxspx and tcp/ip > over a normal modem line. I currently use ISDN lines and Ascend > Pipeline 50's to do this, but of course this is a bit expensive. Is > there any software that will allow me to do that? Yes, it is possible, as long as you have a router and a modem that can agree on a serial interface (e.g., asynchronous EIA-423 or some synchronous protocol), and the router supports dialup lines as well as leased lines. Or you could do it in software, running routed or gated on a Unix machine with a PPP connection. Eric Ewanco eje@world.std.com Software Engineer, Xyplex Inc. Littleton, Mass. ------------------------------ From: andrewo@communique.net (Andrew Oliver) Subject: Multiplexing Over Digital Line? Date: Thu, 21 Sep 1995 13:21:37 -0500 Organization: Camelot Systems Please bear with me here, this is nothing I've ever gotten into before, so I'm not sure if what I'm asking is possible/feasible/easy. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Here's the scenario: Unix server based in location A; Unix termainal based in location B; Digital line connecting locations A and B with Motorola modems connecting server/terminal to the line. This setup works and allows the terminal to connect and transact with the server. Now, the problem is: Standalone Macs in location A; Standalone Mac in location B. I want to use the same digital line (it is *not* ISDN) to allow the Macs to talk to each other, preferably using AppleTalk Remote Access. I'm happy setting up the Macs, but I'm not sure hooking into about the digital line. I've been told that I can get put a modem on each Mac and connect them (along with the existing modems) to some kind of multiplexor which will zip the signal across to the other site where another multiplexor splits the signal back into the respective modems/computers. Is this true? What do I need to do to get this to work? Any suggestions/help greatly appreciated. I can supply more specific information if needed. Thanks, in advance, AndrewO@communique.net | AndrewO@eWorld.com ------------------------------ From: cogorno@netcom.com (Steve Cogorno) Subject: Re: Cellular Telephone and Modems Date: Thu, 14 Sep 1995 23:14:55 -0700 (PDT) John Grana said: > The problem thus far is I am getting the impression that the cable > that connects the modem and phone costs over $100! Believe it! The adapter for my Motorola Flip phone cost over $250. > Is this cable "active"? Isn't there just a TIP and RING signal hangin > out on the tiny connector (the phone I am looking at is a Nokia 2XX). > If its TIP and RING, why couldn't I find a suitable plug and make > my own cable? No. It isn't a regular line interface -- remember you're using cellular. The adapter needs to simulate a landline connection when it's really working through the phone. > Last but not least, do cellular phone systems have the bandwidth to > support 28.8 modems? My Supra usually runs at 26400 with a local > provider. You aren't going to get anywhere near 28.8. Consider yourself lucky at 14.4. I think 9600 would be more like it. I would think you would be better off by getting call forwarding on your phone line and setting your line to call forward to cell before logging on. Also you can have others use the cell phone to make outgoing calls. It's cheaper and simpler! Steve cogorno@netcom.com ------------------------------ From: cnordin@charm.net (Craig Nordin) Subject: Re: T1 Direct to Modem Bank Date: 21Sep 1995 01:41:02 -0400 Organization: Charm.Net : Baltimore Local Internet Access, Hon Before you play this game, question the unquestionable! Take a pen and paper out and count out all your expenses. Standard POTS lines may be cheaper and give you less equipment to invest in. Let me say this in another way: The more equipment you can have your local Bell install, the more money you have. Do the Math ... cnordin@charm.net ------------------------------ From: bkron@netcom.com (BUBEYE!) Subject: Re: Cell One/NY Discontinues ATT 500 Service When ATT Takes Over! Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Thu, 21 Sep 1995 06:00:14 GMT dreuben@interpage.net (Doug Reuben) writes: > After recently abandoning the widely recognized "Cellular One" name > and calling themselves "AT&T Wireless Services", Cell One/NY completed > a number of dialing procedure changes which currently do not allow > anyone on the CO/NY (00025) system to place 0-500 calls to AT&T's 500 > service. ("B" Side NYNEX customers have no problem in completing > 0-500 calls.) The change may be a result of AT&T's implementation of "Equal Access" in their newly acquired cellular systems. Even though AT&T purchased McCaw some time ago, they were prohibited from changing their "Cellular One" dba to "AT&T Wireless" until equal access was implemented. (You should have gotten a ballot.) ------------------------------ From: stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette) Subject: Re: Beyond V.34, V.34bis and Rockwell's 33.6 Date: 21 Sep 1995 00:15:58 GMT Organization: Walker Richer & Quinn In article , la@well.com says: > Based on what I know, only about 70 percent of the phone lines in the > USA are able to handle 28.8 kbps. Also, it is important to note that different IXC's seem to have different capabilities with respect to high speeds. For example, I regularly call from 206-285 to 713-652, and when using AT&T, I always get a 26400 bps connection, but both Sprint and MCI always negotiate at 24000 bps. Steve Forrette, stevef@wrq.com ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #399 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa29910; 22 Sep 95 6:21 EDT Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id UAA16045 for telecomlist-outbound; Thu, 21 Sep 1995 20:07:09 -0500 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) id UAA16037; Thu, 21 Sep 1995 20:07:07 -0500 Date: Thu, 21 Sep 1995 20:07:07 -0500 From: TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson) Message-Id: <199509220107.UAA16037@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #400 TELECOM Digest Thu, 21 Sep 95 20:07:00 CDT Volume 15 : Issue 400 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson 100 Years of Wireless IEEE/VTS One Day Seminar (Brenda Generali) New Internet/Telecom Product/Technology Wanted (Jack Decker) Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives (Tom Watson) Hi-Speed via POTS (Robert Ricketts) Re: Euro Dialable Wideband Service (Chip Sharp) IS95 Standard (Hans Peter Oestergaard) Re: FBI Arrests America OnLine Users (Art Walker) Is the 600 NPA is Use Already? (Jan Joris Vereijken) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily represent the views of Microsoft. ------------------------------------------------------------ Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 21 Sep 95 15:29:45 PDT From: Brenda Generali Subject: 100 Years of Wireless IEEE/VTS One Day Seminar IEEE/VTS ONE DAY SEMINAR AT SRI INTERNATIONAL November 3, 1995 100 YEARS OF WIRELESS MARCONI'S DAUGHTER IN THE BAY AREA FOR THE CENTENNIAL OF RADIO The San Francisco Bay Area IEEE/Vehicular Technology Society (VTS) is sponsoring a One Day Seminar as part of the international events commemorating Marconi and the centennial of radio. The Bay Area VTS seminar will coincide with the international events sponsored by the Amici dell'Italia Foundation during Italian week, dedicated to Guglielmo Marconi, and in cooperation with the Italian Consulate General in San Francisco and the Amici dell'Italia Foundation. The significance of this event is that it brings together industry and academia experts from the United States and Italy, two of the worlds Marconi connected with the first radio transmission across the Atlantic Ocean in 1901. The VTS seminar "100 Years of Wireless" will take place on November 3rd at SRI International in Menlo Park, California. Marconi's Daughter, Gioia Marconi Braga, will be the luncheon speaker. Dr. William C.Y. Lee, Vice President and Chief Scientist at AirTouch Communications, will be the keynote speaker. The theme of the seminar will span from historical to leading edge wireless technical presentations by the worlds foremost authorities. Several of the speakers are members of the California scientific community who share the honor or having been awarded the prestigious Marconi International Fellowship in recognition of "significant contributions made to the advancement of the technology of communications or knowledge transfer through scientific or engineering discoveries, inventions or innovations". This one day event is an extremely rare opportunity to meet Marconi's daughter and listen to her first hand recollections of her father. It will also be an extremely rare opportunity to hear from the world's foremost wireless and communications experts, some of whom are recognized in history for their inventions and contributions. The VTS November 3rd "100 Years of Wireless" seminar is one of many significant international events. The Guglielmo Marconi Foundation, based in Bologna Italy where Marconi conducted his early experiments, is spearheading many other international events. Last June, Bologna was the site of a radio astronomy exhibit "Radio, From Marconi to the Music of the Stars" and the Marconi International Fellowship Symposium during which the President of Italy conferred the 1995 Marconi Prize. Also in June, the Bologna Radioexpo Exhibition hosted a spectacular show on radio diffusion. This show will be in New York at Columbia University in October. An itinerant exhibition entitled "100 Years of Radio" will be in Rome between September 30 and December 10 and in Stockholm later in December during the conferment of Nobel Prizes. In the fall, Bologna University will host the 1995 European Microwave Conference, the first European Personal and Mobile Communications Conference and the 34th FITCE European Telecommunications Congress. Premiere Italian scientific organizations will host a conference during December on "Marconi and the Organization of Scientific Culture" to be held in Rome. The UK IEEE will hold an international conference on "100 Years of Radio History" in London, September 5-7, in honor of Marconi patenting his invention there in 1996 and founding the Marconi Telegraph Company. SEMINAR PROGRAM "100 YEARS OF WIRELESS" 8:00 AM - Registration 8:30 AM - Welcome by Clay Maynard, Chairman, San Francisco Bay Area IEEE/VTS * Welcome by Giulio Prigioni, Consul General of Italy in San Francisco * Keynote Speaker Dr. William C.Y. Lee, Chief Scientist and Vice President of Applied Research & Science, AirTouch Communications (Will Wireless Communications Come to an End?) * George Hagn, Senior Staff Advisor SRI Information, Telecommunications & Automation. (Historical Timeline of Early Wireless Communications) * Gabriele Falciasecca, Chairman Department of Electronics & Computer Science, Bologna University. (The New Wireless Wave) * Dr. Federico Faggin, CEO of Synaptics (The Role of Semiconductor Technologies in Telecommunications) * Pietro Masarati, Managing Director Projecta Roma and former CEO of Italian Space Manufacturing (Microwave Links and Radio Loops for the New Telecom Operators in Italy) * Gioia Marconi Braga (Memories and Reflections of my Father, Guglielmo Marconi) * Paul Baran, Com21, Chairman of the Board (Is the UHF Frequency Shortage a Self Made Problem?) * Dr. Andrew J. Viterbi, Qualcomm, Vice Chairman and Chief Technical Officer (Toward the Global Village: Universal Digital Wireless Communications) * John R. Pierce, Visiting Professor, Center for Computer Research and Acoustics, Stanford University (The Electronic Information Flood: Amount and Usefulness) * Randy Katz, Computer Science Department, UC Berkeley (Current Technology Developments in Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing) * A. Paulraj, Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University (Directional Antennas in Glace Bay to Smart Antennas in Cellular Networks: 90 Years of Radio Antennas) * Donald Cox, Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University (Wireless Personal Communication: A Technology Perspective) * Concluding Remarks, Clay Maynard 5:30 PM - Depart Seminar IEEE/VTS Marconi Seminar Registration General registration: $150 Full-time student: $75 Registration after 10/25/95, add $50 Name ________________________________ Company ______________________________ Address ______________________________ City/State/Zip _________________________ Phone ________________________________ Fax __________________________________ Amount Included _______________ Make checks payable to: IEEE/VTS Mail to: IEEE/VTS Seminar Registration 700 Welch Road, Suite 2205 Palo Alto, CA 94304 (415) 327-6622 Information: 1 (800) 800-IEEE (4333) Seating will be limited. To ensure availability, please register early. Registration fee includes a copy of the seminar notes, coffee/pastries and luncheon (student rate does not include the luncheon). Rooms at the Holiday Inn, Palo Alto, Stanford, are available at $106 per night single and $116 double. Reserve by October 15 to obtain seminar rate. (415) 328-2800, fax (415) 327-7362. ------------------------------ From: jack@novagate.com (Jack Decker) Subject: New Internet/Telecom Product/Technology Wanted Date: Fri, 22 Sep 1995 00:22:09 GMT Organization: Rust Net - High Speed Internet in Detroit 810-642-2276 I would like to offer up a suggestion for a product, or perhaps I should say a technology. This is an idea that I had that is really an extension of existing products, but I want to go on record as proposing this now so that when someone gets the bright idea in a few months or years, I can point to this as "prior art" (the Telecom Archives ARE permanent, aren't they?). :-) The idea is this: At some point on the Internet you have a server that connects to the telephone network. It can detect ringing and seize (answer) the line, or it can pick up the line and initiate outdialing. So far all of this can be done using existing products (modems, for example). But what I would then propose for this new technology is to take the audio from the phone line and convert it into an audio data stream that can be sent to another location on the Internet. In a similar manner, this product should be able to accept an audio stream from the Internet and send it out to the phone line. On the user (client) end, a companion product (designed to work with the server) would operate similar to IPhone or another two-way voice over Internet product, except that when the server receives a ringing signal from the telephone line, it would sent a data packet to the user's program that would cause an audible (or other) signal to sound or appear on the video display of the user's computer. The user could then take some action to "answer the phone" by causing the server to take the phone line offhook and start the audio streams flowing, and the computer user would then be able to hold a conversation with the telephone caller. Or, if the user wished to make an outgoing call, they could enter a number to be called and then take some action (keypress, mouse click, etc.) that would cause information to be transmitted via the Internet that would cause the server to take the line offhook, dial the requested number using touch tones or dial pulses, and then start the audio data streams flowing, permitting the user to converse with a called party. In this situation, the telephone line would come into one location that is connected to the Internet, and the user of the line could be almost anywhere else on the Internet. They'd be able to answer an incoming call, or place an outgoing one, and then talk using an IPhone or similar type interface. Depending on the user's hardware (sound card) and preference, the connection could be half duplex (either "press a key/button to talk" or VOX type operation), or nearly full-duplex (I say "nearly" because there would be a slight delay inherent in sending audio streams via the Internet). For those familiar with amateur radio phone patches, this would be a similar type of connection, except that instead of connecting a telephone line to a radio transceiver, it would connect to a device that converts digital audio data streams sent via the Internet to and from analog signals compatible with the telephone line. I would expect that there would be some sort of authentication between the client and server sides, probably in the form of a password required to use the server (which would be sent automatically any time a command was sent to pick up the line). And care would have to be taken that once a connect was initiated, no other user could "break in" and grab the open line. On the other hand, the server should be capable of accepting connections from more than one client (and multiple passwords, in case more than one user should be allowed to have access to the server, and you want to have an accounting of which user was connected at any particular time). The uses should be obvious ... any time you want to answer a phone line or place a call from a remote location that has an internet connection, and don't care about a slight time delay (which might be pretty minimal on some connections), this technology could be used. Assuming decent connectivity, the connection (from the telephone side) should sound no worse than, say, a patched call from a two-way radio (or even from some cellular phones!). Basically, this would be the equivalent of an "off premises extension" using the Internet. One possible application, given sufficently well connected sites, would be to allow people to take calls coming into a call center from another off-premises location, using the technology I have proposed to carry the audio while they use some other software (either local software or another net application) to actually look up information, enter orders, etc. You'd probably need an ISDN line or other high capacity "pipe" to the off-premises location to get audio quality and transmission speed sufficient to make this work. Please, no flames about whether this SHOULD be done, how much "bandwidth" it will consume, etc. Both regulations and the capacity of Internet connections vary from place to place. What is illegal or a drain on bandwidth in one place may be quite legal, and consume only a fraction of a percent of available bandwidth in another place. And as we all know, regulations prohibiting bypass of the phone company are being lifted in many places (if they're not gone already) and higher capacity "pipes" are being constructed all the time (just as a side note, I mentioned the bandwidth issue regarding audio streams to a friend who works at an ISP. He said that these would hardly be noticed on their network, but they have a relative large "pipe" to the backbone. YMMV. especially with a smaller provider). The main ideas I want to have on record as "prior art", in case nobody's tried to patent them yet (I hope), are: 1) The idea of taking a unidirectional or bidirectional digital audio stream from the Internet and converting it to analog and sending it to or from a telephone line, 2) The idea of using client software at a user's site on the Internet to remotely control another device on the net that can initiate a call or answer a call (this is prior art anyway, as folks have used remote modems on the internet for over a decade, but this may be the first time this has been proposed in connection with a device that would send real-time audio streams to and from the line). 3) The idea of using authentication with such a system, so that whenever a command is sent that would take the phone line off hook, the command string would include a password or other mechanism that would be verified by the server to insure that the user actually has authority to remotely control the line. 4) And just to cover all the bases, I'll also suggest that an adapation of this idea would allow someone to call into the Internet using a server, have the call transported some distance over the Internet as digital audio streams, and then sent back out into the public switched telephone system at a distant point. I'm not suggesting this would work well, would be legal, or should be done, but I want to go on record as saying it would be possible with the right hardware and software. Note that although I make reference to the Internet at several points above, this technology could work in a similar manner on a private or corporate network. One final comment: It would be nice if perhaps a later version of this technology would offer conference call capability (for example, one or more users on the Internet and one or more "off-net" users connected via phone lines, all taking turns on a voice conference). It will be interesting to see how long it will be before someone comes up with this technology. It's not a question of "if", it's a question of "when", IMHO. I'd like to see it offered sooner rather than later, and at a low enough price that companies and individuals can afford it! Well, that's my idea, as sent to the TELECOM Digest on September 15, 1995. If anyone's already come up with something like this, I'm not aware of it, so please let me know. On the other hand, if anyone decides to proceed with building this technology as a result of this article, I'd be happy to help beta test the result (from the user side, of course!) :-) Jack Decker [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I thought something like this was already going on. I think I have read about it before on the net. Am I mistaken? Isn't this already being done in a limited way? PAT] ------------------------------ From: tsw@3do.com (Tom Watson) Subject: Re: Eliminate Dialing Weirdnesses - We Can Save Lives Date: Thu, 21 Sep 1995 16:21:06 -0700 Organization: The 3DO Corporation In article , James E. Bellaire wrote: > Sounds like a good list, but give them a different message, to set a > 'national policy on telephone dialing' that includes OPTIONAL 1+NPA > local dialing (billed as dialed local) and suggesting 911 be permitted > along side 9-911 where the PBX can handle it. > (All comments are based on the US telephone system.) Turns out that some places 1 + NPA + 7D, where 7D is local does in fact route correctly and get billed as a local number. Makes for dialing instructions on portable computers that travel across area codes. My example eas in Pacific Bell's area (408 to be specific) and I found out about it quite by accident. I set up my brother's computer (he lives in 415, but we were in 408) and wanted to try it out (to dial a 408 number). I just let it go, and it worked. Astonished me!! Now this is in a part of the country where 1 + NPA + 7D just started this year, and the PUC hasn't forced us to make a difference between 1+ meaning toll (on ANY numbers). Other posts have related that it can get confusing in other parts of the country. Again NANP dialing instructions ... Tom Watson tsw@3do.com (Home: tsw@johana.com) ------------------------------ From: Robert Ricketts Subject: Hi-Speed via POTS Organization: Panhandle Eastern Date: Thu, 21 Sep 1995 23:43:48 GMT Greetings. I'm looking for a couple of boxes that does the following: A B C D E (see below) | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ----- 28.8 Kbps ----- 57.6 Kbps | b|---------------|b | 57.6 Kbps DTE ----------|a | 28.8 Kbps | a|----------- DTE | b|---------------|b | ----- ----- A = Serial line, 115.2 kbps B = Box that splits a single 'a' channel into two simultaneous 'b' channels. C = Four plain-jane 28.8 kbps modems. One on each end of two POTS lines. D = Box that merges two simultaneous 'b' channels back into a single 'a' channel. (Same box used for B) E = Serial line, 115.2 kbps Connection is TWS The DTE would be see the appearance of a plain-jane modem. Perhaps with special dialing commands to cause the component modems to place their respective calls. A and E appear as traditional DCE. The beauty of this is high speed through-put using POTS. I don't have to even settle for two modems. Perhaps three or four for uncommpressed 115.2 thru-put, or more when compressed using special serial ports, e.g. 230.4 kbps. Each box would reassemble arriving packets to the original sequence. Sort of a reverse mux. Anyone ever seen such a thing? Robert K. Ricketts @ The Lottery is simply a tax on people bad in the Bayou City @ at math. rkr@pel.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Sep 95 09:40:24 EDT From: hhs@teleoscom.com (Chip Sharp X-6424) Subject: Re: Euro Dialable Wideband Service Azriel Heuman wrote: > Is there a European equivalent to Dialable Wideband Service? > Is there a standard (ETSI or National) for such a service in > Europe? If what you mean by "Dialable Wideband Service" is the Multirate service being rolled out in the US and defined in the 1993 version of Q.931 then yes there is such a service called GloBand (or SwitchBand in the UK). It is based on a spec called Q.931W which is very similar to the 1993 version of Multirate in Q.931 (although I can't say it is the same). For more info, contact Mercury in the UK or DIAX in Denmark (+45 97 86 90 22). I am not sure about an ETSI effort for Multirate. Hascall H. ("Chip") Sharp Teleos Communications, Inc. Sr. Systems Engineer 2 Meridian Road Eatontown, NJ 07724 USA voice: +1 908 544 6424 fax: +1 908 544 9890 email: hhs@teleoscom.com web: http://www.teleoscom.com/ ------------------------------ From: maverick@kom.auc.dk (Hans Peter Oestergaard) Subject: IS95 Standard Date: 21 Sep 1995 08:37:25 GMT Organization: Aalborg University - Dep. of Communication Technology Reply-To: maverick@kom.auc.dk I am currently writing my Masters thesis on Interference Cancellation for a DS-CDMA system and therefore need some information to simulate a real-world realistic system. Is there anybody who could tell me if Qualcomm's proposed standard (IS95) are available anywhere on the net or somewhere else where it could be ordered and delivered fast. None of the libraries around here (In Denmark) seems to be able to get it and the ftp cite at Qualcomm doesn't include the main chapters with specific details. Any help or hints on where to find it would be appreciated. Thank you, Hans Peter Ostergaard ------------------------------ From: walker@mnscorp.com (Art Walker) Subject: Re: FBI Arrests America Online Users Organization: Zippo Date: Thu, 21 Sep 1995 23:29:20 GMT Robert Friedman (inwood@pipeline.com) wrote: > James Gleick, founder of The Pipeline, said he had bounced 1 of 10,000 > subscribers, and that for repeatedly posting commercial messages. He > also believes that using your real name, and not hiding behind screen > names, tends to discourage offensive or illegal behavior. Which is why I so badly would like to see strong authentication become an integral part of both online services and the Internet. (If the press announcements from Netscape and VeriSign are any indication, this just may happen ...) Art Walker, Somewhere In Iowa | Art.Walker@mnscorp.com alt.sex/alt.binaries.pictures.erotica/alt.sex.bestiality, etc. At best, the regulars of these groups are failed phone sex customers... - SPY, Jul/Aug 94, Page 85 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Your point is a good one. If I may for a moment go back to the early 1980's when BBS'ing was first becoming available, some of us argued back then that user authentication was an absolute must. We were shot down time and again. The earliest BBS lines were here in Chicago as most of you know. Ward Christianson and Randy Suess started the whole concept in 1979 right here. The early BBS lines were frequented by computer hobbyists many of whom were 'into' ham radio and CB. As a result, the users were like ham radio people; i.e. polite, courteous, willing to help others learn about their equipment. The first BBS lines were in fact largely intended as gathering places for communicatations between people who used the same kind of systems. We had 'Apple Bulletin Boards', 'Radio Shack Bulletin Boards', etc. Some of us started general purpose BBS's on certain themes or ideas rather than on computer-types. Many folks viewed the early vandalism of the boards as just aberations, things that would not happen very often. We should have caught the drift from what happened when CB radio became popularized (it was pretty well useless by the early 1980's) but we did not. By 1985 or so we were seeing more and more BBS's change to 'read only access until authenticated' as a result of the increasing vandalism and harrassment so many suffered. But when I suggested in 1981 the BBS operated by the Chicago Public Library (where I was nominally the sysop) should have some method of verifying who was who I was told that if people had to identify themselves in order to have an account 'they will be frightened to post anything and turned off; their freedom of speech and expression will be chilled ...' And that was not only the attitude the librarian took with me, it was a very common attitude among many BBS sysops. But those systems which did convert to user authentification required before posting -- none of them had it in the beginning -- found the nonsense, forgeries and downright fraud come to almost a complete halt. Nothing, it seems, works as well at preventing misuse of a computer messaging system or chat system as the user knowing that *you as sysadmin* know who he is. The fact that the sysadmin or sysop had the ability to wake up in the morning, find a bunch of garbage on his machine and call the person on the phone who put it there essentially meant it did not happen any more. That I could call you up and say, "uh Art, you were on the board last night about midnight and you left this profane message full of cussing and racial comments, etc. I was wondering why in the world you would have posted such a thing?" ... the fact that the sysop of the 'closed system' could do that meant that it was very seldom if ever that he *had* to do it. Of course there was a trade off. The sysadmin had a duty to validate his users (that is not a sexist pronoun, there were no female sysops in those days and female users were almost as rare) as promptly as possible, and to be trustworthy about the names, addresses and phone numbers collected. New users would often complain, "well I don't know who this person (the sysop) is; I am not going to give out my name, phone number and address to a stranger", and my answer always was, but you expect me to be willing to allow a total stranger to use my computer and visit electronically with me in my living room ... I'd like to see user validation and authentication tighten up just a bit also, especially on the commercial online systems where anyone with the money can walk in and do their thing. At least at universities and companies I would presume they have some verification of who works for them or goes to school there. I'd like to see Caller-ID become a routine thing on all incoming modem lines and no postings allowed (at least not if they were going off the host machine) until the admin or some employee specifically trained in validation/authentication proceedures was able to send the password out by US Mail to the address of record *and* have a one-minute or less phone conversation with the new user at the phone number of record. Read all you want, no one cares who you are. If you wish to post, you must be authenticated. Note I did not say *approved*, merely authenticated. Do something to show you are real. Watch and see how fast things would clean up; I promise. And for those privacy freaks who would complain about their freedom of speech being chilled and how abused they will become when their phone and address are on file with the admin, I would respond "thank you for your gratuitous insults regarding my integrity. Find some other sucker willing to provide you with a free public toilet." End of sermon. PAT] ------------------------------ From: janjoris@win.tue.nl (Jan Joris Vereijken) Subject: Is the 600 NPA in Use Already? Date: 20 Sep 1995 13:35:49 +0200 Organization: Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands Reply-To: janjoris@acm.org (Jan Joris Vereijken) Hi, Someone gave me this number: +1 600 204 9507 The guy claims it's charged (he's calling from The Netherlands) at a far higher tarif than "normal" charges from The Netherlands -> U.S.A. What's happening? I thought the 600 NPA was still listed as "reserved for future use". Did I miss something? Thanks, Jan Joris [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I think that on this side of the pond, 600 is used for Canadian telex and TWX stuff. That was in 610 and it got moved out. However I have heard that from elsewhere in the world 1-600 is a bogus code that gets you an international sex phone service. How they reconcile that with legitimate telex users in other countries who want to call a TWX machine in Canada, I do not know. I suppose you could say there are two 'six hundreds'; one that only other machines on the telex/TWX network can reach and one that only people in the Netherlands (or elsewhere in Europe?) can reach. As for us here in the USA, I don't think we can dial into 600 at all from a voice line. In other news: this Sunday, September 24 marks the 53rd anniversary of my hatching. I was born quite early in life you know. Where the years have gone, I cannot begin to imagine. And the more I learn, the dumber I realize I am. Was it Mark Twain who once said that as a child he was always quite embarassed by how dumb his parents were. He said that as the years went by he was really amazed how much his parents had learned, and how smart they had become. Ditto here. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #400 ******************************