Telecom/1996-04-telecom-walnutcreek.iso/back.issues/recent.single.issues/V16_#23

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From [e-mail]  Mon Jan 22 14:04:38 1996
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From: [e-mail] (Patrick A. Townson)
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Subject: TELECOM Digest V16 #23

TELECOM Digest     Mon, 22 Jan 96 11:31:36 EST    Volume 16 : Issue 23

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Post Office Seeks On-Line Presence (Tad Cook)
    70% Cellular Fraud in NYC? (John R. Levine)
    Proposal For Two New NPAs in NJ ([e-mail])
    What Happened to Pay Phone Booths? (Lisa Hancock)
    Long Distance Carriers Accused of Hoarding 888 Numbers (Judith Oppenheimer)
    I Don't Hear the Ring When I Call a Company (Richard M. Weil)
    German Phone Rates ([e-mail])
    The Brits Got it Right On! (Dave Farber via Gordon Jacobson)
    Re: MCI Begins Charging For Incoming Email (David Leibold)
    MCI Internet Email Fees (David W. Tamkin)
    Telecom Archives Receives Good Rating From Magellan (TELECOM Digest Editor)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Tad Cook <[e-mail]>
Subject: Post Office Seeks On-Line Presence
Date: Mon, 22 Jan 1996 00:07:03 PST


Post office seeks an on-line presence; Agency sees a promising future
delivering secure e-mail and financial transactions.

By Shelley Emling

Cox News Service

WASHINGTON -- Remember when the Postal Service just delivered regular
old mail?  Now those knee-sock-wearing, pith-helmeted letter carriers
are part of a "universal hard-copy delivery system" -- a bit of
technojargon that befits the new thinking inside postal headquarters
in Washington.  Along with hard-copy delivery -- you know, letters --
the post office now has its own Web site on the Internet, where
visitors can view stamps, get ZIP codes and read about auctions of
unclaimed items, frauds and scams. Early next year it plans to sell
stamps through Prodigy's on-line service. Forward-looking postal
officials speak excitedly about letter-sorting robots, multimedia
kiosks, e-mail encryption and interactive television.

Why the change in direction for an institution that's been as solid
and as steady as a giant ocean liner?

Competition.

`Hard' mail erodes ...

E-mail and faxes are eroding first-class-mail volume -- about 43
percent of faxes sent today are substitutes for mail. Meanwhile,
e-mail messages are growing 122 percent each year. While overall mail
volume increased nearly 2 percent during the past year,
business-to-business postal communications have fallen 33 percent
since 1988.

As a result, some members of Congress are demanding reform, claiming
the Postal Service has been unable to effectively operate as a
business, hamstrung by oversight procedures designed to prevent the
public from being taken advantage of under the monopoly.

"What corporation can you think of that hasn't made any changes in its
structure since 1970?" asked Pete Brathwaite, assistant to U.S. Rep.
Philip Crane, R-Ill., who has sponsored a bill that would transfer
ownership of the Postal Service to postal employees.

For the consumer, the Postal Service's response to pressure from both
Congress and competition is already translating into a new emphasis on
customer service and innovative products.

The most important product is one that would bring some of the virtues of
old-fashioned letters -- security, postmarks and legal protection -- to
new-fashioned e-mail, beginning next year.

Electronic postmarks ...

"The electronic postmark will be just as important to mail as the
airplane is to transportation," said Richard Rothwell, the Postal
Service's senior director of technology integrations.

The Postal Service is working with software companies such as Premenos
Corp. to develop software that would use public "keys" (like a phone
number) and private "keys" (like a bank PIN number) to give consumers
their own unique identities. In electronic transactions, senders and
receivers would use their private keys in combination with the others'
public keys to sign, seal and open electronic documents.

Although private companies plan to offer e-mail services similar to
what the Postal Service envisions, the post office has an advantage by
carrying the force of federal law: Fraudulent e-mail certified by the
Postal Service could be prosecuted like regular postal or wire fraud.

"Trust is what is so far missing in the electronic frontier, and
that's what the Postal Service can provide," said Robert Reisner, the
Postal Service's vice president of technology applications.

Kiosks planned ...

Meanwhile, the Postal Service also plans to install kiosks, beginning
next spring, in malls, libraries, and post offices that allow
consumers to interact with government agencies with a few pushes to
some buttons.

"You will be able to use it to change the address on your driver's
license, pay a fine, apply for a loan with the Small Business
Administration, register for a campsite at a national park, all sorts
of things," said Mark Saunders, a Postal Service official in
Washington.

The Postal Service also is testing an "Interactive Cable TV Post
Office" in Orlando, Fla. -- which allows consumers to order stamps and
other services by using their cable's remote -- as part of Time
Warner's Full Service Interactive Cable Network. And a new system that
uses robots to move mail within a postal facility is being developed.

The Postal Service's home page on the World Wide Web is located at
http://www.usps.gov


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I have mixed reactions to this to say
the least. Really, I don't know what to think. I will say the new
post office in Skokie -- the branch office built about two blocks
away from my house -- is a very modern looking place. It looks more
like a small shop than a government office; a very pleasant place.
But I just don't know what to think about them getting into email.
Do people really want that?  Does it matter what people want where
the government is concerned? Will the post office at some point try
claim an exclusive right to handle email as they do now with what
they have decided to call 'hard copy'?  PAT]

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 21 Jan 1996 18:18:41 EST
From: John R Levine <[e-mail]>
Subject: 70% Cellular Fraud in NYC?


A message in Van Hefner's Discount Long Distance Digest said in
passing that 70% of the cellular calls in New York City are
fraudulent.  Can that possibly be true?

I could easily believe that 70% of the international calls placed from
cell phones in NYC were bogus, and maybe even 70% of the toll calls,
but 70% of all calls?  Jeez.


Regards,

John Levine, [e-mail], Trumansburg NY
Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies"
and Information Superhighwayman wanna-be

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] ([e-mail])
Subject: Proposal For Two New NPAs in NJ
Date: 21 Jan 1996 22:26:45 GMT
Organization: Pipeline USA


Industry Team Proposes New Area Codes in New Jersey

Newark, N.J. -- A team of telecommunications industry professionals
faced with the challenge of addressing New Jersey's rapid depletion of
telephone numbers today agreed to submit alternatives to the Board of
Public Utilities for its consideration.  Each plan urges state
regulators to approve the addition of two new area codes in New
Jersey.

The Board of Public Utilities will consider the proposals.  The team
is drafting a report to be submitted to the BPU in the coming weeks.
Individual companies will file public comments with the BPU in the
coming months.  Under the Industry Carriers Compatibility Forum
guidelines, the participants agreed not to take public positions on
the plans until regulators have had an opportunity to review the
industry proposals.

The assignment of the new area code numbers will be made at a later
date by Bellcore, the administrators of the nation's area codes.


for more information, contact:
Shannon Fioravanti, 703-974-5455
[e-mail]

JC - Note that according to NPA/NXX for July '95, 201 and 908 were 63% and
56% saturated, respectively. 908 just split from 201 in 1991.


John Cropper, aka Psyber
InfiNet Administrator
[e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Lisa)
Subject: What Happened to Pay Phone Booths?
Date: 21 Jan 1996 20:36:21 GMT
Organization: Philadelphia City Paper's City Net


It used to be that pay phones were enclosed in a booth.  The phone
booth gave the user privacy, a bit of comfort (indoor ones had a
seat), and most important, quiet to talk and hear.

Today, whenever a building is rennovated, the phone booths are pulled
and shelf mounted phones put in place.  Have you ever tried to use a
shelf pay phone in a noisy location, with other callers shouting right
beside you?  Further, pay phones are often located in tight corners or
hallways, where echos are a big problem.

Likewise, outdoor pay phones are now quite rare.  I never see any new
installations.  When a parking lot was resurfaced, the booth was
replaced with a pedestal.  Likewise at the train station.  At outdoor
locations, a booth is particularly needed to shield the user from
ambient noise.  Plus, a little shelter from rain and wind while on the
phone is nice.

Years back, the cost of using a pay phone was the same as at home.  Now,
1+ coin calls pay a steep surcharge, and even credit card calls pay
extra.

Anyone know why booths have disappeared?


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: There are two factors to consider here.
One is vandalism. In the the past -- many years past -- we punished
vandals who ruined nice things in order that the rest of us could have
nice things. Then at some point the rules changed and we were told
we could not have a nice thing at a certain place because the vandals
would wreck it and therefore it was pointless to install it. So now
we all do without nice things such as pay phone booths with seats in
them. Rarely do I see one these days, while thirty years ago I saw
them everywhere. When on occassion I see one, the day it becomes
vandalized (all the glass in the wondows broken out; the lighting
fixture smashed; the door ripped off the hinges, etc) is the day
telco removes it and puts a phone mounted on the wall in its place.
Very rare now are even the little shelves or kiosk-type semi-partitions
around the phone; most are just mounted on the wall. Needless to say,
the little stands which had dozens of phone books nicely bound in
plastic covers which always appeared anywhere you had a cluster of
payphonesare gone also. Typically, when there were a few pay phone
booths together, a convenience which came with it was the ability
to stand at the little table nearby and look at phone books from
various cities to find the number you were seeking. After it got to
the point all the books were either defaced very badly or missing
entirely (and as often as not the little stands were also all busted
up) they were removed also. Somehow things changed so that the
behavior of the vandals became the norm; became the expected behavior,
and the rest of us became the ones with unrealistic desires.

Second, at some point it became politically incorrect to have any
possible thing for one group of people that another group of people
was unable to use. Again, about thirty years ago, most of us were
polite and caring and helpful and considerate of those around us who
were physically handicapped. No one ever assumed that all people
could do all things; some of us had abilities that others did not
have and vice-versa. That apparently was not good enough for the more
radical of the organizations which represent the interests of persons
with physical handicaps. If *they* can't use a pay phone booth because
their wheelchair won't fit inside, then why should *you* be allowed to
use one? So it was not only a matter of removing the booth and putting
the phone directly on the wall; all the phones also had to be mounted
*low enough* on the wall so that a person in a wheelchair could easily
sit next to one and use it. If the rest of you have to stoop over to
use it, then too bad.

Times change as do attitudes. I quite agree with you that the return
of pay phone booths would be a wonderful thing.  So would bus stop
shelter houses and benches to sit on while you wait for the bus to
arrive. (In Chicago they were literally on every corner in the
1950-60's, and that is when the busses ran at two or three minute
intervals day and night). The trouble is, Lisa, where in the USA we
used to set very high standards and demand the best in everything,
over the past couple decades the people with the loudest mouths and
the most push-comes-to-shove abilities have dictated that the lowest
common denominator will be sufficient for all of us.   PAT]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (CallBrand)
Subject: Long Distance Carriers Accused of Hoarding 888 Numbers
Date: 21 Jan 1996 23:34:44 -0500
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
Reply-To: [e-mail] (CallBrand)


Gary Bouwkamp had posted:

> Call your current Resp Org or long distance carrier.

> The service providers have just finished submitting tapes to the SMS
> with a list of the 800 "vanity" numbers that their customers have
> requested replication in 888.  These numbers will be marked as
> "unavailable" in SMS until the FCC has ruled on the legitimacy of
> vanity numbers.

> Pre-reservation of 888 numbers will be from 01/24/96 to 02/25/96.
> This will allow service providers to reduce pent-up demand for toll
> free numbers before the March 1st rush.  Keep in mind that it will be
> first-come first-served.  The high visibility numbers like 888-flowers
> or 888-the-card would have already been reserved by their owners and
> marked as unavailable.

> Of course, this schedule could abruptly change depending on when the
> FCC issues its pending ruling.

> Gary Bouwkamp
> Frontier Communications

(Unfortunately) THE REAL DEAL goes like this:

LONG DISTANCE CARRIERS ACCUSED OF HOARDING 888 NUMBERS
By Lynn Jones

Vanity International, a Chicago-based consultancy which helps
companies find toll-free numbers to fit their businesses, has filed a
petition with the Federal Communications Commission requesting a delay
in the Jan. 24 launch date of new 888 number orders.

The company wants the process delayed because it feels that companies
such as AT&T, MCI and Cable & Wireless (known as RespOrgs, or
Responsible Organizations), are not alerting clients -- particularly
the smaller ones -- about the process, as the FCC has said they should
do.

"Carriers are automatically setting aside numbers for their largest
accounts," Stocker said, "but smaller users were either not asked, or
in some cases, their requests were collected but not entered into the
national database."

Part of Stocker's concern stems from the response his clients have
been getting from their carriers when trying to request replication of
their 800-numbers. He claims, for example, that an AT&T representative
told 1-800-TICKETS president Richard Zorn, "We're not taking any
requests for 800 replication." When Stocker asked whether existing
replication requests had been entered into the national database, he
claims he was told, "not as far as I know."

Industry consultant Judith Oppenheimer concurs with Stocker, arguing
that carriers are not notifying clients that the replication process
is taking place.

Oppenheimer said she was told by Frontier Communications, a division
of Allnet, that they were "only taking orders for companies billing
over $1,000 a month."  Cable & Wireless gave her a similar response,
despite the fact that "a recent survey among RespOrgs showed that
nearly one third of 800-number users who want replication bill under
$1,000 a month," Oppenheimer said.

Both Stocker and Oppenheimer note that carriers have only taken their
clients' orders for replication after applying considerable pressure
at multiple levels.

FCC spokesperson Mary DeLuca said there's no guarantee that Vanity's
comments will be considered, since there is currently no public
comment period on this issue.


Judith Oppenheimer, President, Interactive CallBrand
A leading source of information on 800 issues.
[e-mail], 1 800 The Expert, (ph) 212 684-7210, (fx) 212 684-2714
http://www.users.nyc.pipeline.com:80/~producer/

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 22 Jan 1996 04:21:03 -0500
Subject: I Don't Hear the Ring When I Call a Company
From: [e-mail] (Richard M. Weil)


Sometimes when I call a company (never a home phone), I don't hear the
phone ring, it just picks up and I get the voice mail. Can someone
explain this?


Thanks.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The ring you hear when you dial a
number (whether residence or business, no matter) has nothing to do
with the ring 'heard' by the recipient of the call. Actually, the
only reason the caller hears a ringing signal at all is because
telco believes if they did not provide it, many or most callers
would assume the line was out of order. For that reason, telco
provices a 'ringing noise' that the caller hears as he waits for
his party to answer so that the caller will be placated. It is
almost like a placebo -- a 'medical treatment' which does nothing --
but makes the patient feel better knowing he is getting 'treated'
for his illness. Many companies use DID (direct inward dial)
type systems with their own telephone switches and software. In
their case all telco does is hand the call to their telephone
switch for handling and delivery to wherever, including voicemail.
Those companies may have their switches programmed to not send
a ringing signal out for whatever reason.   PAT]

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 20 Jan 1996 15:01:16 -0800
From: TFG <[e-mail]>
Subject: German Phone Rates


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note:  This article originally came to me
written in German. It was sent for translation and I hope it is
all correct. I have not edited the grammar as I sometimes do
because I really do not want to tamper with it and somehow get the
meaning and original author's remarks incorrect.    PAT]

German Telecoms (Deutsche Telekom) new rate system:

Telephone rates:

German telecom turns almost everything up with their new rate system
started on January 1,1996. All datas which effect the cost of a call
will be changed:

The cost for one unit, the time bar, the time and distance zones. In
general, long distance and short local calls will be cheaper, longer
local calls more expensive. The service fees will also be changed.

1. Telephone rates:

- The cost for one unit decreases from 23 to 12 Pfennig.
- The time bar per unit for local calls during peak hours decreases also from
  6 minutes to 1.5 minutes.
- The old day and night rates are discontinued. Five new billing times are
  created. During weekdays from 9am to 12 am the most expensive so-called
  morning rate system is in force. The cheapest time to call will be between
  2am and 5am under the new night rate system. Inbetween these times three
  new rate system have been created.
- The domestic distance zones expanded from 3 to 4. In citys and within ca.
  20 kilometers it is called city rate . Up to 50 kilometers the so-called
  "Region 50" rate is in effect, up to 200 kilometers the "Region 200" rate.
  For calls above this the long distance rate.
- International calls will be cheaper due to a longer time bar per unit.
- The price for a basic service connection; the registration and change of
  existing junction boxes telephone and connections increases from 65 to
  100 DM.

2. Further changes in charges and services:

- The monthly rate for basic telephone service is still 24,60 DM. The
  previous ten free units are discontinued . The monthly charge for a double
  line junction box increases from 35,20 to 49,20 DM.
- One unit at public phones decreases from 30 to 20 Pfennigs with an also
  shorter time bar per unit. This rate varies between 25 and 19 Pfennigs
  while using a pre-paid calling card depending on the amount pre-paid.
- The former free information is now subject to a charge. Instead of former
  23 Pfennigs per unit for the call on information regarding domestic phone
  numbers will now be 60 Pfennig per unit,information for international phone
  numbers will be 96 Pfennig per unit.

After being publicly criticezed for the planned rebates for big
businesses (35%) Deutsche Telekom agreed now to offer some sort of
reduction for residential customers. Because of not having installed
digital equipment everywhere these reductions will take effect at the
end of 1996. Persons who call a lot then be offered to call "a
limited quantity" of often called numbers at "cheaper" rates. Under
this proposed rebate system will also fall frequently used numbers for
access numbers to on-line systems.

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 22 Jan 1996 02:53:07 -0500
From: Dave Farber <[e-mail]> (via Gordon Jacobson)
Subject: The Brits Got it Right On!


BROKERS SAY NET THREATENS TELECOMS

The London stock brokerage firm Durlacher says in a report that
telecom companies underestimate the threat posed to their business by
the Internet: "Their greatest difficulty is that telecom operators run
business based on charging for the cost per unit of time used.  The
long-term marginal costs associated with a local call are now,
however, heading toward zero.  In the future, charges will be made for
content that is accessed rather than the cost of moving the material
from the host machine to the users."  The report warns that technical
developments could leave telecom operators "with an obsolete system,
of no obvious value, other than the recycle value of the copper in the
cables."  (Financial Times 15 Jan 96 p6)

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 21 Jan 1996 23:46:58 -0500
From: woody <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: MCI Begins Charging For Incoming Email
Organization: Internex Online (shell.io.org), Toronto, Ontario, Canada


TELECOM Digest Editor wrote:

> More Good News:

> MCI Mail will be the first email service to offer the option to MCI
> Mail subscribers to block incoming messages from the Internet to their
> MCI Mail address.  Eventually the MCI Mail subscriber will be able to

When AT&T Mail introduced incoming Internet mail charges (when these
were announced for Canadian subscribers, at least), they offered an
option to block incoming Internet mail. This was implemented a few
years ago, predating MCI Mail's plans.


[e-mail]      ---> http://www.io.org/~djcl/

------------------------------

Subject: MCI Internet Email Fees
Date: Mon, 22 Jan 1996 12:15:05 CST
From: David W. Tamkin <[e-mail]>


A reply came to my query on MCI Mail about this rumor.  It was confirmed
with no details:

 Date:     Tue Jan 16, 1996  2:21 pm  CST
 From:     Help with Internet / MCI ID: 453-8383

 TO:     * David W. Tamkin / MCI ID: 426-1818
 CC:       MCI Help / MCI ID: 267-1163
 Subject:  Re: (Forwarded) charge for incoming mail?

 There will be a formal announcement detailing the new MCI Mail
 policies and charges at the end of this month.  However, in response
 to your question, yes, MCI will be charging for inbound internet
 messages.

 Regards,

 Debbie
 Internet Support Group

                        --------------

Bummer.

------------------------------

From: TELECOM Digest Editor <[e-mail]>
Subject: Telecom Archives Receives Good Rating From Magellan
Date: Mon, 22 Jan 1996 12:15:00 CST


Over the weekend, I got a couple dozen messages identical to the
one below in my mailbox. The only thing different in each message
was the name of the archives file referenced. Otherwise, the
message content was the same. I did get one (of the several, otherwise
identical) messages which said that a given entry in the archives
had been rated 'three stars'. Here is one of the messages:

                    ---------------------

 Date: Sat, 20 Jan 1996 20:05:49 -0800
 From: [e-mail] (McKinley Review)
 Subject: Your site reviewed and rated by Magellan

Congratulations!  Your Internet site

    Internet Public Access Information
    http://lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/public.access/

has been reviewed and rated by The McKinley Group's professional editorial
team, and listed in Magellan, our comprehensive Internet directory of over
1.5 million sites and 40,000 reviews. To recognize the hard work that has
gone into establishing and maintaining your site, we are awarding a special
"Reviewed by Magellan" logo for inclusion on your pages.

We encourage you to display your "Reviewed by Magellan" logo proudly. It
can be downloaded from our special logo Web page at
    http://www.mckinley.com/mckinley-txt/backlink.html
and hyperlinked to our home page at
    http://www.mckinley.com/

Here at The McKinley Group we pride ourselves on our ability to
recognize quality resources on the Net.  Three primary factors are
considered: depth of content, ease of exploration, and Net appeal.

You might also want to offer visitors to your site a direct link to our
powerful search engine. The following HTML code will add a form that
enables anyone at your site to search Magellan:

<form method=POST action="http://www.mckinley.com/mckinley-cgi/iopcode.pl">
<B>Enter Query:  </B><input type=text name=query size=45 value=""><INPUT
type=submit value="Search Magellan"><BR><P>
<AHREF="http://www.mckinley.com/mckinley-cgi/advsearch.pl">(Click here for
search options)</A><BR>

Congratulations again on this award of honor. We at The McKinley Group wish
you continued success in all of your Internet endeavors.

Sincerely,

The McKinley Group, Inc.
http://www.mckinley.com
[e-mail]

            -------------------------------------

Now as I said, there were about a dozen of the above in my mail this
morning. All that changed were the file names they referred to in each
letter. I want to thank them very much for their kind note(s) about
the Telecom Archives. I know very little about the McKinley Group and
the 'Reviewed by Magellan' award, but I do appreciate any person or
organization which takes the trouble to review my work and comment on
it, good or bad. I can tell you that over the past few years, this
Digest has been both a source of much pride and at times, a source of
much heartbreak. It has taken a lot of work, and now and then when I
get the feeling that I would be better off doing an rm *all.digest.files
and finding something else to do with my time, I always hear from a
few readers who convince me otherwise. The biggest impediment here
has always been meeting my basic obligations to my creditors, and
your continued support with an annual subscription donation along with
the funding from Microsoft and ITU has reduced that pressure on me
considerably. If you have not yet subscribed to the Digest, I hope
you will do so today.

Thank you.

Patrick Townson

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V16 #23
*****************************