Software Vault: The Diamond Collection/The Diamond Collection (Software Vault)(Digital Impact).ISO/cdr16/tc15_061.zip/TC15-061.TXT

Text File | 1995-01-31 | 25KB | 644 lines

TELECOM Digest     Tue, 24 Jan 95 17:36:00 CST    Volume 15 : Issue 61

Inside This Issue:                          Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    New Educational Telecom List Started (Todd Graham)
    500 Numbers and CID (Mark Stieger)
    Looking For Papers on LD Competition (Elizabeth Wasserman)
    Automatic Page Application Off of NT-SL1 ? (Ken Stone)
    Re: Cellular Service in the Lincoln Tunnel (Carl Moore)
    Re: Help ... Ancient Party Lines Must Die! (Eduardo Kaftanski)
    Re: ISDN in Florida (Bruce W. Glassford)
    Re: T1 vs. T3: What's the Difference? ([e-mail])
    Re: Looking For 900-MHz Cordless Handsfree Headset (Wayne Huffman)
    Re: LD Termination Fees to RBOCs (Roger Atkinson)
    Re: Cattle Call (Dale Neiburg)
    Re: Internet Mail With Half the Address? (Ted Timar)
    Re: LD Provider Juggling (Judith Oppenheimer)
    Re: GSM SIM Implementation (Sam Spens Clason)

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

From: Todd Graham <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: Todd Graham <[e-mail]>
Subject: New Educational Telecom List Started
Date: Tue, 24 Jan 95 15:09:08 -0500


Members of this list -- and the greater listserv community -- will be
interested to know that the Midwestern Higher Education Commission has
recently established a new list dedicated to educational
telecommunications.

MHEC-TEL is intended as a forum for discourse and information exchange
by telecommunications professionals within the higher education
community
and others interested in opportunities enabled by telecommunications
tech-
nologies -- for example, distance learning, teleconferencing,
interinstitu-
tional resource sharing and programming cooperation.

List membership is not geographically constrained -- the list welcomes
higher education administrators, faculty and professionals from all
regions of the country. However, discussion on the MHEC-TEL list
should avoid focus on issues of no applicability to institutions in
the Midwest.

To subscribe, simply follow the normal protocol for Bitnet list
subscription.  Send a message to: [e-mail] (or
LISTSERV@VM1.
SPCS.UMN.EDU) Message should include your name and the name of your
organi-
zation/institution:
   SUBSCRIBE MHEC-TEL First-name Last-name (Affiliation)

Comments? Questions?
The list-owner for MHEC-TEL is Jeff Williams
<[e-mail]>.

              ----  opening message on list ----

Welcome to the Midwestern Higher Education Commission's
Telecommunications listserv.

The MHEC-TEL list has two main purposes.  The first is to provide a
forum for higher education telecommunications professionals to share
ideas, questions, comments, and announcements with peers across the
Midwest.  The second is to solicit ideas and suggestions from
telecommunications professionals in MHEC member states about common
institutional challenges, existing MHEC programs, and future
cost-savings initiatives.  Each of you is welcome (and encouraged) to
tell your higher education colleagues about the mhec-tel list and
discuss its contents.  However, MHEC wishes the list to remain
"private" within the higher education community; commercial entities,
such as equipment vendors, will not be allowed to join.

[stuff deleted]

If you have specific questions or suggestions for the MHEC-TEL list,
please do not hesitate to contact either MHEC or myself directly.

Once again, welcome.

Jeff Williams, MHEC-TEL Administrator ([e-mail])
MHEC

     ------------ Forwarded Message ends here ------------

ABOUT THE MIDWESTERN HIGHER EDUCATION COMMISSION

The Midwestern Higher Education Commission (MHEC) was established in
1991 by the Midwestern Regional Education Compact, an interstate
agreement among midwestern states. The current member states include
Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, and
Wisconsin. The mission of MHEC is to improve higher education
opportunities and services in the midwest region though interstate
cooperation and resource sharing. Programs include activities to
produce regional cost savings to benefit colleges and universities,
expand student access, support public policy development through
analysis and information exchange, facilitate regional cooperative
academic programming, encourage quality management, and promote
economic growth through higher education and industry innovation.


 Todd Graham                  Midwestern Higher Education Commission
 <[e-mail]>   1300 South 2nd Street, Mpls, MN 55454
              ph.: 612/626-8288    fax: [phone]

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

From: [e-mail] (Mark Stieger)
Subject: 500 Numbers and CID
Date: 24 Jan 95 20:35:36 GMT
Organization: StarNet Communications, Inc


Here's something I haven't seen asked in here. When nationwide Caller
ID is available, and someone calls you through a 500 number, will
their CID information be passed, or will the 500 number (or some ATT
number show up?


Mark


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I don't know, and let's talk about it
when the service gets underway.  Actually I am a little ticked off
about this. In the middle of December I ordered 500 service, and got
my number assigned. They insisted there was no way to turn it on until
Janaury 20.  Comes January 20 it is not working and I call AT&T. It
will really be the 23rd, the lady says.  Okay, I waited until Monday
afternoon and tried it ... still nothing. I get intercepted at the
1-500 and 0-500 mark; Ameritech will listen to nothing further after
that. I call back to AT&T and ask them about it. The lady put me on
hold for the *longest* time -- about ten minutes -- then comes back
and says Ameritech won't have it turned on until January 30. So on
that day I shall try it again; who wants to bet me I will still get
intercepted at the local switch?  And of course, poor, put upon little
AT&T: 'there is nothing we can do about it; the local telcos have to
install the billing software ...'  Well heck, in case she has not
heard, Ameritech and AT&T have been fighting over the access fees to
be charged for 500 service, and Ameritech is planning their own 500
service. Who wants to bet me this will drag on for months before it
gets installed here. Meanwhile of course, AT&T promptly billed me for
the service on January 24 -- on my local Ameritech bill -- so much for
how it is out of their control until Ameritech cooperates.    PAT]

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

Date: Tue, 24 Jan 1995 15:04:50 -0600
From: [e-mail] (Elizabeth Wasserman)
Subject: Looking For Papers on LD Competition


I'm doing some research into long distance competition in the US and
am looking for academic papers or articles that evaluate the
competitive situation in the US marketplace.  I've managed to find
about 5-7 good articles but would like to dig up a few more -- do any
of you have suggestions on what articles I should be looking out for?

I'm interested in anything published after 1988, although articles
done in the last two or three years would be most useful.

Send your suggestions to me at [e-mail]


Thanks for your generous help,

Elizabeth Wasserman   [e-mail]   chicago, evanston

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

Subject: Automatic Page Application Off of NT-SL1?
Date: Tue, 24 Jan 1995 11:59:21 -0800
From: Ken Stone <[e-mail]>


I have an application where I need to generate a numeric page when a
phone number is dialed.  We have an emergency number here on site that
when called rings a series of "red phones" around the site at key
people's desks.  What I would also like to do is generate a page to
these same people when the emergency number is dialed.

Any ideas?


Ken Stone   Hewlett Packard, San Diego Site Telecomm & Networking

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

Date: Tue, 24 Jan 95 21:25:52 GMT
From: Carl Moore <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Cellular Service in the Lincoln Tunnel


In New York City, there are also the Queens-Midtown Tunnel and the
Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel.

For the Lincoln Tunnel, what do you mean by "'Temp' I-495 between NY
and NJ"?  This was to be I-495, which: split off NJ Turnpike at what
is now exit 16-E; was to cross Manhattan from Lincoln Tunnel to the
above- mentioned Queens-Midtown Tunnel (this stretch was never built),
and then emerged from there as the Long Island Expressway, becoming
N.Y. 495 at or near the Clearview Expressway in eastern Queens.  The
latest I remember now is that the stretch in NJ is state route 495,
and I-495 signs were erected from Queens-Midtown Tunnel all the way to
the expressway's end in Suffolk County (eastern Long Island).

Old maps had I-78 crossing the Manhattan Bridge, passing near the JFK
airport, then turning north to the Throgs Neck Bridge (into the Bronx)
and hitting I-95.  Now the last reference to I-78 is the New Jersey
Turnpike Extension. (From there, you have to go through two
intersections
to reach the Holland Tunnel.)

> In DC, the "tunnels" under the Mall (I-395, was to be I-95) and the
> I-195 (?) tunnels ...

Where is this I-195?  I live and work less than 100 miles from DC, and
given adequate description could figure what you are talking about.

> Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel and in Newport News, VA

There are two or three tunnels between Norfolk and Portsmouth (one is
I-264); the I-664 bridge-tunnel going south from Hampton; and the
I-64/U.S. 60 bridge tunnel across Hampton Roads.

Going west, there are the tunnels on the PA Turnpike and in
Pittsburgh.

Oops, there are at least two tunnels in Philadelphia, but not on main
routes.  There is the 5th Street tunnel, which goes under the approach
road to the Ben Franklin Bridge.  And there is another tunnel near the
Art Museum.  At the 26th Street/Passyunk Ave. interchange on the
Schuylkill Expressway (I-76) you pass through a short tunnel if you
are on 26th Street.

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

From: [e-mail] (Eduardo Kaftanski)
Subject: Re: Help ... Ancient Party Lines Must Die!
Date: Tue, 24 Jan 1995 05:09:32 GMT


In article <[e-mail]>, Raymond Mereniuk <Raymond@
zed.ca> wrote:

> I heard a rumor a few years ago which indicated BC Tel's main source
> of CO switches was Chile, as the Chilian telco upgraded their
switches
> BC Tel took all their old switches through a deal with BC Tel's
parent

This could as well be true. Chilean's biggest telco is CTC (Compa~ia
de Telefonos de Chile) nowadays a long way from the state inefficiency
it was submerged what eight, maybe less, years ago. CTC Corp., as it
is
called now, is a corporation with full independancy. It was once owned
by an investor named Bond, and I think is now owned by Telefonica de
Espa~a (Spain's telco).

Ok, back on track, CTC has changed nearly all the switches here for
new ones.  (Does somebody know tech info on them?) And you can kow get
all kinds of services you could not dream of five years ago. So if the
rumor heard is betweeen three and ten years old, it may be true.

Anyways, I hope this didn't sound as propaganda. I still hate
monopolies. CTC Corp is one, they sometimes work REALLY well (I got
three
lines installed in my office in less that 24 hours) and sometimes
real bad (try to get a line where my apartment is; I quit after three
years of waiting in a line and got a second hand line from a competing
telco (CMET) who works better that CTC but has a VERY limited area).

Just a last bit of information. Chile has now a full 'multicarrier'
system since October 94. But almost no one has gotten any bill. I
myself
have not paid a single long distance call since then. How do US long
distance operators bill?

Ah, you also get an 'IS...D... what?' response here. You do get that
response also if you ask for leased lines.


Eduardo Kaftanski [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Long distance calls here are billed
each
month. You will usually get the bill within a month or less of making
the
call; occassionally it might be the second month before the bill
comes.  PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Bruce W Glassford)
Subject: Re: ISDN in Florida
Date: 23 Jan 1995 05:43:34 GMT
Organization: PSI Public Usenet Link


In article <[e-mail]>, Evon Bent says:


> I was wondering if anyone has heard anything about Southern
> Bell implementing ISDN in Florida? I've been considering it to get a
> link to the net and a business line as well. I was also wondering if
> anyone could give me an idea of the rates I might get charged. If no
> one knows or isn't sure how about a number I might call to get this
> info?  Barring that I was wondering if anyone was currently using
ISDN
> in Florida and what their experiences with it were.

The local SB folks here know squat.  But, I went to a BellSouth
get-together a few months ago touting Intel's ISDN application
ProShare, and BellSouth announced an 800 number for ordering ISDN
services.  The event was in August of last year, and I don't have my
notes with me (meaning I don't have the 800 number), but you might try
800 Info for "BellSouth ISDN Service".  I don't have my BRI yet,
probably will order it in the next few months.

Hope this helps.


Bruce W. Glassford   Digital Communications Consultants, Inc.
Orlando, FL          [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Steve)
Subject: T1 vs. T3: What's the Difference?
Date: 24 Jan 1995 12:02:45 GMT
Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, MD USA


The most basic difference is that a T3 is roughly 28 times "faster"
than a T1.  T1s are 1.544 Mbps while T3s are 44.736 Mbps.  Telcos and
big telecomm users often aggregate their T1 traffic onto T3s with an
M13 type multiplexer or a 3:1 digital cross-connect machine.

This is just a start.  The line coding is different as well.  T1s uses
AMI or B8ZS, whereas T3 always uses B3ZS.


Take it easy,

Steve

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

From: [e-mail] (Wayne Huffman)
Subject: Re: Looking For 900-MHz Cordless Handsfree Headset
Date: 24 Jan 1995 13:13:52 GMT
Organization: Netcom


In <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Martin
Soques) writes:

> Greetings!  Subject line says all; I'm looking for a 900-MHz digital

·
> phone with a cordless headset rather than a cordless handset.

So that Pat doesn't seem to be the one plugging Hello Direct, *I* will
take a turn at it. They show a 900MHz cordless HEADset on page six of
their Spring '95 catalog for US$349. It weighs 7 ounces with the two
hour battery.

Hello Direct can be reached at 1-800-HI-HELLO. They also have a WWW
site at URL http://www.hello-direct.com/hd/

Their e-mail address is [e-mail]

BTW I don't work for them either.


Wayne Huffman

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

From: [e-mail] (Roger Atkinson)
Subject: Re: LD Termination Fees to RBOCs
Organization: R. F. Atkinson & Co.
Date: Tue, 24 Jan 1995 02:33:26 GMT


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Pete
Norloff) writes:

> I'm looking for some information on the sharing of long distance
fees
> between long distance carriers and the RBOCs.  I've found casual
> references which indicate that the long distance carriers pay the
> RBOCs approximately 25% each of the fees collected for long distance
> calls and keep 50% for themselves.  This 25% was referred to as
> something like "line termination charges".  It's the payment to the
> local carrier for connecting one end of the call.

> I'm hoping to find an authoritative reference to help me in an
> argument with a Bell Atlantic engineer.  This engineer believes that
> Bell Atlantic is providing the terminating end of long distance
calls
> to the long distance carriers for free.

Obviously, you don't believe that Bell companies give anything away.
I suppose you also don't believe in the tooth fairy <g>.

Seriously, there must be a tariff filed with the state utilities
commission
for them to collect money, on a regular basis, from multiple customers
(IXCs).  Check your local telco business office.  In most states, they
are required to make their tariffs available for public inspection.
(Maybe we should start a movement to pressure PUCs to require that
tariffs be on the Internet?)  (Maybe they already are in some states?)

Consider the case of the small telco (non-Bell), in Nebraska, I
believe, that apparently had some mysterious financial relationship
with a local filthy talk operator.  Said sleaze bag (my opinion)
advertized his "service" all over the country, and listed an ordinary
area code and number, not a 900 SAC.  The net income of the telco
reportledly went up spectacularly in the ensuing months.  The filth
peddler continued to operate, and expand his system.  Since he was
merely receiving ordinary long distance calls, he had no obvious
source of revenue to support his generosity.  I read about it in the
{San Diego Union Tribune}, because a local mother of a teenage girl
was stuck for thousands of dollars of ordinary toll charges, even
though she had arranged with the local Bell company to block 1+900
calls.

Getting back to your question, it would appear that the various long
distance carriers involved in carrying these calls paid the local
telco for such termination.  This used to be called something like
"settlements and separations" before Judge Greene "fixed" the phone
system.


Hope this helps!

Roger Atkinson

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

Date: Tue, 24 Jan 1995 15:25:58 EST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Cattle Call


In TELECOM Digest v15 #46, the Moderator noted:

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: A couple of questions for whoever
knows
> the answers ... is it hard to train a cow to respond to your call?
Is

If not, this practice may lead to a worse problem.  What happens when
the
cow gets corrupted by the promise of easy fodder and starts
moonlighting
as a drug courier?


Dale Neiburg, STC      National Public Radio   Phone:  [phone]
635 Massachusetts Ave., N.W.  Washington, D.C.  20001
Internet: [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Ted Timar)
Subject: Re: Internet Mail With Half the Address?
Organization: ISG Technologies Inc.
Date: Tue, 24 Jan 1995 11:12:22 -0500


In Volume 15, Issue 53, Message 9, Jane McMahon wrote,


> How do find someone using Internet?

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Perhaps it is about time for someone
to
> write an article describing the Internet 'white pages' and how to
use
> them. I think searching those would be a good way for you to start.
PAT]

Three Usenet FAQs of use exist,

    in Comp.Mail.Misc,      "Updated Inter-Network Mail Guide"
    also in Comp.Mail.Misc, "FAQ: How to find people's E-mail
addresses"
    and in Soc.Net-People,  "FAQ: College Email Addresses"

These in turn are archived at rtfm.mit.edu as (in order),

    pub/usenet/news.answers/mail/inter-network-guide
    pub/usenet/news.answers/finding-addresses
    pub/usenet/news.answers/mail/college-email/part[123]

The last of these (College email addresses) is close to a year out of
date, so any volunteers to take it over would probably be extremely
welcome.


Ted Timar   [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Judith Oppenheimer)
Subject: Re: LD Provider Juggling
Date: 24 Jan 1995 11:42:56 -0500
Organization: Interactive CallBrand(TM)


Justin,

My advice is to call your LDDS account representative and explain your
problem; copy them by fax on the paperwork, and *expect* them to iron
out the problem.

Much of our long distance is via a top-notch reseller in Atlanta.
When there are billing or other adminstrative errors, overlaps, etc.,
one phone call to her, with a documenting fax, is all it's ever taken
to straighten the problem out.  Including appropriate account
crediting,
etc.

If you are not getting this level of service from your account rep at
LDDS,
speak with that person's manager.  If they are still not responsive,
switch
service providers.

If you need any more help, feel free to email me directly -
[e-mail].  Good luck!


Judith Oppenheimer, [e-mail]
Interactive CallBrand(TM)

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

From: [e-mail] (Sam Spens Clason)
Subject: Re: GSM SIM Implementation
Date: 24 Jan 1995 18:02:19 GMT


In <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Eric
Tholome) writes:

> In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail]
> (Harri Kinnunen) wrote:

>> Most of the hand-held GSM phones use a "punched-out" section of the
>> Smartcard, being about 1cmx2cm in size. The punch-out dimensions
are
>> also standard, but I don't know if they are included in ISO-7816.

> And this totally ruins one of the nice purposes of the SIM: being
able
> to have several phones (for instance, one nice vehicle mounted
phone,
> and a hand held terminal) and still using them with one SIM only. If
> two of your phones use different types of SIM, you're out of luck!
> I've been told that some companies were now selling adapters, but
the
> convenience of all this has yet to be seen.

I agree that different SIMs are pain.  But, it's really not that bad.
All Swedish operators offer two-card subscriptions.  Two IMSIs but one
phone number.  Only one phone can make or receive calls at the same
time.

I don't have a cellphone myself.  But I've been told that on
Europolitan
you must dial 333 to "change IMSI" but on Comviq you only have to turn
the other phone on.  The IMSI last to do a manual update is the one
that gets the calls.  How it works on Telia I don't know.


Sam
<A HREF="http://www.nada.kth.se/~d92-sam/">Sam Spens Clason</A>

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #61
*****************************