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                       The Teleputing Hotline
                And Field Computing Source Letter
                        Volume 6 Number 7
                    Monday, February 22, 1993
               215 Winter Avenue, Atlanta, GA 30317
              FAX: [phone] Phone: [phone]
        MCI:409-8960 GEnie: nb.atl CompuServe: 76200,3025

Editor: Dana Blankenhorn
European Editor: Steve Gold
Asian Editor: Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa
Sales Manager: Hiro Nakamura

An Affiliate of the Newsbytes News Network

                        EDITORIAL ANALYSIS

Democrats Back Spectrum Auction -- First Look at Clinton Policy

President Bill Clinton, struggling to lower the U.S. budget
deficit, now backs auctions of the radio spectrum. The White
House estimates such auctions could raise $4 billion, but the
move represents a concession to a policy pushed by President
Bush.

This will have a big impact on the nation's telecommunications
future. Large companies, like the regional Bell companies and
AT&T, could shut small companies out of emerging new markets like
microwave-based PCN (personal communications network) telephones.

Until Clinton names a permanent head of the FCC, and replaces
Republican Sherrie Marshall, it's business as usual at the agency
under interim chair James Quello, who has been with the FCC 19
years. Along with Republican Andrew Barrett, whose term runs
until 1995, and Democrat Ervin Duggan, whose term ends next year,
Quello has pushed slowly forward on deregulation and hard on
broadcast content restrictions.

The HDTV race is also reaching the wire, and Quello may make the
call there. But each of the contending technologies has a
problem, such as uneven picture quality or the tendency to
interfere with other broadcasts. Broadcasters want to wait on a
decision, but computer makers and phone companies refuse.
TeleCommunications Inc. will use compression algorithm from
General Instrument to increase its channel capacity 10-fold.
Hewlett-Packard announced support for a scheme from AT&T and
Zenith, and Texas Instruments has announced its support for the
offering of NBC and the David Sarnoff Labs, based on the Motion
Picture Experts Group, or MPEG, standard.

Online Law Turns Against Users

Two events in the last few weeks indicate a hard line being taken
by law enforcement against online systems, which could retard or
reverse their growth.

Acting on a tip from the Software Publishers' Association, the
FBI has closed down the Unites States' third-largest bulletin
board system (BBS), Rusty & Edie's, claiming it infringed on
software copyrights by distributing commercial programs. Such
cases are usually handled by civil lawsuits, but the FBI seized
all 124 computers in the case and could throw the sysops in jail
for 5 years on copyright violation charges. The defiant Rusty &
Edie have the ACLU on their side, and vow to be back online by
March 1 at 216-726-2620. No decision has been made on whether to
prosecute the board's 14,000 subscribers.

Prodigy, the largest online service, bowed to subpoenas for
erased messages on its "money talk" service. The messages are
part of a libel suit filed by Medphone against Peter Denigris,
and Denigris' attorney wants to prove that anti-Medphone messages
were posted by others besides his client. Prodigy has also closed
a "health talk" service when it deemed the contents too
controversial.

It's true. Free speech guarantees do not protect people from the
consequences of lies, or against theft of software. What's
troubling here, as in the case of the Bush Administration e-mail
decision is the assumption that messages should be held as
evidence when they're no longer of use, and the impression that
tactics used by prosecutors against online systems would be out-
of-bounds in the print world. Unless online laws conform to print
laws, either online speech will dry up or freedom itself will
diminish.

---Dana Blankenhorn

Row Breaks Out Over V.Terbo Technology

Modem makers involved with the proposed V.Fast high speed modem
standard have issued a statement which aims to "clarify" the
situation regarding the planned V.32terbo modem technology. As
reported last month, a group of 18 modem makers are in the
process of introducing an extension to the CCITT's V.32Bis modem
standard. V.32terbo pushes the 14,400 bps standard to 16,800 and
19,200 bps. The proposal is not CCITT "authorized" but can be
implemented in modems within a matter of months, rather than
waiting until early next year, when V.Fast modems are expected to
appear.

In a statement issued in London and Washington, on behalf of Cray
Communications, Hayes, Microcom, Motorola, Rockwell and SAT of
France, the CCITT/V.Fast companies, which claim more than 75% of
the market, reaffirmed their support for V.Fast and rejected the
proposals for the V.32terbo "standard." Those comapnies see
V.32terbo as something of a proprietary protocol, and say V.Fast
is a lot faster, plus it requires six decibels less bandwidth.

---Steve Gold

                          U.S. FEATURES

U.S. Bulletin Boards March On

Galacticomm is integrating a facsimile service to its The Major
BBS bulletin board system. While a user is on-line, they can
enter the optional Fax/Online service and get a list of available
documents, which can be then delivered to any number they choose.
The Major BBS is designed as a pay-as-you-go system for users,
and has extensive capabilities for compiling charges, including
charges for using the fax service. System operators can also
attach text files to the BBS' hard drive, and edit cover pages,
adding their board's logo to each message as it is sent. Major
also has an Internet gateway add-on, allowing users to send and
receive Internet electronic mail and Usenet newsgroup messages.

A more complete look at the public BBS world is also coming from
D.P. McIntyre, operator of the Ameriboard BBS at 412-349-6862.
John McCormick of Newsbytes' Washington bureau reports he's
compiling a new database of public boards -- 6,000 so far -- and
making the monthly list available free to other boards. An
international BBS list will also come out sometime later this
year. McIntyre will give the list free to board operators, but
not to distributors who put shareware on disks and sell the disks
at trade shows.

Bell Cellular Carriers Choose MobiLink Trademark

Major Bell-based cellular carriers, who had said last year they
would organize to compete with Cellular One, a trademark
dominated by McCaw Cellular, chose the name MobiLink and took
action to make using member networks more efficient. The group,
which includes Canadian carriers and is seeking Mexican
partners, will use new software to attack fraud, so customers can
roam and make calls in any major area where the brand is
available. The group will also use the 10-digit dialing prefixes
people are used to. Certain N11 numbers are also being reserved
for important functions, like 611 for customer service, 711 for
roaming information, 811 for technical support, and 911 for
emergencies. Other dialing features will also be standardized on
so-called "star codes," using the * key, with * 72 activating
call-forwarding, for instance, and * 70 de-activating call-
waiting. MobiLink services will be available in the middle of
this year.

AppleLink Adding On-line Services

Apple is expanding its AppleLink service to serve its PowerBook
notebook and Newton PDA. AppleLink presently has 52,000 users,
and is operated by the company's Personal Interactive
Electronics, or PIE, division, the same group responsible for the
Newton. Among the services planned are travel, banking, and
shopping. Macintosh support will come from an agreement announced
in December with America Online for its user interface. For the
Newton, Apple is licensing the technology of its General Magic
spin-off.

Join The Internet, Get A Book

If you sign up to the Internet through a service provider, you
may also get a book from O'Reilly & Associates, writes Naor
Wallach for Newsbytes. The publisher has struck deals with a
number of Internet IPs, like ANS, CICnet, NEARnet, and MRnet. All
will offer Ed Krol "The Whole Internet" to new and potential
customers. NEARnet will distribute the book as part of its
training. O'Reilly has also reached deals with CERFnet, DELPHI,
Digital Express, JvNCnet, Netcom, UUNET, Synergy Software, and
CONCERT. Krol's book has won strong reviews.

                      INTERNATIONAL REPORTS

Canada: New Programs in Ontario, Saskatchewan

Grant Buckler writes for Newsbytes that his Province, Ontario,
announced two programs aimed at promoting the telecommunications
industry, one on networks, the other on applications and business
ventures. C$100 million ($80 million) goes to the network as the
Ontario Network Infrastructure Program (ONIP). It's part of
jobsOntario, an umbrella for job-creation efforts under the New
Democratic Party government. The Telecommunications Sector
Framework, a C$150-million ($135 million) Fund, will help the
jobs program. The government also said it would set out to become
itself a "model user" of information technologies.

Saskatchewan gets lower telephone rates March 15. Long distance
rates will drop up to 26%. The cloud on this is local rates may
go up soon to pay for it. SaskTel faces a loss in shared national
long-distance revenues because of the opening of most of the
national market to long-distance competition. SaskTel is part of
Stentor. For now, it is the last bastion of long-distance
monopoly in Canada because the provincially-owned SaskTel is not
subject to federal regulation and Saskatchewan has not chosen to
let competitors in.

Finally Telus, the holding company for province of Alberta
carrier, has an agreement in principle with CUC Broadcasting of
Toronto to develop cable and telephone services around London,
England. The regulatory regime in the UK allows for cable and
telephone companies to work in ways that are not permitted in
Canada, and this offers a way for Telus to explore new service
offerings.It is the first international venture outside the
telephone business for Telus.

Australia: Ban on Microwave Pay-TV, Blame Game on Lost Satellite

The Australian government says narrow-cast microwave services
won't be allowed, writes Paul Zucker for Newsbytes. At first
there were to be 4 such satellite-delivered channels, then
compressed and encoded TV with dozens of channels, then an open
market. Insiders say Optus and ABC, which lost their own
satellite when China tried to launch it, squelched the deal,
fearing that the public will never pay the expected US$1000 plus
for a satellite receiving system if a much cheaper microwave
system is already available.

China now says Optus' second Aussat B-series satellite was lost
in December due to a small blast after launch by a Long March
rocket. Fragments were reported recovered by a team of US-Sino
experts. The launching company, Great Wall, continues to claim
the rocket had nothing to do with the blast, and that Australia
is still liable to pay the AUS$30M launching fees. Optus says it
is not liable for the costs. Great Wall successfully launched
Optus' first Aussat B-series satellite last August, after an
aborted launch earlier in the year, writes Sean McNamara for
Newsbytes.

Finally Ericsson of Sweden, through its Australian subsidiary,
won an AUS$10.5M order ($7.2 million) to begin the upgrade of
Telecom's telephone network. Telecom is the local operating arm
of the Australian and Overseas Telecommunications Corporation,
AOTC. A further order worth three times that amount could be
placed if Telecom is satisfied with Ericsson's performance.

UK: Third Carrier, Virtual Phones, Lower Rates, and More

The UK has its third national carrier, after BT and Mercury.
Ionica, however, won't run cables around the country, but use
radio links from local cable heads into subscribers premises. The
subscriber then has a choice whether to use mobile digital phone
handsets or a standard hard-wired phones. Ionica also plans to
make extensive use of the existing telecoms infrastructure to
route its calls, concentrating on providing service at the
subscriber end of the link. This will require deals with BT
and/or Mercury, as well as several other companies operating in
the rapidly expanding UK marketplace. The first subscribers could
be up by the end of 1994.

Ionica is a consortium including Yorkshire Electricity, Kingston
Communications, Robert Flemings Investment, and 3i, a venture
capital group. Yorkshire has experience with its own private
network running alongside its regional power lines, while
Kingston is the UK's remaining private telecoms company, offering
services in the Hull area.

The Generics Group, a research group in Cambridge, announced the
Virtual Phone, a hardware/software package it claims allows any
PC to be turned into a videophone. At its heart is a Microsoft
Windows application that guides a user through menus to the
required service. Gordon Edge, one of the founders of Generics,
says that he plans to offer the Virtual Phone as an off-the-shelf
package for as little as UKP300 ($450). A finished "Virtual
Phone" should be available - shrink-wrapped - before the end of
the year. However, the Virtual Phone is not designed to work over
the standard phone network. Instead, it requires an ISDN circuit.

Also, Mercury cut the rental costs of its "Fibrelink" private
circuits to Europe, Canada and the US. Fibrelink is Mercury's
name for its 64,000, N x 64,000 and two million bits per second
(bps) data circuits. The reductions are about 15%, but discount
schemes push it to up to 32% for big customers.

British Telecom is offering a range of business databases to
subscribers to its Global Network Services (GNS) packet data
network (PDN) service. Among them are Infocheck, Kompass, and
other credit checking services, as well as the FT Profile on-line
publication service. There are, however, hidden charges for this
"free" facility. Subscribers to GNS must open a Business
Information Services (BIS) account, which costs UKP 100. Minimum
monthly billing is UKP 10 and there is a connection charge to the
BIS database gateway of eight pence a minute. Thus, charges for
the BIS portfolio of services are in line with those payable by
Prestel and Telecom Gold subscribers. The UKP 100 "buy-in" to BIS
is higher than that for the two.

Finally, Millicom of the U.S., which lost out in the bidding to
win cellular concessions in Russia, had its telecoms license in
the UK expanded to allow entertainment services to be distributed
over its network. The company had been expected to offer digital
mobile telephony, using microwave-based PCN technology. The
extension opens the possibility Millicom can even offer TV
channels over its network. Millicom is planning to get its first
radio-based subscribers on-line before the end of the year.

Sweden: 10 Arrested for Cellular Fraud

Ten alleged members of a crime syndicate operating in Stockholm
were arrested and charged with reprogramming thousands of stolen
cellular phones to make free phone calls. The crime is common in
the U.S., but new in Europe. The syndicate routed stolen cellular
phones for reprogramming, then sold them as "flat rate" phones
with no service charges. The scam came to light last year after
subscribers to the Swedish cellular phone services started to
receive large bills, some as high as 500,000 crowns (about
$70,000) for a quarter's usage. The phones were reprogrammed with
IDs and numbers of legitimate subscribers using a computer
program copied from Ericsson.

FACTOIDS

AT&T had its flagship 5ESS digital phone switch certified for
sale in Russia. AT&T has installed similar equipment in
Kazakhstan, Ukraine, and Poland.

MEAD DATA CENTRAL added a Link feature to its Lexist research
service, which connects references between documents, as well as
a log function, which tracks all searches, and a new Hot Topics
library.

ROCHESTER TEL, in New York proposed dividing itself into a local
exchange carrier and service provider, allowing for direct
competition among phone companies.

Contacts:

Ameriboard, D.P. Mcintyre, [phone]
Apple Computer, Frank O'Mahony, [phone]
BT BIS, Jenny Bailey Associates +081-394-2515, 0800-200-700
CUC Broadcasting, Juris Silkans, [phone]
Galacticomm, Sheri Robert, [phone]
Mead Data Central, Monica Schiffler, [phone]
Medphone, Eric Wachtel, [phone]
Mercury, +071-528-2547
MobiLink, Stephanie Sacks, [phone]
Ontario Government, Russell Drago, [phone]
O'Reilly & Associates, Brian Erwin, [phone]
Prodigy, Brian Ek, [phone]
Saskatchewan, John Millar, [phone]
Software Publishers' Association, [phone]
Rochester Telephone, Diane Melville, [phone]
Rusty Hardenburgh, [phone]
Telecom, Rob Brooker, [phone]
Telus, Ron Liepert, [phone]
The Generics Group, +0223-424425

AN INVITATION TO SUBSCRIBE

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For 1993, we continue our coverage of a Field Computing, with an
accent on wireless communications.

Field Computing links workers outside the office -- in sales,
repair, delivery functions and jobs -- to central computer
systems with handheld terminals and wireless data networks. The
Teleputing Hotline has covered this trend since its inception,
and has expanded its coverage since 1992, with more commentary,
and longer stories where industry leaders give their views in
their own words.

This year, we'll trace wireless technologies as they move from
vision to reality, showing which ones are meeting the test of the
market and which aren't.

If you need to understand the trends re-shaping business
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---Dana Blankenhorn
   editor

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