Return-Path: Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.7.4/NSCS-1.0S) id LAA05595; Fri, 16 Aug 1996 11:11:02 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 16 Aug 1996 11:11:02 -0400 (EDT) From: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu (TELECOM Digest Editor) Message-Id: <199608161511.LAA05595@massis.lcs.mit.edu> To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V16 #417 TELECOM Digest Fri, 16 Aug 96 11:11:00 EDT Volume 16 : Issue 417 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Prefix Changes in Houston (Tad Cook) Calififornia Peninsula Gets New Area Code (Tad Cook) California Split (Tad Cook) A Particularly Vicious Bulk E-mailer (Dave Keeny) Announcement: Third Workshop on Telematics (Johann Ong) Letter to New York PSC (Danny Burstein) Re: End of Permissive Dialing in 954 (Robert McMillin) Re: Calling Card Rates to Mexico (Yosef Rabinowitz) Re: New California Area Codes Unveiled (Jared Gottlieb) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Tad Cook Subject: Prefix Changes in Houston Date: Thu, 15 Aug 1996 23:58:13 PDT Change in 36 Prefixes is First Step Toward New Area Code in Houston By Michael Davis, Houston Chronicle Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News Aug. 16--Houston takes its first step toward a new area code Saturday with the change of 36 existing phone number prefixes. The prefix changes -- affecting mostly cellular phones -- are being made to eliminate duplication among numbers involved in the overall split of Houston into two area codes over the next nine months. The prefix is the first three digits of a seven-digit telephone number. Under the final area code split, numbers outside of a boundary that roughly follows Beltway 8 will carry the 281 area code. Those within will remain 713 numbers. About 1.2 million people outside the beltway will see their numbers change when the split takes place. Thousands of people will get a new phone number Saturday with the change in prefixes. Most of the numbers affected in this initial changeover involve cellular phones and pagers, although some traditional lines will change, too. Southwestern Bell estimates about 60 of its customers will be affected by the change in prefixes. GTE estimates it will have about 600 to 1,000 customers affected. GTE Mobilnet, which as a rule does not disclose how many customers it has, would say only "several thousand" will be affected. A Houston Cellular spokeswoman said several thousand of the company's customers will see a change. Although the 281 area code has been in use for more than a year for wireless telecommunications devices, such as cellular phones and pagers, Saturday will mark the first time a 713 number will change to the 281 area code. The majority of prefixes changing Saturday are existing 281 wireless numbers. Only three 713 residential prefixes -- in Kemah, Stafford and west Houston near Cinco Ranch -- will change. "GTE Mobilnet is personally contacting all customers affected by this ruling and will be making every effort to make the transaction as easy as possible," said Karen Puckett, president of GTE Mobilnet-Texas. Customers of Houston Cellular who will see number changes have been notified by letter, said Peggy Mahoney, company spokeswoman. They will have to come in and have their phones reprogrammed at a company outlet, she said. The problem of duplication arose when the Public Utility Commission ordered the city geographically split into two area codes rather than allow Bell to overlay a second area code over 713, as was originally planned. Because Bell and other companies have been issuing 281 numbers for wireless communications since March 1995, many of the 713 numbers that will change to 281 will duplicate already-issued 281 numbers. The 36 new prefixes will eliminate the duplication. For example, (281) 256- numbers will change to (281) 270- because there is an existing (713) 256- group of numbers outside the beltway that will have to change to (281) 256- in November. "The PUC mandated that whoever had the number first gets to keep it," said Chris Talley, spokesman for Southwestern Bell in Houston. "This is what needs to be done for a clean geographic split in Houston." Clovis McCallister, spokesman for GTE in Irving, said the company notified its customers of the coming change in a July 12 letter. To assist people whose numbers will change, a "mini-transitional" period will be established from Saturday through Oct. 2. During this time, callers may reach people with either their old or new number. From Oct. 3 through Oct. 23, if someone dials an old number, a recording will ask the caller to redial using the new number. The full area code split for all of Houston is scheduled for Nov. 2. For six months after that date, callers will be allowed "permissive dialing" in which those called can be reached by either their old or new number. The final split is set to occur on May 3, 1997. After May 3, calls from 281 to 713, or vice versa, will require dialing of all ten digits of the number. Callers will not be required to dial 1 before the area code, since the calls will still be local. Calls made within an area code will require only seven digits. Toll-free dialing will not change. People whose numbers are changing should remember to reprogram all speed-calling programs on their telephone systems, fax machines, computers and cellular phones. Security systems should be checked as well. Callers wanting more information on the changeover can call Bell's hot line/resource center at (281) 464-9000. Separately on Thursday, AT&T Corp. said it will seek arbitration in 20 states, includng Texas, to allow it to offer local phone service in areas served by GTE Corp. Currently, Southwestern Bell and AT&T are in arbitration over how they will interconnect their networks so AT&T can provide local phone service and Bell can expand into long-distance service. ------------------------------ From: Tad Cook Subject: California Peninsula Gets New Area Code Date: Fri, 16 Aug 1996 00:00:09 PDT California Peninsula to Get New Area Code By Howard Bryant, San Jose Mercury News, Calif. Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News Aug. 16--When the Peninsula's 49-year-old area code marriage to San Francisco ends next summer, the new number to remember will be 650. The new area code territory, the result of a vote earlier this month by the California Public Utilities Commission to split the Peninsula from the 415 code, will begin just south of the San Francisco County line, dividing Daly City and Brisbane, and will end slightly south of the Santa Clara County border, where the 408 area begins. The new code will also exist in a small portion of northern Santa Cruz County. The 650 code is scheduled to take effect Aug. 1 of next year, said Bruce Bennett, the state's area code administrator. After the code takes effect, callers will be able to use either 415 or 650 when dialing into the Peninsula for a six-month grace period, Bennett said. After that, 650 will become the Peninsula's only code. Because telephone charges are based on distance instead of dialing between area codes, no rates or charges in the new code areas will be affected, according to the PUC. Pac Bell also announced that 530 will be the new area code when the 916 area is geographically split on Nov. 1 of next year. The city and county of Sacramento will remain 916, while most of the rest of the current 916 area changes to 530. The 415 and 916 territories might be two of the last area codes to undergo geographical splits. Earlier this month, the PUC voted to use area code "overlays" -- where one code is placed within an existing one -- as a preferred method of relief. However, overlays cannot be considered until Pac Bell puts into effect "number portability," which allows customers to keep their numbers should they opt to change phone companies, and "10-digit" dialing, which means people must dial both the area code and phone number for all calls. Until these standards are met, geographic splits will continue to be the method the state uses to create new area codes. According to PUC regulatory analyst Natalie Billingsley, number portability and 10-digit dialing aren't expected to be in place for 18 months to two years. Thus the 408 area code, San Jose's since 1959, could be one of the first area codes to be subject to an overlay when it reaches capacity, which is expected in the first quarter of 1999. The recent code crunch is the result of the rapid growth of cellular phones, pagers and homes with multiple phone lines, combined with the rising number of prospective new entrants to the state's $6 billion local phone market. AT&T and MCI are among the companies that will need a pool of numbers for customers when they begin offering local phone service. The new codes are the state's 17th and 18th. By the year 2000 or shortly thereafter, California is expected to have 26 area codes, according to the PUC. The split of the 415 area code comes not a moment too soon, Pac Bell said. The company had begun rationing numbers in that region. It estimates that the 650 area code will last 11 years. "We're responding to a crisis," Bennett said. This marks the second time in five years the 415 area code has been split geographically. In 1991, the East Bay split off into the 510 area code. Pac Bell and the PUC will have to repeat this move, Bennett predicts. He estimates 415 will need yet another new area code within five years. ------------------------------ From: Tad Cook Subject: California Split Date: Thu, 15 Aug 1996 23:43:43 PDT 415, 916 Area Codes to Split in Two By BURT HERMAN Associated Press Writer SACRAMENTO (AP) -- Two of California's three original telephone area codes will be split in two next year, Pacific Bell announced Thursday. The 415 and 916 area codes will be divided to accommodate the increasing demand for phone numbers brought on by cellular phones, facsimile machines and pagers. About three million people will fall into the new area codes, to be known as 650 and 530. The new 650 code for the southern San Francisco peninsula begins at the southern city line and extends southward to include most of San Mateo and parts of Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties. San Francisco International Airport will be included under the new area code, which is expected to last for 11 years before another area code split is needed. The 650 area code will go into service Aug. 1, 1997, and include about two million people. One million subscribers in northeastern portion of the state will be put in the new 530 area code on Nov. 1, 1997. Sacramento County and parts of southern Placer and eastern Yolo Counties will retain the 916 area code. There will be a six-month grace period after the area codes go into effect during which the old numbers will still work. Callers will be charged the same rates that are currently in effect, regardless of whether they have to dial seven or ten digits to make a call, said Bruce Bennett, California code administrator for Pacific Bell. "The number of digits that you dial has no impact on the cost of the call," he said. The remaining portions of the 415 and 916 area codes are expected to last until 2002 before further relief is needed. Currently, more than 50 percent of the phone numbers in both area codes are assigned to cellular phones and pagers. Growth of both area codes is at an annual rate of more than 720,000 each. The day where all calls will have to be dialed with ten digits is close at hand, Bennett said. "There's a crisis going on throughout the nation," he said. In the future, new area codes will not be assigned by splitting up existing areas, but by overlaying new numbers on top. But before this can happen, Bennett said the state Public Utilities Commission has mandated that ten-digit dialing and number portability -- where a person's phone number stays with them no matter where they go -- be fully operational. Bennett estimated technology would reach that level by the beginning of 1999. To decide what the new area codes will be, research is done with focus groups to determine the most easily recognizable numbers, said Dave Miller, spokesperson for Pacific Telesis, the parent company of Pacific Bell. In the next five years, 13 new area codes will be introduced in California. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 16 Aug 1996 09:50:44 +0500 From: Dave Keeny Reply-To: keenyd@ttc.com Organization: Telecommunications Techinques Corporation Subject: A Particularly Vicious Bulk E-mailer I wonder if anyone has heard of or had dealings with: Tim Luedtke Owner, First Look P.O. Box 770441 Orlando, FL 32877 (407)438-8892 Phone (407)438-7083 Fax He's been advertising bulk e-mail services, search engine registration, and the like for some time now, under various e-mail accounts (at least four that I know of). In his latest incarnation (see the "New Bulk Email Program" thread in misc.consumers) an individual who complained to him was threatened with 300,000+ e-mailings. Luedtke made good with his threat, from his 1stlook@digital.net account. The recipient called Luedtke's ISP and they pulled his account within 30 minutes. Within a couple hours, apparently, Luedtke was back again, this time flinging mailbombs from A1stlook@aol.com. I don't know how else to combat this type of miscreant other than to let others know who he is and how he operates so that, with any luck, his own reputation will drive him out of business. Too bad he has no 800 number ... Dave ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 16 Aug 1996 16:54:32 HKT From: Johann Ong Subject: Announcement: Third Workshop on Telematics Third Regional Workshop on Telematics The Third Regional Workshop on Telematics is being organized by the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Trieste, Italy and the United Nations University, Tokyo, Japan in collaboration with the Advanced Science and Technology Institute of the Department of Science and Technology, Government of the Philippines, and the National Engineering Center of the University of the Philippines at Manila, Philippines from 18 November 1996 to 6 December 1996. The workshop will be directed by Professor M.V. Pitke of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bombay, India and Professor Romeo G. Solis of the Advanced Science and Technology Institute, Manila, Philippines. Mr. M. Periasamy will be the co-director in charge of the laboratory sessions. I. PURPOSE AND NATURE The workshop aims at upgrading the technical and analytical capabilities of scientists and engineers of academic institutions, R&D organizations and the industry. It will also help faculty members in establishing new and strengthening existing programs in telecommunications and information technology. The three week program will focus on fundamental aspects of communications technology and its role in the present and evolving information networks of the future. In addition to basics, modern communication techniques, technologies, systems and networks will be covered. A set of specially developed laboratory exercises will form an integral part of this Workshop, giving participants a unique hands-on experience. The faculty is drawn from leading academic and R&D institutions around the world. The Workshop programme will broadly cover the following topics: Communication Basics Digital Transmission, Switching, Signalling and Networking SS7 and Intelligent Networks Optical Fibres Broadband Networks Wireless and Cellular/Mobile Technology DSP and Multimedia VLSI Design for Telecommunications Communications Software Rural Communications Power System Engineering for Telecommunications Outside Plant Engineering Product Engineering and Technology Transfer II. PARTICIPATION The Workshop is open to scientists, engineers and faculty members from academic institutions, research agencies, and industrial companies in the ASEAN region and the neighboring countries. Participants should preferably have experience in research and/or knowledge of digital telecommunications and computers. They are also expected to have adequate working knowledge of English language, since the workshop will be conducted in this language. The workshop will be divided into two groups, alternating formal lectures and laboratory classes in the mornings and afternoons. As a rule, travel and subsistence expenses of the participants should be borne by their home institutions. However, limited funds are available for a few participants selected by the organizers. For technical reasons, the total attendance will be strictly limited to 50 participants. The closing date for requesting participation is August 30, 1996. The "Request for Participation" form, attached at the end of this document should be completed, signed and posted to: Advanced Science and Technology Institute 4/F National Engineering Center U.P. Campus Diliman, Quezon City Philippines 1101 Republic of the Philippines Department of Science and Technology ADVANCED SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE 4/F NEC Bldg., U.P. Campus Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines 1101 Tel. No: +63 2 918 813 9017 Fax No: +63 2 922 4714 or +63 2 932 5703 E-Mail: juvy@asti.dost.gov.ph; ode@asti.dost.gov.ph WWW: http://www.asti.dost.gov.ph Additional Note: There is an online version of this announcement including an online "request for participation" form that can be accessed at http://www.asti.dost.gov.ph/announce/telework.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 16 Aug 1996 06:22:36 EDT From: danny burstein Subject: Letter to New York PSC Danny Burstein New York, NY 10027 August 13, 1996 NYS Public Service Commission Telecom division 1 Penn Plaza CSD 8th floor New York, NY 10119 via UPS Blue re: Problems with (genuine) Nynex pay phones and touch tone cut-off Good day: I'd like to report some difficulties with Nynex which I believe warrant investigation, and definitive action, by the Public Service Commission. Ironically, I discovered this problem when calling an inhouse Nynex number. As I'll explain further, I suspect that these problems are widespread and, as such, should not be considered as a single phone line complaint but rather as a major issue and should warrant a full scale PSC investigation. Yesterday, August 12, 1996, I paid my Nynex bill at an authorized service location. I then proceeded to go to a "Genuine Nynex Payphone", (212) 678-9601, located at 110th street and Broadway in Manhattan, to report this to Nynex's automated accounting system. This involves punching in a 1-800 number, followed by the billing number, and then accessing a menu of choices. In the midst of doing this, I got a response from the phone that said (roughly) "no further digits may be dialed at this time". I tried again and got the same response. It seems evident that some sort of limit has been programmed by Nynex as to the number of digits that can be entered through the keypad. (This may have been done via a physical count of digits or a timeout). This is clearly an inconvenience, and is quite disruptive. While this specific incident "only" caused me aggravation and wasted time, I can easliy see situations when this "feature" installed by Nynex would prevent access to voice mail, long distance carriers, or numerous other services. Accordingly I would appreciate it if: a) this gets counted by the PSC as not a single line complaint, but as one reflecting all the Nynex coin lines in the NYC region, and that this larger figure be used in calculating Nynex's service record, and b) the PSC assigns this matter a Case Number and advises me of any actions it undertakes. Thank you, Danny Burstein ------------------------------ From: rlm@netcom.com (Robert McMillin) Subject: Re: End of Permissive Dialing in 954 Organization: Charlie Don't CERF Date: Fri, 16 Aug 1996 13:26:34 GMT On 15 Aug 1996 05:33:40 PDT, ronnie@twitch.mit.edu (Ron Schnell) said: > In article wes.leatherock@hotelcal. > com (Wes Leatherock) writes: >> Some customers (by far the vast majority) are not like the people in >> this newsgroup and are very concerned to know when they are dialing a >> toll call. > Your sarcastic generalization is misplaced. How does allowing > customers to dial 1 before any ten digit number prohibit this? > If you want to know if it is a toll call, don't dial 1. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Heh? Jeez, Louise, tell that to anyone living in El Lay, Chicago, or New York, with their tower-of-babble area codes. Dialing 1+ doesn't imply a toll call in those places, nor should it anywhere else. For those of you living in states with erstwhile single area codes where this used to be true, I have a suggestion: get used to it. Sorry the telcos lied to you about 1+ == toll, but sometimes, them's the breaks. In any event, 1+ to other area codes regardless of toll is mandated by the F-C-C. If your local telco still allows ten-digit dialing without the prepended 1+, well, good luck trying to keep it. Robert L. McMillin | rlm@helen.surfcty.com | Netcom: rlm@netcom.com ------------------------------ From: Yosef Rabinowitz Subject: Re: Calling Card Rates to Mexico Date: Fri, 16 Aug 1996 10:01:26 -0700 Organization: Telephone Bill Reduction Consulting Recently, I wrote: >> I have a customer who rents office space in a standard business >> center. The landlord has exclusivity on the phone lines and charges >> AT&T's standard rates + 20%. Customer does a few thousand minutes to >> Mexico zones 4 and 7. I cannot give 10XXX service since the landlord >> has blocked it. I am looking for a calling card platform (pre-paid >> or otherwise) that has rates to Mexico at 50" per minute or less. In the last couple of days, many wrote to me with a variation of the following response: > The VoiceNet International Travel Card has these rates to Mexico: > Mexico band 1 $0.45 > Mexico band 2 $0.51 > Mexico band 3 $0.63 > Mexico band 4 $0.71 > Mexico band 5 $0.79 > Mexico band 6-8 $0.82 Thank you to all who responded, Except ... 1) I already sell the VoiceNet card. 2) Can't anybody read? I said I need a rate of 50 cents (FIFTY CENTS) for BOTH zones 4 and 7. Please, no more e-mail with offers of more than 55 cents on a calling card. Thanks, Y.R. ------------------------------ From: jared@netspace.net.au (jared gottlieb) Subject: Re: New California Area Codes Unveiled Date: Fri, 16 Aug 1996 19:32:18 +1000 Organization: NetSpace Online Systems In article , Tad Cook wrote: > New Area Codes Unveiled For Large Portions Of 415, 916 Regions; > 650 New Area Code for San Francisco Region; > 530 To Be Added In Northern California > SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 15, 1996-- > While customers in the new 650 and 530 area codes will have to change > the first three-digit portion of their telephone number, the new area > codes will not affect the price of telephone calls in any of these > areas, Bennett said. Call distance determines the price and is not > impacted by the creation of a new area code, he explained. Except for a number of hotels whose logic is if it's another area code it must be long distance. This was a problem along the 415 / 408 boundary. Even if one pulls out a phone book and shows the desk clerks what the directory says is a local call, they can't change the computer. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Even if the desk clerk cannot change the computer the desk clerk generally has the authority to write off certain small amounts of the total bill which are disputed without further approval/verification. PAT] ------------------------------ 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: * ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.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: Post Office Box 4621 Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 847-329-0571 Fax: 847-329-0572 ** Article submission address: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Our archives are located at mirror.lcs.mit.edu. The URL is: http://mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives They can also be accessed using anonymous ftp: ftp mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives A third method is the Telecom Email Information Service: Send a note to tel-archives@mirror.lcs.mit.edu to receive a help file for using this method or write me and ask for a copy of the help file for the Telecom Archives. ************************************************************************* * 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. * ************************************************************************* 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. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V16 #417 ******************************