Return-Path: Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.7.4/NSCS-1.0S) id PAA03541; Thu, 29 Aug 1996 15:47:18 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 29 Aug 1996 15:47:18 -0400 (EDT) From: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu (TELECOM Digest Editor) Message-Id: <199608291947.PAA03541@massis.lcs.mit.edu> To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V16 #448 TELECOM Digest Thu, 29 Aug 96 15:47:00 EDT Volume 16 : Issue 448 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Tentative Meeting of Readers: May, 1997 (TELECOM Digest Editor) "Industry Standard" vs "Telco Grade" (Lars Poulsen) A New Box Arrives (Internet via Cable) (John De Hoog) Baltimore Will Test Three-Digit Non-Emergency Phone Number (Mike Pollock) BellSouth Offers Access to the Internet (Bill Newkirk) Internet Thruway (Tara D. Mahon) Can El Lay Pols REALLY Alter 911 Records? (Robert McMillin) 1-800 Charge From Payphone? (marks10254@aol.com) Assorted Telecom News (Tad Cook) BellSouth Launches Internet Access Service (Mike King) Consultant Needed in ISDN (Ontario Link) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 29 Aug 1996 13:39:06 -0400 (EDT) From: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu (TELECOM Digest Editor) Subject: Tentative Meeting of Readers: May, 1997 So! What would you think of a meeting of the minds *in person* in a sort of 'convention' for TELECOM Digest readers over the Memorial Day holiday weekend next year? Arrangements would be made for very inexpensive group rates at the Howard Johnson's here in Skokie. A best estimate of the cost would be $75-100 per room/night, assuming two nights (Saturday/Sunday of that three day weekend). Persons who wished to share a room could arrange it between themselves. The preliminary schedule I have designed looks like this: Arrive Saturday morning and check in beginning about 1:00 pm. We would have the use of the HJ conference room as well as all the other amenities they offer. From 2:00 pm until 6:00 pm Saturday, a few speakers and demonstrations, etc. Some free time until 8:00 pm when we meet for dinner at the Skokie Club, a short distance (several blocks) away. You'd order from the menu and the bar as you wished, and a best guess cost of your dinner would be about $35-40 per person. After dinner from about 10:00 pm until whenever, open discussion and/or one-on-one meetings between readers at the HJ conference room with an open bar. Retire to your room for the night when you wish. On Sunday at noon, brunch at the IHOP located across the street and a block north of HJ. Order from the menu, with an estimate of your meal cost being $10 including tips, taxes, etc. Sunday afternoon from about 2:00 pm until sundown, a re-enactment of Gene Spafford's vision of Usenet: a Sunday afternoon in the park. Lots of conversation as you move from one cluster to another; no topics decided in advance. The park is directly across the street from HJ, so you can go to your room as desired and return, etc. Sunday evening about 8:00 pm, oysters and other good stuff to eat in the 'fishmarket' restaurant attached to HJ, then afterward take some time in your room to catch up on email if you brought a laptop with you, and get a good night's sleep for your trip home the next day. Monday morning at 9:00 am, a continental breakfast in the conference room with final farewells, exchanging addresses, phone numbers and business cards, etc. Check out of your room by about 11:00 am but feel free to linger on awhile; the idea being stay as long as you can and leave when you must for your trip home. For persons from out of town, my best estimate of the overall cost of the weekend would be about $250-300 not including your transportation. Chicago area people would of course simply return to their own homes both evenings if they chose to do so, eliminating the cost of a room at Howard Johnson's. If this idea sounds at all appealing or you think it has some merit please let me know. **Nothing is planned at this time**. If enough people are interested, I'll work out something definite with HJ and begin organizing those of you who wish to be speakers or give a demonstration, etc. PAT ------------------------------ From: lars@anchor.RNS.COM (Lars Poulsen) Subject: "Industry Standard" vs "Telco Grade" Date: 29 Aug 1996 00:26:53 -0700 Organization: RNS / Meret Communications Someone said: > modems that are installed are not $140 USR Sportster modems either. > They are industrial grade design intended for 24x7 operation for > decades with zero downtime -- and they are much more expensive. You can say that again. I recently visited a company that manufactures "telco grade" modems, most of which are used for remote diagnostics ports on central office switches. They are still shipping an impressive amount of 1200 bps and 2400 bps modems. They are just now upgrading their top-of-the-line product from 9600 bps to 14400 bps. V.34 (28.8) is still considered "unproven new technology" for these applications. And the reliability is awesome. How many of the computer people hanging out here would bet your job that the systems you work on can stay up for a full year without a crash, reset, reload or upgrade needed? Lars Poulsen Internet E-mail: lars@RNS.COM RNS / Meret Communications Phone: +1-805-562-3158 7402 Hollister Avenue Telefax: +1-805-968-8256 Santa Barbara, CA 93117 Internets: designed and built while you wait ------------------------------ From: dehoog@super.zippo.com (John De Hoog) Subject: A New Box Arrives (Internet via Cable) Date: Thu, 29 Aug 1996 08:38:51 GMT Organization: Zippo Reply-To: dehoog@super.zippo.com A new black box, made by Fujitsu, was delivered to my home this week. It looks and acts like a set-top box, but it's actually for connecting to the Internet via my cable TV provider. No, it's not a cable modem. That won't arrive until next year. When it does, it's supposed to deliver 10 MB connections to the Internet. But for now, I have to be content with this little black box. How does it work? Well, just like a phone jack, only the other end of the line is my cable TV provider, ParkCity Cable here in Musashino-shi, Tokyo. My Microcom V.34 modem is plugged into the black box (actually called a "communication access unit") instead of the phone company's modular jack. The unit connects to a coaxial cable running from the fiber line outside. I've got a Windows95 connectoid set for this connection, and the number I dial is simply 0030. Well, it's not the future yet, but if that 10 MB cable modem arrives, things may change. Another development, however, will be happening around the same time. The phone company is not taking this lightly; NTT is getting ready to test its OCN -- a connectionless network designed specifically for Internet access, and offering high-speed connections over regular phone lines (connected to a TBase-10 connector in the home) at low cost. Posted by John De Hoog, Tokyo dehoog@super.zippo.com In real life: dehoog@mars.dtinet.or.jp ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Aug 1996 18:56:33 -0700 From: Mike Pollock Organization: SJS Entertainment Subject: Baltimore Will Test Three-Digit Non-Emergency Phone Number Acoording to a copyrighted report on the Business Wire for August 28, the Maryland Public Service Commission has granted the use of 311 to the Baltimore Police Department and AT&T. The new non-emergency number, 311, will be tested in Baltimore City for a two-year period to reduce the overburdened 911 emergency system and to enhance community policing efforts. Implementation is scheduled for early October. CONTACT: Baltimore Police Dept. Sam Ringgold (410) 396-2012 or AT&T Regina Allegra (202) 776-6092 (office) (703) 528-8075 (home) ------------------------------ From: Bill Newkirk Subject: BellSouth Offers Access to the Internet Date: Wed, 28 Aug 1996 18:28:11 -0400 Organization: Rockwell Avionics/Collins Reply-To: wenewkirk@rodes.cca.rockwell.com From the Wednesday, August 28, 1996, {Orlando Sentinel}, page B1, article by Joe Kilsheimer. New service is called "CommerceNet" available to businesses immediately, with residential service expected in October. Offers features from e-mail only at $8/month to customized packages including high speed data lines, registered domain names, and intranets. Residential customers in Atlanta and New Orleans can sign up immediately. Unlimited access for standard telephone line will be $19.95/month. for 10 hours or less of access, it's $9.95/month with $1/hour over 10. Customers not in a BellSouth service area (such as Osceola and parts of Seminole counties) can subscribe but will have to pay $0.25 per call. (service there is Sprint/United telephone ...) Sprint is supposed to also be offering a similar service nationally this fall, with tests starting with 200,000 users on August 20. "You're not going to get busy signals with a company like BellSouth" - Adam Schoenfeld, VP of Jupiter Communications, a NY company that publishes trade newsletters about the internet. --------------------- So if they do this, and put in a per minute charge to the other ISP's, is that anticompetitive? bill n. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Aug 96 13:17:10 GMT From: Tara D. Mahon Subject: Internet Thruway Pat and DIGEST, Due to the recent flurry of replies on the Internet traffic issue, I thought I'd repost an excerpt of a NewsFirst Telecom newsletter that Insight Research released on July 25: -------------- The problems created by packet traffic on the circuit-switched PSTN is well documented in the Bellcore study entitled "Impacts of Internet Traffic on LEC Networks and Switching Systems," (A. Atai & J. Gordon, Bellcore, 1996). To request a copy of the study contact Mr. Bill Blatt at Nortel. You can reach him via phone at (201) 292-5715 or via the Internet at william.blatt@nt.com. -------------- Earlier this week, Insight sat in on a Nortel conference call to announce their "Internet Thruway" solution, a new combination of existing Nortel products -- software, access nodes, and switches -- that will groom Internet dial-up traffic off the voice network to a data network. The Nortel AccessNode w/Data Direct software will recognize data calls based on the called number, the call is then directed to the Rapport Dialup Switch, terminating the modem call and coverting it to packet data format, encapsulating in IP packets using Layer-2 Forwarding (L2F) protocol for security. Then it is sent to the appropriate ISP or corporate LAN over a frame relay or ATM network via the Magellan Passport. We'll be issuing another newsletter with more detailed info on Internet Thruway sometime next week. I'll be happy to forward it to Pat and the DIGEST when available. Regards, Tara D. Mahon tara@insight-corp.com The Insight Research Corporation www.insight-corp.com 354 Eisenhower Parkway (201) 605-1400 phone Livingston, NJ 07039-1023 USA (201) 605-1440 fax Market Research & Competitive Analysis for Telecom Industry ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Aug 1996 09:04:54 -0700 From: rlm@netcom.com (Robert McMillin) Subject: Can El Lay Pols REALLY Alter 911 Records? Reading la.general today, I discovered the following amazing post from Tom Klemesrud. (For those of you who don't know, Tom's been involved in a lengthy set of proceedings defending himself against the legal predations of the "Church" of Scientology. He and that organization recently came to a settlement.) I pass it along with minimal editing. Parenthetically, the original topic of this thread is about an attempt by the Co$ to buy a street rename after their fraudulous founder, i.e. L. Ron Hubbard Way or some such. They give plenty of samoleans when the wheels of government need greasing ... ------- Start of forwarded message ------- From: Tom Klemesrud Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology,la.general Subject: Re: How To Prevent "L. Ron Hubbard Way" in L.A., Part II Date: 25 Aug 1996 13:06:11 PDT Organization: (Support.com BBS) STEVE FISHMAN wrote: I never mentioned this before, but when the January 14th, 1995 911 call to LAPD mysteriously disappeared from the LAPD computers (found later on the Fire Department Computers), an LAPD Communications officer said that a City Councilman has the power to remove the 911 transcript from the computer records. I did inform Ferraro's office of what happened that night, so Ferraro did have previous knowledge to have done this. Although I am not sure how the 911 records disappeared from the LAPD computers. Tom Klemesrud SP6 KoX ------- End of forwarded message ------- Robert L. McMillin | rlm@helen.surfcty.com | Netcom: rlm@netcom.com ------------------------------ From: marks10254@aol.com (MarkS10254) Subject: 1-800 Charge From Payphone? Date: 28 Aug 1996 22:52:02 -0400 Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) Reply-To: marks10254@aol.com (MarkS10254) I live in upstate New York (Dutchess County). We have a small independent payphone operator (New York Coin Telephone); complete with Nynex rip-off color scheme and all. I have recently noticed that when attempting to gain access to my long distance provider via a 1-800#; their payphone will give me a prompt, "Please deposit $.25", some of their phone have a small sign on them which says,"local tarriff appoved $.25 for 1-800 numbers.". Of course I was pissed; I don't know if a free land based 1-800# is a God given right, but I sure thought it was close. In order to get around this obstacle I tried to access a AT&T operator and have her place the 1-800# for me; It DID NOT WORK; I got a recording stating that the number was no longer in service-TOTALLY INCORRECT; I dial this same 1-800# at least five times a day, albeit from NON-New york Coin Telephone phones. My questions to you are: Is this legal? If it is legal, is all of it legal? If it is not legal, is there anyone who can solve it faster than the P.S.C.? WHAT REVENGE DO I TAKE? This company seems to be the only one that I know of that is doing this. Thanks, marks10254@aol.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Yes it is legal, since the not too distant past through regulations by the FCC. If the owner/operator of the phone has no other way to recover some portion of the amount of the call for himself (i.e. he is not part of any separations/settlements process the telcos have between themselves) then he can get 'up to' 25 cents from the user of the phone. Genuine Bell payphones do not make this charge because of course they are part of the billing/collections loop. Usually onlu COCOT phones make this charge because they are privately owned with the owner getting only whatever collections go in the coin box. Some COCOT owners just as a matter of public goodwill are not charging for 800/888 calls since the public perception of those calls as 'free' would cause a lot of hassles and bad public relations. More and more are getting around to charging for every call however; either because you pay them for the call itself or you pay them 'something extra' for the use of their phone even though the charge for the call itself is being billed somewhere else. The only real recourse you have is to stick with Genuine Bell whenever possible, and frankly the day may come before long when they also add such charges to the caller. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Tad Cook Subject: Assorted Telecom News Date: Wed, 28 Aug 1996 10:01:37 PDT This is from a service called NewsSpot: *** AT&T promises 'instant Answers' AT&T announced a new service Tuesday that allows users to phone customer service agents over the Internet. Project iA, for "instant Answers," connects users to an agent by clicking an icon. This action results in a telephone conversation and the agent can also send images or accept credit card transactions. Users will need two phone lines, one for the Internet connection and the other for voice connection over the AT&T network. AT&T plans to offer the service over one phone line in the near future. *** AT&T signs discount deal with AOL AT&T WorldNet signed a co-marketing deal with America Online Monday, aimed at making AOL available at a discount rate to AT&T's 300,000 Internet access subscribers. AT&T WorldNet, launched March 14, said it will give subscribers a 20 percent discount to AOL. As part of the package, AOL's software will be made available on AT&T WorldNet's home page. Customers will be able to seamlessly switch between browsing the Internet via WorldNet and AOL's proprietary service. *** MCI to offer local phone service in 13 new cities MCI Communications named the 13 additional cities in which it will be offering local telephone service by March 1997, as part of its 25-city MCI Metro network. It already has networks up and running in twelve cities, and by the end of this year says it will have invested $1 billion in total in its local services initiative. It said it expects to invest a like amount in 1997 if the competitive environment is favorable. The new cities are Denver, Los Angeles, Memphis, Miami, Minneapolis, Newark, Orlando, Phoenix, Portland, Raleigh, San Diego, San Francisco and Tampa. MCI was up 1/4 to 27. For the full story see http://hawaii.merc.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=240.cb.51805 ------------------------------ From: Mike King Subject: BellSouth Launches Internet Access Service Date: Tue, 27 Aug 1996 18:29:00 PDT From: BellSouth Subject: BELLSOUTH LAUNCES INTERNET ACCESS SERVICE Reply-To: press@www.bellsouthcorp.com BELLSOUTH LAUNCHES INTERNET ACCESS SERVICE BellSouth.netSM service offers locally focused, globally connected Internet service ATLANTA, August 27, 1996 -- BellSouth today launched its BellSouth.netSM service to provide Internet access to consumers and businesses in the Atlanta and New Orleans metropolitan areas. BellSouth.net service will focus on providing easy access to local information while offering reliable connection to the global Internet. The company will expand the service to an additional eight markets in its region in October. In addition to Internet access, BellSouth.net service offers a customized version of Netscape Navigator, electronic mail, an optional site blocking feature, and an easy-to-use gateway to local and national information and electronic yellow pages. BellSouth provides the service with two attractively-priced plans: 1) an unlimited usage plan priced at $19.95 per month; and 2) an hourly plan that provides ten hours of access per month for $9.95, plus $1 for each additional hour. BellSouth will offer customers who sign up for the service in 1996 one free month of service, and the one-time service set-up charge of $10.00 will be waived. Customers can have the service billed to their BellSouth telephone bill or charged to a credit card. "At BellSouth, we have a heritage of meeting customer demands with high quality, reliable services," says Jere Drummond, president & CEO of BellSouth Telecommunications. We're happy to bring that unparalleled heritage to a communication tool where a high level of customer care is critical -- the Internet." BellSouth.net service will be available in October in the Miami area (including West Palm Beach and Ft. Lauderdale), the Raleigh area, Charlotte, Orlando, Jacksonville, Louisville, Nashville and Memphis. Additional markets will be added in 1997. The Internet market is growing at a rapid pace, according to a BellSouth study conducted in April, 1996. Of the company's total customers, 14 percent say they access the Internet, a significant increase from nine percent in November, 1995. "Our Internet service is locally focused and globally connected," says John Robinson, president of BellSouth.net Inc. "We will help our customers find useful and interesting information on the Internet while focusing on providing them easy access to information about their local metros. BellSouth will provide a much needed connection between consumers and businesses locally and globally." BellSouth's comprehensive Internet service offering has been enhanced by alliances with: Yahoo! -- One of the most popular search and directory utilities for the Internet, Yahoo! and BellSouth have developed a customized version of Yahoo! for BellSouth.net users to find local and regional information with hyperlinks to Yahoo's Internet directory site for research into global information. HotWired -- This company has designed a tour that teaches newcomers how to maneuver on the World Wide Web. In addition, HotWired's HotBot search engine will enhance BellSouth.net users' search capabilities. HotBot is a joint effort of the HotWired Network and Inktomi Corporation. SurfWatch -- A site-blocking feature, SurfWatch enables parents to monitor children's Internet activities. Key local information providers, such as Gambit New Orleans Weekly and Atlanta publications Creative Loafing and The Atlanta Business Chronicle. BellSouth will continue seeking alliances with other local information providers so customers can easily access even more information about their local metros in the future. BellSouth.net Inc. has implemented local Internet Protocol (IP) networks and developed services which will allow BellSouth's business units and affiliates to provide Internet services and electronic commerce capabilities for residential and business customers' growing computer networking needs. The company, for example, has developed a portfolio of business offerings that include Intranet and industry-specific electronic commerce solutions for businesses with complex communications needs. For small businesses, BellSouth.net service will facilitate local and regional electronic commerce through its local (IP) networks by providing easy access to and speedy interaction with cohesive communities of interest. A community of interest includes a subject-specific group of related client, vendor and service-oriented organizations electronically connected for the purpose of sharing information and automating business processes. "These communities of interest enable local communication that is faster and more secure because it's sent through BellSouth's local IP network, the same network that also provides access to the global Internet," says Robinson. "Through BellSouth, these communities of interest bring together consumers, professionals and businesses who rely on each other for success." Customers should call 1-888-4DOTNET(368638) TOLL FREE for more information or to order BellSouth.net service. Customers may access the service's home page at www.bellsouth.net. BellSouth is a $17.9 billion communications services company. It provides telecommunications, wireless communications, directory advertising and publishing, and information services to more than 25 million customers in 17 countries worldwide. BellSouth's telecommunications operations provide service over one of the most advanced networks in the world for nearly 22 million access lines in its nine-state region that includes Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. Visit BellSouth Corporation's web site at www.bellsouth.com. For Information Contact: Ted Creech, BellSouth, (404)330-0550 Andy Hagedon, GCI/Atlanta, (404)873-5330 ------------------- Mike King * Oakland, CA, USA * mk@wco.com ------------------------------ From: olink@noc.tor.hookup.net (Ontario Link) Subject: Consultant Needed in ISDN Date: 28 Aug 1996 16:42:58 GMT Organization: HookUp Communication Corporation, Oakville, Ontario, CANADA We are looking for someone who is familiar with ISDN communications, especially with knowledge of providers of international services and how the providers bill. Knowledged of this with regard to leased as well as dial up lines would be helpful. Knowledge of regulatory issues would be a big plus. What is NOT required is someone with only basic knowledge of how to order and hook up an ISDN line & equipment. We already know that. We need someone who knows about the costing aspects of INTERNATIONAL data communications. If you think you fit all or part of this, please email us at olink@hookup.net Thanks, Ontario Link ------------------------------ 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 #448 ******************************