Return-Path: Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.7.4/NSCS-1.0S) id EAA25089; Thu, 6 Mar 1997 04:03:24 -0500 (EST) Date: Thu, 6 Mar 1997 04:03:24 -0500 (EST) From: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu (TELECOM Digest Editor) Message-Id: <199703060903.EAA25089@massis.lcs.mit.edu> To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V17 #58 TELECOM Digest Thu, 6 Mar 97 04:03:00 EST Volume 17 : Issue 58 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson President Carter's Call-In and Old 900-NNXs (Mark J. Cuccia) USR 56k Modems and CODECs (Eric Ewanco) Book Review: "The AltaVista Search Revolution" by Seltzer/Ray (Rob Slade) INC Proposals to Redo the NANP (David W. Tamkin) Ameritech and AT&T Announce Agreement (Jeffrey Rhodes) LSU Safety Arrested In Phonecard Scandal (William Van Hefner) Destiny Telecom Raided (Tad Cook) Residential and Small Business Telecom (Tara D. Mahon) Dialing *70 on Non-Call-Waiting Equipped Line (Robert A. Rosenberg) 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 hyperarchive.lcs.mit.edu. The URL is: http://hyperarchive.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives They can also be accessed using anonymous ftp: ftp hyperarchive.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives (or use our mirror site: ftp ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) A third method is the Telecom Email Information Service: Send a note to tel-archives@massis.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. 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Cuccia Subject: President Carter's Call-In and Old 900-NNXs It was twenty years ago, on Saturday 5 March 1977, that then-president Jimmy Carter had his live three-hour call-in radio program over the Columbia Broadcasting System, moderated by Walter Cronkite. IIRC, it aired from 3:00 to 6:00 pm (EST). I don't remember if the program was sponsored or if it ran 'sustained', but later on during his term, Carter had a few other live radio programs of telephone conversations with citizens, but those were carried by the government's non-commercial NPR network. And those NPR broadcasts were arranged where if one desired to speak on the phone live on the radio with Carter, they had to mail in requests in advance, and only those selected were called on the day of broadcast. The original CBS Radio Network airing used a _FREE_ 900 telephone number to call up to speak on the radio with Carter. The number was 900-242-1611. It was answered by producers/screeners of CBS News either at the offices in Washington, or at the White House itself. Cronkite introduced the callers to Carter. Many people attempting to call Carter forgot to dial (a possible '1+' used to initiate toll and ten-digit calls from many areas, and) the special area code '900' before dialing the seven-digit number, 242-1611. Wherever in the US (and Canada?) a 242 prefix existed in a geographical area code, whoever had 242-1611 (if 1611 was actually assigned) were getting call after call asking if they were Carter, Cronkite, or the White House. Also, back in the 1970's, The Bell System (AT&T Long-Lines and the local Bell and independent operating companies) used 900 service for such national 'mass-calling' purposes. The first time I ever knew of it actually being used was to call Carter and Cronkite in 1977. Later on, I found out that during the 1970's, the 900-NNX codes were assigned to _specific_ inbound terminating localities. 900-242 was assigned to Washington DC. Beginning in the 1980's, 900 service became more of a pay-per-call service for 'info' services, and even though AT&T and Trans-Canada (now Stentor) were the only providers of 900 service, the 900-NXX codes didn't have any geographic meaning anymore. By the mid-to-late 1980's, Bellcore began to assign 900-NXX codes to specific competitive carriers or info(?) providers. The 900-NXX codes which in the early 1980's had been used by AT&T and Trans-Canada (Telecom-Canada) were 'grandfathtered' in and continued to be assigned to them. Presently, carrier/entity/provider portability doesn't exist among 900 numbers (nor 500 numbers), although the FCC is looking into such portability at some time in the future, which would be similar to 800/888/etc. toll-free portability. Here is a list of _OLD_ 900-NNX _geographic_ assignments, which came from the "Distance Dialing Reference Guide", circa 1977/78. Please note that the NPA codes indicated are what code was used for that location _at_that_time! Many of these NPA's have had subsequent splits or overlays, and such references are not shown in this listing, as it is 'historical' as of the late 1970's. Note that 900-242 is assigned for inbound terminating 'mass-calling' trunks to Washington DC. 900-220 Indianapolis IN (317) 900-222 Sacramento CA (916) 900-230 Tampa FL (813) 900-240 Jacksonville FL (904) 900-242 Washington DC (202) 900-243 Alberquerque NM (505) 900-247 Fresno CA (209) 900-250 Lansing MI (517) 900-260 Phoenix AZ (602) 900-263 Philadelphia PA (215) 900-270 Grand Rapids MI (616) 900-280 Harrisburg PA (717) 900-290 Escambia MI (906) 900-330 Ft.Myers FL (813) 900-333 Pittsburgh PA (412) 900-340 Tallahassee FL (904) 900-370 Akron OH (216) 900-381 Charlotte NC (704) 900-390 Macon GA (912) 900-421 Seattle WA (206) 900-434 Fargo ND (701) 900-441 Spokane WA (509) 900-450 Orlando FL (305) 900-478 San Francisco CA (415) 900-481 Baltimore MD (301) 900-490 Ft.Lauderdale FL (305) 900-520 Los Angeles CA (213) 900-521 Los Angeles CA (213) 900-540 Atlanta GA (404) 900-550 Miami FL (305) 900-555 Directory? Other 900 special service? 900-570 San Diego CA (714) 900-576 Kansas City MO (816) 900-578 Cleveland OH (216) 900-591 Chicago IL (312) 900-620 Greensboro NC (919) 900-630 Denver CO (303) 900-639 Denver CO (303) 900-645 Hamilton ON (416) 900-670 Quebec PQ (418) 900-690 Portland OR (503) 900-697 London ON (519) 900-749 Cincinnati OH (513) 900-750 Ottawa ON (613) 900-751 Tacoma WA (206) 900-762 Oakland CA (415) 900-770 Columbia SC (803) 900-790 Montreal PQ (514) 900-840 Hartford CT (203) 900-842 Bakersfield CA (805) 900-850 Detroit MI (313) 900-860 New Haven CT (203) 900-870 Toronto ON (416) 900-880 Tucson AZ (602) 900-890 Cheyenne WY (307) 900-921 Charleston WV (304) 900-924 Milwaukee WI (414) 900-925 Eau Claire WI (715) 900-928 Madison WI (608) 900-930 West Palm Beach FL (305) 900-931 Boston MA (617) 900-936 Florence SC (803) 900-939 Covington KY (606) 900-977 Santa Ana CA (714) 900-985 New York NY (212) 900-993 Dallas TX (214) 900-996 Ft.Worth TX (817) 900-999 New York NY (212) MARK_J._CUCCIA__PHONE/WRITE/WIRE/CABLE:__HOME:__(USA)__Tel:_CHestnut_1-2497 WORK:_mcuccia@mailhost.tcs.tulane.edu_|4710_Wright_Road|__(+1-504-241-2497) Tel:UNiversity_5-5954(+1-504-865-5954)|New_Orleans_28__|fwds_on_no-answr_to Fax:UNiversity_5-5917(+1-504-865-5917)|Louisiana(70128)|_cellular/voicemail ------------------------------ From: Eric Ewanco Subject: USR 56k Modems and CODECs Date: 05 Mar 1997 11:32:57 -0500 Organization: Xyplex, Inc. I'm surprised that there isn't a discussion here on 56 kbps POTS modem technology. US Robotics has just released code for their X2 56k technology and the Usenet group comp.dcom.modems is abuzz with discussion. I have a specific issue in regard to this to bring up on this mailing list, however. For those who are unfamiliar with this technology, I refer you to USR's white paper . Basically, it relies on a connection which is analog on only one end; it takes advantage of the reduced quantization noise when the upstream modem can control PCM signalling directly. The 56k transfer rate is ONLY in the downstream (from the ISP) direction, and the ISP connection must be fully digital (T1 or PRI). There is one additional stipulation: There must not be any analog-to-digital conversions (e.g. multiple CODECs) along the path (for example, PBXs, or SLCs). Otherwise the whole advantage is lost, and 56k technology does not work. The modems probe during negotiation to see if there is any A/D conversion, and if so, they record the event, abandon X2 and fall back to V.34+ or lower. Well, after eagerly awaiting X2 code since the time it was announced in October, and having downloaded the code and enabled it this weekend, I discover that -- guess what? I'm a loser: my attempts to connect via X2 via my home line (NPA/NXX 508-872) yield this error. I decided to call my NYNEX repair line to discuss with them the multiple CODEC matter, to see if there was anything they could do. NYNEX had been advertising to me that I was ISDN capable, and I reasoned that if I could get ISDN, and if my CO was fully digital (which it is), why shouldn't I be able to use X2? (NB: I have never had my line qualified. This was just an enclosure in my bill.) Surprisingly, the technician who answered actually had a clue about what I was asking. He was competent to discuss modem issues, and he had heard (though vaguely) about USR's 56k technology (he was exceedingly skeptical about its capability to deliver). It took me a while though to convince him that I was talking POTS, not ISDN. I got him to test the line for me, and from that test he gave me the following information: 1) My line is working at 100% capacity 2) My line is 4 miles (21,200 ft) of copper 3) There is no SLC involved. His judgment was that the 4 miles of copper were the impediment; when I asked him about where the multiple CODECs might be, he said that there were "enhancers" (based on the description, I'd call them repeaters) along the line to handle some sort of signal quality issue with touch-tone. Can anyone confirm that these "enhancers" necessarily involve additional CODECs? Can anyone suggest any other reason why there might be an A/D converter? I note from NYNEX's web page that ISDN requires a local loop shorter than 3.5 miles (18,000 ft?), so it looks like I'm just over. Eric Ewanco eje@world.std.com Framingham, MA ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 05 Mar 1997 10:31:34 EST From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "The AltaVista Search Revolution" by Seltzer/Ray/Ray BKAVSRVL.RVW 961115 "The AltaVista Search Revolution", Richard Seltzer/Eric J. Ray/Deborah S. Ray, 1997, 0-07-882235-1, U$24.95 %A Richard Seltzer seltzer@samizdat.com richard.seltzer@ljo.dec.com %A Eric J. Ray ejray@raycomm.com %A Deborah S. Ray debray@raycomm.com %C 300 Water Street, Whitby, Ontario L1N 9B6 %D 1997 %G 0-07-882235-1 %I McGraw-Hill Ryerson/Osborne %O U$24.95 905-430-5000 +1-800-565-5758 +1-905-430-5134 fax: 905-430-5020 %P 274 %T "The AltaVista Search Revolution" The word "the" is used 187,110,494 times on the Web: you can add another 27,587,905 if you add "The". The most common real word is "information". Canada is cited more frequently than California. Welcome to AltaVista. While some may cavil about various subjective considerations, to date I have not found an Internet search engine that can match AltaVista for flexibility, speed, or comprehensive coverage. Digital can be justifiably proud of AltaVista (or, more properly, AltaVista Search Public Service), even if they tend to overhype it from time to time. The first five chapters provide an introduction to AltaVista and a great many useful tips and pointers. (Chapter two even has a canned form that you can paste into your own Web pages.) Unfortunately, the screenshots are all taken from graphical browsers, and Lynx users may find the entry fields a bit more difficult to deal with. (Not to mention the fact that there are at least two different text-only interfaces.) Chapter six has suggested searches for a variety of topics: I found the list unhelpful, but novice users will probably find it to be a lot of fun. Chapter seven provides a history of the development of AltaVista. The trivia in my first paragraph comes from Appendix A, the thousand most common words on the Web. For anyone using (rather than merely surfing) the Web, this book is a valuable guide to an indispensable tool. For anyone else, there is still a lot of really interesting stuff. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1996 BKAVSRVL.RVW 961115 roberts@decus.ca rslade@vcn.bc.ca rslade@vanisl.decus.ca Ceterum censeo CNA Financial Services delendam esse Please note the Peterson story - http://www.netmind.com/~padgett/trial.htm ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 4 Mar 97 16:26:00 CST From: dattier@wwa.com (David W. Tamkin) Subject: INC proposals to redo the NANP Organization: TIPFKAG [World-Wide Access, Chicago, Illinois 60606-2804] In Tad Cook was good enough to share something that appeared on March 4 in The Orange County Register, Calif., Life on the Line Column By Stephen Lynch, The Orange County Register, Calif. Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News Mr. Lynch told us about the INC: > The Industry Numbering Committee, a group representing every major > American telecommunications company, is thinking ahead to 2025, when, > by some estimates, the one-plus-area-code-plus-seven-digit-numbering > system we know and love will exhaust itself. This was one of the listed possibilities: > Another proposal would divide the nation into eight regions, the > number of which you would dial first. So instead of 1-714-555-7929, > you'd dial 6-714-555-7929, with six being the region code for the > Southwest. Under such a system, local calls would be a 10-digit dial, > but the same area codes can be used in multiple regions. How could local calls be dialed with ten digits unless they were terminated by timeout or [dare I use the word] the octothorpe? It seems to be that NPA-NXX-XXXX could easily match the first ten digits of R-NPA-NXX-XXXX. Or is the proposal that we dial NPA-NXX-NXXX within our region and 1+R-NPA-NXX-XXXX to other regions? If we discount that and figure that it will take eleven digits to dial locally, I gather that "eight" regions means 2 through 9; perhaps 1+ might be reserved as a second way of dialing within one's region, but that would be of benefit only for pulse dialing. (Why can't one just dial one's own region number instead of 1? Why get into a bad habit that won't work while you're traveling?) Heck, we might as well use 1 to designate a region as well and get nine (instead of just eight) times as many numbers as we can have now. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 05 Mar 1997 12:40:17 -0800 From: Jeffrey Rhodes Subject: Ameritech and AT&T Announce Agreement Ameritech and AT&T jointly released an agreement that among other things "resolved a series of lawsuits involving claims under a Mutual Credit Card Honoring Agreement." Maybe Ameritech will discontinue the practice of double long distance billing for the first month that both AT&T and Ameritech agree to begin separate customer invoicing for local and long distance service, too! AT&T has to give back to Ameritech any monies wrongfully collected by the double billing and the customer has to get credit from Ameritech, which for some people (PAT included), makes AT&T appear to be uncooperative. Jeffrey Rhodes at jeffrey.rhodes@attws.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It is a good thing they finally got their mutual act straightened out. Frankly, the phone war here between Ameritech and AT&T was beginning to get on a lot of people's nerves ... people in sort of high places. I think both companies received a lot of pressure to make things work. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 05 Mar 1997 17:19:20 -0800 From: William Van Hefner Subject: LSU Safety Arrested In Phonecard Scandal BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- An LSU starting safety, suspended last month amid reports that he and other players used a coach's long distance telephone code, was arrested Tuesday, the school said. Greg Hill, 20, was suspended indefinitely from the team in February for ``behavior inconsistent with the principles and philosophies of our football program,'' LSU coach Gerry DiNardo said in a news release. ``I will discuss with him his future with the LSU football program only after he has handled all matters with the legal system and the LSU Dean of Students,'' DiNardo said. The university said last month that it was investigating the apparent use of a coach's code to make long-distance calls. The Times-Picayune newspaper identified Hill as the player who obtained the code. The newspaper also reported that Hill allegedly gave the number to three other players who used it, one of whom was All-American running back Kevin Faulk. Tuesday's announcement of Hill's arrest and booking with ``access device fraud'' was the first time the university had publicly identified any player being investigated. Earlier, the university said the other three players were not disciplined and will be forced to refund the money for their calls. The other players were unaware that it was an unauthorized code, officials said. Hill was a starting strong safety last year and is a two-year letterman. He started 11 of 12 games last season and was fourth on the team with 79 tackles. Hill was booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison. No bond was set immediately. WIlliam Van Hefner - Editor Discount Long Distance Digest The Internet Journal of the Long Distance Industry http://www.thedigest.com ------------------------------ Subject: Destiny Telecom Raided Date: Wed, 05 Mar 1997 20:19:38 PST From: tad@ssc.com (Tad Cook) State raids pre-paid phone card company, seizes assets OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- Law enforcement officials have shut down a national pre-paid phone card business on accusations owners were running a pyramid scheme that duped thousands of investors. Destiny Telecomm Inc. promised impossible riches to its investors, state and local prosecutors charged in a $20 million lawsuit against the company. Investigators raided Destiny's Oakland headquarters Thursday, carting away files but making no arrests. On Wednesday, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Sandra Margulies had issued a temporary restraining order which authorized the search warrant. The order also froze Destiny's assets and put a receiver in place to guard them. Margulies' order was based on a civil complaint filed by the state Attorney General's office and the District Attorney's offices in Alameda and Monterey counties alleging that Destiny is violating California's misleading advertising and unfair competition statutes. Deputy Attorney General Albert Shelden said law enforcement officials believe Destiny, an 18-month old company that sells long-distance pre-paid phone cards and has distributors nationwide, is operating "an illegal endless-chain scheme." Shelden said the civil complaint alleges that marketing employees at Digital are compensated according to their ability to get new marketing employees to buy their way into the company, not according to sales of products or services. Shelden said attorneys general in at least two other states -- North Carolina and Michigan -- have filed similar civil complaints against Destiny and additional states are also investigating the company. Margulies will hold another hearing on March 13 on law enforcement officials' bid to get a preliminary injunction against Destiny. Destiny president Randy Jeffers, who founded the fast-growing company in 1995, denied he runs an illegal recruiting operation. "For anyone to refer to (Destiny) as a pyramid scheme is tantamount to similarly branding Amway, Mary Kay or Avon," he said. Destiny has branched out from the phone car business and now sells long distance phone service, cellular phones, laptop computers and recently clothing and food products. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 5 Mar 97 12:41:41 +0000 From: Tara D. Mahon Subject: Residential and Small Business Telecom Hi Pat and List, Insight has now published three studies on Residential and Small Business Telecom over the past several years, and our research has continually found an overwhelming lack of service/products geared to the special needs of the small business customer. Below is a press release announcing our findings and a link to our web site where folks can read an excerpt of the report. Since many of the TELECOM Digest members are small business owners and solo entrepreneurs themselves, it will be interesting to hear the list comments! I recall the Friday's Free thread from last year ... Regards, Tara D. Mahon The Insight Research Corporation ----------------- SMALL BUSINESSES HAVE $60 BILLION TO SPEND, BUT TELCOS HAVE NO RESPECT, SAYS INSIGHT RESEARCH LIVINGSTON, NJ. March 5, 1997: Small businesses just can't get no respect from the giant telephone companies, but with their phone bills growing at more than 11% per year, small businesses represent an enormous opportunity, says a new report from Insight Research. Glossy brochureware and discount pricing offers bombard the small business owner, but such primitive marketing tactics typically won't convince these savvy entrepreneurs. With competition in local and long distance markets forcing carriers to re-examine their entire marketing operations, now is the perfect time to address the unmet market needs of nearly 21 million small businesses. According to the 1,000 interviews conducted for Insight's Residential and Small Business Telecom study, the small business customer is grossly underserved by the telcos, with little to no services created to solve their unique problems. This lack of service is due in part to old assumptions about small business. Small businesses are not cost sensitive, but revenue sensitive, says the report. Small businesses are not slow to adopt, nor slow to be sold, nor technologically naive. Today's small businesses are heavy users of advanced telecom tools and they're willing to pay for improved service features if they perceive a significant business value. "Small businesses are the fastest growing part of our economy, and they have real money to spend -- over $60 billion for telecom products and services in 1997 alone," explains Robert Rosenberg, president of Insight Research. "But the carriers tend to lump small businesses in with residential consumers or categorize them as 'mini' big businesses. They're neither. And they won't respond to services created for someone else." For this market research report, Insight collected 15,000 pieces of data about small businesses and their employees, geographic areas of operation, equipment complements, communications traffic volume, information movement, and opinions on services, prices, and possible applications. While Insight found that small businesses are more willing to try new solutions than large organizations, they are equally quick to discard solutions which do not meet their requirements. Significant business opportunities and recommendations on how to market to the small business customer are published in Residential and Small Business Telecom, now available from Insight Research for $3,495. Insight Research, based in Livingston, NJ, is a leading provider of telecommunications market research and analysis. Insight can be reached via the web at http://www.insight-corp.com, and an excerpt of this study is available on the res96.html page. For more information on this study, please contact: Tara D. Mahon, The Insight Research Corporation, 354 Eisenhower Parkway, Livingston, NJ 07039-1023, phone 201-605-1400, fax 201-605-1440, internet: tara@insight-corp.com ------------------------------ From: hal9001@panix.com (Robert A. Rosenberg) Subject: Dialing *70 on Non-Call-Waiting Equipped Line Date: Wed, 05 Mar 1997 17:00:23 -0500 Organization: RAR Programming Systems Ltd. The intent of *70 is to turn off Call-Waiting for the current out-going call. Up until this week I've only had one line (which has Call-Waiting). Thus all my Fax and ISP phone numbers have started with *70W. I've just had the second wire on my RJ14 jacks activated as a second line (dedicated to my Computer and its Fax Modem). Since I do not plan to use it as an incoming voice line, I did not order Call-Waiting on that line. Now I get an stupid intercept on the line whenever I try to dial out using a number I forgot to remove the *70W from. The way I look at it, dialing *70 says I want no Call-Waiting during the current call, I HAVE NO Call-Waiting AT ALL on the line, so there is no reason NOT TO ACCEPT the *70 and just return a dial tone just like on a Call-Waiting Line (I asked for it to be turned off and it IS off). Can anyone explain this stupidity? It is not as if I were attempting to use some feature that would only work if I had the option activated on my line (*69 Call Return or something like that). I'm asking to turn off an optional feature which was never Active on the line in the first place (its like using *82 to turn off All-Call-Blocking on a Per-Call-Blocking line - the result without entering it is the same as you would get if you needed to and did enter it so *82 is allowed to make sure that it is off). Thank you. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You are welcome. I am glad we could help you get that off your chest. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V17 #58 *****************************