Return-Path: Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.7.4/NSCS-1.0S) id IAA22925; Tue, 20 Jan 1998 08:17:14 -0500 (EST) Date: Tue, 20 Jan 1998 08:17:14 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <199801201317.IAA22925@massis.lcs.mit.edu> To: ptownson Subject: TELECOM Digest V18 #14 TELECOM Digest Tue, 20 Jan 98 08:17:00 EST Volume 18 : Issue 14 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson www.nanpa.com is Up and Running (Linc Madison) Two Years After Big Telecom Bill: Promises Unfulfilled (Tad Cook) Telecom Update (Canada) #116, January 19, 1998 (Telecom Update) Users Don't Mind Mergers if They Get New, Better Services (Adam Gaffin) Reverse Billed Callback (Ankur Lal) Being Fired for Personal Web Site Content (Cameron Barrett) Bell Atlantic (in NYC) Yanking Flat Rate? (Jeremy M. Posner) Reminder: CEME '98 (Soon Y. Choi) Usenet and the New Millenium (Ronda Hauben) Stupid Question of the Week (Bill Levant) Connection Speeds Over 28.8k (John J. Brassil) Sprint Asks for SSN (Anton Sherwood) 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: * telecom-request@telecom-digest.org * 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: 847-727-5427 Fax: 773-539-4630 ** Article submission address: editor@telecom-digest.org ** Our archives are available for your review/research. The URL is: http://telecom-digest.org 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 archives@telecom-digest.org 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. * ************************************************************************* In addition, a gift from Mike Sandman, Chicago's Telecom Expert has enabled me to replace some obsolete computer equipment and enter the 21st century sort of on schedule. His mail order telephone parts/supplies service based in the Chicago area has been widely recognized by Digest readers as a reliable and very inexpensive source of telecom-related equipment. Please request a free catalog today at http://www.sandman.com --------------------------------------------------------------- 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. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 19:46:09 -0800 From: Telecom@LincMad.NOSPAM (Linc Madison) Subject: www.nanpa.com is Up and Running Organization: LincMad Consulting; change NOSPAM to COM The new website for Lockheed-Martin's North American Numbering Plan Administration (NANPA) is up and running without requesting a password. Evidently, the password protection over the weekend was just to keep the public out until the official unveiling today. The website contains a number of useful items, plus a blurb that says that all future Planning Letters (PLs) will be available electronically on the website for free; Bellcore started charging $10 each for these a year or two ago. The website is accessible at < http://www.nanpa.com/ > Better yet, they don't have those @#@$!@!! "bc.dynjava?GHSLHWRYQOWIEYRQER" URLs that Bellcore started using in their website upgrade a couple of months ago! (Although I must say the ugly URLs were worth it, if only to get rid of the hideous yellow telephone that used to (dis)grace the Bellcore NANP pages.) ** Do not send me unsolicited commercial e-mail spam of any kind ** Linc Madison * San Francisco, California * Telecom@LincMad-com URL:< http://www.lincmad.com > * North American Area Codes & Splits >> NOTE: if you autoreply, you must change "NOSPAM" to "com" << ------------------------------ Subject: Two Years After Big Telecom Bill: Promises Unfulfilled Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 17:43:37 PST From: tad@ssc.com (Tad Cook) Two years after big telecom bill: Promises unfulfilled By Jeannine Aversa Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) -- These were the promises of the telecommunications bill: lower cable TV rates, lower phone bills and a dazzling array of work and entertainment choices only a touchtone away. Two years later, the reality is higher prices and not much competition. The average American doesn't have another local cable or phone company to switch to. And the promised explosion of innovative new services is more a whimper than a bang. "This new law is truly revolutionary legislation that will bring the future to our doorstep," President Clinton said when he signed the measure Feb. 8, 1996. He predicted "consumers will receive the benefits of lower prices, better quality and greater choices in their telephone and cable services." Supporters in Congress, at the Federal Communications Commission and in industry made the same claims. "It will start an explosion of new devices being available to American citizens. There will be an explosion of new investment in our country," said then-Sen. Larry Pressler, a co-author of the measure. But those optimistic forecasts have yet to come true. In 1997, cable TV rates rose 6.9 percent, local phone rates rose 1 percent and in-state toll call rates went up 2.8 percent while interstate long-distance rates declined 4.3 percent, according to the government. Consumer prices for all goods and services went up 1.7 percent during the same period. In 1996, the bureau reported across-the-board increases in cable and phone prices. It also costs more to make a call from most pay phones. Rep. Thomas Bliley, R-Va., another co-author of the bill, predicted it would break up "two of the biggest government monopolies left -- the monopolies in local telephone service and in cable television. Beside lower rates and better service, the result will be innovative new products and services." Instead, long-distance companies have had trouble building local phone businesses, and local phone and cable companies have scaled back plans to invade each others' businesses. And key provisions in the 1996 law aimed at opening the $100 billion local phone business to competitors were overturned in federal court rulings last year. Federal regulators are now scrambling to find ways to boost competition for cable and local phone companies and to lower soaring cable rates. AT&T has stopped marketing local phone service and MCI has suffered steep losses from local phone investments. Both companies in part blame regulations they say make it too expensive to provide local phone service. Authors of the law assumed it would encourage cable companies to get into the telephone business and phone companies to start offering cable. "Talk about broken promises, one of the premises of the `96 act was that the telephone companies would get involved in the provision of video," said Clinton's top telecommunications policy adviser, Larry Irving. Banking on more competition, Congress decided to end the FCC's authority to regulate cable TV rates on March 31, 1999. With competition not materializing as envisioned, some in Congress say they'll push to extend the FCC's rate authority. "Americans do not have real choice in the provision of cable TV services," said FCC Chairman Bill Kennard. A new FCC report found that there's head-to-head cable competition in only 81 communities. And competition to cable from satellites, wireless cable and others is growing more slowly than anticipated. Consumer groups, which want the government to do more to hold down cable and phone rates, call the law a failure. "Virtually none of the promise of price reductions and competition has materialized. On the contrary, these industries are becoming more entrenched monopolies with rates spiraling upwards," said Gene Kimmelman, co-director of Consumers Union's Washington office. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 11:07:10 -0500 From: Telecom Update Subject: Telecom Update (Canada) #116, January 19, 1998 ************************************************************ * * * TELECOM UPDATE * * Angus TeleManagement's Weekly Telecom Newsbulletin * * http://www.angustel.ca * * Number 116: January 19, 1998 * * * * Publication of Telecom Update is made possible by * * generous financial support from: * * * * Bell Canada ................. http://www.bell.ca/ * * City Dial Network Services .. http://www.citydial.com/ * * Computer Talk Technology .... http://icescape.com/ * * fONOROLA .................... http://www.fonorola.com/ * * Lucent Technologies ......... http://www.lucent.com/ * * * ************************************************************ IN THIS ISSUE: ** Ice Storm Cuts Phone Service to 115,000 ** Telcos Restructure Accounting, Take Writedowns ** Gray Market Suit Withdrawn ** Bell Sells Major Office Buildings ** AT&T Cuts International Rates ** RCMP Adopts FleetNet From MTS ** Teleglobe, Qwest Swap Capacity ** SR Telecom Partners With Siemens ** Nortel Completes Broadband Networks Purchase ** MetroNet Completes Toronto Network ** ISPs Plan Challenge to Sympatico ADSL Rates ** Save 50%-75% on Telecom Books ============================================================ ICE STORM CUTS PHONE SERVICE TO 115,000: At its peak, the ice storm in Quebec and Eastern Ontario cut phone service to 115,000 Bell Canada customers. Service to another 2.2 million was maintained through Central Office backup generators in areas of power failure. On January 15, about 4,000 customers were still without service. TELCOS RESTRUCTURE ACCOUNTING, TAKE WRITEDOWNS: Responding to the introduction of price caps and local competition, several telcos have announced one-time charges resulting from a change in accounting practices to reduce the book value of capital assets. The following writedowns have been announced for the fourth quarter of 1997: ** BCE Inc (Ontario, Quebec): $2.9 Billion ** Bruncor (NB): $69.6 Million ** Island Tel (PEI): $11 Million ** MTS (Manitoba): $28.3 Million ** MT&T (Nova Scotia): $190 Million ** NewTel (Newfoundland): $85 Million Similar announcements are expected soon from BC Tel and Telus. GRAY MARKET SUIT WITHDRAWN: On January 9, lawyer William McKenzie withdrew a suit filed in the name of several Canadian broadcasters against 21 dealers and distributors of gray market satellite dishes (see Telecom Update #114 and #115). ** WIC Western International Communications said January 15 that it will step up legal moves to get gray market satellite dealers to hand over customer lists so that U.S. satellite companies can block access. BELL SELLS MAJOR OFFICE BUILDINGS: Bell Canada has sold its major office buildings in Montreal, Toronto, and Ottawa to TrizecHahn Corp. for $750 Million. Previously, Bell's real estate arm, Nexacor Realty Management, had planned to spin off these assets into a real estate investment trust. AT&T CUTS INTERNATIONAL RATES: AT&T Canada has reduced rates for residential customers to 56 countries by an average of 15%. Flat-rate round-the-clock pricing will now apply to 60 countries. RCMP ADOPTS FLEETNET FROM MTS: MTS Mobility has signed a 10-year, $60 Million agreement to provide the RCMP with Manitoba-wide FleetNet service. FleetNet, an enhanced mobile radio service, combines features of a cellphone, walkie-talkie, and pager as well as transmitting data. TELEGLOBE, QWEST SWAP CAPACITY: Teleglobe will provide U.S. fiber carrier Qwest with four 155 Mbps transatlantic circuits. In exchange, Teleglobe will receive unspecified U.S. circuits from Qwest at a later date. SR TELECOM PARTNERS WITH SIEMENS: Montreal-based SR Telecom and Siemens have made a deal to jointly market and do research for SR Telecom's SR500 point-to-multipoint networks and Siemens' Wireless Local Loop products. NORTEL COMPLETES BROADBAND NETWORKS PURCHASE: Northern Telecom has completed the purchase of all common shares of Broadband Networks Inc, a developer of wireless broadband equipment. Winnipeg-based BNI will become a unit of Nortel's Wireless Networks division. (See Telecom Update #106) METRONET COMPLETES TORONTO NETWORK: MetroNet Communications has completed installation of a fiber optic network running through 9 km of abandoned water pipes in downtown Toronto and will officially begin service January 21. ISPs PLAN CHALLENGE TO SYMPATICO ADSL RATES: A group of ISPs are considering a challenge to Sympatico's $69/month ADSL rate on the grounds that Sympatico is offering the service at "far below its 'apparent' cost." Contact Lorien Gabel at lgabel@interlog.com SAVE 50%-75% ON TELECOM BOOKS: Angus TeleManagement is offering overstocked titles on Canadian telecommunications for 50%-75% off regular prices, while excess stocks last. ** Canadian Telecom in Transition (1995) -- $13.95 (Save 50%) ** Long Distance Alternatives in Canada (1994) -- $12.25 (Save 75%) ** Phone Pirates (1993) -- $27.50 (Save 50%) ** For full descriptions and reader evaluations, go to http://www.angustel.ca/educatn/bk.html To order, call 1-800-263-4415 ext 225. ============================================================ HOW TO SUBMIT ITEMS FOR TELECOM UPDATE E-MAIL: editors@angustel.ca FAX: 905-686-2655 MAIL: TELECOM UPDATE Angus TeleManagement Group 8 Old Kingston Road Ajax, Ontario Canada L1T 2Z7 =========================================================== HOW TO SUBSCRIBE (OR UNSUBSCRIBE) TELECOM UPDATE is provided in electronic form only. There are two formats available: 1. The fully-formatted edition is posted on the World Wide Web on the first business day of the week. Point your browser to www.angustel.ca and then select TELECOM UPDATE from the Main Menu. 2. The e-mail edition is distributed free of charge. To subscribe, send an e-mail message to majordomo@angustel.ca. The text of the message should contain only the two words: subscribe update To stop receiving the e-mail edition, send an e-mail message to majordomo@angustel.ca. The text of the message should say only: unsubscribe update [Your e-mail address] =========================================================== COPYRIGHT AND DISCLAIMER: All contents copyright 1998 Angus TeleManagement Group Inc. All rights reserved. For further information, including permission to reprint or reproduce, please e-mail rosita@angustel.ca or phone 905-686-5050 ext 225. The information and data included has been obtained from sources which we believe to be reliable, but Angus TeleManagement makes no warranties or representations whatsoever regarding accuracy, completeness, or adequacy. Opinions expressed are based on interpretation of available information, and are subject to change. If expert advice on the subject matter is required, the services of a competent professional should be obtained. ------------------------------ From: Adam Gaffin Subject: Users Don't Mind Mergers if They Get New, Better Services Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 12:46:40 -0500 Organization: Network World Fusion Reply-To: agaffin@nww.com Last week, following the AT&T/Teleport announcement, we commissioned a survey to see how our readers felt about telecom mergers and competition. By a narrow margin, users gave thumbs up to the idea of carrier consolidation if that union delivers unified, end-to-end WAN services. But users demanded a quid pro quo: a quick end to the telephone company legal wars, with full freedom for regional Bell operating companies to offer long-distance service - some 80% said they felt the RBOCs should be allowed into long distance now. This is in contrast to our (completely unscientific) online conference on RBOCs and long distance, in which most participants said RBOCs should be kept out of long distance for failing to open up their local markets. You can get the complete results (and jump into our conference) at http://www.nwfusion.com/news/0119survey.html In addition, you'll find a link there to an article about AT&T getting ready to announce a wide range of partnerships, with everybody from vendors that provide monitoring of service level agreements to RBOCs. If you haven't used NWFusion before, you'll have to register first, but it's free. Adam Gaffin Online Editor, Network World agaffin@nww.com / (508) 820-7433 ------------------------------ From: Ankur Lal Subject: Reverse Billed Callback Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 18:47:52 +0530 I would like to find out if there are intelligent switches which can identify calling party using caller-id' and then re-initiate a call to that number. One could use callback for Toll-free effectively. The user calls the DID number and hangs up after two minutes; the computer finds out the user's phone number and stores it in memory. If then calls the host for DID (Say Infozech). Once the Infozech rep comes on-line, it calls the user number (from memory) and completes the Reverse billed CALLBACK call. This is like REVERSE billed CALLBACK!!! One could have very many uses for it. For instance instead of calling DELL or Microsoft and waiting 40 minutes on hold, one could call the DID NO; and then get a callback as soon as operator is free. The called party saves 40 minutes of long-distance charges and the calling party saves 40 minutes of waiting. I would like to hear from readers if this would work. Ankur Lal Infozech Software for Telecom Service Providers Tel: +91-11-6856452, Voicemail: +1-408-490-2842, Fax: +1-408-490-2840 email: ankur@infozech.com visit us at http://www.infozech.com<<<<<<<<< ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 09:42:31 -0500 From: Cameron Barrett Subject: Being Fired for Personal Web Site Content Hi Pat and Gang: I'm sure that some of you by now have heard about my case, as it was first reported by the {New York Times} and then run in papers by the Associated Press last week. Here are the articles: http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/011298page.html http://www.cnn.com/TECH/9801/15/internet.firing.ap/index.html I'm opening this up for discussion on this list. Feel free to comment and/or send me your opinions about this. Thanks, a devoted TELECOM DIGEST reader for a long time. Cameron Barrett http://www.camworld.com ------------------------------ From: jposner@panix.com (Jeremy M. Posner) Subject: Bell Atlantic (in NYC) Yanking Flat Rate? Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 09:38:18 -0500 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC I'm in NYC, on an ISDN line, set up with a Bell Atlantic (nee NYNEX) flat rate billing plan. I opened my phone bill this month to find that my nice, low flat rate plan for local calling had been removed, causing my phone bill to go up by around $40. I called Bell Atlantic, and the unusually helpful representative I spoke to said that there was mention in my file of the service being removed, but none of the notation that's required when removing such a service. He immediately reinstated the service retroactive to when it was removed. I wrote it off as a minor error that has been fixed. Yesterday, I spoke to my boss. Apparently, exactly the same thing just happened to the bill for her POTS lines. This got me thinking ... if two people got their flat rate plans yanked, how many others did? Did anyone around here find their phone bill to be mysteriously higher this month? | Jeremy M. Posner | "I don't want parole, I'm too busy | | jposner@panix.com | working on my web site." -Charles Manson, 3/27/97 | | (212) 426-7967 | http://www.panix.com/~jposner/ | ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 02:12:47 -0500 From: Soon Y. Choi Subject: Reminder: CEME '98 A Short Reminder of an Upcoming Event: Conference on Electronic Marketplace and Economics (CEME '98) February 16-17, 1998 Austin, Texas 1998 is shaping to be the year of electronic commerce. How will electronic commerce affect you? Conference on Electronic Marketplace and Economics (CEME '98) will help you understand the effects of EC technologies and applications by evaluating their uses in the broader context of electronic markets and the digital economy. More information is available at http://cism.bus.utexas.edu/news/ceme98.html Co-sponsored by the Center for Research in Electronic Commerce at UT-Austin and IBM's Institute for Advanced Commerce Soon Y. Choi, Ph.D. (soon@mail.utexas.edu) http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~soon The Center for Research in Electronic Commerce, UT-Austin http://cism.bus.utexas.edu ------------------------------ From: rh120@columbia.edu (Ronda Hauben) Subject: Usenet and the New Millenium Date: 19 Jan 1998 07:24:42 GMT Organization: Columbia University Researching the past toward envisioning the future of the Net Studying the history and impact of the ARPANET Mailing lists, Unix, Usenet The new millenium is less than two years away! The birth and development of Usenet, the Internet and of Unix are some of the wondrous developments that have been achieved to set the foundation for the start of the next millenium. To mark the new millenium it would be good to see the study of the history and impact of these important developments toward increased public discussion of how to build on them and spread access. Toward this end I welcome comments and discussion on some of the work that has thus far been done and on what future research and writing will be helpful. In the effort to go forward, it is important to have a vision of the future one is working toward, and the study of the past developments is one way to begin to document and discuss what the vision for the future of the Net should be. Following are some draft papers that I hope will be helpful: ARPANET Mailing Lists and Usenet Newsgroups Creating an Open and Scientific Process for Technology Development and Diffusion The URL is http://www.umcc.umich.edu/~ronda/msg.hist/ --------------- Early Usenet(1981-2) Creating the Broadsides for Our Day The URL is http://www.umcc.umich.edu/~ronda/usenet.hist/usenet_early_days.txt Usenet and the ARPANET Mailing Lists (1981-1982) The Emergence of the Modern Public Sphere A Habermasian Approach The URL is http://www.umcc.umich.edu/~ronda/usenet.hist/public_sphere_use.txt -------------- Also, there are some interviews I have done with unix pioneers and pointers to interviews done by others. And there are some articles about the history and impact of Unix. The URL is http://www.umcc.umich.edu/~ronda/unix.hist/ Comments are welcomed on any of this work, as are pointers to others doing similar work, or suggestions for collaboration and support for such work. In the early 1960's there was a conference at MIT where several computer pioneers were gathered to discuss the future of the computer. The organizers of the conference also invited C.P. Snow to open the conference and to present a broad perspective toward the discussion of what would and should be the future of the computer. C. P. Snow's talk described the importance of having many people involved in the discussion if it were to be fruitful. The creation and development of ARPANET mailing lists a few years later and eventually of Usenet and the Internet have made such broad ranging discussion not only possible but necessary. As the new millenium grows closer it is important to find a way to have this discussion of the vision for the future of the Net and of the impact it can have on the rest of society occur both online and to have such discussion available for those not yet online as well. ronda rh120@columbia.edu http://www.umcc.umich.edu/~ronda/ See also Netizens: On the History and Impact of Usenet and the Internet http://www.columbia.edu/~hauben/netbook/ and in print edition ISBN # 0-8186-7706-6 ------------------------------ From: Bill Levant Date: Sun, 18 Jan 1998 18:12:02 EST Subject: Stupid Question of the Week Organization: AOL (http://www.aol.com) Thanks to everyone who wrote with info about ISDN. I now know what I need. Being as it's Sunday, the beginning of a whole new week, I have a whole new dumb question: I have a Motorola Tele-T-A-C 550 (flip) cellular phone with the standard, NiCD battery, and Motorola's combination slide-in stand and charger. The battery is only good for about two hours of standby, or 15 minutes on the phone (down from 8 hours and 1 hour when new) and I want to replace it with an NiMH battery. Question: Do I need a new charger, too? No one will give me a straight answer; Radio Shack's catalog (now THERE'S an authoritative source) sez "you MAY need a new charger..." (thanks lots), but none of the third-party catalogs I've looked in say anything about a different kind of charger ... Once again, slightly off-topic, so E-Mail welcomed. Bill ------------------------------ From: John J. Brassil Reply-To: John J. Brassil Subject: Connection Speeds Over 28.8k Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 12:29:15 -0600 (Central Standard Time) This seems to be the most knowledgeable group of folks about all things telephonic that I have seen gathered around a virtual cook fire, so perhaps one (or many) of you can answer a connection speed question for me. We have 6 Shiva Access switches at Vandy for dial-up that were upgraded last year to support 33.6k connections. Oh boy, I thought, an excuse to upgrade my external U.S. Robotics Sportster Vi to 33.6. Well, a long story later, I finally got the chip in my modem and prepared myself to enjoy 15% faster downloads. Hoo hoo! Now, I should say at this point that I had been getting a 28.8 connection about 70% of the time, the rest being 26.4, but never any lower than that. This has been several months ago and I have never gotten any connection faster than 28.8 in the intervening time. In fact, after a few days of not reaching the promised land, I suspected a bum chip or a bad local loop and brought my modem into work and hooked it up to an analog line here and tried a connection - 31.2 was the best I could get, but at least I verified that the chip and the Shiva were capable of 28.8+ speeds. This leads me to suspect the connection between the campus switch and the machine room where the modems live that is probably not that great. Fast forwarding to the near-present, we had a discussion Monday in our Campus Technology Forum (basically IT weenies from across campus, including a Telcomm rep) about how the modem pool was being upgraded again, so that 40% of the 288 (6x48) lines would now support 56Kflex and the rest would remain at 33.6 for the time being. Just for grins, I took a poll of the assemblage to see if *anyone* had ever gotten better than a 28.8 connection. Going once, going twice ... nope. [Since I'm reposting, I'll note here that since then someone has actually gotten 31.2 from home (about half the time) since I asked the question originally, proving that it is at least possible from off-campus.] Since Network Design & Engineering (my group) is soon to take over the modem pool, I'd like to hear some definitive guesses :) as to why this is so, and how usual or unusual it is in relation to the rest of the world, or North America, anyway. I mean, if 33.6 is a pipe dream, when someone asks me what kind of 56K gear to get, how loudly should I laugh? On the upside, ISDN is cheap in Tennessee, and we have @home cable modem service in Nashville now - neither at Vandy, though (yet.) Thanks, John J. Brassil | Network Engineer, Vanderbilt ACIS Networks | 615.322.2496 ------------------------------ From: dasher@netcom.com (Anton Sherwood) Subject: Sprint Asks For SSN Organization: That would be telling Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 06:52:46 GMT Friday I decided, what the hell, I'll get a cellphone and see how I like it. Who knows, after a month I may wonder how I ever lived without it. So I went into the Sprint salesroom (across the street from my office) ... and was promptly asked for my Social Pseudo Security Number for a credit check. "I don't like to give that out," I said. "Can't I pay a deposit instead?" "Even if you pay a deposit, we still need to do a credit check." Then he told me about the prepayment plan, which has fewer features and a much higher time rate. What's the point? "I'm not going to further compromise my privacy for a luxury," I said, and left. All very polite and civilized and understanding. But dammit, am I hallucinating when I think that previously when I ordered new phone service (about four times in the Eighties) I didn't go through this nonsense? Wasn't there a time in America when one could do business without baring one's soul at every turn? My ISP didn't ask for my SSN. My maildrop didn't ask for my SSN. Pac Bell Information Services (voicemail, see below) didn't ask for my SSN, at least I don't think it did. End rant. Anton Sherwood *\\* +1 415 267 0685 *\\* DASher at netcom point com "How'd ya like to climb this high WITHOUT no mountain?" --Porky Pine 70.6.19 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Since they began in the early 1980's, cellular phone companies have always run credit checks, and set the amount of the required deposit accordingly. This was probably because their rates were so much higher than conventional phone service. If your monthly charges to some company are likely to be in the twenty, thirty or forty dollar range, doing a credit check when opening the account is of dubious value, since getting those credit reports costs money also. If your relationship is likely to lead to larger amounts of money -- and cellular phone service can tend to generate large bills -- then credit checks can be warranted. Some of the long distance carriers now do credit checks also, but it is not as common with local telcos. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V18 #14 *****************************