Return-Path: Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.7.4/NSCS-1.0S) id WAA12250; Wed, 7 Jan 1998 22:13:02 -0500 (EST) Date: Wed, 7 Jan 1998 22:13:02 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <199801080313.WAA12250@massis.lcs.mit.edu> To: ptownson Subject: TELECOM Digest V18 #2 TELECOM Digest Wed, 7 Jan 98 22:13:00 EST Volume 18 : Issue 2 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Book Review: "The irc Survival Guide", Stuart Harris (Rob Slade) San Francisco to Consider 311 (Jack Hamilton) SBA to FCC: Stay, Recind, and Reconsider! (Judith Oppenheimer) SBC in $4.4 Billion Southern New England Merger (Monty Solomon) Pacific Bell and Spam (Afshin David Youssefyeh) Plan 9 From AT&T (Adam H. Kerman) UCLA Short Course on CNS/ATM (Bill Goodin) Correction Re: How Sprint Got Its Name (Ronald D.Havens) The Voice of Bell Atlantic (Greg Monti) Is Cellular Tracking A Profit Opportunity? (Greg Monti) Telephone Sounds File Wanted (Sam LaMacchia) I'll Be on the Radio Friday Night (TELECOM Digest Editor) 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Rob Slade Organization: Vancouver Institute for Research into User Date: Wed, 7 Jan 1998 09:04:43 -0800 Subject: "The irc Survival Guide", Stuart Harris Reply-To: rslade@sprint.ca BKIRCSVG.RVW 970408 "The irc Survival Guide", Stuart Harris, 1995, 0-201-41000-1, U$17.95/C$22.95 %A Stuart Harris %C P.O. Box 520, 26 Prince Andrew Place, Don Mills, Ontario M3C 2T8 %D 1995 %G 0-201-41000-1 %I Addison-Wesley Publishing Co. %O U$17.95/C$22.95 416-447-5101 fax: 416-443-0948 bkexpress@aw.com %P 213 %T "The irc Survival Guide: Talk to the World with Internet Relay Chat" I must admit that I agree with those who see IRC (Internet Relay Chat) as a profound waste of time. Yes, a dozen years ago, I conducted an international conference via CompuServe's CB Simulator, and I figured that there was potential in real-time chat. But that was a far cry from the anarchic noise that goes on in pretty much every IRC channel. So, why am I going to keep Harris' book? Because it's the most realistic, balanced, complete, and positively helpful book I've read on the application to date. Harris gives some background, netiquette tips, time savers, self defense, a glossary, a list of client software, and a list of servers. Mostly, though, he provides a list of commands--and commands, and more commands, and options for the commands. As he admits, up front, not all commands are available on all IRC clients. (Appendix A gives some detail on where you are likely to find, and not find, specific commands.) It's *almost* enough to convince me to give it another shot. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1997 BKIRCSVG.RVW 970408 ------------------------------ From: jfh@alumni.stanford.org (Jack Hamilton) Subject: San Francisco to Consider 311 Date: Wed, 07 Jan 1998 05:30:09 GMT Organization: Copyright (c) 1997 by Jack Hamilton According to an article in the January 6 {San Francisco Examiner}, San Francisco is considering creating a 311 number for non-emergency police calls, similar to the 911 number for emergencies. San Jose, a larger city to the south of San Francisco, implemented the 311 system last November. Calls to 911 have dropped by 20%. Supervisor Jose Medina says that this would be a good time to add 311 services, since the city is implementing a new 911 system, but the project director for the 911 system says he is waiting for the results of a state task force. (San Francisco is a combined city and county, which means that the problem of finding the appropriate police agency will come up less often. I can think of at least five police agencies which operate there -- the SFPD, the University of California, Bay Area Rapid Transit, the National Park Service, and the California Highway Patrol -- but only the SFPD has general responsibility for the area. Los Angeles County has dozens if not hundreds of police agencies with complicated borders.) The search engine for the combined {Chronicle and Examiner} at found a longer article in the Chronicle of January 2. It said that: - The number of 911 calls put on hold in Baltimore, which has also implemented a 311 system, has been reduced by 60%. - San Jose's system is getting 14,000 calls per week after only five weeks of operation. - Los Angeles may implement a 311 system this year. Only 20% of the 911 calls there are real emergencies. Jack Hamilton jfh@alumni.stanford.org PGP ID: 79E07035 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 05 Jan 1998 21:05:26 -0500 From: Judith Oppenheimer Reply-To: joppenheimer@icbtollfree.com Organization: ICB TOLL FREE - 800/888 news... commentary... consulting... Subject: SBA to FCC: Stay, Recind and Reconsider! The U.S. Small Business Administration characterizes the FCC's Toll Free Second Report and Order as 'failing to recognize marketplace realities, arbitrary and capricious'. Washington, DC January 6, 1998 (ICB TOLL FREE NEWS) In one of the most compelling petitions file to date, the Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration filed an Exparte Petition for Reconsideration of the Second Report and Order for Toll Free Service Access Codes, on December 12, 1997. The Office of Advocacy was established by Congress in 1976 to represent the views and interests of small business with the federal government. Its statutory duties include reviewing federal government policies and regulations that affect small business, developing proposals for changes in federal agencies' policies, and communicating those proposals to the agencies. The Office also has a statutory duty to monitor and report on the FCC's compliance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, which factors substantially in this petition. The petition details 'the tremendous economic impact on small businesses that this Second Report and Order will impose. Most importantly, these comments also detail the material flaws in the Second Report and Order's Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis.' Among its admonishments, the SBA specifies that the FCC: 1. failed to provide proper public notice of a proposed rule to small business in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) and the initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis; 2. finalized a rule that is not a logical outgrowth of the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NRPM); 3. failed to identify properly, describe and reasonably estimate the number of all small entities to which these rules will apply; 4. failed to detail all of the compliance requirements that small businesses subject to the rule must undertake; 5. and failed to analyze the impact of its rules on small business end users, and small business toll free providers, especially those engaged in the secondary market. The petition goes on, 'Toll free use also involves the provision of toll free service by entities that are not telecommunications companies ... The variety of private entities that also provide access to a toll free number, (either by sale or lease) are loosely classified as the secondary market. The Commission has not explained in the substantive body of the Second Report and Order, nor the FRFA, how the ex post facto finding of illegality for the sale of a toll free number or the possession of multiple toll free numbers, including the provision of forfeitures and criminal sanctions for hoarding and brokering, serves to encourage rapid private sector deployment in all telecommunications markets as envisioned by Congress. Neither has the Commission fully explained nor justified how the elimination of businesses engaged in the secondary market deplete an allegedly scarce resource and/or does not service the public interest.' Asserting that the Second Report and Order is in direct contradiction to the congressional intent of the 1996 Act to foster competition in all telecommunications markets, the Advocacy Office characterizes the Second Report and Order as 'failing to recognize marketplace realities and arbitrary and capricious, and asks the Commission to grant the petitions for an emergency stay of the rule, rescind certain sections of it entirely, and revise other rules in accordance with a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that includes a properly executed Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis. In its reconsideration of the rule, the Advocacy Office recommends that the Commission eliminate the rebuttable presumption that the mere posession of multiple toll free numbers indicates illegal behavior; revise or reclarify its definition of hoarding and brokering to eliminate impermissible vagueness; explicitly exempt all entities that provide "collateral" services such as shared-use, telemarketing, advertising, and marketing consulting services; and adopt protective measures, pursuant to due process, that give the Commission sole enforcement authority of pronouncing illegal behavior and executing a termination policy. Authurs of the petition are Jere W. Glover, Chief Counsel, and S. Jenell Trigg, Assistant Chief Counsel for Telecommunications, Office of Advocacy, U.S. SBA. Judith Oppenheimer Publisher ICB TOLL FREE NEWS http://www.icbtollfree.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Jan 1998 21:14:09 EST From: Monty Solomon Subject: SBC in $4.4 Bilion Southern New England Merger SAN ANTONIO, Texas, (Reuters) - SBC Communications formerly Southwestern Bell, said Monday it would merge with Southern New England Telecommunications, the phone company for most of Connecticut, in a deal valued at $4.4 billion. SBC said the acquisition price equals $65.83 per Southern New England share. Under the terms of the agreement Southern New England shareholders would get 0.8784 of an SBC share for each of its shares. Upon completion of the merger SBC will serve over 34.7 million access lines in high-growth areas and have access to more than 92.6 million potential wireless customers across the country, it said in a release. "This merger reflects the confidence we have in the growth prospects of our companies' wireless and wireline businesses," SBC Chief Executive Edward Whitacre said in a press release. The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval, involves a merger of a wholly owned subsidiary of SBC into SNET. Southern New England will continue to be based in Connecticut. The companies hope to complete the transaction by the end of 1998. ------------------------------ From: Afshin David Youssefyeh Reply-To: kashi@ibm.net Subject: Pacific Bell and Spam Date: Tue, 6 Jan 1998 00:06:55 -0800 Recently, I received a piece of spam from a company that receives its internet access from Pacific Bell. When I complained to Pacbell, the response that I received, is below. I live in a Pacific Bell service area and because I know Agis is their upstream provider, I had dissuaded many people from signing up with them, this just affirmed my belief: > Hi Afshin: > > Thank you for writing > > The message you forwarded to me involved one of our dedicated customers. > Although Pacific Bell Internet expects its dedicated customers to abide > by our Acceptable Use Policy (which is published at the following URL: >http://public.pacbell.net:8001/dedicated/aup_ded.html), we allow them to > adopt their own procedures for handling complaints. > > Please note that this is *not* a brush-off. Pacific Bell Internet > *does* monitor compliance by its dedicated customers with its acceptable > use policy. We are referring you to our dedicated customer due to the > fact that the records and logs reflecting abusive activity are in the > possession of the dedicated customer. > > I will direct a copy of your complaint to our dedicated customer. > Please let us know if you are unable to reach a satisfactory resolution > of this matter with our dedicated customer. Pacific Bell Internet can > and will intervene if the dedicated customer is the source of the > abusive activity or if our dedicated customer fails to take action > against abusive activities committed by its customers. > > Please do not hesitate to write again if you have any questions or if > you wish to report other instances of abuse by Pacific Bell Internet > dialup or dedicated customers. > > Regards, > > Nick Nicholas > Senior Policy Manager Nick Nicholas Senior Policy Manager Pacific Bell Internet Services policy@pbi.net ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Jan 1998 22:21:08 CST From: Adam H. Kerman Subject: Plan 9 From AT&T Notice is hereby given that AT&T of Illinois has filed price increases in certain of its Dial Station IntraLATA price schedules, Simplified Plan No. 9, Simplified Lifestyle Calling Plan, CTS Yellow Sense Promotion, and Blue Sense I Promotion, to become effective 12/30/97. From a legal notice published Wed, 12/31/97, announcing (I assume) a retroactive rate increase. The practice in legal notices to the public over the last several years in Illinois has been to publish these cryptic notes. Until three years ago, legal notices used to contain actual descriptions of the plans and services, and the rates being changed. As you well know, often plans are marketed under entirely different names than appear in the tariffs. As I don't happen to live in my state capital, and tariff filings are no longer kept up-to-date at any company business office convenient to me, and they aren't published on the Web, how am I to get convenient access to information? The state legislature has made the Chief Clerk's office of the Illinois Commerce Commission a profit center. They charge an outrageous 50 cents a page for copies of tariffs! What is the experience in other states? Is your state legislature friendlier to consumer interests? What devious shenanigans are covered under Plan 9 from AT&T? ------------------------------ From: Bill Goodin Subject: UCLA Short Course on CNS/ATM Date: Mon, 5 Jan 1998 09:04:16 -0800 On March 30-April 2, 1998, UCLA Extension will present the short course, "Satellite-Based Communications, Navigation, and Surveillance for Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM)", on the UCLA campus in Los Angeles. The instructors are Mr. Cary R. Spitzer, MS, President, AvioniCon, Inc.; Mr. Wayne Aleshire, Captain, United Airlines; Mr. Michael J. Morgan, Honeywell; and Mr. Roy T. Oishi, ARINC, Inc. After a decade of work by the Future Air Navigation Systems committees of the United Nations-affiliated International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the aviation industry is implementing satellite-based communications, navigation, and surveillance for air traffic management (CNS/ATM) on a global basis. CNS/ATM promises substantial increases in airspace system capacity and benefits to both aircraft operators and air traffic services providers. This course begins with a review of avionics concepts to ensure a solid foundation for subsequent material. The rest of the course traces the development of the CNS/ATM concept, introduces its underlying principles, and presents each of the three cornerstone technologies -- communications, navigation, and surveillance -- from an airborne perspective. These technologies are discussed in detail by experts who contributed to the design and development of the avionics intended to reap CNS/ATM benefits which are now being installed on many aircraft. The course concludes with a summary of real-world experience by a major airline that has already equipped some of its fleet with first-generation CNS/ATM systems. This course is intended as an introduction to CNS/ATM. The level of detail presented makes the course suitable for a broad range of career backgrounds including technology (both air- and ground-based aviation systems), business development, and technical management. The course fee is $1495, which includes extensive course materials. These notes are for participants only, and are not for sale. For additional information and a complete course description, please contact Marcus Hennessy at: (310) 825-1047 (310) 206-2815 fax mhenness@unex.ucla.edu http://www.unex.ucla.edu/shortcourses This course may also be presented on-site at company locations. ------------------------------ From: RONALD.D.HAVENS@sprint.sprint.com Date: Mon, 5 Jan 1998 11:40:35 -0500 Subject: Correction Re: How Sprint Got Its Name Hi Pat. I subscribe to the TELECOM Digest and read same on a time permitting basis. Recently in the December 16, 1997 edition (V17|348) you were talking about the meaning of the name "Sprint". I've been with Sprint for 22 years, and started with Southern Pacific Communications. I was at the time that SPC began offering their dial-up service which later came to be known as "Sprint" the engineer responsible for transmission and interface design of the network used to provide the service. The origin of the name is as follows: We began offering a dial-up service shortly after the Execunet II decision late in 1978 (there had been prior attempts to do this, but they had met with limited success at best in obtaining FCC approval). Prior tot the Execunet II decision our offering was limited to a FAX service called "SpeedFAX, since competitive dial-up voice was not permitted. When we began to offer dial-up voice it was decided that we needed a name for the product that would differentiate the service from the FAX offering, and that we needed a name for the service. Rex Hollis, the VP of Marketing at the time (now with Loral), ran a contest to select a name. The winning entry was "Sprint", and was submitted by Tony Broadman (now with Qwest). "Sprint" never really meant anything, but it makes an interesting story. It was only after the name began to catch on that attempts were made to "force-fit" it into an acronym. Ron Havens ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 05 Jan 1998 00:16:36 From: Greg Monti Subject: The Voice of Bell Atlantic On Friday, January 2, 1998, the _Washington Post_ ran a piece on page D1 entitled "Smooth Operator" by Elizabeth Kastor. A summary: Eryca Dawson, a 29-year-old resident of the suburb of Mount Rainier, Maryland, is becoming the voice of Bell Atlantic. BA's CEO Ray Smith wanted a consistent voice and sound for all Bell Atlantic recorded messages. (Dawson does not replace the commercial and promotional sound of James Earl Jones, who remains spokesman.) Dawson was chosen because her voice is, as the writer put it, "not like a machine; accentless and utterly without regional or ethnic idiosyncrasy". Dawson grew up in a small town in central New York State. To date, Dawson has recorded over 6,000 phrases and messages for Bell Atlantic. She limits her recording sessions to four hours on a given day. Messages like: "For what city?" "Thank you. For what listing?" "Thank you for calling Bell Atlantic. To discuss an overdue bill, make payment arrangements, or if your service has been turned off for non-payment, press one, now." "Your call cannot be completed as dialed." The article has two photos of Dawson, wearing a dark sweater, hoop earrings and a pleasant smile. She has a 2-year exclusive contract with BA. Greg Monti Jersey City, New Jersey, USA gmonti@mindspring.com http://www.mindspring.com/~gmonti ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 05 Jan 1998 00:40:44 From: Greg Monti Subject: Is Cellular Tracking A Profit Opportunity? On December 13, 1997, the _Washington Post_ ran a story entitled "Cellular Phone Firms Zero in on Tracking; Locator Capability May Offer Profit Potential" by Mike Mills. It begins on page F1, the Business front. A summary: Recent requirements for 911 call handling by cellular carriers have ignored the possibility that there is a business case to offer tracking services profitably. The first new cellular 911 rule, to take affect in April 1998, requires cellular carriers to display the cellular tower and direction from which each 911 call originated. That's not very exact, since the mobile could be miles from the tower. By October, 2001, carriers will also be required to install new hardware and software that can track a caller's location down to 400 feet at least 67 percent of the time. That could cost $50,000 per cellular tower. Cellular customers shoud expect to pay 50 cents to $1.50 extra per month to help pay for the 911 tracking services. Cellular strategists are considering whether customers also might pay for services like: - emergency road service which finds you when you don't know where you are; - a concierge service that finds the nearest hotel; - stolen vehicle tracking and recovery, - navigation assistance. Managers of 911 systems are hoping that the carriers can make tracking profitable so they they don't need to bear the burden of financing the feature. The article notes that safety is one of the main reasons consumers buy cell phones. About 30 percent of all 911 calls come from cellulars. That's about 60,000 cellular 911 calls per day. There are 52 million cellular phones in Americans' cars. The writer wonders why they couldn't be used as location transmitters in competition with Global Positioning Systems that have been in service for years. Greg Monti Jersey City, New Jersey, USA gmonti@mindspring.com http://www.mindspring.com/~gmonti ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 07 Jan 1998 03:01:09 -0800 From: Sam LaMacchia Reply-To: slamac@digidesign.com Organization: Digidesign Incorporated Subject: Telephone Sounds File Wanted Hello Patrick, I've looked high and low to see if someone's got a soundfile of the old "crybaby" busy/reorder tone. Where in the world can I find a recording of it? Thanks! Sam LaMacchia ------------------------------ From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: I'll be on the Radio Friday Night Date: Wed, 07 Jan 1998 22:00:00 EST Readers in the vicinity of Buffalo, NY may wish to listen to me on the radio Friday night and call in with questions regarding the new fee being imposed on telephone subscribers with more than one line. I was invited by John Otto to be a guest on his program which is aired on station WGR, 550 kc on the AM dial. The show will be from 10:10 pm to 11:00 pm Eastern time this Friday (tomorrow) night. Although WGR is only a five thousand watt station, late at night the signal gets around, so readers in other parts of the USA and certainly around the east coast of Canada should be able to hear it. Certainly it will be great to chat with Digest readers in the Buffalo, NY area. Patrick Townson ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V18 #2 ****************************