Return-Path: Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.7.4/NSCS-1.0S) id MAA27275; Tue, 27 Jan 1998 12:42:14 -0500 (EST) Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 12:42:14 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <199801271742.MAA27275@massis.lcs.mit.edu> To: ptownson Subject: TELECOM Digest V18 #20 TELECOM Digest Tue, 27 Jan 98 12:42:00 EST Volume 18 : Issue 20 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Telecom Update (Canada) #117, January 26, 1998 (Angus TeleManagement) Sprint and Calling Card Calls and Other Stuff (Joseph Norton) Re: Stopping Annoying "Private" Calls (Roy Smith) Re: Stopping Annoying "Private" Calls (Michael E. Costello) Re: Stopping Annoying "Private" Calls (Roy A. McCrory) Re: Stopping Annoying "Private" Calls (Randall H. Smith) Re: Stopping Annoying "Private" Calls (Michelle Durbin) Re: Stopping Annoying "Private" Calls (moe@nospam.com) Re: What was SS6, SS5, etc etc... (Al Varney) 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. 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Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 10:48:40 -0500 From: Angus TeleManagement Subject: Telecom Update (Canada) #117, January 26, 1998 ************************************************************ * * * TELECOM UPDATE * * Angus TeleManagement's Weekly Telecom Newsbulletin * * http://www.angustel.ca * * Number 117: January 26, 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: ** AT&T Blames Stentor for LD Failure ** MTS Cuts Jobs Another 10% ** ShadowTel Must Pay LD Contribution ** ADSL on Move in West MTS SaskTel Telus BC Telecom ** Microcell Tops 60,000 Subscribers ** BC Tel Mobility Gains in New Subscribers ** Three Arrested for Cellphone Scam ** Hearing Set on NBTel Cable Application ** Nordicity Merges with Coopers & Lybrand ** Rogers, Videotron, Cogeco Order Digital Set-Tops ** Shaw Sells Messaging to Commstar ** 12,000 Ice Storm Trouble Reports on Bell Lines ** Fundy Goes Private ** AT&T (U.S.) to Cut 15,000 Jobs ** Financial Results BC Telecom Cancom Shaw Videotron ** How the Internet Is Shaking Up Telecom ============================================================ AT&T BLAMES STENTOR FOR LD FAILURE: In a January 14 letter to customers, AT&T Canada LDS President Bill Catucci writes that AT&T's January 9 LD network failure resulted from loss of System 7 signaling between AT&T Canada and Bell Canada's networks. According to Catucci, all of AT&T's equipment "functioned correctly, even during the failure period," and service was restored "after removal of a piece of equipment from the Stentor network." No other details have been released. MTS CUTS JOBS ANOTHER 10%: Manitoba Telecom Services is cutting another 350 positions, about 10% of its work force. (See Telecom Update #68) MTS warns of bigger cuts if the CRTC does not vary its December ruling giving the telco a local phone rate increase of only 35 cents. SHADOWTEL MUST PAY LD CONTRIBUTION: On January 23, the CRTC ruled that long distance service providers which use the Internet to carry customers' calls must register as resellers and pay the same fees as other LD carriers. Telecom Order 98-28 rejects an application by Ontario-based ShadowTel Communications for an exemption from contribution payments. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/telecom/order/1998/o9828_0.txt ADSL ON MOVE IN WEST: ** MTS: CRTC Telecom Order 98-20 tells the Manitoba telco to unbundle elements of its ADSL service that alternate providers need in order to connect their own ADSL equipment. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/telecom/order/1998/o9820_0.txt ** SaskTel: SaskTel has expanded its Sympatico High Speed Internet service, launched in Regina and Saskatoon in 1996, to Moose Jaw and Prince Albert. ** Telus: Telus Planet has introduced an ADSL Internet access package including unlimited connection time in parts of Edmonton, Calgary, and Sherwood Park for $49.95/month. Small business service is $99.95. ** BC Telecom: BC Telecom has launched ADSL service in parts of Vancouver, Victoria, and Kamloops in partnership with Sympatico and 11 other Internet Service Providers. Sympatico's price: $64.95/month. MICROCELL TOPS 60,000 SUBSCRIBERS: Microcell added 43,000 new subscribers in the fourth quarter of 1997, bringing its yearend total to 66,000. Microcell says the results "exceed all expectations" and represent 20% of total growth in the wireless telephony market in areas where it offers service. (See Telecom Update #115) BC TEL MOBILITY GAINS IN NEW SUBSCRIBERS: BC Tel Mobility reports 32,000 new subscribers in the fourth quarter, up 5.9% from last year. At yearend BC Tel Mobility counted 407,000 subscribers, 11,200 of them receiving digital service. THREE ARRESTED FOR CELLPHONE SCAM: Three persons, including a Bell Mobility employee, have been arrested in Toronto for a scam that sold cellphones' serial numbers for use in cloned phones. HEARING SET ON NBTEL CABLE APPLICATION: The CRTC has announced that a public hearing into NBTel's application for a province-wide cable TV license will begin March 30. Deadline for requests: February 2; for comment: March 5. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/bcasting/hearing/1998/n981_0.txt NORDICITY MERGES WITH COOPERS & LYBRAND: Nordicity Group, the Ottawa-based consulting firm, has merged into the Canadian wing of the worldwide consultancy Coopers & Lybrand International. ROGERS, VIDEOTRON, COGECO ORDER DIGITAL SET-TOPS: Rogers Cablesystems, Videotron, and Cogeco Cable have ordered digital equipment from Scientific-Atlanta for delivery in 1998. The Atlanta-based supplier says its digital set-top box is the only one that will ship this year. SHAW SELLS MESSAGING TO COMMSTAR: Shaw Communications is selling its paging business to Toronto-based Commstar Ltd. for an undisclosed amount. 12,000 ICE STORM TROUBLE REPORTS ON BELL LINES: Bell Canada says that reports of trouble on customer lines as a result of the ice storm have been reduced to about 10,000 in Quebec and 2,000 in Ontario. FUNDY GOES PRIVATE: Fundy Communications is redeeming all its publicly-held voting shares while receiving a $50 Million private placement from the New Brunswick Investment Management Corporation, the Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec, and the Harvard University endowment fund. AT&T (U.S.) TO CUT 15,000 JOBS: AT&T Corp. will announce today that it plans to cut at least 15,000 of its present workforce of 128,000. FINANCIAL RESULTS: The following results are for the quarter ended November 30. ** BC Telecom: BC Telecom's 1997 net income was $283 Million (up 21%), on total revenues of $2.75 Billion (up 9.4%). ** Cancom: Canadian Satellite Communications reports net income of $2.0 Million, double last year's level. Revenue rose 47% to $32.8 Million. ** Shaw: Net income of Shaw Communications was $6.4 Million, up from $4.2 Million last year. Revenue rose 16% to $192 Million. ** Videotron: Videotron's revenue in Canada rose to $163 Million, a 48% increase. A net loss of $5.3 Million was recorded, down from $10.4 Million last year. HOW THE INTERNET IS SHAKING UP TELECOM: Ian Angus's special report on the Internet and world telecommunications, first published in issue #150 of Telemanagement (November-December 1997), is now available on the Angus Telemanagement Web site at http://www.angustel.ca/reports/inet.html ** Issue #150 also included an analysis of telecom and the Internet by Dr. Pekka Tarjanne, head of the International Telecommunications Union, and reports on the present state of ADSL service in Canada and on Internet transmission by satellite. ** To subscribe to Telemanagement, call 1-800-263-4415 ext 225 or go to http://www.angustel.ca/teleman/tm-sub.html ============================================================ 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: jnorton@vol.com (Joseph Norton) Subject: Sprint and Calling Card Calls and Other Stuff Date: 24 Jan 1998 20:55:03 GMT Organization: All USENET -- http://www.Supernews.com On 1998-01-19 craig@rmit.EDU.AU(CraigMacbride) said: > Sprint allows credit-card calls from some hotels. (I've done it.) > However, they don't allow it from general phones, or from other > hotels. Also, their operators and their supervisors will deny that > it happens anywhere at all!! I don't know about the present, but, I seem to remember a few years ago that Sprint had a different pic code (10252) that was specifically used by the "hospitality" market. It used totally different operators (and the originating switch was different) from the regular Sprint network. I don't know about the present, though, because I just tried using the 10252 code with a 0 plus number and got the standard Sprint messages. Of course, this may be because my local phone company is Alltel and they may not have everything programmed correctly. Speaking of 10XXX codes, where can I find a more current source for the various LD Carrier access codes besides the one in the Telecom Archives? Thanks in advance! Joseph (Joe) Norton Dalton, Georgia, U.S.A.--The Carpet Capital of the World! [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That particular section of the archives is out of date and needs updating, I must admit. If someone has a newer version of the carrier codes file perhaps they will kindly pass it along. PAT] ------------------------------- From: Christopher_Herot/CAM/Lotus@lotus.com (Christopher Herot) Reply-To: herot@lotus.com Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 20:01:36 -0500 Subject: Hunting vs. Call Answering I have two POTS lines at home, with hunting (call forward when busy) from one line to the other. I've found this free service infinitely superior to Call Waiting. My wife recently became fed up with our constantly broken answering machine and ordered Call Answering. The Bell Atlantic rep told her we couldn't have both hunting and call answering unless we ordered call answering for both lines, at twice the price. Does anyone know if this is a technical limitation (We are on a DMS-100) or if not, how to social engineer the desired result. Is this the kind of thing that's supposed to be in the tariffs? ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 20:34:49 -0500 From: roy@mchip00.med.nyu.edu (Roy Smith) Subject: Re: Stopping Annoying "Private" Calls Organization: New York University School of Medicine > Ask your telco business office about these features and having them > turned on, and the cost. PAT] Let's see. You can pay for caller ID. You can pay for caller ID blocking. You can pay for caller ID blocker blocking. Talk about inventing your own market! I'm reminded of a Dr. Zeuss story. Something about the greeches with stars on their bellies. Seems there was a community of greeches (or whatever fanciful species name the good doctor had dreamed up for this story) and along comes a guy with a machine which will paste a star on greech bellies, for a buck a belly. After a while, half the greeches have stars and half don't, and factions form. Mommy star-bellied greeches won't let their kids play with the non-star variety, since they are obviously inferior. Eventually everybody has stars, and they need to find some other way to be better, so the same guy starts charging a buck a belly to run them through his latest invention, the star-remover machine. Well, you know the rest. ------------------------------ From: Michael E. Costello Subject: Re: Stopping Annoying "Private" Calls Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 08:57:25 -0500 > We have been getting numerous calls which are showing up on our > caller ID as "Private". The person or persons who are making these > calls are hanging up all of the time without leaving a message. I'm > not sure if they aren't scouting us out to find out when we are home. > My question is: Is there a box I can attach to our phone line which > will identify these "Private" calls (that shouldn't be difficult > since the caller ID already does that), answers the phone > immediately, and responds with a message informing the caller that > our line does not accept unidentified callers, and if they want to > get through, they need to unblock their number. If there is such a > box, I would like to know about it. Has anyone heard of such a > thing? Tom, I'm afraid that the truth behind your observation is both more innocuous and more insidious than you suspect. First, it is unlikely that the caller is "casing" your house. The calls are almost certainly from telemarketers. Picture a boileroom with hundreds of "telemarketers". Computers are used in conjunction with predictive dialing and statistics to initiate a number outgoing calls calculated to statistically balance live answers with operators coming available from calls that are ending. They want to minimize telemarketer downtime, and error on the side of being rude to the public. Your hangup calls correspond to outgoing telemarketing calls initiated by computer, which are hung up when there is no telemarketer available to actually speak with you. Charming, isn't it? As long as it costs them nothing to waste your time, this practice is likely to continue. This same phenomenon is responsible for the "multiple hello" effect. Don't you find that telemarketing calls are frequently prefaced with several seconds of dead air (Hello? Hello?). This practice alone speaks volumes about the respect that telemarketers have for civility. Michael Costello ------------------------------ From: Roy A. McCrory Subject: Re: Stopping Annoying "Private" Calls Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 07:15:18 -0700 Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory A very nice summary, Pat! But one related, very annoying issue - out-of-area calls. Is there any practicable way to stop these. In my area (Mountain Bell - US West of New Mexico) virtually all the telemarketers that 'serve' me have the phone company set their CID to out-of-area. Let me know if there is any way to deal with those -- other than ignoring them after racing to the CID box! Regards, Roy A. McCrory (505) 846-6937 "La tierra es del que la trabaja!" mccrory@erebus.fc.dna.mil ------------------------------ From: smithrh@cig.mot.com (Randall H. Smith) Subject: Re: Stopping Annoying "Private" Calls Date: 26 Jan 1998 15:29:41 GMT Organization: Motorola Inc., Cellular Infrastructure Group In article , Thomas J. Huot writes: > We have been getting numerous calls which are showing up on our caller > ID as "Private". The person or persons who are making these calls are > hanging up all of the time without leaving a message. I'm not sure if > they aren't scouting us out to find out when we are home. My question > is: Is there a box I can attach to our phone line which will identify > these "Private" calls (that shouldn't be difficult since the caller ID > already does that), answers the phone immediately, and responds with a > message informing the caller that our line does not accept unidentified > callers, and if they want to get through, they need to unblock their > number. If there is such a box, I would like to know about it. Has > anyone heard of such a thing? Yes, such devices exist today; check out some of the business telecom equipment suppliers, boxes vary in price from around $150 to over $1000 for more features/lines. I can't remember the name of the company, Phones Direct, Telecom Direct or some such. Let's do a Yahoo ... wait a second ... "Hello Direct" is what I was thinking of: http://www.hello-direct.com I don't think their on-line catalog has all of the items in the paper version, you may have to get the catalog to see the "call management" devices. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Several telcos offer a 'block the > blocker' type service where calls sent as 'private' are intercepted > at the telco switch and refused before they even reach you. I've asked Ameritech about that; they wanted to sell me a phone to do this. One other drawback is that 'unknown' calls (usually the telemarketing calls) are not screened. In general, I prefer having the control of such services, not the service provider, as I can make the changes as I want. Randall H. Smith Motorola, Inc. smithrh@cig.mot.com Cellular Infrastructure Group Product Information Group Digital Systems Division x2-7707 Arlington Heights, IL USA ------------------------------ From: Michelle Durbin Subject: Re: Stopping Annoying "Private" Calls Date: 23 Jan 1998 16:23:12 GMT Organization: Verio Northern California's Usenet News Service We used to carry a Indiglo Caller ID box from Colonial Data Technology. It had a "block the blocker" feature which played a prerecorded message for all "private" calls explaining that they need to unblock their number to get through. We no longer carry this product, but it should still be available through Colonial Data. Michelle Durbin Hello Direct 5893 Rue Ferrari San Jose CA 95138-1858 http://www.hello-direct.com 800-444-3556 (800-HIHELLO) X 8192 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The only undesirable feature about using CPE (customer premises equipment) to do this job is that your phone line is tied up while the calling party is being treated. At least when it is being handled at the central office level you never even see the call; i.e. your line could be in use when he rings it and he will still go to treatment, he wil not get a busy signal when calling you one time and your recording the next. In theory at least, a malicious person could keep your line tied up by dialing over and over. Let the CO handle it and your line is never even approached. The positive side about CPE here is that you do cause the goofus to waste his money; he gets charged for the call even if all he gets is your recording saying you will not accept the call. PAT] ------------------------------ From: moe@nospam.com Subject: Re: Stopping Annoying "Private" Calls Date: Tue, 23 Jan 1998 04:01:25 GMT Organization: none-at-all Reply-To: moe@nospam.com Thomas J. Huot wrote: > they aren't scouting us out to find out when we are home. My question > is: Is there a box I can attach to our phone line which will identify > these "Private" calls (that shouldn't be difficult since the caller ID > already does that), answers the phone immediately, and responds with a > message informing the caller that our line does not accept unidentified > callers, and if they want to get through, they need to unblock their > number. If there is such a box, I would like to know about it. Has > anyone heard of such a thing? If you can't find a hardware or TelCo solution that fits your needs you could try a CID software package that will just take a PRIVATE caller off/on hook after one RING. Blatant pitch goes to IdentaFone in my sig line :) mailto:mhdykes@thinkage.xcom | preferred email - remove "x" http://www.golden.net/~identfon | IdentaFone: Caller ID software ------------------------------ From: varney@ihgp2.ih.lucent.com (Al Varney) Subject: Re: What was SS6, SS5, etc etc... Date: 21 Jan 1998 15:42:11 GMT Organization: Lucent Technologies, Naperville, IL Reply-To: varney@lucent.com In article , Nathan Duehr wrote: > I've got a nagging question. If we have Signalling System 7, what > were SS6, SS5, SS4, etc? ITU-T document Q.7 has a summary of SS6, SS5, SS4, R1 and R2. History - "... the following signalling systems have been standardized and are applicable for general use in international automatic and semi-automatic working: - Signalling System No. 4, standardized by the CCIF in 1954; (Q.120-139) - Signalling System No. 5, standardized by the CCITT in 1964; (Q.140-164) - Signalling System No. 6, standardized by the CCITT in 1968; (Q.251-297) - Signalling System No. 7, standardized by the CCITT in 1980; (Q.700- ... the following signalling systems have been standardized and are applicable for regional use in international automatic and semi-automatic telephone working: - Signalling System R1 (Regional Signalling System No. 1, formerly called the North American System), standardized by the CCITT in 1968; (Q.310-332) - Signalling System R2 (Regional Signalling System No. 2, formerly called the MFC Bern System), standardized by the CCITT in 1968 " (Q.400-490) Tech. summary -- SS4 was an in-band system, handling one-way trunks only, using 2 voice-band frequencies either singly (for binary-coding of address digits) or in combination followed by 1 or 2 tones for line signaling (seizure, answer, clear-forward, etc.). Each forward or backward signal was acknowledged. Address digits were a sequence of 4 tones (each tone 35 ms long followed by 35 ms silence), encoding the BCD equivalent of the digit or a special operator code. So each digit took about 280 ms to send, and required an acknowledgement signal. Rather slow. As far as I know, SS4 is no longer used. SS5 is basically in-band MF, (supports 2-way trunks), using 2 voice-band frequencies for line signaling and MF (2-out-of-6 frequencies) for address digits. Similar in many ways to R2. R1 is basically the North American MF system. SS5 (unlike SS4) worked over satellite circuits, and also replaced SS4 on all undersea cables. On digital circuits, the voice-band line signaling has typically been replaced with robbed-bit (R1) or out-of-band signaling. SS6 is an early common channel signaling system, using 2400 baud analog synchronous modems (and digital signals later) to send 28-bit signal units (20 bits data, 8 check bits) in blocks of 12 signal units (SU). The last SU in each block is an acknowledgement of the last received block. To signal messages such as IAMs requiring more than 20 data bits, a "multi-unit" mechanism is used. With only 11 bits to identify both the far-end switch and the circuit, up to 2048 trunk circuits can be supported by each signaling link -- but switches may use several signaling links. In effect, trunks are allocated to a specific signaling link. Routing is based on a 7-bit "band" which is used by STPs along with the incoming signaling link ID to determine the outgoing signaling link. Receiving switches use the incoming signaling link ID plus the band plus the 4-bit circuit number to identify the desired trunk. (International SS7 uses a 14-bit point code to identify destinations independent of the signaling link, and a 12-bit circuit identifier, limiting switches to 4096 trunks to any other given switch, regardless of the number of signaling links.) CCIS (Common Channel Inter-office Signaling) was an AT&T/North American version of SS6, in service from 1976 to about 1996. The only major difference between CCIS and SS6 was a larger band number (9 bits), allowing 8192 trunks to be supported by each signaling link. A similar rationale explains why the North American version of SS7 has 24-bit (vs. 14) point codes and a 14-bit (vs. 12) circuit identifier -- allowing 16,384 circuits between any two switches. Al Varney ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V18 #20 *****************************