Return-Path: Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.7.4/NSCS-1.0S) id LAA06934; Thu, 5 Mar 1998 11:44:08 -0500 (EST) Date: Thu, 5 Mar 1998 11:44:08 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <199803051644.LAA06934@massis.lcs.mit.edu> To: ptownson Subject: TELECOM Digest V18 #36 TELECOM Digest Thu, 5 Mar 98 11:44:00 EST Volume 18 : Issue 36 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Theatre to 'Hang Up' Phones (Neil Taylor) Great News (John Cropper) Pacific Bell Fails at Customer Service (Michael D. Maxfield) 877 Opening Delayed (Judith Oppenheimer) Telecards Bring Great Convenience, Some Danger (Tad Cook) BCR Group Exploring Westel Ownership Options (Colin R. Leech) 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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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: Wed, 04 Mar 1998 17:13:58 +0800 From: Neil Taylor Subject: Theatre to 'Hang Up' Phones The following story came from Hong Kong's South China Morning Post this week. I wonder if any Digest readers have a solution to the problem? Tuesday March 3 1998 Theatre to 'hang up' phones OLIVER POOLE A leading theatre plans to discourage mobile phone users after a Shakespearean actress ridiculed an audience at the end of a performance for endless "beeping". The Academy for Performing Arts says following the outburst at Saturday's performance of Othello, theatre-goers would be encouraged to hand in mobile phones and pagers at the cloakroom. "If we see people with a mobile phone or camera we will ask them to check them in," customer services manager Kathy Liang said. The move comes after British actress Maureen Beattie complained that constant ringing had ruined a performance of Othello. She made an impassioned plea after the final curtain call for people to switch them off in future. Beattie, in Hong Kong with the British-based Royal National Theatre, said she was amazed by the reception her outburst had received. "Everyone cheered. I could not get them to stop." About six calls throughout the performance had undermined the atmosphere, she said. "One went off at the most poignant moment when Othello lifts up the dead Desdemona. You could hear a pin drop. Then it started ringing." I was at the show, and the phone calls got so bad that at one point, half the audience turned round to say "shut the *&^% up". There were a lot more than six calls, but I guess the players couldn't hear them as well as the audience could. Phones have become a serious problem in Hong Kong, with every play, concert or movie guaranteed interuptions by anti-social individuals who cannot understand how obnoxious they're being. There must be a solution to this - New York or Chicago must have the same problem. Is there a low-cost solution that can block signals from reaching an auditorium, but not interfere with regular users outside? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I know that in Chicago, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra has banned the use of cellular phones and pagers in the auditorium itself during performances. I think Lyric Opera has done likewise. Patrons are strongly discouraged from taking any form of communication device into the auditorium, and are asked to leave the hall if they receive even a single 'beep' during a performance. I like that. It is really too bad that people cannot go for a couple hours without receiving a phone call or having the ability to immed- iatly place a call (without having to walk outside to do it.) PAT] ------------------------------ Reply-To: John Cropper From: John Cropper Subject: Great News Date: Wed, 4 Mar 1998 04:57:00 -0500 Bulk mailing. Please add this 800 number to your "please *do call* (from a phone booth somewhere) list", and redistribute liberally. Thanks! -----Original Message----- From: jj@hotmail.com To: jj@hotmail.com Date: Wednesday, March 04, 1998 00:53 Subject: great news >IS THIS FOR YOU? > >If you answer " yes" to any of these questions then this >business is definitely for you: > >1. Do you already have a home office in place? (Personal >computer, fax capabilities, answering machine, etc.) > >2. Do you have 5 - 10 hours per week to commit toward > building your own part-time (or full-time) business? > >3. Would you be able to read from a script, clearly, and with > enthusiasm, a 2 - 3 minute introduction of our products? > (NO "cold calling " is required. Our prospects will call you.) > >4. With our system, on average, every 15 calls you make will > generate a sale that pays you a commission of in excess of $1,000. > Can you make that many calls per week? (Per day?) > >We're looking for a few quality people with the work ethic >necessary to generate a cash- flow for themselves of >$2,000 - $5,000 per week, > with the intent to increase that to over 5-figures per month, >in as little as six months. Someone who can intelligibly read a short >script to our qualified leads, and then turn the interested prospects >over to our electronic sales medium. You will not be required to >do any selling. > >If you have the self-discipline to ignore the TV for a couple of hours >per day, and if you're looking for a legitimate home-based business >opportunity, ( that IS NOT multi-level marketing or a chain letter >scheme), then please call our toll-free number: >1-800 584 0748 >Leave a message; we will get right back to you. > >You have nothing to lose, there's no risk involved, and you may be >qualified to earn thousands of extra dollars per month. > >Prosperous regards, > >Rod > >P.S. A home office is not a prerequisite, yet it will greatly reduce your start-up costs. Serious inquires only. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Perhaps readers will want to show Rod what those 'start up costs' can be like. Phone bills for an 800 number can really be hellish. ... By all means, leave messages ... lots of them. Five or six thousand dollars per week on the Internet ... geeze, what kind of fools do they take us for? PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 3 Mar 1998 22:06:37 -0800 Subject: Pacific Bell Fails at Customer Service Organization: Our Lady of Perpetual Freedom From: tweek@netcom.com (Michael D. Maxfield) Pat, I hope you don't mind the rather frank opinionizing. Yesterday, I was prepared to write this piece stating how PacBell had solved a problem rather quickly. I was even prepared to do the same this morning, with the slight modification that they had ATTEMPTED to solve a problem rather quickly. After two dealings with 611 repair representatives this evening (Tuesday), this piece has done an about face, and despite the one intelligent 611 repair rep I was in contact with last night (female at that), I drew the shorter straw twice this evening and ended up with two droids (male at that ... I guess this kind of dumps on the stereotypes some folks may still hold.) The following is probably best viewed as a LOG. I started it earlier today in order to document the problem I was having and the route PB chose to try to resolve it. [BTW, Why am I now getting a REORDER dial tone on my lines? I DON'T HAVE THREE WAY CALLING!] --------------------------------------------------------------- DOCUMENTATION OF FAULTY TELEPHONE SERVICE --------------------------------------------------------------- Problem appeared between Friday-PM, February 20 1998 and Monday-AM, February 23 1998. Prior to that Monday, a problem which may have been the same, appeared occasionally, but did not persist for hours or days like the current problem. Since February 23, the problem occurs at all times of the day and night. The lines involved in my research to eliminate the chance of the problem originating with local subscriber equipment or lines: [location a - MORAGA] 376-5xxx modem 1 (as well as aural monitoring) 376-8xxx modem 2 (and tested with modem 1 as well, and aural) 631-0xxx aural monitoring [location b - CONCORD] 676-2xx5 modem 3 676-3xxx modem 4 (and tested with modem 3 as well) 676-2xx3 aural, while forwarded to PacBell Message Center Calls originating from any of the location B (Concord) numbers dialing into any of the location A (Moraga) numbers have absolutely no problems at all. Calls originating from any of the location A (Moraga) numbers dialing into any of the location B (Concord) numbers are subject to the problem. Modem usage at 9600 baud (V32) on calls originating in Moraga is a senseless waste of time, with random characters appearing on screen at a rate so intense, that even trying to issue a simple three letter operating system command is turned into a game of "Beat-The-Clock" with the contestant inevitably losing. Modem usage at 2400 baud (V.22bis) is nearly as bad as trying to use 9600 baud. The only benefit is that the garbage characters don't come across the screen as fast. Any session at this baud rate is still mostly useless. I also ran the modems in reverse mode, with the originating modem using the answer protocol, and the terminating modem using the originate mode. This did nothing to solve the problem. The problem is NOT, in my opinion, what is commonly refered to as "line noise", although it's appearance on the screen is the same. When dialing up one of lines in Concord, from one of the lines in Moraga, and putting the ear to the receiver, one does not hear pops and clicks on the line, but one does hear defects in the audio coming down the line. The line itself doesn't sound scratchy, but at times the audio itself exhibits a quality which can at best be described as scratchy. This "scratchy" sound can be detected with the ear on calls where the location B (Concord) line is answered by modem, and when the location B call is forwarded to the PacBell Message Center. (This kind of rules out the problem being in any wiring at location B, that is, if the originating direction doesn't already clue one in to where the problem doesn't exist.) On Monday evening, March 2, 1998, I contacted Pacific Telephone Repair Services at 611 with regard to this problem. I explained the above to Paula, the service representative who answered, and she seemed to understand the problem and told me she would call me back in a few minutes. About fifteen minutes later, I did receive a call back from her and she asked me to try making the connection again and they could monitor it, then she would call me back. I did try the call again, and WOW!!! It appeared to be fixed. No "line noise" appeared on my screen. When Paula called back, she told me that the tech "busied out" some of the lines. I asked if she meant the circuits heading out of the Moraga switch to Concord and she said that was what she meant. (She was trying not to talk too technical not knowing how much I would understand.) Well, I thanked her and we said our good-byes and hung up. Just to make sure I wasn't dreaming, I tapped the stone three times ... I originated a 9600 connection between 376-xxx and 676-xxxx and left it up for about a half an hour letting it sit idle. By the time I disconnected it, there had not been a single character of garbage over the circuit. (This was a non-EC connection. Straight 9600, no MNP or anything else. RAW modem.) But, come Tuesday (Mar 3) morning around 7 am, the beast was back. It has been there the entire day, and while there have been brief periods (about 8 minutes max) where there hasn't been garbage coming across, it is for the most part, back in full force. SERVICE BY THE NUMBERS - I can follow a Q/A chart too. ----------------------------------------------------- - DROID #1 - (and an A-HOLE) At 7:30 PM on Tuesday, March 3, I called 611 repair once again. I explained the problem to the representative answering. He told me that my line is a voice grade line and is not guranteed for data communications. I told him that this problem is audible when using the line(S) in voice as well. He told me he could test *my* lines. I told him that the problem is not with *my* lines, but between PacBell switches. He insisted that any problem would be with my line and not at the phone company. Not wishing to go around in circles any further, I asked to speak to a supervisor. He said he would connect me, and then hung up! (Of course, the droid had not mentioned his name) - DROID #2 - I redialed 611 and when the representative answered, I promptly asked for a supervisor. He told me that a supervisor would have to call me back, or else I would be waiting on the line for up to 30 minutes. I decided to give this guy a chance, explained the situation again, and am allowing him to "test" the lines. (I hope that means "contact a tech") I told him that when he tests the line, if it is of any importance, I currently have an established circuit (gave him the originating and destination numbers) which is exhibiting this problem "right now" if it is of any help in tracing it out. He informed me that he would call me back in about 15 minutes. (that was 1/2 hour ago, and counting) - dilly dally blather - (while we wait for the droid to call me back) Think I'm being too harsh on the two 611 reps by calling them droids? In my opinion, I don't think so. They were strictly By_The_Book with regard to trying to find out information from me, and I wanted to cut to the chase, having gone through this entire explanation once, then twice before in a period of 24 hours. Once he (they) had the information, the next scripted line was "We will test your lines." No amount of protestation could get it through the droid's head that the problem WAS NOT MY LINE!!! I've had better luck getting a telemarketer to vary from a script than I was with these droids. I'm sure these droids could do equally as fine on a 911 line delivering a baby by the checklist method. "The cord is wrapped around the neck!"... "Impossible. You must be having visual difficulties due to the stress of the situation. Just have her keep pushing." It's now been an hour since I called 611 and was told to wait for them to call back. Over the last 20 minutes, I've been playing around with my own tests. Down as low as 2400 baud, the problem still persists. It does not appear to be present at 1200 baud, which I have up right now and waiting. (phase problem?) If some telco tech happens to read this and knows where the hell to go to get something done right, please feel free to forward this post to the powers that be. "The problem is in the circuits outbound between the Moraga (376/631) switching office and the Concord (676) switching office. The problem (at this time) does NOT show up in calls out of Moraga to other locations which the complaintant regularly calls. (Walnut Creek, Alameda)" It's now 8:50 pm. Not a peep back from 611 repair. I suspect droid #1 and droid #2 got together and they decided to blow me off. Time for this to hit the net. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 9:25pm - submitted to comp.dcom.telecom (still no call back) [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It is very hard sometimes to convince repair clerks to go further than the 'test your line' stage. This is I suspect because the vast majority of their calls do come from people whose knowledge of the situation is so poor that a great deal of time is wasted trying to explain simple things. Still, there ought to be a way for intelligent, telecom-saavy people to get through to someone to handle more sophisticated problems. Flashback to the late 1960's: I frequently called one person late at night to chat although sometimes during the day as well. During the day there was never any problem reaching them, but late at night at least three out of four dialing attenpts met with a loud, raucus noise from the switch (an old crossbar type office) after dialing. This noise sounded much like a railroad train going past (sort of like the *really old* stepper switches when they got out of alignment) and it would never go away. I finally caught on to the fact that I could put that line on hold, redial the call on my second line and get through okay, then release the first line. After a few calls to repair I finally got someone interested in listening to me. He gave me a direct number and said the next time it happened to keep the line on hold and call his number; he would then go in on my line from the frames and look at it there. When it happened again, I did just that. He called me back later to say 'the first selected trunk' in a group of several trunks between my CO and the CO I was calling was bad. The reason this always happened to me at night and never happened to me in the daytime was because while it did happen in the daytime also, the likelyhood of seizing the first trunk in the group was very little. Calls between those two central offices went on all the time, and the first trunk was almost constantly in use; one seizure followed another instantly. But any person who got it would be unable to use it. After hearing the noise they would abandon it; hang up and dial over. As soon as they would hang up, someone else would grab that same trunk with the same results. This would force the first caller to grab another trunk in the group which was working okay. The second caller would abandon the bad trunk and a third caller would seize it instantly, etc. No one single caller ever got it more than once; when they did they considered it just a fluke and dialed over again. But at night when traffic was much slower, the likelyhood of the same person always getting the first trunk in the group was much higher, which is what was happening to me. Maybe on my third or fourth dialing attempt someone else in the neighborhood just happened to make a call at that time of night also, and for the mere instant that is required in these things my call got hunted to the second trunk, thus I got through. Likewise by 'holding it up' and dialing on my second line I would naturally get around it also. He thanked me for my attention to it and said it would be repaired that day, which it was. They may find the same thing in your case. One or two circuits between those CO's is really rotted out. Most of the time some voice caller gets on there and lives with it; you hit that circuit with your modem and can go nowhere. I mentioned here a week ago that a person I assist with phone stuff had all his lines go out. For a period of about a month before that, several people in the same area had been complaining about the excessive amount of noise on the line; sometimes a dead short to ground. Telco kept swapping pairs in the cable much like a game of musical chairs, where there are never quite enough chairs to go around and someone always gets left out. Jim (my associate) would get his lines cleaned up nicely one day, and the next day they would be bad again, because some other tech had come out to fix the lines for the business down the street, etc. They were always one or two good pairs short of what was needed. Finally one day some 'cable guys' came out from telco and ran a whole new 'overhead' cable from a multiple down the street. They cut out the underground cable completely which they said had 'apparently' been damaged over the years by rain, digging in the street, etc. Things have been fine since. As a humorous sidenote, three of the four lines in Jim's office are local, 847 numbers. The fourth is a 'foreign exchange' line on the Chicago 773 area code. But it is from AT&T rather than Ameritech, and they call it a 'virtual circuit'. No matter, the same cable brings it in the building also. Calls for repair on that line always brings the same guy out to work on it; the other three will have different people involved. The guy doing the 773 work is an Ameritech guy also, but he is *not supposed to say that* when he is here; he is supposed to say he is from AT&T. :) One day I kidded him saying 'did you forget to slip the AT&T patch on your shirt pocket to cover up the Ameritech patch before you came in?' He laughed and said 'oh, you knew about that, huh?' I said I knew that AT&T had made an issue out of it with Ameritech when they contracted with Ameritech to do their repairs in this area. AT&T wanted the customers to think they were actually handling it all themselves. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 03 Mar 1998 13:53:38 -0500 From: Judith Oppenheimer Reply-To: joppenheimer@icbtollfree.com Organization: ICB TOLL FREE NEWS. 15 Day FREE Trial: http://icbtollfree.com Subject: 877 Opening Delayed On Tuesday, March 3, 1998, Don Werner - SNAC (SMS/800 Number Administration Committee) Liaison to the FCC and Susan Miller, ATIS Vice President and General Counsel, were notified by the staff of the FCC's Network Services Division that it is unlikely that the 877 toll free resource will be approved by the FCC for opening on April 5, 1998. This is due largely to the lack of an FCC Order resolving the toll free vanity number matter pending at the FCC. It is unclear, at this time, how long the delay will last, but it was suggested that the delay could be as long as one to two months. Company positions, concerns, and questions regarding this delay are urged to be directed to the Common Carrier Bureau at the FCC. Judith Oppenheimer, Publisher ICB TOLL FREE NEWS The Daily News Service of the Toll Free Industry 15-day, no-obligation FREE trial: http://icbtollfree.com ------------------------------ Subject: Telecards Bring Great Convenience, Some Danger Date: Tue, 3 Mar 1998 13:29:22 PST From: tad@ssc.com (Tad Cook) Telecards Bring Great Convenience, Some Danger By Putsata Reang, The Seattle Times Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News Mar. 3--The latest piece of plastic that people are wedging into their wallets is a card that provides a way to call long-distance from pay phones without ever having to deposit a coin. "Telecards" -- prepaid telephone cards -- are feeding a growing demand for a convenient, cheaper alternative to make long-distance calls. Sales of the cards are exploding, but with the growth come some warnings. Fly-by-night companies have folded, leaving consumers and even some businesses in the lurch. The cards work like this: Companies such as 7-Eleven or Sprint buy blocks of time from phone companies, then sell the time to consumers, usually in 15- or 30-minute increments, collecting their profits through surcharges or per-minute rates that are higher than they pay for the time. The cards are popular among college students, migrant workers, traveling professionals, vacationers and people who can't make long-distance calls from home phones, largely because they can't get credit or have bad credit. Sales of the cards topped $2 billion last year, up from $12 million in 1992. "It's explosive," said Vince Porteous, owner and director of Gazelle Telecard, one of the first companies in Seattle to issue the prepaid cards. But with the growth have come growing pains. Because the industry is new and start-up costs are low, would-be entrepreneurs can enter the business for as little as $1,000. It's easy to get snared by bogus offers. Industry watchdog groups say some companies start prepaid phone-card businesses with the sole intent of shutting down, leaving hundreds of consumers with worthless cards. "It's a black eye for the industry," said John Bishop, sales manager at Electric Lightwave, a Northwest wholesale distributor of long-distance time. "It's a very good business to be in. The only problem is that there are some people abusing it." Per-minute rates can be low and are often cheaper than standard domestic calling rates. The average phone-card rate is 33 cents a minute, compared with 40 cents to 85 cents a minute for domestic long-distance. But consumers should be wary of very low rates, experts say, and watch for added surcharges, sometimes $2 or more, that might be tacked onto each call. Prices under 20 cents a minute should raise red flags, experts say. "Consumers are going after the lowest price," Bishop said. "They aren't going for, `Is this card going to be working next week?"' The biggest problem occurs when someone tries to use a card and gets a constant busy signal or a message saying that service has been disconnected. This happens when the phone-card company fails to pay its long-distance carrier, which in turn disconnects the service, leaving consumers with worthless cards. As a result, state regulation of the industry is increasing. "More and more states are beginning to wake up and are tired of getting calls from consumers," said Mark Keene, director of consumer affairs for the International Telecard Association, an industry group. Florida took the lead in passing what so far are the strongest regulations of the industry. Telecard companies doing business there must register with the state, provide price lists, include a 24-hour toll-free customer-service number and offer refunds or replacements if the cards don't work. The law also requires that the cards work 95 percent of the time. Washington has no special laws regulating the sale of phone cards. Officials at the state Attorney General's Office say there have been few complaints here. Telecard enterprises first appeared in the 1970s in Italy, where phone companies began offering them to deter vandalism at pay phones. The first cards in the U.S. showed up in 1992 in states including Florida and Massachusetts. Phone giants such as Sprint, MCI and AT&T were some of the first to offer the cards. US West kicked off its first prepaid-calling-card campaign over the 1997 holiday season. The company is planning an aggressive marketing campaign to compete head-to-head with many of the telecards sold at mom-and-pop type businesses. "Right now we're getting our campaign in place to sell the product on every street corner in Seattle," said Scott Russell, US West marketing director. Local companies are catching on. Costco, known for selling everything in large quantities, started offering long-distance service in bulk with its 120-minute prepaid calling cards for $19.99, about 16 cents a minute. Costco is experimenting with a 500-minute card for $75, about 15 cents a minute. Business has grown by about 25 percent to 30 percent in two years, Costco President Jim Sinegal said. Prepaid cards spell "opportunity" in bold print for companies selling the cards as a promotional product for other companies to give away. Companies such as International Telecom offers custom-designed cards with company logos. Rather than offering the stand-by T-shirts and caps, which may wind up in the backs of closets, calling cards have real value, said Thomas Pleas, product manager for International Telecom. "They get a pocket-sized billboard in their wallet," Pleas said. Porteous markets his cards to companies such as Alaska Airlines, talk-radio station KVI-AM and J.F. Henry, who give away the cards to promote their businesses. ------------------------------ From: ag414@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Colin R. Leech) Subject: BCR Group Exploring Westel Ownership Options Date: 4 Mar 1998 08:47:44 GMT Organization: National Capital Freenet, Ottawa, Canada Downloaded from Canada NewsWire at http://www.newswire.ca/ BCR GROUP EXPLORING WESTEL OWNERSHIP OPTIONS VANCOUVER, Feb. 9 /CNW/ - British Columbia Railway Company (BCRC) has retained Nesbitt Burns Inc. to help assess strategic options for its wholly owned subsidiary, Westel Telecommunications Ltd. BCR Group President and Chief Executive Officer Paul McElligott says the conversion of BC Rail's former communications and signals department into a competitive, stand-alone long distance provider has been ``extremely successful.'' ``The time has now come for Westel to move to its next stage of development,'' he said, ``but in order to do so, we need to look at other available options for growth, including a joint venture, a merger or sale of equity to a qualified investor.'' The convergence of telephone, cable, interactive data and other emerging telecommunications services has pointed up the need for additional investment. ``The industry has become extremely competitive,'' McElligott said. ``Increasingly complex technology requires significant additional capital and a larger presence in the marketplace.'' McElligott said the decision to explore strategic options is a corporate initiative, for the benefit of both BCRC and Westel, which has been approved by the BCRC Board of Directors on behalf of the company's sole shareholder, the Government of B.C. ``There appear to be a number of options available to Westel,'' he said. ``Should any come to fruition, it can only result in significantly expanded career growth and job opportunities for Westel employees, as well as an enhanced range of services for the company's growing base of small business and residential customers.'' As well as acting as brokers and overall advisers, Nesbitt Burns Inc. will assist in structuring the process and act as the principal link between British Columbia Railway Company, and prospective investors. Among other functions, Nesbitt Burns will screen and provide relevant information to qualified investors, evaluate proposals as they are received and assist in negotiations and due diligence matters. Westel began operation in 1993, following partial deregulation of the long-distance telecommunications industry. It was based on the sale of surplus capacity in the railways existing, province-wide microwave telecommunications network. The company's revenues have grown from $10 million in its first full year of operation to an anticipated $49 million in 1997. It has a small but profitable share of British Columbia's long-distance voice and data market. Background information - Westel Telecommunications Ltd. ------------------------------------------------------- - The forerunner of BC Rail, Pacific Great Eastern Railway, established its own microwave radio network in 1956, to provide telecommunications services to the operating railway and Westcoast Energy. As the railway developed, additional capacity was contracted to other customers, notably provincial and federal government departments and some forest companies. - Following partial deregulation of the telecommunications industry in 1992, Westel was created as a wholly owned subsidiary of British Columbia Railway Company and took over the operating railways former telecommunications department and assets. - Westel owns and operates the second largest telecommunications network in B.C., extending from Vancouver to Fort Nelson and throughout the province. The company has invested more than $25 million in expanding and digitizing the network over the past four years. - Unlike other major telecommunications companies operating in B.C., Westel is the only B.C.-owned and operated full-service telecommunications company. - Since its formation in 1993, the company has established itself as a strong competitive force in the B.C. long-distance market. It enjoys a growing reputation for superior customer service, innovative product design and excellent technical support. - Services offered include business and residential long-distance telephone, prepaid phone cards, telecommunications services to other long distance companies and the advanced WestNet data communications solutions product. Westel has a strong presence in the B.C. Internet market, providing telecommunications facilities for a number of B.C. Internet companies. - Westel has a customer base of nearly 40,000 subscribers. Major customers include Westcoast Energy, B.C. Real Estate Association, B.C. Chamber of Commerce and BC Rail. Westel employs more than 200 people in 18 locations throughout the province. - Like its parent company, British Columbia Railway, Westel is self-sufficient and operates without government subsidy or assistance. - Nesbitt Burns Inc. (NBI) has been retained to provide financial counsel to both BCRC and the team which will manage the strategic option evaluation process. NBI has advised BCRC on previous occasions and has extensive experience in raising capital for telecommunications companies. NBI will contact prospective strategic partners, provide information to qualified inquirers, assist management in evaluating opportunities and assist with any due diligence procedures leading to a transaction. Key contacts at NBI are: Peter Powell, Senior Vice-President (604) 443-1448 Janet Griffin, Vice-President & Director (416) 359-6569 Graeme Falkowsky, Vice-President- Investment Banking (604) 443-1433 - A number of strategic options are available to Westel. They include the following possibilities: Joint Venture Merger Sale of equity and other mutually acceptable options that may become apparent when prospective investors needs or preferences become known. For further information: Barrie Wall, Director, Corporate Communications, BCR Group of Companies, (604) 986-2012 This press release concerns more than one organization. #### _|\| |/|_ Civil engineer by training, transport planner by choice. #### > < Opinions are my own. You may consider them shareware. #### >_./|\._< "If you can't return a favour, pass it on." - A.L. Brown ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V18 #36 *****************************