Return-Path: Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.7.4/NSCS-1.0S) id JAA09606; Thu, 19 Mar 1998 09:51:07 -0500 (EST) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 1998 09:51:07 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <199803191451.JAA09606@massis.lcs.mit.edu> To: ptownson Subject: TELECOM Digest V18 #41 TELECOM Digest Thu, 19 Mar 98 09:51:00 EST Volume 18 : Issue 41 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Emerging Wireless Conference DC May 4,5 (Dave Hughes) Ten-digit Dialing Comes to Miami For All Local Calls (Tad Cook) Book Review: "Residential Broadband", George Abe (Rob Slade) Call For Papers: Cabling Systems Expo'98 Keynotes (Marc P. Duchesne) Telecom Update (Canada) #123, March 9, 1998 (Angus TeleManagement) GSM PCMCIA Card Lets You Stay On-line (Olivier MJ Crepin-Leblond) Get Telecom Industry News via PointCast (Quyen Lam) 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: dave.hughes@hicom.oldcolo.com (Dave Hughes) Subject: Emerging Wireless Conference DC May 4,5 Date: 18 Mar 1998 17:13:29 GMT Organization: Old Colorado City Communications Reply-To: dave@oldcolo.com May 4th and 5th, 1998 Marvin Center, George Washington University Washington, DC Sponsored by National Science Foundation, IEEE, GWU, OCCC Go to www.gwu.edu/~cms/wireless or click on the top item in the http://wireless.oldcolo.com NSF Wireless Field Tests web site - for complete details, agenda, and online registration $295 if you register before April 1. $350 thereafter Includes 2 Continental Breakfasts, 2 Luncheons w/speakers Vigorous public policy, comparative economics, 3 world as well as domestic urban and rural, and educuational applications. Demonstration and displays of no-licence (no comm cost) spread spectrum Part 15 radios, newest Microwave technologies, new forms of satellite communications, the controversial issues surrounding the whole $2.25 Billion Universal Service Fund for school library telecom subsidies. And implications for the Virtual University and other educational instituions. Speakers include David Isenberg, author of the controversial "Rise of the Stupid Networks" in which 'smart wireless' will play a big future part in direct competition with Telephone Companies. Dale Hatfield, the Chief Technolist, Plans and Policy, FCC. Panelists wide ranging from Adam Powell (Freedom Forum) and Henry Normal (VITA) on 3d world connectivity (yeah, just call your local AT&T rep...), the MIT researcher who has proved we can have 'billions' of radios, not interferring with each other in the same space and communicating hundreds of megabits of data per second, expect to have the company now demontrating in Japan OC3 (that's 155mbps folks) radios no bigger than a dictionary there, 'distance learning' pros, Motorola and other newest satellite services folks. With a demo via satellite + ground Internet to tiny town in Montana, where 7th graders are doing real science and environmental analysis by wireless from the classroom to Big Spring Creek on Brewery Flats - field science by wireless being looked at for application to research labs and universities. And no-holds barred discussions with government officials from Commerce, FCC, Dept of Education. Yeah, this aint your plain 'telco competition' and 'how to used a wired web page for Good Education' conference. Its the future, here now, and why policy makers and Congressperns otta be paying a lot more attention to these technologies rather than another self-serving tv ad by Sprint, CTIA, AT&T, or MCI ... $295 including two lunches with speakers? You can't get that kind of deal in the largest hotels in DC, sans speakers. Press Passes available. Dave Hughes dave@oldcolo.com ------------------------------ Subject: Ten-Digit Dialing Comes to Miami For All Local Calls Date: Wed, 18 Mar 1998 14:01:43 PST From: tad@ssc.com (Tad Cook) By Kate Berry Dow Jones News Service MIAMI (Dow Jones News) -- An explosion of wireless telephones, pagers and fax machines is forcing a new inconvenience on Miami consumers: having to dial 10 digits to make local phone calls. That's because Florida is running out of area codes. This year several cities, including Key West, Miami, Tampa, and St. Petersburg, are expected to implement new "overlay" plans that could put next-door neighbors -- even roommates -- in different area codes. As a result, callers will have to dial 10 digits even if they are calling a number within their own area code, a marked contrast from previous area code changes that were made along geographic lines. The overlay plan won unanimous approval by the Florida Public Service Commission last year, after a series of public hearings. The agency said Miami-Dade County, with 2.5 million residents, will need more area codes in the future and that an overlay plan is preferable to dividing the county along imaginary geographic lines. "The numbers in the 305 area code are just running out and all of the logical geographic splits have already been done," said Terry Reid, a regulatory analyst at the commission. Florida already has 11 area codes assigned to geographic areas. Maryland was the first state in the nation to require 10-digit local dialing, which began last year. A handful of overlay plans are in effect nationwide, although Chicago, Los Angeles and Houston have rejected proposals for 10-digit dialing. Miami-Dade County has a four-month test period before a new 786 area code and the 10-digit dialing plan take effect July 1. With the overlay plan, businesses and residents must reprogram home alarms and private business exchange systems, which require callers to dial a "9" to get an outside line. But existing businesses would avoid the added expense of changing letterheads. Consumer advocates say a better solution would be to assign separate area codes to wireless products, like cellular phones and pagers. But the Federal Communications Commission forbids segregating wireless services, saying it would be anticompetitive. Nearly 44 million U.S. households now own a wireless phone, a penetration rate of 43.6 percent, according to the Personal Communications Industry Association, which released new figures on the industry last week. The number of people with pagers jumped to 50 million last year, from 15 million in 1992. ------------------------------ From: Rob Slade Organization: Vancouver Institute for Research into User Date: Thu, 19 Mar 1998 07:44:05 GMT Subject: "Residential Broadband", George Abe Reply-To: rslade@sprint.ca BKRESBBD.RVW 971209 "Residential Broadband", George Abe, 1997, 1-57870-020-5, U$55.00/C$77.95/UK#50.99 %A George Abe %C 201 W. 103rd Street, Indianapolis, IN 46290 %D 1997 %G 1-57870-020-5 %I MacMillan Computer Publishing (MCP) %O U$55.00/C$77.95/UK#50.99 800-858-7674 317-581-3743 info@mcp.com %P 500 p. %T "Residential Broadband" The cover blurb says that this book provides a "comprehensive introduction to high-speed residential networks, integrating technical, business, and regulatory challenges." That description is mostly true, but not completely. Business, or, rather, the author's perception of business, predominates. The business that he considers to hold the high ground in the debate is television. Chapter one is entitled "Market Drivers" but is pretty much limited to TV. Even the discussion of the Web seems to see the technology as a sort of piecemeal video-on-demand. The writing style seems to be aimed at non-specialist managers, and this also makes the book suitable background reading for interested laypeople. Continuing on, chapter two reviews technical aspects of residential broadband service. We get back to television in chapter three with cable networks. Chapter four discusses the various forms of digital subscriber line provision over copper wire, while five and six look at fibre optic links to the home (or near it) and wireless networks. Very often discussions of this type of communications technology end with the feed to the home, but in chapter seven Abe does consider the needs and technologies for home network use. Chapter eight deals with issues of integrating existing network resources into the residential broadband scenario. The resources listed at the end of each chapter are separated by type, into books and articles, and even include numerous Internet references. This is all to the good, since even trade article references are of very limited use to those who are not deeply and professionally involved in the field. The level of technical explanation varies, although it is generally quite good, and suitable for any interested and intelligent reader, regardless of background. In a section on resistance in existing wiring, Abe notes the "skin effect," where electrical flow stops working in the centre of conductors. This explains the greater resistance at higher frequencies: the conductive cross-section is effectively reduced. The greater resistance explains why wiring is not used for high frequency broadcasts. The author does not explain how or why the skin effect occurs, keeping to a practical level which is probably what more readers will want, even if some enquiring minds are disappointed. Regulatory, and even some technical, issues are primarily limited to the American situation. Given the business orientation, this is a stronger limit on the audience for the book than would otherwise have been the case. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1997 ------------------------------ From: mduchesn@easynet.fr (Marc P. Duchesne) Subject: Call For Papers: Cabling Systems Expo'98 Keynotes Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1998 13:16:52 +0100 Organization: Consultant NTIC F I R S T A N N O U N C E M E N T CABLING SYSTEMS EXPO'98 International Exhibition & Conference on Cabling Systems and Networks Infrastructures Paris-Expo, Sept.15-17, 1998, France KEYNOTES FIRST CALL FOR PAPERS Fiberoptics, Wireless, and Copper Technologies for the 21st Century Cabling Systems Expo'98 aims at bringing in focus the huge changes taking place in Networks infrastructures technologies. The opportunity is to bring scientists, technologists, manufacturers and end-users together under this forum to interact and mutually benefit. Cabling Systems Expo'98 has therefore been planned with Technical Conferences, Keynotes, and exhibition. KEYNOTES PROGRAM: THE IN-MEDIAS FUTURE The topics being covered under Keynotes are listed below. The papers must be written for non-expert attendees: their goal is to show how the telecommunications technologies will change the Society and the way she lives ... (1) FIBEROPTICS TECHNOLOGIES Optical Networks for the 21th Century: All-Optical-Networks, Tera and Peta-bit/s networks, CATV networks, FTTH, FTTD, POF... Impact of the Photonics Technologies: Virtual Reality, Interactive Medias, Internet... (2) WIRELESS TECHNOLOGIES Access Networks for the 21th Century: LMDS and MMDS local loops, satellites constellations ... Impact of the Wireless Technologies: worldwide communications, instant access to TV, Internet and telephone... (3) COPPER WIRE TECHNOLOGIES Local Area Networks for the 21th Century: Cat. 6, 7, 8, etc. technologies, Ethernet vs. IP/ATM... The Copper Empire: Fiber Rebels, the Cat. 5 survival, xDSL technologies... AUTHOR'S SCHEDULE: Deadline for Receipt of Abstracts: 30 of April 1998 Communication on Acceptance of Papers: 15th of May 1998 Deadline for Receipt of Final Manuscript: 31th of July 1998 Video, VideoConferencing and World-Wide-Web based presentations are recommended. For further details on the Keynotes Program and papers submissions, please contact : Mr. Marc P. Duchesne IT Consultant E-Mail: mduchesn@easynet.fr Mobile:+33(0)6-8041-9986 Phone: +33(0)1-6404-8229 Les Fans, F-77510 Villeneuve sur Bellot, France http://www.optoroute.com/fiber66 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Mar 1998 11:45:21 -0500 From: Angus TeleManagement Subject: Telecom Update (Canada) #123, March 9, 1998 ************************************************************ * * * TELECOM UPDATE * * Angus TeleManagement's Weekly Telecom Newsbulletin * * http://www.angustel.ca * * Number 123: March 9, 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: ** CRTC Issues Final Price Cap Decision ** Residential Rates Up Again -- Maybe ** fONOROLA Joins LD Price War ** Department of Defence to Issue LD RFP ** ISP Protests Bell Service Delays ** 877 Introduction May Be Delayed ** ADSL in Prince Rupert ** Investors Boost Sudbury Network Plan ** Microcell Launches PCS Service in Victoria ** Shaw Sells Stake in Microcell ** Bell Offers LAN, WAN Management ** Bell Accused of Joint Marketing Violations ** BCI Withdraws From India Wireline Deal ** Infosat to Market Iridium's Global Paging ** Fundy Launches Paging Service ** Spar Puts SGA Unit on the Block ** CRTC to Hold Consultation in Saint John ** Convergence From Both Sides of the Fence ============================================================ CRTC ISSUES FINAL PRICE CAP DECISION: On March 5, the CRTC issued its final decision on the implementation of price cap regulation for the Stentor companies. Telecom Decision 98-2 includes: the contribution charges to be paid by LD and wireless providers, subsidy requirements for residential service, and the assignment of services to various price cap categories. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/telecom/decision/1998/d982_0.txt RESIDENTIAL RATES UP AGAIN -- MAYBE: Decision 98-2 also includes "minor adjustments" - additional increases ranging from 14 cents to $1.19 a month -- to the residential rate hikes which were implemented on January 1. The telcos have until March 31 to decide whether to implement the adjustments retroactive to January 1, defer them to a later date, or not implement them at all. MT&T has already announced that it will defer its $1.19 increase. fONOROLA JOINS LD PRICE WAR: fONOROLA has introduced new residential toll rates, which range down to 9 cents/minute for evening and weekend calls in Canada. International rates begin at 20 cents/minute for UK calls anytime. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCE TO ISSUE LD RFP: The Department of National Defence will issue an RFP this month for a five- to seven-year contract with a single LD provider, replacing the DND's private network. ISP PROTESTS BELL SERVICE DELAYS: John Nemanic, President of Toronto-based Internet Direct, has called for a Parliamentary Inquiry into "predatory trade practices" by Bell Canada. Nemanic accuses Bell of withholding or delaying installation of lines for ISPs and cross-subsidizing its own business Internet service. (See Telecom Update #122) 877 INTRODUCTION MAY BE DELAYED: ICB Toll Free News reports that the introduction of a third toll-free code, 877, may be delayed by one or two months past the scheduled April 5 start date. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has not yet decided how to handle 877 vanity numbers which match those already assigned in 800 and 888. http://icbtollfree.com ADSL IN PRINCE RUPERT: The CRTC has approved a four-month market trial of ADSL in Prince Rupert BC, conducted by municipally-owned Prince Rupert City Telephones. INVESTORS BOOST SUDBURY NETWORK PLAN: The Ontario government, AT&T Canada, Cisco Systems, and Sudbury Hydro will jointly invest $6 million to build SureNet, a high- speed digital network in the Sudbury region. MICROCELL LAUNCHES PCS SERVICE IN VICTORIA: Microcell's Fido digital PCS service is now available in the Greater Victoria region. SHAW SELLS STAKE IN MICROCELL: Shaw Communications has sold its 10% stake in Microcell Telecommunications for about $50 Million. Shaw's after-tax gain was $11.6 Million. BELL OFFERS LAN, WAN MANAGEMENT: Bell Canada is offering an "end-to-end" service to implement and support corporate local-area and wide-area networks. Advantage Enterprise Management is offered in partnership with SHL Systemhouse, an MCI subsidiary. BELL ACCUSED OF JOINT MARKETING VIOLATIONS: Clearnet Communications and AT&T Canada have complained to the CRTC that Bell Canada is violating restrictions on joint marketing of wireless and wireline services. The restrictions themselves are under review by Public Notice 97-21. (See Telecom Update #86) BCI WITHDRAWS FROM INDIA WIRELINE DEAL: Bell Canada International is withdrawing from a $1.55-Billion joint venture with India's Tata Group to offer wireline service in south India. BCI says it will continue partnership with Tata in a wireless venture. INFOSAT TO MARKET IRIDIUM'S GLOBAL PAGING: Vancouver-based Infosat Telecommunications will market Iridium's satellite- based paging service in Canada. (See Telecom Update #112) FUNDY LAUNCHES PAGING SERVICE: Fundy Communications has introduced a paging service in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and PEI. Airtime prices start at $8/month. SPAR PUTS SGA UNIT ON THE BLOCK: Spar Aerospace is trying to sell its San Diego-based Satellilte Global Access unit. Spar says its $37 Million loss in 1997 was due entirely to red ink at SGA. CRTC TO HOLD CONSULTATION IN SAINT JOHN: The CRTC is inviting the public to an "informal consultation" on telecom and broadcasting matters in Saint John NB on March 29. To take part, register with the Commission's Halifax office (902-426-7997) by March 26. CONVERGENCE FROM BOTH SIDES OF THE FENCE: The March issue of Telemanagement, available this week, explains what telcos and cablecos are doing to enter each other's business. ** "Voice Over Cable: How Practical Is It Today" reviews how cablecos are preparing to deliver local telephone service over coax. ** "Changing Channels: Inside Bell Canada's Cable TV Trial" looks at Bell's experimental cable TV offering in London, Ontario, and Repentigny, Quebec. For the contents of the March issue of Telemanagement, go to http://www.angustel.ca/teleman/tm98c-03.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 http://www.angustel.ca/update/up.html 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: Olivier MJ Crepin-Leblond Date: Thu, 19 Mar 1998 11:04:22 +0000 Organization: GIH - Global Information Highway Limited Subject: GSM PCMCIA Card Lets You Stay On-line Hi everybody, I've come across a new product last week which I believe solves a lot of problems with respect to keeping in touch with e-mail at home when travelling around in Europe and in GSM-compliant countries. I'm sure a lot of you are like me and travel quite a lot around the world. The most important thing for us is to be able to connect to base through the Internet wherever we go. I've come across so many problems when taking a laptop and PCMCIA modem around: different plug style, different dial-tone, problem finding a decent telephone line, problem finding a place where to plug the laptop in etc. Often, I ended up connecting through my hotel room, thus paying some extortionate telephone rates that hotels sometimes practise. My way round this was to use, whenever possible, a modem connected to a GSM phone, say around Europe. No more plug problems, no more trouble finding a phone line. The GSM International roaming agreements did the job. Well, Compaq has come up with what I think is something which will greatly promote the use of GSM mobile technology to remote-connect using a laptop: they're come up with a GSM PC Card Modem. It's basically a PCMCIA card with a small antenna which is powered by the laptop itself and can therefore emit a full 2W at 900MHz. It does 9.6kbit/s -> 38.4kbit/s , which is damn good for mobile data links. You can also use it as a fax, of course. The great thing is that it's so unobtrusive! No more playing with cables, and connecting the mobile handset to the laptop etc. etc. And I'm told the reception on it is actually better than most mobiles since the PCs power supply is meatier than for a mobile handset. If any of you guys are going around Europe or in areas which have GSM mobile coverage and which have roaming agreements with your mobile telephone operator, then I'd say "check this out". It's the Compaq SpeedPaq GSM PC Card modem and it works with all laptops. If any of you know of other manufacturers of such GSM cards, please give me a shout, thanks! Cheers, Olivier MJ Crepin-Leblond, Ph.D. |----> Global Information Highway Limited Phone: +44 (0)956 84 1113 | Always 60 seconds | E-mail: Fax : +44 (0)171 937 7666 | ahead of the past | Web: http://www.gih.com/ ------------------------------ Subject: Get Telecom Industry News via Pointcast Date: Wed, 18 Mar 1998 11:54:03 -0800 From: Quyen Lam Dear Colleague, As a telecommunications professional, we wanted to let you know that you can now get the latest industry news broadcast straight to your desktop with the PointCast Network Telecommunications Insider - now available for free at http://www.pointcast.com/special/telecom/mail1.html The Telecommunications Insider, developed with Coopers & Lybrand, broadcasts thought-provoking articles, analyses, and commentary to your desktop throughout the day. You'll receive late-breaking news, research and regulatory updates from respected industry organizations and publications, including Telecommunications Reports, the FCC, Financial Times and Technology Futures. Read about advances in telecommunications technology, get insights on industry legal issues, track innovations in the service sector and more. You'll also get world news, local news, stock updates and weather reports via PointCast from sources such as CNN, The Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times. The service is absolutely free. There are no download or subscription fees. No hidden charges. Get your personalized newscast with the PointCast Network Telecommunications Insider. To get this free service today, visit us at: http://www.pointcast.com/special/telecom/mail1.html The Telecommunications Insider is completely free, so try it today with no risk and no obligation. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V18 #41 ***************************** NOTE: ISSUES 42 AND 43 FOLLOW OUT OF SEQUENCE AFTER ISSUE 44 DUE TO MAILING PROBLEMS.