Return-Path: Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.7.4/NSCS-1.0S) id LAA01391; Wed, 29 May 1996 11:40:29 -0400 (EDT) Date: Wed, 29 May 1996 11:40:29 -0400 (EDT) From: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu (Patrick A. Townson) Message-Id: <199605291540.LAA01391@massis.lcs.mit.edu> To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V16 #250 TELECOM Digest Wed, 29 May 96 11:40:00 EDT Volume 16 : Issue 250 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Call For Papers: ACSW'97 (Mehmet Orgun) United States Cellular's Stupidity (Stanley Cline) More CID Frolics! (Stan Schwartz) Optimising a Hybrid Circuit (Guenther Hoelzl) JAVA Seminar - June 13 - Univ of Minn HHH Center (Kelly Breit) Unbundling Local Loop Access (Andrew Taylor) Satellite Telecommunications References Wanted (Bernard Mora) Brazilian Telecom Standards - Source Wanted (Steve Tucker) Line Monitor/Protocol Analyzer (Steven Kell) PCS Network Planners/Builders Sought For Interview (Bob Jacobson) Cellular Caller ID (David Brod) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 29 May 1996 14:04:02 +1000 From: Mehmet ORGUN Subject: Call For Papers: ACSW'97 Reply-To: Mehmet ORGUN CALL FOR PAPERS AUSTRALASIAN COMPUTER SCIENCE WEEK 3-7 February 1997, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia ACSC'97, CATS'97, and ACAC'97 Organising Chair: Jan Hext, Macquarie Organising Committee: John Debenham, UTS Len Hamey, Macquarie Michael Johnson, Macquarie Mehmet Orgun, Macquarie Malti Patel, Macquarie Kang Zhang, Macquarie Sponsors: Joint Research Centre for Advanced Systems Engineering Macquarie University Microsoft Research Institute University of Technology, Sydney The Australasian Computer Science Week has emerged as a regular event on the academic calendar. It is held under the auspices of the Computer Science Association and this year it encompasses three main conferences 5-7 February: The 20th Australasian Computer Science Conference (ACSC'97) 3-4 February: Computing: The Australasian Theory Symposium (CATS'97) 3-4 February: The Australasian Computer Architecture Conference (ACAC'97) and also a variety of allied events. All conferences will be hosted by the Department of Computing at Macquarie University. We invite submissions for the three conferences, as set out below. All conferences share a common set of important dates: Submission Deadline: 15 August 1996 Notification: 1 November 1996 Camera-ready copy: 24 November 1996 Full submission details and further information about the week can be obtained at http://www.mq.edu.au/acsw97 or acsw97@mpce.mq.edu.au. ACSC'97 - Twentieth Australasian Computer Science Conference 5-7 February 1997 ACSC'97 is the major Australasian computer science conference and is now in its twentieth year. The conference has a high reputation for the quality of the research presented, ranging from theory and experiment to practice and application. Submissions are now invited for ACSC'97. We welcome papers describing original contributions in all fields of Computer Science research and education. Each paper will be judged on its originality, significance, correctness, and clarity. Its contribution should be clearly explained in both general and technical terms, and authors should make every effort to ensure that its technical content is understandable by a broad audience. Submission of a paper should be regarded as an undertaking that, should the paper be accepted, at least one of the authors will attend the conference to present the work. Submitted papers should be no longer than 6,000 words. To be considered, four printed copies must reach the address below by the submission date, which is a hard deadline. ACSC'97 Department of Computer Science The University of Melbourne Parkville, VIC 3052 Australia Program Chair: Rao Kotagiri, Melbourne Justin Zobel, RMIT Program Committee: David Abramson, Griffith Paul Bailes, Queensland Richard Brent, ANU Geoff Dromey, Griffith Peter Eades, Newcastle Jenny Edwards, UTS Norman Foo, UNSW Rhys Francis, CSIRO Cristian Calude, Auckland Andrzej Goscinski, Deakin John Gough, QUT Stephen Hood, DSTO Ray Jarvis, Monash Chris Johnson, ANU Jyrki Katajainen, Copenhagen Chris McDonald, UWA Kim Merriott, Monash Alistair Moffatt, Melbourne Ron Morrison, St. Andrews John O'Callaghan, CSIRO Mehmet Orgun, Macquarie Michael Oudshoorn, Adelaide Anand Rao, AAII John Roddick, South Australia John Rosenberg, Sydney Ron Sacks-Davis, Melbourne Arun Sharma, UNSW John Staples, Queensland Ling Tok Wang, NU of Singapore Ian Witten, Waikato Enquiries about the program should be directed to: acsc97@cs.mu.oz.au. CATS'97 - Computing: The Australasian Theory Symposium 3-4 February 1997 CATS aims at bringing together computing theorists from the Australasian region. Papers are solicited on all aspects of the theory of computer science, including, but not limited to: Category Theory, Complexity, Concurrency, Formal Semantics, Logic, Specification and Verification, and all aspects of the theory of Algorithms (including combinatorial algorithms, distributed algorithms, geometric algorithms, and parallel algorithms). CATS'97 follows on from CATS'94 which was held in Sydney in December 1994, and CATS'96 which was held in Melbourne in February 1996. It is hoped that the meeting will have an `active workshop' atmosphere, with ample time for discussions. Contributions describing work in progress are welcome. Submissions should be sent in Postscript format to cats97@cs.rmit.edu.au by the submission deadline. For final submissions, LaTEX style files and MS Word style sheets will be provided via the URL http://www.cs.rmit.edu.au/cats97. Authors unable to access or use these style files will be asked to prepare papers of at most ten pages in 10-point, two-column format. Papers will be judged on originality, significance, correctness, and clarity. The contribution of the paper should be clearly explained in both general and technical terms, and authors should make every effort to ensure that the technical content of their papers is understandable by a broad audience. Submission of a paper should be regarded as an undertaking that, should the paper be accepted, at least one of the authors will attend the conference to present the work. General Chair: Barry Jay, UTS Program Chair: James Harland, RMIT Local Chair: Michael Johnson, Macquarie Program Committee: Cristina Calude, Auckland Hossam ElGindy, Newcastle Jeremy Gibbons, Auckland Kurt Mehlhorn, Max Planck Ins. Dale Miller, Pennsylvania Eugenio Moggi, Genoa Tadao Takaota, Ibaraki Arun Sharma, UNSW Harald So/ndergaard, Melbourne Antonius Symvonis, Sydney Phil Wadler, Glasgow ACAC'97 - Australasian Computer Architecture Conference 3-4 February 1997 ACAC is the principal annual Australasian conference on computer architecture. ACAC'97 follows on from previous computer architecture workshops held in Hobart, Brisbane and Adelaide, and its highly successful emergence as a fully refereed 2-day research conference in Melbourne in 1996. ACAC'97 will contain sessions for research group reports as well as for formal research papers. This forum will allow those involved in the field to see what new research is happening in the region and to encourage cooperative research and sharing of resources. ACAC'97 invites the following two categories of papers: Original research papers: Original papers in all areas of computer architecture research are invited. Papers describing implemented systems and novel applications are particularly welcomed. All papers will be refereed and accepted papers will be published in the conference proceedings. LaTEX style files will be made available on acceptance. Australasian research group reports: Reports on Australasian computer architecture research projects are also invited. They should be in the same format and will be included in a section of the proceedings but will not go through the full rigorous reviewing process. Papers should be submitted in uuencoded Postscript form to acac97@ee.newcastle.edu.au. If electronic submission is not possible, four paper copies should be sent to: ACAC'97 c/- Andrew Spray Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308 Australia General Chair: John Morris, UWA Program Chair: Andrew Spray, Newcastle Publication Chair: Ronald Pose, Monash Program Committee: David Abramson, Griffith Greg Egan, Monash Michael Groves, Flinders Mohan Kumar, Curtin David Powers, Flinders Clemens Szyperski, QUT ------------------------------ From: scline@usit.net (Stanley Cline) Subject: United States Cellular's Stupidity Date: Wed, 29 May 1996 02:52:36 GMT Organization: Catoosa Computing Services As some (many?) of you know, I have had repeated problems with **United States Cellular** with respect to roaming (that is, roaming from my home carrier -- BellSouth -- *into* USCC areas.) After repeated contacts (by both me and BellSouth's management) with USCC, I have come to the conclusion that while cellular service in general continues to improve, that USCC is going downhill -- fast. USCC has done all of the following things in the past *five months*: * Charged roamers for *611 calls, unanswered calls, and other calls that should be free. (One day I was charged $11 for a single *611 call!) * Refused to cover non-covered areas licensed to them, even with the Olympics coming to one area! (The other carrier in the area has decided to gouge most B-side roamers, btw.) * Gouges roamers, charging some of the highest roaming rates of all carriers (only CommNet generally charges more) ... carriers cannot negotiate *any* lower rates with USCC, even when competition dictates that rates should be substantially lower. * Blocked 911 calls from those whose home cellular carriers are blocked due to fraud, or those whose phones aren't registered with any carrier. (This was reported in the Digest awhile ago.) * Actually told customers things such as: "We don't like , and don't have to fix problems with them"; "We don't have a roaming agreement with " when in fact they do; "Call your home carrier" when a problem is certainly USCC's, NOT the home carrier's, etc. CSR's are generally rude and incompetent, despite USCC's "corporate statement" that they try to have the best people in the industry. WHAT A JOKE! * Lied to everyone from roamers to carriers to the Atlanta Olympic committee (about the Olympic venue cellular issue, rates, etc.) * Given wildly inconsistent answers to callers, with one rep saying "A" and another saying "B". * Failed to maintain automatic call delivery in some markets, forcing roamers back to Follow-Me Roaming, NationLink, or roamer access numbers (when these are not necessary!) * Seemingly deliberately attempting to cover areas not licensed to them -- they've claimed to cover portions of Tennessee that are in fact licensed to OTHER CARRIERS (Advantage Cellular, BellSouth, etc.) They bounce into and out of the Chattanooga local calling area; it is NOT because of "weather", etc -- it seems deliberate. These are *not* isolated incidents, mind you -- several carriers, including BellSouth (several markets), AirTouch in Atlanta, GTE Mobilnet (several markets), and a few small carriers, have *all* reported severe problems with USCC -- excessive and extreme complaints from customers, inability to negotiate with USCC, etc. Despite all these complaints, USCC refuses to do anything. In utter frustration, I *called* USCC's corporate office in Chicago this afternoon. I called and asked for "Customer Relations", hoping that I could reach an individual at the corporate level. I was first transferred to *Stockholder* Relations (getting a voice mail requesting name and address to which to send financial statements), then pressed zero for the operator again. I again asked for "Customer Relations" and reached USCC's *INTERNAL COMPUTER HELP DESK!* The guy who answered ("Dave", not his real name) said he'd try to find someone who could help; he consulted with someone, who referred me back to the Knoxville, TN regional office... I have already dealt with nearly EVERYONE in the Knoxville office; I didn't want to talk to them again! I landed up talking to a roamer support person ("Ted", not his real name), who told me that "We may have coverage in the Ocoee Olympic venue" (LIE -- They will NOT.), that *weather* affected their SS7 IS-41 links for auto call delivery (LIE -- I have had trouble with call delivery on perfectly clear days), and that I really needed to consult with BellSouth on all these gripes (despite the fact that *they* cannot even deal with them!) I landed up hanging up ... LIVID. I have written two letters to USCC addressing my concerns; neither one was ever answered. I sent a third out today; I also put up a page on my web site discussing "Roamer Hell" -- that is, USCC. I am preparing to obtain an account with the A-side cellular carrier -- in an attempt to avoid USCC AT ALL COSTS. When a company cannot serve customers with courtesy and reason; when a company lies to callers/suppliers/customers or provides inconsistent answers; when a company bucks industry trends in a negative manner (in USCC's case, failing to implement auto call delivery, etc.); when a company balks at entering new markets; when a company attempts gouging and near-fraud; when a company introduces safety hazards (blocking 911 calls, for example); when a company's PBX operators cannot route calls properly -- there is usually a SEVERE PROBLEM with the company, its management, or its cash flow. I have NEVER seen a company as inept and arrogant (blaming other carriers for USCC's own problems.) as USCC. They are absolutely ridiculous. (I used to think McDonald's and Sears were bad, but USCC -- also based in the Chicago area -- is MUCH worse.) Has anyone else experienced these problems? Has anyone else had POSITIVE experiences with USCC (like there are any?) As for me: I will NEVER roam in a USCC market again. They have fallen flat on their face this time. I have given up dealing with them. ** IMNSHO: United States Cellular = STUPID, ARROGANT, GREEDY. ** PS: Has anyone noticed that USCC's and 360 Communications' HQ are in the same city, zip code, and even PHONE PREFIX (312-399)? These are the very carriers that BellSouth and other carriers HATE (one much more than the other, of course.) Weird coincidence ... Stanley Cline (Roamer1 on IRC) ** GO BRAVES! GO VOLS! Catoosa Computing Services, Chattanooga, Tenn. mailto:scline@usit.net ** http://chattanooga.net/~scline/ CompuServe 74212,44 ** MSN WSCline1 ------------------------------ From: Stan Schwartz Subject: More CID Frolics! Date: Wed, 29 May 1996 00:05:46 -0400 Last week, we heard about the calls I'm receiving where my CID displays show the first 10 digits of my account number with a regional bank. Today, I received another "interesting" call. There was no message on the machine, but all of my CID devices have the name "WASHINGTON" (for the state, I assume), and a number 206-959-0525. This number is not only not dialable, but 959 does not exist in either the 206, 360, or 509 NPA's. Can anyone help me with TODAY'S mystery??? Stan ------------------------------ From: Guenther Hoelzl Subject: Optimising a Hybrid Circuit Date: Tue, 28 May 1996 15:59:52 +0000 Reply-To: g-hoelzl@apanet.at We are looking for a circuit for optimising the return loss of a hybrid circuit for leased line applications over a bandwith of 0-7kHz. Does somebody know a solution without DSP? Guenther Hoelzl Commend Communication Systems Hoelzlstrasse 563 A-5071 Salzburg - Wals Tel.: ++ 43-662-85 62 25 Fax.: ++ 43-662-85 62 25 25 E-Mail : g-hoelzl@apanet.at ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 May 1996 14:48:43 -0500 From: kelly.breit@netalliance.net (Kelly Breit) Subject: JAVA Seminar - June 13 - at Univ of Minn HHH Center Forwarded FYI to the Digest: From: "Les Wanninger" Subject: JAVA Seminar - June 13 Reply-to: lwanning@epx.cis.umn.edu Date: Fri, 24 May 1996 11:31:58 The Information Industry Initiative Presents: "JAVA, NEO, AND JOE: DISTRIBUTED COMPUTING INTEGRATING DESKTOP, INTRANET, AND INTERNET" Randy Zarecki, Sun Microsystems Thursday, June 13, 8:30 - 10:30 am Cowles Auditorium, Humphrey Center University of Minnesota The title topics are some of the "hottest" in the information industry today, and Sun Microsystems is at the forefront! Most of the major computer hardware and software companies are rushing to get into the act, which includes the "$500 Internet computer" on the billing. NEO and Joe are less familiar than Java, but all are important components. Randy Zarecki will present and demonstrate these technologies and the kinds of applcations they are good for. He will discuss the enabling features and functionality, how to deliver applications on the Internet and World Wide Web, and the different architectural approaches involved. The seminar will be at a business, strategy, applications, demonstration, and "what does it take to develop and deliver applications" level - not at a computer science level. Call (612) 624-3534, fax 626-1316, or e-mail hradford@csom.umn.edu with your reservation by June 11. There is no charge for the seminar for members of the Information Industry Initiative, participants in the Information Industry Workshop Series, or Minnesota Software Associateion Members. Parking is available in the 19th Ave. & 3rd St. parking ramp. Presented by the Information Industry Initiative Information & Decision Sciences Department Carlson School of Management University Of Minnesota Les Wanninger Information & Decision Sciences Carlson School of Management University of Minnesota 271 19 the Ave. S, 395 Humphrey Center Minneapolis, MN 55455 Phone: 612-624-1874 Fax: 612-626-1316 Internet: lwanning@epx.cis.umn.edu ------------------------------ From: Andrew Taylor Subject: Unbundling Local Loop Access Organization: Analysys Ltd Date: Wed, 29 May 1996 15:02:46 GMT A colleague has asked me to post the following question: Does anybody know of the practical experience of unbundling of access to the local loop (ie interconnecting at the line side of the central office)? It strikes me that this type of arrangement requires a great deal of cooperaion between phone companies and involves reassigning copper pairs from one company's central office to another -- presumably without disrupting service. How is this achieved in practice? All help gratefully received. Stefan Stanislawski ------------------------------ From: Bernard Mora Subject: Satellite Telecommunications References Wanted Date: Wed, 29 May 1996 16:33:54 GMT Organization: cete I'm looking for documents (technicals and commercials) which deal with satellites telecommunications systems as ARGOS,EUTELTRACS, INMARSAT. I hope someone will agree to help me in this difficult search and I thank you for that. REGIS LABORDE ------------------------------ From: tuckers@stanilite.com.au (Steve Tucker) Subject: Brazilian Telecom Standards - Source Wanted Date: 29 May 1996 01:32:37 GMT Organization: Stanilite Electronics Pty. Ltd. Sydney, Australia Can anyone please tell me where I can obtain Brazilian Telecom Standards? They seem to be pre-fixed SDT. The particular numbers are: SDT 201-110-704 SDT 245-100-702 SDT 201-320-701 SDT 240-600-703 Please reply direct by email to steve.tucker@stanilite.com.au Thanks in anticipation. ------------------------------ From: stevek@binc.net (Steven Kell) Subject: Line Monitor/Protocol Analyzer Date: 29 May 1996 07:08:51 GMT Organization: Berbee Information Networks Corporation Does anyone use or know of a line monitor/protocol analyzer that can handle async speeds up to 115.2 kbps?? We are implementing a BBS-based product and need the capability to monitor the traffic. Please reply via e-mail or cc: me on any replies. Thanks in advance! Steven ------------------------------ From: Bob Subject: PCS Network Planners/Builders Sought For Interview re Methods Date: Tue, 28 May 1996 19:53:07 -0700 Organization: Wolfe Internet Access, L.L.C. Worldesign Inc. is developing tools for the rapid planning and location of PCS cell sites and transceivers (esp. basestations). To ensure that our products are well focused and will enable you to do your important work better, we are conducting _brief_ online interviews with planners, site location specialists, and builders of networks. If you are available for a few quick questions, we'd certainly appreciate your help. Additionally, you may qualify as a beta site for our product when it is ready. Email me to set up a dialogue. And thanks for your help! Bob Jacobson, President Worldesign Inc. Seattle ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 May 1996 00:38:24 -0500 From: doc_dave@bga.com (David Brod) Subject: Cellular Caller ID On June 15, in Austin, Tx, AT&T Wireless Communications will begin passing cellular subscriber numbers through to the caller ID system. I am not a paranoid regarding caller ID, but I am rather upset about this. Since cellular users must pay for incoming calls, this seems a valid reason to not have to pass around my cellular number via caller ID. Additionally, since cellular phones do not offer caller ID, we do not have the option not to answer the phone either. I am wondering, to whoever knows, if it would not be reasonable to demand that the cellular companies be required to pass the actual out-dial phone number, and not the cellular number. After all, the cellular number is not the phone number that is calling out ... cellular subscribers must pay an 'interconnect' charge that links the cellular system with the central office, and the calling number is really a phone number from that central office ... seems appropriate that cellular companies be required to transmit THAT number to caller ID users. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Except that the number you are referring to would be essentially worthless to the recipient of the Caller-ID information, and lend itself to confusion if they tried to dial it back. For example, that number you are referring to *is* in fact available and given to customers who get ANI. Invariably on trying to dial in to it the response is the number is for outgoing calls only or it may not be dialable at all, etc. My cellular phone is 847-727-xxxx and yet the ANI it shows when I dial an 800 number is 708-870-something; a totally different thing. I personally would say send nothing at all unless it can be a two-way thing with cellular customers able to get the same information in return subject to the technical requirements of their phone, etc. Will *67 (number blocking) be available on your outgoing cellular calls? That might be one way to partly solve your problem. PAT] ------------------------------ 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: * ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu * 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: 500-677-1616 Fax: 847-329-0572 ** Article submission address: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Our archives are located at mirror.lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * 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, TELECOM Digest receives a grant from Microsoft to assist with publication expenses. Editorial content in the Digest is totally independent, and does not necessarily represent the views of Microsoft. ------------------------------------------------------------ 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. 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. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V16 #250 ******************************