Return-Path: Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.7.4/NSCS-1.0S) id MAA06525; Sat, 21 Dec 1996 12:51:19 -0500 (EST) Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 12:51:19 -0500 (EST) From: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu (TELECOM Digest Editor) Message-Id: <199612211751.MAA06525@massis.lcs.mit.edu> To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V16 #673 TELECOM Digest Sat, 21 Dec 96 12:51:00 EST Volume 16 : Issue 673 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Digital PBX Lines and Modems (Stewart Fist) New Houston Phone Books (Tad Cook) Re: NPA 570 for Colorado (Linc Madison) Kansas: 913 to Split (John Cropper) Re: GSM is GSM is GSM - Not (Nils Andersson) Re: GSM is GSM is GSM - Not (Juha Veijalainen) Re: GSM is GSM is GSM - Not (Stewart Fist) 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: 847-329-0571 Fax: 847-329-0572 ** Article submission address: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Our archives are located at mirror.lcs.mit.edu. 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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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 17:04:10 +1000 From: fist@ozemail.com.au (Stewart Fist) Subject: Digital PBX Lines and Modems This topic deserves some more discussion. I wasn't aware of this problem until Dan Shearer bought it to my attention. Forward with permission from Dan Shearer. History On the 28th of November Richard Sharpe told me that he he had blown up two Netcomm PCMCIA card modems by plugging them into a digital line from a digital PABX. He and I both did some investigations and concluded that Australian manufacturers, Netcomm and Banksia both guaranteed their modems would certainly blow up under these circumstances and specifically excluded it from the warranty. At the same time at least two other (non-Australian) manufacturers were loudly proclaiming that their PCMCIA products were guaranteed to survive a digital line. Since it is impossible to tell a digital line from any other line without a special diagnostic tool (hotel or office staff won't know, and a digital PABX often has analogue lines as well as digital) a lot of people are rather annoyed. The time they are most likely to hit a digital line is when they are in hotels or motels, when they can least afford to be without their modem. One of the modems providing protection was Xircom, whose products many people (including me) do not particularly like, and the other didn't appear to have an Australian distributor. The local modems seem to be better quality, but I still strongly recommend that people do not purchase them because of this problem. An analogue PABX provides analogue lines, but a digital PABX may provide both analogue and digital lines. Nobody except an expert in the voice communications field is likely to be able to tell the difference, and certainly the kinds of people at hotel reception desks cannot be relied on for accurate information. So it can cost you several hundred dollars every time you make a mistake or are given incorrect information. Even worse, if you buy the ethernet/modem combo cards and the modem blows up, you are giving up either a PCMCIA slot or a perfectly good ethernet card. There seem to be three kinds of PCMCIA modems: The kind to buy: * those that survive being plugged into the (increasingly common) digital PABX lines in offices and hotels. They won't work, but they won't blow up either. Some manufacturers explicitly guarantee their products in this situation. The kind not to buy: * those that won't survive a digital line under any circumstances. Some manufacturers (such as Netcomm and Banksia) have repeatedly told customers that their products are not covered by warranty under these circumstances. Netcomm goes as far as putting a card in the box saying that if you plug their modem into a digital line then it is toast. Another kind not to buy: * modems from manufacturers that don't mention the problem in their literature and whose support staff haven't heard of it, promise to return calls, and never do. Australian modem manufacturer Netcomm now say they have developed a variation on their PCMCIA card modems that won't get fried by digital PABX lines. They aren't selling it yet, but they certainly haven't been ignoring the complaints I made either Following is the reply I received today from Shane Lord at Netcomm. > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: "Lord, Shane" > Dan, > This is an email to thank you for your notification on the lack of line > protection in our PCCard products. > Since your mail we have begun looking into the possibility of > incorporating a self resetting fuse into the line interface of our > CardModem and Socket Rocket range of products. > Our current products will be altered to include this fuse, and all future > products will incorporate this feature. Keep in mind, however, that some > of these products will have the same product code as our current modems on > the market that do not have the alteration. > I believe we will include a way to differentiate when this occurs. (to be > confirmed) This is to look at the box or on the modem and look for a > statement that says something similar to: > "This modem includes line protection circuitry" > Technically, what will be fitted is a UL Approved self-resetting fuse that > is rated to 36volts 1amp. Once blown, power to the PCCard must be removed > and the line cable unplugged from the offending socket, and the modem > should be left for up to 1 minute to let the fuse reset. > As this requires a PCB change to the modem, our modems currently on sale > and previously sold will not be able to be retrofitted with this fuse, as > it requires new Austel approval. > If you require any further information, please let me know. > Regards, > Shane Lord > Technical Services > NetComm Limited. ------------------------------- Dan Shearer email: Dan.Shearer@UniSA.edu.au Information Technology Unit Phone: +61 8 302 3479 University of South Australia Fax : +61 8 302 3385 Forwarded-By: Stewart Fist Technical writer and journalist. Homepage:< http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/stewart_fist > Archives of my columns:< http://www.abc.net.au/http/pipe.htm > Development site: Phone:+612 9416 7458 Fax: +612 9416 4582 ------------------------------ Subject: New Houston Phone Books Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 00:11:08 PST From: tad@ssc.com (Tad Cook) Houston Phone Books Set to Begin New Chapter By Dwight Silverman, Houston Chronicle Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News Dec. 21--Local phone books, which have remained essentially unchanged for decades, get a major facelift next year. Not only will they include the new 281 area code -- so every phone number in both the Yellow and White pages will be 10 instead of seven digits -- but also some e-mail and World Wide Web addresses. And large businesses will get first crack at an electronic version of the business and residential white pages on CD-ROM, a Southwestern Bell product that could eventually be sold to consumers. These changes will be phased in as each of the various parts of the phone book come out, said Mike Hillyer, marketing manager for Southwestern Bell's white pages. Some of them -- such as e-mail and Web addresses as an option for residence listings -- won't be available until the 1998 editions. "Right now we have a certain system constraint in our residential listings database that prevents us from printing certain characters on a page," Hillyer said. "The biggest problem is that we can't print the sign." The sign is a crucial part of all e-mail addresses, separating the user's name from the computer system -- or domain -- he uses. The printed directories' changes reflect the ongoing upheaval in communications. From the growth in phone lines causing the need for new area codes to the increased use of electronic mail, reaching out and touching someone is not as simple as it used to be. The increase in phone lines in the Houston area nearly forced Southwestern Bell to split the residential White Pages into two volumes, as the Yellow Pages have been for years. To conserve paper and prevent a split, the type used to print the current White Pages -- which will be replaced in March -- was made smaller, Hillyer said. Some consideration was given this year to returning the type to its original size, but that would have necessitated printing two residential volumes. In 1996, Southwestern Bell estimates it has added more than 137,000 phone lines in the Houston region, which includes much of Southeast Texas. In 1995, the phone company added more than 119,000 lines. The phone book shows similar increases. For example, the current residential White Pages has nearly 861,000 listings, compared to 1995 edition's more than 841,000 numbers. The book due in March will have almost 897,000 phone numbers. The changes in the phone book will happen in this order: The March 1997 residential and business White Pages will appear first, with each phone number sporting either a 281 or 713 area code. The numbers in the September 1997 Yellow Pages also will include area codes. They'll come out well after the May 2 date when it will be mandatory to dial the area code when calling across the 713/281 line. Until September, callers may have to rely on the business White Pages and directory assistance to tell them which area code a particular business is in. The September 1997 Yellow Pages also will have e-mail and Web site addresses as an optional part of a business' paid listing. The March 1998 White Pages books also will have optional e-mail and Web addresses. Hillyer said businesses and individuals already can buy additional lines of text in the White Pages, and the electronic addresses simply will be an extension of that offering. Nancy Friedman, who operates a St. Louis-based telephone consulting firm called The Telephone Doctor, said the addition of electronic addresses is a good idea for businesses, but may not be great for individuals. "On the one hand, people can find you if you want them to," Friedman said. "But so will telemarketers. You'll get a lot of junk e-mail." Early in 1997, the phone company will begin offering to large businesses an electronic version of the residential and business White Pages it's calling the Southwestern Bell LitePages. "We initially developed this product to serve as an alternative to the hundreds and thousands of phone books that large business customers receive today," Hillyer said. An early version of the CD-ROM program will include the listings from seven cities -- St. Louis, Kansas City, Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Dallas, Fort Worth and Houston. In April, it will be revamped to include the newest phone books, and more cities -- including Austin -- will be added. Hillyer said the early version of the LitePages would be given to large customers, who'll be asked to try it out. If they like it, they can have the new version in April -- if they agree to take the disks instead of the truckloads of phone books they usually receive. Eventually, the LitePages will be sold to individuals. Southwestern Bell spokesman Chris Talley said the company is still studying distribution and pricing of the software. Although there already are several programs available that provide phone numbers on CD-ROM, the LitePages is different in that its listings are searchable only one way -- by name. The other products -- such as PhoneDisc PowerFinder and Select-a-Phone -- let users search by addresses, phone number, name and even business category, and usually contain listings from almost every phone book in the country. What users see when they search the LitePages looks just like a printed page out of the phone book, complete with page number and the header showing the beginning and ending entries. The opening screen is a picture of the printed phone book's cover. Hillyer said the LitePages capabilities were deliberately limited because of privacy issues. "We didn't want to hand a powerful tool to telemarketers," he said. There are no immediate plans for a CD-ROM version of the Yellow Pages, said Dennis Payne, regional manager for the Southwestern Bell Yellow Pages. But he said his group would be closely studying the success of the LitePages. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Dec 1996 13:52:00 -0800 From: Linc Madison Subject: Re: NPA 570 for Colorado At 10:44 AM -0800 12/20/96, Mark J. Cuccia wrote: > I heard that KOA-Radio (am) Denver (a 50K-watter clear channel) announced > last night on their local news that "570" will be the next NPA code for > Colorado with the next split of NPA 303. I didn't actually hear the news > report myself - someone related it to me - altho' from here in N.O., > I *can* 'pick-up' KOA-Radio (am) from time-to-time. Given the history of area code splits in Colorado, I can just see the formal announcement: "The new area code 570 will be assigned to Longmont, Fort Lupton, Idaho Springs, Castle Rock, and Elizabeth, while Denver, Boulder, Parker, and Brighton retain 303. A total of twelve prefixes will move to the new 570 area code, which is expected to last until the year 2478 without further relief. The newly-trimmed area code 303 is projected to require relief within ten days to two weeks. A spokesperson for the Colorado PUC said, 'We just can't separate these outlying communities from Denver until it's absolutely necessary!' Plans for the next split after 570 are expected to be unveiled next week." The original 303/719 split should have put the area that is now 970 into 719. Given that they didn't do that, the 303/970 split should have pushed the exurbs (especially on the north -- Longmont and Boulder) into 970. The state utility boards need to show some evidence of spinal firmness in ignoring the whining of the towns that get moved in a split. There is simply no excuse for Colorado to be adding a fourth area code. Linc Madison * San Francisco, California * Telecom@Eureka.vip.best.com ------------------------------ From: John Cropper Subject: Kansas: 913 to Split Date: Fri, 20 Dec 1996 15:38:34 -0500 Organization: MindSpring Reply-To: psyber@mindspring.com Kansas area code to split 913 zone will divide next year; phones outside KC area will get new code. By: The Associated Press Date: 12/14/96 TOPEKA - Thousands of phone customers outside the Kansas City area will get a new area code for their telephone numbers, the Kansas Corporation Commission decided Friday. The commission issued an order splitting the 913 area code, which covers the northern part of the state. The change will occur next summer. The commission said it split the 913 area code because not enough three-digit prefixes for seven-digit numbers are likely to be available by the end of 1998. Commission spokeswoman Rosemary Foreman said many telephone users probably will dislike the change. ``We want to give people as much time as possible to make any adjustments necessary,'' she said. The new number will be assigned by the North American Numbering Plan Administration, an independent telecommunications industry group. The 913 code will encompass only the state's portion of the Kansas City metropolitan area, Leavenworth, Linn and Miami counties and parts of Jefferson and Atchison counties. The rest of the existing 913 area will be assigned the new code. John Cropper voice: 888.NPA.NFO2 LINCS 609.637.9434 PO Box 277 fax: 609.637.9430 Pennington, NJ 08534-0277 mailto:psyber@mindspring.com http://www.the-server.com/jcbt2n/lincs/ ------------------------------ From: nilsphone@aol.com (Nils Andersson) Subject: Re: GSM is GSM is GSM - Not Date: 20 Dec 1996 19:40:34 GMT Organization: AOL http://www.aol.com In article , Lloyd Matthews writes: > But they use a CF388 phone, and possibly a different frequency (1800 > vs 1900 MHz)? The people at PacBell Mobile Services said the phones > were not compatible, and that their GSM was "better" than in Europe or > DC. You'd think they'd go with the majority standard so they could > collect roaming fees, unless the later phases of GSM service will only > work with PacBell's system? Both DC and CA use 1900 MHz, as does all of North America. It is just possible that there is some subtle difference beween CA and DC, but I doubt that. Europe uses primarily 900 MHz for GSM, and they are upbanding to 1800 MHz. As to the pinging, I assume somebody, probably Pac Bell, is experimenting with something. Regards, Nils Andersson ------------------------------ From: Juha Veijalainen Subject: Re: GSM is GSM is GSM - Not Date: 20 Dec 1996 21:26:58 GMT Lloyd Matthews wrote in : > I have a GH388 GSM phone from Sprint Spectrum/DC which I'd like to use > in PacBell's GSM service area in Los Angeles (and someday all of CA). > But they use a CF388 phone, and possibly a different frequency (1800 > vs 1900 MHz)? The people at PacBell Mobile Services said the phones > were not compatible, and that their GSM was "better" than in Europe or > DC. AFAIK all US "GSM" systems use 1,9 GHz range. I believe 1,8GHz used elsewhere is not possible because of frequency allocation in USA. US "GSM" phones are not compatible with GSM anywhere else (GSM at 900MHz) or DCS-1800 (GSM at 1800MHz). In future, you might be able to use the SIM card for international roaming -- the terminal device,handset, is not internationally compatible. I'd say that PacBell's system could be "better" if: - they have more services available than DC system (data, voice mail, SMS and related services, fax, IN services, etc.); - they cover their area with small cells/micro cells instead of full power cells; I cannot think of any other reasons. GSM (900MHz) roaming is available in over 50 countries - DCS-1800 systems are also popping up everywhere, especially in densely populated areas. > How can I find out exactly which GSM systems worldwide use the GH388, > and who the mystery carrier is in San Jose? And what's the point of a > worldwide standard like GSM if everybody has a different, incompatible > implementation? I have not used Ericsson recently, but I think you should have some kind of "Search network" function (like Nokia does) -- unless of course your phone has somehow been locked to single network provider. You should be able to see names of the networks available, or at least their ID number. GSM is a very wide set of standards and radio interface is just a part of it. Unfortunately USA and some areas in Asia, for example, do have different frequency allocations, so European -- dare I say worldwide -- GSM phones cannot be used there. SIM cards will provide roaming accounts, but you still need to get a phone. Juha Veijalainen, Helsinki, Finland http://www.sci.fi/~juhave/ ** Mielipiteet omiani ** Opinions personal, facts suspect ** ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 17:35:39 +1000 From: Stewart Fist Subject: Re: GSM is GSM is GSM - Not Lloyd Matthews (lloydm@pop.svl.trw.com) wrote: > I have a GH388 GSM phone from Sprint Spectrum/DC which I'd > like to use in PacBell's GSM service area in Los Angeles > (and someday all of CA). > But they use a CF388 phone, and possibly a different > frequency (1800 vs 1900 MHz)? The people at PacBell Mobile > Services said the phones were not compatible, and that > their GSM was "better" than in Europe or DC. You'd think > they'd go with the majority standard so they could collect > roaming fees, unless the later phases of GSM service will > only work with PacBell's system? This is a plea for clarity in our use of terms. The world is going to get awfully confused unless you American technologists clean up your use of technical terms, as the above illustrates. The rest of the world is still trying to decipher the relationship between what you Yanks call TDMA (a generic term), NDAC, D-AMPS, Digital AMPS and IS-54. Please, can we clear up the GSM mess now? GSM was a term applied to a CEPT committee which designed the original TDMA mobile phone system in Europe. The acronym stood for Groupe Speciale Mobile (French). CEPT handed over part-control of GSM to ETSI in 1988, and total control in March 1991. The old committee is now known as the Special Mobile Group (SMG). The acronym was later used for general marketing purposes, and then change to Global System for Mobiles (although in some parts of the world it stands for "Grand Slam Mistake"!) It allows up to five operators to share the bandwidth.The system is designed around duplex 25MHz bands set aside in the spectrum to provide 124 (+4 signaling) radio carriers and 992 full-rate voice channels in total (these need to then be divided among the five potential carriers). The standard spectrum allocation for GSM is between 890.2 - 914.8MHz for mobile transmit, and 935.2 - 959.8MHz for mobile receive, with a 45MHz duplex spacing. What the above correspondent is refering to is an up-banded PCS version correctly called DCS-1800 or DCS-1900 (depending on the frequencies). DCS stands for Digital Cellular System or Digital Communications Specification. (They change the name also!) It allows two operators to share a network, and it relies on high-capacity small cells of about 1km diameter or less. Like GSM, the DCS voice is coded by 8-to-13kb RPE-LTP coding. The standard frequencies are between 1710 - 1785MHz and 1805 - 1880MHz, with 374 8-slot carriers having 200kHz of separation. DCS is a GSM derivative, but there are 11 additional 'Delta' recommendations added to the basic GSM standards, plus the frequency change and the band subdivision. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V16 #673 ******************************