Return-Path: Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.7.4/NSCS-1.0S) id IAA24736; Tue, 21 Jan 1997 08:41:13 -0500 (EST) Date: Tue, 21 Jan 1997 08:41:13 -0500 (EST) From: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu (TELECOM Digest Editor) Message-Id: <199701211341.IAA24736@massis.lcs.mit.edu> To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V17 #17 TELECOM Digest Tue, 21 Jan 97 08:41:00 EST Volume 17 : Issue 17 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson A Nice, Solid Telephone - Like the Ones Mother Used to Make (Paul Robinson) Spring '97 VON Conference (Jeff Pulver) Tunable Filters for the PCS-1900 Band? (Mark Ford) Caller ID Data via Long Distance (Chris Ferraro) Nevada Drafts Anti-Spam Law (Stephen Satchell) Nevada Bill to Outlaw E-Mail Spamming (Bruce Pennypacker) AOL Puts America 'On Hold,' Claimed in Class-Action Lawsuit (Mike Pollock) Bellcore Finally Announces NPA 340 For USVI (Bob Goudreau) SS#7 <-> ISDN Conversion (Keith Parr) 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. The URL is: http://mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives They can also be accessed using anonymous ftp: ftp mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives A third method is the Telecom Email Information Service: Send a note to tel-archives@mirror.lcs.mit.edu 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. 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Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Paul Robinson Subject: A Nice, Solid Telephone - Like the Ones Mother Used to Make Date: Mon, 20 Jan 1997 21:27:27 -0500 Organization: Evergreen Software One day a couple of years ago, I happened to stop in a Staples (Stationery store chain) and noticed the selection of telephones they were selling. The usual overpriced junk of cheap-weight, piezo-electric buzzer phones. Except one. They had the Bellsouth Model 439 single-line telephone. The size and shape reminded me of the old princess phone, and the price was considerably less than some of the others, about $14.95. The features of this phone include: - Switchable tone/pulse - Desk or wall mount - Flash key - redial button - when a tone button is held, it keeps making a sound, unlike some that cut off after a short period - hang-up switch on handset AND in cradle I thought it was okay and the price was in-line with all the other cheapo "throw away" phones, but I decided to see what it looked like. I happened to pick up the box, and almost dropped it, it weighed a lot more than I expected. The reason was that it did not have a cheap buzzer in it for a ringer, it has a solid *metal* bell, just like a 2500 set. The feel of this unit reminds me of the Western Electric/Bell System units of the 1950s and 1960s. That's what convinced me to buy one. And at least a couple of times I've dropped it. It never even noticed. The Bellsouth 439. A really solid phone, just like the ones Mother used to make. :) Paul Robinson (Formerly PAUL@TDR.COM / TDARCOS@MCIMAIL.COM / TDARCOS@CLARK.NET / TDARCOS@DIGEX.NET ) Evergreen Software ------------------------------ From: Jeff Pulver Subject: Spring '97 VON Conference Date: Mon, 20 Jan 1997 23:57:41 -0500 Organization: Pulver.com, Inc. I'm producing a conference at the Ritz-Carlton in San Francisco on April 1-3, 1997. The name of the conference is "Spring '97 VON Conference" - which will have as it's major theme - 'Telecommunications and Streaming Media on the Net'. This conference has three major tracks: * Internet Telephony * Net Broadcasting * Regulatory There are 12 general session / keynotes and 15 breakout sessions currently scheduled. Some of the general session / keynote speakers include: Dave Farber, Alfred Filter Moore Professor of Telecommunications Systems; Director, Center for Communications & Information Science and Policy, University of Pennsylvania; Ed Kozel, Chief Technology Officer, Cisco Systems; Dr. Vint Cerf, Senior Vice President, MCI Telecommuncations; Pat Gelsinger, Vice President / General Manger, Internet and Communications Product Development, Intel; John Ludwig, Vice President, Internet Platforms and Tools Division, Microsoft; Mike Po, Director, LiveMedia, Netscape Communications; Dennis Aoll, Vice President, Lucent Technologiesl; Joe Mele, President, elemedia George Favoloro, Director of Strategy and Business Development, Internet Solutions Division, Compaq; Ronald J. Vidal, Vice President - New Ventures, MFS Worldcom Other general sessions include:The effect of VON Technologies to the traditional Telco Model - with speakers confirmed from: Sprint, AT&T, MCI and Bell Atlantic. NTIA Panel Discussion: "Taking Care of Business: Can Self-Regulation Work?" with Larry Irving and Kathy Brown of the NTIA. On the lighter side of things - I've been able to sign up Scott Adams -- the cartoonist of Dilbert and Author of "Dilbert Principle" to speak after lunch on the second day. In addition, the following are the session titles for the current list of breakout sessions: -------------------------------------------------------------- 1. NextGen Telephony: Battle of the IT Telco Wannabe's - who will win? 2. Developing Audio/Video Content specific for the Net: 3. Focus on Access Charges: 4. Internet Telphony - Review of Current Technology Issues. 5. Review of Streaming Technologies & Trends / Issues 6. Regulations's Reordering of Chaos and Caucophony: Internet Telephony as a Global Norm? 7. Internet Faxing 8. Realities of Net Broadcasting 9. Panel - "Last Mile" Bandwidth. 10. Effect of Internet Telephony on Consumer Entertainment Marketplace 11. Patents & Speech Coders 12. Effect of Internet Telephony on Business: 13. Content Push << Pull : Next Generation of Content Delivery... 14. Business Conferencing on the Net. An End User's perspective. ----------------------------------------------------------------- In addition to all of these sessions, I'm also working on pulling together a a day of post-conference "Vendor Sponsored" workshops on Thursday April 3rd. More details about these sessions will be added to the conference website. If you know of others who might be interested in this event, please feel free to e-mail: von97@pulver.com their name and e-mail address and I will forward them the conference informations and related updates as they become available. from the website - http://www.pulver.com/von97. Hope to see you at the conference. Best Wishes for '97 Jeff Pulver Tel. 516.487.1424 President Fax. 516.487.7269 Pulver.com http://www.pulver.com ------------------------------ From: Mark Ford Subject: Tunable Filters for the PCS-1900 Band? Date: 20 Jan 1997 20:31:26 GMT Organization: PSI Public Usenet Link Does anyone know where I can find tunable bandpass and notch cavity filters for use in the cellular telephone PCS-1900 band? The following table details the filters that are needed. Any help and information is greatly appreciated. Please email me. mford@aircom.com Thanks! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Filter | Tunable | -3dB | Reject | Reject | Insertion | VSWR | Maximum | | | Frequency | BandWidth | Attenuation| Attenuation| Loss | | Input | | | Range | | | | @desired | | Power | | | in MHz | | | | frequency | | | | | (Minimum) | (Minimum) | (Minimum) | (Minimum) | (Maximum) | (Maximum) | (Minimum) | |----------|------------|-----------|------------|------------|------------|-----------|-----------| | PCS1900 | 1710-1990 | 0.3 MHz | 15dB | 30dB | 5dB | 1.5 | 5W | | BandPass | (ideal) | | @1.0 MHz | @6.0 MHz | | | | | Cavity | | | offset | offset | | | | | Tunable | 1850-1990 | | | | | | | | Filter | (good) | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1930-1990 | | | | | | | | | (fair) | | | | | | | |----------|------------|-----------|------------|------------|------------|-----------|-----------| | PCS1900 | 1710-1990 | 1.0 MHz | 20dB | | 5dB | 1.5 | 5W | | Notch | (ideal) | (ideal) | (ideal) | | | | | | Cavity | | | | | | | | | Tunable | 1850-1990 | | @tuned | | | | | | Filter | (good) | | frequency | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1930-1990 | 1.8 MHz | 15dB | | | | | | | (fair) | (fair) | (fair) | | | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ From: Chris Ferraro Subject: Caller ID Data via Long Distance Date: 20 Jan 1997 03:55:20 GMT Organization: GTE Intelligent Network Services, GTE INS [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Original article did not appear in the Digest. PAT] In article <5an6i3$1ue$6@mhadf.production.compuserve.com>, Julien Mason <71320.2073@CompuServe.COM> wrote: > I receive inter-LATA name and number from MCI, SPRINT, LCI, and > LDDS callers now. However, AT&T callers still come up as Out of > Area. > Don't I recall that there was some deadline not long ago when all > carriers had to deliver the CID to the end office? Why is AT&T > not delivering the information to our wire center? We are in > Bell Atlantic (Virginia) and must have SS7 since we're getting > the information from the other carriers' subscribers. Atlantic's problem because they provide the Caller ID service. After talking to a switching technician (whatever you call them), I called AT&T back and explained to them that their network needs to transmit the data from the originating to the terminating CO for Caller ID to display a number. Other carriers transmit the data from the same phone. The representative actually said that Bell Atlantic was not happy that AT&T was entering the long distance market and might be trying to upset people. She also opened a trouble ticket for me. 1.) Does anyone is non-Bell Atlantic territory have this problem? 2.) Is this AT&T's fault? 3.) Why aren't they sending the Caller ID data? 4.) What can be done about this? 5.) Are there other carriers that do not send this info? 6.) Is there a law that requires them to pass the data along? I had my friend in Georgia (770 area code) place a few test calls. Here are the results: AT&T 10288 access code Caller ID data - Number: Out of area Name: Unavailable LCI International 10432 access code Caller ID data - Number: 770-922-XXXX Name: Unavailable Sprint 10333 access code Caller ID data - Number: 770-922-XXXX Name: Unavailable Wiltel (or whatever they are now) 10555 access code Caller ID data - Number: 770-922-XXXX Name: Unavailable ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Jan 1997 15:16:57 -0800 From: satchell@accutek.com (Stephen Satchell) Subject: Nevada Drafts Anti-Spam Law Organization: Satchell Evaluations I thought that people here might be interested that the State of Nevada is about to jump on the bandwagon with regard to spam. The following is the Bill Draft for the next session of the Legislature, that session opening Monday 20 January. URL is Senate Bill No. 13-Senator Raggio Prefiled on January 14, 1997 ____________ Referred to Committee on Judiciary SUMMARY--Prohibits sending certain unsolicited electronic mail under certain circumstances. (BDR15-723) FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: Yes. Effect on the State or on Industrial Insurance: No. AN ACT relating to crimes; prohibiting the transmission of certain types of unsolicited electronic mail under certain circumstances; providing a penalty; and providing other matters properly relating thereto. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: Section Chapter 207 of NRS is hereby amended by adding thereto a new section to read as follows: 1. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 2, a person shall not send or cause to be sent unsolicited electronic mail to solicit a person to purchase real property, goods or services. 2. The provisions of subsection 1 do not apply to unsolicited electronic mail that is sent to a person who has a preexisting business relationship with the person who sends or causes to be sent the electronic mail. 3. As used in this section, "electronic mail" means an electronic message that is transmitted between two or more computers or electronic terminals. The term includes an electronic message that is transmitted through a local, regional or global network of computers, regardless of whether the message is viewed by the recipient, stored for later retrieval or printed on paper after receipt. Sec. 2. The amendatory provisions of this act apply to offenses that are committed on or after October 1, 1997. Sec. 3. The provisions of subsection 1 of NRS 354.599 do not apply to any additional expenses of a local government that are related to the provisions of this act. Stephen Satchell, Satchell Evaluations http://www.accutek.com/~satchell ------------------------------ From: Bruce Pennypacker Subject: Nevada Bill to Outlaw E-Mail Spamming Date: 20 Jan 1997 20:02:39 GMT Organization: Applied Language Technologies This link was recently posted in news.admin.net-abuse.email: http://www.leg.state.nv.us/97bills/SB/SB13.HTM This bill is designed to prevent e-mail spamming, which I commend, however I wish these kinds of steps wouldn't be necessary. But the way spammers are flooding the 'net with casual disregard to the rest of us I knew it was bound to happen sooner or later. This bill is probably too vague to stand up without major changes. The way it's written, all of usenet could be considered illegal in Nevada if this were enacted. The bills sponser is Nevada Senator Raggio, and you can e-mail him at wraggio@sen.state.nv.us if you have any comments about this bill. I just sent him a note outlining the issues I have with the bill the way it's currently written. We'll see if I get any sort of response. Bruce Pennypacker Applied Language Technologies Remove .nospam from my address to e-mail me 215 First Street (617) 225-0012 Cambridge, MA 02142 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Jan 1997 20:21:52 -0800 From: Mike Pollock Organization: SJS Entertainment Subject: AOL Puts America 'On Hold,' Claimed in Class-Action Lawsuit The bandwagon is leaving, better jump on! DETROIT, Jan. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- The following was released by Lionel Glancy, Esq., attorney for plaintiffs in class-action lawsuit against America Online (Nasdaq: AMER): A class-action lawsuit was filed today on behalf of all subscribers of America Online against the company, claiming that America Online has consistently put its customers "on hold" because of inadequate capacity. The lawsuit alleges that America Online succeeded in stirring up demand for its services by enticing subscribers with low-cost unlimited usage, and then abandoning its subscribers. Lower rates have caused increases in AOL usage resulting in an overload in network traffic, frequent busy signals for dial-up users, and network failures, thereby frustrating all users' ability to access the network and also making illusory AOL's claim of "unlimited access." The suit alleges people dialing in to use the computer service are unable to get through because of the inadequate number of call-in servers and other capacity of America Online. In addition, the suit alleges that once AOL entices subscribers with its low prices, customers become captive because of the inconvenience in switching to alternative Internet providers. Lionel Glancy, one of the attorneys for the representative plaintiff, Mary Jo Miles, emphasized that "customers are not getting what they paid for. They can spend substantial time trying to get connected to America Online, only to receive busy signal after busy signal. America Online actually put 'America on hold.'" Mr. Glancy also stated: "To the extent that AOL has recently made vague promises to add more dial-in access capacity by June, customers are still at risk of grossly inadequate capacity, and, further, AOL still will be wrongfully reaping tens of millions of dollars of subscribers' money through June that AOL is not entitled to because subscribers are not getting on-line or are not getting access to the sites they want." One of the plaintiffs, Mary Jo Miles, a Ph.D. candidate, currently lives in Traverse City and is frustrated about her inability to use America Online, which she subscribed to so that she could connect to the Internet and communicate with her husband and friends who live in the greater Detroit area. The suit seeks return of customers' monthly payments, multiplied by the number of all AOL users across the country, estimated to be over 7 million. This would mean that subscribers are paying in excess of tens of millions of dollars for services they are not getting. Mr. Glancy explained that "based on published reports, AOL can only provide on-line access to approximately 3 1/2 percent of its subscribers at the same time. This means that up to 96 percent of all subscribers sitting at their computers to use AOL could be denied access to the system they paid for." Mr. Glancy also stated, "class-actions are necessary in cases like this, in order to protect consumers who would not have the resources individually to file suit. The class-action case was designed where a huge multi-million dollar corporation takes undeserved money for millions of consumers, leaving the consumers with no other effective way to have their rights protected." The suit was filed today in Wayne County Circuit Court. No trial date has been set. SOURCE Lionel Glancy, Esq. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Jan 1997 17:31:08 -0500 From: goudreau@dg-rtp.dg.com (Bob Goudreau) Subject: Bellcore Finally Announces NPA 340 For USVI Yesterday, Bellcore's "New Area Codes" web page finally added an entry for the last unannounced piece of the NPA 809 breakup puzzle: the United States Virgin Islands will split off to NPA 340 effective June 1 this year, with permissive dialing to end after June 30, 1998. This means that each one of the 19 nations, colonies and territories that formerly shared NPA 809 together will soon have its own NPA, with the Dominican Republic alone retaining NPA 809. We still don't know exactly when the breakup will be complete, because the schedule for one of the new area codes (784: St. Vincent & the Grenadines) is still listed as "To Be Determined". With any luck, 784 will go into effect no later than the current laggard (473 Grenada), which becomes operational on 1997-10-31 and mandatory after 1998-10-31. For the record, here is the complete 809 breakup table, sorted by date of effective operation (but note that this is not the same as the ordering by permissive end dates!): New Geographical Effective Permissive NPA Area Date End Date --- ------------ --------- --------- 809 Dominican Republic (Long ago) (Not appplic.) 441 Bermuda 1995-10-01 1996-09-30 787 Puerto Rico 1996-03-01 1997-01-31 268 Antigua and Barbuda 1996-04-01 1997-03-31 758 St. Lucia 1996-07-01 1997-01-01 246 Barbados 1996-07-01 1997-01-15 664 Montserrat 1996-07-01 1997-06-01 345 Cayman Islands 1996-09-01 1997-08-31 242 Bahamas 1996-10-01 1997-03-31 869 St. Kitts and Nevis 1996-10-01 1997-03-31 264 Anguilla 1997-03-31 1997-09-30 876 Jamaica 1997-05-01 1997-11-01 649 Turks & Caicos Islands 1997-05-31 1998-06-30 868 Trinidad and Tobago 1997-06-01 1998-05-31 340 United States Virgin Islands 1997-06-01 1998-06-30 284 British Virgin Islands 1997-10-01 1998-09-30 767 Dominica 1997-10-01 1998-09-30 473 Grenada 1997-10-31 1998-10-31 784 St. Vincent and the Grenadines ??? ??? As of today, 9 of the new codes have gone into effect, and 3 of them (Bermuda, St. Lucia and Barbados) are now mandatory; Puerto Rico will join them in a couple weeks. Assuming SV&G gets a reasonable schedule, all of the new codes will be operational by the end of this year, and all will be mandatory by the end of next year, thus bringing the longest (over three years) and most complicated (19-way) split in NANP history to a close. Oh, yeah -- other new NPAs listed by Bellcore yesterday, all with dates still TBD: 323: split of outer ring from 213 in Los Angeles 925: split of eastern side from 510 in Oakland area 450: split of non-island portions from 514 in Montreal area Bob Goudreau Data General Corporation goudreau@dg-rtp.dg.com 62 Alexander Drive +1 919 248 6231 Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA ------------------------------ From: kg.parr@iee.org (Keith Parr) Subject: SS#7 <-> ISDN Conversion Date: Mon, 20 Jan 1997 21:11:59 +0100 Organization: Information Management Does anyone know where to find a device to convert bothways between SS7 and ISDN signalling? Obviously such conversion will be incomplete at best, some of the supplementary services are likely to get lost, but could possibly be adequate for some purposes. Any help, either on the pros and cons or on potential suppliers of devices, will be most welcome. Thanks in advance, Keith Parr Information Management ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V17 #17 *****************************