Return-Path: Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.7.4/NSCS-1.0S) id BAA21181; Thu, 23 Jan 1997 01:00:21 -0500 (EST) Date: Thu, 23 Jan 1997 01:00:21 -0500 (EST) From: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu (TELECOM Digest Editor) Message-Id: <199701230600.BAA21181@massis.lcs.mit.edu> To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V17 #19 TELECOM Digest Thu, 23 Jan 97 01:00:00 EST Volume 17 : Issue 19 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Bell Canada Announces NPA 450 For Some Montreal Suburbs (Peter Laws) Book Review: "Using and Managing UUCP" by Ravin et al (Rob Slade) Florida PSC Selects Three-way NPA Split (John Cropper) Deadbeats Stiff Phone Companies (Mike Pollock) Some Passing Thoughts (TELECOM Digest Editor) Last Laugh: AT&T Check (James E. Bellaire) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: plaws@comanche.wildstar.net (Peter Laws) Subject: Bell Canada Announces NPA 450 For Some Montreal Suburbs Date: 22 Jan 1997 08:35:56 -0600 Organization: Wildstar Internet Services Found this at http://www.montrealgazette.com/ today (1/22). Looks like 514 will be split, with the islands that make up the Montreal Urban Community (a regional government) staying in 514 and the rest, including the large suburbs of Laval and Longueil going to 450. Note that the 'net played a role in the announcement. Peter Laws / plaws@wildstar.net / N5UWY Laval, South Shore lose 514 Bell area code becoming 450 for 1.5 million Jan Ravensbergen, The Gazette Much of the Montreal region will say goodbye to the 514 area code late next year, Bell Canada said yesterday. Outlying parts of the region will be switched to a new area code, 450. Montreal Island, Ile Perrot, Ile Bizard, Nuns' Island and the Expo islands are to remain in the 514 area. But starting sometime in the second half of 1998, all other parts of 514 territory - including the South Shore and Laval - are to be renumbered 450. Calls using the outdated area code will get through for a transition period of three to six months after the change has taken effect, Bell spokesman Daniel Hansen said. The transition period will last into early 1999, he added, although that schedule might slip by one or two months. Montreal is facing the same kind of split of its area-code territory that the Toronto region went through in 1993. That's when 416 was retained for the central Toronto area, and the rest of 416 changed to 905. The local change is being triggered, Hansen said, by ever-increasing demand for new telephone numbers - to reach pagers, cellular phones, fax machines, modems and other devices requiring a separate telephone number. He said the change "won't have any effect" on long-distance prices. "The actual local-calling zone will be the same, even though it will have to be dialed as if it's long distance, with another area code. But it won't be charged." The move's implications are broad: o An estimated 1.5 million telephone lines in the 514 area code will be switched to the new 450 code, with 3.5 million existing lines to remain within 514. o Family, friends and business associates worldwide will have to be notified by those affected. o Extensive reprogramming will be required for automatic dialers on fax machines and ordinary telephones, as well as computer modems. o Company letterheads and other documents, business cards and envelopes will have to be modified and reprinted. o Modifications will have to be made to a large number of PBX units throughout the current 514 region. These are the internal switchboards that funnel communications within a company. Even relatively modern PBX machines have trouble recognizing the new breed of area codes, which includes 450. "It's a great time to be a printer," said telecommunications analyst Ian Angus of Angus Telemanagement Group of Ajax, Ont., citing the anticipated flow of orders for new versions of printed material. For the Toronto region, Angus said, Bell managed the transition to the 416/905 split "far more smoothly than one had any reason to hope. They handled it exceptionally well." He was speaking from personal experience. Ajax, where Angus Telemanagement is situated, is now in the 905 area code. Bell gave "lots and lots of warning," he said, and during the transitional period put through incorrectly dialed calls anyway - after playing a recording reminding callers that the area code they had sought had been changed. The same approach will be taken for the 514 switch, Hansen said. The operation of North America's area codes is the responsibility of Bell Communications Research Inc. of Morristown, N.J. Bell Communications revealed the proposed change for Montreal in a posting on the Internet. The company, commonly known as Bellcore, is not an affiliate of Bell Canada. Hansen conceded yesterday that, from a public-relations standpoint, Bell Canada was caught flat-footed by the premature revelation of the move. It had been planning to break the news "in the next six to eight weeks," Hansen said. The utility had planned to make a private round first among mayors, MPs and National Assembly members, and then make a public announcement. That move was to coincide with the launch of an extensive publicity campaign over the next 18 months, Hansen said. Angus Telemanagement was the first to pick up the Bellcore announcement. It disseminated the information Monday in its electronic mailing of its Telecom Update, a weekly bulletin of telecommunications-industry news distributed over the Internet, after picking it up from the World Wide Web site maintained by Bellcore. Until recently, the second digit of an area code has always been a zero or a one. In order to sharply expand the universe of available numbers, area codes are being introduced that contain any number from 2 to 9 in the second digit - a trend that has gained momentum in the United States in the past two years. This change will allow the total number of available telephone numbers for North America to be increased to more than 6 billion. Like Montreal, area-code splits are in the works for many places. In fact, Hansen at Bell said, "from here to the end of the century, 37 per cent of all North American area codes will be split." In British Columbia, area code 250 was introduced for parts of southern B.C. beyond Vancouver last Oct. 19 by U.S.-controlled British Columbia Telephone Co. Ltd. In that case, the transition period will run until next June 1 - considerably longer than what Bell Canada is anticipating in the 514/450 territory. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Jan 1997 14:14:22 EST From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review:"Using and Managing UUCP" by Ravin et al BKUMUUCP.RVW 961017 "Using and Managing UUCP", Ed Ravin/Tim O'Reilly/Dale Dougherty/Grace Todino, 1996, 1-56592-153-4, U$29.95/C$42.95 %A Ed Ravin %A Tim O'Reilly %A Dale Dougherty %A Grace Todino %C 103 Morris Street, Suite A, Sebastopol, CA 95472 %D 1996 %G 1-56592-153-4 %I O'Reilly & Associates, Inc. %O U$29.95/C$42.95 800-998-9938 707-829-0515 fax: 707-829-0104 nuts@ora.com %P 424 %S Nutshell %T "Using and Managing UUCP" Updating two earlier Nutshell books ("Using UUCP and Usenet", cf. BKUSUUCP.RVW; and "Managing uucp and Usenet", cf. BKMANUCP.RVW), this book is quite technical - but then, users of uucp are pretty much bound to be technical themselves, unless their "use" is limited to preprogrammed scripts. The layout closely follows that of the original books: sort of part one equals using and part tow equals managing. Chapter one is an introduction to uucp and networks (versions of uucp having been covered in the Preface). Using mail as an example, network routing and "bang paths" are explained. Chapter two deals with file transfers, and covers "permissions" and security aspects. Chapter three explains the "remote" execution of commands while five details remote login. Chapter four covers the matter of checking on the status of requests. Chapter six now covers email. I was interested to note that the original chapters seven, eight and nine form the "Using" book, which I had criticized, have been removed. They dealt with Usenet, and the reading and posting of "news". News is now dealt with only briefly in an appendix. When it comes to management, the book provides hardware guidance as well, particularly to those with Intel boxes. Chapters eight and nine deal not only with the basic operations and configuration of UUCP, but also with cabling, ports and modems. The material gives enough detail but does not go on to flaunt knowledge of unnecessary trivia. Further chapters give information on testing and troubleshooting, security and management. Once again, the chapters on Usenet news have been removed. There are now twelve very useful appendices covering shell scripts, spool directory, error messages, non-UNIX platforms, sendmail, news, the UUCP mapping project, management tools, modem setup, protocol internals, the UUCP g protocol, and other resources. UUCP may be seen by some to be obsolete, particularly in the face of the near dominance of TCP/IP. However, UUCP is a robust and useful system, particularly in dialup or otherwise difficult communication situations. This resource has significant life left in it yet. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1993, 1994, 1996 BKUMUUCP.RVW 961017 ====================== roberts@decus.ca rslade@vcn.bc.ca rslade@vanisl.decus.ca I haven't lost my mind -- it's backed up on tape somewhere. Author "Robert Slade's Guide to Computer Viruses" 0-387-94663-2 (800-SPRINGER) ------------------------------ From: John Cropper Subject: Florida PSC Selects Three-Way NPA Split Date: Wed, 22 Jan 1997 20:13:28 -0500 Organization: LINCS Reply-To: psyber@mindspring.com The Florida PSC decided Tuesday in favor of a three-way split for NPA 904, to take place as early as late May. Essentially, the Pensacola, Panama City, and Tallahassee LATAs will retain area code 904. The Jacksonville LATA, encompassing the northeast corner of the state, will receive 850, and Daytona Beach will receive a third NPA, possibly either 780 or 550 (based on available domestic-relief codes, vs. assigned COCs in 904, 407, & 352). Permissive dialing could start as early as May 31, 1997 (based on documentation from the PSC meeting), and last as long as a year. The move was a surprise, considering most of the industry support was behind a two-way split, with Tallahassee/Panama City/Pensacola retaining 904, and Daytona/Jacksonville receiving 850. The move would allow 904 and 850 to last until 2004-6, and the new NPA to last six to ten years beyond that ... Coming February 1st: www.lincs.net * John Cropper, LINCS A new site, faster server, and * PO Box 277 fully redesigned web site. * Pennington, NJ USA 08534-0277 ************************************ Inside NJ: 609.637.9434 Check out our current site at: * Toll Free: 888.NPA.NFO2 (672.6362) http://208.205.126.126/nanp/ * email: psyber@mindspring.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Jan 1997 22:19:04 -0800 From: Mike Pollock Organization: SJS Entertainment Subject: Deadbeats Stiff Phone Companies Deadbeats Stiff Phone Companies By DAVID E. KALISH AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) -- Telephone deadbeats were once pariahs. Their failure to pay monthly phone bills faced the ultimate punishment from AT&T and other long-distance carriers -- cancellation of phone service. Now that threat is starting to fall on deaf ears. Instead of coming up with the cash, more and more phone debtors are simply switching to one of the alternate phone carriers that have sprung up in recent years. And they're sticking Ma Bell with the old bill. Uncollected bills, particularly from business customers, cost AT&T Corp. $200 million in the fourth quarter as the nation's largest long-distance provider reported profits on Wednesday that were shy of Wall Street's expectations. AT&T cited increased delinquencies, fraud and bankruptcies by customers. By writing off the debt as uncollectible, AT&T illuminated a potentially ominous trend for long-distance companies, which are locked in fierce marketing battles with each other for new customers. Spurred by government deregulation, a flood of new long-distance rivals in recent years has made it easy for deadbeats to just use another company. "It used to be that in the monopoly days, when people didn't pay their phone bills they didn't get phone service," AT&T chief financial officer Rick Miller said in a telephone interview. "(Now) when phone service gets canceled they have an option to go somewhere else." Emboldening customers is a trend by states toward blunting the main threat long-distance companies employ against deadbeats. In the past, long distance companies were able to cut off not only a customer's long-distance service but demand that local carriers cut off service as well. But in recent years, a number of states have barred long-distance carriers from pulling the plug on local service, according to Brad Ramsay, assistant general counsel at the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, a states' lobbying group based in Washington. The problem is not confined to AT&T. MCI acknowledged in its third-quarter financial report last year that "uncollectibles" increased during the period, though a spokesman on Wednesday said the problem was not growing. Among local phone companies, unpaid bills grew 10 percent to $1.11 billion between 1992 and 1995, according to staff at the Federal Communications Commission. In the long-distance business, the problem seems to be hitting market leader AT&T the hardest. The company said the surge in phone debtors began last year, particularly among business customers. But consumer advocates had little sympathy for the phone carriers, which they have routinely criticized as being insensitive to consumers' needs for more affordable service. "This may be the comeuppance of the long-distance companies aggressively marketing to switch customers," said Gene Kimmelman, co-director of Consumers Union, a Washington-based consumer group that publishes Consumer Reports magazine. The problem comes at a difficult time for AT&T, which is struggling to revitalize its core long-distance business. The company reported that long-distance revenues increased 3 percent to $11.54 billion, while call volume rose 6 percent. The company said the increase came mostly from business services, but that its 15-cent-per minute calling plan for consumers was meeting its expectations for reducing customer defections. But some analysts noted that growth in AT&T's core business continues to lag that of rivals. "The earnings power has been diminishing, not increasing for AT&T," said William Vogel, an industry analyst at Dillon Read, noting that AT&T had reduced spending on its True Rewards phone program. AT&T said it earned $1.62 billion, or $1 per share, on revenues of $13.24 billion in the quarter ended Dec. 31. A year earlier, the company lost $2.68 billion, or $1.67 per share, on revenues of $12.89 billion. About half the $200 million in uncollected bills covered unpaid bills in the fourth quarter and the other half was for expected future losses. In one bright spot, revenues from mobile phone services rose 18.4 percent to $937 million as cellular subscribers grew 31.7 percent to 5.2 million. Last year's financial loss was the result of setting aside money to pay for the cost of cutting tens of thousands of jobs as it prepared for a three-way split it completed with the recent spinoff of NCR Corp. Results from the company's remaining operations in the latest quarter worked out to 76 cents per share, shy of Wall Street expectations for a profit of 80 cents. AT&T's stock dropped 50 cents to $38.87 1/2 on the New York Stock Exchange. For the full year, AT&T earned $5.91 billion, or $3.66 per share, on revenues of $52.18 billion. A year earlier, the company earned $139 million, or 9 cents per share, on revenues of $50.66 billion. ----------- [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Since AT&T over the next decade will probably find its (then) shell of a corporate self in the same circum- stances as its once large and powerful ally Western Union -- that is to say in bankruptcy and largely forgotten about except by telecom historians, the advice I give next may be largely a moot point, but here goes anyway: One, when you run a promotion on a national basis advertised in papers and the media everywhere, make sure the local telcos actually have the software in their switches to handle it. I for one got tired of hearing about all the great prices you could offer me and the types of service you had available -- for example, 500 numbers; for example special prices on internatinal calls -- only to have none of it work the way you said and when I call to inquire you tell me the local telco does not have the software installed to handle the feature/pricing you have been advertising all over and you 'cannot force them to install it ...". Hey, I *know* the business, and you people get me confused at times; what about the general public? Do you think a few people got tired of having to call month after month to get manual credits on their bill because their local telco would bill it wrong. Do you think maybe people got tired of paying for 500 service which never worked right for them because their local telco never could seem to program their switches correctly? Do you think people get tired of not being able to reach a new area code that has been cut in and have your reps bounce them to local telco reps who in turn bounce them back to you again? To get Ameritech to include a certain prefix in Wisconsin so you could handle the call I had to set up a three way conference call myself between an AT&T guy in Denver and an Ameritech technician in Chicago, and then almost get obnoxious with both of them. What about the general public? Two, when you get in a snit with a local telco and pull all your billing away from them as you did with Ameritech a year ago or so, let's try to take care that we do not run the same billing tape twice, or run it again after the local telco had run it the month before, okay? And when customers complain, or refuse to pay the same bill twice, see if you can work it out instead of telling the customers they will have to go back to Ameritech to seek the adjustment on that end. Instead of thirty days later placing the customer with the Gulf Coast Collection Agency in Houston, Texas -- you talk about a beliger- ant and hateful outfit, 'GC Services' takes the cake -- and then proceeding to intercept all the customer's long distance calls with a recording saying 'access to the AT&T Network is denied', try to see if you can work out some of the billing problems in-house. In other words, don't blame 'deadbeats' for all your collection woes. Some of the large business customers you say are not paying you have taken that stance because they got tired of calling month after month to get adjustments that either your computers (or the local telco computers, who knows?) never could get straight. They got tired of having telemarketers and smooth-talking salespeople from AT&T make all kinds of promises and committments that no one could ever recall or find tariff authority for later on. Not that AT&T is unique in that regard; not by any means, but we are discussing your collection problems here. When one of my lines several months ago turned up on your hit list of 'access to the AT&T network is denied' I blew you a kiss goodbye and had the line defaulted to a different carrier the next day. I've not used AT&T now for many months, and it all goes back to a bill for eighty dollars which I paid Ameritech and sent you proof of payment on; your rep sassed and told me to get it back from Ameritech and then pay you. No matter that Ameritech had billed for the same calls already. Divestiture was a bad idea and a disaster; I don't blame AT&T for giving in (even 'voluntarily' as some here will claim, as if anything is voluntary when you have a very big gun held to your head) but the company certainly has had a hard time getting adapted to it. I think we will come to rue the day we embarked on this social experiment with what at one time was the greatest phone network in the world. In the meantime, if you feel better blaming the deadbeats for all the problems, go ahead and do so I guess. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Jan 1997 08:25:39 EST From: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu (TELECOM Digest Editor) Subject: Some Passing Thoughts Weather and Illness: Last week in this area, we experienced some *awful* winter weather with temperatures for about three days running of zero or below, with six to eight inches of snow on the ground. I got sick from something on Friday and thought I was going to die; that is how nauseated and light-headed I was for a couple days. Most of the time I stayed in bed with blankets pulled over my head feeling quite chilled even though the inside temperature was in the seventies. Monday I still felt sort of feeble, but I am recovering from whatever it was. Now today the temperature here is in the forties ... go figure. The snow is totally melted and yesterday it rained all day, creating some *huge* puddles of water at the curbs, on all the sidewalks, etc. The Child Porn Spam Returns: In today's (Wednesday) mail, several readers sent me copies of the child porn spam again, each one beginning with the same notice that 'your name was found on a list that indicates ... ' etc. The text was changed slightly from the last one which went out, and instead of Steve whats-his-name given as the sender with a remail address in Queens, NY as the place to order, we are given some post office box in the same general territory. As before, it comes from America On Line although the sending name at AOL may be forged. The machine indicia indicates AOL once again however, and I suppose their mouthpiece there will deny it as they did before. Please do not bother forwarding copies of it to every police department, FBI agent and constable you know. It is an old, worn out spam by now. Speaking of Spams: Now they are coming from Japan. Did anyone besides me today get the one written in Japanese on the Make Money Fast theme? The one I got was earmarked for about a hundred newsgroups, but comp.dcom. telecom being moderated caused it to drop in my mailbox instead. In Japanese, mind you! Some fool at some university in Japan sent it out with an English version immediatly following the Japanese version in the same message. Make Money Fast written in Japanese, and kiddy porn advertising in the same day's mail ... good old Usenet! Cellular Phone Needed: Has anyone a used, unneeded cellular phone in working order they would send me/sell me for $25 or so? Someone literally picked my pocket when I had my coat hanging in a public place the other day and got mine. I called Frontier and had the ESN killed right away so whoever got it did not get the satisfaction of more than one or two calls. If I can get another one inexpensively -- I literally cannot afford to buy a new one right now, and Frontier supplies cellular service with any phone you happen to already have -- I will greatly appreciate it. Let me know if you have one you do not need. Digest Subscriptions for 1997: To the several of you who have given financial donations to the Digest covering 1997 subscriptions, my sincere thanks. If you have not yet sent in the suggested $20 per year donation to assist with publication and editorial costs, and can afford to do do -- and only if you feel this journal is worth it -- please do so at this time. Thanks. TELECOM Digest Post Office Box 4621 Skokie, IL 60076 PAT ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Jan 1997 16:14:21 EST From: James E Bellaire Subject: Last Laugh: AT&T Check The wording on the back of the latest carrier switch check from AT&T is interesting: "My signing, cashing and/or depositing of this check authorizes you to switch my long distance service to AT&T, unblock my carrier choice service protection to make this switch possible, and notify my local telephone company of this decision. I understand that only one long distance company may be designated for the telephone number listed on this check. My local telephone company may charge me a fee to switch my long distance service. CHECK VOID IF ALTERED." 'unblocking my carrier choice service protection'? If AT&T can get around the block on changing my default long distance carrier for these checks, what stops them from doing it when their telemarketers 'think they heard the customer say yes' before I hang up on them when they call? So much for slam protection. BTW: This check will not be cashed. It is only for $10. I'm worth more than that AT&T! James E. Bellaire bellaire@tk.com Webpage Available 23.5 Hrs a Day!!! http://www.iquest.net/~bellaire/ ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V17 #19 *****************************