Return-Path: Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.7.4/NSCS-1.0S) id XAA19679; Wed, 28 May 1997 23:06:09 -0400 (EDT) Date: Wed, 28 May 1997 23:06:09 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <199705290306.XAA19679@massis.lcs.mit.edu> To: ptownson Subject: TELECOM Digest V17 #135 TELECOM Digest Wed, 28 May 97 23:05:00 EDT Volume 17 : Issue 135 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Need Help Dealing With Ameritech (Jeff Allen) UCLA Short Course on "Fiber Optic ICs for Gigabit Ethernet" (Bill Goodin) UCLA Short Course on "Wireless Multimedia Communications" (Bill Goodin) Book Review: "SGML on the Web: Small Steps Beyond HTML" (Rob Slade) AT&T, Pac Tel, SW Bell to Merge? (Tad Cook) New AT&T Calling Card Rates (Dave Stott) True AT&T Promo: 5cpm (Tel-One Network Services) Krazy Kevin Sued by New York Attorney General (Peter Juhl) PC/Cellular - Help ! (scicluna@imaginet.fr) Remote Access Study (Adam R. Jung) 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: * subscriptions@telecom-digest.org * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: Post Office Box 4621 Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 847-727-5427 Fax: 773-539-4630 ** Article submission address: editor@telecom-digest.org ** Our archives are available for your review/research. The URL is: http://telecom-digest.org (WWW/http only!) They can also be accessed using anonymous ftp: ftp hyperarchive.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives (or use our mirror site: ftp ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) A third method is the Telecom Email Information Service: Send a note to archives@telecom-digest.org to receive a help file for using this method or write me and ask for a copy of the help file for the Telecom Archives. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 28 May 1997 17:09:19 PDT From: Jeff Allen Subject: Need Help Dealing With Ameritech Reply-To: Jeff Allen I work for WebTV Networks. As I am sure you know, the boxes owned by our customers attempt to make only local calls, or at least warn them before making toll calls. When our database (which we purchase from CCMI) is out of tune with reality, our customers sometimes get charged for calls which they weren't warned about. This makes them mad, and they call me. (Well, to be precise, they get escalated to me.) Anyway, I usually solve these things by talking with the local telco's billing department and getting the confirmation from them about the actual rating of the call. Because many of our POP numbers are provided by very new competitive exchanges (MFS, PacWest, and Eastern Telelogic, among others) there are often billing errors that can be ironed out pretty quickly by the business office. There are, of course, also CCMI errors that we prompt them to correct. All this is tedius and annoying, but it generally works OK. However, I have been totally unable to get anywhere on an increasing number of complaints coming from Ameritech customers. The problem is that apparently Ameritech's business office has been given strict orders not to make any comments about the cost of a call (what band it's in, timed/untimed, _anything_) about calls from Ameritech exchanges to MFS/Intellinet exchanges. They say that calls to an exchange operated by MFS are priced by MFS, and that Ameritech has nothing to do with billing for the call. Of course, when I talk to MFS they say this is insane: the originating carrier charges, if the call needs to be charged at all. And only the originating carrier will know whether or not the tariff says the call is timed. I called the PUC and got some Office of Executive Appeals. Then I got some nice lady who promised to find the right person to find out why it was impossible to simply verify the price of a call. Eventually I got help from a guy who told me that I simply needed to have the billing office conference me to the local operator. But I had no luck with that, and he basically agreed that it was impossible to find out if a given call between Ameritech and MFS was timed or not. I will be calling the nice lady back soon and telling her the guy was not at all helpful. I'm at wit's end. I need two answers, and I don't know where to look for them. First, I need to know why it is that Ameritech is unwilling to confirm what band a call is in, if and only if it's to an MFS exchange. Second, I need to know, in general, how I can find out if a call from an Ameritech exhcange to an MFS one is timed or not. I'd be eternally grateful for whatever light you can shed on this issue. Jeff R. Allen | jra@corp.webtv.net (work) WebTV Networks, Inc. | jeff.allen@acm.org (personal) Service Operations Toolsmith | http://www.webtv.net [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: While this is not intended to excuse Ameritech in any way, I suggest you may be able to find out what you want by getting copies of the tariff for yourself and reading them. Ameritech cannot forbid you to have copies of the tariffs and in fact must have them available for review by the public at some public location. If you can get the competitors you use to tell you where the exchanges assigned to them are located, it should be too hard at that point to relate each of those (competitive) exchanges to the comparable geographic area of Ameritech. Very likely those would be local and untimed calls. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Bill Goodin Subject: UCLA Short Course on "Fiber Optic ICs for Gigabit Ethernet" Date: Wed, 28 May 1997 11:54:09 -0700 On August 25-27, 1997, UCLA Extension will present the short course, "Fiber Optic ICs for Gigabit Ethernet", on the UCLA campus in Los Angeles. The instructors are Bahram Jalali, PhD, Associate Professor, Electrical Engineering Department, UCLA; Anthony F.J. Levi, PhD, Professor, Electrical Engineering Department, USC; and Ty Yoon, MS, Senior Design Manager, Fiber IC. Since 1984, Ethernet has revolutionized the way in which we communicate and conduct business. The mammoth growth in the number of nodes worldwide, in addition to fundamental changes in the format of electronic communication, is fueling the evolution of the Ethernet. Several factors highlight the need for a drastic increase in bandwidth, and are responsible for the current effort to develop the Gigabit Ethernet: the rapid growth in multimedia communication over the Ethernet is causing severe traffic problems; a large number of Fast Ethernet (100Mbit/s) switches are being deployed and Gbit/s links are needed to connect them together and to servers; the processing power of personal computers has doubled every 18 months--today, a PCI bus in a modern PC is capable of producing Gbit/s bursts of data. In light of these emerging trends, Gigabit Ethernet is the networking technology of choice. It is a straightforward and low-risk evolution of the Fast Ethernet network and is based on a familiar and proven networking protocol. It is expected to be cheaper than other alternative networks, such as the 622Mbit/s ATM, and is better suited for IP-based applications. This course addresses how the emergence of Gigabit Ethernet underscores the need for low-cost ICs running at Gbit/s data rates. It begins with an overview of Gigabit Ethernet at the networking level and defines the specification for electronic and optoelectronic components in the system. Various semiconductor IC technologies are considered and a detailed comparison in terms of cost and performance is made, followed by a review of the state-of-the-art Gbit/s communication ICs and optoelectronic devices. The course presents detailed circuit architectures for various components, and optimum circuit architectures and design methodologies, as well as design examples, are examined. One of the exciting new developments in circuit design is Gbit/s analog ICs made possible with the state-of-the-art scaled CMOS technologies. Extensive coverage of the Gbit/s CMOS IC technology as well as issues related to packaging and testing of high-speed communication circuits are provided. The course fee is $1295, which includes extensive course materials. These notes are for participants only, and are not for sale. For additional information and a complete course description, please contact Marcus Hennessy at: (310) 825-1047 (310) 206-2815 fax mhenness@unex.ucla.edu http://www.unex.ucla.edu/shortcourses This course may also be presented on-site at company locations. ------------------------------ From: Bill Goodin Subject: UCLA Short Course on "Wireless Multimedia Communications" Date: Wed, 28 May 1997 12:03:04 -0700 On August 25-27, 1997, UCLA Extension will present the short course, "Wireless Multimedia Communications", on the UCLA campus in Los Angeles. The instructors are Ellen Wesel, PhD, Senior Scientist, Hughes Communications; and Richard Wesel, PhD, Assistant Professor, Electrical Engineering Department, UCLA. Each participant receives the text, "Wireless Multimedia Communications: Networking Video, Voice and Data", E. Wesel (Addison-Wesley 1997), and lecture notes. New applications have defined the need for high data rate systems carrying multimedia traffic. Users enjoying multimedia applications such as video conferencing, advanced web-browsing, and interactive games on their desktop computers want to extend that capability to mobile environments. Wireless networks support mobility. They allow instant access to the files on your desktop, the library, and other users in all types of indoor or outdoor environments. This course provides an introduction to the problems and solutions of communicating multimedia traffic at high data rates over a radio channel. The lectures focus on explaining concepts, and introduce mathematical derivations only to explain details of the phenomenon or to allow application of the concept. Participants explore the building blocks of wireless multimedia systems, starting with the physical layer of the Open Systems Interface (OSI) stack and modeling the radio channel impairments, including path loss and multipath. The course includes the infrared and satellite wireless channels, and introduces the digital modulation approaches used to convey information over these channels. Participants explore block, convolutional, concatenated, and turbo codes over fading channels, and discuss lossy and lossless compression to send more data over the radio channel's finite bandwidth. Wireless communications are vulnerable to eavesdropping, and the lectures cover some of the privacy and authentication approaches used to make the link private and secure. The course evaluates medium access control (MAC) protocols such as time-division multiple access (TDMA), frequency-division multiple access (FDMA), code-division multiple access (CDMA), and carrier-sense multiple access (CSMA) in terms of their performance in carrying multimedia traffic over wireless channels. Network issues such as multihop, roaming, and routing are briefly mentioned. As asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) becomes an important protocol over the wired backbone, researchers have extended its services to the wireless link. The course discusses some of the possible approaches to support wireless ATM. Finally, the course reviews current spectrum and inter-national standardization activities in the context of FCC and ITU regulatory functions, and provides examples of existing radio, infrared and satellite systems. The course fee is $1195, which includes the course text and extensive course materials. These notes are for participants only, and are not for sale. For additional information and a complete course description, please contact Marcus Hennessy at: (310) 825-1047 (310) 206-2815 fax mhenness@unex.ucla.edu http://www.unex.ucla.edu/shortcourses This course may also be presented on-site at company locations. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 May 1997 10:49:22 EST From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "SGML on the Web: Small Steps Beyond HTML" BKSWSSBH.RVW 970226 "SGML on the Web Small Steps Beyond HTML", Yuri Rubinsky/Murray Maloney, 1997, 0-13-519984-0, U$44.95/C$62.95 %A Yuri Rubinsky %A Murray Maloney %C One Lake St., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 %D 1997 %G 0-13-519984-0 %I Prentice Hall %O U$44.95/C$62.95 +1-201-236-7139 fax: 201-236-7131 beth_hespe@prenhall.com %P 499 %S Charles F. Goldfarb Series on Open Information Management %T "SGML on the Web Small Steps Beyond HTML" HTML (HyperText Markup Language) is written in SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language). SGML's most successful, or certainly most widely known, application is HTML. This book starts by using a simplified version of HTML as an example of the construction of an SGML DTD (Document Type Definition). Having established the basics, the book goes on to show how SGML can be used to define extensions to HTML, or simply create more advanced types of documents. For those who already know HTML, this provides a very clear introduction to advanced document handling. (And these days, who doesn't know HTML?) copyright Robert M. Slade, 1997 BKSWSSBH.RVW 970226 roberts@decus.ca rslade@vcn.bc.ca rslade@vanisl.decus.ca ------------------------------ Subject: AT&T, Pac Tel, SW Bell to Merge? Date: Tue, 27 May 1997 23:59:18 PDT From: tad@ssc.com (Tad Cook) Phone giants AT&T and SBC in merger talks NEW YORK (AP) -- Telecommunications giants AT&T Corp. and SBC Communications Corp. are in talks to join forces in a $50 billion merger that would be the largest in history, {The Wall Street Journal} reported today. People close to the talks warned that such a deal would face numerous obstacles from regulators and competitors, including a federal ban on SBC's competing in the long-distance market until its own local market opens to competitors, the newspaper said. SBC had no comment, spokesman Larry Solomon said today in San Antonio. The company owns Southwestern Bell and Pacific Telesis and provides local phone service to seven of the 10 largest U.S. cities. Added AT&T spokeswoman Ruthlyn Newell: "As a matter of policy, we don't comment on rumors or speculation about mergers, acquisitions, divestitures or other business combinations." Combined, AT&T and SBC would have $80 billion a year in revenues, 230,000 workers, 60 percent of the $80 billion long-distance market, and virtual control over local phone and wireless services throughout the Southwest and California. Such a merger could make it harder for smaller telecommunications companies to build global networks, and hit hard the new concerns that have invested billions to gain wireless licenses or provide Internet access, the Journal said. The proposed merger would be the first joining of AT&T and a regional Bell phone company since the landmark breakup of the former American Telephone and Telegraph Co. in 1984. AT&T stock was up 3.8 percent on the report, rising $1.37 1/2 per share to $37.50 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange. SBC was up 1.5 percent, or 87 1/2 cents at $57.75. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 May 1997 17:26:20 -0700 From: Dave Stott Reply-To: dstott@mtg.com Organization: MTG Subject: New AT&T Calling Card Rates Pat, In today's (5/28/97) {Wall Street Journal}, page C5, there appears a "Notice to AT&T Customers." Here are the general changes -- my questions are in parentheses. Basically AT&T is changing calling card calls for both customer and operator dialed calls to $0.35 per minute, regardless of time or distance. (I wonder if that includes intraLATA calls?) On calling card calls placed via 1-800-CALLATT and billed to an AT&T card, the service charge drops from $0.90 to $0.35 per call. If you use another method for accessing the AT&T network (1-800-321-0288?), the charge drops from $0.90 to $0.60. If you bill to a LEC calling card (can you still do that? Where?) the fee drops from $1.20 per call to $0.60 per call. Finally, if you access their network other than 1-800-CALLATT and bill to a LEC card, the fee is now $0.95. ------------------------------ From: telone@shout.net (Tel-One Network Services) Subject: True AT&T Promo: 5cpm Date: 28 May 1997 22:05:26 GMT Organization: Tel-One Network Services The following is the scanned version of the most recent AT&T tariff containing a promotion for California subscribers called "Green Sense". Do you think they got that campaign from Sprint? Note: THIS IS an actual AT&T Tariff which was sent to our office as part of the Public Utility Commission's requirement that they send to all competiting entities, so it's genuine and *not* a reseller's promotion of an SDN plan: -- CUT here --- AT&T Communications of California, Inc. SCHEDULE CAL.P.U.C.NO. A13-T San Francisco, California 2nd Revised Sheet 42 Cancels lst Revised Sheet 42 Network Services Tariff A13. CONSUMER COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES PROMOTIONS 13.1 GENERAL REGULATIONS RULE NO. 27 - PROMOTIONAL OFFERINGS (Cont'd) 13.1.38 AT&T Green Sense Promotion Effective December 20, 1996, through July 31, 1997, Residential Customers can enroll in this promotion, which is an add-on to Interstate's AT&T Green Sense Promotion or AT&T Green Sense II Promotion. All terms and conditions are contained in AT&T's Tariff F.C.C. No. 27. During this promotion, the following rates are applicable to eligible calls all day, seven days a week, for both the initial and additional minutes. CLASS RATE PER MINUTE SERVICE CHARGE Dial Station $ .05 - interLATA calls None $ .05 - intraLATA calls None Card Calls $ .25 - interLATA calls $ .25 $ .20 - intraLATA calls $ .20 This promotion is available where facilities and billing capabilities permit. Advice Letter No. 1076 Issued by Date Filed: May 27, 1997 Decision No. M. D. Hovermale Effective: Jun. 01, 1997 Resolution No. District Manager ------------------------------ From: Peter Juhl Subject: Krazy Kevin Sued by New York Attorney General Date: Wed, 28 May 1997 08:40:11 +0200 Found on http://www.fraud.org/report.htm, about actions takenby FTC against magazine "sellers", 2. Kevin Jay Lipsitz, of Staten Island, NY, doing business as Collegtown Magazine Subscription Services, Krazy Kevin's Magazine Club, Magazine Club Inquiry Center, Tempting Tear-outs, and SI Mag Sub Service, Inc. The New York Attorney General alleges that Lipsitz deceptively offers discount magazine subscriptions via unsolicited e-mail but never places the subscription orders with the publishers or does so only after an extensive delay. peter [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: We have known for a few years now how sleazy Kevin is. The sad part is when I posted on him in great detail a couple years ago while the Digest was being published at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, Kevin's response was to go on a major attack at the university level, literally calling trustees at their homes at night, etc. I reported here that Kevin was posting messages with forged headers claiming to be from a female 'university student' in some foreign country -- 'she' was always part of some 'student association' -- with the gist of the message always being that the students in that foreign country loved to read American magazines and that they had found a 'great company' in Staten Island, NY which gave them as students very good deals. I reported then that he was as bogus as a three dollar bill and I published several **PUBLIC RECORDS** of the City and State of New York regards Kevin. That is when he went on the attack against me and this Digest, and tried everything in his power to get all my accounts turned off, etc. It is unfortunate that Northwestern University gave any credence at all to his complaints. With a little luck, maybe he will get some prison time, or at least some heavy-duty probation. PAT] ------------------------------ From: scicluna@imaginet.fr (scicluna) Subject: PC/Cellular - Help ! Date: Wed, 28 May 97 19:07:29 GMT Organization: ImagiNET Reply-To: scicluna@imaginet.fr Bonjour, We are a French/American team conducting a project of bungalow hotel on the southern coast of Guatemala. As we do not get any tel facilities there and than we DO need tel/fax/internet services, we plan to use a computer connected to a cellular phone. We plan to buy both PC and tel. material in USA. We must solve two problems: -1-Do we find cellular phone suitable with the Guatemalan standard (800-AMPS) on sales in USA. -2-Does a "standard" PC (portable) can be protected from the very salty humidity existing in this zone? I mean a simple protection evoiding special and very expensive "tropicalized" PC. Could someone help? Thanks in advance, Frederic ------------------------------ From: Adam R. Jung Subject: Remote Access Study Date: Wed, 28 May 1997 12:59:07 -0700 Organization: Wolfe Internet Access, L.L.C. Good day to everyone! Here is your chance to spread your knowledge and help shape future enterprise-level remote access product offerings! Our organization, BrandSolutions (out of Seattle, WA) is conducting an industry study on remote access products. More specifically, we are looking to talk to companies that currently own, or have considered purchasing, a REMOTE ACCESS CONCENTRATOR (aka ACCESS SWITCH). A remote access concentrator (RAC) is considered to be a high port density version of a REMOTE ACCESS SERVER designed to support over 24 simultaneous remote users. We are talking to MIS professionals from around the country. As an honorarium for your valuable opinions and insights, we are offering $50 for participation in the study. All that is involved is a brief 20 minute phone conversation. We will also provide for you an executive summary of the findings of the study. These insights will help you benchmark your situation and needs compared to others in similar situations. To contribute your knowledge to the study, please email us at ajung@brand.com, or call (206) 284-5060 to set up a convenient time to have the discussion. Thanks so much! ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V17 #135 ******************************