Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id VAA07111; Thu, 29 Apr 1999 21:45:34 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 29 Apr 1999 21:45:34 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <199904300145.VAA07111@massis.lcs.mit.edu> To: ptownson Subject: TELECOM Digest V19 #64 TELECOM Digest Thu, 29 Apr 99 21:45:00 EDT Volume 19 : Issue 64 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson An Apology and Clarification (TELECOM Digest Editor) Job Opening: Disaster Telecomms Specialist (Chris Lowe) V-SPAN and 'Bring Your Child to Work Day' (Josh Cartagenova) User Commands For Supplementary Services on Analog Line (am354@torfee.net) NANP Running Out of Numbers in 8+ Years (Tom Lager) Legislation Passed to Tranform Satellite TV (Monty Solomon) Definition of Traffic Terms Wanted (wica@asiaonline.net) Bosch 718 GSM Phone and Serial Ports and PC (Kevin Schaffer) 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 networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, and other forums. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit, mostly non-commercial educational service offered to the Internet by Patrick Townson. All the contents of the Digest are compilation-copywrited. You may reprint articles in some other media on an occassional basis, but please attribute my work and that of the original author. Contact information: Patrick Townson/TELECOM Digest Post Office Box 765 Junction City, KS 66441-0765 Phone: 415-520-9905 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe/unsubscribe: subscriptions@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. 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Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, a gift from Mike Sandman, Chicago's Telecom Expert has enabled me to replace some obsolete computer equipment and enter the 21st century sort of on schedule. His mail order telephone parts/supplies service based in the Chicago area has been widely recognized by Digest readers as a reliable and very inexpensive source of telecom-related equipment. Please request a free catalog today at http://www.sandman.com --------------------------------------------------------------- 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. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. 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: Thu, 29 Apr 1999 19:46:01 EDT From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: An Apology and Clarification A couple days ago in an issue of the Digest, a note from Tara Mahon discussed a new service being offered by Insight Research Corporation, the company where she has been employed for quite some time. Their new product, Local Access Alert, is intended to provide rather detailed analytical and forecasting services to their clients. The price for the service was given as about twelve thousand dollars per year, and I ridiculed this as being in my opinion, a bit pricey for an information service. Tara wrote me to explain the service in a bit more detail, and I feel perhaps I owe her an apology for the cynical remarks I made as an Editor's note. Here is some of what Tara said in her reply to me, which overall was not for publication, but I do not think she will mind if I use her own words as part of the description of the service. > Yes, I understand that you feel the price is high for the service, but > let me emphasize that we are not simply taking the news and cutting > and pasting into a newsletter. Yes, anyone out there can get that > from a variety of online sources, which is why some on line news > services are struggling right now. > Our product is not simply reference material, nor something that > another company has online for free. In addition to our market > forecasts, our products have strategic and competitive analysis from > primary interviews with a variety of companies, analysis behind the > deals and mergers, and user case studies. > Let me explain it this way ... Yes, a full-time analyst at one of the > carriers could spend their days doing the research, collecting primary > data and secondary data from a variety of sources, formulating > forecast algorithms, and determining their five-year market potential > for private line services. In fact, some do do that. Others purchase > research and spend their time on actually acting upon the results and > recommendations of the research. And then, all companies have to do > their due diligence and get alternate opinions from independent > sources. They also have to conduct research into their competitors > which they themselves cannot often do. Also, they may want to get > case studies regarding customers who have already used specific > services ... this is also difficult for the carrier to get an > independent opinion. This is why they rely on Insight Research. > And when you're talking about a multi-million- or billion-dollar > market, a few thousand dollars is a relatively small price to pay for > market intelligence and analysis. > Pat, what you produce and what we produce are two very different > products. What's similar is that they have enormous value to the > right audience. > Thank you, > Tara Tara has a good point. And she has been a reader and participant here in this Digest for a number of years. I have to admit that my commentary was at least partly a 'sour grapes' kind of thing. I've never had any illusions about Making Money Fast on the Internet or otherwise, but maintaining a 'not for profit' mailing list and archives does get to be old and tiresome after awhile. But Tara certainly is not a charlatan nor does she operate some sort of 'we started on the net yesterday' company. Her new product, Local Access Alert is worth at least a look, and each viewer can decide on a personal basis about its worth in their own organization. Here are some excerpts from the original announcement, which appeared in issue 58: Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1999 11:52:51 -0400 From: Tara D. Mahon Reply-To: tara@insight-corp.com Organization: The Insight Research Corporation Subject: Local Access Alert Local Access Information Finds a Home A new continuous information service focusing on local access issues premiered last week by Insight Research, a leading provider of telecommunications market research reports. The service, Local Access Alert, features weekly news analysis, monthly analyst papers, an annual report, and telephone inquiry support, designed to provide telecom professionals with the strategic intelligence crucial to success in the local access market. In addition to performing in-depth examinations of major industry announcements, Local Access Alert will also go behind the news to probe these key industry issues: - What is the consumer and business demand for broadband access? What applications (e.g., telemedicine, distance learning, streaming video) are most likely to be used? - How and where will Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (CLECs) deploy flavors of digital subscriber lines (xDSL)? Will they be able to do it fast enough to compete with the CATV companies, who are rapidly chalking up cable modem subscribers? - Will the lines finally begin to blur between Internet Service Providers (ISPs), voice CLECs, and data CLECs, or will they each retain their separate functions? - What will be the response of the incumbent carriers (regional Bells, independent LECs) to all this action? Will they innovate and stay ahead of the curve, or will they become lumbering dinosaurs, one step shy of extinction? Philip C. Richards, Vice President of Insight and 30-year telecom industry veteran heads the innovative new service. Local Access Alert is offered annually at $11,900 for up to five registered subscribers. Complete service details and a free subscription offer are online at: http://www.insight-corp.com/local.html. For further information, please contact: Tara D. Mahon tara@insight-corp.com The Insight Research Corporation 973/605-1400 ----------------------------- Anyway Tara, readers, sorry about the sour grapes addendum to the item last Monday. Now let's continue with this issue of the Digest. PAT ------------------------------ From: Chris Lowe Subject: Employment Opportunity: Disaster Telecomms Specialist Date: Thu, 29 Apr 1999 14:31:34 -0700 Organization: CAIS Internet Telecommunications Specialist Washington, DC, USA DESCRIPTION Natural or man-made disasters occur around the world, and when they occur, disaster relief (humanitarian assistance) teams are needed to respond to these disasters. Often these teams respond to areas that are isolated or the disaster has destroyed the normal communications system. As a Disaster Relief Telecommunications Specialist, your job would be to assist team members with set up of the necessary communications systems for reporting disaster relief requirements back to the Headquarters as well as communications for coordinating the response on-scene. Responsibilities Effect voice/data communications via terrestrial or satellite based systems, between home base and isolated/remote (often cutoff) parts of the world. Will be responsible for set-up, training and operations, inventory control and minor repair to computers, radios (HF/VHF/UHF,) portable satellite phones and various other communications equipment used while deployed worldwide to disaster or humanitarian relief scenes for 30-45 days at a time. Junior and senior positions available. The uniqueness of our requirements, requires a special person with broad experiences, exceptional personalities and willingness to get along with, learn from and train others. Positions include: Paid Medical/Dental Insurance plan, paid vacation, 401K retirement plan. REQUIREMENTS: Desired Requirements *Military tele-communications background preferred or other electronics training *Valid Security Clearance *Knowledge of VSAT, Windows NT, Unix, networks, laptops, desktops, etc *Experience with Computer Networks, Video Teleconferencing, HF/VHF/UHF radio networks *All around general Electronics Technician *Ham radio *Bi-lingual Spanish/English or French/English, pluses *Excellent personal skills *Ability to communicate effectively, both written and verbally (English, primarily) *Previous experience with the UN, USAID, ARC, ICRC or other NGO valuable Minimum Requirements *US Citizenship/valid passport *Willingness to travel worldwide on minimal notice for up to 45 days at a time *Radio or computer technical background *Proficient in Internet, email, word processing, spreadsheets, etc *Open minded to all cultures *Valid drivers license. (Good driving record) *Must be in excellent health *Must have an exceptional ability to work with personalities of all types *Willingness to learn and do fast *Eligibility for a security clearance *High School diploma with some college or technical school mailto:lowe@darlington.com (Chris Lowe) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 29 Apr 1999 09:57:49 -0400 From: Josh Cartagenova Subject: V-SPAN and 'Bring Your Child to Work Day' Contact: V-SPAN Joshua Cartagenova Marketing Manager 610-382-4056 Email: joshc@vspan.com V-SPAN TAKES A VIRTUAL APPROACH TO "BRING YOUR CHILD TO WORK DAY" V-SPAN holds the 3rd annual "Bring your Child to Work Day" via Videoconference King of Prussia, PA --April 29, 1999 With over 400 excited children from around the world, V-SPAN, the largest privately held teleconferencing and gateway services provider, held the 3rd annual "Bring Your Child to Work Day" via a videoconference. The two sessions included 20 global clients and 400 children that took part in the "Virtual V-SPAN Jeopardy Game". "This year's virtual 'Bring your Child to Work Day' was the largest and most successful to date. It is always a pleasure to watch the children as they participate in their first videoconference. They become increasingly excited when they realize that other children from around the globe can hear and see them in real time", states Ken Hayward, president of V-SPAN. The "Virtual V-SPAN Jeopardy Game", which was hosted by, V-SPAN's co-founder and Director of Managed Conference Services, Neil Suhre, involved Mr. Suhre posing a variety of questions about children's television shows to the participants. The children's correct answer resulted in team points. At the conclusion of the 45-minute game sessions, the winning teams were congratulated and prizes were sent to all participants. "With hundreds of children participating at more than 20 different locations around the world, the popularity of this special event is unquestionable. It was exciting to introduce videoconferencing to this group. It is this technology, specifically, that impacts their lives by allowing parents to spend more time at home instead of 'on the road'", said Neil Suhre, Director of V-SPAN's Managed Conference Services Group. About V-SPAN: V-SPAN is a worldwide leader in gateway and teleconferencing services, specializing in the management of large, multipoint videoconferences. V-SPAN is primarily engaged in providing videoconferencing connectivity and gateway services to the interactive visual communications marketplace. The organization has become recognized as a global market leader in the delivery of "virtual meeting services" to corporations, government, and educational institutions. V-SPAN services include: gateway connectivity, videoconference network management, award-winning Managed Conference Services Group, multipoint bridging services, Internet streaming, Web-Enhanced Teleconferencing, worldwide scheduling & reservations and help desk services. V-SPAN Corporate headquarters is located in the Philadelphia, PA area with offices nationwide. For additional information about V-SPAN services and unrivaled customer dedication, please contact 1-888-44V-SPAN or visit our Web site at www.vspan.com. Joshua Cartagenova Marketing Manager V-SPAN Virtual Connectivity...Anyplace @ Anytime 1100 First Ave, Ste 400 - King of Prussia, PA 19406 Ph: 610-382-4056 Fx: 610-382-1099 E: joshc@vspan.com ------------------------------ From: am354@torfree.net Subject: User Commands For Supplementary Services on Analog Lines Date: Thu, 29 Apr 1999 14:30:45 GMT Organization: Deja News - The Leader in Internet Discussion Supplementary services like: Call Waiting, Call Hold, Call Conference/ Transfer are available on variety of equipment: switches, PBX-es, key systems, ISDN TAs and access routers. I noticed that the user interface implemented on analog phone lines in order to support them (hook flash, double hook flash, various star/pound prefixed/postfixed numbers) is largely equipment dependent. Is there any kind of standard in this area? Is it a unique set of user commands in the case of an analog line connected to a 5ESS or a DMS100 switch or, to some degree, the command set is configurable by the switch operator? Thanks, Adrian ------------------------------ From: pteng@ptd.net (Tom Lager) Subject: NANP Running Out of Numbers in 8+ Years Date: Thu, 29 Apr 1999 08:34:01 -0400 Pat, I have been reading some of the comments on the newsgroups concerning the fact that we only have a little over 8 years before North America runs out of telephone numbers. I have a solution, that is so simple probably no one in authority will want to hear it. It doesn't involve any complex schemes such as adding digits and making numbers longer. There are no special characters involved. We should simply do what has worked so well since the beginning of all number dialing and that is a split. All we need to do is to split world zone 1 into two zones. This would effectively double the available numbers. I think the number and complexity of translation changes necessary would be minimal when compared to those needed to make switches accept an entirely different format for telephone numbers. Think about it. Tom Lager General Manager Palmerton Telephone Company Serving the Beautiful Blue Mountain Valley Since 1900 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I suggested this at one point a few years ago, before the present scheme was started which no longer requires 0/1 as the second digit of the area code. My suggestion was like this: divide the USA in two parts, possibly along the Mississippi River like the radio station division between 'W' and 'K' stations. Divide the present country code 1 into two parts, or perhaps three parts if Canada is to be included, known as 12, 13, and 14. Anyone calling within their own 'country code' would continue to dial seven, ten or eleven digits as they do now. To call the other side of the USA, 'international' dialing procedures would be used, as we do now with '011'. 011 would continue to be 'international, anywhere else' while 012 was one part of the USA, 013 was another. People in other countries calling here would instead dialing country code 1 start dialing country code 12, 13, etc, plus the ten digit number. They would *not* be referred to as 'country codes' where the USA was concerned, but perhaps as 'zone codes'. This would require very little programming, and I doubt very many hardware changes. Each central office would have to be programmed for which (existing) area codes were in its 'zone'and which ones required the 01x addition. A permissive dialing period could go on for a couple years, perhaps with a short recorded message inserted when a call to an area code no longer in the same 'zone' was dialed, saying something like, 'remember, beginning Saturday, (date), calls to this point must be dialed 01x, and then the area code and number. Calls *within* your zone are dialed as you have done in the past. Begin using this new procedure now please.' During the permissive period, neither 'side' would assign an area code currently used by the 'other side', instead, drawing from the available reserve. Even after the permissive period ended, I think it would be wise to go as long as possible without either side replicating an existing area code from the other side, at least until most people had forgotten about the old style numbering scheme. This way, there is no need for extensive modifications enabling the switch to deal with eight digits locally. The switches can already deal with quite a few digits following '011' and it should be simple enough to teach the switch a new definition for 'international'. Perhaps my suggested point for the division would not be best; telcos are not radio stations after all, and there are enough people along the Mississipi River on either side who would be inconvenienced by having their neighbor be an 'international point' (gee, we thought having to dial ten digits to reach the person across town was bad enough). Maybe the division would be so that there were an equal number of existing area codes on each side of it, or maybe the division would be in some less populated area like western Kansas or Nebraska. I think it makes better sense that way than spending how-many-ever billions of dollars modifying all the switches and everyone having to dial eight digits all the time instead of people having to dial three extra digits some of the time. PAT] ------------------------------ Reply-To: Monty Solomon From: Monty Solomon Subject: Legislation Passed to Tranform Satellite TV Date: Wed, 28 Apr 1999 13:15:00 -0400 http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/04/biztech/articles/28satellite.html By STEPHEN LABATON WASHINGTON -- The House approved broad legislation Tuesday that rewrites the rules for the satellite television industry, permitting companies to broadcast local television programs and long-distance signals that have until recently been either restricted or more costly. The legislation passed 422 to 1, with the lone dissenting vote cast by Representative Robert Brady, Democrat of Pennsylvania. It imposes a new "must carry" requirement backed by cable companies that mandates that satellite companies like Echostar Communications and Direct TV that decide to offer any local signals must also offer all local programming in those markets by 2002. Supporters of the bill said it was intended to resolve long-running disputes between the satellite and broadcasting industries, while also helping the satellite companies compete with cable television, which many analysts say holds a monopoly in many markets. "This will level the playing field between cable versus satellite," said Representative Howard Coble, Republican of North Carolina, the chief sponsor of the legislation. "With this new competition will come better services at lower prices." Representative Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts, the senior Democrat on the House telecommunications subcommittee, said, "I can't imagine in this video revolution that we're facing a bigger moment than today." The House action comes nearly one month after the cable industry was deregulated from most price controls set by the Government under a three-year-old law that had assumed greater competition between operators of cable television and satellites. Although subscriptions to satellite television have grown significantly in recent months, consumer groups have said that the high cost of satellite dishes and other equipment necessary to receive signals combined with the lack of local programming has discouraged true competition to the cable companies. The legislation also follows recent court decisions that had threatened to reduce the attractiveness of satellite television to consumers by restricting its ability to broadcast signals of the major networks. Current law permits satellite companies to beam network signals if those customers cannot receive local stations using rooftop antennas. Consumer advocates said the legislation would be helpful to viewers, but was only a modest beginning. "It's a small step in the right direction," said Gene Kimmelman, the co-director of the Washington office of Consumers Union and a leading opponent of the deregulation of the cable industry. Lobbyists and executives from the satellite television industry generally praised the legislation. The legislation permits satellite companies to carry the same local-broadcast affiliates that are provided by cable rivals. Current law restricts consumers from receiving satellite retransmission of network programming if local channels can be received by an antenna. It reduces the copyright fees on satellite companies for carrying superstation and distant network stations. And it eliminates a provision in the current law that requires consumers of cable television to wait for three months after they cancel their cable service before receiving satellite service. Similar legislation has already been adopted by two Senate committees and could be debated on the floor of that chamber next month, aides said today. Lobbyists and executives from the satellite television industry generally praised the legislation. "We're pleased with the bill," said Andrew R. Paul, a senior vice president of the Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association. Still, Mr. Paul and others from the industry said legislative battles remain ahead over several of its provisions. Bob Marsocci, a spokesman for Direct TV, said that although the legislation was "a step in the right direction," it contained some provisions that the company would continue to lobby against. For instance, satellite companies oppose a provision that would require them to provide roof antennas to subscribers who lose distant network signals. Copyright 1999 The New York Times Company ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Apr 1999 15:41:14 +0800 From: wica@asiaonline.net Subject: Definition of Traffic Terms Wanted Do you have the "OFFICIAL" definition of 1) incoming traffic 2) refile traffic, 3) transit traffic Thanks, Ron B ------------------------------ From: Kevin Schaffer Subject: Bosch 718 GSM Phone and Serial Ports and PC Date: Thu, 29 Apr 1999 14:59:21 -0400 Organization: Ford Motor Company Does anyone know if the Bosch 718 GSM phone can be controlled by the serial port? I have used the serial port in the past to control an Ascom Axento GSM phone using the GSM Hayes AT-style commands to place voice (not data) calls. This is, for example, ATDT 5551212; where the semicolon forces it to make a voice rather than data call. The computer becomes a $2,000.00 12-button keypad for placing voice calls. I am having extreme difficulties drilling through the Omnipoint technical support, even though they assured me as I was buying two of these that it could be done. I have their PC-Editor software, which reads and writes address book entries, no doubt using the GSM AT command subset that handles this, so I know my cables (supplied with the software) and phone are OK. It's just that in Hyperterminal, none of the usual suspects work: 9600, 19200, N81, E72, etc. I get no response at all, neither garbage or otherwise, in Hyperterminal. Has anybody actually done this with a Bosch phone? More info: I am NOT trying to make a data call (est. 7-10 minutes to get a phone technician to understand this). I do not need the $600.00 data modem to sit between the phone and the PC. I am NOT trying to pipe the voice signal (analog audio, whatever) through the PC to a PC speaker, nor use the PC microphone as the mic. (est. 3 more minutes to get a phone technician to understand this). My 30 day no-questions return policy is up in a week or so, so I'm naturally starting to lose hair over this. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V19 #64 *****************************