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                         World News

                   
Following News Information provided by: David Hightower
Source: BOARDWATCH Magazine BBS

RUSSIA - SPRINT NETWORKS TO START LOCAL MANUFACTURING
MOSCOW, RUSSIA, 1993 MAR 25 (NB) -- Sprint Networks and
the Central Communications Research Institute has announced
an agreement to manufacture Telenet packet switching
equipment in Russia.

The special laboratory and production facilities are to be
created within the Institute, which is the leading design
center for communications equipment in the former Soviet
Union, according to Sprint Network representatives.

The joint facility will make packet assemblers-
disassemblers (PADs) and network control centers,
producing the complete set of equipment to set up an
X.25 network.

According to Mikhail Muraev of Sprint Moscow, production
should reach the local market in mid-summer 1993, with
the resulting products being "attractively priced."

(Kirill Tchashchin/19930323/Press Contact: Sprint
Networks Moscow, phone +7 095 201-6890)


 ****TELECOM EXECS SPAR WITH CONGRESS, EACH OTHER
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1993 MAR 25 (NB) -- A day after issuing
a press statement endorsing the Clinton Administration's telecom
policy as one, top telephone industry executives were back at
each others' throats in a hearing before Rep. Edward Markey's
House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on telecommunications
and finance.

At issue was whether the Regional Bell Operating Companies have
invested heavily enough in their local loops to make fast data
networks useful, and when they should get the authority over
pricing they seek.

Ameritech has proposed the most far-reaching plan in this
area, offering to open its network to local competition if it can
immediately enter the long distance business and set prices as it
sees fit. However, AT&T Chairman Robert Allen, in his opening
statement, questioned whether the plan goes far enough. "Local
exchanges are locked tighter than a drum," he said.

Spokesman Jim McGann later confirmed the view to Newsbytes.
"He said the local network needs to be wider, faster, more
responsive, and at some point not a monopoly." AT&T's view on
the Ameritech proposal remains that it is encouraging, but
doesn't go far enough. "You can't declare competition.
Competition has to arrive" before pricing restrictions are
removed.

Of course, Ameritech Vice Chairman Richard Brown did not see
it that way. He called present regulations, "outmoded" and
"antiquated," and the assumption that his company even holds a
monopoly today false.

Comcast President Brian Roberts agreed with Allen, however, and
disagreed with Brown, stating that the regional Bells do indeed
hold monopolies that stifle competition. McCaw Chairman Craig
McCaw said the whole emphasis on who controls wiring is
misplaced. With 200 megahertz of new frequency being opened up,
and highly-advanced services operating at even higher frequencies
between 18-20 gigahertz, they are more like a "leash that
chokes us" than anything else.

All four agreed on one thing, however, McGann said. "They agreed
that the government should not mandate" new services like ISDN
(Integrated Services Digital Networks), no matter how desirable.
If local phone companies follow through on their present
commitments, to make ISDN standard on most phone lines by 1995,
doing nothing will appear to be a sage policy.

Doing nothing seemed to be Markey's conclusion, too. "The role of
government in actually building a telecommunications
infrastructure for the country is limited," he said. "There is a
lot of consensus on the government's role," added McGann. Funding
for experiments will continue, mandates on investment will not
start soon.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930324/Press Contact: AT&T, Jim McGann,
202-457-3942)


FLEET CALL BECOMES NEXTEL
ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 25 (NB) -- Fleet Call,
which has been working to turn a series of radio licenses into a
competitor to local cellular services, said it is changing its
name to Nextel Communications.

The company has no effective date for the change, but it will
likely happen in a few months or so. Nextel said it will have an
all-digital, fully integrated wireless service later this year,
with service throughout most of California by January, 1994.

Nextel owns a number of, what are called, "Specialized Mobile
Radio" licenses in major markets. These are frequency channels
close to those of cellular service providers. The licenses were
first given out in the early 1980s, mainly for use by local
ambulance and taxi companies, with one antenna and calling
channel per license.

Nextel is using a Motorola technology called Enhanced
SMR, related to TDMA, which transforms those frequencies into
digital networks capable of handling both voice and data. The
company is also adding antennae to its service areas to extend
the reach of its service, and linking its licensed service areas
with the same roaming technology used by cellular companies.
The result, it hopes, is a full competitor to cellular, fully-
digital now instead of at some future date.

Once the California market is linked-up, the company expects to
put New York and Chicago on-line in mid-1994, with its Texas
markets of Dallas and Houston being activated in mid-1995. The
advantages for customers, the company says, include one billing
for such services as vehicle dispatch and paging, as well as
wireless telephone service. The disadvantage, however, is reach.

Most cellular service providers allow nationwide roaming, so
customers can get the service from anywhere. Nextel's system
will not be able to do that for years, since many SMR licensees
still run standard analog networks, or digital systems using
different schemes, like one sold by Racotek of Minneapolis.

"We are part of what's known as the Digital Mobile Network
Roaming Consortium, which will cover the major population
centers, starting with the top 30 markets," spokesman John
Hayden told Newsbytes. "That consists of companies like
ourselves in the SMR business who will join together and form
roaming capabilities in major cities. Discom, which is the
third-largest SMR provider, is being merged with us, and we
should then provide a single seamless network from Maine to
Virginia. We'll also get into Minneapolis, Phoenix, and Tucson."

Motorola plans on installing similar systems, but their final
role has yet to be determined, Hayden said.

As Nextel rolls-out, he added, its marketing thrust will change.
"We see because we'll offer a robust inter-connect we can
broaden our audience. But our initial target will be commercial
and business-oriented."

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930325/Press Contact: Fleet Call, John
Hayden, 201/438-1400)


ROLM TO RESELL INTERVOICE APPLICATIONS
DALLAS, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 25 (NB) -- InterVoice has
announced that Siemens' Rolm unit will re-sell its RobotOperator
interactive voice response system with its software and flagship
CBX private branch exchange (PBX).

It is the second major win in a month for Intervoice. Earlier, MCI
had said it will buy $4 million-worth of the company's equipment
for use in its voice response systems.

RobotOperator is based on the IBM PS/2 platform, but interfaces
with any computer and/or PBX. It offers voice recognition and
fax-back capabilities, and can connect to digital lines and trunks,
handle Caller ID data, and send calls to multiple locations.

Many companies are interested in marrying the reliability of
their PBXs with the processing power of their computer systems,
noted spokesman Dorothy Botnick to Newsbytes. The problem in
the past was that PBXs lacked intelligence while the computers
lacked reliability.

"Our system is extremely reliable," she said, using industry-
standard hardware from a third party. We have maintenance
agreements with IBM for on-site maintenance. We've installed
over 3,000 systems, everything from call-ins in Istanbul to
replacing time cards at Northrop. Simon & Schuster is using us
for order entry, and the list of applications goes on and on."
That includes many overseas sites. Intervoice has sales
offices in Paris and Singapore.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930325/Press Contact: InterVoice,
Dorothy Botnick, 214/497-8771)


HONG KONG - FIRST HIGH-SPEED LEASED CIRCUIT TO BEIJING
WANCHAI, HONG KONG, 1993 MAR 25 (NB) -- The first high-speed
digital leased circuit between Beijing and Hong Kong has been
inaugurated by the Beijing Telecommunications Administration,
Hongkong Telecom, and China Hewlett-Packard, the circuit's user.

China Hewlett-Packard (CHP) is a joint venture between Hewlett-
Packard and the China Electronic Import & Export Corporation. CHP
is leasing the 64,000 bits-per-second (Kbps) circuit to connect its
internal voice and data network with Hewlett-Packard's global
network via the company's Asia Pacific regional headquarters in
Hong Kong.

"By upgrading our link through the regional office to the global
network we are removing a significant operational bottle-neck,"
said CHP General Manager Terry Cheng.

In 1992, due to an increase in demand for computer products in
China, CHP's business grew significantly. "With the pace at which
our business has been expanding it became obvious that we needed
a better communications infrastructure in order to be able to
sustain our growth and maintain our level of customer services,"
said Cheng.

Beijing Telecommunications Administration (BTA) laid a fiber-
optic cable between its international gateway exchange and the
China World Trade Center, where China Hewlett-Packard's offices
are located along with those of a number of other multinational
companies. The cable has ample capacity to satisfy the private
network demands of other customers.

"The commissioning of this link represents a high level of
cooperation between Beijing Telecommunications Administration
and Hongkong Telecom," said BTA Deputy Director Ni Yilin. "As a
result of this cooperation, a growing number of multinational
companies with offices in Beijing and Hong Kong will be able to
enjoy the advanced telecommunication services that we can
now provide."

The BTA plans to extend its fiber optic network to connect other
well-known business centers in Beijing. providing greater
customer access to high-speed digital communication service.

"There are many companies like Hewlett-Packard that have chosen
Hong Kong as the regional hub for their international private
networks. We therefore believe that there is great potential for
growth in the business of providing private leased circuits
between Hong Kong, Beijing and other major Chinese cities," said
Con Conway, director of Hongkong Telecom's Managed Accounts
Group.

Hongkong Telecom was also involved with the first high-speed
leased circuits to Shanghai and Guangzhou last year. Shanghai
and Beijing have satellite connections to Hong Kong. Other cities
in China connect with Hong Kong via these gateways.

"Our relationship with BTA is particularly strong, said Conway.
"Under an agreement reached in September last year we have been
able to offer 'one-stop shopping' to customers who want to lease
a circuit to Beijing. This was the first such agreement ever made
between a Chinese telecommunications administration and an
overseas carrier."

Hongkong Telecom has also received an order from China Hewlett-
Packard to upgrade the leased circuit used to connect its Shenzhen
manufacturing plant to the Hong Kong hub. This will be upgraded
from a 9.6Kbps to a digital 64Kbps link. The circuit is expected
to be ready by the end of this year.

"We have quite a lot of customers using international private
leased circuits (IPLC) in China," said Gary Au Yeung, product
manager, Hongkong Telecom. "Despite the longer lead time needed
to implement the IPLCs to China we seldom receive complaints
from customers concerning the reliability of the service. Unless
the customer chooses a place that is not yet developed and far
away from town, local connections should not be a problem. Most
cities in China have fiber optic connections in their infrastructure
so the IPLC service is very reliable."

To the question of how a degradation of the Sino-Hong Kong political
situation could effect the service, a Au Yeung responded that the
two are not related and that Hongkong Telecom, being a business
organization is not in a position to comment.

(Brett Cameron/19930324/Press Contact: Virginia Chi, Hongkong
Telecom, Tel:+852-883 3224;HK time is GMT + 8)


TANDEM PBX DEAL WITH SIEMENS/ROLM, ERICSSON
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 25 (NB) -- Tandem
Computers says it will be able to deliver the promised
interfaces to integrate its computers with private branch
exchange (PBX) systems from Siemens/ROLM and Ericsson.

Tandem makes computers to handle the type of processing
behind bank automated teller machines, airline reservation
systems, and grocery store debit card transactions called
on-line transaction processing (OLTP).

Tandem says the PBX switches will be used in connection with
its Call Applications Manager (CAM) system for its OLTP
computers. When used in conjunction with the new automatic
number identification (ANI), which is known to consumers as
Caller ID, operators taking calls can have customer information
on their terminal screens at the same time inbound calls are
coming in.

Savings in 800 number charges and increased efficiency in
handling customers are the two main benefits of the system,
Tandem maintains.

The new Tandem CAM interface will provide connectivity between
Tandem Nonstop systems and Ericsson's MD110 PBX system via
the MD110 Applicationlink, an open standard interface for
integrating computer applications with this Ericsson switch.
The CAM interface will also work with ROLM's 9751 Computerized
Branch Exchanges (CBX) and Siemens' Hicom 300 PBX through the
Siemens and ROLM Callbridge software.

Tandem representatives said the company prefers to describe its
computer systems as OLTP instead of midrange- to mainframe-
sized computers. The systems are fault-tolerant, meaning backups
to the system components are functioning in case a component
fails so processing is uninterrupted.

Siemens is the third-largest computer switch maker in the US,
behind Northern Telecom and AT&T. ROLM is a US joint venture
between Siemens and IBM. Stockholm, Sweden-based Ericsson
Business Networks claims it has the world's best selling PBXs,
with more than 6 million lines installed or on order in over 50
countries.

(Linda Rohrbough/19930325/Press Contact: Judy Zimbelman,
Tandem, tel 408-285-6849, fax 408-285-6938; Kathy Egan,
Ericsson, 212-685-4030; Carter Cromwell, ROLM, 408-492-2995)


INTERACTIVE PHONE TECHNOLOGY ALIVE AND GROWING
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 25 (NB) --
Conference  speakers and exhibitors at InfoText '93, a conference
and exposition directed toward the interactive telephone/fax
industry and held at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas recently,
pointed to the explosive growth experienced by this fledgling
industry.

This is evidenced by the huge influx of newspapers and other
publications utilizing this medium to help provide new, value-added
services for their readers, as well as new revenue streams for the
publishers. Also demonstrated was the mainstream acceptance of
pay-per-call and other forms of interactive audiotext by major
companies both here and abroad, including Pepsi-Cola, American
Express, Campbell's Soups, Columbia Pictures, McCormick/Schilling,
and Frito-Lay. Many of these companies use the technology for
marketing campaigns, technical support, market research, dealer
locator services, and the like.

Despite a temporary downturn in 900-number revenue experienced
in 1992, the 800-number and other segments of the industry are
experiencing rapid acceptance and growth. To date, more than
2,000,000 callers nationwide are using interactive audiotext
programs. From 1991 to 1992, there was a 23 percent increase in
pay-per-call singles ads.

Attesting to the large numbers of newspapers offering interactive
voice systems are San Francisco Chronicle, Atlanta Constitution,
Seattle Times, Chicago Sun Times, Los Angeles Times, Baltimore Sun,
New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Miami Herald, to name
a few.

San Jose-based Fax Limited which demonstrated its intelligent fax
networking product which allows users to remotely enter or access
data to and from a computer. Ibex Technologies from Placerville,
California full-featured, interactive voice/fax system for customer
service, literature fulfillment, forms distribution and other
automatic document retrieval applications.

(Stan Politi & Computer Currents/19930325/Press and Public
Contact: Jack Shembler, InfoText Publishing, 714/493-2434)

RUSSIA - FRANCE TELECOM MAKES BIG INVESTMENT
MOSCOW, RUSSIA, 1993 MAR 26 (NB) -- France Telecom has unveiled a
plan to invest up to US$100 million in the telephone network in
Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave on the Baltic sea.

The plan, which will be carried out by WestBalt Telecom, a joint
stock company owned by France Telecom and Rosswiazinform -
Kaliningrad (current a major network owner and operator), includes
the creation of 20,000 new business phone lines in 1993 and ten
times this amount in three years.

WestBalt Telecom has been licensed as a network operator in the region.

France Telecom is said to be installing an international phone exchange,
which should be available for both business and the general public,
according to Financial Izvestia newspaper. Further plans calls for
the switch from old analog to digital phone switches and lines in
the region.

Historically Kaliningrad, formerly Koenigsberg, was a part of Germany,
which was handed to the Soviet Union after the Second World War. A
large number of German companies are actively designing investment
projects in the region now.

(Kirill Tchashchin/19930326)


EDITORIAL - THE LAW OF THE MODEM
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 26 (NB) -- By Dana Blankenhorn.
I've long said that the law, as it affects online networks,
should be simple. If it's legal on paper, it should be legal
online, and vice versa. Recent cases indicate some courts may
finally be getting this message.

Possessing pictures of naked children, for instance, is "child
pornography" under US law. It's a grave crime. US agents
recently conducted a sweep of BBSs posting such picture files,
which were traced back to Denmark. The BBS sysops, and their
users, face hard time in the US. The Denmark sysop, who says he
got his files from the US, is already out of jail. This seems
contradictory, but the fact is the pictures themselves would get
no harsher treatment under Danish law than their digital
counterparts.

US groups which want to make the distribution of any sexually
explicit material illegal online, on the other hand, must first
make such material illegal on paper. If they succeed in defining
obscenity as they want it defined, then the fact that a dirty
picture is a data file should offer it no protection.

The same rules must apply to the police, a US District Court
judge in Texas ruled. If a search warrant lets you seize a
printing press, you can also seize a BBS. But if it doesn't, you
can't. The case involved Steve Jackson, whose games company was
raided a few years ago. No charges were filed, but Jackson's PCs,
including the material for a new role-playing game on computer
criminals, was kept by the agents. Judge Sam Sparks gave Jackson
$50,000 in damages, saying his rights as a publisher had been
violated. Attorneys fees will push the governments' costs to
$250,000, if they fail to win on appeal.

The same rules can be applied elsewhere. The state of
Massachusetts is selling tapes of every drivers' records, for
$77. Newspapers could hammer public figures with their
violations, insurance companies could re-rate policies, and
direct mail companies could have a field day, privacy advocates
say. The question must be, however -- would release of the paper
records be legal and desirable? If they are, let it be. If the
release of paper records is illegal, so should be the release of
computer records.

The biggest problem with my analogy, as I see it, is what to do
with online "flaming," an intemperate form of online speech I've
been guilty of myself on occasion. Peter DeNigris of Long
Island is now being sued by Medphone, makers of a system that
lets doctors defibrillate hearts over wireless phone links. At
issue are "flame" notes he posted on Prodigy, to the effect that
the company was going under and deserved to do so.

Medphone calls this libel. But in fact, no publisher would have
published Mr. DeNigris' opinions about Medphone, because he has
no standing in the investment community and did not conduct the
kind of in-depth research -- starting with long talks to the
company's management -- common in business reporting. All he did
was buy the stock at a high price, lose money, and bitch about
it. If that's anything, to me, that's slander, not libel.

But, wait. Prodigy is not your ordinary online service. Prodigy
routinely censors messages on its forums, and has long taken to
closing-down whole sections when the conversation gets too
heated. In doing so, I think, it accepts some of a publisher's
responsibility.

Perhaps CompuServe has the right idea here. Notes on forums are
purged weekly, except for those which the operators think have
lasting value, which are turned into files for later search. This
limits the action which can be taken aginst people who are,
after all, just spouting-off from their homes in an electronic
meeting.

If electronic messaging is to have any value, spontaneity must be
encouraged. But even if you're free to speak, that doesn't mean
someone can't take action after the fact. Thus, or as they say
online, the notes of users should be seen as speech, not
published writing. Only editors and publishers can be sued for
libel. Even if it's in electronic ink.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930322)


INTERNATIONAL PHONE UPDATE
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 26 (NB) -- The rush is on to
previously forbidden markets like Vietnam. US firms are still
prohibited from dealing with that country, so other nations are
rushing into the vacuum.

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