TELECOM Digest Tue, 17 May 94 15:12:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 232 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Information Wanted on Callback Services (Andreas Werner) Callback Services FAQ v1.2 (Bruce Hahne) Re: SRI Ends Two Bobs' MGR (Will Martin) Re: Meeks Defense Fund (Greg Trotter) Re: Radio Frequency Interference on Redidential Phones (Gregory Ashley) 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 GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * 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. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, 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. 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: werner@thunder.hrz.tu-chemnitz.de (Andreas Werner) Subject: Information Wanted on Callback Services Date: Tue, 17 May 1994 17:22:30 MET Because of the urgent need to complete a project I am searching for a more or less complete list of providers of callback-services. The list should includes prices, countries and the adresses and communication link of the provider. All help most appreciated. Best Regards, Andreas W. Werner Chemnitz / Germany werner@thunder.hrz.tu-chemnitz.de 100042.2565@compuserve.com fax: ++49-371-255835 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This request came on the same day as the FAQ which follows in this issue. They seem to go together nicely in this issue of the Digest, with someone in Japan answering the question posed by the reader in Germany. Indeed, this forum is international! PAT] ------------------------------ From: bruce@jise.isl.melco.co.jp (Bruce Hahne) Subject: Callback Services FAQ v1.2 Date: 17 May 1994 03:13:16 -0500 Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway Changes since version 1.1: - Added archive-name header to try to meet news.answers posting guidelines. - Updated MTC entries, CSI entry, and Progressive Communications entry. - Added entries for Global Access Callback, INTEX, Global Communication, Globalcom 2000, Kallback Direct, and STAR*Telecom. - Created "other information" section and added some Japan-specific information to it. - Added pointer to Discount Long Distance Digest. - Attempted to get all phone numbers into a consistent format. LIST OF COMPANIES PROVIDING INTERNATIONAL CALL-BACK SERVICE version 1.2 May 15, 1994 Introduction: This list started as an attempt to gather information about companies which provide call-back services to Japan. Such companies allow you to call from Japan to the U.S. at U.S. rates instead of at the (much less competitive) rates offered by Japan's 3 international phone companies. I have since found that most call-back companies provide call-back services to many different countries, so I will not limit the distribution of this post to newsgroups such as soc.culture.japan and fj.life.in-japan. However, the pricing information I give has a bias towards examples connecting to or from Japan. This document is in the public domain. Please pass it around freely and help people to save some money! Please send additional information on old or new callback companies to Bruce Hahne at any of the addresses listed at the end of this post. Companies are listed in alphabetical order. This information is NOT guaranteed accurate, and may be based in part on advertisements or fliers which are out of date, as well as on 3rd-party reports. For full details and up-to-date pricing information, contact the companies directly. NAME: Business Communications Management, Inc. CONTACT INFO: Business Communications Management, Inc. 1320 El Capitan Drive, Suite 300 Danville, CA 94526 Phone: 1-510-277-3030 Fax: 1-510-277-3555 Internet: vthiry@netcom.com HOW IT WORKS: Call your access number (in the U.S.?), then hang up. Their computer calls you back at a preselected number. BILLING: $50 one-time enrollment fee. $25 monthly minimum. Billed to your credit card. SAMPLE RATES: Japan to U.S. or U.S. to Japan: $0.45/min. Japan to U.K. or U.K. to Japan: $0.74/min. Japan to Canada or Canada to Japan: $0.68/min. Japan to Germany or Germany to Japan: $0.91/min. (30-second minimum per call, billed in 6-second increments) COMMENTS: Rates are the same at all times of the day and week. Monthly statement is mailed to you. No PIN. You can register as many call-back numbers as you want. NOTES: - This company is a reseller of the MTC PASSPORT service, also available from MTC listed below. They do not resell the MTC OneCard mentioned in the MTC entry. - Vthiry@netcom.com appears willing to fax out rate sheets so that you have pricing information in writing. NAME: Global Access Callback CONTACT INFO: Telegroup, Inc. 505 North Third St. Fairfield, IA 52556 Phone: 1-800-338-0225 or 1-515-472-5000 Fax: 1-515-472-4747 HOW IT WORKS: Call a personal access number in the U.S., then hang up. Their computer calls you back at a preselected number. BILLING: No start-up fee, no monthly minimum. 30-second minimum per call, billed in 6-second increments. SAMPLE RATES: Japan to U.S.: $0.79/min. U.K. to U.S.: $0.39/min. Canada to U.S.: $0.23/min Germany to U.S.: $0.63/min. NOTES: This service is also offered by H.V. Griner Telecommunication Associates; see below. NAME : Global Communication CONTACT INFO: 1163 Wunderlich Drive San Jose, CA 95129 Phone: 1-408-252-3105 Fax: 1-408-257-7529 HOW IT WORKS: - Call an assigned number in the U.S., then hang up. - When the system calls you back, say "Hello". - Wait for a beep tone and enter a 7-digit account number, a PIN, and the number you want to call. BILLING: They set up a positive account balance by placing a $200 charge to your credit card. Once the account is set up, you can elect either to have your balance automatically "refilled" and charged to your card, or you can make the requests "manually" by contacting the company. There is no entry fee or monthly minimum. SAMPLE RATES: Japan to U.S.: $0.70/minute. Taiwan to U.S.: $0.89/minute France to U.S.: $0.70/minute COMMENTS: Usable from "almost anywhere in the world". NOTES: I don't know how many digits are in the PIN. NAME : Globalcom 2000 CONTACT INFO: Phone: 1-408-761-1988 Email: scottb@cats.ucsc.edu HOW IT WORKS: Dial your assigned number (probably in the U.S.) and wait for a busy signal. Hang up, and their computer calls you back, giving you a U.S. dial tone. BILLING: Information unavailable. Probably billed to credit card. SAMPLE RATES: Australia to U.S.: $0.88/min. Germany to U.S.: $0.57/min. Hong Kong to U.S.: $0.66/min. India to U.S.: $1.27/min. Japan to U.S.: $0.63/min. Sweden to U.S.: $0.54/min. Taiwan to U.S.: $0.80/min. U.K. to U.S.: $0.44/min. COMMENTS: Voice mail and fax store-and-forward services also available. 24-hour operator assistance as needed. NAME: H.V. Griner Telecommunication Associates CONTACT INFO: Phone: 1-612-441-0658 Fax: 1-612-241-9560 Internet: HVGriner@icicle.winternet.mpls.mn.us Compuserve: 73174,2250 HOW IT WORKS: Dial an unlisted number assigned to you in the U.S. Their computer doesn't answer, but calls you back after you hang up, giving you a U.S. dial tone. BILLING: No startup fee, no monthly fee. Billed in 6-second increments, 30 second minimum. SAMPLE RATES: Japan to U.S.: $0.78/min. NOTES: - This company is a reseller of the Global Access Callback service, listed above. - They are looking for agents outside of the U.S. NAME: INTEX CONTACT INFO: 1-800-877-1456 or 1-516-767-3040 NOTES: No other information available. NAME: Kallback Direct CONTACT INFO: Kallback Direct 417 Second Ave. W. Seattle, WA 98119 Phone: 1-206-286-5280 or 1-800-959-5255 Fax: 1-206-282-6666 or 1-800-949-5255 Email: cyberspace@kallback.com NOTES: No other information available. NAME: Logical / Kokusai Telecom CONTACT INFO: 2-1-1 Minamidai Nakano-ku Tokyo 164, Japan Phone: +81-3-5385-4701 Other information presently unavailable. Supposedly their rates are 25% below those of KDD, at all times. This company is the Japanese agent for a U.S. company. NAME: MTC OneCard CONTACT INFO: MTC Passport Telemanagement Call Clearance Center 55 S. Market St., Suite 1435 San Jose, CA 95113 Phone: 1-800-967-5382 or 1-408-298-2985 Fax: 1-408-298-6905 HOW IT WORKS: Dial local access number, your PIN, the phone number you're calling FROM, then hang up. Their computer calls you back and gives you a U.S. dial tone. BILLING: $5 for initial account setup. Billed through your credit card. SAMPLE RATES: Japan to U.S.: 70 cents/minute? COMMENTS: Works from anywhere in the world with a local access number: about 45 countries. Other services (speed dialing, conference calls, etc.) also available or will be available soon. NOTES: - MTC also sells a callback service called "PASSPORT", listed below. - I have had serious problems trying to figure out which phone number(s) or addresses to use to contact MTC to request service. So far I have 3 postal addresses, 5 phone numbers, 3 fax numbers, and at least one person has reported being told that MTC doesn't offer the "OneCard". This is clearly not true, since I have one. See the entry below for more MTC addresses and phone numbers. - MTC is allegedly receiving 100 new customers a day, so you may need to be patient about signing up and receiving information. NAME: MTC Passport CONTACT INFO: MTC Telemanagement Corporation 1304 Southpoint Boulevard Petaluma, CA 94954 Phone: 1-800-999-2682 or 1-800-733-2682 Fax: 1-707-769-5940 or Passport International Telemanagement 925 Lakeville St. #318 Petaluma, CA 94952 or Nigel Grace, MTC Passport International Consultant Phone: 1-515-469-6000 Fax: 1-515-469-6044 HOW IT WORKS: 2nd-hand information suggests it works as follows: dial local access number, your PIN, then hang up. Their computer calls you back at a predetermined number and gives you a U.S. dial tone. BILLING: $50 one-time enrollment fee? $25 monthly minimum. SAMPLE RATES: From Japan to U.S.: 46.3 cents/minute, no per-call charge? NOTES: - See notes above on MTC OneCard. - The Passport service is also resold by Business Communications Management, listed earlier. - I have a second-hand report that the $50 enrollment fee has been dropped. NAME: Progressive Communications CONTACT INFO: P.O. Box 5890 Athens, OH 45701-5890 Fax: 1-614-592-4970 Internet: dprince@oucsace.cs.ohiou.edu NOTES: - Other information presently unavailable. NAME: Star*Telecom CONTACT INFO: STAR*TELECOM 9541 SW 148 Ave. Cir. North P.O. Box 163055 Miami, FL 33196 Phone: 1-305-386-5343 Phone, in France: +33-1-39-28-00-19 Fax: 1-305-386-6352 Contact person: Ron Valme BILLING: No enrollment fee, no monthly minimum. SAMPLE RATES: Netherlands to U.S.: $0.40/min. Austria to U.S.: $0.34/min. U.K. to U.S.: $0.29/min. NOTES: Phone card available for travellers. Other information unavailable. COMMENTS: I have a second-hand report that this company is a reseller of the MTC Passport service. If so then their prices should be similar to those I have listed for MTC. NAME: Telepassport CONTACT INFO: P.O. Box 1003 Chicago, IL 60690 Fax: 1-708-329-0572 HOW IT WORKS: There are two main methods: 1: Dial a U.S. number given to you by Telepassport, then hang up. Their computer calls you back at your home number. PIN optional. 2: Dial a local toll-free number for Japan, enter account number and PIN, then enter a number which requests a callback to wherever you are. BILLING: $25/month minimum. Billed via credit card or via electronic funds transfer (bank to bank). SAMPLE RATES: From Japan to U.S., standard/discount/economy rates: .98/.85/.79 ($/minute) COMMENTS: PIN is 4 digits. You receive monthly statements. Service available all over the world. Message forwarding, voice mail, and other services available. For extensive information, email the following message to tel-archives@lcs.mit.edu : reply YOURNAME@YOURSITE.YOUR.DOMAIN info telepassport end OTHER INFORMATION: Van Hefner (vantek@aol.com) is the moderator of Discount Long Distance Digest, a free weekly electronic publication which focuses primarily on the long distance reselling industry but also covers other telecommunications businesses. It is targetted at telecommunications resellers, NOT at casual consumers who want to lower their long distance bills. However, Mr. Hefner writes that "everyone is welcomed". To subscribe, send email to telconet@aol.com and put "Subscribe Digest" in your Subject: line. Since this FAQ started out as a way of helping people in Japan to save money on international calls, I'd like to put in a word encouraging all of the above companies to do more advertising in English-language publications in Japan. Japan's three international phone companies regularly take out enormous advertisements in my daily newspaper, but I never see any ads from callback companies. Since almost everyone listed above is undercutting the best Japanese rates by a significant percentage, particularly for calls to the U.S., it seems to me that the possible returns on a few ads would be quite high. I make no guarantees, however; this is just a suggestion. The present per-minute rates of KDD, the major international long-distance provider in Japan, are (after exchange rate conversion, $1.00 = Y103) roughly $2.16/min, $1.74/min, and $1.26/min. depending on the time of day. KDD has recently started a 10% discount program which costs a few dollars extra per month, but I don't know the details. For discussions about Internet and other networking issues in Japan, join the EFJ list: send the message "subscribe Your Name" to . You will receive an acknowledgement giving more information about the list. Disclaimer: I don't work for any of these companies. Bruce Hahne Current address: bruce@jise.isl.melco.co.jp Lifetime address: hahne@acm.org ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 17 May 94 9:37:51 CDT From: Will Martin Subject: Re: SRI Ends Two Bobs' MGR Regarding the supersession of shortwave by satellite-radio broadcasting: This topic has been kicked around on some of the radio-related mailing lists and newsgroups for a while. There are oft-stated arguments on the subject and some ideas I've had that I've not seen elsewhere: First off, cost of equipment for reaching relatively poor target audiences: shortwave reception is cheap and simple technology these days, even though many new receivers incorporate high-tech user interfaces and features. A basic SW radio can be bought for about $US 20 or so; a low-end digital-readout model for $US 50. Satellite reception costs a vast amount more, currently, and even if new-tech audio-only satellite receivers are mass-produced they still will cost more than this. Digital broadcasting may have some effect on this, but I'm going to reserve judgement until I see what shakes out of the trees regarding that whole issue. There's a sizeable investment in shortwave transmitters and more are being built every day. The countries and organizations that use these aren't going to just shut them down and sell them for scrap anytime soon. Same with the receiver investment among the populace -- they'll still be used as long as anything is on the airwaves to pick up. Actually, the main thrust of discussion/negotiation among shortwave broadcasters at fora like the ITU meetings is the overcrowding of broadcast bands and the resulting destructive interference. There are far more candidates for SW broadcast spectrum space than there are slots to give them. So even if some broadcasters cut their SW output, the quantity of signal on the air will still remain high. Now, some people may complain about the *content* of the signals, as the recent increase in US-based religious/political shortwave broadcasters has caused many comments among the hobbyists. But these people have a strong and overriding motivation to spread their messages, and they're probably going to stay on the air even if many government-funded national services disappear due to budget cuts. Also, there's at least one aspect that no one ever seems to mention: you can hide your SW reception. I can listen in my bed to shortwave, using a radio that's the size of a paperback book. In good-signal conditions, I don't even have to extend the whip antenna to receive a major broadcaster with a nearby relay site (for example, Radio Netherlands with their Bonaire relay). No one has ever shown me how they can receive from a satellite without an external antenna of some kind, even if technological advances make it possible to do away with a large dish and low-noise-amp mounted at the feedpoint. How can I duplicate the simplicity of this SW reception I have now in a satellite situation? Consider the number of countries that have come out with edicts banning or severely restricting satellite dishes in private hands: China, Iran, Saudi Arabia have all been mentioned in recent news as doing this. Even if technology makes "stealth" satellite antenna setups possible in the future, it still will be risky in some countries or under some regimes to have any external receiving devices. The high frequencies used by satellite services make direct line-of-sight reception necessary -- no whip antenna inside your house will suffice. So shortwave still is better for reaching a target audience that suffers such repression. (Yes, shortwave can be jammed, but it isn't a totally-successful effort; witness the Eastern Europe and USSR experiences.) Maybe the proliferation of satellite services will cause the amount of shortwave programming directed specifically at developed areas to decrease, with the former senders switching over to satellites and relying on local rebroadcasting of the satellite-fed signal. The VOA has done this in several areas, contracting with local FM or AM medium-wave stations to relay VOA programming. The BBC has explicitly reduced its shortwave-to-North-America services and stated that the US public-radio relays of BBC signals is the reason. Personally, I don't like this, since I feel the BBC should have a mission to give a 24-hour shortwave service to English-speaking areas all over the world, but that's where our opinions differ. I'm lucky enough that a local public-radio station relays the BBC World Service from midnight to 5 AM (6 AM on weekends), but many North Americans do not have this luxury. I still tune in the BBC on shortwave at other times, and put up with weak signals when I wish to hear a program at a time when there is no North-American-directed shortwave signal (such as mid-day). But this reduction of strong signals directed to a target area here actually makes the shortwave-listening/DXing hobby better -- if there are fewer strong signals, it is easier to pull in weak DX! And that weak DX will be the vast quantity of shortwave-broadcast signals directed at other areas, which will still fill the airwaves. Lastly, we're discussing this at a sunspot-minimum point (actually still on the way down) in the solar cycle. Every time this happens, people who can't remember over a decade back predict the imminent death of shortwave. (Similar to the "imminent death of the Net". :-) It didn't happen the last time, nor the time before, nor before that, and we had other technological developments at the time that people thought would kill off shortwave (television, for example). I think people will still be broadcasting on and listening to shortwave 50 years from now, and probably fussing about how it is going to disappear "real soon now" ... Will ------------------------------ From: greg@gallifrey.ucs.uoknor.edu (Greg Trotter) Subject: Re: Meeks Defense Fund Date: 17 May 1994 16:28:10 GMT In article TELECOM Digest Editor noted: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Nowhere in the above report is any > mention given of whether or not libel did occur. Note that the article > seems to skirt that (to me) very basic premise ... instead, the > writers complain of how the accused has very little money, is doing > all this for free out of sense of volunteerism, and how the plaintiff > is a big company with lots of money -- as though those facts alone > meant anything. Big corporations have rights also; even AT&T is > entitled to the protection of the law, the same as you or I. (Note: I > use AT&T as an example only, I do not know who is suing him.) I sent email to the fund address, asking for a pointer to the supposedly libelous article. They asked me not to repost it. Basically, it's an article about a direct mail firm that seems to have some shady practices and has run afoul of regulatory agencies in several states. I don't claim to be an expert in libel. However, I do know that most people think that libel is "a published untruth." However, this is not the case. If I remember my journalism days correctly, libel is "damage or injury to reputation." Because of this, you can still libel someone while telling the truth. A typical defense for libel is that the article was "true and absent malice." After reading the inflammatory tone of Brock's article, I have opted not to assist the defense. greg ------------------------------ From: gashley@nwpx30.nts.uswc.uswest.com (Gregory C. Ashley) Subject: Re: Radio Frequency Interference on Residential Telephone Line Date: 16 May 94 08:13 CST In response to recent articles on radio interference I found an internal company memorandum that may be helpful to some. I don't know how current the model numbers or phone numbers are. ------------------- AT&T makes modular telphone filters (Models #Z100A and Z101A) that are designed to eliminate interference from AM broadcast stations. The filters can easily be plugged into any phone which has a standard modular jack. They are available at Phone Center Stores or can ordered by calling the AT&T National Sales and Service Center at 1-800-222-3111. NOTE: These filters are only effective for interference from AM broadcast stations. They are not designed to filter out interference from CB or amateur radio transmitters. Radio Shack makes a "snap-on choke" filter (Catalog #273-104) which is designed to filter out transmissions from CB or amateur radios. These chokes are installed on the telphone cord by wrapping the cord around and/or through the choke. Chokes of many different types, also called "ferrites", "beads", or "toroids", are available at most electronic stores. -------------- Greg C. Ashley (gashley@nwpx30.mnet.uswest.com) ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #232 ******************************