TELECOM Digest Mon, 23 May 94 13:14:30 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 244 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson FCC Seeks Further Comments on 0+ Call Routing (Bob Keller) Book Review: "The Internet Navigator" by Gilster (Rob Slade) Taiwan and Hong Kong Contacts Needed (Tara D. Mahon) Book Review: "How the World Was One: Beyond Global Village" (Mark Brader) Re: Nationwide Name and Address Service (Mark E. Daniel) Re: Nationwide Name and Address Service (Steven J. Davidson, M.D) Remote Telephone Access Information Wanted (Warren Birnbaum) Is There a Gadget Which Detects Fax and Voice? (Hem Ramachandran) Mispellers [sic] of the World, Unite! (Jonathan Welch) Is This True? (Atri Indiresan) DTMF Decoding Help Needed (Chad R. West) 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 23 May 1994 10:50:24 EDT From: Bob Keller Subject: FCC Seeks Further Comments on 0+ Call Routing Report No. DC-2601 ACTION IN DOCKET CASE May 19, 1994 FURTHER COMMENTS SOUGHT ON PROPOSAL TO ROUTE TELEPHONE CALLS VIA THE CARRIER CHOSEN BY THE PARTY PAYING FOR THE CALL (CC DOCKET NO. 92-77) The Commission announced today that it seeks further comment on whether to mandate a new system for routing "0+" calls -- that is, calls that are made by entering a "0" followed by a long distance number. While it found that the evidence available to it indicated that the benefits of the new system, called Billed Party Preference or BPP, outweighed its costs, the Commission also found that some of the data underlying its cost/benefit analysis were not as firm or as current as it desired. Currently, 0+ calls are sent to the operator services provider (OSP) to which the premises owner or payphone provider presubscribes. Under BPP, calls would be routed automatically to the OSP preferred by the party being billed for the call. For example, a calling card call would be routed to the cardholder's preferred OSP. A collect call would be routed to the called party's preferred OSP. A call billed to a third party would be routed to the OSP to which that third party had presubscribed. The Commission found that BPP would provide three principal benefits. First, it would make operator services more "user friendly." Under a BPP system, callers would be able to make all of their operator-assisted calls on a 0+ basis, and they would be able to do so with the knowledge that calls would be automatically handled by the OSP with which the billed party had chosen to do business at the rates offered by that OSP. Callers who currently use access codes would no longer need to do so. Callers who do not use access codes would no longer face the risk that their call would be carried by an operator service provider with rates considerably higher than the industry average. Based on data in the Commission's November 1992 report issued pursuant to the Telephone Operator Consumer Services Information Act, the Commission estimated that BPP would likely enable consumers to save about $280 million per year by avoiding operator service providers with rates higher than the AT&T/MCI/Sprint average. Second, the Commission found that BPP would force OSPs to refocus their competitive efforts towards serving consumers rather than serving aggregators, such as premises owners or payphone providers. The Commission recognized that such a shift in competitive focus would almost certainly eliminate the commissions that OSPs now pay to aggregators for directing 0+ calls to them. Moreover, based on the available data, it estimated that the elimination of commissions could save operator service providers about $340 million per year on interLATA 0+ calls. Not only did the Commission find that this could offset a substantial portion of the costs of BPP, but that a shift in competitive focus could also foster lower prices and better service for consumers. Finally, the Commission noted that BPP would eliminate certain AT&T advantages in the operator services market. For example, it would enable AT&T's competitors to offer end users the same 0+ access as AT&T. On the other hand, the Commission also noted that BPP is an expensive technology. While it found that available data indicated that the net cost of BPP for LECs would be approximately $380 million on an amortized unseparated cost basis, with an additional estimated $35 million per year for OSP expenses, it observed that this estimate was based on data that was not as firm nor as current as it would have liked. Therefore, the Commission chose to issue a Further Notice that sets forth in detail its cost/benefit analysis based on the available data, giving parties the opportunity to comment on the analysis and to submit additional, updated data to corroborate or refute it. The Commission also seeks comment on whether some or all of the benefits of BPP could be achieved through alternative, less costly measures. Finally, the Commission also addressed some aspects of how BPP should be implemented in the event it decides to mandate it. For example, the Commission decided that, if mandated, BPP should apply on a nationwide basis to all 0+ and 0- interLATA calls and that it should accommodate commercial credit cards. It also concluded that BPP should not give either LECs or OSPs the exclusive ability to issue line number cards, however, it seeks further comment on whether BPP should include a fourteen- or ten-digit screening design. It also seeks comment on whether prison phones should be subject to BPP. Action by the Commission May 19, 1994, by Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FCC 94-117). Chairman Hundt, Commissioner Barrett, with Commissioner Quello concurring in the result and Commissioners Barrett and Quello issuing separate statements. News Media contact: Rosemary Kimball at (202) 632-5050. Common Carrier Bureau contacts: Mark S. Nadel at (202) 632-1301 and Gary Phillips at (202) 632-4048. - FCC - Bob Keller Robert J. Keller, P.C. Tel +1 301 229 5208 rjk@telcomlaw.com Federal Telecommunications Law Fax +1 301 229 6875 finger me for daily FCC info + see ftp.clark.net:/pub/rjk/ for other files ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 May 1994 22:24:22 MDT From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "The Internet Navigator" by Gilster BKINTNAV.RVW 940211 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 22 Worchester Road Rexdale, Ontario M9W 9Z9 800-263-1590 or 605 Third Avenue New York, NY 10158-0012 USA 800-263-1590 212-850-6630 Fax: 212-850-6799 jdemarra@wiley.com aponnamm@jwiley.com "The Internet Navigator", Gilster, 1993, 0-471-59782-1 73537.656@compuserve.com gilster@rock.concert.net pag@world.std.com This book is an embarrassment to me. I *think* that it's very good -- but I am at a bit of a loss as to why. By and large, this is an Internet guide like other Internet guides. A bit of an introduction and some history, then coverage of the major applications (email, ftp, telnet) and the more esoteric ones (gopher, WAIS, World Wide Web). Right from the front cover, though, Gilster avoids the "whole Internet" bias of so many guides and aligns himself with the dial-up user. There is, in fact, a whole chapter devoted to the use of email to access Internet resources; particularly useful to those on commercial online services, business "mail only" connections or Fidonet. It is, of course, very much easier to point out the flaws. Although Gilster explains "why UNIX," there is a heavy emphasis on the specific commands of mail, trn, elm and other UNIX specific programs. (In the chapter on email access to resources, Gilster switches to Compuserve: oddly appropriate, but no less limited.) While the explanation of LISTSERV is complete and helpful, the sin of sending administrative messages to the list, rather than the LISTSERV, is not emphasized. Even in the opinion chapter, a discussion of the future of the newspaper lauds Clarinet for providing syndicated material, apparently unaware that Clarinet is strictly a reseller, and is providing for no development of editorial content. In spite of minor shortcomings, however, this book has a very comfortable feel to it. The material is clear and well-written, with little attempt at the sarcasm or barbed wit of some other beginner materials. One positive factor may be the grouping of functional items together, so that archie, for example, is covered in the chapter on ftp. There is only one icon; a very helpful little ship which points out Internet accessible resources for the item under discussion. The resource guides included are not extravagantly large, and are of variable quality. The directory of Internet resources is very useful for the beginner: not exhaustive, but of high quality in terms of what *is* covered. The bibliography is more exhaustive than useful, with Gibson's fictional "Neuromancer" next to Quarterman's quite technical, "The Matrix." Overall, I highly recommend this for the beginner to the Internet. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1994 BKINTNAV.RVW 940211. Distribution permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated newsgroups/mailing lists. Vancouver ROBERTS@decus.ca Institute for Robert_Slade@sfu.ca Research into rslade@cue.bc.ca User p1@CyberStore.ca Security Canada V7K 2G6 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 23 May 94 13:38:07 EDT From: Tara D. Mahon Subject: Taiwan and Hong Kong Contacts Needed Dear TELECOM Digest readers, Insight Research is trying to locate people knowledgable about operations support systems (OSS) for Taiwanese telecom providers. We are looking for contact names at wireless or wireline carriers to interview for research on computers and telecom in Asia. We need a cellular/wireless contact at Hong Kong Telecom as well. If anyone can assist us, please send contact information (phone number, fax number, e-mail address, etc.) to tara@insight-corp.com. Thank you in advance for your help. Sincerely, Tara D. Mahon tara@insight-corp.com Insight Research Corporation tdm@insight-corp.com 354 Eisenhower Parkway (201) 605-1400 voice Livingston, NJ 07039-1023 USA (201) 605-1440 fax ------------------------------ From: msb@sq.sq.com (Mark Brader) Subject: Book Review: "How the World Was One: Beyond the Global Village" Organization: SoftQuad Inc., Toronto, Canada Date: Mon, 23 May 94 08:41:46 GMT David Ofsevit (ofsevit@nac.lkg.dec.com) writes: > I was surprised that in the excellent series of articles on > telegraph and telephone cables there was no mention of Arthur C. > Clarke's fine book "Voice Across the Sea" (Harper, 1958). I don't > know whether it's in print anymore, but it is very well written and > worth finding. I doubt that it's in print, because in 1992, Clarke incorporated a large part of it into a new book. I posted a review of that one then, here and in slightly different form to certain other Usenet newsgroups. I saved a copy of the other version of the review; here it is. At the rate that books go out of print these days, it seems entirely possible that *this* one isn't available *either*; I don't know. ---------------------- "How the World Was One: Beyond the Global Village", 1992 Bantam hardcover, approx 300 pages. US price $22.50. ISBN 0-553-07440-7. This book is for people who are interested in telecommunications. They'll like it. Those readers who are voracious Clarke fans, however, may find that they've read considerable parts of it before. The book contains five main parts. The first and longest one tells about the early history of submarine telegraph cables, culminating with the tribulation-filled laying of the first successful cable across the Atlantic; and the second part rapidly takes the story forward to transoceanic telephony and radio. Most of this material was taken from Clarke's 1958 book "Voice Across the Sea", but I had not read that one, and I found it fascinating. Perhaps the most interesting thing was the many kinds of technical difficulties encountered in the early days. Cables were too light, too heavy, too short; they broke, they leaked; they even sabotaged themselves (no, I won't explain that one!). And then there were people problems -- wrong assumptions about technology went untested until after they had been embedded in thousands of miles of cable. On one of the cable-laying attempts, two ships started out in the middle of the ocean and sailed in opposite directions with the two ends of the cable, each paying it out as it went. Their only communication with each other was by telegraph through the cable itself. At one point the connection broke and the ships returned to their starting point -- and each hailed the other with "How did the cable break?" Something had happened on the seabed, and they never did find out what. Then when the first cable was finally laid and the technology finally tested, it hardly worked: after 12 days of trying to adjust the instruments, the operators still needed over 16 hours to transmit a 99-word official telegram. Depending just how they timed their Morse-like code, I figure that the transmission rate must have been somewhere between .05 and .1 baud! The remaining three parts of the book do not really tell a continuous story as do the first two; there are many distinct essays and speeches and even a few pieces of fiction. I had read several of the pieces before, and some of them overlap to some extent. So for these reasons I didn't enjoy the second half of the book as much as the first; but I still found it well worth reading. The third part deals with Clarke's own involvement in the early development of communication satellites. As most of you will know, he invented the idea of using the geostationary orbit for comsats -- though it didn't occur to him then that they might be unmanned! This part puts the idea in context of what he was doing at the time and of what had already been invented by others, and includes the short story "I Remember Babylon" where he anticipated some less savory uses to which comsats might be put. The fourth part concerns the impact of comsats as it has turned out in fact, and Clarke's thoughts on where how they should develop in the future; and the short fifth part is about the renaissance of submarine cables with the appearance of fiber optics. Look how the world has changed already since the telephone appeared ... here are two early reactions to the news of its invention: When news of Alexander Graham Bell's invention reached the United Kingdom, the chief engineer of the British Post Office failed to be impressed. "The Americans," he said loftily, have need of the telephone -- but we do not. We have plenty of messenger boys ..." ... In contrast ... the mayor of a certain American city was wildly enthusiastic. He thought that the telephone was a marvelous device and ventured this stunning prediction: "I can see the time," he said solemnly, "*when every city will have one*." The thesis of the book is simple, and one with which most of us on Usenet will agree. I know *I* do. Better communication unites societies, reduces ignorance, and generally benefits everyone; and it is, accordingly, something on which the expenditure of time and money is well worthwhile. As Clarke said on the occasion of the signing of the Intelsat agreement: For today, gentlemen, whether you intend it or not -- whether you wish it or not -- you have signed far more than yet another intergovernmental agreement. You have just signed the first draft of the Articles of Federation of the United States of Earth. Mark Brader "... There are three kinds of death in this world. msb@sq.com There's heart death, there's brain death, and SoftQuad Inc., Toronto there's being off the network." -- Guy Almes This article is in the public domain. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 23 May 1994 03:01:29 EST From: mark@legend.akron.oh.us (Mark E Daniel) Subject: Re: Nationwide Name and Address Service > The UnDirectory service (Clarity Inc., P.O. Box 8357, Red Bank, NJ > 07701, 908-530-5100) provides national dial-up reverse directory for > the whole U.S. (Includes Alaska and Hawaii, but I couldn't get info > on numbers for Puerto Rico, or 800+ and 900+ numbers.) How long does a number have to be in service before it's in this database? I've had my number for over a year ever since I moved here and I decided to see if it knew me, and it said that my number was either unlisted or recently assigned. As I said, I've had this number for over one year and it is in the newest Ameritech directory, issued December 1993. Mark E Daniel (Loving SysOp of The Legend BBS) Inet: mark@legend.akron.oh.us medaniel@delphi.com (Direct INet) [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: As pointed out here before, most such services skimp on the costs of running same by using old, outdated records. They do not want to pay what telco would charge them for direct and immediate access to an up-to-date database. Therefore, you get what you pay for, or at least they do. They can make a lot more money by producing an inferior product which they then sell to you at a greatly inflated cost. If someone would do this the right way -- the way Ameritech handles 796-9600 -- it would be a winner. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 23 May 1994 01:03:48 -0400 From: davidson@medcolpa.edu (Steven J. Davidson, M.D) Subject: Re: Nationwide Name and Address Service Pat writes: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That's because, as Lynne Gregg points > out in her note earlier in this issue, many of those outfits rely on > old, obsolete listings rather than accessing the up-to-date listings > of telco. They'd have to *pay* telco to do that; then there would be > less profit in their operation. I guess they figure it is better to > work with older, less expensive databases and be right part of the time > rather than do the job right but make less profit. PAT] I just tried the 900 service with my present and immediate past (1981-1993) telephone numbers. Neither were known to the database. I then tried my "new" work number (in service for six years) it gave another address and business name. Then I tried my mother-in-law's number (12 years and still in service) which was unknown to the database and my parent's number (in use since 1955!) and it was unknown to the database. These last three numbers are all listed in the current Philadelphia directory. Conclusion: This service may not be worth even $1/minute, not just because of absent information, but also because of erroneous information. Regards, Steven J. Davidson, MD, MBA, FACEP | 215.843.3001/3029 voice/fax Div. of Emerg. Med. Serv., 3426 Conrad St., Philadelphia, PA 19129-1651 davidson@medcolpa.edu | davidson@netaxs.com | 71535.204@compuserve.com Opinions are all mine, I'm often wrong, but never in doubt. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 23 May 1994 07:02:05 GMT From: Warren Birnbaum Subject: Remote Telephone Access Information Wanted I am currently looking for names of companies that supply telephone access to remote areas via satillite. Any information on this would be appreciated. Thanks, Warren Birnbaum wjb@cheops.cpuc.ca.gov ------------------------------ From: heman@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Hem Ramachandran) Subject: Is There a Gadget Which Detects Fax and Voice? Date: Mon, 23 May 1994 18:42:54 -0500 Organization: University of Texas at Austin Hi, I am wondering whether there exists a gadget (in the market or one which I can make) which detects between incoming fax and incoming voice and switch it to two seperate ports or so? Thanks for any help, Hem [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Don't reinvent the wheel, Hem. These are all over the place. Check the Radio Shack store in Austin for starters and ask about the fax and data switch. I think the price is about $100. Another source is Hello Direct at 800-HI-HELLO. You can get the kind which actually listen to the incoming tones and decide whether to send the call to a fax, a computer or a human; or the kind which uses Distinctive Ringing Service from the telco to route the calls. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 23 May 1994 06:24:49 -0500 From: Jonathan_Welch Subject: Mispellers [sic] of the World, Unite! Forwarded to the Digest from rec.humor.funny, FYI: From: daugher@cs.tamu.edu (Walter Daugherity) Subject:Mispellers [sic] of the world, unite! Date: Fri, 20 May 94 3:20:01 EDT Message-ID: (True) In an effort to snag more long distance telephone calls (charged to a credit card or a third number), AT&T reserved the toll-free number 1-800-OPERATOR. Not to be outdone, and perhaps knowing the public better, MCI reserved the number 1-800-OPERATER and has been scooping up calls intended for its arch-rival. Walter C. Daugherity Texas A&M University daugher@cs.tamu.edu ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 23 May 1994 12:43:19 -0400 From: Atri Indiresan Subject: Is This True? This appeared in rec.humor.funny. Can anyone confirm that this is true? Atri > In an effort to snag more long distance telephone calls (charged to > a credit card or a third number), AT&T reserved the toll-free number > 1-800-OPERATOR. Not to be outdone, and perhaps knowing the public > better, MCI reserved the number 1-800-OPERATER and has been scooping > up calls intended for its arch-rival. Is this why AT&T is switching from 1-800-OPERATOR to 1-800-CALL-ATT? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: AT&T had the latter of the two numbers in service for quite awhile prior to starting 'OPERATOR'. I would not be surprised to hear there was a lot of confusion between OPERATOR and OPERATER however. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 23 May 1994 14:07:55 EDT From: west_c212@orion.crc.monroecc.edu Subject: DTMF Decoding Help Needed I am writing a program that needs to decode telephone touch tone signals. The problem is that I am having trouble finding a DTMF decoder. If anyone know where I can get ahold of one I would appreciate it. Thank you. Chad R. West (Computer Science) Monroe Community College West_c212@orion.crc.monroecc.edu ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #244 ****************************** -------------------------------------------------------------------------------