TELECOM Digest Thu, 16 Jun 94 00:26:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 290 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Ontario Announces Support For LARG*net (Joan McCalla) CSPA Annual Conference - Software Superhighway 2000 (Daniel Ho) Automated Test Equipment Wanted (Leroy Casterline) Help Wanted With Intellepath ii (Gary Merinstein) Telecom Services in Chile (Stacy L. Millions) Where to Find Bid For Cellular Network Implementation? (Konrad Weigl) Questions About Scrambling (Stuart Whitmore) Looking For Information on E&M Tie Lines (Anthony Walker) Seeking NJ Based Telco People (AFC Chip) Help Needed With Wincomm Pro (Rob Lesan) Re: Pager on a Watch? (Matt Holdrege) Re: Pager on a Watch? (Ry Jones) Re: Pager on a Watch? (Kim Prisk) Re: Pager on a Watch? (Mark Crispin) Re: Forwarding and PacBell (Steve Cogorno) Re: Call Waiting (Jeffrey W. McKeough) Re: U.S. Postal Service and the Information Highway (Robert Casey) 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: mccallj@gov.on.ca (Joan McCalla) Subject: Ontario Announces Support For LARG*net Organization: Government of Ontario Date: Thu, 16 Jun 1994 04:28:59 GMT June 13, 1994 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND TRADE MINISTER LANKIN ANNOUNCES $2.1 MILLION SUPPORT FOR LARG*net PROGRAM LONDON -- Ontario Economic Development and Trade Minister Frances Lankin today announced Ontario Network Infrastructure Program (ONIP) funding of $2.163 million to establish LARG*net (London and Region Global Network), a local initiative that will create a leading-edge medical image and telecommunications network and create long-term jobs in the community. The Minister was joined by Middlesex MPP Irene Mathyssen and London South MPP David Winninger and representatives from six local health care and research organizations. "This initiative, which will create at least eight new high-skill, long-term jobs in its first year, will provide shared access to a wide variety of resources, including teaching cases, patient care information and image processing, for doctors and other health care professionals as well as medical students," said Ms. Lankin. The project partners include Victoria Hospital, St. Joseph's Health Centre, University Hospital, the University of Western Ontario, the John P. Robarts Research Institute and Fanshawe College. LARG*net will establish a high speed metropolitan network linking these London-based participants. "In addition to enhancing the level of information and service available to the health care community, LARG*net will save time and money for hospitals, medical residents and graduate students," said London Centre MPP Marion Boyd. "Investing in projects like LARG*net is important for the economic well-being of the province, creating jobs for the future and putting Ontario back to work." Added Mr. Winninger: "For residents of London, this project means heightened health care services. And by working in partnership with the Ontario Government, the health care communities are demonstrating their commitment to build on London's solid reputation as an international centre for clinical care, research, teaching and medical imaging." "LARG*net will be a key entry point to the information highway for many Ontario organizations," said Mrs. Mathyssen. "At the same time, this technology, with its great international export potential, confirms the position of London as a centre for telecommunications excellence and will serve to attract increasing amounts of high tech investment to the London area." "LARG*net presents the collective expertise that London, Ontario possess in terms of telecommunications, health care delivery and education," said Dr. Trevor Cradduck, General Manager, LARG*net. "As we respond to the fiscal constraints of the 1990s it is my belief that LARG*net will provide a cohesive link between the health care and educational institutions to facilitate their collaboration. "We are witnessing the dawn of the information revolution and it is very exciting for those of us in London to be there at the forefront. There is every reason to presume the leadership displayed by London in this activity will attract high technology investment from industries who will find the concept of a networked city very valuable." Said Dr. Howard Rundle, Acting President, Fanshawe College: "Fanshawe College is pleased to be part of this project to allow us to access the usefulness of this technology in the educational process with our health care students located in various hospitals. In the longer range, we will be accessing its value in enhancing our distance education programs." "LARG*net builds upon a strong existing partnership between Bell Canada and the London medical community," said Robert Campbell, Vice President of Network Operations in Bell Ontario. "This project provides a valuable test bed for the ATM technology. The potential for multimedia applications in the health care and education sectors is significant. "Bell is working closely with the LARG*net community to develop and expand the "Virtual Hospital" environment. The demands for these types of applications are growing every day. It's exciting to be involved in this one." An initiative under the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade's Ontario Network Infrastructure Program (ONIP), LARG*net will be established over the next four years at a total cost of $5.5 million and will become self-sufficient at the end of the third year. The Ontario Government's contribution represents 40 per cent of the total project cost. A jobsONTARIO Capital program, ONIP was announced in February, 1993 as an economic renewal initiative under the province's telecommun- ications strategy, with a four-year commitment of $100 million. "Today's announcement is one of several initiatives we have undertaken to promote the future growth of many sectors of the economy, such as telecommunications and the health industry," added Ms. Lankin. "We are working with various sectors to help them become more competitive and create the high skill, long term jobs of the future. We are doing this by bringing together key players from industry, labour, government and public institutions to deal with key issues. "The sector development approach spurs ideas into action and underscores the international marketing potential of Ontario firms. It boosts innovation, raises skill levels and increases technological capabilities." Currently, the Ontario Government is working with more than 1,500 representatives from 20 sectors, including health care, aerospace, computing, retail and telecommunications, to develop strategies and implement recommendations to make each sector stronger. --------------- Contacts: Lucy Rybka-Becker, Minister's Office (416) 325-6909 John Cooper, Marketing & Public Affairs Branch (416) 325-6694 -------------- BACKGROUNDER LARG*net (LONDON AND REGION GLOBAL NETWORK) ~ LARG*net is a high speed telecommunications network that enables universities, colleges, teaching hospitals and research institutions to access and share a wide variety of medical resources, including teaching cases, patient care information and image processing. ~ LARG*net will build on London medical institutions as a global centre for excellence in medical imaging and health care delivery. ~ Total cost: $5.5 million. ~ Job creation: eight high-skill, long-term jobs in the first year of the project. ~ Ontario Government share: $2.163 million (40 per cent). ~ LARG*net is an unincorporated organization including membership from large teaching and research hospitals and institutions in London: Victoria Hospital, St. Joseph's Health Centre, University Hospital and the University of Western Ontario, the John P. Robarts Research Institute and Fanshawe College. ~ Over the life of the project, the network will be extended to other medical facilities in the region. ~ The LARG*net team members will partner with a number of vendor companies to obtain support, including Bell Ontario, Sun Microsystems and 3M. ~ LARG*net will include three major activities: ~ developing a network; ~ testing telecommunications technologies over the network; ~ testing applications which use the information technologies effectively over a network. ~ LARG*net will develop a high speed Metropolitan Area Network in London to link the participating health care facilities and research institutions so that members can share information electronically. ~ A long-term goal of LARG*net will be to provide London-area businesses, health services, educational and other organizations with world class networking services. ----------- BACKGROUNDER ONTARIO NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAM (ONIP) BACKGROUND ~ In February 1993, the Ontario Government announced a comprehensive multi-year telecommunications strategy to promote Ontario's lead position as a place to live, work, learn, and do business through telecommunications. ~ Within this strategy, $100 million in funding was announced for the four-year Ontario Network Infrastructure program (ONIP). ~ A jobsOntario Capital program, ONIP focuses on long-term infrastructure investment to support the restructuring of the provincial economy. ~ ONIP invites applications from Ontario-based groups with established needs: users, information and telecommunication service providers, network service providers and public bodies. ~ ONIP has received more than 200 inquiries resulting in over 50 initiatives under development. Approval has been made for 14 projects with two additional projects currently under review. ASSISTANCE ~ ONIP provides funds for feasibility studies and business plans up to 75 per cent of eligible costs up to a grant maximum of $75,000. ~ ONIP also provides network implementation project assistance: up to 50 per cent of eligible costs for implementation networks and services for up to three years. PURPOSE ~ The purpose of ONIP is to accelerate long-term development and use of a modern, advanced information infrastructure. Its objectives include: ~ increasing access to an advanced information infrastructure through Ontario; ~ accelerating the development of high capacity, inter-operable networks; ~ stimulating development of network-related products and services, resulting in new business opportunities and increased exports; ~ increasing the number of network users with the knowledge and ability to obtain and use information; ~ leveraging increased investment in Ontario information infrastructure; ~ stimulating growth in Ontario expertise and knowledge in the development, management and operation of advanced networks. ~ The initial network priorities for ONIP include education and training, health care, community and advanced technology. ~ The Ontario Government's Council for an Ontario Information Infrastructure supports and promotes the provincial telecommunications strategy, including recommending ONIP priorities and reviewing ONIP applications. ------------------------------ From: danielho@netcom.com (Daniel Ho) Subject: CSPA Annual Conference - Software Superhighway 2000 Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Wed, 15 Jun 1994 20:32:44 GMT ------------------------------- | 1994 CSPA Annual Conference | ------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------- | "A Magical Tour Down Software Superhighway 2000" | ---------------------------------------------------- June 18, 1994 12:00 noon - 5:00 pm Registration at 11:00 am Santa Clara Marriott Fee: CSPA member : $10 Non CSPA member : $15 Speakers ======== Wei Yen, VP of Silicon Graphics Sherman Ting, VP of Oracle Corporation Patrick Lanthier, Director of Public Policy & Technology of Pacific Bell Jay Marty Tenenbaum, CEO of Enterprise Integration Technologies Dr. H.K. Huang, UCSF Vice Chairman of Radiological Information Lab Fred Greguras, Partner of Fenwick & West Topics ====== * Information Highway : Hype or Real? * Architecture and Infrastructure of Superhighway * Concerns and Strategies of the big players * Business opportunities for software developers * Demonstrations * Door Prizes Drawings at 2:30pm and 4:30pm * Members of AAMA, CBA, CINA, and Monte Jade eligible for a discounted entry fee of $10, and CSPA members who renew their '94 membership at the door receive a futher $5 discount off Member registration fee. ------------------------------ From: casterli@csn.org (Leroy Casterline) Subject: Automated Test Equipment Wanted Date: Wed, 15 Jun 1994 14:47:26 -0600 Organization: Cahill Casterline Limited Reply-To: casterli@csn.org I am looking for sources for automated test equipment for the multi-line telecom products that we produce. Ideally, the equipment would be programmable from a PC via a serial connection, and would provide battery, ring voltage, standard and user-definable multi-frequency tones, DTMF generation and detection, the ability to play voice files, and support 24 to 48 ports simultaneously. I believe that such a system could be built from Dialogic (or other) boards, but would like to avoid reinventing the wheel if at all possible. I'm just beginning to think about this area of our development, and am open to any and all suggestions, and to equipment which does not meet all of the above criteria. Thanks, Leroy ------------------------------ From: gmerin@panix.com (Gary Merinstein) Subject: Help Wanted With Intellepath ii Date: 14 Jun 1994 23:23:43 -0400 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC At my new employer we have an Intellepath ii Centrex phone system (connected by RJ-45 plugs). I need to connect modems and answering machines to this system. Do I need a special device to convert between standard analog devices and this system or do I just need some custom cable (with RJ-10 and RJ-45 jacks on opposing ends)? gmm gmerin@panix.com mci: 489-6979 ci$ 74035,1232 ------------------------------ From: stacy@sobeco.com (Stacy L. Millions) Subject: Telecom Services in Chile Organization: Sobeco Ernst & Young Date: Wed, 15 Jun 1994 11:47:49 GMT Hello, It would seem that I may soon have to come up with a method of providing data connectivity between a company here in Canada and another in Chile. I have no idea what to expect to find in Chile in terms of telecom services, or who would provide them. Can some one shed some light on this for me? Do you know of any commercial IP providers in Chile? stacy@sobeco.com Stan Kelly-Bootle stacy@sobeco.ca sobeco!stacy ------------------------------ From: weigl@sibelius.inria.fr (Konrad Weigl) Subject: Where to Find Bid For Cellular Network Implementation? Date: 15 Jun 1994 14:19:14 GMT Organization: INRIA, Sophia-Antipolis (Fr) Title says it all. In which publication(s) would a national P.T.T. or other telecommunication agency publish an invitation to bid for the planning and implementation of a cellular phone network? For example, if Ghana decided it wanted to have a cellular phone network, where would it publish an invitation to bid, in order to reach all the companies worldwide that might be able to execute such a task? Please answer by email, since I cannot read this newsgroup regularly. Thanks in advance, Konrad Weigl Tel. +33 93 65 78 63 Projet Pastis Tel. +33 93 74 72 12 (Home, answering machine) INRIA Fax +33 93 65 76 43 B.P. 93 email weigl@sophia.inria.fr 06902 Sophia Antipolis Cedex France ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Jun 1994 11:38:49 -0700 From: whitmore@tahoma.cwu.edu (Rattlesnake Stu) Subject: Questions About Scrambling Organization: Central Washington University Has anyone used scrambler/descrambler setups? I'd like to know how well they work. Do they interfere with signal quality (could they be used on a data line)? Is the scrambled signal relatively easy for a third party (shady competing business, Big Brother, etc.) on a wiretap to descramble? Are they based on accoustic input/output or in-line? Just curious -- I have no need for such a device, but they do pique my curiosity. E-mailed replies will be summarized if appropriate. Stuart Whitmore, whitmore@tahoma.cwu.edu ------------------------------ From: ant@iaccess.za (Anthony Walker) Subject: Looking For Information on E&M Tie Lines Date: 15 Jun 1994 14:11:12 GMT Organization: Internet Access public-access service I am looking for information on E&M tie lines. Does a system exist whereby I can hook up my E&M PABX via a data line to a remote telephone line and use the remote line as if it were oin the PABX? Failing that, does anyone have any more info on how the E&M standard works? Thanks, please reply in email, robin@ilink.nis.za ------------------------------ From: afcchip@aol.com (AFC Chip) Subject: Seeking NJ Based Telco People Date: 15 Jun 1994 15:08:05 -0400 Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) Are there any NJ based telco people participating in this newsgroup, like AT+T, Bell Labs, etc? If so, could you please let me know here, or email me? Thanks, Chip ------------------------------ From: rob.lesan@cccbbs.cincinnati.oh.us (Rob Lesan) Subject: Help Needed With Wincomm Pro Date: Wed, 15 Jun 94 21:59:00 -0500 Organization: Cincinnati Computer Connection - Cincinnati, OH - 513-752-1055 Reply-To: rob.lesan@cccbbs.cincinnati.oh.us (Rob Lesan) Does anyone know of any neat programs for Wincomm Pro? I don't have access to Internet ftp so it would have to be on a BBS. I would also need the phone number of the BBS. Thanks in advance, Rob Lesan ------------------------------ From: Urban Surfer Subject: Re: Pager on a Watch? Reply-To: matt@phs.com Date: Wed, 15 Jun 1994 15:13:41 PST Organization: Pacificare_Health_Systems jcr@creator.nwest.mccaw.com (Jeffrey Rhodes) writes: > Seiko is offering the Seiko Receptor. This is an alphanumeric pager > that receives messages and time adjustments from a Stratum 1 atomic > clock (every thirty minutes). FM subcarriers are used, so some > messages get missed while in a tunnel or basement. I asked Motorola about NTP for pagers and they gave a long explanation about how they would have to redesign the transmission equipment and have fancy schemes for clock drift. They didn't make it sound doable in the near term. I hope that Seiko can push Motorola and the paging services to offer this. Matt Holdrege matt@phs.com MH235 ------------------------------ From: rjones@chinook.halcyon.com (Ry Jones) Subject: Re: Pager on a Watch? Date: 16 Jun 1994 00:55:02 GMT Organization: Northwest Nexus Inc. I don't recall who offers it, but in 206 you can buy a pager watch (I think it's a Casio) for like $140, with six months service. The downside, as mentioned, is fragility. The watch is called the Receptor. You get stock reports, etc, and it has the ability to get pages. It's available at (I think) Mervyn's. Our Esteemed Moderator noted: > I think when you travel around the USA (or most of the world, if the > radio signals go that far) you will still have to advance or retard > your watch manually for the correct hour. If I stand corrected on > this, let me know. PAT] Yes, perhaps true, but minutes and seconds would not work in the Newfoundland time zone, with is 1/2 hour off. Check it on your NPA map in your phone book; the clock over the diamond for Newfoundland it set to 1/2 hour off. rjones@halcyon.com ------------------------------ From: Kim Prisk Date: Thu, 16 Jun 1994 03:37:17 GMT Subject: Subject: Re: Pager on a Watch? Organization: The University of Auckland 6/15/94 - Scott Coleman wrote: > I once tried to track down the writwatch pager. It does exist, but > none of the paging companies around here seems to want to carry > them ..." I was wondering if this type of watch might also be useful for lawyers? Kim Prisk ------------------------------ From: Mark Crispin Subject: Re: Pager on a Watch? Date: Wed, 15 Jun 1994 18:39:02 -0700 Organization: University of Washington Seiko sells their Receptor watches in the Portland and Seattle metropolitan areas. I'm not sure if they are offered in any other areas. I have one. ------------------------------ From: cogorno@netcom.com (Steve Cogorno) Subject: Re: Forwarding and PacBell Date: Wed, 15 Jun 1994 19:29:17 PDT Steve Cogorno said: > We'll see. TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, two hours has passed. Heck, a full > day has passed by the time this is in circulation on the net. Got any > followup report for us? PAT] Call 5) Well, a call to 611 last night revealed that I didn't even have call forwarding at all; the Repair tech couldn't pull up the history file, so there was nothing she could do. She said she would take care of it today. Call 6) Called at 11:30, and they said "We re-placed the order when you called this morning. It should be on now." I didn't call this morning. We aren't sure who, but someone wrote an order at 9:48AM this morning -- I didn't request it, so we don't know who did. Call 6.5) Then a 611 repair tech called and said "I am calling to see if we can't get your phone working for you. Hold on a sec. No it isn't working. Give me a few minutes." Last I heard from him. Call 7) Called at 3:30. Still wasn't working. The rep was very nice, and after re-explaining the WHOLE mess, she said "The order from 9:48 this morning was written correctly. I don't know why it hasn't been completed. I'll check with installation ... it seems they were having a bit of trouble down there -- all of these orders [SC: I think there were six total] were confusing them. I have a system programmer working on it right now. If it isn't working by 5, please call repair. It is finally working. When did Busy/No Answer forwarding get to be so difficult? I'm just glad that I don't have THREE lines :-) Steve cogorno@netcom.com ------------------------------ From: jwm@student.umass.edu (Jeffrey W. McKeough) Subject: Re: Call Waiting Date: Wed, 15 Jun 1994 17:33:41 -0400 Organization: University of Massachusetts, Amherst In article , Brett Frankenberger wrote: > Depends on the switch ... Of the two major digital switches (DMS and > 5ESS), one of the two (and I can't recall which one) allows you to > dial through the stutter dial tone and the other does not ... My line is on a 5ESS, and I am able to dial through the stutter dial tone. My modem refused to recognize the stutter tone as a dial tone, but I fixed that by increasing the wait-for-tone-before-dialing parameter from two to ten seconds. No problem now. Jeffrey W. McKeough jwm@student.umass.edu ------------------------------ From: wa2ise@netcom.com (Robert Casey) Subject: Re: U.S. Postal Service and the Information Highway Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest) Date: Wed, 15 Jun 1994 23:51:47 GMT TELECOM Digest Editor noted: > There is a considerable amount of personal unhappieness among USPS > employees over the entire country. What other organization has had > three instances of employees turning into mass-murderers on the job > and killing several co-workers on the spot, ie, Highland Park, > Michigan a few years ago and Enid, Oklahoma a few years ago to name > two examples? A few years ago, a rather nasty incident happened in the Rigdewood, NJ post office. Another mass shooting, if memory serves. Does the post office figure, that out of (what) 100 thousand or so employees, you'll get a few nuts who shoot up the place? Maybe they consider it just some random "noise" in the system? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Actually, to hear Mr. Runyan discuss it, USPS officials are quite concerned. You may have read about the latest developments here in Chicago: On Tuesday they appointed an entirely new crew at the very top. New postmaster, new operations manager, etc. We shall see if things improve here as a result of the housecleaning. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #290 ******************************