TELECOM Digest Thu, 30 Jun 94 13:57:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 305 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Cellphone Tracking and O.J. Simpson (Willis H. Ware) O.J. Simpson and Telecommunications (Steve Bunning) Calling Cards - IXC vs LEC (Aaron Woolfson) GSM Countries (Juha Veijalainen) 3Com MIB(s) Sought (Paul Ferguson) Call Back w/X25, Direct Dialers (Martin Varsavsky) Request Information: Distinctive Ring Phone Line Switches (grstone@delphi) Connecting a Sound Card to a Telephone Line (Paul L. Egges) Mobile Phone Cabling (was: "Re-readiating" Cellular Antennas) (J. Schiefer) Need KSUless Music On Hold Adaptor - Help! (Ms. Sandra M. Levy) Voice-to-Text Answering Board (Chris Norley) BAM's Digital Footprint (Alex Cena) Programming Help Needed With Tandy CT 1030 (Brandon Roy) TDMA Phones RF Interference (Thomas W. Christoffel) Digital Cellular Data Transmission (Laura McDevitt) 811 Used For Business Office (Carl Moore) Wanted: Comm System For Nursing Floor (Cyndi Cuppernell) Re: Satellite Phone Wanted (Don Jamer) Re: Satellite Phone Wanted (Kevin McConnaughey) Re: Satellite Phone Wanted (Donald R. Newcomb) Re: Satellite Phone Wanted (Patton M Turner) Re: Satellite Phone Wanted (Rob Janssen) Some Random Thoughts From a Reader (Adam Gruen) 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: Willis H. Ware Reply-To: willis@rand.org Subject: Re: CELLFONE TRACKING Date: Thu, 30 Jun 94 10:32:44 PDT PAT: As requested ... The recent "Freeway Chase" of O.J.Simpson's white Ford Bronco has brought into public consciousness the issue of whether a cellular telephone network is technically able to track a subscriber's handset and report its physical location. The {Los Angeles Times} published an article stating that the cellphone system had been used to track the vehicle. On the other hand, local TV stations also interviewed the young couple who, on their way to the beach, had visually sighted the car and used a roadside emergency phone to report it to authorities. The role of the cellular provider or its technical ability to track is not wholly clear; but on the basis of all the facts that appeared in local media, it does seem clear that the vehicle tracking was largely visual, not electronic. In fact later in the chase, the driver reported where he was and when he intended to make turns off/on the freeway network. The first technical observation would appear to be that a handset is either handling a call, is on standby, or is switched off. If the last, it must be invisible to the network. In standby, there must be some periodic communication between handset and the network -- perhaps polling, perhaps challenge and response -- that allows the cellphone net to know in which cell an active or standby handset is presently located. Otherwise the network could not know to which cell to direct an incoming call, or to hand off an outgoing call from one cell to the next as the handset moves from cell to cell. Therefore, one readily concludes that the cellphone network can track a unit to its current cell location and from cell to cell. Presumably, such location information could be available to the system operators as a matter of routine oversight of the system, to the creation of operational records and audit trails, and to billing records. So the cellular operator, AirTouch in this case, could probably report to authorities which cell the Bronco currently occupied. Probably, the present-cell-location information is available within the network whether the handset is active or in standby. As a matter of legalities, the {Los Angeles Times} article did say that the provider -- AirTouch -- had been "subpoenaed to cooperate" and it did also say that a wiretap court order had been obtained. The subpoena was probably to cover what is known as "transaction records" which in a cellular system might include location information but certainly caller and callee numbers and billing information. The wiretap order would be required to monitor and record the content of the calls. Next, however, there is a point of technical uncertainty. At cell-phone frequencies, the antennas are usually made up of multiple elements in order to get the desired azimuthal coverage and to avoid wasting energy by confining the transmitted energy to the desired service area, which for cellphones transmitters probably is a roughly round flat saucer of radiation. There would be no point in wasting energy by squirting it straight overhead or to unusually high angles. It is well known that broadcast transmitters -- AM/FM/TV -- control the radiation pattern of their antennas to maximize the transmitted energy into the service area. But, does a cellular transmitter control and manipulate the individual antenna elements for each transmission in order to maximize the energy directed toward the handset of interest? Is the phasing among the many elements adjusted dynamically to point a given transmission toward a handset and to track its motion? Are there even multiple transmitters so that individual calls can be assigned to particular antenna beams? Or is there a single transmitter that is used for all calls concurrently in progress and that deals with the multiple elements of the antenna as a single composite entity that has a fixed radiation pattern adapted to its particular location? In the present state of electronics, multiple transmitters and dynamic electronic beam pointing would be easily achieved. But how has the system been designed? If angular adjustment is indeed utilized for each transmission, then two cell sites that can hear the transmission could, in principle, function as a form of triangulation, and tracking could be more precise than just "the handset is in cell xx". IF angular positioning of the transmitted beam for a given call-in-progress is indeed used, then it's a collateral question of whether such information can be extracted from the system by its operational personnel. The Times article quoted a security consultant from Houston TX as saying that triangulation had been used by the authorities and that it had also been used to track down a drug figure in Columbia. In the latter case, I can imagine the DEA and other authorities having high quality triangulation equipment, but it would seem unlikely that local law authorities would. So if the triangulation story is correct, then it must follow that the cell transmitters themselves are able to provide some level of triangulation. What are the technical facts about the cellphone network, its ability to track, and its ability to report location? Willis Ware Santa Monica, CA ------------------------------ From: Steve Bunning Subject: O.J. Simpson and Telecommunications Date: Wed, 29 Jun 1994 14:24:16 EDT In TELECOM Digest, Tue, 28 Jun 94, Volume 14, Issue 301, David Cantor comments "Frankly, I don't see what the O.J. Simpson case has to do with telecommunications ...". How about the use of scanners to monitor cellular phone calls? I caught a few minutes of coverage as Simpson was being driven down the expressway. As the TV screen showed the vehicle, a graphic on the screen said something about a "scanner" report. The person reporting proceeded to reveal who Simpson had just called and a summary of their phone conversation. At least they didn't patch it directly on air. As has been said in the Digest before, don't count on your cellular phone calls being private. ------------------------------ From: awoolfso@uop.edu (Aaron Woolfson) Subject: Calling Cards - IXC vs LEC Date: 30 Jun 1994 02:05:31 -0700 Organization: University of the Pacific I have a question ... it sort of is something I need to think about here at Delta Telecommunications, since we will be issuing calling cards. What happens if your 1) AT&T card, 2) Pacific Bell card, and 3) Sprint card all have the same number on them -- i.e. for instance, my pacific bell card may be 209 956 4765 1111 and AT&T may be 209 956 4765 2222 and my Sprint may be 209 956 4765 3333. However, what happens when they are all the same number, including PIN, and I make a call over AT&T or Sprint. Does the respective IXC card get charged to, or does the Pacific Bell LEC card get charged to, or what? Thanks. Any information would be extremily helpful. Aaron Woolfson (awoolfso@unix1.cc.uop.edu) ------------------------------ From: juha.veijalainen@compart.fi (Juha Veijalainen) Subject: GSM Countries Date: Thu, 30 Jun 94 08:16:00 +0200 Organization: ComPart BBS - Helsinki, Finland - +358-0-506-3329 (V.32bis) Here's a list of some (if not all) countries and operators using GSM. It's interesting to note that all continents, except America, have GSM networks. When is USA, for example, going to catch up ;-) Information is from 'GSM 940 - Roaming guide for countries and networks serving Telecom Finland's GSM customers 1994'. AUSTRALIA MOBILNET AUSTRIA E-NETZ BELGIUM MOB-3 DENMARK TDK-MOBIL SONOFON ESTONIA TELE FIN (Telecom Finland) FINLAND TELE FIN (Telecom Finland) (RADIOLINJA) FRANCE FRANCE TELECOM SFR GERMANY TELEKOM D1 D2 PRIVAT GREAT BRITAIN AND N.IRELAND VODAFONE GREAT BRITAIN CELLNET GREECE PANAFON SET HELLAS HONGKONG TCSL GSM SMARTONE HUNGARY PANNON WESTEL 900 IRELAND EIRCELL-GSM ITALY SIP LATVIA LMT GSM LIECHTENSTEIN (Switzerland network) NATEL D GSM LUXEMBOURG LUXGSM MONACO (France network) FRANCE TELECOM SFR THE NETHERLANDS PTT TELECOM NEW ZEALAND NORWAY TELE-MOBIL NETCOM GSM PORTUGAL TELEMOVEL TELECEL SINGAPORE ST-GSM-SGP SOUTH AFRICA TELECOM SA SPAIN TELEFONICA SWEDEN TELIA MOBILTEL COMVIQ EUROPOLITAN SWITZERLAND NATEL D GSM TURKEY PTT/TURKCELL GSM PTT/TEKNOTELL Prices vary a lot. Cheapest prices are in Scandinavia (Finland and Sweden). Operators may charge 0 - 15 % roaming charge. Some operators charge by second, some by other 'units'. When roaming, you'll also pay a surcharge for received calls (from 0,75 FIM/min in Scandinavia to 9,75 FIM/min in Hongkong). New GSM networks are also planned for at least: Russia (St.Petersburg), second network for Estonia, Arab Emirates. Juha Veijalainen Helsinki, Finland tel. +358 40 500 4402 ------------------------------ From: paul@sprintlink.net (Paul Ferguson) Subject: 3Com MIB(s) Sought Date: 30 Jun 1994 14:15:45 GMT Organization: Sprint Managed Network Engineering Reply-To: paul@hawksbill.sprintmrn.com Does anyone know an FTP site where I can find the 3Com MIBs's for the following: <3Com NetBuider II> SW/NBII-FF,7.0 X25 - 3.2 Frame Relay - 2.0 CLNP - 2.0 nb2 REM: 1.0.5 Copyright 1985-1994, 3Com Corporation <3Com NetBuilder-Remote Office> SW/NBRO-BA,7.0 SPMON Version 1.0.2 Copyright 1985-1994, 3Com Corporation An archie search doesn't provide anything useful. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Please respond via e-mail to . Thanks, Paul Ferguson US Sprint Managed Network Engineering tel: 703.904.2437 Herndon, Virginia USA internet: paul@hawk.sprintmrn.com ------------------------------ From: martinvars@aol.com (MARTINVARS) Subject: Call Back w/X25, Direct Dialers Date: 30 Jun 1994 09:59:02 -0400 Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) Does anybody know of a platform to recommend to interface a call back system with X25 messaging? Does anybody have a platform to recommend that provides Call Back service with voice recognition, voice mail and fax mail interface, call back with greeting, ability to network different call back switches in different countries, multicurrency billing? Does anybody know what are the best dialers that can be installed at the clients premises so the client dials normally and these dialers request the call back and dial without the client being aware of it? These dialers should be able to be programmed from the switching center. Martin Varsavsky Viatel, NYC. ------------------------------ From: grstone@delphi.com Subject: Request Info: Distinctive Ring Phone Line Switches Date: Thu, 30 Jun 94 02:03:48 -0500 Organization: Delphi (info@delphi.com email, 800-695-4005 voice) I want a BBS to answer on distincitive ringing, and to no other incoming calls with standard ringing. COMSHARE 450 costs $89 but has other bells and whistles I don't need. Anyone know of a simpler, cheaper product that does this? Oh, yes, the BBS is MAC. Thanks. ------------------------------ From: pegges@teal.csn.org (Paul L. Egges) Subject: Connecting a Sound Card to a Telephone Line Organization: Colorado SuperNet, Inc. Date: Thu, 30 Jun 1994 16:44:45 GMT Has anyone ever connected a sound cards input to a telephone line (via the speaker wires on modem preferably)? Does anyone know of a device sold for doing this (I'm feeling lazy and would rather not design anything). Thanks, Paul L. Egges ------------------------------ From: jas@hplb.hpl.hp.com (Jan Schiefer) Subject: Mobile Phone Cabling (was: "Re-readiating" Car Cellular Antennas) Date: Thu, 30 Jun 1994 17:57:39 GMT Organization: Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, Bristol, England John Gilbert (johng@ecs.comm.mot.com) wrote: > for by the 3 db of gain the outside antenna provides. > Use a cable between the radio and the outside antenna. You will have much > better results. Just wondering: What cables do the people fitting mobile phones normally use? When the phone operates at 900MHz or even 1.8GHz, you could have much more cable loss than 3dB, for a roof-mounted aerial. And how many people are prepared to shell out real money for high-quality cable? And then there is the toy-coax-connector-on-bottom-of-handset problem. I guess a lot of people experience that the built-in aerial works much better than the 'professionally fitted' car-mount one. Cheers, Jan Schiefer, g0trr, jas@hplb.hpl.hp.com, HP Labs Bristol, UK. +44 272 228344 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Jun 1994 14:46:34 EDT From: CTDN53B@prodigy.com (MS SANDRA M LEVY) Subject: Need KSUless Music On Hold Adaptor A prospective customer has a simple two-line telephone and no KSU. He'd like to have us custom-create an informational tape for his callers on hold. Last I heard Radio Shack had a dandy little Music On Hold adaptor for up to two lines for right around $50. They've discontinued the product. Does anyone know where I can find a device that will allow a KSUless phone with a hold button to deliver audio when the hold button is pushed? Please answer to CTDN53B@prodigy.com. Thank you, Sandra (call me Sam) Levy Ideas On Hold 4300 NW 23rd Ave., Suite 299 Gainesville (home of the student murders, and today a toxic chemical cloud due to an accident -- oh, what a city!;) FL 32614-7050 Vox 1-800-879-4332 Fax 1-904-367-8339. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: There are a lot of Radio Shack people who read this Digest; maybe one or more will find the product you are seeking in their left-overs and discontinued products department in their stores. Regards Gainesville being such a bad place to live, all we here in Chicago should have to deal with are a few students murdered now and then plus toxic chemical clouds once in a while. We typically have three or four murders per day here; 1994 is running well ahead of previous years-to-date in that category. Violence is rampant all over the United States but it is worst in the large urban areas, with Chicago one of the leaders. You wanna move here and I will move there? Its all quite relative, you see. At least I was able to move out of Chicago permanently several months ago and it is a lot more peaceful here where I live now, albiet harder than ever to pay the bills living at the edge of Skokie/Wilmette. PAT] ------------------------------ From: norleyc@pwfl.com (Chris Norley) Subject: Voice-to-Text Answering Board Date: Thu, 30 Jun 94 13:11:31 EDT I am looking for an answering machine that will provide voice-to-text capability. Is there such a beast available? I will summarize the answers that are sent to me. Thanks in advance, Chris Norley norleyc@pwfl.com Advanced Materials phone: 407-796-6561 Powdered Metal, Anyone? O/V (Profs) : norleyc ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Jun 94 09:35:26 EST From: Alex Cena Subject: BAM's Digital Footprint Does anyone know how widespread Bell Atlantic's digital cellular service is in its major markets such as Washington DC and Philadelphia? In addition to service quality and availability, I am also interested in finding out what percent of cell sites contain digital radios. Regards, Alex ------------------------------ From: broy@k12.ucs.umass.edu (Brandon Roy) Subject: Programming Help Needed With Tandy CT 1030 Reply-To: broy@k12.ucs.umass.edu Date: Wed, 29 Jun 1994 20:40:50 -0400 Can anybody out there give me any information about programming this cellular phone? I'm pretty sure it can be programmed through the handset. I have information about the equivilant Radio Shack model, but apparently there are some differences. Thank you. ------------------------------ From: twc0@gte.com (Thomas W. Christoffel) Subject: TDMA Phones RF Interference Date: Thu, 30 Jun 1994 15:06:15 GMT Organization: GTE Laboratories Incorporated Anyone heard about RF interference from TDMA cellular telephones causing problems with automotive or medical electronics? Please send replies to tchristoffel@gte.com. Thanks. ------------------------------ From: mcdevitt@pip.oci.utoronto.ca (Laura McDevitt) Subject: Digital Cellular Data Transmission Organization: Ontario Cancer Institute, University of Toronto Date: Thu, 30 Jun 1994 09:41:03 GMT Anyone familiar with digital cellular high-speed data transmission? Specifically, I would like to hear about anyone's knowledge or experience concerning its application for videoconferencing. Please send your response to my e-mail address: mcdevitt@oci.utoronto.ca Thank you. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Jun 94 12:20:21 EDT From: Carl Moore Subject: 811 Used For Business Office Front Royal, Virginia is served by (703)635,636, and newer 622. I was just down there, and found that it is served by Centel, and that 811 or an 800 number are used for the business office in Charlottesville. Is the new Virginia area code public yet? ------------------------------ From: ccuppern@s.psych.uiuc.edu (Cyndi Cuppernell) Subject: Wanted: Comm System For Nursing Floor Date: 30 Jun 1994 14:51:58 GMT Organization: UIUC Department of Psychology I work on a floor at a hospital. Currently we use an overhead page during the days and evenings to communicate with nurses and others, telling the person they have a phone call; need to come to the nurses' station; asking that the person turn on a bedside call light, etc. We're trying to find an alternative system. Other floors use vibrating pagers, but we've heard that the pagers often break down. What system can you recommend? What would be both the advantages and the drawbacks of your system? Please e-mail me if possible. Thanks for your help. Cyndi Cuppernell RN ccuppern@s.psych.uiuc.edu ------------------------------ From: jamerd@nbnet.nb.ca (Don Jamer) Subject: Re: Satellite Phone Wanted Date: Thu, 30 Jun 1994 12:29:54 GMT Organization: NBTel In article John@VAX1.Mankato.MSUS.EDU writes: > Is there a phone on the market that can use a satellite (not a cell) > to communicate? Some friends and I want to take a trip to where there > are no phones (obviously) and no cells. We thought maybe we could > rent a satellite phone, if possible. Try "INMARSAT" (International Maritime Satellite), but boy! is it expensive ! You might be better off with an HF SSB (high frequency --3 - 30Mhz --, single sideband unit). They carry several thousand miles and are regularly used in remote areas including barges on the Mississippi (for long haul communications). ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Satellite Phone Wanted From: kevin@realtyme.com (Kevin McConnaughey) Date: Wed, 29 Jun 94 18:30:48 EDT Organization: Retrograde Motion BBS - Oakton, VA. John@VAX1.Mankato.MSUS.EDU writes: > Is there a phone on the market that can use a satellite (not a cell) > to communicate? Some friends and I want to take a trip to where there > are no phones (obviously) and no cells. We thought maybe we could > rent a satellite phone, if possible. There are a number of companies that make briefcase size portable telephone earth stations. Scientific Atlanta comes to mind, I think I recently saw an advertisement in a trade journal. You will want to arrange for INMARSAT "M" or "B" service with a service provider. The only two that I am aware of in the US are: IDB Mobile and Comsat Mobile. Both have offices in Rockville, MD. COMSAT has a promotional plan going with an introductory rate of about $4.95/minute. The non-discounted rate is regularly $5.50. I always get the two service names mixed up -- but they are both digital services that compress voice and encode it on the digital carrier. I think that you might be able to arrange to rent or lease a terminal through either of these providers. It would probably be a good idea since the terminals retail from $10,000 to $20,000. In addition to voice service there is also the significantly less expensive INMARSAT C teminals for low speed data. I am not sure what sort of services besides TELEX are offered but I would assume that you could get e-mail access. These terminals and the rates would be less than the voice services but I don't know prices. Regards, kevin@realtyme.com (Kevin McConnaughey) Retrograde Motion BBS - Oakton, Virginia +1-703-758-9084 ------------------------------ From: dnewcomb@whale.st.usm.edu (Donald R. Newcomb) Subject: Re: Satellite Phone Wanted Date: 29 Jun 1994 18:18:52 -0500 Organization: University of Southern Mississippi Yep! We have a couple of them in my office. About the size of a small suitcase. Has an umbrella-like dish antenna you set up and point at the satellite. For some strange reason, they call this an 'Ultra-light'. I guess the heavy-weight is van-mobile. I've been asking for training on how to use them but it hasn't happened yet. As I remember they said that the price was around $10K per unit (don't quote me on that.) OBTW, calls are $10 per minute. Donald R. Newcomb * University of Southern Mississippi dnewcomb@whale.st.usm.edu ------------------------------ From: pturner@netcom.com (Patton M Turner) Subject: Re: Satellite Phone Wanted Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Wed, 29 Jun 1994 01:53:15 GMT > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Wouldn't the ship to shore (or high seas) > service work out in John's case? I am thinking of Marisat or Maristat? > Can you get portable phones to carry around which use that service? PAT] It's called INMARSAT and uses briefcase sized phones. Cost can be as low as $5/min for the newest phones. Ship to Shore is usually used to refer to the AT&T high seas HF service. Patton Turner KB4GRZ pturner@netcom.com FAA Telecommunications ------------------------------ From: robjan@rabo.nl (Rob Janssen) Subject: Re: Satellite Phone Wanted Date: 29 Jun 1994 13:14:08 +0100 Organization: Rabobank Nederland There are "portable" phones that use Inmarsat. Not something you carry in your pocket, but at least they are transportable. They should work anywhere between ~ 75 degrees north and south. However, the cost of calls is huge. The rent probably just as well. So, this is only realistic for purposes like sponsored expeditions, not for your average holiday trip ... Rob ------------------------------ From: Adam Gruen <0006449096@mcimail.com> Subject: Some Random Thoughts From a Reader Date: Wed, 29 Jun 1994 14:47:00 EST TELECOM Digest is a terrific service. I've learned more reading through back issues than I could have ever hoped to glean from perusing telecomm journal articles. I'm a historian of technology, a refugee from the Space Station program, so moving from aerospace to telecommunications is a challenge and TD helps. I find, by the way, that both fields have the same problem: translation from technese into English. As an MCI employee, naturally I always notice any complaints about MCI. I don't know what to do about Bill Garfield's complaint, and I'm certainly not an influential corporate person, but I'll try to do something about it. Maybe drop a hint with the legal department. Sidenote on the Simpson case, PAT. In the U.S. today, it's not "innocent until proven guilty". It's not even "guilty until proven innocent." Now, it's just "Guilty -- hang him." No proof needed, none wanted. Even the prospect of a justice system with no justice pales before the spectre of a bored media industry desperate to sell advertising time. I read not too long ago that CNN's ratings numbers have been down ever since the Gulf War ended. The problem, CNN analysts decided, was that there simply was no interesting crisis to grab the attention of the populace. One wonders how long it will be before such crises are manufactured to boost ratings. And I don't mean penny-ante trumped-up incidents such as Gulf of Tonkin or U.S.S. Maine -- I mean BIG news, like a nuclear war somewhere. Oh well. Veritas Praevalet. Dr. Adam L. Gruen [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Thanks for your very kind comments about the Digest. The Digest is something I've worked on for several years úÿ (continued next message) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Date: 06-30-94 Msg # 450992 To: ELIOT GELWAN Conf: (700) EMAIL From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.ed Stat: Private Subj: TELECOM Digest V14 #305 Read: Yes ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ÿ@FROM :telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu úÿ(Continued from last message) because of my strong belief in the need to educate the public at large about the way telephones operate. I've believed for many years that people need to know more and better understand how telephones and the telecom networks function -- not just from a technical viewpoint, but in all sorts of ways. Someone commented elsewhere recently that they do not believe there is an archives, or ftp repository anywhere on the Internet as comprehensive and detailed as the one for telecom. I don't know if that is true or not, but I know that ours is quite large and contains almost every back issue of this Digest since its beginning in 1981 under the tenure (in those days) of Jon Solomon. If people read them all, they will learn a lot about telecom ... possibly more than they ever wanted to know. The Telecom Archives can be accessed using anonymous ftp at lcs.mit.edu, or by Archie, Gopher, etc ... if you prefer email, use the Telecom Archives Email Information Service at tel-archives@lcs.mit.edu. Ask me for a help file using this if one is needed. Even though I work on the Digest because of my sincere belief that a good working knowlege of telecom is vital to people everywhere, still there remain such mundane things from day to day as paying the bills, eating, and keeping the phone turned on. To this extent, one very big and important part of the Digest is the funding provided by the International Telecommun- ication Union in Geneva, Switzerland. Their monthly grant is a very important part of how the Digest survives, but they cannot do it all, and donations from readers along with corporate assistance is also needed. If *your company* can assist at all with either a one time grant or a monthly subscription to the Digest, I cannot stress enough the importance of doing it today. TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit educational activity and publication registered as such in the State of Illinois, and the County of Cook, Illinois. Checks may be made payable to TELECOM Digest. Please help however you can, in ways you deem appropriate. And to those who have helped in the past, or to whom I have obligations at this time, **you have not been forgotten** and your help is greatly appreciated. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #305 ******************************