TELECOM Digest Fri, 1 Jul 94 15:44:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 308 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Maryland, Free Internet Access (Richard Layman) Automatic HF Channel Allocation (S.A. Iskenderian) Underseas Cable Data (Pat McClure) Modem Test Equipment Wanted (Scott Platenberg) Reasonably Priced In-State Calls? (Ed Gehringer) Unitel Switched Ne a Little Early! (Jeff Bamford) AT&T Keep In Touch (William J. Rehm) 17.5 No-Surcharge Travel Service: Details (Ed Gehringer) New FTP Site/Test (Nate Zelnick) Is There a Market For PC Voice Mail Developers Card? (Chris B. Sakkas) Calling Card Cancellation (Ted J. Jardine) Last Laugh! OJ/Telecom-Related Commercials (Michael P. Deignan) 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: Richard Layman Subject: Maryland, Free Internet Access (fwd) Date: Fri, 1 Jul 1994 12:14:06 EDT Forwarded FYI to the Digest. Richard Layman ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Thu, 30 Jun 1994 18:03:28 LCL From: "Kaplan, Dan" Subject: Maryland, Free Internet Access For those of you who had not heard. The State of Maryland announced earlier this week, that it would offer free Internet access to its residents. Brian Reilly sent me the following Washington Post article on the subject. This public announcement should act as a catalyst to propel CCIA to the forefront of this issue in Chicago (Illinois), if we react appropriately. We need your input on how to best capitalize on this window of opportunity. Send comments to myself, Dan Kaplan at DKaplan@ChiReader.com or (312)-828-0350 or to Brian Reilly Reilly.21@nd.edu or (312) 868-4227. Looking forward to your input! Copyright 1994 The Washington Post The Washington Post June 23, 1994, Thursday, Final Edition SECTION: FIRST SECTION; PAGE A1 HEADLINE: Information Highway Without Tollbooths; Maryland Is the First State to Offer Free Access to the Internet BYLINE: Tabitha M. Powledge, Special to The Washington Post Maryland next month will become the first state in the nation to offer its residents direct connections to the Internet for free. The Internet is the massive network of networks that connects an estimated 20 million computer users by telephone lines to thousands of electronic information storehouses worldwide. At no cost except for a local phone call, state officials say, anyone in the area with a computer and a modem will eventually be able to connect with a state-run "gopher" site -- a computer that provides the most popular tool to link up with some of the Internet's vast resources. The mind-boggling array ranges from pictures of poultry from Texas A&M University to the bagpipe archives of Dartmouth to a definitive list of kosher restaurants in Sydney, to up-to-the-minute Commerce Department statistics on employment, energy or industrial productivity. The new noncommercial service, called "Sailor" in tribute to Maryland's maritime heritage, is a project of the state's library system. Maryland will place no time constraints on Sailor users at the outset. But Sailor's organizers expect the service to be so popular that strain on the system's 192-telephone-line capacity may eventually force limits. Free Internet connections are available in some cities such as Cleveland where community-based links to the giant network began. A similar service in the Washington area is called CapAccess, but it is supported by contributions. At least half the states are exploring hooking their library systems up to the Internet, and some have already done so. But their Internet resources are used chiefly by the librarians, not the patrons. A full complement of additional Internet services via Sailor (e-mail plus the ability to transfer files, the site-to-site connections known as telnet and the hundreds of special-interest electronic discourses called Usenet newsgroups) will cost $ 100 a year. Electronic mail service as a single option will cost $35 a year, library officials say. A commercial provider of full Internet connections such as Digital Express Group Inc. of Greenbelt charges $ 20 for setup, plus a $ 250 yearly fee and $1 an hour for use in excess of six hours per day. Of the major information services, America Online is arguably the most technically advanced, and it does not yet offer the full line of Internet services. Access to America Online costs $ 9.95 a month, plus $ 3.50 an hour after the first five hours in a month. Because its services will be free or low-cost, Maryland library officials hope Sailor will entice into the on-line universe people who have so far taken little part in the computerizing of American life. "Part of the function of the library is to keep the playing field level," says Maurice Travillian, assistant state superintendent for libraries. "That's becoming harder in our digitized world, where people with the power of machines can really bring in a lot more stuff" than can the poor. A random cruise through the layers of gopher menus accessible through Sailor is a short course in the allure and frustrations of the electronic meandering that has come to be known as cybersurfing. On the Internet, the opening menu of choices on the gopher leads to other menus of choices that lead to yet more menus in a fashion that ultimately guides a user to information. But resources mutate from moment to moment. Sources of information open and close, appear and disappear, for no discernible reason. There is no card catalogue. Authoritative, in-depth, highly reliable knowledge sits side-by-side with trivia and sometimes drivel. Select "Federal Government Resources" from Sailor's main menu, for example, and then the "National Institutes of Health" from the next menu, and you can retrieve information about NIH grants, search the NIH phone book -- and also get a weather forecast. The Library of Congress's MARVEL service offers, in addition to the library's incomparable catalogue, a database of pending federal legislation, information about Congress, and connections to the offices of Rep. Sam Coppersmith (D-Ariz.)and Rep. John Kyl (R-Ariz.), two congressmen who have established a formal presence on the Internet. But MARVEL is also a gateway to help-wanted ads all over the Internet, as well as to information about openings at the library. The library was looking outside its own ranks to fill four jobs as of Sunday. The King of Thailand was reportedly seeking 120 mechanical engineers, some to do robotics research. Although Sailor significantly undercuts the prices of commercial Internet access providers, neither they nor Maryland library officials see themselves as competitors. "Libraries have always been in competition with bookstores and video stores," says Travillian. "We stimulate interest. If people get on and like this and want more access, they'll switch over to a commercial vendor, who will probably get more customers than he would if we didn't exist at all." "I really do think they will complement one another," says Debra Young, spokeswoman for CompuServe Information Service. The largest of the commercial on-line services, CompuServe is not scheduled to offer a full Internet connection until later this year. Peaceful coexistence of both commercial and noncommercial conduits to the Internet is desirable to preserve free access to the information on it, said Daniel Weitzner of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Washington-based champion of computer users' civil rights. "I would be very concerned if all Americans' access to the Internet was controlled by government-funded institutions, because they already have a record of censoring controversial content," he said. Commercial providers, by contrast, have little motive to censor. "They just want more business," he said. "By the same token, I think libraries over time have been absolutely vehement about protecting the privacy rights of their users," Weitzner said. "I'm sure that's a value that they'll bring to this system." The price tag on Sailor's start-up and first year of operation is just under $ 2 million, all of it federal money. Spurred on by the administration's enthusiasm for building the National Research and Education Network -- often called the information superhighway -- the funds came from the Department of Education's Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI), under the Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA). Sailor's LSCA money will run out by September 1995. The library system must then turn to Maryland taxpayers for continued support. When the state legislature returns to Annapolis next winter, it will be asked for $ 825,000 for fiscal 1996 to continue Sailor. Sailor is up and running in test mode now. However, phone numbers that the public can use will be made available on a county-by-county basis as lines are hooked up and librarians are trained. The city of Baltimore and Carroll County are scheduled to go public by the end of July. Anne Arundel, Prince George's and Charles counties plan to be on-line in August and Montgomery County in September. Most of the rest of the state will be connected by the end of the summer, according to Barbara G. Smith, chief of the State Library and Information Services Section, who heads the project. Phone numbers for reaching Sailor will be available from local public libraries. The exceptions are Calvert County and southern St. Mary's County in southern Maryland; the state's westernmost county, Garrett; and Kent County on the Eastern Shore. In those areas, access via a local phone number will not be possible until next year at the earliest. Their residents can use Sailor if they are willing to make a toll call to a nearby Sailor number. Connections to the Internet are two-way, which means that while Marylanders are using Sailor to depart the state on planet-wide electronic cruises, computer users anywhere else on Earth can enter Sailor to explore much that a Maryland librarian could access. Many of these unique databases house information about Maryland. But they also include, for example, what is believed to be the world's most complete bibliography on occupational diseases of musicians, maintained by the Music Medicine Clearinghouse at the Medical & Chirurgical Faculty Library, and a guide to the Jane Austen collection at Goucher College, Travillian is particularly enthusiastic about the impact Sailor is likely to have in schools -- especially schools where funds for books and other sources of information have been cut back. Maryland libraries are also being urged to add computers so that Sailor will be handy for people who lack the hardware at home. The organizers say they are even fantasizing about Sailor kiosks in malls and supermarkets. Travillian predicts what he calls "a flood in the modem pool." At the outset, the system will accommodate only 192 dial-in users at one time, in addition to those who arrive via direct connections from local libraries and from sites elsewhere on the Internet. Although library officials point out that it is impossible to estimate the likely demand for such a novel service, no one involved in the project really believes present capacity will be anything close to adequate. ------------------------------ From: saisk1@mdw074.cc.monash.edu.au (Mr SA Iskenderian) Subject: Automatic HF Channel Allocation Date: 1 Jul 1994 02:48:14 GMT Organization: Monash University As part of my final year Electrical Engineering thesis project at Monash University in Melbourne, Austrlia, I have undertaken to research into 'Self Tracking Automatic HF Optimisation of Voice and Data'. The project work is on behalf of Melbourne based company, BHP Petroleum that make great use of telecommunication equipment in remote locations both locally and overseas. The latest equipment I came across that handles automatic allocation of HF channels is the Automatic Link Establishment (ALE) 1045 controller. I managed to get a copy of a brochure on ALE 1045 detailing its possible arrangement in conjunction with a PC, high speed data modem and an HF radio. Having also read through the US Federal Standards 1045 on ALE titled 'Telecommunications: Radio Automatic Link Establishment', I would greatly appreciate further information on ALE or relevant equipment and about the possibility of transmitting voice as well as data using this system. Could someone please clarify the following points: AA) Is it viable to digitize and compress voice before transmitting it as data blocks but switching off the 'retransmission' mode to prevent echoes? What type of Codec might be suitable for voice digitisation? BB) Can an ALE system be used to allocate the optimum HF channel at regular intervals and switch over to normal analog voice communication? Any references to literature or technical articles would also be much appreciated. Thanking in advance, Shiraz Iskenderian, Monash University. saisk1@ccds.cc.monash.edu.au ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Jun 1994 20:19:27 -0700 From: pmcclure@netcom.com (Pat McClure) Subject: Underseas Cable Data To: Patrick Townson, TELECOM Digest Editor, telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu Fm: Pat McClure, Consulting Engineer, pmcclure@netcom.com Mr. Townson: I got you name from an interesting history of underseas cables which I obtained from ftp.lcs.mit.edu. I'm doing a forecast of communications (private line) costs over the next ten years, particularly international costs. Do you know where I can find data on the underseas cables that have been installed in the last ten years, plus the capacity and cost of each? Any references or leads you could give me would surely be appreciated. Regards, Pat McClure, pmcclure@netcom.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Perhaps some readers will write to Pat McClure with the requested details. Thanks. PAT] ------------------------------ From: ecci@nic.cerf.net (Scott Platenberg) Subject: Modem Test Equipment Date: 01 Jul 1994 01:41:05 GMT Organization: CERFnet Dial n' CERF Customer I am just starting to look for equipment that will help me test several (10 to 100) modem lines simultaneously. Does anyone have any good recommendations for telco eliminators? Any help is greatly appreciated. Please email response to "scottp@ecci.com". Scott scottp@ecci.com ------------------------------ From: gehringe@eos.ncsu.edu Subject: Reasonably Priced In-State Calls? Date: Fri, 1 Jul 1994 13:42:29 -0400 Thanks to info gleaned from the TELECOM Digest, I now have services that provide reasonably priced interstate "calling-card" calls during the daytime (ATN: 17.5c/min. interstate, 23c/min.) and night/wknd. (AT&T Reach Out America with Calling-Card Option: $3.15/mo. + 10c/min.) calls. Does anyone have any ideas on how to-- - avoid a surcharge and get reasonable rates on intra-LATA "calling card" calls? - get lower rates on inter-LATA intrastate "calling card" calls? - beat the 17.5c/min. rate for long interstate "calling card" calls in the evening (low rates, minimal surcharge needed), - get lower 1+ rates for intrastate calls (within NC)? If you do not know where I can obtain cheaper service, can you at least give me some pointers to follow? Thanks, Ed ------------------------------ From: jeffb@audiolab.uwaterloo.ca (Jeff Bamford) Subject: Unitel Switched Me a Little Early! Organization: Audio Research Group, University of Waterloo Date: Fri, 1 Jul 1994 08:05:03 GMT After only three hours of equal access in Canada I've been switched to Unitel from Bell Canada. The only strange thing is that, I never actually requested the change! I got in earlier and thought, well it's July 1st and equal access is here so I'll give it a try. I dialed 1-700-555-4141 and was extremely surprised to find that I was now with Unitel. I also tried 10323-1-700-555-4141 (323 is Bell Canada) and was even further surprised that this worked! At this point, I thought gotta call Unitel, gotta call Unitel. So, I called them up and informed the operator at Unitel that I called the 1-700 number to check your carrier and was surprised to be already switched to Unitel. I then added that I was even more surprised as I never actually requested the change. She then put me on hold. When she came back she said that they could switch me back to Bell if I wanted. I said that I wanted Unitel, I just wondered why they switched me without asking. She said it must've been an error. I hope they aren't just switching all their customers! In any case, I gave her my name and phone number to make it official. Since I had them on the phone, I asked her what Unitel's carrier number is. She didn't quite know what I meant at first. I said, "In the states you can use another carrier by dialing 10xxx-1-rest of number". She then knew what I meant but had to look up the number, turns out that it is: 869. Jeff Bamford jsbamford@uwaterloo.ca -- NeXT Mail welcome ------------------------------ From: wjrst1+@pitt.edu (William J Rehm) Subject: AT&T Keep In Touch Date: 1 Jul 1994 14:59:35 GMT Organization: University of Pittsburgh Reply-To: wjrst1+@pitt.edu Will the AT&T Keep In Touch PCMCIA modem work with an acoustic coupler? We have a group of salesmen who need to connect from phone booths. We have a call in to AT&T customer service, but we're in a bit of a jam, so I thought I'd try here. Obviously, if it is possible, we haven't managed to do it. If anyone could post/mail directions, I'd appreciate it. TIA, Bill Rehm wjrst1+@pitt.edu ------------------------------ From: gehringe@eos.ncsu.edu Subject: 17.5 No-Surcharge Travel Service: details Date: Fri, 1 Jul 1994 13:18:48 -0400 Just phoned ATN's Buffalo office and got the details. I hope I have copied all of the intricacies correctly. Their "calling card" has rates of 17.5c/min. interstate at all times, no minimum. Intrastate charges are higher, e.g., 23c/min. at all times in NC. Their 1+ service has basic rate of 23c/min. peak (0800-1700 M-F only) and 12.5c/min. off-peak (all other times). There is a surcharge of $7.50/mo. However, if you make at least 60 min. of *interstate* calls per month with the service, the rate *for calls to your "top 5" area codes only* drops to 18.4c/min. peak and 10c/min. off-peak. ("Top 5" is determined by number of minutes. Hey, here's a company that realizes additional revenue on every NPA split! :-) Also, the $7.50 surcharge is waived. So, yes, Virginia, it is much cheaper to call for 60 min. in a month than for 40 min. Again, intrastate rates are higher, e.g., in NC, 25c/min. peak and 15.5c/min. off-peak. Ed ------------------------------ From: BRP Publications Subject: New FTP Site/Test Date: Fri, 1 Jul 1994 12:09:07 EDT FYI, Business Research Publications has made an initial move toward getting its 18 publications on the Net. BRP has set up an FTP site (ftp.digex.net /pub/access/brpinc) with newsletter issues, in both raw ASCII and Common Ground formats, as well as other research reports, a conference calendar and other related information. Topics cover information and online services, email, telecom regulation and legislation, interactive TV/cable TV, security technology, wireless and mobile technologies, data communications, and labor and human resources matters. Once we gauge the use and usefulness of the information, we'll consider posting more information to the Net in the future. My publishers tell me that they're still concerned about unauthorized distribution of copyrighted information, but for now they say the information at the FTP site can be copied and distributed as long as the full text of each newsletter is kept intact and the copyright notice is included. Any comments on whether this will work? Nate Zelnick Editor Information & Interactive Services Report ------------------------------ From: sakkascb@ucunix.san.uc.EDU (Chris B. Sakkas) Subject: Is There a Market For PC Voice Mail Developers Card? Organization: University of Cincinnati Date: Fri, 01 Jul 1994 12:11:58 -0400 I recently developed a PC-compatible voice mail card with the abilities to record and playback voice messages to the telephone, receive and transmit DTMF tones, and other general telephone control. My hardware also has a microphone input and an amplified output for a speaker. A volume control is provided to adjust playback level to the speaker. The interface to the telephone is through a pre-approved FCC Part 68 device. The single quantity price for the components used in this project are under $65. I have developed a software library to support the above functions, and have generated a limited voice mail application. Although my design was made to support only a single telephone line, I believe it would be possible to use multiple cards in a PC for several lines. The question that I have is this: With the advent of inexpensive PC-compatible voice mail cards, especially the new low-cost DSP based systems that incorporate modem/fax capabilites, is there a market for a reasonably priced card for developers like the one I described above? I believe that there may be many opportunites for interactive voice applications, and the software I have would make it easy for others to develop voice mail apps, fax-back systems, control of other systems via telephone, etc. So, do you think there is a market for what I have? Would it be reasonable to think that several hundred/year could be sold? I thank you for your opinions! Chris B. Sakkas (sakkascb@ucunix.san.uc.edu) ------------------------------ From: tjj@chinook.halcyon.com (T. J. Jardine (Ted)) Subject: Calling Card Cancellation Date: 1 Jul 1994 14:52:11 GMT Organization: Northwest Nexus Inc. In January, 1994 we received a notice from GTE that allowed us to decline to have our name, address, and telephone number sent to other long distance carriers when we used our GTE Calling Card. This is for a telephone number which is unlisted. On May 1, 1994, GTE (without any notification, even in the January letter) cancelled our Calling Card. Has anyone else had a similar experience (with GTE or another carrier)? Is this something which would warrant a complaint to the FCC? Ted Jardine E-mail: tjj@halcyon.com Voice: 206 788 6305 (Voice mail/FAX) [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: They probably should have sent you notice of cancellation and will probably claim that they did sent it even it if was somehow lost in the mail, etc. The reason they cancelled your calling card was because they are obligated to provide your billing name and address to other telcos who extend you credit based on your GTE account. You can forbid them to exchange that information, but then the other telcos have no way to protect themselves against fraudulent usage which might be incurred on your PIN. Personally, I can't see why anyone would make such a prohibition since the other telcos are expressly forbidden by the same regulations (which require sharing of names and numbers for billing purposes) from using the information for anything other than their billing. I've had credit cards from Ameritech, Sprint, and AT&T for ages and never once have been improperly solicited. Numerous federal regulations pertaining to billing, credit and collection practices protect us quite well ... making that prohibition to telco on the exchange of names and numbers simply gums up the works and makes it more difficult to make calls from other locations where the use of telco credit cards is concerned. To each his own I guess, but it seems excessively paranoid to worry about it as a privacy issue. Yes, I know the idea that the phone may ring some evening with a telemarketer on the other end strikes fear in the hearts of many of you also, but its really a non-issue to me. PAT] ------------------------------ From: md@pstc3.pstc.brown.edu (Michael P. Deignan) Subject: Last Laugh! OJ/Telecom-Related Commercials Date: 1 Jul 1994 16:51:13 GMT Organization: Brown University How long before we see OJ/Telecom-related commercials, ie: "Ever smell OJ burn... You will. And the company that will bring it to you? California Power and Light Co." or footage of White Bronco driving down Rt. 405, w/ voiceover: "Cellular-One 'Follow-Me Roaming'. No matter where you run, we'll be right there with you..." Michael P. Deignan Amalgamated Baby Seal Poachers Union, Local 101 "Get 'The Club'... Endorsed by Baby Seal poachers everywhere..." [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Poor OJ ... he's gotten part of his anatomy in the wringer, that's for sure. According to this week's issue of {The Globe} -- a truthful newspaper sold at better newstands everywhere -- OJ Was Framed! Yes, that's the headline in this week's issue of the supermarket tabloid. The story says that someone else committed the murders most foul and then left as OJS was getting there (the first time) to make it look like he was responsible. As we prepare for a three-day holiday in the United States, I wish all our USA readers a happy Independence Day; do take care when playing with your firecracker over the weekend; no messy explosions or anyone getting hurt if you please; and do drive safely and all that. I'll see if its possible to get an issue or two of this rag out to you over the weekend, otherwise Tuesday for sure! PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #308 ******************************