------------------------------ From: Andrew@micksquadra.its.utas.edu.au (Andrew Stevenson) Subject: Re: Emergency Numbers in Various Countries Date: Thu, 29 Dec 1994 16:47:31 +0600 Organization: University of Tasmania, Australia. In article , diessel@informatik.unibw- muenchen.de (Thomas Diessel) wrote: > In article , johnper@bigbird.rosemount.com > (John Perkins) wrote: >> The number '999' is a simple and easy to remember number that, as you >> say, has been used in Great Britain for about 50 years. I haven't >> heard of any other country that has had a nationwide emergency number >> that long, a number that is familiar to the entire population over the >> age of 18 months. The number is 000 from anywhere in Australia. You get an operator who will connect you to fire, ambulance or police. I seem to dimly recall all calls are monitored by the police as well (even if you are speaking to, say the ambulance.) > The disadvantage of 999 is that it requires 27 pulses to dial. 112 > requires only 4. So how many pulses is 000? As 0 would be unlikely I guess it's probably 30 :-) Andrew Stevenson ------------------------------ From: d92-sam@black27.nada.kth.se (Sam Spens Clason) Subject: Re: Emergency Numbers in Various Countries Date: 29 Dec 1994 19:45:12 GMT In goudreau@dg-rtp.dg.com (Bob Goudreau) writes: > erling@wm.estec.esa.nl (Erling Kristiansen) write: >> As a side remark, I wonder how they came up with 112, which has a very >> high rate of conflict with existing numbers. Most EU countries have >> "0" as first digit to escape from local call to long distance or >> special service. > Yes, but many EU countries have long used numbers beginning with "1" > for other special services, have they not? What other European > countries besides the Netherlands have (or had) local exchanges that > start with "11" (or even just "1")? Not many, I believe. When assigning telephone numbers the most logical thing to do is to simply number the connections. So you start at 1 and increment, now that doesn't work 'coz they should be of the same length. So you start at 10* and increment to 99*. Saving the initial zero for special numbers such as area codes and international prefixes. This is the way it's been done in for example Sweden. So the most common number series over here is 1*. Regards, Sam ------------------------------ From: Joe Portman Subject: Re: IXC Invoice over the Internet? Organization: Alternate Access Inc. Date: Thu, 29 Dec 1994 20:55:06 GMT Scott Kennedy (skennedy@ix.netcom.com) wrote: > Does any long distance carrier provide billing via the Internet? Is > this available for small businesses (like mine?)? > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Exactly how would they go about billing > 'via the Internet'? There are none that I know of. PAT] I would assume you could do it in the same manner that THOUSANDS of businesses exchange business information every day. There exist standards and networks in place for EDI (E)lectronic (D)ocument (I)interchange. The transport medium (Internet in this case) is irrelevent, except perhaps for security, which could be addressed via encryption. EDI documents could easily be sent via the Internet, or any other medium, they could be mailed, as they are ASCII text files. Whether anyone is doing it is another question altogether. Later, Joe Portman - Alternate Access Inc. Affordable, Reliable Internet baron@aa.net 206-230-8732 (data) Login as "new" ------------------------------ From: jcr@creator.nwest.mccaw.com (Jeffrey Rhodes) Subject: Re: Nationwide Roaming Date: 29 Dec 1994 17:56:56 GMT Organization: McCaw Cellular Communications, Inc. Reply-To: jcr@creator.nwest.mccaw.com In article 5@eecs.nwu.edu, Alex Cena writes: > jcr@creator.nwest.mccaw.com (Jeffrey Rhodes) writes: >>> Can someone help me with the differences between IS-41 protocol used >>> by cellular networks in the U.S. and MAP used by GSM? Are they >>> compatible so an existing cellular carrier who purchases a PCS license >>> and builds a DCS1900 offer nationwide roaming between cellular and >>> PCS? i.e. I have a cellular license in Chicago and a PCS license in >>> New York -- can my subscriber in New York roam on my network in Chicago. >> The short answer is no. > Many existing cellular carriers are bidding on PCS spectrum as a > fill-in or expansion strategy. Thus, I'm interested in learning how > they plan to offer nationwide roaming to customers in markets where > they have spectrum in the PCS band. So let's say I'm PCS Primeco > (NYNEX, Bell Atlantic, AirTouch and US West) and I win the PCS license > in Chicago, can my Chicago PCS subscriber roam in my cellular markets? > Are the air interface standard under consideration for PCS namely > Upbanded versions of IS-54C, IS-95 and GSM compatible with IS-41? Do > they have to be inorder to offer nationwide roaming? How widely > deployed is IS-41 in the U.S.? Since AMPS is the most widely deployed > technology in the U.S., I'm assuming that initially the most practical > solution is a dual-mode PCS/AMPS handset just like some carriers are > offering dual-mode TDMA/AMPS today and others plan dual mode CDMA/AMPS > soon. It's hard to imagine that people are bidding millions of dollars for PCS licenses and haven't decided on the air interface to be used. The license is for frequency use only: What is transmitted on these freqs is up to the provider. It would be a big mistake to offer AMPS PCS and invite all the associated fraud. AMPS may be the most mature product, but it is inefficient, too. In my opinion, a new PCS service would do well to concentrate on networking and a single air interface. Initially, the biggest problem is coverage and retuning constantly to add new cell sites. National networking tends to lose priority, unless you are a visionary and decide to build a North American Cellular Network (NACN) like McCaw has. The NACN serves six million subscribers and I think the whole industry is less than 20 million (half of which is GTE and Baby Bells on the "B-side" which has convoluted national networking at best.) Unless you have some clout with the terminal manufacturers, crossover to cellular networks operating at 800 MHz is going to be a rough road. Stick with TDMA/CDMA IS-41 with authentication for use in the US. There has to be an inexpensive way to use the same radio at 800 and 1800 MHz, but "what is transmitted" needs to be the same. If you are goading me to spill McCaw's PCS plans, it won't work. Top management stategy is deliberately guarded and will only be shared with employees after the bidding. If you want advice, be aware that RF issues predominate the Business Plan and networking/architecture is relegated to vendors and standards. My advise is to reverse the emphasis, assume the RF is provided by vendors/contractors and concentrate on networking to provide enhanced features that the standards promise. Copyright December 1994 by Jeffrey Rhodes. jcr@creator.nwest.mccaw.com ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #472 ******************************