------------------------------ Date: 29 Dec 1994 22:40:48 GMT From: Erik_Mueller@email.FranceNet.fr (Erik Mueller) Organization: FranceNet Reply-To: Erik_Mueller@email.FranceNet.fr Subject: France Telephony Update Here's a telephony update from France - 1. France goes 100% "electronic" According to an article in {Le Monde} (December 29, 1994, p. 9), the last French crossbar central office was retired from service on December 6th. The electromechanical switch, located in Givors, near Lyon, was replaced by an Alcatel E 10. This means that France's 31.6 million subscribers are now served 100% by stored-program controlled central offices, and 90% by digital offices. The crossbar switches used in France were the Pentaconta, for large-city applications, manufactured by LMT and the CGCT (ITT subsidiaries), and the smaller CP 400, manufactured by the CIT (a French Ericsson subsidiary) and the AOIP. 85% of the switches now in service are manufactured by Alcatel and 15% by Matra Ericsson. (For more information on the history of telephone switching in France, see: Mireille Nouvion, L'automatisation du reseau telephonique francais, Part I, Telecommunications 50, January 1984, Part II, Telecommunications 52, July 1984, France Telecom, Paris.) 2. French numbering plan change edges closer. According to a telephone-bill insert provided by France Telecom in August 1994, France will convert in Spring 1996 to a uniform 10-digit numbering plan. A 2-digit area code will be added to the front of the existing 8-digit numbers. The area codes will be: 01 Ile-de-France (Paris, ...) 02 Northwest France 03 Northeast France 04 Southeast France 05 Southwest France (Note that these assignments are different from what I previously reported in Message-ID .) Currently, customers calling the provinces from Paris dial 16 + 8 digits, while customers in the provinces calling Paris dial 16 + 1 + 8 digits. After the change, the same 10 digits will be dialed from all locations within the country. The insert does not specify whether the initial zero will be used when dialing into France (country code 33). The 19 international access code will also be replaced by 00. (For more information on France's numbering plan, see: Claude Perardel, Numero s'il vous plait, France Telecom, Paris, 1985 and the files ftp://lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/country.codes/zone.3.codes.32-34 ftp://lcs.mit.edu/telecom- archives/country.codes/zone.3.france.33.comments) 3. Telecommunications museums in France. The Museum of Telecommunications in Pleumeur Bodou, Bretagne, includes telephones, switchboards, telegraphs, teletypes, and satellites. Adjoining the museum are the original Radome used to send the first television pictures via the Telstar satellite from France to the United States, and several large satellite dishes still in service. There is a small telephone exhibit at the City of Sciences and Industry at Parc de la Villette in Paris. Erik_Mueller@email.francenet.fr ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 30 Dec 94 00:36:52 CST From: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest Editor) Subject: New Year's Eve Party on the Internet Attend 31 separate New Year's parites this year for one low cover price by partying on the Information Superhighway ... That's the message I got on my fax machine a few days ago from the folks at Concentric Research Corporation. Concentric is home to the BBS Direct service, which links several computer bulletin boards together via its Concentric Network. No special software is required to attend the 'party'. If you have a modem and terminal/computer all you need to do is dial in and ring in the new year with people from all over the world. Concentric plans to have international time clocks on the screens of its users so that every hour you'll be ringing in the new year somewhere around the world. All the various systems which are part of the Concentric Network have agreed to waive their online charges on Saturday, December 31. All you have to pay for is Concentric Network access itself, which is at the rate of five dollars per hour if you wish to use the toll-free 800 number established for this purpose. Network access is thirty dollars per month, however my understanding is you can use the 800 number at the rate of five dollars per hour instead if desired. To connect with the New Year's Eve party, set your modem to N-8-1 and dial 800-991-4227. During the online signup proceedure you will then be given the local number in your community to call and further instructions. If you already have Internet access, then you can connect via telnet to cris.com. The regular monthly fee for telnet access to Concentric is ten dollars per month. For more information by voice, call 800-745-2747. They'll be accepting phone calls all day Friday at both 800 numbers to get people signed up who wish to join the party on Saturday. As Marc Collins-Rector, president of Concentric Research explained it, this is one New Year's Eve when you don't have to worry about drunken drivers on the highway ... not on the Information Superhighway that is. This is unique; something different. Readers who otherwise will be staying at home over the weekend might like to visit the online party at some point Saturday afternoon/evening and join the festivities around the world. Happy New Year! Patrick Townson ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #475 ******************************