TELECOM Digest Wed, 11 Jan 95 01:18:30 CST Volume 15 : Issue 25 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Canada Direct Access Numbers (Dave Leibold) Ancient Party Lines (Scott Falke) Re: Atlanta Airport's Pay Phones Reject 1-800 Numbers Randomly (A Laurence) Re: Atlanta Airport's Pay Phones Reject 1-800 Numbers Randomly (Paul Beker) Re: ISDN Over Wireless (John Leske) Re: New Alert - 911 Access (Andrew Laurence) Re: Computer Caller-ID (Pete Kruckenberg) Re: GSM SIM Implementation (John Leske) Re: Need Profile of Teleport Communications Group (Dave Levenson) Re: ETSI Standards - Where? (Boris Naydichev) Re: Calling 500 Numbers From Overseas (Eric Paulak) 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 America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available 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. 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Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 11 Jan 95 00:28 EST From: dleibold@gvc.com (Dave Leibold) Subject: Canada Direct Access Numbers (dleibold note: Canada Direct operates similarly to many other "home direct" services in that special numbers in other countries allow access to operators in a home country. The arrangement is generally reciprocal in that there are also Canadian facilities (usually 800 service numbers) for reaching operators of other countries. Information is an unofficial transcript and is courtesy of Teleglobe, the Canadian-based international carrier, whose information is subject to correction or change.) Canada Direct The international access numbers to Canadian operators, as of November 1994: Canada Direct information within Canada - 1 800 561 8868 Legend: w - wait for 2nd dial tone % - country-to-country calling, where calls may also be placed to points within that country, and to most other countries (via the Canadian operator, charged according to two "legs": country-to-Canada, then Canada-to-other-country) [D] - service on dedicated phones displaying Canada Direct symbol [P] - only available at public payphones [K] - public phones require coin deposit or use of card Country Access Number ======= ====== ====== Andorra % [K] 19 w 0016 Anguilla [P] 1 800 744 2580 Antigua [P] 1 800 744 2580 Australia % 1 800 881 150 -or- 1 800 551 177 Austria [K] 022 903 013 Bahamas 1 800 463 0501 Bahrain 80 01 00 Barbados [P] 1 800 744 2580 Belgium % [K] 0800 1 0019 Belize 558 (Hotels) -or- *6 (payphones) Bermuda [P] 1 800 744 2580 Bolivia % [K] 0 800 0101 Brazil % 000 8014 Cayman Islands [P] 1 800 744 2580 Chile % 123 00 318 (replaces 00 w 0318) China (major cities) % 108 186 Colombia 980 19 0057 Costa Rica [K] 161 Croatia % 99 380 001 Cyprus [K] 080 900 12 Czech Republic % 00 42 000151 Denmark % [K] 80 01 00 11 Dominica [P] 1 800 744 2580 Dominican Republic 1 800 333 0111 Ecuador 173 Egypt % 365 3643 Fiji 004 890 1005 Finland % [K] 9800 1 0011 France % [K] 19 w 0016 Germany % [K] 01 3000 14 Greece % [K] 00 800 1611 Grenada [P] 1 800 744 2580 Guadeloupe 19 w 0016 Guam % 950 1604 Guatemala [K] 198 Guyana 0161 (in Georgetown, 161) Haiti 001 800 522 1055 Hong Kong % 800 1100 Hungary % [K] 00 800 01211 Iceland % [K] 999 010 India 000167 Indonesia [K] 00 801 16 Iran [D] Ireland % 1 800 555001 Israel % 177 105 2727 Italy % [K] 172 1001 Jamaica 800 222 0016 Japan [K] 0039 w 161 Jordan 18 800 962 Korea (south) [K] 009 0015 Liechtenstein % [K] 155 8330 Luxembourg % 0 800 0119 Macau % 0800 100 Malaysia % [K] 800 0017 Malta 0 800 890 150 Martinique 19 w 0016 Mauritius 73110 Mexico 95 800 010 1990 Monaco % [K] 19 w 0016 Montserrat [P] 1 800 744 2580 Morocco 00 211 0010 Netherlands % [K] 06 0229116 New Zealand 000919 Nicaragua % 168 Norway % [K] 800 19 111 Paraguay 008 13 800 Peru 199 Philippines % [K] 105 10 Poland % 00 104 800 118 Portugal % 05 017 1 226 Puerto Rico % 1 800 496 7123 Qatar % [D] Romania % 01 800 5000 Russia (Moscow only) 8 10 800 497 7233 Saint Kitts & Nevis [P] 1 800 744 2580 Saint Lucia [P] 1 800 744 2580 Saint Vincent [P] 1 800 744 2580 Saint-Barthelemy 19 w 0016 Saint-Martin 19 w 0016 San Marino % [K] 172 1001 Singapore 8000 100 100 Slovakia % 00 42 000151 South Africa % 0 800 99 0014 Spain % [K] 900 99 00 15 Sri Lanka 01 430077 (in Metro Colombo, 430077) Sweden % [K] 020 799015 Switzerland % [K] 155 8330 Taiwan % [K] 00 801 20012 Thailand % 001 999 15 1000 Trinidad & Tobago [D] Turkey % 00 800 16677 Turks & Caicos [P] 01 800 744 2580 Ukraine % 8 10 0 17 United Kingdom % 0800 89 0016 (British Telecom) Uruguay 000 419 Vatican City [K] 172 1001 Venezuela [K] 800 11100 Virgin Islands (British) [P] 1 800 744 2580 Virgin Islands (US) % 1 800 496 0008 Zambia % 00883 Zimbabwe (was 110897 - now deleted?) ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 10 Jan 95 21:14:36 -0800 From: scott@csustan.csustan.edu (Scott Falke) Subject: Ancient Party Lines In re your story about party-line entertainment: X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 15, Issue 11, Message 2 of 14 > When I was twelve years old, I had a friend who was the same age. We > had a private line but his parents had a four-party line. ^^ ^^^ ^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^^ Should I even ask? My party-line story at age ~13 was -- At the time out community of ~1000 had its own little system (the 'switch' was a mechanical equivalent of a SLC96, I guess (a couple of bigger than b-box-sized aluminum cases at the North end of town hung on some poles and crossarms) and shared a PacBell office about 8 miles away in a town of ~10,000. There was one old repair/install guy who handled an area of probably 300 square miles, called 'Farmers Union Telephone' and I don't think you could get less than a 4-party line at any price. You'd have to wait a while for dial tone sometimes. I have a distinct vision of what seemed like 200 pairs of steel on a coupla-dozen crossarms per pole in front of Klint's market. Eight- and ten- party lines were the norm, and we shared an 8 with the school superindent's home. We rigged up a 600-ohm transformer with a bathtubp capcitor for DC blocking, (via military surplus from the town ham operator; I learned a lot from some ancient ARRL handbooks) and fed it into an old (5-watt?) PA amplifier with speaker in a home-made wood box. The superintendent (this was farming in Nor Calif) would spend hours interviewing new teachers for their first job away from Montana. Of course, once we figured out what was going on, we'd have the skinny on what was to come in the fall. My point in all this is that the party-line ringing was different from what you descibed as a multi-frequency mode. To the best of my memory, each set (WE 302s, maybe?) had a gas-filled tube and polarized pulsed-DC ring voltage. Then half the ringers were connected tip-gnd and ring-gnd. On 8- party your heard one ring or two; so: 2-polarties X 2-tip-ring X 2-ring-combos = 8. The ten-party groups had all kinds of odd long-long, long-short and short-short ring combinations. Thanks for sparking some childhood memories! Scott Falke Turlock CA [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The way you describe it was one way of doing the ringing; there were various methods. What happened on your system if you wanted to call someone on your party line? In the manual service era, if you inadvertently (or as a child, deliberatly sometimes, for the fun of it) asked the operator for your own number her answer would be without looking at where the call was coming from, 'the line is busy'. If you asked for someone on your party line, the response would be the same unless you told the operator in advance and tipped her off (the operators did not know who belonged to what party line, only that the line tested busy when they went to insert the plug). If you told her it was your party line, she would tell you to hang up so she could ring the line, and after one or two rings to pick up the phone again. She'd stay on the line and when the party answered tell them to hold on a few seconds until you lifted your receiver again. PAT] ------------------------------ From: laurence@netcom.com (Andrew Laurence) Subject: Re: Atlanta Airport's Pay Phones Reject 1-800 Numbers Randomly Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Wed, 11 Jan 1995 04:17:25 GMT wa2ise@netcom.com (Robert Casey) writes: > Today, I was in the airport that serves Atlanta, GA. I tried to place a > few 1-800 toll free calls, and had a lot of trouble. Numbers I know > to be good got responses of "invalid number". I'd reach for another pay > phone, and got thru to the number. I tried the same numbers later that > day (while getting hung up with the dead Newark airport mess) in the > Atlanta airport and got more "invalid number"; another attempt got me > thru, then I got cut off. Pay phones were labeled "PTC" (or something > like that) and also said that the local exchange didn't "own" these > phones. Some phones didnt work at all (bad keypads, or just dead). I > don't know who "PTC" is, but they really SUCK! Could it be that the numbers you were calling were not reachable from that area? Some 800 numbers specifically include or exclude certain states or regions. But then, you probably already thought of that. :-) Andrew Laurence laurence@netcom.com Certified NetWare Administrator (CNA) Oakland, California, USA CD-ROM Networking Consultant Pacific Standard Time (GMT-8) Phone: (510) 547-6647 Pager: (510) 308-1903 Fax: (510) 547-8002 ------------------------------ From: pbeker@netcom.com (Paul Beker) Subject: Re: Atlanta Airport's Pay Phones Reject 1-800 Numbers Randomly Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Wed, 11 Jan 1995 06:45:33 GMT wa2ise@netcom.com (Robert Casey) writes: > [ . . . ] Pay phones were labeled "PTC" (or something > like that) and also said that the local exchange didn't "own" these > phones. Some phones didnt work at all (bad keypads, or just dead). I > don't know who "PTC" is, but they really SUCK! Yep ... several years ago every single pay phone in that airport was a *real* Southern Bell phone. Since then, the politicians and others (ever heard of the Atlanta Airport scandals / fiascos?) have gotten involved and now you will find a wide variety of worthless COCOTs scattered throughout the airport. One interesting trend I've noticed lately: While only a couple of months ago, all the COCOTs were pre-subscribed to some ripoff, switchless, IXC, it looks like most of them have suddenly been switched to AT&T. This is definately a good thing, for the many people that would be getting ripped off dialing 0+ otherwise ... I don't know why this happened; perhaps someone in Atlanta government actually decided to "clean things up". Also, I wonder what AT&T did to get this. And in a related note, all of the pay phones in the new (International) Concourse "E" are AT&T COCOTs! (In other words, the phones themselves are manufactured by AT&T and have "AT&T" stamped on them. They seem to be much better quality than your typical COCOT.) All of them are pre-subscribed to AT&T, of course ... Paul Beker - Atlanta, GA pbeker@netcom.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You wonder what AT&T had to do to get the account? Well I can tell you what Illinois Bell had to do to get the O'Hare Airport account a few years ago: when the newspapers exposed the city council members and Aviation Department employees who got the bribes and the IBT employees who paid the bribes, there was quite a stink for a short while, then everyone sort of forgot about it. PAT] ------------------------------ From: johnl@ctin.adelaide.edu.au (John Leske) Subject: Re: ISDN Over Wireless Date: 11 Jan 1995 03:40:28 GMT Organization: Centre for Telecommunications Information Networking Reply-To: johnl@ctin.adelaide.edu.au In article 17@eecs.nwu.edu, jenzler@olympus.net (Jared Enzler) writes: > I live in an area where the telephone co. shows no interest in > offering ISDN. But the area is well covered by cellular phone > systems. > Questions: There appear to be several varieties of digital cellular on > the way. Do any of these have the potential to offer ISDN? Which > ones? What sort of technical or other barriers are there to wireless > ISDN? The aim of digital cellular phones is to efficiently use the bandwidth available. Thus they have compression schemes to minimise the the data rate required to still reproduce acceptable quality voice at the other end. Next generation speech codecs are aiming for ~5kbit/s data rates -- a lot slower than ISDN. If your question relates to ISDN-like protocols, then yes it will be possible. For example the GSM design philosophy was based on ISDN. However the first data modems available present themselves as Hayes-compatible modems, because that is what all the software wants to see. úÿ John ------------------------------ From: laurence@netcom.com (Andrew Laurence) Subject: Re: New Alert - 911 Access Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Wed, 11 Jan 1995 04:04:14 GMT mjsutter@aol.com (Mjsutter) writes: > Jim Conran writes: >> In addition, the FCC should require all cellular phones to be >> equipped to access the strongest cellular base station signal when 911 >> is called. Finally, the FCC should make the 911 provision an issue as >> it currently reconsiders cellular license renewal applications. > This is a good idea. However, it could be at odds with another good > idea which is that the cell ID that the caller is using be passed > through the cell switch to the tandem so tha the 911 database can use > the cell ID as an approximate location of the caller. In metro areas > the size of the cell would be very small indeed. Less that a year ago > a life would have most likely been saved in Rochester N.Y. if this > capability had been available. Recently I saw someone who appeared to be trying to steal a car, so, being a good citizen, I ducked around the corner out of sight and dialed 911 on my handheld cellular phone. Though I was standing on a street three blocks from San Francisco City Hall, I was connected to the California Highway Patrol. I waited several minutes for an operator to come on the line, and finally gave up. Good thing no one's life or safety was in danger. Andrew Laurence laurence@netcom.com Certified NetWare Administrator (CNA) Oakland, California, USA CD-ROM Networking Consultant Pacific Standard Time (GMT-8) Phone: (510) 547-6647 Pager: (510) 308-1903 Fax: (510) 547-8002 ------------------------------ From: pete@dswi.com (Pete Kruckenberg) Subject: Re: Computer Caller-ID Date: 10 Jan 1995 21:12:10 -0700 Organization: DahlinSmithWhite, Inc. Seymour Dupa (grumpy@en.com) wrote: > Thomas Fitzurka (LCRS73A@prodigy.com) wrote: >> Does anyone know of a software program that enables you to have your >> computer identify caller's phone numbers? I saw a movie called >> Brainscan that had a computer, using caller id, identify the caller >> and tell the person in an "igor" voice, which I perticularly liked, >> that "Bobby is calling master". The idea was really interesting to me >> and I would like to get something like it. > Rochell Communications has caller ID unit with a serial port that > feeds the caller id info to a serial port on a computer. They also > have a program that reads the computer's serial port, look if the > number has called before, and if so, diaplays the info. They are at > 800-542-8808 or 512-794-0088. I'd like to use something like this to detect calls when my phone is busy. Does anyone know if US West offers that service (Caller ID on attempts when the line is busy), and if so, what I'd need to get the number and put it into a serial port? Pete Kruckenberg pete@dswi.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Coincidentally! ... I just remembered this: a few days ago I got a call from someone in San Fransisco and guess what? His *entire number* showed up on my Caller-ID display. It looks like they are now starting to give it out, at least on an interstate basis. I initially missed his call, but when I came in a few minutes later and saw it on the display screen I called back right away. He was quite surprised that I got his number, and come to think of it now, so am I. PAT] ------------------------------ From: johnl@ctin.adelaide.edu.au (John Leske) Subject: Re: GSM SIM Implementation Date: 11 Jan 1995 03:28:51 GMT Organization: Centre for Telecommunications Information Networking Reply-To: johnl@ctin.adelaide.edu.au In article 6@eecs.nwu.edu, Robohn Scott writes: > Does anyone know how the SIM is implemented (i.e., PCMCIA card, SIMM, some > other standards-based approach, or proprietary?) How much information is > actually stored on it? Have there been any problems with it in practice? > How long has the SIM been available commercially? A very short reply to your questions: It is a Smartcard (ISO-7816). That is, a single chip micro with its own ROM, RAM and non-volatial storage. The specific implementation for GSM is defined in the GSM specs. There are multiple manufacturers of this card. The specific characterisitics vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. I believe some companies are looking at up to 16k or 32kbit on the chip. The GSM-related data lies in a sub-directory on the chip. There is an interesting article in the Telecom Archives ftp.funet.fi/pub/doc/telecom/phonecard/chips/How_chips_work (though this does mainly deal with Phonecards, it gives an intro) I have not read of any practical problems with the SIM cards in GSM. They have been in service since GSM began (1991 exhibition systems, 1992 commercial networks) My colleague who is working on new applications for GSM SIM cards is currently away on business, and has much of the information with him. If you are interested in more details I can chase him up when he returns later this week. John Leske Research Engineer Centre for Telecommunications Information Networking University of Adelaide [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well I don't know *whose* 'Telecom Archives' that would be; its not the one I maintain which is located at lcs.mit.edu; and I don't have the file mentioned. PAT] ------------------------------ From: dave@westmark.com (Dave Levenson) Subject: Re: Need Profile of Teleport Communications Group Organization: Westmark, Inc. Date: Tue, 10 Jan 1995 22:20:32 GMT Linli Zhao #8277 (lzhao@wellfleet.com) writes: > I need any information known about Teleport Communications Group (TCG). TCG is a local exchange carrier who competes with the regional Bell operating companies in certain metropolitan markets. You'll find their coin-operated public telephones in NYC subway stations, bus terminals, and airports. Unlike traditional COCOT units, these coin sets charge the same rate as the Bell-provided units, look just like the Bell-provided units, and, apparently, operate exactly the same way. They also offer local access services to businesses and large residential customers (entire appartment buildings) in New York. Dave Levenson Internet: dave@westmark.com Westmark, Inc. UUCP: uunet!westmark!dave Stirling, NJ, USA Voice: 908 647 0900 Fax: 908 647 6857 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 10 Jan 1995 11:57:39 +0800 From: boris@trillium.com (Boris Naydichev) Subject: Re: ETSI Standards - Where? ethgls@duna.ericsson.se (Gabor Lajos) wrote: > I am looking for ANY information about how to get ETSI (also pre- ETSI) > standards in any form (eg. hardcopy, CD-Rom, postcript file). > It can be an office from where I have to order, or an 'FTP site' or > anything. > I wrote 'FTP site' since I can't do real FTP to the outside world, only > that E-mail operated fake FTP is available for me. Thanks in advance. You can order ETSI documents from ETSI Publication: tel: +33 92 94 42 40 fax: +33 93 95 81 33 If you do not know ETS numbers, you should be able to order by names, they also have a catalog of ETSI publications available for distribution and their prices. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 10 Jan 1995 15:23:14 -0500 From: ericp@ucg.com (Eric Paulak) Subject: Re: Calling 500 Numbers From Overseas > Who pays for the call? Is it the caller or the owner of the number? > If it is the caller, would I be charged for an international call if I > call someone who happens to be overseas at the time? It depends. If you haven't given a caller a pin number so that you will pay for it, the call will foot the bill. To prevent them from getting hit without knowing it, however, an AT&T message tells them that they are being connected to an international location and that international rates will apply. Eric Paulak The Center for Communications Management Information (301) 816-8950, ext. 327 11300 Rockville Pike, Suite 1100, Rockville, MD 20852 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #25 *****************************