TELECOM Digest     Fri, 19 Jan 2007 20:10:00 EST    Volume 26 : Issue 19

Inside This Issue:                            Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Tech Firms, Others Trying to Form Web Conduct Code (Michelle Nichols)
    'Storm' Worm Hits Computers Around the Globe on Friday (Reuters NewsWire)
    IPhone: The Mediocre Phone That Will Change the World (David Haskin)
    Apple's Icing on Cingular's Cake (Monty Solomon)
    AT&T Unity plan (Monty Solomon)
    CommunicationsDirect News Daily Update (communicationsdirect_daily)
    AT&T Unifies Unlimited Calling Plans (USTelecom dailyLead)
    Telecom Update #563, January 19, 2007 (Angus TeleManagement Group)
    Re: XM and Sirius Consider Merger (Jim Haynes)
    Re: Want an iPhone? Beware the iHandcuffs (Dan Lanciani)
    Hell Remains Frozen Over All Week (Patrick Townson)

====== 25 years of TELECOM Digest -- Founded August 21, 1981 ======
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----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2007 16:38:26 -0600
From: Michelle Nichols, Reuters <reuters@telecom-digest.org>
Subject: Tech Firms, Others Trying to Form Web Conduct Code


By Michelle Nichols

Technology companies Microsoft, Google, Yahoo and Vodafone are in
talks with human rights and press freedom groups to draw up an
Internet code of conduct to protect free speech and privacy of Web
users.

The parties said in a statement on Friday they aim to produce a code
by the end of this year that would counter such trends as the
increased jailing of Internet journalists, monitoring of legitimate
online activity, and censorship.

Talks are being led by the Washington-based Center for Democracy and
Technology and San Francisco's non-profit Business for Social
Responsibility. They are trying to craft a code to hold companies
accountable if they cooperate with governments to suppress free speech
or violate human rights.

"Technology companies have played a vital role building the economy
and providing tools important for democratic reform in developing
countries," said Leslie Harris, executive director of the Center for
Democracy and Technology.

"But some governments have found ways to turn technology against their
citizens -- monitoring legitimate online activities and censoring
democratic material," Harris said.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said the spotlight had been
put on Internet companies after arrests in China of Internet writers
such as Shi Tao, who was jailed in 2005 for 10 years for leaking state
secrets abroad.

Rights groups have accused Yahoo of helping China trace Shi Tao's
e-mail exchanges with a New York-based news Web site.

"Governments around the world are jailing Internet journalists at a
growing pace, with 49 bloggers, online editors, and Web-based
reporters behind bars at the end of 2006," said CPJ Executive Director
Joel Simon.

"Protecting the rights of these journalists to express ideas and
exchange information without fear of reprisal is one of the highest
priorities for the press freedom community today," he said in a
statement.

A CPJ census found that the number of journalists jailed worldwide hit
a record last year with 134 in jail on December 1, more than one-third
of whom were Internet bloggers and online reporters.

In addition to Yahoo, Microsoft, Google, and Vodafone are among the
companies involved in the talks.

Copyright 2007 Reuters Limited. 

NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the
daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new
articles daily. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at
http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or)
http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html

For more news and headlines, please go to:
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/newstoday.html

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2007 16:40:28 -0600
From: Reuters News Wire <reuters@telecom-digest.org>
Subject: 'Storm' Worm Hits Computers Around the Globe on Friday


Computer virus writers attacked thousands of computers on Friday using
an unusually topical email citing raging European storms, a security
company said.

The virus, which the company named "Storm Worm," was emailed to
hundreds of thousands of addresses globally with the subject line "230
dead as storm batters Europe."

An attached file contained so-called malware that can infiltrate
computer systems.

"What makes this exceptional is the timely nature of the attack,"
Mikko Hypponen, head of research at Finnish data security firm
F-Secure (FSC1V.HE), told Reuters.

Hypponen said thousands of computers, most in private use, had been 
affected.

He said most users would not notice the malware, or trojan, which
creates a back door to the computer that can be exploited later to
steal data or to use the computer to post spam.

Copyright 2007 Reuters Limited. 

NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the
daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new
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http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or)
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For more news and headlines, please go to:
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------------------------------

Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2007 16:44:08 -0600
From: David Haskin, IDG News <idg@telecom-digest.org>
Subject: IPhone: The Mediocre Phone That Will Change the World


David Haskin, Computerworld - IDG News Service

IDG Editor's Note: This article was originally published at
Computerworld.com.

More than a week after Steve Jobs' blockbuster iPhone announcement,
longtime industry observers and analysts are still furiously debating
iPhone's impact. And the first issue the analysts are wrestling with
is: Just what the heck is an iPhone, anyway?

Before commenting on its potential success, four analysts I spoke with
first struggled to define exactly what an iPhone is.

"If you take the telephone out of the equation, the effect of iPhone
will be profound," noted David Chamberlain, principal analyst for
wireless issues at market research firm In-Stat. That is to say,
Chamberlain said, the iPhone isn't much of a phone but it is an
awesome something else.

In an industry accustomed to slotting products into narrow categories
and measuring success within those categories, the unclassifiable (so
far) nature of the iPhone has created a Jobsian, Alice in Wonderland-
like atmosphere where t's are being crossed and i's are being dotted.

Herewith, with the help of some highly regarded industry analysts,
we'll try to throw a lasso around this galloping pony and understand
just what the iPhone is and what its prospects are.

What is the iPhone, anyway?

Trying to figure out what the iPhone is can be a matter of addition by
subtraction. One thing the analysts agree about is that it won't be
much of a cell phone, let alone a smart phone.

"It does seem under-horsepowered as a phone," said Neil Strother, 
research director for wireless devices at NPD. "It doesn't have (3G), 
which I don't get. How can they expect people to spend that much money 
(US$500 for the 4GB version) and it doesn't even have 3G?"

Among the reasons the iPhone isn't a smart phone like the Motorola Q
or the Treo line is that it doesn't support corporate e-mail or
viewing attachments in Word or other formats commonly used in the
enterprise.  Nor can it use third-party applications like smart
phones, many plain-old, not-so-smart phones and even old-fashioned
PDAs. Nor is it a plain iPod since media players don't have even
mediocre voice capabilities.

"It's been billed as less a smart phone than a super-smart iPod with
phone functionality," noted Miro Kazakoff, a senior associate for
wireless technology at market research firm Compete. "It comes from a
place of being more of an entertainment device with phone functionality
added on."

Added Ken Dulaney at Gartner: "It's either a weak phone or a hot device 
in the network media category."

Another thing that the iPhone isn't is just another mobile device. "The 
interface is absolutely breathtaking," In-Stat's Chamberlain said.

Got it. The iPhone is a lousy phone but a breathtaking media device
that acts like a phone but isn't.

What does it compete against?

Let's move to the next level down in the rabbit hole. The fact that
the iPhone isn't anything like a smart phone doesn't mean it won't
compete against smart phones. And against a lot of other things as
well.

"Yes, iPhone takes sales away from the (BlackBerry) Pearl," Kazakoff 
said. "Devices like the Pearl or (Motorola) Q also would seem to be 
primary competitors for iPhone." He said that because people will tend 
to only buy one phone-like device and, until the iPhone is released, 
those are the current high-tech hotties.

However, as is the case with most Apple-related things, Kazakoff 
hastened to add: "But it's not really that simple."

In particular, the iPhone also helps Apple and its iTunes online media
store compete against other online media vendors such as (surprise!)
Microsoft and its Zune device and Zune Marketplace.

"If you buy an iPhone and you are locked into iTunes, chances are your 
next phone will be an iPhone," Kazakoff said. "It encourages people to 
lock into carriers and services."

Then, there's what, in analyst-speak could be called 'the Cingular
play.' While Cingular won't give particulars, the operator is clearly
spending a lot of money and energy on iPhone and is reasonably upfront
about one of its main reasons why.

"If a customer of another operator wants the device, they can buy it and 
become a Cingular subscriber," a Cingular executive told a press 
conference at the Consumer Electronics Show last week. "We fully expect 
this to grow our business."

So, besides Apple competing against phone vendors, the iPhone also
could change the competitive landscape among cellular operators.

"Verizon owned the we-have-the-best-network position in the 
marketplace," In-Stat's Chamberlain said. "Now, everything is switched 
around and suddenly it's, 'network-shmetwork' if you want the hottest 
phone in the world, you have to go to Cingular. It pulls the rug out 
from under Verizon."

OK, then, let's recap. The iPhone isn't a smart phone but it is
competing against the hot new generation of smart phones. It also is a
tool to help grow Apple's media distribution business against
competitors such as Microsoft. And it also is fomenting -- Cingular
hopes -- a migration of customers from its competitors.

Are you starting to get the idea that the iPhone is much more than just 
a dandy new device?

So who will buy it?

Few would disagree that Apple fanatics will stand in line for eternity
in the bottom ring of hell to pay $500 for an iPhone. But who will buy
it after those fanatics have their devices eagerly in hand?

"You can get a (Motorola) Q for 99 bucks and (consumers) may be willing 
to spend another 30 or 40 bucks for those (smart phone) capabilities," 
NPD's Strother said. "But if you jump up to $500, you have to call the 
wife, then get a loan. That's just the reality of the American consumer 
right now."

Put differently, some analysts doubted that, after the Apple True
Believers get their devices, Apple and AT&T/Cingular will sell a whole
lot more. And the $500 price ($600 for the 8 GB version) will only be
the first expense.

"People using other carriers will either have to wait until their 
contract ends or tack $200 on to the price of the iPhone (for breaking 
their contract)," Kazakoff said. "Very few consumers will do that."

So that means Steve Jobs' predictions that 10 million iPhones will be 
sold by the end of 2008 will be proven wrong?

"Will it sell 10 million?" asked Gartner's Dulaney. "As a media device, 
maybe. As a phone, it may be difficult. "There we go again, trying to 
classify the thing.

"On a global scale, they have a shot at 10 million," Strother said. "I 
think it's attainable but in the U.S. alone? No way."

Let's get this straight, then. Apple has a reasonable shot at making
their stated goal of selling 10 million iPhones by the end of 2008,
except that the thing is too expensive for most mainstream
users. Also, Apple won't sell many iPhones as phones but they could
sell a ton of devices as a media player that acts like a
phone. Finally, those who aren't willing to pay the price for the
iPhone will be more attracted to smart phones, even though the iPhone
doesn't compete against such devices.

Which brings to mind this quote from Alice in Wonderland: "I quite agree 
with you," said the Duchess; "and the moral of that is: Be what you 
would seem to be or if you'd like it put more simply 'Never imagine 
yourself not to be otherwise than what it might appear to others that 
what you were or might have been was not otherwise than what you had 
been would have appeared to them to be otherwise.'"

Where is all this going?

One thing the analysts do agree about is that, whether the iPhone is a 
media device, a regular phone, a smart phone or something else entirely, 
whether it will sell by the boatload and won't sell at all, it's very 
design will change the nature of devices we'll use in the future.

"It could create a new category of devices, Gartner's Dulaney said. "Does 
it raise the bar for everybody? Yes. It's a good thing for the industry 
because it challenges vendors to really think about ease of use."

"It has the potential to significantly increase stratification in the 
market," Compete's Kazakoff said. "People will increasingly look for 
devices that focus on one or two functionalities so, hopefully, we'll 
see devices that are exceptionally good at the (few) functions they're 
focused on."

And, of course, the analysts think that it will lead to heightened 
competition, even if that competition comes from copycats. That's 
because neither competing phone vendors nor other U.S. cellular carriers 
will stand still in the face of the threat from the iPhone, uh -- 
whatever it is.

"Right now, there are 10,000 engineers in Asia working on new things 
because [of the iPhone]," Chamberlain said.

Copyright 2007 Mac Publishing LLC

NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the
daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new
articles daily. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at
http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or)
http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html

For more news and headlines, please go to:
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/technews.html

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2007 13:36:22 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Apple's Icing on Cingular's Cake


The once-hapless wireless operator bounced back -- and landed the 
hyped Apple iPhone. Fortune's Stephanie Mehta tells how they did it.

By Stephanie N. Mehta, Fortune senior writer
January 19 2007: 11:53 AM EST

http://money.cnn.com/2007/01/18/technology/pluggedin_mehta_cingular.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2007011911

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2007 08:56:28 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: AT&T Unity Plan


AT&T Creates Largest Unlimited Calling Community in America

AT&T Unity Subscribers Get Unlimited Free Domestic Calls to and from 
100 Million Wireline and Wireless Phone Numbers.

San Antonio, Texas, January 19, 2007

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) today announced an unprecedented new offer, which
gives subscribers the nation's largest unlimited free calling
community, including wireless and wireline phone numbers.

The AT&T UnitySM plan, which is available beginning Sunday, Jan. 21,
brings together home, business and wireless calling, creating a
calling community of more than 100 million AT&T wireless and wireline
phone numbers.

AT&T Unity customers can call or receive calls for free from any AT&T
wireless and wireline phone numbers nationwide without incurring
additional wireline usage fees or using their wireless Anytime
minutes.* In addition to free domestic calling to and from AT&T
numbers, the AT&T Unity plan includes wireless service with unlimited
night and weekend minutes, as well as a package of Anytime Minutes.

The AT&T Unity plan is the company's first major converged product
offering since the company's Dec. 29 acquisition of BellSouth Corp.
and consolidation of Cingular Wireless.

http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=5097&cdvn=news&newsarticleid=23318

------------------------------

Subject: CommunicationsDirect News Daily Update - January 19, 2007
From: communicationsdirect_daily <communicationsdirect_daily@communicationsdir>
Reply-To: communicationsdirect_daily-owner@communicationsdirectnews.com
Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2007 11:34:05 EST


********************************
PricewaterhouseCoopers Presents
The CommunicationsDirect Daily Update
For January 19, 2007
********************************

Snom, Objectworld Provide Plug-and-Play Systems
http://www.communicationsdirectnews.com/do.php/120/22201?11228

     VoIP phone maker Snom technology AG has partnered with
     Objectworld Communications Corp., a developer of VoIP phone
     systems and unified communications software for Microsoft Windows
     platforms. Together, the companies will support certified SIP
     telephony capabilities for snom and Objectworld customers.  For
     example, Objectworld's ...

Russia's Sistema Eyes Telecom Italia Stake
http://www.communicationsdirectnews.com/do.php/120/22193?11228

     Russian conglomerate AFK Sistema is reportedly keen to buy a
     stake in Telecom Italia's holding company, Olimpia. Quoting
     Sistema's chief executive, Alexander Goncharuk, the newspaper
     Kommersant said Sistema was interested in the company but has not
     agreed anything yet. Olimpia owns 18% of Telecom Italia.
     Significance: Although ...

Motorola to Cut 3,500 Jobs as 4Q Profit Falls 48 Percent
http://www.communicationsdirectnews.com/do.php/120/22190?11228

     CHICAGO -- Motorola Inc. CEO Ed Zander said today the cell-phone
     maker will cut 3,500 jobs as it moves to improve operating costs
     after a worse-than-expected fourth quarter. Zander, speaking to
     analysts at a meeting in New York, said the move will save the
     company about $400 million (E309 million) over two years. He did
     not ...

Polish Supreme Court Rules for Vivendi in Dispute Over Stake in Mobile Network
http://www.communicationsdirectnews.com/do.php/130/22187?11228

     WARSAW, Poland -- Poland's supreme court has ruled in favor of
     French media firm Vivendi in a dispute over the ownership of a 48
     percent stake in Polish mobile network Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa,
     or PTC. The court overturned a lower Polish court's decision to
     uphold a ruling, made by an Austrian arbitration court, that ...

Content Delivery Takes the Limelight in '06
http://www.communicationsdirectnews.com/do.php/140/22181?11228

     The digital media sector was among the hottest for venture
     capital investors last year, with content delivery networks (CDN)
     being among the hottest of the hot.  Recent figures from Rutberg
     &amp; Co.  show that provisioning and delivery infrastructure
     startups raised $630 million (in 59 financings) during 2006,
     compared to $227 ...

EC Seeks Feedback On Network Disaster Report
http://www.communicationsdirectnews.com/do.php/140/22178?11228

     The European Commission (EC) yesterday issued a call for
     comments from all quarters on recommendations of how to protect
     the European Union's communications infrastructure from failure
     in cases of attack or natural disaster.  The call came following
     the presentation of a study, done for the EC by Alcatel-Lucent,
     that found ...

Nortel, Microsoft Alliance Talk up Products, Roadmap
http://www.communicationsdirectnews.com/do.php/140/22176?11228

     Nortel President and CEO Mike Zafirovski and Microsoft CEO Steve
     Ballmer laid out plans and products of their joint venture that
     target the enterprise market.  Specifically, the duo said they
     aim to break down the barriers between voice, e-mail, instant
     messaging and multimedia conferencing by offering VoIP and
     unified ...

RIM Lines Up iPhone Defenses
http://www.communicationsdirectnews.com/do.php/120/22173?11228

     Having dropped by almost 5 percent Thursday, shares in RIM are
     now down close to 15 percent since Steve Jobs announced the
     launch of the iPhone on Jan. 9. Wall Street, it seems, believes
     that with the entry of Apple Inc. into the smartphone market, the
     days of BlackBerry's easy dominance in the category are
     numbered. ...

Your feedback on our e-letter is always welcome. Send email to:
CommunicationsDirect Editor <telecom_direct_editor@us.pwc.com>

Copyright (C) 2007 PricewaterhouseCoopers.

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2007 11:55:56 CST
From: USTelecom dailyLead <ustelecom@dailylead.com>
Subject: AT&T Unifies Unlimited Calling Plans


USTelecom dailyLead
January 19, 2007
http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/fXqQfDtusXkqkyCibuddlsYL

TODAY'S HEADLINES

NEWS OF THE DAY
* AT&T unifies unlimited calling plans
BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH
* Motorola feels pricing pressures
* Verizon extends FiOS TV reach in Philadelphia
* Apple plans faster Wi-Fi access charge
* LG Prada phone features touch screen
* Ericsson takes Digicel to the EDGE
TECHNOLOGY TRENDS
* Messaging to remain non-voice king, study finds
* TI forecasts mobile-phone growth
IP DOWNLOAD
* Nuance turns to SIP to help lower prices
* Zodiac leverages VoIP for business searches over the TV
REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE
* Opinion: No need to rush to regulate the Internet

Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others.
http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/fXqQfDtusXkqkyCibuddlsYL

------------------------------

From: Angus TeleManagement Group <jriddell@angustel.ca>
Subject: Telecom Update #563, January 19, 2007
Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2007 10:53:52 -0800



[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Here is a link to this week's HTML
version of Telecom Update #563.  I was unable to translate it into
text.   http://www.angustel.ca/update/up.html     PAT]

------------------------------

Subject: Re: XM and Sirius Consider Merger
Reply-To: jhaynes@alumni.uark.edu
Organization: University of Arkansas Alumni
From: haynes@alumni.uark.edu (Jim Haynes)
Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2007 20:03:21 GMT


In article <telecom26.18.8@telecom-digest.org>,
Klay Anderson  <klay@klay.com.remove> wrote:

> In article <telecom26.17.5@telecom-digest.org>, Neal McLain
> <nmclain@annsgarden.com> wrote:

>> PARIS -- The two big U.S. satellite-radio companies, XM and Sirius,

> Yeah, but the FCC Chairman Kevin Martin says not according to US laws:

> <http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=alWomkStRxIg&refer=home>

I can understand how a merger of the two companies results in a
monopoly, and will probably result in higher charges and less consumer
choice.  Yet what if only one company had entered the market in the
first place?  Would the FCC have demanded that they go out and find a
competitor before allowing them a license?

jhhaynes at earthlink dot net

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2007 03:09:32 EST
From: Dan Lanciani <ddl@danlan.com>
Subject: Re: Want an iPhone? Beware the iHandcuffs


rick0.merrill@NOSPAM.gmail.com (Rick Merrill) wrote:

> You don't actually 'buy' music -- you buy a media that contains the music 
> and you do not have the permission to duplicate that media ... at least 
> that's the way it was until moving music to other media became so easy.

Does the Audio Home Recording Act still have any effect?

Dan Lanciani
ddl@danlan.*com

------------------------------

From: Patrick Townson <ptownson@telecom-digest.org>
Subject: Hell Continues to Freeze Over
Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2007 18:00:00 CST


I mentioned here about a week ago that Hell, here in Independence, KS
had frozen over with the ice storms of last weekend. Now here we are,
a full week later, ice still over everything in sight. Every day, the
temperature goes up to a little above freezing -- maybe to 40 degrees
when the sun is out, a wee bit of the ice drips loose and begins to
slowly run down the street. Then darkness falls, the temperature goes
back to somewhere between zero or minus one (Tuesday and Wednesday
night) and it all freezes again. My house has been frozen solid with
sheets of ice all over it for a week; the front door has been solidly
locked in ice all week, and the only other way in/out (the back door)
has been all I can use. It is under a sheltered, covered area which 
keeps the rain away, and consequently, all the ice from last weekend.
But, there is a catch; isn't there always?  Living as I do on the
side of a hill with a very slight incline in the yard, I am confronted
with _solid_ sheets of ice throughout the yard and the sidewalk out to
the street. So, in effect, I cannot go out that way either, except to
let the dog out to 'make his potty' in the back yard. The cats are
all staying inside, and the dog is pretty quick about letting me know,
getting out and coming back inside. _I have not been out of this house
for several days now_, almost all activities in town have been
cancelled all week anyway. With the damn gutter spout on the roof
clogged up, naturally the rain all overflowed last weekend and ran
all over my front porch and the stairs there, thus the front door
is blocked with ice. And no one has been _in the house_ either; the
meals-on-wheels service has been suspended all this week with the
roads between here and Coffeyville (from whence comes the food wagon)
totally iced over although the city and state -- its Tenth Street out
to the city limits, then a state highway -- keep shoveling and
scraping and salting, to no avail. The ice is so impacted it is quite
difficult to work on. 

Given my limited ability to walk anyway, the city authorities have
very strongly advised me to 'sit it out', not to DARE trying to walk
(with or without my cane) _anywhere_. Someone did show up last
Saturday afternoon with a huge box of groceries for me, compliments 
of the local Episcopal Church; a couple weeks worth of food at least.
Medicare ordered a power wheel chair for me and it will be _so good_
when/if it gets here; it is impossible to tip over on the ice, I
am told, and I can use it for limited (very limited) trips around town
once it arrives, but believe it or not, the highway going up to
Kansas City (the supplier) is also mostly blocked with ice, so I am
out of luck until the electric chair (which gets 25 miles on a single
charge; so I can go all over town and back easily on one charge)
arrives here. The city tried to comfort me on the phone yesterday:
"if you need anything, Mr. Townson, just give us a call or the police,
someone will come out to help you."

We had hoped there might be one or two warm 'spring like' days in this
past week so it would all melt in earnest. But instead, the local
PBS radio station (KOSU out of Tulsa) interuppted their programs many
times Friday afternoon to give a 'weather advisory': Three or four
inches of *new snow* assured overnight Friday into Saturday. At least
our electric/cable lines have stayed in place, meaning my furnace,
microwave oven, refrigerator and such are all working. Last winter was
relatively mild; this year, it is total hell. 

PAT 

------------------------------


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*   TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from                  *
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Visit http://www.mstm.okstate.edu and take the next step in your
career with a Master of Science in Telecommunications Management
(MSTM) degree from Oklahoma State University (OSU). This 35
credit-hour interdisciplinary program is designed to give you the
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The MSTM degree draws on the expertise of the OSU's College
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College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology. The program has
state-of-the-art lab facilities on the Stillwater and Tulsa campus
offering hands-on learning to enhance the program curriculum.  Classes
are available in Stillwater, Tulsa, or through distance learning.

Please contact Jay Boyington for additional information at
405-744-9000, mstm-osu@okstate.edu, or visit the MSTM web site at
http://www.mstm.okstate.edu

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   In addition, gifts from Mike Sandman, Chicago's Telecom Expert
   have enabled me to replace some obsolete computer equipment and
   enter the 21st century sort of on schedule. His mail order 
   telephone parts/supplies service based in the Chicago area has
   been widely recognized by Digest readers as a reliable and very
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   a free catalog today at http://www.sandman.com 
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Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as
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All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the
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End of TELECOM Digest V26 #19
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