TELECOM Digest     Thu, 8 Feb 2007 16:12:00 EST    Volume 26 : Issue 41

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    CommunicationsDirect News Daily Update (communicationsdirect_daily)
    Re: Use Skype WITHOUT Instaling Software? (Gene S. Berkowitz)
    Re: What About Areas Where Alphabet is Not Like Ours? (Lisa Hancock)
    Re: Telephone Area Codes and Prefixes (hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com)
    Re: How to Shut Down the Net (ellis@no.spam)
    Re: Criminals Are Overwhelming the Web (ellis@no.spam)
    Re: Beware of the Dot (ellis@no.spam)
    Re: Private Line History (Lisa Hancock)

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Subject: CommunicationsDirect News Daily Update
From: communicationsdirect_daily <communicationsdirect@communicationsdirect>
Reply-To: communicationsdirect_daily-owner@communicationsdirectnews.com
Date: Thu, 8 Feb 2007 11:55:34 EST


********************************
PricewaterhouseCoopers Presents
The CommunicationsDirect Daily Update
For February 08, 2007
********************************

Competition to Big Three in Russia's 3G Beauty Contest
http://communicationsdirectnews.com/do.php/140/22592?11228

     Russia's Federal Communications Agency has revealed that, to date,
     it has received five requests for the documentation necessary to
     participate in the beauty contest for the country's 3G licences,
     reports Prime-Tass. As expected, the three largest mobile
     operators-Mobile TeleSystems (MTS), VimpelCom, and MegaFon-have
     submitted ...

Vodafone and Orange Merge 3G Networks in United Kingdom in Cost-Saving Efforts
http://communicationsdirectnews.com/do.php/140/22585?11228

     The United Kingdom's mobile operators, Vodafone and Orange,
     propose to combine their 3G networks in an effort to cut costs. The
     companies have signed a non-binding deal, outlining the terms and
     conditions of sharing their respective 3G networks, while retaining
     control of their backbone networks, which connect mobile-phone masts
     with ...

So Long, Jack
http://communicationsdirectnews.com/do.php/120/22582?11228

     The AT&T phase-out of 6-year-old Cingular Wireless' brand began
     last month as AT&T started transitioning the Cingular brand to
     its own with a massive advertising and customer communications
     campaign targeting Cingular's Websites, retail stores, company
     buildings and vehicles. The announcement came swiftly, just a ...

Gmail Becomes More Widely Available
http://communicationsdirectnews.com/do.php/120/22580?11228

     SAN FRANCISCO -- Google Inc.'s e-mail service is almost ready to
     accept all comers, nearly three years after the online search
     leader shook up the Internet by offering users an unprecedented
     amount of free storage and displaying ads based on the content of
     the correspondence. Effective Wednesday, the Mountain View-based
     ...

Femtocells Gear Up for 3GSM
http://communicationsdirectnews.com/do.php/150/22577?11228

     Femtocells, the micro mobile base stations that can provide
     in-building 3G coverage, are creating quite a buzz ahead of next
     week's 3GSM jamboree. NEC Corp. got serious about the technology
     this week, announcing partnership agreements with two femtocell
     specialists, UbiquiSys Ltd. and Tatara Systems Inc. ...

Netherlands Picks Nokia Managed Services
http://communicationsdirectnews.com/do.php/120/22575?11228

     In a first for the Finnish company, Nokia has won a managed
     services deal with T-Mobile Netherlands to cover its WCDMA 3G and
     GSM networks.  Nokia will provide T-Mobile Netherlands with field
     operations and spare part management. Specifically, field
     operations will include preventive maintenance and incident
     management, while the ...

Polycom Acquires SpectraLink
http://communicationsdirectnews.com/do.php/140/22573?11228

     Creating a formidable competitor in the emerging market for
     unified communications, VOIP system provider Polycom Inc. said
     today it is acquiring SpectraLink Corp., the Boulder, Colo.-
     based manufacturer of wireless handsets for vertical markets, 
     for $220 million. The $11.75-per-share price represents a 33 
     percent premium ...

Egyptian Telecom Mogul Grabs A Greek Treat
http://communicationsdirectnews.com/do.php/120/22570?11228

     Egyptian telecom mogul Naguib Sawiris and his Weather Investments
     is buying Greece's third- and fourth-largest wireless carriers,
     TIM Hellas and Q-Telecom, from Apax Partners and Texas Pacific
     Group (TPG) for a total of $4.4 billion. The acquisition is said
     to be part of a move by Weather to become a major European
     telecom ...

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

Copyright (C) 2007 PricewaterhouseCoopers.

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

From: Gene S. Berkowitz <first.last@comcast.net>
Subject: Re: Use Skype WITHOUT Instaling Software?
Date: Thu, 8 Feb 2007 00:11:09 -0500


In article <telecom26.39.4@telecom-digest.org>, me@privacy.net says:

> Anyway to use Skype on a computer say at a library where you can NOT
> install the software?

Why would you want to use Skype in the ONE PLACE you're NOT supposed
to be talking?

--Gene

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

From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com
Subject: Re: What About Areas Where Alphabet is Not Like Ours?
Date: 8 Feb 2007 07:45:17 -0800
Organization: http://groups.google.com


On Feb 7, 8:12 pm, Joe Tibiletti <joe...@cox.net> wrote:

> I raise the question, what does the telephone dial look like in areas
> with alphabets different fron our own, such as Cairo, Egypt, or
> Beijing, China, or Oslo, Norway?  

I don't know what the dial looks like in other countries.

As mentioned here, U.S. city telephone numbers consisted of a named
exchange which corresponded to the letters on the dial.  This was done
(1) to ease the transition from manual to dial and (2) because it was
felt "MUnicipal 6-1776" would be easier to remember than "686-1776".

After WW II, the telephone company realized that users were confusing
the letter I with the number 1 (and 0 and O) as well as
pronouciation.  For example, in Philadelphia there was the BAring 2
exchange, but it was pronounced "BEARING".  Philadelphians know that,
but outsiders wouldn't and errors would result.  There were numerous
examples of that in many cities.  Also, telephone growth was causing
shortages of numbers in some places.  Because of those and some other
technical reasons, the Bell System decided to go to "ANC", All Number
Calling.  An all number dial would have bigger numbers and be easier
to read, too.

They forsaw overseas dialing as well and realized alphabets were
different.

The transition was gradual, some places were converted in the 1960s,
Philadelphia the last holdout (bastion of tradition) wasn't converted
until 1980.

However, businesses realized they could have an easy to remember
telephone number using the letters on the dial.  So the letters
remained for that reason.

Indeed, in the U.S., the letters "Q" and "Z" were added to the dial.

> I understand that until about 5 years ago there were some crank up
> telephones in use -- in West Virginia -- with telephone numbers that
> had 4N-1L-2N.  Anyone got sharing on this one?

A "Crank up" telephone network, known as "local battery" would require
a human telephone operator on duty 24/7 and regular service visits to
replace the batteries in customer phones (a part of hand crank
telephones).  All this would be quite expensive and it would likely be
cheaper to upgrade the line to order to accomodate the customers.

> There appears to be a return to two party lines in some areas because
> of shortage of lines.  e.g . Round Rock, Texas, north of Austin, TX.

I find it very hard to believe party lines are being re-introduced.
Modern lines using carrier have plenty of capacity.  A party line is
technically obsolete and actually a hindrance in a modern system.
Many states eliminated them completely.

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

From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com
Subject: Re: Telephone Area Codes and Prefixes
Date: 8 Feb 2007 08:18:05 -0800
Organization: http://groups.google.com


On Feb 7, 8:12 pm, Joe Tibiletti <joe...@cox.net> wrote:

> As to archives and comments of telephone number configurations, the prefix
> Zenith was used in the 1950's for non dial telephones in Pacific Palisades
> area of LA.  

In some places "Zenith" was used for toll-free numbers dialed by the
operator.

> If one is familiar with telephone numbering issuance one can tell when a
> telephone number was issued in many cases.

One might be able to tell when the phone number was _first_ issued to
a customer, but not when the _current_ customer received the number.

Anyway, this is not necesarily true anymore, thanks to computer
switches and high volume carrier.  Stuff gets reused and reassigned.

The evolution of the structure of a telephone number varied from place
to place.  Without knowing individual history, it's hard to determine.

Local calling numbering depended on the size of the local and
intermediate calling areas and the situation when converted to dial.
In the smallest towns, one placed calls by name.  When dial came
along, there'd be all sorts of number combinations for calls within
the town, to nearby towns, and toll calls.  Even into the 1970s many
small towns continued these strange dialing arrangements.  There were
various technical and administrative reasons as well as legacy for the
combinations.

So you had all sorts of dial combinations, both number and letters
+numbers.

A look at a master railroad schedule that shows the ticket offices in
towns over a wide area will show the many different kinds of phone
numbers.

When the Bell System planned Direct Distance Dialing, every telephone
subscriber had to have a unique telephone number in order to be
reached.  They decided on the areacode-exchange-number (10 digit)
approach.  This required a very complex conversion effort that took
place over 30 years.  Often the town could continue to dial a brief
number (ie 5 digits) for local calls, but outsiders would use the full
10 digit number.

Let me note that numbering plans were dependent on the cost of
switchgear.  Small towns didn't need nor want a long SxS switchtrain
to handle unnecessary digits and arrangements were made accordingly.

Also, toll billing for short and long haul calls was an issue.  In
cities "message units" (still in use today) were used; calls weren't
itemized but accumulated on a meter.  In some cities a cheap message
accounting system was used.

> Some challenges exist where a state line crosses through a town and two
> area codes are present and there is a need to dial across the state line
> without area code being used as is the case in Texarkana AR and TX.

In old days such users could dial merely 7 digits when crossing an
area code boundary.  Nowadays it's more common to have to dial 10
digits, although the call remains a local call, even when crossing a
state and LATA boundary.

The Bell System History book 1925-1975 explains all this in detail.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Lisa, where would one obtain this
'Bell System History book' to which you refer?  PAT]

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

From: ellis@no.spam 
Subject: Re: How to Shut Down the Net
Date: Thu, 08 Feb 2007 08:11:03 -0000
Organization: S.P.C.A.A.


In article <telecom26.39.1@telecom-digest.org>,
Ted Bridis, Associated Press  <ap@telecom-digest.org> wrote:

> Hackers briefly overwhelmed at least three of the 13 computers that
> help manage global computer traffic Tuesday in one of the most
> significant attacks against the Internet since 2002.

I heard they (root name servers) were attacked but continued to
operate. That's hardly what I'd call being overwhelmed.

http://yosemitecampsites.com/

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

From: ellis@no.spam 
Subject: Re: Criminals Are Overwhelming the Web
Date: Thu, 08 Feb 2007 08:14:48 -0000
Organization: S.P.C.A.A.


In article <telecom26.38.9@telecom-digest.org>, hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:

> How does a computer become that way?

By installing windows?

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

From: ellis@no.spam
Subject: Re: Beware of the Dot
Date: Thu, 08 Feb 2007 08:17:31 -0000
Organization: S.P.C.A.A.


In article <telecom26.38.8@telecom-digest.org>, harris13@gmail.com wrote:

> On Feb 2, 5:18 pm, e...@no.spam wrote:

>> In article <telecom26.2...@telecom-digest.org>, Monty Solomon

>> <m...@roscom.com> wrote:

>>> Wireless companies and phone makers say water damage is a common
>>> problem with cellphones

>> So why haven't the cellphone makers done something to fix the problem?
>> It's not that hard to make a phone that'd take some water without
>> breaking.

>> http://yosemitecampsites.com/

> Just want to add this ongoing anecdote. My 15 year old son's Samsung
> phone has now been through our Maytag washer's full cycle 3 times and
> through the dryer at least once.  We put it in the sun or toaster oven
> for an hour and it starts working again 100%.  Just ordered a new
> battery for it as the family tries to wait out our commitment to our
> wireless carrier for another 6 months.

Verizon appears to have finally given up on getting me to buy a new
phone. I'm still on my first cellphone (Nokia 5185i) and I see no
reason to "upgrade" to anything else.

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

From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com
Subject: Re: Private Line History
Date: 8 Feb 2007 12:46:51 -0800


On Feb 7, 1:45 pm, Charles Gray <charles.g...@okstate.edu> wrote:

> Beginning probably in the 1960s (before my time there) American
> Airlines (AA) had what was called a "customer controlled switching
> arrangement", or CCSA with AT&T.  Of course, they were the only game
> in town in those days.  AA eventually had almost 150 locations "on
> net".

Thanks for your post.  Interesting stuff.

I think this is the same thing the Bell System history calls "SCAN".

I believe the history is similar to other large organizations.  As the
cost of the public message switching network declined, the use of
private tie-lines for voice calls became less attractive.  My employer
once had a similar network which was accessed separately, but then it
was removed.  All calls to remote locations are placed 9, 1+, but
routed internally over the most advantageous path, transparent to us.

As to the "only game in town", there was also Western Union which had
the legal right to offer private line voice and data services.  The
1960s literature states that it offered various kinds of voice private
line service, including a cheaper shared arrangement (e.g. a semi-
switched private line.)  How many customers it actually had is tough
to say; I sense not too much.  So your statement "the only game in
town" is essentially correct.  W.U. wanted to offer such services as
you describe and supposedly had the technology to do so, but
apparently not the customer interest.  (Per NYT April 1962).  W.U. did
provide many private teleprinter networks in competion to AT&T.

Railroads had their own private networks via lines along their
tracks.  The lines of the Southern Pacific Railroad evolved into
Sprint.  The gear of the Pennsylvania Railroad / early Amtrak evolved
into my friend's basement (a phone collector).

> In the early 1970s Collins Radio developed the first automatic call
> distributors (ACD) for use outside the phone company.  Unknown to most
> people, AT&T had developed their own ACD for internal use, and
> possibly for customer use as well, some time before that.  I have a
> Bell System "Traffic Facilities Practice" dated May 1965 in my files.
> Their "service level" objective was 93% in 20 seconds, or an average
> speed of answer in 4-6 seconds.

I'm not sure what you mean by "first automatic call distributor".  Do
you mean first not developed by Bell?  Bell offered such devices for
many years.  They called them "turrets".

The service level is not really dependent on the phone system, but
rather how many attendants are available and how long an attendant
spends on each call.

I think back in those days airlines wanted to give good will and
provided enough attendants to answer calls promptly.  These days many
organizations skimp on people.  One transit agency had a 15 minute
wait for information.  (Not everything is available on line.)

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Since commercial long distance has
> gotten _so_ inexpensive in recent years, I cannot think of a single
> instance in which a 'private' network would be more economically
> viable these days as an alternative.

One application I can think of is an intercom arrangement.

Data lines still need private connections, it would be impractical to
dial up repeatedly all day long.

When retail stores first card credit card verification terminals, they
were dial up (you could the dialing and connect-up).  Of course you
had to wait a moment until that happened before the clerk could swipe
your card.  But now it seems those terminals do it immediately, so I
presume they're on some sort of private line service.

I notice many large-chain retail outlets (fast food, gas stations)
have microwave dishes on the roof.  I presume this isn't to watch
television, but rather transmit and receive data to/from the central
HQ.  I have no idea how these things work, but I would call that a
private line application.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You note that one application you can 
think of is an intercom arrangment. But, Lisa, the telephone network
is a sort of 'giant intercom' is it not?  And you say it would be
impractical to have to dial it several times daily. For things like
that, we have speed dialers; you can press a single key and 'dial' a
huge string of digits in a secont or two. A'speed dial' device on your
phone would be substantially less expensive than an entire network,
pwhich in most cases would require 'dialing' anyway.  PAT]

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


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End of TELECOM Digest V26 #41
*****************************