TELECOM Digest Tue, 16 Mar 93 16:46:30 CST Volume 13 : Issue 183 Index To This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Telecom and the Blizzard of '93 (Olivier MJ Crepin-Leblond) Re: Telecom and the Blizzard of '93 (Will Martin) Re: Telecom and the Blizzard of '93 (Dale Farmer) Re: Telecom and the Blizzard of '93 (Andrew M. Boardman) Re: Cellular System A and B Info Wanted (Carl Oppedahl) Re: Cellular System A and B Info Wanted (Greg Abbott) Re: Bell Canada Completing All-Digital Network (John Higdon) Re: Bell Canada Completing All-Digital Network (Bohdan Tashchuk) Re: US Post Office Not Caught up With Modern Technology (Jeff Kenton) Re: US Post Office Not Caught up With Modern Technology (Dale Farmer) Re: US Post Office Not Caught up With Modern Technology (Mark Steiger) Re: Public Phone 2000 (Doug Krause) Re: 18kf Limit Measurement (Craig Myers) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Olivier MJ Crepin-Leblond Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1993 09:59:36 +0000 Organization: Imperial College, London, UK. Subject: Re: Telecom and the Blizzard of '93 Will Martin wrote: > And a side comment -- anybody else out there getting irritated by the > sloppy re-use and multiple use of acronyms? "ATM" has meant "Automatic > Teller Machine" for decades now, yet in recent years I've been running > across other computer-related uses of the exact same acronym. > "Asynchronous Transfer Mode" is the worst, because it makes the phrase > "ATM Network" ambiguous and mean at least two different things. Indeed, one does get irritated by the sloppy re-use of acronyms. However as far as ATM goes, I think that it is only in USA (and countries linked to the USA) that ATM is used as "Automatic Teller Machine". In UK, the use of "Cash machine", or "Cashpoint" is much more common. Furthermore, the ATM acronym for "Asynchronous Transfer Mode" has been agreed-on by the CCITT; it is hence a standard. Has ATM for "Automatic Teller Machine" ever been standardised by any official body ? :-) Olivier M.J. Crepin-Leblond, Digital Comms. Section, Elec. Eng. Department Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London SW7 2BT, UK Internet/Bitnet: - Janet: ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Mar 93 7:38:53 CST From: Will Martin Subject: Re: Telecom and the Blizzard of '93 I can add a couple points to my original posting, after seeing news reports on the evening of 15 March: 1) It appears that, at least here, credit union ATM networks are still down and will be for at least another day. Bank ATM networks may be working; I was able to use a bank ATM for remotely accessing my account during the day yesterday, though our building credit union ATM was down all day. 2) The backup site for the New Jersey EDS computer center was in the World Trade Center!!!!! I wonder how many other financial and East coast sites are operating right now without backups due to the WTC closing!?! Also, I'm sure WTC companies are now using other sites as their backups, which leaves much less capacity for backup operations for anybody. The ripple effect is spreading ... Regards, Will ------------------------------ From: dale@access.digex.com (Dale Farmer) Subject: Re: Telecom and the Blizzard of '93 Date: 16 Mar 1993 10:07:58 -0500 Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, MD USA Will Martin (wmartin@STL-06SIMA.ARMY.MIL) wrote: > This past weekend's storm news included at least one Telecom-related > item: At a computer center in New Jersey somewhere, the weight of snow > on the roof was great enough to collapse it, thus putting the facility > out of service. This was operated by EDS and was some sort of central > networking point for Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) on at least one > inter-bank network, not just in the East, but nationwide. Many ATMs, > including some here in St. Louis, MO, were down because of this. The same service center services the money machines here at the Department of Labor Credit Union in DC. The notice pasted to the machine also noted that they did have a backup site. Unfortunatly it was located in the World Trade Center ... Talk about having a really bad month ... Dale Farmer ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Mar 93 10:48:11 EST From: andrew m. boardman Subject: Re: Telecom and the Blizzard of '93 > 4: One would expect this processing center had what they felt was > sufficient redundancy and backup safeguards. But were at least some of > the redundant elemants co-located at the same building where the > incident occured? Some area ATMs hereabouts are posted with a notice summarizing Will Martin's post. Additionally, they do, indeed, say that there was a backup facility -- in the World Trade Center ... andrew m. boardman amb@cs.columbia.edu [Moderator's Note: Thanks to Will, Dale, Andy and the nine other readers who sent articles pointing out the back up site location. PAT] ------------------------------ From: oppedahl@Panix.Com (Carl Oppedahl) Subject: Re: Cellular System A and B Info Wanted Organization: PANIX Public Access Unix, NYC Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1993 18:47:13 GMT In clivec@tecnet1.jcte.jcs.mil writes: > I have read many messages on this bulletin board in which people > mention Cellular System A and System B settings on their phones. Can > anyone explain to me, in plain English, the difference between system > A and system B? > [Moderator's Note: [stuff omitted]] Another difference that obtains here in New York, and I expect in most other places too, is that the B carriers (due to the MFJ restrictions imposed after the Bell breakup) are obligated to let you pick which long-distance carrier you use, while the A's are not. This has practical consequences. Suppose I want to use Sprint long distance, either because I find it to have clearer line quality or because I can get it consolidated-billed with my other Sprint calls. Then I cannot use the A carrier, as they are in bed with AT&T. Carl Oppedahl AA2KW (intellectual property lawyer) 30 Rockefeller Plaza New York, NY 10112-0228 voice 212-408-2578 fax 212-765-2519 [Moderator's Note: Here in Chicago, 'our' Cellular One allows a choice of any of the big three carriers. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Mar 93 12:48:55 CST From: Greg Abbott Reply-To: gabbott@uiuc.edu Subject: Re: Cellular System A and B Info Wanted lemson@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (David Lemson) wrote: > By sheer coincidence, the non-wireline carrier in St. Louis is called > CyberTel and, unless I am mistaken, is owned by Ameritech. :-) Of > course, the wireline carrier in STL is called Southwestern Bell Mobile > Systems. > (Funny to see the same ads from Cellular One in Champaign/Urbana and > CyberTel in St. Louis such as for the 'family pack' around Christmas, > etc.) In case some people are confused by this, 'Cellular One' and > 'CyberTel' are just trade names that various companies pay to use in > certain markets. Just as a point of clarification; 'CyberTel' was a private company providing paging services throughout IL and MO. Cybertel provided cellular service in the St. Louis Market. Last year, Ameritech purchased CyberTel because they wanted to get into the cellular business in St. Louis. The only way they could do it was to buy CyberTel's cellular *and* paging markets. Ameritech has carried the 'CyberTel' name and it is now listed as an Ameritech company. Most of the CyberTel offices in the central Illinois area have been consilidated with the Ameritech Mobile offices. GREG ABBOTT E-MAIL: GABBOTT@UIUC.EDU 9-1-1 COORDINATOR COMPUSERVE MAIL: 76046,3107 METCAD VOICE: 217/333-4348 FAX: 217/384-7003 1905 E. MAIN ST. PAGER: 800/222-6651 URBANA, IL 61801 PIN # 9541 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Mar 93 01:17 PST From: john@zygot.ati.com (John Higdon) Reply-To: John Higdon Organization: Green Hills and Cows Subject: Re: Bell Canada Completing All-Digital Network Dave.Leibold@f730.n250.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Dave Leibold) quotes great puffery from: > [Bell News, Bell Canada/Bell Ontario division, 8th March 1993; > content is that of Bell News, numbered footnotes are my comments] > World's first fully-digital network is just months away. Then snorts: > Thus endeth John Higdon's visions of step-by-steps and even x-bars > strewn throughout the Great White North (see thread on NAFTA effects > on Canadian telecommuncations industry). So just what is the population of Greater Toronto? I should hope that a city of that size and stature could boast an "all digital" network. I see nothing in your press release that indicates all the Xbar and SXS is being removed from the rural areas of Canada, which if you will re-read my comments is what I was talking about. Modern communications in major cities is no big deal. So with that in mind let me point out: The high desert area of California (about as rural as you can get) is ALREADY "all-digital" -- and has been for some time. The divestiture nay-sayers claim that "cream skimming" will prevent rural customers from enjoying "big time" telephone service. Nonsense! The 5ESS and DMS switches in and around Barstow, Victorville, Hesperia, Adelanto, yes and even Kramer Junction were all installed SINCE that "dark day" in 1984. Frankly, I never thought for an instant that there has been a single SXS or even a Xbar switch anywhere near Toronto for many years. Never would I suggest that Canadian telecommunication (or anything else there) is inferior in any way. But there is a faction in Canada (just as there was in the US nearly a decade ago) that is predicting doom, gloom, and the collapse of the telephone system if Bell Canada is relieved of its monopolistic hold. But from things that I have read from the anti-competition zealots, there is a considerable amount of liberty-taking with the truth. The US telephone system has not collapsed, nor is it in any way inferior to any system anywhere. I have been carrying on e-mail correspondence with a Canadian who has been genuinely concerned with the impending competition. He was surprised to learn that local telephone service did NOT cost an arm and a leg in the US. The fact that the party line had all but disappeared was news to him. That I can call anywhere in the country by dialing only ten digits and that the call is completed instantly was contrary to the impression he had been given by some of the propaganda up there. He had visions of dialing twenty digits (or even having to place calls manually giving VISA card numbers, etc.) and waiting long periods of time to get through the "long distance nightmare". Of course Bell Canada is going to demonstrate how "modern" it is. And it will imply that it would be detrimental to tamper in any way with its current gravy train. But we can now see the "all digital" light at the end of the tunnel for the entire state of California -- something that is a result of competition and divestiture, not in spite of it. I dare say that had it not been for market forces, California would still sport mechanical offices even to this day. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 264 4115 | FAX: john@ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | 10288 0 700 FOR-A-MOO | +1 408 264 4407 [Moderator's Note: Whether or not 'local service in the USA now costs an arm and a leg' is a very subjective decision. I know my phone bill has skyrocketed since ten years ago, far out of line with what inflation would have taken it to. I know I am paying $5-6 per line/month for 'network access' because the carriers to join the industry in recent years refused to go along with the traditional separations and settlements process which served AT&T and the local telcos very well for many years. I am paying 60-70 cents for each directory assistance call because the carriers to join the industry in recent years refused to either establish their own directory assistance bureaus or share the common costs involved in the maintainence of the 555-1212 services used for years by AT&T and GTE customers. The newcomers told their customers to use xxx-555-1212 to get the information free from AT&T, then dial via the alternate carrier to place the call. International directory assistance is now $3 per *number* looked up for the same reason. I pay more for operator assistance surcharges because the carriers to join the industry in recent years saw no reason to pay the expense of maintaining actual operator services; for all intents and purposes, when you dial 10 plus zero, they might as well put a recording on the line saying to dial 10288-0 for assistance. I am paying $1 per line/month for a '911 surcharge' that I have no use for; and while this can hardly be blamed on the new carriers in the industry, it just adds frosting to the whole thing. It is not because of divestiture that the USA phone network has held together as well as it has, it is *despite* the architecture of our divestiture. If you have plenty of money and telephone costs are only a small part of your budget, these costs may be only a small annoyance. To some of us, they are financial killers. PAT] ------------------------------ From: zeke@fasttech.com (Bohdan Tashchuk) Subject: Re: Bell Canada Completing All-Digital Network Organization: Fast Technology --- Beaverton, OR Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1993 19:18:58 GMT > The final such SEM (switching equipment modernization) will happen on > June 26. It will give the greater Toronto Area (soon to be the > restructured 416 area code) the world's first fully-digital > telecommunications network. [1] Does this mean that every subscriber is going to be given an ISDN telephone? Will they also be given ISDN peripheral cards to replace their modems? Or are the millions of "fully-analog" telephones in Toronto not actually a part of a "telecommunications network"? I guess that Marketing Slime feel that words mean only what they want them to mean, nothing more, nothing less. Hmmm. Where have I heard that before? Bohdan ------------------------------ From: jkenton@world.std.com (Jeff Kenton) Subject: Re: US Post Office Not Caught up With Modern Technology Organization: Kenton Systems Corporation, Weston MA Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1993 13:29:34 GMT grout@sp90.csrd.uiuc.edu (John R. Grout) writes: > It is city, state, street number, street and apartment number (often > forgotten) ... there are various automated ways to get nine-digit zip > information, including a CD-ROM version of the nine-digit zip code > manuals. Unfortunately, some of these automated wonders are broken. There is at least one of these pieces of software which takes my home address and changes the zip code to that of a neighboring town, and then changes the town name to match. It turns out to be a valid address. Once a year several companies, in the name of zip code purity, run through their mailing lists and "fix" their records relating to me. This has caused the loss of one magazine subscription (Forbes -- it took them five months to straighten it out) and several credit cards whose companies got incensed that I wasn't paying bills even though they admitted they were addressed to the wrong town. Jeff Kenton (617) 894-4508 jkenton@world.std.com ------------------------------ From: dale@access.digex.com (Dale Farmer) Subject: Re: US Post Office Not Caught up With Modern Technology Date: 16 Mar 1993 10:03:16 -0500 Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, MD USA The USPS uses a system -- the name escapes me at the moment -- that takes all incoming flats (flats are exactly that, envelopes and cards that are no larger that 9x12 inches and do not exceed a given thickness. The actual specs are much more detailed.) and runs them thru a reader. The reeader has several stages. First it checks for the presence of the zip code bar code (in the lower right area of the envelope) and a prepaid bar code (just to the left of the postage imprint) and for the presence of the correct postage. If it has a zip+4 code and correct postage already it is diverted direct to sorting. Then it goes thru an OCR reader that scans the address for name, street, apt/box#, city, state and printed zip. It runs a compare to see if the printed zip matches the rest of the info, looks up and adds the +4 if needed and prints the bar code on the envelope and sends it to sorting. If the printed zip does not match the printed address it performs a lookup on the printed address. It then prints the bar code on the envelope. go directly to sorting. If it cannot resolve the correct zip+4 it then goes to an operator for semi-manual operation. The operator gets a picture on the monitor of the graphic image the OCR scanner saw. He/She can then type in corrected info based on that or send it to another station where the operator is looking at the actual envelope and deals with it accordingly. The USPS is also in the midst of installing upgrades to these machines, that will greatly speed processing by putting the scan lines in the OCR portion closer together. (causing the OCR to have a better shot at detecting verticals such as H,L,I, etc ...) recognizing a much larger number of typefaces, and being able to recognize hand printed addresses with a much higher success rate. The USPS gives a variety of price breaks for mass mailers. The exact prices change every few months, so I am not current on them. but they are for: presorting by state; presorting by zipcode; using an OCRable typeface with full zip+4; preprinting the zip+4 barcode. These also apply for other than first class also, but that gets much more complex. You also have to be sending a fairly large number of pieces to qualify for discounts. (c. 500-1000 or more per deposit into the system.) These are as I recollect from about 12/91 when I put together a proposal for my employer. I have not kept track of the issues, and my memory is an unreliable transport mechanism. Dale Farmer ------------------------------ From: MARK.STEIGER@tdkt.kksys.com (MARK STEIGER) Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1993 18:34:48 -0600 Subject: Re: US Post Office Not Caught up With Modern Technology Organization: The Dark Knight's Table BBS: Minnetonka, MN (Free!) > As far as I know, UPS and Fed Ex are still hand sorting everything. > Both services are barcoding packages, but the barcodes are with a > package serial number to allow tracking. They are not coding with a > zip code to allow sorting. Actually, what Fed Ex and UPS do is keep records like package serial numbers going to zip code xxxxx. Zip code is a trademark of the Post Office. I'm not sure on this, but couldn't they get in trouble for bar coding it on the package? Anyway, they electronically sort all of the packages based on what zip code belongs to that serial number. It's pretty cool to see in action. Fed Ex gave us a tour at work since we ship so much. Mark Steiger, Sysop, The Igloo BBS (612) 574-0037 Internet: mark@tdkt.kksys.com Fido: 1:282/4018 Simnet: 16:612/24 [Moderator's Note: Did you know that 'Zip Code' started as an abbreviation which finally became a word-phrase in its own right? Just like 'Care' (as in Care Packages) is what we call it now, (it began as The Committee on American Relief in Europe in the 1945-50 era), and 'Naytoe' (NATO) is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization even though we never say it that way any longer, 'Zip Code' has a formal name also. The Postal Service, back in the days when it was the 'US Post Office' devised the one mprovement

lan Codes as a way to speed mail delivery. The Zone Improvement Plan got shortened to 'ZIP' as time went on ... PAT] ------------------------------ From: dkrause@miami.acs.uci.edu (Doug Krause) Subject: Re: Public Phone 2000 Organization: University of California, Irvine Date: 16 Mar 93 09:29:01 GMT In article TELECOM Moderator responded to dkrause@hydra.acs.uci.edu (Doug Krause): > [Moderator's Note: Thanks very much for taking the time and going to > the expense to send us a message from that phone. I hope your trip was > pleasant and not to someplace where the airport is shut down. By the > way can anyone give us any weather related telecom updates from the > eastern states? Are they even getting through at all? PAT] No problem, and it was fun anyway. DFW did not get much of the storm. The temperature dropped from about 80 to the 30s from Wednesday to Saturday, but that was about it. It also rained a lot in Houston, but when doesn't it? Douglas Krause djkrause@uci.edu University of California, Irvine ------------------------------ From: craig@aplcomm.jhuapl.edu (Craig Myers) Subject: Re: 18kf Limit Measurement Organization: JHU/Applied Physics Laboratory Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1993 17:18:59 GMT whs70@dancer.cc.bellcore.com (sohl,william h) writes: >> Does this 18,000 ft measurement start at the CO or the neighborhood >> mux (SLC-96, etc.)? > The 18,000 feet is the maximum distance for the two wire loop portion > of the circuit, therefore, the 18,000 feet is a maximum from the > Remote SLC-96 Mux to the subscriber's Network Terminating equipment According to a map provided by our local telco, C&P, the limit for ISDN from a SLC-96 is about 5000 feet. The cost of the BRITE card is an extra $20.00 per month with a three year termination liability of $565 to cover the cost of the card. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #183 ****************************** Downloaded From P-80 International Information Systems 304-744-2253