TELECOM Digest     Mon, 23 May 94 13:14:30 CDT    Volume 14 : Issue 244

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    FCC Seeks Further Comments on 0+ Call Routing (Bob Keller)
    Book Review: "The Internet Navigator" by Gilster (Rob Slade)
    Taiwan and Hong Kong Contacts Needed (Tara D. Mahon)
    Book Review: "How the World Was One: Beyond Global Village" (Mark Brader)
    Re: Nationwide Name and Address Service (Mark E. Daniel)
    Re: Nationwide Name and Address Service (Steven J. Davidson, M.D)
    Remote Telephone Access Information Wanted (Warren Birnbaum)
    Is There a Gadget Which Detects Fax and Voice? (Hem Ramachandran)
    Mispellers [sic] of the World, Unite! (Jonathan Welch)
    Is This True? (Atri Indiresan)
    DTMF Decoding Help Needed (Chad R. West)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
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----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Mon, 23 May 1994 10:50:24 EDT
From: Bob Keller <rjk@telcomlaw.com>
Subject: FCC Seeks Further Comments on 0+ Call Routing


Report No.  DC-2601       ACTION IN DOCKET CASE                May 19, 1994

       FURTHER COMMENTS SOUGHT ON PROPOSAL TO ROUTE TELEPHONE CALLS
          VIA THE CARRIER CHOSEN BY THE PARTY PAYING FOR THE CALL
                           (CC DOCKET NO. 92-77)

     The Commission announced today that it seeks further comment on
whether to mandate a new system for routing "0+" calls -- that is,
calls that are made by entering a "0" followed by a long distance
number.  While it found that the evidence available to it indicated
that the benefits of the new system, called Billed Party Preference or
BPP, outweighed its costs, the Commission also found that some of the
data underlying its cost/benefit analysis were not as firm or as
current as it desired.

     Currently, 0+ calls are sent to the operator services provider
(OSP) to which the premises owner or payphone provider presubscribes.
Under BPP, calls would be routed automatically to the OSP preferred by
the party being billed for the call.  For example, a calling card call
would be routed to the cardholder's preferred OSP.  A collect call
would be routed to the called party's preferred OSP.  A call billed to
a third party would be routed to the OSP to which that third party had
presubscribed.

     The Commission found that BPP would provide three principal
benefits.  First, it would make operator services more "user
friendly."  Under a BPP system, callers would be able to make all of
their operator-assisted calls on a 0+ basis, and they would be able to
do so with the knowledge that calls would be automatically handled by
the OSP with which the billed party had chosen to do business at the
rates offered by that OSP.

     Callers who currently use access codes would no longer need to do
so.  Callers who do not use access codes would no longer face the risk
that their call would be carried by an operator service provider with
rates considerably higher than the industry average.  Based on data in
the Commission's November 1992 report issued pursuant to the Telephone
Operator Consumer Services Information Act, the Commission estimated
that BPP would likely enable consumers to save about $280 million per
year by avoiding operator service providers with rates higher than the
AT&T/MCI/Sprint average.

     Second, the Commission found that BPP would force OSPs to refocus
their competitive efforts towards serving consumers rather than
serving aggregators, such as premises owners or payphone providers.
The Commission recognized that such a shift in competitive focus would
almost certainly eliminate the commissions that OSPs now pay to
aggregators for directing 0+ calls to them.  Moreover, based on the
available data, it estimated that the elimination of commissions could
save operator service providers about $340 million per year on
interLATA 0+ calls.  Not only did the Commission find that this could
offset a substantial portion of the costs of BPP, but that a shift in
competitive focus could also foster lower prices and better service
for consumers.

     Finally, the Commission noted that BPP would eliminate certain
AT&T advantages in the operator services market.  For example, it
would enable AT&T's competitors to offer end users the same 0+ access
as AT&T.

     On the other hand, the Commission also noted that BPP is an
expensive technology.  While it found that available data indicated
that the net cost of BPP for LECs would be approximately $380 million
on an amortized unseparated cost basis, with an additional estimated
$35 million per year for OSP expenses, it observed that this estimate
was based on data that was not as firm nor as current as it would have
liked.

     Therefore, the Commission chose to issue a Further Notice that
sets forth in detail its cost/benefit analysis based on the available
data, giving parties the opportunity to comment on the analysis and to
submit additional, updated data to corroborate or refute it.  The
Commission also seeks comment on whether some or all of the benefits
of BPP could be achieved through alternative, less costly measures.
 
     Finally, the Commission also addressed some aspects of how BPP
should be implemented in the event it decides to mandate it.  For
example, the Commission decided that, if mandated, BPP should apply on
a nationwide basis to all 0+ and 0- interLATA calls and that it should
accommodate commercial credit cards.  It also concluded that BPP
should not give either LECs or OSPs the exclusive ability to issue
line number cards, however, it seeks further comment on whether BPP
should include a fourteen- or ten-digit screening design.  It also
seeks comment on whether prison phones should be subject to BPP.

     Action by the Commission May 19, 1994, by Further Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking (FCC 94-117).  Chairman Hundt, Commissioner
Barrett, with Commissioner Quello concurring in the result and
Commissioners Barrett and Quello issuing separate statements.

     News Media contact: Rosemary Kimball at (202) 632-5050.
     Common Carrier Bureau contacts: Mark S. Nadel at 
     (202) 632-1301 and Gary Phillips at (202) 632-4048. 

                                  - FCC -

Bob Keller <KY3R>        Robert J. Keller, P.C.        Tel +1 301 229 5208
rjk@telcomlaw.com    Federal Telecommunications Law    Fax +1 301 229 6875
finger me for daily FCC info + see ftp.clark.net:/pub/rjk/ for other files

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

Date: Sun, 22 May 1994 22:24:22 MDT
From: Rob Slade <roberts@decus.ca>
Subject: Book Review: "The Internet Navigator" by Gilster


BKINTNAV.RVW  940211
 
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
22 Worchester Road
Rexdale, Ontario  M9W 9Z9
800-263-1590
or
605 Third Avenue
New York, NY   10158-0012 USA
800-263-1590   212-850-6630
Fax: 212-850-6799
jdemarra@wiley.com   aponnamm@jwiley.com
"The Internet Navigator", Gilster, 1993, 0-471-59782-1
73537.656@compuserve.com gilster@rock.concert.net pag@world.std.com
 
This book is an embarrassment to me.  I *think* that it's very good --
but I am at a bit of a loss as to why.
 
By and large, this is an Internet guide like other Internet guides.  A
bit of an introduction and some history, then coverage of the major
applications (email, ftp, telnet) and the more esoteric ones (gopher,
WAIS, World Wide Web).  Right from the front cover, though, Gilster
avoids the "whole Internet" bias of so many guides and aligns himself
with the dial-up user.  There is, in fact, a whole chapter devoted to
the use of email to access Internet resources; particularly useful to
those on commercial online services, business "mail only" connections
or Fidonet.
 
It is, of course, very much easier to point out the flaws.  Although
Gilster explains "why UNIX," there is a heavy emphasis on the specific
commands of mail, trn, elm and other UNIX specific programs.  (In the
chapter on email access to resources, Gilster switches to Compuserve:
oddly appropriate, but no less limited.)  While the explanation of
LISTSERV is complete and helpful, the sin of sending administrative
messages to the list, rather than the LISTSERV, is not emphasized.
Even in the opinion chapter, a discussion of the future of the
newspaper lauds Clarinet for providing syndicated material, apparently
unaware that Clarinet is strictly a reseller, and is providing for no
development of editorial content.
 
In spite of minor shortcomings, however, this book has a very
comfortable feel to it.  The material is clear and well-written, with
little attempt at the sarcasm or barbed wit of some other beginner
materials.  One positive factor may be the grouping of functional
items together, so that archie, for example, is covered in the chapter
on ftp.  There is only one icon; a very helpful little ship which
points out Internet accessible resources for the item under
discussion.
 
The resource guides included are not extravagantly large, and are of
variable quality.  The directory of Internet resources is very useful
for the beginner: not exhaustive, but of high quality in terms of what
*is* covered.  The bibliography is more exhaustive than useful, with
Gibson's fictional "Neuromancer" next to Quarterman's quite technical,
"The Matrix."

Overall, I highly recommend this for the beginner to the Internet.
 
copyright Robert M. Slade, 1994   BKINTNAV.RVW  940211. Distribution
permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated newsgroups/mailing lists.


Vancouver      ROBERTS@decus.ca    
Institute for  Robert_Slade@sfu.ca 
Research into  rslade@cue.bc.ca    
User           p1@CyberStore.ca    
Security       Canada V7K 2G6     

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

Date: Mon, 23 May 94 13:38:07 EDT
From: Tara D. Mahon <tara@insight-corp.com>
Subject: Taiwan and Hong Kong Contacts Needed


Dear TELECOM Digest readers,

Insight Research is trying to locate people knowledgable about
operations support systems (OSS) for Taiwanese telecom providers.  We
are looking for contact names at wireless or wireline carriers to
interview for research on computers and telecom in Asia.

We need a cellular/wireless contact at Hong Kong Telecom as well.

If anyone can assist us, please send contact information (phone
number, fax number, e-mail address, etc.) to tara@insight-corp.com.

Thank you in advance for your help.


Sincerely,

Tara D. Mahon                  tara@insight-corp.com 
Insight Research Corporation   tdm@insight-corp.com  
354 Eisenhower Parkway         (201) 605-1400 voice  
Livingston, NJ 07039-1023 USA  (201) 605-1440 fax    

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

From: msb@sq.sq.com (Mark Brader)
Subject: Book Review: "How the World Was One: Beyond the Global Village"
Organization: SoftQuad Inc., Toronto, Canada
Date: Mon, 23 May 94 08:41:46 GMT


David Ofsevit (ofsevit@nac.lkg.dec.com) writes:

> I was surprised that in the excellent series of articles on
> telegraph and telephone cables there was no mention of Arthur C.
> Clarke's fine book "Voice Across the Sea" (Harper, 1958).  I don't
> know whether it's in print anymore, but it is very well written and
> worth finding.

I doubt that it's in print, because in 1992, Clarke incorporated a
large part of it into a new book.  I posted a review of that one then,
here and in slightly different form to certain other Usenet newsgroups.  
I saved a copy of the other version of the review; here it is.

At the rate that books go out of print these days, it seems entirely
possible that *this* one isn't available *either*; I don't know.

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

  "How the World Was One: Beyond the Global Village", 1992 Bantam
  hardcover, approx 300 pages.  US price $22.50.  ISBN 0-553-07440-7.

This book is for people who are interested in telecommunications.
They'll like it.  Those readers who are voracious Clarke fans,
however, may find that they've read considerable parts of it before.

The book contains five main parts.  The first and longest one tells
about the early history of submarine telegraph cables, culminating
with the tribulation-filled laying of the first successful cable
across the Atlantic; and the second part rapidly takes the story
forward to transoceanic telephony and radio.

Most of this material was taken from Clarke's 1958 book "Voice Across
the Sea", but I had not read that one, and I found it fascinating.

Perhaps the most interesting thing was the many kinds of technical
difficulties encountered in the early days.  Cables were too light,
too heavy, too short; they broke, they leaked; they even sabotaged
themselves (no, I won't explain that one!).  And then there were
people problems -- wrong assumptions about technology went untested
until after they had been embedded in thousands of miles of cable.

On one of the cable-laying attempts, two ships started out in the
middle of the ocean and sailed in opposite directions with the two
ends of the cable, each paying it out as it went.  Their only
communication with each other was by telegraph through the cable
itself.  At one point the connection broke and the ships returned to
their starting point -- and each hailed the other with "How did the
cable break?"  Something had happened on the seabed, and they never
did find out what.

Then when the first cable was finally laid and the technology finally
tested, it hardly worked: after 12 days of trying to adjust the
instruments, the operators still needed over 16 hours to transmit a
99-word official telegram.  Depending just how they timed their
Morse-like code, I figure that the transmission rate must have been
somewhere between .05 and .1 baud!

The remaining three parts of the book do not really tell a continuous
story as do the first two; there are many distinct essays and speeches
and even a few pieces of fiction.  I had read several of the pieces
before, and some of them overlap to some extent.  So for these reasons
I didn't enjoy the second half of the book as much as the first; but I
still found it well worth reading.

The third part deals with Clarke's own involvement in the early
development of communication satellites.  As most of you will know, he
invented the idea of using the geostationary orbit for comsats --
though it didn't occur to him then that they might be unmanned!  This
part puts the idea in context of what he was doing at the time and of
what had already been invented by others, and includes the short story
"I Remember Babylon" where he anticipated some less savory uses to
which comsats might be put.

The fourth part concerns the impact of comsats as it has turned out in
fact, and Clarke's thoughts on where how they should develop in the
future; and the short fifth part is about the renaissance of submarine
cables with the appearance of fiber optics.  Look how the world has
changed already since the telephone appeared ... here are two early
reactions to the news of its invention:

     When news of Alexander Graham Bell's invention reached the
     United Kingdom, the chief engineer of the British Post Office
     failed to be impressed.  "The Americans," he said loftily,
     have need of the telephone -- but we do not.  We have plenty
     of messenger boys ..."
     ...
     In contrast ... the mayor of a certain American city was
     wildly enthusiastic.  He thought that the telephone was a
     marvelous device and ventured this stunning prediction:
     "I can see the time," he said solemnly, "*when every city
     will have one*."

The thesis of the book is simple, and one with which most of us on
Usenet will agree.  I know *I* do.  Better communication unites societies, 
reduces ignorance, and generally benefits everyone; and it is, accordingly, 
something on which the expenditure of time and money is well worthwhile.  
As Clarke said on the occasion of the signing of the Intelsat agreement:

     For today, gentlemen, whether you intend it or not -- whether
     you wish it or not -- you have signed far more than yet another
     intergovernmental agreement.

     You have just signed the first draft of the Articles of
     Federation of the United States of Earth.


Mark Brader              "... There are three kinds of death in this world.
msb@sq.com                    There's heart death, there's brain death, and
SoftQuad Inc., Toronto        there's being off the network."  -- Guy Almes

This article is in the public domain.

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

Date: Mon, 23 May 1994 03:01:29 EST
From: mark@legend.akron.oh.us (Mark E Daniel)
Subject: Re: Nationwide Name and Address Service


> The UnDirectory service (Clarity Inc., P.O. Box 8357, Red Bank, NJ
> 07701, 908-530-5100) provides national dial-up reverse directory for
> the whole U.S.  (Includes Alaska and Hawaii, but I couldn't get info
> on numbers for Puerto Rico, or 800+ and 900+ numbers.)

How long does a number have to be in service before it's in this
database?  I've had my number for over a year ever since I moved here
and I decided to see if it knew me, and it said that my number was
either unlisted or recently assigned.  As I said, I've had this number
for over one year and it is in the newest Ameritech directory, issued
December 1993.


Mark E Daniel                  (Loving SysOp of The Legend BBS)
Inet: mark@legend.akron.oh.us  medaniel@delphi.com (Direct INet)


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: As pointed out here before, most such
services skimp on the costs of running same by using old, outdated
records. They do not want to pay what telco would charge them for
direct and immediate access to an up-to-date database. Therefore, you
get what you pay for, or at least they do. They can make a lot more
money by producing an inferior product which they then sell to you at
a greatly inflated cost. If someone would do this the right way -- the
way Ameritech handles 796-9600 -- it would be a winner.  PAT]

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

Date: Mon, 23 May 1994 01:03:48 -0400
From: davidson@medcolpa.edu (Steven J. Davidson, M.D)
Subject: Re: Nationwide Name and Address Service


Pat writes:

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That's because, as Lynne Gregg points
> out in her note earlier in this issue, many of those outfits rely on
> old, obsolete listings rather than accessing the up-to-date listings
> of telco. They'd have to *pay* telco to do that; then there would be
> less profit in their operation. I guess they figure it is better to
> work with older, less expensive databases and be right part of the time
> rather than do the job right but make less profit.    PAT]

I just tried the 900 service with my present and immediate past (1981-1993) 
telephone numbers.  Neither were known to the database.  I then tried
my "new" work number (in service for six years) it gave another address 
and business name.  Then I tried my mother-in-law's number (12 years
and still in service) which was unknown to the database and my parent's 
number (in use since 1955!) and it was unknown to the database.  These
last three numbers are all listed in the current Philadelphia directory.

Conclusion:  This service may not be worth even $1/minute, not just
because of absent information, but also because of erroneous information.


Regards,

Steven J. Davidson, MD, MBA, FACEP  |  215.843.3001/3029 voice/fax
Div. of Emerg. Med. Serv., 3426 Conrad St., Philadelphia, PA 19129-1651
davidson@medcolpa.edu | davidson@netaxs.com | 71535.204@compuserve.com
    Opinions are all mine, I'm often wrong, but never in doubt.

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

Date: Mon, 23 May 1994 07:02:05 GMT
From: Warren Birnbaum <wjb@cheops.cpuc.ca.gov>
Subject: Remote Telephone Access Information Wanted


I am currently looking for names of companies that supply telephone
access to remote areas via satillite.  Any information on this would
be appreciated.


Thanks,

Warren Birnbaum   wjb@cheops.cpuc.ca.gov

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

From: heman@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Hem Ramachandran)
Subject: Is There a Gadget Which Detects Fax and Voice?
Date: Mon, 23 May 1994 18:42:54 -0500
Organization: University of Texas at Austin


Hi,

I am wondering whether there exists a gadget (in the market or one
which I can make) which detects between incoming fax and incoming
voice and switch it to two seperate ports or so?  


Thanks for any help,

Hem


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Don't reinvent the wheel, Hem. These are
all over the place. Check the Radio Shack store in Austin for starters
and ask about the fax and data switch. I think the price is about $100.
Another source is Hello Direct at 800-HI-HELLO. You can get the kind which
actually listen to the incoming tones and decide whether to send the call
to a fax, a computer or a human; or the kind which uses Distinctive Ringing
Service from the telco to route the calls.  PAT]

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

Date: Mon, 23 May 1994 06:24:49 -0500
From: Jonathan_Welch <JHWELCH@ecs.umass.edu>
Subject: Mispellers [sic] of the World, Unite!


Forwarded to the Digest from rec.humor.funny, FYI:

 From: daugher@cs.tamu.edu (Walter Daugherity)
 Subject:Mispellers [sic] of the world, unite!
 Date: Fri, 20 May 94 3:20:01 EDT
 Message-ID:<S6c9.6346@clarinet.com>

(True)

In an effort to snag more long distance telephone calls (charged to a
credit card or a third number), AT&T reserved the toll-free number
1-800-OPERATOR.  Not to be outdone, and perhaps knowing the public
better, MCI reserved the number 1-800-OPERATER and has been scooping
up calls intended for its arch-rival.


Walter C. Daugherity   Texas A&M University  daugher@cs.tamu.edu

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

Date: Mon, 23 May 1994 12:43:19 -0400
From: Atri Indiresan <atri@eecs.umich.edu>
Subject: Is This True?


This appeared in rec.humor.funny. Can anyone confirm that this is
true?

Atri

> In an effort to snag more long distance telephone calls (charged to
> a credit card or a third number), AT&T reserved the toll-free number
> 1-800-OPERATOR.  Not to be outdone, and perhaps knowing the public
> better, MCI reserved the number 1-800-OPERATER and has been scooping
> up calls intended for its arch-rival.

Is this why AT&T is switching from 1-800-OPERATOR to 1-800-CALL-ATT?


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: AT&T had the latter of the two numbers in
service for quite awhile prior to starting 'OPERATOR'. I would not be
surprised to hear there was a lot of confusion between OPERATOR and
OPERATER however.   PAT]

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

Date: Mon, 23 May 1994 14:07:55 EDT
From: west_c212@orion.crc.monroecc.edu
Subject: DTMF Decoding Help Needed


I am writing a program that needs to decode telephone touch tone
signals.  The problem is that I am having trouble finding a DTMF
decoder.  If anyone know where I can get ahold of one I would
appreciate it.


Thank you. 
 
Chad R. West (Computer Science) 
Monroe Community College 
West_c212@orion.crc.monroecc.edu

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #244
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