TELECOM Digest     Thu, 9 Feb 95 00:20:00 CST    Volume 15 : Issue 87

Inside This Issue:                         Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    North Pacific Cable Cut? (Stephen Palm)
    SVNet Meeting February 15: Cellular Digital Packet Data (Paul 
Fronberg)
    Rolm 6200/b CBX Information Wanted (Christopher L. Browne)
    Re: MCI Gave me a Deal (Tony Pelliccio)
    Re: MCI Gave me a Deal (Lindsay L. Meeks)
    Re: How I Fooled Caller ID (Anthony Chor)
    Re: How I Fooled Caller ID (Shawn Gordhamer)
    Campus Wiring/Connectivity Innovation (routers@halcyon.com)
    Re: Clock Slips Again (Harold Hechinger)
    Re: Ten Digit Dialing (Jill Arnson)
    Re: International Tariff d (Allyson Anthonisz)
    Re: New Motorola Micro-tac Elite AMPS Cellphone (Michael Berlant)
    Re: New Motorola Micro-tac Elite AMPS Cellphone (Steven King)
    Re: Caller ID and Call Waiting (Integral1@aol.com)

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

From: palm@tokyo.rockwell.com (Stephen Palm)
Subject: North Pacific Cable Cut?
Organization: Rockwell International Japan, JEDC
Date: Thu, 9 Feb 1995 02:19:13 GMT


We have 56kbps digital leased line between Tokyo and California that
used the North Pacific Cable (NPC).  Apparently NPC was cut on 2 Feb
1:00 AM JST (1 Feb 8:00 AM PST) and we are now on satellite backup.

Does anybody have any more information?  Does anyone know when they
are planning to fix NPC?


Thanks,

Stephen [kiwin] Palm                        TEL (Voice mail): +81-3-
5371-1564
Rockwell - Digital Communications Division                   COMNET: 
930-1564
Japan Engineering Design Center      (JST=PST+17hours)   FAX: +81-3-
5371-1507
  palm@tokyo.rockwell.com   s.palm@ieee.org   spalm@cmu.edu   
palm@itu.ch

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

From: paulf@panic.Eng.Sun.COM (Paul Fronberg [CONTRACTOR])
Subject: SVNet Meeting February 15: Cellular Digital Packet Data
Date: 9 Feb 1995 04:38:48 GMT
Organization: Sun Microsystems Inc., Mountain View, CA


SVNet Meeting: Wednesday, Feb 15, 1995, 7:30pm  Mtn View

  (FREE, Open to Public)

SVNet is a SF Bay area UNIX and Open Systems user's group which
sponsors technical presentations at its monthly meetings.  The
meetings are free and open to the public.  The next presentation will
be:

WHAT: Coming Soon to a Beach Near You???
    Cellular Digital Packet Data  (CDPD)

Will we really be able to telecommute and surf the Net from our
"branch" office on the beach in Tahiti?  While Cellular Digital Packet
Data may offer the next level of freedom from those pesky wires
representing data and network connections, delays in equipment
availability and geographic coverage are still a challenge to would-be
service providers.  On top of that, service providers are still
deciding how to price the services.

Tonight's speaker will give us the latest news about a variety of
technical and standards/specifications issues on CDPD, including what
functionality is currently being anticipated by the recently published
Release 1.1 of the CDPD spec.  TCP/IP services, the inclusion of a
Hayes AT command set, etc. are among the items to be covered.

WHO:   Chuck Berman, McCaw Cellular

WHEN:  Wednesday, February 15, 1995 at 7:30 p.m.

WHERE: Sun Microsystems Bldg 6, 2750 Coast Avenue, Mountain View
       Coast Ave appears to be just a driveway next to Bldg 5 on 
Garcia Ave 
       between Amphitheatre Pkwy and San Antonio, so don't get 
confused.

For more information, please call either Paul Fronberg at (415) 366-
6403 
or Ralph Barker at (408) 559-6202.

SVNet is a UNIX and open systems user group supported by member dues
and donations.

             SVNet Meetings are FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.
         UNIX is a registered trademark licensed solely by X/Open

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

From: cbrowne@usr.com (Christopher L. Browne)
Subject: Rolm 6200/b CBX?
Date: Wed, 08 Feb 95 11:51:34 PST
Organization: USRobotics, Inc.


I am looking for technical references or manuals for the Rolm 6200/b
pbx.  Are such documents available any where on the net?


Christopher L. Browne                cbrowne@usr.com
USRobotics, Inc.             cbrowne@interaccess.com
Applications Engineering   72002.1027@compuserve.com

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

From: Tony_Pelliccio@brown.edu (Tony Pelliccio)
Subject: Re: MCI Gave me a Deal
Date: 8 Feb 1995 20:16:12 GMT
Organization: Brown University -- Providence, Rhode Island  USA


In article <telecom15.81.12@eecs.nwu.edu>, md@pstc3.pstc.brown.edu
(Michael P. Deignan) wrote:

> In my opinion, Sprint is the real winner now, with their penny-per-
minute
> promo. At least you know what you're paying and when the rate is 
applicable.
> With the other two, its a percentage crap-shoot over some elusive 
"basic"
> rate.

I have to agree. I spend at LEAST $25.00 a month and with Sprint Sense 
get
 .10 a minute from 7PM-7AM weekdays and from 7PM Friday to 7AM Monday
morning. So at that rate it comes to 250 minutes of talk time. If I'd
spent that with AT&T's TrueUSA it came out to only 192 minutes.

The best part was when the sleaze from MCI called me last night asking
if I'd switch to their new Friend & Family II. Ha! My reply? "Send me
a check for $75.00 and I'll think about it."

I'm waiting to see how many people do this with my data line which 
makes
NO long distance calls -- I should make a fortune off that one. 


Tony Pelliccio, KD1NR
Box 1908, Prov, RI 02912 Tel. (401) 863-1880 Fax. (401) 863-2269              
             
------------------------------

From: llmeeks@aol.com (LLMeeks)
Subject: Re: MCI Gave me a Deal
Date: 8 Feb 1995 18:12:44 -0500
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
Reply-To: llmeeks@aol.com (LLMeeks)


In article <telecom15.77.4@eecs.nwu.edu> glen@cs.wisc.edu (Glen
Ecklund) writes:

> MCI called yesterday, and made me an offer I didn't want to refuse.
> 50% off on all calls for six months.  After that, 50% off on calls 
to
> MCI customers (no list required) and 25% off (if I recall correctly)
> to everyone else.

     Yes, MCI is offering 50% off all calls fro six months to NEW
customers.  After that it is 25% off all calls if the monthly bill is
over $10, 30% if over $50.  The 50% discount will only be to other MCI
customers in your Friends & Family list.

     This is off the standard rates (generally just slightly less than
AT&T's).  It makes more sense than any other plan they have except for
intralata calls in Texas.  Other plans might make sense for that but
are being grandfathered by the company.

     In comparing New F&F to True USA, the rate will always be less
than AT&T, even without the 50% MCI to MCI discount.


Lindsay Meeks

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

From: Anthony Chor <tonych@microsoft.com>
Date: Wed,  8 Feb 95 16:40:30 PST
Subject: Re: How I Fooled Caller ID


In TELECOM Digest #78, 0006718446@mcimail.com (John Combs) writes
(about ADSI):

> Bellcore deserves praise for this well thought out service, laid out
> in several Bellcore standards.  Another smart move on their part is
> that they didn't bother submitting the standard to an international
> standards body to try to get it adopted.  (We all know how long that
> takes.)  Instead, they have been visiting the PTTs of dozens of
> countries, and trying to convince them to sign on to the ADSI 
standard
> as defined by Bellcore.  Several European nations have expressed
> interest already, as have Pacific Rim nations, including China.
> ...It is my opinion that ADSI, along with V.34 modems giving
> true 115 kbps data throughput (via compression), could be an ISDN 
BRI
> "killer" one-two punch...By the way, even though ADSI works on POTS 
lines,
it
> qualifies as PANS.  (Pretty Amazing New Stuff.)

ADSI is state-of-the-art technology -- for 1975. However, it is 1995,
and Bellcore's low speed, asymmetrical protocol doesn't meet today's
expectations for a multimedia information terminal.

A little background: ADSI provides 1200 baud signalling to the CPE and
a DTMF backchannel. So, ADSI is really slow sending info to the user,
and the user can only signal back in DTMF. This is inherently 
limiting, 
as you might imagine. ADSI also defines presentation capabilities
which allow the server to write text and options on the CPE screen.
However, this capability is text-only.

So, here we are on the brink of the Infobahn with cable companies and 
on-line services promising users a rich multimedia world replete with 
full motion video and CD quality sound and here's Bellcore offering 
1200 baud text only services. OK, maybe the Infobahn stuff is a little 
way out, but ADSI adoption hasn't exactly been earth-shattering.

By the time there is any appreciable penetration of ADSI phones (if 
ever), people will have truly state-of-the-art capabilities in their 
TVs and PCs. Meanwhile, the phones, phone companies, and telecom folks 
(us) will look dumb showing off ADSI stuff. Furthermore, we would then 
have a backward compatibility issue with these installed devices as we 
tried to move into some new technology.

Therefore, we in the telecom industry should be pushing for a more 
modern voice/data solution than ADSI, one which will carry us into the 
next century. For instance, the Radish VoiceView protocol is a fully 
symmetrical switched voice/data solution which allows data (anything, 
not just text) to be carried at much higher speeds; the protocol also 
allows negotiation for fax (unlike ADSI). We should see VoiceView 
modems appearing later this year. Plus, digital simultaneous 
voice/data 
(DSVD) standards are coming soon (i.e. next year) which will allow 
high 
speed data connections plus voice on the same analog line.

Finally, I'm not sure how v.34 and ADSI finish off ISDN. If I'm
running v.34, I can't talk on the line. ADSI makes no provision for
interrupting a data call with voice or a voice call with v.34 data, so
these two things are unrelated. (Besides, I'd like to meet the person
who gets 115kbps reliably over real phone lines using v.34.)

(Other random thoughts: when the head of any RBOC talks about the
Information Superhighway, none of them has ever mentioned ADSI as a
key technology in making our future happen. If they don't believe in
it, why should we? Something else to keep in mind: who will be the
torch bearer for ADSI? Last I checked, Bellcore was for sale. Given
the uncertainty of their future, I wouldn't count on them to propagate
any standards.)

Thus, ADSI is hardly new (technology wise) and not very amazing. Just
say 'no' to ADSI.


Tony Chor  Program Manager
Telecom Product Unit   Microsoft Corporation

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

From: shawnlg@netcom.com (Shawn Gordhamer)
Subject: Re: How I Fooled Caller ID
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 
guest)
Date: Wed, 8 Feb 1995 19:31:34 GMT


> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Yes, you can put a resistor across 
the
> line then attach a listening device behind that and listen all you 
want
> without being detected. That's how phones are tapped. And, I suppose
> you could send data, since as far as everyone else is concerned, 
your
> phone is still on hook.  But how would the person who is attempting 
to
> spoof *your* display box know that you had such resistance on your 
line
> unless he came to your house and put it there himself?  Seems like a 
lot
> of trouble to me.    PAT]

No, you would put a resister on your phone.  Then, when you detected
the first ring, you would send "fake" caller-ID data which would fool
the callers box.  Is this possible?


Shawn Gordhamer   shawnlg@netcom.com


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: No it would not work since anything you 
do
on your phone only applies as far as the central office. If it were 
possible
for me to do something to *my* phone which influenced the behavior of 
*your*
phone then lots of folks would add resistors or whatnot to their own 
lines
to fool the exchange into thinking *you* had not answered, thus there
should be no charge for the call, etc.  Remember the book and movie a 
few
years ago called 'Tandem Rush'?  The sick phreak sits at home and 
dumps all
this very high current on the phone line causing the phone on the 
*other end*
to catch fire and/or electrocute the recipient ... yet it goes 
unnoticed in
the central office ... balogna!  Whatever hardwiring you do on your 
phone
only influences the behavior of your phone(s) and line(s). Once the 
results
of your handiwork reach the CO maze, that, as they say, is that. 
Notice I
said nothing about audio tones, just hardwiring. Anyway, if you put 
this
resistor in your phone, then the CO would think you were the one *not* 
off
hook and would never extend dial tone to you.  Or were you planning to
switch it in and out of the circuit as appropriate? As soon as you 
switch
it in (if off hook) the CO will think you disconnected.  Won't work!   
PAT]

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

From: routers@halcyon.com
Subject: Campus Wiring/Connectivity Innovation
Date: 8 Feb 1995 05:22:28 GMT
Organization: Northwest Nexus Inc.


                     CAMPUS WIRING INNOVATIONS
                     -------------------------
                        
This information may be of interest to network services- voice and
data network groups.

I can provide information on how to change existing utp from a single
voice circuit to 24 or 32 64Kb voice circuits up to 7 miles (11 km).
Change existing utp to E-1 or T-1 for lan to lan connections up to 7
miles (11 km).  Allow ethernet to be extended on existing 2 wire
copper up to 3000 feet (990 m) at lOMbps.

Also latest information on wireless lan bridges at 2Mbps for campus
area networks. Works both inside with roaming range of 800ft(260m),
and outside to remote locations up to 3 miles (5km).  No FCC license
required in North or South America. Includes SNMP management.

For specific product information, please contact:

     Router Solutions
     5527 Preston Fall City Road
     Fall City, Wash. 98024 USA
     800-837-4180 (USA and Canada)
     206-644-6082 (elsewhere)
     206-222-7622 (FAX)
     routers@halcyon.com (Email)

Or check our FTP site:   
     ftp.halcyon.com    /pub/local/routers

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

Date: Tue, 7 Feb 95 17:19:02 CST
From: harold_hechinger@wiltel.com
Subject: Re: Clock Slips Again


When using DS1 circuits, a switch needs to be timed with the rest of
the network.  On the switches I have worked on, I designate which DS1s


the switch should use for timing.  Check where your PBX is receiving
timing.

Assuming your switch is clocking off of the DS1 like it should be, a
second problem can come from having the clocking DS1 on SONET
facilities.  We have found that SONET DS1s have significant jitter,
and can not be used for timing.  We have gone so far as to require
special facilities from the LEC to avoid SONET routing.  With the T1
on SONET, your PBX may be unable to clock properly.  Ask your 
telephone 
company how the T-1 is routed to the central office.  You will need to
convince the LEC to keep at least one DS1 off of SONET facilities, and
program your PBX to use that DS1 for timing.

I hope this will give you a few more ideas.  Please give me a call or 
EMAIL if I can help you more.


Harold Hechinger   WILTEL   918-588-3404

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

From: jilla@teal.csn.org (Jill Arnson)
Subject: Re: Ten Digit Dialing
Date: 8 Feb 1995 23:59:19 GMT
Organization: Colorado SuperNet, Inc.


In article <telecom15.75.6@eecs.nwu.edu>, Terrence McArdle <mcardle@
paccm.pitt.edu> wrote:

> Just for clarification's sake, I assume the phrase "local numbers 
that
> are in a different phone number" means dialing a destination 
existing
> in separate exchange, but the same area code, as the originator?
> Calls that cross a LATA boundary currently require eleven digit
> dialing, do they not?

 One other reason for the 10 (11) digit dialing is that the NPA
and NXX in an area may be the same now that '0' and '1' are no longer
required to be the middle digit of the NPA.  So far it has been
avoided mostly, but in the future it will not.  If only seven digit
dialing were used in this case, there is the possiblility that the
switch will construe it as a misdialed number if only seven digits are
dialed if it thinks the first three digits are an NPA.  Granted the
software can be designed to get around this, but well ...


Jill C. Arnson   Omnipoint Corporation
Colorado Springs, Co  (but Denver's where I hang my hat)
jilla@csn.org


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Its not that the software can be 
designed
around this -- it HAS been designed. Ever hear of timeouts? If you 
dial
something which can be interpreted in a couple different ways 
depending on
what digits follow, if any, the central office will sit there a few 
seconds
following your last key press waiting for more. Lacking any further 
entry
on your end, translation is started based on the context of what you 
did
enter. For instance, you dial just zero for the operator. It is going 
to
sit there a few more seconds waiting to see if you plan to continue 
dialing
with 011, or 01, or 00, or 0+area code and number, all of which are 
valid
combinations.  To avoid timeouts and waiting, try dialing 0#. That 
'pound
sign' on the end functions as a carriage return. It means the dialing
string is finished. Ditto with credit card calls to the number 
associated
with the card; you only need to enter the four digits of the PIN. But 
the
computer does not know what you are dialing, so it will sit there and 
wait
to see if more digits are following. Terminate the PIN with # and 
watch
how fast your call is processed. Anytime the number of digits to be 
entered
is variable depending on context, use the # on the end to speed up the 
process in the same way you were told to do with international calls. 
Note that when you dial a seven or eleven digit number, adding # at 
the
end does absolutely nothing to speed up the connection.     PAT]

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

Date: 8 Feb 1995 15:50:55 +1000
From: Allyson Anthonisz <ava@austel.gov.au>
Subject: Re: International tariff database providers


I used to subscribe to T-Guide produced by Eurodata Foundation, which
contains tariffs for mainly European countries with the exception of
the USA, Canada, Japan and Hong Kong. I think they have a PC version
of it called T-Calc 2 which I have not used.

I also recently received a brochure on the LYNX Global Telecom Guide
which contains tariff data for a wider range of countries and is
available as a database.

Contact details:
Eurodata Foundation, Empire House, 175 Picadilly, London W1V 9DB
Tel: 44-71-629 0774    Fax: 44-71-583 0516

Lynx Technologies Inc., 710 Route 46, Fairfield, N.J. 07004
Tel: 201-256 7200   Fax: 201-882 3583
 

Allyson Anthonisz                 Tel: 61-3-828-7376
Information Services Manager      Fax: 61-3-820-3021
AUSTEL Library                    E-mail: ava@austel.gov.au
5 Queens Road     Melbourne, 3004  Australia

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

From: lnjptyo1.mberla01@eds.com (Michael Berlant)
Subject: Re: New Motorola Micro-tac Elite AMPS Cellphone
Date: 9 Feb 1995 02:29:44 GMT
Organization: EDS Japan


In article <telecom15.79.6@eecs.nwu.edu>, aj.knox@auckland.ac.nz
(Andrew Knox) says:

> Motorola New Zealand is apparently about to launch a new AMPS
> cellphone called the Microtac Elite.

The Elite was introduced in the USA about three months ago.  It is
smaller and lighter than the MicroTAC Ultra Lite, which was Motorola's
previous lightweight champ.  Aside from the electronic feature
improvements, physical presentation is the big news for this model.
Until now every last one of Motorola's "Flip Phones" was designed so
that its accessories (batteries, cig adapters, car adapters, modem
adapters, etc.) would interchange with any other Flip phone.  As I
understand it, the new Elite cannot share accessories with any other
model of Motorola phone.  This may present you with "new product
accessory availability" problems which were not present, for example,
when Motorola introduced the MicroTAC Ultra Lite a year and a half
ago.

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

From: king@wildebeest.cig.mot.com (Steven King)
Subject: Re: New Motorola Micro-tac Elite AMPS Cellphone
Date: 8 Feb 1995 16:04:00 GMT
Organization: Cellular Infrastructure Group, Motorola


aj.knox@auckland.ac.nz (Andrew Knox) publicly declared:

> Motorola New Zealand is apparently about to launch a new AMPS 
cellphone
> called the Microtac Elite.

> I would be quite interested to know whether anyone has any details
> about this phone or about pricing of it throughout the world.

The phone has more features than you can shake a stick at and is
extremely light.  I'd have purchased one instead of the MicroTAC
Ultra-Lite I bought two days ago, if it weren't for the fact that
street price in the U.S. is a little over US $1000.  The street price
on the Ultra-Lite is less than half that.  (Of course, actual price
depends on what kind of deal you can get with your service plan.  With
the plan I got, I received $150 off any phone in the store.)

Please note that I work in the Infrastructure group at Moto, not the
Subscriber group.  I get all my information about these phones through
the same retail channels as anyone else.  Sorry, no inside dope for
you.  :-(


Steven King <king@cig.mot.com> -- Motorola Cellular Infrastructure 
Group

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

From: integral1@aol.com (Integral 1)
Subject: Re: Caller ID and Call Waiting
Date: 8 Feb 1995 18:05:21 -0500
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
Reply-To: integral1@aol.com (Integral 1)


Ameritech now offers what they call "Access 24" in many areas of
Detroit and suburbia, a service which offers Caller ID combined with
Call Waiting.  You must purchase a whole new phone to use this
feature; Ameritech offers this phone for, I believe, a cost of around
$250.  The phone, produced by none other than Northern Telecom,
features "soft keys" that can be pressed to instantly access other
custom calling features; the screen will display Caller ID information
of normal incoming calls and of calls that are waiting.  This 
particular 
phone is supposed to also be compatible with future home banking and
other electronic services.


Scott Barnett   Detroit, MI   integral1@aol.com

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #87
*****************************

                   
