TELECOM Digest     Fri, 1 Jul 94 15:44:00 CDT    Volume 14 : Issue 308

Inside This Issue:                          Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Maryland, Free Internet Access (Richard Layman)
    Automatic HF Channel Allocation (S.A. Iskenderian)
    Underseas Cable Data (Pat McClure)
    Modem Test Equipment Wanted (Scott Platenberg)
    Reasonably Priced In-State Calls? (Ed Gehringer)
    Unitel Switched Ne a Little Early! (Jeff Bamford)
    AT&T Keep In Touch (William J. Rehm)
    17.5 No-Surcharge Travel Service: Details (Ed Gehringer)
    New FTP Site/Test (Nate Zelnick)
    Is There a Market For PC Voice Mail Developers Card? (Chris B. Sakkas)
    Calling Card Cancellation (Ted J. Jardine)
    Last Laugh! OJ/Telecom-Related Commercials (Michael P. Deignan)

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

From: Richard Layman <rlayman@cap.gwu.edu>
Subject: Maryland, Free Internet Access (fwd)
Date: Fri, 1 Jul 1994 12:14:06 EDT


Forwarded FYI to the Digest.

Richard Layman

   ---------- Forwarded message ----------
  Date: Thu, 30 Jun 1994 18:03:28 LCL
  From: "Kaplan, Dan" <dkaplan@CHIREADER.COM>
  Subject: Maryland, Free Internet Access

     For those of you who had not heard.  The State of Maryland announced
     earlier this week, that it would offer free Internet access to its
     residents.  Brian Reilly sent me the following Washington Post article
     on the subject.  This public announcement should act as a catalyst to
     propel CCIA to the forefront of this issue in Chicago (Illinois), if
     we react appropriately.  We need your input on how to best capitalize
     on this window of opportunity.  Send comments to myself, Dan Kaplan at
     DKaplan@ChiReader.com or (312)-828-0350 or to Brian Reilly
     Reilly.21@nd.edu or (312) 868-4227.  Looking forward to your input!

  
  Copyright 1994 The Washington Post

                              The Washington Post
  
                     June  23, 1994, Thursday, Final Edition
 
SECTION: FIRST SECTION; PAGE A1
 
HEADLINE: Information Highway Without Tollbooths;
 
Maryland  Is the First State to Offer Free Access to the  Internet
 
BYLINE: Tabitha M. Powledge, Special to The Washington Post
 
Maryland  next month will become the first state in the nation to
offer its residents direct connections to the Internet for free.

The Internet is the massive network of networks that connects an
estimated 20 million computer users by telephone lines to thousands of
electronic information storehouses worldwide.

At no cost except for a local phone call, state officials say, anyone
in the area with a computer and a modem will eventually be able to
connect with a state-run "gopher" site -- a computer that provides the
most popular tool to link up with some of the Internet's vast
resources.  The mind-boggling array ranges from pictures of poultry
from Texas A&M University to the bagpipe archives of Dartmouth to a
definitive list of kosher restaurants in Sydney, to up-to-the-minute
Commerce Department statistics on employment, energy or industrial
productivity.

The new noncommercial service, called "Sailor" in tribute to
Maryland's maritime heritage, is a project of the state's library
system.  Maryland will place no time constraints on Sailor users at
the outset. But Sailor's organizers expect the service to be so
popular that strain on the system's 192-telephone-line capacity may
eventually force limits.

Free  Internet  connections are available in some cities such as
Cleveland where community-based links to the giant network began. A
similar service in the Washington area is called CapAccess, but it is
supported by contributions. At least half the states are exploring
hooking their library systems up to the Internet,  and some have
already done so. But their  Internet  resources are used chiefly by
the librarians, not the patrons.

A full complement of additional Internet services via Sailor (e-mail
plus the ability to transfer files, the site-to-site connections known
as telnet and the hundreds of special-interest electronic discourses
called Usenet newsgroups) will cost $ 100 a year. Electronic mail
service as a single option will cost $35 a year, library officials
say.

A commercial provider of full Internet connections such as Digital
Express Group Inc. of Greenbelt charges $ 20 for setup, plus a $ 250
yearly fee and $1 an hour for use in excess of six hours per day. Of
the major information services, America Online is arguably the most
technically advanced, and it does not yet offer the full line of
Internet services. Access to America Online costs $ 9.95 a month, plus
$ 3.50 an hour after the first five hours in a month.

Because its services will be free or low-cost, Maryland library
officials hope Sailor will entice into the on-line universe people who
have so far taken little part in the computerizing of American life.
"Part of the function of the library is to keep the playing field
level," says Maurice Travillian, assistant state superintendent for
libraries. "That's becoming harder in our digitized world, where
people with the power of machines can really bring in a lot more
stuff" than can the poor.

A random cruise through the layers of gopher menus accessible through
Sailor is a short course in the allure and frustrations of the
electronic meandering that has come to be known as cybersurfing. On
the Internet, the opening menu of choices on the gopher leads to other
menus of choices that lead to yet more menus in a fashion that
ultimately guides a user to information. But resources mutate from
moment to moment. Sources of information open and close, appear and
disappear, for no discernible reason. There is no card catalogue.
Authoritative, in-depth, highly reliable knowledge sits side-by-side
with trivia and sometimes drivel.

Select "Federal Government Resources" from Sailor's main menu, for
example, and then the "National Institutes of Health" from the next
menu, and you can retrieve information about NIH grants, search the
NIH phone book -- and also get a weather forecast.

The Library of Congress's MARVEL service offers, in addition to the
library's incomparable catalogue, a database of pending federal
legislation, information about Congress, and connections to the
offices of Rep. Sam Coppersmith (D-Ariz.)and Rep. John Kyl (R-Ariz.),
two congressmen who have established a formal presence on the
Internet.  But MARVEL is also a gateway to help-wanted ads all over
the Internet, as well as to information about openings at the library.
The library was looking outside its own ranks to fill four jobs as of
Sunday. The King of Thailand was reportedly seeking 120 mechanical
engineers, some to do robotics research.

Although Sailor significantly undercuts the prices of commercial
Internet access providers, neither they nor Maryland library officials
see themselves as competitors. "Libraries have always been in
competition with bookstores and video stores," says Travillian. "We
stimulate interest. If people get on and like this and want more
access, they'll switch over to a commercial vendor, who will probably
get more customers than he would if we didn't exist at all."  "I
really do think they will complement one another," says Debra Young,
spokeswoman for CompuServe Information Service. The largest of the
commercial on-line services, CompuServe is not scheduled to offer a
full Internet connection until later this year.

Peaceful coexistence of both commercial and noncommercial conduits to
the Internet is desirable to preserve free access to the information
on it, said Daniel Weitzner of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the
Washington-based champion of computer users' civil rights. "I would be
very concerned if all Americans' access to the Internet was controlled
by government-funded institutions, because they already have a record
of censoring controversial content," he said. Commercial providers, by
contrast, have little motive to censor. "They just want more
business," he said.

"By the same token, I think libraries over time have been absolutely
vehement about protecting the privacy rights of their users," Weitzner
said. "I'm sure that's a value that they'll bring to this system."

The price tag on Sailor's start-up and first year of operation is just
under $ 2 million, all of it federal money. Spurred on by the
administration's enthusiasm for building the National Research and
Education Network -- often called the information superhighway -- the
funds came from the Department of Education's Office of Educational
Research and Improvement (OERI), under the Library Services and
Construction Act (LSCA).

Sailor's LSCA money will run out by September 1995. The library system
must then turn to Maryland taxpayers for continued support.  When the
state legislature returns to Annapolis next winter, it will be asked
for $ 825,000 for fiscal 1996 to continue Sailor.

Sailor is up and running in test mode now. However, phone numbers
that the public can use will be made available on a county-by-county
basis as lines are hooked up and librarians are trained. The city of
Baltimore and Carroll County are scheduled to go public by the end of
July. Anne Arundel, Prince George's and Charles counties plan to be
on-line in August and Montgomery County in September. Most of the rest
of the state will be connected by the end of the summer, according to
Barbara G. Smith, chief of the State Library and Information Services
Section, who heads the project. Phone numbers for reaching Sailor will
be available from local public libraries.

The exceptions are Calvert County and southern St. Mary's County in
southern Maryland; the state's westernmost county, Garrett; and Kent
County on the Eastern Shore. In those areas, access via a local phone
number will not be possible until next year at the earliest.  Their
residents can use Sailor if they are willing to make a toll call to a
nearby Sailor number. 

Connections to the Internet are two-way, which means that while
Marylanders are using Sailor to depart the state on planet-wide
electronic cruises, computer users anywhere else on Earth can enter
Sailor to explore much that a Maryland librarian could access. Many of
these unique databases house information about Maryland.  But they
also include, for example, what is believed to be the world's most
complete bibliography on occupational diseases of musicians,
maintained by the Music Medicine Clearinghouse at the Medical &
Chirurgical Faculty Library, and a guide to the Jane Austen collection
at Goucher College, Travillian is particularly enthusiastic about the
impact Sailor is likely to have in schools -- especially schools where
funds for books and other sources of information have been cut back.
Maryland libraries are also being urged to add computers so that
Sailor will be handy for people who lack the hardware at home.  The
organizers say they are even fantasizing about Sailor kiosks in malls
and supermarkets.

Travillian predicts what he calls "a flood in the modem pool." At the
outset, the system will accommodate only 192 dial-in users at one
time, in addition to those who arrive via direct connections from
local libraries and from sites elsewhere on the Internet.  Although
library officials point out that it is impossible to estimate the
likely demand for such a novel service, no one involved in the project
really believes present capacity will be anything close to adequate.

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

From: saisk1@mdw074.cc.monash.edu.au (Mr SA Iskenderian)
Subject: Automatic HF Channel Allocation
Date: 1 Jul 1994 02:48:14 GMT
Organization: Monash University


As part of my final year Electrical Engineering thesis project at
Monash University in Melbourne, Austrlia, I have undertaken to
research into 'Self Tracking Automatic HF Optimisation of Voice and
Data'.  The project work is on behalf of Melbourne based company, BHP
Petroleum that make great use of telecommunication equipment in remote
locations both locally and overseas.

The latest equipment I came across that handles automatic allocation
of HF channels is the Automatic Link Establishment (ALE) 1045 controller.

I managed to get a copy of a brochure on ALE 1045 detailing its
possible arrangement in conjunction with a PC, high speed data modem
and an HF radio.

Having also read through the US Federal Standards 1045 on ALE titled
'Telecommunications: Radio Automatic Link Establishment', I would
greatly appreciate further information on ALE or relevant equipment
and about the possibility of transmitting voice as well as data using
this system.

Could someone please clarify the following points:

AA) Is it viable to digitize and compress voice before transmitting 
 it as data blocks but switching off the 'retransmission' mode to 
 prevent echoes?  What type of Codec might be suitable for voice 
 digitisation?

BB) Can an ALE system be used to allocate the optimum 
 HF channel at regular intervals and switch over to normal analog 
 voice communication?  

Any references to literature or technical articles would also be much
appreciated.


Thanking in advance, 

Shiraz Iskenderian,   Monash University.
saisk1@ccds.cc.monash.edu.au

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

Date: Thu, 30 Jun 1994 20:19:27 -0700
From: pmcclure@netcom.com (Pat McClure)
Subject: Underseas Cable Data

    

To:  Patrick Townson, TELECOM Digest Editor, telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu
Fm:  Pat McClure, Consulting Engineer, pmcclure@netcom.com
    
Mr. Townson:
    
I got you name from an interesting history of underseas cables which I 
obtained from ftp.lcs.mit.edu.
    
I'm doing a forecast of communications (private line) costs over the
next ten years, particularly international costs.
    
Do you know where I can find data on the underseas cables that have
been installed in the last ten years, plus the capacity and cost of
each?  Any references or leads you could give me would surely be
appreciated.
    

Regards, 
    
Pat McClure, pmcclure@netcom.com


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Perhaps some readers will write to
Pat McClure with the requested details.  Thanks.   PAT]

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

From: ecci@nic.cerf.net (Scott Platenberg)
Subject: Modem Test Equipment
Date: 01 Jul 1994 01:41:05 GMT
Organization: CERFnet Dial n' CERF Customer


  I am just starting to look for equipment that will help me test
several (10 to 100) modem lines simultaneously.  Does anyone have any
good recommendations for telco eliminators?  Any help is greatly
appreciated.  Please email response to "scottp@ecci.com".


Scott    scottp@ecci.com

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

From: gehringe@eos.ncsu.edu
Subject: Reasonably Priced In-State Calls?
Date: Fri, 1 Jul 1994 13:42:29 -0400


Thanks to info gleaned from the TELECOM Digest, I now have services
that provide reasonably priced interstate "calling-card" calls during
the daytime (ATN: 17.5c/min. interstate, 23c/min.) and night/wknd.
(AT&T Reach Out America with Calling-Card Option: $3.15/mo. +
10c/min.)  calls.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to--

    - avoid a surcharge and get reasonable rates on intra-LATA
      "calling card" calls?

    - get lower rates on inter-LATA intrastate "calling card" calls?

    - beat the 17.5c/min. rate for long interstate "calling card"
      calls in the evening (low rates, minimal surcharge needed),

    - get lower 1+ rates for intrastate calls (within NC)?

If you do not know where I can obtain cheaper service, can you at
least give me some pointers to follow?


Thanks,

Ed

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

From: jeffb@audiolab.uwaterloo.ca (Jeff Bamford)
Subject: Unitel Switched Me a Little Early!
Organization: Audio Research Group, University of Waterloo
Date: Fri, 1 Jul 1994 08:05:03 GMT


 After only three hours of equal access in Canada I've been
switched to Unitel from Bell Canada.  The only strange thing is that,
I never actually requested the change!  I got in earlier and thought,
well it's July 1st and equal access is here so I'll give it a try.  I
dialed 1-700-555-4141 and was extremely surprised to find that I was
now with Unitel.  I also tried 10323-1-700-555-4141 (323 is Bell
Canada) and was even further surprised that this worked!

 At this point, I thought gotta call Unitel, gotta call Unitel.
So, I called them up and informed the operator at Unitel that I called
the 1-700 number to check your carrier and was surprised to be already
switched to Unitel.  I then added that I was even more surprised as I
never actually requested the change.  She then put me on hold.  When
she came back she said that they could switch me back to Bell if I
wanted.  I said that I wanted Unitel, I just wondered why they
switched me without asking.  She said it must've been an error.  I
hope they aren't just switching all their customers!  In any case, I
gave her my name and phone number to make it official.

 Since I had them on the phone, I asked her what Unitel's
carrier number is.  She didn't quite know what I meant at first.  I
said, "In the states you can use another carrier by dialing
10xxx-1-rest of number".  She then knew what I meant but had to look
up the number, turns out that it is: 869.


Jeff Bamford    jsbamford@uwaterloo.ca -- NeXT Mail welcome 

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

From: wjrst1+@pitt.edu (William J Rehm)
Subject: AT&T Keep In Touch
Date: 1 Jul 1994 14:59:35 GMT
Organization: University of Pittsburgh
Reply-To: wjrst1+@pitt.edu


Will the AT&T Keep In Touch PCMCIA modem work with an acoustic
coupler?  We have a group of salesmen who need to connect from phone
booths. We have a call in to AT&T customer service, but we're in a bit
of a jam, so I thought I'd try here. Obviously, if it is possible, we
haven't managed to do it. If anyone could post/mail directions, I'd
appreciate it.


TIA,

Bill Rehm    wjrst1+@pitt.edu

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

From: gehringe@eos.ncsu.edu
Subject: 17.5 No-Surcharge Travel Service: details
Date: Fri, 1 Jul 1994 13:18:48 -0400


Just phoned ATN's Buffalo office and got the details.  I hope I have
copied all of the intricacies correctly.

Their "calling card" has rates of 17.5c/min. interstate at all times,
no minimum.  Intrastate charges are higher, e.g., 23c/min. at all
times in NC.

Their 1+ service has basic rate of 23c/min. peak (0800-1700 M-F only)
and 12.5c/min. off-peak (all other times).  There is a surcharge of
$7.50/mo.

However, if you make at least 60 min. of *interstate* calls per month
with the service, the rate *for calls to your "top 5" area codes only*
drops to 18.4c/min. peak and 10c/min. off-peak.  ("Top 5" is determined 
by number of minutes.  Hey, here's a company that realizes additional
revenue on every NPA split! :-) Also, the $7.50 surcharge is waived.
So, yes, Virginia, it is much cheaper to call for 60 min.  in a month
than for 40 min.

Again, intrastate rates are higher, e.g., in NC, 25c/min. peak and
15.5c/min. off-peak.


Ed

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

From: BRP Publications <brp@access.digex.net>
Subject: New FTP Site/Test
Date: Fri, 1 Jul 1994 12:09:07 EDT


FYI, Business Research Publications has made an initial move toward
getting its 18 publications on the Net.  BRP has set up an FTP site
(ftp.digex.net /pub/access/brpinc) with newsletter issues, in both raw
ASCII and Common Ground formats, as well as other research reports, a
conference calendar and other related information.

Topics cover information and online services, email, telecom
regulation and legislation, interactive TV/cable TV, security
technology, wireless and mobile technologies, data communications, and
labor and human resources matters.

Once we gauge the use and usefulness of the information, we'll
consider posting more information to the Net in the future.  My
publishers tell me that they're still concerned about unauthorized
distribution of copyrighted information, but for now they say the
information at the FTP site can be copied and distributed as long as
the full text of each newsletter is kept intact and the copyright
notice is included.  Any comments on whether this will work?


Nate Zelnick
Editor
Information & Interactive Services Report

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

From: sakkascb@ucunix.san.uc.EDU (Chris B. Sakkas)
Subject: Is There a Market For PC Voice Mail Developers Card?
Organization: University of Cincinnati
Date: Fri, 01 Jul 1994 12:11:58 -0400


I recently developed a PC-compatible voice mail card with the
abilities to record and playback voice messages to the telephone,
receive and transmit DTMF tones, and other general telephone control.
My hardware also has a microphone input and an amplified output for a
speaker.  A volume control is provided to adjust playback level to the
speaker.  The interface to the telephone is through a pre-approved FCC
Part 68 device.  The single quantity price for the components used in
this project are under $65.

I have developed a software library to support the above functions,
and have generated a limited voice mail application.  Although my
design was made to support only a single telephone line, I believe it
would be possible to use multiple cards in a PC for several lines.

The question that I have is this: With the advent of inexpensive
PC-compatible voice mail cards, especially the new low-cost DSP based
systems that incorporate modem/fax capabilites, is there a market for
a reasonably priced card for developers like the one I described
above?  I believe that there may be many opportunites for interactive
voice applications, and the software I have would make it easy for
others to develop voice mail apps, fax-back systems, control of other
systems via telephone, etc.  So, do you think there is a market for
what I have?  Would it be reasonable to think that several
hundred/year could be sold?

I thank you for your opinions!


Chris B. Sakkas  (sakkascb@ucunix.san.uc.edu)

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

From: tjj@chinook.halcyon.com (T. J. Jardine (Ted))
Subject: Calling Card Cancellation
Date: 1 Jul 1994 14:52:11 GMT
Organization: Northwest Nexus Inc.


In January, 1994 we received a notice from GTE that allowed us to
decline to have our name, address, and telephone number sent to other
long distance carriers when we used our GTE Calling Card.  This is for
a telephone number which is unlisted.  On May 1, 1994, GTE (without
any notification, even in the January letter) cancelled our Calling
Card.

Has anyone else had a similar experience (with GTE or another carrier)?  
Is this something which would warrant a complaint to the FCC?


Ted Jardine    E-mail: tjj@halcyon.com
Voice: 206 788 6305 (Voice mail/FAX)


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: They probably should have sent you notice
of cancellation and will probably claim that they did sent it even it
if was somehow lost in the mail, etc. The reason they cancelled your
calling card was because they are obligated to provide your billing
name and address to other telcos who extend you credit based on your
GTE account. You can forbid them to exchange that information, but then
the other telcos have no way to protect themselves against fraudulent
usage which might be incurred on your PIN. Personally, I can't see why
anyone would make such a prohibition since the other telcos are expressly
forbidden by the same regulations (which require sharing of names and
numbers for billing purposes) from using the information for anything
other than their billing. I've had credit cards from Ameritech, Sprint, 
and AT&T for ages and never once have been improperly solicited. Numerous
federal regulations pertaining to billing, credit and collection practices
protect us quite well ... making that prohibition to telco on the exchange
of names and numbers simply gums up the works and makes it more difficult
to make calls from other locations where the use of telco credit cards is
concerned. To each his own I guess, but it seems excessively paranoid
to worry about it as a privacy issue. Yes, I know the idea that the phone
may ring some evening with a telemarketer on the other end strikes fear
in the hearts of many of you also, but its really a non-issue to me.  PAT]

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

From: md@pstc3.pstc.brown.edu (Michael P. Deignan)
Subject: Last Laugh! OJ/Telecom-Related Commercials
Date: 1 Jul 1994 16:51:13 GMT
Organization: Brown University


How long before we see OJ/Telecom-related commercials, ie:

"Ever smell OJ burn...
You will.
And the company that will bring it to you?
California Power and Light Co."

or

footage of White Bronco driving down Rt. 405, w/ voiceover:

"Cellular-One 'Follow-Me Roaming'. No matter where you run, we'll be
right there with you..."


Michael P. Deignan
Amalgamated Baby Seal Poachers Union, Local 101
"Get 'The Club'... Endorsed by Baby Seal poachers everywhere..."


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Poor OJ ... he's gotten part of his
anatomy in the wringer, that's for sure. According to this week's
issue of {The Globe} -- a truthful newspaper sold at better newstands
everywhere -- OJ Was Framed!  Yes, that's the headline in this
week's issue of the supermarket tabloid. The story says that someone
else committed the murders most foul and then left as OJS was getting
there (the first time) to make it look like he was responsible.    

As we prepare for a three-day holiday in the United States, I wish all
our USA readers a happy Independence Day; do take care when playing
with your firecracker over the weekend; no messy explosions or anyone
getting hurt if you please; and do drive safely and all that. I'll
see if its possible to get an issue or two of this rag out to you over
the weekend, otherwise Tuesday for sure!    PAT]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #308
******************************

