
From telecom-request@delta.eecs.nwu.edu  Wed Sep 13 23:49:48 1995
by
1995
23:49:48 -0400
telecomlist-outbound; Wed, 13 Sep 1995 20:10:05 -0500
1995
20:10:03 -0500
To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu


TELECOM Digest     Wed, 13 Sep 95 20:10:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 381

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Beach House Payphone (Steve Bunning)
    Pacific Bell Pay Phones (Robert Deward)
    UCLA Short Course: Multirate Digital Filters and Applications (B. 
Goodin)
    UCLA Short Course: Advanced Communication Systems Using DSP (Bill 
Goodin)
    Cellular Service Along NY Route 17 (Aninda DasGupta)
    Nortel Goes to Vietnam (Dave Leibold)
    ACC Buys Metrowide (Dave Leibold)
    Employment: OSI/CMISE Object Modeling, SNMP, HP OpenView 
(sccstech@mars)
    Area Code News (Steve Grandi)
    Online Services: Technology, Applications, Vendors (S. R. Sadasivam)
    California: Outrageous Telephone Rates (Jerald Pendleton)
    DSC Transcoder Enhancement (Tyler Proctor)

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



A couple of weeks ago, I was vacationing at Corolla in the Outer Banks
of North Carolina.  The rental house I stayed in had an interesting
arrangement for phone service.

As you might imagine in a rental house, the phone did not allow 1+
dialing.  00 and 0+ calls went to an operator, but after that things
started to get more interesting.  10XXX0- and 10XXX0+ calls did not
complete and _certain_ 800 calls also did not complete.  The 800
numbers that were blocked included 1-800-OPERATOR, 1-800-CALL-ATT, and
1-800-COLLECT.

I did some additional checking and found that the operator services
were being handled by Teltrust (operators located in Salt Lake City).
The line restrictions and operator connections seemed to be accomplished 
via a dialer installed in the house by a company called ATI.  When I
spoke to the ATI customer service reps about the trouble I had dialing
certain 800 numbers, they said something about not having the 800
numbers "programmed in".  I have to believe that they are deliberately
"programming out" specific 800 numbers rather than programming in all
of the 800 numbers in the US.  The rep provided 800 access numbers for
AT&T and MCI which worked, but they weren't the well known ones.  My
more obscure 800 access number for Cable & Wireless long distance also
worked without a problem.

The Teltrust/ATI 0+ (credit card, no operator) rates for a call from
Corolla to Washington, D.C. (about 300 miles) were quoted as $2.75 for
the first minute and $.45 for each additional minute.  Not what I
would call cheap.

This caused me to wonder if this form of service (beach house, dialer
based, coinless payphone) is regulated?  If so, is the service
provider permitted to block or impede 800 access to other carriers?  I
suppose the service provider would claim it was still possible to
reach the other carriers even though most people would just give up
and dial 0+ after their initial 800 attempts didn't work.  To my mind,
this is another example of the ongoing war against consumers some of
the operator service providers seem to be engaged in.


Steve Bunning    | American Computer and Elec. Corp.| 301 258-9850 
(voice)
Product Manager  | 209 Perry Parkway                | 301 921-0434 (fax)
TEL*COMM Division| Gaithersburg, MD USA 20877       | bunning@acec.com


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Wouldn't it have been easier to just 
unplug
or bypass the dialer somehow?    PAT]

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



I want to respond on behalf of Pacific Bell to two postings: The first
was by Bob Jacobson on August 30 wherein he alleged that Pacific Bell
doesn't want to locate coin phones in high crime areas because these
phones don't bring in enough money.  He said telcos seek 'to maximize
profit by limiting service to high-security, high-spending venues
(like airports, upscale shopping malls, and tourist hotels).'

He added that a bill to remove coin phones was watered down (presumably 
at telcos' urging) to make it difficult for customers to interfere with 
a 
coin phone's removal by giving them little time to object.

First of all, it is an unwarranted assumption that coin phones in high
crime areas are not profitable.  In fact, if city authorities cause
Pacific Bell to remove a coin phone in such an area, a competitor, who
is not governed by the same rules as Pacific, frequently moves in to
claim the revenue.

When the Chicago City Council decided in October 1994 to ban outdoor
coin phones on residential streets, outside liquor stories and on
vacant buildings and lots, Pacific Bell voiced its opposition.
Pacific believes concerns about crime need to be balanced with the
very real need of people, especially those with low or limited
incomes, to have access to the local telephone network for local and
long distance calls and for reporting 9-1-1 emergencies. In some cases,
these pay phones are the only way people have to communicate with
others.

Pacific Bell has not removed any coin phone for the past five years
for providing a low payout or being unprofitable unless a site owner
has demanded it.

To keep its coin phones in areas having problems with public order,
Pacific Bell cooperates with police, neighborhood groups, and local
government to address noise, loitering and crime concerns.

Furthermore, where there is a public need but little likelihood a coin
phone would ever be profitable, another procedure exists to establish
what are called 'public policy pay telephones.'

Pacific is the only pay phone provider to install stations primarily
for public health, safety, and welfare where there otherwise would not
be a public phone.

Pacific Bell maintains some 900 of these in California including such
remote sites as along desert highways and mountain trails.  A few
years ago I looked at the cost of maintaining a policy phone booth out
in the Mojave Desert.  It ran close to $200 per month!  Users are few.
But when they need it, they need it indeed.

Concerning Jeff Gottlieb's experience -- where the (allegedly) Pacific
Bell coin phone in a Los Angeles restaurant had an inoperative touch
tone pad  -- , Mr.  Gottlieb was right when he said he didn't expect
that from Pacific Bell: We don't do that.  But he is not the first to
be fooled.  Competitors' phones often resemble ours.

Here are the countermeasures Pacific Bell applies to retain coin
phones in high crime areas: eliminate incoming calls; relocate the
station to a nearby but more observable site; install a lock-up box or
a cut-off key to confine use to specific hours; modify the existing
phone enclosure; install high intensity lighting; or convert to a
charge-a-call (calling card, collect, third-party billed) phone, and
establish remote call screening.  In the latter case we can deny
incoming calls, deny coin calls, deny calling card calls, deny
international dialing, and provide screening by time of day.

Anyone having further questions about PacificUs coin phone policies is
welcome to contact me directly.


Bob Deward, Pacific Telesis External Affairs, S.F.  
voice: 415-394-3646


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Thanks very much for taking the time to
write to the Digest with this clarification. Here in Chicago, Illinois
Bell has likewise denied at one time or another that they tamper with
payphone arrangements -- as to location or number of phones; how the
phones operate, etc -- for any reason other than in response to concerns
voiced by the community and the police. And you are quite correct about
how 'slick' some of the competitors have become in making their phones
look *exactly* like Genuine Bell to anyone without a very trained eye.
They've done it that way on purpose, knowing that you always follow what
the winner is doing, and that the 'average user' won't know one operator
service from another, nor be in a position to make a sophisticated
response to the price gouging so many COCOTS engage in.     PAT]

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



On November 29-December 1, 1995, UCLA Extension will present the short
course, "Multirate Digital Filters and Applications", on the UCLA
campus in Los Angeles.

The instructor is Professor frederick harris, Electrical and Computer
Engineering, San Diego State University.

This course is an introduction to multirate digital filters, which are
variants of non-recursive filters, and incorporate one or more
resamplers in the signal path.  These embedded resamplers affect
changes in sample rate for upsampling, downsampling, or combinations
of both.  Changes in sampling rate as part of the signal processing is
a feature unique to sampled data systems. and has no counterpart in
continuous signal processing.  Benefits include reduced cost for a
given signal processing task and improved levels of performance for a
given computational burden.  This economy of computation has become an
essential requirement of modern communication systems, particularly
battery-operated equipment.

Specific course topics include: Introduction to sample rate
conversion, Non-recursive (finite impulse response) filters, Prototype
FIR filter design methods, Decimation and interpolation, Multirate
filters, Two-channel filter banks, M-channel filter banks,
Proportional bandwidth filter banks and wavelet analysis, Polyphase
recursive all-pass filter banks, Multirate filter applications.

The course fee is $1095, which includes extensive course materials.

For additional information and a complete course description, please
contact Marcus Hennessy at:

(310) 825-1047
(310) 206-2815  fax
mhenness@unex.ucla.edu

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



On December 4-8, 1995, UCLA Extension will present the short course,
"Advanced Communication Systems Using Digital Signal Processing", on
the UCLA campus in Los Angeles.

The instructors are Bernard Sklar, PhD, Communications Engineering
Services, and frederick harris, MS, Professor, Electrical and Computer
Engineering, San Diego State University.

As part of the course materials, each participant receives a copy of
the text, "Digital Communications-Fundamentals and Applications", by
Bernard Sklar.

This course provides comprehensive coverage of advanced digital
communications.  It differs from other communications courses in its
emphasis on applying modern digital signal processing techniques to
the implementation of communication systems.  This makes the course
essential for practitioners in the rapidly changing field.
Error-correction coding, spread spectrum techniques, and
bandwidth-efficient signaling are all discussed in detail.  Basic
digital signaling methods and the newest modulation-with-memory
techniques are presented, along with trellis-coded modulation.

Topics that are covered include: signal processing overview and
baseband transmission; bandpass modulation and demodulation; digital
signal processing tools and technology; non-recursive filters; channel
coding: error detection and correction; defining, designing, and
evaluating systems; signal conditioning; adaptive algorithms for
communication systems; modulation and coding trade-offs and
bandwidth-efficient signaling; and spread spectrum and multiple access
techniques.

The course fee is $1495, which includes the text and extensive course
notes.

For additional information and a complete course description, please
contact Marcus Hennessy at:

(310) 825-1047
(310) 206-2815  fax
mhenness@unex.ucla.edu

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



I will be doing a lot of driving along Route 17 in New York State
(between Westchester county and the Finger Lakes region).  With the
coming Winter, I want peace of mind in case of roadside emergencies.

I was wondering if anyone knows what kind of cellular coverage exists
along the Catskills mountains region of Route 17 if I sign up with one
of the following two carriers: AT&T Wireless/Cellular One NY Bell
Atlantic/NYNEX Mobile.

Among the pros and cons of the two carriers that I am considering are 
the following (in decreasing order of importance):

- Bell Atlantic/NYNEX Mobile being the "second carrier," I may not
  get good coverage in all parts of Route 17 -- they couldn't tell me
  how good is their coverage;

- Bell Atlantic covers all of NY and NJ (I will pay no roaming 
  charges along NY Route 17); with AT&T, I will end up paying 99c/min
  if I use my phone outside my county;

- Bell Atlantic requires (or so the representative told me) that I use
  a Motorola Flip phone that they will sell to me, while with AT&T I can
  use any phone of my choice.

I'd appreciate any comments from those familiar with the area, or
those who use Bell Atlantic/NYNEX Mobile or AT&T/Cell One NY in
general.


Aninda DasGupta (add@philabs.philips.com) Ph:(914)945-6071 Fax:(914)945-
6552
Philips Labs 345 Scarborough Rd  Briarcliff Manor\n NY 10510
"Err.., Phillips Petroleum gives you gas; fortunately Phillips Chemical 
makes 
antacid. Philips is with one "el"; we make lightbulbs, and other stuff."

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



[from Bell News, 4 Sept 1995 - Bell Canada's version of events]

Nortel to build network in Vietnam

Our sister BCE company, Northern Telecom, has sealed a deal to build
the major portion of Vietnam's fiber-optic telephone network.

Northern will lay 3000 miles of fiber-optic cable and install switches
to meet the demand of Vietnam's businesses for state-of-the-art
telecommunications.

"The network will allow Vietnam to significantly strengthen its access
to the global business community," points out James Deas, president of
Nortel Asia South Pacific.

Northern was chosen to build the network by Australia's Telstra
International Ltd., the prime contractor of the Vietnamese project.


Fidonet : Dave Leibold 1:250/730
Internet: Dave.Leibold@superctl.tor250.org

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



[from press release via CNW]



                    

ACC TELENTERPRISES ANNOUNCES ACQUISITION OF METROWIDE COMMUNICATIONS

TORONTO, Aug. 14 /CNW/ - ACC TelEnterprises Ltd. (ACC) has announced
that it has acquired Metrowide Communications. Metrowide is based in
Toronto and provides local and long distance services to Ontario
based customers. The purchase is expected to add over $10 million to
ACC's annualized revenue.

ACC is scheduling a teleconference at 2pm, today, August 14, 1995.
Parties interested in more detail on the acquisition are asked to
dial (416) 695-5801 five minutes prior to conference time.

Commenting on the acquisition, Steve M. Dubnik, Chairman, President
and CEO of ACC TelEnterprises said, "The purchase of Metrowide
Communications strengthens our ability to be all things to some
people. ACC's acquisition of Metrowide will add several significant
telecommunication services to the company's current product lines
including Centrex resale and wide area local calling. The fit between
ACC and Metrowide, in addition to its traditional long distance
services, is that while primary local service provides business
consumers with the ability to receive and place local calls at a
fixed monthly rate, it does not provide any of the advanced
telecommunication services of Centrex service or PBX equipment."

Metrowide currently buys Centrex services from Bell Canada in bulk,
and resells them at a discount to businesses that require under 100
local lines per office. The offshoot of Centrex provisioning allows
Enhanced Extended Area Service or EAS which is the expansion of local
free calling areas. Metrowide also provides packages for inbound
calling similar to a Foreign Exchange Service whereby the call is
free to the originating caller anywhere within approximately 30 miles
of Toronto. In addition, we expect this acquisition will have a
positive impact on operating cash flow and operating income in 1996."

ACC TelEnterprises Ltd. is a publicly traded telecommunications
holding company headquartered in Toronto. The stock is traded on the
Toronto Stock Exchange and the Montreal Exchange under the symbol
ACL. Business operations and service is provided across Canada by its
wholly owned subsidiary ACC Long Distance Inc.

ACC Long Distance Inc., together with its affiliates, ACC Long
Distance Corp. in the United States and ACC Long Distance UK Ltd. in
the United Kingdom, is a multinational provider of enhanced
telecommunications services. As one of the nation's premier
non-facilities based carriers, the company has an annualized revenue
run rate in excess of $110 million. ACC provides worldwide voice and
data long distance services to over 100,000 businesses and residential
customers in Canada.


Fidonet : Dave Leibold 1:250/730
Internet: Dave.Leibold@superctl.tor250.org

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



SCCS Technologies, Inc is a provider of information technology products 
and services to telecommunications, engineering, and financial/banking
industry clients.  The rapid merging of the telecommunications,
video/cable and entertainment industry has created one of the fastest
growing markets for new technology.  SCCS is poised be an industry
leader.  If you have the right skills and interests, let us know! If
you know people with this background, please mention to them. We do
have referral arrangements.

EXCELLENT COMPENSATION and FREE TRAINING for qualified candidates!

These exist in Central New Jersey,

Current Opportunities: 

Network Mgmt: HP OpenView, NetView, SunNet Manager, 
TMN6000, X.25, SNA, TCP/IP
 

Network Element Mgmt: OSI/CMISE object modeling, SNMP
 

Systems Eng: Telecom (SONET, ATM, Broadband, AIN), 
 Loop Maint


Send resume to: SCCS Technologies, Inc., Parag Rastogi,
           100 Jersey Ave Suite-D, New Brunswick, NJ-08901

email them :  sccstech@mars.superlink.net

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



Some news on the area code front:

The split of AC 904 in North Florida has been clarified.  Contrary to
earlier reports, the new AC created in the split will be 352 and not
850.  The southern part of AC 804 will become 352, the Panhandle
retains 904.  Daytona Beach (and Volusia Co.) were originally to be
moved to the new code, but the consortium of landline and wireless
companies planning the split decided to keep it in 904, at least for a
while.

    352 will contain Gainesville, Leesburg, Ocala;
    904 will retain Daytona Beach, Jacksonville, Panama City, Pensacola, 
       Tallahassee;

The split is effective 12/3/95 and the permissive period ends 5/20/96.

AC 320 has been assigned to the split of AC 612 in central Minnesota
(to take place sometime in March 1996).  Metro Minneapolis/St.Paul
will keep 612, the rest of Central Minnesota will move to AC 320.  As
part of the the 612/320 split, 5 communities SE of the Twin Cities
(the biggest of which seems to be Red Wing) will switch from AC 612 to
AC 507.

My complete file on area code changes in 1995 may be obtained by
anonymous FTP to gemini.tuc.noao.edu in pub/grandi/npa1995.txt


Steve Grandi, National Optical Astronomy Observatories, Tucson, Arizona 
USA
Internet: grandi@noao.edu  Voice: +1 520 318-8228

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



I am doing a research paper on "Online Services: Technology,
Applications, and Vendors."  If anyone has information that may help
or know places where I can find information, please send the details
directly to my e-mail address:

                    ssadasiv@ix.netcom.com

Thanks in advance for your help.

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



I recently recieved a bill I incurred during a recent vacation.  I
made several phone calls from my motel room to numbers within the
state of california.  They charged me $9.13 for a four minute call
(apparently four minutes is the minimum).

I was billed through Pac-Bell by Communication Telesystems International 
for this.  I have absolutely no intention of paying this bill.  Can
anyone suggest grounds by which I can get this overturned at the PUC?
The phone was blocked (we tried 102880).


Thanks,

Jerald R. Pendleton (Jerry) - Tech Support Lead Engineer - Wind River 
Systems
       Corporate Headquarters: 1010 Atlantic Ave, Alameda, Ca.  94501   
email:jerald@wrs.com phone:1-510-814-2563 Non-WRS-
email:pendleto@ix.netcom.com

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



DSC Communications (214-519-4358) will announce enhancements to it's
TC421 Transcoder at Cellucomm 95.  The enhancments will improve
performance in transmitting data over voice networks.

Since data traffic does not lend itself to voice-style compression,
previous four to one transcoders, designed primarily for voice
traffic, have been limited to a data rate of 9.6 kbs or lower.  The
enhancements to this product will improve performance dramatically.

The TC421 Transcoder is a part of the comprehensive DSC transmission
product portfolio, which is integrated via DSC's network management
line.  DSC is a leading designer, developer, manufacturer and marketer
of digital switching, transmission, access and private network system
products for the worldwide telecommunications marketplace.

DSC's new transcoder is one of many exciting products being announced
and displayed at Cellucomm 95.  If you would like information on
attending, e-mail 75260.710@compuserve.com or call 517-337-3995.

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #381
******************************

                                                                        
