
From telecom-request@delta.eecs.nwu.edu  Thu Aug 31 23:52:46 1995
by
1995
23:52:46 -0400
telecomlist-outbound; Thu, 31 Aug 1995 20:38:42 -0500
1995
20:38:40 -0500
To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu


TELECOM Digest     Thu, 31 Aug 95 20:38:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 368

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Re: AT&T Moving Into Local Exchange Market (Richard F. Masoner)
    CryptoCom Secure Modems (Tyler Proctor)
    GSM Compatible Cellular Phones (edgewd@aol.com)
    Need Foreign X.25 Service Providers (Richard Brandt)
    Re: War on Payphones (Robert Jacobson)
    Re: War on Payphones (Mark J. Cuccia)
    Listening in to Cellular (Mike Wengler)
    860 Startup Problem (Gerry Belanger)
    Re: Area Code Crisis -- A Different Viewpoint (Sam Spens Clason)
    Major MFP Developer Conference 9/28 - 9/29 (Tom Geldner)
    Re: Seven Digits Across North America (Wes Leatherock)

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



David Breneman (david.breneman@mccaw.com) wrote:

> [middle-class to riches story]

> (Puget Sound area) provider of petroleum products.  "Only in 
America..."  
> I know thia doesn't have anything to do with telecom issues, but it
> shows what's possible.  :-)

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You are right of course. It can happen
> here, but sadly a lot less often than it used to many years ago. 
Remind

Just tell that to all the instant millionaires who work for Spyglass
or Netscape who all used to work at the National Center for 
Supercomputing 
Applications in Urbana, Illinois.


Richard

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



Jeff Sweitzer of Western Datacom will demonstrate the new line of
CryptoCom V.32V.34 pocket modems at Cellucomm 95.  CryptoCom utilizes
DES encryption and is N.I.S.T approved.  The modem boasts a base data
rate of 28.8 kbs (V.34) and utilizes MNP levels 2 through 5 for dial
up and MNP10EC for cellular connect rates up to 14.4 kbs.

The line includes the 528 CryptoCard rackmount unit designed for host
communications.  The 528 CryptoCard utilizes DES encryption and Caller
ID technology to secure both dial up and cellular calls.  When used
with the Line Guard 6000 Network Management System, the user can
manage 960 modems and up to 10,000 users from a central site.

Western Datacom will also have it's 800 series "Quadra Press" Network
Data Compressors, 528 Synchronous Node cellular modem, and the Line
Guard 6000 dial up modem management products.  Using compression
technology, Western Datacom's products are capable of providing
throughput of up to 56kbps over a cellular connection.

Cellucomm 95 is the place to see the latest the cellular data industry
has to offer.  For more information on attending, e-mail 75260.710@
compuserve.com or call 800-594-5102.

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



Any information on obtaining GSM Cellular phones would be greatly
appreciated.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: What do you mean by 'any information'?
That's a very large topic with many angles and opinions. You might
want to check back issues of this Digest in which GSM articles have
appeared, and talk directly to the authors of those articles.   PAT]

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



I am needing to use X.25 to link several sites in the following
locations worldwide.  If someone can tell me who to contact about data
rates and equipment compatibility I would really appreciate it.
Thanks.
 
Countries: England, Hong Kong, Berlin, Mexico, Argentina, Capetown SA,
Sidney AU.


Richard L. Brandt     Hughes Aircraft Company
(303) 344-6586     rbrandt@redwood.dn.hac.com

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



I served as principal telecommunications policy analyst with the CA
legislature as the move toward removing payphones gained full force,
in the mid-1980s.  Although it's fun and popular to attribute
controversial policy decisions, like the removal of payphones, to
stupid politicians "battling" drugs, in fact this policy originated
with the local telephone companies themselves.  I remember in
particular a PUC action designating payphones a "competitive" market,
which all knew originated with the telcos and had their full support.

The telcos' idea was, and remains, to maximize profit by limiting
service to high-security, high-spending venues (like airports, upscale
shopping malls, and tourist hotels).  Private firms take over the
marginal phones, charging more through AOS to ensure a profitable ROI
even though the cost of maintaining marginal phones may be higher and
their use less intense.  Payphones that neither the telcos nor the
private firms wanted to operate are simply removed.  The drug thing
was strictly a red herring, though historically fortuitous as a ruse.

In CA, a bill requiring a neighborhood hearing before a phone was
removed was watered down to simply require a notice to be slapped on
a phone before it was yanked.  I think the advance notice was 14 days,
just enough time to call the PUC and request redress -- but not soon
enough to actually interfere with the removal of the payphone.

Just wanted to set the story straight.


Bob Jacobson   Principal Consultant (Analyst)
CA State Assembly Utilities  and Commerce Committee, 1981-1989


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: What you say may have happened in
Calif- ornia, but here at least, Illinois Bell flatly denied for the
record on a couple of occassions having anything at all to do with the
manipulation of payphone locations and the working characteristics
(i.e. no coin after dark, etc) of payphones. They stated it was purely 
in response to community pressures and law enforcement requests. The
reason this came up was because persons who were stuck with the 'no
coin after dark' rule went to Bell demanding a rebate on operator
surcharges saying that it was not their desire to use the operator to
place a call (via calling card), and that they should not be penalized
with a surcharge for their inability to 'dial direct'. You will recall
that for however long, telcos routinely handled non-dialable calls at
the direct dial rate rather than penalize customers. Illinois Bell's
response was to speak with the self-proclaimed 'community 
representatives'
who put the pressure on the 7/Eleven stores regards the pay phones in
their parking lots, etc. On those payphones located on the public way,
i.e. a sidewalk where the 'subscriber' to the telephone was given in
records as Illinois Bell itself, their response was that they operated
those phones at the pleasure of the City of Chicago and its City Council
whose mandates had to be observed, again, i.e., the police want to see
the phone set up as one way outbound only, no coins after dark, or 
removed completely, etc. So, said IBT, talk to the community, not us. 

It is all in who you know of course, and whether your politician friends
and attorney can suck-up better than my politician friends and attorney.
Although just as many drug transactions are done each day by the cocaine-
snorting people who work at the Chicago Board of Trade and other 
financial
houses on LaSalle Street downtown, you don't presume *their* payphones
would ever be removed or modified do you?  PAT]  

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



snake <p23610@email.mot.com> wrote:

> Don't forget the payphones installed in Las Vegas casinos, which are
> rigged to keep your quarter even if your call doesn't go through. At
> least the slot machines give you a chance at a payout.

and our Esteemed Moderator noted:

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Twenty-five cents just for the right
> to touch the phone, pick it up and try to get someone, eh?  Actually
> if you ask Mark Cuccia (see the message before this one) about it,
> he would probably tell you that the people who manufacture slot 
machines
> and other gambling devices are the same people who make COCOTS, and
> probably using a lot of the same circuit boards at that!   Grin.   
PAT]

I enjoy gambling (in Louisiana, its legally known as 'GAMING' not
gambling). We now have a landbased casino in New Orleans proper and
various gambling boats in suburban areas. I haven't yet been to them
in New Orleans, but I do enjoy gambling on the boats in Mississippi
(601) along the Gulf Coast. I just do NOT enjoy gambling that the
payphone (COCOT) will put my call thru at the correct rates, via the
carrier *I* want.

About a month ago, the New Orleans City Circus -- Council -- no maybe
circus was right the first time <g> -- passed an ordinance that bars
and liquor stores cannot have an outside payphone, even if it is on
private property.  This is 'supposed' to help out on the 'war' on
drugs and crime. Most of these payphones are not SCBell telco
payphones, but -- you guessed it -- COCOTS.

AND, could the City be trying to squeeze out payphone competition?
About a year and a half ago, City Hall cancelled its contract with
South Central Bell (Bell South) for payphones on City-owned property
 -- whether in City office buildings, or outside on City parks, grassy
"Neutral-Grounds" (what we call boulevard medians here), or on the
city side of the property line on sidewalks. Over a period of six to
eight months, Bell was one by one removing outside payphones on the
city contract, and 'GLOBAL' Telslime - I mean Telcoin - came in. These
charged overtime for local calls, did not have all local NNX c/o codes
programmed in as local (some newer ones like my 460 for my cellular
STILL isn't programmed as local), and the usual.  Initially, Global's
PAY-PAY-PAY-PHONIES would NOT give you a LEC (Bell) operator on a
single 0 or on 0+ inTRA-Lata. After a few months and several complaints 
to the Public Service Commission, they were reprogrammed to route you
to Bell operators for 0- and InTRA-LATA 0+. (I CAN get 950-XXXX,
1-800-, and 10-XXX+ access to other carriers okay; I only wish SCBell
and ALL Local Exchange Carriers had a 10-XXX/101-XXXX, 950- and 800
number as well)

Global (aka Schlumberger Industries) has been in and out of trouble
with the PSC before. Global is HIGHLY connected politically with other
state and various local political figures. They have also had the
'prison' contract with the state over the past several years. There
have been MANY complaints over the past three to five years from
families, relatives and friends of prisoners at the State Pen and
other low-security prisons from around the state that they have been
billed HUGE collect or third party charges on their local telco bill due
to the unregulated AOSlime that Global's prison phones use. The PSC is
ALWAYS trying to get after Global, but due to the other political
connections Global has, it seems to be only a slap on the wrist.
Maybe the FCC should step in and pre-empt various states who don't
keep Private-Payphones/AOSlime in line. If a state's regulations could
be proven to be even tougher than that of the FCC, then that state's
regulations would be the law in that state.

Theodore Vail must be turning in his grave, probably since 1 Jan 1984!
(I'll let Pat explain who Mr. Vail was, for those who don't know.)


MARK J. CUCCIA   PHONE/WRITE/WIRE:     HOME:  (USA)    Tel: CHestnut 1-
2497
WORK: mcuccia@law.tulane.edu          |4710 Wright Road| (+1-504-241-
2497)
Tel:UNiversity 5-5954(+1-504-865-5954)|New Orleans 28  |fwds on no-answr 
to
Fax:UNiversity 5-5917(+1-504-865-
5917)|Louisiana(70128)|cellular/voicemail


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Ted Vail was the chairman of American 
Tele-
phone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) at the beginning of the twentieth
century. *He* built the Bell System into what it was before Judge Harold
Greene came along and wrecked it. Greene, who never attempted to hide 
his
animosity and prejudice where Bell was concerned, let it be known to 
some
cronies in the United States Department of Justice -- and don't get me
started on them please! ... those software pirates -- that he would 
entertain 

their motions to divest AT&T. Now and then people write to remind me 
that
the Judge did not *order* anything; that AT&T 'voluntarily' signed the
consent decree. <Snicker> ... that's like me holding a gun to your head
and telling you want I want, and because I don't have to actually shoot
you, reach in your pocket and get what I want that I then claim you did
it 'voluntarily'. You didn't see any guns in Greene's courtroom?  Where
the United States government is concerned, there is always the *implied
presence of guns*. It rarely gets that far of course because everyone 
understands the basic rules here. They always start out like gentlemen.
 
If anything here in the Chicago area, the city council favors Illinois 
Bell
over the COCOT people. Maybe its because IBT people pay bigger bribes to
the council members to keep the exclusive contract on payphones at Ohare
Airport. When that scandal broke here a few years ago, everyone just 
said
'ho-hum' and went on about their business. But in fairness to the COCOT
people, if they were not serving the jails and prisons, no one would be.
AT&T said they were more than happy to leave the corrections industry
business to 'the others'. The rate of fraud and other inappropriate 
calls
made from correctional center pay phones is astronomical.   PAT]

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



Chris.Farrarr@p1.f20.n246.z1.fidonet.org is right: it is not illegal to 
own
or even sell an old cellular capable scanner in the US.  It is illegal 
in
the US to listen to cellular phone calls with one, however.

Chris.Farrarr@p1.f20.n246.z1.fidonet.org writes>

> Here in Canada, your neighbour to the north, listening to cellular
> phones (as well as cordless phones and baby monitors) with a scanner
> is 100% legal, provided you don't profit from what you hear.

I wonder if doing a statistical survey of cellular usage patterns, and
then selling it would be profiting from what you hear?  It would be
about the most accurate information I could imagine on phone usage 
patterns ...  without tapping in on inter-CO trunks.  Cellular
provides a skewed database, but the opportunity to sample randomly
within that database.

PAT wrote:

>> just are *not interesting*, and furthermore, all you get are just 
fleeting
>> whisps of conversation as the cars drive past. There is no continuity 
in
>> the conversations overheard ...

Not true.  First, you monitor the base station channels broadcasting 
100W,
not the mobiles broadcasting max 3W.  So you hear the conversation
continuously while the "mobile" is in good contact with a particular 
base
station, which has a much better antenna/amplifier than your scanner.  
Not
just while some car is driving past you.

And de facto, it seems well less than one in six calls does get handed
off.  This is based on listening to calls, (although I am not saying
it is me that did the listening.)  Some real fraction of the calls get
made with the mobile standing still.

And with good enough reception, you'd be able to scan and find the new
frequency of the same conversation at its next base station in a few
seconds of scanning.

Until digital, you should assume your call is being listened to on

_
                                                                                                     

cellular.  I predict legislation will not accomplish what digitization
and encryption will trivialize.


Mike Wengler   Phone/Fax: 716 244-0238    Cell: 716 748-1930


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Of course not, we understand you are 
not saying that you did the listening. You are merely reporting what
they call 'anecdotal evidence' from unknown third parties. I am not
saying this is *you*, but you know, it always amazes me the way phone 
phreaks -- cellular or landline or both -- and others who think nothing
of deliberatly invading the privacy of others through interception of
their phone calls, breaking into their computer accounts, etc are often
among the biggest whiners when it comes to *their own* 'privacy' being
invaded, often in the most malign of ways, i.e. a clerk in Radio Shack 
asking their name for the printed receipt, or some innocent teenage
kid working the courtesy counter at Safeway 'having the audacity' to ask
them for a social security number in the process of getting approval
to issue a check cashing card, etc. Read some of the newsgroups and
see if it isn't true: one day they are telling us how to use technology
to stick our nose illegally into someone else's affairs then the next
day the same person writes about what an affront it was to them when
the five dollar an hour clerk at Sears or wherever made them sign a
form or show some ID.   PAT]

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



I ran into a couple of 203/860 split problems.  Being over-eager, I
tried stuff on August 27. I was able to dial my ISP's 860 pop from
203-426 fine.  But I could not dial the test number 1-860-203-0950.
It was apparently a translation problem in the 2B-ESS serving me.  It
was fixed by the time I got home today.

At work, I tried to call it and got an intercept.  Since my employer
does not use SNET for long distance, I dialed 00 and got a Sprint
operator.  I explained the problem.  She could not complete to the test
number either.  So a trouble report was filed.

I also tried AT&T, 10288-1-860-203-0950. Intercept.  Called AT&T 
operator.
She claimed 860-203 is not a valid exchange.  Explained the problem to a
supervisor.  She transferred me to repair.  Explained to her.  
Apparently
SNET chose to put the test number in an NXX that was never used before,
and neglected to tell the industry.  

The moral of this story?  Make sure your LD carrier can route before you
suspect your PBX.  

IMHO, SNET's PR people got too fancy in selecting the test number.


Gerry Belanger, WA1HOZ  wa1hoz@a3bbak.nai.net
Newtown, CT             g.belanger@ieee.org


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Telcos are not supposed to turn on new
exchanges without letting the other telcos know about it so that
all tables can be updated.   PAT]

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



In <telecom15.362.3@eecs.nwu.edu> Tony Harminc <EL406045@BROWNVM.BROWN.
EDU> writes:

> rbarry@iol.ie (Richard Barry) wrote:

> [UK numbering scheme not recommended as a model]

> The French system is nothing like this.  The Departement
> numbers are scattered randomly around the country, so you
> can't tell where a number is unless you have memorized the
> list.

The French are about to split their "0 + 1" area codes in five.  Ile
de France (greater Paris, code 1) stays the same but the rest of
France (which lacks area code) is divided in four quadrants.  I
haven't read about the details but this is of course a great chance to
set anything that mightn't be right right.

>> *Variable number length* so that cities that outgrow 7
>> digits can have 8 digit local numbers.  No multiple area
>> code confusion.  Small towns can have even shorter local
>> numbers, if desirable.

> This is terrible idea, for the one simple reason that
> telephones don't have Enter keys.  So the switch has to
> decide when you've finished dialing by some means, usually a
> timeout.  Or if the switch is smart enough it may be able to
> avoid timeouts on certain calls, but the result is
> inconsistent behaviour.

What?!  In Sweden phone numbers ranges from 0 + 7D to 0 + 9D and I've
never experienced any timeout problems.  Stockholm numbers (08) can be
six, seven or eight digits long.  In fact calls between AXE10 stations
(~90% of the subscribers) connect immediately after I've entered the
last digit regardless of if the called number is in Kiruna (1500 km
north of Stockholm) or to my mum four blocks away.

I applausd the concept of adding an extra digit when the area code has
been outgrown.  We've done that here over the last five years and it's
an excellent idea.  If BT had decided to add an extra digit to the old
London numbers (01) instead of splitting in 071 and 081 I guess
Londoners would be dancing in the streets right now.

A real example is the Swedish island of Gotland.  It used to be 0498
(west coast including Visby) and 0497 (the rest.  Visby was growing
"too much" so either a split of 0498 or longer numbers.  I guess in
this case 0499 could have been used but this is not always a 
possibility.  
Instead a 2 was added before the 0498 numbers and 0497 was merged with
0498.  Since then extra digits have been added before some of the old
five digit number series to make even more room.  Advantage; Gotland
became one code, most Gotlanders never call outside their island =>
shorter dialing on average.  No strange area code which didn't fit the
"hierarchy" had to be used.  And finally: it's so damned flexible!

>> *Distinctive non-geographic codes* so that anyone can tell
>> a mobile number or a pager or a premium rate number from a
>> regular phone number easily.

All GSM mobiles are in 070 (Telia Mobitel = 0705, Comviq = 0707,
Europolitan = 0708 etc) and all NMT mobiles are in 010.  However I did
count the different UK mobile prefixes and I found them to be 17, and
as someone stated earlier they're scattered all over the numbering
space.

Denmark, Norway, Finland are equally well organized.  Apart from that
I don't know except for Germany which I've heard is a great mess
because of some 20 million new citizens that came knocking on their
door a couple of years ago (former East Germany).

I've tried to make a more thorough description on my web pages
(soon to be changed to .../~sam).


Sam
www.nada.kth.se/~d92-sam,   sam@nada.kth.se,   +46 7 01234567

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



Are you involved with developing products that print, fax, scan or
communicate? Are you interested in standards issues?  Protocols?
Host-to-device communication? Device-to-device communication?

If so, you need to attend this conference. Many of the top companies
in the computer industry will be attending and making presentations
including IBM, Microsoft, QMS, Xerox, Intel, Motorola,
Hewlett-Packard, BIS Strategic Decisions, Novell and Eastman Kodak.
Over 21 seminar sessions are offered.

Dates: 9/28 - 9/29
Place: Del Mar Hilton, Del Mar, CA (near San Diego)
Sponsor: MultiFunction Peripheral Association
Cost:  $595 members, $695 non-members - discounts available.

For more info call 1-800-603-MFPA.

Or set your WWW pointer to:

http://www.cognisys.com/browse/mfpa
Tom Geldner
GELDNER ASSOCIATES
Marketing, Advertising and Public Relations

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



Stan Schwartz <stans@panix.com> wrote:

      [ ... text deleted ... ]

> It was also recently mentioned that Atlanta has the
> world's largest local calling area.  Can someone confirm this?

       Oklahoma City has the largest local calling area.  Atlanta's
has more telephones, but is smaller in area.

fgoldstein@bbn.com (Fred R. Goldstein) wrote:

> The reason 1+ means "toll" in SOME places is historical: With
> step-by-step switches, dialing 1 immediately cut through to a toll
> trunk, and a toll switch ate the rest of the digits directly.  The 1
> was literally an access code for a different switch, one which had
> call detail billing.  Local calls never had detail billing, and never
> hit the toll switch.

      In Southwestern Bell territory, 1+ was used in crossbar offices
long before there was any CAMA (centralized automatic message
accounting) which was required for toll dialing with step-by-step
switches.

      In Oklahoma, for historical reasons almost entirely step, when
conversions to common control (then #5 XB) offices began, most of them
went in with subscriber toll dialing.  Except for the first one or
two, 1+ was standard on all of them to identify a toll call.

      The curious result of this was that much of outstate Oklahoma
had toll dialing before Oklahoma City and Tulsa (which required CAMA
to serve their many step offices) and the usual question by customers
in Oklahoma City and Tulsa was not "what is DDD (Direct Distance
Dialing) and how does it work?" but "When are we going to get DDD?"

      One result was that when the CAMAs were turned up in Oklahoma
City and Tulsa, customer-dialed calls reached the projected one year
(or may be it was two year) percentage after one week.

      (Usually customer education and promotion was expected to be
required over many years to get people to use DDD; in Oklahoma City
and Tulsa the percentage of people who knew what DDD was and how to
use it was very high, since they already knew from friend, relatives
and business contacts in the outstate area.  As soon as they knew it
was available, they started using it.  Has quite an effect on the
loads and the facilities required.)


Wes Leatherock   wes.leatherock@hotelcal.com                            
wes.leatherock@oubbs.telecom.uoknor.edu                       
wes.leatherock@f2001.n147.z1.fidonet.org           

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #368
******************************

                                        
