telecom@ucbvax.ARPA (10/27/84)
From: The Moderator (Jon Solomon) <Telecom-request@BBNCCA>
TELECOM Digest Thu, 25 Oct 84 18:27:47 EDT Volume 4 : Issue 109
Today's Topics:
New TELECOM location
Proposed AT&T International Rates
British Telecom and IBM: Application Denied
MCI credit cards
Last miles
MCI starts overseas service
Illinois Bell New Service Offerrings
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 17 Oct 84 14:01:42 EDT
From: Jon Solomon <jsol@bbncca.ARPA>
Subject: New TELECOM location
To: /src/jsol/.telecom/mailbox*@bbncca.ARPA
TELECOM will now originate from BBNCCA. Submissions will be accepted at
TELECOM@BBNCCA, and communication with the moderator will be accepted at
TELECOM-REQUEST@BBNCCA.
A couple of changes will be made in the processing of digests for telecom:
1) Submissions will no longer be formatted to fit within 70 columns.
Submissions will appear as they are sent, so be sure and format
the output as you want it to appear. There are simply too many issues to
deal with when justifying and I don't want to ruin tables and other
information which is preformatted.
2) The date of each digest will be the exact date and time that I prepare
the digest. I have a program which will make the digest, and it will insert
a datestamp. Previously I have been sending issues out using the next day's
date.
Enjoy,
--JSol
------------------------------
Received: from BBN-UNIX.ARPA by BBNCCA ; 16 Oct 84 20:03:37 EDT
Received: from 26.7.0.16 by BBN-UNIX ; 16 Oct 84 20:03:21 EDT
Received: from DEC-RHEA.ARPA by decwrl.ARPA (4.22.01/4.7.34)
id AA04653; Tue, 16 Oct 84 17:02:24 pdt
Message-Id: <8410170002.AA04653@decwrl.ARPA>
Date: 16-Oct-1984 2001
From: covert%castor.DEC@decwrl.ARPA (John Covert)
To: jsol@bbn-unix.ARPA
Subject: Proposed AT&T International Rates
AT&T has proposed new rates for international calls to all points other
than Canada, Mexico, and Cuba. If approved these rates will go into
effect in late November, 1984.
Shown below are rate comparisons from the current to the new for direct
dial only. Direct dial rates apply even if the operator places the
call for you if your area does not allow customer dialled IDDD calls.
Higher rates apply for calls to countries where direct dial service is
not yet available (higher rates apply to the additional minutes as well;
in the current rates they are $1 or $2 more than the dial-additional
minute charge).
In each case the rate for the first minute is shown followed by the rate
for additional minutes. The time periods are known as Standard, Discount,
and Economy. Under the current rates, there are no special weekend rates.
Under the new rates, some countries can be called at the Discount rate on
Saturday (Sat) or Saturday and Sunday (SS) during what would otherwise be
the Standard rate.
New rates Current Rates
United Kingdom of GB and NI UK and Ireland
S 7a-1p 1.65 1.09 1.95 1.18
D.SS 1p-6p 1.24 .82 1.46 .89
E 6p-7a .83 .60 1.17 .71
Irish Republic
S 1.93 1.16
D.SS 1.45 .87 Same as above
E 1.16 .70
Germany (Federal Republic) Continental Europe
S 1.98 1.16 2.23 1.25
D 1.49 .87 1.67 .94
E 1.19 .70 1.33 .75
France
S 1.97 1.14
D.SS 1.48 .86 Same as above
E 1.18 .68
Italy
S 1.96 1.17
D.Sat 1.47 .88 Same as above
E 1.18 .70
Rest of Europe
S 2.15 1.22
D 1.61 .92 Same as above
E 1.29 .73
Australia Pacific Region
S 2p-8p 3.36 1.38 5p-11p 3.96 1.48
D.SS 8p-2a 2.52 1.04 10a-5p 2.98 1.12
E 2a-2p 2.02 .83 11p-10a2.38 .89
Japan
S 3.49 1.52
D.SS 2.62 1.14 Same as above
E 2.09 .91 (rate increase for many calls)
Republic of China (Taiwan)
S 3.96 1.58
D.SS 2.97 1.19 Same as above
E 2.38 .95 (rate increase for many calls)
Republic of Korea
S 3.96 1.63
D 2.97 1.22 Same as above
E 2.38 .98 (rate increase for many calls)
Philipines
S 5p-1a 3.96 1.58
D 1a-10a 2.97 1.19 Same as above
E 10a-5p 2.38 .95 (Rate increase for many calls)
Pacific Region except above
S 5p-12m 3.76 1.53
D 10a-5p 2.82 1.15 Same as above
E 12m-10a2.26 .92 (Rate increase for many calls)
Israel Near East
S 7a-4p 2.94 1.27 8a-3p 3.46 1.25
D.SS 4p-1a 2.21 .95 9p-8a 2.59 .94
E 1a-7a 1.76 .76 3p-9p 2.08 .75
Near East except Israel
S 2.94 1.27
D 2.21 .95 Same as above
E 1.76 .76 (New rates: SS for Israel only)
Africa Africa
S 6a-12n 2.56 1.34 2.71 1.39
D 12n-5p 1.92 1.01 2.04 1.04
E 5p-6a 1.54 .80 1.62 .84
Indian Ocean Indian Ocean
S 6p-1a 5.15 2.14 4.90 2.04
D 1a-11a 4.38 1.82 3.68 1.53 Significant
E 11a-6p 3.86 1.61 2.04 1.22 Increase
India India
S 5.46 3.08 5.75 3.26 Down
D 4.69 2.62 4.31 2.44 Up
E 4.10 2.31 3.45 1.95 Up
Central America Central America
S 8a-5p 2.30 1.06 5p-11p 2.46 1.06 Note
D 5p-11p 1.73 .80 8a-5p 1.85 .80 Time
E 11p-8a 1.38 .64 11p-8a 1.47 .64 Change
Carribean/Atlantic Carribean/Atlantic
S 7a-4p 1.58 1.05 4p-10p 1.58 1.06 Note
D 4p-10p 1.19 .79 7a-4p 1.18 .80 Time
E 10p-7a .95 .63 10p-7a .95 .64 Change
Colombia South America
S 8a-2p 2.60 1.22 7a-1p 2.60 1.11
D 2p-12m 1.95 .92 1p-10p 1.95 .84 Increase
E 12m-8a 1.56 .73 10p-7a 1.56 .67
Venezuela
S 7a-1p 2.45 1.00
D 1p-10p 1.84 .75 Same as above (Reduction)
E 10p-7a 1.47 .60
South America except Columbia and Venezuela
S 2.86 1.22
D 2.15 .92 Same as above (Increase)
E 1.72 .73
------------------------------
Received: from UTEXAS-20.ARPA by BBNCCA ; 24 Oct 84 03:21:31 EDT
Date: Wed 24 Oct 84 02:21:11-CDT
From: Werner Uhrig <CMP.WERNER@UTEXAS-20.ARPA>
Subject: British Telecom and IBM: Application Denied
To: telecom@BBNCCA.ARPA
[ The Economist, 20-26 October 1984, page 70 ]
British Telecom / IBM - Wedding Off
--------------------------------------
... the department of trade and industry's "no" was based on the
anti-competitive threat it saw in the proposal. ...
... Now BT and IBM may become rivals. the DTI's rebuff to their joint
proposal contained encouragement for a go-it-alone IBM vans.
Two aspects of the decision have wider implications. One involves
establishing a standard way by which computers in a network talk to each
other. Opponents of the IBM/BT venture made much of the fact that it would
use IBM's proprietary network standard, SNA, and not the OSI alternative
favoured by the EEC.
The government seems to be gung-ho for OSI. As the DTI killed the IBM/BT
scheme, the treasury recommended official procurement of only OSI-based
(or fully OSI-compatible) equipment. This will please the French and
West Germans. Both have opted to support OSI rather than SNA. OSI is in
its infancy, but is touted as a way to let a European information industry
flourish in the face of American and Japanese competition.
The other aspect concerns BT's brand new watchdog, the Office of
Telecommunications Policy (Oftel). The BT/IBM scheme was its first big
test. Oftel opposed the vans; so its director-general, Professor Bryan
Carsberg, must be relieved that his submission formed the basis for the
DTI's decision. This does not end the worries that Oftel's staff of 50 may
prove inadequate to grapple with a privatised BT. But at least Oftel knows
it can expect some backing from the DTI.
[ now let's watch if IBM got a product ready to gobble up the market - Werner ]
[ PS: Sprint has followed MCI to offer discount international calls.
see NY Times, Oct 23, page 34 ]
-------
------------------------------
Received: from MIT-XX.ARPA by BBNCCA ; 24 Oct 84 19:54:09 EDT
Date: Wed 24 Oct 84 19:21:07-EDT
From: Robert S. Lenoil <LENOIL@MIT-XX.ARPA>
Subject: MCI credit cards
To: telecom@BBNCCA.ARPA
After receiving my new MCI credit card, I was disturbed at how little
information was provided on the rate structures when using that card.
After calling MCI, here's the scoop:
There are two access numbers to make an MCI credit card call. The first,
a no-coin-necessary (although MCI doesn't mention this) 950-xxxx number,
can be used from most major cities. The rates are normal MCI rates, plus
a 50 cent surcharge. For more rural areas, there is an 800 number to dial
up. The rates are above normal MCI rates when using the 800 number, and
a one dollar surcharge applies.
What disturbs me is that NOWHERE does MCI mention that there is a surcharge
for using their credit card; I only found out after speaking with them. Can
they get away with this?
-------
------------------------------
Received: from MIT-MC.ARPA by BBNCCA ; 24 Oct 84 22:54:12 EDT
Date: 24 October 1984 22:55-EDT
From: Minh N. Hoang <MINH @ MIT-MC>
Subject: Last miles
To: TELECOM @ MIT-MC
The RJ45S jack allows for an external programming resistor to set the
modem output level so that the central office sees the max. allowable
signal. Many modems operate only in permissive mode and output its
transmit signal at -9 dBm or less. The phone company likes it that way.
When the line is noisy, and you can't get another one, the alternative
is to slow down. Yes, that means going back to the old Bell 103 300
baud FSK whistler. FSK transmission will get you through lines where
all other (personal opinion...) modems can't even detect carrier. The
FSK working threshold is 3-5 dB signal-to-noise ratio. A good 212 dies
around 10-13 dB SNR. And you should have 2 good modems at both ends,
unlike my current dial-up line...
Minh
------------------------------
Received: from 26.7.0.16 by BBNCCA ; 25 Oct 84 12:58:42 EDT
Received: from DEC-RHEA.ARPA by decwrl.ARPA (4.22.01/4.7.34)
id AA26690; Thu, 25 Oct 84 09:58:51 pdt
Message-Id: <8410251658.AA26690@decwrl.ARPA>
Date: 25-Oct-1984 1257
From: covert%castor.DEC@decwrl.ARPA (John Covert)
To: telecom@bbncca.ARPA
Subject: MCI starts overseas service
MCI now (as of last week) offers service to Belgium, Greece, East Germany,
the United Arab Emirates, Argentina, and Brazil.
Their rate to Belgium compares with AT&T as follows:
STANDARD DISCOUNT ECONOMY
MCI 1.89 1.15 1.29 .89 1.19 .68
AT&T 2.23 1.25 1.67 .94 1.33 .75
New
AT&T 2.15 1.22 1.61 .92 1.29 .73
(The "New AT&T" rate is the proposed, not yet approved or implemented,
restructuring of AT&T's overseas rates, due some time in November).
They plan to begin service to a few other places, notably the U.K. and
Australia in December and January.
From places with "equal access" you simply dial 10222 to select MCI, and
then continue as normal (011+). You do not need an account with MCI; you
will be billed through your local phone company along with all your other
calls.
For other places, you have to have an MCI account, and access them with
950-1022 (or other numbers in the few places that's not available) and
then have to dial account code and so on.
------------------------------
Received: from UCLA-LOCUS.ARPA by BBNCCA ; 25 Oct 84 15:31:05 EDT
Date: Thu, 25 Oct 84 10:14 CDT
From: "Tony R. Barron" <cepu!bradley!tony@UCLA-LOCUS.ARPA>
Subject: Illinois Bell New Service Offerrings
To: TELECOM at BBNCCA
Ameritech, parent company of Illinois Bell, and the same folks
who brought you restructured Centrex, is testing a new
Party Line offering in Chicago. It's hailed as an entertainment
service which connects up to 14 callers to a 24-hour-a-day
party line. Callers from selected exchanges can now
dial one of four special numbers to bridge into the on-going
conversation. Costs are 30 cents for the first minute and 8
cents for each additional minute.
Chicago residents can now satisfy their secret urges to play
Phil Donahue for about the price of a movie...
"We're the phone company. We can do anything."
------------------------------
End of TELECOM Digest
******************************