[fa.telecom] TELECOM Digest V4 #82

telecom@ucbvax.ARPA (09/08/84)

From: Jon Solomon (the Moderator) <Telecom-Request@MIT-MC>


TELECOM Digest           Saturday, 8 Sep 1984      Volume 4 : Issue 82

Today's Topics:
                          Re: ringback feature
          How are international calls effected by the break-up?
          AT&T is moving toward profit limit (Associated Press)
                           EAX / Interconnect
                          Communications Forum
                          Thank you Judge Green
                    Determining your own phone number
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Thu, 6 Sep 84 18:16:36 cdt
From: seung@ut-ngp.ARPA (Hyunjune Sebastian)
Subject: Re: ringback feature

As long as we're talking about curious numbers to call, I thought I 
might put in my two cents' worth.  In Boston, there is a number you 
can call which connects you with a mechanical voice that tells you the
number of the phone you are calling from.  It's handy when you're 
trying to get incoming calls on an unmarked phone.  Unfortunately, 
I've forgotten the number.  Does anybody know it, or know a similar 
number for other areas?

Sebastian

[The Cambridge CO/Toll center uses 1-200-555-1212, Most other ESS's in
Boston use 977. I don't know much about CrossBar exchanges in the 
Boston area. --JSol]

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

Date: Fri 31 Aug 84 05:16:49-CDT
From: Werner Uhrig  <CMP.WERNER@UTEXAS-20.ARPA>
Subject: How are international calls effected by the break-up?

(if at all)

Regional phone-companies seem to be able to decide themselves, which
LD-company to use in case of 'generic LD-calls' (at least that's my
impression from the press - not sure what has been said here on this
topic).  As international calls have to get routed, at least part of
the way through the national net-work, can someone speculate on what
MAY happen to such calls ???

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

Date: Wed 5 Sep 84 03:09:42-CDT
From: Werner Uhrig  <CMP.WERNER@UTEXAS-20.ARPA>
Subject: AT&T is moving toward profit limit (Associated Press)

WASHINGTON (AP) [last week sometimes - Werner]

AT&T, despite service backlogs and increased competition, has begun
moving closer in recent months to its maximum authorized profit margin
for interstate long-distance telephone service.

A company spokesman said Tuesday, AT&T's rate of return, or profit
margin on long-distance services stood at 12.36 percent after the
first seven months of 1984.  that compares to a maximum authorized
margin of 12.75 percent annually, based on AT&T's investment in
facilities.

Formal reports filed by AT&T with the FCC show the company actually
exceeded its authorized margin during the three-month period ending
June 30 after falling substantially below the maximum rate during the
first quarter.

AT&T has been filing a revised version of a special monthly report on 
interstate phone operations with the FCC since Jan 1, when it gave up 
ownership of ... [ you know what ] ... has so far filed written
reports for the first 6 months of the year.  Results through the end
of July were disclosed Tuesday by AT&T's Pic Wagner in response to an
inquiry about the unexpectedly high profit margin reported for the
month of June - 17.6 %.

Wagner said the earnings of the firm's long-distance unit, AT&T
Communications, have become extremely volatile on a month-to-month
basis and thus cannot be used as a reliable guage [sic] of final 1984
results.

....

[ .. The world largest magic show: accounting.  brought to you by: ...
]

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

Date: Thu, 6-Sep-84 14:55:36 PDT
From: Lauren Weinstein <vortex!lauren@RAND-UNIX.ARPA>
Subject: EAX / Interconnect

The behavior cited for the EAX-5 in Malibu is normal for the new EAX
series.  Dialing you own number is the standard ringback in those 
offices -- that's all that's going on.  Pretty sensible, actually, 
though a bit simple for subscribers to find.

---

While the 2 to 4 wire interconnect situation certainly accounts for 
part of the perceived poor quality of many alternate carriers, it 
can't easily account for such factors as dropped calls, extremely high
hiss and noise levels, or all intertoll trunk busy situations.  Things
will get better with better interconnect, but that's only one element
of the overall transmission path.

--Lauren--

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

Date: Fri, 7 Sep 84 09:22 EDT
From: Kahin@MIT-MULTICS.ARPA
Subject: Communications Forum

MIT COMMUNICATIONS FORUM



National Media Policymaking

September 20, 1984 4-6 p.m.

Marlar Lounge, E37-252, 70 Vassar St., MIT

 speakers:

Jeremy Tunstall, City University of London

Jack Lyle, Boston University



Rapidly developing mass media technologies have ended a relative

ly stable, "classical" era of national and international policy.

Familiar concerns about cultural integrity are now mixed with

desire to participate in advanced technologies as a matter of

economic policy.  The policymaking process has attracted many

newly interested parties and engendered much debate, sometimes

between government agencies.



Professor Tunstall has undertaken a study focusing on the policy

making process in the United States, Britain, and France, and the

prospective effect on the relationships between the United States

and the countries of Western Europe.



******



Multichannel MDS:  Wireless Cable?

October 4, 1984 4-6 p.m.

Bush Room, Bldg 10-105, MIT

 speakers:

Howard Klotz, Contemporary Communications

Peter Lemieux, Information Architects/ MIT



A new band of television has been created which may provide for

as many as 28 different television channels.  The FCC has

reassigned eight channels in the ITFS band to MDS and is

permitting the leasing of "excess capacity" on ITFS channels to

commercial users.  In effect, This service has been termed Multi

channel MDS (or MMDS) and is seen as potential competition for

cable television.  MMDS would be free from local regulation and

would not have to carry broadcast signals.  To be successful,

however, it may require creative arrangements between commercial

entrepreneurs and nonprofit educational institutions.

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

Date: Friday,  7 Sep 1984 12:42:20-PDT
From: gassman%vortex.DEC@decwrl.ARPA  (Easynet Engineering 381-1683)
Subject: Thank you Judge Green


     The following story must go down in the history of the telephone
     company's split up.  It shows how stupid reality can be, to meet
     the legal requirements of a society.

     A leased telephone circuit was ordered "many" months ago which
     was to go from Andover, Mass.  to Salem, New Hampshire.  These
     two locations are about 10 miles apart, and both within New
     England Telephone's (NET) domain.  The problem is that they are
     separated by a state line which is also the LATA line (Local
     Access and Transport Area).  Under new regulations, any circuit
     crossing from one LATA into another must be "carried" by a "long
     distance" carrier.  The choices are growing, but basically ATT is
     the best game in town.  The order is placed to ATT thru our
     corporate telecom offices, ATT designs the circuit out of a
     building in White Plains, NY, and ATT contracts the local loops
     to the local companies.  In this case, both local loops go to
     NET.

     The design isn't that big an engineering job.  There are circuits
     in available directly from the Lawrence telephone central office
     (CO), which serves Andover, to the CO in Salem.  These circuits
     cross the LATA but do not belong to ATT.  Where they are used,
     the long distance carrier must rent them from NET.  Many existing
     circuits crossing the NH/Mass LATA are now rented to ATT, but
     apparently due to high cost and paperwork involved, ATT considers
     this a last resort in building a new circuit.

     The "best" engineering job that ATT could do is to take the
     circuit from the Lawrence CO to ATT's office in Lawrence.  This
     is known as a point of presence, refered to as a POP.  From ATT's
     office in Lawrence, it could go up to Manchester, New Hampshire.
     Manchester is the only POP that ATT has in New Hampshire.  From
     there, it would go direct to Salem.  A bit out of the way, but
     only by about 50 miles.

     Now for the punch line.  The circuit was designed and built from
     Lawrence, Ma.  to Philadelphia.  From there it goes to Trenton,
     New Jersey, on to New York City, and then up to Manchester, New
     Hampshire.  It goes direct from Manchester to Salem.  Over 800
     miles to get 10 miles up the street and across the border.

     The reason the circuit was designed this way was because the
     existing circuits between the Lawrence and Manchester POPs aren't
     in ATT's design database yet, so do not exist.

     Why cry you ask, it still gets there.  True, but at the moment
     the circuit is still not up and running reliably.  The tech at
     NET is responsible for getting the circuit working, but rather
     than having to debug a direct circuit, the tech must trace the
     circuit thru about eight different offices.  We are having
     trouble getting the person to do this, but don't blame them for
     their attitude.

     As an addendum, late word is that a circuit from Lawrence been
     found in the data base of ATT which can be used.  Some strings
     are going to be pulled, and we may have the circuit re-engineered
     by tomorrow.

     bill gassman
     Internal Network (Easynet) Engineering
     DEC - 603-884-1683

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

Date: 7 Sep 1984 11:36-EST
From: randy@uw-june.ARPA
Subject: Determining your own phone number

With everbody buying their own phones now, I have had the following 
happen to me several times. You're at a friend's house, or the friend
of a friend's. The friend is out, and you want to leave the phone
number with someone else. You look on the phone for a number, but you
friend has not written it in. Is there something you can do with the
phone to find out the number of the line it's connected to? Directory 
assistance is not always the answer.  Thanks, Randy.  Randy Day.  
UUCP: {decvax|ihnp4}!uw-beaver!uw-june!randy ARPA: randy@washington 
CSNET: randy%washington@csnet-relay

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End of TELECOM Digest
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