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 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest *********************