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
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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]
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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 ???
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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: ...
]
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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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