TELECOM@Usc-Eclb (07/28/82)
TELECOM AM Digest Wednesday, 28 July 1982 Volume 2 : Issue 93
Today's Topics: Quad Protocol Modem - 2400 Baud!
Lack Of Telephones For The Poor - Could Affect Rate Increase In N. Y.
Query Reply - What Does NPA/NXX Mean?
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Date: 27 Jul 1982 0446-PDT
From: Geoffrey C Mulligan (AFDSC, The Pentagon) at RAND-AI
Reply-To: Geoffm at Rand-Ai
Subject: Quad protocol modem
Now you too can have 2400 bps dial up service. Racal-Vadic has
announced their new VA4400 line of modems. The new modem incorporates
a 2400-bps, full duplex modem, a VA3400, a Bell 212A and a Bell 103 in
one unit. The VA4401 can originate calls to, and answer calls from,
all four of these modem types. It is build around the 16-bit
Fairchild 9445 microprocessor, which performs the analog signal
processing functions for all four modems. It automatically determines
if the modem it is communicating with is 2400 bps, 1200 bps or 300 bps
and operates at the highest speed. It can be connected to the VA811
autodialer and/or direct connected to phone lines. The VA4401 will
sell for around $1945, in single quantities. It will also be
available in a 2400 bps version only for $1745.
geoff
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Date: 27-Jul-82 12:30:28 PDT (Tuesday)
From: Newman.es at PARC-MAXC
Subject: No telephones for the poor
>From today's New York Times digest:
NEW YORK - A lack of telephones among the poor was cited by the
New York State attorney general, Robert Abrams, in testifying in
opposition to a proposed $878 million annual rate increase sought by
the New York Telephone Co.. Abrams said there were no telephones in
two-thirds of poor households in New York City, 25 percent of all
households in the Bronx and 41 percent of homes in Brooklyn's
Williamsburg section.
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Date: 27 July 1982 1325-PDT (Tuesday)
From: lauren at UCLA-Security (Lauren Weinstein)
Subject: NPA/NXX
NPA stands for Numbering Plan Area -- the official term for area
codes. NXX is one of the number group designators which are precisely
defined in the "Notes on Direct Distance Dialing" and other similar
Bell System technical publications.
To be more precise, the standard NPA definition has been:
N 0/1 X
where X = any number from 0 to 9
and N = any number from 2 to 9
Ultimately, when all NPA's of this form are exhausted, the form will
change to:
N X X
... using the same N and X definitions as above.
Similarly, the longstanding definition of a central office code
(prefix) has been:
N N X
... but is converting over to:
N X X
in some areas (such as L.A. and New York, currently).
[and soon in Chicago --JSol]
Note that eventually we will have BOTH prefixes that "look" like area
codes AND area codes that look like prefixes -- so it is obvious why
"1+" dialing conventions (and dialing timeouts in some areas) are very
important to provide a means for differentiating between the two types
of codes.
I seem to recall submitting a rather lengthy table of information to
TELECOM (on this very subject) at some time in the fairly recent past
which included the maximum number of codes in each category, as well
as other data. Presumably this material is in the TELECOM archives
for any interested parties.
--Lauren--
[Thanks also to John R. Covert <RSX-DEV at DEC-MARLBORO> for providing
a similar explanation of NPANXX. --JSol]
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End of TELECOM Digest
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