From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Apr 8 14:24:57 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id i38IOvm03990; Thu, 8 Apr 2004 14:24:57 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 8 Apr 2004 14:24:57 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200404081824.i38IOvm03990@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V23 #170 TELECOM Digest Thu, 8 Apr 2004 14:25:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 170 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Yahoo! Reports First Quarter 2004 Financial Results (Monty Solomon) US Cable Ruling Stay Sought While High Court Mulls (Monty Solomon) Nielsen Bows to Pressure, Delays 'People Meters' (Monty Solomon) How the Government Helped Build America's Media Might (Monty Solomon) Livewire: When You've Got to Google Better, Ask Expert (Monty Solomon) Sununu Issues Remarks on VoIP Regulatory Freedom Act of 2004 (VOIP News) FCC Urged to Keep VoIP Regulation-Free (VOIP News} VON 2004 Draws Near Record Attendance (VOIP News) CRTC: VoIP is Just Phone Service (VOIP News) Skype's Cell Division (VOIP News) Re: Skype is Not Hype (Jack Decker) Re: VoIP's Broadband Bottleneck (Chainsman) Re: Cell Phones Exceed Land Lines in Maine (Joe Wineburgh) Re: Walmart Mix Up Balancing Credit Cards Causes Hassle (Kaminsky) Re: Phone Card Retail Business (Ray Normandeau) Re: RJ11 Line 1/2 Splitter - Do These Still Exist? (Michael D. Sullivan) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk are definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 8 Apr 2004 01:24:54 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Yahoo! Reports First Quarter 2004 Financial Results SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 7, 2004-- Company Posts Revenues of $758 Million, Operating Income of $132 Million, Operating Income Before Depreciation and Amortization of $211 Million "Yahoo!'s performance surpassed even our high expectations, delivering the most successful quarter in the Company's history," said Terry Semel, chairman and chief executive officer, Yahoo!. "With our products more popular than ever before, we have experienced success across our entire business including strong growth in our fee-based and marketing services." -- Revenues were $758 million in the first quarter of 2004, compared to $283 million in the same period of 2003. -- Revenues excluding traffic acquisition costs ("TAC") were $550 million in the first quarter of 2004, compared to $283 million for the same period of 2003. -- Gross profit for the first quarter of 2004 was $476 million, compared to $240 million for the same period of 2003. -- Operating income for the first quarter of 2004 was $132 million, compared to $55 million for the same period of 2003. -- Operating income before depreciation and amortization for the first quarter of 2004 was $211 million, compared to $85 million for the same period of 2003. -- Cash flow from operating activities for the first quarter of 2004 was $236 million, compared to $99 million for the same period of 2003. -- Free cash flow for the first quarter of 2004 was $197 million, compared to $78 million for the same period of 2003. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41032261 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Apr 2004 01:33:07 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: US Cable Ruling Stay Sought While High Court Mulls WASHINGTON, April 6 (Reuters) - Cable operators said on Tuesday they were seeking to suspend a ruling that would subject their Internet offerings to extensive regulation while they take their appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Last week a U.S. appeals court refused to reconsider its decision that regulators mistakenly insulated cable companies that offer high-speed Internet from regulations that could force them to offer a choice of Internet providers. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco had ruled in October that the Federal Communications Commission should have classified cable broadband as a telecommunications service instead of an information service. On Tuesday, the National Cable & Telecommunications Association and several cable operators asked the appeals court to stay its decision, due to go into effect Wednesday, until the high court decides if it will hear the appeal. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41024127 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Apr 2004 01:35:11 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Nielsen Bows to Pressure, Delays 'People Meters' By Kenneth Li NEW YORK, April 6 (Reuters) - Nielsen Media Research on Tuesday postponed the launch of its "people meter" viewer-tracking system, bowing to intense political pressure and what it said were threats from global media conglomerate News Corp. (AUS:NCP) (NYSE:NWS). The launch of the electronic system to monitor local TV watching had been set for this week, but Nielsen said it would delay the rollout until June 3 and in the meantime would seek to address concerns that the system undercounts minority audiences. Nielsen, a New York-based unit of Dutch market research company VNU (AMS:VNUN), is introducing the new method of measuring viewership in local TV markets to replace its traditional method of having viewers keep a paper diary of the shows they watch. News Corp., which controls Fox Television Stations, DirecTV satellite service and 20th Century Fox movie studio, complained in March that the new system would undercount minorities. One of Fox TV's strengths is a lineup of programs that attract black and urban audiences. Early results from tests in February of a smaller sample of homes showed staggering drops for some shows popular with black viewers. "The Parkers" on the UPN network, which is carried by Fox-owned stations, fell by 62 percent. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41025714 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Apr 2004 00:34:05 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: How the Government Helped Build America's Media Might BOOKS SPHERES OF INFLUENCE by NICHOLAS LEMANN The New Yorker Issue of 2004-04-12 When did the press become the media? It seems to have happened sometime during the last generation-long enough ago, anyway, for us to have forgotten that "media" is plural. But people who use "the media" as a more encompassing term for "the press" (because it includes broadcast journalism, too) may find it hard to get used to the even more encompassing way it's used by scholars of communications: for them, it takes in just about any channel through which information is transmitted. As you're reading this, you are probably near a telephone, a television set, a computer hooked up to the Internet, a radio, a pager, a mailbox. Some of those things receive and some can also send; some are meant for person-to-person communication and some for interacting with institutions. They're all forms of media. In order to overcome ingrained habits of thought, suppose we remove all ideas about journalism from our minds -- don't worry, we'll reinstall them later -- and then contemplate the media. We immediately start to think about those machines whose wondrous inventors -- Samuel F. B. Morse and Alexander Graham Bell and Guglielmo Marconi -- we all learned about as schoolchildren. But the technology picture is still too simple, so let's delete the machines from our minds, too. What's left? The media start to look like an array of political, economic, and social arrangements, each of which, in a different way, turns people into a public. This is the perspective that the Princeton sociologist Paul Starr forces on us in his ambitious new book, "The Creation of the Media: The Political Origins of Mass Communications" (Basic; $27.50). Starr, who has a practical acquaintance with the subject as co-founder of the liberal monthly The American Prospect (and whom I know professionally), has roamed through a vast scholarly literature to produce a history that stretches from 1600 to 1941. http://www.newyorker.com/critics/books/?040412crbo_books ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Apr 2004 01:43:37 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Livewire: When You've Got to Google Better, Ask an Expert By Lisa Baertlein SAN FRANCISCO, April 7 (Reuters) - When you search the Web, do you find lots of information, but not the answer to your question? If so, you're not alone. Without a doubt, it has gotten much easier to tease the answers you seek from the vast reaches of the Internet, but there is still plenty of room for improvement. For example, new local-search features on the major engines run by Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) make it much easier for people to find pertinent information about their favorite neighborhood restaurant. Still, users must know to narrow local searches by plugging in the restaurant name along with a ZIP code or city and state. While such searches often turn up less irrelevant noise than in the past, they can still be clunky -- and at times deliver results about restaurants thousands of miles away. So how effective is Web searching? - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41030028 ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Wed, 07 Apr 2004 21:29:23 -0400 Subject: Sununu Issues Remarks on VoIP Regulatory Freedom Act of 2004 Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.politicsnh.com/press_releases/2004/April/4_6sun.shtml WASHINGTON, DC United States Senator John Sununu (R-NH) gave the following remarks on the floor of the United States Senate on April 6, 2004, regarding his recently introduced legislation entitled 'The VOIP Regulatory Freedom Act of 2004' (S. 2281): "Madam President, I rise to speak today on legislation I introduced this week called the VOIP Regulatory Freedom Act of 2004. This is legislation that deals with the issue of voice communications sent using Internet protocol that many Members of this body may not be familiar with or may not have heard a great deal about; but it is a new technology that takes advantage of the growing broadband networks that are in place in this country to send voice messages, much the same as one might send an e-mail or an instant message. It is a growing area of technology and innovation, but it is one where there is not a very clear path regarding regulatory and taxing jurisdiction, and there are not a lot of laws on the books that clearly address this new technology. "In order to encourage continued investment in and continued use of this application and this system for sending voice traffic, and in order to make sure consumers continue to have the benefits of lower costs, new features, and better service that is the potential of this technology, I have introduced legislation this week. "First and foremost, S. 2281 declares this is a technology that uses national and global broadband data networks, the Internet, that we have all read and heard so much about by this point in time. It recognizes these are international networks, global networks, and therefore we should have Federal jurisdiction in this area. "Second, it takes the step of preempting States from regulating in this area, the area related to voice-over-Internet-protocol applications, because what we do not need is a patchwork of 50 different sets of regulations that would stifle the innovation, the investment, and the productivity we all hope will come from this technology. "Even worse, the regulations some States have already begun to try to apply are not regulations developed for the Internet, broadband, or a voice-over-Internet-protocol application. They are really designed for a copper wire circuit switch telephone network that was invented 100 years ago and for which most of these State regulations were developed in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. It is an outdated system and we should not be trying to force old regulatory structures on this new technology. "Third, the VOIP Regulatory Freedom Act of 2004 that I have introduced will clarify the definition for information services, for VOIP applications, in a way that can be easily understood given new and emerging technologies. "I was not in Congress at the time, but Congress wrote the 1996 Telecommunications Act that talked about information services and telecommunications. Quite frankly, it did not envision these kinds of voice applications being offered over the public Internet or over private networks. So as a result, we have had lawsuits, not surprisingly. In America, if one is unsure of what is happening, if one does not like the law, get a lawyer and sue, but we have had lawsuits because of the lack of clarity in some of these definitions. My bill would clarify the definition of voice-over- Internet-protocol. It states clearly what it is and what it is not from a regulatory perspective, and then treats it much like we would any other information service that uses Internet protocol, whether it is an e-mail, an instant message, or sending other data over the Internet . "This bill does address a lot of key concerns regarding telecommunications and the old telephone circuit switch telephone network. The bill makes sure that voice-over-Internet -protocol providers participate in existing Federal universal service programs. In other areas, such as E-911 emergency calling, and disability access, the bill calls for an industry group to work out the implementation of these important features for the new technology. S. 2281 will make sure we do not apply the old access charges to this new technology. We put forward a requirement for the FCC to work out a new system for intercarrier compensation and, of course, we recognize law enforcement will need access to these new voice-over-Internet-protocol applications and state it has to be the same or better access but no less than the access available for information services that currently exist today. "Finally, the bill protects consumers by ensuring that this new service won't be taxed at the State level. Everyone knows the more you tax something, the less you get. If you want to discourage investment, innovation, and capital from moving into important new services like this, then raise the taxes and discourage that investment. From my perspective, this would be the wrong direction. "I think this bill provides for enormous opportunity for consumers, including robust features and functions, more options, and lower prices. "It is important to note that we have narrowly tailored this bill to deal with the voice-over-Internet-protocol applications. It should be clear that is not an effort to rewrite the 1996 Telecommunications Act. "I urge my colleagues to take a look at the legislation and step forward. Let me know your views and thoughts. We are likely to have hearings on this bill in the Commerce Committee in the coming months. I look forward to a vigorous and substantive debate." How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Wed, 07 Apr 2004 21:34:48 -0400 Subject: FCC Urged to Keep VoIP Regulation-free Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103_2-5186747.html By Declan McCullagh CNET News.com Dozens of conservative and lower-tax advocacy groups on Wednesday urged the Federal Communications Commission to protect Internet telephone services from crushing regulations. In a letter to FCC Chairman Michael Powell, the organizations asked him to make sure that the weighty quilt of regulations blanketing traditional phone services will not apply to fledgling voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) companies. "We urge the commission to send a clear signal of forbearance on new taxation and regulation," said the letter's 34 signers, which included many groups that are influential within the Republican Party. Among the signers are the National Taxpayers Union, Americans for Tax Reform, the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste, Republicans United for Tax Relief, and the Family Research Council. Full story at: http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103_2-5186747.html ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Wed, 07 Apr 2004 23:58:31 -0400 Subject: Spring VON 2004 Draws Near Record Attendance Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/04-07-2004/0002148002&EDATE= 3,500 Participants Pack Sold-Out Exhibit Hall to Discuss Explosive Developments in VoIP; Several Major Corporate VoIP Products Announced MELVILLE, N.Y., April 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Pulver.com announced today that the Spring VON 2004 Conference, held from March 28 - April 1 in Santa Clara, CA, was an enormous success, and the largest VON Conference of the post 9/11 era, a reflection of the rapid-fire developments in the industry during the past year. The sold-out exhibit hall featured 130 exhibitors (a 40 percent increase over last year) and the 3,500 participants from over 950 companies and 30 different countries was double last year's total. "Spring VON proved that Voice on the Net is here to stay -- for consumers, for businesses, for vendors, for service providers, for capital markets and for innovators," said Jeff Pulver, CEO of pulver.com. "The buzz around the conference was so loud you needed earplugs." The VON Conference has become the premier IP Communications event in the country, a distinction echoed by the fact that dozens of the 950 companies in attendance -- large and small -- chose to unveil significant news and product announcements at the show. Highlights include: * AT&T announced that it was launching its residential VoIP phone service, AT&T CallVantage Service, which provides the residents of Texas with innovative broadband phone service. * Level 3 Communications announced that it was launching two new residential VoIP services to more than 300 of the largest markets in the U.S. by the end of 2004. * Microsoft announced upcoming VoIP features for Windows(R) CE 5.0 and that leading vendors are delivering a wide variety of VoIP-based client devices and services running the Windows CE operating system. * Pulver.com and Peer 1 Network announced the VoIP Acceleration Project, a joint venture that will provide assistance to start-up companies in the VoIP industry. * Sylantro Systems Corporation announced the deployment of the first hosted communications offering that allows service providers to address the consumer VoIP market and the business IP Centrex market through the same proven, carrier-class platform. The tremendous interest surrounding the event coincided with the industry's ongoing maturation and increased attention from regulators, traditional phone service providers, cable companies, Wall Street and Congress. Spring VON 2004 effectively brought all of these stakeholders together to discuss, explore and debate the industry's crucial issues, as well as offer speakers and attendees a unique opportunity to network with one another and demonstrate new products and services. "The IP Communications industry understands that the tremendous innovations underway pose important and difficult issues for policymakers and investors, and pulver.com remains strongly committed to providing a platform for bringing stakeholders together to work towards smart solutions to these challenges," emphasized Pulver. "We're going to do it right this time. Good technology and good public policy are not mutually exclusive." Spring VON also showcased a veritable "who's who" of IP Communications leaders, including keynotes from Alcatel, AT&T, Avaya, Cisco, ITXC, Microsoft, Level 3 Communications, Nortel, Siemens, Texas Instruments, Vonage and Verizon. The conference was covered by a record number of media and analysts, and investment house Goldman Sachs used the opportunity to showcase VoIP to their customers through the conference. As testament to this year's success, VON Europe (June 7-10, London) is sold out, and the exhibit floor for Fall VON (October 18-21 in Boston, MA) is nearly sold out. About VON Conferences Today, expected attendance at the United States VON's, held in the fall and spring, reaches over 3,000. A smaller VON is held in Europe each summer as well. Attendees include leading technologists and business people from major telephone and networking companies, as well as small Internet start-ups. Hundreds of speakers and exhibitors complement registered delegates to establish a vibrant atmosphere of networking and learning. Jeff proudly proclaims a zero "walking-dead" index -- in other words, everybody you encounter will be a potential supplier, customer, partner, or competitor. This is a focused industry conference, not a flashy show for disinterested outsiders. About Pulver.com Jeff Pulver founded pulver.com at the end of 1994. In addition to producing the highly successful VON conferences, pulver.com is engaged in many activities that promote the growth of communication technology. The pulver.com website (http://www.pulver.com) is a key source of information for those in the IP Communications industry and The Pulver Report (http://pulver.com/reports) has over 65,000 subscribers for whom it is a primary source of news and information on the latest developments in emerging net technologies. Mr. Pulver is the founder of: The VON Coalition, pulverRadio, RevUp Records and co-founder of: Vonage and WHP Wireless. SOURCE Pulver.com Web Site: http://www.pulver.com http://pulver.com/reports ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Wed, 07 Apr 2004 21:44:24 -0400 Subject: CRTC: VoIP is Just Phone Service Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com I like Canada and I like Canadians in general, but I am sure glad sometimes that I don't have to live under the regulations imposed by the CRTC (Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission), which makes some really boneheaded decisions from time to time (I assure you this isn't the first!). In my personal opinion they are as bad as any U.S. government agency you can think of, and then some. http://www.itbusiness.ca/index.asp?theaction=61&lid=1&sid=55273&adBanner=Networking CRTC: VoIP is just phone service 4/7/2004 5:00:00 PM - Commission sets regulatory framework. Rogers, GT, Primus respond by Neil Sutton A preliminary report from the CRTC suggests voice over IP will be regulated no differently than other types of phone service currently available in Canada. As far as both the incumbent and the competitive local exchange carriers are concerned, VoIP will be no different than TDM from a regulatory point of view. This adheres to the CRTC's track record of regulating a service rather than the technology that makes it possible. [.....] Iain Grant, principle with consulting firm The Seaboard Group, agrees that the CRTC notice is congruous with previous decisions, but "I think we've got a bit of a problem in that I think IP is really quite different," he said. "This is not your father's telephone. The commission is looking at IP service with yesterday's gimlet eyes and is trying to apply 19th century thinking to a 21st century problem." He said the CRTC may have shoehorned VoIP into existing legislation because it doesn't have any alternative. Full story at: http://www.itbusiness.ca/index.asp?theaction=61&lid=1&sid=55273&adBanner=Networking ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Thu, 08 Apr 2004 01:38:16 -0400 Subject: Skype's Cell Division Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com Forwarded from TELECOM Digest V23 #167: From: friedebach@yahoo.com (Eric Friedebach) Subject: Skype's Cell Division Date: 6 Apr 2004 19:37:03 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Aude Lagorce, 04.06.04, Forbes.com NEW YORK - By threatening to make extravagant phone bills a distant memory, voice-over-Internet Protocol technology, also known as VoIP, has become the most ominous cloud hanging over the future of traditional phone companies. In recent months, giants like AT&T and Verizon Communications have responded to its threat by launching their own discount VoIP services. Meanwhile, cell phone carriers thought they were relatively safe. That assumption may yet turn out to be wrong: Skype, a company founded by the developers of the file-sharing service Kazaa, announced this morning that it is bringing the disruptive technology to handheld devices. "We knew it was just a matter of time before VoIP services came to mobile devices," says Jane Zweig, chief executive of the Shosteck Group, a telecom research firm. http://www.forbes.com/technology/2004/04/06/cx_al_0406skype.html Eric Friedebach /Old enough to remember when MTV played music videos/ TELECOM Digest information: http://telecom-digest.org ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 08 Apr 2004 02:14:25 -0400 From: Jack Decker Subject: Re: Skype is Not Hype At Tue, 06 Apr 2004 22:25:12 -0700, Jack Hamilton wrote: > VOIP News wrote: >> [Comment: Above and beyond the problems with Skype described in this >> article, my opinion is that any service that relies on the computer's >> audio circuitry will not be around for long. The reason is that for >> optimal sound quality, both ends really need to use a headset - >> otherwise you get audio feedback loops from speakers to microphone. >> But in order to use a headset, you have to disconnect your speakers >> and standalone microphone (if any) from your computer's sound system. > No, you need to disconnect only the speakers. There won't be any > feedback into a standalone microphone if the sound is coming through a > headset. If you use a headset anyway because you want better sound > than comes through the cheap speakers that came with your computer, or > you don't want to disturb the neighbors, there's no expense except the > microphone. Okay, I was thinking of the headsets that come with an attached microphone, but even in that case you are right, you could continue to use your regular microphone. However my point still holds - in most cases it is REAL inconvenient to have to reach behind the computer and unplug the speakers and plug in a headset (and then reverse the process when you want to listen to other forms of audio). I think folks are going to get real sick of that process real fast - at least I know I would. >> And even if you somehow work around that, if you let your computer >> play streaming audio or background music while you work, you have to >> shut that down every time you take a call. > Which would be the polite thing to do during a call in any case. Well, under normal circumstances you could just turn the volume down, not shut it off completely. This is a larger problem with live streaming audio, because if it's a popular audio feed and you have to shut it down, you may not be able to re-acquire the feed after you disconnect. Even with an audio file stored locally, if you shut the player off you lose your place. Granted, on some systems you could just pause the audio, if your audio circuitry is non-blocking (will allow two programs to access it at the same time) and if you remember to press "pause" rather than "stop", but it still wouldn't be an issue if you weren't using your computer's audio circuitry for VoIP. Maybe for some people all of this wouldn't matter at all, but it sure would for me. And know there are probably ways around these problems -- for example, I've seen ads for a kit that moves your audio jacks to the front of the computer, provided you have a free external drive bay -- it snaps into the drive bay slot on the front panel. But again, most people won't go through all that trouble and expense, unless Skype offers some awfully compelling reason to do so. Jack Decker ------------------------------ From: Chainsman Subject: Re: VoIP's Broadband Bottleneck Date: 8 Apr 2004 08:01:28 -0700 Organization: http://netscape.net/ I have Vonage and have tested it with Verizon DSL (G.lite) with 132k fixed-speed upload, and Cox High-Speed Internet with about 230k variable-speed upload. The Motorola VoIP machine does QoS and priority queuing but only if it's the last device before the modem. Since the activity on your home network is what is causing the dropouts and dropped calls you can use the built-in firewall and NAT function of the Vonage machine which has built-in logic to always prioritize the VoIP traffic over your network traffic. Even if your internet provider ignores the QoS, and indeed a cable modem network QoS is meaningless due to the nature of how uploads work, the Vonage box will make every attempt to handle the VoIP traffic at a higher priority thus making your calls sound better on both ends. Give it a try and let us know how it works for you. ------------------------------ From: Joe Wineburgh Subject: Re: Cell Phones Exceed Land Lines in Maine Date: Thu, 8 Apr 2004 11:59:10 -0400 I contacted Peter Reilly (the VZ spokesperson quoted in the article) for clarification and it looks like the numbers were VZ wireline customers vs. all wireless customers (not just VZ wireless). His reply: ------------------------------------------- Mr. Wineburgh, I was the Verizon spokesman quoted in the AP story. The comments I made were based upon information from the following sources. The landline numbers represent the 483,612 Verizon Maine residential access lines in service for 4Q-2003, as reported at Verizon's Investor Relations website http://investor.verizon.com/business/wireline.html . The number of wireless subscribers in Maine reported in the most recent FCC Report on Local Competition http://www.fcc.gov/wcb/iatd/comp.html was 524,246 for June, 2003 and represents customers from all reporting cellular carriers in Maine. Note that this latest FCC reported number is different from the number of Maine wireless subscribers offered in the article, written by Kathryn Skelton of the Sun Journal in Lewiston, ME. I hope this information helps to answer your questions. Peter ----------------------- So I guess the question now is, do the other independant telcos represent more than 40,633 customers. JOE ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 07 Apr 2004 23:26:15 -0700 From: The Kaminsky Family Reply-To: kaminsky@kaminsky.org Organization: None Whatsoever Subject: Re: Walmart Mix Up Balancing Credit Cards Causes Major Hassle > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: We have a very nice branch of Bank of > America here in town, at Penn and Locust Street. The lady told me they > have checking accounts at no charge for old people as long as their > social security money is on direct deposit to that bank. I've thought > about moving my account over there from Commerce National Bank, but > Commerce is much closer to my house and has a 24 hour drive through > auto teller I can use. PAT] Are you eligible for any local credit union? If not, are there any decent savings and loan associations (or savings banks, which I grew up with in New York City, but haven't seen any of in California where I've spent the last 24 years)? In my experience, a commercial bank such as B of A is always paying lower rates on savings (and checking) accounts than savings and loans, although around here there is more variance among the savings and loans than among commercial banks. Credit unions also have a larger spread, but tend to pay better interest than the savings and loans. It works the same way on loans -- the best interest rates tend to come from the credit unions, the worst from the commercial banks (unless you are borrowing a few million -- that does catch their attention). Ditto on fees -- they're highest at the commercial banks, and lowest at the credit unions. The biggest credit unions now offer checking accounts (usually called "draft" accounts) as well as the long-established savings accounts (usually called "share" accounts, because having one makes you a part owner of the credit union). I hope this helps. I seem to remember you saying something about not having much money makes you want to hold tighter to what you have -- which made it somewhat surprising to me that you would bank at a commercial bank. Good luck, and keep up the good work. Mark [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, there is a little bit of history here, but I am not at all reluctant to change it as needed. Commerce National Bank (like First National Bank) have been Independence institutions since the start of the 20th century. In fact, Commerce has engraved in the stone over its door 'Citizen's National Bank' which used to be its name until around 1990 when Commerce Bank of Kansas City/St. Louis bought it and took it over. My mother and father had their accounts at 'Citizens' for many years and my mother still refers to the place as 'Citizens National Bank' even though it has been Commerce for maybe fifteen years now. Six or eight months after Black Thursday -- the date in late November, 1999 when I had my brain aneurysm (I guess three months in a coma, in Stormont Vail Medical Center in Topeka, followed by two months in an emergency, accelerated rehabilitation program at Kansas Rehabilitation Hospital and a year after that in a 'nursing home' [or so they called it; dungeon was more like it] would entitle me to refer to the last day on which I was still a whole person as 'black Thursday') -- while I was still in a Zombie-like trance, and unable to do much of anything for myself, it was assumed by State of Kansas I would probably remain in a vegatative state for the rest of my life. The SRS asked my mother to function at that time as a guardian and third-party payee with Social Security. Things were that grim for me. I'm not complaining per se, just stating the facts as they were then. It made sense for my mother to inquire of the manager at Commerce and open a third-party payee relationship for me with that bank. Things have since changed for me for the better (I still limp around, use a cane whenever I go out of my house [not often] and still avail myself of the services made available to disabled and older persons by City of Independence and State of Kansas [SRS housekeeper, meals on wheels, free taxicab rides around town]) but things are looking better. Social Security had a psychiatrist from UK at Lawrence, KS come here to examine me while I was still a Zombie, and his professional detirmination was that I will never fully recover from Black Thursday. The neurological damage or 'brain disease' was just too extensive. Mother/SRS are no longer my guardians; I now (since the start of 2002) have been on my own, free to do my banking, etc as I please. Commerce is still around; my mother's reputation there left me with no reason to change banks. The Savings and Loan scandal of the late 1990's when **so many** of them went belly up and/or were absorbed out of 'good will' by larger, healthier financial institutions has always left me a little leary of that form of banking. We have a few of them around town here, including First Federal S&L, Prairie States S&L, Kansas Teachers Credit Union, others. Their employees are all very decent, small-town people. Heck, even the five (total) employees at First National Bank of Independence are quite decent. They all have ATM machines and all issue plastics, etc. PAT] ------------------------------ From: rayta@msn.com (Ray Normandeau) Subject: Re: Phone Card Retail Business Date: 8 Apr 2004 08:36:17 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com C. Nelson wrote in message news:: > I am trying to find the list of these consolidators or wholesale > companies. Discount Long Distance Digest Telcom Deals & Steals. Find the BEST deals in phone service including pre-paid cards. See how telcos are stealing. http://www.THEDIGEST.COM ------------------------------ From: Michael D. Sullivan Subject: Re: RJ11 Line 1/2 Splitter - Do These Still Exist? Date: Thu, 08 Apr 2004 04:57:53 GMT In article , alex@totallynerd.com says: > Hi all, > Many years ago, I used to find the RJ11 splitters that seperated the > two pairs of lines into Line 1 and Line 2 for dual-line phone jacks. > Now'days, I'm having trouble locating one. I've even talked to folks > from SBC and they say the splitters aren't common anymore and are hard > to find. > Does anyone know of a supplier that still produces or sells these > splitters? I'm not talking about a y-splitter where one analog line > is split to two, but one that physically splits the two pairs of > lines. > Thanks in advance. > Alex. White 2-Line Coupler $3.97 RadioShack #279-439 Michael D. 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