From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Dec 21 16:04:47 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id iBLL4lr09564; Tue, 21 Dec 2004 16:04:47 -0500 (EST) Date: Tue, 21 Dec 2004 16:04:47 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200412212104.iBLL4lr09564@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 #611 TELECOM Digest Tue, 21 Dec 2004 16:05:00 EST Volume 23 : Issue 611 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Which is the Best Cellphone You Ever Used? (pfschoeng@yahoo.com) Re: Motorola MD481 Cordless (jmeissen@aracnet.com) Re: Motorola MD481 Cordless (DevilsPGD) Global Crossing Secures Much Needed Financing (Telecom DailyLead) Re: Cell Phone Company Records the Tower Handling Call (A Burkitt-Gray) Re: Cell Phone Company Records the Tower Handling Call (Dave VanHorn) Re: Cell Phone Company Records the Tower Handling Call (Isaiah Beard) Re: Cell Phone Company Records the Tower Handling Call (Daniel Johnson) Re: DIrectv Not Honoring Tivo Lifetime Service (Tim@Backhome.org) Re: DIrectv Not Honoring Tivo Lifetime Service (jmeissen@aracnet.com) Re: DIrectv Not Honoring Tivo Lifetime Service (DevilsPGD) Re: DIrectv Not Honoring Tivo lifetime Service (Michael Muderick) Re: Speaking of Giving up Landline For Cellphone (LB@notmine.com) Re: Speaking of Giving up Landline For Cellphone (Thomas A. Horsley) Re: Hanging Up on Wireless Spam (Sparky) Re: Airborne Cell-Phone Ban Likely to Remain For Now (Lisa Hancock) Re: Airborne Cell-Phone Ban Likely to Remain For Now (Mark Crispin) Re: System Would Allow 911 Checks (Mark Atwood) Re: Sprint's Merger With Nextel (Isaiah Beard) A Christmas Carol: 'Lost Boy' Clings to Hope He'll See Mom (Lisa Minter) Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the Internet. 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: pfschoeng@yahoo.com Subject: Which is the Best Cellphone You Ever Used? Date: 21 Dec 2004 08:53:38 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com This discussion must begin with safety isues. The radiation level is usually given a SAR value and must be less than 1.6. Other safety issues should also be discussed. Reliability and durability are the next things to consider. Nokia, Motorola and Samsung seem to do well, although this is only my preliminary impression. The specific model numbers by the manufacturer is necessary. For example, the Nokia 3200 is considered by many to be a good phone but other Nokias fare less well. Performance is next, the main points being reception and battery life. Many cellphones seem to have a problem with low audio volume for some reason. Features are probably the main thing most people mistakenly consider when buying a cellphone. It should be considered last in most cases. ------------------------------ From: jmeissen@aracnet.com Subject: Re: Motorola MD481 Cordless Date: 21 Dec 2004 16:54:53 GMT Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com In article , Weston Fire 22 wrote: > I got a MD481 cordless phone the other day, after charging overnight, > yada, yada, I went to use the phone today. Any number I call, local > or long distance, I get a message from the telco saying the call > couldn't be completed, etc. > Just to check things out, I switched to pulse dialing and it works > fine. So, tone dialing doesn't work, pulse dialing does. I proceeded > to call Motorola support (and waited 30 minutes on hold) and was > promptly told,"Sir, this is a digital phone and you need to call your > phone comapny and make sure you have a digital phone line and not an > analog phone line. If the phone company says you have a digital line, > then call us back." Huh?? Never before have I heard such a thing. > Sure the phone says digital on it, but so do my other two cordless > phones (though not Motorola's). > So did the support guy just not know what was wrong and decided to > send me on a chase and hope he didn't get me when I called back? Any > insight would be appreciated. Wow. That is so "Dilbert"-ish I had to laugh, in spite of your obviously not funny predicament. You were fed a line a mile long. John Meissen jmeissen@aracnet.com ------------------------------ From: DevilsPGD Subject: Re: Motorola MD481 Cordless Date: Mon, 20 Dec 2004 23:57:27 -0700 Organization: Octanews In message Weston Fire 22 wrote: > Just to check things out, I switched to pulse dialing and it works > fine. So, tone dialing doesn't work, pulse dialing does. I proceeded > to call Motorola support (and waited 30 minutes on hold) and was > promptly told,"Sir, this is a digital phone and you need to call your > phone comapny and make sure you have a digital phone line and not an > analog phone line. If the phone company says you have a digital line, > then call us back." Huh?? Never before have I heard such a thing. > Sure the phone says digital on it, but so do my other two cordless > phones (though not Motorola's). > So did the support guy just not know what was wrong and decided to > send me on a chase and hope he didn't get me when I called back? Any > insight would be appreciated. Any phone with a TONE/PULSE switch is analog by definition, no digital service would use analog tones (or would repeatedly short the circuit, for that matter) to communicate data, the very concept is absurd. In other words, he was probably not happy in his job :) ------------------------------ From: Telecom dailyLead from USTA Subject: Global Crossing Secures Much-Needed Financing Date: Tue, 21 Dec 2004 14:00:00 EST As we end this year, the dailyLead team wishes you the best during the holiday season. Thanks to our partners, our advertisers and -- most significantly -- you and the thousands of your colleagues who read the Telecom dailyLead, this has been a very good year, indeed. Your comments and suggestions help to improve our service, and we look forward to helping you stay smart and save even more time in 2005! Telecom dailyLead from USTA December 21, 2004 http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=18262&l=2017006 TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * Global Crossing secures much-needed financing BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * Sprint projects sales and profit to grow in 2005 * Report surveys the outlook for Wi-Fi * Qwest sells services through nonprofits USTA SPOTLIGHT * Order USTA's Best-Selling VoIP Implementation and Planning Guide Today EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES * Musiwave offers music via mobile phones REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * Nextel to sit out spectrum auction Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=18262&l=2017006 ------------------------------ Reply-To: From: Burkitt-Gray Subject: Re: Cell Phone Company Records the Tower Handling Call Date: Tue, 21 Dec 2004 19:58:31 -0000 Organization: Alan Burkitt-Gray In volume 23 : Issue 610 phoner@company.com wrote: > Cell phone companies record the tower that handles each call, and > then keep that info for at least a short time." Well, of course. Where's the surprise? Operators not only have to provide E-911 location information to emergency services, but are also investigating opportunities for location-based services, which would at the very least use cellsite information. Here in the UK there have been two prominent murder cases where routine location-based information from cellsites was key. In November 2003 in the trial of Ian Huntley for the murder of two teenagers, Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, the prosecution used detailed evidence of his movements during and after the murder, based on his location when he turned his phone on, made calls, and turned it off, and when it went out of range. He was found guilty and is now doing life. And when a prominent television presenter, Jill Dando, was stabbed to death at the door of her home in broad daylight in London in 1999, the phone companies supplied data to the police about phones in use in the area at the relevant time. The person eventually arrested and convicted of the murder didn't have a phone, but at the time of the investigation much was made -- particularly in the ukcrypto email list -- about the use of the phone data. Alan B-G Alan Burkitt-Gray, London, UK alan@burkitt-gray.com ------------------------------ Reply-To: Dave VanHorn From: Dave VanHorn Subject: Re: Cell Phone Company Records the Tower Handling Call Date: Tue, 21 Dec 2004 09:49:02 -0500 I have seen my cellphone do some bizarre things at times. Once, I was standing in Auburn Ca, and my phone switched to "roam". I was well within my home area, so I called 611 to see what was up.. They said I was in Chico. Look at a map. ------------------------------ From: Isaiah Beard Subject: Re: Cell Phone Company Records the Tower Handling Call Date: Tue, 21 Dec 2004 10:44:21 -0500 phoner@company.com wrote: > Cell phone companies record the tower that handles each call, and then > keep that info for at least a short time. This has been S.O.P. for a long time, and that information is generally kept for as long as your carrier keeps copies of your past bills (in my case, at least 2 years, in the case of other carriers, who knows ... perhaps forever?). The original purpose was for maintenance reasons (logging cells that frequently drop calls, for example) as well as fraud tracking (If your phone makes a call from a cell in New York City, and then five minutes later, a phone claiming to be yours makes a call in Montana somewhere, then fraud is suspected). Of course, in our current era, these same logs are convenient for investigators in they can potentially bolster a claim that you were elsewhere than your purported alibi. > That came out in the recent arson case in Maryland. The suspect > claimed that he was at home. However, he had a cellphone call during > his alibi time. His provider's records showed that the cell tower > handling his call wasn't near his house. Refuting the validity of this evidence to bolster the prosecution's case depends on how far away that cell tower was. There are plenty of reasons for a non-adjacent cell to take your call. Perhaps the nearest cell was at capacity and could not handle your call, but your phone happened to be able to pick up a not-so-nearby cell that had slots free. Or, perhaps there was an odd atmospheric disturbance that permitted an unusual propagation of radio waves to distant cell sites (similar to listening to a distant radio station "on a skip"). Such an argument tends to be less plausible the generally low-power nature of cell phone transceivers, but such things could still happen under very rare conditions. In any case, cell site records aren't a smoking gun. Even if you happen to be making a call at a cell that covers the scene of a crime, there can still be a rather wide area that the cell covers, anywhere from a radius of a quarter of a mile (for microcells in dense metro areas) to several miles (in rural areas). Such records may suggest that your phone was in the area, but it won't always pinpoint you to the exact spot. If you have a plausible alibi that puts you in the vicinity of the crime but not connected to it, then the cell site evidence could be moot. Further, unless the phone has been tapped or a witness sees/hears you using it, they still can't definitively prove it was YOU using the phone. > (Putting my tinfoil hat on:) I have a theory that the location of > every cellphone that is turned on is being routinely recorded, say > every minute, and saved for later data mining. No, not every minute. For one thing, your phone when "idle" is not constantly transmitting. To have everyone's phone constantly transmit would really degrade battery life, and also severely cripple the cell network as it is overwhelmed with broadcasting cell phones and not enough channels to handle them all. Cell phones do, however, register with the network from time to time using a brief burst of data. They generally do this when a phone moves out of a specific "zone" or cluster of cells into a new area, broadcasting a "here I am!" message so that in case a call comes in, the network knows in which cell group it will find your phone and cause it to ring. And if a phone is sitting still, it might send out a registration every 5-15 minutes or so to remind the network that it's still there. > I have no direct evidence. However, this is technically feasible, > and is a logical (to me) extension of what we know was done decades > ago. There is one last thing to note. All cell phones being sold in the US are now FCC mandated to have a location-tracking capability built-in. Most cell phones have a GPS-assisted device inside them now that permits this capability, and with it you can theoretically be pinpointed to within a couple hundred feet. However, this is generally activated only when someone dials 911 and is connected to a dispatch center that can retrieve that location data. The intent here is to allow cell users to enjoy the same benefits as most landline users when they dial 911 (emergency personnel can find you even if you don't know where you are or otherwise cannot relay that information). However, even now, not many 911 call centers can retrieve this info, because the capability requires expensive upgrades that many local governments haven't bothered to spend money on. And in any case, both the traditional cell-tracking data and the more precise GPS data can be easily circumvented: if you don't want to be located, turn off your cell phone. :) E-mail fudged to thwart spammers. Transpose the c's and a's in my e-mail address to reply. ------------------------------ From: Daniel W. Johnson Subject: Re: Cell Phone Company Records the Tower Handling Call Date: 21 Dec 2004 10:58:34 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com They probably do that logging for quality of service purposes. For example, if a particular tower has an average call length of 10 seconds, it's likely that people are hanging up due to unusable connections. Or if handoffs are going from the 3rd-and-Main tower directly to the 5th-and-Main tower, skipping the one at 4th-and-Main, there is probably something wrong with the middle tower. Correlating the tower logs with call logs would help with handling trouble tickets; if someone complains that their last call had a lot of noise for the middle third, it helps to know that the middle third of the call was handled by the 4th-and-Main tower. General location data on all phones that are on would be volumnious. But I suspect that some cell companies note quantities for each tower, for help when selecting new tower locations. ------------------------------ From: Tim@Backhome.org Subject: Re: DIrectv Not Honoring Tivo Lifetime Service Date: Tue, 21 Dec 2004 04:07:00 -0800 Organization: Cox Communications > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Someone committed fraud on you. When > you purchase (or otherwise take over) an existing business, then > you take over not only the assets of the existing business, but the > *liabilities* as well, unless the people going *out* of business > specifically publish a notice to the effect otherwise, which is to > afford *you* - the holder of that asset (by virtue of your lifetime > subscription in this case) -- the opportunity to collect on it from > the original owner of the business. Did DirectTV publish a notice > saying 'not responsible for debts of Pegasus' or did Peegasus publish > a notice saying 'going out of business, etc'. Did Pegasus file a > petition in bankruptcy? If so, did they list *all* of their > liabilities, including 'lifetime' (prepaid) subscriptions? You > definitly were defrauded, but collecting on it may be a challenge and > cost more than it is worth. Your legal complaint is with Pegasus, > assuming that DirectTV had no knowledge of any such 'lifetime > subscritions' outstanding through Pegasus. PAT] As a matter of business ethics, and perhaps law, TIVO is liable and being quite ugly in the process, if the facts are stated correctly. It's TIVO who made the claim in the first instance of the life-time service option. It's TIVO who complies and distributes the programming and software updates. Sounds like a couple of scam artists at work here. ------------------------------ From: jmeissen@aracnet.com Subject: Re: DIrectv Not Honoring Tivo Lifetime Service Date: 21 Dec 2004 16:43:48 GMT Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com In article , wrote: > When I bought my Sony Directv w/Tivo satellite receiver three years > ago, I also bought the Tivo lifetime subscription for $249.00. It is > still in use and is my only Tivo unit. From 11/2001 to 10/2004, my > monthly satellite service was provided by Pegasus. This happened > because we were in an area that Directv chose to have them service. > Directv took over Pegasus this fall. My most recent billing from > Directv is showing a new monthly fee of $4.99 for Tivo service. When I > called Directv, they said, "Sorry, but we're not honoring the lifetime > Tivo subscriptions purchased when the customer was serviced by > Pegasus.". This is a really bad deal. I called Tivo and they were of > no help. Directv billed me for the lifetime subscription on 12/6/2001 > and I paid THEM for it. > I'm on hold waiting to talk to a Directv customer service supervisor > right now. I'll continue this paragraph after I speak with them ... > Just hung up with Kathy at Directv and they said, "Sorry, but that's > the way it is." Something doesn't add up. The monthly Tivo charges aren't a revenue for DirecTV but a pass-through charge from Tivo, and comprise the income Tivo derives from the DirecTV subscribers. When you paid the lifetime subscription charge you were paying that to Tivo. DirecTV just plays the part of middleman. Sounds to me like you haven't gone high enough up the food chain yet. I would try to contact Tivo for resolution. John Meissen jmeissen@aracnet.com ------------------------------ From: DevilsPGD Subject: Re: DIrectv Not Honoring Tivo Lifetime Service Date: Mon, 20 Dec 2004 23:57:28 -0700 Organization: Octanews In message googlenospam@netcrafting.com wrote: > I cannot believe this is happening. I thought a lifetime subscription > lasted the lifetime of the Tivo unit? This is not the case for folks > who were serviced by Pegasus. Beware if you buy a lifetime Tivo on > Ebay that was owned by a customer who got their satellite service from > Pegasus. I'd suggest a quick trip to file papers in small claims court would probably get either your subscription fee refunded, your lifetime service restored, or possibly both. If it's not worth the hassle, at a minimum write letters to Pegasus, DirecTV (even though they're the same companies the letters will probably end up in different places), the BBB, the FCC (Who won't help, but will likely forward the letter higher up the DirecTV chain then your letter will go), and to your local attorney general (who won't act either, but it looks good on the "CC" line and it *is* fraud) > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Someone committed fraud on you. When > you purchase (or otherwise take over) an existing business, then > you take over not only the assets of the existing business, but the > *liabilities* as well, unless the people going *out* of business > specifically publish a notice to the effect otherwise, which is to > afford *you* - the holder of that asset (by virtue of your lifetime > subscription in this case) -- the opportunity to collect on it from > the original owner of the business. Did DirectTV publish a notice > saying 'not responsible for debts of Pegasus' or did Peegasus publish > a notice saying 'going out of business, etc'. Did Pegasus file a > petition in bankruptcy? If so, did they list *all* of their > liabilities, including 'lifetime' (prepaid) subscriptions? You > definitly were defrauded, but collecting on it may be a challenge and > cost more than it is worth. Your legal complaint is with Pegasus, > assuming that DirectTV had no knowledge of any such 'lifetime > subscritions' outstanding through Pegasus. PAT] If Pegasus was purchased by DirecTV, then the legal complaint is with DirecTV -- If DirecTV purchased Pegasus without being aware of Pegasus' liabilities, that's their fault, and maybe next time they'll perform due diligence before making a corporate acquisition. ------------------------------ From: Michael Muderick Subject: Re: DirecTV Not Honoring Tivo Lifetime Service Date: Tue, 21 Dec 2004 06:01:51 -0500 Pat is correct in his answer. The lifetime guarantee should be honored. I know of a bank in the '70's that offered (then) guaranteed free for life checking. There has since been takeover after takeover. Those that took out that account, are still taking advantage of it. At one point they were notified that, to keep it, they had to maintain a $100 minimum in the account - not part of the original deal, but they were notified - and it was honored. Good luck. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: We also need to define the term 'lifetime'. *Whose* lifetime? *Which* lifetime? Yours? The equipment? The corporate entity (Pegasus)? PAT] ------------------------------ From: LB@notmine.com Subject: Re: Speaking of Giving up Landline For Cellphone Date: Tue, 21 Dec 2004 05:37:22 -0500 Organization: Optimum Online Joseph wrote: > On Sun, 19 Dec 2004 13:41:50 GMT, tom.horsley@att.net (Thomas A. > Horsley) wrote: >> Is there any kind of gadget available to interface with a cellphone >> (perhaps via the headset connection) that would allow you to plug your >> cellphone into it when you are at home, and have it provide your own >> little local phone system over your old phone wires so that you could >> use any phone in the house to make a call on the cellphone and have >> all the phones in the house ring when the cellphone rings? > I don't know if this is what you're talking about but there are at > least two "docking" solutions. CellSocket has a unit where you put > your phone into a docking station and you can then use regular > wireline phones in your house to make and receive calls. There's also > another called "Dock-N-Talk" which works similarly and also has > Bluetooth connectivity so more phones are compatible. Thank You. LB ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Speaking of Giving up Landline For Cellphone From: tom.horsley@att.net (Thomas A. Horsley) Organization: AT&T Worldnet Date: Tue, 21 Dec 2004 13:11:30 GMT From what I can tell, none of these gadgets will work with my audiovox phone, and it seems kind of like overkill anyway. What about the 2nd half of my question -- anyone ever hear of a ring amplifier for cellphones? The closest thing I've found is this: http://www.techlib.com/electronics/cellhelp.htm It is hard to believe such a useful gadget isn't available in an already built form :-). >>==>> The *Best* political site >>==+ email: Tom.Horsley@worldnet.att.net icbm: Delray Beach, FL | Free Software and Politics <<==+ ------------------------------ From: Mark Crispin Subject: Re: USATODAY.com - Airborne Cell-Phone Ban Likely to Remain For Now Date: Mon, 20 Dec 2004 22:19:56 -0800 Organization: University of Washington On Mon, 20 Dec 2004, Joseph wrote: >> In case you weren't aware, assault is a felony, punishable with fines >> and jail time. I am also quite capable of self-defense from criminal >> attack. > Well, if you are obnoxious enough they may not care and decide they > don't want you messing with their personal conversations. If they do and decide to resort to criminal attack, then I will press charges (and, if necessary, physically defend myself). They will then end up in a place where they won't be allowed to use a cell phone, which will solve the problem of their obnoxious use of a cell phone on public transportation. Most people are intelligent enough to understand this progression. -- Mark -- http://staff.washington.edu/mrc Science does not emerge from voting, party politics, or public debate. Si vis pacem, para bellum. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Most people are also smart enough to understand that, depending on the police officers who arrive to deal with the situation, *they* may decide to take you in as well, and lock you up. Often times, when there is a street brawl, the cops just say 'let the judge work it out when they get to court' and lock you both up in the meantime. What makes you think the cop will *necessarily*c consider you to be the good guy and the other fellow the bad guy? PAT] ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: USATODAY.com - Airborne Cell-Phone Ban Likely to Remain For Now Date: 21 Dec 2004 12:21:09 -0800 Mark Crispin wrote: >> You're really lucky that someone hasn't slugged you yet for your >> obnoxious behavior. > In case you weren't aware, assault is a felony, punishable with fines > and jail time. I am also quite capable of self-defense from criminal > attack. Unfortunately, the reality of today's world is such that: 1) You might not be as capable as you think to defend yourself from an assault. People have gotten shot over stuff like this. 2) In attempting to defend yourself, _you_ may be the one charged with assault, not the other person. Not fair, but the way it is. 3) You could be charged with disorderly conduct. Again, not fair, but the way it is. 4) You could get sued. ------------------------------ From: SPARKY Subject: Re: Hanging Up On Wireless Spam Date: 21 Dec 2004 12:16:08 -0800 I got a text message spam, I have TMobile, they charged me 5 cents, but after demanding the charge be taken off they did. They said they have no way of blocking text messaging, I can only do it as a filter, this would be after the fact usually. Told them I would drop my cell phone before I'll start paying for SPAM, what's next SPAM deliveried to your TV via your cable box? and you get to pay for it? Nathan Tenny wrote: >> Why's that? I'm not a network-side guy, but it seems to me that the >> local system just needs to talk to its own VLR to find out what it >> needs to know about you. All the phone is doing is sending up a data >> burst (encapsulated in one of several ways, depending on the system >> and the length of the message and the phase of the moon), which >> wouldn't seem to be a process requiring any special contact with the >> home network. > In article , > Spyros Bartsocas wrote: >> I am not a very technical person, but you program a Service Center to >> the phone. > That must be the equivalent of a Message Center (MC henceforth) in > the IS-41 world (I assume you're talking about GSM, where I *really* > know nothing about the network side). It makes sense that the SMS > > transaction would need to go through whatever SMS entity "owns" the > > target phone, I guess. >> The service center phone number includes the country code >> in order to be reachable from other networks. So, I believe what >> happens is that you are actually calling this number (at least it >> appears this way last time I roamed in Switzerland). > That's *really* interesting, and doesn't seem to be the case in IS-41, > where the various MSCs just talk to each other. I'm looking at IS-41 > as I write this, trying to figure out how the process works; every > time I think I've understood it, I start to write a summary and then > discover that I'm wrong. My current thinking -- which I'm going to > write down and send in a hurry before I have a chance to change my > mind -- is that the sender's MC always has to contact the recipient's > MC, but policy for which network the MCs are located on is left up to > the carriers. > In principle, if I'm right, a roamer *could* be associated with an MC > on the local network, and then delivery of SMS would be routed just > like a call -- caller's MSC checks with recipient's HLR which directs > it to the appropriate VLR, which indicates how to deliver the > notification. But the roamer could also be "owned" by his home MC, in > which case the sender has to talk to HLR, then VLR, then back to the > "home" MC, which gives back a routing address (by consulting the HLR), > and *then* the message gets routed accordingly (presumably not > involving the roamer's home network any more). > There isn't an actual *call* involved, in the sense of a process > that involves assigning a mobile onto a traffic channel and sending > traffic around, but maybe the MC generates its own CDRs, which then > show up as calls on your bill. > Can anyone give a definitive, succinct explanation? This is well > outside my field, but it's got me curious, particularly about the > differences between GSM and IS-41. > Nathan Tenny | When the world ends, there'll be no more > Qualcomm, Inc., San Diego, CA | air. That's why it's important to pollute > | the air now. Before it's too late. > | -- Kathy Acker ------------------------------ Subject: Re: System Would Allow 911 Checks From: Mark Atwood Organization: EasyNews, UseNet made Easy! Date: Tue, 21 Dec 2004 09:08:57 GMT Lisa Minter writes: > With the new system, telephone customers call a special number and > follow a few steps for security and privacy protection to hear the 911 > address on record for their phone number. You can do the same thing by just calling 911 during non-peak times and asking them to verify your information. Mark Atwood | When you do things right, people won't be sure mark@atwood.name | you've done anything at all. http://mark.atwood.name/ http://www.livejournal.com/users/fallenpegasus [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But it is better to call the non- emergency administrative number *first* and get their okay before doing that. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Isaiah Beard Subject: Re: Sprint's Merger With Nextel Date: Tue, 21 Dec 2004 10:07:10 -0500 Unfortunately, analysts still fail to grasp something that most people who have a knowledge of wireless have known for years: Marcus Didius Falco wrote: > Its main strength is its acclaimed push to talk feature, which allows > Nextel handsets to be used like walkie-talkies, though the calls are in > fact routed over the cellular network. ^^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^ Even if you use the term loosely, there is no real "cellular network" in iDEN, at least not in the same sense as other cellular carriers. Nextel's network is really just a glorified SMR network, originally intended by Motorola for use as a digital walkie-talkie network that just *happens* to have a very good phone patch built in. Nextel was originally known as Fleet Call, and was originally an analog two-way radio operator until they converted their systems to digital, and then bought up their competitors and converted theirs too... annoying quite a few business customers in the process, too and raising antitrust concerns as they began to monopolize the SMR industry (see http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/cases/indx117.htm for an example). However, Nextel discovered that people didn't want a two-way radio that happened to have cell phone capability for the occasional phone call ... they instead wanted a cell phone that happened to have a built in two-way radio for the occasional dispatch call. And this is where the "Dead end" lies. More than twice the bandwidth was needed to handle a duplex phone call than a dispatch call, and as a result, iDEN's capacity was taxed from the beginning. If you look back at old iDEN handsets, you can see the obvious distinctions (i.e. http://tinyurl.com/568yd ). They were designed more as walkie-talkies with phone keypads attached. Since the big paradigm shift, the handsets have gotten much sleeker. E-mail fudged to thwart spammers. Transpose the c's and a's in my e-mail address to reply. ------------------------------ From: Lisa Minter Subject: A Christmas Carol - 'Lost Boy' Clings to Hope He'll See Mother Date: Mon, 20 Dec 2004 10:54:17 EST By Dahleen Glanton Tribune national correspondent Gabriel Boul was 7 when he last saw his mother. She was on the floor of their home in Sudan, bound and gagged. Nearby, Boul's father, an older sister and a brother lay in a puddle of blood, slain by militiamen who had raided their peaceful village. Four years ago he landed in America, one of the "Lost Boys of Sudan," more than 3,500 young refugees who have made it out of the civil war-torn country and resettled in cities such as Atlanta, Chicago and Salt Lake City since 2000. It was to be the start of a new life. But for Boul, 24, stories rarely have a happy ending. He has liver cancer. Last week, he moved into a hospice. Boul always wondered what happened to his mother. Surely, he thought, she could not have survived the violence that left millions dead or displaced in Sudan during the last two decades. But in September he got an unexpected phone call, and the voice on the other end was his mother, Atong Abor, whom he had not seen in 17 years. "Neither one of us believed it was true," said Boul, a lanky young man whose boyish face looks much younger than the age that refugee camp workers put on his birth certificate. "I just held the phone while she cried for 10 minutes." The call, arranged by a friend who had tracked Boul's mother down in a village in Sudan, was a remarkable gift for Boul, whose life has been a series of hardships and triumphs. The only thing he wishes for now is to see her face to face. With war raging in Sudan, a country with limited diplomatic relations with the U.S., getting his mother to this country is a challenge. But that hasn't stopped his friends in Atlanta from trying. They set up a fund at the Bank of America to accept donations for her travel. They asked Sen. Saxby Chambliss R-Ga.) and former UN Ambassador Andrew Young to help expedite a temporary visa. Chambliss' office confirmed it is working on it. "He is such a good, bright kid, and he deserves this wish," said Janis Sundquist, an Atlanta volunteer, who developed a motherly bond with Boul three years ago while helping him get settled. "Nothing is being done to help the situation in Sudan, and these boys feel forgotten. They feel like God has left them for some reason." Doctors said Boul has only a few months to live. But for a man who has spent his life overcoming odds, this is not news he is willing to accept. There are too many other things to think about, he said, like getting some warm clothes for the winter. His graduation from Open Campus High School, an alternative public school, is coming up in June. He has a job making salads at a restaurant at the airport, and other young refugees in Africa are waiting for the check he sends each month. And there's his dream to return to Sudan and help the sick--as his father, a tribal doctor, did. "He is very motivated and very ambitious," said Dr. Val Akopov, a physician at Emory Crawford Long Hospital. "He was very curious about all the things he was seeing in America, and it is no doubt that he would have been successful here. He has overcome so much, and embracing his mom would complete that circle." Lying in his hospice bed, his frail body often curled up in pain, Boul struggled to talk about the day his family was attacked. He and his 12-year-old brother had been tending cattle when he heard the gunshots. When they got to the house, the militiamen were there. They tied the boys up. They shot his brother as Boul watched. They later left Boul in the house alone, deciding there was no need to kill him because he was too young to survive without food or water. After they left, a neighbor came and took him away. Boul is one of some 26,000 Sudanese boys who fled the violence that destroyed their villages in the late 1980s. He spent four years at a refugee camp in Ethiopia before the boys were forced to return to Sudan. He was 11 when he and others walked more than 1,000 miles through the desert, eating leaves, drinking dirty water and struggling to stay alive for four months, as they made their way to a refugee camp in Kenya. Their name, the "Lost Boys of Sudan," comes from the orphans who followed Peter Pan. Many of the refugees died along the way or after they arrived in Kenya, where disease ravaged the camp. The rescue program initiated by the United Nations and the State Department began bringing the boys to the U.S. in 2000. The resettlement program continues today. Boul can't describe how it would feel to see his mother but said, "It would be a great present for me." In the meantime, morphine will ease the pain from the cancer. And Boul will sleep and wait as long as he can. Even if she does not arrive in time, she will be with him in his dreams, he said, just as she always has. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra . New articles daily.^^ *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 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