TELECOM Digest     Tue, 19 Jul 2005 11:23:00 EDT    Volume 24 : Issue 330

Inside This Issue:                             Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Unlock ATA - Part 1 (Tom Keating)
    Unlock ATA - Part 2 (Johanne Torres)
    SBC Wins Big in Texas Statehouse (Sanford Nowlin)
    Cable Operator to Battle Ma Bell for Downtown Customers (IB Journal)
    Western Electric - Major Works - Status Today? (Lisa Hancock)
    Installation for ESI S-class (justlearning1@hotmail.com)
    Texas House Passes Telecom Bill (S. Reddy)
    Re: Texas House Passes Telecom Bill (Steve Sobol)
    Re: Muzzling Muppets/Bush Wants PBS to Toe Republican Line (Lisa Hancock)
    Re: Muzzling Muppets/Bush Wants PBS to Toe Republican Line (G Wollman)
    Re: Up the Broadband Creek Without a Signal (Scott Dorsey)

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----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Tom Keating <keating@telecom-digest.org> 
Subject: Unlock ATA - Part 1
Date: Mon, 18 Jul 2005 14:21:21 -0500


(From Tom Keating's Blog)

I just came across Johanne Torres' interesting article: DVG-1402S:
The First Unlocked VoIP Router?

In case you weren't aware, SIPPhone sued Vonage for allegedly
releasing misleading packaging and advertising on locked VoIP ATAs
(analog telephony adaptors) from Cisco's Linksys.

In the suit, SIPphone demanded that Vonage properly label boxes and
advertisements to list the mandatory fees and restrictions of their
locked hardware, which I wrote about awhile back in this blog
entry. I'm all for open standards, so I tended to side with SIPPhone
from a moral standing, but that doesn't mean that Linksys and Vonage
were doing anything illegal.  Partnering is as much a part of
capitalism as anything else.

Anyway, it appears that in her article, Johanne Torres mentions the
D-Link DVG-1402S is now supported by SIPPhone, and the article also
states that the D-Link DVG-1402S is the first "ATA firewall/router
combo" from a major manufacturer -- namely D-Link that is not tied to a
specific VoIP service provider. (Most router/firewall ATA devices are
locked to a specific VoIP service provider.)

I should mention that Zoom also has an "unlocked ATA" which I recently
reviewed, but unlike most ATAs, their ATA is not only a
firewall/router ATA device but it features an integrated DSL modem --
but it does require DSL service to work -- cable broadband users need
not apply!  Actually, I take that back. I just recalled that 2 out of
the 3 Zoom products are DSL-based, but they do offer an "unlocked
SIP-based ATA router/firewall combo" -- the Zoomtel V3 Model 5567 that
works with cable broadband, DSL (using your existing DSL modem), or
other IP connectivity.

So I guess technically there are two manufacturers offering unlocked
ATAs, but Zoom is certainly less well-known than D-Link, so maybe they
don't fall under the "major manufacturer" category stated in Johanne's
article.

The D-link DVG-1402S hasn't been out long, but it already has started
to build a fan-base. For instance, there's an interesting 2-page
thread in the VoIP Forum about the D-Link DVG-1402S titled "Need To
Unlock D-Link DVG-1402S" you should go check out.

Updated: Hmmm, it appears Linksys was also offering an unlocked ATA
but pulled it from the market.

Did I miss any others? Let me know ...

TrackBack for Unlocked ATA:
http://blog.tmcnet.com/cgi-bin/mt-tb.cgi/1111 First open VoIP router?
Hardly. from PhoneBoy's Blog I've seen covered a couple of places, but
the D-Link DVG-1402S is not the first unlocked VoIP router I believe
that honor belongs to the Sipura SPA-2100, which has been out for a
few weeks. The SPA-2100 has a fairly ... 

Comments on Unlocked ATA
Re: Unlocked ATA
Um, what about the Sipura SPA-2100?
Posted by: PhoneBoy 

Yeah, I was wondering to myself if Sipura had a ATA router/firewall
combo device that wasn't locked down. I remembered I wrote about the
Sipura 2100 when it came out here:
http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/tom-keating/voip/voip-blog/sipura-spa2100-and-spa841-ata.asp
And like you say it is unlocked.

Actually, didn't Linksys OEM the Sipura firmware? But Linksys
"locks" the device to one VoIP service provider, so that negates Sipura's
openness that they have in their own box.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: In part 2 of this article today, we
will look at the original article presented by Johanne Torres.  PAT]

------------------------------

From: Johanne Torres <jtorres@tmcnet.com>
Subject: Unlocked ATA - Part 2
Date: Mon, 18 Jul 2005 14:27:47 -0500


DVG-1402S: The First Unlocked VoIP Router?
BY JOHANNE TORRES

SIPphone Inc., the VoIP-based calling service from MP3.com's founder
Michael Robertson, today announced the immediate availability of the
D-Link Broadband Phone Service VoIP Router DVG-1402S. The new router
created by D-Link-not intentionally restricted to a particular VoIP
service, can be configured for use with any SIP standards-based VoIP
service, with no fees or penalties to the customer.

The San Diego, CA-based company says the DVG-1402S router works in
seconds out of the box with the SIPphone's free service. According to
Robertson-SIPphone's CEO, in the VoIP industry, services like Vonage
and AT&T pay manufacturers to lock otherwise standards-based hardware
to their service. Robertson says that these payments come in many
forms including price subsidies, rebates and development funds.

"Take a look at any of the other VoIP adapters or routers on the shelf
in the store and you will see the word 'free' sprinkled across every
surface of the box, but this is misleading. The DVG-1402S is, the only
VoIP adapter or router from a major manufacturer you can use out of
the box without paying monthly fees," added Robertson. "Can you
imagine if AOL paid Dell to lock modems to their dialup service? It is
unthinkable, and yet that is just what VoIP providers like Vonage are
doing with voice adapters," says Robertson.

Last September, SIPphone filed suit against Vonage for allegedly
releasing misleading packaging and advertising on locked VoIP adapters
from Cisco's Linksys. In the suit, SIPphone demanded that Vonage
properly label boxes and advertisements to list the mandatory fees and
restrictions of their locked hardware. According to SIPphone, with the
availability of the DVG-1402S router, the company will enable
consumers to choose a feature rich, unlocked adapter.

The D-Link DVG-1402S enables standard phones to be used for placing
calls over the Internet while sharing the incoming Internet connection
across up to four different PCs. Using existing broadband connection,
the D-Link DVG-1402S connects directly to a cable or DSL modem in
place of a traditional router using a firewall protection. When users
connect up to two regular phones to the D-Link DVG-1402S, it enables
them to connect to SIPphone's Internet telephone service for free.

Compatible with SIPphone's free call features such as in-network
calling, caller ID, voicemail-to-email, conference calling, call
hunting, SMS notification, call waiting, and call blocking, the D-Link
DVG-1402S also acts like a router for a home or business network,
providing room to connect up to four computers to share an Internet
connection without affecting call quality.

The DVG-1402S fully supports SIPphone's leading auto-configuration
standard, Plug-N-Dial. With Plug-N-Dial, consumers get a working VoIP
phone just seconds after plugging in the DVG-1402S to a regular
telephone and a broadband connection. The router is currently
available for $99 at SIPphone's Web site.

SIPphone  http://www.sipphone.com

Johanne Torres is contributing editor for TMCnet.com
and Internet Telephony magazine. Previously, she was assistant editor for
EContent magazine in Connecticut. She can be reached by e-mail at
jtorres@tmcnet.com.

Subscribe FREE to all of TMC's monthly magazines.

Technology Marketing Corporation,
One Technology Plaza, Norwalk, CT 06854 USA
Ph: 800-243-6002, 203-852-6800; Fx: 203-853-2845
General comments: tmc@tmcnet.com.

Copyright 1997-2005 Technology Marketing Corp.

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------------------------------

From: Sanford Nowlin <Express-News@telecom-digest.org>
Subject: SBC Wins Big in (Texas) State House 
Date: Mon, 18 Jul 2005 14:13:49 -0500


By Sanford Nowlin Express-News Business Writer

The Texas House of Representatives voted 135-6 Sunday to pass a
controversial bill that would make it easier for the state's biggest
phone companies to offer pay television service.

Supporters of the measure -- which the Senate approved with minor
differences Wednesday -- said it would create jobs and investment by
letting SBC Communications Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. each
negotiate a single franchise with the state to offer video.

Under current rules, the companies must negotiate agreements with each
city they plan to serve -- just as their cable competitors did. But
San Antonio-based SBC and New York-based Verizon have argued that
reaching individual agreements would slow their rollouts.

"(With passage of the bill), we're going to see competition increase
year after year," said Rep. Phil King, R-Weatherford, who championed
the measure. "It will be kind of like what happened with local service
and long distance."

But cable carriers hotly opposed the measure, as did some cities. They
said it would give the phone giants an unfair advantage, let them
bypass low-income neighborhoods, and strip money from city coffers.

"This bill is such a giveaway, we should be calling it SBC 21,"
Houston Democrat Rep. Harold Dutton said, playing on the name of the
bill, SB 21.

The measure also allows SBC and other dominant phone companies to
increase prices for add-on phone service in large markets like San
Antonio and in smaller ones where they can show they face competition.

Under the bill, basic phone rates would remain frozen until the 2007
legislative session.

SBC and Verizon lobbied vigorously for the new franchise rules. Each
is spending billions to break into the video business as cable
carriers chip away at their phone markets.

If the bill passes, Texas will be the first state to simplify its
video franchising rules to make it easier for SBC and Verizon to roll
out video. The Federal Communications Commission also is expected to
weigh in on the matter.

Lawmakers debated a similar measure during the regular legislative
session, but it died when the House and Senate couldn't iron out major
differences.

Observers said the new bill also could die if lawmakers can't complete
work on new school finance rules. School funding is the main focus of the
30-day special legislative session that ends Wednesday.

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst on Friday said the Senate won't act on any
other bills until it can consider school finance changes. The Senate
would need to approve alterations made to the bill in the House before
it can be signed into law.

Portions Copyright 2005 KENS 5 and the San Antonio Express-News.

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------------------------------

From: Indianapolis Business Journal <ibp@telecom-digest.org>
Subject: Cable Operator to Battle Ma Bell For Downtown Customers
Date: Mon, 18 Jul 2005 14:15:54 -0500


Bright House Networks plans a fourth-quarter launch of residential
phone service via its cable television system, bringing new
competition to entrenched SBC Communications and to local exchange
resellers in the heart of the city.

That area includes the downtown business district, where Bright House
already provides cable TV and high-speed Internet. Phone service
tailored for commercial use "is probably a year out," said Doug
Murray, general manager of voice services in Indianapolis for the
St. Petersburg-based company.

Such a product "will be raising the level of sophistication of the
service quite a bit. When you start dealing with mission-critical
needs, you want to make sure it's right."

While phone service initially will be targeted to residential
customers, "We certainly anticipate there will be teleworkers" signing
up this year, said Murray, noting the segment that works part of the
time at home.

Following "very quickly" will be a rollout of phone service to Bright
House's customers in Carmel and Zionsville.

Pricing of the phone product for Bright House's 120,000 customers
hasn't been set, but is to be competitive with other cable systems
offering phone service.

Bright House already offers phone service over its Tampa Bay cable
system, at $49.95 as a stand-alone service and at $39.95 when
purchased with other product offerings, such as cable and Internet.

Locally, cable provider Comcast launched phone service in January at a
stand-alone price of nearly $55, or $39.95 when bundled. It includes
unlimited local and long-distance calls.

Comcast also plans to offer a phone package for businesses down the
road, said Mark Apple, spokesman for the Philadelphia-based company's
local operations. "We're still in the infancy of this product."

For now, Comcast is busy expanding its residential reach for the phone
product.

"Within a month, we will be launching to our customers in Hendricks
County," he said.

Apple won't disclose how many phone customers Comcast has signed up,
only that the number has exceeded expectations. Customer service
agents have been pitching the new phone offering to customers calling
to order cable and Internet products, Apple said.

While it's possible to get basic phone service cheaper from SBC,
Comcast boasts that its cable-based phone offering includes a dozen
premium features that phone companies tend to charge extra for,
including three-way calling and Caller ID.

"There's no question the competition and the cable companies are
aggressively promoting and offering voice services in central
Indiana," said SBC spokesman Mike Marker. "There's going to be more
companies competing for business."

While Comcast and Bright House move onto its turf, SBC is becoming
more like its competitors. Last year it offered satellite TV service,
through a partnership with Dish Network. SBC is planning to supplement
its broadband Internet service with a high-speed Internet product
through Dish.  SBC also is updating its existing phone network to be
able to offer video services to residential customers.

Business versions of cable phone service are likely to be much more
advanced. Bright House, for example, is looking at the capability of
nine-way teleconferencing. Also, it would offer local businesses
alternative phone numbers, such as those with the same area code of
customers in distant cities-projecting a local flavor to those
customers and eliminating a toll charge.

Making possible such features is Voice Over Internet Protocol, or
VOIP, a technology that underpins the phone offerings of cable
providers. It digitizes voice into packets, compresses them and sends
the information over the Internet or privately managed data networks.

VOIP allows more than eight times the number of calls on the same line
than traditional switched telephone technology.

VOIP is used in different ways. Firms such as Edison, N.J.based
Vonage, which has heavily advertised its phone product, require
customers to have high-speed Internet service. Customers plug phones
and fax machines into a special adapter.

Customers of Comcast's system, on the other hand, don't need an
Internet connection. The phone service is hard-wired into a customer's
existing phone junction box, so all the existing phone jacks in the
building are enabled.

Whatever the flavor, the number of U.S. subscribers to residential
VOIP services is likely to grow to 27 million by 2010 vs. 3 million
today, according to Framingham, Mass.-based International Data Corp.

VOIP penetration also is growing in business applications. Local phone
service provider SBC, for example, already offers VOIP packages that
are integrated into business's overall communications network. Last
fall, SBC announced it was developing for the University of Notre Dame
a system that includes a single inbox for voice and e-mail messages. 
It is also developing a network for Ford Motor Co.

Such systems increasingly are replacing aging Centrex and other phone
systems and merge voice with the functionality, of the Internet. Some
analysts forecast that business VOIP could become a nearly $8 billion
market by 2008.

Copyright IBJ Corporation Jun 13, 2005
Copyright 2005, YellowBrix, Inc.
Copyright)1996-2001 Accenture

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------------------------------

From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com
Subject: Western Electric - Major Works - Status Today?
Date: 18 Jul 2005 12:39:17 -0700


The Western Electric Co, manfuacturing arm of the Bell System, had
three large factory complexes ("works") in Chicago (Hawthorne), Kearny
NJ, and Baltimore (Breezy Pt).  I get the impression all three are
long closed up, if the buildings even exist?

W/E also built some newer facilities to make computer components for
modern gear, such as in Allentown PA.  I take it today Lucent
(successor to W/E) uses those places, though I presume Lucent is far,
far smaller than W/E.  I also recall W/E having a modern office
building in Newark NJ (near the train station) in the mid 1980s, and I
wonder if that is in use by Lucent today.

FWIW, in W/E's early days, they made relays for Hollerith's tabulating
machines.  Hollerith's outfit became IBM.

[public replies please]

------------------------------

From: justlearning1@hotmail.com
Subject: Installation for ESI S-Class
Date: 18 Jul 2005 13:10:46 -0700


Thank you in advance for your help.

We just purchased an ESI S-class system with two hour voice mail
(Norvergence Matrix CCS) from ebay because we couldn't afford the
reseller's price.

Does anyone know where I can obtain the installation and programming
guide?  I am really interested in the pinout for the port card
connector so I can wire up the phones, fax machine, and COs.

Does anyone know where I can get the EDI-admin software?

I don't mind paying a consulting fee or something for assistance.

Thanks,

Tom

------------------------------

From: Sudeep Reddy <sreddy@dallasnews.com>
Subject: House Okays TV and Phone Service Bill
Date: Mon, 18 Jul 2005 14:11:07 -0500


Cable industry and cities have vigorously opposed the legislation

By SUDEEP REDDY / The Dallas Morning News

In a major victory for the two largest phone companies, the Texas
House passed major legislation Sunday to create greater competition
for the cable television industry and ultimately transfer authority
for TV service from cities to state regulators.

WHAT'S AT STAKE

The telecom legislation would:

Allow phone companies to receive statewide franchises for their new TV
services, bypassing city governments.

Deregulate basic phone rates, allowing phone companies to raise prices.

Let electric utilities deliver broadband Internet service over their
power lines.

SBC Communications Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc., armed with a
bevy of lobbyists, sought the controversial measure to ease their
entry into the TV battleground.

Both companies plan to roll out Internet-based digital TV services
this year, part of a heated battle with cable companies to offer the
so-called triple play of phone, TV and Internet service through a
single provider.

The cable industry and city officials strongly fought the measure,
arguing it gives phone companies an unfair advantage, strips consumer
protections, and wrests control and revenue from cities.

The legislation allows the phone giants to receive statewide
franchises for their services instead of going through lengthy
negotiations with individual cities, as the cable industry has had to
do for decades.

"Consumers should have another choice if they're unhappy with their
existing providers," said state Rep. Phil King, R-Weatherford, the
House's leading proponent of the measure. "This bill allows more
companies to provide more service to more consumers."

The House passed the bill 135-6 after a two-hour debate focused
largely on whether phone companies would discriminate by targeting the
most affluent customers.

Phone companies say an emerging technology shouldn't be forced to
follow the same rollout requirements as cable faces now.

The legislation passed the Senate 25-3 last week but requires approval
again by the upper house because of minor changes. Its passage could
hinge on the progress of school finance and tax legislation, the
primary purpose of the special session that ends Wednesday.

The telecommunications bill, one of the biggest business issues in
Austin this year, failed to clear the regular session that ended in
May.

Gov. Rick Perry added the issue to the session's agenda last week.

Raise rates

The legislation also allows phone companies to raise rates in the
largest communities.

Once state regulators certify that adequate competition for phone
service exists, rates in smaller regions can be raised.

It also allows electric utilities to deliver broadband Internet
service over their power lines, a technology that's intended to bring
high-speed Internet access to rural areas.

In the video provisions, the bill allows phone companies to receive
statewide franchises for TV services within a month, instead of as
long as 18 months that they'd need at the city level.

Cities would maintain their existing franchises with cable operators,
with phone companies operating under the same franchise-fee structure
until the local cable franchises expire.

Ultimately, cities would yield control over cable service to state
regulators, which could receive complaints from customers but not take
action against the companies.

several lawmakers have objected to the Legislature's fast-track
handling of the phone measure while failing to make progress in
helping public education or lowering property taxes as promised.

Referring to the Senate bill's number, SB 21, Rep. Harold Dutton,
D-Houston, said the legislation gives SBC "special-interest rules."

"This bill is such a hand-over-fist giveaway that we really ought to
call it SBC 21," Mr. Dutton said.

Companies on both sides have sparred over rising rates of their
competitors.

Phone companies cited rising cable prices over the years. The cable
industry warned of price increases for phone service, noting SBC's
higher prices for features such as caller ID and speed dialing after
their deregulation.

Level playing field

"Consumers benefit when there is a level playing field," Time Warner
Cable-Austin president Tom Kinney, chairman of the Texas Cable &
Telecommunications Association, said Sunday. "This legislation gives
every economic and regulatory advantage to big phone companies."

Lawmakers cited an economist's projections that the bill would create
12,000 jobs in the state and spur $1.8 billion in annual investment and
spending.

Steve Banta, Verizon's Southwest region president, said the company
hoped to "soon bring a new option for consumers who have been held
captive by cable TV companies for too long."

SBC Texas president Jan Newton said Sunday that the House passage
"demonstrates that this issue continues to center around Texas
consumers and the need to provide them with more choices and
competitive prices in TV and entertainment."

E-mail sreddy@dallasnews.com

Copyright 2005 The Dallas Morning News Co.

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believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material
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For more information go to:
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------------------------------

From: Steve Sobol <sjsobol@JustThe.net>
Subject: Re: Texas House Passes Telecom Bill
Date: Mon, 18 Jul 2005 12:12:56 -0700
Organization: Glorb Internet Services, http://www.glorb.com


USTelecom dailyLead wrote:

> USTelecom dailyLead
> July 18, 2005
> http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=23122&l=2017006

> 		TODAY'S HEADLINES

> NEWS OF THE DAY
> * Texas House passes telecom bill

"The telecom legislation would:

Allow phone companies to receive statewide franchises for their new TV 
services, bypassing city governments.

Deregulate basic phone rates, allowing phone companies to raise prices.

Let electric utilities deliver broadband Internet service over their
power lines.

SBC Communications Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc., armed with a bevy 
of lobbyists, sought the controversial measure to ease their entry into the 
TV battleground."

SBC of San Antonio, and a company hatched from what used to be
Irving-based GTE.

It doesn't surprise me that Texas passed this bill.


JustThe.net - Steve Sobol / sjsobol@JustThe.net / PGP: 0xE3AE35ED
Coming to you from Southern California's High Desert, where the
temperatures are as high as the gas prices! / 888.480.4NET (4638)

"Life's like an hourglass glued to the table"   --Anna Nalick, "Breathe"


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But does it surprise you that SBC talks
out of both sides of its mouth at one time; trying to insist that the
newer services like VOIP be absolutely required to go through all the
legal hoops at SBC now wants to avoid for itself?   PAT]

------------------------------

From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com
Subject: Re: Muzzling the Muppets/Bush Wants PBS to Toe Republican Line
Date: 18 Jul 2005 14:02:16 -0700


John McHarry wrote:

> Of course, one has to wonder why those whose profession is the study
> of history tend to have liberal views. Is there something in the
> detailed study of what has happened in the past that leads to such a
> position? Or is it just that those with other views tend more to spend
> their lives in other fields?

Interesting question.  It seems that those attracted to fields of the
"letters" tend to be more liberal-oriented than those attracted to the
fields of the "numbers".

When I was in college the engineer/science/business students and
faculty were either politically conservative or apolitical.  The
humanities majors and faculty were more political and generally
liberal.

You can see the difference in the writings of the two types.  The
first group tend to write in no-nonsense prose top down, "saw this/did
that" in more objective terms.  The second group tends to write in
more abstract prose, such as focusing on people and their feelings
instead of the physical environment.

I know first-hand that the "politically correct" movement was real and
strong with a powerful influence on public discourse, politics, and
academics in certain areas (some places were much stronger than
others).  I believe that movement did far more harm than good by
forcing a distortion of the facts* and public discussion of the real
issues.  That's bad communication.  I think in some productions PBS
was at fault -- in the example I cited in an earlier post, as well in
some other productions.

I really want PBS to be truly independent without political
interference -- pressure from the right is no better than pressure
from the left.

*I recall a writer in a newspaper article claiming a new school was
built in the 1950s and was segregated -- the black kids had to walk past
it to their own school.  That was a lie and wrong.  The new school was
actually a distance away from the old school and separated by natural
barriers (a park hill and an unbridged railroad line).

  Another instance is unrealistically representing minorities/ poor/
handicapped and related issues in story lines -- more so than they do
in reality.  PBS ran a Canandian children's series "Degrassi Jr High"
that seemed to focus on a contemporary social issue every week.  Real
life isn't like that for most people, and constant issues exposure
becomes propaganda.  Now I realize TV in the early 1960s was generally
unrealistically bland, but going to the other extreme doesn't make it
right.  I will give "All in the Family" credit because while it
usually made Archie to be the bad guy, it would poke fun at Mike's
ignorance as well.

------------------------------

From: wollman@khavrinen.csail.mit.edu (Garrett Wollman)
Subject:  Re: Muzzling the Muppets/Bush Wants PBS to Toe Republican Line
Date: Mon, 18 Jul 2005 18:58:52 UTC
Organization:  MIT Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Laboratory


In article <telecom24.328.7@telecom-digest.org>, John McHarry
<jmcharry@comcast.net> wrote:

> Of course, one has to wonder why those whose profession is the study
> of history tend to have liberal views. Is there something in the
> detailed study of what has happened in the past that leads to such a
> position?

[This is far off-topic for Telecom, so please keep followups to me
privately.]

It should not be surprising that academia is skewed to the left,
politically, although it was not always so.  Conservatives tend to be
people who define their success in terms which are more readily
achievable in politics or in business than in academic research.  It's
a rare person who has the ability and desire to succeed in two realms.

Before the 1960s, university faculties were full of sort of academic
conservatives we don't see too much any more: indolent white men from
wealthy families who had no aptitude for business or law; this was
reinforced by the popular social theories of the time.  (In one
documented example, most of Columbia's faculty supported Wendell
Wilkie over Franklin D. Roosevelt.)

-- 
Garrett A. Wollman    | As the Constitution endures, persons in every
wollman@csail.mit.edu | generation can invoke its principles in their own
Opinions not those    | search for greater freedom.
of MIT or CSAIL.      | - A. Kennedy, Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003)

------------------------------

From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey)
Subject: Re: Up the Broadband Creek Without a Signal
Date: 18 Jul 2005 15:50:29 -0400
Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000)


James R. Hood  <consumeraffairs@telecom-digest.org> wrote:

> It's a little puzzling why broadband Internet via electrical lines
> hasn't taken off. The copper wires that deliver electricity to homes
> and offices are capable of moving a lot of data at very low cost but
> the technology just hasn't gotten the attention it would seem to
> deserve.

It has somethong to do with the fact that it doesn't work.

> That may be changing, though. A Maryland company that provides
> high-speed Internet access over electrical power lines last week
> received a major investment from Google Inc., the Hearst Corp. and
> Goldman Sachs.  Current Communications Group declined to disclose
> financial terms of the investment though the Wall Street Journal
> reported that it approached $100 million.

> If the FCC stays out of the picture, maybe this will go somewhere.

I doubt it.  All the money in the world won't make a system intended
for narrowband power delivery handle higher frequency data traffic
reliably.

Scott
 
"C'est un Nagra.  C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

------------------------------


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