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TELECOM Digest     Fri, 16 Sep 2005 18:13:00 EDT    Volume 24 : Issue 423

Inside This Issue:                             Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Telecom Update #497, Sept. 16, 2005 (Angus TeleManagement Group)
    Broadband Bill Addresses Advanced Services (USTelecom dailyLead)
    Cellular-News for Friday 16th September 2005 (Cellular-News)
    Re: BellSouth/AT&T New Orleans "Main" at Baronne & Poydras (P Coxwell)
    Re: Flat Rate Water, was: Verizon Complaints About EVDO (Paul Coxwell)
    Re: Roaming Charges (John Levine)
    Re: Roaming Charges (Ken Abrams)
    Re: Back in the Cord-Board Days (Paul Coxwell)
    Re: How a Telephone Works (Paul Coxwell)
    Re: Back to the Future in 845-268 Land (Paul Coxwell)
    Re: Back to the Future in 845-268 Land (Isaiah Beard)

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.  

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

Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2005 11:31:21 -0700
Subject: Telecom Update #497, Sept. 16, 2005
From: Angus TeleManagement Group <jriddell@angustel.ca>
Reply-To: Angus TeleManagement Group <jriddell@angustel.ca>


************************************************************
TELECOM UPDATE 
************************************************************
published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group 
http://www.angustel.ca

Number 497: September 16, 2005

Publication of Telecom Update is made possible by generous 
financial support from: 
** AVAYA: www.avaya.ca/en/
** BELL CANADA: www.bell.ca 
** CISCO SYSTEMS CANADA: www.cisco.com/ca/ 
** ERICSSON: www.ericsson.ca
** MITEL NETWORKS: www.mitel.com/
** NEC UNIFIED SOLUTIONS: www.necunifiedsolutions.com
** ROGERS TELECOM: www.rogers.com/solutions 
** VONAGE CANADA: www.vonage.ca

************************************************************

IN THIS ISSUE: 

** Cellcos Want Two Years to Make Numbers Portable
** CRTC Wants Comment on Wireless Portability
** Rogers and Bell Plan Wireless Broadband Net
** Telus--Over Half of Alberta TWU Members Working
** FCC to Aid in Hurricane Relief
** Zarlink Offers "Timing Over Packet" Devices
** Policy Panel Receives Second-Round Submissions
** Comments Invited on VoIP Appeals to Cabinet
** CCTA Wants Small CLECs' Obligations Reduced
** CRTC Asks Bell to Clarify VoIP Number Portability Issues
** Aliant Denied Relief on Winback & Promotion Rules
** Quebecor Says Bell is Violating Winback Rules
** RIM Faces New Suit
** Nokia to Launch Push Email
** EBay Snaps Up Skype
** U.S. Congress Reviews Telecom Act
** Nortel Legal Chief Resigns
** Aliant Names New CFO
** Special Offer to Telecom Update Readers

============================================================

CELLCOS WANT TWO YEARS TO MAKE NUMBERS PORTABLE: If a plan proposed by
the wireless carriers is implemented, Canadians won't be able to keep
their phone numbers when they switch wireless carriers, or switch
between wireline and wireless, until September 2007. The proposal,
based on a PricewaterhouseCoopers report commissioned by the Canadian
Wireless Telecommunications Association, has been submitted to
Industry Canada.

** Wireless Number Portability has been operating across the 
   United States for nearly two years. Early this year, the 
   federal government asked the CRTC to "move expeditiously 
   to implement wireless number portability."

** Richard Branson, head of Virgin Mobile, charges that "the 
   big carriers are dragging their heels on giving customers 
   the freedom they deserve because it works to their 
   advantage -- it helps to keep their customers locked in with 
   one carrier." He says the change could be made "in only a 
   few months."

CRTC WANTS COMMENT ON WIRELESS PORTABILITY: CRTC Telecom Public Notice
2005-14, issued at 2pm today, asks for public comment on issues
related to the introduction of Wireless Number Portability, including
ways to shorten the implementation time frame proposed by the CWTA. To
participate, notify the Commission by September 26 and submit comments
by October 6.

http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Notices/2005/pt2005-14.htm

ROGERS AND BELL PLAN WIRELESS BROADBAND NET: Rogers Communications and
Bell Canada have agreed to pool their broadband spectrum holdings and
build a Canada-wide wireless broadband network through a joint
venture, Inukshuk Internet.

** This project was begun early in 2004, when Inukshuk 
   was owned by Microcell (Fido), Allstream, and NR 
   Communications. Last year Rogers acquired Microcell and 
   MTS bought Allstream. MTS then sold its stake in Inukshuk 
   to Rogers and NR, and Bell has now agreed to buy all of 
   NR's share. (See Telecom Update #409, 423, 467)

TELUS -- OVER HALF OF ALBERTA TWU MEMBERS WORKING: Telus says that
52.6% of its unionized employees in Alberta were reporting for work as
of August 31, up from 48.8% in mid-August. The company has not
released any figures for British Columbia, where a majority of the
bargaining unit members are located.

FCC TO AID IN HURRICANE RELIEF: The U.S. Federal Communications
Commission has allocated $211 million from the Universal Service Fund
to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina. Among other things, the funds
will provide wireless handsets and 300 free minutes to evacuees and
others, and will help pay the costs of reconnecting consumers to the
telecommunications network as the disaster-struck area is rebuilt.
 
** The Commission is creating an expert panel to recommend 
   ways to improve disaster preparedness, network 
   robustness and reliability, and public safety operations.
 
ZARLINK OFFERS "TIMING OVER PACKET" DEVICES: Ottawa-based Zarlink
Semiconductor has introduced two Timing-over-Packet devices, which aim
to enable wireless carriers to achieve "circuit-switched performance
over an economic packet infrastructure."

POLICY PANEL RECEIVES SECOND-ROUND SUBMISSIONS: September 15 was the
deadline for reply comments to be submitted to the Telecom Policy
Review.  All comments will be posted on the panel's website.

http://www.telecomreview.ca/epic/internet/intprp-gecrt.nsf/en/rx00044e.html

** Archived presentations from last week's broadband 
   consultation in Whitehorse, and the Web forum on the same 
   topic, are also available on the panel's website.

http://www.telecomreview.ca/epic/internet/intprpgecrt.nsf/en/h_rx00038e.html#webcast

COMMENTS INVITED ON VoIP APPEALS TO CABINET: Industry Canada has published
a notice in the Canada Gazette, inviting comment on the various appeals
submitted to Cabinet requesting changes to the CRTC's VoIP decision (see
Telecom Update #488, 490, 492).

http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/internet/insmt-gst.nsf/en/sf08446e.html 

http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/internet/insmt-gst.nsf/en/sf06105e.html 

http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2005/dt2005-28.htm 

CCTA WANTS SMALL CLECs' OBLIGATIONS REDUCED: The Canadian Cable
Telecommunications Association says that many of its small members
want to offer VoIP by contracting with a reseller, but this makes it
impossible for them to comply with some of the CLEC obligations, such
as interconnecting with other carriers, providing equal access to all
long distance carriers, or supporting number portability.

http://www.crtc.gc.ca/PartVII/eng/2005/8622/c13_200510695.htm

CRTC ASKS BELL TO CLARIFY VoIP NUMBER PORTABILITY ISSUES: The CRTC has
asked Bell Canada to explain why its Digital Voice service does not
support number portability on secondary numbers, and how the telco
plans to remedy this limitation (see Telecom Update #496).

http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Letters/2005/lt050906.htm

ALIANT DENIED RELIEF ON WINBACK & PROMOTION RULES: The CRTC has turned
down Aliant's request for interim relief from the rules restricting
its winback and local promotion activity in Nova Scotia and P.E.I. The
Commission said removing these rules prematurely could reduce
competition.  The substantive issues will be examined in the local
forbearance proceeding and in the Bell/SaskTel application to have
winback rules declared a Charter violation.

http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2005/dt2005-53.htm 

http://www.crtc.gc.ca/PartVII/eng/2005/8640/c12_200505076.htm 

http://www.crtc.gc.ca/PartVII/eng/2005/8622/b2_200505068.htm 

QUEBECOR SAYS BELL IS VIOLATING WINBACK RULES: Quebecor, on behalf of
its subsidiary Videotron, says Bell Canada has been violating the
winback rules by addressing automated calls, "survey" calls, or mailed
cards to customers leaving Bell for Videotron. Quebecor wants the CRTC
to order Bell to stop such practices immediately.

http://www.crtc.gc.ca/PartVII/eng/2005/8622/q15_200510710.htm

RIM FACES NEW SUIT: A New York-based developer, Eatoni Ergonomics, is
suing Research In Motion, alleging that RIM is wrongly using its
patented keyboard technology. RIM has settled suits by several
high-tech companies but is still locked in a patent battle with NTP
Inc.

NOKIA TO LAUNCH PUSH EMAIL: Nokia is developing software to push email
and business applications to smartphones and other mobile
devices. Nokia Business Centre, developed in collaboration with Good
Technology, will be available from some carriers by year-end.

EBAY SNAPS UP SKYPE: Online auctioneer eBay has agreed to buy Skype
Technologies, an Internet phone company based in Luxembourg, for about
US$2.6 billion. More than 50 million users have signed up for Skype's
free worldwide computer-to-computer calling service.

U.S. CONGRESS REVIEWS TELECOM ACT: The Energy and Commerce Committee
of the U.S. House of Representatives is asking for public comment on
draft amendments to the 1996 Telecommunications Act. The amendments
would set a framework for regulating broadband Internet and VoIP
services.

http://energycommerce.house.gov/108/News/09152005_staff_disc.pdf 

NORTEL LEGAL CHIEF RESIGNS: Nortel Networks Chief Legal Officer
Nicolas DeRoma has retired. DeRoma, 59, joined Nortel in 1997.

ALIANT NAMES NEW CFO: Aliant has named its VP Finance and Controller
Glen Leblanc as Chief Financial Officer. The post has been filled
since February by CEO Jay Forbes.

SPECIAL OFFER TO TELECOM UPDATE READERS: It's just four weeks until
Telemanagement Live, Canada's preeminent conference and exhibition on
business telecom and networking. Telecom Update subscribers who
register online now will receive a $200 discount on an All Access
pass, including all sessions and meals and a ticket to the
Telecommunications Hall of Fame Dinner.

** To qualify, register at http://www.telemanagementlive.com and 
   enter AMBP95 in the "promotional code" field.

============================================================

HOW TO SUBMIT ITEMS FOR TELECOM UPDATE

E-mail ianangus@angustel.ca and jriddell@angustel.ca

===========================================================

HOW TO SUBSCRIBE (OR UNSUBSCRIBE)

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===========================================================

COPYRIGHT AND CONDITIONS OF USE: All contents copyright 2005 Angus
TeleManagement Group Inc. All rights reserved. For further
information, including permission to reprint or reproduce, please
e-mail jriddell@angustel.ca.

The information and data included has been obtained from sources which
we believe to be reliable, but Angus TeleManagement makes no
warranties or representations whatsoever regarding accuracy,
completeness, or adequacy.  Opinions expressed are based on
interpretation of available information, and are subject to change. If
expert advice on the subject matter is required, the services of a
competent professional should be obtained.

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

Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2005 14:28:09 EDT
From: USTelecom dailyLead  <ustelecom@dailylead.com>
Subject: Broadband Bill Addresses Advanced Services


USTelecom dailyLead
September 16, 2005
http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=24675&l=2017006

		TODAY'S HEADLINES
	
NEWS OF THE DAY
* Broadband bill addresses advanced services
BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH
* BellSouth bounces back after Katrina
* Rogers Communications, Bell Canada to launch wireless broadband network
* DT won't unload T-Mobile USA
* Behind the story on the AOL-MSN talks
* Nortel to resell Airspan's WiMAX gear
USTELECOM SPOTLIGHT 
* Presented by ILC: Broadband Services: Network Provisioning Across Multiple Technologies
EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES
* Report: IPTV to buoy VOD growth
VOIP DOWNLOAD
* Economist: VoIP's impact heard loud and clear
* Analysts examine eBay-Skype deal
REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE
* FCC releases $211M to rebuild communications network

Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others.
http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=24675&l=2017006

Legal and Privacy information at
http://www.dailylead.com/about/privacy_legal.jsp

SmartBrief, Inc.
1100 H ST NW, Suite 1000
Washington, DC 20005

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

Subject: Cellular-News for Friday 16th September 2005
Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2005 07:28:06 -0500
From: Cellular-News <dailydigest@cellular-news.com>


Cellular-News - www.cellular-news.com

  UK's Largest WLAN Network
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14067.php

As part of a major overhaul of IT infrastructure at the University
College London Hospitals (UCLH) NHS Trust, Aruba Networks WLAN
technology has been used to create what is believed to be the United
Kingdom's largest sin...

  Using Cellphones To Create Art
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14068.php

Boffins from MIT have taken anonymous cell phone usage information to
create some interesting profiles of cities. Today the experience,
infrastructure and morphology of the city are more closely related
than ever before....


  3G Launch in Bulgaria
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14069.php

Bulgaria's M-Tel has announced the technical launch of its UMTS
network, with commercial services due within a few months. The company
has already launched an EDGE upgrade to its GSM network....

  Donuts into Cellphones - 100th Store for Franchise Chain
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14070.php

Cellular superstore franchise Wireless Toyz this week opens its 100th
store with its first location in Anaheim, California. The company has
added 37 outlets since last January and says that it is scheduled to
open 50 mor...

  Chinese Vendor Launches 3G Handset
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14071.php

China's TCT is to launch its first WCDMA handset, using a reference
design from Royal Philips Electronics. TCL Communication Technology
(TCT) is a leader in its domestic market, with sales of approximately
15 million han...

  European Operator Wants Second Hand Network Kit
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14072.php

Somera Communications has announced that one of the largest wireless
carriers in Europe has established Somera as its primary vendor for
procuring quality refurbished network equipment. Somera has already
booked more tha...

  Mobiles Kill Off The Public Payphone
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14073.php

TeliaSonera Finland has decided to abandon its payphone
business. TeliaSonera Finland has a little less than 2000 public
telephones of which around two hundred in the region of Auria. Of the
payphones over 1200 are indoo...

  Making Mobile Music Work will be a Hard Task
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14074.php

The large number of stakeholders in the mobile music value chain is
the key obstacle in developing a workable business model. "The
addition of mobile operators to the downloadable music value-chain
adds a layer of comple...

  Theft Of Verizon Wireless Customer Records Halted
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14075.php

Verizon Wireless says that it has secured a court order to halt a
Tennessee-based company's illegal practice of obtaining and selling
confidential telephone records of Verizon Wireless customers. Earlier
this summer, Ver...

  Vodafone Selling CDMA Datacard for USA Travellers
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14076.php

Vodafone has launched a high-speed datacard for use in the USA, over
Verizon Wireless' EVDO (Evolution-Data Optimized) network. Across
Europe, Japan and New Zealand, Vodafone customers access the Vodafone
WCDMA network. ...

  Australian PM Basks In Glow Of Telstra Sale Vote
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14059.php

Years of political frustration over Telstra Corp.'s (TLS) ownership
limbo were swept aside Thursday as the Australian government welcomed
parliamentary consent for the telecom giant's A$34 billion (US$26
billion) privati...

  Poland's TPSA Launching Orange Brand Next Week
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14060.php

Poland's dominant telecommunications operator, Telekomunikacja Polska
SA (TPS.WA), Thursday said it will launch France Telecom's (FTE)
worldwide Orange mobile brand as of Sept. 19. ...

  Nokia Gets GSM/GPRS Order From Telefonica Moviles Chile
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14061.php

Finland's Nokia Oyj (NOK) said Thursday it has signed a contract with
Telefonica Moviles Chile, part of Telefonica Moviles S.A. (TEM), for
the expansion of its movistar branded global system for mobile
communications/gen...

  Brazil Mobile Customers Reach 78.9 Million In Aug, +38% On Year
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14062.php

Brazilian mobile phone companies added 13.3 million customers in the
first eight months of the year, bringing the total subscriber base to
78.9 million, telecommunications regulator Anatel said Thursday. ...

  Motorola Unit Sale Would Return Focus To Core Business
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14063.php

The sale of Motorola Inc.'s (MOT) automotive parts division would free
up resources for the telecommunications equipment maker to focus on
its stronger core wireless handset and infrastructure business. ...

  Investcom, Watan Win Afghanistan Mobile Telecom Licenses
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14064.php

Lebanese mobile telecommunications company Investcom Thursday said it
has won a license to offer mobile telecoms services in
Afghanistan. ...

  O2: Telefonica Statement About Buy Targets Was "General"
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14065.php

Telefonica said Thursday that in response to the request of the Panel
on Takeovers and Mergers, it notes the recent press reports concerning
its acquisition strategy and possible acquisition targets including 02
PLC foll...

  Siemens To Disclose SBS and Com Operations Overhaul Plan Next Week
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14066.php

Siemens AG (SI) said Thursday it will give details in the coming week
about the reorganization of two of its ailing units, Siemens Business
Services, or SBS, and its telecommunications equipment unit. ...

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

Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2005 16:44:44 +0100
From: Paul Coxwell <paulcoxwell@tiscali.co.uk>
Subject: Re: BellSouth/AT&T New Orleans "Main" at Baronne & Poydras Streets


Mark,

Great to have you back!

> And the AT&T 4ESS in the building (NWORLAMA04T, 060-T) is working, but
> quite overwhelmed with call volume. You will frequently get "All ccts
> busy" or "due to the hurricane in the area you are calling"
> recordings, with trailers of "zero-six-zero, tee" (060-T being the
> Network Switch Number of the New Orleans 4ESS).

Off on a tangent somewhat, but is there any sort of numbering system
applied to these modern ID numbers or is it more or less random
allocation?

I'm familiar with the old-style IDs such as "914-1" for White Plains
etc., but I've never been able to figure out how the current system is
supposed to work.

For example, dialing into the NANP from the U.K. using an unallocated
prefix within a valid area code often results in a "Your call cannot
be completed as dialed" recording with an ID of "two" followed by two
letters, e.g. 2BM.  Are these class 2 tandem offices?  Does the
network even still use the same class designations as in the past?


-Paul

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

Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2005 16:12:13 +0100
From: Paul Coxwell <paulcoxwell@tiscali.co.uk>
Subject: Re: Flat Rate Water, was: Verizon Complaints About EVDO


> In our area sewer bills are based on water consumption and sewage
> costs more than water.  Both bills have a high minimum charges --
> single people living alone rarely use more than that minimum and
> probably would pay less on a more usage based rate schedule.

Over here in England supplies were all unmetered at one time, with the
charge being based on the "ratable value" of the house (i.e. the same
base as used to calculate local property taxes).  Sewer charges work
the same way, with a different multiplier to arrive at the actual
amount charged.

My home is still on such unmetered service, and this year the bill
comes to approx. $530, [*] near enough half and half for supply and
sewer.  The sewer charge is normally higher than the supply charge,
but I get a $50 discount as I have no surface water draining into the
sewer.  Houses in the area still on their own septic tanks would pay
only the supply portion of the bill, about $265, plus the small
surface drainage fee if their surface water went onto a street and
then into the public sewer.

Meters are standard for new homes now, and many older properties have
also been converted to metered service.  Most water companies offer a
trial period of metering, and if you're not saving money after a year
or so you can revert back to unmetered service (that option isn't
available when the property changes ownership or on new homes built
with a meter).

The metered service in my area is billed as a small fixed annual fee
plus so much per cubic meter, both for supply and sewer.

It works out to about $43 plus 0.7 cent per U.S. gallon for supply and
$111 plus 0.8 cent per gallon for sewer.(again with a $50 discount if
you have no surface drainage to the sewer).

[*] All converted at 1 GBP = $1.80.

> So King Daley I had a solution for that also: we will take a tiny
> little five foot wide length of land on the north side of Irving Park
> Road (where Chicago touches Schiller Park) and stretch that all the
> way west then through the Forest Preserve (don't worry about those
> commissioners, they are my puppets also) and we will keep on
> extending that little strip of land through Rosemont until it reaches
> the eastern edge of Ohare, where then we 'balloon it out' to take in
> all of Ohare. So by that gerrymandering Chicago is able to annex
> Orchard Field (which they would begin calling 'Ohare' Field; FYI that
> is why the FAA designation for Ohare is 'ORD', from the Orchard Field
> days).

Pat,

I wondered about the situation at O'Hare first time I was going to pass 
through there some years ago and looked at the map.

In my Rand-McNally road atlas there's a dotted line labeled "Chicago
City Limits" which follows the marked area of the airport exactly, yet
the big yellow area which otherwise marks the limit of Chicago stops
way short of the airport.  In fact following that Irving Park Road the
city limit appears to be at Pueblo Av. on the eastern edge of Schiller
Woods, which I make a good 3 miles from the airport boundary.

Thanks to your explanations, now I know why -- My map is obviously not 
detailed enough to show a 5 ft. wide strip!

When did the annexing of Orchard Field and the change of name to
O'Hare actually take place?  I'm guessing 1960s?

-Paul



[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Orchard Field was its name during
World War II; it became O'Hare sometime in the middle 1950's, but
the FAA retained the old designation of ORD for ORcharD Field. My
impression is cartographers (map makers) go insane attempting to 
properly chart out the northwest side of City of Chicago. The
boundary is quite plain on the south side, much of the north side
and even going east and west (on the north) for the first few miles
it is clearly on Howard Street (except far east by the lake where
it juts up north of Howard Street for a couple block where the
Chicago/Evanston boundary is the southernmost edge of Calvary 
Cemetery. Then the boundary makes a sharp turn and goes southeast
on Clark Street (which the Evanstonians refer to as 'Chicago Street')
back south to Howard then straight west for a few miles on Howard.
I think all of the Chicago Transit Authority train yards at that
point are considered Chicago, but at street level, _on the north
side of Howard Street_ beginning at the CTA tracks underpass, the
north side of Howard Street begins taking Evanston street numbers;
the CTA Howard Station (on the south side of the street [Howard and
Paulina Sts]) is known as 1759 West Howard; the CTA employees only
office on the north side of Howard and Paulina, right across the
street is known as 301 Howard Street by the Evanston numbering system.
Right next door to 301 Howard (Evanston) is 1760 West Howard (Chicago)
because the elevated tracks go overhead at that point. I think
Howard is the only street name Chicago/Evanston share in common.

A few blocks west of Howard Street and Western Avenue (in Evanston,
'Western' is known as 'Asbury Street'), the Chicago boundary line
drops south (at Kedzie Avenue [Chicago], I forget off hand what
Evanston calls that street), and the suburb of Lincolnwood begins on
the south side of the street, the Chicago street numbers continue
through Lincolnwood. After a couple blocks, the Village of Skokie
begins on the north side of Howard Street, and the Chicago system of
street numbering resumes [on both sides of Howard] since Skokie and
Lincolnwood both go along with Chicago's way of numbering things.  It
only gets more complex as you go further west; at Lincolnwood, the
Chicago boundary drops south to Devon Street (6300 north I think); the
boundary line cuts in and out, frequently jutting in and out of
alleys, a half block here, a half block there. Most of this goes back
to earlier years in the 20th century as 'unincorporated areas' (based
on the votes of the residents therein) chose whether or not to
affiliate with City of Chicago or whichever suburb they were otherwise
contiguous with. SBC (nee, Ameritech, nee Illinois Bell) has one
telephone exchange out there on which '911' does _not_ go to Chicago
Police, it instead rings to the Cook County Sheriff which handles
unincorporated areas of the county.  People living in that area (known
as 'unincorporated Norwood Park Township' [so as not to be confused
with 'Norridge', an incorporated suburb which is completely surrounded
on all four sides by Chicago]) get put on that exchange.

The little town of 'Golf, Illinois', which was cut out of a corner of
Glenview, Illinois is like that. Golf backs into Glenview to the north
and west, to Skokie and the golf course/country club on the east and
Morton Grove on the south. Incorporated, but it buys its fire
protection from Morton Grove and its police protection from Cook
County Sheriff. All those places use the 'Chicago street numbering
system' except for Evanston which is very independent. Golf, Illinois
has its own train station, its own post office and its own school, and
naturally its own golf course/country club and it is entirely _fenced
in_ or set back so far from Waukegan Road (main drag in Glenview/Morton
Grove) and Church Street (main connecting road between Evanston/Skokie/
Morton Grove and points westward) that no one can get in there except
on foot or by alighting at the Golf train station.

You may recall John Wayne Gacy, the Democratic ward committeeman from
some ward or another of Chicago, and serial killer of young boys who
had the misfortune of being manipulated by him in his construction
business, or otherwise 'uncertain of their own sexuality', etc. One
reason he fell through the cracks for so many years and escaped any
apprehension at all is because he lived in the 'no mans land' of
unincorporated Norwood Park Township. Police never went around there,
it was not their territory. Finally, police from Des Plaines, Illinois
who were investigating him (after about twenty years of his getting
away with murder [quite literally]) took him into custody, and turned
him over to Cook County Sheriff. People use the phrase 'Chicago' 
quite generically, but _Chicago Police_ had nothing to do with that
case; nothing at all. Surrounded on all four sides by Chicago and
three other suburbs, but the _block he lived on_ was (and still is)
part of unincorporated Norwood Park Township.   PAT]
 
------------------------------

Date: 16 Sep 2005 05:33:58 -0000
From: John Levine <johnl@iecc.com>
Subject: Re: Roaming Charges
Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA


> This raises a question I thought of recently, but had not bothered to
> ask anyone about.  Suppose I start a cell call in local but move to a
> roaming tower during the call?  Does the call get charged as roaming
> or not?

I doubt you'd get a handoff in a situation like that.  It'd drop the
call and you'd call back.

R's,

John

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

From: Ken Abrams <k_abrams@[REMOVETHIS] sbcglobal.net>
Subject: Re: Roaming Charges
Organization: SBC http://yahoo.sbc.com
Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2005 13:23:58 GMT


<ranck@vt.edu> wrote

> This raises a question I thought of recently, but had not bothered to
> ask anyone about.  Suppose I start a cell call in local but move to a
> roaming tower during the call?  Does the call get charged as roaming
> or not?  What about the opposite situation, start of call is roaming
> but moves into home area during the call?

Won't happen.  The call would be dropped.  AFAIK, a change from "home"
to "roam" means you are changing carriers.  Calls in progress are NOT
passed or handed-off from one company to another.  (It appears that
they usually can't even pass from one tower to another within a
company.)

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

Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2005 16:14:05 +0100
From: Paul Coxwell <paulcoxwell@tiscali.co.uk>
Subject: Re: Back in the Cord-Board Days


> A look at small town telephone directories of the 1960s showed dialing
> was both limited and cumbersome in many places.  To reach a neighbor-
> ing exchange, one might have to dial a special prefix, and a different
> prefix for each area, as well as from where you're calling from.  The
> charts could be rather complex.

It was the same in Britain at that time, with local routing codes
being used extensively.  Small exchanges serving villages and rural
areas (referred to as dependent exchanges) dialed 9 to reach their
parent office, and callers on the latter would dial two-digit codes to
reach those outlying places, most commonly 8x, but sometimes other
combinations such as 5x, 6x, or 7x.

Calls from one dependent exchange to another within the area used the
parent exchange as a tandem, with listed codes which made the routing
perfectly obvious, e.g. dial 983 plus the local number.

Trunks between the parent exchange and its counterpart in a
neighboring area were accessed with more codes, typically 9x.  These
outgoing trunks were made accessible from incoming trunks so that the
dependent exchanges could "dial through."  Thus a call from a
dependent exchange in one area to a dependent exchange in an adjoining
area would result in two tandem exchanges and a listed routing code
which was quite long, e.g. 99182, in which the first 9 routes to the
parent exchange, 91 selects a trunk to the neighboring area, then 82
routes to a dependent exchange (and the chances are that after all
that the local number in that tiny office would be only three digits
long!).

Just to complicate matters further, if there was sufficient traffic
between two points direct trunks could be installed and a completely
separate direct routing code added, sometimes just a single digit on a
spare first level (e.g. "For calls to ______, dial 6 plus the
number").

The way that the routing codes varied from one office to another meant
that dialing cards or booklets were issued separate from the phone
books instructing callers how to dial nearby places from their phone.

Of course, armed with a whole batch of such cards from the area, it
wasn't difficult to map out almost the entire system of routing codes
and figure out ways of routing calls which were not officially
sanctioned.  In fact in some cases it allowed a call which should have
been charged at long-distance rates to be placed as a local call.

These local routings survived right up until the 1980s.

-Paul.

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

Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2005 21:07:37 +0100
From: Paul Coxwell <paulcoxwell@tiscali.co.uk>
Subject: Re: How a Telephone Works


> Here in the USA, we call these systems "pair gain."  There are many
> types of pair-gain equipment in use, but the most common in current
> use is "Digital Loop Carrier" (DLC); I assume you have something
> similar in the UK.

We do indeed.  The pair-gain units employed here are commonly known as
DACS (Digital Access Carrier System).

The small settlement in which I live is about 5 miles from the central
office as the wire runs.  In recent years many of the houses have been
changed from holiday homes to permanent residences, and as a result
there has been a huge increase in the demand for lines, far in excess
of the spare pairs in the cables which run down the road to the
nearest cabinet distribution point in a village about a mile away. The
result is a proliferation of DACS units atop poles to keep up with the
demand.

The problem we have now that ADSL service has just become available is
that it can't be implemented via DACS, so when somebody orders
broadband service it might be necessary to rearrange connections and
put non-ADSL lines onto a DACS to free up a pair for the ADSL
subscriber.

> I believe that the pilot tone the modem sends is defined to tell the
> echo cancellers to go away.  Of course, now that phone calls are
> typically digitized at the originating CO and turned back to analog at
> the callee's CO, whether it's across the street or half way around the
> world, how much echo cancelling do we need?

The CCITT standards for data comms employed in Europe specified a
separate guard tone years ago which was to be applied by the answering
modem, and intended -- I believe -- to turn off the echo cancellation
and any other line conditioning.

The legacy of this can be seen in the Hayes command set under the AT&G
option, which provides options of 550 or 1800Hz for the guard tone.

-Paul.

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

Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2005 21:07:45 +0100
From: Paul Coxwell <paulcoxwell@tiscali.co.uk>
Subject: Re: Back to the Future in 845-268 Land


> I do know that when you get a busy signal, as often as not the signal
> you hear is generated by the switch at your end and the circuit is
> dropped as soon as the remote switch can tell your switch to give you
> a busy.  (This is why calls to Europe produce US busy signals rather
> than the local European busy signal.)

And vice versa.  First time I called to the U.S. and got a British
busy signal it really made me sit up and take notice.  Getting an EET
(equipment engaged tone) from the U.K. end when all overseas trunks
were busy was quite normal in the past, but not a regular busy tone.

The same arrangement appears to be used for spare numbers on some
circuits now -- Instead of the North American recording we get dumped
to our standard local recording ("The number you have dialed has not
been recognized.").  It's rather off-putting, because one is never
quite sure whether the call actually made it across the Atlantic or
whether a BT switch has not been programmed with a new area code and
is rejecting the call at this end (which results in the same
recording).

Fortunately, this implementation is still fairly unusual, and
redialing immediately will often route a different way and give an
American recording followed by reorder instead, which is rather more
comforting..  It also seems to be very rare to get this digital
signaling followed by a U.K. tone/recording when using many of the
alternate carriers.

-Paul.

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

From: Isaiah Beard <sacredpoet@sacredpoet.com>
Subject: Re: Back to the Future in 845-268 Land
Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2005 16:59:46 -0400
Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com


John Levine wrote:

>> I tried it a few more times and at one point even came up with a
>> 1960's style ring tone with no answer. Is it possible the old gear is
>> still in the little brick telco building by Rockland Lake and taking
>> overload calls ?

>> 845-268-xxxx.

> Rather unlikely.  The switch is a nice modern DMS-100 with vastly more
> capacity than whatever electromechanical thing it replaced.  I can
> think of a variety of possible explanations, none terribly plausible.

Just tried a few numbers as well.  I was getting some modern style rings.

What COULD have happened is that perhaps one or more of those numbers
is connecting to an antiquated PBX with old fashioned tones.

E-mail fudged to thwart spammers.
Transpose the c's and a's in my e-mail address to reply.

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


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