TELECOM Digest     Fri, 14 Oct 2005 22:06:00 EDT    Volume 24 : Issue 467

Inside This Issue:                             Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    The Front Lines - October 14, 2005 (Jonathan Marashlian)
    Telecom Update #501, October 14, 2005 (Angus TeleManagement Group)
    BSkyB May Get Into U.K.'s DSL market (USTelecom dailyLead)
    Cellular-News For Friday 14th October 2005 (Cellular-News)
    Switchboards in Homes; Closing at Night (Wesrock@aol.com)
    14.4 Runs Faster Than 56k Modem. Why? (hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com)
    Recorded Weather Forecast For New York City? (hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com)
    Re: Online Dating (Henry Cabot Henhouse III)
    Re: What is Area Code 113? (Fred Atkinson)
    Re: Device That Interfaces Between Caller ID and Serial Ports (anon1)
    Last Laugh! "Acadamy" Services Calls; Alternative Solution (Neal McLain)

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: Jonathan Marashlian <jsm@thlglaw.com>
Subject: The Front Lines - October 14, 2005
Date: Fri, 14 Oct 2005 16:22:04 -0400
Organization: The Helein Law Group


http://www.thefrontlines-hlg.com/ The FRONT LINES
http://www.thlglaw.com/ 

Advancing The Cause of Competition in the Telecommunications Industry 

REMINDER:   FCC FORM 499-Q DUE NOVEMBER 1st 

Providers of interstate and international telecommunications services
("Universal Service Fund contributors") are reminded that their FCC
Form 499-Q is due no later than Tuesday, November 1, 2005.

The FCC requires USF contributors to file Form 499-Q to report actual
billed revenue and projected revenues.  In the Form 499-Q due November
1st, contributors must report actual billed revenue for the 3rd
Quarter of 2005 and projected billed & collected revenue for the 1st
Quarter of 2006.

The Universal Service Administrative Company mails forms and
instructions to contributors who have reported in the past.  If you
have not reported in the past, but are required to do so, forms and
instructions are available on the FCC's website - www.fcc.gov
http://www.fcc.gov/ - or you may contact our firm and we'll e-mail
them to you.  Contact: mail@thlglaw.com or 703-714-1300.

De Minimis carriers and service providers (i.e., those with $10,000 or
less in annual USF contributions) are not required to file Form
499-Qs, but are reminded that an annual Form 499-A is required each
year in April.

GRANDE PETITIONS FCC TO PREVENT ILECS FROM ASSESSING TERMINATING ACCESS
CHARGES ON IP-ORIGINATED (VoIP) TRAFFIC

On October 3, 2005, Grande Communications filed a Petition for
Declaratory Ruling asking the FCC to declare that:

1. a LEC may properly rely on a customer's certification that the
traffic being sent originates in IP format at the calling party's
premises and therefore undergoes a net protocol conversion, or is
otherwise enhanced, IP-enabled traffic;

2. a LEC may send such certified traffic to other terminating LECs
over local interconnection trunks; and

3. terminating LECs receiving such traffic over local interconnection
trunks are to treat that traffic as local traffic for intercarrier
compensation purposes and may not assess access charges for such
traffic.

Grande's filed its Petition in reaction to the actions of Alltel and
other LECs through which Grande terminates IP-originated traffic.
According to its Petition, acting in its capacity as a CLEC, Grande
terminates certain traffic to Alltel and other LECs which has been
self-certified by its customers to be IP-originated (i.e., the traffic
originated in IP format at the end user's premise).  As such, under
FCC precedent and long-standing policy the traffic at issue is
"enhanced/information services" traffic and therefore not subject to
traditional access charges.  Grande alleges that Alltel and other LECs
are refusing to treat such traffic as "enhanced/information services"
traffic by billing reciprocal compensation, and instead are insisting
on billing access charges.

Grande's Petition seeks to stop Alltel and other LECs from acting as
the arbiter's of the proper regulatory treatment of VoIP-originated
traffic and resolve its current controversies with respect to LEC
access charge billing.  Instead, Grande requests a ruling that will
allow "self-certification" until such time as the FCC issues specific
guidelines and rules in its pending IP-Enabled Services and
Intercarrier Compensation proceedings.

FCC PUBLISHES VoIP CALEA RULES AND NPRM IN FEDERAL REGISTER

The FCC published notice in the Federal Register adopting a rule
establishing that providers of facilities based broadband Internet
access services and VoIP Providers which use the public switched
telephone network to terminate calls must comply with the
Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA).  The rule
will become effective on November 14, 2005, but gives all covered
entities 18 months from that date to comply.

The FCC also published notice in the Federal Register initiating a
rulemaking to explore whether the CALEA should apply to providers of
VoIP services that do not allow users to receive calls originating and
terminating on the PSTN.  Comments on the NPRM are due November 14,
2005 with Reply Comments due December 12, 2005.

The Front Lines is a free publication of The Helein Law Group,
providing clients and interested parties with valuable information,
news, and updates regarding regulatory and legal developments
primarily impacting companies engaged in the competitive
telecommunications industry.

The Front Lines does not purport to offer legal advice nor does it
establish a lawyer-client relationship with the reader. If you have
questions about a particular article, general concerns, or wish to
seek legal counsel regarding a specific regulatory or legal matter
affecting your company, please contact our firm at 703-714-1313 or
visit our website:

http://www.thlglaw.com/ www.THLGlaw.com

The Helein Law Group
8180 Greensboro Drive, Suite 700
McLean, Virginia 22102

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

Date: Fri, 14 Oct 2005 10:59:50 -0700
Subject: Telecom Update #501, October 14, 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 501: October 14, 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:

** Telus and TWU Reach Tentative Deal
** Canadians Making More Phone Calls Than Ever
** Ottawa Wants Increased Wiretap Capability
** First Hall of Fame Members Named
** A Personal Note from the Editors
** RIM Denied Right to Appeal Patent Ruling
** Shaw, Cogeco Expand Phone Service
** Rogers Wireless to Begin 3G Trial
** Virgin Mobile Launches in Manitoba
** Bell to Operate RFID Trial
** FCI Launches VoIP Service
** Microsoft, Yahoo to Link Messaging
** "Telemanagement Live" Trade Show in Toronto

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

TELUS AND TWU REACH TENTATIVE DEAL: The Telecommunications Workers
Union is recommending that its members accept a new five-year contract
with Telus. The TWU and Telus signed a memorandum of agreement on
Monday: the ratification vote should be completed by October 23.

** If approved, the agreement will end the lockout that began 
   on July 21. Before that, TWU members had been working 
   without a contract for more than four years.

CANADIANS MAKING MORE PHONE CALLS THAN EVER: Statistics Canada's
Quarterly Report on Telecommunications says that Canadian telecom
traffic reached record levels in the first three months of
2005. Traffic in the quarter included 15.9 billion long distance
minutes (14.7 billion wireline, 1.2 billion wireless) and 12.8 billion
local wireless minutes. Local wireline minutes are not tracked or
reported. (See Telecom Update #500)

http://www.statcan.ca/bsolc/english/bsolc?catno=56-002-X

OTTAWA WANTS INCREASED WIRETAP CAPABILITY: The Canadian government is
reported to be preparing a Lawful Access Bill that would require
telecom carriers to significantly increase the ability of security and
law-enforcement agencies to eavesdrop on Canadian phone calls, email
and Internet activities. The Privacy Commissioner and others have
warned that the plan could lead to abuse of privacy rights.

FIRST HALL OF FAME MEMBERS NAMED: The first nine members of Canada's
Telecommunications Hall of Fame will be inducted at a gala dinner in
Toronto on Monday, October 17. The initial laureates are:

** Inventors and Innovators:
  -- Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone
  -- Reginald Fessenden, wireless communications pioneer

** Servants of the Public:
  -- David Colville, former CRTC Telecommunications vice-chair
  -- John Chapman, father of Canada's satellite communications industry

** Icons of Business:
  -- Terry Matthews, founder of Mitel and Newbridge Networks
  -- Charles Fleetford Sise, founder of Bell Canada and Northern Electric

** Advocates and Academics:
  -- Professor Hudson Janisch, professor of telecom regulation and law
  -- Lis and Ian Angus, telecom consultants and journalists

A Special Recognition Award will acknowledge the contributions of
Canada's telephone and switchboard operators.

http://www.telecomhall.ca/

A PERSONAL NOTE FROM THE EDITORS: We are deeply honoured to be included in
the distinguished group being inducted into Canada's Telecommunications
Hall of Fame. We've enjoyed every minute of our years in the
telecommunications industry, and we're thrilled that our contributions
have been appreciated and valued. Our heartfelt thanks to the selection
committee and to Lorne Abugov, founder of the Hall of Fame-Ian & Lis
Angus

RIM DENIED RIGHT TO APPEAL PATENT RULING: A U.S. appeals court has
declined to review a panel decision that sustained seven of 16
BlackBerry-related patent claims by NTP Inc. against Research in
Motion.  (See Telecom Update #491, 495) Facing a possible injunction
against BlackBerry sales in the U.S., RIM says it will ask the
U.S. Supreme Court to review the case.

** RIM says that initial reexamination rulings by the U.S. 
   Patent Office have now rejected all the NTP patent claims.

SHAW, COGECO EXPAND PHONE SERVICE: Shaw Communications' cable phone
service is now available in Victoria, and Cogeco Cable has expanded its
service to include all its customers in Kingston, Trois-Rivieres,
Drummondville, and Saint-Hyacinthe. Cogeco's offering is new in Kingston
and was previously available in the Quebec cities only to its Internet
customers.

ROGERS WIRELESS TO BEGIN 3G TRIAL: Rogers Wireless and Ericsson are
about to begin a trial of UMTS-HSDPA, a high-speed data technology for
GSM-based wireless networks, and of IP Multimedia Subsystem, a service
creation environment that supports multimedia applications on mobile
wireless, fixed wireless, cable, and DSL networks.

VIRGIN MOBILE LAUNCHES IN MANITOBA: Virgin Mobile has begun selling
its cellphones in Manitoba, reselling capacity on MTS Allstream's
network.  Virgin notes that only 35% of Manitoba residents have
cellphones, far below the national average.

BELL TO OPERATE RFID TRIAL: The Supply Chain Network Project, a
consortium of retailers and their suppliers, has chosen Bell Canada to
run Canada's first end-to-end trial of Electronic Product Code/Radio
Frequency Identification. A Staples store, a warehouse, and four
suppliers are taking part in the trial.

FCI LAUNCHES VOIP SERVICE: Markham, Ontario-based FCI Broadband has
launched its iTalk Internet phone service, which treats all of Canada
as one local calling area. The service is $21.95/month (residential)
and $31.95/month (business).

MICROSOFT, YAHOO TO LINK MESSAGING: Microsoft and Yahoo plan to link
their messaging networks by June 2006, allowing users of MSN Messenger
and Yahoo to swap text messages. Related video and phone services are
not included.

"TELEMANAGEMENT LIVE" TRADE SHOW IN TORONTO: Meet Canada's leading
business telecom suppliers at Telemanagement Live next week -- Tuesday
and Wednesday, October 18-19, 10am-5pm, Metro Toronto Convention
Centre. Trade show admission includes eight free seminars in the new
Telemanagement Live Sponsors' Theatre.

** Free trade show admission! Just introduce yourself as a 
   Telecom Update reader at the Registration Desk. (Regular 
   rate: $50)

http://www.telemanagementlive.com

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

HOW TO SUBMIT ITEMS FOR TELECOM UPDATE

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

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

HOW TO SUBSCRIBE (OR UNSUBSCRIBE)

TELECOM UPDATE is provided in electronic form only. There
are two formats available:

1. The fully-formatted edition is posted on the
   World Wide Web late Friday afternoon each week
   at http://www.angustel.ca

2. The e-mail edition is distributed free of charge.
   To subscribe, send an e-mail message to:
     join-telecom_update@nova.sparklist.com
   To stop receiving the e-mail edition, send
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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, 14 Oct 2005 13:03:47 EDT
From: USTelecom dailyLead <ustelecom@dailylead.com>
Subject: BSkyB May Get Into U.K.'s DSL Market


USTelecom dailyLead
October 14, 2005
http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/wikIatagCubSnRqoof

		TODAY'S HEADLINES
	
NEWS OF THE DAY
* BSkyB may get into U.K.'s DSL market
BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH
* Japanese carriers to merge in bid to challenge NTT
* Nortel sharpens focus on software development
* Verizon's FiOS in carriage deal with Gemstar, HDNet
* Internet access dispute raises question of regulation
* AOL's future hinges on which suitor gets a stake
USTELECOM SPOTLIGHT
* Last chance to save -- register today for TELECOM '05!
TECHNOLOGY TRENDS
* MSN to stream JibJab films
VOIP DOWNLOAD
* Study: European companies slow to adopt VoIP
* Next-gen P2P ideal for VoIP
* Report: Government, businesses to increase spending on VoIP, WLAN
REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE
* Tech execs urge speedy transition to digital TV

Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and
others.  http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/wikIatagCubSnRqoof

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

Subject: Cellular-News For Friday 14th October 2005
Date: Fri, 14 Oct 2005 09:53:18 -0500
From: cellular-news <dailydigest@cellular-news.com>


Cellular-News - http://www.cellular-news.com

  Fourteen New Phones from Chinese Vendor
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14397.php

China's Qiao Xing Universal Telephone says that its major subsidiary,
CEC Telecom had recently launched 14 models of higher-end mobile phone
handsets with a two-million-pixel digital camera and multimedia
entertainment f...

  Vodafone Offer A-GPS Handset
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14398.php

Japan's Vodafone K.K.says that it will commence sales of the Vodafone
903T 3G handset by Toshiba, the world's first mobile handset capable
of network-assisted GPS navigation both in Japan and abroad, on 15
October 2005 i...

  Maltese Operators Gain BWA Licenses
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14399.php

Malta's telecoms regulator, the MCA has assigned access to rights of
use of radio frequencies in the 3.5GHz band for the development and
implementation of Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) networks in Malta to
Cellcom, Mob...

  Simultaneous Collection of WCDMA and GSM Propagation and Interference Data
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14400.php

Pctel has announced the commercial availability of Clarify WCDMA/GSM -
a version of its leading wireless propagation and interference
management solution that simultaneously supports both WCDMA and GSM
Networks....
	
  Use 3G Videophones to Comment on Football Action
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14401.php

VoxSurf, the London-based video messaging solution provider, says that
the UK television broadcaster, the? BBC has deployed its technology to
power a new trial called 'Your Shout!' The trial allows football fans
to send ...

  ABI Examines WiBro: Is it Really Mobile WiMAX in Disguise?
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14402.php

WiBro is a soon to be implemented mobile high-speed Wireless Internet
access service for the South Korean market. Positioned between
traditional wired broadband access and mobile phone data services, it
could fill an imp...

  FOCUS: Russia mulls fighting mobile handset thieves
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14293.php

Russia is facing a rising problem of mobile handsets theft. In 2004,
the Moscow police officially registered over 7,000 mobile handset
thefts. However, analysts consider that the real number of stolen
mobile handsets is ...

  Belarus MDC mobile subscriber base up 4.1% in September
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14297.php

The subscriber base of Belarus mobile phone operator Mobile Digital
Connection (MDC) increased 4.1% on the month in September to 1.645
million users, the company said Tuesday. ...

  Ukraine's Jeans mobile subscriber base up to 5 mln users Sep 30 
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14300.php

The subscriber base of Ukraine's Jeans rose 74% since the beginning of
the year to 5 million users as of September 30, Ukrainian Mobile
Communications (UMC) said in a press release. ...

  Russia's Euroset to cooperate in MVNO project with MTT
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14301.php

Russia's largest mobile handset retailer Euroset has concluded an
agreement with Multiregional Transit Telecom (MTT) on cooperation in
the development of Euroset's mobile virtual network operator (MVNO)
project, an MTT...

  TeliaSonera says holders to invest $60 mln in Moldova's Moldcell in 5 yrs
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14303.php

Shareholders of Moldova's mobile service operator Moldcell plan to
invest U.S. $60 million in the company within five years, Anders
Igel, CEO of TeliaSonera, Moldcell's key shareholder, said
Wednesday. ...


  Belarus' BeST to buy $234 mln equipment from Alcatel Shanghai 
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14313.php

Belarus state-controlled mobile operator Belarus Telecommunications
Network, or BeST, has signed an agreement with China's
Alcatel Shanghai Bell to purchase the Chinese company's
telecommunications equipment for U...

  Russia's VimpelCom to launch tariff with free cell phone in Dec
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14316.php

Russia's second-largest mobile operator VimpelCom plans to launch a
tariff with a free mobile handset included in the price of the
subscription fee, the company said in a press release Thursday. ...

  Russia's VimpelCom user base in Far East hits 1 million people 
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14319.php

The subscriber base of Russia's second-largest mobile operator
VimpelCom in the country's Far East Federal District has
exceeded 1 million people, the company said on Thursday. ...

  Russian court freezes SMARTS' shares once again
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14325.php

Russia's regional court in St. Petersburg has frozen 100% of the
shares of Russian regional mobile operator SMARTS, Kommersant business
daily reported Friday, citing Gennady Kiryushin, the company's general
director. ...

  Finland's Elcoteq opens telecom equip plant in Russia
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14326.php

Russia's ZAO Elcoteq, a subsidiary of Finland's electronics
manufacturing company Elcoteq Network Corporation, opened a
telecommunications equipment plant in St. Petersburg on Friday,
Elcoteq's CEO Antti Piippo said at...

  PRESS: Russia's VimpelCom may start ops in 9 Far East regions
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14342.php

Russia's second-largest mobile operator VimpelCom may get frequencies
for operation in GSM 900 frequencies in nine regions in the Far East
Federal District, Vedomosti business daily reported Monday, citing a
letter fro...

  MegaFon says ups base stations in Moscow to 1,500 units
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14344.php

Russia's third largest mobile operator MegaFon has increased the
number of base stations in the Moscow License Area (MLA) to 1,500
units as of now from 1,000 units as of January 1, the company's
General Director Sergei...

  AC&M says Russia's mobile user base up to 111.74 mln on Sep 30
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14346.php

The number of mobile phone service subscribers in Russia increased to
111.74 million people as of September 30 from 107.33 million people as
of August 31, Advanced Communications & Media (AC&M) said in a report
released ...

  Russia's SMARTS launches EDGE technology in test mode
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14347.php

Russian regional mobile operator SMARTS has launched Enhanced Data
rates for Global Evolution (EDGE) technology in test mode, the company
said Monday. ...

  Ukraine's UMC mobile subscriber base up to 10.916 mln Sep 30 
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14358.php

The total subscriber base of Ukraine's Mobile Communications, or UMC,
Ukraine's largest mobile phone operator, rose 3.8% on the
month to 10.916 million subscribers as of September 30, UMC said in a
press release on i...

  Russia's active GSM user base seen up to 111-113 mln this year
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14375.php

Russia's GSM Standard Operators Association expects the country's
total active GSM mobile subscriber base to rise to between 111 million
and 113 million users by the end of this year from the current 104.5
million, V...

  Official sees Wi-Fi hotspots in Russia up to 680 by year-end
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14377.php

The number of Russia's Wi-Fi Internet access points, or hotspots, are
expected to increase to 680 by the end of this year from 435 as of
now, Executive Director of Russia's Association of GSM Operators
Vyacheslav Afa...

  Russia's Megafon auctions "beautiful" phone number for $3,000 
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14378.php

Moscow-based mobile provider Sonic Duo, which operates Megafon's
network in Moscow and the Moscow Region, has sold a "beautiful"
telephone number for U.S. $3,000 at an auction held on October 10, the
company's press se...

  Nokia, China Putian To Set Up 3G Joint Venture In China
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14389.php

Jones)- Finland's Nokia Oyj (NOK) Thursday said it has signed an
agreement with China Putian Co. Ltd. to set up a joint venture in
China to focus on research and development, manufacturing and sales of
3G network solutio...

  Bouygues Telecom Launches Flat-Rate I-Mode Subscription
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14390.php

s)- Bouygues Telecom SA, a division of Bouygues SA (12050.FR),
Thursday said it is launching a flat-rate monthly subscription to its
i-mode high-speed Internet wireless service ahead of the key Christmas
selling season. ...

  Ericsson To Trial 3G/HSDPA, IMS Platform In Canada
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14391.php

Jones)- Ericsson says that it will begin a trial of third generation
wireless technology upgrades in Canada, together with Rogers
Communications Inc. ...

  PRESS: Agency to auction GSM 1800 licenses in Russian Far East
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14392.php

Russia's Federal Telecommunication Agency "has found" open GSM 1800
frequencies in the Far East Federal District and plans to auction them
in November, Vedomosti business daily reported Thursday, citing Pavel
Morozov, th...

  PRESS: Russia's Sigma says buys 0.125% in SMARTS, eyes 25%
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14393.php

Russia's Sigma has purchased a 0.125% stake in Russian regional mobile
operator SMARTS and has gained the rights to purchase 25%, Vedomosti
business daily reported Thursday, citing Sigma's General Director
Pavel Svirsky....

  Irish Regulator Orders Cut In Mobile Termination Costs
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14394.php

es)- Ireland's communications regulator, ComReg, Thursday ordered a
reduction in termination charges that telecommunications operators pay
to mobile phone companies. ...

  Russian MegaFon's Sonic Duo sees capex at $200 mln in 2006 
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14395.php

Russia's MegaFon subsidiary Sonic Duo plans to invest U.S. $200
million in expanding its mobile network in 2006, flat on the year, the
company said Thursday. ...

  Russia's Divizion plans to open 14 outlets in Astrakhan 
  http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14396.php

Russian mobile phone vendor Divizion plans to open 14 outlets in
southern Russian city of Astrakhan by the end of the year, the company
said Thursday. ...

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

From: Wesrock@aol.com
Date: Fri, 14 Oct 2005 09:30:44 EDT
Subject: Switchboards in Homes; Closing at Night


In a message dated Fri, 14 Oct 2005 01:20:34 GMT, John McHarry
<jmcharry@comcast.net> writes:

> I don't think I ever knew. I kind of assumed from the story they had
> put the switchboard in somebody's home, perhaps the telephone company
> owner's.  Alamogordo is now Qwest, but it may have been a mom and pop
> back then, or at least the outlying areas. Next time I talk to the
> people who found it, I'll try to remember to ask what it is now.

It was extremely common in the days before dial operations for small
towns to have the switchboard in someone's home, and the resident was
the operator, closing during the night.  There was no embarrasment in
the operator's not responding at night.  The service was not available
at night.

I had occasion many times to visit telephone offices in small towns in
the 1940s and 1950s, perhaps even later, that were in small places.
Following the aerial cable routes as they became more concentrated
toward the office was the way I found the office, too, in both manual
and dial towns.  (In many places the only public telephone, or the
only place to make a sent-paid toll call, was in the operator's
house/telephone office, or in front on the office if it was dial, so
you needed to find the office.)

Sometimes in small-town manual offices the operator had an assistant.
But service was still not usually offered at night.

In the 1940s, when I was in high school, I dated a girl who lived on a
farm that was served by a one-person manual office that was located in
a someone's home.  The girl I was dating told me what time the office
closed and any calls would have to be before that time.  Not
considered unusual at all.  If you tried to make a call to that place
at night, the originating operator in my city would try, but warn me
that they office probably would not answer.

The house that held the switchboard was usually owned by the telco,
and the operator was termed the "agent" and also handed business
office functions, including bill payments, taking service orders, and
cash payments for toll calls.

This was a pretty standard arrangement in small towns whether served
by a mom-and-pop operation, an independent of some size, or a Bell
company.


Wes Leatherock
wesrock@aol.com
wleathus@yahoo.com


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: My maternal grandmother (Langford) had 
a situation something like that when she grew up as a young lady in a
small town near here, Mound Valley, KS. She was employed by the
'agent' (for telco, telegraph, stage coach), whatever made money at
the way station where she worked/lived. All those things put together
in one place meant _someone_ could sort of earn a modest living. Then
the 'agent'/operator either died or got married, whatever, and
grandmother took over the operation. That was around 1890 more or
less, maybe 1900. She was on duty 24/7 but had 'sleeping priviledges'.
She said to me once that there was an 'understanding' in the community
that the telephone operator was not to be disturbed after 10 PM nor at
all on Sundays. She (or her helper) _would_ meet the incoming stage
coach on Sunday afternoons since that was 'where the money was at'.
(Drivers would have passengers without tickets who had boarded else-
where without tickets, she got a commission on tickets sold and said
she always made a couple dollars commission on stage coach tickets
every Sunday that way.

But if the switchboard starting ringing after hours or in the middle
of the night, she explained, "that always meant trouble; someone
needed to have the doctor; of course we would get the doctor or the
family member, but the understanding was not to bother me until 7 AM
when I got a wakeup call from the operator in Coffeyville. And they
knew in Coffeyville not to bother me during the night unless it was
a dire emergency."  PAT]

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

From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com
Subject: 14.4 Runs Faster Than 56k Modem.  Why?
Date: 14 Oct 2005 11:11:12 -0700
Organization: http://groups.google.com


I only have a 14.4 modem for my dial up connection.  It obviously runs
slow nowadays with all the junk they throw on the Internet.  (for
straight text, it runs great).

I needed access to some information and went to a neighbor who has a
56k dial up.  I went to the desired site and to my surprise, the site
loaded much slower than it does on my home machine.  That didn't make
any sense to me.

I did suspect one thing: My browser is also old.  I get Javascript
errors and tell it not to bother with that.  Perhaps the heavy java
junk they send down today is bypassed since my browser won't support
it; further, my browser won't execute any of that java script (which
can slow things down quite a bit).  I don't get the animations, but
who cares?  I also miss out on a lot of ads.

In some ways the fancy java junk is helpful.  But in many ways it is
nothing but a huge waste of bandwidth and PC CPU cycles.  My high
powered work PC with a good connection pauses when it works on some
internet screens, which I think is utterly absurb and unnecessary.

(Part of my frustration is my feeling that PCs should not be disposed
of until they're physically worn out, which is about 5-10 years.  But
with the rapid obsolesence of ALL the components (browsers, I/O ports,
operating systems, internal motherboard connections, appplications),
PCs become functionally unusable (obsolete) much earlier than their
physical decline.  Buying a new PC is an expense, not only for the new
machine, but also for transferring files and appliations over and
learning the new hardware and software.)


[public replies please]

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

From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com
Subject: Recorded Weather Forecast for New York City?
Date: 14 Oct 2005 11:15:08 -0700
Organization: http://groups.google.com


There used to be a recorded weather forecast for New York at
212-976-1212.  Westchester County had 914-976-1212.

However, those numbers no longer work.  The AAA Guidebook, which once
listed the numbers, is now silent on it.

Would anyone know if such a service still exists for NYC?  (And other
cities as well)?

(Philadelphia weather is 215 WE 6-1212, time is 215 TI 6-1212, the
same numbers for many years.  Bell used to update the weather
recording hourly, not it only does it a few times during the day.)


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: New York City used to also have
212-NERVOUS  for Time of Day.  By the way Lisa, _how is the weather_
throughout the east coast/New Jersey/New Hampshire surrounding
areas today?  Pictures in the papers and on television were horrific,
with, it would seem, entire communities floating off downstream in the
rainfall. New Hampshire looked especially distressed. How did all that
relate to the larger metropolitan areas there, such as in New Jersey
and New York or Boston, etc? I am sure they must have had a lot of
rain.  PAT]   

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

Date: Fri, 14 Oct 2005 06:24:11 -0700
From: Henry Cabot Henhouse III <sooper_chicken@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: Online Dating


Actualy, "online dating" started with the single line bbs in the early
80's.  By the late 80's to mid 90's, there were thousands, many of
them with dozens (a few with a hundred or more) dial up lines and
quite a few sporting connections to packet (X.25) networks.

"Catherine Arnst" <businessweek@telecom-digest.org> wrote in message 
news:telecom24.466.4@telecom-digest.org:

> C'mon, Baby, Light My Brain Cells
> Thu Oct 13, 8:16 AM ET


> Online dating has been around for about a decade, and it's undeniably
> popular: Some 21 million Americans subscribe to online dating services
> and 1 in every 100 Internet visitors posts a personal ad.But high use
> doesn't necessarily mean high satisfaction levels. Anyone who has ever
> tried Internet dating knows the pitfalls -- the difficulty of sifting
> through hundreds of often generic-sounding profiles, the misleading or
> outright dishonest ads, the failure to find any connection once you
> meet the person you've been happily e-mailing for weeks.

> Helen E. Fisher thinks she can change all that. Fisher, an
> anthropologist and research professor at Rutgers University's Center
> for Human Evolutionary Studies, specializes in love, marriage, and
> gender differences. She's the author of four books, including her most
> recent, titled Why We Love: The Nature and Chemistry of Romantic
> Love. She believes that the type of person we are attracted to is
> hardwired into our neurons, etched by a combination of hormones, brain
> chemicals, and childhood experiences.

> "Love Map." As an adviser to new spinoff, Chemistry.com, Fisher is
> trying to quantify that certain something we're all looking for in a
> mate. She designed a lengthy set of questions that a subscriber fills
> out. The answers are then run through a computer, which tries to
> decipher the "love map" in the subscriber's brain. It then searches
> the site's database for potential matches.

> The site launched on Oct. 11. Later that day, BusinessWeek Senior
> Writer Catherine Arnst talked to Fisher about her research and its
> role in online dating. Edited excerpts of their conversation follow:

> So, how does Chemistry.com come up with matches?

> Chemistry.com is quite different than anything else that's out there
> (in the online-dating world). I designed a lot of these questions to
> determine your brain chemistry. If you have high levels of serotonin,
> for example, you are likely to be calm and stable. More of a guardian,
> a pillar of society.

> There are other personality types as well that are based on chemistry.
> There are questions that tell us if you are good at abstract thinking,
> or quick to make decisions and act on them.

> It's not exactly like I'm going to light a fire between the two of you.
> It just raises the chances. Most people fall in love because they have
> shared values, but they stay in love because their personalities mesh.
> We're trying to increase the changes of finding that spark and joy and
> excitement you feel when personalities mesh.

> But how can science be used to find something that most people feel is
> more akin to magic?

> There is still magic to love, of course. Even though we employ science
> we recognize that many factors determine who we love. Your childhood
> also plays an enormous role in shaping your likes and dislikes.

> We ask questions, for example, about the characteristics of your
> former best relationship. We are trying to get at who you were really
> compatible with, what kinds of characteristics that person had. I want
> to know not only what your brain chemistry is, but what was successful
> for you in the past.

> Why did you decide to get involved with Chemistry.com?

> So many scientists have theories and don't really ever learn whether
> they work or not. Also, I wouldn't have gotten involved if I didn't
> think it had some real value. The typical dating sites match you based
> on similarities, but there is more to a good match than similarities.

> There are the complementary features as well. We fall in love with
> someone who masks those parts of us that we don't like and accentuates
> the parts of us we do like. (Chemistry.com) is trying to get at some of
> those very subtle ways that people complement each other.

> How confident are you that it will work?

> I'm certainly confident in the brain chemistry. But can we ever be
> totally confident about love? Certainly not. The clients play a big
> role in the outcome, after all.

> What really astonishes me, though, is that I came up with four basic
> personality types in my research, and these same four types have been
> described by Plato, Aristotle, Carl Jung, Myers-Briggs. Mankind has
> long known that there are personality types. And we can use that
> knowledge to up your chances of finding the right person.

> One of the questions on Chemistry.com asks how long your index finger is
> compared to your ring finger. What's the significance of that?

> We are measuring how much testosterone you were exposed to in the womb.
> There is new data that shows that the brain is patterned before birth.
> The length of the finger can give some clues as to how assertive they
> might be.

> (Studies have found that the length of the index fingers is genetically
> linked to the sex hormones. A person with an index finger shorter than
> the ring finger will have been exposed to more testosterone while in the
> womb, and a person with an index finger longer than the ring finger will
> have had more estrogen. In women, the two fingers are usually equal in
> length, as measured from the crease nearest the palm to the fingertip.
> In men, the ring finger tends to be much longer than the index finger.
> You can all run for your rulers now.)

> Copyright 2005 BusinessWeek Online. All rights reserved.

> 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/more-news.html . Hundreds of new
> articles daily.

> *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the
> use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright
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> For more information go to:
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------------------------------

From: Fred Atkinson <fatkinson@mishmash.com>
Subject: Re: What is Area Code 113?
Date: Thu, 13 Oct 2005 22:06:26 -0400


I seem to remember that years ago, 113 was the number for directory
assistance down in Florida.  But that doesn't give a clue as to why it
showed up on your caller ID.

Regards,

Fred

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

From: anon1@sci.sci
Subject: Re: Device That Interfaces Between Phone/CallerID and Serial Port?
Date: Fri, 14 Oct 2005 17:30:37 -0700
Organization: UseNetServer.com


> http://www.parliant.com/phonevalet/callprofiles.html
> $200 and it runs on your Mac.

| PhoneValet for Mac OS X

My Mac doesn't have OS X, so that product probably wouldn't work here.
Also, I see no mention of touch-tone (DTMF) menus, a.k.a.  DTMF-IVR
(Integrated/Interactive Voice Response), in the description, so even
if this device did work with Mac OS 7.x.x, it wouldn't be of any use
to me for distinguishing between a friendly acquaintance needing to
make a no-caller-ID call and a harasser suppressing caller-ID to
harass me even more than usual.

Also, since my Mac doesn't have enough RAM or disk space to install
any large software, I really need a standalone box that doesn't
require major software installed on my Mac. So searching specifically
for a device related to my Mac seems not a good idea. Google search
for "DTMF IVR standalone box" doesn't seem to turn up what I'm looking
for, only very much more complicated stuff that would have to cost ten
times what I'm looking for, including stuff that requires access to
the net including java .NET services.

One silly advertising gaffe:
  <http://www.aculab.com/partners/partner_details.asp?partner_id=117>
| full 24 x 7 x 365 support.

Wow! 365 weeks in one year, what a long year!!! What planet are they
on?  Anyway, I can't find anything like I'm seeking. Somebody posted
several years ago that Radio Shack had something like this, but I
haven't been able to find that article and I don't think I'd be able
to communicate with minimum-wage staff at Radio Shack what I'm looking
for without first finding a complete product-name for it online.  .

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

From: Neal McLain <nmclain@annsgarden.com>
Subject: Last Laugh! "Acadamy" Services Calls; Alternative Solutions
Reply-To: nmclain@annsgarden.com
Date: Thu, 13 Oct 2005 22:35:34 -0400


PAT wrote:

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Do you have any female friends who 
> could take the call? When the caller asks for Michelle put 'her' on
> the line to see what it is they want. Have 'Michelle' stay on the
> phone to get the details. Or, just tell the caller "Michelle is not
> here right now, let me take a message for her." Maybe you can squeek
> some information out of them. Good luck with it. PAT]

Eons ago, when I worked for a radio station, we kept getting calls for
"Alice" on the unlisted engineering line.  One of our engineers
finally told the caller "she just left with Sam."  The caller screamed
"is that m----- f----- back in town?" and slammed down the handset.

We heard from Alice again.

Neal McLain


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Neal, I think you meant to type 'We
_NEVER_ heard from Alice again.'   But your (I suppose, ad-libbed)
approach worked quite well. I thought about that after reading an
earlier complaint about this 'Academy' company or whatever it is. 
When the caller asks for 'Michelle' the person answering should say
in an apologetic but very straight tone of voice, "Well, Michelle
isn't here right now; she is out with (some name)(some obscenity). 
I do not know when she will be back, but I do know this much. If you
intend to allow her to run the streets like a dog in heat, you need
to watch who she goes with. When you get her back to your place I
recommend strong discipline." Say all that with a straight face, and
see how far you can get the conversation to go.   PAT] 

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


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End of TELECOM Digest V24 #467
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