TELECOM Digest     Sun, 20 Nov 2005 17:45:00 EST    Volume 24 : Issue 527

Inside This Issue:                             Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Tis (Almost) the Season to be Jolly (TELECOM Digest Editor)
    Mtn. View Accepts Google's Offer of Free WiFi (Marcus Didius Falco)
    Shop-Till-You-Drop Specials, Revealed Here First (Monty Solomon)
    I Vant to Drink Your Vatts (Monty Solomon)
    Re: Lingo Phone Can't Port Number (Rik)
    Re: Lingo Phone Can't Port Number (Robert Bonomi)
    Re: Nokia 6340i Cell Phone (David L)
    Re: A Question Please About my Purchase (Steve Sobol)

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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.  

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

Subject: Tis (Almost) the Season to be Jolly
Date: Sun, 20 Nov 2005 02:32:31 EST
From: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu (TELECOM Digest Editor)


Fa, la, la, la, la and all that rot!  Not only is it the season of the
year when suicides and homicides are at their higest level than any
other time of the year, it will soon be the time when fraud runs
rampant. People who work in credit departments will tell you that the
week before Christmas including Christmas Eve are the worst times of
the year for fraud.

For several years in the 1960's and 1970's I was employed by the Amoco
Oil Company in its central credit card operation in downtown Chicago.
My grandfather had helped me get this job; his immediate supervisor
was the superintendent at Whiting Refinery, and by virtue of that
position also an Amoco/Standard Oil Vice President of refinery
operations. That same man had 'gotten me on' at University of Chicago
as a telephone operator when I was a junior in high school.

Most of that time was spent in the Sales Authorization Department,
which is another name for the part of the credit department which
approves (or not) credit card sales 'at the point of purchase'. In
those days, 35-40 years ago, originally there were no computers to
help us; -- there were the large mainframes in our 'computer
department' but no desktop individual computers; they did not exist --
then we eventually got computers but approvals or declines were given
by voice authorization. Of necessity, because of the huge volume of
calls received (typically several hundred calls per hour, distributed
to all clerks in that department via an ACD (or Automatic Call
Distributor) there were 'floor limits' in effect for the various
merchants. As an audit trail regards who said what, 'approval codes'
were recited over the telephone in this way, "okay (code number)" and
the merchant wrote down this number on the paper charge ticket which
served as his proof that he _did_ call it in and get it approved.  For
example, "OK 67H3CPT" meant that some clerk named 'PT' had okayed
transaction '67H3C' on that day.

Prior to any computers at all -- except the mainframes -- (early to
mid-1960's) we worked from large bound volumes of books -- computer
'print outs' of about a thousand pages each with thirty or forty
entries; 30-40 entries per page, a thousand pages per book, about 40
books in total on shelves. As we walked around the room wearing
telephone operator-style headsets with very long cords on them, we
would go to the account number desired (the books were arranged in
numerical order, after a bit of experience you knew that a given
account would be found in volume 37, and approximatly what page it was
on therein) so you would walk over there, flip open the book, examine
other penciled in entries [amounts of previous sales since the book
was last updated], the 'credit limit' and any other notes handwritten
there by your co-workers. That gave you a rough idea of what the
customer's current balance [including any pencilled in entries] was,
and what it would be if the sale in question was approved. Thirty or
forty clerks, on their feet all day, all climbing over and around each
other to check books and note balances, etc.  Needless to say,
excellent body hygiene was important, but not always observed. Suffice
to say, we by and large 'trusted' the customers to not go over their
credit limit; those were simpler times and simpler customers, not as
sophisicated in fraud as many are today.  When a customer did go over
his limit, or was delinquent, then of course you did not approve the
sale, and told him why if you were asked.

Merchants had varying 'floor limits' also. For most merchants, some
minimum dollar amount did not have to be called in; jewelry stores had
to call in _all_ sales; gasoline stations did not have to call in
anything under ten dollars or so. It really depended on the commodity
being sold. Merchants got a mimeographed 'hot sheet' from our office
on a weekly basis; they always had to check this 'hot sheet' prior to
any sale, as this told them what cards were always invalid at all
times; customers who had gone way over limit with small sales under
the floor limits; instances of fraud, etc. The only time this did not
apply was when our phone lines got so backed up with calls waiting,
then the department supervisor would announce 'floor limit is raised
to X dollars' and that was understood to mean we did not have to check
the print outs for anything under that dollar amount; just pronounce
an approval code based on a 'manual' formula.

Then one day we all got personal desktop terminals, and the printout
books were gone. Now just sit there and type in the account number
given and the computer would respond automatically: If the account was
good, 'OK (code)' or if the account was bad: 'Declined'. If the
computer could not reach a decision on its own, then the response
would be 'review' and the customer's history for the past 5-6 months
put on display. For those accounts marked 'review' then we who worked
there had to look at the display and reach a decision and give the
approval code or the decline. It made our work much easier. At the
same time, changes in the floor limits due to phone line congestion
became less necessary. But there was no such thing as in later years
where cards were 'swiped' or automatically entered by the cash
register, etc. For the merchants it was still a totally manual
operation. For us in the office however, no more needing to try and
decipher someone else's illegible scribbles in the margin of the print
outs, no more climbing over or around a co-worker to find a volume of
account numbers in a missing print out book. This would have been
about 1968 I think when we each got a desktop terminal.

And it was 1967-68 when Amoco inherited Diner's Club temporarily.  
Diners had always been located in New York City, on Columbus Circle.
Founded by Alfred Bloomingdale, in the late 1940's and early 1950's,
Diners Club was _originally_ the credit department of Bloomingdale's
store in New York City. About 1952 or so, Bloomingdale's decided to
'spin off' Diners Club into its own thing. (Recall for example how
the Southern Pacific Railroad decided to 'spin off' its
telecommunications department into a new entity 'Sprint'.) The very
same thing happened with Bloomingdale's Department Store and its new
entity Diners Club. Alfred Bloomingdale owned the department store
of the same name and he also owned Diners Club. Like Amoco, Diners
was also completely a manual operation for the first several years,
but unlike Amoco, Diner's ran into some severe problems, both in 
their billing practices and their merchant payment practices. It got
to be so bad for Diners that they were losing many merchants and
many customers. About 1965, Diner's sent a letter to all merchants
saying they were sorry for being so screwed up and they were going to
try harder. By 1967-68, the VietNam era of anti-everything Diner's
Club and Amoco Credit Card Center had at least one thing in common;
they both were hell holes to work at, with some _very strange_
people -- a majority of whom were racially diverse -- each were 24
hour per day/seven day per week operations, at least in the Operations
Departments if not the 'customer service' area, both Diners and Amoco
had a large number of thieves among their own employees and labor 
disputes among the workers, etc, particularly among the racially
diverse young ladies of whom both Diners and Amoco Credit Card were
full of. 

After a particularly notorious incident in New York City, where Diners
management had planned secretly to close their office and move to 
Denver, CO (at Denver Tech Center) and several hundred of their
employees -- suspecting the worst -- on the Wednesday before Thanks-
giving that year chose to _riot_ (police had to be called to vacate
the offices) and _take hostages_ from the mysterious place called 
the 'computer room' three floors above (the rioters barricaded
themselves in the computer room, took their hostages, and proceeded
to throw three reels of tape (as yet un-backed up customer receivables)
out the window down to Columbus Circle several floors down, shredding
the tape as they tossed it out the window, Diners was about to call
it quits totally. Alfred Bloomingdale and other Diners executives
were out on Columbus Circle trying to gather up the shreds of computer
tape while police were herding the employees out. It sort of reminds
one of the stink at Norvergence on closing day when no one had gotten
paid ... remember that one?  

But Diners _had_ paid everyone; no one had gotten cheated, in fact
they even got their Thanksgiving Day turkeys this Wednesday before the
start of the American-traditional four day Thanksgiving weekend. (Most 
companies give Thursday and Friday, plus the weekend.) But Diners
'forgot to mention' until as they were handing out the turkeys to
everyone, "have a great four day weekend, but don't bother coming back
on Monday, cause we won't be here, we are relocating to Denver, CO."
And they did not bother to say what it is generally presumed management
was thinking: Salaries in Denver (in 1968 still a mostly rural small
town) will be a lot less; the work ethic will be a lot better; instead
of a lot of high-priced lazy anti-VietNam radicals who work in an
incompetent way when they feel like it, we will inherit in Denver many
housewives and 'regular' people who will love their jobs and work for
far less than you city people and not only that, but _they_ will all
be _white_.   The employees responded by wrecking the whole office
until the police arrived to crack open some heads, etc. 

Amoco observed it all ... and had been thinking for some time how they
would prefer to move somewhere else other than Chicago -- Des Moines,
Iowa perhaps -- for the same reason that Diners wanted out of New York
City in the middle 60's, but Amoco knew better than to just pack up
and sneak out of town in the middle of a holiday weekend, so when in
1972 _they_ decided to move to Des Moines, they gave their employees a
full _two year notice_ of their intentions, so as not to have a repeat
of the Diner's Club situation. And a couple months, or billing cycles
later, when Diners got the rude awakening of what they had lost in New
York -- they wound up writing off slightly over two million dollars in
credit card receiveables for which merchants had been paid but
customers had not been billed and would not be billed since the
computer tapes and paper tickets could not be reconstructed -- Amoco
took the hint and treated their employees much better, with a two year
advance notice that they were getting out of town. Later that same
year, the bottom fell out at Diners, and a consortium which included
CNA Insurance and Amoco bought up the leftovers. Amoco decided they
would start a new credit card lable, called 'Torch Club' which was
Diners and Amoco put together, and offer Torch Club only to their very 
best customers. Citicorp would not pick up Diners until 1981, about
twelve years later.

With all that in mind -- that Alfred Bloomingdale almost wrecked his
company -- in fact Citicorp refused to say much about Bloomingdale at
all in their _History of Diner's Club_, I would like to tell you about
Mr. Bloomingdale's personal Diners Club card. Not his company card,
his _personal_ card. It was stolen from him, probably by one of the
various prostitutes he went out with all the time. I say this only
because it has some relevance. Many people know -- either because they
read the papers when he was alive or whatever, that Al Bloomingdale
was very much sexually into S&M, 'rough trade', or whatever you wish
to call it. He was indiscrete with the hookers he would pick up. After
he died, one lady started a lawsuit to get his life savings claiming
he had promised her all his money. True or false, I do not know, but
Al Bloomingdale was _kinky_ to say the least. In one such affair,
someone picked his pocket and made off with his Diners Card and other
stuff. Due to the incompetence of the employees at Diners in New York
and later at Amoco in Chicago and, in fairness, the lack of effecient
computer systems in those days, the thief _lived on that Diners Card
for about a year_. The fact that the mimeographed 'hot sheet' had his
number listed, the fact that store clerks would call in for approvals
and be told to decline that stolen card from Al Bloomingdale, the card
never got collected, the charges kept coming in, etc. It seems
whenever it got close to the crook losing the card (because a store
clerk actually checked the hot sheet or called in for approval and was
told to decline the sale, this thief would bully the clerk or the
authorization person; one of those "Don't you know who I am?  By this
time tomorrow I will have your job!"  That kind of routine.

One night the crook's automobile stalled somewhere, I do not know
where, only that _I_ was working that overnight shift at the Amoco
center when I got a phone call from this pipsqueak kid in high
school somewhere working the late night shift at a gas station
somewhere, asking for approval on a TBA (tires, batteries, accessories) 
sale and the labor involved. I saw _whose card_ it was, and the
status of that account. This, by the way, was in early December
sometime, maybe a few days after Thanksgiving. The Pip Squeak was
all excited: "I was about to give this guy his car back and then on
the list you sent me I saw his card number listed. The guy is
arguing with me and told me if I did not honor his card he was going
to get me fired."

I asked the Pip Squeak where is the car now?  He told me it was
still on the rack but he was finished with his work.  I told him
you keep that car up on the rack, which is your right. You have a
workman's lien on that car until he pays the bill, and he is not going
to get it paid with that card.  I asked him if he still had the
plastic there. He said he did, so I told him (by then the pip squeak
had told me his name was Timmy) "Timmy have you got a pair of 
scissors there or a sharp cutting blade?"  He said he did and I asked
him, "Timmy, would you like to make fifty dollars?"  I think his
eyes almost bulged out of his head as he said "Oh, yeah man, I really
need the money to get Christmas presents for my family, what do I
have to do to make that kind of money?" 

I told him, "Timmy, it is very simple. Take your scissors and cut that
card into a few pieces now while we are talking, and then I want you
to mail the card pieces to Diners, PO Box (something), Chicago, IL
and when I get those card pieces you will get by return mail a check
for fifty dollars, how does that sound?  Are you afraid of this guy?
Don't be; if you need help just call police; tell them you want your
money before you release the car. Timmy assured me that a couple of
his buddies were there "so I know this dude won't try any ##@& with
me." I guess his buddies there enforced the rule about no car off the
rack ready to go until cash money is paid. Two or three days later
there were the pieces to the card along with a chicken-scrawled note
saying he was told to return this card. Most lost/stolen/abused card
rewards were fifteen dollars, but up to fifty dollars could be
authorized in extreme cases, as this one was. The guy _did_ call
up a few minutes later, making a last ditch effort to convince me 
that he was Alfred Bloomingale and I was going to get fired for what
I did. I told him it sounded a good deal to me since I hated working
there anyway. 

Timmy got his check from Diners/Amoco a couple weeks before Christmas
but the part I liked best was when the office manager asked me to
come by his office a week or so later.  "I heard that you picked up
Al Bloomingdale's credit card."  I said I had. He handed me an
envelope and said "thanks very much".  Inside the envelope was a 
check from the credit card office for five hundred dollars and a
note from Al Bloomingdale saying "thank you for helping with this."
That was a good Christmas for me also.

So remember, December is not only the season to commit suicide but
it is also the time of year for all the scam artists to come out of
the closet.   

PAT
    
------------------------------

Date: Sat, 19 Nov 2005 21:14:07 -0500
From: Marcus Didius Falco <falco_marcus_didius@yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: Mtn. View Accepts Google's Offer of Free WiFi


 From The San Jose Mercury News via Dewayne's list

Posted on Wed, Nov. 16, 2005
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/technology/13182596.htm

Mtn. View accepts Google's offer of free WiFi
By Renee Koury
Mercury News

With hometown Internet star Google offering to blanket Mountain View
with free wireless Internet access, the city is leaping ahead of
neighbors in the race to be Silicon Valley's most tech-savvy town.

City leaders unanimously accepted Google's offer Tuesday night to make
Mountain View the first city in the Bay Area -- and possibly the
country -- to get a full umbrella of free WiFi coverage. Google will
install as many as 400 transmitters the size of a shoe box on
streetlamps throughout the city.

As part of a five-year contract starting by June, Google will test the
system, which will link wireless-ready laptops to the Internet in most
of the city. In a matter of months, surfing the Web with a wireless
laptop should be possible from a sidewalk cafe on Castro Street. But a
paddleboat at Shoreline Park might be problematic -- unless it's near
a streetlamp.

"It's going to make us one of the first, if not the first, to
have citywide Internet . It's a pretty cool thing," Mayor
Matt Neely said. "We're thrilled for all our neighbor cities
who get to follow our lead."

The council's gleeful approval came despite concerns over radiation
and privacy. Google maintains the radiation level is far below federal
limits and that of most cell phones. The company also offered
assurances about protecting users' information.

While cities across the Bay Area are moving ahead with plans to offer
wide swaths of free WiFi coverage, the Google deal propels Mountain
View into the spotlight. San Francisco is considering a similar offer
from Google to test free WiFi citywide. San Jose officials recently
approved a deal to link their downtown to free wireless access, as
well as community centers and branch libraries.

Palo Alto has plenty of WiFi hot spots, especially downtown.  But the
city is on a different quest to become the first in the Bay Area to
bring a fiber-optic connection to every home.  The big sticking point
has been the estimated cost of $40 million.

"It would be nice to have the free Internet for those who
want it, but wireless can only do certain things," Palo Alto
City Councilman Bern Beecham said.

Instead, he said, the city is more interested in pursuing
fiber-optics, which can provide residents with far greater digital
possibilities such as downloads of movies and large computer
files. The plan is scheduled to come up in January when new council
members take office.

Mountain View leaders say it's only fitting that their city get free
citywide Internet access, since Google sprouted in its back yard and
has grown to become one of the world's most powerful Internet search
engines.

"We are in the birthplace, the heart and soul of Silicon Valley, so
not to have citywide WiFi is almost embarrassing," City Councilman
Mike Kasperzak said. "It's great for people who live here, who work
here, who want to go sit downtown and log on, and to some degree it's
helping Google test out a theory."

But Google warns the signal may weaken behind walls, and users might
need extra equipment that costs up to $100 to improve reception.

Google already has set up test centers at Kapp's Pizza Bar and Grill
on Castro Street in Mountain View and Airborne Gymnastics in Santa
Clara. Most customers at Kapp's didn't even realize they could turn on
their laptops and be online for free. The exception was Huberto
Acevedo, 26, of San Jose, whose father owns Kapp's. He was sitting in
a corner browsing the Internet and viewing e-mail.

"I think it'd be really convenient to have this everywhere," said
Acevedo, who likes to hunt for automotive parts online.  "But I wonder
how it will be to have all those radio waves everywhere. We already
have transmitters for cell phones and TV and PDAs, and the sun's
pretty damaging, too. It makes you wonder about health."

Some residents wondered the same thing. A flurry of e-mails between
residents and city council members this week brought up a range of
concerns about Google's seemingly innocuous offer. Some said the
hundreds of transmitters, about 20 to 30 per square mile, would emit
radio waves with unknown health effects. Others had privacy concerns,
saying Google might track their Web browsing and use it to sell
tailored advertising.

City leaders say that's beyond their realm; their involvement is
limited to letting Google rent the city's street lamps for $12,600 a
year to place transmitters. People who don't want to use the Google
network system can simply opt out; users will have to take the
initiative to log on.

Citywide WiFi is expected to bring more customers to downtown since
people can get work done while they dine, or between errands.

"This is really about the city enabling people to do WiFi and for
those who want it, it seems like a desirable service," said Elaine
Costello, the city's community development director. "It's not like
it's going to be a requirement."

Google is also testing its WiFi idea at Rockefeller Center in New York
and Union Square in San Francisco.

In its offer, Google product manager Minnie Ingersoll said the company
wants to use Mountain View as a test site to learn more about the cost
and the challenges of building and supporting a wireless network, with
the ultimate aim of driving more traffic to Google.

With 1,000 employees living in Mountain View, Google said it was a
good place to test services and products and understand its emerging
technology. The company also said free wireless gives access to people
who can't afford monthly Internet fees.

Weblog at: http://weblog.warpspeed.com


John F. McMullen
http://www.westnet.com/~observer

  -=-=-=-=-=-

Dewayne adds:

o Here's a pointer to an entry from David Isenberg's blog on a town in 
Pepperell, MA that has covered itself with a wireless cloud.  David points 
out that he thinks that municipal wireless has now passed the 'tipping 
point': 
http://isen.com/blog/2005/11/home-town-newspaper-makes-good.html>http://isen.com/blog

o Here's a pointer to a project that I'm involved with in New Mexico.  In 
this case, a county rather then a city is being covered:

http://muniwireless.com/municipal/projects/914>http://muniwireless.com
and 
http://muniwireless.com/technology/923>http://muniwireless.com

I'll leave the tipping point call to others, but one thing is clear,
you're going to see a continuous stream of articles and news on
similar rollouts across the country from now on.

 -- Dewayne

Direct replies are unlikely to be read. To reply use the address below:
falco(underscore)md(atsign)yahoo(dot)co(dot)uk


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: And, needless to say, SBC (the telco)
is fit to be tied about it. The more people who get involved with
municipal WiFi means fewer folks need to use SBC internet DSL, and
that, says telco, is Bad News. Here in Independence, our local McDonalds 
Restaurant offers free WiFi to their customers, but in actual practice
the signal is good enough it can be picked up anywhere on 10th Street 
between Main Street to the south and Laurel Street to the north, about
two city blocks along 10th Street. A half-block of that area is the 
McDonalds, but you can sit in a car in the parking lot at Marvins
store and recieve it also, as well as _sometimes_ catty-corner in the
Arco Building parking lot on 9th Street.  PAT]

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

Date: Sun, 20 Nov 2005 00:46:31 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Shop-Till-You-Drop Specials, Revealed Here First


By MICHAEL BARBARO

For retailers, the day after Thanksgiving is a painstakingly
orchestrated affair.

Prices are scientifically slashed, down to the penny. Sales begin at
dawn. And glossy circulars containing the well-laid plans are
distributed just a day or two ahead to keep consumers and competitors
in the dark.

Or at least that is how it worked before people like Michael Brim came
along. From a cramped dorm room in California, Mr. Brim, an
18-year-old college freshman who dines on Lucky Charms and says he
rarely shops, is abruptly pulling back the curtain on the biggest
shopping day of the year.

His Web site, http://BF2005.com, publishes the circulars for what
retailers call Black Friday -- the day that officially starts the
holiday shopping season -- weeks ahead of time.

So far this year, sources have leaked advertisements to him from Toys
"R" Us (showing the Barbie Fashion Show Mall, regularly $99.99, for
$29.97); Sears (a Canon ZR100 MiniDV camcorder, regularly $329.99, for
$249.99); and Ace Hardware (a Skil 12-volt drill, regularly $44.99,
for $24.99).

Mr. Brim says his motive is to educate consumers. But retailers are
furious, arguing that the site jeopardizes their holiday business, and
they have threatened legal action.

But http://BF2005.com is not their only problem. There are now at
least three Web sites dedicated to digging up Black Friday sales
secrets, creating a fierce competition to post the ads first. It is so
heated, in fact, that all three sites stamp the circulars with bright
electronic watermarks to discourage rivals from stealing a scoop.

The renegade sites, whose popularity is growing, highlight how much
the Web is shifting the balance of power in retailing from companies
to consumers. Big national chains used to control discounts carefully,
and shoppers were lucky to stumble into a sale at a store or receive
an e-mail message promising free shipping. Today, however, online
forums encourage strangers to exchange hard-to-find online coupon
codes, and they offer instructions on how to combine rebates with
one-day sales to cut retail prices in half.

For the discount warriors who run these sites, Black Friday is the
best chance to share their techniques, not to mention their zeal, with
the masses who pay full price.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/17/business/17shop.html?ex=1289883600&en=ed15eb16d7a6526a&ei=5090

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

Date: Sun, 20 Nov 2005 01:16:35 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: I Vant to Drink Your Vatts


By MATTHEW L. WALD

WASHINGTON - Households across the land are infested with vampires.
That's what energy experts call those gizmos with two sharp teeth that
dig into a wall socket and suck your juice all night long. All day
long, too, and all year long.

Most people assume that when they turn off the television set it stops
drawing power.

But that's not how most TV's (and VCR's and other electronic devices)
work. They remain ever in standby mode, silently sipping energy to
the tune of 1,000 kilowatt hours a year per household, awaiting the
signal to roar into action.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/17/garden/17vampire.html?ex=1289883600&en=9e130c36bbeed7ba&ei=5090

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

From: Rik <hrasmussen@nc.rr.com>
Subject: Re: Lingo Phone Can't Port Number
Date: 20 Nov 2005 05:38:11 -0800
Organization: http://groups.google.com


The neighbor is directly across the street and also has a number that
was a Sprint number before Vonage ported it. Others in my immediate
neighborhood have been ported from Sprint (a.k.a. Carolina Telephone)
to Time Warner's voip service.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Maybe you should bring this up again
with the Lingo service rep. What, exactly, makes _your_ number different
 from theirs? A different (and perhaps less well equipped exchange)
perhaps?   PAT]

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

From: bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi)
Subject: Re: Lingo Phone Can't Port Number
Date: Sun, 20 Nov 2005 14:11:37 -0000
Organization: Widgets, Inc.


In article <telecom24.526.10@telecom-digest.org>, Rik Rasmussen
<hrasmussen@nc.rr.com> wrote:

> Their web site has an email address to use for number transfer issues,
> so I sent them an email.

> I will be surprised if they respond because they never responded to
> emails I sent with questions before signing up. I will try them on the
> phone.

> Vonage was able to transfer my neighbor's number from the same local
> phone company.

> An update: I just spoke to Lingo. The CSR was very nice and professional.

> He said my local phone number is "outside the Lingo service area, and
> can not be ported at this time." I live in Wake Forest, a suburb of

> Raleigh, NC, not some backwoods location.

> He had no indication when it might be in their service area.

> I told hime that if they could port my number I would prefer to stay
> with them even though they do not answer emails and also inspite of
> their unwillingness to disclose portability of my number prior to
> signing up for service.

> He said I would need to call their Cancellation Number Mon. - Fri. in
> order to arrange to return my box and get a refund.

> So, looks like I will be doing that and going with Vonage.

> I really hate it because Lingo includes Western Europe.

> Rik Rasmussen
> Radio Systems Manager
> City/County of Durham, NC
> 919-560-4175 x 244
> 919-560-4400 fax
> http://www.ci.durham.nc.us/

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But this 'neighbor' of yours: Is he
> also in Wake Forest, or Durham, or Raleigh, or Research Triangle,
> or where?  Didn't you say neighbor was on the same phone exchange?
> PAT]

So what??  It doesn't make any difference even if the neighbor is
_next_door_ "not all VoIP companies are created equal", to paraphrase
a trite remark.

To 'accept' a ported number, you must have physical presence
_on_the_PSTN_ in the area of that number.

Lingo apparently does not have a 'local presence' anywhere close
enough to Durham to service him.

Vonage, on the other hand, does have a suitable local presence --
apparently.

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

From: David L <davlindi@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: Nokia 6340i Cell Phone
Date: 19 Nov 2005 17:46:20 -0800
Organization: http://groups.google.com


I don't have that model but it sure rang a bell when I saw 6340i.

I have used Nokia 5150's and 6160's, basically all the old ATTWS TDMA
Nokia to set my friends and family up wtih cheap Prepaid wireless.
Locus sells a bunch of plans that work on the old system. Callplus and
forgot the name of the other product line.

Why I remember that phone so well, is a certain retailer was offering
those to the customers who were having their TDMA network shut off.
Cingular can't wait to get everyone on GSM, but there is a lot of that
legacy TDMA network. The plans were great, free incoming text and
about 15 cents per minute on TDMA prepaid. States having been going
dark one by one. Virgina and Texas come to mind, but I'm not sure
exactly where the TDMA has been fully converted to GSM.

The 6340i was originally a GAIT phone: Modes AMPS 800 / GSM 800 / GSM
1900 / TDMA 800 / TDMA 1900 and could be used on Cingular GAIT plans,
specifically.

However those plans no longer exist, so apparently all the TDMA AMP
functionality is lost. I just thought this one particular promotion
for the 6340i didn't make it clear, that there were no longer GSM+
analog + digital plans. And the phone would work for GSM only.

I'd be curious to see if the phone DID work for a 911 call in an
analog area, where the 911 call might bypass any network locks?

Perhaps a test 911 call would work from an analog only area. Note: 911
either activates Verizon (other carriers unknown) to allow the tower to
dump GPS coordinates to a CDA phones GPSONE debug screen, or might
conect to 911. Or it may do nothing if there is no AGPS support ike a
rural area.

Dave Lind  Davlindi(at)hotmail(dot)com

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

From: Steve Sobol <sjsobol@JustThe.net>
Subject: Re: A Question Please About my Purchase
Date: Sun, 20 Nov 2005 09:21:34 -0800
Organization: Glorb Internet Services, http://www.glorb.com


John Levine wrote:

> That is correct.  They do not care what phone you use with your SIM.

Clarification: the PHONE has to accept Cingular SIMs and not be "SIM
locked" to another provider. But since the 6340i was originally a
Cingular/AT&T Wireless phone, this isn't an issue.


Steve Sobol, Professional Geek   888-480-4638   PGP: 0xE3AE35ED
Company website: http://JustThe.net/
Personal blog, resume, portfolio: http://SteveSobol.com/
E: sjsobol@JustThe.net Snail: 22674 Motnocab Road, Apple Valley, CA 92307

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


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