TELECOM Digest     Mon, 28 Nov 2005 14:55:00 EST    Volume 24 : Issue 537

Inside This Issue:                             Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    SBC Recast as AT&T; Another Brave New World (James R. Hood)
    Singapore Scientists Embrace Plan for Cyberhugs (Reuters News Wire)
    Supreme Court to Hear E-Bay Patent Appeal (Tim Dobbyn)
    Momentum Grows to Meld Tech Platforms (Bruce Meyerson)
    CFP: IEEE Web Services (ICWS 2006) (IEEE CFP)
    Cellular-News for Monday 28th November 2005 (Cellular-News)
    NYPost Article About VZ Cramming (Danny Burstein)
    Competitors Challenge MapQuest (Monty Solomon)
    Verizon Tests Super-Fast DSL as it Rolls Out Fiber Optics (Monty Solomon)
    Town Answers Call of Future / Internet Replaces 'Archaic' (Monty Solomon)
    Leaving Vonage, Want to keep number (cliff@thesolutioncafe.com)
    Re: Auto Call Forward (harrisloeser@yahoo.com)
    Re: John Kennedy, Lee Harvey Oswald, and Jack Ruby (Lisa Hancock)
    Re: John Kennedy, Lee Harvey Oswald, and Jack Ruby (Henry)

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: James R. Hood <consumeraffairs@telecom-digest.org> 
Subject: SBC Recast as ATT; Another Brave New World
Date: Mon, 28 Nov 2005 11:21:19 -0600


By James R. Hood, ConsumerAffairs.Com

In an odd twist on the prodigal son tale, regional telephone giant SBC
Communications, created in the 1984 break-up of AT&T, has completed
its $16.5 billion acquisition of AT&T and adopted its once-spurned
parent's name.

"We are ready to meet the needs of a new generation of customers in a
new era of communications and entertainment," Edward Whitacre Jr.,
chairman and chief executive of SBC, said in a statement.

Though AT&T is seen by many as damaged goods, it maintains a hefty
share of big-business clients and is an internationally recognized
brand, unlike SBC, an aggressive but bland local telephone provider
operating mostly in the South and Midwest.

Verizon, another AT&T spin-off, is buying MCI, historically AT&T's
primary competitor in the long-distance business.

Both SBC and Verizon have been aggressively building their high-speed
Internet and wireless businesses and are thirsting to muscle in on the
video delivery business now largely dominated by cable
companies. They'll also be pushing Internet telephone services,
commonly known as VoIP.

Although it's SBC that bought AT&T, the new company already looks a
lot like the old AT&T when it talks of moving into the video business
without going through the arduous, expensive and time-consuming
franchise process required of cable systems.

It's a throwback to the way in which AT&T tried to sneak into the
local telephone business in the 1990s, when it wrestled Congression
into passing legislation that required local telephone companies to
lease their local lines to AT&T at heavily discounted rates. P.S.,
AT&T's lobbying prowess proved a lot better than its marketing skills
and the local phone initiative was a flop.

1,000 TV Channels!

As usual in such deals, there is much talk about the wondrous things
to come. In this case, SBC/AT&T executives are waxing poetic about
"new technology" that will supposedly enable the "new" AT&T to deliver
more than 1,000 channels of television programming.

The company's publicists are also effusive about such potentially
vaporous services as Google-style targeted advertising, TV content
beamed to cell phones and movies-on-demand, something that's been just
around the corner since at least the early 1980s.

The "new" AT&T is also opening a retail push in some areas. New AT&T
stores popped up in a few malls, offering various gadgets, including
online gaming. The company is also opening kiosks in Best Buy, CompUSA
and Cingular Wireless stores.

In a marketing maze only the image-mad AT&T could navigate, Cingular
Wireless, owned jointly by SBC (oops, AT&T) with BellSouth, will begin
offering cell phone service under the AT&T name to its business
customers.

Meanwhile, customers who not long ago had AT&T Wireless service are
still being hounded to "convert" from their old AT&T plan to a
Cingular plan. Some of them will now, presumably, be encouarged to
switch from their old AT&T plan to the, uh, new AT&T plan.


Copyright 2003-2005 ConsumerAffairs.Com Inc.

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.

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

From: Reuters News Wire <reuters@telecom-digest.org>
Subject: Singapore Scientists Embrace Plan for Cyberhugs
Date: Mon, 28 Nov 2005 11:32:06 -0600


Singapore scientists looking for ways to transmit the sense of touch
over the Internet have devised a vibration jacket for chickens and are
thinking about electronic children's pyjamas for cyberspace hugs.

A wireless jacket for chickens or other pets can be controlled with a
computer and gives the animal the feeling of being touched by its
owner, researchers at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) told
Monday's edition of The Straits Times.

The next step would be to use the same concept to transmit hugs over
the Internet, it said.

"These days, parents go on a lot of business trips, but with children,
hugging and touching are very important," the paper quoted NTU
Associate Professor Adrian David Cheok as saying.

NTU is thinking of a pyjama suit for children, which would use the
Internet to adjust changes in pressure and temperature to simulate the
feeling of being hugged. Parents wearing a similar suit could be
"hugged" back by their children, the paper said.


Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited.

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.

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

From: Tim Dobbyn <reuters@telecom-digest.org> 
Subject: Supreme Court to Hear E-Bay Patent Appeal
Date: Mon, 28 Nov 2005 11:33:36 -0600


By Tim Dobbyn

The U.S. Supreme Court said on Monday that it would consider an appeal
by online auctioneer eBay Inc. in its patent battle with MercExchange,
a developer of e-commerce technology.

At issue for the justices is whether an appeals court erred in finding
that a permanent injunction barring use of a technology must generally
be issued once infringement of a valid patent has been determined.

In its appeal, eBay said the ruling reduced a trial court judge's
discretion to exceptions involving national health and handed a club
to companies that buy patents to make infringement claims.

The justices will hear arguments in the case most likely in March or
April, with a decision expected by the end of June. The high court
said it would reconsider its precedents, including one from 1908, on
when it is appropriate to grant an injunction against a patent
infringer.

MercExchange had argued against Supreme Court review, saying the
principles involved in the case were well established.

In 2003 a federal court ordered eBay to pay Virginia-based
MercExchange $29.5 million for infringing two e-commerce patents that
MercExchange charged were key to eBay's "Buy it Now" feature, which
handles fixed-price sales.

Such sales accounted for about 31 percent of the total value of goods
sold on eBay in the fourth quarter of 2004.

But the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
declined to issue a permanent injunction.

In March, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled one
of MercExchange's patents was invalid and trimmed the damages against
eBay to $25 million but reversed the lower court's denial of
MercExchange's request for a permanent injunction against eBay.

In addition, eBay says the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued
an initial ruling rejecting all of the claims of the patents at the
center of the case.

The eBay case has attracted interest among those who believe it has
become too easy to hold businesses hostage through patent suits.

A group of 35 patent law professors filed a friend of the court brief
arguing that an entitlement to an injunction allows unscrupulous
patent owners to threaten products that are predominantly
noninfringing. A computer chip, they noted, may include 5,000
different inventions.

(Additional reporting by James Vicini)

Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited.

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.

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

From: Bruce Meyerson <ap@telecom-digest.org>
Subject: Momentum Grows to Meld Tech Platforms
Date: Mon, 28 Nov 2005 10:45:01 -0600


SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/1700AP_Melded_Telecom.html

Momentum grows to meld tech platforms

By BRUCE MEYERSON
AP BUSINESS WRITER

NEW YORK -- As easy as it is to connect these days by Internet,
cellular, Wi-Fi and plain old telephones, the networks that make all
that possible can't communicate well with one another.

Technological standards vary from network to network. The traditional
phone system and the Internet use completely different protocols. Even
a single mobile provider's voice calls and data services are largely
separate and incompatible.

Now there's momentum building for a new standard that could enable
network operators to bridge these gaps, opening the way for melded
services such as simultaneous walkie-talkie and video exchanges
between a cell phone and a landline.

If only it were that simple.

The standard -- Internet Protocol for Multimedia Subsystems, or IMS
for short -- is only a springboard for convergence between future
services, not today's, nearly all of which would need to be adapted or
replaced over time to enable them to intermingle.

 From simple phone calls, voice mail and call waiting, to wireless
text messaging and multimedia downloads, most existing telecom
services were designed to perform their specific functions as if
walled off into distinct silos on the network.

It matters little that most network traffic is now digital. For
example, despite the growth of phone services based on Internet
standards -- known as Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP -- most
wireline and wireless calls aren't transmitted in IP from start-to-
finish; calls get converted to traditional phone protocols on either
or both ends.

And while a growing number of non-voice services are IP-based,
interspersing their digital packets down a shared network pipe, many
applications still need to create a virtual "session," not unlike the
path of a regular phone call, between a user's device and the network.

IMS attempts to knock down these silos by introducing a common
interface for creating sessions. That way, data can be intertwined or
bridged across networks to different devices.

The technology has been generating buzz within the industry for
several years, but recently took a big leap off the drawing board with
a series of contract awards by some of the largest U.S. telephone
companies.

Earlier this month, BellSouth Corp. announced it was buying IMS
network systems from Lucent Technologies Inc. Two weeks earlier, AT&T
Inc. and Cingular Wireless, which is co-owned by AT&T and BellSouth,
also signed on to buy Lucent's IMS technology.

Lucent, still struggling through a migraine-size hangover from the
dot-com-telcom bust, acknowledged during its latest earnings report
that IMS wouldn't be generating any meaningful revenue in the near
future, but the contracts amount to a substantial endorsement of the
company's technology.

So far, only a smattering of foreign operators and one major
U.S. company, Sprint Nextel Corp., have begun deploying IMS, and
largely in a way that's invisible to customers.

Sprint, for example, rolled out a walkie-talkie service, ReadyLink,
for its cell phones in 2003 using a pre-standard version of IMS.

But ReadyLink differs little from the non-IMS "push-to-talk" from
other cell phone providers, offering none of the multimedia
combinations IMS can enable.

In fact, when Sprint's recently acquired sister company, Nextel, added
a new photo-sharing component to its pioneering push-to-talk service
earlier this month, it did so without the purported magic of IMS.

Like just about every existing cell phone application, Nextel's
walkie-talkie feature was essentially created in a software vacuum,
programmed with no emphasis on interoperability with other services.

So while IMS might make it easier to write a walkie-talkie program
from scratch and add new features down the road, Nextel has to
consider the millions of customers already using its very popular
non-IMS service.

"You don't want to fix something that's not broken," said Rob
Prudhomme of inCode, a wireless industry consulting firm. Carriers
"have a lot of services running before IMS, so their challenge is how
to migrate all the services they already have to IMS without incurring
a huge cost."

Likewise, though Sprint used IMS for ReadyLink, the company relied on
proprietary technologies for the photo services it launched a year
earlier, making integration into a "push-to-photo" capability like
Nextel's more complex.

Such complications make IMS a commitment best suited for major network
overhauls -- which may help explain why Sprint, AT&T and Cingular are
now venturing down that path. All three have placed big-money bets on
next-generation network technologies.

Sprint, which is rolling out a speedier wireless data technology
called EV-DO, expects to use IMS as the underpinning for some
ambitious new services bridging cell phones and televisions as part of
the company's new alliance with four of the nation's biggest cable TV
providers.

The new capabilities, expected to arrive by mid-2006, include using a
cell phone to view live TV broadcasts, check the program listings,
program a digital video recorder, or even watch programs stored on
that DVR. Back in the living room, set-top boxes might be equipped for
push-to-talk conversations with cell phone users.

Sprint also plans to use IMS to add desktop business capabilities to
cell phones.

At AT&T, the IMS foray comes amid a vast upgrade of the company's local
telephone network so that it can deliver television and an array of
interactive services using a new Internet-based technology called IPTV.

But in a telling sign, AT&T says IMS will not be the special sauce behind
the interactive features when the service first launches in 2006. Likewise,
Cingular is making its long-awaited foray into the push-to-talk market with
a service based on a non-IMS technology from Kodiak Networks.

"Most equipment has not yet been tested in a real-world setting, to
prove that it meets operators stringent requirements for reliability,"
analysts at Forrester Research say in new report that predicts IMS
won't be widely adopted until 2009. "Today, carriers like Sprint, that
are public about strategic IMS commitments, must deploy non-IMS
services until products exist and are proven."

Copyright 2005 Associated Press
Copyright 2005 Seattle P-I

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.

For more headlines from Associated Press please go to:
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/AP.html

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

Reply-To: cfp@servicescomputing.org
From: IEEE CFP <cfp@servicescomputing.org>
Organization: IEEE ICWS-SCC 2006
Subject: CFP: IEEE Web Services (ICWS 2006)
Date: Mon, 28 Nov 2005 17:02:47 GMT


CALL FOR PAPERS

2006 IEEE International Conference on Web Services (ICWS 2006)
Celebrating the 60th Anniversary of IEEE Computer Society!
September 18-22, 2006, Hyatt Regency at O'Hare Airport, Chicago, USA
http://conferences.computer.org/icws/2006

Sponsored by IEEE Computer Society
Technical Committee on Services Computing (tab.computer.org/tcsc)

The 2006 IEEE International Conference on Web Services (ICWS 2006)
will be part of the IEEE Computer Society Congress on Software
Technology and Engineering Practice (CoSTEP), celebrating the 60th
Anniversary of IEEE Computer Society! ICWS 2006 organizing committee
invites you to participate in the fourth year of ICWS in Chicago, USA
on 18-22 September 2006.

ICWS has been a prime international forum for both researchers and
industry practitioners to exchange the latest fundamental advances in
the state of the art and practice of Web Services. ICWS also aims to
identify emerging research topics and define the future of Web
Services. Over the past four years, ICWS has grown steadily,
attracting over 200 participants on a regular basis. ICWS 2005 was
held on July 11-15, 2005 in Orlando, Florida, USA; ICWS 2004 was held
on July 6-9, 2004 in San Diego, California, USA; ICWS 2003 was held on
June 23-26, 2003 in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

ICWS 2006 will be co-located with the 2006 IEEE International
Conference on Services Computing (SCC 2006), the 30th Annual
International Computer Software and Applications Conference (COMPSAC
2006), and the 2006 IEEE Workshops on Software Technology and
Engineering Practice (STEP 2006). IEEE Services Oriented Architecture
(SOA) Industry Summit and IEEE International Services Computing
Contest will also be featured at this joint event.

The technical program will include refereed paper presentations,
panels, and poster sessions in both research and industry
tracks. Workshops and tutorials will run before and throughout the
conference.

ICWS 2006 program seeks original, unpublished research papers
reporting substantive new work in various aspects of Web
services. Papers must properly cite related work and clearly indicate
their contributions to the field of Web services. Topics of interest
include but not limited to:

* Mathematical Foundations for Web Services Computing
* Web Services-based Service Oriented Architecture
* Web Services Modeling
* Web Services Standards and Implementation Technologies
* Web Services Specifications and Enhancements (e.g., UDDI, SOAP, WSDL)
* Web Services Discovery
* Web Services Composition and Integration
* Web Services Invocation
* QoS for Web Services (e.g., security, privacy, reliability,
  performance, fault tolerance, etc.)
* Web Services Assessment (i.e., validation & verification)
* Web Services-based Testing Methodologies
* Web Services-based Software Engineering
* Web Services-based Project Management
* Semantic Web Services
* IT Infrastructure Management for Web Services
* Solution Management for Web Services
* Multimedia Web Services
* Web Services-based Business Process Management
* Web Services-based Mobile Computing
* Web Services-based Grid Applications (e.g. OGSA)
* Domain Specific Web Services Applications and Solutions

All submitted manuscripts will be peer-reviewed by at least 3 program
committee members. Accepted papers will appear in the conference
proceedings in both hardcopy and on-line version published by the IEEE
Computer Society. Extended versions of selected best papers published
in the ICWS 2006 will be invited for publication in the International
Journal of Web Services Research (JWSR), the International Journal of
Business Process Integration and Management (IJBPIM), and the
International Journal of Grid and Utility Computing (IJGUC). Both the
ICWS Proceedings and JWSR are included in EI Compendex.

Submitted manuscripts will be limited to 8 (IEEE Proceedings style) pages and required to be formatted using the IEEE Proceedings template. Electronic submission of manuscripts (in PDF or Word format) is required. Detailed instructions for electronic paper preparation and submission, panel proposals, tutorial proposals, and review process can be found at http://conferences.computer.org/icws/2006/. At least one author of each accepted paper is required to register for the conference and present the paper. One Best Paper award and between one to three Best Student Paper Awards will be granted at ICWS 2006. The first author of the best student papers must be full-time student.

If your paper is application or solution oriented, you can consider submitting it to ICWS 2006 Industry Track via its dedicated online submission and review system. Manuscripts submitted to the Research Track focusing on application or solution descriptions may be recommended to the Industry Track for further considerations. Submitted papers with novel ideas but not accepted by the Research Track and Industry Track due to space limitation may also be recommended to the Work-in-Progress Track.

Important Dates:
Abstract Submission Deadline: January 16, 2006
Paper Submission Due Date: January 16, 2006
Decision Notification (Electronic): April 24, 2006
Camera-Ready Copy Due Date & Pre-registration Due: May 31, 2006

General Chairs:

Liang-Jie (LJ) Zhang, Ph.D., IBM T.J. Watson Research, USA, 
zhanglj AT us.ibm.com

Frank Leymann, University of Stuttgart, Germany, 
frank.leymann AT informatik.uni-stuttgart.de

Program Chairs:

Ephraim Feig, Ph.D., Kintera, Inc., efeig AT kintera.com
Anup Kumar, Professor, CECS Department, University of Louisville, USA, ak AT louisville.edu

Program Vice Chair:
Jia Zhang, Ph.D., Northern Illinois University, jiazhang AT cs.niu.edu

Workshop Chairs

Malu G. Castellanos, Ph.D.
HP Laboratories, USA

Jian Yang, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Macquaire University, Australia

Industry Track Chair

Wu Chou, Ph.D.
Avaya Labs Research, Avaya, USA

IEEE SOA Industry Summit Chairs

Ali Arsanjani, Ph.D.
Chief Architect, SOA and Web Services Center of Excellence
IBM Global Services, USA

Tony Shan
Lead Systems Architect, Wachoiva Bank, USA

Tutorial Chairs

Schahram Dustdar, Ph.D.
Professor, Vienna University of Technology, Austria

Andreas Wombacher, Ph.D.
PostDoc Fellow, University of Twente, The Netherlands

Job Fair Chair

Sandeep Purao, Ph.D.
Associate Proessor, Pennsylvania State University, USA

Panel Chairs

Frank Ferrante
Editor in Chief, IEEE IT Professional Magazine, USA

Ling Liu, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA

Hsing Kenny Cheng, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, University of Florida, USA

Work-in-Progress Chair

Graciela Gonzalez, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Sam Houston State University, USA

Publicity Chairs

Jeff Voas, Ph.D.
Director, Systems Assurance
Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), USA

Elena Ferrari, Ph.D.
Professor, University of Insubria at Como, Italy

Steve Miller, Ph.D.
Professor, Dean of the School of Information Systems
Singapore Management University, Singapore

Publication Chair

Haifei Li, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Union University, USA

IEEE APSCC 2006 Liaison

Hai Jin, Ph.D.
Professor and Dean, School of Computer
Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China

IEEE Services Computing Contest Chairs

Zhixiong Chen, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Mercy College, USA

Charles A. Shoniregun, Ph.D.
University of East London, UK

Yuan-Chwen You, Ph.D.
Founder, Creative Entrepreneurship Consulting, Inc., Taiwan

Program Committee:

Grigoris Antoniou (University of Crete/Institute of Computer Science
FORTH, Greece)
Mikio Aoyama (Nanzan University, Japan)
Ali Arsanjani (IBM Global Services, USA)
Malcolm Atkinson (University of Edinburgh, UK)
Boualem Benatallah (University of New South Wales, Australia)
Elisa Bertino (Purdue University, USA)
Ken Birman (Cornell University, USA)
Athman Bouguettaya (Virginia Tech., USA)
Paul Buhler (College of Charleston, Charleston, SC USA)
Christoph Bussler (Cisco Systems, USA)
Jorge Cardoso (University of Madeira, Portugal)
Malu G. Castellanos (HP Labs, USA)
Jeane Chen (Kintera, USA)
Ying Chen (IBM China Research Lab, China)
Wu Chou (Avaya Labs Research, Avaya , USA)
Alok Choudhary (Northwestern University, USA)
Vassilis Christophides (University of Crete/Institute of Computer
Science FORTH, Greece)
Umeshwar Dayal (HP Labs, USA)
Stefan Dessloch (Kaiserslautern University of Technology, Germany)
Asuman Dogac (Middle East Technical University, Turkey)
Jiang Du (Queensland University of Technology, Australia)
Schahram Dustdar (Vienna University of Technology, Austria)
Phillip Ein-Dor (Tel-Aviv University, Israel)
Vadim Ermolayev (Zaporozhye State University, Ukraine)
Dieter Fensel (DERI, Ireland & University of Innsbruck, Austria)
Elena Ferrari (Politiche e dell'Informazione, University of Insubria
at Como, Italy)
Marcus Fontoura (Yahoo Research, USA)
Piero Fraternali (Politecnico di Milano, Italy)
Casey K. Fung (Boeing Phantom Works, USA)
Martin Gaedke (University of Karlsruhe, Germany)
George M. Galambos (IBM Canada)
Shahram Ghandeharizadeh (University of Southern California, USA)
Graciela Gonzalez (Sam Houston State University , USA)
Vijay K. Gurbani (Lucent Technologies/Bell Labs Innovations, USA)
Abdelsalam (Sumi) Helal (University of Florida, USA)
Alan R. Hevner (University of South Florida, USA)
Michael N. Huhns (University of South Carolina, USA)
Rick Hull (Lucent Technologies, Bell Labs, USA)
Patrick C. K. Hung (University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Canada)
Varghese S. Jacob (University of Texas at Dallas, USA)
Hemant Jain (University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, USA)
Ralph Johnson (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA)
Anupam Joshi (University of Maryland, Baltimore County, USA)
Roger (Buzz) King (University of Colorado at Boulder, USA)
Hiroyuki Kitagawa (University of Tsukuba, Japan)
Domenico Laforenza (Information Science and Technologies Institute (ISTI), USA)
Herman Lam (University of Florida, USA)
Konstantin Läufer (Loyola University Chicago, USA)
M. Lenzerini (DIS Dipartimento di Informatica e Sistemistica, Italy)
Frank Leymann (University of Stuttgart, Germany)
Haifei Li (Union University, USA)
Wei Li (Institute of Computing Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China)
Geng Lin (Cicso Systems, USA)
Ling Liu (Georgia Institute of Technology, USA)
Bertram Ludaescher (University of California at Davis, USA)
J.P. Martin-Flatin (UQAM, Canada)
XS (Xin Sheng) Mao (IBM China Software Development Laboratory(CSDL), China)
Hiroshi Maruyama (IBM Research, Japan)
Carolyn McGregor (University of Western Sydney, Australia)
Dennis McLeod (Univeristy of Southern California, USA)
Hong Mei (Beijing University, China)
Xiannong Meng (Bucknell University, USA)
Dejan S. Milojicic (HP Laboratories, USA)
Simanta Mitra (Iowa State University, USA)
Tadao Murata (University of Illinois at Chicago, USA)
Jeff Offutt (George Mason University, USA)
Thomas E. Potok (Oak Ridge National Lab (ORNL), USA)
Thierry Priol (Inria, France)
Calton Pu (Georgia Tech, USA)
Norbert Ritter (University of Hamburg, Germany)
Dumitru Roman (University of Innsbruck / DERI Innsbruck, Austria)
Steve Ross-Talbot (Enigmatec Corporation, Germany)
Atul Sajjanhar (School of Information Technology, Australia)
Vipul Shah (Tata Consultancy Services America, USA)
Amit Sheth (University of Georgia, USA)
Simon Shim (San Jose State University, USA)
Munindar P. Singh (North Carolina State University, USA)
Il-Yeol Song (Drexel University, USA)
Judith Stafford (Tufts University, USA)
Rudi Studer (University Karlsruhe, Germany)
Jianwen Su (University of California at Santa Barbara, USA)
Stanley Su (University of Florida, USA)
Katia Sycara (Carnegie-Mellon University, USA)
Stephan Tai (IBM T.J. Watson Research Center, USA)
Jeffrey Tsai (University of Illinois at Chicago, USA)
Jeffrey Voas (Science Applications International Corporation, USA)
Graham Williams (Togaware, Australia)
Joseph Williams (Microsoft, USA)
Stephen J.H. Yang (National Central University, Taiwan)
Clement Yu (University of Illinois at Chicago, USA)
Liang-Jie Zhang (IBM T.J. Watson Research, USA)
Yanchun Zhang (Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia)
Hong Zhu (Oxford Brookes University, UK)

Technical Steering Committee:

Carl K Chang (Iowa State University, USA)
Ephraim Feig (Kintera Inc, USA)
Hemant Jain (University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee , USA)
Frank Leymann (University of Stuttgart, Germany)
Calton Pu (Georgia Tech, USA)
Ming-Chien Shan (Hewlett-Packard, USA)
Jeffrey Tsai (University of Illinois at Chicago, USA)
Liang-Jie Zhang (IBM T.J. Watson Research Center, USA) 

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

Subject: Cellular-News for Monday 28th November 2005
Date: Mon, 28 Nov 2005 07:41:38 -0600
From: Cellular-News <dailydigest@cellular-news-mail.com>


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

[[3G News]]

Hutchison's 3 Italia Listing Likely Delayed
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14986.php

3 Italia, the Italian mobile phone business controlled by Hutchison
Whampoa Ltd, said in a statement that its initial public offering
would likely be delayed until the first quarter of 2006. ...

EDGE Coverage Expanded in Bulgaria
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14991.php

Bulgaria's M-Tel has started offering EDGE services in ten new cities,
expanding coverage to another 20% of the Bulgarian population. As of
November 25, 2005, besides Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Bourgas and the
bigger sea resorts and populated areas along...

Testing HSDPA in Hungary
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14992.php

Hungary's Pannon GSM has launched trials of a HSDPA network in
Budaors. Pannon GSM is commissioning the HSDPA service in its live
network in Buda?first. Coverage will be extended to downtown Budapest
within a few days. The service will be availabl...

South Korean 3G Roaming Expanded
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14995.php

South Korea's SK Telecom has announced the launch of its WCDMA
Automatic Roaming Service in Italy and France. Like the existing CDMA
Automatic Roaming service, SK Telecom subscribers traveling to these
countries can now send and receive WCDMA cellula...

[[Financial News]]

3 Telecom Cos Bid For Alltel's Local Phone Lines - Report
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14981.php

Three telecommunications companies have entered final negotiations to acquire a collection of local telephone access lines from Alltel Corp., the Arkansas-based wireless group, for as much as US$10 billion, the Financial Times reported Friday. ...

Swiss Government: To Block Swisscom Taking Over Foreign Cos
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14982.php

The Swiss government plans to block any foreign acquisitions by
telecommunications company Swisscom AG for the time being, Dieter
Leutwyler, a spokesman for the Finance Ministry said Friday. ...

Chile Entel: No Contacts With Mexico's Carlos Slim -Report
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14985.php

Chilean telecommunications company Empresa Nacional de
Telecomunicaciones SA hasn't been approached by Mexican entrepreneur
Carlos Slim, local business paper Diario Financiero reported Friday,
citing company sources. ...

Russia's SMARTS RAS Jan-Sep net profit soars to 188 mln rubles
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14987.php

The net profit of Russian regional mobile operator SMARTS rose to
188.942 million rubles in January-September from 28.3 million rubles
in the same period of 2004, as calculated under Russian Accounting
Standards, or RAS, the company said Friday. ...

[[Legal News]]

TeliaSonera: Ruling On Fees May Help In Other Disputes
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14984.php

TeliaSonera hopes to settle several interconnection fee disputes with
rival telecommunications operators after a court ruled in its favor in
on disagreement this week, a lawyer for the company said Friday. ...

[[Messaging News]]

Record Numbers of SMS's Sent in the UK
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14997.php

The UK's Mobile Data Association (MDA) has reports that a new record
has been set in the UK, with a staggering 2.9 billion SMS's being sent
during last month and an average of 93.5 million text messages sent
per day. Person-to-person texts sent acros...

[[Network Contracts News]]

Ericsson In Hosted Ringback Tones Deal With 3 Italy
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14983.php

Swedish telecommunications equipment maker Telefon AB LM Ericsson
Friday said it has entered a five-year agreement with 3 Italy for
hosted ringback tones, based on Ericsson's Personalized Greeting
Service. ...

Expanding Mobile Coverage in Greenland
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14994.php

Siemens is supplying high-speed Internet technology and new mobile
communication technology to Greenland. Government-owned
telecommunication operator Tele Greenland has entrusted Siemens with
the task of supplying and building the technology. This ca...

[[Network Operators News]]

Safaricom Denies Vodafone Asset Swap Rumours
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14993.php

Kenya's Safaricom has refuted media claims speculating on a possible
African portfolio switch by Vodafone in favour of South African
operator Vodacom. Safaricom CEO Mr Michael Joseph has dismissed as
untrue, news wire media reports quoting his Vodaco...

Verizon Completing Florida Upgrade
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14998.php

Verizon Wireless says that it is nearing completion of a US$250
million enhancement to its Florida digital wireless network in
2005. The investment includes adding and updating transmission sites
and other technology to improve call quality, increase...

[[Offbeat News]]

75 Years of International Phone Calls
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14996.php

Telecom New Zealand celebrated the 75th anniversary of its first
international phone call over the weekend. Three quarters of a century
ago Sir Apirana Ngata made history when he spoke by phone to the then
Acting Australian Prime Minister J. E. Fento...

[[Personnel News]]

Vodafone CEO Retires
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14990.php

Alexander Schuit, who has been interim Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
of Vodafone Netherlands since April 2005 will be retiring. Guy
Laurence, currently Global Terminals & Consumer Marketing Director at
Vodafone Group, has been appointed as the new CE...

[[Regulatory News]]

Cellular Liberalization Drives Entire Telecoms Market - report
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14989.php

After the successful partial privatization of Omantel, and the
successful entrance of a second cellular operator, Oman's telecom
market is ripe for further liberalization in the coming two years. The
Arab Advisors Group projects Oman's total cellular...

[[Statistics News]]

Mobile Online Gaming in the APEJ Region Poised For Steady Growth
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14988.php

According to a new study from IDC, mobile online gaming in the APEJ
region will continue to grow at a steady pace, capturing the interest
of providers as a potential revenue-generating service. The key
factors contributing to the industry's developme...

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

From: Danny Burstein <dannyb@panix.com>
Subject: NYPost Article About VZ Cramming
Date: Mon, 28 Nov 2005 04:52:45 -0500
Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC


PHONY-CALL SCAM  By RICH CALDER

November 28, 2005 - It pays to scrutinize your telephone bill - just
ask Robert Bell.

The 60-year-old financial analyst recently spotted an unexpected $7.22
charge on his Verizon bill. It was for an eight-minute collect call
made in September from an Annapolis, Md., payphone to his home office
in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

Bell says he and his family never accepted -- or were even asked to
accept -- the phantom call.

[ snippety snip. rest of article gives plenty
of additional examples along with VZ's comment
that they know nutting about any such complaints ... despite documen-
tation...]

"If they were knowingly gaming their customer base with fraudulent
charges, the senior management of Verizon should be wearing handcuffs
and orange jump suits," Bell said.

rich.calder@nypost.com

http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/58209.htm
_____________________________________________________
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
  		     dannyb@panix.com
[to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]

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

Date: Sun, 27 Nov 2005 23:00:08 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Competitors Challenge MapQuest


By CATHERINE TSAI AP Business Writer

DENVER (AP) -- Initially, the great thing about Internet mapping
programs was their swiftness and ease for obtaining directions,
printing them and driving the course you plotted.

Now those Web maps can travel with you, too. And get updated on the
road. And, on some wireless handhelds, show you exactly where you are
and if, say, an Ethiopian restaurant is anywhere near.

MapQuest Inc., acquired by America Online Inc. in 2000, was the first
mover and remains tops in Internet cartography as it heads toward the
10th anniversary of its Web site in February.

"As Google is to search, MapQuest has been to mapping and driving
directions," said Greg Sterling of The Kelsey Group, which researches
electronic directories and local media.

But a bevy of deep-pocketed competitors threatens.

"Google, Yahoo and MSN are certainly on (its) heels," Sterling said.
"MapQuest is in danger if (it doesn't) continue to innovate."

Of all people going to mapping sites, 71 percent visited MapQuest.com
in September, roughly even from a year ago, according to comScore
Media Metrix. Yahoo Inc. drew 32 percent, also about the same as last
year, while new arrival Google Inc. had a 25 percent share. (The
numbers do not add up to 100 percent because some people visit
multiple sites.)

      - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=53480383

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

Date: Mon, 28 Nov 2005 01:08:49 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Verizon tests super-fast DSL as it also rolls out fiber optics


By Keith Reed, Globe Staff 

Verizon Communications Inc. is going back to the future in the race to
be the cutting-edge provider of broadband.

The telecommunications giant, currently trying to bring high-speed
fiber-optic lines into customers' homes, is also testing a super-fast
version of its digital subscriber line technology, which delivers
Internet services over old-fashioned twisted copper telephone lines.

Verizon is testing DSL with download speeds double their current
limits in some of its employees' homes in Texas. If the service proves
popular among its workers, Verizon could crank up its high-speed
residential connections from their current download speed limit of 3
megabits per second to as much as 7.1 megabits per second.

The DSL upgrade, reported by Cnet last week, comes as Verizon is also
rolling out FiOS, its fiber-optic offering that is the backbone for
the company's new venture to provide video service, in competition
with cable companies.

FiOS offers download speeds 10 times faster than DSL's current
quickest speed. It can also deliver cable television and even home
phone service over the same line at the same time. The fiber service
would eliminate the need for the copper wires that currently carry
Verizon's phone and Internet service.

Verizon spokeswoman Sharon Beadle acknowledged that FiOS is a more
powerful service, but said a DSL upgrade would give many of its
customers the option of quicker connections now, while the company
undergoes the laborious process of stringing thousands of miles of
fiber-optic lines.

http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2005/11/28/verizon_tests_super_fast_dsl_as_it_also_rolls_out_fiber_optics/

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

Date: Mon, 28 Nov 2005 02:47:58 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Town Answers Call of the Future / Internet Replaces 'Archaic' Phones


By Matt Carroll, Globe Staff

The town of Milton has switched to Internet-based phone technology in
Town Hall, joining Hingham as one of the first municipalities in the
region to make the leap to a system on the cutting edge of
communication technology.

The move was designed to eventually save money, but it also solves a
more immediate problem: it had become increasingly difficult to find
people who could repair what had become an archaic phone system, said
town officials.

Milton Town Administrator David A. Colton said he expected savings of
about $300 or $400 a month. The system cost about $40,000 to install.

"We had to get a new phone system because the old system was 
defunct," said Colton. "It was old and archaic. . . . It was very 
expensive to call a service guy."

There is an added benefit for residents: The new system allows for 
quick changes so a town can, for example, set up a flu hot line ''in 
20 minutes," said Steve Becker, Hingham's manager of information 
services. It couldn't be done before.

The system is called VoIP, or "voice over Internet protocol." It 
uses the same underlying technology as the Internet.

With VoIP, the person making the call does not notice anything
different. He or she gets the same dial tone and the phone generally
looks the same, explained Michael E. Roberts, chairman of Milton's
Technology Committee, which helped the town make the switch. But
underneath the surface, the technology is very different from old
phone lines. The caller's words are digitized and disassembled into
packets of information that are sent whizzing across the Internet. At
the other end, the packets are reassembled into speech.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2005/11/27/town_answers_call_of_the_future/

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

From: cliff@thesolutioncafe.com
Subject: Leaving Vonage, Want to Keep Number
Date: 28 Nov 2005 09:59:41 -0800
Organization: http://groups.google.com


I have a Vonage assigned number and BellSouth is unable to take it
over because they don't have an exchange in my area that matches my
Vonage number. I was informed that I could switch it to a cellular
phone plan as they can take over any number without relying on
physical exchange programming. Is there any other way I can keep my
Vonage number using something like a call forwarding service without
having to pay $50/month (business) for Vonage?

Thanks,

Cliff

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

From: harrisloeser@yahoo.com
Subject: Re: Auto Call Forward
Date: 28 Nov 2005 10:10:18 -0800
Organization: http://groups.google.com


This is a standard feature on some business class VoIP based unified
communications packages. In CallTower's outsourced implementation of
Cisco VoIP, users can create a series of forwarding "locations" with
the various phone numbers where they might like to get their calls
(weekend house, cell phone, home office, etc) the user, using an on
line private portal interface can select individual locations to
receive forwarding, or have calls route o one after the other.  The
selection and sequence are infintely adjustable over the web
interface.

This is efficient, useful and can be a career saver in the event of a
physical disaster of any kind.

Harris Loeser
www.calltower.com
hloeser@calltower.com
415-869-8979

> I know of a feature that when you want incoming calls forwarded
> to let's say your cellular you can reconfigure the office phone.
> However you have to be onsite to do so. But what if you can't get to
> the phone. Is there a way of doing this remotely or is there some kind of
> auto call forward feature so that if line goes down the system
> automatically forwards incoming calls to the cellular.

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You did not say what is your telco in
> your community, but many/most telcos offer a version of 'remote call
> forwarding' which allows you to call into a specified number and then
> enter a password followed by _the number you wish to forward_ and give
> it the usual *72/*73 commands at that point. To prevent others from
> forwarding (or turning off the forwarding) against your will it is
> passworded. The number you dial into may or may not be on the same
> exchange as your number, but it is on the _same switch or ESS
> machine._ The number you dial into is sort of a 'terminal' (like a
> central office technican would use in the office) to deal with your
> phone remotely. But it is very limited in its command set; you can do
> *72 or *73 (whatever code turns on and off call forwarding) and not
> much else. I used to have that on my Illinois Bell line in
> Chicago. The idea is that people leave home, _then_ discover they
> forgot to forward their phone. I think when I lived in Chicago I
> dialed something like 312-334-9995 or similar, but no where close to
> my own number. After a ring or two and a click it answered by asking
> for 'my number' (and then upon entering same) it asked for 'password'
> and upon getting that it asked for 'command?' I could enter *72 or *73
> (which in Chicago in those days was turn on/off call fowarding) and in
> the case of *72 the number to which calls were to be forwarded,
> ten-digit format. It then quoted back audibly what it had done, asked
> for approval, and disconnected.  Other 'star commands' (*60 *67, *71,
> *77, etc) were ignored.

> I do not think it was called 'remote call forwarding' since that is
> the name of the service set up to automatically forward your calls to
> some long distance point. Perhaps it was 'remote forwarding' (without
> the word 'call'). You would have to ask around. If you have two actual
> phone lines and numbers (not just a virtual number like 'call waiting')
> I think you can now purchase ( http://sandman.com for example) a gizmo
> to do the same thing. A teeny little box with a plug in for each of
> the modular cords (for your two lines); you call in on one of the
> lines and use it to manipulate what you want the other line to do. I
> suggest you write to mike@sandman.com to get more specifics on this.
> Maybe when you write to Mr. Sandman you could cut and paste your
> inquiry and my response so he has a better idea what you want.  PAT]

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

From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com
Subject: Re: John Kennedy, Lee Harvey Oswald, and Jack Ruby
Date: 27 Nov 2005 19:06:16 -0800
Organization: http://groups.google.com


Recently PBS aired a documentary on how the news media -- print and
TV -- covered the Kennedy visit to Dallas, the subsequent assasinations,
and follow up.

They showed reporters broadcasting considerable utterly wrong
information because they were in such a hurry to put anything out over
the air.  They interviewed upset bystanders who gave notoriously
inaccurate accounts.

That remains one of the big problems of "instant" TV journalism, such
as the cable news channels.  They're in such a hurry to get something
out over the air they fail to check the story and get the TOTAL
picture.  Partial pictures are very misleadings.  Don't report an
"explosion" until you know exactly what exploded and the severity.

I remember all local stations in my city suspended normal broadcasts
(at a juicy time) to show a gas main break.  The first few seconds
were interesting as the flames were shooting high into the air.  But
after that it was meaningless.  As it turned out, there were no
injuries to anyone and very little properly damage (the fire was in
the middle of an intersection).  Certainly a news story, but not worth
pre-empting other shows for.  Obviously the news directors jumped on
the pictorial aspect, rather than the _journalistic_ aspect.  That's
what scary about TV news -- it focuses on the PICTURE, not the STORY.
In the 1960s, street protesters learned to create good TV pictures
that made them appear to be far more influential than they really
were.  Great propaganda.

As to all the theories about the killings, one of my co-workers
insists I (as a child) was clearly visible standing in the background
in Dallas and obviously had some part.  That makes about as much sense
as any other theory.

A few years ago Newsweek did a feature story on this.  While the
official version doesn't have the elements of conspiracy and intrigue
that the theories have, Newsweek demonstrated that the official story
was very thoroughly substantiated by the evidence.

I do feel, however, that had Kennedy lived, his legacy would be far
different than the beloved place he occupies in our history.  He was
gone and Johnson was the one to escalate in Vietnam, push through
civil rights legislation and massive social spending.  It was
Kennedy's "best and brightest" who stayed on under Johnson, and I
think Kennedy would've pushed as hard in Vietnam as Johnson did, with
the same domestic turmoil.

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

From: henry999@eircom.net (Henry)
Subject:  Re: John Kennedy, Lee Harvey Oswald, and Jack Ruby
Date:  Mon, 28 Nov 2005 13:23:08 +0200
Organization: Elisa Internet customer


Patrick Townson <ptownson@telecom-digest.org> wrote:

> Just as a historical note, it was forty-two years ago this weekend
> (Thanksgiving weekend, 1963) ...

Sorry, PAT. It was the week before Thanksgiving.

The assassination was on a Friday and I was in school. There is no
school on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Ergo...

Cheers,

Henry


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Maybe you are correct; it was a long
time ago (as you and I both know in our ancient ages!) Something I am
not clear on, however: Thanksgiving is always a variable date holiday.
It _always_ comes on Thursday, but is it the _last_ Thursday in 
November or the _fourth_ Thursday in November (sometimes there are
five Thursdays.)? I know that now and again merchants complain when
there is a 'late Thanksgiving' as they get 'cheated' out of a week
of Christmas sales. What is the exact rule?  And do you remember when
Memorial Day used to _always_ be May 30, no matter what day of the
week it was? If it came on Sunday sometimes, then we kids in school
felt 'cheated' because we did not get an extra holiday from school.
But if it fell on Wednesday, our parents felt 'cheated' since it was
impossible to drive any distance on holiday and get back home on the
same day (so as to not miss next day's work or kid's school day, etc.)
PAT]

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


TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm-
unications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in
addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as
Compuserve and America On Line, Yahoo Groups, and other forums.  It is
also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup
'comp.dcom.telecom'.

TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit, mostly non-commercial educational
service offered to the Internet by Patrick Townson. All the contents
of the Digest are compilation-copyrighted. You may reprint articles in
some other media on an occasional basis, but please attribute my work
and that of the original author.

Contact information:    Patrick Townson/TELECOM Digest
                        Post Office Box 50
                        Independence, KS 67301
                        Phone: 620-402-0134
                        Fax 1: 775-255-9970
                        Fax 2: 530-309-7234
                        Fax 3: 208-692-5145         
                        Email: editor@telecom-digest.org

Subscribe:  telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org
Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org

This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm-
unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and
published continuously since then.  Our archives are available for
your review/research. We believe we are the oldest e-zine/mailing list
on the internet in any category!

URL information:        http://telecom-digest.org

Anonymous FTP: mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/
  (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives)

RSS Syndication of TELECOM Digest: http://telecom-digest.org/rss.html
  For syndication examples see http://www.feedrollpro.com/syndicate.php?id=308
    and also http://feeds.feedburner.com/TelecomDigest

*************************************************************************
*   TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from                  *
*   Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate  *
*   800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting.         *
*   http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com                    *
*   Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing      *
*   views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc.                             *
*************************************************************************

ICB Toll Free News.  Contact information is not sold, rented or leased.

One click a day feeds a person a meal.  Go to http://www.thehungersite.com

Copyright 2004 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved.
Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA.

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

DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE JUST 65 CENTS ONE OR TWO INQUIRIES CHARGED TO
YOUR CREDIT CARD!  REAL TIME, UP TO DATE! SPONSORED BY TELECOM DIGEST
AND EASY411.COM   SIGN UP AT http://www.easy411.com/telecomdigest !

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

Visit http://www.mstm.okstate.edu and take the next step in your
career with a Master of Science in Telecommunications Management
(MSTM) degree from Oklahoma State University (OSU). This 35
credit-hour interdisciplinary program is designed to give you the
skills necessary to manage telecommunications networks, including
data, video, and voice networks.

The MSTM degree draws on the expertise of the OSU's College
of Business Administration; the College of Arts and Sciences; and the
College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology. The program has
state-of-the-art lab facilities on the Stillwater and Tulsa campus
offering hands-on learning to enhance the program curriculum.  Classes
are available in Stillwater, Tulsa, or through distance learning.

Please contact Jay Boyington for additional information at
405-744-9000, mstm-osu@okstate.edu, or visit the MSTM web site at
http://www.mstm.okstate.edu

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

   In addition, gifts from Mike Sandman, Chicago's Telecom Expert
   have enabled me to replace some obsolete computer equipment and
   enter the 21st century sort of on schedule. His mail order 
   telephone parts/supplies service based in the Chicago area has
   been widely recognized by Digest readers as a reliable and very
   inexpensive source of telecom-related equipment. Please request
   a free catalog today at http://www.sandman.com 
   ---------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as
yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help
is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars
per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.
Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing
your name to the mailing list. 

All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the
author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only
and messages should not be considered any official expression by the
organization.

End of TELECOM Digest V24 #537
******************************