---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-ID: <5C8743E9.70009@panix.com> Date: 12 Mar 2019 01:30:17 -0400 From: "David" <wb8foz@panix.com> Subject: Re: T4 and T5 carrier systems On 3/11/19 10:10 AM, Fred Goldstein wrote: > On 3/8/2019 6:24 PM, Kevin Bowling wrote: >> Does anyone know of original sources or other credible references for >> the specifications or design and implementation of the T4 or T5 >> carrier systems? >> > > I don't think there was ever such a thing as T5, on paper or elsewhere. There were "digits over coax" unit from Philips applied to L4/L5 coax; they were trouble-plagued. One issue was the higher imposed voltage led to arcing. > ***** Moderator's Note ***** > > Lost-in-the-mists-of-time department: IIRC, T5 was never implemented, > because fiber was being rolled out and there weren't enough coax > cables. But, I may be wrong: does anyone recall when fiber became > commonly available? I have a plat showing FT7 being installed in 1981. This route starts in the Washington 2 CO and runs along Rt. 29 north of Silver Spring MD, headed for York PA. This is an *old* route with many upgrades. Near as we can tell: 1941: original easements, K-Carrier, maybe L1 as well. 1946/7 Upgraded to L2 1959: L3, many 4-mile spaced huts added 1981: FT7 multi-mode with 4-mile spaced regenerators colo'ed at L3huts ????: Single-mode deployed; L3+FT7 huts abandoned. ------------------------------ Message-ID: <20190313025335.GA7276@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Wed, 13 Mar 2019 02:53:35 +0000 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: Re: What scratches your personal itch? On Mon, Mar 11, 2019 at 01:10:12PM -0700, hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote: > > The book, "Heritage and Destiny: Reflections on the Bell System > in Transition" by Alvin Von Auw offers a different perspective > on this issue. > > A key item was that the monopoly and telco policies were > established by government regulators. Their goal was to provide > universal service by cross subsidization. The very basic entry > level telephone service was purposely priced below cost to > make it as affordable as practical, while optional service > items, such as extension phones and long distance, were priced at > a premium to offset that loss. > > Divestiture was, in essence, a court ordered end to those > policies. I don't think that divestiture was ordered by the court, and even if it was "ordered" on paper, the change was ordered by forces outside the legal system. As you describe, Congress wanted cheap rural phone service. They achieved the goal by requiring businesses to pay more (in fact, a LOT more) than the actual basis of Long-Distance calling. The rates were exorbitant, and they were the major cause for the "Blue Box" fraud of the Sixties and Seventies. However, the prime mover for divestiture wasn't Blue Boxes, but mutual funds: in the 70's, mutual-fund managers accumulated enough of AT&T's stock to force the board to accept the infamous consent decree which spelled the end of Mother Bell. Thus, they brought about an end to the long-distance charges which were affecting the fund managers' other investments, and (as a by-product) the end of local phone subsidies in rural areas. I don't think the Congress minded very much: all the farmers already had their phones, and Western Electric built cables and instruments to such high standards that the bill for that subsidy's end didn't come due for decades. YMMV. Bill -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ------------------------------ Message-ID: <28b47e23-61b7-4c05-bfaa-54b6450e0a1c@googlegroups.com> Date: 11 Mar 2019 12:49:19 -0700 From: HAncock4 <withheld@invalid.telecom-digest.org> Subject: Modern undersea cables Illustrated article on modern cables from the NYT: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/03/10/technology/internet-cables-oceans.html Historical notes: 1958 Bell ad on cable construction https://books.google.com/books?id=8_0OK7ez8B8C&lpg=PA58&dq=life%20ocean%20cable&pg=PA58#v=onepage&q=life%20ocean%20cable&f=false 1955 ad on laying the cable https://books.google.com/books?id=BvK0SarmYnwC&lpg=PA40&dq=life%20bell%20telephone%20atlantic&pg=PA40#v=onepage&q&f=false ------------------------------ Message-ID: <674b464e-ed17-4a29-9159-661cd79ca5be@googlegroups.com> Date: 11 Mar 2019 13:10:12 -0700 From: HAncock4 <withheld@invalid.telecom-digest.org> Subject: Re: What scratches your personal itch? On Monday, March 11, 2019 at 1:29:08 PM UTC-4, Fred Atkinson wrote: > Well, when I got started in the telecom industry, one of the things > that got me moving was my impatience and disgust with the rigid rules > that the phone company had put on everyone over the years and the > monopoly that it put upon us. This was back in the late seventies. [snip] The book, "Heritage and Destiny: Reflections on the Bell System in Transition" by Alvin Von Auw offers a different perspective on this issue. A key item was that the monopoly and telco policies were established by government regulators. Their goal was to provide universal service by cross subsidization. The very basic entry level telephone service was purposely priced below cost to make it as affordable as practical, while optional service items, such as extension phones and long distance, were priced at a premium to offset that loss. Divestiture was, in essence, a court ordered end to those policies. Technology improvements over the years has rendered some of the above book moot. But I still recommend it as it gives us a good history of the times and a different perspective. ------------------------------ Message-ID: <E6FDB1F3-F2B1-4CD8-9DE0-30932F281800@roscom.com> Date: 11 Mar 2019 14:38:45 -0400 From: "Monty Solomon" <monty@roscom.com> Subject: Huawei: The story of a controversial company Huawei: The story of a controversial company The African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa is a shiny spaceship-like structure that glistens in the afternoon sun. With its accompanying skyscraper, it stands out in the Ethiopian capital. Greetings in Mandarin welcome visitors as they enter the lifts, and the plastic palm trees bear the logos of the China Development Bank. https://www.bbc.com/news/resources/idt-sh/Huawei ------------------------------ ********************************************* End of telecom Digest Wed, 13 Mar 2019