TELECOM Digest     Mon, 12 Sep 2005 07:21:00 EDT    Volume 24 : Issue 414

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    SBC Cutting Work Force; Blames Competition (Thomas Content)
    Katrina Aftermath (Stephanie Mehta)
    Verizon Complaints About EVDO; They Dislike the Junxion Box (P Townson)
    Log On and Say Hello (Kim Leonard)
    Interesting Cellphone and Mastercard Tidbit (Thomas A. Horsley)
    See ROKR in Action (Monty Solomon)
    Re: Qwest Launches New Legal Fight Against Portland (Steve Sobol)
    Re: NYC Phone Rates, was: Sid Ceasar and Phones in Comedy (NOTvalid)
    Re: Internet Satellite Imagery Under Fire Over Security (Ed Clarke)
    Re: Internet Satellite Imagery Under Fire Over Security (jmeissen)
    Re: Internet Satellite Imagery Under Fire Over Security (Gene Berkowitz)

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

From: Thomas Content <tcontent@journaldsentinel.com>
Subject: SBC Cutting Work Force; Blames Competition
Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2005 17:39:01 -0500


www.jsonline.com
Original URL: http://www.jsonline.com/bym/news/sep05/354690.asp

SBC to cut 200 jobs in state
Company blames rise in competition from cellular, cable, Internet
By THOMAS CONTENT
tcontent@journalsentinel.com

SBC is eliminating more than 200 jobs in Wisconsin, including 127 in
downtown Milwaukee, in response to heightened competition from
cellular phone providers and lower demand for traditional phone
service.

The company on Friday notified workers in downtown Milwaukee that 127
of 440 customer service representative positions will be eliminated by
Dec. 15, SBC spokesman Jeff Bentoff said.

The telecommunications company is scaling back certain operations
given competitive pressure posed by cellular phones and the emergence
of cable and Internet telephone services, Bentoff said.

For Milwaukee, it's the biggest cutback since SBC eliminated hundreds
of jobs when it closed an office on N. 35th St. in 1998, said George
Walls, president of Local 4603 of the Communications Workers of
America.

"It was very shocking to the people this morning and very sad, and
many of them were in tears," Walls said. "These are good-paying jobs,
and I see it as really a blow to lose these jobs in the city of
Milwaukee."

Wages for the workers whose jobs are being eliminated run from about
$400 to $974 a week, Walls said. Local 4603 represents about 2,200 SBC
hourly workers in southeastern Wisconsin. SBC employs more than 5,000
people in Wisconsin, Bentoff said.

The company also confirmed a series of other cuts that include the
loss of 47 network support positions in Wisconsin, including 23 at an
office at N.  77th St. and W. Fond du Lac Ave. in Milwaukee and 24 in
Eau Claire. Those workers will be offered the option of transferring
to offices in Indiana and Ohio, where their functions will be
consolidated, said David Saltz, another SBC spokesman. Three positions
based in Brookfield are also being eliminated, SBC said.

In a separate cutback initiated earlier this year, 40 SBC workers at
SBC's office at 918 N. 26th St. in Milwaukee are expected to be laid
off on Wednesday, Walls said.

SBC, based in San Antonio, said last fall that it would eliminate
about 10,000 jobs by the end of this year in response to competitive
pressures in the industry.

The downtown Milwaukee office handles wholesale business, meaning
requests for service connection by companies that sell phone service
but that rely on SBC's network of telephone lines and wires to deliver
the service. It is one of three such offices across the Upper Midwest,
fielding business in Wisconsin and four other states.

That wholesale business was booming so much that it was hiring
hundreds of new employees downtown five years ago, but business has
fallen off significantly there, Bentoff said.

"Order volumes have decreased, and there's just not as much work --
there's not enough work available for those positions," he said.

SBC will work with the union to find other jobs for workers whose
positions are being eliminated, or to offer severance packages for
employees that are approaching retirement age, he said. It's unclear
how many workers' jobs will be saved from layoffs.

But the cuts are likely to affect those with the least seniority
because of union bumping rights, Walls said. That means that those
most affected by the cuts will be those hired since roughly May 2000,
he said.

That also means that some of the workers laid off in the last big
round of cuts -- the 1998 closing of the 35th St. customer service
calling center -- face the prospect of being laid off again.

"Some of those people (who lost their jobs in 1998) wound up downtown
in these jobs, and now they're being hit again," Walls said.

 From the Sept. 10, 2005, editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the
daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at
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articles daily.

*** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the
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understanding of literary, educational, political, and economic
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Believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material
as provided for in section 107 of the U.S.  Copyright Law. If you wish
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For more information go to:
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------------------------------

From: Stephanie N. Mehta <fortune@telecom-digest.org> 
Subject: Katrina Aftermath
Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2005 17:41:28 -0500


In a Post-Katrina World, Getting Calls Through

Why does phone service stop working at times when we most need
to communicate? Some companies are deploying new technologies that should
prevent future outages, or at least help restore service faster.

            FORTUNE
            Friday, September 9, 2005
            By Stephanie N. Mehta

In the scary hours after the attacks on the World Trade Center, New
Yorkers could be found queued up at pay telephones, clutching impotent
cellphones in their hands. During the blackouts of 2003, callers
trying to reach friends and family on the East Coast often got busy
signals-a rare phenomenon in this age of call waiting and
voicemail. And Hurricane Katrina initially knocked out or at least
interrupted service to hundreds of thousands of phone lines, according
to BellSouth, the dominant phone company in the Gulf region-and the
carrier is still struggling to restore many of those lines. Indeed, it
seems at the very times many Americans have most desperately needed to
communicate, the nation's phone networks have failed.

Why does this happen? In the case of Hurricane Katrina, some of the
massive computers used to route and connect calls were wiped out by
flooding; in other instances the actual phone lines were cut or
damaged by the storm. And wired and wireless networks alike sputtered
when the backup generators running their switching systems-remember,
much of the region had no electrical power-ran out of fuel or were
themselves damaged by the floods. In other crises, networks simply
were overloaded or critical equipment broke down.

Now, some regulators and consumers are asking a simple question: How
can we build a better phone network-one that withstands the rigors of
disasters such as Hurricane Katrina or the attacks of September 11?
Companies such as Lucent Technologies, which supply to the big phone
companies, say they already are improving communications networks
based on the lessons from previous disasters. "Prior to 9/11 our idea
of disaster recovery was dealing with a fire in a central office,"
admits Nick De Tura, vice president of North American customer
operations of Lucent Technologies.  (A central office is a hub that
houses a carrier's switching equipment and phone lines that serve a
neighborhood.) "Now every service we develop is built with an eye
toward speed and flexibility" for moving phone calls onto working
networks. Indeed, some companies and their competitors already are
deploying some new technologies that will prevent future phone
outages, or at least help restore service faster. Of course, even the
newest technologies still require power and perhaps shelter, making
them also vulnerable to Katrina-like forces. But here's a look at a
handful of advancements that are making communications more
disaster-resistant-or at least more disaster-resilient.

VOIP: With many voice-over-Internet Protocol systems, users simply
need access to a broadband network in order to make and receive calls
using their assigned home numbers-even if they're no longer at
home. With VOIP, calls are transmitted in the language of the
Internet, or "packets," so they don't have to travel over a
traditional copper telephone wire. Also, users are assigned an
Internet Protocol address, which isn't location-sensitive. Say a
family relocated from Biloxi to Houston. They could take their VOIP
phone along (or a special adapter that comes with most VOIP systems),
and once they gained access to a broadband system-a cable modem or DSL
line, for example-they'd be able to receive calls from worried friends
and relatives on their home number. "It would be the same service they
had before," says Mike Hluchyj, founder and CTO of Sonus Networks,
which helps phone companies deploy VOIP calling services. "The device
automatically configures the service-they don't even have to involve
any personnel within the phone company." Still, in the most severely
devastated parts of the Gulf Coast, VOIP phones wouldn't have been
much help for the stranded, because broadband connections were totally
wiped out.

Wi-Fi: One technology that may help get broadband systems back up and
running is Wi-Fi, the same wireless standard you may use to get
Internet access for your laptop at coffee shops and airports. Tropos,
one of a handful of upstarts that sells wireless systems covering
entire cities, says Wi-Fi (which operates on the same unlicensed
spectrum that cordless phones and microwaves use) is robust enough to
provide broadband service when wired networks fail. The company's gear
is configured so that its wireless antennas all talk to each other,
which can allow users to access the service even if the nearest wired
network is 100 miles away. "We can provide broadband wireless access
with limited need for wires," says Chris Rittler, vice president of
product development for Tropos, which is just starting to work with
officials in the Gulf region. "It is a great application in light of a
horrible event." One big limitation: You need a special Wi-Fi modem in
order to connect to a Wi-Fi network. While most new laptops are
equipped, few desktops are, and Wi-Fi phones-cordless phones that can
talk to Wi-Fi networks-are just starting to hit the market.

Softswitches: As more phone companies move voice traffic onto Internet
networks, many are starting to replace their traditional
switches-massive computers that take up entire rooms and guzzle
power-with smaller, software-driven machines that consume less
power. So if generators or batteries kick in, these "softswitches" can
stay operational longer.  Also, phone companies typically can redirect
traffic traveling through a softswitch more easily, allowing
technicians to remotely program the switch to move traffic away from
damaged lines and onto working networks. However, phone companies like
BellSouth, SBC Communications, Verizon and Qwest have invested
billions of dollars in their traditional switching infrastructure, and
it will take years for them to migrate completely to softswitches and
other new equipment. Disasters such as Katrina, however, may just end
up accelerating those purchases.


Copyright 2005 Time 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.

*** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the
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receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the
understanding of literary, educational, political, and economic
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believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material
as provided for in section 107 of the U.S.  Copyright Law. If you wish
to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go
beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright
owner, in this instance, Time, Inc.

For more information go to:
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------------------------------

From: Patrick Townson <ptownson@telecom-digest.org> 
Subject: Verizon Complaints About EVDO; They're Angry About Junxion Box
Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2005 17:48:05 -0500


There have been several stories recently (Wi-Fi backpack, mobile PSP
gaming) where people have used the $700 Junxion Box to take Verizon
EVDO broadband service and create a hotspot. According to a New York
Times (via Gizmodo) piece exploring the box, Verizon isn't
pleased. "The premise is one person buys an air card and one person
uses the service, not an entire neighborhood," says a Verizon wireless
exec. "Giving things away for free doesn't work anymore. It never
did."

Over the weekend, I found a discussion thread on this very topic in
other forum. Here are some replies from readers in that forum:

Re: How is this different than...?

How is this different than sticking an EVDO card in my laptop and
sharing it via WiFi?

I can just see the Verizon guys sitting in an
exec conference room and giving themselves a big "DO!" and a slap to the
forehead.

Lamont The Goldfish
DaSneaky1

Re: How is this different than...?


  said by Blasterbator :

>  How is this different than sticking an EVDO card in my laptop 
> and sharing it via WiFi?

> I can just see the Verizon guys sitting in an
> exec conference room and giving themselves a big "DO!" and a slap to the
> forehead.

It isn't. That's the point of this news story,
Verizon execs don't like people doing that.

voiplover

Re: How is this different than...?

So ... where is the best deal on junxion boxes anyway?


 evdo to voip (Unregistered)
I think the bigger concern should be an $80
unlimited plain providing VOIP instad of people paying some of the highest
cellular phone bills in the industry! Plus no taxes and fees

Semper Vigilantis
DaDogs

Re: How is this different than...?

  ... worse Verizon is backhauling cellular at
~915 MHz in our area. Yep, that's right kiddies your nice encrypted digital
cellular calls are being dropped to 915 analog in the clear and broadcast
all over eastern Virginia.

Gawd, the shit Verizon pulls is limitless.
Sure it is protected, but does it have to be in the ISM bands where Mabel
with her baby monitor can pick it up?

Re: How is this different than...?

I think you have your information wrong, they can't and will not go to
analog. The FCC is putting an end to ALL analog cellular service in a
couple years. Meaning anyone with and old analog phone theyve kept for
years because they can't get anything else, will not work anymore.

Semper Vigilantis
DaDogs


Re: How is this different than...?

said by cerus98 :

> I think you have your information wrong, they can't and will not go
> to analog. The FCC is putting an end to ALL analog cellular service
> in a couple years. Meaning anyone with and old analog phone theyve
> kept for years because they can't get anything else, will not work
> anymore.

That is exactly what I thought myself, but in deploying 900 MHz Canopy
hardware I am seeing what most certainly looks like cellular between
911 and 916. It definately touches wire line which means it is
protected and it definately belongs to Verizon.

It could be a beat frequency happening in the IFs but I don't think
that is what it is and it can't be a harmonic. It is strong enough to
break squelch even with the antenna off of the scanner.

Hence my guess that it is a point-to-point link between two towers.
                             

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


Verizon just doesn't get it.

The Verizon exec is almost as dumb as the **AA exec. "Giving it away
for free". Please explain where the 'free' part is?  Someone is paying
for the wireless access card, thus, Verizon is getting paid for the
access. What that person chooses to do with their LEGALLY PAID FOR
access point is up to the person, not Verizon.

If you take away the Verizon doublespeak, what the executive meant to
say was ... "We aren't raping everyone we can for all the money we
can".

Verizon can put "Terms of Service" and rules for any way they
want. However, I the end user, can choose to ignore those terms of
service at my own risk. Now, since Verizon is classified as a 'common
carrier', they cannot legally monitor what I am doing, so their
ability to 'catch me' is severely limited. All they can do is spout
out empty threats really, cause proving it would be very hard to do,
and at the profit margins they make, just not fiscally viable.

Why is this such an issue? Because it shows that Verizon is selling a
product, with certain capabilities, that they don't want the user to
use. (i.e. the user is paying for 500kb download over EVDO, and if the
person chooses to use all 500kb, verizon can't support it).  Guess
what, it's not the USERS problem.

For those who don't get it, it's would be like Ford selling me a car
that can only carry one passenger. Even though I don't currently
carpool today, if my situation changed, and I had to, yet was unable
to, I'd be pissed. Ford sold me a product, I can do what I want with
the product, as long as I follow the law (not Ford's terms of service,
the LAW, they ARE different you know), and in many cases, even if I
don't follow the law.

So, Verizon, if you want to limit it, then by all means put on a byte
cap. Oh, wait, you don't want to do that, because your studies have
shown that the sales you would loose to your competitors would be
greater than the savings you would make. Cause if I were your
competitor, I sure as hell would take out full page ads spreading FUD
about your product, and it would work too...

                              --
   Grand Poobah

Re: Verizon just doesn't get it.

I doubt that Verizon's status as a common carrier applies to the EVDO
data service. They should be able to monitor usage to ensure compliance
with the TOS and cut off non-compliant users.  Same as any other ISP.

I don't follow your Ford analogy. If you need a bigger car, you can
sell the one you have and get a bigger car, but that has no
correlation to a data service. If you like car analogies for the EVDO
TOS, how about you could rent a car and let anyone drive it despite
what the contract says, but when it's wrecked/lost/stolen, or just if
they track the car and find out you've violated the contract, then the
rental company will come after YOU.

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

I have an EV-DO card and I fully understand why I can't share the
service.

A better analogy than the Ford example you gave is for someone to walk
in to an All-You-Can buffet with a bag full of Tupperware. Since that
person paid their bill, it now entitles them to fill all the
containers and take the food home to feed their entire neighborhood.

When the owner of the restaurant sets the price, he sets it with the
expectation that you won't take every last bit of food in the
place. Verizon had the same expectation and as a user of the service,
you probably agree to this in the TOS (which I don't have here in
front of me.)

JPCass


                             said by G_Poobah :

                              For those who don't get it, it's would
be like Ford selling me a car that can only carry one passenger.

                              I think that's the wrong analogy. It's
more like the local transit authority selling you a bus pass, and then
you using it to get to work, loaning it to co-workers to run errands
while you're at work, going home and loaning it to a friend to get to
get back and forth to his night shift job, and loaning it out on your
days off as well. Or, you might say it's like putting a splitter on
your cable connection, and running wires to your neighbors, and maybe
even to a large screen TV in a public area. Or maybe like sending
identical quintuplets in to eat, one at a time, at an "all you can
eat" buffet.

                              Internet service providers have gotten
away from early (mostly dial-up) charging based on usage, but their
models are based on presumptions about average use by one
household. If too many individuals push the envelope, their model to
offer affordable service to the average consumer starts to break
down. Metering usage adds costs, and they'd hope to avoid having to
add those costs to mass-market broadband. I think they're in a quandry
that has to be appreciated, and on the other hand they have gone ahead
and advertised things like "unlimited" broadband.

                              Let's think of it in terms of the large
majority of average users who have moderate needs for broadband at an
affordable price. How do you serve the vast majority of users, without
saddling them with the costs of a small number of users who use
bandwidth approaching one or more magnitudes of order greater than
average, or with costs of metering and monitoring to somehow handle
those exceptional users?  Is that more or less unfair in the net than
trying to keep costs down by cracking down on the small number of
people who try to push the envelope on the marketing offer of
"unlimited"?  


     pinetree

                             Re: Verizon just doesn't get it.

                              i agree.

                              don't advertise "unlimited" if you don't
intend to provide it.


    mallyman


          Re: Verizon just doesn't get it.

          They ARE providing unlimited... FOR YOU

          not your friends and their friends and their friends...

          the pricing model is built on that and if it was 'buy once,
give to the neighborhood' you would see 500 monthly instead of 80.00

                              the bus pass analogy fits best here
... you can use your bus pass for your OWN activities... but for
others to 'share' it is not part of the deal ...  &raqu; | 2005-09-09
18:51:18 | ·

                  G_Poobah

My analogy was correct. I purchased a car that CAN carry 8 people, but
according to Fords 'terms of service', only I can use the car by
myself. If I choose to ignore that rule, and carry 8 people means that
Ford lost 7 'potential sales', thus if you make EVERYONE follow Fords
'terms of service', then all 7 of my passengers would need to purchase
their own Ford cars. My bringing them with me (sharing) is causing
lost revenue (lost sales) to Ford.

The tupperware argument has no basis. We are talking about a
'transient service', not a physical good. Every instant in time, it's
either being used or not being used. If it's not being used, then it's
lost forever, that's what 'transient' means. Completely different
concept than physical goods. You can't apply the arguments of
'physical loss' to this, only 'potential loss'. Very well defined in
case law.

The transit authority is a good analogy. If I buy a pass to the Metro
in DC, I can use it all I want. In fact, I can give it out to my
friends, and it's violation of terms of service. But wait, I can't use
the pass when my friend has it, so, am I really in violation? I would
argue no, since I can't physically use the pass while my friend has
it. It's the same with internet access. If my 'friend' is using all
500Kb of download, then guess what, I can't download! It's simple
enough to understand, but is it wrong? no.. I paid for 500kb of
download service.  Period.

What people are trying to argue is that it's legally wrong. It's 100%
NOT legally wrong. I paid for the service, I can use the service the
way I SEE FIT, terms of service be damned. PERIOD.

Is it morally wrong? Hmm ... maybe, but maybe not. Morals are very
subjective.

Is it unprofitable for the business that sold me this service?
Absolutely. Will the business use doublespeak and lies to try and
prevent this, and improve their bottom line? I sure hope so, otherwise
I wouldn't want to be a shareholder.

Be sure to separate moral/religious beliefs from legal beliefs. If
they advertise 'unlimited access', then LEGALLY, I can use the
unlimited as unlimited. If they don't like it, then they just need to
remove the words 'unlimited' from their advertising, and clearly
define what I can/cannot do with their service. So pray tell me why
they haven't done that?  -- Grand Poobah &raqu; |


Dexter9999


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I am not that familiar at all with
'Evdo'; are any Digest readers (possibly also Verizon customers) 
able to explain it and talk about it here? PAT]

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

From: Kim Leonard <tribune-review@telecom-digest.org> 
Subject: Log on and Say Hello
Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2005 04:49:39 -0500


By Kim Leonard
TRIBUNE-REVIEW

A call made over the Internet will sound about the same as one made on
a traditional home phone.

Still, Internet-based phone services such as Vonage, Verizon VoiceWing
and AT&T CallVantage are signing up customers steadily for two
reasons: They cost less than comparable, regular phone service and
their special features appeal to professionals and others who want
more control over when and where they receive calls.

Most consumers still know very little about Internet calling, known as
Voice over Internet Protocol service. But in the Pittsburgh area,
they're about to see offers from at least four companies that are
jumping into the emerging field.

"If I'm at the office, I can get an e-mail on my computer with a voice
mail that somebody left for me at home," said John Curry, president of
the Monroeville phone company known until a few weeks ago as Curry
Communications.

The new name is Curry IP Solutions, as in Internet protocol, and
Curry's enthusiasm for his company's new direction is evident as he
talks about three newly launched VoIP service packages with "a few"
customers so far.

Meanwhile, Downtown-based Full Service Network and North
Pittsburgh Telephone Co. plan to launch VoIP packages in coming weeks.
Cable giant Comcast is testing its service, for a rollout later this
fall.

Internet phone services essentially take analog audio signals and
turn them into digital data, to be transferred over the Web.

A broadband connection is necessary, and most VoIP packages will work
over any telecommunications or cable provider's service. North
Pittsburgh's VoIP service will work only with that company's Internet
service.

Call quality can depend on the quality of the broadband connection,
and a customer may have to buy an adapter for about $60 to get the
service to work with regular phones, or a cordless broadband phone
system that includes a few handsets.

A VoIP user can keep a previous phone number, get a new 412 or 724
number, or even take a number in a different area code. Someone who
moved to Pittsburgh from New York, for example, may want a 212 number
in order to make "local" calls back home.

By opting for additional lines, a customer can receive local calls
from children at a college hundreds of miles away. Vonage offers a
"virtual phone number" service for $4.99 a month that makes calls
local from two or more area codes.

Travelers can take their adapters along, plug into broadband
connections and use the phone just as if they were sitting in their
family rooms. "You avoid all those crazy hotel charges," Vonage
spokesman Mitchell Slepian said.

Still, Internet calling departs most from regular phone service for
its ability to manage calls. Customers can go to a Web page and change
options at any time for call waiting, caller ID and voice mail, and
they can forward calls to other numbers.

The service can respond differently to different calls. A former
boyfriend can be sent straight to voice mail, while Mom's calls go to
a cell phone. And calls can be programmed to ring to a home and cell
phone at the same time.

Greg Waldo, of Silver Spring, Md., likes VoiceWing's ability to keep a
record of calls his family makes, as well as incoming calls.

"If a call was made to someone you don't generally call, like a
plumber, and you know you used him two months ago, you can go and
retrieve the number. That's helpful," said Waldo, an engineer with
Lockheed Martin who has used Verizon's service for about a year.

Waldo cut his family's $60 phone bill almost in half with the
switch, and used the savings to buy a battery backup that would power
his phone adapter and other equipment during a power outage.

He and his family also worry about VoIP's much-publicized
shortcomings when it comes to making 911 emergency calls, although he
knows Verizon and other companies are addressing this.

"I don't see why Verizon sells any other service," he said.

The lack of full 911 service, worries about outages and questions
about directory service are the typical issues raised in debates about
whether to drop a land line phone for VoIP.

Most Internet calling services have been limited to simple 911 service
that won't display the caller's phone number and address at a dispatch
center.

VoIP providers now are rushing to meet the Federal Communications
Commission's Nov. 28 deadline to certify that 911 calls will go
straight to an emergency dispatcher, instead of a main number for the
center, and that the phone number and location will be shown.

Vonage and Verizon now offer this enhanced 911 service in New York,
and are expanding it nationwide. Pittsburgh area companies moving into
VoIP point out that they already have agreements with emergency
centers, so their 911 will mirror the service that comes with regular
phone plans.

Another worry is that VoIP service will fail in a power outage,
and any time broadband service is down.

While Internet outages happen, "it's one thing if you can't check your
e-mail. It's another if that is the sole source of communication in
your house," said Charles White, vice president of TNS Telecoms, a
market research firm in Jenkintown, Pa.

While big and small telecom providers nationwide are moving full speed
into VoIP, a recent TNS survey found that residents in just 33 percent
of households know what it is. That's an increase of about 10 percent
over the last year.

Nationwide, about 4 percent of households use Internet calling.

Vonage, the leader in market share, said its business has expanded to
more than 800,000 customers. Verizon and AT&T don't disclose customer
figures, although AT&T spokeswoman Deborah Jones said VoIP has been
the company's focus, since it stopped marketing its traditional phone
services last year.

Verizon views VoiceWing as one of its many phone options, a less
expensive alternative to the roughly comparable Freedom local and long
distance package for $54.95 a month.

"It's just another choice that we are offering customers,"
spokesman Lee Gierczynski said. "Everybody's communications needs are
different."

Small phone companies like Curry and Full Service, meanwhile, view
the Internet as their path to the future partly because of changes in
federal and state law over the past year that require them to pay more
to lease parts of Verizon's network.

They also plan to build on the fact that the Internet knows no
boundaries, and neither will their Internet phone products.

Full Service, which sells phone service across Pennsylvania, plans to
kick off VoIP on Sept. 12 in the 412 and 724 area codes.

"Then, there are plans to expand into 26 markets across the United
States," company President David E. Schwencke said.

Those markets are cities with NFL teams. Schwencke said he's talking
with investment bankers about securing $3.5 million for marketing, and
working on a partnership with the National Football League to promote
Full Service this fall.

Curry said he is talking with Shop 'n Save and Fox's Pizza Den about
promotions. He hopes to expand service to New Jersey and Ohio this
month, and eventually go nationwide.

He also plans to market the service through universities.  "Students
don't need a full-blown land line to call home. The $9.99 package is a
good package for them -- and most colleges already provide the
high-speed internet access," Curry said, adding that cell phone
service costs much more.

Calling on the Web

Vonage, Verizon and AT&T sell Voice over Internet Protocol
packages in the Pittsburgh region, and several other companies will jump
into this emerging field in coming weeks.

Here's a look at monthly costs, some of which have dropped in
recent months:

AT&T CallVantage: $19.99 for unlimited local service, 4 cents/minute
for long distance; or $29.99 unlimited local and long distance to
U.S. and Canada.

Comcast: Expected to introduce service this fall; details
unavailable.

Curry IP Solutions: $9.99 plus 3.9 cents/minute for all calls; or
$14.99 unlimited local plus 500 minutes long distance, 3.9
cents/minute afterward; or $24.99 unlimited local and long distance.

Full Service Network: $19.99 for unlimited nationwide calling,
debuting in September in 412 and 724 area codes.

North Pittsburgh Telephone Co.: Introducing service early fall to work
with company's broadband; details unavailable.

Verizon VoiceWing: $19.95 for 500 minutes to anywhere in U.S., 4
cents/minute afterward; or $34.95 unlimited local and long distance.

Vonage: $14.99 for 500 minutes to anywhere in U.S. or Canada, 3.9
cents/minute afterward; or $24.99 unlimited U.S. and Canada calls.

Kim Leonard can be reached at kleonard@tribweb.com or (412)
380-5606.

Copyright 2005 by The Tribune-Review Publishing Co.

NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the
daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new
articles daily.

*** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the
use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright
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For more information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml

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

Subject: Interesting Cellphone and Mastercard Tidbit
From: tom.horsley@att.net (Thomas A. Horsley)
Organization: AT&T Worldnet
Date: Sun, 11 Sep 2005 02:18:04 GMT


I just tried to activate my updated credit card with the new
expiration date for the first time since abandoning my land line and
going strictly cellphone.

I updated my Mastercard records with my new "home" phone back when I
got rid of the land line, but apparently the system they have for
activating credit cards can't deal with cell phone numbers (the human
I eventually got to talk to told me they are woking on it).

I know my phone generates valid caller ID, since I've seen it show up
on the phones of people I called. I also know FPL's power outage
automated system can recognize me when I call and correlate my
cellphone to my home address to tell me about the state of any power
outage, so I gotta wonder what the difficulty is at Mastercard.  --


>>==>> The *Best* political site <URL:http://www.vote-smart.org/>
>>==+ email: Tom.Horsley@worldnet.att.net icbm: Delray Beach, FL |
<URL:http://home.att.net/~Tom.Horsley> Free Software and Politics<<==+

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

Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 21:59:30 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: See ROKR in Action


Click "Watch Demo" on lower left

http://www.makemedance.com/index.php?section=demo

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

From: Steve Sobol <sjsobol@JustThe.net>
Subject: Re: Qwest Lauches New Legal Fight Against Portland
Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2005 19:00:45 -0700
Organization: Glorb Internet Services, http://www.glorb.com


Tony P. wrote:

> I do wish the phone companies would acknowledge and embrace their own
> anti-competitive history. Maybe then they wouldn't be such anal
> retentive jerks about things.

Not bloody likely. Embracing their past means they'd just be proud of
being anal-retentive jerks.


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

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

From: NOTvalid@XmasNYC.Info
Subject: Re: NYC Phone Rates, was: Sid Ceasar and Phones in Comedy
Date: 11 Sep 2005 10:58:05 -0700
Organization: http://groups.google.com


Danny Burstein wrote:

> In <telecom24.411.18@telecom-digest.org> Wesrock@aol.com writes:

> Bit by bit the 75 message unit allowace got cut down, so nowadays
> there's nothing there there. On the slight plus side back in the 1970s the
> "local area" for untimed calls expanded to the entire city.

Also cut out is the discount for LOCAL calls made in evening and night
altho Verizon kept itemizing how many were made eve and night.

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

From: Ed Clarke <clarke@cilia.org>
Subject: Re: Internet Satellite Imagery Under Fire Over Security
Date: 10 Sep 2005 22:56:48 GMT
Organization: Ciliophora Associates, Inc.
Reply-To: clarke@cilia.org


On 2005-09-10, Jim Burks <jbburks@hotmail.com> wrote:

> Panarat Thepgumpanat <reuters@telecom-digest.org> wrote in message 
> news:telecom24.408.2@telecom-digest.org:

>> By Panarat Thepgumpanat

>> Asian governments have expressed security concerns about easy access
>> to detailed satellite images on the Internet, such as those used by
>> rescuers in New Orleans, saying the technology could endanger
>> sensitive sites.

> Google should do the same as they do for the US. Currently, they
> block the roof of the White House, and buildings around it. View
> 1600 Pennsylvania and see. As you zoom in, at a certain magnification,
> the roofs are whited out.

> Either respect the wishes of those countries and 'mask' their sensitive
> sites, or don't mask ours.

You can buy 2m resolution imagry from Russian satellite distributors. 
As I recall, a Canadian newspaper got into hot water during the cold
war for printing images of a secret military base in Canada ... that
they bought from the Russians.

My old Laserdisk of satellite images had a small section of a
commercial "SeaSat".  Turns out that the commercial (non military)
satellite showed up nuclear submarine tracks quite nicely.  The
satellite suddenly went dark and has not been replaced.

It's all bullshit. Anyone who wants these images can get them with very
little difficulty.

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

From: jmeissen@aracnet.com
Subject: Re: Internet Satellite Imagery Under Fire Over Security
Date: 10 Sep 2005 22:59:03 GMT
Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com


In article <telecom24.413.9@telecom-digest.org>,
Jim Burks  <jbburks@hotmail.com> wrote:

> Panarat Thepgumpanat <reuters@telecom-digest.org> wrote in message 
> news:telecom24.408.2@telecom-digest.org:

>> By Panarat Thepgumpanat

>> Asian governments have expressed security concerns about easy access
>> to detailed satellite images on the Internet, such as those used by
>> rescuers in New Orleans, saying the technology could endanger
>> sensitive sites.

> Google should do the same as they do for the US. Currently, they
> block the roof of the White House, and buildings around it. View
> 1600 Pennsylvania and see. As you zoom in, at a certain magnification,
> the roofs are whited out.

I don't know what you're looking at, but Google Earth shows complete
detail of the White House down to the max resolution, which is much
higher resolution than the satellite imagery on maps.google.com.  Same
with the Pentagon.


John Meissen                                  jmeissen@aracnet.com

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

From: Gene S. Berkowitz <first.last@comcast.net>
Subject: Re: Internet Satellite Imagery Under Fire Over Security
Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2005 23:14:06 -0400


In article <telecom24.413.9@telecom-digest.org>, jbburks@hotmail.com 
says:

> Panarat Thepgumpanat <reuters@telecom-digest.org> wrote in message 
> news:telecom24.408.2@telecom-digest.org:

>> By Panarat Thepgumpanat

>> Asian governments have expressed security concerns about easy access
>> to detailed satellite images on the Internet, such as those used by
>> rescuers in New Orleans, saying the technology could endanger
>> sensitive sites.

> Google should do the same as they do for the US. Currently, they
> block the roof of the White House, and buildings around it. View
> 1600 Pennsylvania and see. As you zoom in, at a certain magnification,
> the roofs are whited out.

> Either respect the wishes of those countries and 'mask' their sensitive
> sites, or don't mask ours.

> Jim Burks
> Collierville, TN 

If the sites are so sensitive, let them use camouflage.  All the
Google masking does is highlight "sensitive" sites even more, like:

N38.92138 W77.06686 
or:
N37.275000, W115.791667
while at the same time, they don't even bother with:
N38.74080 W104.83317

--Gene

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


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