TELECOM Digest     Fri, 4 Nov 2005 14:35:00 EST    Volume 24 : Issue 502

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Hollywood Offers to Cut a Deal With Grandpa Getting Sued (jsonline)
    Re: Grandpa Gets Sued Over Grandson's Downloads From Net (David Clayton)
    Cable Companies, Sprint Join Forces (John C. Roper)
    Amazon to Sell Digital Books in Google Challenge (Alexandria Sage) 
    Libya Puts Blogger in Prison (Jasper Mortimer)
    Internet Community Organizations at World Summit (Peter Godwin)
    Replacement for Siemens Gigaset (rlittle@thetasoft.com)
    Cellular-News for Friday 4th November 2005 (Cellular-News)
    Bell System/Western Electric Apparatus Help? (Michael Muderick)
    With O2 Deal, Telefonica Expands Into Uncharted Areas (USTA DailyLead)
    Telecom Update #504 (Canada) (jriddel)
    Re: Recorded Call From Law Office? (Clark W. Griswold, Jr.)

Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the
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               ===========================

See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details
and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest.  

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

From: Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal <jsonline@jsonline.com> 
Subject: Hollywood Offers to Cut a Deal With Grandpa Getting Sued
Date: Fri, 4 Nov 2005 11:07:51 -0600




[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You may recall our main story in
yesterday's issue of the Digest was about a man being sued on account
of some movies downloaded onto computer by his 12-year old grandson. 
The stink got pretty awful, so MPAA contacted grandpa on the phone
late Wednesday and offered what they termed a 'generous offer'.   PAT]

A man sued by the film industry after his teen grandson downloaded
four movies on the family's computer has been offered a chance to
settle the case by paying $4,000 in installments.

The Motion Picture Association of America filed a federal lawsuit
Tuesday against Fred Lawrence of Racine, seeking as much as $600,000
in damages for downloading four movies over the Internet file-sharing
service iMesh.

An attorney for the Motion Picture Association of America called Lawrence
late Wednesday, telling him the lawsuit would be dropped if he paid $4,000,
Lawrence said.

The MPAA said it would let Lawrence pay the amount in monthly payments
over a year to 18 months, he said.

The deal is about the same one offered Lawrence in March, which he
ignored, except it allows him to pay in installments.

"I don't want to sound like a smart aleck, but $4,000 might as well be
a $1 million," Lawrence said. "We are budgeted. We have a fixed
income. I don't have even an extra $250 a month."

Lawrence, a former employee of Snap-on Inc. and seasonal worker for
the City of Racine, said he is still trying to find an attorney to
defend him in the suit.

Lawrence said he didn't even know what file sharing was.

Lawrence was one of several people the MPAA contacted this year who
were offered an out-of-court settlement. Those who declined or didn't
respond including Lawrence, now face individual lawsuits.

A message left at the association Friday by The Associated Press was
not immediately returned.

Information from: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, http://www.jsonline.com

Copyright 2005 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

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

From: David Clayton <dcstar@myrealbox.com>
Subject:  Re: Grandpa Gets Sued Over Grandson's Downloads From Net
Date:  Fri, 04 Nov 2005 14:06:47 +1100


On Wed, 02 Nov 2005 20:02:21 -0600, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal wrote:
 ......

> Illegal downloading costs the movie industry an estimated $5.4 billion a
> year, she said.
 ......

Yep, you can guarantee that every illegally downloaded movie/song etc.
directly results in lost revenue, because those naughty people would have
paid for it anyway  ... not!


Regards, 

David Clayton, e-mail: dcstar@XYZ.myrealbox.com
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
(Remove the "XYZ." to reply)

Knowledge is a measure of how many answers you have, intelligence is a
measure of how many questions you have.

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

From: John C. Roper <houstonchron@telecom-digest.org>
Subject: Cable Companies, Sprint Join Forces
Date: Fri, 4 Nov 2005 10:39:55 -0600


TV, telephone services are ready for strategic fight to sign customers
By JOHN C. ROPER
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

The nation's leading cable TV companies have banded with Sprint-Nextel
to offer cell phone service and in doing so upped the ante in their
heated competition with the traditional phone companies.

The cable companies -- Time Warner Cable, which serves the Houston
area, Comcast, Cox Communications and Advance/Newhouse Communications
 -- say the deal will allow them to package television, Internet and
wireless services to consumers by early 2006.

Doing so will allow them to keep pace with telephone companies like
SBC and Verizon, which have Internet, telephone and cellular offerings
and plan to sell advanced television services in the near future. SBC,
along with BellSouth, owns Cingular Wireless.

"Both the telephone companies and the cable industry are gearing up to
go to battle with each other," said Jeff Kagan, an independent telecom
analyst based in Atlanta.

Kagan said the move signals the beginning of a major transformation of
the industry where the phone and cable companies will be truly
competitive in selling multiple services packaged together at discount
prices.

The cable companies are already well entrenched into a technology that
provides telephone service through the Internet called Voice over
Internet Protocol, or VoIP.

The long-expected deal requires the cable companies to invest a
combined $100 million in the joint venture, with Sprint pitching in
$100 million as well. The investments will be used to converge
telecommunications services.

The companies say they will be able to reach 75 million homes.

"Cable is fundamentally a local business and our competitors are much
larger in geographic scope," said Glenn Britt, chairman and CEO of
Time Warner Cable. "Many of them are national, and our ability to work
together with Sprint is really important to enable us to compete."

Services converge

The move goes well beyond simply tying traditional cell phone service to the
other offerings of the cable companies.

The plan is to converge the cell phone with the services offered by
the cable companies. For example, consumers could use a cell phone to
easily program digital video recorders while away from home or even
use it to watch television programing.

Gary Forsee, president and CEO of Sprint-Nextel, said doing so will
make its cell phones "an indispensable third screen in customer's
lives."

Market still a question

Analysts said it was unclear whether most consumers would be ready or
even interested in using their cell phones for things other than
carrying on conversations.

"At the end of the day, most people still just want to talk on their
cell phone," said Julie Ask, who follows the wireless industry for
Jupiter Research. "There are very few people who want to download
music or do these types of broadband-type activities." Ask said
consumers choose their cell phone provider in standard ways.

"The way people make decisions about cell phones is still about cheap
minutes, good coverage at home and a free handset," Ask said.

Still, the partnership gives Sprint-Nextel more opportunities to sell
its services.

Starting early next year, consumers will be able to go to Sprint
retail stores, RadioShack and to outlets operated by the cable
companies to sign up for any of the services.

The cable companies, including Time Warner, plan to have all of the
services on a single bill if they are purchased along with some of
their own services. Bills would remain the same for customers who only
subscribe to Sprint-Nextel services.

Too early to talk prices

The companies said it was too early to discuss pricing, other than to
say discounts would be offered for bundling services.

Both the phone and cable companies believe consumers will be reluctant
to switch companies -- called "churn" -- if they are tied down to
multiple services.

"The more products and services you add to the bundle, the lower the
churn rate is," said Jim Robbins, president and CEO of Cox
Communications, adding that the Sprint-Nextel deal will mean that
"more of them are going to stay with us."

john.roper@chron.com

This article is: http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/3434695

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

From: Alexandria Sage <reuters@telecom-digest.org> 
Subject: Amazon to Sell Digital Books in Google Challenge
Date: Fri, 4 Nov 2005 11:04:02 -0600


By Alexandria Sage

Amazon.com on Thursday said it would let readers buy digital pages,
chapters and entire books through two plans that present a broad
challenge to a controversial strategy of Google Inc.

Amazon pioneered the ability to search inside books on the Web, but
Internet search engine Google has attracted more attention recently
with its plan to copy contents of several libraries, drawing fire from
publishers who see it as a violation of copyright.

The Amazon Pages program, in coordination with publishers, lets users
buy Internet access to either a page, chapter or the entirety of a
book, while a second program, Amazon Upgrade, gives online access to a
work that the consumer buys in physical form for an extra fee.

"We believe that over time this could turn into a significant business
for Amazon, significant revenue stream for publishers and authors and
a helpful customer service for readers," said Chief Executive Jeff
Bezos, who said the programs would launch sometime next year.

Bezos declined to comment on Google's program.

Amazon immediately drew praise from the book industry. The president
of the Association of American Publishers, Patricia Schroeder, said
Amazon appeared to be complying with copyright laws while Google's
actions amounted to "rogue eminent domain."

"If the search engines don't respect the creators, there won't be
anything to search in the future because creators have to make a
living too," Schroeder said.

Prices for Amazon Pages would vary by publisher and potentially by
book, but most would cost a few cents per page, Bezos said. He used an
example in the Amazon Upgrade program of a book costing $20 and the
online access another $1.99.

"Ultimately for each individual book, pricing will be up to the
copyright holders," Bezos said. "The copyright holders are the ones
who get to make these decisions."

Since readers must pay to view and download books, Amazon's programs
steer clear of the controversy around Google, whose plan to scan
copyrighted material in libraries has raised the ire of publishers and
writers.

They claim the Google Print Library program, which promises to
digitize the book collections of major libraries and allow online
users to see just a few lines, will set a precedent opening the door
to anyone wanting to digitally duplicate books and deprive authors and
publishers of revenues.

Google -- whose program excludes material only from publishers who
contact it to opt out -- claims it is organizing and making accessible
the world's information and says the program will result in increased
awareness and greater sales of the scanned books.

The company unveiled on Thursday its first collection of public domain
works, mostly historical and 19th century literary titles.

Google also has a program, in cooperation with some publishers, that
is similar to Amazon's feature allowing search inside books.

Yahoo Inc. is also involved in the race over digitized content through
a consortium of companies and archives, but its program only accepts
copyrighted content from publishers who allow their books to be
included.

Amazon's Search Inside the Book program, which launched two years ago,
allows readers a glimpse at select pages of text. Fifty percent of
Amazon's titles available in hard copy have already been scanned in
the program, Bezos said.

Bezos said that besides launching the two search programs, Amazon next
year would continue to roll out product categories in its
international sites that are currently only found in the United
States.

Amazon shares closed up 2 percent on Nasdaq at $41.65.

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: Jasper Mortimer <ap@telecom-digest.org> 
Subject: Libya Puts Blogger in Prison
Date: Fri, 4 Nov 2005 11:05:43 -0600


By JASPER MORTIMER, Associated Press Writer

Libya has sent to prison for 18 months a blogger who criticized the
government on the Internet, Human Rights Watch says in a report that
inspired a series of Web tributes to the dissident Friday.

A Tripoli court convicted Abdel Raziq al-Mansuri of illegal possession
of a handgun and sentenced him to 18 months' imprisonment on Oct. 19,
the New York-based rights group said in an e-mail to The Associated
Press in Cairo.

"The gun charges are a ruse," said the Middle Eastern director of HRW,
Sarah Leah Whitson. "The authorities went after al-Mansuri because
they did not like what he wrote. Having him in prison will shut him up."

Al-Mansuri, 52, was detained in Tobruk, his hometown, in January after
publishing about 50 articles critical of Libyan society and government
on a dissident Web site based in Britain, http://www.akhbar-libya.com,
the rights group said Thursday.

Libyan government officials were not available for comment Friday as
the country was celebrating the Eid al-Fitr holiday that follows the
holy month of Ramadan.

The rights group, who visited al-Mansuri in Tripoli's Abu Selim prison
on May 5, said his family published the outcome of his trial in an
Oct. 27 letter to the government, media and rights organizations that
condemned al-Mansuri's detention and sentence.

"Such outspoken criticism is rare in Libya," said Human Rights Watch.
Politics has been tightly controlled in the country since Col. Moammar
Gadhafi seized power in 1969.

The letter said the authorities had asked family members to denounce
al-Mansuri as mentally deranged.

"If defending the right to free speech, and asking for basic human
rights is insane in our country, then welcome to a family that is,
from its oldest to its youngest, insane," the letter said, according
to Human Rights Watch.

The letter added that in sentencing al-Mansuri, the court had refused
to give him credit for the months in detention he had already served.

The rights group said that after detaining al-Mansuri, Libyan security
officials searched his home and "found an old pistol that belonged to
his father."

The group reported the head of the Internal Security Agency,
Col. Tuhami Khaled, as denying that al-Mansuri was arrested for his
Internet writings.

"He was arrested because he had a gun without a license," the group
quoted Khaled as telling its representatives in May.

Asked why the Internal Security Agency was detaining al-Mansuri
instead of the police, Khaled replied that the pistol was "a job for
internal security," the group said.

On Friday, the Web site http://www.akhbar-libya.com carried numerous
statements of support for al-Mansuri from Libyans in exile and human
rights groups.

"With his courage and truthful words, Abdel Raziq managed to break the
barrier of fear. He has moved from the big prison (Libya) to a smaller
one," said Ahmed Masoud Al-Ghabali, a Libyan who recalled meeting
al-Mansuri in Britain.

The site itself said he had been arrested for writing articles that
"demanded freedom of expression and denounced human rights abuses in
Libya."

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. 

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

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

From: Peter Godwin <godwin@isoc.org>
Date: Fri, 4 Nov 2005 15:47:12 +0100
Subject: Internet Community Organization at World Sunmit Outline


Geneva, Switzerland - 4th November 2005 - Many of the Internet
community organisations that enable the processes for the development
and administration of the Internet will host the 'Internet Pavilion'
(stand 1323) at the 'ICT 4 all' exhibition at the World Summit on the
Information Society (WSIS) in Tunis, 15-19 November 2005.

Organisations at the 'Internet Pavilion' will include the Internet
Society (ISOC), the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the Number
Resource Organization (NRO), the Internet Corporation for Assigned
Names and Numbers (ICANN), the London Internet Exchange (LINX), the
Council of European National Top level Domain Registries (CENTR) and
the African ISP Association (AfrISPA).

The pavilion theme is 'The Internet -- How does it work, Who makes it
work'. It will offer WSIS attendees a clear understanding of the
issues involved in the successful coordination of the Internet's
technical infrastructure, including the importance of building on the
proven success of the inclusive and established processes that have
fostered its incredible growth.

"Coordination and collaboration between the many organisations that
play a role in Internet administration and development is vital,"
commented Axel Pawlik, NRO Chairman. "The industry partners hosting
the 'Internet Pavilion' at WSIS will show how cooperation is
fundamental to the stability of the Internet."

The 'Internet Pavilion' will demonstrate how participating
organizations represent the evolving needs of the global Internet
community through an open, neutral, bottom-up, collaborative and
inclusive multi-stakeholder framework.  The specific roles of each
organisation in Internet administration and coordination will be
highlighted.

"This is a crucial time for all those with an interest in the future
of the Internet," explained Lynn St. Amour, President and CEO of the
Internet Society (ISOC). "We encourage direct participation of any
interested party in reinforcing the success of the existing mechanisms
that have been built and driven by the Internet community."

With regard to the results of the WSIS process, Ms. St. Amour asks
that governments and other stakeholders remind themselves that
decisions should be taken with the interests of Internet users in
mind. "At the end of the day, the WSIS should protect the openness of
the Internet and promote ways of facilitating access for those who
wish to benefit from this incredibly valuable medium," said
Ms. St. Amour.

The 'Internet Pavilion' brochure can be found at: 
http://www.isoc.org/internetpavilion.pdf  

Participating groups are:

The Internet Society (ISOC) is a not-for-profit membership
organisation providing leadership in Internet related standards,
education, and policy. For over 13 years ISOC has run international
network training programs for developing countries and these have
played a vital role in setting up the Internet connections and
networks in virtually every country connecting to the Internet during
this time.

Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)
http://www.ietf.org

The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) has provided leadership in
the development of Internet standards for nearly 20 years. The IETF is
a large open international community of network designers, operators,
vendors, and researchers concerned with the evolution of the Internet
architecture and the smooth operation of the Internet. It is open to
any interested individual.

Number Resource Organization (NRO)
http://www.nro.net

Formed by the Regional Internet Registries to formalise their
cooperative efforts, the Number Resource Organization exists to
protect the unallocated Number Resource pool. It also promotes and
protects the bottom-up policy development process, and acts as a focal
point for Internet community input into the RIR system.

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)
http://www.icann.org

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is an
internationally organized, non-profit corporation that has
responsibility for Internet Protocol (IP) address space allocation,
protocol identifier assignment, generic (gTLD) and country code
(ccTLD) Top-Level Domain name system management, and root server
system management functions.

London Internet Exchange (LINX)
http://www.linx.org

LINX is a mutual, not-for-profit organisation, which connects the
networks of Content Delivery and Internet Service Providers so that
traffic may flow more efficiently between them.

Council of European National Top level domain Registries (CENTR)
http://www.centr.org

The Council of European National Top-Level-Domain Registries, CENTR,
is an association of Internet Country Code Top Level Domain Name (TLD)
registries (such as .uk for United Kingdom, .it for Italy, .es for
Spain). CENTR has a European focus, but no geographical restrictions
to membership which includes a number of non-European registries,
including some emerging countries. CENTR membership is responsible for
95% of all domain names currently registered worldwide.

African ISP Association (AfrISPA)
http://www.afrispa.org

AfrISPA is a continental Association of African Internet Service
Provider Associations whose primary objective is to provide industry
perspective on policy formulation and regulation as it relates to the
Internet industry and to act as an interface with Governmental bodies
and the public at large.

#

General information about the 'ICT 4 all' exhibition is available here:
http://www.expo.ict4all-tunis.org 

#

Peter Godwin
Communications Manager
Internet Society
Email: godwin@isoc.org
Tel: +41 22 807 1447

'Internet Pavilion' contact:
Paul Rendek
Head of Member Services and Communications
RIPE NCC
Email: rendek@ripe.net
Mobile: +31 655782348

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

From: rlittle@thetasoft.com
Subject: Replacement for Siemens Gigaset
Date: Thu, 03 Nov 2005 22:20:18 -0800


The Siemens Gigaset is great as far as features go, operating like a
little PBX (the extensions dial each other, the base unit does the
actual telecom work of dialing while the handsets just act like
recievers).

Unfortunately, the Siemens quality sucks.  It works for about a year
before it starts flaking out -- we've already gone through 2 base
units, and Siemens customer support is worse than their reliability.

So, I'm in the market for a new system.  I got the Panasonic 2 line
6502, but feature-wise its horrible.  (I'm so tired of seeing "24
missed calls" on the handset that was lost under the couch).

Is there a good system out there?  Cost is really no issue -- I'm
desperate for feature parity with the Siemens -- cordless handsets (6
or more), base unit does all the dialing, multiple lines (2),
answering machine, transfer & conference between handsets... Surely
there must be something out there!

Help!

--rob

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

Subject: Cellular-News for Friday 4th November 2005
Date: Fri, 4 Nov 2005 07:32:55 -0600
From: Cellular-Bnews <dailydigest@cellular-news-mail.com>


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

Mobile Base Station Contract from US Utility Firm
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14692.php

Wireless Matrix has announced an agreement with one of the leading
utilities on the East Coast of the USA serving more than 2 million
homes and businesses, for an initial order of 400 Mobile Base Station
2 (MBS2) units. This first purchase order unde...

3G Wait-&-See Fails to Stall Taiwanese Mobile Phone Market
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14691.php

The aggressive promotion of 3G services by mobile phone carriers was
expected to stimulate the growth of the Taiwanese mobile phone market
in the third quarter of 2005. However, according to the Market
Intelligence Center (MIC), a Taipei-based indust...

Siemens Wins Thai GSM Contract
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14690.php

Thailand's largest mobile provider, Advanced Info Service (AIS), has
contracted with Siemens to expand its GSM radio and core network. In
the future, up to one million additional subscribers will be able to
make phone calls and utilize mobile communi...

Study Finds Mobile Phone Users Embracing Mobile Data Services
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14689.php

Mobile phone users are increasingly comfortable with mobile data
services but continue to worry about content and price, according to
the latest Mobinet study of how 4,000 mobile phone users in 21
countries use their phones. The study has been conduc...

African Network Operator to Seek UK Stock Market Listing
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14688.php

Econet Wireless Group has announced plans to seek a listing on the
London Stock Exchange (LSE) through an initial public offering that
the company estimates will raise between US$400 million and US$500
million....

PTT Will Become the New 3G Hotspot - report
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14687.php

Analysys International predicts that PTT (push-to-talk) will become
the new hotspot of 3G applications with user numbers to reach 8
million by year 2009 in its newly released focus report. It also says
that the barrier of interconnection will be remo...

Customers Rarely Complain About Mobile Data Problems
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14686.php

A new NOP survey commissioned by Olista, the service experience
assurance company, reveals that users who encounter problems in using
new mobile data services will simply give up rather than seek
assistance. According to the survey of 1000 adults car...

FOCUS: Russia's alternative operators may strike gold in regions
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14685.php

[Premium] On the eve of the privatization of Russia's national telecom
holding Svyazinvest, regional fixed-line operators are cutting their
investment plans, while alternative operators, who operate mostly in
Moscow and St. Petersburg, prepare for an aggressiv...

Telefonica Moviles Back To 6 Million Mobile Users In Mexico
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14684.php

Spanish wireless phone operator Telefonica Moviles SA said Thursday
that it added 129,000 subscribers in Mexico in the third quarter,
bringing its roster back to 6 million, up 33% from a year ago. ...

Nokia: N70 Phone Is Shipping In High Volumes
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14683.php

Nokia Corp.'s second mobile phone in its multimedia Nseries to hit
stores has had a very good response from consumers and is shipping in
large volumes, a company spokesman said Thursday. ...

TDC Mobil To Open 3G Network To Private Clients Nov 7
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14682.php

Danish telecommunications operator TDC A/S Thursday said its unit TDC
Mobil will open its third-generation networks to private customers on
Nov. 7. ...

Reiman says Russian mobile operators may enter Chinese market
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14681.php

Russian mobile operators may enter the Chinese market, Russian IT and
Telecommunications Minister Leonid Reiman said Thursday, ITAR-TASS
reported. Reiman was speaking before the meeting of Russian Prime
Minister Mikhail Fradkov with Chinese Prime Min...

Mexico Billionaire Pledges $400 Million Argentina Invest In '06
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14680.php

Mexican billionaire businessman Carlos Slim has pledged to invest $400
million next year in two telecommunications companies operating in
Argentina: Telefonos de Mexico SA, or Telmex, and America Movil's
CTI. ...

Nortel Discloses Additional Subpoena For Accounting Records
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14679.php

Nortel Networks Inc. on Thursday disclosed that it received an
additional federal subpoena in connection with an ongoing criminal
investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District
of Texas. ...

UPDATE: Qualcomm to Vigorously Defend Against Claims At EC
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14675.php

Qualcomm Inc. vowed to vigorously fight the claims of five competitors
who complained last week to European antitrust regulators about its
licensing practices. ...

Vodafone To Buy Up To 15% More In Vodacom Group
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14674.php

Vodafone announced Thursday that it has entered into exclusive
negotiations with the Rembrandt Trust, which are expected to result in
Vodafone acquiring up to an additional 15% economic interest in
Vodacom Group for a net cash consideration of up to ...

Qualcomm 4Q Net Up 37%; Co Gives 1Q, FY06 Views
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/14673.php

Qualcomm Inc.'s fourth-quarter earnings rose 37%, fueled by demand for
next-generation cell phones. ...

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

Date: Fri, 04 Nov 2005 04:38:55 -0500
From: Michael Muderick <michael.muderick@verizon.net>
Subject: Bell System/Western Electric Apparatus Help?


I am looking for some help in identifying some equipment. I have a
couple of Western Electric/Bell System/ATT apparatus units. 30AM.  One
has an RN1J82 number.  I think they are part of paging adapters; one
is labeled EMERGENCY AUDIO.  I'd be happy to email a picture if
someone can help me identify what they are, and perhaps send me a BSP.
I have a bunch of BSP manuals, but don't have a number and haven't
been able to find it.

Can anyone assist?

Michael@muderick.com

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

Date: Fri, 4 Nov 2005 12:32:33 EST
From: USTelecom dailyLead <ustelecom@dailylead.com>
Subject: With O2 Deal, Telefonica Expands Into Uncharted Territories


USTelecom dailyLead
November 4, 2005
http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/xwvMatagCwkaqFYIJf

		TODAY'S HEADLINES
	
NEWS OF THE DAY
* With O2 deal, Telefonica expands into uncharted territories
BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH
* DirecTV looks beyond the tube
* Gear makers on rise as triple play gets hotter
* SBC moves a step closer to IPTV reality
USTELECOM SPOTLIGHT
* NEW! 2005 USTelecom Industry Directory
TECHNOLOGY TRENDS
* MIT's wireless network helps users ID high-traffic areas
* 3G, mobile TV, wireless VoIP seen as hot technologies in 2006
VOIP DOWNLOAD
* NetZero launches VoIP for dial-up
* Companies team up to promote VoIP
* Why testing is crucial in IP rollouts
REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE
* FCC to examine local barriers to new cable services

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

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

Date: Fri, 4 Nov 2005 10:52:20 -0800
Subject: Telecom Update #504, November 4, 2005
From: Angus TeleManagement Group <jriddell@angustel.ca>
Reply-To: Angus TeleManagement Group <jriddell@angustel.ca>


************************************************************
TELECOM UPDATE 
************************************************************
published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group 
http://www.angustel.ca

Number 504: November 4, 2005

Publication of Telecom Update is made possible by generous 
financial support from: 

** AVAYA: www.avaya.ca/en/
** BELL CANADA: www.bell.ca 
** CISCO SYSTEMS CANADA: www.cisco.com/ca/ 
** ERICSSON: www.ericsson.ca
** MITEL NETWORKS: www.mitel.com/
** NEC UNIFIED SOLUTIONS: www.necunifiedsolutions.com
** ROGERS TELECOM: www.rogers.com/solutions 
** VONAGE CANADA: www.vonage.ca

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

IN THIS ISSUE: 

** CRTC Reports on State of Competition 
** TWU Members Reject Telus Settlement 
** Quebecor Wants VoIP Ruling Reviewed 
** Bell Launches 2-Meg Wireless Data 
** Business Sales Lead BCE Revenue Increase 
** MTS Results Reflect Allstream Woes 
** Videotron Revenue Up 13%
** Nortel Sales Up 22%
** Nortel Pays $11.5 Million for Zafirovski 
** Virgin Mobile Comes to Saskatchewan 
** Bell Sued Over Installation Delays 
** New CEO at Expertech 
** Colbanet Promises Cellular LD Savings 
** Telus to Use Nokia DSL Gear 
** Inukshuk Seeks Broadband Wireless Proposals 
** Mike Larkin Joins Route1
** Seminar Examines Changes in Contact Centres 

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CRTC REPORTS ON STATE OF COMPETITION: The CRTC issued its 2005 Telecom
Monitoring Report this week, providing statistics and analysis on the
status of competition and the deployment of broadband to the end of
2004.  Some highlights:

** Total telecom revenue rose 4.7% to $33.3 billion. Long 
   distance revenue fell 6% even though minutes increased by 
   6%. Wireless revenues were up 17.6%. 

** Private line revenues fell 10%, while data revenues grew 
   6.9%. 

** 59% of Canadian households have Internet access; 46% have 
   broadband access.

** In 15 cities, the incumbent telcos have lost between 10% 
   and 25% of local business telephone lines. (Due to an 
   error in the CRTC's initial announcement, this was widely 
   and inaccurately reported as 10% to 25% of all telephone 
   lines.)

    http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/publications/reports/PolicyMonitoring/2005/gic2005.pdf

TWU MEMBERS REJECT TELUS SETTLEMENT: Members of the Telecommunications
Workers Union rejected a proposed contract with Telus that had been
recommended by the union's executive. 9,027 members voted: 4,487
(49.7%) voted yes and 4,540 (50.3%) voted no.

** On Thursday, Telus rejected a TWU proposal to return to 
   the bargaining table. The TWU says it will ask the federal 
   government to appoint a special mediator to facilitate a 
   settlement.

QUEBECOR WANTS VoIP RULING REVIEWED: Quebecor has filed a Part VII
application asking the CRTC to review and vary Telecom Decision
2005-62, which allowed Bell to charge different rates for its Digital
Voice service in Ontario and Quebec. Quebecor says the CRTC based the
decision on the assumption that Digital Voice is a VoIP service, but
it is actually normal local phone service with bundled calling
features.

http://www.crtc.gc.ca/PartVII/eng/2005/8662/q15_200512443.htm

BELL LAUNCHES 2-MEG WIRELESS DATA: Bell Mobility now offers wireless
data communications based on EVDO (Evolution Data Optimized)
technology in the Toronto and Montreal areas. The technology promises
average download speeds of 400 to 700 Kbps, and a maximum of 2.4
Mbps. Bell is selling new EVDO-equipped phones made by Kyocera, RIM,
and Samsung.

** Aliant Mobility says it will begin testing EVDO in the 
   Halifax area later this month.

BUSINESS SALES LEAD BCE REVENUE INCREASE: BCE had third-quarter
revenue of $4.95 billion, up 3.6% from the same period last year. A
5.3% increase in sales to businesses was almost double the increase
for Bell Canada as a whole. BCE net income after one-time items was
$462 million, down 3.8%.

** Bell added a net 123,000 wireless and 106,000 high-speed 
   Internet subscribers.

** DBRS lowered BCE's credit rating, commenting that Bell's 
   "local market share is in decline."

MTS RESULTS REFLECT ALLSTREAM WOES: Manitoba Telecom third quarter
revenue rose 4.1% to $516 million, despite difficulties in its
Allstream division, where sales remained stalled at $280
million. Allstream's EBITDA of $44 million was down 26% from the same
period last year. MTS net income declined 12% to $45 million.

VIDEOTRON REVENUE UP 13%: Quebecor's Videotron division had third
quarter revenues of $250.8 million, 13.3% more than in the same period
a year ago.  Revenue per user rose 11.7% Much of the gain came from
Videotron's phone service, which added 54,200 new customers.

NORTEL SALES UP 22%: Nortel Networks' third-quarter revenue of
US$2,665 million was 22% higher than in the same period last
year. Enterprise sales increased 16%. Gross margin of 38% was two
points higher than a year ago.  The net loss was $105 million,
compared with $259 million last year.  Nortel's cash balance of $3.0
billion was down 12%.

** For the first time in several years, Nortel filed its 
   financial results on time.

NORTEL PAYS $11.5 MILLION FOR ZAFIROVSKI: Nortel has agreed to pay
US$11.5 million to Motorola to settle a lawsuit aimed at preventing
former Motorola executive Mike Zafirovski from becoming Nortel's CEO.

VIRGIN MOBILE COMES TO SASKATCHEWAN: Virgin Mobile has begun offering
its prepaid wireless service in Saskatchewan: it is now available in
all ten provinces.

BELL SUED OVER INSTALLATION DELAYS: A Toronto lawyer has launched a
class-action lawsuit against Bell Canada over delays in installing
wireline phone service during and after the Entourage strike this
year, saying Bell should have warned its customers of the holdup.

NEW CEO AT EXPERTECH: Jacques Robichon, former VP of Wireless Network
Operations at Bell Canada, has been named President and CEO of
Expertech Network Installation Inc. Expertech, which is owned by Bell
and SNC-Lavalin, provides installation and maintenance services to
carriers.

COLBANET PROMISES CELLULAR LD SAVINGS: A new service from Montreal-
based ColbaNet allows customers to place cellular LD calls on
ColbaNet's network. The company says that usage rates for its
SpectraVoice Mobility offering are up to 80% less than the carriers'
wireless LD rates.

TELUS TO USE NOKIA DSL GEAR: Telus has contracted to use Nokia's D500
IP DSLAM, equipped with ADSL2+ technology, to expand its broadband
access network.

INUKSHUK SEEKS BROADBAND WIRELESS PROPOSALS: Inukshuk has issued a
Call for Proposals for projects related to the provision of wireless
broadband Internet access in remote communities, and for projects to
develop rich learning content, applications, or learning
environments. The deadlines for responses vary by region.

http://www.inukshuk.ca/anglais/fonds.html

MIKE LARKIN JOINS ROUTE1: Mike Larkin, who previously held VP Sales
positions at BCE Emergis and Bell Canada, has been named Sales VP at
Route1, a Toronto-based company that develops mobile computing
applications. He replaces Stephen Skinner, who "has left the Company
to pursue new endeavours."

SEMINAR EXAMINES CHANGES IN CONTACT CENTRES: During November, Henry
Dortmans, president of Angus Dortmans Associates, will discuss
impending changes in contact centre technology and management as the
keynote speaker at seminars organized by Telus in Ottawa, Toronto,
Winnipeg, Calgary, and Edmonton this month. For information:

http://promo.telus.com/tm/05/q3/cca/expert_series.html

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COPYRIGHT AND CONDITIONS OF USE: All contents copyright 2005 Angus
TeleManagement Group Inc. All rights reserved. For further
information, including permission to reprint or reproduce, please
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The information and data included has been obtained from sources which
we believe to be reliable, but Angus TeleManagement makes no
warranties or representations whatsoever regarding accuracy,
completeness, or adequacy.  Opinions expressed are based on
interpretation of available information, and are subject to change. If
expert advice on the subject matter is required, the services of a
competent professional should be obtained.

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

From: Clark W. Griswold, Jr. <spamtrap100@comcast.net>
Subject: Re: Recorded Call From Law Office?
Date: Fri, 04 Nov 2005 07:51:09 -0700
Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com


Carl Moore <cmoore@ARL.ARMY.MIL> wrote:

> I did hear a complete number but did not write it down.  (Just in case
> the record needs to be straightened out.)

Sounds like a troll for a class action lawsuit.

What you have to understand is that even the bottom feeders have
bottom feeders.  Consider the following purely hypothetical situation:

A law firm (lets call them MBF, for Master Bottom Feeders),
specializes in class action lawsuits. You know -- the kind where they
collect millions of dollars for themselves and the claimants get a
coupon for a free hamburger.

MBF scours the medical journals and comes across a paper that suggests
that people who ingest too much dihydrogen monoxide die at a higher
rate that regular people.

MBF puts out the word to the thousands of LBFs (Local Bottom Feeders):
"Find us people who have ingested dihydrogen monoxide!" and offers a
referal bounty for every candidate that meets the criteria for the
class.

Hence you get all the LBFs putting up billboards, running radio and TV
ads, and making mass telephone calls such as the one above.



[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: A very good point you raise is how
little the actual 'victims' get in class action lawsuits. Here is an
example involving a well known restaurant chain, McDonalds, in the
Chicago area. 

First, some background: In Chicago, at least, maybe elsewhere, there
are McDonalds restaurants _everywhere_, every few blocks it seems. In
a couple instances, there are two on the same block (State/Dearborn
and Randolph Streets in Chicago). A McDonalds on one corner with a
Burger King right across the street, then a half block further west,
in the old Greyhound Station another McDonalds. Ditto on the north
side, State Street and Chicago Avenue. Burger King and McDonalds right
next door to each other, then a block east at Rush Street a McDonalds
and a Jack-in-the-Box. Second, all the McDonalds are independently
owned and operated, but a 'support group' run by the owner/operators
services them all for technical needs. The 'Chicagoland McDonalds
Operator's Association' runs a central warehouse for their supplies,
their foodstuffs, their cash register repairs, etc.

Next point: What is termed 'Chicago' has, in addition to Chicago
itself, a hundred plus smaller suburbs, and when you get out in the
western area, the suburbs are a few blocks apart, almost as frequent
as the McDonalds restaurants. Each of the suburbs has its own idea on
what 'sales tax' should be for ready to eat food, groceries, other
stuff.  Since there are many McDonalds employees with only a simple
education, not including much arithmetic skills, McDonalds' cash
registers all have pictures and words on the keys. Customer wants the
double cheesebuger special, clerk presses the key with that on it;
the cash register calculates the total due, _includng the tax_ and
prints out the amount of money expected. Trouble is, the _sales tax_.
One Extra Value Meal in Chicago may cost two dollars, in Skokie it
may cost $1.98 or in Morton Grove $2.05. 

When a cash register goes out of order, the manager calls to the
'central services' and orders a new, refurbished cash register. Later
that day a new register arrives, central services workers bring it in
and install it. Theoretically, cash registers from one taxing
jurisdiction are to stay in that jurisdiction. In actual practice,
they go anywhere. So you pay $2.00 for your Extra Value Meal today, 
come in tomorrow for another of the same and $2.06 or whatever is
demanded instead. You can inquire all you like about the difference in
price between yesterday and today, or one register out of three or
four in the same restaurant, the clerk just looks at you with a blank
look on their face. 

Anyway, about ten or twelve years ago, the McDonalds in Skokie, IL
(which is known not only as the second or third McDonalds in
existence, having been started orginally as a 'company location' when
it started in 1958) is one of the most ill-managed in the chain, wound
up being the defendant in a class action suit based on their poorly
programmed cash registers. (Walmart has the same situation; a cash
register used today in Illinois may be used next week [following its
repair, etc in Kansas or Oklahoma]; proper sales tax rate is of no
concern to those folks.) Plaintiff's class action lawyers said they
were frequently overcharged on taxes, and it is true that if you as a
shopkeeper make a claim that 'X amount of money is for taxes' when in
fact the tax is either (1) incorrectly stated or (2) does not exist
at all, a crime has been committed. The class action lawsuit went on
a couple years, the attornies raked in piles of money; it was finally
settled by McDonalds putting a newspaper ad in several Chicago-area
publications with a coupon to clip out, offering a free small size
drink to the holder of the coupon, to cure the problem of being
charged a couple pennies too much on tax.   PAT] 

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End of TELECOM Digest V24 #502
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