TELECOM Digest     Thu, 1 Dec 2005 15:58:00 EST    Volume 24 : Issue 543

Inside This Issue:                            Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    AT&T, BellSouth Debut Yellowpages.com Venture (Reuters News Wire)
    Skype Introducs Web-Based Calling Feature (Eric Auchad)
    French Mobile Phone Cartel Faces Big Fine (Laurence Frost)
    Skype Adds Video to VoIP Service (USTelecom DailyLead)
    Cellular-News for Thursday 1st December 2005 (Cellular-News)
    Verizon, GTE, Contel, Alltel, etc. was Re: TDMA Phased Out?) (A Bellanga)
    Re: Holiday Observances Phone Rates (was Re: Kennedy) (Anthony Bellanga)
    Re: Showdown with USA Over Internet Control (Thor Lancelot Simon)
    Re: JFK Assassination (Scott Dorsey)
    Re: WSIS Report - ccTLD Problems Linger (Scott Dorsey)
    Re: FCC May Block Vonage From Accepting New Customers (Antwain Barbour)

Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the
Internet.  All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and
the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other
journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are
included in the fair use quote.  By using -any name or email address-
included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article
herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the
email.

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

Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be
sold or given away without explicit written consent.  Chain letters,
viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk are definitely unwelcome.

We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we
are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because
we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands
against crime.   Geoffrey Welsh

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

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

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

From: Reuters News Wire <reuters@telecom-digest.org>
Subject: AT&T,BellSouth Debut Yellowpages.com Venture
Date: Thu, 1 Dec 2005 13:22:38 -0600


Telephone operators BellSouth Corp. and AT&T Inc. unveiled their
improved online directory, Yellowpages.com LLC, on Thursday, going
head-to-head against Internet heavyweights Google Inc. and Yahoo
Inc. 

BellSouth and SBC Communications Inc., now part of AT&T, joined
together last year to buy Yellowpages.com and combine their own
telephone directory services for an online service.

Phone companies have long been the key providers of local business
information directories that are traditionally printed on yellow
paper.

"This is a significant milestone for us -- and the industry -- as we
remain dedicated to providing the most logical source for advertisers
and consumers who are increasingly searching the Internet for local
information, said Charles Stubbs, president and CEO of
Yellowpages.com, in a statement.

But the once sleepy market is emerging as a key battleground as major
Internet firms see local search as a way to move beyond traditional
Web search by helping people find details of businesses such as nearby
restaurants and shops.

One analyst said he believed that Yellowpages.com may have an edge
over Web rivals in local search because they already have up-to-date
databases with local information and a long-standing presence in local
markets.

"I think you're going to see a neck-and-neck battle between
Yellowpages.com and the search engines, but the search engines are
going to be trying to catch up," said David Goddard, an analyst at
publishing research firm Simba Information.

"Google and Yahoo are not anywhere near having the kind of database
that a yellow pages publisher already has," he added, also noting that
Yellowpages.com is an easy Web address for consumers to remember.

Yellowpages.com said the revamped site has new, more powerful search
capabilities. For example, consumers can search by key word, business
name or business type and refine their results by expanding or
narrowing their searches.

For now, Yellowpages.com expects to compete with Yahoo and Google. But
Goddard said it makes sense for the two camps to work together
eventually.

"One way or another, what you have here is one company that has the
traffic, the other that has the database. Different agreements are
going to happen over the years," he said.

SBC Communications is also expected to replace the "SBC" trading
symbol with AT&T's "T" symbol as the stock market opens on Thursday.

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: Eric Auchard <reuters@telecom-digest.org> 
Subject: Skype Offers Web Video Phone Calling Feature
Date: Thu, 1 Dec 2005 13:24:28 -0600


By Eric Auchard

Skype, the international Web calling phenomenon acquired by eBay Inc.,
said on Thursday it is adding high-resolution video picture phone
features to its free telephone replacement service.

Version 2.0 of the Skype software at http://www.skype.com aims to make
it easier for customers to sign up and use its phone-over-Internet
services, which are free on computers and offer low per-minute charges
when calling conventional phones.

In addition, Six Apart, the top maker of Web blog software based in San
Francisco, has agreed to embed links to Skype as an option for millions of
users of its Typepad blog service, the two companies said.

The new Skype software also will allow users of the popular Microsoft
Outlook e-mail management software to install a browser-based toolbar
that offers instant links to Skype and notifications when other Skype
users are online.

"Video calling has come of age," Skype vice president of marketing
Saul Klein said of the new feature.

The deal with Six Apart will enable Web users to place instant
Web-based phone calls to bloggers via Skype, further enhancing the
two-way nature of blog communications.

The option of adding Skype will be available early next year on
Typepad, and eventually on Live Journal, a second blogging service
from Six Apart with which nearly 9 million blogs have been created,
the companies said in a statement.

"This allows you to see a button on a blog and start talking to the
person who publishes that blog," Mena Trott, co-founder and president
of Six Apart, said in a phone interview. "That is the next step in
blogging."

Logitech and Creative, which collectively sell around two-thirds of
the world's webcams -- the miniature cameras used for video
conferencing via computer -- have agreed to distribution partnerships
with Skype. For quality video calls, users need to use a broadband
connection.

Skype's long-rumored upgrade to video phone calling capabilities
competes with computer instant messaging services that also offer
video phone calling features, including Microsoft MSN and America
Online's AIM service.

The upgraded Skype software also features "mood indicator" software
that allows users to let their contacts signal whether they are happy,
sad, listening to music, available or busy and other phone
personalization features.

These include ring tones to alert Skype users to callers and
customizable personal images, known as avatars, for which users will
pay around $1 a piece. Among the companies supplying avatars are
American Greetings and U.K.-based Weemees.

Skype and Logitech plan to jointly market Skype Video and Logitech
webcams and telephone headsets worldwide, engaging in regional
promotions and direct outreach to Logitech customers and Skype users,
Logitech said in a separate statement.


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.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: But, Skype is not first with video 
software for telecom applications. On my very old Win 95 computer,
(the first one I had, the Toshiba Satellite 220) there was a piece of
software which did video over phone using Logitech cameras.  PAT]

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

From:  Laurence Frost <ap@telecom-digest.org>
Subject: French Mobile Phone Cartel Faces Big Fine 
Date: Thu, 1 Dec 2005 13:27:03 -0600


By LAURENCE FROST, AP Business Writer

French antitrust authorities slapped record fines on the country's
mobile operators Thursday after a four-year investigation found that
Orange, SFR and Bouygues illegally shared sales data and conspired to
undermine competition.

The networks were ordered to pay a combined 534 million euros ($628
million) -- the largest penalty ever imposed by France's Competition
Council and Europe's second-largest antitrust fine. All three vowed to
appeal.

In a 90-page report, the watchdog said the operators had shared
"precise and confidential" commercial information every month for six
years and had even agreed to freeze their market shares in 2000-2002,
easing competitive pressure on prices.

"The existence of this collusion has been established through the
recovery of serious, precise and consistent evidence, including
handwritten documents explicitly mentioning an 'agreement' between the
three operators," the regulator said.

France's main consumer organization, UFC-Que Choisir, said it now
plans to sue for damages estimated at 50 euros to 80 euros ($59 to
$94) per mobile subscriber. UFC filed a complaint against all three
networks in 2002, a year after the antitrust authority launched its
own probe.

The decision is potentially embarrassing for Finance Minister Thierry
Breton, who took over as chairman and chief executive of Orange parent
France Telecom SA in 2002, a year before the illegal information
exchanges stopped.

Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin came to Breton's defense Thursday
when asked whether the minister's former France Telecom role --
relinquished earlier this year -- could undermine his position.

"That has absolutely nothing to do with it," Villepin said. "Thierry
Breton is doing a great job as finance minister and he will continue
doing his job."

Orange vowed to appeal its 256 million euros ($301 million) fine, the
largest of the three, describing the penalty as "unfounded and
excessive."  Vivendi Universal SA's SFR and Bouygues SA's telecoms
division also said they plan to challenge their respective penalties
of 220 million euros ($259 million) and 58 million euros ($68 million)
in the appeal courts.

During the investigation, the three mobile networks admitted sharing
confidential sales data, arguing unsuccessfully that it had not
distorted competition and that they had not sought to freeze market
share.

But investigators found an incriminating paper trail, including a
handwritten note seized from the office of SFR General Manager Pierre
Bardon that mentions Michel Bon, Breton's France Telecom predecessor,
and Orange France CEO Didier Quillot.

"Michel Bon via D. Quillot is OK to renew the 2000 market-share
agreement in 2001," reads the note, as transcribed in the Competition
Council report.

Documents recovered from France Telecom, including notebooks kept by
Quillot, also referred to the deal as a "market-share Yalta" - an
apparent reference to the 1945 conference that paved the way for
Europe's postwar carve-up between East and West.

Quillot, who still heads Orange France, declined to comment through a
spokesman.

The market-share deal was concluded at a time when sales were slowing
on the maturing French mobile market, the regulator said, leading to
"increased prices" for consumers as operators sought to squeeze profit
growth from existing clients instead of new subscribers.

The three operators began exchanging sales data three years earlier,
in 1997, and stopped the practice only in late 2003, in response to
the antitrust probe.

The total fines announced Thursday are the second-largest in European
antitrust history. In 2001, the European Commission fined eight drug
companies a combined 855 million euros (then worth $755 million) for
price-fixing.

U.S. shares of France Telecom, each worth one ordinary share, rose 39
cents to $25.38 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock
Exchange. U.S. shares of Vivendi Universal rose 73 cents o $29.68 on
NYSE.

Associated Press Writers Matt Moore in Frankfurt, Aoife White in Brussels,
Toby Sterling in Amsterdam and David Ariel in Rome contributed to this
report.

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

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

Date: Thu, 1 Dec 2005 13:01:19 EST
From: USTelecom dailyLead <ustelecom@dailylead.com>
Subject: Skype Adds Video to VoIP Service


USTelecom dailyLead
December 1, 2005
http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/zmyAatagCzbbfBrmiP

		TODAY'S HEADLINES
	
NEWS OF THE DAY
* Skype adds video to VoIP service
BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH
* Court ruling a blow to BlackBerry maker RIM
* Telecoms ponder fate of their landlines
* Report: Wireless carriers cut churn rate by 11%
* Comcast to raise prices by 6%
USTELECOM SPOTLIGHT
* The Essential Guide for All Telecom Users
TECHNOLOGY TRENDS
* TiVo launches interactive services
* Verizon Wireless to use Qualcomm's FLO for mobile video
* Voice mail fails to catch fire in China
REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE
* AT&T throws weight behind a la carte cable TV
* BellSouth CTO proposes priority system for Internet

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

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

Subject: Cellular-News for Thursday 1st December 2005
Date: Thu, 1 Dec 2005 09:50:16 -0600
From: Cellular-News <dailydigest@cellular-news-mail.com>


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

[[ 3G ]]

Ericsson Works With MTN South Africa On 3G Combinations
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15031.php

Telefon AB LM Ericsson said Wednesday it and MTN South Africa are
first in demonstrating how third generation networks using WCDMA
technology enable new mobile broadband services as well as a cost
efficient fixed broadband alternative, when combining...

Nokia Completes High Speed HSDPA Call In China
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15033.php

Finland's Nokia Oyj wednesday said it has successfully completed a
High Speed Downlink Packet Access call at its facilities in Beijing,
China. ...

Doubling the Speed of HSDPA Networks
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15046.php

Bytemobile says that the newest version of optimization software is
showing a two-fold speed improvement on HSDPA networks. The
software-based solution, called the Optimization Services Node (OSN),
specifically enhances each data packet and enables m...

[[ Financial ]]

Private-equity Firms Offer $12B For Danish Telecom TDC
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15035.php

A group of private-equity firms led by Apax Partners Worldwide and
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts has agreed to buy telecoms operator TDC for
$12 billion, though the Danish company said it'd like to receive even
more. ...

Cingular Tests Calling Plan With AT&T Local Phones
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15037.php

Cingular Wireless is testing a plan that provides unlimited calls
between its mobile service and AT&T Inc.'s local phone service in a
move to bundle its services closer together, Cingular said on its Web
site. ...

NTC Sees TDC As Growth Platform; Could Make Buys 
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15038.php

Nordic Telephone Co. intends to use TDC as a platform for growth and
will probably embark on acquisitions through the company to help drive
that growth, a member of the NTC group said Wednesday. ...

FOCUS: Russia's Alfa Group holds keys to Ukrainian mobile market
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15041.php

PREMIUM - The Ukrainian mobile market is maturing quickly and may soon
see the arrival of Russia's Alfa Group as the key player, as the
company looks to consolidate the stake it holds in four out of five
Ukrainian GSM operators. Alfa Group's aggressive behav...

[[ Handsets ]]

Indian Handset Sales to Soar
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15045.php

BIS Shrapnel has forecasted that the number of cellular handsets sold
in India to hit 38.5 million units (including replacement and grey
handsets) in 2006, recording an impressive growth of 26% over this
year's sale....

[[ Legal ]]

Research In Motion Loses Latest Patent Appeal
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15042.php

Research In Motion Ltd. has failed to persuade a federal judge to
enforce a tentative $450 million settlement with a company that's sued
to stop the developer of the popular Blackberry from sellings its
handheld e-mail devices. ...

[[ Messaging ]]

Telefonica Moviles, RIM To Launch BlackBerry Service In Latam
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15039.php

Spanish mobile phone operator Telefonica Moviles SA said Wednesday it
will launch Research in Motion Ltd.'s wireless BlackBerry platform in
13 Latin American countries. ...

Missed Call Service for Tunisian Operator
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15047.php

Cellicium says that the Tunisia based GSM operator, Tunisiana has
launched it's `Please Call Me' interactive USSD service for pre-paid
users. This service enables pre-paid customers lacking credit to send
a free SMS message requesting to be called by...

[[ Mobile Content ]]

A Spring, A Spring, A Wonderful Thing, Everyone Knows It's Slinky!
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15043.php

AG Interactive has announced that images and sounds of Slinky, The
Original Walking Spring Toy, are now available for mobile phones and
online platforms. The new content includes emoticons, backgrounds and
wallpapers, winks, avatars, screensavers, ri...

Crazy Frog Displaced by Baaarmy Sheep
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15051.php

The Crazy Frog's Christmas single - Jingle Bells -gets its first UK
airplay today and is widely tipped to become a music chart Christmas
number one. But the "Baarmy Sheep" of the Lake District are launching
a pre-emptive strike by making their own ve...

[[ Network Contracts ]]

Ericsson To Provide Solution To SunCom Wireless In US
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15034.php

Sweden's Telefon AB LM Ericsson Wednesday said U.S. operator SunCom
Wireless Holding Inc. has selected Ericsson's Mobile Softswitch
solution for its next generation core. ...

Russia's MegaFon says now has 1,500 base stations in MLA
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15040.php

The number of base stations of Russia's MegaFon subsidiary Sonic Duo
in the Moscow Licensed Area (MLA) amount to 1,500 as of now, up from
1,300 base stations in August, the company said Wednesday. ...

[[ Offbeat ]]

PrePay Phone Helps Fund the Nelson Mandela AIDS Foundation
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15050.php

South Africa's Vodacom has launched a PrePay handset in association
with the Nelson Mandela Foundation to raise funds for fighting
HIV/AIDS. Through this joint initiative Vodacom will be selling a
46664-branded Vodacom Prepaid Starter Pack in what is...

[[ Personnel ]]

Hutchison 3G Director Resigns
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15048.php

Hutchison 3G UK has announced that Gareth Jones will be stepping down
from his role as Chief Operating Officer at the end of 2005. Gareth
joined 3 in May 2003 and as COO has overseen the sales, customer
service and marketing departments. He was broug...

[[ Regulatory ]]

Russia's Moscow, many regional phone codes to be changed Thursday
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15036.php

The Moscow city telephone area code, 095, is to be replaced by 495 on
Thursday, the IT and Telecommunications Ministry said in a ruling
approved August 3. ...

[[ Technology ]]

Nokia To Cooperate With PLDT In The Philippines
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15032.php

Finland's Nokia Oyj said Wednesday it and telecommunications provider
Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company, PLDT, have set up a Next
Generation Network Laboratory to develop and test end-to-end
Fixed-Mobile Convergence services prior to their c...

Improving Camera Phone Photos in Dim Light
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15044.php

Agilent Technologies has shown off an innovative image pipe processor
that allows mobile phone and computing devices to take lifelike, rich
color photos in all lighting conditions. The image pipe is integrated
in Agilent's new family of system-on-chi...

Altobridge Split-BSC Solution Cuts Remote GSM Costs
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15049.php

ip.access says that Altobridge, a developer of mobile systems for
remote communications, is launching a low-cost satellite backhaul
solution for the provision of remote cellular coverage using ip.access
nanoBTS picocells. The new solution enables mob...

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

Date: Thu, 01 Dec 2005 03:29:35 -0700
From: Anthony Bellanga <anthonybellanga@notchur.biz>
Subject: Verizon, GTE, Contel, Alltel, etc. (When is TDMA Being Phased Out?)


PAT: PLEASE DO *NOT* display my email address anywhere! Thanx!

Jim Burks <jbburks@hotmail.com> wrote:

> Lisa Hancock <hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com> wrote:

(snip)

>> I guess now there are three big cellular companies -- Verizon,
>> Cingular, and VoiceStream?  Is Sprint still independent or did
>> they merge?

> No, really four: Cingular (with ATTws), Verizon, T-Mobile and
> Sprint (with NexTel). VoiceStream either became T-Mobile or was
> acquired by Verizon (not sure which).

There is a fifth nationwide (or maybe nearly nationwide?) wireless
provider in the US, and that is Alltel. A great deal of what is now
Verizon Wireless at one time was part of Alltel, but Alltel still does
exist.

Voicestream changed into T-Mobile. I understand that there was even a
name used prior to being called Voicestream but I can't remember what
it was.

As for a good deal of what had been Alltel at one time becoming part
of Verizon Wireless around 2000, also remember that when GTE was
taking over Contel in the early 1990s, they had to sell off landline
services in certain states or portions of states, possibly to comply
with various FTC or DOJ anti-trust things.

Citizens Telephone and Alltel were the two companies that GTE sold
legacy GTE and legacy Contel landline markets (sometimes entire
states) to. But also at the very same time, GTE took over some of
Alltel landline territory. It was almost as if GTE and Alltel "traded
off" some landline areas.

When Bell Atlantic / NYNEX took over GTE / Contel in 2000 to become
Verizon, in addition to the Wireless consolidations that happened
first (including some of Alltel wireless becoming Verizon, though not
all of what was Alltel wireless was merged into Verizon wireless,
there is still a great deal of Alltel that is still on its own), there
were legacy GTE (and old legacy Contel) landline areas which Verizon
again sold off. This included all of GTE Alaska which was sold to
about five small local independent telcos that had always been in
Alaska; a good deal of GTE in the Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico
areas being sold into a new spin-off called Valor; parts of old GTE
being sold to various existing smaller independent telcos here and
there, as well as part of old GTE or Contel being sold to CenturyTel
and again to Citizens and Alltel. 

More recently Verizon sold off old GTE Hawaiian Telephone to the
Carlyle Group, and Telus in Canada bought back Verizon's shares which
date back to when GT&E owned the British Columbia Telephone Company
and the Quebec Telephone Company in eastern Quebec. In early 2004,
Verizon also announced that it wanted to sell off all legacy New York
Tel outside of the New York City Metro Area (LATA 132), but those
plans have been cancelled.

But Alltel still has a wireless operation. And more recently, when
AT&T-Wireless was being sold to Cingular (owned 60% by SBC now known
as AT&T, and 40% by BellSouth and HQ'd in BellSouth's Atlanta),
remember how some customers were "turned over" to Alltel wireless!

There are still several smaller regional and local cellular companies
in the US. MOST of them do have contracts with the major national
providers for roaming purposes, but a lot of them are strictly local
or regional providers for those who really don't travel much (i.e.,
they don't need to roam), and thus might be able to provide cheaper
monthly rates!

But as for the major providers, note how all of them are also
associated with incumbent landline telcos, except for T-Mobile.

Cinuglar (SBC/AT&T and BellSouth)
Verizon
Alltel
Sprint (now including Nextel)

However, with the Sprint-Nextel merger, they have announced that
Sprint is keeping Long Distance and wireless, but are going to
sell-off or spin-off their (incumbent) local telephone operations, to
some yet to be announced entity and name/logo. The local telco
operations is what Sprint claims was "100+ years of service", being
the old United Telephone, and also Centel (Central Telephone), the
latter being merged into Sprint-United in the early 1990s.

- Anthony Bellanga

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

Date: Thu, 01 Dec 2005 02:23:14 -0700
From: Anthony Bellanga <anthonybellanga@notchur.biz>
Subject: Re: Holiday Observances Phone Rates (was Re: Kennedy)


PAT: DO NOT DISPLAY my email address whatsoever anywhere in this post!

Seth Breidbart <sethb@panix.com> wrote:

> Lisa Hancock <hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com> wrote:

>> Some years ago they passed a Monday holiday law, switching the
>> date of a number of national holidays so they would always be
>> on a Monday, creating a three day weekend.  That includes
>> Martin Luther King Day, Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day,
>> and Columbus Day.  Veteran's Day, Independence Day, Christmas,
>> and New Years remain observed on their actual day.  Thanksgiving
>> and Labor Day were already on day of week.

> The Monday Holiday Law predates Martin Luther King Day.

>> Roughly speaking, workers have seen a gradual cutback in the
>> number of holidays they get a day off from work.  There were
>> always the big 5  that everyone got off (except critical personnel):
>> (1) NY, (2) Memorial, (3) Independence, (4) Labor, (5) Thanksgiving,
>> and (6) Christmas.

> For a large value of 5.

>> Over time, some employers began to give off Washington's birthday,
>> King's birthday and Veteran's Day in addition.  More generous
>> employers threw in Columbus Day and Good Friday.

>> Historically, if a major holiday fell on the weekend, the nearest
>> Monday or Friday would be given off.

>> Nowadays employers seem a lot tighter and grant only the major day
>> off.  Many retailers are open on holidays, even Thanksgiving,
>> Christmas, and New Years, and expect people to work.

I guess it depends on who you work for or what type of business or
work you do. And aren't there certain labor laws requiring time and a
half or similar for (non-union) employees who have to work on certain
declared *National* (not "just" Federal) Holidays such as
Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, Independence Day, and maybe Labor
Day? (the original "big five", which does not include Memorial Day,
Columbus Day, Veterans' Day, Presidents' Day (which was originally
known as George Washington's Birthday), and in more recent years mlk
day).

>> The phone company would grant weekend rate reductions on certain
>> major holidays.  However, when a day was celebrated on an alternate
>> day (such as everything being closed on Monday July 5 in
>> celebration of Independence Day instead of on Sunday 7/4), the
>> phone company did not give discounts on the alternate day, weekday
>> rates were charged which could be steep.

Telephone rate structures have never been fixed in stone. And remember
that there are different rate strctures depending on the location
(jurisdiction) of the calling and called parties (intra-state vs.
inter-state, and if intra-state, which state; US-to-Canada, US-to-
Alaska/Hawaii/Puerto Rico/etc; US-to-International outside of Canada,
etc). "Holiday" rate structures (as well as Evening, Night, Weekend
discounts) could vary as to the nature of the Holiday, and the start
and stop time of the discounted period could vary depending on the
jurisdiction of the call. And things were not always consistant if
you were accepting a collect call (the rate period was determined at
the time of the party *placing* the call, NOT the time of the person
*receiving* the call even though the latter is PAYING for the call,
similarly on 3rd Party billing, the rate period is determined not by
the time of that 3rd person accepting the billing, but by the time
of the person *placing* the call), or coin paid calls (mostly
obsolete or totally morphed now a days since AT&T no longer handles
coin sent paid traffic and the local Bells have been squeezed out by
COCOTs), or person to person billing, time-and-charges quotes, etc.

There could be significant inconsistancies as to how rate periods
and Holiday rates applied to calls that weren't completely dialed as
1+ DDD by the customer with no operator assistance, from a regular
residential or business line.

And Bell or Telco was always filing new tariffs with state and
federal regulators modifying this or that. What I remember is the
structure as it applied roughly from the mid-1970s through the
mid-1990s, approximately twenty years. And this is the AT&T US
Interstate Plan for calls originating form the Continental US.
By the mid-1980s, it also included calls TO such points as Alaska,
Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands, and also included
calls originating from those non-CONUS points if they were TO points
within CONUS (but not necessarily to another non-CONUS point except
for calls between Alaska and Hawaii which eventually became known
as basic interstate). Most other carriers also copied the time
periods that AT&T had filed for as well, in the post-divestiture
period. However, with the 1996 Telecom Law, things began to change
dramatically for all carriers including AT&T, MCI, Sprint.

Weekday/Daytime period (the most expensive)
Mon-Fri 08-AM to 05-PM

Weekday/Evening period (the MID-range)
Sun-Fri 05-PM to 11-PM

Night/Weekend period (the lowest rates)
ALL Nights 11-PM to 8-AM
and ALL WEEKEND LONG starting at 11-PM Fri continuing all the way
through (NOTE) 05-PM SUNDAY (when EVENING rates would kick-in)

Until around the early 1980s, a call which started in one rate period
but continued into another rate period would be charged at the rates
of the period that the call originally began. Thus, a call begun at
4:58pm Sun-Fri would be charged at DAY rates until the call was
terminated. However, a call begun at 7:58am Mon-Fri or 4:58pm on
Sunday would be charged at NIGHT/WEEKEND rates until the call was
terminated. I can remember having major troubles with all circuits
busy trying to place interstate toll calls on Sunday afternoons after
4:30pm back in the early 1980s -- everyone else just like me was
trying to get their calls started before 5pm at which time the higher
(mid-range) rates would then kick-in until 11pm when the night/weekend
rates would come back.

In the early 1980s, all of this changed. AT&T began charging the
rate period in effect for whatever minutes the call included. If
you started your call at 4:58pm M-F, you started off paying the
highest Day rate, but once 5pm came about, the charges went down
to evening rate during the call in progress.

Holiday rates were identical to EVENING (mid-range) rates, NOT the
least expensive Night/Weekend period. At least this is how it all was
in the mid-1970s thru mid-1990s period. Of course, if that Holiday
(observed) was on a weekend (until 5pm on a Sunday), you did get your
cheapest weekend rate. (or night rate for that day at any time from
Midnight until 8am or 11pm to Midnight on that Holiday regardless of
which day of week the Holiday observed fell on).

Maw Bell did recognize the Federal "Holiday Observed" or "make-up" for
when a Holiday itself fell on a Sat/Sun. Bell did give you the
mid-range Evening (Holiday) rate on Monday 26 December or Monday 27
December (i.e., Christmas falling on a Sat/Sun), and the like.

AT&T recognized only the "Big Five" Holidays for "Holiday Rates"
(identical to Evening Mid-range rates) for inter-state US calls, i.e.,
Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, Independence Day, and Labor Day
for the longest. I believe that the US Federal Government or
Presidential Decree/Order, etc. identifies these as "National"
Holidays.

The other four-later-five are "Federal" Holidays which apply to
Federal Government employees although many state/local governments and
some private sectors have also now included as well. AT&T (and
possibly MCI and Sprint) began to include these four-later-five as
well by 1990, for Holiday (Evening) rates. These inlcude Columbus Day,
Veteran's Day, Presidents' Day, and later on mlk day.

Presidents' Day was originally George Washington's Birthday, which
*was* the ONLY Federal Holiday to honor a *specific* individual by
*NAME*. It was "morphed" into Presidents' Day sometime in the 1980s
(IIRC), to honor Lincoln (also with a February Birthday) and "all" of
the presidents of the US. So, after a while, even the Father of Our
Country lost out on the day *specifically* dedicated to him, while at
about the same time this mlk gets a federal holiday by name.

Anyhow, AT&T (and possibly MCI and Sprint) began to observe all ten
national/federal holidays collectively, as "Evening/Holiday" rates, by
about 1990.

But with the 1996 Telecom Law, everything that we had become
comfortable with (especially after having adjusted to the 1984
divestiture) began to change again. AT&T's basic rate structures began
to change significantly, yet at the same time, if you know how to
choose/dial "wisely", you'll find that toll rates overall have
decreased signficantly. And while you might lash-out at Cellular
companies, Long Distance Carriers, and even local telcos, if you do
your homework (and yes, it can be tedious), you can get very good
savings and discount plans on ALL of your telecom services, even
better than it was in the stable "good old days" of Maw Bell in the
1970s and early (pre-divestiture) 1980s.

- Anthony Bellanga

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

From: tls@panix.com (Thor Lancelot Simon)
Subject: Re: Showdown with USA Over Internet Control
Date: Thu, 1 Dec 2005 11:30:06 UTC
Organization: Public Access Networks Corp.
Reply-To: tls@rek.tjls.com


In article <telecom24.541.12@telecom-digest.org>, Scott Dorsey
<kludge@panix.com> wrote:

> <nospam4me@mytrashmail.com> wrote:

>> So what would you have ICANN do about spam and other forms of
>> anti-social net behavior?

> The same thing that SRI did, before ICANN existed.  Disconnect sites
> that refuse to control their problem customers.

SRI never did that.

There is no "internet backbone", and "backbone sites" were never
effective at cutting off access to problem sites even when most email
moved by UUCP and there _was_ such a backbone.


Thor Lancelot Simon	                            tls@rek.tjls.com

"The inconsistency is startling, though admittedly, if consistency is
 to be abandoned or transcended, there is no problem."  - Noam Chomsky

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

From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey)
Subject: Re: JFK Assassination
Date: 1 Dec 2005 13:49:21 -0500
Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000)


<hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com> wrote:

> a reliable and inexpensive product was a difficult long task.

> According to the IBM history, at first transistors were made by hand
> -- someone jiggled the cat whiskers and watched a scope until the
> proper effect was created.  Obviously very expensive and error prone
> way to go. 

These were point-contact transistors.  

> Even after automation yields of working transistors were
> low.  IBM research not only was developing new computers to use
> transistors, but also new technology to manufacture transistors and
> circuit cards.  IBM failed to patent or license the manufacturing
> technology not realizing how valuable it was and let its
> subcontractors take it and re-use it.  (Kind of like PC-DOS).

For the most part, the Mesa process that made mass production of
consistent transistors possible was the result of research done at
Fairchild.

It is true that there was a lot of work being done by the IBM T.J.
Watson Research center on transistor fabrication.  And it is true that
all of that research got used by IBMs competitors long before IBM.
This is, however, pretty much the story of everything that was
developed at Watson, from sealed hard disks to RISC.  IBM was never
good at developing products out of their own research.

But the IBM semiconductor research at the time was not really all that
important in the grand scheme of things.

> The end result was that until the late 1950s, transistors cost more
> than tubes.

For a lot of applications, this remained the case until the early
seventies.  For power RF applications, it remained the case until
about five years ago.

> The president of IBM went around with the new transistor portable
> radios and had to give an order that all new computers would be built
> with transistors instead of tubes.  One of IBM's early efforts was a
> transistorized punched card calculator (IBM 608/609) which was more of
> a prototype and test bed rather than a commercial product.

Yes, but don't forget that the Univac Solid-State computer came out
before IBM built anything practical.  Univac was using Philco
transistors of somewhat doubtful characteristics as I recall.

 --scott

"C'est un Nagra.  C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

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

From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey)
Subject: Re: WSIS Report - ccTLD Problems Linger
Date: 1 Dec 2005 13:53:47 -0500
Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000)


Ronda Hauben  <ronda@panix.com> wrote:

> I recently returned from the WSIS meeting in Tunis and found it a
> very interesting experience.

> The ICANN problem, however, remains unsolved.

I don't see what the _ICANN_ problem actually is.

ICANN does not actually have very much control over the root
nameservers, thanks to Jon Postel's foresight.  They don't have
anywhere near the amount of control they claim to have.  I think if it
came down to the wire, the folks running the servers would be willing
to buck ICANN if they had to. 

 --scott

"C'est un Nagra.  C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

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

From: AntwainBarbour <ukcats4218016@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: FCC May Block Vonage From Accepting New Customers
Date: 30 Nov 2005 06:55:47 -0800
Organization: http://groups.google.com


I'm impressed that SunRocket reached 96% whereas it seems Vonage only
covered 26% of their customers.  It will be interesting to see how the
FCC handles those with large discrepancies.

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


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