Speaking of microwave... [telecom]

Would anyone know accurately when the first revenue service (not lab experiment) Bell System microwave link began? Is microwave still used for long distance calls or television? There's a historical site that mentions that a number of towers have been abandoned.

Re: Pay phone nostalgia [telecom]

Sat, 20 Feb 2010 21:03:29 +0000 (UTC) David Lesher <wb8foz@panix.com> wrote: <<Joseph Singer <joeofseattle@yahoo.com> writes: >Considering that you can get a prepaid wireless account for $10 which >will pay for an account for 90 days and can cost as little as <$1 per >month why would someone opt to pay 50c for a three minute call? Wish I could find such. I have a T-mobile prepaid; it's $10/every ninety days, which buys me in theory 30 minutes of use. Ergo, that 3 minute call you mention will cost me $1 or usually $1.33. I can get cheaper /minute rates but basically only if I

magicJack: Cheap, Way Overhyped, But Really Works [telecom]

Personal Technology from The Wall Street Journal magicJack: Cheap, Way Overhyped, But Really Works February 17, 2010 by Walter S. Mossberg When I see a high-tech product that's advertised mainly via frequent hard-sell TV ads, as if it were a diet pill, I tend to assume it can't be very good, especially if its price is absurdly low. So, I haven't paid much attention to a product called magicJack, a small $40 adapter for your computer that claims to let you make unlimited domestic phone calls over the Internet with your home telephone free for a whole year-and for just $2

FWIW: Long Lines web site [telecom]

In another group, reference was made to the following pages on Long Lines, which might be of some interest here: http://www.long-lines.net/index.html . Cheers, -- tlvp

Though Absent, Apple Permeates Barcelona Fair

Though Absent, Apple Permeates Barcelona Fair By KEVIN J. O'BRIEN The New York Times February 15, 2010 The biggest gathering of the global mobile phone industry begins on Monday in Barcelona, and much of the talk will be about the company that is not there: Apple. Its iPhone has been imitated by larger competitors like Samsung Electronics, Nokia, LG and Research In Motion. All of them will be showing touch-screen devices and application stores, two innovations popularized by the iPhone. In App Planet, a special section of the sprawling Fira de Barcelona convention g

VeriZon & Frontier: Details on CA/OR/NV/AZ and WV/MD/VA/NC [telecom]

In mid-May 2009, VeriZon and Frontier announced that VeriZon intends to sell off its ILEC landline operations in more than a dozen states, over to Frontier ... NOTE that ALL of this is still PENDING STOCKHOLDER APPROVAL (from both VeriZon and Frontier investors) AND ALSO REGULATORY/GOVERNMENT APPROVAL (state and federal, both utility/telecom regulatory agencies as well as any other government agencies). It was determined that VeriZon is intending to sell off virtually all of the remaining legacy GTE and Contel that it still holds, with the exception of GTE in the Tampa FL area, th

Forget Gum. Walking and Using Phone Is Risky.

Driven to Distraction Forget Gum. Walking and Using Phone Is Risky. By MATT RICHTEL The New York Times January 17, 2010 SAN FRANCISCO - On the day of the collision last month, visibility was good. The sidewalk was not under repair. As she walked, Tiffany Briggs, 25, was talking to her grandmother on her cellphone, lost in conversation. Very lost. "I ran into a truck," Ms. Briggs said. It was parked in a driveway. Distracted driving has gained much attention lately because of the inflated crash risk posed by drivers using cellphones to talk and text. But ther

Using Google Buzz Can Expose Your Gmail Address

Using Google Buzz Can Expose Your Gmail Address by theharmonyguy on February 12th, 2010 I've discovered another trick that may surprise some, this time relating to Google's services. I don't view the issue as a vulnerability, but it likely goes against user privacy expectations. In short, having a public Google profile (which you might have created when checking out Google Buzz) can allow others to figure out your Gmail address. This really shouldn't be that surprising, given that your username is generally consistent across Google services, and a public profile is publi

Feds push for tracking cell phones [Telecom]

"U.S. Department of Justice lawyers say that "a customer's Fourth Amendment rights are not violated when the phone company reveals to the government its own records" that show where a mobile device placed and received calls." This is probably going to end up in the US Supreme Court. Full article here: <http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10451518-38.html> with this update a few minutes ago: Update 10:37 a.m. PT: A source inside the U.S. Attorney's Office for the northern district of Texas, which prosecuted the Scarecrow Bandits mentioned in the above article, tells me that

[telecom] How do you get your number off a list so that it's gone, gone

Every couple of months I get a call, often with blocked or pseudo-fake caller ID, asking for "Jane Doe" (name changed, but it's the same one each time). These calls are on behalf of a fundraising arm (although they try to hide it at first) of the Democratic Party Senatorial election group. Apparently, sometime in the past decade, Ms. Doe gave them (or they transcribed) a wrong number. And I've been getting hassled ever since. I've politely explained this each time to the caller. They take me off the list they're using... but naturally, when they repurchase it six months later, I

Touch-Tone<tm> on SxS

Ma Bell did have one rather innovate method of providing Touch-Tone on step offices, combined with other features. Their 'directorized' SxS offices used a common control unit between the linefinder and the first selector. This provided dial tone and received digits, either dial pulse or Touch-Tone in real time and stored them. When dialing was complete, the common-control unit then either drove the switches to complete the intra-office call or selected a trunk to another office and outpulsed the appropriate digits using the method the far-end office spoke. The office I remember b

[Telecom] Does ADSL interfere with cordless phone?

I posted this in the XDSL group, but that group is too quiet. Recently, I had a new phone service installed, shared with ADSL. I used the filters shipped with the DSL device, but I'm getting lousy sound on my old cordless phone, Sony SPP 2000, a 1.7 Mhz instrument. Yes, I know that such phones were always inadequate and readily overheard, but the handset is cool looking, it has swappable sealed lead acid batteries which means the handset is never recharged in the base. It's survived being dropped quite a lot. Anyway, do these require a different filter than the one that came in the

Two 1A ESS COs to be Replaced in 2010; 59 Remain [telecom]

I recently posted the following information to several other telecom related Yahoo Groups and "Listserves", but I hadn't included Telecom Digest (comp.dcom.telecom). Many participants in Telecom Digest are also on one or another of these Yahoo Groups and/or the listserves, but there are still some TD participants or visitors who are not, and they might still have an interest in this. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ WECO/Lucent/Alcatel 1AESS switches still exist in the US. There are around 60 such 1As remaining, basically all within at&t/SBC/Ameritech, sbc's at&t/BellSouth, and at&t/SBC/Southweste

Kansas City MO/KS (was Overlays & Dialing Plans) [telecom]

Wes Leatherock wrote in "Overlays and Dialing Plans", <32484.4c69f1a6.389f6efd@aol.com>: > Sam Spade wrote: [re, _OLD_ 7D local dialing between DC, MD suburbs, northern VA suburbs in the Washington DC Metro area] >> That is long gone. So is the Kansas City metro area. > What has happened about the KC metro area? Is it now toll between > some parts of it? I still see 913 and 816 phone numbers fairly often. No, calls between the KS and MO sides of the Kansas City MO/KS Metro area are still local/EAS. But calls _crossing_ the state line (also now the 816/913 NPA line) _MUS

Washington DC Metro (was Overlays and Dialing Plans) [telecom]

On Friday 05-February-2010, Julian Thomas wrote: > Years back there used to be protected dialling in the Washington DC > metro area covering neighboring MD and Va. Is this still the case, > or is it all 10 digit by now? In October 1990, calls CROSSING the Potomoc (i.e., between DC/202 and northern VA/703, as well as between MD/301 and northern VA/703), also crossing the DC/202 <=> northern VA/703 boundary became mandatory ten-digits. It is still a local (not toll) call, but almost twenty years ago, it became mandatory ten-digits. About a year later, in Fall 1991, Maryland had

Great Movie Telephone Sounds [telecom]

The other night my wife and I watched the 1993 Michael Douglas movie about a nut case wondering around Los Angeles, "Falling Down." At least twice the character used touch tone pay stations where we could distinctly hear the tones being converted into dial pulse, and it was loud. By 1993, I suspect touch-tone on the front end of an SXS office was pretty much gone from the Los Angeles area. But, the techno-geeks on the movie must have had not-so-fond memories of that bogus tone dialing, so decided to make a statement in the movie to at least the phone phreaks out there. Mo

[telecom] Green Legislation Targets White Pages

According to Fox News blogger Claudia Cowan, a San Francisco legislator is trying to change the distribution of the local "White Pages" from the existing "Everyone gets one" model to an "Opt In" model in order to benefit the environment. This seems like an easy choice when the publications are separately bound, but here in the Boston area, suburban phone book white pages are in the same binding as the Yellow Pages, so it's not clear if the savings would be nearly as high in this area. http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/02/04/green-legislation-targets-white-pages/?test=latestne

AT&T vs. SBC (telecom)

In my view, SBC chose to assume the new name AT&T ( or at&t as you wish) because it was a brand recognized worldwide. Very few people, even those in the industry recognized "SBC". They might have recognized Southwestern Bell Telephone, but the AT&T brand was just too well known to ignore. I have worked internationally for about 12 years and most of the people I came in contact with recognized the AT&T brand. And that certainly carries weight at the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). Regards. Charles G. Gray Senior Lecturer, Telecommunications Oklahoma State Univers

[telecom] The Microwave Radio and Coaxial Cable Networks of the Bell System

I've come across an extraordinary site that has lots of info about AT&T Long Lines. The site is at http://www.long-lines.net/index.html Bill -- "When the search for the truth is conducted with a wink and a nod When power and position are equated with the will of God; These times are a famine for the soul while for the senses it's a feast - At the edge of my country, I pray for the ones with the least." - Jackson Browne

Doc Porter Museum [Telecom]

Here's a link to the Doc Porter Museum of Telephone History, located in Houston. They have a lot of nice pictures and some excellent graphics. http://www.houstontelephonemuseum.com/ Bill Horne -- This is Bill Horne's signature. Move along, nothing else to see here.

[TELECOM] SMS rip-off in Australia

http://www.theage.com.au/national/telco-giants-cash-in-on-the-great-sms-swindle-20100123-mrql.html Telco giants cash in on the great SMS swindle RICHARD WEBB With MARK RUSSELL January 24, 2010 AUSTRALIANS are being charged up to 10 times more to send text messages than mobile phone users in other countries, with the nation's telecommunication giants pocketing hundreds of millions of dollars for providing the virtually cost-free service. But despite paying the highest SMS charges in the world, Australians - who will send a staggering 20 billion texts this year, up 20 per cent o

Old pay phone [Telecom]

A friend just sent me this link to a 1903 picture of Steeplechase Park. If you look at the full size image you will find an early pay telephone mounted to one of the columns on the right hand side of the picture near the roast beef vendor. Right under the telephone pole. ;-) http://shorpy.com/node/7523 Bill Ranck Blacksburg, Va.

Earthquake Survivor Calls iPhone a Life Saver [telecom]

Man said he used health app on his iPhone to treat his injury while stuck under rubble "Usually, when someone says their iPhone is a life saver, they are talking about the phone helping them find a good takeout spot or an emergency bathroom. When Dan Woolley says it, he really means it. He used a medical app saved on his phone to treat a leg injury after the Hotel Montana in Port-au-Prince collapsed around him." More here: http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local-beat/Earthquake-Survivor-Says-iPhone-a- Life-Saver--82081602.html or http://z.mayson.us/evujw John -- J

at&t vs. Verizon TV ad campaign? [telecom]

Both companies have flooded television claiming their cellular telephone service is superior to the other, especially in advanced features. Who is right? Which claims are true and which are false or half- truths? (Note that today it's spelled "at&t" in lower case, and the company was formed in 2005 when SBC bought the old Ma Bell AT&T).

donations via cellphone "texting" to Haitian relief [telecom]

The various relief agencies have established accounts with the cellcos allowing subscribers to "donate via texting". Kind of like the Bad Old Days of "900" numbers..., but for a good cause this time. (Payment via cellphone texting is growing in popularity outside the North American marketplace. In some areas you can walk your cellphone to a soda or other machine, punch the id number into your phone, and that's how you pay). Of course, at the end of the billing cycle, your cellco statement shows you the amounts, and requests your prompt payment. Which brings up the question