2142 lines
111 KiB
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2142 lines
111 KiB
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privateline.v2n4
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ELECTRONIC VERSION OF PRIVATE LINE NUMBER 7: JULY/AUGUST 1995
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Tom Farley, Editor and Publisher privateline@delphi.com
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Damien Thorn, Technical Editor damien @ prcomm.com
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private line is published six times a year by Tom Farley.
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Copyright (C) 1995 private line.
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(916) 488-4231 VOICE (916) 978-0810 FAX
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ISSN No.1077-3487
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5150 Fair Oaks Blvd. #101-348, Carmichael, CA 95608 USA
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Subscriptions are $27 a year for US addresses. It's $34 a year in
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US funds to Canadian or Mexican residents. $44 overseas. A sample
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of the current issue is $4.00. All copies mailed first class or
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air mail.
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Text of back issues are at the ETEXT archive at Michigan. Gopher
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or ftp to:
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etext.archive.umich.edu /pub/Zines/PrivateLine
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Another useful URL is:
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gopher://gopher.etext.org:70/11/Zines/PrivateLine
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I EDITORIAL PAGE
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II LETTERS
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III UPDATES AND CORRECTIONS
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Magazine List
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Text of Cloning Regulation 47 C.F.R. 22.919
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Misc. Stuff
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IV. A QUICK AND DIRTY GUIDE TO EIA/TIA STANDARDS
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V. CLASS OF SERVICE AND PAYPHONES
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VI. THE PAYPHONE CORNER
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VII. PAYPHONE STATISTICS
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VIII. OUTSIDE PLANT, PART 1
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IX. A FEW THOUGHTS ON THE TELECOM DIGEST
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X. BOOK REVIEWS
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Old Time Telephones
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The Straight Scoop
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ISDN: A User's Guide To Services, Applications and
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Resources in California
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XI. DEBIT CARDS: PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE
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XII. TELEPHONE REPAIR COLUMN
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XIII. CAPTIONS TO THE OUTSIDE PLANT ARTICLE
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I. EDITORIAL PAGE
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The Second Year; A Price Increase?; Def Con III
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Welcome to the July/August edition. private line is now a year
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old. Things are looking up. Reader submitted articles and letters
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are coming in and I am grateful for this. It takes pressure off me
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to write every single word in every single issue. And it makes the
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magazine more informative. This issue contains quite a bit of
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information that did not originate with me: reader letters, a
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subscriber written product review and a transcript of a speech
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given by an expert on debit cards by an industry expert. Please
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know that your contributions are always welcome and that article
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writers get free subscriptions. The deadline for the
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September/October issue is August 8th and October 8th for the
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November/December. Try to get your submissions in well before dead
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line.
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The last year has been very instructive for me, in particular, the
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last 6 months since newsstand distribution began with the
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January/February issue. I had less than 12 subscribers at that
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point and I was very nervous about printing up 750 copies. What
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would happen? I could envision UPS trucks heading back to
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Carmichael, filled to top with returned issues of private line.
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And especially since Number 4 was on patents. A good issue, I
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thought, but a bit dry. Who would buy it? 600 went to the magazine
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racks. The first feedback came from the Tower chain. They sold 97
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of the l 00 copies I had sent them. 85% of the total news copies
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eventually sold. And all the extras that I had sold as well, in
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fact, I've been forced to make up a photocopy version to sell as a
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back issue. That patent issue found a home.
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I'm now up to 102 subscribers with a newsstand circulation of
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around l,000 copies. Current press run is 1,500. Newsstand copies,
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back issue orders and subscriptions now equal the cost of
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printing. This is good. So why the price increase? People liked
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the increased page count last issue. So I'm staying with it.
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Adding four pages, though, increases costs about 14%. Printing
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costs go down as the number of copies produced goes up. But
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increasing page count always drives the cost of each copy up. The
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cover price has been now been increased by 12% to $4.50. Subs are
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now $27.00. (Existing subscribers, however, will be allowed to
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subscribe at the old rate for as long as they wish.) This increase
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keeps me somewhat even, while I wait for bigger press runs that
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will bring down per unit costs. I had hoped that advertising could
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cover the costs of printing and not sales. Three or four pages of
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the magazine could go into ads and that would pay the printing
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bills. Sales would cover the other costs of production. But that's
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not realistic for a number of reasons.
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This current issue cost about $1800 to print. That's for 1500
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copies. I'd need to charge $450 a page for four pages to cover
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that. What advertiser would want that? You can buy a lot of ads in
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Nuts and Volts for that price and reach 80,000 plus instead.
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Besides, Nuts and Volts is set up for that sort of thing and they
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do it well. I don't have enough time to write, let alone sell ad
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space. So, the cover price will have to do more. I'll still
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welcome any electronic related advertiser but I won't bother
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looking for them right now. By the way, subscribers still get free
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classifieds of 25 words or less. And ad rates are still $100 for a
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full page, $50 for a half and $25 for a quarter. In addition, only
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CONSUMERTRONICS pays me any money -- the other ads are favors or
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bartered. Like Damien's ad. He answers my questions from time to
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time so I run his ad. Dark Tangent has a cool convention so I run
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an ad for him. DT didn't even know that I placed an ad for him
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last issue. I just went ahead and did it. This is the way that a
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lot of 'zines work.
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Speaking of how things work, let me explain how distribution
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and subscriptions work for a little magazine. Let's start with the
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big picture. National distribution costs. A national distributor
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like Fine Print, Desert Moon or the Tower chain take from 50% to
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60% of a magazine's cover price. The printer takes $1.20. Distro
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takes about $2.47. Leaves me with 83 cents for each copy sold. 15%
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to 20% of the newsstand copies aren't sold. You don't get returns
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anymore so you have to eat the printing and shipping costs on
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those. Newsstand circulation is about 950 this issue. Do the math.
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Remember, too, that the 83 cents I get is before expenses.
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Subscription copies are different. No middleman to pay except
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for the post office. $1.20 a copy to print and $1.01 to mail. This
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is one reason, by the way, that the magazine can't get much bigger
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-- the weight will push the postage up to $1.23 if I add another
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four pages. In any case, this leaves me with $2.29 before expenses
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on the 100 or so subscribers that I have. Money from subs goes to
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paying the printer. There is no float or reserve or interest
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accrued from these subscriptions. In fact, I was recently owed
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$1700 by a major distributor. They did not pay me a dime for over
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six months. I can't get interest on that either. Money goes out as
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soon as it comes in.
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I have nothing to apologize for by increasing the price.
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Just wanted to explain. This magazine is about the honest exchange
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of information. It should begin with me. Let me know if you are
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interested in the back issues and I will price all that out. The
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bottom line? I am very happy with what I am doing and the response
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to the magazine has been very good. Breaking even on printing is a
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good first step. The magazine is growing more slowly than I wanted
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but I can work with that. What are the plans for the future? I'd
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like to have a BBS that connects to the Internet. I'd post the
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text of all the back issues as well as all the strange files I
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find that I can't put in the magazines. Like FCC and patent files.
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I'd ideally like to scan in all the articles and product
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information I reference so that you could read further without
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driving 60 miles to find, say, the Bell Laboratories Record.
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Def Con III is coming to Las Vegas. Are you? It's on August
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4th, 5th and 6th at the Tropicana Hotel. They're at (800) 468-9494
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for reservations. Dark Tangent's number is (700) 826-4368; 2709
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E. Madison #102, Seattle WA 98112. See you there!
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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II LETTERS
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Dear private line:
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Just received my first issue of private line. Nice little
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publication you have there. I think I shall be enjoying it very
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much in the months ahead. A few comments, if I may. They regard
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the note about the step by-step switch on page 44 of issue number
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5. Rather than being "the" step-by-step switch, there are also
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connectors, frequency selecting connectors, reverting call
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connectors and toll selectors; the mechanical structure below the
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relays being the common denominator construction. Actually the
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switch shown is a line finder as evidenced by the single
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horizontal wiper just below the ticket tag and the tenth level
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overrun spring assembly in front of the A and C relays. Depending
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on sub scriber activity, 10 to 20 line finders are mounted on a
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"shelf". The shelf, along with other "shelves" are mounted on a
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"bay" or common hardware framework which is 72" wide. The shelf is
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actually the "bank" multiples at the bottom of the switch (they
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don't show well in the photo) and the wiring. This is all factory
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pre-wired and shipped as a unit. It is not unusual to see bays
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with partially equipped shelves which allow for lower initial
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capital investment and facilities to accommodate increased future
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traffic activity. The can cover at the left of the photo contains
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supervisory relays used for assigning the next finder to answer a
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call for dial tone.
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An interesting feature to me over the years has been that each
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type of switching system (machine) has had its own distinct
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characteristic sound signature. In a small rural office step-by-
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step is characterized by intermittent bursts of staccato reports,
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20 or more per second if line finders, several groups of 10 per
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second as a call is dialed through, followed by silence broken
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only by soft pulsing of interrupter relays and occasional clicking
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of manually operated toll ringing relays as an operator in the
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toll switchboard works a call. It also is interesting to listen to
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call activity. There will be silence broken by switching of a
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call. This invites a second call which immediately begets a third
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call, followed by silence again. And so it goes, sporadic
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outbursts followed by silence.
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A crossbar office on the other hand is a different experience.
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Listening to a working crossbar office is like being shaken up
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inside a can of loose bolts. It actually can be deafening,
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especially in the vicinity of the sender groups or the markers.
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The crossbar aisles are less noisy, punctuated occasionally by
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operation of trunk block connector relays at bay tops and
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occasional soft "tink" sounds as cross-points release. However,
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the granddaddy of all bedlam was created by a room full of
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mechanical foreign area card translators, especially on Mothers'
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Day! And a very different sound was heard by those privileged to
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witness call-through tests of a No.4 Toll Crossbar machine. These
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were tests performed by the installation departments on completion
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of wiring a machine and prior to turning it over to the operating
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company. Every number that could ever possibly be placed in the
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machine was called using groups of call test "tea wagons". Any
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call that failed to complete properly was traced out and corrected
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immediately. Each tea wagon would present twenty simultaneous
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calls to the senders. The re lay activity through the office, a
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city block square in size, had a never to-be-forgotten sound that
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was like an echo as trunk block relays operated in sequence
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trailing away to more distant link frame aisles. There would be
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silence while the tea wagons did their thinking. Then every call
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would be simultaneously dropped with a gigantic "thud" and then
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the whole sequence would repeat.
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My favorite switching machine sound however was the panel
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office. If ever there was a machine with (if it can be called
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that), a "comfortable" sound, it was a panel office. To me, a
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panel machine was a collection of simply delightful "clinking",
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"whirring" and "squeak, squeak, squeak" noises. It was by far, the
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quietest of all the machines. The only noisy areas, like crossbar,
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were those near sender, marker and decoder bays. Unfortunately,
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today's generation of central office technicians have never had
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the privilege of hearing these old machines doing their thing.
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It's a part of the art that has come and gone. I'm glad I was
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privileged to have heard them.
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With reference to your "Lost In Space" column, attached is a
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recent copy of the Bell Labs News. In it are phone numbers and
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points of contact. Hope it is of some help to you. On the back
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cover you show views of the old "500 Sub Set". Mr. Bill Brander, a
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retired close friend who lives not too far from here, did the
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first die drawings for the 500 model when he worked at BTL in
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Murray Hill NJ.
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John W. Sponsler Hampton, NH
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Thank you for the informative letter. I've added a few
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illustrations and comments; I hope my explanation of a card
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translator is accurate enough.
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(Sidebars)
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(The hardcopy magazine contains illustrations of both a card
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translator and a tea wagon. The text of their captions are
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as follows:
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What is a Card Translator?
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Large machines called card translators helped route long distance
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calls before computer assisted switching. They were very complex
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internally. Punch card technology was used, somewhat analogous to
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a loom. Steel cards were covered with 118 holes, each enlarged a
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certain amount to represent different area codes and prefixes.
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Cards with foreign country codes contained the most information.
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One translator mechanism might hold 1200 cards in a single stack.
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A particular card was selected by shooting a light beam through
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the stack and then lifting and dropping the cards with solenoids.
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Read more by looking up 'Operation of the Card Translator" in the
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March, 1955 Bell Laboratories Record.
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Tea wagons are portable test equipment mounted on two wheels like
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the one shown above. They are used in switching offices. Very old
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models were made of wood and all tea wagons are specific to the
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switch they service. The one above was used to test a No. 4 toll
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cross bar.)
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Dear private line,
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Thank you for promptly mailing me my sample issue of private
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line. I Number 51 Your cellular article gave me some lucid
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insights into the system; as a novice to this technology, I was
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waiting for such an article for a long time. Being originally from
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Germany, the debit card article was in some ways interesting as
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well. In the latest issue of 2600 you can find an article on
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European debit cards that was reprinted from an older issue of
|
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Hack-Tic. As you can clearly see, this system is close to being
|
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utterly defeated the weak point of an EEPROM chip-based debit card
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system is emulating the card with a little homemade device hooked
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up to a notebook computer. In Germany, this was and is impossible
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because the payphone completely swallows the card while you are
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using the phone (ATM-style) Even running thin wires through the
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steel latch does not work; if it does not completely close the
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phone does not recognize the card (just thought you'd like to
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know) I say-bring 'em on! We'll be well able to put the experience
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we gained in Europe to work and try to emulate their measly cards
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! Warm up the notebook and the soldering iron, I am sure we're
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going to see some interesting stuff right here in the US shortly-
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as greed drives the telcos to new inventions, we shouldn't lag be
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hind.
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However, did you notice that the address and 800 numbers for
|
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both Public Communications and TeleCard World, as printed in the
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back of number 5 are completely identical? I'll give it a shot and
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see if I can parasite a sample copy for both publications out of
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them. Overall I am impressed with private line; it is not as
|
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novice as 2600 and Factsheet 5 made it look like. IMHO, it's a
|
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magazine for phreaks. For me being a phreak by definition, this is
|
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what I was waiting for. You'll see my order for a subscription and
|
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back issues shortly. Keep up the good work!
|
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Onkel Dittmeyer onkeld@planet.net
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My readers are certainly a creative lot. I also worry about
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them. Mr. Dittmeyer further informs me that he is interested in
|
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the "exploration of switching systems, digital switches
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themselves, PBX's and their de faults/backdoors, and programming
|
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phreaking tools for the PC using Turbo Pascal, Assembler and C++.
|
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" His program, 'BlueBEEP' is a blueboxing tool that he has made
|
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available to the H/P community as public domain. (Now you know who
|
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|
|
to thank.) The 1-800 number is indeed the same as both
|
||
|
|
publications are published by Multimedia. A free sub to Public
|
||
|
|
Communications is easy to get, however, a free one for TeleCard
|
||
|
|
World is not. I think they make most of their money from that
|
||
|
|
magazine. Sub scribe to Premier Telecard instead. It's worth $30 a
|
||
|
|
year if cards are your interest. I explore some of the chip card
|
||
|
|
possibilities Mr. Dittmeyer mentions on page 94.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Dear private line,
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Your article on digital cellular was a good attempt at a high
|
||
|
|
level summary. Your carousel analogy is interesting. I would like
|
||
|
|
to see you ex tend it to Digital Speech Interpolation! However,
|
||
|
|
there are a few corrections and additions. I would like to point
|
||
|
|
out:
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
1. All TDMA phones can handle AMPS calls as well, not 'most'.
|
||
|
|
TDMA phones used for PCS ( 1.8-2.2 GHz) will not support analog,
|
||
|
|
and eventually some cellular TDMA phones may also be digital only.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
2. E-TDMA has been trialed in Mobile, but is not in commercial
|
||
|
|
service. One other form of TDMA, that you allude to, is half-rate
|
||
|
|
coding (e.g. each of the six slots assigned to only one call, not
|
||
|
|
two slots as occurs with basic full-rate TDMA). E-TDMA gets about
|
||
|
|
a 10 times capacity increase due to a combination of half-rate
|
||
|
|
coding and digital speech interpolation. The reason why these
|
||
|
|
systems are not in commercial service is because most systems
|
||
|
|
don't need the capacity right now, and the reduced bandwidth
|
||
|
|
assigned to each conversation reduces voice quality. Improved
|
||
|
|
voice coding technology is expected to allow these systems to be
|
||
|
|
used commercially in a few years.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
3. Digital Speech Interpolation (DSI) has nothing to do with
|
||
|
|
signal level, at least not in E-TDMA. You would be assigned a time
|
||
|
|
slot in either or both directions as long as there was voice to
|
||
|
|
transmit at all signal strengths.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
4. I do not know of any CDMA digital systems that are in
|
||
|
|
commercial service. There may be some confusion in Los Angeles
|
||
|
|
because one of the carriers is a joint venture between McCaw (a
|
||
|
|
TDMA proponent) and AirTouch (a CDMA proponent). Their system is
|
||
|
|
TDMA, however.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Regards,
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
David Crowe, Cellular Networking Perspectives
|
||
|
|
71574.3157@compuserve.com ( 1-800-633-5514)
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
DSI or digital speech interpolation is a specialized form of
|
||
|
|
multiplexing. All conversations on all channels get digitized.
|
||
|
|
Just like TDMA or T-I. Half of your conversation, though, may be
|
||
|
|
spent in silence as you listen and pause to speak. Your voice
|
||
|
|
channel is still open, though, and still carrying data. Just not
|
||
|
|
very much. DSI fills in those silent periods with the conversation
|
||
|
|
of someone else. T-l and normal TDMA, by comparison, are
|
||
|
|
multiplexing schemes that assign each call a discrete, non-
|
||
|
|
volatile channel. DSI increases system capacity by maximizing the
|
||
|
|
use of each channel. Speech may sound clipped as a result. It's
|
||
|
|
not good for sending data. The analog predecessor of DSI was TASI:
|
||
|
|
Time Assigned Speech Interpolation, developed back in the 1950's.
|
||
|
|
It was used for trunks with a small number of circuits. Like cable
|
||
|
|
undersea between California and Hawaii. It's probably still being
|
||
|
|
used in some places.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
That digital article was tough. It's difficult explaining a
|
||
|
|
subject to others when I am not completely sure of the topic
|
||
|
|
myself. Every non technical writer, though, faces this same
|
||
|
|
problem in explaining technology. I just hope that people can
|
||
|
|
learn as they go along and as each issue comes out. I'm convinced
|
||
|
|
that discussing an issue, even if it means going back and forth,
|
||
|
|
will result in a better grasp of the subject for those who do
|
||
|
|
follow it.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Dear private line,
|
||
|
|
I thought you might want a photostatic copy of the famous
|
||
|
|
(infamous) cover of the Boston Phone Book. A friend of mine sent
|
||
|
|
it to me; I can not believe almost 20 years have past. The phone
|
||
|
|
book was quickly recalled. I heard, but I have no facts, that the
|
||
|
|
artist was taken to court by Ma Bell but that Ma Bell lost the
|
||
|
|
case. Turn the picture right and left.
|
||
|
|
Maurice Onraet
|
||
|
|
P.O. Box 605
|
||
|
|
Newton, Pennsylvania 18940
|
||
|
|
Decorum and printing limitations prohibit Your Editor from
|
||
|
|
publishing the cover of the 1977-1978 North Boston Phone Book,
|
||
|
|
however, Mr. Onraet has agreed to send you a copy for three
|
||
|
|
dollars. Makes a nice conversation piece.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Dear private line,
|
||
|
|
Great magazine! I picked up my first sample at a bookstore
|
||
|
|
here in Cleveland. A section that would be interesting is one that
|
||
|
|
covers schematics for telephones, old supply catalogs from Western
|
||
|
|
Electric North Electric, Stromberg, Automatic Electric, etc. I
|
||
|
|
have several that I use to repair phones with but no one has a
|
||
|
|
complete selection. Thank you for your time and attention.
|
||
|
|
Charles Augustine
|
||
|
|
Cleveland, Ohio
|
||
|
|
Thank you for the subscription and the suggestion. I can
|
||
|
|
easily incorporate schematics within the context of a telephone
|
||
|
|
repair column. See page 111 for the start of this feature. I know
|
||
|
|
of no one who has a complete selection -- joining the Antique
|
||
|
|
Telephone Collector's Association seems to be the best bet at this
|
||
|
|
point. Their newsletter will point to dozens of resources. Anyone
|
||
|
|
up to publishing a book of schematics?
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Best Message Left on The Answering Machine:
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
"Hey, Tom, this is Chris Thornton. When I sent you my fax [His
|
||
|
|
letter on page 62 in No.6] I didn't realize that the system would
|
||
|
|
send you all capital letters like I was shouting at you -- I
|
||
|
|
didn't mean it that way.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Damien Thorn was talking about The Source, well, there's a bio-
|
||
|
|
computer at UC Berkeley that handles security for the government
|
||
|
|
out that way. It's quite interesting. It supposed to be half human
|
||
|
|
and halt bio-chemical, that's what I understand. Sounds like it
|
||
|
|
threw a fit tantrum in Oklahoma. That's just a comeback to tell
|
||
|
|
you to check it out. They're using their people to cover it up
|
||
|
|
with that Tim McVeigh dude. You all have a good one and take care
|
||
|
|
of your self."
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
The private line haiku . . .
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Dear private line,
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
I want to elevate myself to a higher plane of consciousness so I
|
||
|
|
am sending $4.00 for a sample.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Eric Camp
|
||
|
|
San Francisco
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Dear Eric:
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
No consciousness raising going on here, unless you mean arming
|
||
|
|
yourself intellectually against the dreaded telco. That's
|
||
|
|
something private line can help you with. Okay, okay, here's my
|
||
|
|
stab at consciousness raising; this is now the official haiku of
|
||
|
|
my 'zine -- created just for you:
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Cherry blossoms fall
|
||
|
|
I brush them off my mailbox
|
||
|
|
Inside -- private line!
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Regards, Tom Farley
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
-------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
III UPDATES AND CORRECTIONS
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
More Magazines!
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
The telecom related magazine and newsletter list is out of
|
||
|
|
control. The following is in rough alphabetical order. GS means
|
||
|
|
that Greg Schumacher submitted the information. See the end of the
|
||
|
|
article for more details regarding the list:
|
||
|
|
---------------------------
|
||
|
|
A T& T Technology
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
AT&T Technology Room 3C-441 600 Mountain Ave. PO Box 636 Murray
|
||
|
|
Hill, NJ 07974-0636 $40 a year, $72 for 2 years, and $102for3.
|
||
|
|
(GS)
|
||
|
|
----------------------------
|
||
|
|
American Hacker
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
"Cable and Satellite --Television -- Technology "Gray Areas says
|
||
|
|
that they are "Carrying the baton passed on to them from their
|
||
|
|
predecessor Scrambling News." Sounds interesting but I haven't
|
||
|
|
been able to contact them before press time.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
American Hacker 3494 Delaware Ave., Suite #111 Buffalo, NY
|
||
|
|
14217-0123
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
10 pages. $29.95 for 12 issues. Add $5.00 for Canada/Mexico and an
|
||
|
|
additional $20 for other countries.
|
||
|
|
----------------------------
|
||
|
|
The Antique Telephone Collectors Association Newsletter
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
The monthly publication of ATCA. It contains their organization's
|
||
|
|
news as well as interesting articles on the history of telephony.
|
||
|
|
It also has classified ads, some with pictures, from members
|
||
|
|
looking to buy and sell old phones, phone parts, books, phone
|
||
|
|
memorabilia and other collector items. Fascinating reading. The
|
||
|
|
newsletter comes free with your membership but you can get a
|
||
|
|
sample by writing to:
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
ATCA Ann Manning, Office Manager P.O. Box 94 Abilene, KS 67410
|
||
|
|
(913) 263-1757
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
The newsletter is monthly. Dues are $30 a year to U.S. members,
|
||
|
|
paid on a calendar basis. People joining mid year pay pro-rated
|
||
|
|
dues of $2.50 a year. There is a one time charge of $5.00 for new
|
||
|
|
members. please see page 110
|
||
|
|
------------------------------
|
||
|
|
Bell Labs News
|
||
|
|
Nicely done tabloid sized, 6 page newspaper that's published
|
||
|
|
biweekly. Closed subscriber list. Limited to employees of AT&T . I
|
||
|
|
got a copy from a subscriber but you may want to try the person
|
||
|
|
below:
|
||
|
|
Linda Crockett, Editor
|
||
|
|
Room 3C-420 A
|
||
|
|
AT&T Bell Laboratories
|
||
|
|
600 Mountain Avenue
|
||
|
|
P.O. Box 636
|
||
|
|
Murray Hill, NJ 07974-0636
|
||
|
|
(908) 582-4739
|
||
|
|
attmail!crockett
|
||
|
|
-----------------------------
|
||
|
|
The Bellcore Exchange
|
||
|
|
"The Bellcore Exchange provides timely insights into evolving
|
||
|
|
information technologies and issues that impact the participation
|
||
|
|
and success of Bellcore's clients in an increasingly diverse and
|
||
|
|
competitive marketplace."
|
||
|
|
Bellcore
|
||
|
|
Bellcore Exchange Circulation Manager
|
||
|
|
8 Corporate Place, Room 3A184B
|
||
|
|
Piscataway, NJ 08854-4156
|
||
|
|
1-800-521-2673
|
||
|
|
$35. Five issues a year (GS)
|
||
|
|
-------------------------
|
||
|
|
Communications Day
|
||
|
|
"A daily 2-page fax newsletter focusing on communication issues in
|
||
|
|
Australia and the world. E mail version available soon."
|
||
|
|
Decisive Publishing
|
||
|
|
P.O. Box 1200
|
||
|
|
Haymarket, NSW Australia
|
||
|
|
612.261.5436 Voice
|
||
|
|
612.261.5434 FAX
|
||
|
|
gly@decisive.com.au
|
||
|
|
(Grahame Lynch)
|
||
|
|
Daily. Annual cost: A$997
|
||
|
|
-----------------------------
|
||
|
|
Communication Systems Design
|
||
|
|
"Exclusively for design engineers building communications
|
||
|
|
equipment and systems. The content is all practical and hands on.
|
||
|
|
It is put out monthly and it is free to all engineers designing
|
||
|
|
the communication infrastructure."
|
||
|
|
Communication Systems
|
||
|
|
Design
|
||
|
|
Miller Freeman
|
||
|
|
600 Harrison St.
|
||
|
|
San Francisco, CA 94107
|
||
|
|
(415) 905-2200
|
||
|
|
1-800 829-9832
|
||
|
|
(Editor's note -- great magazine!)
|
||
|
|
--------------------------
|
||
|
|
Crown Jewels of The Wire
|
||
|
|
"The only internationally circulated magazine devoted exclusively
|
||
|
|
to insulator collecting, telephone/telegraph history and related
|
||
|
|
collectibles." A directory of members is available.
|
||
|
|
Crown Jewels Of The Wire
|
||
|
|
Box 1003
|
||
|
|
St. Charles, IL 60174-1003
|
||
|
|
(708) 513-1544
|
||
|
|
U.S. /Canada Subscriptions:
|
||
|
|
First class: $25.00, with no directory, $29.00 with a directory.
|
||
|
|
Second class subs also available.
|
||
|
|
-------------------------
|
||
|
|
Mobile News
|
||
|
|
and Analysis
|
||
|
|
Newsletter. Reporting on cellular and wireless. "E-mail version
|
||
|
|
available soon."
|
||
|
|
Decisive Publishing
|
||
|
|
P.O. Box 1200
|
||
|
|
Haymarket, NSW Australia
|
||
|
|
612. 261. 5436 Voice
|
||
|
|
612.261.5434 FAX
|
||
|
|
gly@decisive.com.au
|
||
|
|
---------------------
|
||
|
|
Mobile Radio Technology
|
||
|
|
A monthly magazine dedicated to non-cellular radio communication
|
||
|
|
technologies including paging, SMR, 2 way, etc. The magazine has
|
||
|
|
very good technical coverage of these "traditional" radio
|
||
|
|
industries. Includes a lot of coverage of RF issues such as
|
||
|
|
antenna interference, simulcast systems, pager internals, bandpass
|
||
|
|
filters, cavities, splitters, etc. Oriented to the radio
|
||
|
|
technician and service folk, so explains a lot of the RF issues
|
||
|
|
without excessive math found in some microwave and RF design
|
||
|
|
magazines. May be useful for the ham operator, but does not cover
|
||
|
|
ham products or frequencies. Also only covers US radio.
|
||
|
|
Intertec Publishing
|
||
|
|
Corporation
|
||
|
|
PO Box 12937 Overland Park, KS 66282-2960
|
||
|
|
$30/yr. US & Canada, free to qualified subscribers, $40/yr.
|
||
|
|
surface mail, $105/yr. airmail int'l rates. (GS)
|
||
|
|
---------------------
|
||
|
|
Rolm Customer
|
||
|
|
A bi-monthly magazine for ROLM customers produced by ROLM/Siemens.
|
||
|
|
Definitely not a technical magazine. This marketing magazine
|
||
|
|
covers ROLM success stories and introduces new ROLM products and
|
||
|
|
technologies to their customer base. Worthwhile if you are
|
||
|
|
following the PBX vendors in terms of the new product directions
|
||
|
|
they are rolling out, or you are working on competing or
|
||
|
|
cooperating telephony products. Since this is a corporate
|
||
|
|
magazine, you obtain it by contacting your ROLM sales rep,
|
||
|
|
finding a copy and filling out a subscription card. ROLM can be
|
||
|
|
contacted at 4900 Old Ironsides Drive,
|
||
|
|
Santa Clara, CA 95054
|
||
|
|
408-492-6850 (GS)
|
||
|
|
---------------------------
|
||
|
|
Premier Telecard Magazine
|
||
|
|
"The first U.S. Telecard Magazine." A beautiful publication. I
|
||
|
|
think it caters more to the collector than to the corporate user,
|
||
|
|
however, it does cover every aspect of the telecard world. They're
|
||
|
|
nice people, too.
|
||
|
|
Premier Telecard Magazine
|
||
|
|
B.J.E. Graphics and Publishing, Inc.
|
||
|
|
P.O. Box 2297
|
||
|
|
Paso Robles, CA 93447
|
||
|
|
(805) 547-8500
|
||
|
|
$30 a year for six issues. Make checks to B.J.E. They offer a
|
||
|
|
variety of rates and promotions. Write for a free sample. They'll
|
||
|
|
send you a back issue and all the information you need.
|
||
|
|
----------------------
|
||
|
|
Telecoms Heritage Journal
|
||
|
|
Magazine of the Telecoms Heritage Group (UK), once or twice a
|
||
|
|
year. 48 or 96 pages. Members also receive an 8-page newsletter
|
||
|
|
four times a year. "Mainly for telephone collectors and
|
||
|
|
historians." A wonderful collection of arcane trivia and serious
|
||
|
|
research about telephone history and practice. 'Subscriber Loop
|
||
|
|
Signaling Systems' by Graeme Marett in Issue 24 , was to me, a
|
||
|
|
better introduction to the UK angle than anything Welch ever
|
||
|
|
wrote. That issue also had a history of UK telephone poles as well
|
||
|
|
as at least 20 other interesting articles. Apply for membership or
|
||
|
|
inquire to:
|
||
|
|
THG
|
||
|
|
Unit, Travellers Close
|
||
|
|
Welham Green, Herts.
|
||
|
|
AL9 7LE England
|
||
|
|
+44 1-707-287294
|
||
|
|
+44 1-707-287209 FAX
|
||
|
|
midshires@cix.compulink.co.uk
|
||
|
|
Membership is $25 for U.S. residents. Send international bank
|
||
|
|
order made out in pounds sterling or send $25 in US bills.
|
||
|
|
-------------------
|
||
|
|
Telecom History
|
||
|
|
The Journal of the Telephone History Institute. More great
|
||
|
|
information on early telephony. Stanley Swihart's lead article in
|
||
|
|
the first edition of Telecom History (1994-1) is entitled
|
||
|
|
'Earliest telephone service: The genesis and early development of
|
||
|
|
telephone exchange service.' It is a monumental piece of research,
|
||
|
|
worldwide in scope and running almost 90 full sized pages. With a
|
||
|
|
complete bibliography. Amazing.
|
||
|
|
The Telephone History Institute
|
||
|
|
Box 2818
|
||
|
|
Dublin, CA 94568-0818
|
||
|
|
(510) 829-2728
|
||
|
|
Published occasionally. Charter memberships are $25 for American
|
||
|
|
members. Write for more info.
|
||
|
|
Please Note: I can't list all the titles I am being told about. I
|
||
|
|
should have a new hardcopy list of telecom related magazines and
|
||
|
|
newsletters out by July 15th. Send me an S.A.S.E and $2.00 if you
|
||
|
|
want it. Thanks especially to:
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Greg Schumacher, Director of Systems Engineering & Advanced
|
||
|
|
Research Priority Call Management, 226 Lowell St., MS A-2,
|
||
|
|
Wilmington, MA 01887 gregs@world.std.com
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
I didn't have space in Number 6 to give you the text of the
|
||
|
|
regulation prohibiting cloning. It was revised as of the first of
|
||
|
|
the year and is now found in 47 C.F.R. Section 22.919 and not
|
||
|
|
22.915. Anyway:
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
"Section 22.91 9 Electronic Serial Numbers.
|
||
|
|
The purpose of this new section is to deter cellular fraud by
|
||
|
|
requiring that the Electronic Serial Number (ESN) unique to each
|
||
|
|
cellular phone be factory set, inalterable, non-transferable, and
|
||
|
|
otherwise tamper-proof and free of fraudulent manipulation in the
|
||
|
|
field. This subject received substantial attention from commenters
|
||
|
|
and is discussed in the Report and Order.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
22.91 9 Electronic Serial Numbers.
|
||
|
|
The Electronic Serial Number (ESN) is a 32 bit binary number that
|
||
|
|
uniquely identifies a cellular mobile transmitter to any cellular
|
||
|
|
system.
|
||
|
|
(a) Each mobile transmitter in service must have a unique ESN.
|
||
|
|
(b) The ESN host component must be permanently attached to a
|
||
|
|
main circuit board of the mobile transmitter and the integrity of
|
||
|
|
the unit's operating software must not be alterable. The ESN must
|
||
|
|
be isolated from fraudulent contact and tampering. If the ESN host
|
||
|
|
component does not contain other information, that component must
|
||
|
|
not be removable, and its electrical connections must not be
|
||
|
|
accessible. If the ESN host component contains other information,
|
||
|
|
the ESN must be encoded using one or more of the following
|
||
|
|
techniques:
|
||
|
|
( I ) Multiplication or division by a polynomial; (2) Cyclic
|
||
|
|
coding; (3) The spreading of ESN bits over various non sequential
|
||
|
|
memory locations.
|
||
|
|
(c) Cellular mobile equipment must be designed such that any
|
||
|
|
attempt to remove, tamper with, or change the ESN chip, its logic
|
||
|
|
system, or firmware originally programmed by the manufacturer will
|
||
|
|
render the mobile transmitter inoperative.
|
||
|
|
(d) The ESN must be factory set and must not be alterable,
|
||
|
|
transferable, removable or otherwise able to be manipulated in the
|
||
|
|
field. Cellular equipment must be designed such that any attempt
|
||
|
|
to remove, tamper with, or change the ESN chip, its logic system,
|
||
|
|
or firmware originally programmed by the manufacturer will render
|
||
|
|
the mobile transmitter inoperative.
|
||
|
|
Questions concerning this Public Notice should be addressed to
|
||
|
|
Steve Markendorff at 202-653-5560 or Andrew Nachby at 202-632-
|
||
|
|
6450."
|
||
|
|
The person who posted this to CompuServe is Robert Keller,
|
||
|
|
P.C., Federal Telecommunications Law, 4200 Wisconsin Ave NW #106-
|
||
|
|
261, Washington, DC 20016-2143. Or rjk@telcomlaw.com. The entire
|
||
|
|
file that he posted is very interesting as it contains the FCC's
|
||
|
|
comments on extension phones and how the new rule relates to them.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Altering an ESN to produce a clone is illegal, although some
|
||
|
|
companies maintain that they have the right to effectively clone a
|
||
|
|
phone through software. Less Buster mailed in an article on
|
||
|
|
cellular extensions written by Patricia Staino in the May
|
||
|
|
Teleconnect. I'll modify her example of "software cloning" a
|
||
|
|
little by describing the following: a company has 10 salespeople
|
||
|
|
with 10 phones and 10 ESNs but one phone number. The phones are
|
||
|
|
all kept off. The company pages a per son when they want them to
|
||
|
|
call the office for instructions. They only call in after getting
|
||
|
|
beeped. The company saves on 9 monthly flat charges but still pays
|
||
|
|
for all calls. You can read ads for these companies in the
|
||
|
|
classifieds of Nuts and Volts. The CTIA contends that such phones
|
||
|
|
are illegal but I 'm not sure they'll have much of a case with the
|
||
|
|
current law. There have been a number of raids in the southwest
|
||
|
|
lately, but they seem to deal with hardware based cloning.
|
||
|
|
Page 67 in the last issue was not my best writing. Too many
|
||
|
|
errors. I redid that page and sent subscribers a copy. Send me an
|
||
|
|
S.A.S.E. if you want the revised page. l had been doing my own
|
||
|
|
proofreading be fore. Not good. Little Sheeba will now help me
|
||
|
|
proof. And I will now delay each issue until I get the mistakes
|
||
|
|
out, rather than obeying my deadline and leaving the mistakes in.
|
||
|
|
In addition, the index was a bit of a mess. The next will be
|
||
|
|
better.
|
||
|
|
Thought that the "Internet Bridge" column last issue was a bit
|
||
|
|
irrelevant? The one that focused on Bell 829 Loopback Devices?
|
||
|
|
There may be far more of these left in service than we suspect. I
|
||
|
|
note that the current Jensen tool catalog features a tester called
|
||
|
|
the "Brown Box", more specifically known as a Model 91 Analog Test
|
||
|
|
Set. It does channel measurements of "any 2 or 4 wire voice grade
|
||
|
|
telephone line" and it can "activate Bell Telephone remote
|
||
|
|
loopback equipment." The Jensen catalogs are always nice. Call
|
||
|
|
(602) 968-6231 to get one.
|
||
|
|
I talked about PINs in the last issue but I said that I didn't
|
||
|
|
know how they got delivered as hookflash. David Crowe says that
|
||
|
|
IS-53 de scribes the actual process. The practice for the customer
|
||
|
|
seems very cumbersome. NYNEX requires that you 1) dial your
|
||
|
|
number, 2) press send, 3) wait for two rings, 4) enter your PIN
|
||
|
|
number and 5) press the send button again. It's my understanding
|
||
|
|
that an operator comes up on frequency to have you set a code if
|
||
|
|
you don't have a PIN number al ready. But wouldn't some
|
||
|
|
reprogramming of the phone be needed? It all sounds like a
|
||
|
|
nightmare and Crowe says that it might be cutting down on normal
|
||
|
|
calling volume and revenue because of the inconvenience. Want to
|
||
|
|
know more about plans and authentication? Here's the full quote
|
||
|
|
from David, "They are standardized in IS-53 Rev. A. True
|
||
|
|
authentication, as defined in IS-54, IS-91, IS-95 and IS-136, and
|
||
|
|
as supported by IS-41 Rev. B (plus TSB-51) and IS-41 Rev. C is
|
||
|
|
much more complex, but with less user involvement. The user starts
|
||
|
|
the process by entering a 26 digit key, and the phone then
|
||
|
|
generates a temporary key that is used for most operation. The
|
||
|
|
temporary key can be updated by the system, and the " A " key by
|
||
|
|
manual entry in the phone and in the Authentication Center.
|
||
|
|
Confused? Time to read the sidebar on this page and to get a free
|
||
|
|
sub from Cellular Business.
|
||
|
|
I was not able to get a copyright release for the Numismatic
|
||
|
|
News article that ImOkey sent in a while back. It's entitled
|
||
|
|
"Telephone Tokens: The forerunner of the phone card" and it
|
||
|
|
appeared in the January 10, 1995 issue. That's Volume 44, No. 2.
|
||
|
|
Let me mention three articles in the last few months that I
|
||
|
|
thought were very good. The first was Jack Rickard's "Editor' s
|
||
|
|
Notes: The Security Paradox" in April's Boardwatch. It brings some
|
||
|
|
reasoned, rational, and humorous thinking into the debate about
|
||
|
|
Mitnick. (1-800-993-6038 is the number for subs.) Another great
|
||
|
|
article was "Toll Fraud: Debunking Popular Myths" by Stan Tyo in
|
||
|
|
May's TeleProfessional. Tyo admits that disgruntled employees may
|
||
|
|
contribute to toll fraud. He also described how current employees
|
||
|
|
might be contributing. A very honest article. The MCI switch
|
||
|
|
technician, for example, who helped steal over $50,000,000 worth
|
||
|
|
of calls last December was certainly no outsider. MCI tried to
|
||
|
|
paint him as a hacker but that was just a cover for their failed
|
||
|
|
security. The guy was an MCI employee first. They had the means
|
||
|
|
and the methods to control his activities but they did not do so.
|
||
|
|
In the February 27, 1995 Bell Labs News, an article on security
|
||
|
|
mentioned hackers as a source of problems for business but they
|
||
|
|
also included corporate competitors, industrial espionage and
|
||
|
|
"problems caused by poorly administered systems and inadequate
|
||
|
|
employee awareness." Exactly. Toll fraud and abuse is a big
|
||
|
|
problem. But I'm not convinced that hackers are a big part of it.
|
||
|
|
Why do I mention all of this?
|
||
|
|
Mike Moss recently became a subscriber to private line. He's
|
||
|
|
a reporter with New York Newsday. (Two Park Avenue, NY, NY 10016)
|
||
|
|
He writes a great deal about phone fraud but it's not the kind you
|
||
|
|
might suspect. Most of his recent articles deal with long distance
|
||
|
|
companies who switch a customer's carrier without telling them.
|
||
|
|
Slamming. The subscriber often gets a huge bill after being
|
||
|
|
switched illegally to one of these high priced carriers. He
|
||
|
|
details how hard it is to get your bill fixed and the bureaucratic
|
||
|
|
nightmare that awaits most who are victimized. His articles remind
|
||
|
|
me of how much toll fraud is sponsored by industry types such as
|
||
|
|
Oncor and Sonic. Throw in telemarketing scams and the damage
|
||
|
|
caused is enormous. You have to look at the entire picture of
|
||
|
|
fraud and not just the lone hacker. Mitnick's real crime is
|
||
|
|
probably electronic vandalism and should be treated as such. But
|
||
|
|
individuals are always easier to target than corporations. A group
|
||
|
|
of hackers is a gang or a ring. A group of corporate thieves,
|
||
|
|
however, can call themselves a Board of Directors. I know that
|
||
|
|
sounds naive but that's really the way it is.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
IV. THE PAYPHONE CORNER
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Let's continue with some points that Onkel Dittmeyer raised in his
|
||
|
|
letter on page 94. I'm not comfortable discussing card technology
|
||
|
|
because it takes us away from telephony, however, telephone cards
|
||
|
|
will be a major part of public communications in the near future.
|
||
|
|
So, lets roll around in some terms and speculate. For purposes of
|
||
|
|
this article, I assume that you all have read "The Gold Card"
|
||
|
|
article in the Spring, I 995 2600.
|
||
|
|
First things first. A normal telephone calling card is one
|
||
|
|
issued by your local exchange carrier or a long distance company.
|
||
|
|
Like an AT&T calling card. These are really not part of our
|
||
|
|
discussion. Eric Stebel, managing editor of both TeleCard World
|
||
|
|
and Public Communications, now uses the term remote memory card to
|
||
|
|
identify a prepaid calling card. A remote memory card accesses a
|
||
|
|
distant switch by an 800 number to connect the call. The majority
|
||
|
|
of calling cards sold in America uses this technology. Talk and
|
||
|
|
toss. The phone does not require any intelligence or memory on the
|
||
|
|
part of the calling card. Just an 800 number and an access code.
|
||
|
|
The card itself could be plastic, steel, wood or paper. Anything
|
||
|
|
printed that contains the two numbers. Some simple remote memory
|
||
|
|
cards, though, may have a magnetic stripe used by a retailer to
|
||
|
|
activate the card once it's sold. Don't confuse this with a
|
||
|
|
magnetic stripe card that requires a payphone with a reader. Like
|
||
|
|
the ones that NYNEX uses. Those are true swipe reader phones .
|
||
|
|
By comparison, Stebel now refers to debit cards as phone-
|
||
|
|
based cards. This implies that a true debit card must contain some
|
||
|
|
intelligence or memory within the card itself. That could be a
|
||
|
|
magnetic or optical striped card which you swipe or a chip card
|
||
|
|
that you insert. In either case, the phone must be sufficiently
|
||
|
|
complex to accept such a card and then inter act with it.
|
||
|
|
Ameritech, NYNEX Bell South and US West have all run trials or
|
||
|
|
experimented with phone based cards. These are now all magnetic
|
||
|
|
stripe cards. Only International Telecom Incorporated (ITI) of
|
||
|
|
Alaska, a private payphone operator, has had any real, lengthy
|
||
|
|
experience with chip based cards. The trend in the next four or
|
||
|
|
five years, though is toward re mote memory cards/ pre-paid
|
||
|
|
calling cards.
|
||
|
|
You will notice, however, that David Stubbs of Teltrust used
|
||
|
|
the word debit card to refer to remote memory cards throughout the
|
||
|
|
length of his speech that begins on page 110. A debit card in
|
||
|
|
banking has usually referred to an instrument which transfers
|
||
|
|
funds automatically from your account to the account of someone
|
||
|
|
else. So, you have industry leaders using some these terms
|
||
|
|
interchangeably. The bottom line? Ask. Inquire. Write in and get
|
||
|
|
people to define their terms. There will be a built-in amount of
|
||
|
|
confusion until everybody gets on the same page.
|
||
|
|
Back to Dittmeyer's comments. Installing a magnetic reader
|
||
|
|
card phone has been fairly simple. Kits are made to retrofit an
|
||
|
|
existing COCOT with a normal DTMF keypad to one with a keypad and
|
||
|
|
a reader. A reader is attached underneath the keypad. This keypad
|
||
|
|
connects to the phone's circuit board with a ribbon cable. Put in
|
||
|
|
the card and pull it out. Altering the magnetic stripe alters the
|
||
|
|
balance on the card. No need for a laptop or wires hanging out of
|
||
|
|
a phone.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
I understand, though, that most of the information is
|
||
|
|
encrypted in such a way that defeat is impractical; the methods
|
||
|
|
used by a NYNEX phone card parallel the sophisticated methods used
|
||
|
|
by a VISA card, a gas card or an ATM card. This is very
|
||
|
|
different from a phone that can read chip cards and magnetic
|
||
|
|
cards. These machines hold the card in place while it reads the in
|
||
|
|
formation The trend is not toward access to the card while this
|
||
|
|
happens -- Protel's new 100, 8505 and 8600 Series payphone all
|
||
|
|
seem to swallow the card completely, much like an ATM machine.
|
||
|
|
They've learned their lessons in Europe, in part, because they
|
||
|
|
are already there.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
IV. QUICK AND DIRTY GUIDE TO THE RELEVANT EIA/TIA STANDARDS
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
(Prices are from Global)
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
I S-41: "Intersystem Operations" A patched together set of rules
|
||
|
|
designed to handle roamers: validation, hand-off from one system
|
||
|
|
to another, location tracking and so on. It's been revised many
|
||
|
|
times. It has not been implemented everywhere nor with equal
|
||
|
|
uniformity where it has been. Some carriers may comply and some
|
||
|
|
might not. There are at least five parts of IS-41, with each part
|
||
|
|
costing from $36.00 to $100.
|
||
|
|
IS-53: The features or services interim standard. Describes how
|
||
|
|
things like call forwarding, PIN numbers, calling name
|
||
|
|
identification, incoming call screening and law enforcement
|
||
|
|
intercepts should be handled. Revised many times and over laps
|
||
|
|
with IS-41 in some areas. $49
|
||
|
|
IS-54: TDMA. $227
|
||
|
|
IS-91: 800 MHz Analog Cellular. $126
|
||
|
|
IS-95: CDMA. $260
|
||
|
|
IS-136 Revision of IS-54 (U.S. Digital TDMA) $?
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
The electronics and telecom industry develops standards, interim
|
||
|
|
standards (IS) and telecommunications system bulletins (TSBs) for
|
||
|
|
many reasons. Chiefly uniformity. The Electronic Industry
|
||
|
|
Association and The Telecommunications Industry Association are
|
||
|
|
the chief players in developing cellular standards in the US. Even
|
||
|
|
after a decade, most of the cellular trade is still governed by
|
||
|
|
interim standards, many of which have undergone countless
|
||
|
|
revisions with no end in sight.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Global Engineering has the monopoly on publishing the EIA/TIA
|
||
|
|
standards. It's quite a racket. For them. The standards are
|
||
|
|
printed on plain paper with no covers. They are stapled once on
|
||
|
|
the top left corner and the documents are three hole punched. They
|
||
|
|
can be 50 pages or 500 pages long depending on the standard. Call
|
||
|
|
or write for a free catalog and price list. l find the catalog
|
||
|
|
helpful in deciphering all the acronyms. Global publishes for over
|
||
|
|
400 standard developing bodies!
|
||
|
|
Global Engineering
|
||
|
|
15 Inverness Way East
|
||
|
|
Englewood, CO 80112-5776
|
||
|
|
303-792-2181 or 800-854-7179
|
||
|
|
303-397-7935 (FAX)
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
V CLASS OF SERVICE AND PAYPHONES
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
We haven't discussed classes of services before. A business
|
||
|
|
line and a residential line may use the same kind of twisted pair
|
||
|
|
but they are treated differently by the telco. A residential line
|
||
|
|
usually gets an unlimited amount of calls for a flat rate while
|
||
|
|
business lines are charged on a per minute basis. Similarly, COCOT
|
||
|
|
lines and telco coin lines also get treated differently. COCOTs
|
||
|
|
are not controlled by the local exchange carrier but the payphone
|
||
|
|
operator must apply for a special class of service. The LEC keeps
|
||
|
|
track and tags each call from a COCOT with an identifying marker.
|
||
|
|
John Higdon points out that COCOTs are a special class of service
|
||
|
|
that provides the following:
|
||
|
|
1. 900/976 blocked;
|
||
|
|
2. Billed number screening (no collect or third party can be
|
||
|
|
billed to them);
|
||
|
|
3. LEC operator will complete no calls, or provide call assistance
|
||
|
|
to caller;
|
||
|
|
4. Show up as COCOT class of service on real-time ANI
|
||
|
|
applications;
|
||
|
|
5. Get special local rates from the LEC.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
VI. THE PAYPHONE CORNER
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Let's continue with some points that Onkel Dittmeyer raised in his
|
||
|
|
letter on page 94. I'm not comfortable discussing card technology
|
||
|
|
because it takes us away from telephony, however, telephone cards
|
||
|
|
will be a major part of public communications in the near future.
|
||
|
|
So, lets roll around in some terms and speculate. For purposes of
|
||
|
|
this article, I assume that you all have read "The Gold Card"
|
||
|
|
article in the Spring, I 995 2600. First things first. A normal
|
||
|
|
telephone calling card is one issued by your local exchange
|
||
|
|
carrier or a long distance company. Like an AT&T calling card.
|
||
|
|
These are really not part of our discussion. Eric Stebel, managing
|
||
|
|
editor of both TeleCard World and Public Communications, now uses
|
||
|
|
the term remote memory card to identify a prepaid calling card. A
|
||
|
|
remote memory card accesses a distant switch by an 800 to connect
|
||
|
|
a call. The majority of calling cards sold in America uses this
|
||
|
|
technology. Talk and toss. The phone does not require any
|
||
|
|
intelligence or memory on the part of the calling card. Just an
|
||
|
|
800 number and an access code. The card itself could be plastic,
|
||
|
|
steel, wood or paper. Anything printed that contains the two
|
||
|
|
numbers. Some simple remote memory cards, though, may have a
|
||
|
|
magnetic stripe used by a retailer to activate the card once it's
|
||
|
|
sold. Don't confuse this with a magnetic stripe card that requires
|
||
|
|
a payphone with a reader. Like the ones that NYNEX uses. Those are
|
||
|
|
true swipe reader phones .
|
||
|
|
By comparison, Stebel now refers to debit cards as phone-
|
||
|
|
based cards. This implies that a true debit card must contain some
|
||
|
|
intelligence or memory within the card itself. That could be a
|
||
|
|
magnetic or optical striped card which you swipe or a chip card
|
||
|
|
that you insert. In either case, the phone must be sufficiently
|
||
|
|
complex to accept such a card and then inter act with it.
|
||
|
|
Ameritech, NYNEX Bell South and US West have all run trials or
|
||
|
|
experimented with phone based cards. These are now all magnetic
|
||
|
|
stripe cards. Only International Telecom Incorporated (ITI) of
|
||
|
|
Alaska, a private payphone operator, has had any real, lengthy
|
||
|
|
experience with chip based cards. The trend in the next four or
|
||
|
|
five years, though is toward re mote memory cards/ pre-paid
|
||
|
|
calling cards.
|
||
|
|
You will notice, however, that David Stubbs of Teltrust used
|
||
|
|
the word debit card to refer to remote memory cards throughout the
|
||
|
|
length of his speech that begins on page 110. A debit card in
|
||
|
|
banking has usually referred to an instrument which transfers
|
||
|
|
funds automatically from your account to the account of someone
|
||
|
|
else. So, you have industry leaders using some these terms
|
||
|
|
interchangeably. The bottom line? Ask. Inquire. Write in and get
|
||
|
|
people to define their terms. There will be a built-in amount of
|
||
|
|
confusion until everybody gets on the same page. Back to
|
||
|
|
Dittmeyer's comments. Installing a magnetic reader card phone has
|
||
|
|
been fairly simple. Kits are made to retrofit an existing COCOT
|
||
|
|
with a normal DTMF keypad to one with a keypad and a reader. A
|
||
|
|
reader is attached underneath the keypad. This keypad connects to
|
||
|
|
the phone's circuit board with a ribbon cable. Put in the card and
|
||
|
|
pull it out. Altering the magnetic stripe alters the balance on
|
||
|
|
the card. No need for a laptop or wires hanging out of a phone. I
|
||
|
|
understand, though, that most of the in formation is encrypted in
|
||
|
|
such a way that defeat is impractical; the methods used by a NYNEX
|
||
|
|
phone card parallel the sophisticated methods used by a VISA card,
|
||
|
|
a gas card or an ATM card.
|
||
|
|
This is very different from a phone that can read chip cards
|
||
|
|
and magnetic cards. These machines hold the card in place while it
|
||
|
|
reads the in formation The trend is not toward access to the card
|
||
|
|
while this happens -- Protel's new 100, 8505 and 8600 Series
|
||
|
|
payphone all seem to swallow the card completely, much like an ATM
|
||
|
|
machine. They've learned their lessons in Europe, in part, because
|
||
|
|
they are already there. Stebel reports that "All of the major
|
||
|
|
payphone manufacturers in the United States are selling smart card
|
||
|
|
payphones to foreign countries. Some international payphone
|
||
|
|
companies are even selling smart card payphones to the RBOCs."
|
||
|
|
So, the payphone companies have learned their lessons and
|
||
|
|
are already learning more. Much of this ties into the standards
|
||
|
|
that The Gold Card article mentions. AFNOR. ISO. Who are these
|
||
|
|
groups and where can you read these standards? AFNOR stands for
|
||
|
|
Association Francaise de Normalisation (of course). Only ITI, as I
|
||
|
|
understand it, has used their standards with their cards. Let's
|
||
|
|
concentrate on the ISO. The ISO or International Standards
|
||
|
|
Organisation is a body composed of many nations. They try to get
|
||
|
|
together to settle on the ways that things work What does the ISO
|
||
|
|
itself say about standards?
|
||
|
|
"Standards are documented agreements containing technical
|
||
|
|
specifications or other precise criteria to be used consistently
|
||
|
|
as rules guidelines, or definitions of characteristics, to ensure
|
||
|
|
that materials, products, processes and services are fit for their
|
||
|
|
purpose. For example, the format of the credit cards, phone cards,
|
||
|
|
and " smart" cards that have become commonplace is derived from an
|
||
|
|
ISO International Standard. Adhering to the standard, which
|
||
|
|
defines such features as an optimal thickness (0,76 mm), means
|
||
|
|
that the cards can be used worldwide. International Standards thus
|
||
|
|
contribute to making life simpler, in creasing the reliability and
|
||
|
|
effectiveness of the goods and services we use. "
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
"What does an ISO standard look like? It can be anything from
|
||
|
|
a four-page document to a 1000-page tome, including twice the
|
||
|
|
weight of the standard itself in informative annexes. It may
|
||
|
|
specify the tasks that a certain range of equipment must be able
|
||
|
|
to perform, or describe in detail an apparatus and its safety
|
||
|
|
features. It may contain symbols, definitions, diagrams, codes,
|
||
|
|
test methods, etc." Okay, okay you say, so what are the ISO
|
||
|
|
standards regarding chip cards? It's not that simple. The ISO is
|
||
|
|
currently producing draft industry standards (DIS) that have not
|
||
|
|
been finalized. Here are the ones that seem to apply most to chip
|
||
|
|
cards:
|
||
|
|
1) ISO 9992- 1: 1990 Financial transaction cards -- Messages
|
||
|
|
between the integrated circuit card and the card accepting device
|
||
|
|
-- Part 1: Concepts and structures;
|
||
|
|
2) ISO 10202-1:1991 Financial transaction cards -- Security
|
||
|
|
architecture of financial transaction systems using integrated
|
||
|
|
circuit cards -- Part 1: Card life cycle;
|
||
|
|
3) ISO/DIS 10202-2 Financial transaction cards -- Security
|
||
|
|
architecture of financial transaction systems using integrated
|
||
|
|
circuit cards -- Part 2: Transaction process;
|
||
|
|
4) ISO/DIS 10202-3 Financial transaction cards -- Security ISO
|
||
|
|
architecture of financial transaction systems using integrated
|
||
|
|
circuit cards -- Part 3: Cryptographic key relationships;
|
||
|
|
5) ISO/DIS 10202-4 Financial transaction cards -- Security
|
||
|
|
architecture of financial transaction systems using integrated
|
||
|
|
circuit cards -- Part 4: Secure application modules;
|
||
|
|
6) ISO/DIS 10202-5 Financial transaction cards -- Security
|
||
|
|
architecture of financial transaction systems using integrated
|
||
|
|
circuit cards -- Part 5: Use of algorithms;
|
||
|
|
7) ISO 10202-6: 1994 Financial transaction cards -- Security
|
||
|
|
architecture of financial transaction systems using integrated
|
||
|
|
circuit cards -- Part 6: Cardholder verification. The ISO is
|
||
|
|
represented in America by the American National Standards
|
||
|
|
Institute. ANSI.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
I asked for a price list on the above interim standards and for
|
||
|
|
their free brochure explaining the ISO but after a month and a
|
||
|
|
half they still haven't responded: American National Standards
|
||
|
|
Institute, l West 42nd Street, 13th floor New York, N.Y. 10036
|
||
|
|
(212) 642-4900. FAX is (212) 398-0023.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
VII. PAYPHONE STATISTICS
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
-- Payphone Trivia Courtesy of
|
||
|
|
New York Newsday, Michael
|
||
|
|
Moss, Raymond James and Asso
|
||
|
|
ciates, Industry Analysts, John
|
||
|
|
Richard Associates and private
|
||
|
|
line magazine!--
|
||
|
|
(New York Newsday, Sunday, May
|
||
|
|
1 4, 1 995)
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Number of payphones in the United
|
||
|
|
States: 2 million
|
||
|
|
Number of payphones in New York State
|
||
|
|
owned by NYNEX: 160,000
|
||
|
|
Number of payphones in New York State
|
||
|
|
owned by others: 40,000
|
||
|
|
Commission paid to site owner: Up to 50
|
||
|
|
percent of gross revenue
|
||
|
|
Money a pay phone can hold: $150 in
|
||
|
|
quarters, $250 in dimes
|
||
|
|
Cost to buy a payphone: $935 to $1,295
|
||
|
|
Average monthly income of payphone:
|
||
|
|
$250
|
||
|
|
Portion of payphone income from coins:
|
||
|
|
Two-thirds
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Top Five Payphone Locations Nationwide:
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Bars: 131,000
|
||
|
|
Grocery Stores: 116,000
|
||
|
|
Hotels and Motels: 80,000
|
||
|
|
Colleges: 60,000
|
||
|
|
Prisons: 50,000
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
VIII OUTSIDE PLANT, PART 1
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Outside plant or OSP refers to telco-owned equipment and
|
||
|
|
facilities that are outside the main central office that serves
|
||
|
|
local customers. Cables, manholes, utility poles, equipment
|
||
|
|
cabinets and remote switching modules are all outside plant
|
||
|
|
facilities. Everything from the cable vault at the central office
|
||
|
|
to the demarcation point at your house or office. I'm doing two
|
||
|
|
things in this article: I) introducing the subject of outside
|
||
|
|
plant and 2) looking at buried facilities or buried plant. I'll
|
||
|
|
look at aerial plant and rural OSP in more detail in the next
|
||
|
|
issue. Let's look at the big picture first and then define outside
|
||
|
|
plant a little more. This quote is nearly fifty years old but it
|
||
|
|
still manages to put the entire public telephone switched network
|
||
|
|
(PTSN) into perspective:
|
||
|
|
"The term 'telephone plant' includes (I) the telephone ap
|
||
|
|
paratus and wiring at the subscribers' premises; (2) the central
|
||
|
|
office switching equipment (with the buildings that contain it)
|
||
|
|
for interconnecting subscribers' lines; and (3) the aerial and
|
||
|
|
underground wires and cables with their pole lines and con duits,
|
||
|
|
which connect the subscribers' stations with the central offices
|
||
|
|
and the latter with each other whether they be in the same city or
|
||
|
|
in different cities. This piant makes it possible, at the present
|
||
|
|
time, for any user of the telephone service to be connected
|
||
|
|
promptly with any other station of the telephone system, and to
|
||
|
|
converse easily, by electrical means, with the person called,
|
||
|
|
after the connection is established, regardless of distance. The
|
||
|
|
systems which enable this nation-wide service to be rendered are
|
||
|
|
necessarily complex and intricate and they in clude a multitude of
|
||
|
|
auxiliary devices and appurtenances.''l 11
|
||
|
|
Complex and intricate indeed. But the layout of outside plant
|
||
|
|
is fairly straightforward, even though the technology has been
|
||
|
|
getting more complex. Let's define outside plant more specifically
|
||
|
|
before showing how the different elements come together. Lee says
|
||
|
|
that "The outside plant of a telephone company encompasses all
|
||
|
|
telephone fa cilities from the main distributing frame (MDF) in
|
||
|
|
the central office to the protector at the customer's residence or
|
||
|
|
business location." Besides the many forms of buried and aerial
|
||
|
|
cable involved, Lee also maintains that OSP includes "electronic
|
||
|
|
carrier systems, microwave, or some form of subscriber or
|
||
|
|
concentrator arrangement.''l2l That's practically everything in
|
||
|
|
the local loop. There are some problems with that definition.
|
||
|
|
Remote switches confuse the outside plant definition somewhat.
|
||
|
|
They are tied to the main central office by trunks but they
|
||
|
|
generally provide their own dial tone and switching. They are part
|
||
|
|
of today's distributed switching, with a little central office
|
||
|
|
possible nearly every where. The remote 5ESS pictured on page 107
|
||
|
|
is an example. That switch is the termination for the entire local
|
||
|
|
loop distribution plant in its area. It has its own backup power
|
||
|
|
supply, ringing generator distribution frame and multiplexing
|
||
|
|
equipment. Among other things. Everything outside of this facility
|
||
|
|
is outside plant as well, but possibly not the switch itself.
|
||
|
|
That's because switching equipment has usually been considered the
|
||
|
|
province of central office plant, things within the building
|
||
|
|
proper.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
But many remotes are housed in underground vaults. That makes
|
||
|
|
them buried plant. And that means outside plant to me. I'd argue
|
||
|
|
that out sidc plant includes any equipment or facilities that are
|
||
|
|
connected to a particular central office. That means remotes and
|
||
|
|
anything else that helps provide local service. Sound pedantic?
|
||
|
|
Not really. The last census I saw showed that there were 8 663
|
||
|
|
central offices in the United States but 10,584 remote
|
||
|
|
switches.(3) Seems like a good dcfinition is in order. Yet
|
||
|
|
industry itself does not agree on terms. The best selling telecom
|
||
|
|
dictionary today says that outside plant does nol include micro
|
||
|
|
wave towers, antennas and cable system repeaters. (4) This
|
||
|
|
directly contradicts Lee. And although he is no longer with us, I
|
||
|
|
think I will stick with his older but more authoritative opinion.
|
||
|
|
Now that we've somewhat defined what outside plant is, let us
|
||
|
|
look at how it is arranged. Again, the focus is on an urban
|
||
|
|
setting. I'll leave rural areas for the next issue. (Gives me an
|
||
|
|
excuse for a road trip.)
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Lee mentions five kinds of plans for outside plant. But only
|
||
|
|
the serving area concept and the modified serving area concept
|
||
|
|
seem to be in favor. I'll let another expert describe it, " In
|
||
|
|
order to standardize the way loop distribution plants are set up
|
||
|
|
in the U.S. (and to prevent chaos) the Bell System created a
|
||
|
|
standard reference design. For urban and suburban areas, this plan
|
||
|
|
was called the Serving Areas Concept (SAC) plan. Basically, in the
|
||
|
|
SAC plan, each city is divided into one or more Wire Centers which
|
||
|
|
are each handled by a local central office switch. A typical WC
|
||
|
|
will handle 41,000 subscriber lines. Each WC is divided into about
|
||
|
|
10 or so Serving Areas (depending on the size and population of
|
||
|
|
the city), with an average size of 12 square miles . . . each
|
||
|
|
Serving Area may handle around 500 to 1,000 lines or more for
|
||
|
|
maybe 200 to 400 housing units, typically a tract of homes."
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Feeder cable (F1) goes out to each serving area managed by the
|
||
|
|
central office. "This cable can contain from 600 to over 2,000
|
||
|
|
pairs, and often more than one physical F1 cable is needed to
|
||
|
|
service a single Serving Area (at an SAI). The F1 is almost always
|
||
|
|
located underground because the size, weight and number of feeders
|
||
|
|
makes it impossible to put them on normal telephone poles. Since
|
||
|
|
it is also impractical to use one single piece of cable, the F1
|
||
|
|
usually consists of several pieces of large, pressurized or
|
||
|
|
armored cable spliced together underground into a single
|
||
|
|
cable."[6]
|
||
|
|
One or more F1s terminate or are wired into the back of a
|
||
|
|
Serving Area Interface. This could be a small or large terminal
|
||
|
|
board or block. Local twisted pairs connect to the other side of
|
||
|
|
these boards and go out to the local neighborhood. The idealized
|
||
|
|
map presented on page 102 is just that: idealized. Where the SAI
|
||
|
|
is and how many of them are tied to a particular central office is
|
||
|
|
all dependent on population, the switch that exists at the C.O.,
|
||
|
|
the facilities available to the local telco, future plans and so
|
||
|
|
on. You can make a more realistic map yourself by noting the SAIs
|
||
|
|
in your neighborhood in relation to the end office that serves
|
||
|
|
you. In addition, F1 may first terminate at a multiplexer or a
|
||
|
|
pair gain facility like a SLC-96. These systems put many, many
|
||
|
|
conversations over a single pair of wires. That helps if, say, a
|
||
|
|
large apartment complex gets built in an already developed area.
|
||
|
|
The existing feeder cables and ducts may already be at capacity.
|
||
|
|
Multiplexing takes the analog traffic of the local loop and
|
||
|
|
digitizes it over the existing F1 cable. An SAI is usually nearby
|
||
|
|
to provide a connection to the local loop's twisted pairs. The SAI
|
||
|
|
is most commonly housed in the kind of cabinet shown on page 103.
|
||
|
|
There are smaller and larger cabinets, however, so it is often
|
||
|
|
tough to tell. But most have doors and those labeled with a
|
||
|
|
street address are almost certainly an SAI. Automatic Electric
|
||
|
|
cabinets often had simulated wood grain siding. (No, I'm not
|
||
|
|
kidding.) What then, are in the rest of the smaller green boxes
|
||
|
|
that dot the landscape?
|
||
|
|
Most of these are called pedestals and most of them don't
|
||
|
|
have doors. Most relate to buried plant and a neighborhood that
|
||
|
|
has its utilities underground. They serve as splice housings and
|
||
|
|
service terminals for buried drop wires to connect to the local
|
||
|
|
distribution cable. The most common "are the PC4, PC 6 and PC 12;
|
||
|
|
these are around 50" tall by 4", 6" or 12" respectively, and are
|
||
|
|
painted gray-green like SAI cabinets. These are the smallest
|
||
|
|
pedestals in the distribution plant and they don't have doors
|
||
|
|
(they look like waist-high square poles). [T]hese pedestal
|
||
|
|
closures are often used for other purposes, such as splicing
|
||
|
|
points in underground distribution, loading coil mounting, and
|
||
|
|
even used as temporary wire storage containers."[7] We've now
|
||
|
|
looked a bit at what is on the surface. What's down below?
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Buried plant is an underground system. It depends on
|
||
|
|
conduits or ducts, manholes, cables, and vaults. Conduit or ducts
|
||
|
|
are simply empty pipes, often made of plastic or structural foam.
|
||
|
|
These are laid into trenches, filled or capped with concrete and
|
||
|
|
backfilled over. Spare conduits get put in at the same time. This
|
||
|
|
makes it possible to pull out an old cable or to put a new one in.
|
||
|
|
Directly plowing a cable into the earth is done only for buried
|
||
|
|
distribution cable or rural trunks. The F1 cable usually runs in
|
||
|
|
conduit all the way from the C.O. to the SAI. Cables are then
|
||
|
|
accessed and pulled from manholes or vaults. Many conduits have
|
||
|
|
become filled over the years, especially in downtown areas.
|
||
|
|
Happily, fiber optic cable recovers space in old, crowded
|
||
|
|
quarters. Conduits that were crowded with bulky copper cable are
|
||
|
|
now giving way to fiber optic cables that take far less space yet
|
||
|
|
provide far more capac ity. Much of what you'd see in a manhole
|
||
|
|
is represented in the photographs on page 105 albeit, in the more
|
||
|
|
spacious, well lit surroundings of the cable vault. In addi tion,
|
||
|
|
certain areas have concrete tunnels between manholes and not
|
||
|
|
conduit, with telephone cables racked to the sides of the tunnels.
|
||
|
|
Lee says that manholes should not be further than 750 feet apart.
|
||
|
|
I'm not sure if that works out in practive, however, I have noticed
|
||
|
|
something about the covers. There seems to be two types: the round
|
||
|
|
ones and the kind that have two hinged steel plates. The ones with
|
||
|
|
the steel plates seem easier to lift and they provide a bigger entrance.
|
||
|
|
But I see them only on sidewalks and not out in the middle of the
|
||
|
|
street. They must be limited to areas without traffic. The round,
|
||
|
|
iron manhole cover may be the only kind that stands up well to
|
||
|
|
40,000 pound trucks running over them all day.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
I hope to look at aerial plant and rural OSP in more detail next
|
||
|
|
issue. I had hoped to include some photos of various oddities in
|
||
|
|
this issue but I wasn't able to get on the road to take black and white
|
||
|
|
photos of them. The nearest post-pay phones, for ex ample, that I
|
||
|
|
know are in Idaho. And I'm no longer certain that they can be
|
||
|
|
considered outside plant equiyment. In any case, l hope you enjoyed
|
||
|
|
this introduction to the subject and feel free to send me copies of any
|
||
|
|
interesting photographs that you may wish to share.
|
||
|
|
Notes:
|
||
|
|
[1.] Encyclopedia Britanica, Volume 21, (1946) 895
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
[2.] Lee, Frank. Outside Plant. Geneva, abc TeleTraining, Inc. (1987) 7 This
|
||
|
|
book is
|
||
|
|
getting pretty long in the tooth. Now revised by E.J. Leonard, this is one of
|
||
|
|
the first four
|
||
|
|
manuals that Lee wrote. It's illus trated with very limited pen and ink drawings
|
||
|
|
and some
|
||
|
|
charts. No photographs of any kind. Still, it's the only thing in print on OSP.
|
||
|
|
Available
|
||
|
|
through Telecom Books (1-800-LIBARY) or through abc TeleTraining, Inc., Box 537,
|
||
|
|
Geneva,111,60134 (312) 879-9000.
|
||
|
|
[3] Semi-annual Report on Telephone Trends in Telephone Service May 1994.
|
||
|
|
Industry
|
||
|
|
Analysis Division, Federal Communications Commission. Downloadable through their
|
||
|
|
BBS at (202) 418-0241 (BBS file name is TREND295.ZIP. "Copies may be purchased
|
||
|
|
by
|
||
|
|
calling International Transcription Services at (202) 857-3800."
|
||
|
|
[4 ]Newton, Harry. Ne~vton's Telecom Dictionary, 8th edition. New York City.
|
||
|
|
Flatiron
|
||
|
|
Publishing, Inc. (1995) 751 A very good, very idio syncratic telecom dictionary.
|
||
|
|
1170
|
||
|
|
pages. $24.95. Yes, it's worth it, despite my reservations about the publishers
|
||
|
|
themselves.
|
||
|
|
[5] Phucked Agent. "Outside Loop Distribution Plant." Legion of
|
||
|
|
Doom Technical Journal: File #8 of 12 (1987) I pulled this file
|
||
|
|
off the Internet about two years ago. A great read and about the
|
||
|
|
only resource available on the Internet about outside plant. Not
|
||
|
|
in print which is really too bad. The old LOD people could do
|
||
|
|
everyone a great service by putting their material into hardcopy.
|
||
|
|
I'll make room in private line if they want.
|
||
|
|
[6] Ibid.
|
||
|
|
[7] Ibid.
|
||
|
|
[8] Kurtz, Edwin B. The Lineman's and Cableman's Handbook, 7th
|
||
|
|
edition. New York City. McGraw Hill (1986) 31-10. Not telco but
|
||
|
|
helpful.
|
||
|
|
Other:
|
||
|
|
Outside Plant Magazine does deal with OSP, of course, but they
|
||
|
|
have not been helpful to me at all. Still, it is a good magazine.
|
||
|
|
$30 a year. Practical Communications, Inc., Outside Plant
|
||
|
|
Magazine, P.O. Box 183, Cary, IL 60013.
|
||
|
|
Cabling Business Magazine does not deal with OSP as much as
|
||
|
|
Outside Plant but it is a very friendly magazine run by nice
|
||
|
|
people. Free subs. Cabling Business Magazine, P.O. Box 496177,
|
||
|
|
Garland, TX 754049-6177 (213) 328-1717.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
-----------------------------------
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
THE INTERNET (Sidebar)
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Getting on line? Check out these unmoderated groups. They're open
|
||
|
|
to all. Post to alt.test first to experiment if you are new to
|
||
|
|
USENET.
|
||
|
|
1) alt.2600
|
||
|
|
2) alt.dcom.telecom
|
||
|
|
3) alt.cellular-phone-tech
|
||
|
|
4) comp.dcom.telecom.tech
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
IX. A FEW THOUGHTS ON THE TELECOM DIGEST
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Pat Townsend moderates a discussion group about telecommunications
|
||
|
|
on the Internet. Look for comp.dcom.telecom if you have USENET
|
||
|
|
access. He's been moderating this group for over ten years. People
|
||
|
|
submit hundreds of questions to the digest each week. Pat selects
|
||
|
|
which ones to post. He sometimes edits the question for clarity
|
||
|
|
and he often adds his own opinions. Replies to a question are not
|
||
|
|
automatically put up by Pat. He controls them as well. You have,
|
||
|
|
in effect, a kind of daily telecom newspaper under strict
|
||
|
|
editorial control. I do not subscribe to this group but I do look
|
||
|
|
it over from time to time.
|
||
|
|
Here's a list of topics selected at random to show what's
|
||
|
|
discussed:
|
||
|
|
134 Telematic Sculpture 4
|
||
|
|
135 National Information Infrastructure Course
|
||
|
|
136 Experience Switching Canadian Cellular Service?
|
||
|
|
137 NTI and Peer to Peer Connection
|
||
|
|
138 Question on ATT Pub 41450
|
||
|
|
139 Information Wanted on American Communication Services, Inc.
|
||
|
|
140 Caller-ID With Name From Centrex
|
||
|
|
141 TSPS Operator Boards
|
||
|
|
142 Cord Board Toll and Assistance
|
||
|
|
143 Least Cost Routing Question
|
||
|
|
144 CD Changer For Music on Hold (2 msgs)
|
||
|
|
145 ANI vs Caller-ID
|
||
|
|
146 History of TSPS/TOPS/OSPS
|
||
|
|
147 HumanNets and WorldNet - Are Earliest Posts Archived
|
||
|
|
Anywhere?
|
||
|
|
148 Johnny Mnemonic - Waste of Time, Money (2 msgs)
|
||
|
|
149 Information Wanted About Smart Cards
|
||
|
|
150 TCOM Assistant Professor (One Year, Ph.D.)
|
||
|
|
151 Merging Phone Company Test Boards
|
||
|
|
152 Multiplexer Software Control
|
||
|
|
Pat spends as much time writing and editing as any newspaper
|
||
|
|
or magazine writer. He's just doing it electronically. I think he
|
||
|
|
needs encouragement to put some of the ten years of the Telecom
|
||
|
|
Digest into hardcopy. He's contemplating a CD ROM but that would
|
||
|
|
cut out access for anyone without a computer and a CD drive. He
|
||
|
|
also needs contributions to continue the work of the digest:
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
TELECOM Digest
|
||
|
|
9457-D Niles Center Road
|
||
|
|
Skokie, IL 60076
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
X. BOOK REVIEWS
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Old Time Telephones is a wonderful book about
|
||
|
|
telephones for collectors, repair people and just about
|
||
|
|
anyone who wonders how telephones work. You'll find
|
||
|
|
everything from the earliest history of telephony to a lengthy
|
||
|
|
discussion of modern touch tone phone circuitry. It's divided
|
||
|
|
into four parts. The first discusses the development of
|
||
|
|
components. It includes chapters on early developments and
|
||
|
|
the Bell patent, receivers, induction coils, magnetos, ringers,
|
||
|
|
switches and dials. The other major parts of the book are Telephone
|
||
|
|
Instruments, Electrical Circuits, and Restoration and Repair.
|
||
|
|
Each of these parts are as well detailed as the first. There's a
|
||
|
|
good appendix that describes basic electrical principals
|
||
|
|
(Myer holds a Ph.D. in physics), an excellent bibli ography and
|
||
|
|
a well done index.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Myer's approach is comprehensive. He comments, for example,
|
||
|
|
on a component's function as well as its evolution. Let me illustrate
|
||
|
|
this point. In the first part he explains that varistors protect a telephone
|
||
|
|
receiver from elec trical distrubances and that they reduce clicking
|
||
|
|
noises on the line that you might hear otherwise. He then writes in
|
||
|
|
a later chapter that, "Unfortunately for Western Electric, the No. 44
|
||
|
|
varistor could only be successfully made with copper oxide from a
|
||
|
|
mine in the Chilean Andes, and that ore was being rap idly depleted
|
||
|
|
(Michal 1960). Consequently, the Bell Laboratories developed a new
|
||
|
|
low voltage varistor out of silicon." Your editor approves of esoterica!
|
||
|
|
haven't seen this kind of detail since Fagen edited A History of
|
||
|
|
Engineering and Science in the Bell System: The Early Years.
|
||
|
|
I use this book for reference and for browsing. It keeps things straight.
|
||
|
|
Dozens of models, makes and manufacturers are described or mentioned.
|
||
|
|
ITT, Kellogg, Stromberg-Carlson, A.E. and Western Electric all made
|
||
|
|
different products at different times and this book does a great job of sorting
|
||
|
|
most of them out. It's a little light on Automatic Electric and foreign makes
|
||
|
|
like
|
||
|
|
Ericsson are generally not treated but what do you want? The 290
|
||
|
|
pages of details that it does have will make any telephone enthusiast happy.
|
||
|
|
Myer says that it took him more than five years to write this book and
|
||
|
|
I believe it. Here's a nice paragraph from his book to end this review:
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
"On January 1, 1984, the Western Electric Company, then older than
|
||
|
|
the telephone itself, ceased to exist (Hochheiser 1991, 143). On that
|
||
|
|
day of court ordered divestiture, the Bell System was broken into seven
|
||
|
|
regional operating companies (the Baby Bells) and a more compact
|
||
|
|
AT&T. AT&T retained the long-distance part of the business, its
|
||
|
|
venerable research organization (Bell Laboratories), and its manufacturing
|
||
|
|
operations (which could no longer have exclusive supply arrangements with
|
||
|
|
the operating companies). A newly cre ated AT&T Technologies, Inc. assumed
|
||
|
|
the corporate charter of Western Electric and continued making 500-type,
|
||
|
|
2500-type, and Trimline telephones under the AT&T Technologies label for
|
||
|
|
several years at plants in Indianapo lis and Shreveport. However, to become
|
||
|
|
competitive in the market, AT&T shifted residential telephone manufacturing
|
||
|
|
to the Far East, beginning in Hong Kong in late 1985, Singapore the following
|
||
|
|
year, and later in Bangkok and elsewhere. Thus ended U.S. production of
|
||
|
|
rugged electromechanical telephones, and though phones similar to the 500-type,
|
||
|
|
the 2500-type, the Princess, and the Trimline are still made to day, they are
|
||
|
|
products of the modern electronics age, rather than a bygone culture."
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Old Time Telephones:Technology, Restoration and Repair
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
by Ralph O Myer
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Published by TAB Books,
|
||
|
|
a division of McGraw Hill, Inc.,
|
||
|
|
Blue Ridge Summit, PA 17294-085t
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
1 -800-822-8158
|
||
|
|
(717)-794-2191
|
||
|
|
(717)-794-2103 FAX
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
ISBN No. 0-07-041817-9
|
||
|
|
(Paperback) 1995
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
$19.95 (U.S.)
|
||
|
|
----------------------------------------
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
The Straight Scoop is a ten page report on the 900 Pay-Per-
|
||
|
|
Call Industry. It looks at the problems and pitfalls you'll want
|
||
|
|
to avoid if you go into business as an IP or information provider.
|
||
|
|
In particular, it describes service bureaus and how to deal with
|
||
|
|
them. You'll be working with these people so you better educate
|
||
|
|
yourself. These service bureaus help set up your program, maintain
|
||
|
|
the switch, lease the necessary lines from the telco and do the
|
||
|
|
accounting. They charge hundreds of dollars for their work every
|
||
|
|
month, even if no calls come in for your number. Service bureaus
|
||
|
|
operate in an incredibly competitive, shark filled environment.
|
||
|
|
Each claims to have the best, most profitable program for you.
|
||
|
|
Each program has different terms and rates. What to do?
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Ken Wells provides honest, realistic guidance in dealing with
|
||
|
|
these people. He also discusses advertising for your venture,
|
||
|
|
market research, resources and consultants who can help you
|
||
|
|
without hyping you. He also sells a list of 44 (!) questions to
|
||
|
|
ask your service bureau prospect for five dollars. My advice is to
|
||
|
|
get both the report and the list. At $15 total, I can predict that
|
||
|
|
this will be the least costly, most honest information that you
|
||
|
|
come across in setting up your project.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
The Straight Scoop
|
||
|
|
Kenneth R. Wells
|
||
|
|
1-800-482-FACT (3228)
|
||
|
|
Visa, MC
|
||
|
|
The Straight Scoop
|
||
|
|
1142 Auahi Street, Suite 2014
|
||
|
|
Honolulu, Hawaii 96814
|
||
|
|
scoop@mailback.com
|
||
|
|
The report is $10 and the list of questions is $5.00. Ken is a
|
||
|
|
senior communications engineer for a U.S. contractor in the
|
||
|
|
Republic of the Marshall Islands.
|
||
|
|
------------------------------------
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
ISDN: A User's Guide to Services, Applications & Resources In
|
||
|
|
California, is this issue's freebie to write away for. It's 60
|
||
|
|
pages of information on the Integrated Services Digital Network --
|
||
|
|
the most talked about and most delayed telecommunication service
|
||
|
|
in the last 15 years. The best parts of this book are the hand
|
||
|
|
drawn graphics, lifted with permission from France Telecom, Inc.
|
||
|
|
and reworked by Pacific Telesis.
|
||
|
|
ISDN is a digital service provided by some phone companies.
|
||
|
|
It uses two conventional twisted pairs. You could set it up right
|
||
|
|
now if you had two phone lines and your local telco had a switch
|
||
|
|
equipped with ISDN capabilities. Pacific Bell, though, recommends
|
||
|
|
that you also have an additional line with a normal phone in case
|
||
|
|
of a power failure.
|
||
|
|
In any case, ISDN allows a digital connection from you to the
|
||
|
|
telephone company. It makes sense to put digital into the local
|
||
|
|
loop since nearly all traffic is digital between switches. This
|
||
|
|
allows a full digital connection from one end of the telephone
|
||
|
|
system to the other. Provided, of course, that the person on the
|
||
|
|
other end has or can get the same kind of ISDN connection that you
|
||
|
|
have. Voice and data or both can travel at the same time on the
|
||
|
|
same ISDN line. You can do video conferencing with one person
|
||
|
|
while sending a fax to someone else. You can also run a fast
|
||
|
|
Internet connection on this, although frame relay may be a better
|
||
|
|
choice.
|
||
|
|
ISDN is a particular kind of digital service, with its own
|
||
|
|
protocols and signaling requirements. It's being implemented in
|
||
|
|
various parts of the country in some form. Thus, it competes with
|
||
|
|
or complements other digital services such as switched 56, frame
|
||
|
|
relay, full T-1 and fractional T-1. The speed of the connection
|
||
|
|
most resembles fractional T-1, which has always been the least
|
||
|
|
expensive digital line if your telco provides it. Implementing
|
||
|
|
ISDN, though, may be the most difficult of all the services at
|
||
|
|
this point.
|
||
|
|
Pacific Bell's offering is a good place to start
|
||
|
|
understanding the terminology, procedures and possible
|
||
|
|
applications of ISDN. I keep it as a reference to look up things
|
||
|
|
like BRI, PRI, NT1 and so on. I may not need ISDN but it's
|
||
|
|
interesting to read about and to keep current on. The book is free
|
||
|
|
but you may have to flatter them if you are from out of state.
|
||
|
|
Note: Telecom Books puts out a nice catalog of, well, telecom
|
||
|
|
books. Newton's Telecom Dictionary is especially good. Write or
|
||
|
|
call for a free catalog: Telecom Books, 12 West 21 Street, New
|
||
|
|
York, NY 10010. 1-800 LIBRARY or 1-212-691-8215. Make sure your
|
||
|
|
book is in stock and follow up with phone calls if it does not
|
||
|
|
arrive within a week. By the way, except for that dictionary, I've
|
||
|
|
paid for all the books and reports I have reviewed.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
ISDN: A User's Guides To Services, Applications & Resources In
|
||
|
|
California
|
||
|
|
Pacific Bell
|
||
|
|
Business Market Group
|
||
|
|
2600 Camino Ramon
|
||
|
|
San Ramon, CA 94583
|
||
|
|
(510) 823-7543
|
||
|
|
(510) 277-1808
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
XI. DEBIT CARDS: PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
David Stubbs of Teltrust gave a great talk about debit cards
|
||
|
|
at TeleCard World '95 in Los Angeles in March. I didn't go to
|
||
|
|
the convention but I did get a tape of his speech. His remarks
|
||
|
|
concentrate on pre-paid calling cards but he does mention optical
|
||
|
|
cards and magnetic cards in passing. Optical, magnetic and chip
|
||
|
|
cards all store value in the card itself. Remote memory cards,
|
||
|
|
however, store value in a remote database. Stubbs uses debit card
|
||
|
|
to refer to all pre-paid cards.
|
||
|
|
Remote memory cards are a big business getting bigger.
|
||
|
|
Please read this article even if you are not interested in cards;
|
||
|
|
I think you will become interested in them if you do. The
|
||
|
|
following is not a verbatim transcript, by the way. I did have to
|
||
|
|
add some words here and there to make the text flow more freely. I
|
||
|
|
would say, though, that 98% of his speech is unchanged. Remember,
|
||
|
|
too, that this talk was aimed squarely at trade people and not the
|
||
|
|
average phone user. It does not, for example, address the fraud
|
||
|
|
committed by certain debit card companies. Like giving you 58
|
||
|
|
seconds instead of 60 seconds for one minute of time. Or printing
|
||
|
|
up a million units worth of time but only buying 800,000 units,
|
||
|
|
hoping that not all of the cards get used up.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Good morning, my name is David Stubbs and as you can probably
|
||
|
|
tell straight away, I've got a rather funny accent. I come from an
|
||
|
|
area that is very much involved in the use of debit cards for
|
||
|
|
rather a long time. In fact, it's almost twenty years since it was
|
||
|
|
actually started. I am both an Englishman and a New Zealander and
|
||
|
|
both of these countries have major investments in debit cards.
|
||
|
|
Probably most of you have seen this - I've got here a 20 unit
|
||
|
|
British Telecom card. A unit in the UK is a period of time. If you
|
||
|
|
are talking in the London area you might get two minutes per unit,
|
||
|
|
if you are talking from London to the north of Scotland you might
|
||
|
|
get half a minute and if you talk to the United States you may get
|
||
|
|
three seconds per unit. I bought this card last week for two
|
||
|
|
pounds which is about $3.40. This thing has been around in the UK
|
||
|
|
I think for about 17 years.
|
||
|
|
I'm going to talk a little bit more about the fraud side of
|
||
|
|
things, not the side that we have been talking about like the
|
||
|
|
switches and the issuing of cards. More about a different sort of
|
||
|
|
area because I was an original frauder of these cards. It was
|
||
|
|
possible in the old days to coat the back of this card with
|
||
|
|
ladies' nail polish, be able to insert the card into a British
|
||
|
|
Telecom reader and get all the free calling you wanted. [Laughter]
|
||
|
|
That was before Landis and Gyr decided that perhaps they ought to
|
||
|
|
modify the machines so that people like me couldn't do it. But my
|
||
|
|
history as a hacker goes back a lot, lot further than that.
|
||
|
|
Do you remember the English telephone boxes, the red ones you
|
||
|
|
often see in the movies? In the old days they used to have these
|
||
|
|
lovely black telephones inside that used 'push-push' operation.
|
||
|
|
Put your money in and push to talk if your party answered. You
|
||
|
|
pressed 'A' if they did and if they didn't you pressed 'B' and
|
||
|
|
your money came falling out. Well, we as kids learned that if you
|
||
|
|
picked up the handset and you tapped out on the cradle, three taps
|
||
|
|
gave you a three, four taps gave you a four, and, in fact, you
|
||
|
|
used to be able to make free telephone calls. So, as kids about on
|
||
|
|
the West Side we used to call people for free all the time and
|
||
|
|
annoy them just for having use of the telephone system.
|
||
|
|
Well it's come a long way since then in the UK. You've got
|
||
|
|
two different systems. You've got a system like this which is
|
||
|
|
produced by British Telecom, with the payphones made by Landis and
|
||
|
|
Gyr. And then you have another system made by GPT which I think is
|
||
|
|
the one that is used by the Japanese and by the New Zealanders
|
||
|
|
where they actually store the value not in a strip across the
|
||
|
|
front of the card where it is optically burned out and scanned,
|
||
|
|
which is the little white line that you can see when you come up
|
||
|
|
later on, but in three magnetic stripes. It's actually a fairly
|
||
|
|
interesting algorithm that calculates how much is being used and
|
||
|
|
rewrites it to the card. The only place you'll buy those readers
|
||
|
|
from is GPT so there's a fair amount of security built into the
|
||
|
|
system by the fact those cards can only be read by certain
|
||
|
|
readers.
|
||
|
|
We don't face that problem, in fact, in the United States. We
|
||
|
|
have a different set of rules. We have allowed our debit cards to
|
||
|
|
be used absolutely everywhere. Here I have a sample of a debit
|
||
|
|
card that my company issues. Teltrust, by the way, started life
|
||
|
|
as a payphone operator. I think we hated the concept and the idea
|
||
|
|
of debit cards when they first came out because we thought
|
||
|
|
everybody would use our telephones without us making any revenue.
|
||
|
|
[People dial around a payphone owner and their profits with 800
|
||
|
|
numbers] I think we finally came to the realization that, okay, if
|
||
|
|
we help sell these cards we'll make revenue from both sides of it
|
||
|
|
coming and going. We've actually been playing now with debit
|
||
|
|
cards for two years; I think we're fairly serious now. We've
|
||
|
|
issued something like five million cards so far.
|
||
|
|
My question, by way of Rick's comments, is how many of the
|
||
|
|
250 to 500 million cards issued in the United States in 1995 will
|
||
|
|
actually be used? I don't know if you realize it but something on
|
||
|
|
the order of 85% to 90% of all debit cards issued are not going
|
||
|
|
to be used. [This is very high. I think he means that the card
|
||
|
|
will not be used up completely] A statement was made in December
|
||
|
|
at a conference I was at in Houston that less than 3% of the
|
||
|
|
population currently knows anything about what a debit card really
|
||
|
|
is. Bear in mind these large numbers are going to be .
|
||
|
|
associated with cards that are active but not being used. And that
|
||
|
|
is the hacker's dream.
|
||
|
|
It's finding out [for the hacker] who's been issuing these
|
||
|
|
cards. For instance, if a half million Kodak cards were given away
|
||
|
|
with a box of three rolls of film, and the number of those that
|
||
|
|
were used was minuscule, a hacker who gains access to your system
|
||
|
|
and gains access to those cards can absolutely make free with what
|
||
|
|
is your money. And so I think the control of those is very, very
|
||
|
|
important. Richard mentioned that activation is a great problem -
|
||
|
|
you have to be able to control the activation. I'm just making
|
||
|
|
these comments before I go into what I really wanted to talk
|
||
|
|
about.
|
||
|
|
Why were debit cards originally issued overseas? They were
|
||
|
|
issued because they were a way to give an economic calling method
|
||
|
|
to the casual caller. We're all very familiar with people going
|
||
|
|
out and using payphones; they're all over the place in this
|
||
|
|
country. I think there are estimated to be something like two and
|
||
|
|
a half to three million pay-phones available in the United States.
|
||
|
|
But we're paying a premium, though, with payphones because of
|
||
|
|
fraud.
|
||
|
|
If ever you go to one of the pay-phone shows and listen to
|
||
|
|
the people talk about fraud, you'll wonder why the heck people
|
||
|
|
ever go into the business. The destruction of payphones for
|
||
|
|
accessing the coins is the main reason why people are thinking of
|
||
|
|
changing [to cards]. I asked our payphone division head about what
|
||
|
|
he thought was the reason a payphone was broken into or stolen. He
|
||
|
|
said 95% of the people who break in are after the money. There may
|
||
|
|
be $2,000 worth of control boards and mechanisms and everything
|
||
|
|
else in the payphone but they're not interested. 95% of the
|
||
|
|
reasons you have problems is because of money; either they're
|
||
|
|
breaking into the money box or they're really hacked off with this
|
||
|
|
payphone because it swallowed their money and so they take the
|
||
|
|
handset and they bash the heck out of the payphone and break the
|
||
|
|
handset.
|
||
|
|
So, the people overseas learned their lessons fairly early on
|
||
|
|
with payphones. They were controlled by the national telephone
|
||
|
|
companies. [The Post or Postal Telephone & Telegraph companies
|
||
|
|
(PTTs)] I showed you a British Telecom card earlier on as an
|
||
|
|
example - they had to find a better method of a) stopping the
|
||
|
|
destruction of their payphones and b) giving the user a break. If
|
||
|
|
you don't have a problem with the payphone you bring down the
|
||
|
|
costs of service. That's one of the things that we are seeing as a
|
||
|
|
spin-off over here, because of the reduced amount of fraud that
|
||
|
|
there is using debit cards we're able to offer really low cost
|
||
|
|
calling. For example, typically we're seeing anything from the
|
||
|
|
independents who are producing debit cards, producing a debit card
|
||
|
|
that's giving you like 20, 24, 25 cents a minute in the United
|
||
|
|
States. If you go to our majors, the AT&T's, the MCI's and the
|
||
|
|
Sprints, they're charging a higher premium because
|
||
|
|
they are protecting their existing business which is calling
|
||
|
|
cards.
|
||
|
|
These then are the reasons why people did it: it was more
|
||
|
|
economic, there was less fraud, and there was less knocking of
|
||
|
|
the phones around. For instance, in New Zealand -I like to bring
|
||
|
|
this one up because I know this study fairly well there - they
|
||
|
|
have approximately 9,500 payphones in the country and 5,000 of
|
||
|
|
those are debit card only. They do not take anything other than
|
||
|
|
the debit card. They have placed those in the higher crime areas,
|
||
|
|
they've placed those in the remote areas of the countryside,
|
||
|
|
they've cut down considerably on the cost of servicing that
|
||
|
|
business.
|
||
|
|
The other thing we've got to do to be able to get more debit
|
||
|
|
cards in the United States is, in fact, to educate the general
|
||
|
|
public. As I've mentioned before, only 3% of the population really
|
||
|
|
knows what the heck we are doing. As we see the majors move more
|
||
|
|
into the debit card business you're going to see more and more
|
||
|
|
acceptance by the general public and therefore more and more usage
|
||
|
|
of those.
|
||
|
|
The key questions? [About fraud] I thought I'd take this
|
||
|
|
invitation to speak to you as a challenge to learn something more
|
||
|
|
about it. My background is more on the switch side of things; I
|
||
|
|
do know quite a lot about our switching facility although I am a
|
||
|
|
simple peddler in the field. My background is 25 years in
|
||
|
|
computers so I know quite a lot about hacking. I was mentioning
|
||
|
|
the hacking in the early days, it was fairly simple to do hacking
|
||
|
|
through systems and networks because most people didn't protect
|
||
|
|
them. A lot of the things we are going to learn over the next
|
||
|
|
couple of years in our industry is how to protect our switches
|
||
|
|
against this. But what we've got to look at are the vulnerable
|
||
|
|
areas, where the risks are, who has the liability and who pays for
|
||
|
|
the fraud. These are four very, very key questions that we need to
|
||
|
|
answer when looking at debit cards.
|
||
|
|
In particular, we need to look at the PINs, which we've
|
||
|
|
talked about, the physical cards, the actual cash that's being
|
||
|
|
paid over, the credit cards that are used, the time that is being
|
||
|
|
stolen and what I call the intellectual property rights of the
|
||
|
|
actual card itself. That's because one of the major areas that is
|
||
|
|
not being addressed by my two colleagues is the actual card. Rick
|
||
|
|
mentioned the card that was issued at the Democratic National
|
||
|
|
Convention. That card currently sells from $1500 to $2000. It's
|
||
|
|
just a simple piece of plastic. And here we have, as I've said
|
||
|
|
before, the typical piece of plastic that is issue by Teltrust.
|
||
|
|
[Shows debit card to audience again] And I, as a fairly
|
||
|
|
sophisticated computer user, wouldn't bother to actually hack into
|
||
|
|
your database. There's far, far more money to be made by simply
|
||
|
|
taking a 2400 dpi scanner, scanning in the front and back of that
|
||
|
|
card, pressing it through my PC and going to a very sophisticated
|
||
|
|
printer, which might cost me about $5,000 and physically
|
||
|
|
duplicating the card. And you say, "Why do that?" On the back you
|
||
|
|
notice the little sticker, it can either be a sticker or a scratch
|
||
|
|
off, I don't care which. I'll put either one on there. The thing
|
||
|
|
is, the value to that card is going to be associated with the fact
|
||
|
|
that that sticker or scratch off has not been removed. Or if it
|
||
|
|
was in a pouch, that the card has not been taken out of the pouch.
|
||
|
|
We're going to see cards in this country go up in value like crazy
|
||
|
|
as more and more people become aware of what they are and more and
|
||
|
|
more people collect them. The biggest fraud, I believe, is not
|
||
|
|
going to be the theft of time, I believe it is going to be the
|
||
|
|
duplication and copying of cards. All right? That's where the
|
||
|
|
money is going to be made.
|
||
|
|
Do you realize that the most valuable card in New Zealand at
|
||
|
|
the moment is one that shows Dunedin's railway station, a god
|
||
|
|
awful place, excuse my French, but I don't know why they put it on
|
||
|
|
a card. That card sells for $46,000 dollars now. And I was in New
|
||
|
|
Zealand last year and they held an auction for debit cards.
|
||
|
|
Telecom New Zealand is the major issuer of debit cards. It issued
|
||
|
|
25 cards of face value of $100 dollars each. The first 24 cards
|
||
|
|
were sold en block for $125,000. The last single card, number 25,
|
||
|
|
was sold for $25,000. It's just a piece of plastic. So bear with
|
||
|
|
me and see what's going to happen. So that's the thing that you
|
||
|
|
are going to have to control. The question is, how are you going
|
||
|
|
to control it?
|
||
|
|
There are two sets of numbers on the back of a card. There
|
||
|
|
happens to be a number hidden under here which is the
|
||
|
|
authorization number and there is a number over here which is the
|
||
|
|
control number. And Richard talked about the fact that you are
|
||
|
|
generating a card, getting them out to the general public's hands,
|
||
|
|
but as you pass through you've got various phases. And you've got
|
||
|
|
to control that all the way through. What we have recommended is
|
||
|
|
the use of a single control number on the back here. This is a
|
||
|
|
sequential number that is used - if someone buys 2,000 cards they
|
||
|
|
get number 1 to 2,000. You then should take those cards, if they
|
||
|
|
are going to be sold out and activated, and use a system like one
|
||
|
|
that Rick talked about. You should track who they've gone to, at
|
||
|
|
what time they went and where they've gone. Right? Then you have
|
||
|
|
the ability to check that there are only 2,000 of those. So, that
|
||
|
|
reduces the risk of someone straight copying the card compared to
|
||
|
|
one that has only an authorization number that I as a perspective
|
||
|
|
dealer in these cards would not want to scratch off. This control
|
||
|
|
number is trackable and you should know where it was and when it
|
||
|
|
was sold. This reduces and minimizes risk.
|
||
|
|
But it is something you've got to be vigilant about. I don't
|
||
|
|
know if you've been following the copyright law cases that have
|
||
|
|
been going on between the United States and China, which we have
|
||
|
|
finally resolved. They have now basically come to the realization
|
||
|
|
that intellectual property rights are vested and need to be
|
||
|
|
protected. You could go and get any book copied in Hong Kong,
|
||
|
|
Taiwan, Saudi Arabia and somewhere else and there was nothing
|
||
|
|
against anybody copying that and going out and selling an
|
||
|
|
identical product. We need to control this, we need to come up
|
||
|
|
with systems. Richard's got a very good system, being able to
|
||
|
|
track and do inventory on this but we have got be serious about
|
||
|
|
this. Number your cards, put control numbers on them and watch it.
|
||
|
|
Because that, I believe, is the biggest problem.
|
||
|
|
Who's going to be responsible if we go back to the problem of
|
||
|
|
time theft? That's one of the things that's not been talked about.
|
||
|
|
Who's got the liability and who's got to pay for it? That depends
|
||
|
|
on how you sell the card. If you as a card generator, sell the
|
||
|
|
card to a dealer then make sure he pays you. He, in turn will sell
|
||
|
|
it to somebody who is going to retail it and he makes sure that he
|
||
|
|
gets paid. The retailer wants to make sure he gets the cash before
|
||
|
|
he gives the card out. One of the things about retailing is that
|
||
|
|
you are dealing with human beings. We talked about a card swipe
|
||
|
|
system. You swipe the card through to activate it. A customer then
|
||
|
|
gives the clerk some money. You've got to make sure that you get
|
||
|
|
that cash. Fraud is associated, of course, with not getting cash
|
||
|
|
for a card that has been issued. So be aware of who is selling
|
||
|
|
your cards and where the money is going. And from my old murky
|
||
|
|
past, the rule was always to follow the money trail. That's the
|
||
|
|
biggest thing you've got to keep an eye on. Where, oh where, is
|
||
|
|
the cash going and who's blowing it and who's pocket is it going
|
||
|
|
in now? Be very much aware. Richard's control system will help you
|
||
|
|
with that but you have to be aware of the people you are dealing
|
||
|
|
with.
|
||
|
|
Okay, the activation at the switch which David talked about -
|
||
|
|
there are some wonderful things at the moment. One of the things
|
||
|
|
that I'm not sure David mentioned is about the trunk group coming
|
||
|
|
in. Make sure your switch can look at the physical telephone
|
||
|
|
number of the person endeavoring to activate that card at the
|
||
|
|
time. We talked about a card swipe. There are other systems where
|
||
|
|
a clerk actually phones in from the retail store to activate the
|
||
|
|
card. One of the things that you can check is that the phone
|
||
|
|
number line that is used to place that activation call is already
|
||
|
|
in the database in the switch to make sure that the two numbers
|
||
|
|
marry. little since it isn't on the card but there is still a
|
||
|
|
chance of fraud. I've talked about vending machines a little. I
|
||
|
|
think that we are ultimately going to see vending machines in
|
||
|
|
which you can put in your debit card and cash or a debit card and
|
||
|
|
a credit card and the machine will reload your debit card account.
|
||
|
|
I know because I built one a few years ago.
|
||
|
|
You see, all we're doing in this debit card business here in
|
||
|
|
the United States is remembering a physical number. I wrote out a
|
||
|
|
number on a piece of paper at a lecture I gave in Houston. I hung
|
||
|
|
it up and asked if anybody would give me fifty bucks for this
|
||
|
|
piece of paper. Nobody took it. There was actually $100 worth of
|
||
|
|
time on a debit card. All I was getting over was the point that
|
||
|
|
all we are selling is a number. What I am saying is that there is
|
||
|
|
risk, there is reward, there is liability, you have to define
|
||
|
|
who's got that, where they've got it and at what point does
|
||
|
|
somebody take over that. And be aware that with collector cards
|
||
|
|
there is a opportunity for people to copy these and make a lot of
|
||
|
|
money. And that is where I think the future is going to be.
|
||
|
|
Resources:
|
||
|
|
David Stubbs' company is Teltrust, Inc. at (801) 535-2000 or write
|
||
|
|
to: 221 North Charles Lindbergh Drive, Salt Lake City, Utah 84116.
|
||
|
|
Fax number is (801) 235-2080. I've never dealt with them. David
|
||
|
|
mentioned Richard Arend. His company is Macrologic, Inc., 1544
|
||
|
|
Elmira Street, Aurora, CO 80010. Their phone number is (303) 367-
|
||
|
|
8766 and their fax number is (303) 367-8786. Again, I've never
|
||
|
|
dealt with them.
|
||
|
|
Debit cards are covered extensively by TeleCard World and
|
||
|
|
Premier Telecard Magazine. Subs aren't free but samples are.
|
||
|
|
TeleCard tends to be more corporate while Premier seems to cater
|
||
|
|
more to the collector. My choice, if I had to subscribe to just
|
||
|
|
one, would be Premier. Check out page 110 for details on them.
|
||
|
|
You can get audio tapes of TeleCard World '95 through
|
||
|
|
Conference Copy, Inc. Their address is 8435 Route 739 Route 379,
|
||
|
|
Hawley, PA 18428. (717) 775-0580. Tapes are $12 apiece plus $2.00
|
||
|
|
shipping apiece. I bought TE1, 'Inventory and Fraud Control' and
|
||
|
|
TE4, 'Vending Machines and Smart Phone Technologies'. TE4 is a two
|
||
|
|
tape set and a bit of a snoozer. Yes, Your Editor spent $42.00
|
||
|
|
for three cassettes.
|
||
|
|
The most informative corporate information that I've seen on
|
||
|
|
debit cards comes from CPDI: Communications Product Development
|
||
|
|
Incorporated of Vancouver, Washington. Their information packet
|
||
|
|
goes into a great deal of detail about call blocking by ANI as
|
||
|
|
well as everything else It's a bit difficult to follow. Ask for
|
||
|
|
the Communicator at the same time. It's a little newsletter they
|
||
|
|
produce that is much more user-friendly and will help to explain
|
||
|
|
the rest of their material. Try CPDI, 915 Broadway Street, Suite
|
||
|
|
100, Vancouver, WA 98660. (206) 694-2977. A contact person might
|
||
|
|
be Kimberly A. Farmer.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
XII. TELEPHONE REPAIR COLUMN
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
PRODUCT REVIEW:
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Telephone Ringing Generator Board: RG12V/5RP. The board itself is
|
||
|
|
2 inches square. The mechanism is adjustable from 15 to 68 Hz,
|
||
|
|
costs $49.95 and is featured in the latest Hosfelt Electronics
|
||
|
|
Catalog. The part number is 56-374. Hosfelft is at 800-524-6464.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
USES:
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
An interesting product was recently offered for sale which can
|
||
|
|
actually make your telephone bell ring. Not only can it be used to
|
||
|
|
test phone bells and do line simulations, but it can also activate
|
||
|
|
equipment that listen for phone bells such as modems, faxes, and
|
||
|
|
answering recording machines. It can also be used for inlercom
|
||
|
|
signaling or to provide a variable Hz output for electronic
|
||
|
|
experimentation. The variable Hz output could also be used to test
|
||
|
|
old rural farm-country phones which were set to ring at different
|
||
|
|
fre quencies (for several parties on a line). This product can be
|
||
|
|
useful in testing old phones for repair or new ones to see if they
|
||
|
|
ring properly. The product would be especially useful for folks
|
||
|
|
who lack a second line with which to call their first line from.
|
||
|
|
Most of all, of course, the product is an amazing and wonderful
|
||
|
|
toy which a person can enjoy playing with in order to have fun.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
OPERATION:
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Connect Ground and 12 Volt-ln leads to a 12 Volt DC Power Adapter.
|
||
|
|
Ground = black wire may be used.
|
||
|
|
12 Volts = red wire may be used.
|
||
|
|
Connect Outputs to Phone Set. (Either since it's AC)
|
||
|
|
One of the Outputs = red Ring wire of phoneset.
|
||
|
|
Other of the Outputs = green Tip wire of phoneset.
|
||
|
|
Touch a yellow wire between Enable and Ground to cause ringing.
|
||
|
|
Set Cycles Per Second to about 20 Hz where phone bell sounds
|
||
|
|
proper.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
CYCLES PER SECOND ADJUSTMENT:
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Although it is advertised as adjustable between 15 & 68 Hz; in
|
||
|
|
practice I find it to be adjustable between 5 & 4500 Hz when I
|
||
|
|
measure the output with a digital multimeter with frequency
|
||
|
|
feature. Telephones use 20Hz.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
OUTPUT:
|
||
|
|
When set to 20Hz exactly (by digital multimeter reading), this
|
||
|
|
product puts out an alternating current of 150 volts and so the
|
||
|
|
positive portion of that which is located above the ground would
|
||
|
|
be 75 volts which is just per fect for Ringing phone bells. The
|
||
|
|
150 volts, by the way, is an unloaded voltage which instead reads
|
||
|
|
147 volts when a phone bell is connected.
|
||
|
|
In order to picture in your mind how there can be an
|
||
|
|
alternating current with a positive half located above the ground,
|
||
|
|
think for a moment of how your ordinary household current is 240
|
||
|
|
volts AC but has a positive portion above ground which is 120
|
||
|
|
volts and used in ordinary household wiring such as that leading
|
||
|
|
to your light bulbs. 240 volts is available between the hot
|
||
|
|
positive black and the hot negative red wires. But 120 volts is
|
||
|
|
available between either of those wires and the white ground wire.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
TELCO'S BELL-RINGING POWER IS DIFFERENT:
|
||
|
|
The phone company sends out a pulsating positive direct current
|
||
|
|
of 75 volts root-mean-square measurement at 20 cycles per second
|
||
|
|
through the red Ring wire and receives the power back through the
|
||
|
|
green Tip wire (which is near ground) in the case of ordinary
|
||
|
|
normal private subscriber
|
||
|
|
lines. Remember that pulsating direct current stays on the plus
|
||
|
|
side of the ground when it pulsates up and down. In contrast,
|
||
|
|
alternating current wanders on both side of ground when it
|
||
|
|
pulsates between minus and plus. But phone bells usually don't
|
||
|
|
care whether they get pulsating direct or alternating current.
|
||
|
|
HAVE FUN WITH IT:
|
||
|
|
This unique product is a lot of fun, very useful and varied
|
||
|
|
in potential application. For further information, dial (800) 524-
|
||
|
|
6464 and ask for their free catalog and look up the product on
|
||
|
|
page 39.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Information Regarding Phone
|
||
|
|
Line Colors and Voltages
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
The green Tip wire is near ground. In that sense it is somewhat
|
||
|
|
related to the yellow ground wire which is an actual ground. The
|
||
|
|
red wing wire carries minus 50 volts when the phone is hung up or
|
||
|
|
on hook. The red Ring wire carries a minus twenty volts when the
|
||
|
|
phone is in use or off hook. This steady, direct current is used
|
||
|
|
for talking and listening. But when the phone bell is ringing,
|
||
|
|
there is superimposed upon the red Ring wire a positive 75 or 90
|
||
|
|
volt pulsating direct current at 20 cycles per second. So,
|
||
|
|
remember that the red Ring wire's current is negative for talking
|
||
|
|
but pulsating-positive for bell ringing. In both cases, the
|
||
|
|
current finds its ground in the green Tip wire. The Tip of the old
|
||
|
|
operator's plug was more positive than the Ring of the plug
|
||
|
|
because that which is near ground is more positive than a nega
|
||
|
|
tive direct talking current. This takes some thinking to get used
|
||
|
|
to because we so often think of ground as being the more negative.
|
||
|
|
But with telephone talking power, the more negative was the minus
|
||
|
|
fifty volts of the red Rinq wire.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Editor's Note: This article and its sidebar were submitted by a
|
||
|
|
sub scriber in Minnesota who wishes to remain anonymous. His
|
||
|
|
subscription has been extended by a year in retum for his review.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
XIII. ETEXT NOTE: The following relate to the charts and the 30+
|
||
|
|
photographs contained in Number 7. Send me $5.00 and it will all
|
||
|
|
become clear :) 5150 Fair Oaks Blvd. #101-348, Carmichael, CA
|
||
|
|
95608. Thanks!
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
A single wire does not run from your house to the central office.
|
||
|
|
A connection is maintained, instead, by a collection of wires and
|
||
|
|
cable that are strung together. Let's take one common example.
|
||
|
|
We'll follow your phone line from your house to the nearest C.O.
|
||
|
|
This example combines aerial and buried plant. Let's assume that
|
||
|
|
you live in an older neighborhood in a medium sized town. The kind
|
||
|
|
with telephone cable running through the backyards on poles.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
1. Telephone wiring inside your house first connects to the
|
||
|
|
telco's wire at the houseprotector or service terminal. This is
|
||
|
|
the demarcation point. Your wiring ends here and the telco's
|
||
|
|
wiring begins.
|
||
|
|
2. A drop wire containing one twisted pair goes to a pole closure,
|
||
|
|
an aerial terminal or ready access terminal Call it what you will,
|
||
|
|
this is the termination of the sub scriber's drop wire. Drop wires
|
||
|
|
may be 30 feet or 3,000 feet long. They contain one twisted pair
|
||
|
|
apiece.
|
||
|
|
3. The customer's twisted pair is connected to binding posts
|
||
|
|
within the enclosure. Depending on the enclosure, a wire
|
||
|
|
representing your twisted pair may now be connected to the aerial
|
||
|
|
cable servicing your neighborhood. This sort of enclosure is
|
||
|
|
inline with the aerial cable and may serve as a connecting or
|
||
|
|
splice point. Or, a wire from the back of the enclosure may run to
|
||
|
|
a splice case nearby. This marries that enclosure's wire with the
|
||
|
|
larger aerial cable that services your area.
|
||
|
|
4. This cable may contain 50 pairs or more. It's called
|
||
|
|
distribution cable or aerial cable or F2 for being the secondary
|
||
|
|
feeder cable. Several F2 cables may work their way back to the
|
||
|
|
nearest SAI.
|
||
|
|
5. These cables go underground via conduit before connecting to
|
||
|
|
the serving area interface. 6. The SAI. A big terminal block.
|
||
|
|
Those ubiquitous gray-green cabinets you see nearly everywhere. F2
|
||
|
|
cable pairs connect with F1 pairs at this point. F1 or main feeder
|
||
|
|
cables then go underground in conduit, usually to the nearest C.O.
|
||
|
|
or remote switching module. Or first to transmission equipment and
|
||
|
|
then to the central office.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
1. The demarcation or demark point. A residential one. This one is
|
||
|
|
protected by fuses so it is considered a protected service
|
||
|
|
terminal. Note the cable near the rain gutter. It runs up to the
|
||
|
|
top of the roof to become an aerial drop wire. A 66 block is a
|
||
|
|
much larger protected service terminal installed at many
|
||
|
|
businesses, apartment complexes and other multi-unit buildings.
|
||
|
|
April's Blacklisted! 411 had a picture of a Western Electric 66 on
|
||
|
|
the cover. John Higdon notes that some GTE served residences have
|
||
|
|
a mulitplexer at this point.
|
||
|
|
2. An aerial drop wire goes to a telco's service terminal. Fooled
|
||
|
|
you, didn't l? Everyone's seen aerial drop wire so why show it?
|
||
|
|
This is actually open wire. It does the same thing as a drop wire
|
||
|
|
does. It brings a customer's tip and ring to a distribution point
|
||
|
|
in the form of bare copper wire instead of a cable with a twisted
|
||
|
|
pair of wires.
|
||
|
|
3. Pole mounted service terminal. They come in many shapes and
|
||
|
|
sizes. They all do the same job. They connect the drop wire to a
|
||
|
|
larger cable. A stub from the box goes to a splice case a few feet
|
||
|
|
away. Ready access enclosures, by comparison, terminate the drop
|
||
|
|
wire and splice into the larger F2 cable all at once.
|
||
|
|
4. A serving area interface? Possibly. Many pole mounted SAls do
|
||
|
|
look similar.
|
||
|
|
5. Typical aerial splice case.
|
||
|
|
6. A terminal block of some sort. Maybe an SAI. Or it could be
|
||
|
|
connecting the local drops to a larger distribution cable that in
|
||
|
|
turn runs to an SAI.
|
||
|
|
7. A modern SAI cabinet. Loosely called a connecting point or a
|
||
|
|
junction box or cross connect box by some. Hundreds of connections
|
||
|
|
possible at these binding posts. The back is mostly wired in, just
|
||
|
|
waiting for local pairs to come to it. These cabinets can be many
|
||
|
|
sizes. The inside of the frame usually tilts forward, providing
|
||
|
|
access to the other side.
|
||
|
|
8 . & 9. Still going. A car crashed into this cabinet. See the
|
||
|
|
spare duct for future cable? Underground cable comes in and goes
|
||
|
|
out. The SAI is the interface between the loops in the local
|
||
|
|
neighborhood (gathered up by F2 or distribution cable) and the
|
||
|
|
cable below the street which is F1. The main feeder goes to the
|
||
|
|
C.O.
|
||
|
|
10. Exterior. Handle is mounted flush with the door. Opens with a
|
||
|
|
normal can opener but it's a strange, pull out, turn halfway kind
|
||
|
|
of locking mechanism.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
The Cable Vault
|
||
|
|
Here's where outside plant begins, even though it is within the
|
||
|
|
central office. See page 101. Harry Newton defines it thus, "Cable
|
||
|
|
Vault: Room under the main distribution frame in a central office
|
||
|
|
building. Cables from the subscribers lines come into the building
|
||
|
|
through the cable vault. From here they snake their way up to the
|
||
|
|
main distribution frame. The cable vault looks like a bad B-movie
|
||
|
|
portrayal of Hell, replete with thousands of dangerous black
|
||
|
|
snakes. Cable vaults are prime targets for the spontaneous
|
||
|
|
starting of fires. They should be protected with Halon gas, but
|
||
|
|
they usually aren't because some parts of the phone industry think
|
||
|
|
Halon is too expensive." C'mon, Harry! Lighten up. Maybe that's
|
||
|
|
the way it is in NYNEX country but the vault I saw was a picture
|
||
|
|
of orderliness and careful workmanship. Everything was in its
|
||
|
|
place, including a Halon fire suppression system. I can't imagine
|
||
|
|
an insurance company settling for anything less.
|
||
|
|
1. Exterior of typical C.O. But what's below ground?
|
||
|
|
2. Roof of the cable vault, with each cable neatly held to the
|
||
|
|
rack.
|
||
|
|
3. Far end of vault, where cables enter through conduit. Note the
|
||
|
|
extra conduit available.
|
||
|
|
4. Long view of the cable vault. A massive amount of cable but all
|
||
|
|
neatly racked up. Those large splice cases are better considered
|
||
|
|
as vault closures.
|
||
|
|
5. Close-up of the entry point to the vault. Each black cable
|
||
|
|
contains 2400 twisted pairs. Lighter colored housings contain
|
||
|
|
several fiber optic threads in a loose tube cable. Air pressure
|
||
|
|
hoses connect to the copper cable housings.
|
||
|
|
6. Splice case. Similar to what you'd see in a manhole.
|
||
|
|
7. Over-exposed photo of a NT fiber optic cabinet. This enclosure
|
||
|
|
is a Fiber Manager. It first arranges some of the fiber coming
|
||
|
|
into the vault before it heads upstairs to the distribution frame.
|
||
|
|
8. Pressure monitoring system for the pressure distribution
|
||
|
|
system. Very expensive equipment feeds dry air (3%) into the F1
|
||
|
|
copper cables at about 10 P.S.I. 24 hours a day. This helps keep
|
||
|
|
water out of the cables. There are two systems in this vault. One
|
||
|
|
takes over if the other fails.
|
||
|
|
9. Cutaway of a fiber optic "splice case".
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Tom Farley
|
||
|
|
5150 Fair Oaks Blvd. #101-348
|
||
|
|
Carmichael, CA 95608
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
$5.00 for this issue. Comments and corrections welcome.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
privateline@delphi.com
|
||
|
|
|