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From pub-infra-request Tue Dec 10 13:34:55 1991
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Date: Tue, 10 Dec 1991 18:34:55 -0500
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Subject: What is ISDN Good For?
From: mkapor (Mitch Kapor)
Sender: ckd
habs@panix.com (Harry Shapiro) writes:
"What applications that require ISDN can't already run with existing
products like switched 56 kbit, and 14,400 modems?"
Switched 56 kilobit service has the same order of bandwidth as 64 kbit
ISDN, but its availability is strikingly different. Switched 56 is not
intended to be a residential service. Our vision of ISDN is that you
simply order it the way you order an additional voice-grade phone line.
Further, we believe ISDN must be priced like voice telephone service.
Switched 56 is not priced like voice service. It is much more
expensive. ISDN must be ubiquitous and affordable. Switched 56, while
useful for businesses which can afford expensive installation and fees
is not.
The ISDN rate of 64 kb is at the critical threshold which will permit
interactive multimedia using video and audio compression. 14.4 is
simply too slow, even with compression, for videotelephony, much less
other more demanding forms of video. Before it is argued that the
effective rate of a V.32bis modem is not 14.4 kb, but 14.4 kb plus
compression effects, let me point out that the same compression
techniques can and will be applied over 64 kb ISDN lines, boosting its
effective rate by an equivalent factor of two to four.
While it is still considered heretical in some quarters to assert that
VHS-quality video will be possible over a 64 kb line, there is a growing
consensus among researchers at the cutting edge of work in this area
that that is exactly where we are headed. In such a scenario, using
desktop personal computers of the year 1995 as video production studios,
everyone with access to a PC and ISDN potentially becomes a video
producer, with ISDN as the switched distribution network providing video
dial-tone. This will open the floodgates of innovation in video,
acheiving the richness of video (not passive, but interactive) with the
type of diversity heretofore associated only with print.
Beyond ISDN are other protocols which can run over copper-pairs, such as
ADSL, which runs at 300 kb /second. More on that later.
Mitchell Kapor
Electronic Frontier Foundation
From pub-infra-request Tue Dec 10 13:33:37 1991
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Date: Tue, 10 Dec 1991 18:33:37 -0500
Message-Id: <199112102333.AA05559@eff.org>
Subject: ADSL
From: mkapor (Mitch Kapor)
Sender: ckd
habs@panix.com (Harry Shapiro) writes:
If we really want to have competition for the Cable and Telco
companies we need a digital product that can let Telco deliver movies
and entertainment at VCR quality and above... It is within the
technical ability of cable companies to offer phone service, plus
cable and other people offering PCN.
ADSL can be used to offer VCR quality video, using compression
techniques to most homes.
ADSL, is a T1 speed (1.54 mbits) connection into the home
with a 16 kbit up to 144 kbit bi-directional (base rate isdn)
connection.
Uncompressed CD audio, compressed NTSC, computer graphics, etc. All
this can be offered within a T1 rate. (All most anything we (as
consumers) want, t1 could do... Yes some of us want 45 mbits and
some of us what even more....
ADSL (Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line) is still in field trials.
It will be in trials in the 92/94 time frame...
The sept. 16, 1991 -page 18- issue of computer world reports,
"ADSL, developed by Bell Communications Research Inc., (Bellcore)
delivers a bitstream of 1.5M bit/sec. to homes with two-way,
Basic-Rate Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN)"
The August 26 th 1991 issue of FIBER OPTIC NEWS on page 8, reports,
"VCR quality television, voice and data can be sent simultaneously
over a single cooper telephone line... The achievement is possible
because of ... ADSL which uses digital signal processing techniques
and experimental very-large-scale integrated (VLSI) circuitry."
The June 10th issue of Telephony on page 27 reports,
"ADSL... has a design goal of 18,000 feet on just one copper pair....
The Technology
The anticipated range of ADSL equipment using quadrature amplitude
modulation (QAM) is from 0 to 18,000 feet. About 75% of residential
telephone customers are served today on non-loaded facilities less
than 18,000 feet from the CO."
[We agree. ADSL sure sounds like a good thing. We are finding out what
Bellcore and RBOC deployment plans are, if any. As previously noted, we
think video over ISDN is a valid medium. But faster is clearly better,
especially if it still runs over copper. -MK]
My point being lets not spend public money on things like ISDN,
when something better and more useful is coming.
[We're not advocating spending large amounts of additional public money on
ISDN. Telco plant modernization for digital switches etc. is going to
happen whether or not consumers get ubiquitous, affordable ISDN. We're
paying for it anyway. -MK]
From pub-infra-request Tue Dec 10 13:35:47 1991
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Date: Tue, 10 Dec 1991 18:35:47 -0500
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Subject: Initial Positive Response to the Open Platform Proposal
From: mkapor (Mitch Kapor)
Sender: ckd
The initial response to the Open Platform concept has been extremely
positive in many quarters.
1. Congress
In a letter to Mitchell Kapor from the Chairman of the Subcommittee with
primarily jurisdiction over telecommunications policy dated November 5,
1991, Representative Edward J. Markey complemented Mitchell Kapor on his
"insights on the development of a national public information
infrastructure" which "were appreciated greatly by myself and the Members
of the Subcommittee."
Chairman Markey, writing to Mitch Kapor as a representative of the computer
industry, called for other leaders in the industry to participate more
actively in the policy process. The letter states:
"In crafting the right policies [for the telephone network], the assistance
of you and your colleagues in the computer industry is critical if we are
to bring the benefits of advanced information technology to the American
public. As I said at the hearing, we need to pursue policies that
encourage the Bell companies to work with other sectors of the
communications industry to create a consumer-oriented, public information
network. Please let me or my staff know what policies you and others in the
computer industry believe would best serve the public interest in creating
a reasonably priced, widely available network in which competition is open
and innovation rewarded. I also want to learn what lessons from the
computer industry over the past ten to fifteen years should apply to the
current debate on structuring the information and communications networks
of the future....I ask your help in gaining input from the computer
industry so that the Subcommittee can shape policies that will bring this
spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship to the information services
industry.
Key members on the Senate Commerce Committee have also expressed serious
interest in the proposal and for it to be further developed in cooperation
with others in the computer industry. We have agreed to reach out to
leaders in the computer industry such as yourself to obtain your input and
seek your participation in this policy process.
2. Communications Industry
Since unveiling the proposal, Mitchell Kapor and Jerry Berman, EFF's
Washington Office Director, have met with top officials of many of the
communications and electronic publishing firms involved in the current
debate, including the American Newspaper Publishers Association, the
National Cable Television Association, Dun and Bradstreet, AT&T, and the
Electronic Publishers Association. All have expressed enthusiasm about the
Open Platform concept and have urged that we develop the proposal in more
detail. They want to know if it is both economically and technically
feasible to deploy a feature rich ISDN or whether innovation must await the
full and costly deployment of residential fiber optics.
3. Consumer Groups
On November 25, 1991 the Communications Policy Forum, a consumer forum
cosponsored by the Consumer Federation of American, the Electronic Frontier
Foundation, and the American Civil Liberties Union, met to discuss the
future of telecommunications policy in the wake of the court's decision to
permit the RBOCS to engage in information services. At this meeting, EFF
presented the Open Platform Proposal as a necessary part of any legislation
that seeks both to establish fair competition as well as innovative health,
education, and other information services. Consumer groups expressed
great interest in the idea and called on EFF to develop its concept further
and to use the Communications Policy Forum as a mechanism for developing a
more detailed open platform design for further consumer review in early
1992.
From mkapor Tue Dec 10 14:43:29 1991
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From: mkapor (Mitch Kapor)
Subject: Tutorial on Telephone network architecture
[Tim Gorman <71336.1270@compuserve.com> provides the following useful
tutorial on ISDN in the telephone network. -MK]
Probably the first comment that needs to be made about ISDN availability is
the capability of the network to provide the service. There are several
pieces of the network involved in providing the service and all must be
available or none of the rest are useful. Basically these consist of:
1. local subscriber outside plant facilities
a. copper pairs
b. Subscriber carrier (either copper or fiber based)
2. Central Office line card modules (and corresponding line cards)
3. Central office line concentrating modules (primarily software)
4. Central office interoffice trunk modules
5. Central office switch generics
Central office
---------------
First, some generic background on central office switch architecture is
needed. For the most part, the following descriptions apply to all
digital central offices regardless of vendor.
| | | | | | | |
|dist. |_____|line |_____|concentrating|_____|switch |__________
|frame | |cards| |module | |fabric | |
| | | | | | |interface| |
|______| |_____| |_____________| |_________| |
| |
| |
| | | |
Subscriber |trunk | |
Outside interoffice ________|interface |_________|
Plant facilities |module |
|__________|
| | (controls the interoperation of
|Central | the modules and some of the
|Processing| complex internal operations)
|Unit (CPU)|
|__________|
The line card module, concentrating module, and switch fabric module are
all
smart, highly sophisticated pieces of equipment. Although some call them
"multiplexing" equipment, in essence they are all dedicated purpose
computers. As such, they all have software (or firmware or whatever is
appropriate to the vendors architecture and jargon) which dictate their
operation. In many cases, this software is arranged as various packages or
"features" that are licensed (via a right-to-use fee) from the vendor.
These
software features include software for the various module operations as
well
as for the CPU "generic" software. ISDN functionality is usually included
as
one or more of these features (e.g. basic ISDN, D-channel packet, D-channel
backup could all be different feature packages).
There may be multiple physical variants of each module for use in providing
different serving arrangements in different switches. These may also many
times be distinguished by different pricing levels. At least one vendor has
available a standard, analog line card/line drawer/line frame module and a
different ISDN, 2B1Q compatible line card/line drawer/line frame module.
The
2B1Q ISDN line frame module is to be upgraded in 1992 to be physically and
software compatible with all standard analog line cards as well as the ISDN
2B1Q line cards.
Network
-----------
Making ISDN a viable service will require providing the right physical
equipment and software in the network. Individual physical pieces that
will need to be considered are:
a. line terminating equipment
b. interoffice trunking equipment (for 64kb clear channel signaling)
c. interoffice facilities (for 64kb clear channel signaling)
d. subscriber loop carrier equipment
It is probable that most existing line terminating equipment is not ISDN
capable. The primary reason in most cases will probably have to do with the
need for splitting off the D-channel signaling and routing it through the
switch to the necessary processing modules. Most existing line module
equipment just doesn't provide for this. This does, of course, depend on
the switch vendors equipment design.
Most trunk interface module equipment now in use is not 64kb clear channel
signaling capable. For at least two major switch vendors, making the
equipment capable will not require provisioning new equipment modules but
will require adding "common equipment" to the existing modules. The common
equipment consists of additional plug-in boards providing the necessary
functionality. The major problem with this upgrade is the complexity of
adding these plug-ins. If you have a trunk interface module that handles
twenty DS-1 lines and they are all in service only two approaches are
available. You can obtain "turn-down releases" on all of the circuits,
busy them out, perform appropriate maintenance activity on the interface
module, add the new circuit packs, download any needed software to the
trunk interface peripheral, and then reverse the previous steps to put the
circuits back in service. The alternative is to provide a "conversion"
trunk interface module (properly equipped of course), transition all DS-1
lines from the next module to be converted to the conversion module,
convert
the just vacated one, and then continue the process with the next module in
line and the one that was just converted. Both methods are VERY manpower
intensive and therefore expensive to perform. It is also not a quick
process
in terms of overall interval. Manpower must be allocated to this task when
other, higher priority service-impacting activities are not pending.
Providing full ISDN capability in the interoffice facility network is much
like providing it in the central office trunk interface modules.
Multiplexing
equipment, fiber terminating bays, line repeaters, etc. must be changed out
or upgraded. The major complicating factor here is the number of circuits
that can be involved and the resulting service impacts.
Subscriber Loop Carrier
--------------------------
Subscriber Loop Carrier (SLC) was developed to take advantage of DS1
signaling to save outside plant investment. By using two pairs to provide
a DS1 span with a capability of 24 circuits, a savings of 22 pairs could be
realized. Most Subscriber Loop Carrier (SLC) equipment being provided today
operates much in the same fashion as standard T-1 equipment. This means
each
individual module provides some kind of grouping of 24 56kb lines.
Different
vendors provide different line capacities such as AT&T's SLC-96 (tm?)
equipment. In order to provide full ISDN capability the equipment must
first
be upgraded to provide 64kb channel service instead of 56kb. Then the
appropiate plug-in cards must be installed to interface with the actual
pair
going toward the subscribers location. The major concern in this serving
arrangement will be the impact on equipment quantities. To serve 2B+D at a
160kb rate will probably require three channels (64kb * 3 = 192kb) on the
SLC module. A large penetration of ISDN could result in having to increase
equipment investment to a level of about three times what it is now. Some
investigation also is needed to determine if ISDN and standard analog lines
can co-exist on the same SLC module. If not, even a small penetration of
ISDN could result in a large requirement for additional equipment.
Generic SLC architecture looks as follows:
24
24
subscribers
| | Lines | | |SLC | DS1 | | __
|Line | |Dist | |Central | |SLC | o/ \o
|Interface|_______|Frame|_______|Office |_____//_______|Remote |____/\
|Module | | | |Terminal| // |Terminal| / \
|_________| |_____| |________| |________| ----
2 lines
(1-transmit)
(1-receive )
The arrangement shown here is what is generically termed "dedicated" mode.
Each subscriber has a channel to the switch available at all times. Most
vendors offer enough intelligence in their terminals (usually via
additional
plug-ins) to also provide concentration ratio's ranging from 48 subscribers
vying for 24 channels (2:1) to as high as 5:1. This would mean that of the
120 customers connected to the remote terminal, only 24 could have calls in
progress at once.
One primary reason for for SLC equipment not being exactly like standard T1
systems is the need to provide for additional signaling modes required in
the
loop plant. Interoffice trunk signaling generally uses what is termed
2-State
signaling. The far end can signal you as either off-hook or on-hook
(busy/idle, seizure/idle, etc.) Similarly, you can signal the far end an
off-hook or on-hook. Physically, this signaling can take many forms: loop
closed/loop open, battery reversal/normal battery, E lead ground/E lead
open,
etc. Basic station service typically uses 3-State signaling from the
Central
Office (CO) toward the station and 2-State from the station to the CO. The
CO
needs to signal battery applied to the line, battery not applied to the
line,
and alerting (usually ringing voltage). Special stations such as ground
start
lines or coin lines can use 3-State signaling or even higher (the CO needs
to signal a coin station for coin collect, coin return, dialing pad enable,
dialing pad disable, and ringing among others). This requires the SLC
equipment to encode the signaling information in the PCM bitstream
differently than standard T1.
As an enhancement to this service, some switch vendors make what is termed
"integrated" SLC modules for their switches. All this really does is take
the
central office terminal and integrate it directly into the switch
architecture. The DS1 lines from the remote terminal can then be terminated
directly on the central office switch. This architecture has never "caught
on" in this area because of the difficulty in maintaining load balance
objectives (i.e. you can't move a high usage line to a low usage line
interface module to keep switch usage in balance without moving at least
23 other customers).
Interoffice Facilities
----------------------
In general, interoffice facilities are arranged as follows:
| |________| | | |
|CO | DS1 |DS1 | |Light Fiber |
|Trunk |________|to | |Terminating Bay |
|Interface|________|DSx |________| or |______\ WORLD
|Module |________|Multiplexer| |Digital Radio Bay| /
|_________| |___________| |_________________|
LFTB - Light Fiber Terminating Bay
DRB - Digital Radio Bay
MUX - DS1-to-DSx Multiplex/Demultiplex Bay
DSX - Digital Signal X-conn (cross-connect) Bay
COTIM - Central Office Trunk Interface Module
DCS - Digital Crossconnect System
A more detailed breakdown of a CO would look as follows:
(fiber)
| |_____| | | |
| /| | | _| |________|LFTB|____\ WORLD
| |____|/ |_____|DACS| _| | _| | |____| /
|COTIM| | /| |____| _| | _|DS3|
| | | \|________________|MUX|____|DSX|________| |
| |____|DSX|________________| | _| | |LFTB|_____\ WORLD
|_____| |___| |___| _|___| |____| /
Instead of the fiber shown in this drawing, digital radio or cable based
T1,
T1C, and T2 may be used in the interoffice plant.
Each piece of equipment in this arrangement must be capable of 64kb clear
channel signaling or it cannot be made available on an end-to-end basis.
For
service protection, the trunk paths between two end points are usually
spread over as wide a range of equipment as possible. Thus, providing 64kb
clear
channel capability for certain interoffice connections may involve updating
a significant amount of equipment in the central office.
From mkapor Wed Dec 11 12:17:32 1991
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Date: Wed, 11 Dec 1991 17:17:32 -0500
Message-Id: <199112112217.AA05476@eff.org>
From: Russ Nelson <nelson@cheetah.ece.clarkson.edu> (by way of mkapor@eff.org
(Mitch Kapor))
Subject: Tutorial on Telephone network architecture
> [Tim Gorman <71336.1270@compuserve.com> provides the following useful
> tutorial on ISDN in the telephone network. -MK]
Tim left off the subscriber end, perhaps because this is more common
knowledge. But I'll fill it in anyway...
Everyone knows that ISDN carries synchronous 2B+D, and that each B is
64Kbps packet or circuit switched, and the D is 16Kbps packet
switched. Synchronous means that the data is constantly flowing at
the specified rate. Most modems in use today use asynchronous
transmission, which means that each chunk of information has a
starting indication and an ending indication.
Packet switched means that the stream of bits is formatted
into packets, and each packet is transported as a unit. Circuit
switched means that the stream of bits goes from one end to another
without being interpreted by the switching equipment.
There are two different flavors of 2B+D: U and T. ANSI has defined
two different interfaces in the customer's premises, T (or S/T) and U.
The U interface connects directly to the switch over a 0 to 18,000 foot
loop, and uses one pair. The T interface connects to the U interface
through a signal converter called an NT1. It uses two pair (transmit and
receive) and runs at most 1,000 feet.
The U interface is electrically more sophisticated. The transmission
rate is 80Kbaud and each pair of bits is encoded into four different
voltage levels. This makes the data rate 160Kbps, plus it transmits
and receives in both directions at the same time. It does this by
knowing what it's sending, and subtracting that from what it's
receiving. Then it digitally filters the result. This is necessary
because the local loop to your premises may contain multiple changes
in impedance. That happens when your wire gauge changes, or you have
a tee connection. These impedance changes muddy the digital signal.
There can be only one device on the U interface, most probably an NT1.
The T interface, on the other hand, can be shared between multiple
devices. This is done because you can hang a telephone, a modem, and
a FAX machine off the same phone line. When a FAX machine calls you,
your FAX machine answers. When a modem calls you, your modem answers,
etc.
There are three concerns with ISDN:
o Powering
o Wiring
o Extensions
Powering
The current telephone network (POTS -- Plain Old Telephone Service
[seriously]) is powered by the central office. Ever notice that your
phone has a "REN"? That stands for Ringer Equivalence Number. It's
given in units of the standard telephone bell. Your central office
can ring about five of these bells. If the total of all your RENs is
over five, then your phone may not ring.
ISDN, on the other hand, uses no power from the central office. That seems
like an advantage, but what happens when you lose local power. The central
office still runs because it has its own batteries. But you can't make
calls unless you have your ISDN sets on a UPS.
Wiring
POTS phones can and have been wired willy-nilly, in a star configuration,
or bus. Because only two wires are necessary, sometimes only two wires
work.
ISDN, on the other hand, requires a single stretch of wire with terminators
on both ends, and it requires four wires.
Extensions
POTS sets can join into an existing phone call simply by going off hook.
Only one ISDN set can communicate on a B channel at a time. That means
that only the originating or receiving set can communicate. All the
other sets cannot transmit or receive.
--russ <nelson@clutx.clarkson.edu> I'm proud to be a humble Quaker.
Peace is not the absence of war. Peace is the presence of a system for
resolving conflicts before war becomes necessary. War never creates peace.
From mkapor Thu Dec 12 14:46:57 1991
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From: peterm@halcyon.com (Peter Marshall) (by way of mkapor@eff.org (Mitch Kapor))
Subject: Article on "The Argument Against ISDN"
...Let's set the mirrors aside and see what we really have with ISDN:
ISDN provides 64 kilobit digital, full-duplex data. It does so to any
other ISDN line when using a carrier that is fully digital, compatible
and offers the service.
ISDN provides point-to-point connections, similar to a telephone.
Connections can be established in a few seconds.
ISDN provides several enhanced features, such as calling line
identification and data privacy....
Telephone companies invariably fear new technology.... New technology
upsets rate structures. And new technology upsets *the natural order of
things.*
ISDN is a new technology.... ISDN represents competition to local
dialtone loops.... There are many questions. The traditional telco
response is simple: Charge a high enough price that these concerns
simply go away because of the profits generated....
implementation of ISDN has involved changing out central office lines.
Designing $1000 boxes for the customer end. It has meant converting the
*entire* public nationwide network to an all-digital one. In short, ISDN
was designed to take more than a decade to implement....
ISDN has some serious "reality checks" to go through to succeed. And
unless it can pass that reality check, it will be increasingly a fantasy.
Back when it was just a dream, it might have made sense to charge twice
as much for an ISDN call....
But today, modems are equally fast, and thus ISDN *cannot* cost more per
minute if it is to succeed in the mainstream marketplace.
Because not everybody has ISDN lines to every desktop, ISDN has less
effective connectivity than a modem. And this, too, reduces the value of
ISDN.
Because telephone companies are in no position to prevent independent
competitive technology from being introduced, they will have to compete.
The cost of installing an ISDN line must be low.... The cost of ISDN
terminal equipment must be lowered....
What can be done to preserve the potential benefits of ISDN's ubiquitous
digital service...?
ISDN is better suited for some types of data than modems will be for
perhaps another five years.... ISDN achieves its 64,000 bits per second
speed *without* compression. This could be a tellingly significant
point.... ISDN can combine a voice line with a data line for
simultaneous use. This can eliminate the need for a second line....
ISDN, being a network service, may combine to offer X.25-like capability.
This means that a single ISDN termination could maintain many
simultaneous "virtual" connections through a packet-switched network....
To widely succeed, ISDN needs an aggressive posture. Terminal equipment
costs must be affordable(or lower), per minute rate charges must be
comparable(or lower), and efforts need to be made to achieve
compatability with existing software.
Otherwise, ISDN will merely service your Group IV FAX machine and your
desktop video system. Maybe this is enough for your telephone company.
But is it really enough for you?...
--
The 23:00 News and Mail Service - +1 206 292 9048 - Seattle, WA USA
PEP, V.32, V.42bis
+++ A Waffle Iron, Model 1.64 +++
From mkapor Fri Dec 13 10:17:35 1991
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From: <frankston!Bob_Frankston@world.std.com> (by way of mkapor@eff.org (Mitch
Kapor))
Subject: Re: What is ISDN Good For?
It seems that the main attribute of interest in ISDN is the (relatively)
high
bandwidth. Actually, this it is modest compared with other media (such as
cable TV and newspapers), but still better than standard phone lines.
But there are other aspects that I'm more concerned about including:
* Ideally, ISDN should provide peer protocols between my premises equipment
and the central offices in terms of controlling connections and accessing
network resources. I should also be able to provide services. A simple
example is call forwarding -- I should be able to implement this locally.
One advantage of a local implementation is the ability to add policies.
These protocols should support queries about pricing and other service
aspects.
* For data transmission I need to be able to connect to multiple services
using either a datagram capability or multiple virtual circuits. This
should
be a standard offering so that I can build software that takes advantage of
it.
* Addressing (phone number) issues should be cleaned up over the current
system so that I have a uniform way of addressing resources on the network.
I.e., no dial "9" for an outside line. But this should be extended to
subaddressing as in specifying an extension number, a person or service.
This is similar to DID but universal without the high costs of a DID trunk.
This is extending the view of what ISDN is. For example, I should be able
to
use standard ISDN protocols to pass the additional data bits to a pager.
(Of
course, the character set should be Unicode and not just digits).
* Of course, pricing should be such that casual connection to network
services for many hours should be comparable to the price for an unmeasured
service line. The current message unit pricing assumes that the use of the
phone is an unusual event. If it is our connection to the communications
infrastructure then the default is to be connected and use of a modest size
information pipe should be negligible Perhaps a better price comparison
would be to the newspaper. Getting the newspaper delivered via ISDN should
not cost more than getting some ink laden woodpulp hand carried to my
house.
In reading the notes about the physical wiring for ISDN, I'm concerned
about
ISDN being an MIS manager dream and an end user's Procrustean bed.
From mkapor Wed Dec 18 06:32:35 1991
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Date: Wed, 18 Dec 1991 11:32:35 -0500
Message-Id: <199112181632.AA07888@eff.org>
From: Mitchell Kapor <mkapor>
Subject: if you haven't seen this....
------- Forwarded Message
MessageName: (Message 103)
From: dae@world.std.com (Dwight A Ernest)
Date: Wed, 18 Dec 91 08:53:44 -0500
To: isdn@list.prime.com
Subject: ISDN in Japan and USA: Contrasts
I pass without comment a posting from Usenet's comp.dcom.telecom newsgroup
by Jim Haynes:
> From: haynes@cats.UCSC.EDU (Jim Haynes)
> Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
> Subject: ISDN in Japan and USA
> Message-ID: <telecom11.1018.4@eecs.nwu.edu>
> Date: 12 Dec 91 00:40:47 GMT
> Organization: University of California, Santa Cruz
> X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 1018, Message 4 of 12
>
> At the Sun User Group conference this week a lunch speaker was David
> S. H. Rosenthal of SunSoft. He remarked that in Japan one can just
> call the telephone company and ask to have your home service converted
> to ISDN and it will be done the next day, no charge for the conversion
> and no extra charge for ISDN service. He contrasted with the U.S.
> where if you can get it at all ISDN is available only at high cost.
>
> He also noted that ISDN pay phones are becoming common in Japan; they
> have an RJ-45 jack on the side.
>
>
> haynes@cats.ucsc.edu haynes@cats.bitnet
------- End of Forwarded Message
From mkapor Wed Dec 18 10:36:54 1991
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Date: Wed, 18 Dec 1991 15:36:54 -0500
Message-Id: <199112182036.AA15160@eff.org>
From: fujisawa@sm.sony.co.jp (Kenji Fujisawa) (by way of Mitchell Kapor
<fujisawa@sm.sony.co.jp>)
Subject: Re: ISDN in Japan and USA
In article <telecom11.1018.4@eecs.nwu.edu>, haynes@cats.UCSC.EDU
(Jim Haynes) says:
> He remarked that in Japan one can just call the telephone company
> and ask to have your home service converted to ISDN and it will be
> done the next day, no charge for the conversion and no extra charge
> for ISDN service.
It's overstated. The time for instllation varies between one week to
six months depending on the area, the availability of the digital
exchanges. And you have to pay an instllation fee of about $100 -
$150. Futermore, the monthly charge becomes twice of the analog
telephone: ie, about $35.
Kenji Fujisawa fujisawa@sm.sony.co.jp
[we are working on getting the mail headers to be more precise. - MK]
From mkapor Thu Dec 19 06:25:32 1991
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Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1991 11:25:32 -0500
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From: uunet!decwrl!apple!well!hlr@world.std.com (Howard Rheingold) (by way of
Mitchell Kapor <uunet!decwrl!apple!well!hlr@world.std.com>)
Subject: Re: ISDN in Japan and USA
Precedence: bulk
To: pub-infra (pub-infra mailing list)
For Kenji Fujisawa (fujisawa@sm.sony.co.jp) via Mitchell Kapor:
What do people get for their ISDN connection in Japan? What services
are offered? What kind of people use them?
From mkapor Sat Dec 21 05:45:58 1991
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Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1991 10:45:58 -0500
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From: peterm@halcyon.com (Peter Marshall)
Subject: Re: U.S. SAID TO PLAY FAVORITES IN PROMOTING NATIONWIDE COMPUTER NETW
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co+re@ans.net
Subject: U.S. SAID TO PLAY FAVORITES IN PROMOTING NATIONWIDE COMPUTER
NETWORK
Date: Wed, 18 Dec 91 21:52:57 PST
From: the terminal of Geoff Goodfellow <geoff@fernwood.mpk.ca.us>
U.S. SAID TO PLAY FAVORITES IN PROMOTING NATIONWIDE COMPUTER NETWORK
By John Markoff
c.1991 N.Y. Times News Service
Just one week after President Bush signed legislation calling for the
creation of a nationwide computer data "superhighway," a debate has erupted
over whether the government gave an unfair advantage to a joint venture of
IBM and MCI that built and manages a key part of the network.
The IBM-MCI venture, known as Advanced Network and Services, manages a
network called NSFnet, which connects hundreds of research centers and
universities. NSFnet also manages links to dozens of other countries. All
these networks are collectively known as Internet.
Some private competitors say Advanced Network and Services uses its
favored position to squeeze them out of the data-transmission market by
establishing rules that make it difficult to connect to NSFnet.
NSFnet was founded by the National Science Foundation, a federal agency,
and is composed of leased telephone lines that link special computers
called routers, which transmit packages of data to three million users in
33 countries. Data traffic over the NSFnet backbone has doubled in the last
year.
The government wants to develop a national data highway for electronic
commerce, digital video transmissions to homes and vast electronic
libraries that could be drawn on by the nation's schools.
Advanced Network and Services, based in Elmsford, N.Y., was set up last
year as a non-profit corporation with $10 million from International
Business Machines Corp. and MCI Communications Corp. Earlier this year it
set up a for-profit subsidiary, called ANS CO+RE, to sell computer network
services. That led some competitors to complain that Advanced Network and
Services would be able to compete unfairly because of its arrangement with
the government.
People involved in planning for a national data network say it is
essential to provide for fair competition, which will lead rival companies
to offer creative and entrepreneurial services in the hope of building
market share. Without competiton, they say, the government will have
created a monopoly that has little incentive to innovate.
"This is the first major communication business to be born under the
deregulation era," said David Farber, a computer scientist at the
University of Pennsylvania and a pioneer in data networking. "This hasn't
happened since the growth of the telephone industry. You want it to be a
business that doesn't repeat the errors of the past."
In recent years, the National Science Foundation has tried to shift its
operations and ownership of NSFnet to Advanced Network and Services. And it
will try to establish competition through contracts for networks to compete
with NSFnet next year.
But there is no level playing field, complained William L. Schrader,
president of Performance Systems International Inc., a Reston, Va., company
that provides commercial data connections to Internet.
He made public two letters between officials of Advanced Network and
Services and the National Science Foundation that he said gave the company
unfair control over access to the network. The result, he added, was that
the government turned over valuable public property to a private company.
"It's like taking a federal park and giving it to Kmart," Schrader said.
"It's not right, and it isn't going to stand. As a taxpayer, I think it's
disgusting."
Performance Systems and several other companies have set up an
alternative to NSFnet, known as a CIX.
Schrader said his company and the venture of IBM and MCI were competing
for the same customers but unlike his rival he lacked a federal subsidy. He
said he might ask the Internal Revenue Service to look at the business
relationship between Advanced Network's non-profit and for-profit
operations.
Allan Weis, the president of Advanced Network, disputed that his company
had an unfair advantage. "It's a very competitive environment right now,"
he said. "We have lost quite a few bids to PSI and to other competitors as
well."
At the National Science Foundation, Stephen Wolff, director of its
networking division, said IBM and MCI had overbuilt the network and were
selling commercial service based on the excess capacity that was available.
A number of organizations are working informally to settle the dispute.
"I think it's a mess," said Mitchell D. Kapor, the founder of Lotus
Development Corp. and now head of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a
public-interest group focusing on public policy issues surrounding data
networks. "Nobody should have an unfair advantage. This is important
because we're talking about something that is in its infancy but that one
day could be on the order of the personal computer industry."
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