

TELECOM Digest     Sun, 14 Nov 93 23:53:00 CST    Volume 13 : Issue 759

Inside This Issue:                        Moderator: Patrick A. Townson

    Re: Are Local Calls Kept on Record? (Tony Pelliccio)
    Re: Are Local Calls Kept on Record? (Steve Forrette)
    Re: Sri Lanka is Joining the Internet (David Jones)
    Re: TDMA vs. CDMA = Betamax vs. VHS? (John R. Levine)
    Wiring a New Home - Suggestions? (Bob Tykulsker)
    Re: Wiring a New Town (Tony Harminc)
    Re: Those Sprint FaxModems (Gary Breuckman)
    Re: TRW Phone Print to Fight Cellular Fraud (Raj Sanmugam)
    Re: Strange Ringback (Robert Clark)
    Re: Earthquakes and Telecommunications (Russell Sharpe)
    Re: Earthquake Preparedness (Russell Sharpe)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Anthony_Pelliccio@brown.edu (Tony Pelliccio)
Subject: Re: Are Local Calls Kept on Record?
Date: 14 Nov 1993 16:06:22 GMT
Organization: Brown University Alumni & Development Office


In article <telecom13.749.1@eecs.nwu.edu>, uswnvg!jlbrand@uunet.UU.NET
(Jack Brand) wrote:

> In article <telecom13.722.12@eecs.nwu.edu> OUELLETT@ucs.indiana.edu
> (Denis) writes:

>> I was always under the impression that records of local telephone
>> calls were kept on magnetic tape for a certain period of time by the
>> local telco.  But when I asked Michigan Bell for their records to a
>> certain number (an attorney was all set to send in a subpoena) they
>> said they didn't keep such records.  Was I infomed correctly?  Does

>> [Moderator's Note: Whoever you spoke with misinformed you. The best
>> approach is to simply have issued the subpoena from the beginning.
>> Call records are available for some period of time, and telco will

> Are we sure about this one?  Denis is referring to *local* calls.
> Some switches don't even bother to keep records of local calls, since
> there is no billing to be done on them, or at least they didn't used
> to.

You can bet that just about every switch made is built with the
capability to record ALL the data involved with switching a call for
"diagnostic" purposes of course. But subpoena records from a telephone
company and I'd love to see the look of surprise on your face when
they can produce records of EVERY call you've made. To that end, it's
a common feature even on little KSU's called an SMDR port. This
continually streams call data to a computer or printer. It captures
time, date, start time, end time, number called, number of rings
before pickup, which extension picked up, etc. So don't think a
multimillion dollar ESS doesn't have it.


Tony Pelliccio, KD1NR
Anthony_Pelliccio@Brown.edu
Brown University Alumni & Development Computing Services
Box 1908
Providence, RI 02912
(401) 863-1880

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

From: stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette)
Subject: Re: Are Local Calls Kept on Record?
Date: 14 Nov 1993 22:49:02 GMT
Organization: Walker Richer & Quinn, Inc.
Reply-To: stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette)


In <telecom13.749.1@eecs.nwu.edu>, uswnvg!jlbrand@uunet.UU.NET (Jack
Brand) writes:

> In article <telecom13.722.12@eecs.nwu.edu> OUELLETT@ucs.indiana.edu
> (Denis) writes:

>> I was always under the impression that records of local telephone
>> calls were kept on magnetic tape for a certain period of time by the
>> local telco. 

> [Moderator's Note: If the switch is ESS, then there are local call
> records kept for some period of time.   PAT]

Not necessarily.  It is true that just about any SPC switch is able to
log all sorts of events to tape.  Whether it is standard pratice for a
particular telco to log unbilled local calls to tape at all is another
question.  The switch will log those calls that the telco has
configured it to log.  It may be that most telcos to enable this
logging, but it is more of a prodecural and policy issue rather than a
technical one.

It is also quite possible that if there is no standard way for the
customer service people to access the records, then as far as they are
concerned they don't exist.  Perhaps the telco keeps them only for
traffic analysis and problem resolution purposes, and filters them out
before they get into the billing database.  But it is wrong to
conclude that just because it is a SPC switch that it has the logging
enabled.


Steve Forrette, stevef@wrq.com

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

From: dej@eecg.toronto.edu (David Jones)
Subject: Re: Sri Lanka is Joining the Internet
Organization: CSRI, University of Toronto
Date: Sun, 14 Nov 1993 16:27:54 -0500


In article <telecom13.750.10@eecs.nwu.edu> pribik@rpi.edu (Chris
Labatt-Simon) writes:

> I just tried the traceroute, and: traceroute to kremvax.demos.su
> (192.91.186.200), 30 hops max, 40 byte packets

> 1  vccfr2 (128.113.75.254)  2 ms  2 ms  2 ms
> 2  psi1.rpi.edu (128.113.100.1)  27 ms  3 ms  3 ms
> 3  rpi.albany.pop.psi.net (38.145.34.1)  53 ms  9 ms  13 ms
> 4  core.net223.psi.net (38.1.2.6)  51 ms  66 ms  77 ms
> 5  Washington.DC.ALTER.NET (192.41.177.248)  172 ms  48 ms  30 ms
> 6  New-York.NY.ALTER.NET (137.39.128.2)  92 ms  420 ms  413 ms
> 7  Demos-gw.ALTER.NET (137.39.96.2)  707 ms  656 ms 733 ms  679 ms
> 8  kremvax.demos.su (192.91.186.200)  709 ms  733 ms  679 ms

> Seems like it made it to me ...

Interesting...

/ecl/dej> traceroute kremvax.demos.su traceroute to kremvax.demos.su
(192.91.186.200), 30 hops max, 40 byte packets
 
 1  cyclops.eecg.toronto.edu (128.100.10.185)  2 ms  1 ms  1 ms
 2  medusa.eecg.toronto.edu (128.100.10.187)   2 ms  2 ms  2 ms
 3  sand.gw.toronto.edu (128.100.1.224)  3 ms  3 ms  3 ms
 4  utorgw.gw.utoronto.ca (128.100.96.19)  4 ms  4 ms  4 ms
 5  Epsp.ON.CAnet.CA (192.68.55.4)  71 ms  91 ms  82 ms
 6  * Xpsp.ON.CAnet.CA (192.68.53.1)  131 ms  128 ms
 7  ENSS133.CIT.CORNELL.EDU (192.35.82.101)  201 ms  184 ms  174 ms
 8  t3-1.Hartford-cnss49.t3.ans.net (140.222.49.2)  147 ms  165 ms  134 ms
 9  t3-3.Hartford-cnss48.t3.ans.net (140.222.48.4)  196 ms *  127 ms
10  t3-2.Cleveland-cnss40.t3.ans.net (140.222.40.3)  96 ms  136 ms  195 ms
11  t3-2.Chicago-cnss24.t3.ans.net (140.222.24.3)  165 ms  198 ms  185 ms
12  * t3-1.San-Francisco-cnss8.t3.ans.net (140.222.8.2)  330 ms *
13  t3-0.San-Francisco-cnss9.t3.ans.net (140.222.9.1)  183 ms  273 ms  319 ms
14  t3-0.San-Francisco-cnss11.t3.ans.net (140.222.11.1)  275 ms  292 ms *
15  * * *

/ecl/dej> traceroute iguana.reptiles.org traceroute to
iguana.reptiles.org (142.57.253.130), 30 hops max, 40 byte packets
 
 1  cyclops.eecg.toronto.edu (128.100.10.185)  2 ms  1 ms  1 ms
 2  medusa.eecg.toronto.edu (128.100.10.187)  2 ms  2 ms  2 ms
 3  sand.gw.toronto.edu (128.100.1.224)  4 ms  17 ms  5 ms
 4  utorgw.gw.utoronto.ca (128.100.96.19)  6 ms  7 ms  4 ms
 5  Epsp.ON.CAnet.CA (192.68.55.4)  28 ms  32 ms  31 ms
 6  Xpsp.ON.CAnet.CA (192.68.53.1)  140 ms  167 ms *
 7  ENSS133.CIT.CORNELL.EDU (192.35.82.101)  183 ms  144 ms  87 ms
 8  t3-1.Hartford-cnss49.t3.ans.net (140.222.49.2)  138 ms  136 ms  174 ms
 9  * t3-3.Hartford-cnss48.t3.ans.net (140.222.48.4)  146 ms  107 ms
10  t3-2.New-York-cnss32.t3.ans.net (140.222.32.3)  150 ms  76 ms  66 ms
11  t3-1.Washington-DC-cnss56.t3.ans.net (140.222.56.2)  108 ms  115 ms  178 ms
12  t3-0.Washington-DC-cnss58.t3.ans.net (140.222.58.1)  137 ms  148 ms  127 ms
13  t3-0.enss136.t3.ans.net (140.222.136.1)  118 ms  222 ms  243 ms
14  Washington.DC.ALTER.NET (192.41.177.248)  290 ms  247 ms  277 ms
15  * Falls-Church1.VA.ALTER.NET (137.39.128.6)  265 ms  269 ms
16  * Falls-Church2.VA.ALTER.NET (137.39.1.2)  246 ms  369 ms
17  * alternet-gw.Toronto.UUNET.CA (137.39.7.2)  753 ms  295 ms

I can't make it to demos.su (It starts off OK, but then turns west.
Not good) But I can make it to the Alternet.  Hmmm...


David Jones, M.A.Sc student, Electronics Group (VLSI), University of Toronto
email: dej@eecg.utoronto.ca, finger for more info

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

Date: Sun, 14 Nov 93 17:41 EST
From: johnl@iecc.com (John R Levine)
Subject: Re: TDMA vs. CDMA = Betamax vs. VHS?
Organization: I.E.C.C.


> I personally suspect this is a bit of a religious debate, exactly like
> Betamax vs. VHS, and while technical arguments pro and con can be
> made, whoever has the best marketing is going to win.  (wink wink)

It's certainly the case that the debate will be settled politically,
but it turns out that CDMA has major technical advantages: all those
claims about lots more stations, lower power, smoother handoffs,
better reception in noisy and cluttered environments, shared
bandwidth, more security, etc., are as far as I can tell entirely
true.  Spread spectrum is great stuff, it lets you substitute CPU
power for broadcast power, a very good tradeoff these days.  This
message, for example, was sent in via a 900MHz spread spectrum
wireless Ethernet which shares its band effortlessly with any other
900MHz equipment in the neighborhood.

The hangup about CDMA is that it requires a lot more computation in
the phone, so it's basically waiting for the required chips to be
ready at a price and volume that makes the units practical, while TDMA
is computationally much simpler so can be rolled out faster.  Perhaps
someone else can comment on what CDMA and TDMA chip sets are likely to
be available when.


Regards,

John Levine, johnl@iecc.com, {spdcc|ima|world}!iecc!johnl

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

From: bobt@zeus.net.com (Bob Tykulsker)
Subject: Wiring a New Home - Suggestions?
Date: 14 Nov 93 06:04:45 GMT
Organization: NETWORK EQUIPMENT TECHNOLOGIES


Hello,

I am having a new home built and would like to install the wiring now
that I might need for future technologies.  What would you recommend?
Cable, fiber, copper, etc. Any suggestions welcome.


Regards,

Bob Tykulsker, bobt@net.com

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

Date: Sun, 14 Nov 93 12:41:24 EST
From: Tony Harminc <EL406045@BROWNVM.brown.edu>
Subject: Re: Wiring a New Town


From: walkerl@med.ge.com (Larry Walker)

> This is a request for advice on how one should go about wiring a New
> Town.  I am working with a group that is designing and building a
> "neo-traditional neighborhood" from scratch. Neo-traditional refers to
> the concept of designing real neighborhoods with retail, commercial
> and office space, a school, a neighborhood center, etc. all
> integrated. It is the exact opposite of the current style of urban
> growth, with isolated subdivisions here, office complexes there, and a
> shopping mall somewhere else entirely.

> The planner knows only that he's heard he needs 4" PVC conduit on the
> streets and 2" PVC conduit to the house in order to accomodate fiber.
> I am looking for suggestions as to what other technical issues he
> should try to build into the plan. He has a much broader control over
> requirements than is typical: If it makes sense and doesn't drive
> costs up too much, he is anxious to design it in from the start, both
> in the infrasructure design and in the building code.

> 1) Require that all inside phone wiring be twisted pair. Q: How many
> pair minimum? (Remember that this minimum would be be imposed on all
> residents, not just the techno-freaks with multiple modems and fax).

The incremental cost of a few more pairs is tiny in the scheme of
things.  I'd say four pairs minimum to each room, star topology -- not
looped.

> 2) On another project, he has gotten what he feels are very
> competitive prices on pre-wiring all units with cable (like $150 per
> house, before drywall goes on). Q: Does this make sense / is this
> sufficient, with fiber-to-the-curb pending? Q: How many / which rooms
> get cable? (Again, this would be a mandate for all units).

Sounds like a good deal.  But I think the lesson many of us have
learned is that you aren't going to be able to anticipate all
requirements.  The only solution to this is liberal use of conduit.
In may depend on local building/electrical/fire codes, but for telecom
and similar low voltage wiring, it probably doesn't have to be
traditional EMT or even PVC conduit -- polyethylene will do.  It's not
protecting the wiring as much as providing an easy alternative to
fishing wires in the future.  One run of 3/4" or 1" poly pipe from
each room, homed on a common basement location should be ample.  Often
one run can serve two rooms sharing a wall.  And the basement portion
doesn't have to be installed until/unless the basement is finished.

> What would you like to see the urban planner and the architects
> provide in your neighborhood, if you planned to move into this "clean
> slate" community?

Expanding beyond the telecom question -- the first thing planners and
architects should do is read some (preferably all) of the Jane Jacobs
books, starting with "The Death and Life of Great American Cities" and
"Cities and the Wealth of Nations".

Then consider the relative priorities to be given to cars and
pedestrians.  If you choose cars, then there's not much more I can
say.

And one personal crusade: consider the nature of street lighting.  If
at all possible, use incandescant lights, preferably halogens.  If
energy efficiency concerns won't allow this, use metal halides.  Avoid
like the plague sodium and mercury lighting.  Light the sidewalks
first, and worry about the streets later, if at all.  You want a
community where people *want* to be out and about on the streets and
public places at all hours - not locked behind bolted doors and alarm
systems.  Obviously street layout and lighting are not the only
determinants of this, but they are a base.

This sounds like the opportunity of a lifetime.  Good luck!


Tony Harminc

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

From: puma@netcom.com (Gary Breuckman)
Subject: Re: Those Sprint FaxModems
Date: Sun, 14 Nov 1993 20:00:47 GMT


In article <telecom13.750.5@eecs.nwu.edu> mearle@cbi.tamucc.edu (Mark
Earle) writes:

>  The V.42 and MNP 2-4 are in _software_ when using the provided Quick
> Link ][ fax/data software.

> Using the modem with a "standard" program such as Procomm gets you a
> plane jane 2400 modem.

> Oh, speed of data: Despite having mnp and v42, you can't select higher
> than 2400 as the modem to computer speed. If you select 9600, you can
> talk to the modem, but it connects to the host at 300. This may be

Talking to the modem at faster than 2400 would not be possible or any
advantage.  With a 'real' V.42/V.42bis modem, using a faster computer-
to-modem speed is an advantage because the compression is being done
in the modem.  In this case, the compression is being done in the
software, and the already compressed data being sent to the modem.  It
can't take it faster than 2400 anyway.


puma@netcom.com

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

From: lmcrajy@LMC.ericsson.se (Raj Sanmugam)
Subject: Re: TRW Phone Print to Fight Cellular Frau
Reply-To: lmcrajy@LMC.ericsson.se
Organization: Ericsson Communications Inc.
Date: Sun, 14 Nov 1993 21:00:04 GMT


Steve Forrette, stevef@wrq.com Writes:

> One detail that is conspicuously absent from the description is how it
> works with roamers.  Since the PacTel Los Angeles system won't have a
> fingerprint on file for every phone in North America, it has no way of
> verifying the legitimacy of a roamer.  And isn't this where all of the
> phraud is?  Will PacTel only accept roamers from systems that also
> have this system?  This doesn't seem practical, but any other option
> would result in the bad guys using MINs/ESNs from systems that don't
> have the new system in place.

Personaly, the fingerprinting concept appears to be too good to be
true.  Let us assume it works, then one possible way roaming can be
supported is as follows. The signal transmission characteristics or
the fingerprint of each mobile could be recorded and made available in
a national database such as the one called for in the IS-41, the EIR.
Whenever a roamer requests a service, the fingerprint measured at the
accessing site along with the mobile's identity could then be
transferred to the EIR for validation. This is sort of like the early
manual roamer clearing house solutions...

> Another poster assumed that the fingerprint might only be specific
> down to the model of phone.  I think this is not true from the
> description others have posted, but the question came up as to how the
> thieves would find out the make and model for the MIN/ESN they want to
> clone.  Aren't the ESNs issued in blocks to manufacturers from some
> central body, much like automobile VIN's?  If so, then the
> manufacturer would be a matter of public record based on the first few
> digits of the ESN, and the breakdown amongst a single manufacturer's
> models could be determined through general observations.

You are right! According to EIA/TIA 553, the ESN is made up of an
eight bit manufacturer code and a seventeen bit serial number and six
bits of reserved bits. The FCC allocates a block of serial numbers to
each manufacturer. In fact, a popular fraud technique known as
"tumbling" uses these information to cycle through the serial numbers
until a valid one is found.

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

From: aa439@Freenet.carleton.ca (Robert Clark)
Subject: Re: Strange Ringback
Reply-To: aa439@Freenet.carleton.ca (Robert Clark)
Organization: The National Capital Freenet
Date: Sun, 14 Nov 1993 19:53:15 GMT


In a previous article, jeffb@sciborg.uwaterloo.ca (Jeff Bamford) says:

> I had a rather bizarre experience with the phone last night
> and thought that someone here may be able to shed some light on the
> subject.  For starters the phone line has four features on it : Call
> Display, Call Answer, Call Waiting and Three-Way Calling (Aside: Good
> ole Bell Canada they may charge $30 to move your phone line but they
> gave three features for free for eight weeks!).

> I dialed up someone and left a message via Call Answer to
> myself.  That is I called my own number to leave a message.  Since the
> calls forward to the Call Answer number when the line is busy I
> immediately got my message.  I then left a message for someone else in
> the household and hung up the phone. The phone then rang back (which
> sometimes happens when you "hang up" on someone with Call Waiting).
> The display showed no number was calling, in fact the Call Display
> said nothing which I found curious.  I picked up the phone but there
> was no one there so I hung up thinking that somehow the Call Waiting
> got confused because I called myself.  I then tried the same thing
> again (i.e. leave myself a message by phoning my number).  I left
> another message and then hung up.  

> This time the phone also rang back with no display for the number.  I
> let the phone ring more than four times which should forward it to the
> answering service but this did not work.  It just kept ringing.  I
> picked it up and was rather surprised to hear people talking on the
> other end.  Not really knowing quite what to do I hung up.  I tried to
> duplicate the experiment but I could not get the phone to ring back.
> Perhaps I'll try again today.  Has this happened to anyone else?

I've never experienced the "ring back" that you described. But I do
fairly frequently find that my "Call Answer" (i.e. Bell Canada's voice
mail service) message include _both_ sides of a conversation  ... the 
most recent episode seemed to be between the wife of one of the
recently fallen Progressive Conservative government's CABINET
MINISTERS and one of his staff or friends discussing the "changes" to
their lives about to occur.

Don't know how this finds it's way into my voice mailbox though!


Rob Clark    Ottawa, Canada      aa439@freenet.carleton.ca

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

From: sharpe_r@ix.wcc.govt.nz (Russell Sharpe)
Subject: Re: Earthquakes and Telecommunications
Date: 14 Nov 1993 10:01:50 GMT
Organization: Wellington City Council, Public Access
Reply-To: sharpe_r@ix.wcc.govt.nz


> I've been told that after an earthquake, if you can't get a call
> through, try using a payphone.  Supposedly, the phone company will
> arbitrarily put some calls through and not others when the load is too
> high, but payphone calls will always go through.  After the Loma
> Prieta quake, we tried calling a high school teacher while reporting
> for the school paper.  No one previously had been able to reach her
> (calling SF from Oakland), but we did from a payphone, so it
> apparently works.

> [Moderator's Note: Or else that particular payphone at that particular
> time was one of the arbitrarily chosen phones to get a line out.  PAT]
 
In New Zealand we have facilities that can be added to lines:
 
*LOAD SHEDDING PRIORITY* which will, in the event of a switch load
shedding, These lines will be among the last to be cut off, and the
first to be reinstated.
 
*STD Priority* Allows the caller to make Toll calls though <100%
restricted switches.
 
The above facilities, can be applied to a line for a *small fee*
 
*OPERATOR CATEGORY* Is applied only to Emergency Services, and
Toll/Emergency Operator Lines.
 
*MAINTENANCE CATEGORY* Is used by the Telco Technicians, for the
*resurrection* of service. This is the last to be restricted in the
 
I assume in the States there will be similar services available. Can
anyone confirm this?

 
Cheers,

Russell Sharpe        UseNet: sharpe_r@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz
FidoNet: 3:771/370 & 3:771/160   Voice: +64 4 5639099
snailmail: 171 Holborn Drive   Stokes Valley 6008   New Zealand

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

From: sharpe_r@ix.wcc.govt.nz (Russell Sharpe)
Subject: Re: Earthquake Preparedness
Date: 14 Nov 1993 10:16:15 GMT
Organization: Wellington City Council, Public Access
Reply-To: sharpe_r@ix.wcc.govt.nz


In article <telecom13.756.16@eecs.nwu.edu>, stevef@wrq.com (Steve
Forrette) writes:

> In <telecom13.745.4@eecs.nwu.edu>, sharpe_r@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz
> (russell sharpe) writes:

[BITS DELETED AD NAUSEUM]

> With the equipment in this state, and earthquake occurred, and the new
> unit fell over since it was not bolted down.  The thing is, since all
> of the cables had enough extra slack that had uncoiled when it fell
> over, nothing broke, and it was indeed still functioning perfectly and
> in service.  Pacific Bell placed a call to Northern Telecom to enquire
> as to what the recommended procedure was to upright the cabinet while
> it was in service.  This reportedly took NT quite by surprise, as they
> had never encountered or even thought of such a situation.  They
> finally got back to them with instructions to lift it back to the
> regular position by hand while leaving it in service, and to bolt it
> down this time.

This leads me to yet another story ... one of my colleagues, sadly
long deceased, related a story of rotary switches in London during
WWII.
 
One switch, after the building being bombed, continued working, albiet
badly, despite the fact that there was no longer a floor!!! The switch
was hanging by its cables over an abyss.
 
I find this most impressive, considering cables in those days were wax
cotton coated and/or enammelled.
 
The fault rate must have been incredible!!!
 
Does anyone have any more exciting or unbelievable stories?

 
Cheers,

Russell Sharpe   UseNet: sharpe_r@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz  
FidoNet: 3:771/370 & 3:771/160   Voice: +64 4 5639099
snailmail: 171 Holborn Drive  Stokes Valley 6008  New Zealand

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

End of TELECOM Digest V13 #759
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