Conference turris::scandia

473.0. "Cordless phones/radio transmitters" by TLE::SAVAGE () Wed Jun 12 1991 15:23

   From: [email protected] (Lars-Henrik Eriksson)
   Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
   Subject: Re: Cordless phones(was: Will a U.S. made telephone work in Norway?)
   Date: 10 Jun 91 17:37:41 GMT
   Sender: [email protected] (Lars-Henrik Eriksson)
   Organization: SICS, Kista (Stockholm), Sweden
 
    In article <[email protected]>, dep@bu-pub (Demetrios Paneras) writes:

>
>I would pretty much insist, however, that a FCC approved phone is perfectly OK.
>All the rest is just a rumour.
>
 
    Well, nothing is like first-hand information, so I called the frequency
    management department of Swedish Telecom and asked them about U.S.
    cordless phones. I know the original query was about Norway, but I
    doubt that Sweden bans U.S. cordless phone on different grounds than
    does Norway.
 
    In Sweden, the frequency band used by U.S. cordless phones (around
    40-50 MHz), is used for military communications and TV channels. Lots
    of Swedish TV channels are not in this band, so it is quite possible
    that you could use a US cordless phone in Sweden without causing
    interference, if you're lucky. There have been instances where people
    have complained about TV interference, which was traced to a neighbours
    illegaly imported cordless phone. Swedish cordless phones use a band
    around 800 MHz. So much for "rumours".
 
    (Note: "channel" in this context does not mean "station" or
    "programme", but simply "frequency". The same TV station transmits on
    many different channels to avoid interference (sic!) between nearby
    transmitters)
 
    Apparently, international conventions give each country substantial
    leeway in deciding what frequencies are to be used for. Between
    European countries, the frequency allotments are (by necessity) very
    similar, but not identical.
 
    According to Swedish Telecom, there were also some subtle difference in
    signalling between U.S and Swedish phones that causes trouble
    occationally (I don't know if this difference exists in all phones, but
    only cordless ones).
 
    Again, the issue is not the quality of the phone itself, but its
    suitability in the Swedish environment.
 
    Since there has been lots of talk about "government-controlled
    monopolies", I would like to explain just what regulates the use of
    phones in Sweden.
 
    First off, there is no goverment monopoly whatsoever on telecom
    equipment in Sweden. Anyone may manufacture, import, sell or use such
    equipment provided it is approved.
 
    Any equipment, including phones, connected to the public telephone
    network in Sweden has to be approved. This approval used to be done by
    Swedish Telecom, but is now done by a separate authority. The approval
    was given to the new authority out of fear that Swedish Telecom could
    be biased, since they sell phones etc. themselves.
 
    The approval serves only to ensure that the phone doesn't damage or
    interfere with the phone system. It does *not* ensure the quality of
    the phone, or even that it works. I have an approved phone that doesn't
    work at my home, but does work at my job. Swedish Telecom only says
    "sorry, the approval doesn't guarantee that it works".
 
    To show just how tricky this "damage or interference" business can be,
    there is a story about early imported phones with memory functions.
    These phones maintained their memories by drawing a current from the
    phone line. Such phones are not approved in Sweden, any phones with
    memory have to use batteries or mains power.
 
    Why? The local phone station supplies electric power to the telephones.
    When the phone is "on hook", they draw no current, when they are "off
    hook", they do. Since most phones are off hook only a fraction of the
    time, the power supply need give only a limited current, calculated to
    be sufficient for all normal situations (with a hefty margin, I guess).
    Since these non-approved memory phones draw a current at all times,
    they can overload the phone station power supply, if there are too many
    of them. This is not at all obvious to the user, who can only see that
    the phone works perfectly.
 
    Now, you could claim that it is the phone companies business to supply
    current for memory phones if that's what the customers want. Even if
    you accept this argument (I don't) the fact remains that most phone
    switch designs were made before there were any memory phones, and that
    replacing or rebuilding them all just for this would be an enormous
    investment.
 
    Any use of radio transmitters in Sweden has to be licensed. It is
    illegal to import and use (I don't know about possessing) unlicensed
    radio transmitters. The first requirement for licensing a transmitter
    is that it uses proper frequencies to avoid interference. Again, it is
    not a question about the quality of the equipment, but only that it
    doesn't cause interference.

-- 
Lars-Henrik Eriksson				Internet: [email protected]
Swedish Institute of Computer Science		Phone (intn'l): +46 8 752 15 09
Box 1263					Telefon (nat'l): 08 - 752 15 09
S-164 28  KISTA, SWEDEN
                               

    From: [email protected] (UPI)
    Newsgroups: clari.biz.mergers,clari.tw.telecom,clari.biz.misc,
	clari.news.europe,clari.biz.products,clari.local.sfbay
    Subject: PacTel acquires stake in Swedish cellular venture
    Date: Mon, 28 Jun 93 12:26:30 PDT
 
	WALNUT CREEK, Calif. (UPI) -- Pacific Telesis Group said Monday its
PacTel subsidiary has agreed to purchase a 51 percent interest in
Swedish cellular phone concern NordicTel Holdings for $153 million.
	"This acquisition furthers our goal of providing wireless services
in some of the world's top economies," said C. Lee Cox, president and
chief executive officer of PacTel Corp. "Scandinavia is a very
attractive cellular market, with good demographics, concentrated
population centers, and strong demand for wireless services."
	"This is a natural fit with our other European wireless ventures in
Germany, Portugal and Spain," Cox said.
	The move by Pacific Telesis comes at a time when it is working on
separating its non-core businesses, such as cellular and paging, from
its telephone business. Its executives have said that the "wireless"
business will be able to operate more effectively and profitably and
give it and the remaining phone company more financial flexibility.
	Owners of NordicTel, which operates a cellular business under the
name Europolitan, include Swedish carmaker Volvo, industrial group
Trelleborg, electronics products concern Spectra-Physics and British
telecommunications concern Vodafone.
	NordicTel is one of three cellular companies in Sweden operating a
network based on the digital pan-European Global System for Mobile
Communications.
	Sweden has nearly 9 million people and approximately 700,000 cellular
users, one of the highest customer usage rates in the world. In addition
to the three GSM systems, there are two analog networks.
	NordicTel also owns 20 percent of the private Danish GSM operator
Dansk Mobiltelefon, which holds one of two GSM licenses in Denmark and
markets the service under the name Sonofon. Denmark has a population of
5 million and nearly 250,000 cellular customers.
	Pacific Telesis owns a 26 percent interest in the German company
Mannesmann Mobilfunk, which owns and operates D2 Privat, the world's
largest digital cellular network; a 23 percent interest in Telecel, the
Portuguese GSM operator which began service last October; and a stake in
Sistelcom-Telemensaje, a nationwide paging business in Spain.