Conference back40::soapbox

    In California, competition is coming even to the local telephone
    service market.
    
    DougO
    -----

    Phone Firms Play Let's Make a Deal 


    ``Freedom of choice'' is the American way. But when it comes to sorting
    out the  pitches from long-distance telephone carriers, exercising that
    freedom can be a  frustrating, confusing and futile experience. 

    Prepare for that experience again -- this time for local toll phone
    calls.  Starting January 1, you will be able to choose your own
    telephone carrier for this type of call  -- typically greater than 12
    miles but within California. The market is huge: It generates an 
    estimated $3 billion to $5 billion in calls annually, and accounts for
    about one-third of  the entire nation's local toll calls. 

    Until now, these regional toll calls (San Francisco to San  Jose, for
    example) have been handled exclusively by Pacific Bell or, in Los 
    Gatos and Novato, by GTE-California. But the California Public
    Utilities Commission has  broken Pac Bell's monopoly as part of its
    plan to deregulate the industry. 

    Under new rules, you can stick with Pac Bell or GTE for local toll
    calls, or you  can switch to one of roughly 100 competitors. These
    include AT&T, MCI and Sprint but also lesser-known carriers such as
    Capital Network System of Texas. 

    With the changes, the average cost of local toll calls (day, evening
    and night  combined) will drop by 39 percent, according to the
    commission's calculations. In some  markets, the decline could make
    sending a fax cheaper than mailing a letter. 

    Some promotions, which will be widely publicized in coming weeks, are
    attention  getters. One example: if you're a long-distance customer
    with Sprint, you will pay only 1  cents per minute for local toll calls
    during January and February (instead of an  average 11 cents or 12
    cents per minute), according to Paul Wescott, director of consumer
    marketing. In March, the rates will go higher but still will undercut
    Pac Bell's  by about 15 percent, Wescott said. 

    Expect a blitz of similar promo-  tions to ring in the New Year. ``I'm
    sure we're going to  get bombarded,'' in mailings and dinnertime sales
    pitches, sighed Diana Miranda,  of Pacifica, who was attending a
    seminar on the changes for MCI's business  customers on Friday. 

    But there's another, darker side to the historic realignment of the
    state's  phone rates. 

    The bad news is that basic monthly rates (charged on top of any toll
    calls) will  increase for all customers. For example, the flat rate for
    Pac Bell's residential  customers will rise by $2.90 to $11.25 per
    month, while the flat rate for GTE's residential customers  will rise
    by $6.05 to $17.25. 

    Measured rates, another popular residential rate plan, rates  for low
    income people and rates for business customers also will increase. The
    commission argues that the higher rates are needed for local phone
    companies to  remain ``viable and fulfill their service obligation.''
    Your current local carrier will  continue to handle these charges. 

    So what do the rate changes mean for you? Businesses will tend to get
    the  biggest breaks, not residential customers. What's more, those who
    make few local toll  calls will have slightly higher bills. That's
    because the biggest price breaks are for  daytime calls (an average 44
    percent), typically those made by businesses. 

    In addition, if you choose a long-distance carrier, you will be
    required to dial  a five-digit access code before dialing the regular
    phone number. That tends to benefit  businesses that have automatic
    speed dialing functions. 

    Some consumer groups liken the changes to smoke-and-mirrors  at a
    carnival. ``Consumers are already confused about their long- distance 
    choices and frustrated by the complexity of their telephone bills,''
    said Audrie Krause,  director of Toward Utility Rate Normalization.
    ``These new changes will compound the problem  of customer confusion,
    while merely giving the illusion of meaningful competitive  choice.'' 

    The phone companies argue that these concerns are exaggerated, and that
    the  change is a step in the right direction. The next step:
    eliminating the five-digit  access code, which could be implemented in
    several years. 

    In the meantime, here are some tips to help with the confusion: 

    -- Rates. ``Do nothing,'' as Pac Bell puts it, and your average toll
    call rates  will still go down, said Eileen Arbues, vice president of
    consumer marketing. She also points  to a frequent-user program where
    Pac Bell customers earn free gifts (like a trip to  Tahoe) and get
    deeper discounts the more they call. 

    ``I'll probably stay with Pac Bell,'' said one phone user, Janet Kearn,
    of San  Francisco. At most, only about 15 percent of Pac Bell's
    customers are expected to defect,  according to Brian Adamik, who
    follows the industry for the Yankee Group in Boston. 

    Another tip if you stick to Pac Bell or GTE: consider switching between
    flat and measured rate plans. With Pac Bell, measured rate service
    includes a $3  allowance applied to certain local calls. 

    But many long-distance carriers are undercutting Pac Bell's average
    rates, to  make up for those extra five digits you'll be dialing . AT&T
    has won permission to  undercut Pac Bell by an average 10 percent, a
    spokesman said. MCI is looking at a similar  discount, according to
    Patrick Chow, manager of rates and tariffs. 

    -- Access codes. If you have an automatic speed dialer on your home
    phone and choose an alternate carrier, pre-program the five- digit
    access code into the  machine. This will speed up dialing local toll
    calls. (The access codes are being  inserted in your monthly phone
    bill.) 

    Small businesses without a special exchange can buy an automatic speed
    dialer  for around $400, and long-distance carriers are offering to
    help offset the expense  with further discount programs. 

    -- Shopping. As with your long- distance phone bill, don't be afraid to
    shop  around. But finding a one- stop shopping source is next to
    impossible. One idea: call the  long- distance carrier of your choice,
    and get them to quote rates for your most  frequently called numbers.
    Tally the results and then make a choice. Don't forget the 
    lesser-known carriers: they often offer deep discounts to crack the
    market. 

 All I know is, I wish it would be a law that a pay phone has a big sign
 on it (clearly legible to the customer) that says which carrier handles
 long distance for that phone..




Jim

    .2
    
    cradle to grave, jimbo, cradle to grave.  next you'll be wanting a law
    saying that pay phones have to have seat belts.

    Just remember the 800 number for your handy dandy LD Carrier.  After i
    figured that out I at least was only getting ripped off by my vendor,
    not Guido's Long distance (motto: pay us or get cement shoes) that ran
    rife through the midwest and in to PA.
    
     meg

    Yes, it really is not that much of an inconvenience to memorize or even
    carry your access number.  In my case, 10ATT in not hard to remember at
    all. 

 I've got it memorized (800 number)...I'm usually in a hurry when I grab
 a pay phone and assume (yeah I know) its my carrier when I grab it..only
 after punching in a bunch of numbers do I discover that the carrier
 on the pay phone is not the one I thought it was..

    	I thought all pay phones *ARE* supposed to have clearly posted
    	on them the long distance carrier that you'll get by default...

 Its usually in rather small letters on the little placard they have on 
 the phone..hard to pick out though.

And it's often wrong.

    <---- Yes it very often wrong :-( grrrrr

	Oh, I don't know.  It's a thrill/mystery, wondering which
	unheard-of carrier you'll hook up with.

	I'm looking forward to seeing, in person, one of those
	"Phone From Horse"  pay phones out West.  Can't remember
	where it was, maybe Wyoming.  Make your call without
	dismounting {rude comments/noises here}.

	joanne

    this is THE topic for the next 10 years. it is the telecommunications
    companies that will transform the information dirt road. where you once
    had the data networking and voice networking people at each other's
    throats, you will soon have vast companies of mergers and/or
    partnership to bring about a revolution at work, home or at play. i
    taught a class about this at the U of MN entitled "star trek comes
    alive". a lot of the gadgetry you saw in the initial trek show will
    soon be available to you at work and at home.
    
    "viewer on" won't be just in the movies anymore. it's a facinating
    revolution in the way we live. with instant two way visual and audio
    communications, most can live anywhere, and work anywhere else. "rush
    hour" as you know it today will be a thing of the past.
    
    think about it a minute. if you could live anywhere you wanted to.
    would you stay where you are?

    thank you, Gene.  I was beginning to wonder if clueing people into 
    the topic by mentioning the one aspect they'd already dealt with - 
    the breakup of Ma Bell and competition for long distance - had been
    too much a distraction for anybody to focus on the present and future
    changes that will so astonish us.
    
    The AT&T commercials with Tom Selleck voice-overs "have you ever...
    ...you will." have been very effective.  They're trying to help people
    understand some of the changes coming down the line in the ways it will
    really affect them.
    
    Yes, by the way, I expect I'll still want to live here in Northern
    California for awhile to come.  San Francisco is a wonderful town.
    
    DougO

    re: .0
    
     Why do you think I picked the job I've got? :-)
    
     I think all of this stuff is really quite exciting, and I'm happy to
    be in on the ground floor.
    
     For example, the internet for the eastern US now flows through a
    GIGAswitch/FDDI in Pennsauken, NJ. (That was my last project.)
    
     Now I'm working on an ATM switch (already announced, volume ship by
    Valentine's day) that is wowing people at various trade shows with
    unmatched performance.
    
     Of course, it's the APPLICATIONS that are really going to make things
    interesting. That's where the mind is set free and allowed to really go
    wild. Because we are starting to build the technology that will allow
    all kinds of neat things to take place.
    
     

Note 197.14 by WAHOO::LEVESQUE
    
    >> Why do you think I picked the job I've got? :-)
    
    me to.
    
    > I think all of this stuff is really quite exciting, and I'm happy to
    >be in on the ground floor.
    
    yup. unfortunately, in order to stay in on the ground floor i felt i
    had to leave digital, amongst other reasons. but i'm certainly not
    bitter. i've learned, and hopefully contributed, much here. "here" not
    meaning soapbox.

    
    > Of course, it's the APPLICATIONS that are really going to make things
    >interesting. That's where the mind is set free and allowed to really go
    >wild. Because we are starting to build the technology that will allow
    >all kinds of neat things to take place.
    
    this is indeed true. however, much of the underlying networking
    infrastructure is still relatively primitive. we are now beginning to see 
    the technologies that can be used to build the next generation of
    interconnected network backbones. the key is to push forward to bring
    those applications, and the networking required to support them, into
    small/medium businesses, and even more importantly, the home.
     
    today;s facination with tools like mosaic and netscape will quickly
    wane as true, unrestricted, networked multimedia becomes a reality.

    >today;s facination with tools like mosaic and netscape will quickly
    >wane as true, unrestricted, networked multimedia becomes a reality.
    
    True.  But what comes will be familially related to what is out there
    now, which is "ground floor" enuf for me...  Wow, you're gonna have one
    helluva time at MCI, Gene...
    
    And obtw, you've contributed one HELL of a lot here in 'BoxLand, and
    dontchoo ferget it.  Why, your narratives of 'BoxBashes are right up
    there in the maximally hipslapping department.  To say nothing of your
    contributions to interspecies rapprochement.  Which, on balance, I wish
    you had.
    
    
    (Only kidding on that last)
    
    |-{:-)
    

    you can sit at my campfire anytime, dano. don't YOU forget it.

    here's a couple of things to keep in mind as this technological
    revolution unfolds.
    
     - video rental stores will soon disappear. or evolve into something 
       entirely different. same with movie theatres (except for cerimonial
       ones) video on demand, for a fee, will provide you with the latest
       and greatest movies whenever you want. look for the marketing types
       to REALLY hype movies at that time.
    
     - the US post office is in BIG trouble. its a large and slow moving
       (to change) operation. email will force them to rapidly raise rates
       to replace lost revenues. the more they raise the rates, the more 
       people will use email. by the year 2000 (hopefully sooner) i intend
       to send no one an Xmas card if it can't be done electronically.
    
     - catalogs via mass mailings. another hit on the postal service. i can
       shop and order online. the hell with all that paper lying around the
       house.
    
     - most commodity purchases. this includes such major purchases as
       autos. people will order direct from the factory. there is a big
       potential for service industry's to deliver them to your door step
       at the time of your choice.
    
    the list is almost endless. there are a few items that people will
    cling. such as grocery shopping. acceptable freshness is not something
    people will leave up to others. 

re: .18

 >    - video rental stores will soon disappear. or evolve into something 
 >      entirely different. same with movie theatres (except for cerimonial
 >      ones) video on demand, for a fee, will provide you with the latest

I'm not sure what you mean by cerimonial theatres, but let me explain why
I think movie theatres will still thrive in non-trivial numbers.  I rented
Jurassic (sp?) Park when it came out on laser disc.  I had never seen it before.
My 12 year old daughter saw it in the movie theatre.  When she watched on our
27" TV connected to the dolby surround-sound stereo, she was less than
impressed.  Comments like, "Dad, when the car was being chased by the <mumble-
sarus>, it felt like the whole theatre was shaking."  And, "Dad they looked
A LOT BIGGER at the movie."  I seriously doubt that spending big-bucks on a
60-bazillion inch projection TV and cranking the 100-watt stereo up to 10+
would have made much difference.  The same goes for Star Wars.  The sheer size
of the Empire ship that captures the Princess at the beginning is lost on the
small screen.  From another perspective, the kitchen sex scene in Fatal
Attraction was much more sensuous on the big screen than at home.

I think similar statements about Top40/rock radio were made when MTV first
came out...after all, why listen to something on the radio when you can
watch it on TV?  The predicted decline in radio listenership didn't happen.

Bob 

    re: Note 197.18 by HAAG::HAAG
    
    I was discussing several of your points with my M-I-L a day ago.  That
    came about because she and my wife went to Blockbuster and rented
    some movies.  She works for JC Penney, and I showed her an online
    catalog for her company.  I connected to Cornell University and looked
    at some stuff.  It blew her mind.
    
    Movie theatres, IMO, will still exist, but adapt.  I think movies will 
    become some sort of VR site, kinda like those wild movies at Disney world
    (simulators and such).  That will be the only benefit the theatre can
    give over a home viewed movie in the coming years.
    
    MadMike

    re: .19
    
    Buy a good powered subwoofer...no home theater set-up is complete
    without one.  A big screen TV is also a big help, but the subwoofer
    will bring T-Rex's stomping to life.
    
    A good inexpensive on is NHT SW2P...or if you wish to fill a larger
    room up with thundering base, try the 15" Velodyne.
    
    
    -steve

    Say your cell phone can't reach 911 . . . 

	By Jim Conran

    IMAGINE THIS: It's a rainy night and you've just been injured in an
    automobile  accident on a rural highway. Help is as near as your
    cellular phone -- you pick it up and dial 911. And get .  . . nothing.

    A technological or mechanical problem? No. Your call has been
    interrupted by a  new, and regrettably growing, practice of the
    cellular industry, ``blocking'' calls of users enrolled with  other
    cellular companies.

    The growth and proliferation of the cellular telephone industry has
    been one of  the technological and financial wonders of the past 10
    years. Yet in spite of breathtaking profits, many in the  industry are
    racing into a thoughtless and unwise business practice -- denying
    access even for emergency  calls to the 911 system.

    The Federal Communications Commission is looking at enhanced access to
    911 to  increase health, safety and societal welfare. In a stealth
    filing with the FCC, the industry is seeking  authority to allow
    blocking of non-subscribers' calls to 911.

    According to the industry filing, a cellular carrier would be obligated
    to  provide 911 service only to ``service initialized'' users, those
    who have purchased their service directly from a  cellular service
    provider. The industry is already limiting emergency access to
    countless subscribers who have  purchased services from other
    companies.

    Blocking emergency calls undoubtedly will tarnish the reputation of
    cellular  companies and will also damage public confidence in 911
    service. That is likely to bring demands from consumers  and public
    safety officials for increased regulation of the industry.

    This is not merely speculation. Cellular carriers are taking steps that
    would  make it virtually impossible for ``roamers'' (people making
    calls outside their local service area) to place any  calls, including
    911.

    For example, Cellular One of Washington, D.C., has announced it has
    ceased  honoring its roaming agreement with the cellular carrier in the
    New York City area. As a result, Cellular One  customers entering New
    York can no longer place calls, not even to 911 in an emergency,
    without first  establishing a separate service agreement with the New
    York carrier. Bell South's large cellular system regularly blocks 
    access attempts by all non-subscribers.

    What makes this issue so outrageous is that most cellular carriers are 
    aggressively marketing their product as a security service, playing to
    customers' fears. Numerous published news reports  and industry
    analysts state the boom in cellular phone sales is spurred by
    safety-minded consumers and  heightened concern about crime. Estimates
    are that 46 percent of new users say personal security was the primary 
    reason they purchased a cellular phone.

    AirTouch, a California-based company, has run full-page newspaper ads
    with a  despondent woman next to her broken-down car on a desolate
    road. The ad states, ``When you're stranded,  you have two choices. You
    can either wait for a nice person to come along, or you can call one.''

    Such a security system is a great product, but only if the consumer can
    reach  someone at any time.

    Availability of 911 service is as critical for the mobile user as for
    the user  of a fixed telephone, perhaps even more so. The mobile caller
    is more likely to be in an area where he or she can't  readily contact
    help.

    The 911 system, allowing easy access to emergency services, is one of
    the true  wonders of the Information Age. It's a national system, so
    easy to use that we often hear of children  saving a parent's life
    because they have been taught to dial 911. It would be ironic if the
    result of the current  discussion before the FCC was that the agency
    would find itself the architect of a geographical patchwork of 911 
    services that are sometimes available and sometimes not.

    The problems stemming from limiting 911 access to those callers with
    whom the  carrier has a prior agreement can only grow over time. There
    are more than 20 million cellular phones in use,  with millions of
    calls made every day. According to the FCC, there are fewer than
    260,000 calls to 911 each  day. These calls save lives and protect
    property. There should be no denial of the use of the publicly owned 
    airwaves to complete a call that would alert law enforcement that a
    child has been hit by a car or that a  drunken driver is racing on the
    wrong side of the freeway. It does not make sense for companies to deny
    access  to such a valuable use of their product.

    There are some limited costs associated with mandated 911 service, but
    they are  insignificant weighed against the outcome of delayed
    emergency responses. Some cellular customers pay for  ``air time'' even
    when calling 911, unlike fixed telephone users. Second, in many states
    carrier operations are  fully reimbursed by a 911 fund which is paid
    for by all telephone users through their monthly phone bill. Also,  we
    should not forget that the cellular industry is one of the most
    lucrative in the country and the companies  paid relatively little for
    their licenses.

    As part of their public obligation, the carriers should voluntarily
    remove all  barriers to 911 access. If they don't, the FCC must affirm
    that the public owns the airways and require the carriers,  as a
    condition of their continued operation, to transmit all 911 calls
    whether or not the caller has a contract  with them.

    The industry has promoted consumer expectation of unfettered access to
    911.  Requiring the distressed caller to have arranged a service
    contract in advance in order to make a 911 call is  unreasonable. The
    industry makes a bundle because it has a valuable product. The goose
    continues to lay  golden eggs, but the industry can kill the goose with
    short-sighted business practices.

    And the cellular carriers may not be able to reach 911 when they need
    to report  a loss of public confidence and corporate profits.

    Jim Conran is the founder of Consumers First, and formerly an executive
    with  Pacific Bell and director of the California Department of
    Consumer Affairs. He wrote this article for the New York Times news
    service.

Published 1/10/95 in the San Jose Mercury News.

>    As part of their public obligation, the carriers should voluntarily
>    remove all  barriers to 911 access. If they don't, the FCC must affirm
>    that the public owns the airways and require the carriers,  as a
>    condition of their continued operation, to transmit all 911 calls
>    whether or not the caller has a contract  with them.

While I agree that the cellular carriers should not block 911 access when the
call is placed by a cellular phone with a valid contract with any cellular
company in the country (and this information is instantly available to all
carriers with currently existing services), it is not clear that the carriers
have any obligation to provide 911 service to someone who is not paying for
any cellular service at all.

/john

    > it is not clear that the carriers have any obligation to provide 911 
    > service to someone who is not paying for any cellular service at all.
    
    I partially agree.  While the public access requirements levied on
    existing wireline carriers are analgous, they are essentially a market
    distortion; only somewhat justified in my mind as an easement or 
    obligation to the monopoly power of existing local service providers.  
    We get taxed extra in every bill to provide Lifeline service for them 
    as can't afford it.  I'd rather not introduce these sorts of market
    distortions into this new market as it develops.  Still, there is an
    undeniable public service benefit to the requirement.  The problem
    arises when people purchase cell phones solely to use for emergencies,
    and never sign up for any regular service contract.  I would have the
    cell phone manufacturers provide a royalty to the carriers for those
    units on which they generate profit but for which no service contracts
    are established.  Then the cost is passed along to the people who buy
    the cell phones in the first place, all of whom have 911 access, unless
    this stealth regulatory request is approved.
    
    DougO

.24

California is unlike other states (Does this belong in the understatement
topic?) in that you can't be forced to sign up for service when you buy a phone.
You can't buy a phone from a dealer in Texas or most (any?) other state(s)
without signing up for service.

Bob

    Here in GA you can buy a phone without service, but it costs more.  I
    see ads all the time that say "$99 for a phone". Fine print says that in
    order to receive this price you must purchase a two year contract with
    the Cellular provider (in this case, Bellsouth Mobility).  You can't
    operate a phone without a contract.  Buying a phone and using it only
    for emergencies is okay.  You still pay a monthly amount for the phone
    to be activated.  There is no penalty for not using the phone (nor
    should their be one).
    
    Regarding 911, I believe that if you have a contract with a provider
    anywhere in the country, you should have 911 access, even when you are
    "roaming".
    
    Dan

re: .26

Now that you mention it, I have seen a few ads (Circuit City?) for phones with
fine print that says something like "El Cheapo GE phone is $499 w/out 
activation".  Interestingly, I don't think I've ever seen anyone offer a
Motorola phone without activation at any price.  It's like you will either
pay for activation or you will pay for it and we won't call it that.

Bob

Tuesday, October 31, 1995 7 Page B1
)1995 San Francisco Chronicle
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Home Will Make Debut in Sunnyvale

    Jeff Pelline, Chronicle Staff Writer

    Fledgling Home is expected to announce tomorrow that Sunnyvale will be
    its first market for launching high-speed access to the Internet via TV
    cable early next year -- an industry first.

    The small, little-known company will compete with Pacific Bell, MCI and
    others in data communications. Home provides access via a cable
    connection into personal computers, rather than a phone line. A
    companion product, Work, also is in development.

    Internet access could become a $4.2 billion market in the year 2000, up
    from $125 million this year, according to some estimates. Sunnyvale's
    benefits include a high population of technophiles and an upgraded
    cable system run by Home's partner Tele-Communications Inc. Later, the
    product will be expanded throughout the Bay Area.

    Palo Alto-based Home also may move to Sunnyvale, alongside technology
    giants such as AMD and Amdahl. Its product will be demonstrated
    tomorrow at the Sunnyvale Community Center. In its short history, Home,
    whose backers include TCI and venture capitalists Kleiner Perkins
    Caufield & Byers, recently struck a deal with Netscape Communications
    Corp. to provide software. Kleiner Perkins also is a big investor in
    Netscape, another reminder of KP's reach in Silicon Valley. Many
    analysts are skeptical of Home's chances for making much money, if any,
    citing competition and the daunting task of entering the market. The
    company must strike deals with content providers, which will be
    hard-nosed about how their material is displayed and at what cost. They
    may include ESPN, Sports Illustrated, CNN and The Chronicle, among
    others. Home will not create any content on its own. But it has
    strengths, too. The biggest is TCI's pipeline into the homes of
    consumers. TCI is the nation's largest cable TV company. Home hopes to
    be in 1 million homes by the end of next year, said chief executive
    William Randolph Hearst III, former publisher of the San Francisco
    Examiner. If successful, the company may go public. It is expected to
    charge less than $30 per month for the service.

    Home's ``unreasonably fast'' technology, as it is touted, promises
    faster access to the Internet than Pac Bell.

    
      The Telecommunications Act of 1996 is passed by Congress and
     signed by the President.
    
      bb

    
    	So, in a nutshell, what does this mean?
    

    It means you can have all the guns you want, but you can't just surf
    the web with impunity.

It means that there's no longer any legal difference between a local phone
company and a long distance company.

No difference between an intra-LATA and an inter-LATA call.

No difference between a cable company and a phone company.

(Discuss the Internet/Censorship implications in Topic 482, please.)

/john

    Some cable companies (TCI springs to ming, they're the biggest here in
    the Silicon Valley and are one of the largest in the country, if not
    the largest) are hoping to become the favored internet-connection into
    the home, via cable-modems.  Milo Medin was finally lured from NASA
    Ames to be the technical advisor to such a venture, as documented in
    Wired a few months ago.  With this new bill law, they're free to go
    ahead- how much oversight will FCC, or local utility regulators,
    exercise?
    
    One wonders in a passing moment if Rupert Murdoch got his needs met
    through this bill, and whether or not Newt and he reached some other
    quid pro quo arrangement.
    
    Another thought is that this topic should be merged with the future of
    telecommunications note I started last year.
    
    DougO

    So, this is just a bunch of blah blah blah then eh?
    
    

So why are many web sites black in protest?

    >Some cable companies [...] are hoping to become the favored 
    >internet-connection into the home, via cable-modems.  
    
     How much unused bandwidth is available on the average cable system? Is
    this really capable of large scale interactive network support?

    
      Oops - sorry DougO.  I didn't see this note.  The merger of my
     new entry with this one is appreciated.
    
      This morning, Cellular 1 announced it offers long distance.
    
      This morning, MCI announced it will compete for your LOCAL phone
     service, directly against NYNEX.
    
      Many more changes, coming soon, due to this bill.  As to the much
     overstated First Amendment issues, they aren't the important part
     of the story.  Neither the Republicans nor the Democrats nor the
     President thought so, and my guess is the courts will agree.  It is
     a regulation of interstate commerce, clearly a power of Congress
     under our constitution.  Nobody is prevented from saying anything.
     They just can't say it on a publicly owned information superhighway
     unless they obey the rules the public puts in.  Just like TV.
    
      bb

   Re: Note 197.36 by WAHOO::LEVESQUE "memory canyon"
   

�     How much unused bandwidth is available on the average cable system? Is
�    this really capable of large scale interactive network support?

   
   There's a lot of unused bandwidth.  Keep in mind that most home users
   don't need 10MBit (or even T1 speeds).  Many people would be very
   happy with 56KB.  Compress that and multiplex it and you have a whole
   lot of ability.
   
   Also, our area's cable system is now fiber-based.  What does this do
   to available bandwidths?  I don't know much about how fiber CATV
   works.

    >                -< Should be OK with low-speed service >-
    
    WTF wants low speed service?

           <<< Note 197.37 by GAAS::BRAUCHER "Welcome to Paradise" >>>

>As to the much
>     overstated First Amendment issues, they aren't the important part
>     of the story.  Neither the Republicans nor the Democrats nor the
>     President thought so, and my guess is the courts will agree.  It is
>     a regulation of interstate commerce, clearly a power of Congress
>     under our constitution.  Nobody is prevented from saying anything.
>     They just can't say it on a publicly owned information superhighway
>     unless they obey the rules the public puts in.  Just like TV.
 
	There is a fair amount of difference between the regulation of
	over the air signals and regulating signals transmitted by 
	cable/phone lines. This is NOT "just like TV.

Jim

>     They just can't say it on a publicly owned information superhighway
>     unless they obey the rules the public puts in.  Just like TV.

Except it's not publicly owned.    

    Mark, see .28.  Cable has a *lot* of unused bandwidth, and millions of
    homes are already wired.  It has a huge leg up over the telcos unless
    they can get T1 speeds out of existing twisted pair at a competitive
    price, which nobody is going to count on for a while.  CATV modems, on
    the other hand, are in development and prices should be pretty good for
    high-speed access.  The article in .28 suggests that a large scale test
    of end-user access by existing cable will happen in Sunnyvale within
    the year.
    
    DougO

    
    
      Rep. Cable Modems
    
     They are already available for about ~$700. A friend who does alot of
    local access video stuff for his local cable is already playing with
    them. Now if they just hurry up and offer them on my cable system.
    Given the bandwidth I would buy one even for $700.
    
    -mike
    

But what about Bianca?

 
Isn't that a breath spray?

>But what about Bianca?
    
     She of the Smut Shack fame?

    
    	RE: Bianca/breath spray
    
    	I hate to say it, but I thought the same thing when I saw
    	"Bianca".
    

>Subj:	does Comm Decency Act prohibit mentioning "Dole" on the net?
>
>Tehran (Reuter) - For the past few weeks, the behind the doors discussion
>at many Iranian newspaper and magazine publishing outfits seems to be
>revolving not around political, social and economic issues, but the
>spelling of Bob Dole's name instead. It turns out that the proper spelling
>of the Republican Party's likely nominee, Dole, is exactly the same as that
>of the word penis in Persian. "At first it might seem funny to some people,
>but it's creating a serious issue for us. How can we write headlines using
>that word?," said Majid Fanni, a prepress specialist at a Tehran service
>bureau.
>
>Professor Hassan Khadem, a Persian literature lecturer at New York
>University added "It's actually not a real problem. In Persian, certain
>vowels are optional. [Therefore] they could write his name a couple of
>different ways to avoid the ambiguity. But for an exact pronunciation,
>'Dowl' as opposed to 'Dol', well, they'd have to spell it that way." Fanni
>explained "It's not easy. In print, especially for headlines, we don't use
>[optional] vowel symbols. Because of that, his name can be read in that
>way."
>
>International organizations are quite familiar and cognizant of these types
>of issues. General Motors for example, spends over 300,000 dollars a year
>just researching car names to make sure they are not trade marked, as well
>as being acceptable in foreign countries.
>
>Ali Zarkoob, a grade school teacher in Western Tehran said "I'm sure kids
>will find it very funny. The humor magazines will probably go crazy over it
>too." A columnist for Tehran's Hamshahri daily who requested to remain
>anonymous stated "It's a real problem that no one wants to face. Think
>about it. What should we write if he wins? 'Clinton loses Presidency'?
>That's not right. 'Penis wins US Presidency' isn't exactly acceptable
>either."