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Technology Stocks : Voice-on-the-net (VON), VoIP, Internet (IP) Telephony -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Stephen B. Temple who wrote (1640)	10/21/1998 10:24:00 PM
From: Stephen B. Temple	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 3178

How about a little EtherLoop> Elastic shows how compatible DSL can be By Tim Greene Network World Fusion, 10/21/98 Atlanta - Elastic Networks yesterday announced at NetWorld+Interop that its digital subscriber line (DSL) technology will not disrupt voice and data services traveling along adjacent wires in the same telco wiring cable. Computer simulations performed by Bellcore indicate that the DSL technology, called EtherLoop, can coexist peacefully with voice service, ISDN, high-bit-rate DSL (HDSL), T-1 and asymmetric DSL (ADSL). Testing in labs and cable farms will be completed by year-end, according to Elastic. Noise among different services poses a problem to carriers that want to offer DSL services. Local carriers that own the actual copper phone lines must carefully select which copper loops to sell to DSL providers to ensure the DSL services do not disrupt other services the local carrier is selling. EtherLoop is a high-bandwidth data technology that runs on a regular phone line at up to 10M bit/sec over a 3,000-foot line. That speed drops off to 750K bit/sec over a 21,000-foot line. A regular voice phone call can be made simultaneously on the same line with Etherloop. Those factors are similar to DSL. But EtherLoop differs in that it sends no signal when there is no data to send. Therefore, it is silent much of the time. During quiet periods, EtherLoop modems send test packets to determine what other services are being provided on wires around it, and they adjust their transmission frequencies to avoid interfering with whatever those services are, Elastic says.

To: Stephen B. Temple who wrote (1640)	10/28/1998 8:02:00 AM
From: Stephen B. Temple	Respond to of 3178

Voice Profile For Internet Mail Specs Intro'd October 28, 1998 VIENNA, VIRGINIA, U.S.A., Newsbytes via NewsEdge Corporation : The Electronic Messaging Association (EMA), an industrystandards body, has unveiled a new specification known as VPIM, short for Voice Profile for Internet Mail. According to the EMA, the specification has been developed to allow Internet servers and other systems to exchange voice-mail across the Internet. This will, the association says, allow users and vendors to develop integration plans and strategies based on a fixed, open, public, Internet standard. Developed by the EMA's Voice Messaging Committee, the VPIM specification defines how voice and fax messages can be moved over the Internet or private corporate intranets. Newsbytes notes that the specification is based on SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) and MIME (Multipurpose Internet Media Extension) technologies, which are the core Internet mail specifications. According to the EMA, the VPIM specifications has already been adopted by all of the leading voice vendors as the common method for exchanging voice and fax messages between systems of different vendors. The wide scale adoption of this standard, the association says, was highlighted last year at the EMA 1997 Annual Conference & Exposition in Philadelphia where the leading enterprise voice system vendors demonstrated the interoperability of their platforms based on this specification. The adoption was further evident, the association says, in the recent European Voice Mail Association (VMA) conference in Athens this month where the leading landline and wireless operators conducted an interoperability demonstration of a Global Voice Mail Service also based on VPIM. These organizations, the association notes, are now preparing trials that include enterprise, service provider, and network operator participants. Vendor companies formally participating in the EMA and VMA trials include: Alcatel, AVT, Applied Voice Technology, BriteVoice, Comverse Network Systems, Centigram, Glenayre, IBM, Lucent Technologies, Microsoft, Nortel, Priority Call, ReadyCom, Siemens ICN, Tecnomen, UNIFI, and Unisys. "This now places VPIM firmly and formally on the Internet standards track, " said Glenn Parsons, senior standards engineer at Nortel's Bell Northern Research division and co-author of the VPIM standard. According to Parsons, this now allows vendors and users to develop voice-mail and unified messaging plans and strategies with a high degree of assurance. The EMA's Web site is at ema.org . The VMA's Web site is at tbw.ch .

To: Stephen B. Temple who wrote (1640)	10/28/1998 8:12:00 AM
From: Stephen B. Temple	Respond to of 3178

OT>> Basic Telephone Prices Frozen Until 2002 Price Regulation Plan Approved For Bellsouth In Tennessee October 28, 1998 NASHVILLE, Tenn., Oct. 27 /PRNewswire/ via NewsEdge Corporation -- As a result of a decision today by the Tennessee Regulatory Authority, BellSouth's prices for basic telephone services will be frozen in the state until December 1, 2002. Also, long distance access charges will be reduced, which will result in lower long distance prices for consumers. This is the effect of today's unanimous vote to approve BellSouth's application for a price regulation plan. Price regulation is a form of regulation adopted by the Tennessee legislature in 1995 that gives incumbent telephone companies pricing flexibility necessary to compete in today's marketplace. BellSouth applied for a price regulation plan in June 1995, which was approved by the former Tennessee Public Service Commission subject to BellSouth reducing its rates by $56 million annually. BellSouth appealed this order. In October 1997, the Tennessee Court of Appeals vacated the Public Service Commission's order, finding that the rate adjustments ordered by the Commission were unlawful and that BellSouth's existing rates are affordable as required by Tennessee law. The Court sent the case back to the Authority with instructions to approve BellSouth's application for a price regulation plan. Although the TRA and the Consumer Advocate Division of the Office of the Attorney General sought permission to appeal to the Tennessee Supreme Court, the Supreme Court declined to review the Court of Appeals' decision. Today's decision, adopted by a vote of 3-0, approved BellSouth's price regulation plan effective October 1, 1995. Under the Authority's decision, existing rates for basic local service and for Call Waiting will be frozen until December 1, 2002, and adjustments in rates for non-basic services will be calculated annually as of December 1 each year. Access charges to long distance carriers will also be reduced. Statement of DEWITT EZELL, PRESIDENT BELLSOUTH-TENNESSEE "More than three years ago BellSouth applied for a price regulation plan under legislation enacted by the Tennessee General Assembly and signed into law by Governor Don Sundquist on June 6, 1995. Today's decision by the Tennessee Regulatory Authority approves that application, thereby allowing BellSouth to have the flexibility it needs to compete in today's local marketplace. It also provides sustained incentives for BellSouth to continue to improve its operations and to make additional investments that contribute to Tennessee's economic viability. "At the same time, the Authority ensured that the rates paid by Tennessee consumers for service from BellSouth will continue to be affordable. The Authority's decision means that BellSouth customers will not see any increase in the existing rates for basic local service and for Call Waiting until at least December 1, 2002. Given that the last increase in BellSouth's basic rates occurred in 1984, this means that BellSouth customers will enjoy at least 18 years of price stability for basic telephone service, which is practically unheard of in the United States." SOURCE BellSouth /CONTACT: David May, BellSouth, 615-214-5901/ [Copyright 1998, PR Newswire]