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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 (1899)	11/13/1998 6:26:00 AM
From: Stephen B. Temple	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 3178

OT> BellSouth Asks FCC to Reconsider Louisiana Long-Distance Application November 13, 1998 WASHINGTON, Nov. 12 /PRNewswire/BACKGROUND: On October 13, 1998 the Federal Communications Commission denied for the second time BellSouth's application to provide interLATA long-distance services in Louisiana. In its order, the FCC indicated that BellSouth (NYSE: BLS) meets the requirements of six checklist items and one subsection of the seventh checklist item. Today BellSouth has filed a Petition for Reconsideration and Clarification of the FCC's Order. The purpose of the filing is to request that the FCC reconsider its position regarding those items that it had ruled BellSouth did not meet, and to clarify what steps the company needs to take to assure the Commission's approval with subsequent long-distance petitions. The following statement on BellSouth's reconsideration filing should be attributed to Sid Boren, BellSouth's executive vice president for planning, development and administration: "With this request for reconsideration, BellSouth is asking for a dialogue with the Commission to continue efforts to gain a clear understanding of what it would take for the FCC to approve a BellSouth petition to offer long- distance to consumers in Louisiana. We see this as an opportunity to continue the communications with the FCC as we did prior to filing the second Louisiana petition. We believe those discussions were beneficial to the process of determining the differences that remain between where we are and where the FCC wants us to be. "It's our hope and plan to continue our discussions with the FCC and the staff with the goal of determining the requirements that the Commission is placing on our entry into the long-distance market. We believe that this filing today will serve as another opportunity for these discussions to be meaningful and useful to the process of bringing to consumers the benefits of our entry into the long-distance market in Louisiana." For more information, contact Joe Chandler, 404-927-7420 or Bill McCloskey, 202-463-4129, both of BellSouth. SOURCE BellSouth

To: Stephen B. Temple who wrote (1899)	11/17/1998 7:36:00 AM
From: Stephen B. Temple	Respond to of 3178

Regulatory Roundup - A telecommunications news-item from the United States November 17, 1998 InfoWorld via: (Washington) AT&T filed a petition with the Federal Communications Commission requesting that the FCC issue a declaratory ruling confirming that interexchange carriers do not have to purchase switched access services offered under tariff by competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs). In the petition, AT&T stated that CLECs have adopted business plans under which they impose switched access charges that are higher, in some cases by more than 20 times, than charges by the incumbent local exchange carrier competitors in the same areas in which the CLECs operate. AT&T asserted that during the past several months, it has engaged in negotiations with many CLECs, seeking reductions in the carriers' access rates. Interested parties are to file comments on or before Dec. 7. [Copyright 1998, InfoWorld]

To: Stephen B. Temple who wrote (1899)	11/18/1998 6:38:00 AM
From: Stephen B. Temple	Respond to of 3178

No need for semi-internet-link?> Aplio/Phone 2.0 Intro'd At Comdex November 18, 1998 LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., : Aplio, the hybrid telephony/Internet connected IP (InternetProtocol) net telephony firm, has taken the wraps off its Aplio/Phone 2.0 at Comdex Fall. As reported previously by Newsbytes, the Aplio/Phone system is unusual in that system users dial a call (using their normal long distance phone line) to another Aplio/phone user using conventional phone lines. When the call is connected, the originating party presses the "Aplio" button on their Aplio/phone unit. This tells the distant Aplio/phone unit to automatically clear the call down and place a modem call to the Internet. At the same time, the calling user's Aplio/phone unit automatically clears the long distance call down and also dials into the Internet. The two TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) calls are then linked together over the Internet and the voice call -- using voice over IP standards -- reconnects. The advantage with this type of call, Newsbytes notes, is that both ends of the party enjoy free or low-cost calling tariffs for connecting to the Internet. but without the need for either end of the link to be semi-permanently hooked up to the Internet. The Aplio/Phone 2.0 extends the concept to support H.323 compliance, meaning that Aplio/Phone users can now complete Internet telephony calls with Net telephony users without an Aplio/Phone system -- as long as their hardware and software supports the H.323 standard, a net telephony call can connect, the firm says. According to company officials, the Aplio/Phone 2.0 offers enhanced digital audio quality using the firm's PacketPlus technology, user- friendly remote configuration, as well as an improved user interface that can operate in nine languages. Existing users of the Aplio/Phone need not fret about the new version of the unit, as the company says that existing users will be able to download the upgrade software to their phones starting in January. The Aplio/Phone is not designed to be hooked up permanently to the PC, however. In return for $199, users get a unit into which they can plug their existing phone, and one that routes long distance and even international calls -- without the need for a PC -- across the Internet using PC-to-phone Internet telephony technology. The Aplio/Phone is billed as a full-featured, smart Internet appliance with a built-in processor and modem, Flash RAM and hardware-based, full-duplex voice compression. Its small size, the company says, makes it a convenient companion to any telephone, and its superior audio quality rivals that of today's advanced digital cellular phones. In addition to these features, the Aplio/phone also has a full-duplex speakerphone which can be used even when the device is not connected through the Internet. Oliver Zitoun, Aplio's president, said that, by making the Aplio/Phone technology H.323 compliant, the firm is dramatically expanding the reach of its users. "With Aplio/Phone 2.0, users can now communicate not only with other Aplio users but with PCs using any standard Internet telephony and conferencing software such as Microsoft's NetMeeting," he said, adding that calling an Aplio/Phone from a PC is very simple. According to company officials, as well as including support for H.323 connections, the Aplio/Phone 2.0 features the firm's new PacketPlus technology, which enables best digital sound quality for calls over the public Internet network. "PacketPlus addresses the most important aspects of Internet telephony -- latency and Internet traffic," explained Henry Tebaka, the firm's chairman and chief technology officer. According to Tebaka, by continuously monitoring Internet conditions, PacketPlus automatically adjusts packet size and redundancy. "As a result, users experience Internet telephone calls nearly indistinguishable from calls over the public telephone network," he said. Further details of the Aplio phone unit can be found on the firm's Web site at aplio.com .