                      The Teleputing Hotline 
                And Field Computing Source Letter
                        Volume 5 Number 18
                       Monday, May 4, 1992
               215 Winter Avenue, Atlanta, GA 30317 
              FAX: 404-378-0794 Phone: 404-373-7634 
        MCI:409-8960 GEnie: nb.atl CompuServe: 76200,3025 

Editor: Dana Blankenhorn 
European Editor: Steve Gold 
Asian Editor: Masayuki Miyazawa 
Sales Manager: Hiro Nakamura 

An Affiliate of the Newsbytes News Network 

                        EDITORIAL ANALYSIS 

Why the FBI doesn't like ISDN 

The world of audio, in case you hadn't noticed, is rapidly 
becoming digital. For the average telephone user this means the 
snap, crackle and pop of yesterday's phone calls, not to mention 
the delay between finishing dialing and hearing a ringing tone, 
have all but disappeared. 

Digital telephone exchanges in the US first began appearing in 
the 1960s. Since then, most exchanges have gone over to the new 
technology. Now it's the turn of the lines between the exchange 
and the phone in the office or the home. The technology to do 
this is known as integrated services digital network, or ISDN. 

ISDN may be good news for the phone user, but it's bad news for 
secret services and government agencies around the world. 

In the US, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is so 
worried it has begun lobbying the Government and the various 
telephone companies to slow down or even put a hold on the 
introduction of the technology, in the marketplace. The reason 
is simple -- ISDN lines are almost impossible to tap. 

ISDN lines transfer data at such high speeds and in such small 
packets that anyone tapping in to a single channel will find it 
difficult to decode the data into coherent speech in real time, 
unless all control information is tapped as well. Tapping the 
control channels, however, is a major step, requiring the 
complicity of the telephone company, not to mention a warrant. 

But the nature of the FBI's secret activities prevents the phone 
company of even being notified of all wire taps. The paperwork 
mountain associated with millions of taps carried out each year 
would be immense, say experts. In short, the legal implications 
of having to tap entire ISDN circuits are horrendous. 

The problem of tapping ISDN calls is made worse by the fact that, 
once the digital data streams reach the telephone exchange, they 
are mixed together (multiplexed) with other calls and sent around 
the world at high speed. Imagine the same problem in the postal 
system -- the FBI can easily keep track of parcels in a local 
office, but when they're shot at high speed around the country... 

Thus, the FBI wants the US telephone companies to modify ISDN 
technology to make it easier to tap. As if this weren't bad 
enough, government officials have ruled out any form of an R&D 
subsidy for the telecoms industry to modify the ISDN technology - 
the telecomms industry is expected to pay for the changes itself. 
The telecomms industry will simply pass on the extra costs to the 
telephone user in the form of increased costs. 

Needless to say, US civil libertarians are outraged by the whole 
affair. Tapping phones is one thing, they say, but asking the 
consumer to pick up the tab is out of order. 

One of the first telephone companies asked to implement the 
changes to ISDN - changes, incidentally, that the FBI has made a 
state secret - is the Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Company, 
which covers the Washington area. Officials have said publicly 
that the cost of implementing the FBI's required changes will 
be hundreds of millions of dollars, and it cannot link with other 
telephone companies with driving a bulldozer through the FBI's 
secrecy rules. 

AT&T officials, which control the US telephone network, are said 
to be horrified. They claim that only the largest telephone 
companies will be able to implement the FBI's changes, leaving 
the smaller companies bankrupt. Some companies are so petrified 
they have frozen their existing ISDN conversion programs, causing 
an uproar in the business community. 

The FBI, meanwhile, is putting pressure on President Bush to 
force the phone companies to comply through civilian rather than 
covert legislation. William Sessions, the director of the FBI, 
held a closed session with the Congress in which he has asked 
that legislation be passed without delay. Unless the legislation 
is passed, the FBI will find it progressively more difficult to 
track terrorists, kidnappers and other dangerous criminals. And 
with crime statistics such a political problem, Bush may bow to 
Sessions' requests, regardless of cost. 

Regardless of the politics of the situation, the real loser will 
be the consumer. And there's the shame - the technology is there, 
but companies are scared to offer it for fear of offending the 
FBI. 

---Steve Gold 

                          U.S. FEATURES 

AT&T: Personal 700 Phone Numbers 

AT&T became the first long distance carrier to offer "personal 
phone numbers," which follow their owners around wherever they 
are in the US, with a service called EasyReach 700. The firm's 
long-distance switches now have software which can recognize the 
700 area code and send such numbers to a database, which tells 
the switch where to send the call. EasyReach 700 offers a special 
type of call-forwarding, using a 4-digit PIN, so you can send 
some calls to an answering machine and take others. You may also 
decide whether to pay for incoming calls, or have callers pay. 
And new users can pick their own numbers. 

LA: Residents Asked To Stay Off Phones 

Two days of rioting and fires in Los Angeles, following the 
acquittal of 4 officers for beating motorist Rodney King, caused 
Pacific Bell to ask residents to restrict their calling to 
emergency use only, writes Linda Rohrbaugh of Newsbytes from LA. 
The problems were blamed on basic network congestion, and full 
service returned after the riots ended. At its peak, there were 
delays of minutes in getting basic dial tones. PacBell also 
restricted its repair work in the affected area to emergency 
repairs only. 

MICROAGE: Enters Field Computing Market 

MicroAge Computer Centers became the first retailer to announce a 
wireless strategy in support of Field Computing. The chain 
created a network of relationships with AT&T EasyLink's e-mail 
service, SkyTel's paging service, Hewlett-Packard for its HP 95LX 
palmtop computer, Motorola and its wireless networking schemes, 
NCR for its notebook and pen-top computers, and Xircom, a 
software vendor. MicroAge will now sell "bundles" of computers 
and services, combining the Safari notebook computer with SkyTel 
paging, for instance. 

CORPORATE NEWS: Giant Joint Ventures for New Markets 

IBM and Time Warner want to combine the former's multimedia and 
compression technologies with the latter's library of film and 
published software, and its cable TV business. BellSouth said it 
will invest real dollars in a joint-venture with Dow Jones, 
seeking new markets for its videotex and audiotex services. The 
two firms are testing an audiotex service for Los Angeles 
cellular phone subscribers. Dow Jones also has agreements with 
NYNEX and Pacific Telesis, and its newspapers have editorialized 
frequently in favor of the Bells' entry into the information 
industry, an entry which made possible these agreements. 

CREDIT CARDS: Fraud Victim Rips Industry Security 

William Murphy of Creative Computers, allegedly victimized by 
teenagers arrested on April 22nd in New York City, told Barbara & 
John McMullen of Newsbytes the lack of security in the credit 
card industry is abysmal and "the merchant who bears the brunt." 
Murphy, a mail-order computer vendor, said his own people look 
for fraud, but the hackers had a fake account with a proper 
address used for shipments, making it undetectable by him. 

A "hacker," speaking anonymously, agreed with Murphy's assessment 
of security at the credit bureaus, saying, "Anyone that knows 
what they are doing can get any information they want out of 
them. Trans Union is somewhat less abused that the others because 
of the terseness of the query commands but they all have 
problems. TRW, for instance, is wide open." 

On-line Service For Internet Access Without Unix Commands 

Information Access Technologies (IAT) started a new on-line 
service, Holonet, which it says can meet demand for "Public Unix 
Access" through a menu-based on-line system, writes Linda 
Rohrbough for Newsbytes. Holonet members are assigned Internet e-
mail addresses, and local access members are available via 
Holopacket (San Francisco), PSINet (Worldwide), Internet 
(Worldwide), and BT Tymnet services (US and Canada). While the 
service is now text-based, plans are in the works to provide FIDO 
echoes, as well as programs and graphics for IBM PCs, Amigas, and 
Macintoshes. Graphics will be in GIF and JPEG formats. 

                      INTERNATIONAL REPORTS 

Japan: Nifty-Serve Cellular Service, NTT Break-Up 

Nifty-Serve started a 9,600 bps data service via mobile phones 
May 1. Service will be provided through Fujitsu's FENICS net, and 
can be accessed via various VAN nodes. It runs under V.32 and MNP 
Class 10 standards. Nifty has had ISDN connections since last 
July, and will lower their cost. Nifty and PC-VAN also agreed to 
exchange e-mail with each other, forming the Japan Electronics 
Mail Association to support the MHS standard. Other firms which 
will join include NTT, KDD, Fujitsu, Intec, and the Network 
Information Center. 

NTT will spin-out its mobile phone division in July. NTT Mobile 
Telecommunication Network itself will be divided into eight firms 
in July 1993. Each will be assigned a geographic territory in 
Japan, and offer car phones, mobile phones, ship phones, aircraft 
phones, and pagers. Capitalization is estimated to be 15 billion 
yen ($100 million), paid by NTT. A total of 1,800 employees will 
be transferred. 

IBM Japan developed a a motion picture TV telephone for its 
PS/55. The TV phone, developed with GC Technology, is designed 
for linking to NTT's ISDN and can transmit 12 screens per second. 
IBM Japan wants to release it by the end of this year at around 1 
million yen. IBM Japan also hopes to make its TV phone PC an 
industry standard, and creating The Research Association For 
Personal Communication Graphics Communication under Haruhisa 
Ishida of Tokyo University to share the technolgy, backed by NTT 
and the Japanese Ministry of Posts and Telecommunication. 

UK: BT Expands Packet Net, Modems Slow Down ISDN, Husky and RAM 

British Telecom announced plans to expand its packet data 
networks. Plans call for the net to be rolled out to 39 new 
countries by 1995, many in Eastern Europe. The idea is that 
multinational companies will be better served, and subscribers to 
line systems linked to the BT PDNs will be able to access 
services on a near-global basis. The network expansion will 
coincide with a push to upgrade access points to support 9,600 
bps. 

US Robotics' Miracom unit announced a UKP 100,000 campaign to 
promote the V.32Bis 14,400 bps modem standard, saying the price 
and performance of V.32bis will make companies think twice before 
moving to ISDN. The lower price, with competition from Hayes, 
could make the argument valid. 

Husky Computers, which claims to be the leading supplier of 
rugged handheld computers, has become one of the first UK 
firm to demonstrate links to the new RAM Mobile Data network. 
Major customers include British Airways, which is testing it at 
Heathrow International Airport. Unlike in the US, where Mobitem 
radio modems are being sold alongside the Mobitex network, RAM is 
acting as a network supplier, leaving it to third-party suppliers 
to equip users with hardware. 

Finally, Mercury signed Hong Kong Telecom to its new toll-free 
telephone service in the UK. Phone users dialing 0500 890 852 
will be linked free to a HK Telecom operator who speaks English, 
Cantonese, or Putonghua. Callers can then request a collect call 
or charge their conversation to a HK Telecom calling card. 
While other deals are in the offing, Mercury faces the problem of 
using the 0500 area code rather than the internationally 
recognized 0800 code, since 0800 has been reserved by BT for its 
network. Many subscribers are unaware that 0500 is toll-free. 

MOSCOW: More Banks Join SWIFT, IBM Net 

Kirill Tchashchin writes from Russia that the Society Worldwide 
for Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) is starting a 
massive effort to bring Russia's banks to its network. Eleven 
Russian banks are already SWIFT members, although just four are 
connected to the network. The rest await regional access points, 
hopefully by December. Although many Ukrainian, Baltic, and 
Caucasian bankers want to join SWIFT, no details have been made 
available on the procedure for these foreign countries to join 
SWIFT. Moscow access will be via SovAm Teleport, with secure 
links to the West and 32 leased lines to local banks. SWIFT is 
also working to implement connections with Romanian and Albanian 
banks, which are not yet SWIFT members. 

IBM announced plans to expand its IBM Information Network into 
Estonia and other Baltic countries from Finland. A center will be 
put into Tallinn, Estonia by mid-summer, linked via a leased line 
to Helsinki and offering X.400 e-mail, EDIFACT document exchange 
services and access to 100+ information providers. The service 
will cost 4500 Finnish markka (US$1000) in advance yearly with 
added usage-related fees. 

Finally, the annual Telecommunication Systems and Services 
Exhibition was scheduled for Moscow June 21-26. Unlike other 
shows, there will be no attendance by the general public, a 
measure which guarantees a qualified audience, and Western 
telecom companies are likely to have booths on the exhibit floor. 

MIDEAST: Improvements Continue 

In Saudi Arabia, demand for phone lines is rising smartly 
throughout the kingdom, due to the elimination of tolls on local 
calls and a 53 percent cut in installation and subscription fees. 
The number of phone lines in the nation's Eastern Province, along 
the Persian Gulf, will rise from 160,000 to over 220,000 over the 
next two years, the government said. The United Arab Emirates is 
now offering its citizens video telephones, and Iran upgraded its 
microwave relay network with equipment from Alca-Tel of Italy. 
Microwave relays are often used in rural parts of the Third World 
in place of wires. 

COLUMBIA: Strike Ends 

It is one again possible to call Columbia, and for Columbians to 
call the world. The 14,000 workers at Telecom, the state-owned 
phone company, who went on strike over privitization, signed a 
deal with the government. Under the deal the strike ends, and the 
union gets to review a planned privatization of the company. A 
tribunal will also be established to look into government 
accusations of sabotage against union members. 

CAMBODIA: Cellular Service Coming 

TelecomAsia of Thailand has approached the Cambodian government 
about a cellular phone concession. A unit of the Charoen Pokphand 
Group is currently setting up a trunk radio system for United 
Nations workers in the country, under contract from Motorola, and 
TelecomAsia would hire it to engineer a cellular system on the US 
AMPS standard. TelecomAsia has a contract to install millions of 
phones in Thailand, but has said it wants international 
expansion. 

FACTOIDS: 

AMERITECH put in a bid for part of Centel. But the phone and 
cellular company, which put itself up for sale in January, is 
likely to stay independent. 

DATAMATICS of Bombay will re-engineer the STOBI funds transfer 
system of Banque Worms in Paris, France, so it can accept input 
directly from electronic channels like SWIFT, Sagittaire and 
Teletransmission, instead of paper documents. 

MURATA released a low-cost fax machine equipped with an auto-
sheet cutting feature. The Muratech M11 will be released in mid-
May at 130,000 yen ($960). The picture is also said to be quite 
sharp. 

SPECTRUM CELLULAR announced an intelligent interface for hand-
held cellular phones which gives such phones a standard RJ-11 
plug, like those found on wired phones. 

SPRINT added Israel to the countries on the Sprint World discount 
calling plan. You can link with that country, and 39 others, at 
discount rates for $3 per month. 

CONTACT: 

Ameritech, Steve Ford, +312-750-5205 
AT&T, Mark Siegel, +908-221-8413 
BellSouth, Tim Klein, +404-249-4135 
Dow Jones, Roger May, +212-416-2601 
Holonet, Arthur Britto, +510-704-0160; FAX +510-704-8019; BBS, 
+510-704-1058 
IBM Info Systems, Jorma Piispa, +358 90 459-4724 
IBM Japan, +81-3-3586-1111 
MicroAge, David Lucas, +602-968-3168x2243 
Miracom, +0753-811180 
Murata Machinery, +81-75-672-8137 
NEC PC-VAN, +81-3-3454-6909 
Nifty-Serve, +81-3-5471-4857 
NTT, +81-3-3509-5035 
Pacific Bell, Linda Bonnikson, +714-284-2140 
RAM Mobile Data, +081-990-9090 
Spectrum Cellular, John Rule, +214/630-9825 
Sprint, Robin Pence, +202-828-7454 
SWIFT, Bruno Coessens, +32 2 655-3111; FAX +32 2 655-3226 
Telecom Show, Yuri Andrianov,+7 095 198-1341 

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