Private Line covers what has occurred, is occurring, and will ocurr in telecommunications. Since communication technology constantly changes, you can expect new content posted regularly.
Consider this site an authoritative resource. Its moderators have successful careers in the telecommunications industry. Utilize the content and send comments. As a site about communicating, conversation is encouraged.
Thomas Farely
Tom has produced privateline.com since 1995. He is now a freelance technology writer who contributes regularly to the site.
His knowledge of telecommunications has served, most notably, the American Heritage Invention and Technology Magazine and The History Channel.
His interview on Alexander Graham Bell will air on the History Channel the end of 2006.
Ken Schmidt
Ken is a licensed attorney who has worked in the tower industry for seven years. He has managed the development of broadcast towers nationwide and developed and built cell towers.
He has been quoted in newspapers and magazines on issues regarding cell towers and has spoke at industry and non-industry conferences on cell tower related issues.
He is recognized as an expert on cell tower leases and due diligence processes for tower acquisitions.
« November 2004 | | January 2005 »
Frequent contributor to privateline.com, Ken Schmidt of Steelintheair.com (external link), was quoted often in a recent New York Times' article. Way to go, Ken! The article was about cell site leases and how they can add value to your property. I've archived it here. (internal link).
Many businesses use Nextel's iDEN technology for dispatch, a needed but niche service. Independent, local radio carriers may soon offer iDEN service to compete for dispatch when Nextel moves away from it. As they surely will. When Nextel started they killed off hundreds of Mom and Pop dispatch operations; it will be a happy day when independents move back to their old territories.
Nextel continues testing Flarion but the company will not say if they will go with this "loner technology" or with the mainstream EVDO. Field reports much higher data rates with Flarion than EVDO but lack of handsets and carrier commitments are stalling any rollouts. Sprint's mismanagement of their new spectrum seems certain. More later.
Their recent merger seems a mess. They use different technologies which right now aren't compatible, in fact, Nextel's system, Motorola's TDMA based iDEN, should have been retired some time ago. The future is with CDMA systems which Sprint uses. So what's going on? Even industry experts are baffled. Here's Ken Schmidt's (internal link) take on this:
"Here's what I've heard: Nextel is the voice platform -- Sprint's technology becomes the data platform, although this would require duplication everywhere. Nextel and Sprint both evaluate conversion to EVDO or to Flarion's high speed technology. I strongly doubt that they go away from the grain on EVDO."
"Here is what I think might happen: Nextel and Sprint both focus on business consumers so their network will cater to them. They may try developing high speed reliable data networks, while building a symbiotic WIFI network until EVDO comes online. This means they must come up with new, multi-function handsets, using advanced applications focused on business. Like tools allowing access to company databases and cross platform location technology that lets customers track equipment and personnel. We'll see."
"Go to this new web page at my site to read about how mergers may impact cell site leases. (external link)
Ken
By Ralph Blumenthal
The New York Times (All rights reserved)
"MINK, La.--It's no secret what the 15 householders in this tiny settlement want for Christmas: the same thing they have always wanted year round--telephones."
"Not bag phones, the primitive portable stopgap often carried around in a canvas case, which send residents out in their pickups searching for service 'hot spots,' but real telephones wired to a land line."
"Alexander Graham Bell's invention of 1876 never reached Mink, a onetime trappers' paradise in the Kisatchie National Forest in west-central Louisiana, although neighbors just down the road on Highways 117 and 118 were wired for telephones in the 1970s." [continues here --->, external link], was http://news.com.com/Louisiana+town+awaits+telephone+age/2100-1037_3-5488277.html
Cellular telephone numbers will be published for the first time in the new, coming wireless diretory. Kathleen Pierz (directory assistance consultant, internal link) say you'll be listed only if you sign up, telemarketers can't use the directory, and numbers won't be published on the net. She has a nice two page FAQ explaining the program here. (internal link to .pdf file)
Privacy concerns? This is an opt in list, but check the fine print in your cellular contract to make sure it doesn't automatically sign you up. Oh, and the Federal Do Not Call List applies to all numbers, wireless and otherwise. So you can have your number taken off at any time. Really paranoid? Use cash to buy pre-paid wireless air time and phones.
Need an expert on all things directory assistance? Visit Kathleen Pierz's website: http://www.pierzgroup.com/(external link)
Q. I have an old IMTS phone, you know, pre-cellular. (internal link to mobile telephone pages.) Where can I use it?
A. (From Geoff Fors) "Sorry, None of the present former Bell affiliates offer IMTS car phone service to the best of my knowledge. The service ended when the manufacturers ceased supporting the equipment, among other reasons. That being said, at least one former Bell IMTS system is still in use in Pennsylvania / New Jersey, run by Bob Green. I think the name of one of them is Schuylkill Mobile Fone. Any remaining IMTS systems are more or less hobby systems rather than going concerns."
"As of the late 1990's the Whidbey Island Telephone Co. was still offering IMTS service but you had to rent the equipment from them, and it was very expensive, something like $ 85 per month plus air time. A self extinguishing business, basically."
"The low band Bell MTS phone channels on the West Coast were sold at FCC auction about a year ago. They went for practically nothing. The purchasers are at the moment trying to figure out what to do with them." Geoff
Don Kimberlin has previously challenged (internal link to .pdf file) the one hundred year old claim that Marconi first transmitted a wireless message across the Atlantic in 1901. He now has more information.
"I'm now able to add to the article in .pdf above that the Poldhu transmitting aerial could not have emitted anything above the medium waveband (specifically about 800 kHz); that 12/12/01 was the LOWEST, QUIETEST day of ionospheric activity in the entire 20th century; that what the Poldhu transmiter emitted was not the 'buzz-buzz-buzz' of spark transmitters as we know them, but rather just 'click-click-click' as lightning might do, plus there is an ideal propagation path for atmospherics from the South America lightning epicenter up to Newfoundland."
"Earlier iterations of this story have been published in Radio Guide and NARTE News (US). Those who did respond acted as though I had denied 'virgin birth.' It's that much a matter of 'you'd better believe' as taught in schools, even though there's no proof. The real story is that nobody, including Marconi, knew how that first message could have happened. Shortly after Marconi's claim, reporters asked Kennelly, Marconi's assistant, how it might have happened, and he told them that MAYBE it was due to a newly discovered ionized layer in the upper atmosphere -- only MAYBE, but it became taken as gospel by the teachers and has been taught and republished ever since, even though Marconi himself and a legion of others failed to duplicate the feat at the same frequency and with the same power output. Marconi finally did get a working link only after two later iterations that each decreased the frequency and increased the power, finally winding up on 30 kHz with 300 kW of power."
"I would invite anyone who really wants to correct history to republish my article and get some discussion underway!"
Don Kimberlin
Hello all,
One of my colleagues Finn Trosby has written a short history of the development of SMS. As is outlined in the article, he was actually involved in the development of the SMS standard. The discussion is perhaps somewhat technical at times, but it is interesting to get the perspective of one of those who was there:
http://www.telenor.com/telektronikk/volumes/pdf/3.2004/Page_187-194.pdf (external link)
The article comes from the 100th anniversary issue of a an English language Norwegian journal called Telektronikk. There are some interesting articles on the development of GSM and mobile communication. Håken Lie (one of the fellows that developed the Opera browser) has an article on the development of Mosaic etc. In addition, there are some historical articles describing what is one of the earliest wireless radio systems in the world. (designed to communicate with the Norwegian Cod fleet). http://www.telenor.com/telektronikk/volumes/front.php (external link) I hope that you enjoy it.
Dr. Rich Ling
Q. I'm a beginner in telecom and am having trouble finding work. I thought the field was growing.
A. Telecom is growing moderately but mergers, acquisitions, spin-offs, and cost cutting (often layoffs) are major reasons for that growth. So, like many aspects of information technology, you have growth without a commensurate rise in employment, indeed, employment may fall. Still, the people with the most motivation in any industry seem to have the best chance. I wish you well in your search. Good luck with the search, don't get discouraged. Regards, Tom Farley
I'm taking time off from web duties for at least a week. But I will continue to answer your e-mails. Please feel free to contact me through this page. (internal link).