August 22, 2002
The ATS Network & Billing Update, published by Advanced Technologies & Services, Inc. (www.atso.com), is the authoritative biweekly guide to telecommunications network, billing, revenue assurance and intercarrier news and analysis. This free newsletter is distributed by subscription only. To subscribe, click on the "Sign Up" link at left. To unsubscribe, contribute an article, or for comic relief, please scroll to the end. Feel free to forward this newsletter!
In This Issue:
- Editor's Note: Focusing on Your Information Needs
- Meet Point Billing Changes Will Allow LECs to Avoid Waiting on their Connecting Partners
- NECA Begins Assignment of Alphanumeric Company Codes
- Executives Agree on Needs at "Signaling for VoIP" Summit
- CLECs Push for UNE-P Retention
- Survey Finds Women Drive Growing SMS Popularity in U.S.
- Comic Relief: Investors Question "Elvis," "Donald Duck" Signatures on Corporate Oaths
Editor's
Note: Focusing on Your Information Needs
The Wall Street Journal and other media sources report that VoiceStream has proposed a merger with Cingular Wireless. While this is certainly big news, you won't read yet more about the topic here because Network & Billing Update focuses primarily on the issues important to you that newspapers and industry media do not. Every two weeks, we fill in the gaps of information and analysis in network management, billing, revenue assurance and more that you won't get elsewhere.
Speaking of the media, the Internet addresses of former online publisher TelecomBiz.com (CLEC.com) now link to a new Web site called "saveCOMPETITION.com," sponsored by Birch Telecom. The site focuses on public policy issues facing CLECs and states that "in the coming months, you'll be able to read about FCC and state commission decisions, court rulings, [and] new filings from the incumbent carriers..." The site includes interesting suggestions from a CLEC "activist" perspective.
For those of you there, look for our network data guru, Ken Babcock, at the in-progress OBF 79 in Scottsdale, AZ, today and tomorrow. Ken's primary focus during the OBF sessions are the Billing and Message Processing Committees, and the Strategic Advisory Group. You can ask Ken about the changes about to occur to meet point billing (see below), but not the Arizona Diamondback's baseball game on Wednesday night -- unfortunately Ken wasn't there with some OBF baseball fans, who must have had some fun.
Meet
Point Billing Changes Will Allow LECs to Avoid Waiting on Their Connecting
Partners
Starting August 31, meet point billing summary records will no longer be part of the EMI call records used between LECs to bill each other and IXCs. Instead, the summary records will be replaced with detail records as part of the Multiple Exchange Carrier Access Billing (MECAB) version 8 guidelines issued by the ATIS Ordering and Billing Forum (OBF) this past June. [More]. [Top of Page]
NECA Begins
Assignment of Alphanumeric Company Codes
On August 7, 2002, NECA began assigning alphanumeric Company Codes. As stated in previous announcements to the industry, the new code format is NXXX, where N=0-9 and X=0-9 or A-Z. This format will be utilized for all subsequent code requests and will not affect existing numeric Company Code assignments. [More] [Top of Page]
Executives Agree
on Needs at "Signaling for VoIP" Summit
Leading technical officers from key service providers pointed out the strengths of voice over Internet protocol (VoIP), noting the promises of new customer services and reduced costs. They also cautioned they need to ensure quality, security and reliability of the VoIP network. Their comments were delivered during the ATIS two-day "Signaling for VoIP" Summit held August 13-14 in Washington, DC. [More] [Top of Page]
CLECs Push
for UNE-P Retention
The use of unbundled network element platforms (UNE-P) is still growing, despite the downturn in the telecom economy, a group of competitive carriers announced at a press conference last week. The PACE Coalition, a group of CLECs, their attorneys and consultants, has released its UNE-P Fact Report as part of efforts to keep the FCC from reducing the list of acceptable UNEs in its Triennial Review Proceeding. [More] [Top of Page]
Survey Finds
Women Drive Growing SMS Popularity in U.S.
In a recent national survey commissioned by Verizon Wireless, women emerged as a driving force behind the growing popularity of two-way wireless short text messaging service. Eighty-seven percent of 30-40 year-old women surveyed in the study said that text messaging would help them improve their personal and business communications. [More] [Top of Page]
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Investors
Question "Elvis," "Donald Duck," "Tupac"
Signatures on Corporate Oaths
CEOs Blame Rush to File for Accidentally Signing Wrong Names
New York, N.Y. — While the SEC and President Bush lauded corporate executives for certifying their financial statements, investor groups poring over the pledges since the Wednesday deadline said they couldn't help but notice that nearly half the CEOs and CFOs did not appear to have signed their own names. [(C) SatireWire LLC, more]. [Top of Page]
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