| FRIDAY - JULY 15, 2005 - ISSUE NO. 171 | ||||
Dear friends of Wireless Messaging and Paging, There was considerable interest in last week's report on Wireless Messaging and Homeland Security. This valuable information was made available to us because the authors were willing to share it through this newsletter. If you have a whitepaper or an article that you would like to share with the Wireless Messaging community, please let me know. There is a new report out from the FCC about the progress of high-speed services for Internet access in the USA.
For reporting purposes, high-speed lines are connections that deliver services at speeds exceeding 200 kilobits per second (kbps) in at least one direction. During the year 2004, high-speed lines serving residential, small business, larger business, and other subscribers increased by 34%, to 37.9 million lines. [source] A reader needs a TESCOM either to buy or rent. Do you know where we can get one? The rest of the news and views follow. | 
A new issue of The Wireless Messaging Newsletter gets posted on the web each week. A notification goes out by e-mail to subscribers on most Fridays around noon central US time. The notification message has a link to the actual newsletter on the Internet. That way it doesn't fill up your incoming e-mail account. There is no charge for subscription and there are no membership restrictions. Readers are a very select group of wireless industry professionals, and include the senior managers of many of the world's major Paging and Wireless Data companies. There is an even mix of operations managers, marketing people, and engineers—so I try to include items of interest to all three groups. It's all about staying up-to-date with business trends and technology. I regularly get reader's comments, so this newsletter has become a community forum for the Paging, and Wireless Data communities. You are welcome to contribute your ideas and opinions. Unless otherwise requested, all correspondence addressed to me is subject to publication in the newsletter and on my website. I am very careful to protect the anonymity of those who request it. NOTE: This newsletter is best viewed at screen resolutions of 800x600 (good) or 1024x768 (better). Any current revision of web browser should work fine. Please notify me of any problems with viewing. This site is compliant with XHTML 1.0 transitional coding for easy access from wireless devices. (XML 1.0/ISO 8859-1.) | |||
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www.gtesinc.com GTES is the only Glenayre authorized software support provider in the Paging industry. With over 200 years of combined experience in Glenayre hardware and software support, GTES offers the industry the most professional support and engineering development staff available. New Product Development New Hardware Platform
Continued Support Programs GTES Partner Program CALL US TODAY FOR YOUR SUPPORT NEEDS
|  Wireless Communication Solutions The Hark ISI-400LX is a hardware device that encapsulates serial data into TCP/IP for transmission over the Internet. It can also be configured to convert incoming TAP messages from the serial port and send them over the Internet to Paging providers in e-mail (SMTP) or Simple Network Paging Protocol (SNPP) format. The ISI-400LX with the optional external modem can connect to a secondary dial-up ISP when a failure on the ethernet port is detected.
This device is the perfect companion for the Hark Gateway products. An ISI can be located at a remote location for receiving TAP, TNPP, or Billing traffic using a local ISP eliminating long distance phone charges.
System Features & Benefits:
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Daviscomms—Product Examples For information about our Contract Manufacturing services or our Pager or Telemetry line, please call Bob Popow at 480-515-2344, bob@daviscommsusa.com or visit our website www.daviscommsusa.com
|  Prism Message Gateway Systems Your Choice of Options
Popular Choice for Domestic and International
Logical Choice
Go ahead . . . be choosy . . . choose Prism Systems International
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eRF Wireless
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| InfoRad® Wireless Office (Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP) is designed for the professional who needs full-featured wireless messaging capabilities. Features include enhanced user interface, message log with search function, scheduled Paging, group and individual message addresses, TAPI Smart™, multiple protocol SMS communication compatibility. AlphaCare™ support services available. With a 32-bit architecture, InfoRad Wireless Office is designed for compatibility with Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP. For more information on InfoRad Wireless Messaging software, and a free demo, please click on the logo.
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| WIRELESS NEWS | |
(PRWEB) July 12, 2005—GTES is pleased to announce that Tom Eich has been hired in the newly created position of Indirect Sales Manager, reporting to Vice President of Sales Brooks Marsden. In his new role Eich will be responsible for developing and managing distribution channels for SHERLOC™, GTES' new hosted location services application. "We are getting tremendous interest in our SHERLOC™ (www.sherlocgps.com) wireless location service from our business customers, who are excited about how we can help them to track their valuable shipments or better manage their field assets," said Brooks Marsden, Vice President Sales. "We recognize the need to establish strong distribution partnerships in support of our customer base, and Tom's skills and experience in establishing and managing distribution channels will be invaluable in allowing us to reach and support new markets." "I am pleased to be working with the team here at GTES," said Eich. "The SHERLOC™ wireless location service fills a real need for our customers, and presents an exciting opportunity for distributors and re-sellers with connections into our target markets. I look forward to identifying our distribution partners and working with them to bring the benefits of location technology to our customers." Prior to joining GTES Tom performed various outsourced business development projects selling and marketing wireless related professional services for companies such as Law Engineering and Tierra Ltd. Inc. From 1998-2000 Tom successfully developed and managed the distribution and services business for Preferred Technical Services, Inc. His career started in 1984 when he joined WR Communications as U.S. Branch Manager responsible for wireless products sales and service. Tom worked directly for Glenayre Electronics from 1986-1998 and held various positions including Sales Director, Regional Sales Manager and Indirect Sales. Tom brings a wealth of experience to GTES specializing in various aspects of business development including direct/indirect sales, channel sales, account management and sales management About GTES: GTES has historically focused on providing support for Glenayre wireless messaging infrastructure and software. Recently, however, the company has expanded its development activities to include wireless location technologies, a market that analysts forecast at $3.6 billion by 2010. In support of this new strategic direction, GTES has developed SHERLOC™ (www.sherlocgps.com), a complete one-stop wireless location service, which provides the flexibility of being protocol neutral and network agnostic. Targeted at business customers who need to track their high-value shipments or better manage their field assets, SHERLOC™ is a hosted application that combines configuration flexibility with ease of use. ### Press Contact: Mark Pocock More Information: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/7/prweb260564.htm |
Ebbers gets 25 years for WorldCom fraud
Posted on Thu, Jul. 14, 2005
By Erin McClam
Associated Press
NEW YORK—Weeping in court as he learned his fate, former WorldCom Inc. chief executive officer Bernard Ebbers was sentenced to 25 years in prison yesterday for leading the largest corporate fraud in U.S. history.
It was the toughest sentence imposed on an executive since the fall of Enron in 2001 touched off a wave of business scandals.
Even with possible time off for good behavior, Ebbers, 63 and with what his attorneys describe as serious heart problems, would be locked up until 2027, when he would be 85.
The sentence came four months after Ebbers was convicted of overseeing the $11 billion WorldCom fraud—much of it a pattern of chalking up expenses as long-term capital expenditures, which are classified as assets.
Ebbers leaned forward in his chair and cried after Judge Barbara Jones of U.S. District Court in Manhattan read his penalty.
"I find that a sentence of anything less would not reflect the seriousness of this crime," the judge said.
As a packed courtroom emptied after the hearing, Ebbers' wife, Kristie, who had cried quietly during the hearing, walked up to the defense table and embraced her husband tightly.
It was just more than three years ago that the fraud at WorldCom began to come to light, reducing stock once worth more than $60 a share to mere pennies. Billions of dollars in market value vanished.
Mississippi-based WorldCom filed for bankruptcy—also the largest in U.S. history—in the summer of 2002. It has reemerged under the name MCI Inc., based in Ashburn, Va.
Gino Cavallo, an MCI service consultant who also worked for years at WorldCom, lost tens of thousands of dollars in retirement money in the fraud. He attended the sentencing and said he was pleased.
"The man's 63," Cavallo told reporters. "He's going to die in jail. How much sterner could you get?"
Ebbers, a former basketball coach, helped start a small long-distance reselling business in the early 1980s, then gradually built it into a titan by swallowing ever-larger companies.
Jones ordered Ebbers to report to prison Oct. 12, and said she would recommend that federal prisons officials assign him to Yazoo City, Miss., so his family could see him easily.
But the judge said she would take written arguments over the next six weeks on whether she should allow Ebbers to remain out of prison while he appeals his conviction, a process likely to take at least a year.
She imposed the 25-year sentence after a two-hour hearing in which defense attorneys and federal prosecutors debated exactly how much money was lost because of the fraud, a key factor in determining the penalty.
The defense had argued it was impossible to find whether investors had sold WorldCom stock in 2002 directly because of the fraud, company personnel changes, or the generally poor economy. The judge was unmoved.
"This was not a minor fraud," she said. "Mr. Ebbers committed a fraud that caused numbers of investors to suffer losses. His statements deprived investors of the truth about WorldCom's financial condition."
Defense attorney Reid Weingarten had asked for leniency, mentioning Ebbers' heart condition and his considerable, often anonymous, charitable works, cited repeatedly in 169 letters sent to the judge.
"If you live 60-some-odd years, if you have an unblemished record, if you have endless numbers of people who attest to your goodness, doesn't that count? Doesn't that count particularly on this day?" Weingarten pleaded.
The judge could have imposed an even stricter sentence had she found that Ebbers committed perjury when he testified in his own defense.
The judge also heard briefly from Henry J. Bruen Jr., a former high-ranking sales executive at WorldCom who lost his job in 2003 and said he has been unable to find work since.
"Where do I get my life savings back from?" he demanded. "Or my career reinvigorated?"
Jones did not impose a fine or seek restitution, partly because of an agreement late last month under which Ebbers will forfeit nearly all his personal assets to settle a civil suit filed by aggrieved investors.
His wife will be left about $50,000 of Ebbers' assets and a modest home in Jackson, Miss. A far more lavish home in Brookhaven, Miss., will be sold off as part of the settlement.
The 25-year term is the harshest yet in a series of scandals that have cost investors billions.
A former finance executive of Dynegy Inc., Jamie Olis, is serving 24 years in prison for his role in a fraudulent accounting scheme at the energy company.
Executive Suite Scandals
The status of major criminal cases against corporate CEOs in the last three years.
L. Dennis Kozlowski: He was convicted June 17 on fraud, conspiracy and grand larceny charges for actions while he headed Tyco International Ltd. Sentencing is tentatively set for Aug. 2; he faces up to 30 years in prison.
Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling: Both former Enron Corp. CEOs are to go on trial in January on conspiracy, bank fraud and securities fraud charges.
John Rigas: He was convicted in 2004 of conspiracy, bank fraud and securities fraud while at Adelphia Communications Corp., and sentenced June 20 to 15 years in prison.
Richard Scrushy: He was acquitted June 28 of all charges related to a $2.7 billion earnings overstatement at HealthSouth Corp.
Martha Stewart: She was convicted in 2004 of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and making false statements about her sale of ImClone Systems Inc. stock. She was released March 4 after five months in prison and is serving five months of confinement in her home. Though no longer CEO, she has resumed working at her own company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.
Source: philly.comLocal fire departments happy to get federal grants
Thursday, July 14, 2005
11 agencies in Forsyth were able to get desired equipment that local governments couldn't afford
By Paul Garber
CLEMMONS JOURNAL REPORTER
CLEMMONS
A federal grant program to fire departments across the country has made local departments better able to save lives, a group of fire chiefs said last week at a meeting at the Clemmons Fire Department.
Officials from 11 fire departments in Forsyth County gathered to display more than $1 million in equipment, most of it bought through the Assistance to Firefighters Grant program.
The program is administered by the federal Office of Homeland Security and the U.S. Fire Administration. Last year, officials gave 236 grants totaling $22.3 million to North Carolina agencies.
The departments on hand were: Clemmons, Lewisville, Kernersville, Rural Hall, Gumtree, Mineral Springs, Forest Hill, Salem Chapel, King, Winston-Salem and Forsyth County, said Clemmons Fire Chief Jerry Brooks.
The grants helped departments during the state's recent budget crises, said Jim Barrow, the chief of the Kernersville Fire Department.
"Our purchase of capital equipment has been severely limited" in recent years, he said.
Kernersville's part of the grant was $97,000, and the money will be used for paging equipment that will reach off-duty firefighters when there is an emergency.
The department has about 60 employees, but at any given time about two-thirds are off-duty, Barrow said. Without the paging equipment, Barrow had to call each off-duty firefighter individually when he needed additional help.
"We put this in the budget the last few years but couldn't get it done," Barrow said. "Through the grant, we can double our firefighting capacity in a few minutes."
The Lewisville Fire Department used its $112,000 grant to buy air packs and turnout gear, said Chief Scott Alderman.
"The grant was crucial to getting our equipment up to date," he said. "We had air packs that were 20 years old."
The Forsyth County Fire Department used $168,000 of grant money to help pay for 80 new 800 megahertz radios, said Rick Plunkett, the fire administrator of Forsyth County. The radios were given to local volunteer fire departments, giving the county and the local departments the ability to use the same communications system, he said.
U.S. Senator Richard Burr, R-NC, and Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-5th, were on hand to get a first-hand look at the equipment.
"What you see here is the fact that every home in this area and every firefighter is safer because of the fire grant," Burr said.
Foxx said that the grants show the benefit of giving homeland-security money to first responders at the local level.
"They've got to be protected, whether they're in Clemmons or (Washington) DC."
Paul Garber can be reached at 727-7327 or at pgarber@wsjournal.com
Source: journalnow.com
Wireless Messaging and PIM, GoodLink
Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 2005-07-11 21:44.
Good Technology, Inc.and Sprint today announced an agreement that will make GoodLink, Good’s award-winning wireless messaging and PIM software and service, available directly to business customers through Sprint’s nationwide direct sales force. Previously only available to Sprint customers through third-party channels, GoodLink is now more convenient for companies to purchase and support, with simplified access to devices, data plans, GoodLink server and client software and support in one unified package from Sprint.
GoodLink features include:
Source: TechNews
Danger Touts hiptop Messaging Penetration
By Susan Rush
July 11, 2005
NEWS@2 DIRECT
Although Danger's hiptop customers represent a small percentage of U.S. mobile users, the company says their fingers are fast at work sending mobile messages. Danger asserts its customers represented 6 percent of the total U.S. messaging traffic during the final quarter of 2004.
During the fourth quarter, 16 million mobile messages, including via SMS and MMS, were sent in the United States, according to IDC. Of that total, 6 percent were sent from hiptop devices. Danger says hiptop device owners make up 1 percent of U.S. mobile customers.
Danger believes the high messaging usage rate associated with its device is partly because the device is ready to use out of the box. The company also says the unlimited data plans often associated with the hiptop foster use as well.
A handful of carriers offer the hiptop device in the United States, including T-Mobile USA, which offers the device under the Sidekick brand.
Source: Wireless Week
Text Messaging Prevailed In Wake Of London Blasts
July 8, 2005
Cell phone signals were jammed after the London bombings Thursday, but text messaging managed to get the word out in many cases.
TechWeb News
Panicked residents and visitors in London during the terrorist attacks Thursday generally found their cell phones jammed. But those who had text messaging systems were often able to get messages through.
Text messages, which are usually limited to 160 characters on most cell phones, take up little bandwidth. In addition, there were anecdotal reports of e-mails and instant messages from London getting through to their recipients.
Vodafone, the largest mobile phone service provider, said its London network was operating at full capacity. It designated some of its network capacity for rescue and emergency services.
Like other mobile telecommunications suppliers in London, Vodafone said its network infrastructure hadn't been damaged in the terrorist bombing attacks, according to the Dow Jones news service.
The blasts impacted telephony nets as far away as South Africa, where citizens clogged the landline telephone system by calling the U.K. to learn the status of relatives and friends in London. In New Zealand, the major telecom company said it would give rebates to callers who telephoned London Thursday during the crisis.
Source: Information Week
I have built two web pages about Mountain Communications in Mountain Home, Arkansas—a regional Paging company that the owner wants to sell. The first page has several photos and some links to background information on the company. Please click here for that page. If you like what you see and want to read all the financial details, please send me an e-mail and I will send you the unpublished address of the second page. This is an outstanding opportunity for someone to acquire a Paging company in a beautiful resort area of the Arkansas mountains where there are several large lakes and rivers. They tell me the fishing and boating are great in that area. By the way, this business also includes some wireless broadband, a trunking radio system, and a two-way radio dealership. Update: we are willing to negotiate. Please call Brad Dye at: 618-842-3892. |
Equipment Needed—Want to Buy the following
Please contact Brad Dye if you have any of this equipment to sell. Equipment located outside of the USA is OK. |
| READER'S COMMENTS | ||||
Simple Idea To: Brad Dye Following the disaster in London, East Anglian Ambulance Service have launched a national "In case of Emergency ( ICE ) " campaign with the support of Falklands war hero Simon Weston. The idea is that you store the word " I C E " in your mobile phone address book, and against it enter the number of the person you would want to be contacted "In Case of Emergency". In an emergency situation ambulance and hospital staff will then be able to quickly find out who your next of kin are and be able to contact them. It's so simple that everyone can do it. Please do. Please will you also email this to everybody in your address book, it won't take too many 'forwards' before everybody will know about this. It really could save your life, or put a loved one's mind at rest. For more than one contact name ICE1, ICE2, ICE3 etc Fred Pakosta CalAmp Exits Paging On Jul 8, 2005, at 12:08 PM, <paul.lubsen@cox.net> wrote: Hi Brad, Well, its official. CalAmp has sold its paging division, that it acquired as part of VYTEK. The Acquisition Agreement was signed on July 7, 2005, and is a mgmt./employee buyout. I am one of the principal owners of Sonik Messaging Systems Inc. Bill Weber is an owner and is Director of System Engineering, due to his previous experience installing and optimizing major carrier networks, like the Weblink ReFLEX network. We will continue operations out of the same address, 2310 Cousteau Court, Vista, CA 92081. We do not yet have a website or company e-mail setup. CalAmp will not issue a press release, but will notify two key customers who have existing systems contracts, that those contracts are being assigned/transferred to the new company. We acquired essentially all the paging products that CalAmp offered, including the Motorola IP and source code for paging infrastructure products, that was originally acquired by Sonik Technologies and transferred to VYTEK, 7-8 years ago. Thats about it for now Brad. Let me know if you have any questions. Paul Lubsen From: tomfxdwg@direcway.com I have 5 zetron 2200 dual trunk cards for sale @ 750.00 each and some 200 watt UHF Henry amps for 300.00 each if you can help me out. Also have some 72 Mhz link equipment. Thanks, COMMTRONIX
From: gemwire@bellsouth.net Hi Brad, We are pager resellers and have for years managed our pager accounts with Pager Automation, I believe is an exetech company. Our software has crashed and I am unable to contact pager automation and wish to know if you know if they are still in business and have phone numbers, etc. If not can you recommend a product that we can put our data base on. Thanks. Please e-mail me asap. Thanks,
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THIRD TERM SUPPORTER |  Building on its long success story in 1-way Paging, Advantra International has become the expert in designing and manufacturing the most advanced and lowest cost ReFLEX™ radio modems for 2-way data-communication. The company also focuses on offering total telemetry solutions. Advantra’s current product mix of own products includes the ReFLEX™ radio modules Barran, Karli and Wirlki and the new, highly successful and very low cost location device, the Kepler. Advantra thanks its solid reputation to its world-renowned development team, state-of-the-art manufacturing, excellent customer service and its proven track-record. Location Devices & ReFLEX Modems
Sales and Marketing Contacts
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Newsletter repair prices—starting at:
**Special pricing on cellular and pager refurbishment**
Ask for Special Newsletter Pricing. Please call: (800) 222-6075 ext. 306 for pricing.
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Please click here to e-mail Ayrewave. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Intelligent Paging & Mobile Data Products
PDT2000 Paging Data Terminal
LED Moving Message LED Displays 
Mobile Data Terminals & Solutions
I am an authorized Manufacturer Representative for Selective Communications. Please contact me directly for any additional information. | TGA Technologies 
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CUSTOM APPLICATIONS
Please call me so we can discuss your need or your idea. Or contact me by e-mail for additional information. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
PAGING EQUIPMENT FOR SALE
Glenayre T8500 PAs tested and guaranteed $200.00 each. WHY PAY $400 TO $600 TO GET THEM REPAIRED??? Satellite Uplink Services Available–Completely redundant. We will uplink your paging data to two separate satellites for complete redundancy. Be prepared in the event of another satellite failure! Please e-mail if interested: steves@cvcpaging.com | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Remember that old word “Residuals”? The EE Group is actively seeking Dealers with sales/ service/installation capabilities to promote the latest wireless AVL, SCADA and data products from Telegauge Systems, Inc. This innovative program requires NO inventory and NO billing by your facility; you just sell it and sign up the end user to collect the commissions. Now the real reason to choose the EE Group and Telegauge over the host of others; we pay you permanent residual income every month on your airtime sales forever. Airtime commissions range up to 12% per month based on prior sales and you buy all equipment direct from the factory at 2-tiered wholesale prices as well for great margins. Telegauge builds fully 2-way overt and covert (hidden) GPS based Automatic Vehicle Location, SCADA, remote management, telemetry and data systems routed via cellular and satellite that are delivered to the end user via the Internet or direct to the desktop. Applications are both ‘canned’ and custom depending upon the customers needs. We even have full dispatch systems including credit card swipe and billing if needed. Finally, the prices on the product are guaranteed to be the LOWEST in the industry at under $600 retail for the equipment and from $6 to $30 on the monthly airtime with most customers in the $15 range. Note too that the price is the same for cellular OR satellite world wide coverage and no one else has this exclusive capability. Telegauge provides the product, software, airtime, billing and final information from a single source and you can be a BIG part of it. You stock NOTHING, just collect the checks. We are paid by the manufacturer to support YOU and unlike other factories; we never bid against you, restrict you or take your deal. We help you with demo equipment, brochures, information, sales assistance, web advertising and user name/passwords for the website so that you don’t even need to buy anything to start up fast. Contact us for a no-obligation CD of all the presentation and training material, price spreadsheets and information at: EEGroup@EEonTheWeb.com or for fast action call for a link to the Dealers Only page: 310-534-4456 and mention that you found out about it via Brad Dye’s Newsletter. You have nothing to lose and some great residual income to gain. Call or e-mail NOW. | High-speed simulcast Paging with protocols such as POCSAG and FLEX™ requires microsecond accuracy to synchronize the transmission of digital Paging signals.  Zetron's Simulcast System uses GPS timing information to ensure that the broadcasted transmissions between the nodes of the Simulcast System and associated transmitters are synchronized to very tight tolerances. This system is ideal for public or private Paging system operators that use multiple transmitters and wish to create new Paging systems or to build out existing systems into new regions. For more information about Zetron's High Speed Simulcast Paging System, the Model 600 and Model 620, go to: www.zetron.com/paging.
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Advertise Here Details about the various advertising plans can be read here. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 
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Customers in Latin America may contact Brad Dye for price and delivery information. Español esta bien. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MORE TECHNOLOGY NEWS |
Security
July 14, 2005
Cyber Security Gets Limelight in DHS Reorg
By Roy Mark
Elevating the bureaucratic status of cyber security at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is part of DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff's sweeping reforms announced Wednesday.
Currently, cyber security is coordinated at DHS by the director of the National Cyber Security Division, which resides in the department's Infrastructure Protection Directorate. The technology industry has long complained cyber security deserves equal billing with physical security.
Under Chertoff's plan, a new Assistant Secretary for Cyber security and Telecommunications will be responsible for identifying and assessing the vulnerability of critical telecommunications infrastructure and assets.
In addition, the new office will be charged with providing "timely, actionable and valuable" threat information and leading the national response to cyber and telecommunications attacks.
Chertoff also called for increased information sharing as one of six DHS reorganization priorities. The other priorities include preparedness, border security, transportation security, department management and adjustments to better meet DHS' homeland security mission.
"The ability to share information with our state and local partners, the private sector, law enforcement and first responders is absolutely critical to our success," Chertoff said. "Otherwise, we are effectively tying the hands of those who are on the ground and charged with the responsibility of protecting their community, their neighbors and their families."
Chertoff promised to invite "every state homeland security advisor and every state emergency management coordinator" to Washington for working sessions to discuss information exchange protocols and other topics of mutual concern.
"We recognize the need for better and more inclusive information sharing. Information sharing is a two-way street," he added.
But it was Chertoff's call for greater cyber security awareness at the DHS that drew floods of praise and statements from the technology industry.
Robert Holleyman of the Business Software Alliance called Chertoff's plan "much needed" and "innovative."
"The plan unveiled by [DHS] serves as a profound step in the right direction, specifically through the establishment of new senior positions with responsibility over cyber security and critical infrastructure protection," Holleyman said.
Harris Miller, president of the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA), said Chertoff's cyber security reorganization plan was "terrific news."
"ITAA has called for the creation of a cyber security czar for more than five years. We think the challenges of cyber security are special and different, and we are gratified?Chertoff shares that view," he said. "We also believe that focusing the job on cyber security and telecommunications makes good sense given the on-going convergence of IT and telecommunications."
Miller said special challenges justify elevating the role of cyber security at DHS, including managing a national cyber response system and a national program to reduce cyber security threats and vulnerabilities.
"The nation's critical infrastructures, including water, chemicals, transportation, energy, financial services, health care and others, rely significantly on computer networks to deliver the services that maintain our safety and national economy," Miller said.
"It therefore is incumbent on the owners and operators of those critical infrastructures to manage improvements in the security of their information systems and to have a senior individual within the government?who can coordinate collaborative efforts across critical infrastructure sectors and with state and local governments."
Source: internetnews.com
Press Release Source: Cingular Wireless
Cingular Wireless Announces Multimedia Messaging Interoperability With the Nation's Top Wireless Carriers
Thursday July 7, 1:00 pm ET
Cingular Customers Can Use Their Camera Phones to Snap and Share Picture & Video Messages with More People than Ever Before
ATLANTA, July 7 /PRNewswire/—Cingular customers can exchange pictures and short video messages, including text and audio, with any Cingular, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, Leap Wireless and US Cellular customer, who has an MMS-enabled device, as well as any email address. With Intercarrier Multimedia Messaging Service, Cingular customers have access to the broadest wireless MMS community, representing 80 percent of wireless subscribers in the U.S.
Interoperability is great news for all wireless customers as well as the wireless industry as it dramatically expands the mobile universe of family and friends with whom wireless users can share photos and videos. In other words, the wireless world just got a lot easier to navigate. All that's needed is an MMS-capable phone and the desire to share.
"Making it possible for wireless users to share pictures and video messages with family and friends, regardless of carrier, is an important step in the widespread adoption of multimedia messaging," said Jim Ryan, vice president of Consumer Data Services, Cingular Wireless. "Cingular is excited to be delivering the full promise of wireless communication to our customers."
Capturing and sharing special or everyday moments is quick and easy with Multimedia Messaging. Using the multimedia messaging feature of their camera phones, Cingular customers can instantly share messages that include text, photos, animated graphics, voice messages, music and video clips.
Cingular supports a wide selection of multimedia-capable phones. For a complete list of phones, pricing, and additional information, please visit http://www.cingular.com.
About Cingular Wireless
Cingular Wireless is the largest wireless carrier in the United States, serving more than 50.4 million customers. Cingular, a joint venture between SBC Communications Inc. (NYSE: SBC - News) and BellSouth Corporation (NYSE: BLS - News), has the largest digital voice and data network in the nation and the largest mobile-to-mobile community of any national wireless carrier. Cingular is the only U.S. wireless carrier to offer Rollover(SM), the wireless plan that lets customers keep their unused monthly minutes. Details of the company are available at http://www.cingular.com. Get Cingular Wireless press releases e-mailed to you automatically. Sign up at http://www.cingular.com/newsroom.
Source: Yahoo! Finance
| FEATURED ADVERTISERS SUPPORTING THE NEWSLETTER | ||||
| Paging Seminar Specially designed course for sales, marketing, and administration personnel. Engineers will only be admitted with a note signed by their mothers, promising that they will just listen and not disrupt the class. (This is supposed to be funny!) This is a one-day training course on Paging that can be conducted at your place of business. Please take a look at the course outline to see if you think this might be beneficial in your employees: Paging Seminar outline. I would be happy to customize the content to meet your specific requirements. Although it touches on several "technical" topics, it is definitely not a technical course. I used to teach the sales and marketing people at Motorola Paging and they appreciated an atmosphere where they could ask technical questions without being made to feel like a dummy and without getting a long convoluted overly-technical answer that left them more confused than before. A good learning environment is one that is non-threatening. Let me know if you would like to receive a quotation, or if you would like to have any additional information. |
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| Complete Technical Services For The Ira Wiesenfeld, P.E.
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SATELLITE CONTROL FOR PAGING SYSTEMS $500.00 FLAT RATE TAPS—Texas Association of Paging Services is looking for partners on 152.480 MHz. Our association currently uses Echostar, formerly Spacecom, for distribution of our data and a large percentage of our members use the satellite to key their TXs. We have a CommOneSystems Gateway at the uplink in Chicago with a back-up running 24/7. Our paging coverage area on 152.480 MHz currently encompasses Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Louisiana, and Kansas. The TAPS paging coverage is available to members of our Network on 152.480 MHz for $.005 a transmitter (per capcode per month), broken down by state or regions of states and members receive a credit towards their bill for each transmitter which they provide to our coverage. Members are able to use the satellite for their own use If you are on 152.480 MHz or just need a satellite for keying your own TXs on your frequency we have the solution for you. TAPS will provide the gateways in Chicago, with Internet backbone and bandwidth on our satellite channel for $ 500.00 (for your system) a month. Contact Ted Gaetjen @ 1-800-460-7243 or tedasap@asapchoice.com | Want to help the newsletter? Become a SPONSOR Promote your company's image with one of the posters or better yet, one of the commercial advertising packages
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| EMPLOYMENT SECTION | |
The well-known sales manager at CalAmp (formerly Vytek/Sonik) is looking for a new position. You may download his resumé here. And you can send him an e-mail here. | With 30 years experience, a seasoned wireless industry executive that has the unique blend of strategic planning skills, balanced with operational management experience. You may download his resumé here. And you can send him an e-mail here. |
EXPERIENCED PAGING TECHNICIAN Knowledgeable w/ Glenayre 3000L and Motorola paging infrastructure. Full-time salary including health benefits. RCC in Allentown, PA. Send resume & salary requirements via e-mail to: nickb@cawinet.com |  Now Hiring Motorola 2-way Radio Outside Sales Person Charleston, SC 843-266-6241 |
| Wi-Fi, WiMax, and VoIP News |
[July 14, 2005]
VoX Expands VoIP Service to Six U.S. Markets
VoX Communications announced it is launching its services in six metropolitan area markets in the U.S.
BY JOHANNE TORRES
TMCnet VoIP Minute Watch Columnist
VoIP service provider VoX Communications made an announcement this morning about the company launching its services in six metropolitan area markets in the U.S. including New York, Atlanta, Washington, D.C., Denver, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton and West Palm Beach. In its news release, the company said its customers in those areas will be able to now have access to VoX's nationwide VoIP network, while enjoying flat-rate calling without changing their local telephone numbers.
Included in the news release was what VoX's president Mark Richards had to say about today’s announcement: "We're thrilled to begin offering VoIP service on our own network to residential customers in these major markets. It's a fast-growing service because we offer people choice and real value for their phone service at a low, flat monthly rate. VoIP service is so popular that we are looking to add 20 additional metropolitan areas to our on-net expansion in 2005," he said.
The company offers two plans to choose from; the Residential Basic Plan for $9.95 monthly and 2 cents per minute of local and long distance calling throughout the United States and Canada; and the Residential Unlimited Plan for $29.95 monthly for unlimited calling throughout the United States and Canada anytime, anywhere. The plans’ include Hardware (Voice Access Device), Voicemail, Caller ID, Call Waiting, Call Forwarding, Call Return (*69), Call Transfer, Call Hold, Repeat Dialing/Redial, Area Code Selection, Click-to-Call, Anonymous Call Rejection, Do Not Disturb, Extension Dialing, Speed Dialing, and International Call Block.
You might remember my article from yesterday about the company teaming up with Stowe Cable. Thanks to a private label contract with Vox, Stowe Cable, a regional cable company in Stowe, VT will be able to offer Stowe VoIP, an Internet telephony calling service for its broadband customers. Using its nationwide VoIP network, VoX offers wholesale broadband voice, origination and termination services for cable, wireless and wireline operators, and enhanced VoIP telephone service to the small business and residential marketplace.
This is what Stowe's general manager Rick Rothammer had to say in an official announcement released this week: "VoX offers high quality and a great value. We tested three other VoIP carriers and were never pleased with the quality of service. Calls on the VoX network have clarity, useful features and a quick connection that far surpasses any other VoIP product we have tried. We look forward to a long and successful relationship with VoX."
VoX Communications
www.voxcorp.net
Stowe Cable
www.stoweaccess.com
Source: TMCnet
VoIP backlash in Germany?
By Ben Charny, CNET News.com
Published on ZDNet News: July 13, 2005, 12:06 PM PT
The German unit of cell phone giant Vodafone plans to disable calls from the likes of Skype and other Net phone operators beginning July 2007.
Vodafone Germany spokesman Heiko Witzke said Wednesday that in the interim the company may reverse its policy, which came to light earlier in the week when it filed a tariff with German telephone regulators.
He wouldn't comment about why the company was taking the step, but said in an interview that "2007 is a long ways to go; anything may happen until then."
Vodafone's other 15 divisions serving nations in Europe and Asia have not enacted such a policy, according to a spokesman at Vodafone's U.K. headquarters.
The development is a sign that some cell phone operators are beginning to feel threatened by Internet telephony, just as soaring Net phone subscriber numbers start to significantly impact revenues of traditional landline operators.
So-called voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services are viewed as a threat to all forms of telephony because the software, usually available for free, lets people make free phones calls between Internet-connected devices or reach traditional cell or landline phones at drastically reduced prices.
Landline phone operators, especially in the United States, have already fought VoIP operators in a number of ways, including trying to siphon off their supply of telephone numbers and pushing for state and federal regulation for what is, for now, a lightly regulated industry.
Luxembourg-based Skype is one of the largest and best known of the new breed of VoIP operators. During a conference call with reporters on Tuesday, co-founder Niklas Zennstrom said he thought Vodafone Germany's decision was a defensive measure.
Cell phone "networks are not really the best for dealing with lots of traffic," Zennstrom said. "That's why cell operators are afraid when there are great applications."
Source: ZDNet
Press Release Source: AT&T
Criticom Secures VoIP Technology With $1 Million Contract From AT&T
Thursday July 14, 9:00 am ET
ALBANY, N.Y., July 14 /PRNewswire/—AT&T has won a $1 million network integration contract from Criticom International Corp., a division of Integrated Alarm Services Group (IASG), one of the nation's largest providers of wholesale alarm monitoring services.
Criticom will receive new telephone equipment that, when coupled with AT&T's networking services, enables Criticom to deploy Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology for the company's offices in Manasquan, N.J.; Wall Township, N.J.; Marietta, Ga.; and Irvine, Calif. AT&T also will oversee professional design and installation services, and provide maintenance.
"AT&T understood what we wanted to accomplish and knew what needed to be done for us to deploy a reliable telephony solution for our dealer base while adding VoIP technology," said Robert Heintz, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for Criticom. "The team put together the best solution for us and I'm confident that AT&T will skillfully guide the deployment."
About AT&T
For more than 125 years, AT&T (NYSE: T - News) has been known for unparalleled quality and reliability in communications. Backed by the research and development capabilities of AT&T Labs, the company is a global leader in local, long distance, Internet and transaction-based voice and data services.
About Integrated Alarm Services Group
Integrated Alarm Services Group provides total integrated solutions to independent security alarm dealers located throughout the United States to assist them in servicing the residential and commercial security alarm market. IASG's services include alarm contract financing including the purchase of dealer alarm contracts for its own portfolio and providing loans to dealers collateralized by alarm contracts. IASG, with 5,000 independent dealer relationships, is also the largest wholesale provider of alarm contract monitoring.
Source: Yahoo Finance
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