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Gary Audin has developed a comprehensive discussion guide to considerations about the state and future of the PSTN, the public switched telephone network. The amazing global engineering feat (what other human achievement enables any one person to reach any one (or sometimes more) of four billion others?) is faced with both structural change and in the United States, regulatory change. In this paper entitled Can the PSTN be Shut Down?, available for free download on www.webtorials.com (free account required), Gary reviews a number of the technical, business and regulatory options available.

I found the paper a quick read, as Gary writes in a simple and easy-to-read prose. Although he did cover some accounting and business issues, there is still plenty of room to comment on some or all of the points.

Key findings/discussions:

• Universal Services Fund is a 12% tax on landline services used to subsidize the cost of operating landlines in certain rural parts of America, and installing Internet and telecom in public schools and libraries. It will be a declining pot of $ since landline revenues are declining.
• The regulatory regime of the telephone network needs to change to account for the need, usefulness and desirability of broadband services. AT&T argues that it needs to invest in broadband, but its PSTN commitment (carrier of last resort occupies a large portion of the paper) is a drain on capital and operating costs.
• There's a debate about whether broadband starts at 200 kbps, or should start at 768 kbps.
• The FCC needs to start the dialog with industry and the public about what's next for the infrastructure?
• Will copper pairs really go away?
• Why did Carlyle (in Hawaii) and Farpoint (VT, NH, ME) go chapter 11?

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I've been searching for information on the history of audio conferencing and somehow came across this really interesting Google resource. I'm blogging about it because I don't know quite how to repeat my success. My usual sources - the Wikipedia and failed to get many relevant, credible details.

I think I inadvertently clicked on the 'Timeline' link in the left hand margin which generates a chronological presentation incorporating the above graphic in an interactive format.

The Timeline feature shown at left on some searches delivers a kind of chronological analysis of press releases, articles, blog posts and corporate history claims organized chronologically. What's cool is that it's the claim of chronological sorting not necessarily the date of posting (which is very useful in a young phenomenon like the web - commercialized in 1995).

So a relatively credible post claiming some event occurring with respect to the topic at hand in 1910 is part of the 1910 history scene. This is really useful to us researchers and history buffs. In fact, one of my favorite cable TV channels is the History channel (except for the silly paranormal ghosthunters and Dan Brown shows). Hopefully we'll discover more search results like this.

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A recent article in FierceTelecom's newsletter highlighted how Cincinnati Bell was enhancing landline service with SMS. To make the service work, you need a special telephone ($29.99), a bundled service involving both DSL Internet and home phone service and then for a $9.99/month, you can send and receive SMS on the home phone. 

Cincinnati Bell promises more integrated features including wireless address books, white pages and email in the future. For incremental $ charges of course.

This is reminiscent of the New Brunswick Tel (now Aliant) service implementation in the mid 1990s: using unused spectrum on the twisted pair plant, they sent data messages to large-screen phones at home. Advertising, News, Sports and other items were broadcast into whole neighborhoods. Nortel made the networking gear, the software and the phones. It only worked in those days as a phone rental because the phones were so expensive. Apparently it was successful for a time when Internet dialup was awkward and painful.

This is also reminiscent of the walled garden model, which really doesn't work in the long run. To create value in the physical connection, Cincinnati Bell has to develop and present applications that users will find valuable and useful. Pricing-wise, the new services must replace some of the value lost as users discover the utility of mobility and VoIP. The business case should be to slow the decline in landline service a la 'REVENUE PROTECTION.' Reduce a 5% decline into a 4% decline is worth a great deal to the phone company, because it's a service you don't have to blow your brains out to deliver. Some of these can and should link up with other networks, but they should be able to deliver informational value on their own.

Landline providers must not sit back and wait for their monopoly to dry up.

They should be thinking of and rolling out services like wake up calls, network clock, time zone change warning calls and messages, remotely visible voicemail (use a browser to see the messages stored in the central office for you) without $10 incremental monthly costs. Of course, advertising jingles delivered instead of dialtone could be scored for discounts - listen to the whole ad and win a 50¢ discount off the monthly bill (provided the advertiser pay s $1.00 for the service).