Article Abstract:
John D. Goeken's In-Flight Phone Corp is ready to compete with Airfone Inc, a GTE subsidiary which Goeken himself founded. In-flight will challenge Airfone's dominance in the air-telephone service market by providing the first air phone that uses digital transmission technology. In-Flight's phones will feature seat-back computer screens, which Airfone's product does not have, and will cost $2 per minute to use, without the additional $2 set-up fee that Airfone charges. GTE executives promise to compete with In-Flight's product feature for feature. In 1992, Airfone will convert its network to digital transmission. In 1993, the firm will install phones with computer screens. Airfone phones have been installed on 1,700 planes; and it will take several years to replace all the phones in use.
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Article Abstract:
Zenith Electronics Corp and AT&T demonstrate high-definition television (HDTV) transmission technology they have created in an attempt to establish the technical standard for US HDTV. Zenith and AT&T transmitted a vivid image 75 miles, which indicates that HDTV may be able to transmit further than previously thought. HDTV provides crisp pictures and compact disc-quality sound. Four teams are working on HDTV standards in hopes that their technology will be adopted by the Federal Communications Commission in late 1993. Other teams include: General Instruments Corp and Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Japanese broadcasting firm NHK; and a consortium owned by North American Philips, Thomson S.A., NBC and the David Sarnoff Research Center.
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Article Abstract:
AT&T's long-distance services in the New York City area were disrupted on Tuesday, Sep 17, 1991, because technicians working at a switching station did not notice that a generator had stopped. The system drew its power from batteries for about six hours. When the technicians did notice what had happened, the batteries were almost empty. The system then crashed. Consequently, five million telephone calls were interrupted and regional air traffic control could not be maintained. Officials representing the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) are especially surprised to learn that so critical a system could depend for several hours on batteries and no one would know.
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