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newsletter://mv.com
May 1999
Changes in POPs
We've continued the process of reducing our analog modem pools in
favor of newer digital connections which support V.90 and ISDN calls as
well as normal modem calls. Our deployment of digital circuits from Brooks
Fiber over the past 12 months has given us local dialin numbers in
exchanges throughout much of New Hampshire. When you call one of the BNH
(Brooks) numbers that is local to you, your call comes into our Manchester
office for handling by our remote access servers there. Because of this
we've now been able to eliminate some of our older points of presence
(POPs) - physical locations in various areas that were formerly required in
order for us to offer local calls in those areas. The following is a sum-
mary of changes to various POPs since our last newsletters.
Salem and Peterborough: These POPs are were closed as of early May.
If you were dialing the old analog modem pools in these POPs, you should
already be dialing the equivalent BNH numbers.
Nashua: The Nashua POP is not closing down, but the analog modem pool
was closed down in mid-May. The modem pool for the Bell Atlantic digital
number in the Nashua POP was expanded accordingly, and we had Bell Atlantic
remap the phone number for the old analog pool so that it will automati-
cally redirect your call to the digital number. It's probably best not to
rely on this remapping, so if you were using the old 886-6688 number you
should change to calling either the appropriate BNH number or the number
for the Bell Atlantic digital lines (886-7124).
Concord: We did not have specific plans to close down the Concord POP
since having a Bell Atlantic number in Concord was the only way we could
provide a local number for users in surrounding towns served by independent
telephone companies (who treat a Brooks Concord number as a toll call).
For a long time, there were no digital Bell Atlantic facilities available
in Concord, so the only option we had for a Bell Atlantic number in Concord
was the analog pool. However, just after our last newsletter came out
these facilities became available. The day we were told this, we placed an
order. The result is that we now have a new digital service in Concord (at
227-2100) and have eliminated the old analog pool altogether. The new
number provides V.90, ISDN, and normal analog dialup capabilities.
We're reintroducing referral credits
We're happy to announce that we are reintroducing an old feature:
credits for new dialup account referrals. If you refer a new dialup custo-
mer to us, we'll credit your account with $10.00 . When the new customer
signs up with us, have them let us know that you referred them, and be as
specific about your account identity as you can. If possible, use your
full account number (six digits, a hyphen, two digits) or your account name
(the name that you log in with), or your email address at MV. After the
new customer decides to keep the account and we have received their depo-
sit, we will credit your account with the referral fee.
This applies to new dialup customers only, and the credit is given to
an existing account (for example, a new customer may not list themselves as
the person who referred them).
MV is a founding member of NHISPA
This spring MV participated in a process that resulted in the founding
of a new non-profit organization, the New Hampshire ISP Association
(NHISPA). Although such an organization has been discussed before, the
impetus proved to be the recent Public Utilities Commission's hearings on
telephone system congestion, which has focused on Internet use exclusively,
and which MV has been participating in (along with other independent NH
ISPs). The association was formed to help foster cooperation amongst New
Hampshire ISPs, to help to give a common voice on some issues that are
important to its members, to help members assess and access new technolo-
gies, and promote and enhance the general Internet experience in New
Hampshire. Watch for more information at www.nhispa.org.
Founding members of the NHISPA are: MV Communications; FCG Networks;
New Hampshire Telephone Company (which includes MonadNet and Conknet); the
Destek Group; Metro2000; SeaBreeze Communications; NCIA; TTLC Internet;
JLC.net; ValleyNet; and Sugar River Valley OnLine. MV's Mark Mallett was
nominated initial President pending formal officer installations.
Email Billing
If you're currently receiving paper invoices from us, do you want to
receive them via email? Email invoicing is easier on us, not to mention
saving paper and postage. (You'll still need to send us a payment by pos-
tal mail, of course.) If you want to switch to email billing, just let us
know: either call us at 629-0000, or send us email at mv-admin@mv.mv.com
and let us know the email address to send your invoice to.
Information Resources at MV
We'd like to encourage you to use some of the resources provided by MV
that provide information to you or let you interact with us or with other
MV users. These include:
o MV newsgroups. Use our news server to read the mv discussion groups
mv.forum.general, mv.forum.shell, and mv.forum.dialip . Outage infor-
mation is also posted in mv.info.outages, and feedback may be given to
that group as well.
o ClariNet news. ClariNet is an Internet-based newspaper with news
stories, business features, technical articles, comics, and so forth.
MV provides ClariNet to our users on our news server (look for news-
groups beginning with "clari.") as well as on our web page (go to
www.mv.com/clarinews)
o Outage and status. Please be sure to check our web page periodically
for information about planned outages and events, or reports about
outages that may be occuring or have recently occured. Go to
www.mv.com, click on "Tools and Information for MV Users", and you'll
see the section on announcements.
o Other resources for MV users. Also in the "Tools and Information for MV
Users" section you'll find information on how to include your name and
home page in our public index, how to use various tools for your web
pages and pop mailboxes, various how-to articles, terms and usage pol-
icies, and so forth. Feel free to explore.
o General MV information. You may also want to wander around from the
top level of our web page to see more information about MV that
perhaps you did not know. For instance, our rates and kinds of ser-
vices are revised from time to time; there may be things we offer that
you do not know about.
MV Communications, Inc. (603) 629-0000