THE INTERNATIONAL PACKET SWITCH STREAM
Your Gateway to the World
by Joichi Ito

Having begun my telecommunications career in Tokyo, I am often amazed at the rather isolationist attitude America has toward communications. It is understandable, considering the extent of the services available in the US, but for *real* international communications, one must enter the International Packet Switch Stream (IPSS).

The IPSS is the worldwide packet switch that allows anyone from any country with telecommunications to enter an NUA (like a telephone number) and be connected to hosts all over the world. The IPSS is a packet switch that converts your baud rate and protocol so you don't have to worry about compatibility. This is the system that all overseas users use to access the systems in the United States. Telenet, Tymnet, Uninet, etc. are packet systems, but the true power of the network is often overlooked by the casual observer. Unlike Europe, the gateways are just that, gateways. Like a telephone without a phone book. Quite a powerful telephone in fact.

In Europe alone there are several thousand databases ranging from BLAISE (British Library Automated Information Services) to university databases. Many are supported by the European Space Agency and are indexed on a network called EURONET DIANE. On this system are thousands of databases and a service called
HOSTES. This is an NUA that can be accessed for free. The system runs in five different languages (whatever your first command is in) and gives you NUAs, descriptions, and contacts for all of its databases. It allows you to actually *search* for a database service that fits your needs (DIALOG being just *one* of them).

Europe also has its share of communication systems. They have PRESTEL (a UK national videotex system), university computers that become havens for telecom hackers, and TELECOM GOLD or DIALCOM UK. These can all be accessed from Telenet, Tymnet, etc. So, what's the catch? The catch is, you must get an account on your local network (Telenet, Tymnet, etc.) and you must pay for your communication charges. Unless, of course, you are one of those lucky enough to have access to one of the international networks like ARPANET, JANET (Joint Academic Net), SERCNET (Science Education Research Council) or BITNET.

European computers aren't the only things you can access. As Izumi told us in his article on Japan [Netweaver, Volume 1, Number 2] ASCII will soon have a system on IPSS. The European telex network can be accessed via IPSS. In Australia, OTC (Overseas Telecommunications Corp.) and MIDAS can be accessed. There is a whole world online and available out there!

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John A. Coll of the British MEP Software Unit was my source for the information on Europe. Look for articles by him in future issues of Netweaver.