Thanks mixture, food for thought.
Even though I've an idea how the electronics side works - as opposed to routing logic - I still feel bewildered at seeing the active numbers heading towards 30million. Astonishing.
One thing that's odd, though no doubt confined to one small part of the chain, are my brother's calls from the Lake District. More often than not, when he calls, he sounds like a chipmunk. It's very, very fast and high, but somehow maintains real-time. When I've finished rolling about laughing, we reconnect and it's fine. Just what is taking place to give that effect . . . and has anyone else experienced it?