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Xref: sserve comp.sys.powerpc:34656 comp.sys.intel:32206 comp.unix.bsd:16244 comp.unix.pc-clone.32bit:8201 comp.unix.sys5.r4:9324 comp.unix.misc:16166 comp.os.linux.development:23620 comp.os.linux.misc:35715 comp.os.386bsd.development:3245 comp.os.386bsd.misc:5489 comp.os.misc:3829 Newsgroups: comp.sys.powerpc,comp.sys.intel,comp.unix.bsd,comp.unix.pc-clone.32bit,comp.unix.sys5.r4,comp.unix.misc,comp.os.linux.development,comp.os.linux.misc,comp.os.386bsd.development,comp.os.386bsd.misc,comp.os.misc Path: sserve!newshost.anu.edu.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!msunews!uwm.edu!news.alpha.net!news.mathworks.com!zombie.ncsc.mil!news.duke.edu!godot.cc.duq.edu!hudson.lm.com!news.pop.psu.edu!news.cac.psu.edu!newsserver.jvnc.net!jgcomp.com!jgcomp.jvnc.net!jon From: jon@jgcomp.jvnc.net (Jon LaBadie) Subject: Re: flat rates for Internet/phone (Re: X on dial-in) Sender: news@jgcomp.com (Net News Admin) Message-ID: <1995Feb24.183847.6457@jgcomp.com> Date: Fri, 24 Feb 1995 18:38:47 GMT References: <D3s19v.4M7@pe1chl.ampr.org> <D3sMnw.8vE@proteon.com> <TMB.95Feb20042733@netcom6.netcom.com> <hastyD4BEzu.Jx0@netcom.com> <root.793371940@c00037-5pa.eos.ncsu.edu> <D4DH09.BAo@pe1chl.ampr.org> <3ij579$ba7@pilot.njin.net> Organization: JG Computing Lines: 52 In article <3ij579$ba7@pilot.njin.net>, jastewar@pilot.njin.net (Jim Stewart) writes: |> rob@pe1chl.ampr.org (Rob Janssen) writes: |> |> >In <root.793371940@c00037-5pa.eos.ncsu.edu> camattin@eos.ncsu.edu (Chris A. Mattingly) writes: |> |> >>By that philosophy, since I only use the phone about 3% of the month, I should |> >>only have to pay 3% of my current phone bill. Will this ever happen? No. |> |> >No, your current phone bill is based on the fact that you use it only |> >3% of the month. When you would use it all the time, your bill would |> >go up. |> |> >Boy, are all Americans so naive? |> |> Sorry, we naive Americans don't get charged for usage time unless it's long |> distance, and that's handled by long distance carriers for the most part. |> Whether I use my phone for 5 minutes a month or 24/7 the whole month, it still |> only costs me $15 because I don't make long distance calls. I responded to Rob by email. I felt he misinterpreted (Chris' ??) comments. But all the follow-ups make me feel I must add my 0.02. All US respondents, including myself, noted our wonderful flat-rate service. It is easy to bill and easy to abuse. I do it myself. On at least one of my 5 phone lines. But am I showing my age to point out party-line and message-unit local service? I did not think these were in place SO long ago. These rate options were in place not long ago. Cheaper than flat- rate for a while. Then as the telco's realized that simple billing outweighed usage billing, the flat-rate dropped to the similar rates as the others. But what comes around CAN go around the other way too. Don't get me wrong, I don't expect change real soon in US rate structures. Even a million Internet users linked 100% "might" be a small blimp on the usage profile. But there are coin pushers in the telcos who might realize the high percent users might be a new revenue source and seek a new rate structure that bills them (and me) accordingly. That is what has happened to business line rates. Some of my lines might be considered "business lines". They are installed as residential lines. I did not consider the 7 - 10x increase in rates reasonable for the tiny benifit of a "business line". jl -- Jon H. LaBadie jon@jgcomp.com JG Computing jon@jgcomp.jvnc.net 4455 Province Line Road (609) 252-0159 Princeton, NJ 08540-4322 (609) 683-7220 (fax)