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Xref: sserve comp.dcom.frame-relay:761 comp.dcom.isdn:11073 comp.unix.misc:16266 comp.os.linux.misc:36071 comp.os.386bsd.misc:5546 comp.os.misc:3861 Path: sserve!newshost.anu.edu.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!msunews!uwm.edu!news.alpha.net!news.mathworks.com!usenet.eel.ufl.edu!news-feed-1.peachnet.edu!paperboy.wellfleet.com!noc.near.net!eisner!eisner.decus.org!holdrege Newsgroups: comp.dcom.frame-relay,comp.dcom.isdn,comp.unix.misc,comp.os.linux.misc,comp.os.386bsd.misc,comp.os.misc Subject: Re: flat rates for Internet/phone (Re: X on dial-in) Message-ID: <3MAR199514161563@eisner.decus.org> From: holdrege@eisner.decus.org (Matt Holdrege) Date: 3 Mar 1995 14:16 -0500 References: <D3s19v.4M7@pe1chl.ampr.org> <root.793371940@c00037-5pa.eos.ncsu.edu> <D4DH09.BAo@pe1chl.ampr.org> <phrD4G1np.MoG@netcom.com> <3il2e7$36c@fieldday.fieldday.mn.org> Distribution: world Organization: DECUServe Summary: Modems and ISDN are circuit switched and use more bandwidth than FR. Nntp-Posting-Host: eisner.decus.org News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.4-b1 Lines: 19 >>In article <D4DH09.BAo@pe1chl.ampr.org>, >>I think there's a different kind of naivite going on in this thread >>which is that people have forgotten the cliche that the world's largest >>computer is the phone network. Well, the cost of computing (CPU >>cycles, disk space, LAN's) has dropped by a factor of at least 1000 >>in the past couple decades, but the cost of phone calls hasn't >>changed much at all. So there is either some gross inefficiency >>or some huge profits (or a combination) happening at the telco's. >>The Internet is beginning to make the disparity more visible, >>as more and more ordinary people's traffic is moved on high volume >>channels whose costs have a (slightly) closer relationship with >>the actual cost of creating bandwidth from point A to point B. I think you are forgetting the billions that it costs to continually upgrade the cable plant. The cost to lay thousands of miles of fiber hasn't gotten any cheaper. Most telco's still use union labor for that. Another cost that has gone up (especially with ISDN) is software. Ask AT&T how much they charge for "Right to Use" the ISDN software on a 5ESS.