[11135] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: just testing whether the mailing list still works
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Miles R Fidelman)
Tue Mar 22 10:40:46 1994
Date: Tue, 22 Mar 1994 08:02:48 -0500 (EST)
From: Miles R Fidelman <fidelman@civicnet.org>
To: com-priv@psi.com
In-Reply-To: <9403211636.AA16243@upeksa.sdsc.edu>
On Mon, 21 Mar 1994, Hans-Werner Braun wrote:
> a little, and a common answer seems to be "about as much as for cable
> TV." The top figure I heard (and those were from people who really have
> children and perceive a benefit for them) was $50/month. Now, a flat
> rate of $35 per month and a $8.50 access charge per hour just won't cut
> it. I bought my kids a modem a few weeks ago and showed them a little
> about the Internet. They immediately got hooked on email and Mosaic.
> $8.50/hr plus $35/month? No way that will work! If measured service,
> say, 3 hrs/day times 30 days makes 90 hours a month. Lets say 100.
> $50-$35 = $15 for the difference. $15/100 makes 15 cents per hour (a
> quarter cent per minute) if you want measured service. No way, you say,
> the phone line access costs are too high for that to be feasable. Well,
> tough. What are the technology choices? Calling area-local terminal
> servers (like Prodigy)? Cable TV plants? Perhaps even satellite
> access? Flat rate ISDN?
>
> What's my point? My point is that the underlying switching substrate
> of the data component of the United States national telecommunications
> infrastructure is about as relevant to an end user as the telephony
> component. It is needed, and to those people it is irrelevant what it
> looks like internally, as long as predictable services are being
> delivered in an affordable fashion. Just like dial tone on phones.
>
True, but the regulation/tariffing/pricing of the switching substrate
makes a big difference as to whether or not these end-user prices can be
achieved. There's a lot of content waiting in the wings, but nobody can
afford to buy it untill local loop prices come way down.
My personal sense is that price barriers have very little to do with
technology and real costs, and a lot to do with pricing mindsets of local
loop carriers and with the accounting rules imposed by current regulation.
Miles
**************************************************************************
Miles R. Fidelman mfidelman@civicnet.org
Executive Director 91 Baldwin St. Charlestown MA 02129
The Center for Civic Networking 617-241-9205 fax: 617-241-5064
Check out our gopher server:
CCN - The Center for Civic Networking
on the list of all gopher servers in the world.
Information Infrastructure: Public Spaces for the 21st Century
Let's Start With: Internet Wall-Plugs Everywhere
Then We Can Worry About: "Switched, Interactive, Broadband Services"
**************************************************************************
