[11186] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: isdn/sw56 rates (fwd)
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Dick St.Peters)
Thu Mar 24 12:47:53 1994
Date: Wed, 23 Mar 94 15:41:10 EST
From: stpeters@swan-song.crd.ge.com (Dick St.Peters)
To: com-priv@psi.com
Cc: stpeters@swan-song.crd.ge.com
Reply-To: <stpeters@dawn.crd.ge.com>
>From: Doug Humphrey <digex@ss1.digex.net>
>>> The base price of ISDN in the DC area is not very high, but the
>>> $0.05/minute for data calls
>>
>>Hmm, I was quoted $450/month as the base price, with the nickel-a-minute on
>>top of that.
>
>ISDN is certainly not $450/month. It is only offered currently as part
>of Centrex of 1MB (Measured Rate Business) service, but nowhere NEAR
>$450 per month.
NYNEX is beginning to offer ISDN in selected parts of this area. Their
information kit is a little confusing - for basic service, they don't
use the B & D terminology, and it looks like they're pricing the B
"lines" differently, depending on use. Isn't one of the points of ISDN
supposed to be that a line is a line is a line ?
Anyway, the pricing reads like this: you can choose up to three of the
following. If you choose three, one must be Low Speed Packet Switched
Data (9600 baud; sounds like a D to me):
Digital Voice NC
Circuit Switched Data (CSV) 2/mo
Alternate CSV/CSD 2/mo
Low Speed Packet Switched Data 2/mo
High Speed Packet Switched Data (64kbs) 20/mo
What I think of as ISDN BRI (2xB @ 64 + D @ 9.6) looks like $42/mo
(with a non-recurring connection charge of $105). We have untimed
phone service, and there's no mention of any change in that for ISDN.
It also looks like you can get just one B and a D for only $22/mo. (!)
If you can get anything at all, that is. The hookers are that they're
deploying ISDN only in a few exchanges (with businesses but few
residents), and "data networking between locations may be restricted".
I assume the latter is because this is a joint offering of NY Telephone
and NE Telephone, which means state (and LATA) boundaries.
If you get ISDN, what do you do with it? You still need an IP provider
somewhere, right? The 12/9/93 version of PDIAL lists only two US ISDN
IP providers, one each in Alabama and Colorado.
Hmmmm ...
--
Dick St.Peters, Gatekeeper, The Pearly Gateway; currently at:
GE Corporate R&D, Schenectady, NY stpeters@dawn.crd.ge.com
