[10776] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: Settlements
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Peter Deutsch)
Tue Mar 8 20:44:26 1994
From: Peter Deutsch <peterd@bunyip.com>
Date: Tue, 8 Mar 1994 15:14:12 -0500
In-Reply-To: Craig Partridge's message as of Mar 8, 8:27
To: Craig Partridge <craig@aland.bbn.com>, com-priv@psi.com
Cc: francis@avalle.insoft.com
[ You wrote: ]
. . .
> On the other hand, if Ma & Pa Kettle set up a new provider, with a T1
> link from the start (to avoid paying for plant they'll discard when
> they upgrade), and take six months to get enough customers to go over
> half capacity, they'll be paying full price for their underused link,
> even though they're using much less of the IXC's capacity than each of
> PSI's links.
>
> Well, yes, there are always gradations of service. Suppose a restaurant
> serves one a meal portion that's bigger than one wants. Does one return the
> uneaten portion and ask for a refund?
Correctly determining the tradeof between the cost of disposing
of obsolete equipment, versus paying for unneeded capacity is
presumably part of the value-added Ma and Pa Kettle bring to the
party. As long as the gradations aren't too onerous (ie. 56k or
T3, no other choices) this doesn't seem to be too great a
barrier to entry.
- peterd
--
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The future belongs to neither the conduit or content players, but
those who control the filtering, searching and sense-making tools
we will rely on to navigate through the expanses of cyberspace."
- Paul Saffo, (_Wired_: March,1994)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
