[10778] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Settlements
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (John [Francis] Stracke)
Tue Mar 8 22:35:21 1994
Date: Tue, 8 Mar 1994 15:54:50 +0500
From: francis@avalle.insoft.com (John [Francis] Stracke)
To: com-priv@psi.com
In-Reply-To: Peter Deutsch's message of Tue, 8 Mar 1994 15:14:12 -0500 <9403082014.AA04008@expresso.bunyip.com>
I (somewhat foolishly) 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)
(when I wrote the above, I didn't know that you could get a portion of
a T1, which presumably would use the same equipment as a full line)
Craig Partridge replied:
>> 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?
Well, *no*, but if I walk in, say I want some pasta, and they put a
gallon pot in front of me and expect me to pay for it all, I'll be
less pleased than if they let me say how much I want. Settlements are
the network equivalent: hooking up a T1 when all you need is 56Kb is a
just-in-case. The provider should charge more than if M&PK had a
56Kb, since they have to be prepared for higher peak rates, but
settlements let the pricing realistically reflect the bandwidth
consumed, as well as the value to the provider's other customers of
being able to connect to M&PK's customers. On the other hand, I guess
settlements would presumably be small compared to the large, fixed
costs of support, etc.
And Peter Deutsch said:
>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.
Good point.
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|John (Francis) Stracke | My opinions are my own. |
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|francis@insoft.com | -- Galileo |
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