[2143] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: Re: low-end users
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Denis DeLaRoca (213) 825-4580)
Tue Jan 28 13:18:56 1992
Date: Tue, 28 Jan 92 10:17 PST
To: rtennant@LIBRARY.BERKELEY.EDU(Roy Tennant)
From: Denis DeLaRoca (213) 825-4580 <CSP1DWD@MVS.OAC.UCLA.EDU>
Cc: com-priv@psi.com
> All this complaining about the costs of providing service to low-end
> users is getting to me. There are obviously ways to do it -- and
> at a reasonable cost -- because it is being done. CERFNet offers tru
> low-end service (and NOT at the ridiculous price of $250/month!)
> in many areas of California -- including the very region that BARRNe
> serves.
Well, all this praise for CERFnet I am sure is well deserved and even
appreciated... but I disagree that they are the *only* players, and
therefore the only model to emulate. The so-called ridiculous price
of $250/month unrestricted access offered by a certain vendor is
actually quite reasonable when compared with CERFNet's high hourly
rates.
If you only wanted this access for a few hours a month then
the CERFNet rate is good, but if you want continuous access day and
night then the $250/month rate is quite attractive. I pointed out
this to a CERFnet representative not long ago and the answer was
"if you need continuous Internet access then get yourself a 56Kb
line"... well, that's a lot of bucks and led me to believe that
CERFnet was offering their low-end dial-up service merely as an
incentive to get you hooked to buy the more expensive 56Kb dedi-
cated-line package. The $250/month vendor, PSI I believe, instead
offers a whole range of low-end connectivity solutions and leads
me to believe a different philosophy toward accommodating and
supporting low-end users.
-- Denis DeLaRoca
UCLA Office of Academic Computing
