[223] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: Bill S.'s paper
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Kent England)
Wed Feb 27 15:42:45 1991
From: kwe@bu-it.bu.edu (Kent England)
Date: Wed, 27 Feb 91 15:27:23 -0500
To: schoff@psi.com
Cc: com-priv@psi.com
> ... However, the concept of mandating
> fixed fees or rejecting use fees in the NREN would be ideal for the users
> but would rule out SMDS provider/tarrifs etc.
>
I don't think that is true. SMDS technology does not mandate
a usage-based tariff. It does allow for a "leaky bucket" algorithm
for managing a specific bandwidth usage (or access) class, but even if
you use such an algorithm, it doesn't mean your monthly charge is
necessarily variable; it can be fixed according to the access class
you chose a priori. What it does give you is the flexibility to
implement various access classes and their corresponding tariffs in
software, not in hardware.
And it is certainly true that if the telco's market analysis
indicates that they will lose money by offering variable rate (or
usage-based) tariffs when they have a fixed capital equipment cost,
they will not request usage-based tariffs, but will rather opt to
offer only flat rate service.
--Kent
