[2423] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: How much does the backbone really cost?
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Sean Donelan)
Wed Feb 26 20:03:05 1992
Date: Wed, 26 Feb 1992 19:01:00 -0600 (CST)
From: SEAN@SDG.DRA.COM (Sean Donelan)
To: com-priv@psi.com
X-Vmsmail-To: SMTP%"com-priv@psi.com"
>I'don't remember seeing this discussed: How much does the backbone
>cost, compared to the costs of the regionals and internal networks in
>various organizations? If the backbone is relatively cheap, then it
>doesn't really matter how it's paid for...
While it is more than just a backbone, here are some published figures
for one large network. OCLC completed the installation of its new
network last month. According to the press release it is a $70 million
telecommunications network with 774 inter- and intrastate circuits --
more than 280,000 miles of telephone lines. The network connects
school, college & university, special, and public libraries.
It'll be interesting to see if the government's actions force them out of
the network business. At the last American Library Association meeting I
heard a lot of people who were wondering about dropping their OCLC line, and
only using the Internet (NSFNET, NREN, whatever) since it is so much "cheaper."
--
Sean Donelan, Data Research Associates, Inc, St. Louis, MO
Domain: sean@sdg.dra.com, Voice: (Work) +1 314-432-1100
