Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1998 10:47:17 +0000 From: Mark Ovens <marko@uk.radan.com> To: jonathan michaels <jon@caamora.com.au> Cc: chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Cool, A White Snowy Christmas in Sunnyvale, California 8) Message-ID: <367E2735.E62A6558@uk.radan.com> References: <4.1.19981220152518.00ac53d0@genesis.ispace.com> <Your <4.1.19981220151248.00ac5c60@genesis.ispace.com> <199812202020.MAA46296@rah.star-gate.com> <4.1.19981220152518.00ac53d0@genesis.ispace.com> <4.1.19981220213341.009a9160@genesis.ispace.com> <367E0725.4749B7CB@uk.radan.com> <19981221201918.E8445@caamora.com.au>
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jonathan michaels wrote: > > On Mon, Dec 21, 1998 at 08:30:29AM +0000, Mark Ovens wrote: > > Drew Baxter wrote: > > > > > > At 11:50 PM 12/20/98 +0100, Ollivier Robert wrote: > > > >According to Drew Baxter: > > > >> Cable internet here will be 89 bucks for 256k/128k.. That's ridiculous. > > > > > > > >I'd kill to have even that in France so be happy... > > > > > > Do you pay per-minute charges for local calls? friend of mine when he lived > > > in England it was like that.. I couldn't even imagine paying for my net > > > time like that. > > > > > > > Net access in England?, tell me about it. We still pay per minute, > > 1pence (~1.6c US) after 6pm and at weekends and 2.5pence (~4c US) at > > other times. Sounds like France has the same problems we have. Like > > France Telecom, British Telecom used to be state-owned but was then > > privatized, and at the same time the telephone business was > > de-regulated. We started to get a Cable TV network installed > > country-wide which also provides telephone services that promised > > cheap phone access and fast 'net connections. > > > > However it hasn't taken off to the extent that was expected so it's > > still only major urban areas that have any real service established. > > Part of the problem seems to be that it is mainly US & Canadian > > companies that are running it and seem to be using the N. American > > model for services, which just doesn't seem to work here, partly > > because we already pay ~100UKP (~$160US) per year for 5 normal TV > > stations :-(. > > back in teh seventies we gave up licencing tv, i remember when tv was first > started her in australia .. i grew up without tv. > I remember when it was only on for a few hours a day. I think perhaps we should return to that, given the crap they put on these days. > > The nett (no pun intended) result is that there is still no real > > national alternative to BT which means they are still effectively a > > monopoly. They make so much profit that the Government tells them to > > cut prices and rather than reduce the overall prices they come up with > > schemes which you have to join that gives you discounts on your 10 > > favourite numbers, which actually is better as those who join save > > more than if the standard rates were dropped. > > we have mich the same problem here but for diferent technical reasons. also > our govt is too greedy and won't really let go inspite of teh privatisng is is > talking about publically. > I think that's the root of the problem. Most countries, except the US, appear to have, or had, state-owned telphone companies which were obviously monopolies so, without competition, could charge what they liked. When these become privatized they don't want to give up the profits, which is easy if there's noreal competition. AFAIK, the US telephone system has always been privately owned and has therefore had competition from day one. > > This gets the price as low(?) as 0.6pence per minute after 6pm and at > > weekend. We do have ISDN but that costs an arm and a leg, even the new > > Home Highway that BT has just brought out which allows ISDN over > > normal twisted pair phone lines. > > we have had out telecoms idea of 'isdn', well it worked not to bad if you > could afford it. but recetnly australia has also joined teh european standards > of isdn and we are starting to build infra structure to handle teh isdn > traffic. > > > > > So, when I read US citizens complaining about $89 for a 256k/128k > > service it makes me laugh (well it makes me cry really :-) ). Don't > > complain, you guys have got it good. > > same here .. las time i looked, isdn cost $AUD500-$AUD900 per month, fro 64k > and some 35 aust cents per 1 million chr and i forget what teh cents per > minute for teh connection were. also if yoir avarage traffic is less than 25 > percent its the above costs, but if yu go to over 70 percent saturation cost > sore (pun intended) to about $AUD1k5 per month .. then thier is teh traffic > charges and the timed call fees. > Ouch!. I think that is even more expensive than BT. > yup, as poor as out americam freinds think thier services are, tehy are one > hell of a lot better than anywhere else int eh world, We were hoping that the advent of cable TV/phones would give us American style costs. Just a pity it doesn't seem to be working out :-( > i've heard stories bout > how good, cheap, tcp/ip is in singapore but that could be just for teh > companies (forginers) in teh technology parks .. well tehy get those benefits > at teh expence of teh local peoples anyway .. sort of i suppose. i only know > what its like here and as i cant aford isdn i stoped looking, so things could > be a bit better but not by much. > > regards and best wishes for christmass and new year. > The same to you. > jonathan > > -- > =============================================================================== > Jonathan Michaels > PO Box 144, Rosebery, NSW 1445 Australia > ===========================================================<jon@caamora.com.au> > > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org > with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message -- Trust the computer industry to shorten Year 2000 to Y2K. It was this thinking that caused the problem in the first place. Mark Ovens, CNC Applications Engineer, Radan Computational Ltd. Bath, Avon, England. Sheet Metal CAD/CAM Solutions mailto:marko@uk.radan.com http://www.radan.com To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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