tlug: Calling all users....

["Stephen J. Turnbull" <turnbull@example.com>]

>>>>> "Alan" == Alan B Stone <stoneab@example.com> writes:

    Alan> To get to the point, AT&T Jens, who provides Internet
    Alan> Servies for the local bases is claiming that their price of
    Alan> $35/month for a 28.8K connection (supposedly Unlimited
    Alan> Access) is inline with other services both here and in the
    Alan> US.  They are also claiming that "Power Users" are taking up
    Alan> so much time that they have to start terminating accounts.

It's not a claim, it's the truth.  If they charged the average cost to 
them, it would sufficiently high that low usage customers would drop
out.  This raises the average.  The termination condition to this
recursion, of course, is that max = average....

It's called Gresham's Law in a different context, or adverse
selection, in general.

The only way for _not_ to apply is for ATT to be screwing you all
already, and this requires government help in a competitive market.
Per minute usage charges are the only way to go.  Sorry 'bout that---
but I'm a power user and what I'm advocating hurts me more than it
hurts you[1], as my Mom used to say.

1.  Your ISP Name
    GOL (Global Online)
2.  Sign-up fee
    5000 yen
3.  Monthly charge
    2900 yen or so (flat rate yearly of 35000 yen), monthly available, 
    3500 yen I think.
4.  Connection rate
    I think that covers ISDN.
5.  Do you get threatened with termination if you stay online too long?
    Don't think so, but that account is accessed by modem strictly
    from need.
6.  Is there a max number of hours you can use your account?
    No.
7.  Any other info you all feel applies.

    Alan> I might also add that AT&T Jens refused to support Linux
    Alan> when I asked for help getting online.  Their reply to me was
    Alan> "we don't support those really old operating systems."

Sigh.  Fools are the most powerful force in the universe.

Footnotes:
[1]  As you can tell from my data below, it doesn't affect me at GOL.
However, I also advocate this policy with respect to the University's
network systems.
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