Date: Thu, 7 Mar 1996 19:24:00 -0500 (EST) From: Chuck Robey <chuckr@Glue.umd.edu> To: Terry Lambert <terry@lambert.org> Cc: hasty@rah.star-gate.com, hackers@FreeBSD.org Subject: Re: Act Now ! Message-ID: <Pine.OSF.3.91.960307191309.31271C-100000@maryann.eng.umd.edu> In-Reply-To: <199603072134.OAA14900@phaeton.artisoft.com>
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On Thu, 7 Mar 1996, Terry Lambert wrote: > > [huge 'Voice On Net' article deleted] [My comments on Voice On Net deleted] > On the other hand, the main problem with the ability of the telephone > network to handle bandwidth is the fact that it uses circuit switching > so that it can generate accounting records and bill by time rather > than by pipeline size (this is also why the phone comapnies are > puching ISDN so hard, even though Frame Relay scales better to 128k > or higher data rates). Actually, several years ago, when it was still a telecommunications company, ITT tried real hard to make a voice switch based upon a packet switching core. It was an incredible failure, and took ITT's reputation down into the toilet with it. Circuit switching, when you have a steady data load (like voice has) is far, far cheaper than any technology that tries to adjust itself to user demand. Cheaper in terms of hardware for the telephone companies, and that's why it costs more for ISDN or Frame Relay that your regular home phone. Maybe this is changing, maybe even right now, but it's true at this particular point in time. > > I predicted over two years ago (gotta tout your wins! 8-)) that the > phone companies would start to feel the pressure from internet based > communications tools removing the ability to meter by usage rather > than pipe size. And that they would start legal harrassment > proceedings. Actually, like I said originally, if only 10 percent of _just hackers_ began making all their calls via the internet, the internet would bow under the traffic strain. On top of this, the technology that Amancio and company is using will not support high speed modems. Nearly all existing long distance networks will support high speed modems (I know this because I was tasked to test this assertion several years ago). I can't completely understand why, in the face of this fairly obvious fact, why the big phone companies are reacting. I suspect they're concerned somewhat with appearances, showing they're not the only show in town, which they certainly aren't anymore. > ========================================================================== Chuck Robey chuckr@eng.umd.edu, I run FreeBSD-current on n3lxx + Journey2 Three Accounts for the Super-users in the sky, Seven for the Operators in their halls of fame, Nine for Ordinary Users doomed to crie, One for the Illegal Cracker with his evil game In the Domains of Internet where the data lie. One Account to rule them all, One Account to watch them, One Account to make them all and in the network bind them.
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