Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1998 08:30:29 +0000 From: Mark Ovens <marko@uk.radan.com> To: Drew Baxter <netmonger@genesis.ispace.com> Cc: Ollivier Robert <roberto@keltia.freenix.fr>, chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Cool, A White Snowy Christmas in Sunnyvale, California 8) Message-ID: <367E0725.4749B7CB@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>
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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 :-(. 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. 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. 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. > --- > Drew "Droobie" Baxter > Network Admin/Professional Computer Nerd(TM) > OneEX: The OneNetwork Exchange, Bangor Maine USA > http://www.droo.orland.me.us > > PGP ID: 409A1F7D > > 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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