Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1998 13:56:49 +0000 From: Mark Ovens <marko@uk.radan.com> To: Juergen Nickelsen <jnickelsen@acm.org> Cc: Drew Baxter <netmonger@genesis.ispace.com>, Ollivier Robert <roberto@keltia.freenix.fr>, chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Cool, A White Snowy Christmas in Sunnyvale, California 8) Message-ID: <367E53A1.66F44F8@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> <v03110702b2a3d2cf5128@[195.21.35.63]>
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Juergen Nickelsen wrote: > > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > Hash: SHA1 > > At 9:30 +0100 21.12.1998, Mark Ovens wrote on freebsd-chat: > > >So, when I read US citizens complaining about $89 for a 256k/128k > >service it makes me laugh (well it makes me cry really :-) ). Don't > >complain, you guys have got it good. > > Mark, > > what you write about the UK is basically true for Germany, only our > rates are higher. Like BT, the "Deutsche Telekom" was a monopoly until > not long ago and still effectively is for local calls. (AFAIK only in > Cologne there is an alternative provider that serves also private > homes. Colt Telecom provides also local services, but only for major > customers.) > > The Telekom's rates range from 0.08 DEM (about 0.05 US$) per minute in > the daytime down to 0.04 DEM per minute during the night. > > A 64 kbps line costs 250 DEM (156 US$) if both ends are connected to > the same local exchange. If not, the rate is 385 DEM (240 US$) plus > 22.50 DEM (14 US$) per kilometer for the first 15 km, less at larger > distances. A 128 kbps line costs about three times as much. (Actually > this is an ISDN line with two B channels at 64 kbps and one D channel > with 16 kbps.) This is, of course, just the line, without Internet > connectivity. > I think we get ripped off for just about everything in Europe (when compared to the States). Air fares are another example. The last (only) time I went to the States (OK it was 18 years ago), your neck of the woods Drew - New England, for the cost of my return flight UK-US-UK I could purchase a 7 day, unlimited travel air ticket for the whole US mainland and for most things, e.g. petrol, beer, tobacco, clothes etc, what cost a Pound in England cost a Dollar in the US (the exchange rate was ~$2.40/UKP, thats 60% cheaper!). I'll bet things are still the same, although we're down to ~$1.60/UKP. No wonder Americans are rich ;-). I guess this is a result of the States being a much more consumer oriented society, they won't tolerate being ripped off, so companies that try will go bust. Mind you, I can't see why telcoms need to be so expensive in Europe. After all, the distances within any European country are considerably less than in the States so the cost of providing the infrastructure should be considerably less too. No doubt greedy Governments are partly to blame with high taxes, VAT (sales tax) is 17.5% in the UK. > Well, yes, you guys have it good -- and that includes the UK. :-/ > What's the saying? "No matter how badly you think you are done to, there's always someone worse off than yourself". Not that that is any consolation. > Greetings, Juergen. > > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- > Version: PGPfreeware 5.5.3i for non-commercial use <http://www.pgpi.com>; > > iQA/AwUBNn4mEPxneYZkCUPbEQLu1wCg9zG7/LiH/hH4ExRGQkeV+4lV/uQAoNwM > chvI11dHAxLjm7k7ciIsRnsX > =5Kue > -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- 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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