UKNM: free local calls baloney

[Steve Bowbrick]

Actually, the thing that winds me up about all this unmetered baloney is

that access may be unmetered in the US but it's not free - subscribers pay

fairly large monthly rentals for the privelege of unmetered local calls

(and for Universal Service Provision). The economics of running a switched

network really do make it difficult to switch off the meter since

minutes/subscriber line/period is *the* key economic measure in a switched

environment. Trying to run a flat-rate service on top of an infrastructure

designed to be metered leads to the irrationality and capacity crunch of

the US system  - pick up a handset in a US home right now and there's a

decent chance you won't get a line out of the exchange. I feel some

sympathy for the hapless telcos trying to marry these two incompatible

economic models in one network...


s

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