[ale] [EFG] (fwd) Lunch w/BellSouth, ISDN for dessert (fwd)

[Geoffrey Myers]

Here is the complete copy of the ISDN discussion regarding grandfathering:

}This was in mindspring.discussion..
}
}Robbie
}
}*******************************************
}
}Path: nntp0.mindspring.com!news.mindspring.com!jtu3
}From: jtu3 at pobox.com (Jim Upchurch)
}Newsgroups: mindspring.discussion
}Subject: Lunch w/BellSouth, ISDN for dessert
}Date: Tue, 03 Sep 1996 14:42:18 -0500
}Organization: Basmati Systems LLC
}Lines: 76
}Message-ID: <jtu3-0309961442180001 at news.mindspring.com>
}NNTP-Posting-Host: user-168-121-32-105.dialup.mindspring.com
}Mime-Version: 1.0
}Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
}Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
}X-no-archive: yes
}X-Newsreader: Yet Another NewsWatcher 2.2.0
}
}
}
}I had The Lunch with Bill Todd, Media Relations Manager for BellSouth in
}Alabama. We were joined by two other BSO employees, one who is
}representative/liaison to the PSC and another who is in charge of ISDN
}marketing.
}
}I will post a longer summary tonight and will be happy to respond to all
}the  questions I can, but meanwhile here's the meat:
}
}1. Sometime between now and the end of the year, BSO will file a new ISDN
}tariff in every state but Tennessee whose effect, if it goes through, will
}be to put ISDN service on a measured-service basis after a basic threshold
}is exhausted.
}
}2. For 64K consumer service, the threshold will be 200 hours per month.
}Extra minutes beyond that will be a penny a minute.
}
}3. For 128K ISDN, you will use your base hours twice as fast, i.e., if you
}have full-time 128K you get 100 hours instead of 200, then  go into
}metered pricing. If you generally use 64K but pop on and off into 128K
}2-channel use you will be using your minutes twice as fast during your
}two-channel connection. Then you will drop into the penny-a-minute deal. I
}am not certain whether the rate becomes 2 cents a minute for
}2-channel/128K at that point.
}
}4. The business customer will pay more, but get 320 hours of flat rate service.
}
}5. The basic charge in Alabama "_may_ go down _some_" in connection with
}this plan, but no decision has been made on the amount or even on whether
}it will in fact change. My impression was that we should not be looking
}for any dramatic drop in the base charge, which is now -- what? $65 or
}something? On a "surprise scale", based on our discussion I would be
}slightly surprised if the base charge did not drop, very surprised if it
}rose, and very surprised if it dropped to, say, $40 a month. If it dropped
}from $65 to $55 I'd feel like that was quite consistent with the tone of
}our discussion today at lunch. No specific figures were discussed because
}they  are not known at this point.
}
}Now for dessert:
}
}6. THERE WILL BE A GRANDFATHER CLAUSE. However, its precise terms are
}still undeveloped. I think it is fair to say that if you have
}unlimited-use ISDN today you will probably be able to have unlimited-use
}ISDN after the change _as long as_ the terms of your service do not
}change, and as long as your location does not change. And you will not be
}a grandfather with respect to any additional ISDN service you add later. I
}am not absolutely sure whether the grandfather clause will apply to
}everyone who signs up before the new tariff becomes effective. They might,
}for example, start advising people in the near future that "current rates
}cannot be guaranteed indefinitely" and that would certainly alter the
}equities for people who signed up with that understanding. (I MADE THAT
}SCENARIO UP. WE DID NOT DISCUSS IT.)
}
}Now -- add in a soupcon of "All this is definitely gonna happen generally
}speaking, but the exact implementation dtails are still under discussion."
}Some parts of it seem prety firm, like the 200 hours; some parts do not
}even have a figure attached, like the "base rate."
}
}I'll go into more detail later, but the bottom line is that BSO says ISDN
}use ain't like voice use or 28.8 use. Some dial up using ISDN and they do
}not hang up; 20% of ISDN subscribers use 80% of the bandwidth. ISDN is
}expensive to provide because BSO has to provide infrastructure to meet
}maximum demand, and higher-bandwidth services push the peak-usage figure
}disproportionately higher. It is not true that "BSO now loses money on
}ISDN" (at least in Alabama), but the trend is very clear as demand for
}ISDN rises, and something must be done to give users an incentive to
}ration their use.
}-- 
}------------------------
}Jim Upchurch | Montgomery Alabama
}jtu3 at pobox.com
}Montgomery Advertiser Columns -- <http://www.mindspring.com/~jtu3/online.html>
}MontgomeryWeb online column -- <http://www.montgomeryweb.com/jtu3/mgmwebjtu.html>
}Montgomery HyperCalendar -- <http://www.mindspring.com/~jtu3/>
}------------------------
}
}******************************************
}
}-- 
}Robbie Honerkamp
}robbie at shorty.com, robbie at grumblesmurf.net, robbie at mindspring.com
}http://www.shorty.com/~robbie/
} "It just goes to show you that ProDOS is too horrible to contemplate"
}	-Imaginos, "Dead III"
}
}


-- 
Until later:
Geoffrey Myers   geof at denali.is.net   Unix.Guru.Dude at worldnet.att.net
	http://www.ticllc.net/~geof  or http://denali.is.net/~geof

	Opinions expressed by me are mine, all mine, only mine.....