Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!decwrl!sun-barr!oliveb!olivey!jerry
From: jerry@olivey.olivetti.com (Jerry Aguirre)
Newsgroups: news.admin
Subject: Re: makin' profit at unido (Was : Re: An apology...)
Message-ID: <43790@oliveb.olivetti.com>
Date: 28 Jun 89 03:59:24 GMT
References: <786@redsox.bsw.com> <263@icdi10.UUCP> <1444@laura.UUCP> <1445@laura.UUCP>
Sender: news@oliveb.olivetti.com
Reply-To: jerry@olivey.UUCP (Jerry Aguirre)
Organization: Olivetti ATC; Cupertino, Ca
Lines: 27

I doubt very much that the trans-atlantic costs dominate the final cost
to the user.  It turns out that getting data around Europe is usually
more difficult (costly) than getting it across the atlantic.  (But we
will never know because even the EUNet members don't seem to have the
cost break down.)

Aside from all of this there is a real attitude difference between
Europe and North America.  The governments restrict the hell out of
tele-communications but presumably that is what the people want.  The
companies don't subsidize EUNet.  Here it is considered a job benefit.
They set up this pure "star" topology around mcvax and it feels "right"
to them.  Here the people would be screaming revolution.  Look at what
happened with the north american "backbone" and that was anarchy
compared to EUNet.

So the point is not whether unido is forced to operate in the way they
do but whether they prefer to.  As a test, what would unido do if some
company down the street said that they were importing the "international
groups" from the US over their leased line and unido could get them for
the cost of a local call instead of paying mcvax for them?

Based on my experience they shy away from me like I just offered
them stolen property, mutter something about illegal, and refuse to
discuss it.  So the real point is they won't change because they don't
WANT to run the way we do.

				Jerry Aguirre