Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!wuarchive!swbatl!texbell!vector!telecom-gateway From: stiatl!john@gatech.edu (John DeArmond) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Why DA Costs Should Be Spread Among All Subscribers Message-ID: Date: 22 Aug 89 15:47:32 GMT Sender: news@vector.Dallas.TX.US Reply-To: John DeArmond Organization: Sales Technologies Inc., "The Procedure IS the product" Lines: 38 Approved: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 318, message 7 of 12 In article zygot!john@apple.com (John Higdon) writes: >I am the last person to stick up for "the Phone Company". But I'm sure >you will agree that providing you with phone numbers via information >(or even via directories) costs the provider money, right? >For those occasional events, I am more than willing to pay the fifty cents. > >Why is it fair for the costs of DA to be shared by everyone (which is >what happens when it's "free") when not everyone prefaces every other >call with a call to Directory Assistance? It's fair for everyone to share the cost for DA for the same reason it's fair for all to share the cost of things like the inside plant, cable, right-of-ways, telephone poles and so on. IF we wanted to be very strict with this concept of only those who use a service pay, then you would get charged extra if a cable right-of-way was extra expensive or if your trunk was damaged by storms or routing to your house took a few extra taps or the road to your drop box is rough, accelerating the wear on the phone company truck, or the fact that all your extra extensions use extra power from the ring and battery supply and so on ad infinum. No, the concept of universal service is that the costs, sometimes individually extraordinary, are spread across the rate-base so that everybody pays just a little bit. Sure, you may not use DA often but for some others it may be vital. I'll bet you use other free value-added services of the phone company more than the average user. I know that I'm on them frequently to fix problems with my lines that only affect data transmission. Sure I could buy a data-grade line and in fact, they try to push that from time to time. My residential service is surely more expensive than the subscriber who only calls his/her mother once a week. But I don't think any of use REALLY want pay-as-you-go. That some PUCs have allowed the phone company to deviate from the concept of universal service is sad indeed. John De Armond, WD4OQC | Manual? ... What manual ?!? Sales Technologies, Inc. Atlanta, GA | This is Unix, My son, You ...!gatech!stiatl!john **I am the NRA** | just GOTTA Know!!!