Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!decwrl!hayes.fai.alaska.edu!accuvax.nwu.edu!nucsrl!telecom-request From: john@bovine.ati.com (John Higdon) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: More COCOTery Message-ID: <13203@accuvax.nwu.edu> Date: 9 Oct 90 19:10:34 GMT Sender: news@accuvax.nwu.edu Reply-To: John Higdon Organization: Green Hills and Cows Lines: 35 Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 725, Message 3 of 13 On Oct 9 at 2:05, Martin B Weiss writes: > Perhaps more "real people" should be investing in COCOTs as a way to > turn around the market abuses. Economic theory would suggest that an > correctly programmed phone charging competitive rates placed next to > an incorrectly programmed one charging much higher rates would be more > successful. But this is the flaw in the whole concept of COCOTs. In a free market, informed buyers make free and informed choices. So far, this has not been possible with pay phones. First, competing phones are not usually found in close proximity. More and more, you can be assured that if you see a COCOT, a utility phone WON'T be found nearby. This is possibly for the reasons that you cite: the utility phones would, indeed, sap business from a COCOT. But the consumer doesn't control the playing field. If a COCOT owner discovers that a utility phone is causing him trouble, he has it removed -- either directly or by putting pressure on his neighbors. The other side of the coin involves informed choices. There was a time when a Pac*Bell phone and a COCOT were installed side-by-side at a store near Stanford. I stood and watched as one person after another walked up to the COCOT, ignoring the utility phone. Most of these people made simple local calls, but for some reason the COCOT seemed more attractive. (Yes, the Pac*Bell phone worked.) A public phone is supposed to be an instrument of convenience. One doesn't usually walk or drive around "shopping" for the best payphone bargain. Back in pre-MFJ days, it wasn't necessary. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@bovine.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o !