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From: ggw%wolves@cs.duke.edu (Gregory G. Woodbury)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Grade-School Math, BBS, and Ma Bell
Message-ID: <72213@bu.edu.bu.edu>
Date: 13 Jan 91 04:43:11 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 34, Message 4 of 8


In article <15992@accuvax.nwu.edu> jsw@iugate.unomaha.edu writes:

>If we figure that the metro Omaha area gives Ma Bell about 500,000

>50/500000 of the active lines, or about 1/100 of one percent.

>Why is it then, that they are paying >>THAT<< much attention to such a
>miniscule group of their subscribers ??

Well, the answer is evident after digging around a little bit.  The
LECs hope to be freed relatively soon to provide their own information
services.  The software and all the necessary technology for an LEC to
provide a Prodigy-type service was developed at Bell Labs back in
1982.*

When ISDN becomes are real service to each subscriber, it will be easy
for almost anyone to set up a BBS and offer direct ISDN access.  The
LECs do not want the BBS operators providing for free, what they hope
to make tons of money from!

* I was there for a while and worked on it.


Gregory G. Woodbury @ The Wolves Den UNIX, Durham NC
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