Path: utzoo!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uwm.edu!ogicse!milton!hayes.ims.alaska.edu!floyd
From: floyd@ims.alaska.edu (Floyd Davidson)
Newsgroups: comp.org.eff.talk
Subject: Re: Big Brother charging for modem use?
Message-ID: <1991Mar3.124929.268@ims.alaska.edu>
Date: 3 Mar 91 12:49:29 GMT
References: <1991Mar2.023716.13851@csn.org> <1991Mar3.045031.25491@unx2.ucc.okstate.edu>
Organization: University of Alaska, Institute of Marine Science
Lines: 52

In article <1991Mar3.045031.25491@unx2.ucc.okstate.edu> minich@unx2.ucc.okstate.edu (Robert Minich) writes:
>by wouk@alumni.colorado.edu (Arthur Wouk):
>:
>:
>| the point of this is, the physical plant is based on a specific
>| predicted utilization level, based on a well established pattern of
>| utilization by different types of users: home, business, etc.
>| 
>| since business use is very heavy, it is harder to reduce the number of
>| lines used to provide a given level of service, so more physical lines
>| need to be run from the terminus on in through the concentrators. this
>| is very expensive, and busnesses pay more for phone use for that
>| reason.
>| 
>| home use is much lighter, and the degree of concentration possible is
>| greater. so the introcution of a modem into residential areas 
>| provides a very different type of load to the system than a person to
>| person phone call. i for instance, tend to log in for from 10 minutes
>| to two hours at a time. this degrades the service offered to others on
>| my concentrator, since i tie up one its outgoing lines very
>| significantly.
>
>  I would like to publicly ponder whether Arthur has witnessed the
>phenomena of the teenage female with regard to phone usage. Should phone
>companies charge more for households with children, much like insurance
>companies do for auto insurance? This is just my light-hearted thought
>for the day.

Actually it isn't just children, or at least young children.  The
normal pattern for business use is many relatively short calls.
The calls peak at the beginning of the business day (8-9), at
about 11 AM, and from 1-2 PM, with each peak being larger than
the earlier one.

At 5PM the number of calls drops dramatically.  And the length of
those fewer calls goes up just as dramatically.

And it is not just kids calling each other either.  The long distance
calls are almost all kids calling Mom and Dad, and the kids are any
age young enough to have parents alive to call!

As far as I know modem calls are exactly a reflection of voice
calls.  Business calls are short and many, residential calls
are fewer and lengthy.

I also suspect that modem users make more long distance calls than
non-modem users.  I like that, it pays my wages.

Floyd
-- 
Floyd L. Davidson  |  floyd@ims.alaska.edu   |  Alascom, Inc. pays me
Salcha, AK 99714   |    Univ. of Alaska      |  but not for opinions.