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From: rick@seismo.CSS.GOV (Rick Adams)
Newsgroups: news.sysadmin,comp.mail.uucp,comp.dcom.modems
Subject: Re: uunet "3 minutes minimum" impacts Telebit users
Summary: hardly for the first time
Message-ID: <44311@beno.seismo.CSS.GOV>
Date: 14 May 88 03:28:08 GMT
References: <4581@hoptoad.uucp>
Organization: Center for Seismic Studies, Arlington, VA
Lines: 28

> as I could account for from my system login records.  I checked
> this with Rick and he told me, for the first time, that uunet
> has a 3 minute minimum charge, applied for both incoming and outgoing
> calls.

EVERY uunet subscription form ever distributed has said that there is a
3 minute minimum connect charge. I am looking at the original
subscription form that was sent in for hoptoad. It says quite clearly
(10 point type, centered on the page and offset from the rest of the
text by blank lines):

	There is a three minute minimum connect charge.

We start billing when uucico logs the "OK (startup)" message in the
logfile.  It takes at least a minute to reach this point (modem syncs,
login chat script run, protocol startup, etc). If the call doesn't
reach this point, it isn't charged for.

The three minute minimum is an artifact of Tymnet. Tymnet bills at
a 3 minute minimum. The awk script that does the billing currently
applies the minimum to all calls.

It may be necessary to adjust the minimum for the dialups. (Adjusting
the minimum may require raising the rate. The failed calls must be
paid for somewhere). However, note that a zero minute uucp session
is silly.

--rick