Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!looking!brad
From: brad@looking.UUCP (Brad Templeton)
Newsgroups: news.admin
Subject: Re: The death of USENET
Message-ID: <1744@looking.UUCP>
Date: 13 Jun 88 16:27:37 GMT
References: <7475@swan.ulowell.edu> <2645@rpp386.UUCP>
Reply-To: brad@looking.UUCP (Brad Templeton)
Organization: Looking Glass Software Ltd.
Lines: 24

In article <2645@rpp386.UUCP> jfh@rpp386.UUCP (The Beach Bum) writes:
>I wonder why AT&T provided those machines free of charge
>for the net for all of these years.

When we talk about the fact that USENET is is now costing around $30,000
per DAY in transmission costs, or around 10 million dollars per year,
it should be remembered just who most of that money is paid to.

The answer is, the AT&T long distance division.  Of course, some of it
goes to AT&T competitors, but I expect that's not a big percentage.

And that doesn't count the extra mail volume generated by the news.

It was suggested, jokingly, at one time, that the net was a conspiracy
by AT&T to collect long distance revenue.  While that's not true, and the
company isn't even that well connected (ie. it is doubtful BTL would do
something because it increases the revenue of long lines.) there is some
merit in it as a suggestion for AT&T.

Of course, perhaps AT&T feels that the same amount of traffic will flow if
they cut off mail, in which case, why not?
-- 
Brad Templeton, Looking Glass Software Ltd. - Waterloo, Ontario 519/884-7473
	"USENET -- the world's least important network."