Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!bellcore!texbell!killer!vector!telecom-gateway From: cram@sunpix.UUCP (Marc W. Howard) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: AT&T Commercial Message-ID: Date: 1 Feb 89 23:45:27 GMT Sender: news@vector.UUCP Organization: Sun Microsystems, Research Triangle Park, NC Lines: 54 Approved: telecom-request@vector.uucp X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@vector.uucp X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 60, message 1 of 4 In article <4815@xenna.Encore.COM>, paradis@maxzilla.Encore.COM (Jim Paradis) writes: > In article <3419@cvl.umd.edu> sher@cvl.UUCP (C. Allen Sher) writes: > >If Sprint and MCI can lease lines from AT&T and offer them to the > >public at lower rates than AT&T, why CAN'T AT&T do it? > > Silly boy! Of course AT&T CAN offer long distance service at the > same rates that Sprint and MCI offer... but they don't HAVE to. WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG!!!!!!! AT&T must file tariff petitions with the FCC for all routes and bands (distance / time of call). This is not a quick overnight process. I've seen the tariff books before, they're huge. Thus its true that AT&T can set any rate it wishes as long as they can prove that they don't make more that X percent profit max. If AT&T sets its rates too low you can bet that the Justice Dept will be on them like hair on a gorilla. Of course, AT&T's competitors are not restriced in any way in setting prices. As soon as AT&T's drop MCI & Sprint set theirs to be lower. In short AT&T can never be the lowest in such a setup, much less responsive. AT&T has won some relief to file special tariffs quickly to prevent large accounts from being taken away from them by underpricing. Ironically, both MCI and Sprint favor changing the rules governing AT&Ts rates. They'd prefer rate caps for AT&T rather that the current rate of return system. Why? Simple, when the FCC determines that through either reduced subscriber line charges (to the LD companies, not you & me) or increased efficiency that AT&T is making too high a profit margin, the Feds order AT&T to reduce rates. Naturally MCI & Sprint follow suit. The end result is that they all make less money. Recent postings have convinced me of the excellent job Sprint has done with their commercials. I particularly remember the one comparing AT&T's lines to a scratchy 45 and Sprint's to a CD. 16 bits at 44khz sampling rate for a phone line??? 8 bits a 8khz is much closer to the mark. As far as the digital radio / fiber talk goes "BITS is BITS". Last time I looked, microwaves and light were both on the electromagnetic spectrum. Fiber optic links have their own failure modes, chief among which is "Backhoe Fade". If you can't figure this one out, note how often major train derailments cause outages for LD carriers (remember, SPRINT stood for Southern Pacific Railroad Internal Network Telecom). And fiber is a bitch to splice. Until fiber is run into everyone's house you're still at the mercy of the local telco's copper/analog links anyway. When there is a level playing field out there, then I'll put some stock in raw price comparisons. I've had no billing troubles with AT&T, the same is not true for two other companies I've used. Marc W. Howard Sun Microsystems - Graphics Products Division Raleigh, NC