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IP: Bell Atlantic's "Internet Traffic" Campaign at the FCC
From: Dave Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>
Date: Tue, 03 Sep 1996 04:12:04 -0400
Posted-Date: Mon, 2 Sep 1996 21:28:35 -0400 Date: Mon, 2 Sep 1996 18:28:29 -0700 To: Dave Farber <<farber () central cis upenn edu> From: sky () earthlink net (Sky Dayton) Subject: For IP: Bell Atlantic's "Internet Traffic" Campaign at the FCC Dave, This would be disasterous for the growth of the Internet in the US. These charges would be passed on as a measured rate to the end user, forcing down the average residential usage of the Internet (businesses already curtail usage due to daytime measured rates in most markets). The end result would be a considerable drop in residential usage of the Internet, with a potentially disasterous domino-effect on all of the business models that rely on its continued growth. In other markets, such as France, where the telephone company charges a measured rate for local residential calls, Internet use is curtailed. Such areas could miss the renaissance. Or at least get there much later than everyone else. Sky --
BELL ATLANTIC'S "INTERNET TRAFFIC" CAMPAIGN AT THE FCC
Bell Atlantic has turned up the heat again on the long-simmering issue
of
Internet traffic on the LECs' networks. Even the Washington Post
jumped
into the fray with an editorial this morning on "traffic jams and
taxation"
on the Internet. The _Update_ has been following this thread since
last
January or February when rumors first surfaced that several RBOCs were
floating proposals around the FCC to eliminate the Enhanced Service
Provider (ESP) exemption that currently keeps ISPs from paying access
charges to local phone companies. The access charge issue resurfaced
again
during the ACTA petition comments and is likely to be at issue in
future
access charge reform proceedings.
Bell Atlantic's participation is a study done in February and March of
1996
and submitted to the FCC. The BA study looks at ISP traffic at
several
Washington, DC area Central Offices (COs) serving ISPs. The study
claims
that average call lengths to ISPs were 17.7 minutes - four to five
times
the length of other calls on BA's network during this period. BA's
study
also found "above normal" traffic levels in terms of "hundreds of call
seconds" - 26 CCS for ISP peak times (a line supports 36 CCS per hour)
where normal voice traffic peaks at 5 p.m. at 12 CCS for
business/government users. Bottom line: the BA study says that each
analog line to an ISP costs $75 while the tariff rate is only $17.
At issue here is the dial-up lines of an ISP and the fact that calls
only
come in but are not originated by ISPs. Thus, an ISP pays a flat-rate
tariff for the line without usage costs. The further complaint is
that
residential customers connect to a local ISP at a flat rate, again
avoiding
usage charges.
Bell Atlantic's answer to these problems is to eliminate or "modify"
the
ESP exemption and find an appropriate usage sensitive price to charge
to
ISPs. An analysis of the study, written by two BA employees in the
July
issue of _Telephony_ insists that the usage sensitive pricing is needed
to
"send a signal" to "encourage efficiency and stop cross-subsidizing."
As reported here earlier this summer, FCC Chairman Reed Hundt has
indicated
that he is not in favor of removing the ESP exemption. This issue is
unlikely to go away anytime soon, however. The RBOCs are serious
about
this and at the same time are feeling threatened by the specter of
local
competition (see above). An access reform proceeding is on the horizon
at
the FCC where the RBOCs could potentially lose it all - if the FCC chose
to
do away with access charges altogether (unlikely, but not impossible).
The Bell Atlantic report can be found at http://www.ba.com
^^^^^
Written from FARNET's Washington office, "FARNET's Washington Update" is
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gratefully
acknowledge EDUCOM's NTTF and the Coalition for Networked Information
for
additional support. If you would like more information about the Update
or
would like to offer comments or suggestions, please contact Heather
Boyles
at heather () farnet org
-- Sky Dayton, Founder & Chairman | Voice: 818-296-3072 EarthLink Network, Inc. | Fax: 818-296-4139 sky () earthlink net | 3100 New York Drive <underline><color><param> 0 0, 0 0,ffff</param>http://websites.earthlink.net/~sky</color></underline> | Pasadena, CA 91107
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