Scott Hill wrote:

>         In the UK it varies quite a bit. When it comes to choosing telecomms
> providers you've basically got, if your lucky, four options :

>         1. British Telecom, has had a bit of monopoly up untill recently,
> overpriced, but available just about anywhere.
>         2. Mercury - really don't know much about them, never lived in an area
> where it's been an option.
>         3. Local Cable provider - usually far cheaper than BT, virtually always
> offer cheap cable to cable calls. Availability varies - depends whether
> there's a cable provider for your local area. A few cable operators have
> tried limited free local calls, but the networks simply couldn't cope with
> thousands of users being permanently connected to there ISPs, so that
> quickly stopped.

I've heard talk of cable operators offer voice traffic in the US, but no
one has implemented it yet to my understanding.

>         4. Ionica - uses microwave(?) communications, similar pricing to cable,
> again availabilty depends on location.

We are now starting to see a couple of wireless solutions in the US, but
they are very rare.  When available the price varies extremely widely.

>         Now, neither Ionica or BT provide internet services (though both say
> 'we're considering it'), some cable operators do, but they're in the
> minority and again I don't know about Mercury on this point.

I can't get a straight answer from my cable company.  The Bell Atlantic
does offer Internet service for a flat rate, but I heard they are going
to be changing that to free 100 hours instead of flat rate soon.

>         The other consideration is that, though some cable operators do provide an
> internet service, you'll very rarely find support for cable modems amongst
> them, so if your looking for speed, you've got to go the ISDN route -
> hideously expensive over here.

I have yet to here of ISDN being reasonable anywhere.  It seems that in
all areas either the phone company wants to screw you, or all the local
ISPs want to screw you for ISDN access.  It is interesting to note that
Penn State York Campus (and probably main campus, and others as well) is
offering ISDN dialups for their students.  The lines in any local area
cost a fortune though.

>         Right, so you manage to find yourself a local cable provider that also
> acts as an ISP, but as you still have to pay for every second of the call,
> making 24hr a day connect times totaly out of the questions.

In the US and Canada cable usually sounds like a good deal if it is
available at all.

>         So, yep, in short, at least in the UK, we are screwed blue by the
> telecomms companies.

I had heard the number of about 812 pounds ($1300 US) for a full time
internet connection via 33.6k.  How much does t1 service cost?  The last
time I checked, in the US t1 Internet service was $1500.  Also, can you
lease a normal line?  In the US it is possible to lease a phone line for
about the same as switched service (it is more reliable), but I was
wondering if that might be a cheaper option in the UK.

I do find it interesting that UK users seem to be some of the most
hardcore net surfers, considering how expensive it is over there.  

--
Joshua Boyd
http://catpro.dragonfire.net/joshua

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