If someone calls up for help with a
configuration problem, that may be six month's of
profits from that customer eaten up in the cost of
answering the call.
That is because the current Internet pricing has been
screwed-up from the start. LD settlements between
telcos are fully applicable to ISPs but have never
been instituted. Internet has been subsidised for
years by the local access but now as wireline declines
everybody starts feeling the pain. Usage based billing
and inter-ISP settlements start showing up lately and
they fit well for the Internet. Otherwise transit
providers as well as heavy users rip all the benefits.
