Re: [LUG] ISPs

[Simon Waters <Simon@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

P.J.Weaver@xxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
> 
> Although you pay for an 01392 number, the receiving end doesnt get a penny. So they dont get any money off you, and bandwidth/modems/lines cost money.

The telecom company that terminates 01392 numbers (i.e. BT)
receives money for terminating the call on a per minute basis.
This is the same model as the ISP charging arrangement, the ISP
effectively becomes a telephone company, or negiotiates a share
of the revenue that terminating such calls generates with a
telephone company.

This is also why Eurobell can offer free calls to other Eurobell
subscribers, but not to BT subscribers, if there was no fee the
cable companies would have offered unmetered national calls a
long time ago. They haven't as they open themselves up to a per
minute usage charge, but fixed income, a position no business
wants.

The reason for using 0845 numbers is to avoid long distance
charges, not to alter the way all UK phone calls were billed
("were", as FRIACO alters this model).

Metered calls are a legacy of the bad old days of
telecommunications, the largest marginal cost of a phone call
these days are the billing, and logging. The government insist a
record of all calls made is kept, and the phone companies
implement overly complex billing systems.

The marginal cost of making a national phone call in the UK is a
fraction of a penny. The new FRIACO model reflects these costs
much better. People who make phone calls currently subsidise
those who own a phone but don't use it much.

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