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To: Phil(bullrider) who wrote (6059)	11/23/1999 8:59:00 AM
From: elmatador	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12823

Access Pricing and Tariff rebalancing: In most countries access tariffs -particularly residential customers- is heavily subsidized by profitable long distance. Deregulation opening up competition in profitable segments, the loss making access needs to be profitable on its own right. That means price increases in access (as much as 200 to 400%) while cutting prices on the long haul tariff. The speed at which regulators allow rebalancing will strongly influence whether the operators invest or not in fixed wireline infrastructure. To the extent that tariffs are not rebalanced, access will favor wireless which is not subject to the same level of tariff regulation. Thus cannibalization will occur and weaken the case of access platforms. We need a redefinition of what is "Talk is Cheap".

To: Phil(bullrider) who wrote (6059)	11/24/1999 4:57:00 AM
From: Robert T. Miller	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 12823

Try dialpad.com I have tried every Internet phone deal that has come along. Those that were free were computer to computer or device to device (Aplio, Phonefriend). Others offered lower cost long distance to gateways. I have never made a real call over the net till now. That is I never had the idea, hey I have to call Tom, and then went to the computer and made a net call. All my Internet calls were demo calls or hey lets try this out isn't it cute. I have made such "test" calls since Vocaltec started it all in 1994. The last few weeks I have been using dialpad.com. I am making real calls over the net for free. Business calls I use the phone. Personal calls I have been using dialpad. It is not the best with my dial-up connection. Tomorrow I am going to try it on a DSL line. What is new is that I can call anyone in the US (and Toronto Canada, talked to my brother there) from anywhere with an Internet connection to their regular phone for free. As far as I can see my cost is staring at a banner ad on the dialpad window while I make the calls. I have a address book of people I want to call on my screen. I click on a name, their phone rings, we talk. Click another name, we talk. It is actually better than using a regular phone in some ways. Quality varies as per your Internet connection at any given time. Free long distance? Almost.