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To: Trey McAtee who wrote (10531)	5/7/1998 10:17:00 PM
From: dave turliku	Respond to of 21342

Some Canadian info re: Deployment TELCO's vs. ISP's: from my local ISP's "News" Page: idirect.com ADSL Services Bell Canada recently announced that it is making its new, high-speed ADSL local loop service available. Service providers such as Internet Direct can purchase the ADSL local loops from Bell and resell them to clients interested in getting Internet Access over the ADSL local loop. Note that individual clients cannot purchase ADSL-based Internet access directly from Bell Canada. Clients can only purchase ADSL from a service provider such as Internet Direct. Another such service provider is Sympatico, which is owned by one of the Bell companies. Sympatico has recently announced that it will be offering Internet Access over ADSL. The problem is that Sympatico is using its position as a Bell company to offer the ADSL service BELOW COST. Internet Direct's COST PER ADSL CLIENT (from Bell) is app. $200 per month. Assuming that Sympatico is getting the lowest possible price based on volume, their minimum monthly cost per ADSL client is $150 per month. However, they are now selling the service for JUST UNDER $70 PER MONTH! Internet Direct believes that this situation is not just unfair but also anti-competitive. Customers wishing to purchase ADSL based Internet access will practically be FORCED to purchase the service from Bell-owned Sympatico because independent service providers cannot afford to offer the service at a loss. Further, one must inquire as to whether local service users are subsidizing this pricing scheme. Internet Direct has been discussing and will continue to discuss this matter with Bell. Internet Direct is also part of a industry group who will be filing a complaint to the Competition bureau and to the CRTC regarding this matter. Clients interested in making their feelings known on this matter can send an email message to Lorien Gabel of Interlog, a CAIP Member ISP. Mr. Gabel will compile the submissions and forward them to the appropriate groups. Copyright 1998 - This article was originally written by Lorien Gabel of Interlog, and has been edited for our use with his permission.