Die Grundgebuehren sind zu niedrig.

[Heiko Recktenwald <uzs106@ibm.rhrz.uni-bonn.de>]

Flatrates, warum es das hier nicht gibt, ein Amerikaner gegen einen
Hollaender:

>National tariffs
>Local Peak              0,06        0,025         0,022
>Local Off Peak          0,03        0,014         0,012
>Local Night/Weekend     0,02        0,009         0,008
>Long Distance Peak      0,11        0,050         0,042
>Long Distance Off-Peak  0,06        0,027         0,023
>FixedToMobile Peak      0,75        0,340         0,290
>FixedToMobile Off-peak  0,50        0,227         0,193
>
>Monthly subscription fee for standard packages for telphone lines
>PSTN         Dfl 34,60  (= Euro 15,70) incl. VAT (Euro 13,36 excl. VAT)
>ISDN BRI     Dfl 49,95 (= Euro 22,67) incl. VAT (Euro 19,29 ecl. VAT)

There's no way those rates are genuinely compensatory.  This looks like the
usual "keep the monthly rate low so everyone can afford it" business.
$13.36/month for analog (pre-VAT) can't realistically pay for the loop,
switch, and other fixed costs.  It's pretty obvious that the
.025-.009/minute local usage rates are subsidizing this.  They're obviously
putting anything that moves into the usage basket.  The ISDN differential
however looks correct; it tends to cost out at about $7/line more than analog.

-- 
Heiko