roundtable: Re: feast-or-famine, FYI from Edupage

roundtable: Re: feast-or-famine, FYI from Edupage

Re: feast-or-famine, FYI from Edupage

Jeffrey S. Hops (jhops@alliancecm.org)
Mon, 4 Aug 1997 08:32:30 -0700 (PDT) 

Date: Mon, 4 Aug 1997 08:32:30 -0700 (PDT)
Message-Id: <2.2.16.19970804112648.396f6bea@pop.igc.org>
To: roundtable@cni.org
From: "Jeffrey S. Hops" <jhops@alliancecm.org>
Subject: Re: feast-or-famine, FYI from Edupage


On 8/3/97, Audrie Krause <akrause@igc.apc.org> wrote:
>  
> I second Jeff's suggestion.  And I suspect that if a [Internet] usage 
> fee "windfall" was required to go to public and nonprofit organizations, 
> usage fee advocates would have a sudden change of position. :-)

One more thought a propos usage fees:  Insofar as revenue is needed to
cover capital costs, those costs should be covered by the ISPs themselves
(as I presume they now are), pursuant to negotiation about how each ISP's
liability should be calculated.  Assuming the ISPs require themselves to
contribute to a capital fund on a per-subscriber basis, they can, if
necessary, pass through the joint capital & operating costs (which ISPs 
will have an obvious incentive to keep low), and continue to compete for
customers on the basis of quality and price (which will also keep prices
low).  It is clear that if the fee is calculated correctly, the capital 
fund will always have adequate resources to accomodate new demand.  This 
seems a much more reasonable and consumer-friendly solution -- 
significantly more sensible than limiting demands on the existing 
network by raising prices and creating a monopoly windfall for [AT&T? 
Bell Atlantic? AOL? SBC?].  If revenues exceed expenditures for the 
common capital fund, they can be transferred to the universal service 
fund, or directly to deserving non-profit telecommunications entities 
(I have a few in mind).  If expenditures exceed revenues, then the ISPs 
can recalculate to make up the difference.  It makes eminent good sense 
for ISPs, for consumers, and for the principle of democratic access.  
Consequently, I expect that no-one in the industry will be very keen 
on it.

  
Jeffrey Hops
Director, Government Relations
Alliance for Community Media
voice (202) 393-2650 x14
fax   (202) 393-2653
<jhops@alliancecm.org>

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