IP: the Brits got it right on!!! [funny we keep telling the US

[Dave Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>]

BROKERS SAY NET THREATENS TELECOMS
The London stock brokerage firm Durlacher says in a report that telecom
companies underestimate the threat posed to their business by the Internet:
"Their greatest difficulty is that telecom operators run business based on
charging for the cost per unit of time used.  The long-term marginal costs
associated with a local call are now, however, heading toward zero.  In the
future, charges will be made for content that is accessed rather than the
cost of moving the material from the host machine to the users."  The report
warns that technical developments could leave telecom operators "with an
obsolete system, of no obvious value, other than the recycle value of the
copper in the cables."  (Financial Times 15 Jan 96 p6)