Michiel van der Vlist (2:280/5555) wrote to Steven Horn at 21:20 on 27 Dec 2002:

 MvdV> I see. Next time remember that a Euro is almost one American
 MvdV> Dollar. There s a few cents diofference but for practical
 MvdV> purposes they can be set one it one. That shoul make it easier
 MvdV> for you as I suppose you convert to US dollars more often.

Not if I can avoid it.  I wince when I buy something in US$ and get my bill in CAN$.

 MvdV> So you still pay a bit more than I do, but by far not as much as
 MvdV> we thought before. The difference is some 4 Euros. So that is
 MvdV> what you pay for your "free" local calls. According to my latest
 MvdV> telephone bill I paid EUR 1.09 for my non free local calls. So it
 MvdV> would appear that I am still better off. But...

I may simply be paying more for my basic connection. A few years ago it was
only 12 Euros but the basic local rate has risen as long distance rates
have come down.  And do I pay the difference for "Free" local
calls?  Not at all because I would pay it if I made no local calls or if I
made 200 local calls.
I can also make five calls a night and keep my mailer on-line at least
during ZMH if not longer.  

 MvdV> ... They (The ISP's in cohorts with the telcos) pulled another
 MvdV> trick to sqeeze some more money out out of us customers. They
 MvdV> have created a special area code (676) for calls to ISP's. For
 MvdV> the moment they are at the same rate as local calls, but without
 MvdV> the 10% frequently called numbers discount. Last bill shows EUR
 MvdV> 5.06 for calls to ISP's. :-(

Is the ISP not charging a basic fee for access?  If they are, this sounds
like highway robbery.:-)

 MvdV> I hope you understand now why Fido over the InterNet here is not
 MvdV> as attractive as it is in your place.

I don't think I ever thought it was.  If Internet access over there is as
cheap is it here, large numbers would have deserted from Fidonet altogether
and some would have opted to become ION nodes.

Take care,

Steven Horn (steven_a_horn{at}yahoo.ca)
Moderator, ALASKA_CHAT 
--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+