Re: Provider credibility - does it matter? was Re: Inter-provider relations

I would say that if transatlantic lines are mostly ordered and paid for by European companies that you are probably correct. But part of the reason is that European government run PTT's charge horrendously high rates for international circuits.

Though the US 1/2 circuit is slightly cheaper than (say) the UK or SE one, (neither of which have government owned monopolies) they are the same order of magnitude. European nations with state-owned monopolies charge 30-50% more. Still the same order of magnitude. It has been well argued that all telcos have some form of protectionist pricing on large data circuits (for Internet or anything else) as they have a profitable International voice business to protect. Alex Bligh Xara Networks