Jeremy Porter wrote:

The Economist's model is incomplete, however I really doubt it could be argued that Europe subsidizes the US Internet. A large reason the cost of international leased lines are so high is due to projectionist tariffs in international Telecom. I understand it is cheaper to buy a leased line from the us to Europe than the other way around.

OK. So take the US 1/2 circuit costs for both halves of a Atlantic circuit. A T1 would cost 5 - 6 time more across the Atlantic vs 10 times the cost if it was 1/2 US 1/2 Euro-Telco. If the circuit was across the Pacific, and you used the US price for both 1/2s then a T1 would be 7 - 8 time more than a T1 in the US. Yes, Jeremy. You cannot escape the fact that the rest of the world subsidizes US ISP who access the Internet around the world. The economics are skewed. A customer in a ISP in country X. would pay the realistic charges for International access. A customer in a ISP in the US pay domestic access for full international connectivity. That's reality. Barry -- Barry Raveendran Greene | || || | Senior Consulting Engineering | || || | Singapore | |||| |||| | tel: +65 738-5535 ext 235 | ..:||||||:..:||||||:.. | e-mail: bgreene@cisco.com | c i s c o S y s t e m s |