Re: ISDN Oklahoma (was: ISDN Rate Increase In Alabama (fwd))

["Fred R. Goldstein" <fgoldstein@bbn.com>]

  At 01:38 PM 7/27/96 -0400, Mike Bilow wrote:
  >* Originally from John Roberts (1:385/100) to Mike Bilow.
  
  >$250.00 install, then a base rate of $45.50/mo plus the "network plan" of your
  >choice:
  
  >    $23.50/month unlimited
  >    $18.00/month for 4800 minutes + $.02/minute over 4800
  >    $.04/minute.  
  >
  >If you don't live near the central office, you also have to pay for a repeater
  >or two at an additional $75.00/month.
  
  Interesting tariff.
  
  I just got my copy today of NorTel's "Guide for Writing ISDN Tariffs" and
  this one is not in it.  NorTel's book is not, actually, a guide for telcos,
  so much as a consultant's report comparing several illustrative tariffs.,
  Quite nonjudgemental, and really more useful for end-users and, uh,
  folks doing interventions :-) .  But I digress.
  
  SBC-OK's proposal is interesting in constrast to some other plans.  It gives
  full flat rate service for $69.00/month.  It offers a "threshold" option at 
  $63.50.  Only $5.50 difference, but the 80-hour number, while really too low 
  for comfort, still picks up probably more than 80% of users.
  
  Another contrast with, say, BA's tariff is that the threshold "overtime"
  usage rate is lower than the "measured" usage rate.  If you exceed your
  Telpak with BA, you pay the same marginal rate as a minimum-base-rate
  subscriber.  Of course BA's base rate is SBC's discounted rate....
  
  ...which brings up the overall and rather obvious problem with SBC.  The
  tariff structure isn't so screwy, but the rate levels are.  $45.50 for
  fully measured (really, "meant for incoming only") service?  That's an
  awfully stiff margin for ISDN.  It falls into the self-fulfilling prophesy
  category:  At these prices, volumes will be so low that unit prices will
  be high.  Knock 20 bucks a month off the whole package and they're at
  least competitive.  The $250 installation is similar -- if they're only half
  as thick as NYNEX, they're barely breaking even at that rate, but if it
  weren't such a low volume service, they'd be able to put "normal" procedures
  for ISDN into place where the cost would be low.
  
  $75 a month for a repeater is really galling, though!  It's almost a polite
  brush-off, but it's not so polite, and it does leave an opening for the
  "executive" or special case.  The problem they'll face is that the high
  monthly fee will cause subscribers to drop it as soon as they no longer
  need it, and the cost of a repeater is mostly sunk installation cost.  If
  Adtran's Total Reach delivers, these fees will really become much less
  justifiable.
  ___
  Fred R. Goldstein      fgoldstein@bbn.com  
  BBN Corp.              Cambridge MA  USA    +1 617 873 3850