mrapple@quack.sac.ca.us (Nick Sayer) (03/10/91)
I am sort of posting this in advance. I currently receive a news and mail feed from a site here in Stockton, but they are starting to cop an attitude, so it may be unavailable in the future (no, I'm not going to claim "my rights are being violated", I know better). The trouble is, they're the only other site in the Stockton LATA, meaning that there is no other way to get a newsfeed without involving a long distance carrier. I've done some simple math. It takes about three hours a day (pessimistically) to get a newsfeed. With Reach Out America, or such, that's $600/mo. I could probably get on the Internet for $300/mo. I've had a hell of a time getting the various phone companies to quote rates on Foreign Exchange service - getting my phone moved to Oakland would make it a local call again. AT&T seems to be the only one willing to do so. It's likely that a WAN connection will be cheaper, but since this is a Public Access Unix system, it's likely I'd find more customers in the Bay Area (despite increased competition) than I have out here. For ba.internet: How much would it cost to hook up to inet and per month out here in Stockton seeing as how the closest site to hook to (besides the one coping the attitude) is either in Livermore or Sacramento? If I use FE instead, will there be a demand for yet another public access unix in the Bay Area? My rates are pretty darned low, but I only have three people out here in Stockton. :-( If I use FE, what "place" should I go to for maximum local (free) calling area? I'm thinking Oakland, but I may be wrong. For news.admin: Is there some option I've overlooked? For comp.dcom.telecom: Anyone have any guesses how much the FE will cost? My guess is $100/mo + local service in Oakland, but I don't really have a clue. Nick Sayer mrapple@quack.sac.ca.us N6QQQ [44.2.1.17] 209-952-5347 (Telebit)
peter@taronga.hackercorp.com (Peter da Silva) (03/11/91)
mrapple@quack.sac.ca.us (Nick Sayer) writes: > I've done some simple math. It takes about three hours a day > (pessimistically) to get a newsfeed. With Reach Out America, or such, > that's $600/mo. I could probably get on the Internet for $300/mo. If you have a PSInet POP in your local calling area, you can get in for $250 per month plus local phone charges (presumably minimal). Otherwise, Internet access is quite a bit more expensive. Of course if you have a PSInet POP, you can get a news feed for $75 per month the same way. You could also use armpit protocol (write news onto a tape and hand-carry it). That also avoids problems from full news partitions! peter@taronga.uucp.ferranti.com)