> Queries: Will telcos change pricing strategies to correspond to > economic realities? How, who will lead, how will the Internet > figure into their business plans? Good questions. I think Low-Earth-Orbit satellite communications will be the trigger. For now, Iridium & co. seem to be cooperating with the telcos, suggesting that they could help where the telcos have a hard time providing service, e.g. remote areas. Classic camel-in-the-tent technique, IMO. They will have so much bandwidth going abegging, particularly over developing countries, they are bound to muscle into direct competition with the telcos. While they all are unable to make much sense of the Internet, I think the Internet will survive and thrive precisely because the telcos will not be able to agree on an alternative. Nor could their alternative have the dynamism of the net. They will be reduced to the level of ordinary utilities, such as water or electricity, useful , but no big deal. I'd love to see more discussion on this topic and other opinions. Arun Mehta, B-69 Lajpat Nagar-I, New Delhi-24, India. Phone 6841172,6849103 •••@••.••• •••@••.••• •••@••.••• http://mahavir.doe.ernet.in/~pinaward/arun.htm "I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the cultures of all the lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any."--Gandhi
