It's obvious that selling "dumb" telecommunications services isn't
the way to make a profit in the new Internet world! In about 1996
and 1997, all of the major telcos (or telecommunications providers
- eg Telstra and C&W Optus in Australia) moved to begin
providing IP service -- that is, to become
ISPs.
Telstra Corporation's permanent Internet service is offered as its
Big Pond
Direct service. Pricing is based on a installation
charge, a fixed monthly charge plus a data volume charge. In
addition, the business must separately acquire an "Access Method",
see below. On interesting observation on the Telstra (and C&W
Optus) Internet (IP) services is that charging is based on
volume of data received, unlike the normal USA
practice of charging on "pipesize" alone. This has some interesting
implications...