Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!seismo!rutgers!mit-eddie!jbs From: jbs@mit-eddie.MIT.EDU (Jeff Siegal) Newsgroups: comp.sys.misc Subject: Re: Re: Pending FCC ruling threat to modem users Message-ID: <4334@mit-eddie.MIT.EDU> Date: Thu, 18-Dec-86 17:21:28 EST Article-I.D.: mit-eddi.4334 Posted: Thu Dec 18 17:21:28 1986 Date-Received: Fri, 19-Dec-86 00:30:38 EST References: <1575@brl-adm.ARPA> <126@dvm.UUCP> Reply-To: jbs@eddie.MIT.EDU (Jeff Siegal Organization: MIT, EE/CS Computer Facilities, Cambridge, MA Lines: 26 In article <126@dvm.UUCP> frank@dvm.UUCP (Frank Wortner) writes: >In article <1575@brl-adm.ARPA> OCONNORDM@ge-crd.arpa (OCONNOR DENNIS MICHAEL) writes: >>First: MODEM calls DO NOT cost the phone company the same amount as >>other calls. They tend to be longer, and don't tolerate noise as well. >>... If the phone company always >[...] >I also don't see (hear?) the company striving to make sure that my modem >calls receive a better connection than my voice calls. [...] You're both wrong. Modem calls do cost the phone company more and length has nothing do do with it. When you call your friendly BBS (or your grandmother), the phone company's equipment does not simply throw a few switches and connect you. Your call gets routed over inter-office trunks, which are shared between many calls. One of the ways they make finite trunk capacity go further is by multiplexing calls. For example, in the time between the words "hello" and "Granny", someone else is using the channel you're not using (because you're being silent). For normal conversation, this "silent time" is a substantial percentage of the call time. With modem calls, there is no idle time. Even when no data is being transfered (and data is often transfered continuously for long periods of time), the channel is being used by the modems which need to exchange carrier signals. Jeff