I know this is somewhat odd a thread, but it may be interesting to see how “globalized” telecommunication really is. I found January’s bill which I will use as an example.
Here in Jewmany, the Deutsche Telekom monopoly shook me down 13 Euros 50 cents (roughly $14?) just for the priviledge of having a connection. Funny, that they need so much per household for an infrastructure which was long ago written off.
I average something like 0.87 cents a minute which is almost 1 Dollar cent US. On top of that, they shake me down for 16% of the above. Now, in Asia, SMS communication is supposedly dirt cheap, which is the opposite for us, at the same time, we are supposed to lower our standard of living so that we can compete on the global market.
So much for Germans letting their intelligence get insulted. What are you people paying?

26.95 a month for the first 6 months of wireless T1 (they even provide the router for free) through Time Warner Cable. Yeah, they're jews, but at least I don't have cable on my TV.

[QUOTE=Kind Lampshade Maker]...... On top of that, they shake me down for 16% of the above. ...[/QUOTE]
That's German sales tax, believe it or not :mad:

$34.30 a month for the first six months, forty-something after that... Shaw Cable.

[QUOTE=Kind Lampshade Maker]Here in Jewmany, the Deutsche Telekom monopoly shook me down 13 Euros 50 cents (roughly $14?) just for the priviledge of having a connection.[/QUOTE]Shit, man; mine was €42,99 for April alone.  Are you running a 56k?

On the other hand, €0.05/min to the States.

[QUOTE=Judeocritic]Shit, man; mine was €42,99 for April alone.* Are you running a 56k?
[/QUOTE]
Of course, anything less would be even more wasteful. I use Web.de Smart Surfer 2.3 which automatically lists prices from different providers. One of those providers claims a faster data capacity, where in reality they are actually slow :mad:

[QUOTE=Turk Hunter].....One of those providers claims a faster data capacity, where in reality they are actually slow :mad:[/QUOTE]
"MeOme Aktiv 9" is who I was referring to

[QUOTE=Demonica]26.95 a month for the first 6 months of wireless T1 (they even provide the router for free) through Time Warner Cable. Yeah, they're jews, but at least I don't have cable on my TV.[/QUOTE]
That’s a deal, especially when you get to use a modern infrastructure at the same time when we’re still in the Dark Ages, over here.
Just goes to show ya’ how much profit is to be made in this business. German telecommunications can be compared to the US auto industry prior to the Oil Crisis and American Telecommunications can be compared to the German auto industry. Can anyone imagine 16% sales tax? Look at the conditions of our roads and the crime figures :mad:

I think I pay about 12 dollars here for a 56k connection. Theres quite a few 9.99 56k providers here in the states. NetZero, Juno and Netscape some, atleast I think they are hehe.

What about those dial-ups who claim to offer 5x the speed of standard dialup?
I have been curious about them (although dropping my T1 is sorta out of the question, guess once you get used to it you just can't settle for less). I just wonder if they deliver what they offer. And honestly Norcal is right,I think I have utilized the full potental if my bandwidth maybe a dozen times since Jan. when I bought my new laptop(I can DL 1megabyte in a second but the only servers that fast are microsoft amd Norton). I'm not sure whether DSL offers wireless packages though. I tend to take my laptop from place to place in the house and being restricted by cords isn't too fun.

[QUOTE=Demonica]What about those dial-ups who claim to offer 5x ....[/QUOTE]
Those dial ups have, up 'til now, only offered me Sex

[QUOTE=Demonica]What about those dial-ups who claim to offer 5x the speed of standard dialup?
I have been curious about them (although dropping my T1 is sorta out of the question, guess once you get used to it you just can't settle for less). I just wonder if they deliver what they offer. And honestly Norcal is right,I think I have utilized the full potental if my bandwidth maybe a dozen times since Jan. when I bought my new laptop(I can DL 1megabyte in a second but the only servers that fast are microsoft amd Norton). I'm not sure whether DSL offers wireless packages though. I tend to take my laptop from place to place in the house and being restricted by cords isn't too fun.[/QUOTE]

Actually those dial ups use special software to browse the internet. They basically compress all the information to make it very fast to load. Thats why they are faster. However your actual download speed on stuff wont changed from the regular 3-5k per second for a 56k.