[Asterisk-biz] Re: Truly Unlimited DID's

[Lee Barken]

hi Matt,
  I understand your concern and subsequent logic regarding unlimited
services.  My only comment is that business people take *risks*.
Hopefully, the are calculated risks.  When a provider sells an unlimited
service, they are assuming the risk that the transaction may be
unprofitable.  I don't think anybody is getting "screwed" in this
situation.  Either the venture is profitable or unprofitable.  It reminds
me of companies like AOL or Netzero who offer "unlimited" Internet access.
Over time, these companies become very good at estimating the aggregate
usage patterns of many thousands of users.  Sure, some customers will use
more services and some customers will use less services, but the idea is
to price your offer accordly, such that the net result is a profitable
enterprise.  If a company does a poor job of estimating and projecting
usage patterns, my hope is that they will not feel "screwed", but instead
just take some time to review their planning policies and procedures and
take appropriate and reasonable corrective actions.

Best,
  -Lee


On Fri, 3 Jun 2005, Matthew Simpson wrote:

> > From: "Asterisk PBX" <asterisk at dovid.net>
> > I am looking for DID's with unlimited incoming and unlimited channels.
> > Most providers don't charge much for the DID but they then say that
> > there is a "normal usage patern". If one go's over then the price can
> > jump. There is no telling of what it will go to. I am looking for a
> > provider that can give me DID's at a set rate. Some of them will have
> > heavy usage while others will have very minimal usage. Thanks.
> 
> There is no such thing as "truly unlimited".  Here is why.
> 
> When a provider sells an "unlimited" service, somebody is getting screwed.
> 
> Let's say Joe buys an "unlimited" DID for $5.00/ mo.  Bob buys a $1.00  DID 
> and pays $0.01 per minute for the minutes of use.
> 
> That means that if Joe uses 399 minutes or less on his "unlimited" DID, Joe 
> is getting screwed, because he would have saved money by paying for what he 
> used.  If Joe uses 400 minutes or more, Joe's provider is getting screwed 
> because they are now losing money.
> 
> However, Bob pays for exactly what he used, and neither Bob nor his provider 
> get screwed.
> 
> "Unlimited" products are a suckers game.  I ask anyone who wants to buy an 
> "unlimited" product, who do you want to screw?  Yourself?  Or me? 
> 
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