Does Bell Atlantics Centrex agenda weigh in?
A8. It appears that Bell Atlantic is actually filing this unappetizing R-ISDN plan as a way to encourage higher sales of Centrex to ISPs and to organizations with significant numbers of telecommuters. The two major uses of ISDN are for Internet access and Telecommuting. In both cases, Centrex provides for unlimited use to a single destination. Residential flat-rate POTS is complemented by flat-rate Centrex, not by the proposed Callpack-priced ISDN, or by the much costlier Unlimited Plan. Bell Atlantic has the highest Centrex penetration of any major telephone company. It appears that this R-ISDN tariff is fundamentally a tool to promote Centrex, not a service intended to realistically reach broad levels of penetration. Q9. Is ISDN really such a new, immature service? A9. Bell Atlantic’s stated perception of ISDN is at variance with reality. Koeppen states [p 25 line 7] that R- ISDN “is not today, nor will it be by the end of the decade, a service that can be characterized by anyone as
