Re: updates not over the web

["Rodolfo J. Paiz" <rpaiz indahaus com>]

At 1/31/2002 04:06 PM -0600, you wrote:
> On Thu, 2002-01-31 at 12:26, Rodolfo J. Paiz wrote:
> >
> > Thank God in a few days I'm out of this country and back to Guatemala and
> > my DSL line (flow-limited to 128Kbps, but what the hell). <smile>
> >
>
> Out of curiosity, what do you have to pay for DSL in Guatemala?

Well, as I said they put flow limits on it since international bandwidth 
for us is *expensive*; I know, I used to run an ISP. 128 Kbps for $70, 256 
Kbps for $100, don't remember the rest. Also have choice of cable ($65), 
ISDN ($65), or wireless using MMDS ($100).

Other than the lack of copper and fiber infrastructure you'd expect due to 
the country's size and lack of relative wealth, it's a pretty good market. 
Odd though it may seem, Guatemala was one of the first countries in the 
world to roll out commercial-grade Internet access over cable; we had our 
first customers up and running on a 4 Mbps segment in Feb/1996.

Telecom has also improved dramatically. I pay $40 for my cellular phone and 
get 300 outgoing minutes during the month. Incoming minutes are free 
(calling party pays a little more), so I actually get nearly 1,000 minutes 
from my $40, and long-distance to the USA averages $0.25/min.


--
Rodolfo J. Paiz
rpaiz indahaus com