(3) You use a Public Data Network after hours and pay around $2 an
hour (may be included).
Actually, the last method is the only workable one. There are a number of PDN's.
CompuServe has a data network. You do not have to join CompuServe to
use it.
PSI has its own data network with many points of presence around the US and abroad. These are divided into Class A and Class B, depending on the level of service provided.
Tymenet and SprintNet are two other public data networks. You may have heard of the SprintNet service PC Pursuit. For a monthly fee this gives you many BBS nationwide as well as any computer that can be reached by SprintNet.
In general, for a first experiment we recommend the DELPHI BBS and SprintNet. DELPHI includes the SprintNet surcharge in its $13/month bill (after hours use only—daytime is expensive everywhere). At this writing you get 5 free hours the first month and 4 hours per month after that. Additional hours are $4 each. There is also a 20 hours for $20 plan. Additional hours are $2 each with this plan. Detailed instructions on how to sign up are given in "Connecting to the Internet Step by Step."
<Chapter 4> Who Pays for the Internet?
All this talk of cost may be making you edgy. Eventually, everyone using the Internet must face the fear—if I am calling up a computer in Switzerland won't I be billed for the call? The marvelous thing about the Internet is that although there is plenty of expense involved in getting on it, there is no additional expense associated with what you do after you are connected. THE WHOLE WORLD IS ON LOCAL. Thus, you may have to pay for a $2 an hour call to Massachussetts, for your PC, your modem and software, and a connect fee to your internet provider. But you DO NOT HAVE TO PAY FOR EACH AND EVERY INTERNET CALL.
Since most people find it hard to believe that you can send mail anywhere in the world or dial up a computer on the other side of the globe without paying a special charge, I will spend some time explaining who does pay for the Internet and how those costs are reflected back to the user. One way or another you do pay for network usage, but these payments are not in the form of a direct billing for each call.
First, you already know that there is no Internet, Inc. that monitors all the calls and bill customers. Instead there are hundreds of smaller networks that act as relays. Those networks *could* charge their customers for each call, based on how much time it takes and where it goes, but since no one is charging them, they have no real incentive to pass on costs. Instead they charge a flat fee—usually based on connect time, but for a 24 hour connection just a flat yearly fee.