BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE:   Business Week ebiz
DATA MINE June 16, 1999 High Phone Costs Thwart Netizens Wondering why Europe's jumping onto the Internet only half as fast as the U.S.? Start with sky-high local telephone rates, which drive up the cost of logging on. In Europe, telephone deregulation is bringing down long-distance rates, but local rates are still pricey. Average cost of a three-minute call: Italy 7 cents Netherlands 7.3 cents Germany 8 cents Sweden 9 cents France 9.7 cents Britain 11.7 cents Belgium 13 cents France Informatique _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP					MORE NUGGETS Rating Online Brokers Which firms execute trades the fastest? Does the Boss "Get It"? North American bosses feel much more comfortable with the Internet than chiefs from other regions. The Country Gets Wired Nearly 60 million U.S. households are expected to have Internet access by 2003. A Child's Net Kids and teens are expected to account for $1.3 billion in E-commerce in 2002. The Mother Lode A collection of items from the Data Mine