On Jan 4, 11:26*am, "Recliner" wrote:

So, yes, it was enforced
competition, and not just technology that have made phone calls much
cheaper in the UK than they would have been had BT retained its
monopoly. For one thing, if it still had its monopoly, it would have
been slower to invest in those new technologies.

It's never explained by enthusiasts for monopoly why a monopoly
supplier would pass on savings from new technology to their
customers. GPO/PTO/BT's prices didn't drop because of new technology
(indeed, the introduction of System X was at a time of unparalleled
high prices), they dropped because Mercury were allowed into the
market. And the saga of System X, which will one day one hopes be
written up, is like the VC10: beautiful engineering, but driven much
too closely by one customer.

ian