Telephone call pricing in europe: localizing the pulse

Bridger M. Mitchell

Expert InsightsPublished 1979

European telephone systems have long used the periodic pulse system for billing subscriber-dialed long-distance (trunk) calls. By 1982 all of the six countries surveyed--Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and West Germany--will have extended this form of pricing to local telephone calls so that all call charges will be based on duration, distance, and time-of-day. This paper analyzes several types of periodic pulse billing mechanisms used for the timing of local calls and describes the rate structures that have been adopted in each country. Although only limited information is available regarding changes in telephone usage that are induced by a change in rate structure, data from a sample of Trondheim, Norway, subscribers permit estimation of arc price elasticities of demand for local calls.

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Document Details

  • Copyright: RAND Corporation
  • Availability: Web Only
  • Year: 1979
  • Pages: 42
  • Document Number: P-6215

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Chicago Manual of Style

Mitchell, Bridger M., Telephone call pricing in europe: localizing the pulse. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 1979. https://www.rand.org/pubs/papers/P6215.html.
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