"What method?" Steve asked reflexively.
Could it render Microsoft completely uncompetitive in the ISP services field?
That would certainly be a dream come true, considering the reputation of the world's number one software company was very intimidating.
Dean didn't beat around the bush, he directly shared his thoughts.
"Has AOL ever considered switching to a different billing method?"
Steve paused, then asked in confusion, "Time-based charging is a unanimous decision of the CIX Alliance."
The current pricing model of AOL is the optimal solution, established after several validations.
The CIX Alliance has dozens of operators, large and small; they have tried a variety of billing methods.
For instance, IBM initially insisted on data traffic charges, but within just over a year, it had to abandon this pricing model.
After negotiating with the CIX Alliance several times, they could only meekly accept the rules agreed upon by everyone.
