d local calls per minute. A combination of these models also existed. This fee-based approach, where a customer is charged for usage of the telecommunications link is also known as charging for the 'pipe'. This means that an operator owns a telecommunications pipe which it rents to a subscriber for a certain fee. Early telephone operators also raised some revenue through provision of services and contents. These included directory assistance, stock and weather information, horoscope, and later on an answering service and call transfer. The revenue raised from these value-added services was small however compared with the revenue raised from operating a 'pipe'. Pipe and content businesses are illustrated in Figure 3.21. Policy The natural monopoly character of telephony operators in many countries run against govern- ing laws on anti-trusts and monopolies. The nationalisation of most operators worldwide was one response to ensure service provision was well regulated and controlled. Another reason for nationalisation of the industry in many countries was the fact that the initial capital expen- diture was beyond the means of the local private sector, and therefore the government had to step in. The case of the BTC in the United States was different as it remained a private sector company. Nevertheless it had to battle the Department of Justice as it established its monopoly of service provision to ensure a balanced regulatory regime. Another major policy concern was service provision equity. A publicly owned entity afforded governments a strong role in ensuring sparsely populated areas had equal access to telephony services. Such service provision necessitated subsidisation as revenues did not cover costs. Nevertheless, the incumbent national operators were generally profitable on the whole. Government departments were also heavily involved in negotiating and funding transoce- anic and international telephony cables. These infrastructures were funded and rolled out on a bilateral/multilateral basis. Telecommunicati