The president of Prodigy Services Co says the viewdata system is considering a move away from its flat-fee monthly pricing and may start charging by usage for some features, including its bulletin boards: according to Communications Daily, Ross Glatzer said the company’s management is concerned about rapidly rising telecommunications costs, driven by soaring growth in members’ use of a handful of features that are most expensive for Prodigy to provide – stock quotes and company news, bulletin boards and airline schedules; Glatzer said details still are being worked out, but it’s become clear we must introduce some timed charges for some features in the second half of this year, adding that the problem is one of trying to use flat-rate pricing for some features for which others charge $6 to $18 an hour.
