SURFnet commitment to RIPE NCC

[Kees Neggers <]

Having heard nothing lately from the EUnets with respect to their 
positions to the charging scheme proposed to the RIPE NCC users, 
I fear we have to conclude that the scheme as proposed after the 
meeting of the Contributers Committee in September last year
has not been accepted by all users: a substantial part of the users
have not only not given a commitment, but also have refused to 
discuss this in the Consortium with the other users.

Needless to say that I seriously regret this situation.

The proposal was drafted in all fairness, and the iteration
was intended to end in all openness with a fair scheme to be 
acceptable for all users. 

In the spirit of the September meeting of the Consortium, 
trying to secure the excellent service provided by the 
RIPE NCC for Europe, TERENA promised to start recruting 
(badly needed) additional staff for the RIPE NCC immediatly.
In this same spirit, SURFnet agreed in the iteration process 
to participate in the scheme as a large user -as proposed 
by the RIPE NCC-, knowing that our actual load on the NCC 
was less than the estimate for a medium user.

Apart from my disappointment on the position taken by the 
EUnets in the iteration process, I also fear that TERENA
is not living up to its promises. I have no evidence that 
the workload on the RIPE NCC staff has been reduced to 
a proper level, nor do I have the feeling that TERENA is 
working on the basis of the agreement with the Consortium 
members: there is simple not enough communication with
the Consortium on the relevant RIPE NCC management issues.

In the light of the above SURFnet has decided to sign a 
committment form for 1995 on the basis of a medium user.
If the issues mentioned above are properly addressed and 
resolved on the basis of the Consortium Agreement, SURFnet 
is still prepared to upgrade its commitment to the level
originaly indicated. 

In the mean time we want to express our appreciation for
the RIPE NCC staff, who still are providing an excellent 
service under difficult circumstances.

Kind regards
Kees Neggers