The resulting busy signals caused statistical aberrations unlike any the long-distance folks had ever seen. We moved quickly to CompuServe to get off the public switched network. They may not have any idea of how many packets per second are going to beleaguer their routers and fiber connections, but these supervisors know exactly what they'll do if a router fails or if a hunk of fiber drops off-line. These people aren't working for free. They get a piece of your connect charges, and you can bet that they're making money on the deal.
Some pundits worry about the effect of massive streaming audio and video on the Internet.
It hasn't arrived yet, but when it does, we'll pay every step of the way for the necessary increases in bandwidth and router performance. The long-distance companies have unused bandwidth in the form of dark fibers that are just waiting for the right application to bring them online.