Letter: Hidden e-mail costs

Sir: Stephen Jones's call cost in transferring his e-mail (Letters, 3 November) is cheap at 1p.

However, this does not include the monthly subscription to a service provider. There is also the cost of the computer required to compose the e-mail and the cost of the modem required to transmit the e-mail down the telephone line.

In order for Mr Jones to get value for money he will need to send between 27 and 73 letters a month to other EU countries. He must be quite some letter writer, or a small business. E-mail is certainly convenient, though not cost effective for the occasional user.

JOSEPH WILKINSON

Whitehaven, Cumbria