I would like to point you to two major problems in Germany at the moment:

1. The Germany Weather Service is going to sell their data and services under a new price list from Januar 1st 2000 on. So far we have received no information whatsoever about changes in the pricing system. As far as I know this is a problem of the political level as the authorities of the Federal Republic as well as all 16 States (Bundesländer) must agree to the price list. You can probably imagine that it is hard to make a budget for next year and own price calculation if you do not know how much you will pay for data next month...

2. The Ministry of Traffic has installed an ice detection and warning system along the motorways. These data are only available to the German Weather Service, not for private companies. We consider this as a big problem and a disadvantage for our own service. We complained at the ministry and we are awaiting an answer by the end of this month.

Please let me know if you have further questions.

Kind regards,

Dennis Schulze
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MC-Wetter GmbH                                  Phone: +49 30 600 98 0
Gradestr. 50                                    Fax: +49 30 600 98 222
D-12347 Berlin                          E-Mail: D.Schulze@MC-Wetter.de