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| The Hidden Costs |
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The Hidden Costs Behind Long Distance Phone Programs:
Whole Minute Billing:
Take a moment to look at your long distance bill. Chances are the column showing the duration of each call appears in full-minute increments. What this means is that when you end a call after, say, 10 minutes and 6 seconds you’re being billed for 11 minutes. Would you pay for 11 gallons of gasoline if you only pumped 10.2 gallons into your tank? Of course not! But that’s exactly what most long distance providers do to their customers every month.
We bill in six-second increments. (tenths of a minute). You only pay for what you use.
Time and day specific rates:
Why are you paying more to call in the daytime than you do in the evenings or on weekends? After all, the actual overhead for your provider to connect a call is the same regardless of the time a call is placed.
The simple answer is: long distance providers know that higher call volumes take place during the day, and it’s a good excuse to charge more for the greater number of calls. Then, they charge a special "low rate" (along with the monthly fees explained above) that restricts your calls to off hours and days. They do this because calling statistics show them that you’ll likely make most of your calls when circumstances dictate…and that will most often be during weekdays, when their rates are higher.
INTRA-state (in-state) long distance rates:
Every time you place a call within your own state, where you have to dial 1 + the area code, you’re placing an INTRA-state long distance call. This is perhaps the most elusive fact in all the long distance industry. All companies offering nationwide long distance rates do not have to advertise their INTRA-state rates, because each state has a different in-state rate. Each state’s Public Service Commission sets its own rates, then each state taxes part of every intrastate call. Most services offering lower state-to-state (INTER-state) rates charge as much as 35 cents per-minute for INTRA-state calls.
Minimum monthly usage requirements:
Minimum monthly usage means that the quoted rate is met only when the customer meets certain requirements.
A good example would be Sprint, which is now offering a plan that allows up to 1,000 minutes of long distance calling for $20 per month. Sounds like a great deal, because the dancing lady tells you that it comes out to just 2 cents a minute. But the fact is you’d have to place over 16 hours of long distance calls every month in order to reach their quoted 2 cents per-minute rate. And, of course, those 16 hours of calls must be made only on late evenings and Sundays. Long distance calls made during weekdays are billed at 19 cents per-minute. More information is provided on the Sprint 1,000 minutes for $20 plan later in this report.
You’re being taxed on the total of the bill:
When you take into account all the previously mentioned billing tactics, you must also remember that you’re being taxed on the total amount of your overall long distance bill. This means…
If you’re being billed in whole-minute increments, there’s time you never utilized that you’re being taxed on!
If your effective per-minute rate is being hiked by higher intrastate rates, or higher weekday rates, or by not using your full 1,000 minutes in a month, or any other hidden billing practice, you’re being taxed on it!
The bottom line is that you are taxed on any and all hidden costs you incur through your long distance service. By eliminating all hidden costs you lower both the amount of your bill and the tax charged on it.
Global fibernet service is wholesale priced first class
service created for smart users as it uses the best
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Check the price available for
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There is no fee, no plan, no crap, no hidden chargesjust
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| Big 3 Plans
& 10-10schemes |
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Breakdown of the Big Three Long Distance Plans:
There are many long distance offers available. From the 10-10 plans to the offers made by the three largest retail long distance carriers; AT&T, MCI, and Sprint.
10-10 is essentially a clever hidden
marketing scheme where you end up much more than
advertised.
I have seen the ads for 10-10-220 that are 99 cents for up to 20 minutes. Why would I subscribe to the MBC plan?
The 99 cents is for "up to 20 minutes". The average call length in the US is 1.16 minutes, which means that you will still get billed 99 cents. Another way to think about the cost of the 10-10-220 plan is to think of how many times that you have called someone and got their voice mail or answering machine, that call generally lasts for no more than 30 seconds and you paid 99 cents. With MBC, if you called and got an answering machine for exactly the same call length, you would have paid 2.5 cents and not 99 cents. Remember, the MBC plan bills in six-second increments.
I use 10-10-345 (or another of the 10-10 programs) and the rate is only 10 cents per minute. Why should I use MBC?
If you are fast enough to read the fine print on the bottom of your TV screen, or wait until you get your first 10-10 program's bill, you will notice that these rates apply only on State-to-State calls. Additionally, there is a monthly service charge of between $4.95 and $6.95 just to use one of these access codes, and again they all bill in "full minutes". Also, the Intrastate rates are generally twice to three times what the rates are for MBC.
The following is a breakdown of the most highly promoted plans offered by these three companies.
The AT&T One Rate Plan:
AT&T offers a 7 cent/minute plan that is available 24 hours/day — 7days/week. While 7 cents/minute sounds reasonable, the following additional fees apply:
Monthly service fee of $4.95
Whole minute billing
NTRA-state rates up to 35 cents/minute
Recent media coverage suggests that this isn’t even a One-Rate plan at all. AT&T attempted to raise its weekday rates from 19 cents/minute to 26 cents/minute but the FCC didn’t allow it. The attempt to raise the rates has brought attention on the per-minute rates for the "7 cent/minute one-rate plan" during the hours of 7 a.m. through 7 p.m. It has been suggested that the actual rate during those hours, for people who subscribed to the 7-cent One-Rate plan, is actually 19 cents per-minute.
The MCI 5-Cent Plan:
MCI’s 5-cent plan sounds reasonable until you’re aware of the additional fees:
Monthly service fee of $4.95
Whole minute billing
5-cent rate only available during the hours of 7 p.m. and 7 a.m.
INTRA-state rates up to 35 cents/minute
Rate between 7a.m. and 7 p.m. is 24 cents/minute
The Sprint $20 for 1000 Minutes Plan:
This plan sounds like your per-minute rate is 2 cents. But this means you’ll pay $20 a month even if you only make one 5-minute call. This program is simply you pre-purchasing 1,000 long distance minutes every month, whether or not you use them. And those calls must be placed during late evenings and Sundays. Let’s take a look at what this programs actually costs:
Monthly service fee of $6.95
Whole minute billing
Calls that apply towards the $20 fee have to be made during the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. and between Monday and Friday, or 12:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. Sunday. Calls placed on Saturday do not apply.
Calls that are placed outside the hours listed above are charged at a rate of 19 cents/minute.
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Fiber Optic Networks Wholesale Rates - No Minimum