Some incredible savings can be gained by using the tips on this page.
These tips will also help conserve natural resources, which will reduce
polution, cut America's trade deficit, and ensure that our children will
enjoy a prosperous and happy future.
Get Inexpensive Long Distance
In a 2004 study of long distance companies by J. D. Power and
Associates, Cox communications led the pack (but it should be
noted that Cox mainly serves the Southwest, anddoes not compete
in the discount long distance market.) Factors
included in this customer satisfaction study were:
performance and reliability; cost of service; billing practices;
offerings and promotions; and customer service.
The Washington Post exposed how some phone companies can
sneak higher fees into your phone bill, hidden in such a way that
the rate hike escapes your notice. A common trick is
"inside wire insurance" that costs you at least $2.99 a month,
which has increased more than 400% in the last five years and is
a big profit machine for some companies. But almost no one
needs repairs to the wires inside their homes, the phone company
is already responsible for maintaining the wires outside your
home, and if you're a renter your landlord is responsible for
keeping at least one phone line working.
Fortunately, long distance rates have drifted downward over the
past decade and are expected to decline. However the policy
of many long distance companies is to lower their rates only for
new customers. Old customers must call and request the
lower rates.
Companies that provide discount long distance services buy their
network capacity in bulk, so their rates are deeply
discounted. Because they don't have the high advertising
costs of a major telecom company, they can pass along part of the
savings to their customers, and often they'll spend some of the
savings to provide better service. They usually buy their
network capacity from Qwest or Frontier. Those companies
were middle-of-the-pack in J. D. Power's study, but remained
significantly ahead of the telecom giant Sprint Inc. This
apparently means that customers need not pay high prices to get
decent quality of service.
Those "10-10" dial-around numbers are no longer a good
deal. Many companies have raised their dial-around
rates: for example, MCI's heavily advertised "10-10-220"
service has nearly doubled the rates that it advertised on TV
years ago.
Here's some useful facts to consider when shopping for a long
distance calling plan.
- It can take 5 to business 10 days for the switch-over
to take effect.
- A monthly fee is charged under some calling
plans, if your total long distance bill is below a monthly
minimum (usually $10-$20.)
- In-state rates (also known as "intrastate"
rates) are different and usually higher than state-to
state (or "interstate") rates.
- Toll calls (also known as IntraLATA calls) are
calls further than 13 miles that can be handled by either your
local phone company or your long distance company. If the
in-state rates charged by your long distance company are lower,
make sure they handle your toll calls.
- Long distance "bundles" are offered by many
companies that include local phoning, sometimes with cable and/or
internet services. You can read more about them in our
Local Phoning article.
- In hotels & motels, use a calling card to
bypass the high long distance rates they charge customers.
Long Distance Plans Compared
All these companies offer service in most homes and offices, and
they can all set up 800/877/888 numbers for anyone who wants
one. The big telecom companies don't offer much in the way
of discount plans, but some people choose them because they're
perceived as "tried and true". Increasingly, corporate
mergers are amalgamating these companies into telecom giants.
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Slash Your Utility Bills 
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Time to complete:
| 5-10 minutes to sign up |
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Money you'll spend:
| $0 |
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What you'll get:
| Long-distance for less than 4¢/minute |
Long Distance Providers:
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Name |
Site type |
Notes |
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Cognigen Rates Calculator |
Compares plans |
Compares plans from up to 13 companies with rates as low as 2.7¢/minute in some areas.
Honestly reveals monthly charges and in-state calling rates. |
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Qwest |
Telecom company
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Their lowest state-to-state rate is 2.9 cents per minute, with in-state calls costing 5
cents per minute. That's pretty good, but you'll have to pay a rather steep $30 annual fee to
begin using this plan.
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SBC/AT&T |
Telecom company
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Their AT&T 5˘ Nights Plan is probably their cheapest:
5˘ per minute at night, 10˘ per minute during the day, no monthly fee.
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Sprint/Nextel |
Telecom company |
Lowest rate is 5¢ per minute interstate, but there's an $8.95/month fee.
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Verizon/MCI |
Telecom company |
Their "MCI Net Value" plan is 4¢/minute, monthly fee of
$6.99, one-year contract required.
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Further Reading:
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