Interesting People mailing list archives
Re: How to Avoid the $2/month for not making long distance calls
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Sun, 6 May 2007 14:03:59 -0400
Begin forwarded message: From: Brett Glass <brett () lariat net> Date: May 6, 2007 11:43:21 AM EDT To: dave () farber net, ip () v2 listbox comSubject: Re: [IP] How to Avoid the $2/month for not making long distance calls
Rob: Your experience is the reason why so many of our users come to us, a wireless ISP, for service. They wish to "cut the cord" to the telephone company (which still swaggers like a monopoly) and to the cable company, and can do this via cellular phones and satellite TV. But to complete the wireless picture, they need wireless Internet, and that's where we come in. While the telcos, with their vast lobbying resources and deep pockets for political contributions, are seeking to squelch us in every way they can, we still get calls daily from prospective customers who are fed up. Because we live in an area where winters are long (we had an inch of snow just yesterday), we often can't get them online as fast as we like and have a week or more of backlog. But we certainly do our best to help them cut loose as soon as we can. --Brett Glass, LARIAT.NET
From: Rob Frieden <rmf5 () psu edu> Date: May 5, 2007 3:57:29 PM EDT To: dave () farber net, ip () v2 listbox com Subject: How to Avoid the $2/month for not making long distance calls Hello All: My monthly Verizon landline bill arrived with the new $2.00 (plus 11% Universal Service Fund contribution) for not making any long distance calls. Like many consumers I have migrated most long distance calls to my cellphone and know the "casual calling" or "dial around" 10XXX option to make inexpensive toll calls. I thought I had found a rate plan (at 40 cents a minute) that had no minimum and no charge to activate the presubscription when I departed from another company that had a monthly minimum. Verizon offered a rate plan I would never use, but one that coulf offer Verizon the chance to offer bundled services and other inducements. Now Verizon has a $2.00 minimum and apparently no way of knowing that I am paying an affiliate of the company a cool $120 a month. So wireline Verizon treats me like a low tier non-revenue enhancer not worth the bother. With an approach like that maybe I should join my college students in cutting the wireline cord and go wireless entirely. Something called the Missoula Plan (telcos like to name rate restructuring deals after the place the deal was first conceived) soon will cost wirelinetelephone subscribers $10 a month even before paying for a subscription.The good news for me was a quite pleasant Verizon Customer Service Supervisor who waived the $2.19 and allowed me to eliminate Verizon as my presubscribed long distance carrier. I can still access long distance carriers, but not with the convenience of 1+ dialing. Regards, Rob Frieden ------------------------------------------- Archives: http://v2.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now RSS Feed: http://v2.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/ Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
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Current thread:
- How to Avoid the $2/month for not making long distance calls David Farber (May 05)
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- Re: How to Avoid the $2/month for not making long distance calls David Farber (May 06)