Posted by IP Daley on April 23, 2006, 7:49 am
>I don't make many long distance calls, and currently am in an AT&T "One
>Rate"
> plan that charges 10 cents per minute for interstate calls. (And, as I
> found
> out the hard way on a rare 45 minute call, a ludicrous $1.25/minute to
> Canada!) I know there are better rates than a dime/minute out there, but,
> again, I just don't make many calls.
> A few months ago, they instituted a minimum $7/month cost, meaning that if
> I
> don't talk for 70 minutes, I still end up paying them $7.
> Now they're gonna up that to $9. Not a huge amount, but enough to goad me
> into action.
> As an aside, I don't own a cellular phone and have a fairly hostile
> attitude
> toward them.
> What would a reasonable approach be these days for the minimal long
> distance
> user? I need something simple enough for my wife to deal with easily, and
> obviously would like a "reasonable" per-minute rate and to avoid as many
> as
> possible of the various tack-on fees that seem to infest our phone bills.
> And how does one "get out" of one's existing plan?
> Appreciate any guidance.
> Art
If you have a cable broadband connection, go with VOIP. I'd recommend
www.voip.net for either $12.95/500 outgoing mins (unlimited incoming) or
$19.95/unlimited (no taxes or fees on either). It's very reliable and dirt
cheap. Free calling to US and Canada. Over at http://www.dslreports.com/gbu
they all seem to think www.viatalk.com is the best right now but they're
not, in my opinion.
Barring that, cancel your regular long distance service and use
www.tel3advantage.com for 1.9cents/min. It's cheaper than Onesuite and has
more
local numbers. I think you get a better deal if you use an agent. Just
search goggle.
Everyone should have a cell phone. Prepaid is very cheap these days. I'd
recommend www.pagepluscellular.com All you need is any Verizon phone (they
use the Verizon network so you get great coverage). Just buy a Verizon
Inpulse phone at Wal-Mart. About 12cents/min and you can put in as little as
$10 every 4 months! Get an activation on eBay for $7 with 100 minutes.
Posted by wle on April 24, 2006, 12:28 pm
Posted by Arthur Shapiro on April 24, 2006, 2:02 pm
>www.onesuite.com
Thanks for all the public and private suggestions, everyone.
Last question: if one tells the local phone company to take off the long
distance carrier (under the assumption that one will use a dial-around such as
onesuite), how does one dial a toll free 800, etc. number? Or is that simply
not considered a long distance call despite starting with a "1"?
Art
Posted by IP Daley on April 25, 2006, 2:50 pm
> www.onesuite.com
tel3...MUCH CHEAPER...VOIP..FREE LD!
Posted by AutoEddy on April 25, 2006, 4:20 pm
says...
Art, I am going to go with suggesting OneSuite like a few of the others.
Easy signup, cheap rates and good service. I have only used them for
about four weeks now, but so far so good.
Eddy
XML site map
>Rate"
> plan that charges 10 cents per minute for interstate calls. (And, as I
> found
> out the hard way on a rare 45 minute call, a ludicrous $1.25/minute to
> Canada!) I know there are better rates than a dime/minute out there, but,
> again, I just don't make many calls.
> A few months ago, they instituted a minimum $7/month cost, meaning that if
> I
> don't talk for 70 minutes, I still end up paying them $7.
> Now they're gonna up that to $9. Not a huge amount, but enough to goad me
> into action.
> As an aside, I don't own a cellular phone and have a fairly hostile
> attitude
> toward them.
> What would a reasonable approach be these days for the minimal long
> distance
> user? I need something simple enough for my wife to deal with easily, and
> obviously would like a "reasonable" per-minute rate and to avoid as many
> as
> possible of the various tack-on fees that seem to infest our phone bills.
> And how does one "get out" of one's existing plan?
> Appreciate any guidance.
> Art