Subj : polling
To   : Mvan Le
From : Ryan de Laplante
Date : Sun Apr 15 2007 05:48 pm

 ac> I imagine a similar situation once occurred (prior to 
 ac> the Internet) where "local" phone calls were free in 
 ac> some parts of the world, notably the US, although I 
 ac> never found out much about that.  Are they still free?

 ML> Dunno. I have a hard time believing in free anything, 
 ML> but if some fool offers I'll take it all :)

I'm pretty sure it is the same in the US as it is in Canada, where I live.  
Here you pay a flat rate of $20/month for unlimited local calling. It has 
always been like that as far as I know.  The $20 ends up costing more like $25 
when you add 911 emergency fee and taxes.  If you want caller id, voice mail, 
and other features those cost extra. They are priced rediculously, for example 
$7/month for caller id.  You can usually get 2-3 features in a bundle for $12 
though.

Things are changing now. Most if not all companies offer unlimited long 
distance calling if you call someone using the same provider.  It doesn't 
matter if you are on a cell phone or land line. VoIP companies such as Vonage 
offer unlimited long distance in the US and Canada for a flat rate, like 
$29/month? I forget. Maybe it's a bit more. 

Transferring echomail back and forth to your hub didn't cost anything if they 
were local.  And their hub would be a local call for them, but not for you.  
And so on. Some hubs didn't have a local hub to call, so they had to dial long 
distance.  As far as I know, every hub charged all nodes an anual fee.



Ryan


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