How to Save on Your Phone Bill
Sometimes we spend more money that we need to just because we don't know we don't have to! A good place to start in understanding what you are paying for on your phone bill is know the basics as outlined below:
Local Service - Having a primary line can become costly. Compare your monthly costs to these:
- Monthly Line Charges - capped by federal law
- Local Calls - within your local area, no toll
- Regional Calls - also referred to as local long distance, toll calls, IntraLata/InterLata
You could be paying higher rates for your Regional calling if you signed up for a discount plan and did not specify to switch your local long distance or IntraLata as well. These are not switched automatically when you switch your long distance. Understanding LATA
Long Distance Service - Calling outside your local area, both in-state and out of state.
- Minimum Monthly Charge/Fee - charged even if no calls are made. Can range from $1 per month to $5 per month or more.
- Pre-subscribed Interexchange Carrier Charge - also known as National Access Charge or PICC Fee. What long distance carriers must pay local phone companies to gain access to their network Ranges from $1 to $5 per line per month. (business lines only)
- Universal Service Fee - Adds about 8 to 11% to your long distance bill each month, helping provide affordable phone services to low income and rural customers, as well as connects schools, libraries, rural health-care providers to the Internet.
Dialaround Charges - Long distance charges assessed for using dialarounds which begin with 1010 or 101. These dialarounds let you by pass your long distance carrier and place a call over another carrier's network. Look for monthly hidden fees, minimum call lengths, and connection charges, which help boost the cost of this type of calling.
Calling Cards - Charges for calls made using a calling card issued from the local carrier, your local distance carrier, or a stand alone calling card. These cards allow you to make long distance calls from any wired phone and charge the call to your account. You are then billed on a monthly basis. Watch for surcharges attached to the actual call cost which will add anywhere from $.29 to $3.00 to the actual cost of the call. Try not to use calling cards when making calls from a payphone as you are charged automatically $.30 per call which goes to the owner of the payphone. See our other Payphone Articles