Re: [PLUG] DSL w/o local phone

["William H. Magill" <magill@mcgillsociety.org>]

On 17 Jul, 2004, at 00:27, gyoza@comcast.net wrote:
>  Yeah, that's a basic phone service.  Calling it a "life line" 
> suggested to me that it is an limited service.  Thereby lowering the 
> monthly cost.

Yup ... It's all about "marketing."

It is "limited" in that you don't get any significant number of "free" 
message units.
[Pay more and you get more "free" message units...]

"Basic" phone service costs about $17 a month before taxes, surcharges 
and fees.
"Life line" phone service costs about two-thirds less.

The reason is that the "basic" service includes a bunch of "free" 
message units for "local calls." (Plus another $1.00 or so, just to be 
connected to some long distance provider "automatically" when you dial 
1 -- so you don't have to dial an access code.)

"Life line" service is intended to allow the person, presumed to be 
elderly or ill, to call emergency services and to receive "check-up" 
calls.  The assumption is that they don't normally originate calls, 
just receive them.

It is also in response to various legislative and regulatory concerns 
about providing "cheap" phone service for the elderly and infirm.

The significant difference is that if you are not on a "calling plan" 
message units are EXPENSIVE, i.e. no volume discount, and charges mount 
up fast.


T.T.F.N.
William H. Magill
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magill@mcgillsociety.org
magill@acm.org
magill@mac.com

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