Why Do I Need A Long-Distance Carrier?

Why Do I Need A Long-Distance Carrier?
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Katherine_Hansen]Katherine Hansen

Many people wonder why their telephone company charges different prices for different types of long-distance calls. Doesn't this mean that customers can get charged a lot on all of their long-distance calling service since every call can be a different price? The answer to this question is an obvious, "yes." They will certainly be charged more because of all the additional parties involved and extra steps needed due to the distance that their call must travel.

The local telephone company or "local exchange carrier" (LEC), as it is known in the industry, is the entry point for a person who wants telephone service. An LEC, however, is not concerned with finding the most favorable ways of making the whole long-distance connection. They are initially just concerned with taking care of the physical network, like telephone poles & wires and big telecom switches, which supports the local calling area. And of course, they also need to make sure that all long-distance calls are organized so that each finds the proper connections to the communication super-highway.

For this reason, a market exists for smaller companies to help organize long-distance only calls and it all begins with their ability to find the best ways of making long-distance connections. In the past, there was only one way in which calls were connected because there was only one telephone company in the whole United States. Later on, other LEC's were formed but long-distance calls were all still handled by only one long-distance telephone company. Customers had very little choice about how much they paid on their telephone bills, especially on their long-distance calls, which were often very expensive to make. But then the government changed telecommunication regulations and enacted anti-monopoly laws against the one long-distance company. Thus, the road was paved toward allowing other companies, not just the LEC's, to serve customers' long-distance telephone needs. Now customers could choose which company was going to provide local service and which was going to provide long-distance. This was particularly important for people who used a lot of long-distance because the new long-distance companies offered much more affordable rates compared to those offered by LEC's who were not pressured to find the most efficient ways to make the complete connection across all different areas to the final intended destination.

The current dual-company, phone-service situation means that customers can choose one company for their local telephoning needs - an LEC - and then choose a different company - a long-distance carrier - to handle their long-distance calls. With this set-up, all local calls are serviced by an LEC and all long-distance calls by the long-distance carrier. Of course, the LEC will still be responsible for making sure the landline wires coming into a house work properly as well as organizing calls within the local area. But when someone wants to make a long-distance call, the LEC recognizes this particular customer's request for connection with a destination that is outside of the local-calling area and sends it to the long-distance carrier. The long-distance carrier then takes over the call and sends it to the communication super-highway so that the call can connect with someone in another area, state, or even country. The long-distance carrier uses the communication super-highway just like an LEC would, the difference being that it focuses only on long-distance service so that it is able to offer much lower rates than LEC's do. With its special partnerships allowing it to serve calls to destinations all over the United States as well as the whole world, a long-distance carrier is the best and most cost-effective resource for consumers.





Katherine Hansen, Business Writer for Necc Telecom, deals with various issues regarding telecom industry nowadays. Visit NECC [http://www.necc.us/necclongdistance/page.aspx?npage=USEFULINF]long distance services website to find out more about phone services, long-distance services, and other telecom aspects.

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Long Distance Phone Services

Long Distance Phone Services
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Kristy_Annely]Kristy Annely

Telephone calls made outside the local calling area of a specified location are offered by a long distance phone service company. In general, it is safe to say any call made outside of your own area code - be it another city, state, or even country - will qualify as a long distance call and carry the associated charges.

Local calls generally cost less than long distance calls. The fees for long distance calls are not the same everywhere in the country and can vary depending on the service provider you are using, as well as the plan you have signed up for. In general, the most expensive calls are international calls (placed to foreign countries), but the fees vary greatly, depending on the call destination and service provider.

There are two different designations for non-local calls in the US. Regular long distance calls are designated interstate long distance calls, or inter-LATA interstate long distance calls. However, there is another type of long distance phone call, known as inter-LATA intrastate long distance calls. These are calls to numbers outside of the consumer's local LATA, but within the caller's state. Despite being a long distance call, these calling areas are not necessarily serviced by the same operator, depending on the service providers in the area and various service plans..

For larger LATAs, there is another classification which is known as local long distance or regional calling. This refers to calls that are made within a customer's LATA but are outside the area covered by their local calling plan.

Often you'll find that a local long-distance or regional call can be more expensive and actually have a higher per-minute rate than an interstate long-distance call. This is due to differences between service providers and the plans offered.

International calls are also classified as long distance calls and these are usually the most expensive call that can be placed. Nonetheless, there are many long distance providers in the US, and they are all competing with each other for business, which often leads to affordable rates and special deals for new customers. [http://www.i-LongDistancePhoneServices.com]Long Distance Phone Services provides detailed information on Long Distance Phone Services, Local And Long Distance Phone Services, Cheap Long Distance Phone Services, Long Distance Phone Service Providers and more. Long Distance Phone Services is affiliated with [http://www.e-LongDistanceCarriers.com]International Long Distance Carriers.





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The Cheapest Long Distance Service

The Cheapest Long Distance Service
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Daymon_Hoag]Daymon Hoag

No longer is the cheapest long distance service a matter of
the lowest cent per minute rate. Long distance phone service
now comes in the form of traditional cent per minute long
distance, dialaround, calling cards, bundled phone service,
and broadband phone, or VoIP, with unlimited minutes. Today,
usage is far more important than rates.

Low cent per minute long distance rates with traditional
phone service are good if you don't expect to make many long
distance phone calls. Keep in mind, you may be charged a fee
by your phone company just to have this service on your
line, even if you don't use it. FCC, PIC, taxes, sir
charges, and monthly fees are the most common hidden fees.

Dialaround long distance service is most commonly referred
to as 1010 numbers, though some dialaround long distance
providers offer an 800 access number instead. Dialaround
long distance rates are typically slightly higher than a
cent per minute plan on your phone line, but do not have as
many, if any, hidden fee's taxes or sir charges.

Calling cards are a cheap alternative to both dialaround and
traditional long distance service. You can make long
distance phone calls from any telephone and the rates can be
very low. Calling cards are good for long distance when used
in moderation. On most calling cards you'll be charged a set
amount of minutes each time you use it.

Bundled phone service can be a fairly inexpensive long
distance plan if you make a lot of long distance phone calls
and opt for unlimited minutes as the long distance portion
of your calling plan. The only real draw back to a bundled
phone service plan are those pesky hidden fees that can make
up to 20% of your total bill, and sometimes more.

Broadband phone, or VoIP is literally the cheapest long
distance service available today. Since broadband telephone
uses the Internet to send and receive calls, there are no
hidden fee's taxes or surcharges associated with VoIP
service. Unlimited local and long distance service for
around $20.00 and a 3% federal excise tax is as cheap as it
gets.

Clearly the winner for the cheapest long distance service is
broadband phone or VoIP. If you must use traditional methods
for making long distance phone calls, just try to avoid any
hidden fee's and go with the lowest cent per minute rate if
you don't make many calls. Go for unlimited minutes if
you'll be making a lot of long distance calls.





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Local and Long Distance Phone Services

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Local and Long Distance Phone Services
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Kristy_Annely]Kristy Annely

Local phone service refers to the services provided by phone companies that allow a customer to make calls within the same city or region, which is defined as the local calling area. What constitutes an individual local calling area is decided by the phone service provider.

Until a few years ago it was not possible to choose your local service telephone provider. However, the Telecommunications Act of 1996 opened up the telephone industry to wider competition and now it is possible for most people to choose a service provider that offers the best rates and service. Thanks to this act, consumers benefit from increased competition and now have better deals to choose from when it comes to phone services.

Long distance services were first offered in 1892 when AT&T built a long distance telephone network that was interconnected between New York and Chicago. Due to the limitations of the technology available at that time, this network could not be extended further. After the invention of loading coils, the network was expanded to Denver, in 1911. Following the development of audio technology in 1914, it was possible to make telephone signals reach each other from one coast to another. However, the first real-time long distance call was not possible until 1951, with the introduction of the direct distance-dialling feature of AT&T. This is also the first time an area code was used, which led to today's 10-digit phone numbers.

For a long time, long-distance carriers specialized only in providing long-distance services. However, with technological advancement most of the service providers could provide both local and long distance phone services to their customers. Joining the two services led to streamlined billing and better customer support. However, the current long distance market is fiercely competitive and using a separate service provider for long distance services can ultimately be cheaper because the providers are competing for business and tend to offer low-cost plans.

The main long distance service providers in the U.S. are Sprint, AT&T and MCI Worldcom. With the development and proliferation of mobile phone technology, mobile telephone service providers have been able to compete with the long distance service providers, providing customers low rates for local and long distance calls. This is one of the main reasons for the increasing popularity of the cell phones in the telecom market. [http://www.i-LongDistancePhoneServices.com]Long Distance Phone Services provides detailed information on Long Distance Phone Services, Local And Long Distance Phone Services, Cheap Long Distance Phone Services, Long Distance Phone Service Providers and more. Long Distance Phone Services is affiliated with [http://www.e-LongDistanceCarriers.com]International Long Distance Carriers.





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IRS Hangs Up on Long-distance Tax

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IRS Hangs Up on Long-distance Tax
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Martin_Lukac]Martin Lukac

The IRS has announced that it will stop collecting the federal excise tax on long distance telephone services.

The IRS has announced that it will stop collecting the federal excise tax on long distance telephone services.

The agency announced last Thursday that the tax does not apply to long-distance service as it is billed today. The tax was first imposed in 1898 to help pay for the Spanish-American War. The current rate of 3% is charged on the service amount.

Taxpayers will be able to receive a refund of all excise taxes paid on long-distance services billed since Feb. 28, 2003. Interest will also be paid on these refunds. The IRS will soon announce a simplified method that taxpayers may use to minimize administrative burden.

"So taxpayers won't have to spend time digging through old telephone bills, we're designing a straightforward process that taxpayers may use when they file their tax returns next years," said IRS Commissioner Mark W. Everson. He said that claiming a refund will be a simple process.

The IRS says that local telephone service will remain under the federal excise tax. Other state and local taxes and fees paid will also remain in affect.

"Today is a turning point in the long battle to stop the levy for a war that ended 100 years ago," said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-Iowa). "This tax hits every telephone owner, but it doesn't pay for any specific program. It now pours billions into the U.S. Treasury every year for no reason. It's time to hang up the telephone tax."

Martin Lukac ( http://www.MartinLukac.com), represents http://www.RateEmpire.com and [http://www.1AmericanFinancial.com]http://www.1AmericanFinancial.com, a finance web-company specializing in real estate/mortgage market. We specialize in daily updates, rate predictions, mortgage rates and more. Find low home loan mortgage interest rates from hundreds of mortgage companies!





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Public Relations for Long Distance Telephone Service

Public Relations for Long Distance Telephone Service
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Lance_Winslow]Lance Winslow

There are many things that bother people and many services we pay for that we do not appreciate. Most people despise the fact that they have to pay so much money for the long-distance telephone service and it is for that reason that people are constantly switching long-distance telephone service in hopes to save the little money.

Generally when they switch they do not save any more money than they would have if they had stayed. Long-distance telephone services use all kinds of marketing tactics to get people to switch their long-distance telephone service and still people are not happy. If people liked the company they do business with more than perhaps they would be much happier.

This is where a good public relations and community goodwill program can come in handy for a long-distance telephone service company. One long-distance telephone company was allowing people of the armed forces to call their loved ones overseas for pennies on the dollar of what it might really cost and this is something that long-distance telephone companies can do to increase public relations.

Of course the goodwill that this company received in doing such a wonderful service for our armed forces and their families was worth its weight in gold for publicity. Perhaps this makes an excellent case study for public relations strategies for long-distance telephone service companies. Please consider all this in 2006.

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