Berkeley Parents Network: Telephone Services

Berkeley Parents Network

Telephone Services

Berkeley Parents Network > Reviews > Services & Businesses > Telephone Services

Basic Local Phone Service, not SBC

May 2004

I'm looking for recommendations for basic local phone service that is not SBC. I checked the website, the info there is out of date. My monthly local phone bill is between $18 and $25 per month, which is low I know, but I hardly ever use my phone at home, and it seems that the bill is mostly surcharges and fees. Is this the best I can do? Thanks. Not a Gabber

If you want to save on the fees, you can always elect to have *no* dial-1 long distance carrier. This will save you over $4 per month. To make long-distance calls, you can then use a dial-around. For instance, 10-10-629 gives you 5.9" per minute for state-to-state calls and 4.4" per minute within California. A good source for finding out about dial-arounds (and long distance plans in general) is http://www.abtolls.com ouris

See http://turn.org/consumeradvisor.shtml#localphoneservice

Basic Phone Service

May 2003

I dislike SBC and am naive about phone service in general. Are there any other basic phone services out there? (I already have Working Assets Long Distance, which takes care of toll and long- distance calls, but doesn't provide basic service.) If so, are they any more efficient or less slimy than SBC? Melanie

We use Wholesale Air-Time which covers the phone service as well as long distance 1-800-840-6673. They say their phone service is 5% less than other companies and the rate for long distance/out of state is .05 per minute and I pay .25 per minute to Italy. Have had no problems and was very glad to get rid of Verizon! tabnand

Long distance carrier

2001

The long distance phone company that we were using, Econophone, recently went out of business. We're particularly interested in finding a good rate to Israel (we were paying 12 cents a minute/24 hours a day). We also had an excellent domestic rate 24 hours a day. I'm interested in recommendations for a new long distance company. Thanks shalva

I too was using Econophone until they died. I had signed up with them through an independent broker, Ernest Chen, at Horizon Marketing. Earnest has recommended a new company, TMC. I don't know the rates to Israel, but if you call Ernest, 549-3926, I'm sure he can tell you. The rate is .10 a minute to Japan, .069 state to state, and .049 within California. Sherri

This isn't a long distance phone company that you would have as your main company but there is a company called PT-1 communications that has pretty good rates with no access charges or other hidden fees. Calls within the US are billed at 7.9 cents a minute 24 hours a day and calls to other countries are very competitive. Its easy to use them you just dial 1016868 and then dial as you would normally. The bill for their service shows up on your monthly statement. Greig

Try working assets. I'm not sure what their international rates are but they are a very socially consious organization, donating a percentage to non-profits. BBConsults

I can't say enough good things about Working Assets Long Distance. With our plan, it is cheaper to call my husband's mother in England than my own mom in the Bay Area! They are just a fabulous company. Web site is www.workingforchange.com. Colleen

Occasionally I have to make a private call to Germany while I'm in the office (time zone issue), and in my new department at UC, they won't let me reimburse UC Regents, but asked me to charge the call to my home phone number. So I got a Pacific Bell calling card and it works, but to my horror I found out that they charged me $6.48 for a one minute call, using Sprint as their default long distance carrier. Can you recommend another long distance company which will allow me to charge my overseas calls to my home number for a better price per minute? Heike

In response to the question about a long distance company with better rates when using a calling card. I represent a communications company called Excel. We offer great rates on domestic and international long distance, paging, cell phone service and internet access. The person who called Germany with his PacBell calling card and was charged $6.48 for 1 minute would have paid $2.65 for that first minute and $1.40 for each minute thereafter with Excel. Calls made with a calling card are always more expensive. Another less expensive solution is to buy prepaid calling cards. (Yes, I do have prepaid calling cards as well). I apologize for the seeming sales pitch - but I really do get incensed when someone is so blatantly ripped off by the "big guys". "Sharon

I've been using Telegroup to call Brazil (for years) and the prices are really good, I do call from the office sometimes and I'm billed at home. I pay about $0.40/a minute to Brazil and I know prices to Europe are even better. Check their website at www.telegroup.com. And if you decide to sign up, please let me know (I think they give a bonus if you refer someone :-) . Here is the email address of a sails rep who helped me (Chris Hwa): chrishwa@home.com You can also use Telegroup from Europe (I lived in Belgium for 5 years before coming here and was their customer there). hope it helps Denise

I have been using Net2phone. This is a calling card that you pay for by credit card,a nd then you get an access number. THe rates are incredibly cheap both here and abroad. I call Israel, and I think it's about 9 cents a minute...much cheaper than other plans. It also renews itself automatically when your first $25 runs out. You can call from anywhere. THey say that they charge extra for calling from a pay phone. The down side is that since is uses the internet for connection, once in a while the connection is not very good. Most often it's fine. Hope that's helpful. Jody

2001

Does anyone know of a good long distance carrier with a cheap rate to Morocco? Working Assets charges $.88/minute with their $2 monthly fee. Phone cards are about $.50/minute after fees are deducted, but the cards are notoriously frustrating to work with -- being disconnected, having no ringing or busy signal and being charged anyway, being charged when the person never answered. We're looking into switching long distance companies. thanks prajaou

We have been using Telegroup for years (to call Europe) and we are very happy with them. The rate for Morocco advertised at http//www.telegroup.com/ is $0.50/minute. I do not know if the calling card rates are the same, but I expect these to be very reasonable, too. There is no monthly fee if your bill is more than $50. Otherwise they add $5 to the bill. Ralf

We dial 101-6868 to get great international rates to family in Europe. A sampling of their rates are

United Kingdom--7.9 cents per minute
Germany--9 cents per minute
Morocco--49 cents per minute

There are no minumum charges (you're billed only for the time you talk), there are no connection fees, no monthly charges, and no need to sign up or change long distance carriers (or even have a long distance carrier for that matter).

For international calls, just dial 101-6868 + 011 + the country code. For more information, see http//www.101-6868.com Christina

Years ago, I signed up with INET--Interactive Network System--a company based in Los Angeles, because I needed cheap phone rates for France. They are extremely competitive (12 cents/mn to call France!!), and they offer .52 cents/minute for Morocco 7 days a week, with no monthly fee. They phone# is (800)867-8969 or (888)YES-INET. Bonne chance! Patricia

From: Andrei (3/99)

I want to recommend the "AAA World calling" as a good choice for a telephone company if you need to call overseas. I use their services for already more than a year, and never had any problems. You do not have to choose them as a primary long distance carrier; they give you an (800) number which you dial first, and then the number you wish to call. They charge no monthly fee and offer a flat rate which is the same at any time or any day of the week. Their price is one of the lowest (if not the lowest) I ever heard of. Here are some examples from their new table of rates which I just got with my monthly bill: West Europe (Germany, France, Switzerlang, Belgium, etc.) - from $0.18 to $0.22 per minute, Eastern Europe (Poland, Hungary, etc.) from about $0.35 to $0.40 per minute, Russia (Moscow) $0.32, Russia (St.-Petersburg) $0.37, Russia (rest of the country) - $0.52, Israel- $0.31, Japan - $0.24, China - $0.90. This is the second reduction of their prices during the last year. They have a long list of rates for different countries which I surely can not reproduce here. You can reach this company by calling them at (800) 347-0222. You can also ask them to mail you an application form, conditions of service, and the table of international rates by sending an e-mail to: AAAworld@uswest.net. 8/00 Eleanor
I am shopping around for a long distance carrier. Right now we have AT&T and they are really overcharging us. On the last phone bill I made one long distance call that was $2.70, and my long distance bill was over $16.00. We make almost no out of state calls and only a few intrastate calls per month. Some one at work had long distance removed from her service and uses a calling card for the occasional call she makes. Are there any other suggestions out there

Fran Someone recently posted a recommendation for Working Assets, which we also have. They have several plans and their prices are low. There are also plenty of services that charge a low price per minute with no minimum, who rent service from Sprint and other well-known providers. You dial their prefix before the phone number you're calling and the charge appears on your Pac Bell bill.

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