"chula" wrote in message
oups.com...
.... So far, we are using Power Net Global and happy with it. We just
haven't found anything really good out there yet.

chula



One of the common themes in this thread is some dissatisfaction with
existing carriers and a feeling that there must be something better out
there. In an effort to try to find the best long distance plans that offer
decent international rates, let's compare the rates and costs of plans from
several different companies that appear to have good reputations. GTC,
BigRedWire and Total Call International are recommended by ClarkHoward.com,
ECG is recommended by consumersearch.com, consumerworld.com, and
saveonphone.com, and IBN Tel (IBN InterTelecom) is one of the companies
whose services I offer that has satisfied my customers who make
international calls. Each of the services I'll compare here do not require a
calling card, dialing extra digits or VOIP. For this example I'll use my
state of Florida as the origination point and I'll use South Africa
(doubter's example) as the country I make international calls to.



When comparing long distance plans, it's wise to educate yourself about the
various charges on phone bills. For example, USF (Universal Service Fund)
charges are made to cover the costs of an FCC charge which "helps to make
phone service affordable and available to all Americans." The USF charge is
an example of a "soft fee" that doesn't have to be charged, but usually is.
Most companies pass this cost on to their customers, but they are not
required to do so. The USF costs to carriers reportedly vary by state, but
they should be the same for all the carriers in a particular state. The
companies choose how much of this cost to list under a USF line item charge,
so the actual rate will vary by carrier. Most companies charge in the range
of 9% to 10.7% in Florida, some less (they pay for the charge with the money
they make from their regular rates), and some charge even more, unethically
padding the fee with some additional hidden profit for themselves. There are
also "hard fees" that are real taxes imposed by federal, state and local
governments, such as the 3% federal excise tax, and should be the same on
all phone companies' bills. A third category of charges are "fake" or
"hidden" taxes and fees that are misleading ways for carriers to recover
company expenses or add profits without customers knowing it, portraying
these line items as required government taxes or fees. These fees have been
particularly controversial in wireless accounts, with the Center for Public
Integrity reporting that "wireless companies have used the [so-called
'federal recovery fees'] line item to cover all manner of expenses,
including marketing and advertising costs." (see
http://www.publicintegrity.org/telec...id=250&sid=200 )



GTC GlobalConnect
Interstate 3.9c/min
Intrastate 8c/min
South Africa 10c/min
USF charge on interstate calls 0% (according to their customer service
dept.; this is a very good rate)
Total monthly cost* $47.79
Billing increments 60 secs
Minimum call length 60 secs


Notes: Interstate means long distance calls made state-to-state and
intrastate means long distance calls made to numbers within your state. GTC
only includes interstate rates in their ads and bill comparison examples on
their Web site. This is rather misleading, as it does not include intrastate
or international rates (though their rates for these calls are good too, so
it's not horrendously misleading, but it is standard practice by most
companies to at least include the intrastate rates in their advertised
rates). GTC charges a 99 cent "regulatory cost recovery fee." Such a charge
is a "fake fee" according to UCAN (Utility Consumers' Action Network,
http://www.ucan.org/members/ucanmemb...uide/Fees.html).
UCAN says that fake fees such as this "are bogus charges that are designed
to look official, but which, in reality, are nothing more than profit
centers for the carriers." On the plus side, GTC doesn't charge a USF fee
(at least not according to the sales rep I spoke to), so that would offset
much, if not all, of the "regulatory charge" for customers who make a lot of
interstate calls. GTC also charges $1.95/month for paper statements paid by
check, or $0.95/month for credit card payment with paper statement, or no
charge for credit card payment with online statement. During one call I made
to the GTC sales department I was left on hold for 5 minutes with mostly
dead silence. A hold message did come on a few times and during one of these
times it mentioned that GTC has had service outages in certain areas due to
recent hurricane damage.



BigRedWire
Interstate 2.6c/min
Intrastate 5.9c/min
South Africa 13c/min
USF charge on interstate calls 10.7%
Total monthly cost* $43.56
Billing increments 60 secs
Minimum call length not listed on their Web site
Notes: BigRedWire only offers customer service via email, not telephone.
They do not offer a personal toll free number.



Total Call International TotalCHOICE
Interstate 4.9c/min (I averaged their 2.9c nights/weekends rate with their
6.9c weekdays 7am-7pm rate)
Intrastate 6.4c/min
South Africa 12c/min
USF charge on interstate calls 10.7%
Total monthly cost* $47.65
Billing increments 6 secs (international: 60 secs)
Minimum call length 18 secs (international: 60 secs)



ECG 2.75c/min plan
Interstate 2.75c/min
Intrastate 10.6c/min
South Africa 17c/min
USF charge on interstate calls 11.1%
Total monthly cost* $61.90
Billing increments 6 secs
Minimum call length 18 secs
Notes: Fast response time of 3 seconds for the one call I made to their
sales department. The rep was very pleasant. They are known for good
customer service and short call hold times to customer service. ECG charges
a 59 cent "regulatory cost recovery" fee. As mentioned above, such a charge
is a "fake fee" according to UCAN (Utility Consumers' Action Network,
http://www.ucan.org/members/ucanmemb...uide/Fees.html).
ECG pads their USF charge (they charge the most for the USF fee of the
companies in this example). ECG promotes its low interstate rate while
downplaying its relatively high intrastate and international rates, another
practice of questionable ethics. Given ECG's high rating by two respected
consumer sites, it's disappointing that they use these unethical practices.
It's also surprising that ECG's total cost in this example is by far the
highest. For these reasons, I cannot recommend ECG.



IBN Tel direct dial 1+ long distance
Interstate 2.5c/min
Intrastate 7.9c/min
South Africa 8.5c/min
USF charge on interstate calls 9.8%
Total monthly cost* $38.29
Billing increments 6 secs
Minimum call length 6 secs
Notes: IBN Tel offers a personal toll free number for a setup fee of $2,
with rates "as low as 4.9 cents per minute" with no monthly fees. They
charge $1.95/month if monthly usage is under $20. In this example the usage
is more than $20, so the charge is not incurred in this case.



*Total monthly cost is based on a calling pattern of 200 minutes/month of
interstate, intrastate and international calls (this is an arbitrary pattern
I used based on GTC's use of 200 minutes/month of interstate calls in their
advertised examples--your actual costs will vary depending on your actual
usage, but this example gives you a basic idea). The total monthly cost
assumes all calls last a minute or an exact multiple of a minute, thus
avoiding extra costs from calls whose durations include fractions of minutes
that are rounded up. The actual bill would be less for companies like Total
Call Int'l, ECG and IBN Tel than for GTC and BigRedWire, because the former
bill in increments of 6 seconds, whereas the latter bill in increments of 60
seconds. Six second billing means if you talk for one minute and two
seconds, you will be charged for one minute and six seconds, not two minutes
as you would by companies that use billing increments of 60 seconds. Longer
minimum call lengths also increase your costs due to rounding up.



CONCLUSION: IBN Tel had the lowest total monthly cost in this comparison
example, with nice features like toll free customer service and a personal
toll free number option, and no unethical billing practices. They would come
out even better if I could account for billing increments and minimum call
length in the calculations. It is satisfying to see that a company I offer
fares best in the comparison. Some will of course question my objectivity,
but I tried to be fair and factual and if you find any errors or omissions
in my data, please let me know. All of the plans except ECG's have decent
overall rates (and even ECG's are better than a lot of other plans out
there). Some of the practices of ECG and GTC are unethical. I expected ECG
to come out better given the praise it received at some consumer sites and
reportedly from the Wall Street Journal. It makes me wonder how thoroughly
they checked ECG out, though they are known for good customer service. Here
is how I would rank the plans, from best to worst, based on this example
(other calling patterns might result in different rankings):



1. IBN Tel direct dial 1+ long distance

2. Total Call International TotalCHOICE

3. BigRedWire

4. GTC GlobalConnect

5. ECG 2.75cents/minute



Even the worst companies in this ranking are not that bad, as I started with
a select group of highly rated companies. Feel free to add your inputs. I
hope that the information I have provided is helpful to some out there. If
anyone has any questions about any of this, please let me know within this
newsgroup (the email address is not valid, to avoid spam), I'll be more than
happy to help when I have an opportunity to do so. Alternatively, you can
find more information at my Website, www.ld.net/?terryusa, about IBN Tel's
and other companies' services I can provide. If you have questions regarding
IBN Tel dial 1+ or other services click on Support, then click on Go under
Sales Inquiries and submit your question there.