News from the Oklahoma Corporation Commission

Jim Palmer, Director of Information

March 31, 2000

(OKLAHOMA CITY)- Many Oklahoma consumers are concerned with the minimum monthly fees they find on their long distance bills even when they don’t’ make any long distance calls. Consumers need to know their options.

Apple said "some people have successfully saved money by switching to the so-called ‘10-10’ access codes for their long distance. This is where shopping is very important."

"10-10" options are so numerous that it is impossible to review them in this release. It is important to remember that some "10-10" services charge a minimum monthly fee whether you place a call or not just like the more commonly known major carriers. If a customer does not follow the service’s specific time, day and length-of- call restrictions, the call can end up costing much more than expected.

When shopping for a long distance service, the consumer should watch for monthly fees or minimum talk times and ask for a printed rate card so savings claims can be carefully reviewed.

So-called "casual rates" of several dollars per minute can be imposed by "10-10" services along with added fees if a customer does not stay within the access code restrictions. The result can be a much higher bill than anticipated.

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page 2, LD options

If a consumer chooses not to select a long distance carrier, LD calls may instead be placed through the local carrier or by using prepaid phone cards or calling cards as your long distance service. Prepaid phone cards may be purchased in minute or dollar denominations. The rate depends on the amount of time you buy plus any per-call surcharges. To avoid pitfalls, purchase phone cards from companies and establishments you know and trust. Some complaints include companies going out of business leaving customers with useless cards. Watch for cards that are limited to certain areas or don’t have the full number of minutes purchased.

Some long distance companies only bill once a quarter instead of monthly meaning that certain minimum monthly charges are multiplied by three to reach a total for the billing. This often confuses people until they carefully read their bill.

The variety of basic monthly long distance charges are not mandated by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission but by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Congress, the State Legislature and local municipalities. These charges include the so-called minimum monthly charge authorized by the FCC. That means companies are allowed but not required to charge the "minimum monthly." Other charges such as the universal connectivity charge and carrier line charge are mandated by the FCC. Then there are the federal, state and local taxes authorized by those various jurisdictions and not the Corporation Commission. When you add up these basic charges and multiply by three they can appear to be significant especially when someone has not made a single long distance call during the time covered by the bill. But remember the bill is for three months and not for one.

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