Just a tidbit from personal experience, regarding 10XXX dialing.
Some friends of mine use a number "10297." (I live in the DC/VA area). They claim it's cheaper, as does the marketing literature. So, I made 1/2 of my calls for a month with 10297, and 1/2 with AT&T. I have True Reach savings with AT&T, which is 25% off of all LD calls if I make $25/month in calls (easy for me to do).
Results: While the retail AT&T rate was higher across the board than the 10297 company, once the 25% discount was taken into account, AT&T was cheaper across the board. All billing periods (Day/Eve/Night) and both LD in-state and LD out-of-state.
I am continuing my 10297 experiment for another month, but I will now include 10009 in my experiment. I'll be sure, however, to make at least $25 in LD calls with AT&T, just so I get the discount, otherwise it's not a fair competition.
Story #2: At my last apartment I had two phone lines, one with AT&T, and one with MCI. After browsing on the net, I decided to switch the MCI line to Cable and Wireless, since it was allegedly cheaper. Only problem was that, even though I faxed in the paperwork and received a US Mail (and e-mail) message that I was switched, I dialed some test number (1-700-something) and it told me I was still connected to MCI. Seemed that I was prevented from switching. I was told that I would have to contact my local telco directly and make them switch me. So, obvoiusly, I didn't bother with it.
This last story has relevance to TWT agents, since they may run into this problem with people they switch.
Anwyay, when I get my next phone bill, I'll post a "real" comparison of TWT vs 10297 vs AT&T w/True Reach savings. If I think I'll save money in the long run with TWT, then I'll become an agent, switch, and get all my family & friends to switch too :-). If I don't think I'll save money in the long run with TWT, then hell, I'd better sell my ISGI stock :-).
-Mike
(long ISGI) |
