Hi Ian,

 >> Just switch to Optus and protest to AUSTEL which governs Telstra.

 > That will be extremely difficult since Telstra is the
 > only carrier for local calls at this time.

In the sysop echoes, we have been encouraging people to use OPTUS for local
calls, by dialling 1456xx where xx is your local area code ie; 03. Its a
hassle doing so for each voice call, but is easy to add to your comms
program dialling directory prefix.

I've been using OPTUS for my local calls for six months now, and enjoy the
two advantages of having every single local call itemised with number
dialled and length of call, and also receiving OPTUS' standard 7% discount
saver, which applies to local call as well as STD/IDD calls. Of course, all
calls are billed at the standard 25c untimed local call rate, from which
the discount saver is applied.

Regards,
Tim

--- FMail/386 1.02+