-> In the USA we get a certain number (400-500) local calls as
-> 'free' with no added charges to the phone bill. Being a point
-> in countries that charge for _all_ calls by the minute makes
-> more sense. 

 Yuo can get Limited Call service free service from Southwest Bell but
their standard line has no limit on Number of calls nor Time limits per
call.
The latter is kinning the phone companies as theri Infrestructore was
designed with reliatiave short calls i nmind. The Hours some spend o
nthe Internet knoks their usage calculations out the window. 
They by the way are behind the puch to Charge extraq fro POTS line
connections to the Internet.
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