ml> my no frills landlines cost me ~$30US each... when i say no frills, i
 ml> mean it, too... no caller id, no 3-way calling, no voicemail, nothing
 ml> extra 'cept maybe touchtone capability...

 RW> That's espensive. Before Uncle Sam adds his share, mine costs
 RW> $9.95/month. It totals to nearly $15 with Fed, State and local
 RW> taxes.

i used to have a "number to nowhere"... no lines or anything...
it was a "remote call forward" number that was programed by the
telco to forward to my main line... it was $9.00 a month... then it started
going up... a whole slew of additional fees authorized by the FCC (i
think)... things like long distance access, tty service, 911, and other
stuff that was physically impossible to do, use or take advantage of since
it was an inbound number only... when it doubled in cost to $18.00, i had
it terminated...

i don't recall and can't lay my hands on a current bill right now but about
1/3rd is these other fees that the gov't allows them to charge to spread
out the cost... that's alltel, though :(

)\/(ark