-=> On 05-09-06  08:41,  Michiel Van Der Vlist <=-
 -=> spoke to Philip Lozier about none <=-


 MVDV> As I understand it in most parts of the USA local calls are free.
 MVDV> Including  calls to cell phones. So suppose i had one of these cell 
 MVDV> phones with free incoming calls. What would I do when I 
 MVDV> wanted to contact you? I would make the following deal with 
 MVDV> you: I call you, let it ring three times and hang up. You 
 MVDV> see the caller id and call me back. No charge for you, no 
 MVDV> charge for me. How is the cell phone company going to make money?
 
 That is a common trick I have heard of in other contexts.   Every
 landline phone has a "calling area" where local calls do not cost
 money (other than the monthly fee).   It is possible that phone A can
 call phone B for free but not the other way around.   The two phone
 customers can conspire to do exactly what you describe.

 PL> As to on all the time... everybody I know with a cell phone has it on
 PL> all the time... you don't get charged for anybody dialing your cell
 PL> number, only if you answer it, so turning it off to save money doesn't
 PL> make sense to me.

 MVDV> Hmmm... good point. However... Dale switches it off...

  Actually, Dale switches it on only when he wants to make an outgoing
  call, and then switches it off.    I use the phone for perhaps 100
  minutes per year or less.

                               Dale Shipp
                  fido_261_1466 (at) comcast (dot) net
                              (1:261/1466)



... Shipwrecked on Hesperus in Columbia, Maryland. 22:50:08, 09 May 2006
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