Bj”rn Forsstr”m wrote in a message to Roger Nelson:

[...]

 BF> Sorry, but I still don't quite follow you here.

Long distance companies.  There are many to choose from.  The local
telephone company will allow you to make long distance calls within a
certain range, but beyond that range, you must have a long distance carrier
to get you the rest of the way, be it nationally or globally.  So, there I
was, not making or receiving long distance calls and being charged a
minimum rate by the carrier just for being one of their service customers.

 BF> Let me explain how it works here.
 BF> With my phone I can call all over the world and I can't discontinue
 BF> anything, if I do I can't use the phone at all. There are no extra
 BF> charge for me to have a LD carrier and I don't have to pay for
 BF> anything that I don't use, and espcially not for incoming calls.

That sounds nice, on the surface.  But if you were to make a call to me,
for example, wouldn't you be charged a certain amount by the minute?

 BF> Therefore I don't understand why you have to pay for having this
 BF> option. 

I didn't either, which is why I discontinued the long distance service in
favor of a cellular phone.

 BF> And what is really Long Distance for you? For me it is to call to 
 BF> northern Sweden and if Ishould call you it's a foregin call.

See my first paragraph.

BF>> Can't you make a long distance call?

Rather difficult to explain, but I'll try.  I have no long distance
carrier.  Of course, this doesn't apply to toll-free nunbers.  I can call
those from coast to coast.  I can make a long distance call outside of my
home phone's calling area using my cellular phone.

 BF> Don't you have to pay at all for domestic calls?

Not really.  This is the way it works: The local phone number, the one you
see as my BBS number on the Origin line, is a service provided by the local
telephone company.  I pay a flat rate monthly fee for that.  The same
applies to my cellular phone.  I pay a flat rate monthly fee for it, too. 
As far as the local telephone company is concerned, I may make unlimited
calls within my calling area at no extra charge.  But if I wanted to call
my daughter, who lives 85 miles away, there would be an additional per
minute charge, and that extra charge would depend on how long I spoke to
her.

 BF> L.A. I was aware of but not LA and I did found Mandeville in
 BF> Louisiana, north of New Orleans, just across the lake with a very
 BF> long name. 

All states in the United States of America have a two letter designator. 
The lack of dots in the state designator tells you it is a state.  For
example, CA would be California, TX would be Texas, and you already know
what Louisiana is.


Regards,

Roger 
--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+