ac> I imagine a similar situation once occurred (prior to 
 ac> the Internet) where "local" phone calls were free in 
 ac> some parts of the world, notably the US, although I 
 ac> never found out much about that.  Are they still free?

 ML> Dunno. I have a hard time believing in free anything, 
 ML> but if some fool offers I'll take it all :)

I'm pretty sure it is the same in the US as it is in Canada, where I live. 
Here you pay a flat rate of $20/month for unlimited local calling. It has
always been like that as far as I know.  The $20 ends up costing more like
$25 when you add 911 emergency fee and taxes.  If you want caller id, voice
mail, and other features those cost extra. They are priced rediculously,
for example $7/month for caller id.  You can usually get 2-3 features in a
bundle for $12 though.

Things are changing now. Most if not all companies offer unlimited long
distance calling if you call someone using the same provider.  It doesn't
matter if you are on a cell phone or land line. VoIP companies such as
Vonage offer unlimited long distance in the US and Canada for a flat rate,
like $29/month? I forget. Maybe it's a bit more. 

Transferring echomail back and forth to your hub didn't cost anything if
they were local.  And their hub would be a local call for them, but not for
you.  And so on. Some hubs didn't have a local hub to call, so they had to
dial long distance.  As far as I know, every hub charged all nodes an anual
fee.



Ryan


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