[mod.telecom] Cheaper within an areacode?

mdf@OHIO-STATE.ARPA (Mark D. Freeman) (12/23/86)

 paul@seismo.CSS.GOV@devon.UUCP writes:
>Will keeping bulk of long distance calls within my own areacode reduce
>my phone bill as compared to having them go primarily to another
>areacode (and, in this case, another state)?

It is almost never true that it is cheaper to call within the same state
as it is to call across state lines.  It is counter-intuitive, but the
feds are much stricter about granting rate increases than the states are.

I can call from Ohio to New Jersey cheaper than I can call from Columbus, OH
to Newark, OH. (40 miles)  The local Bell gets the call, even though my 
primary long-distance carrier is US Sprint.  What a racket...