jackson%sdcsvax@ucsd.edu (Dick Jackson) (11/10/89)
This is a request for help. For the work I am doing I need to know about local calling areas in the Chicago area. Approximately how big are the single message unit calling zones in and around the city? Is measured use in effect for residential phones or are local calls "free". I would greatly appreciate it if someone could email this information to me. Thanks in advance. Dick Jackson [Moderator's Note: The calling zones are about eight miles apart; that is, *residence* phones can call anywhere within their eight mile zone as an untimed local call. We can talk as long as we want for one unit, which is about 5 cents. *Business* phones have this same local, one unit zone, but they pay by the minute. Nothing is untimed for business. Local calls within your zone (whatever that may be) are called 'Zone A' calls. The next 8 miles in any direction are 'Zone B', and those are timed for residence and business alike. One minute is about 3/4ths of a unit, but the clock keeps running. The third set of 8 miles out is called, obviously, 'Zone C'; and places 32 miles away are 'Zone D'. C Calls cost about a unit and a half per minute. D Calls are about two units per minute. Units get cheaper as you use more of them. By the time you are up to your thousandth unit for the month, the cost is down to about four cents each. Between 9 PM and 9 AM daily, the *unit absorbtion* per call is discounted by one-third. A local, 'Zone A' call for a residence therefore costs only about 2/3rds of a unit during the night. Maybe one or more of the Chicago readers will write you with more detailed specifics and answer questions. PT]