RPG@heap.cisco.com (Richard P. Gruen) (07/21/89)
Two peculiarities of my dialing area in Palo Alto, California located about 35 miles south of San Francisco: Although my Zone 1 (local) calling area meets the 8-mile description, calls to Santa Clara, about 10 miles away, are charged as intra-LATA toll calls, skipping the potential zones 2 & 3 which apply to calls to the north. And yes, they are in a different area code (408 vs. 415), but so is Sunnyvale which is Zone 2. I am also the proud purchaser of a "CALL BONUS Community Plan" which provides reduced rates on calls to an island consisting of about a third of San Francisco. This plan has no effect on calls to other parts of San Francisco nor to other parts of my LATA. Calls to the island are subject to a 30% discount (as well as to time-of-day discounts); the remaining charges for calls to the island are subject to a credit of $14.90 (being twice the $7.45 which I pay for this plan). Thus Pacific Belle shows a preference for a sure-thing monthly charge over the possibility that I'll call my ladyfriend in San Francisco somewhat less frequently. No time of day restrictions on this rate, but I'll bet many of the people who use this residence service scheme do so during off-peak hours. They even offer a double size version, providing $30 of credit for a $15 monthly charge. I've selected a San Francisco island, but any of the exchanges (billing areas) within my LATA are available for selection as islands of calling. -- rpg@heap.cisco.com N6HKU +1-415-U-KNOW-IT