bnelson@CCB.BBN.COM ("Barry C. Nelson") (05/24/88)
RE:Subject: Local Calling Areas >So who has the largest local calling area? >Where are those mappers to tell us! It may not have been exactly "toll-free", but in Italy (and many other places, I'm sure), there is ONLY measured service which is accomplished with mechanical counters. They count clicks, the frequency of which goes up with the distance (non-linearly). Your monthly bill shows up with a grand total of the clicks used during the previous month; no number called, no dates, no time-of-day, no toll-call breakdown. (Great for accounting :-) Over the years I used the service, I noticed that calling New York, San Francisco or Tokyo cost THE SAME, about $75.00/hr, since the poor little counter was already going as fast as it could. Therefore, since it didn't COST any more for a given number of minutes, then it must be "toll-free", right? So, my "toll-free" area was most of the world outside Europe! ;-) Doncha' luv statistics? Barry