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The Telecom Digest for June 8, 2013
Volume 32 : Issue 123 : "text" Format
Messages in this Issue:
Re: Cellco cheating with Prepaid? (Joseph Singer)
Re: Cellco cheating with Prepaid? (danny burstein)

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Date: Thu, 6 Jun 2013 07:35:55 -0700 (PDT) From: Joseph Singer <joeofseattle@yahoo.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: Cellco cheating with Prepaid? Message-ID: <1370529355.30421.YahooMailClassic@web121905.mail.ne1.yahoo.com> Sun, 2 Jun 2013 08:33:12 -0700 (PDT)Mark Smith wrote: > I think Tracfone does whole minute increments, so if you go a > second over it costs a minute. As far as I know all US mobile operators use "send-to-end" billing meaning that you have the possibility to be charged any time you press the "send" or talk button. You are only charged if the end calling party's line answers. If it does answer you are charged for the entire length of the call process i.e. you will be charged time from call setup, called line ringing, actual time the conversation is going as well as the time it takes to take down your call. This is in contrast to the way some operators work. In Canada (on Fido) for postpaid service you are charged exact billing and only are charged for actual off-hook time. This is also the norm for many foreign GSM operators. I'm guessing that send-to-end billing is a remnant of analog mobile calling since (I'm guessing) there was no "supervision" available for analog systems. The domestic operators saw no reason to change the system since it helped them make more revenue even though with today's sophisticated systems exact billing is easily possible. It's not so important for people who have unlimited talk on their mobile plans, but can mean higher charges for anyone who is still paying for their voice calls by the minute.
Date: Fri, 7 Jun 2013 18:32:55 +0000 (UTC) From: danny burstein <dannyb@panix.com> To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: Cellco cheating with Prepaid? Message-ID: <kot90m$56o$1@reader1.panix.com> In <1370529355.30421.YahooMailClassic@web121905.mail.ne1.yahoo.com> Joseph Singer <joeofseattle@yahoo.com> writes: > This is in contrast to the way some operators work. In Canada (on > Fido) for postpaid service you are charged exact billing and only are > charged for actual off-hook time. This is also the norm for many > foreign GSM operators. I'm guessing that send-to-end billing is a > remnant of analog mobile calling since (I'm guessing) there was no > "supervision" available for analog systems. > The domestic operators saw no reason to change the system since it > helped them make more revenue even though with today's sophisticated > systems exact billing is easily possible. i Omnipoint used to charge from answer to "end". They switched to "send to end" (rounded up to the minute [a]) very roughly five years ago. (Which is probably ten by now...). [a] With the notable exception of Nextel, which used to round up to the tenth of a minute (six seconds), all major US carriers have always done full minute segments. Then again, so did AT&T in the wired phone days. --- _____________________________________________________ Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ***** Moderator's Note ***** ISTR that the one-minute billing increments were a result of the mechanical time-recording and reporting systems of the manual-cord-board days. Bill Horne Moderator
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