Long Distance May Face a Very Short Future

For years, long-distance calls were more expensive than local calls because providers such as AT&T, MCI and Sprint Corp. had to pay fees to local phone companies to have their long-distance calls begin and end on local networks. Over time, the Federal Communications Commission has reduced those fees from several cents each to only half a penny apiece, Pulver said.



"A lot of cost is from originating and terminating a call, not how far it goes," he said. The marginal cost of carrying a call farther on a company's phone network amounts to "some fraction of a penny per call."

The end of long distance. I basically only call my family in Utah, and we get a 4.5 cent/minute rate through a phone card. We probably spend five bucks a month on LD. Eventually I hope we get rid of our land line and go to cell phones.