AT&T adds 'minimum use' fee for those who don't use long distance

[OhioChick]

You're dinged if you call and dinged if you don't.

AT&T has added a new $2-a-month "minimum use" fee to the phone bills of landline customers who don't have long-distance calling plans.

In other words, customers who rarely, if ever, make long-distance calls are the ones most likely to pay the fee.

Those customers can avoid the fee, a company spokeswoman said, as long as they make at least $2 worth of long-distance calls a month.

More: http://www.cleveland.com/consumeraffairs/index.ssf/2011/08/att_adds_minimum_use_fee_for_t.html#incart_mce

[GodlessBiker]

1. Another nail in the coffin of landlines.

[ZombieHorde]

8. My wife makes many long distance calls, and land lines offer the best rates for long distance where

I live.

[Tesha]

15. This may change as more of your contacts "go wireless".

One of my daughters is on AT&T along with me
so all of my calls to her are 100% free.

Tesha

[Ruby the Liberal]

2. Well, thats not regressive at all.

Given that people on fixed incomes will be the least affected.

/sarcasm

[sfpcjock]

3. I think they're losing some of their text message $$$ windfall...

due to competing services. Since they can't charge you 20 cents for a .01 cent sms message they need to generate more "fees" to cover the 24-hour TV ads for their services. In Europe communications companies still have to compete. Here they are spoiled.

[jimlup]

4. Ditch your land line...

Really what is the point of it. Especially if companies like ATT are going to pull this kind of crap.

[enlightenment]

7. I won't give up my landline.

I like it. I like being able to hear what people are saying. I like knowing that my calls are not dependent on how 'strong' the signal is in my house or having to wander from room to room to find enough 'bars' to make a call. I like knowing that the phone will work. Full stop. Even if the power goes out or the grid fails.

I even prefer using a landline with a cord - better reception than a cordless.

[Tesha]

12. You're lucky; our landline was served by a "concentrator"...

...and the concentrator was powered from plain-old utility
power with a short-time battery backup. In a power failure,
our landline worked for maybe a half-hour or so, and then
it was just as dead as everything else.

Oh, after a few days of continuous blackout, the local phone
showed up with a generator in a truck and powered it back up
again, restoring service to the ~2000 subscribers connected
to the concentrator, but by comparison, Comcast had hauled
out little Honda generators, chained one at each utility pole
near their repeaters, and powered their repeaters back up
again several days before that.

These days, we've ditched the landline. Instead, we operate
a free AT&T "microcell" connected to our Comcast cable broad-
band; We always get five bars always around our house and our
"home" number (which we ported to one of the cells) comes with
us wherever we go.

Tesha

[saras]

9. For what? Surely not a cell phone and the culture that comes along with it...

I have, on the other hand, heard of multiple houses sharing a little-used landline, and splitting the cost. It's just twisted-pair wire, and handles VERY long distance runs with no problem. Obviously this doesn't work if you use the phone to socialize. And it may or may not be legal, depending on the specifics of your state and provider.

[GoCubsGo]

10. Not only will I not give it up...

I will not give up my old corded Trimline phone, either. When we had an ice storm here a few years ago. The power was out for over a week in some areas. The only communication was via landline, and with corded telephones. From what I understand, cell phone service got knocked out after that earthquake last week, and it will surely be non-existent for those enduring this hurricane.

And, no dropped calls, dead zones, etc., like one gets with cell phones.

[CurtEastPoint]

5. If you have broadband, investigate VOIP

I have had it for about a year now and it's cheap, unlimited LD and local, terrific quality and oh, yeah, F**K AT&T.

[toddwv]

6. Absolutely. I've had Vonage for about two years.

Costs me a bit over $30.00 but that's because I chose the plan that lets me call my sister in England for free. Quality is great and it comes with a ton of features.

The ONLY issue is that if your internet is down, your phone is down but everybody in the house has cell phones so no biggie.

[TreasonousBastard]

11. Skype is 3 bucks a month and Yahoo Messenger is even cheaper, but...

around here the internet is the first thing to go, then the electricity and cell coverage is always iffy.

The landline never goes down, even when poles are knocked over.

[itsrobert]

13. Ooma free after a one time charge for equipment

Except for the regulatory fees mandated by the government.

[cbdo2007]

14. still cheaper than having long distance

We just have our landline for emergencies cause we have small children so I guess I'll just fork over the extra $2 per month.