By: Kristy Annely
Telephone calls made outside
the local calling area of a specified location are offered by a long distance phone service
company. In general, it is safe to say any call made outside of your own area code - be it another
city, state, or even country - will qualify as a long distance call and carry the associated
charges.
Local calls generally cost less
than long distance calls. The fees for long distance calls are not the same everywhere in the
country and can vary depending on the service provider you are using, as well as the plan you have
signed up for. In general, the most expensive calls are international calls (placed to foreign
countries), but the fees vary greatly, depending on the call destination and service
provider.
There are two different
designations for non-local calls in the US. Regular long distance calls are designated interstate
long distance calls, or inter-LATA interstate long distance calls. However, there is another type
of long distance phone call, known as inter-LATA intrastate long distance calls. These are calls to
numbers outside of the consumer's local LATA, but within the caller's state. Despite being a long
distance call, these calling areas are not necessarily serviced by the same operator, depending on
the service providers in the area and various service plans..
For larger LATAs, there is
another classification which is known as local long distance or regional calling. This refers to
calls that are made within a customer's LATA but are outside the area covered by their local
calling plan.
Often you'll find that a local
long-distance or regional call can be more expensive and actually have a higher per-minute rate
than an interstate long-distance call. This is due to differences between service providers and the
plans offered.
International calls are also
classified as long distance calls and these are usually the most expensive call that can be placed.
Nonetheless, there are many long distance providers in the US, and they are all competing with each
other for business, which often leads to affordable rates and special deals for new
customers.
Article source: http://www.i-longdistancephoneservices.com/
