BUCKS WATCH
TRAC State-by-State Local Phone Plan Comparison: Florida – (Note: This is the ninth in a series of articles comparing local telephone rates in each of the 50 states) Floridians with existing broadband connections who want a simple unlimited local calling plan can save $100 or more per year by switching from a plan offered by the local Bell company to a VoIP calling plan. Consumers without broadband connections or who do not feel comfortable with VoIP may be able to save somewhat by going with a competitive local service provider offering traditional wireline phone service but their monthly local phone bill will likely continue to be in excess of $30. TRAC’s survey of local calling plans reviewed 51 local service plans currently being offered by 42 companies in the state.
The cheapest calling plan surveyed was Cordia Communications’ “Basic Plan” VoIP calling plan. Home Town Telephone’s “Total Choice Package #1” was the cheapest non-VoIP plan surveyed at $24.95, but the company is only offering services in select communities with fiber-to-the-home service in the Port St. Lucie area. Among traditional copper-based carriers, Navigator Telecommunications’ “Navigator Basic Plus” plan was the cheapest offering at $30.45 per month. The most expensive plans surveyed were the prepaid local service plans offered by companies like 1-800-RECONEX and Vizon Telecom. These prepaid plans are generally marketed to customers with bad credit and can run upwards of $59 per month.
Overall, traditional wireline local service plans differed little on cost. Instead, carriers tended to compete on the number of optional calling features offered. “Consumers in Florida looking for a simple local calling plan with the two most popular calling features should investigate all their alternatives before settling on one company,” said John Breyault. “The biggest local phone provider may not always be the cheapest.”
A note on methodology: TRAC’s local phone plan survey takes in to account the prices for monthly service, the Federal Subscriber Line Charge, and the two most popular calling options – Caller ID and call waiting. Note that some local phone service plans are only offered as a bundle with long distance service, which skews the total cost comparison somewhat. TRAC’s survey covered plans being offered in a variety of local service areas. Plans surveyed may not be available in every area of the state.
| TRAC Local Phone Plan Comparison: Florida |
| Carrier |
Plan |
Monthly Service Fee |
Caller ID |
Call Waiting |
Federal Subscriber Line Charge |
Broadband Fee* |
Total |
| 1-800-RECONEX |
Unlimited Local Calling Plan (BellSouth service area) |
$57.56 |
$8.99 |
$5.99 |
Included |
N/A |
$72.54 |
| 1-800-RECONEX |
Unlimited Local Calling Plan (Verizon service area) |
$65.56 |
$7.99 |
$7.99 |
Included |
N/A |
$81.54 |
| Access |
Simple Connections Lite |
$33.95 |
Included |
$6.50 |
N/A |
$40.45 |
| ACN |
Advantage Home with Standard Long Distance |
$26.98 |
Included |
$6.50 |
N/A |
$33.48 |
| Advantage Group Communications |
Advantage Thrifty Plan |
$29.99 |
Included |
$6.50 |
N/A |
$36.49 |
| American Dial Tone |
4 Star Package, Caller ID, Call Waiting |
$41.99 |
Included |
N/A |
N/A |
$41.99 |
| ANEW Broadband |
ANEW Choice |
$27.00 |
Included |
$7.84 |
N/A |
$34.84 |
| AT&T |
Two-Feature Package Enhanced |
$26.95 |
Included |
$6.50 |
N/A |
$33.45 |
| BellSouth |
BellSouth PreferredPack Plan |
$27.00 |
Included |
$6.50 |
N/A |
$33.50 |
| Bright House Networks |
Unlimited Florida |
$28.95 |
Included |
N/A |
$39.45 |
$68.40 |
| Bright House Networks |
Unlimited Florida (without broadband fee) |
$28.95 |
Included |
N/A |
N/A |
$28.95 |
| BroadStar |
Preferred Phone Plan |
$24.95 |
Included |
$6.95 |
N/A |
$31.90 |
| Cleartel Communications |
Residential Basic |
$29.95 |
Included |
$6.00 |
N/A |
$35.95 |
| Cleartel Communications |
Basic Plus |
$32.95 |
Included |
$6.00 |
N/A |
$38.95 |
| CloseCall America |
Preferred Choice |
$26.90 |
Included |
$6.50 |
N/A |
$33.40 |
| Comcast |
Digital Voice Unlimited |
$54.95 |
Included |
N/A |
N/A |
$54.95 |
| Cordia |
Basic Plan |
$9.95 |
Included |
N/A |
$39.45 |
$49.40 |
| Cordia |
Basic Plan (without broadband fee) |
$9.95 |
Included |
N/A |
N/A |
$9.95 |
| Cox Communications |
Digital Telephone |
$49.95 |
Included |
$6.50 |
N/A |
$56.45 |
| Embarq |
Embarq Basic Home Phone Service |
$29.95 |
Included |
$6.50 |
N/A |
$36.45 |
| Excel Telecommunications |
Basic Plan |
$34.95 |
$6.95 |
Included |
$9.50 |
N/A |
$51.40 |
| FDN Communications |
FDN Rez Pac |
$29.99 |
Included |
$7.84 |
N/A |
$37.83 |
| FlaTel Inc. |
Direct Easp Pay Deluxe - Unliminted Local Service |
$39.00 |
Included |
$6.50 |
N/A |
$45.50 |
| Florida Telephone Services, LLC |
FTS Feature Plan |
$39.95 |
Included |
$6.99 |
N/A |
$46.94 |
| Global Telecom Group |
Complete Choice Plann |
$25.95 |
Included |
$6.50 |
N/A |
$32.45 |
| GTComm |
Basic Local Service |
$29.00 |
Included |
$6.63 |
N/A |
$35.63 |
| Harbor Communications, LLC |
Harbor Home Standard 100 |
$25.95 |
Included |
$6.00 |
N/A |
$31.95 |
| Home Town Telephone |
Total Choice Package #1 |
$24.95 |
Included |
N/A |
N/A |
$24.95 |
| KISS (by Covista) |
Standard Local |
$29.99 |
Included |
$6.50 |
N/A |
$36.49 |
| Knology |
Local Phone Service |
$18.26 |
$9.00 |
$7.50 |
N/A |
N/A |
$34.76 |
| Midwestern Telecommunications, Inc. |
Local Plan |
$39.95 |
Included |
$6.00 |
N/A |
$45.95 |
| NationsLine |
Bronz Plan |
$39.99 |
Included |
$6.50 |
N/A |
$46.49 |
| Navigator Telecommunications |
Navigator Basic Plus |
$23.95 |
Included |
$6.50 |
N/A |
$30.45 |
| Nii Communications |
Residential Basic |
$29.95 |
Included |
$6.00 |
N/A |
$35.95 |
| Nii Communications |
Basic Plus |
$32.95 |
Included |
$6.00 |
N/A |
$38.95 |
| Packet8 |
Freedom Unlimited |
$19.99 |
Included |
N/A |
$39.45 |
$59.44 |
| Packet8 |
Freedom Unlimited (without broadband fee) |
$19.99 |
Included |
N/A |
N/A |
$19.99 |
| PowerNet Global |
Call to Connect Simple |
$16.33 |
$9.00 |
$6.00 |
$6.50 |
N/A |
$37.83 |
| RightLink USA |
Basic Line |
$16.95 |
$8.50 |
$6.00 |
$6.50 |
N/A |
$37.95 |
| SNC Communication, LLC |
Plus Plan |
$39.95 |
Included |
$6.50 |
N/A |
$46.45 |
| STS Telecom |
Special Unlimited Extended Local Calling Plan |
$29.95 |
Included |
$6.50 |
N/A |
$36.45 |
| Sunshine State Total Communications |
Sunshine Economy Plan |
$30.95 |
Included |
$6.75 |
N/A |
$37.70 |
| TDS Telecom |
Basic Phone Line |
$19.70 |
$6.00 |
$3.00 |
$6.50 |
N/A |
$35.20 |
| Trinsic Communications, Inc. |
Value Plan |
$37.99 |
Included |
$17.26 |
N/A |
$55.25 |
| Unicom Communication, LLC |
Local Phone Service |
$39.00 |
$10.00 |
$5.00 |
Included |
N/A |
$54.00 |
| Verizon |
Verizon Local Package |
$29.99 |
Included |
$6.50 |
N/A |
$36.49 |
| Vizon Telecom |
Simple Plan |
$59.00 |
Included |
N/A |
N/A |
$59.00 |
| Vonage |
Premium Unlimited Plan
(without broadband fee) |
$24.99 |
Included |
N/A |
N/A |
$24.99 |
| Vonage |
Residential Basic 500 Minutes Plan
(without broadband fee) |
$14.99 |
Included |
N/A |
N/A |
$14.99 |
* Average of nationwide cable modem prices as defined by Kagan Research - 7/6/06.
WIRELESS WATCH
Detroit Is Tops in Wireless-Only Households Says Study - Detroit residents are the most eager cord-cutters in the nation according to a new study released this week. The report, authored by wireless market research firm Telephia, found that 19% of Detroit households are wireless-only. Minneapolis-St. Paul came in second place, with 15.2% of its residents reporting that their households are wireless-only. Based on the 20 metropolitan areas surveyed, 9.7% of households nationally have cut the cord with their local phone company. Interestingly, of the 20 cities surveyed, tech-savvy San Francisco had the lowest percentage of cord cutting household at 5.5%. The study’s author said this could be attributable to the areas high income levels and generally low level of mobile network quality. Before cutting the cord, consumers should strongly consider a 30-day wireless-only trial period during which they forward all calls that would come to their home to their cell phone and make all outgoing calls from cell phones only. If after the 30-day period, service quality is acceptable and plan overages are not being incurred, then cutting the cord and going wireless-only may make sense. To learn more about the Telephia report, click here.
TRAC AND YOU
TRAC Welcomes A New Intern - We are pleased to welcome TRAC’s new intern, Eli Steinberger, to the organization. Eli is a sophomore at The George Washington University School of Business where is studying accounting. He grew up in Akron, Ohio and has lived in Washington, DC since he started at George Washington in the fall of 2005. He is very excited to be helping out with TRAC and is looking forward to learning more about the telecommunications industry and its consumer advocacy movement. Eli will be researching articles for TRACNotes and upcoming consumer guides and assisting in TRAC’s advocacy efforts, among other activities.
INTERESTING LINKS
FCC Main Page: http://www.fcc.gov
FCC Complaint Form - http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/cib/fcc475.cfm
List of State Regulatory Commissions: http://www.naruc.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=15
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©2006 Telecommunications Research and Action Center. TRAC grants unlimited rights to reproduce TRACNotes or any information contained in it provided attribution is given as follows: "Source: Telecommunications Research and Action Center. http://www.trac.org"
