Editor's Note: Due to the Thansgiving holiday, TRACNotes will be taking a short hiatus starting next week. We will resume publishing on Friday, December 1, 2006. Happy Thanksgiving!
BUCKS WATCH
TRAC State-by-State Local Phone Plan Comparison: Idaho – (Note: This is the twelfth in a series of articles comparing local telephone rates in each of the 50 states) Idaho is a big state with a small amount of people and many very rural areas. Thus, there are a large number of small rural carriers serving large portions of the state. While it is a lot easier to find a plan that suits you than it is for people in Hawaii (which we covered in last weeks TRACNotes), it will still take a bit of searching to find the best choice. Qwest is the incumbent local phone provider in much of the state, and it does a pretty good job of staying competitive. Users can get a basic line with Caller ID and Call Waiting for $36.33 per month (before state and local taxes), which is about average. CTC and Silver Star Communications provide the best competitive wireline options that we could find, offering the same deal at $37.55 and $35.60 per month, respectively. For a reference on where specific carriers are available, you can click here. The VoIP options in Idaho are not as diverse as in some of the more populated states, but there are still a few to choose from. Although we found no Idaho-based companies offering the service, the major players in the VoIP market (Comcast, Vonage, Packet8, etc.) all offer this service to Idahoans with broadband connections at affordable prices.
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. The survey did not include additional taxes, fees, and surcharges that vary by carrier and location. 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: Idaho |
| Carrier |
Plan |
Monthly Service Fee |
Caller ID |
Call Waiting |
Federal Subscriber Line Charge |
Broadband Fee* |
Total |
| AT&T |
One Rate Local |
$33.95 |
Included |
$6.50 |
N/A |
$40.45 |
| CenturyTel |
Basic Plan |
$31.06 |
Included |
$6.50 |
N/A |
$37.56 |
| Comcast |
Comcast Unlimited |
$39.95 |
Included |
N/A |
N/A |
$39.95 |
| CTC |
Basic Residential Plan |
$24.10 |
$6.95 |
$6.50 |
N/A |
$37.55 |
| Direct Communications |
Top 4 |
$24.20 |
$8.95 |
$6.70 |
N/A |
$39.85 |
| Fremont Telecom |
Residential Plan |
$26.50 |
$8.50 |
$6.50 |
N/A |
$41.50 |
| 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 |
| Vonage |
Premium Unlimited Plan |
$24.99 |
Included |
N/A |
$39.45 |
$64.44 |
| Qwest |
Choice Home |
$29.99 |
Included |
$6.34 |
N/A |
$36.33 |
| Silver Star Communications |
Basic Residential Plan |
$24.10 |
$5.00 |
$6.50 |
N/A |
$35.60 |
| Trinsic |
Trinsic Unlimited |
$85.89 |
Included |
Included |
N/A |
$85.89 |
| Verizon |
Local Package |
$31.95 |
Included |
$6.50 |
N/A |
$38.45 |
| Vonage |
Residential Basic 500 Minutes Plan |
$14.99 |
Included |
N/A |
$39.45 |
$54.44 |
| 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
Wireless Service – From Your Cable Company? - A little over a year ago, cable giant Comcast announced its plans to offer cellular phone service to costumers. This week, the company announced that it will begin offering cell phone service to it subscribers in Boston and Portland, Oregon later this month, and plans to expand the offer to the rest of the country in the coming months. Comcast is partnering with Sprint Nextel in this effort. Among the features being offered, the company will integrate cell phone charges with the rest of their video and data services on a single bill. Subscribers will also have access to a “universal” voice mailbox, which will send a notice to their cell phone when they have a received a voicemail on their home phone. Comcast also plans to release technology that makes it possible to record TV programming via cellular devices. Of course, there is a catch. Comcast and rival Time Warner Cable (who is also beginning to offer these services in Austin, Texas and Raleigh, North Carolina) will require consumers to purchase at least one additional service (such as cable television or high-speed Internet service) when buying a cell phone package. While this “bundling” of services may make sense for the cable providers, consumers will want to compare prices among all wireless services to see if the switch is a money saver. The exact service launch date and service prices have not yet been released, but fees are expected to be competitive with other national cellular phone plans. For more information on Comcast’s foray into cellular service, click here.
WASHINGTON WATCH
Proposed Tax Hike Could Cost Florida Consumers More than $200 Million - A recently-proposed change in the way that the federal Universal Service Fund (USF) is collected could end up costing Florida consumer more than $200 million dollars. According to new research from the Keep USF Fair Coalition (of which TRAC is a supporter), a proposal to change the USF collection method from “pay as you use” methodology to a $1.50 per connection monthly flat fee will actually significantly increase the amount of tax that Florida consumers pay. Under the current system, consumers pay into the USF based on a percentage of the charges incurred for interstate long distance calls, currently set at 9.1% by the Federal Communications Commission. The current system works best because it does not penalize consumers who make few, if any, long distance calls. Under the proposed system, consumers would have the pay the tax even if they made no long distance calls. For subscribers on a fixed income or who maintain a second phone line for fax or dial-up Internet access, the proposed change would be especially hard to swallow. The Keep USF Fair Coalition noted that, at the $1.50 per-connection USF charge level, all 50 states would end up paying in more than they are getting back. Even at the more modest $1-per-line level, only consumers in Alaska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Mississippi, Montana, Oklahoma, New Mexico, West Virginia, South Carolina and Connecticut would get more out of the USF than they are paying into it. For more information on how the proposed change would affect consumers, click here.
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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