Editor’s Note: This week’s TRACNotes will be the last edition of 2006. We will resume publishing on Friday, January 5, 2007.
BUCKS WATCH
TRAC State-by-State Local Phone Plan Comparison: Iowa – (Note: This is the fifteenth in a series of articles comparing local telephone rates in each of the 50 states) According to the Iowa Telecommunications Association, there are more than 150 independent telecommunication providers in the Hawkeye State. Due to the rural nature of the state, most of these companies are small, serving a few hundred or a few thousand subscribers each. These small companies are the only companies offering telephone service at all in many service areas. That said, there are a significant number of local phone subscribers in the state that do have access to competitive choices, particularly in areas of the state serviced by Qwest and Iowa Telecom. Fortunately for many rural Iowans, the smaller rural carriers offer very competitive local calling plans, which include Caller ID and call waiting. For instance, Farmers Mutual Cooperative Telephone Company, which serves the Shelby County area primarily, offers basic telephone service with Caller ID and call waiting for the very affordable price of $16.35 per month, once the $6.50 federal subscriber line charge (FSLC) is factored in. Another bargain is Stratford Mutual Telephone Company’s “Residential Telephone Line” plan, which when combined with Caller ID, call waiting, and the FSLC comes in a $19.50 per month. Similar plans from the much larger Qwest and Iowa Telecom cost in excess of $30 per month. Because of this price discrepancy, broadband subscribers in the Qwest and Iowa Telecom service areas could find that switching to a VoIP calling plan can save them money. Consumers who are already using their existing broadband connections for other uses will find that Packet8 and Vonage, two of the largest national VoIP providers, offer all-you-can eat local and long distance packages for $10-$15 off the price of local service alone from Qwest or Iowa Telecom.
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: Iowa |
| Carrier |
Plan |
Monthly Service Fee |
Caller ID |
Call Waiting |
Federal Subscriber Line Charge |
Broadband Fee* |
Total |
| Ace Communications Group (northeast Iowa only)
| Basic Local Service |
$10.50 |
$4.50 |
$1.00 |
$6.50 |
N/A |
$22.50 |
| Bevcomm (north-central Iowa only) |
Local Phone Service |
$10.00 |
$6.00 |
$6.50 |
N/A |
$22.50 |
| Brooklyn Mutual Telecommunications Cooperative (Brooklyn, Iowa only) |
Local Telephone Service |
$10.50 |
$5.00 |
$1.50 |
$5.00 |
N/A |
$22.00 |
| CenturyTel (Chester and Postville exchanges only) |
Local Exchange Service |
$9.00 (Postville); $14.91 (Chester) |
$9.00 |
$4.95 |
$6.50 |
N/A |
$29.45 (Postville); $35.36 (Chester) |
| Colo Telephone Company (Colo, Iowa only) |
Local Access Line |
$10.00 |
$3.00 |
$1.00 |
$6.50 |
N/A |
$20.50 |
| Dunkerton Telephone Coopoerative (Dunketon, Iowa only) |
Residential Local Service |
$13.50 |
$0.50 |
Included |
$6.50 |
N/A |
$20.50 |
| Farmers Mutual Coopoerative Telephone Company (primarily Shelby County, Iowa) |
Local Telephone Service |
$8.85 |
$1.00 |
Included |
$6.50 |
N/A |
$16.35 |
| Frontier Communications |
Basic Phone Line |
$10.49 |
$8.00 |
$4.00 |
$6.50 |
N/A |
$28.99 |
| Goldfield Access Network (Eagle Grove, Clarion, and Humbolt only) |
Residenitla Telephone Service |
$9.95 |
$4.50 |
$2.50 |
$6.50 |
N/A |
$23.45 |
| Grand Mound Cooperative Telephone Association (Clinton County, Iowa only) |
Residential Access |
$15.50 |
$3.50 |
Included |
$5.00 |
N/A |
$24.00 |
| Heart of Iowa Communications Cooperative (central Iowa only) |
Residential Line |
$10.00 - $15.00 |
$3.50 |
$1.50 |
$6.50 |
N/A |
$21.50 - $26.50 |
| HickoryTech (northwest and north central Iowa only) |
ValueSelect |
$21.99 |
Included |
$6.50 |
N/A |
$28.49 |
| Iowa Telecom |
Bronze Package |
$21.00 |
$5.75 |
$4.75 |
Included |
N/A |
$31.50 |
| Iowa Telecom |
Silver |
$26.00 |
Included |
Included |
N/A |
$26.00 |
| Iowa Telecom |
Gold |
$37.00 |
Included |
Included |
N/A |
$37.00 |
| Mediacom |
Phone Service (without bundled cable TV or Internet) |
$49.95 |
Included |
N/A |
N/A |
$49.95 |
| Mediacom |
Phone Service (with bundle cable TV AND Internet) |
$29.99 |
Included |
N/A |
$39.45 |
$69.44 |
| Mediacom |
Phone Service (with bundled cable TV OR Internet) |
$39.90 |
Included |
N/A |
$39.45 |
$79.35 |
| MCI |
Neighborhood Connect 200 |
$37.99 |
Included |
$6.50 |
N/A |
$44.49 |
| 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 |
| Partner Communications Cooperative (Marshall, norther Jasper, Poweshiek, and Tama counties only) |
Residential Line |
$16.98 |
$4.50 |
$2.50 |
$6.50 |
N/A |
$30.48 |
| Qwest |
Phone Line |
$15.56 |
$7.50 |
$6.00 |
$6.50 |
N/A |
$35.56 |
| South Slope Cooperative Communications (North Liberty, Iowa only) |
Residential Line |
$13.00 |
$3.00 |
$1.00 |
$6.50 |
N/A |
$23.50 |
| Stratford Mutual Telephone Company |
Residential Telephone Line |
$11.00 |
$2.00 |
$N/A |
$6.50 |
N/A |
$19.50 |
| Swisher Telephone Company (Swisher, Iowa only) |
Residential Local Access |
$11.50 |
$4.00 |
$1.00 |
$6.50 |
N/A |
$23.00 |
| Vonage |
Premium Unlimited Plan |
$24.99 |
Included |
N/A |
$39.45 |
$64.44 |
| 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 |
| Wellman Cooperative Telephone Association (Wellman, Iowa area only) |
Basic Residential Dial Tone Service |
$10.00 |
$4.00 |
$0.50 |
$6.50 |
N/A |
$21.00 |
* Average of nationwide cable modem prices as defined by Kagan Research - 7/6/06.
VOIP WATCH
Skype to End Free SkypeOut Promotion - Skype, the free Internet calling phenomenon, has announced that their free SkypeOut promotion will be ending January 1, 2007. It will be replaced by a new Skype Unlimited calling plan that will allow users in the U.S. and Canada to call any landline or mobile number in the U.S. or Canada for $29.95 per year. As an added bonus, new subscribers who sign up before January 31, 2007 will only have to pay $14.95 for a year of service. In May 2006, Skype announced that it would offer the SkypeOut service for free as a promotion. Skype made its name for its free PC-to-PC calling service (which still exists). It later added SkypeOut to allow Skype users to call landline and mobile phones at a rate of 2.1¢ per minute. For consumers, the biggest knock on Skype was the fact that users had to rely on often-clunky headsets and microphones attached to their computers to use the service. Over time, however, Skype has begun releasing wireless and cordless phones that work like traditional handsets. The new Wi-Fi phones are especially interesting as they allow Skype users to communicate via their Skype accounts anywhere a Wi-Fi connection exists. The full line of Skype-enabled handsets is available by clicking here. To read more about the new Skype Unlimited plan, click here.
WASHINGTON WATCH
TRAC Applauds Passage of Pre-Texting Ban in Senate - The recent Hewlett-Packard Board of Directors scandal put the spotlight on pre-texting, a problem that has been brewing in the wireless industry for some time. Fortunately for consumers, as one of its last acts before adjourning, the U.S. Senate passed legislation that makes impersonating wireless or wireline telecom subscribers to obtain phone records a criminal offense. In addition, the law prohibits the unauthorized sale or transfer of confidential phone record information, or the receipt of such information with the knowledge that it was fraudulently obtained. Under the terms of the Senate’s bill, violators of the new law could be imprisoned for up to 10 years. It also doubles fines and adds an additional five-year prison term for pre-texting crimes involving more than $100,000 or 50 customers over a 12-month period. In addition, violators who use pre-texting to gain information that is later used to perpetrate violent crimes, domestic violence, and crimes against law enforcement officials could face an additional 5-year prison term. “This bill gives law enforcement the tools they need to go after pre-texters and put an end to this practice,” said TRAC chairman Samuel Simon. “We applaud the Senate for working to make consumers safer that they were before this bill was passed,” said Simon. For more information on the new bill, 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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