TRAC State-by-State Local Phone Plan Comparison: Puerto Rico - (Note: This is the last in a series of articles comparing local telephone rates in each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.) Consumers in Puerto Rico have very few choices available to them for competitive local telephone service unless they have access to a home broadband connection. Puerto Rico Telephone (PRT) is the dominant carrier on the island and callers will typically pay between $29.85 and $33.55 for unlimited home phone service (“Unlimited Local Calling” plan) from them. Liberty Cablevision, the major cable company on the island, has begun competing heavily with PRT thanks to its “Unlimited Plan,” which costs and estimated $24.99 per month and does not require bundled broadband or cable television service. OneLink is another cable company offering digital phone service, but their service does require home broadband service, making it less competitive with PRT’s offerings. As elsewhere, Packet8 and Vonage (along with other third-party VoIP carriers such as Net2Phone) offer competitively-priced plans, many with unlimited local and long distance calling for less than $30 per month.
Note to readers: This comparison is the final edition of our 52-week state-by-state comparison project. In the coming months, we will be combining all of our state-by-state comparisons into a compendium report that will review basic local phone raters nationwide. Look for updates on the progress of the report in future TRACNotes!
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: Puerto Rico |
| Carrier |
Plan |
Monthly Service Fee |
Caller ID |
Call Waiting |
Federal Subscriber Line Charge |
Broadband Fee* |
Total |
| Liberty Cablevision of Puerto Rico |
Unlimited Plan (wuthout internet and cable fee) |
$24.99 |
Included |
N/A |
N/A |
$24.99 |
| OneLink Communications |
OneVoice Digital Phone |
$21.99 |
Included |
N/A |
$39.45 |
$61.44 |
| 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 |
| Puerto Rico Telephone |
Unlimited Local Calling |
$15.10 - $18.80 |
$6.25 |
$2.00 |
$6.50 |
N/A |
$29.85 - $33.55 |
| Puerto Rico Telephone |
Digital Phone (Unlimited calling in Puerto Rico) |
$29.99 |
$6.25 |
$2.00 |
N/A |
$39.45 |
$77.69 |
| 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 |
* Average of nationwide cable modem prices as defined by Kagan Research - 7/6/06.
Popularity of Family Plans Underscore the Need for Flexible Planning - Wireless consumers are signing up for family plans in increasing numbers and are finding that they fit their needs very well, according to new research from J.D. Power and Associates. The JD Power survey found nearly 50 percent of households with wireless service are on plans where they share minutes with another user, a 29% jump since 2003. Tellingly, users on shared-minute plans were less likely to say they were planning to switch carriers than those on non-shared plans. With more and more family members sharing monthly minute plans, it is increasingly important for consumers shopping for wireless service to review the typical wireless usage of ALL members of the family. For example, in a family where Mom and Dad use the phones only for voice calls, teenage kids might use their handsets more for texting or downloading content to their phones. A plan that gives Mom and Dad many minutes but doesn’t include a bucket of text messages could lead to some costly bills, as pay-as-you-go texting typically costs 10¢-20¢ per text message sent or received. Alternatively, a plan that focuses on giving the kids plenty of texting flexibility buts shorts parents on airtime minutes is no good either, as airtime overages of as much as 45¢ per minute are not uncommon. The answer for consumers considering family plans is to sit down with everyone who will be using the plan and find out how they will use their wireless service. Once a clear idea of needs is established, consumers have a better idea of what plans will meet their requirements. This is especially important because users of family plans tend to stick with their plans longer than those not on family plans. Just imagine the headaches involved with acquiring and activating a new handset, not to mention getting the number ported to a new carrier. Now multiply this by 3-4 family members and you can see why many consumers choose to stick with their current carrier rather than deal with the hassle. A good tip for current cell subscribers it to sign up for their existing carrier’s online account management. Most major carriers offer this service free of charge and it makes reviewing past bills and getting an idea of usage patterns much easier than sorting through months’ worth of paper bills. To read the full JD Power survey, click here.
TRAC IN THE NEWS
Text Messaging Costs Have Increased, Says TRAC - Consumers yearning for the “good old days” of 10¢ pay-as-you go text messages are unlikely to find such rates with the largest wireless carriers. Charges from T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon Wireless are all 15¢ per message sent or received. Recently, Sprint-Nextel announced that their pay-as-you go rate will increase to 20¢ per message sent or received. While we detect a not-so-subtle effort to get consumers to sign up for text-messaging plans, a little math should be done before signing up for one of these plans. For example, Sprint currently offers a 300-message texting plan for $5.00 per month. For $5 more, users can get an unlimited texting plan. As 20¢ per message, a user would need to send or receive more than 25 messages a month to make the $5.00 plan worthwhile. Beware of signing up for a text-messaging plan where you’re likely to leave a large number of messages unused every month. "If you buy too many, you are wasting money," said John Breyault this week in the Florida Times-Union. To read the full article, 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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