800 NUMBERS TO CHANGE AMERICA 

Change is more apparent when its effects are close at hand.

For the past many years B.C. Tel (through Telecom Canada) has been paying the various U.S. phone companies with whom it does business a per minute price for every call that British Columbians have been making to any U.S. destination. Currently, they pay a flat .21 cents a minute regardless of where that call terminates. B.C. Tel customers on the other hand don't quite get so good a deal. They pay between .33 cents a minute to call Seattle to .93 cents a minute to call Miami (Both daytime rates). With B.C. Tel you are also locked into a 3 minute call (with a premium on the first minute) even if you only speak one minute. (On Operator assisted calls only). It gets worse if you call Hawaii. Even though the Phone Co. only pays the 21 cent fee. You pay $1.40. The first minute costs you $2.60. That leaves a $2.39 return for that minute for B.C. Tel, a 1000% mark-up!

Now with U.S. phone deregulation making things wide open electronic entrepreneurs seeing such 'spreads' have moved in adding yet another change factor to the communications explosion.

Now both business and residential users with almost any substantial number of monthly calls to the U.S. may find considerable savings in the alternative long distance services offered. Currently this service is available on the Lower Mainland and in the Victoria area.

By November an additional feature called 'travel code' will also be available for those customers travelling in the U.S. They will be able to call an 800 number while in the States and route their call within the American system and only pay the lower U.S. rates. Another new feature effective also next month is 'consecutive calling'. This will allow a customer to continue a series of long distance calls without disconnecting. The advantage here is that if your first call is made at 7:55 a.m. and finishes at 8:05 a.m. the remainder of your series of l.d. calls can still be made at the earlier hour rate because your have not disconnected from the B.C. Tel network. At anytime there is still a saving as a premium is always charged by B.C. Tel for the first minute when you redial.

Unlike the phone company there is now no monthly service charge to residential users for these new services and potential customers have a choice of two new competing companies in this field. Both offer similar phone services to the U.S. from the Vancouver and Victoria areas.

Initially the additional dialing process appears a bit complicated but if you select the new screw-on touchtone mouthpiece - supplied by the new companies - for your old phone the procedure is greatly simplified.

Computer buffs that have been paying the data line surtax levied by DataPac to use their terminals to access either The Source, CompuServe, Delphi or NewsNet will be pleased to hear they can now go via the new routing at much lower cost. If your Bulletin Board has a U.S. 800 number you are now hooked up for just 40 cents! Extra time runs at 20 cents a minute.

Remember always with change and new technology: If you use it you usually profit from it. Resist it and you'll be victimized by it. For additional details: CamNet, 1201 - 789 West Pender St., Vancouver, B.C. V6C 1H2 Phone: (604) 669-3773.

LongNet, 8th Floor, 1111 West Hastings St., Vancouver, B.C. V6E 4C5. Phone: (604) 669-2222.

Long Distance Access Corp., (Pending CRTC approval), 200-1790 Kingsway, Vancouver, B.C. V5N 2S6 Phone: (604) 877-1371.

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