Long Distance

How to choose from our short list

Tel3Advantage
The banner says it all. Click for more details.

LD-Direct(4.9¢/min)
Outbound and toll-free, same rate, 6-second billing, 18-second minimum, no monthly fee with usage over $15/mo. Below $15/mo there is a $2.50 fee, or you can sign up for the no-fee-ever plan here (5.9¢/min rate). Calling card is 12.9¢/min. Order on line or by phone.

CogniWorld (3.49¢ per minute)
High quality service, discount (3.49¢) interstate rates. Online signup. Available to commercial and residential users in qualifying areas (Enter first six digits of your phone number to check qualification.)
*Toll Free Service at Same Low Rate*

OPEX (3.9¢ per minute)
Outstanding (USA origination) service, featuring low intrastate and 3.9¢ interstate rates. Online signup. For commercial and residential users.
*100 free interstate minutes for signing up*
*Toll Free Service Available*

PowerNetGlobal (3.9¢/min with $15/mo usage, 4.5¢/min no minimum)
Ride the Light of the Fiber Optic Nationwide Network of Qwest. Toll free dial-around (PowerDial) and Travel Card (12.9¢/min) Services also available. Features 6-second billing, 18-second minimum for 4.25¢ and 4.9¢ rate plans. No monthly fee if usage is over $15!, no minimum usage for 4.9¢ plan.
* Toll Free Service Available - No service charges! *

Unitel (3.9¢ per minute)
Outstanding (USA-48 origination) service, featuring low intrastate and 3.9¢ interstate rates. Six second billing - 18 second minimum. Online signup. For commercial and residential users. Direct billed via U.S. mail.
*Toll Free Service Available*
Only available to customers served by PacBell, Bellsouth, Ameritech, US West, Southwestern Bell, Bell Atlantic

CogniDial (low cost international dial-around)
Dial a toll-free number first, then the international number you want to call, get amazingly low rates. Ex: Moscow 4.8¢, UK 4.4¢, Canada, 4.7¢, Australia, 4.9¢, Germany 5.4¢. 6-second billing, one-minute minimum, no per-call charge. USA-48 and Canada origination only, add 4.4¢ for calls from Canada. Online instant, paperless signup. For both commercial and residential users. Post-billed to your credit card, call detail reports on a private web page.

We looked all over to find the best services currently available, and we've listed them for you on the left (in no particular order). You can click any of them to get more details or to sign up, but first -- how do you choose the one that's best for you? Here are some things to look for:

Low interstate rate

This one is so obvious it almost seems unnecessary to mention. Because this is the rate the carriers all advertise most prominently, it's important to keep in mind that it only applies to calls going across state lines. Rates for in-state calls might be drastically higher. Which leads us to ...

In-state rates

Before you sign up with any service, check the in-state rate for your state. Most of the services have a link you can click to see a chart, others allow you to enter your phone number to get the rate. Or you can use some shortcuts we'll talk about later.

Billing increment

This one gets by a lot of people, which is why you should pay special attention. There are two principal billing increments: "Full Minute" and "6-second". If you're getting full-minute billing you'll pay for a whole minute no matter how small a part of it you used. For example, if you talked for one minute and one second you'd get billed for two whole minutes. With 6-second (1/10th minute) billing you buy the time in small increments. So, in our example, you'd only pay for 1.1 minutes.

The shorter your calls, the more important this is. For the average caller, making calls about 3.5 minutes long, 6-second billing will achieve an additional saving of 15% compared to full-minute.

Some of our services have optional rate plans. You can sign up for 4.9¢/minute and get 6-second billing, or you can sign up for 4.5¢ and get full minute. For most callers (all but those making very long calls), the 4.9¢ plan will actually be the cheaper option!

Minimum billing

This is the cousin of Billing Increment. It's the amount of time for which -- no matter what -- you're going to be charged as soon as the remote party answers the phone. Again, shorter is better. Some shady operators (none that are listed here!) charge outrageously long minimum billing periods, such as three minutes or even sometimes 10 minutes. So if you reach an answering machine you still pay for a ten minute call! Make sure you know what the minimum billing period is before you sign up for any long distance service.

Monthly fee

These come in two forms: (1) FCC fees (which are actually a tax with another name) and (2) Carrier fees. Generally, you're going to get the FCC fees no matter which carrier you choose, although some do offer to "waive" them -- which means they're paying it themselves and folding the cost into the rest of your service somewhere. Some carriers, particularly the large ones, frequently charge a flat monthly fee, such as $4.95. But it's becoming common among the more competitive carriers to waive the monthly fee if your usage exceeds a certain amount, usually $15 or $20. Most of the ones in our list which have fees at all do waive them this way.

If you have really low usage, we recommend, on account of the "monthly fee" issue, that you not sign up for a long distance carrier at all! There are calling cards you can use that will allow you to make all your long distance calls without any monthly fee -- including the veiled FCC tax. Program the access number and PIN code into your speed dialer, and you've got long distance service for when you need it, but without the unnecessary expense of the fixed fees.

Carrier reliability and longevity

This is more of a judgment call. For example, if you're shopping for service for your business, it might be worth it to pay a penny or so more per minute for your calls for the peace of mind you'll get knowing the carrier has been around a long time and has established a good reputation. Most businesses rely heavily on their long distance phone service, and a few dollars a month from a slighly higher rate is a trivial cost compared with lost sales and productivity due to a service interruption.

Billing options

Do you need billing codes? Do you need your bills to provide executive summaries? Some carriers can provide this, others can't. If you don't see it listed when you check the various websites, feel free to ask us and we'll either tell you or find out for you. Call us at 1-888-448-5657.

Is there a quick, simple way to cut through most of this to find the best? Yes there is. There are several, in fact:

1. Call us. We'll discuss your situation, do a little research, and get back to you in a few minutes with a recommendation. (1-888-448-5657)
2. Try CogniWorld first. They have very good rates overall -- if you qualify.
3. Use our rate lookup tool. This handy device checks many, but not all, of these services. But it's a good, quick way to get started, and then you can use the results to compare with the others.