Local
and Long Distance Phone Services
Local
phone service refers to the services provided by phone
companies that allow a customer to make calls within
the same city or region, which is defined as the local
calling area. What constitutes an individual local
calling area is decided by the phone service provider.
Until
a few years ago it was not possible to choose your
local service telephone provider. However, the Telecommunications
Act of 1996 opened up the telephone industry to wider
competition and now it is possible for most people
to choose a service provider that offers the best rates
and service. Thanks to this act, consumers benefit
from increased competition and now have better deals
to choose from when it comes to phone services.
Long
distance services were first offered in 1892 when AT&T
built a long distance telephone network that was interconnected
between New York and Chicago. Due to the limitations
of the technology available at that time, this network
could not be extended further. After the invention
of loading coils, the network was expanded to Denver,
in 1911. Following the development of audio technology
in 1914, it was possible to make telephone signals
reach each other from one coast to another. However,
the first real-time long distance call was not possible
until 1951, with the introduction of the direct distance-dialling
feature of AT&T. This is also the first time an
area code was used, which led to today's 10-digit phone
numbers.
For
a long time, long-distance carriers specialized only
in providing long-distance services. However, with
technological advancement most of the service providers
could provide both local and long distance phone services
to their customers. Joining the two services led to
streamlined billing and better customer support. However,
the current long distance market is fiercely competitive
and using a separate service provider for long distance
services can ultimately be cheaper because the providers
are competing for business and tend to offer low-cost
plans.
The
main long distance service providers in the U.S. are
Sprint, AT&T and MCI Worldcom. With the development
and proliferation of mobile phone technology, mobile
telephone service providers have been able to compete
with the long distance service providers, providing
customers low rates for local and long distance calls.
This is one of the main reasons for the increasing
popularity of the cell phones in the telecom market. |
