If we leave AOL signed on all the time, does that mean no more charges for local call

Factual Questions
21

Ex-AOL employee checking in here. Some phone companies charge per local calls, some don’t. It generally depends on the area you live in.

At the same time AOL pays the backbone provider X amount of dollars per gigabyte sent over the lines. The backbone provider then pays the local phone company based on the amount of data the line tranmits. When you are idle on AOL or any other ISP the ISP sends a heartbeat to your computer. The heartbeat basically asks the users computer “Are you still there?”. If the users computer replies “Yup” the connection stays open. Since the heartbeat packets are really small keeping the connection open doesn’t cost all that much.

So AOL is paying a tivial amount to keep your connection open. If you look around some ISP’s are advertising a flat rate that also has a limit to the amount of data that can be transmitted over the connection per month. IIRC, AT&T implemented a limit on how much data could be transmitted using their unlimited plan. People were not happy with it but they had to follow the plan.

In other words, it is not how long you are connected that matters it is how much data you send and recieve.

Slee

22

Sorry, sleestak, that is simply not correct.

It is correct that some local phone companies charge residential customers by the call, and some don’t.

AOL does not pay the backbone provider X amount per gigabyte sent over the lines. Well, that’s not quite true either, but it gets more complicated here. For the backbone provider, there are two types of “access” - 1) the connections to AOL, and 2) the connections to AOL users. The connections to AOL (which are high-speed dedicated connections) do get charged by bandwidth used. Connections to AOL users are (mostly) made through dial-up connections between user modems and UUNET (backbone provider) modems. Those connections are charged per hour.

[sub]I’d give you the exact rate per hour, but that my violate some NDA I signed, which could allow WorldCom to come back and take away some of THEIR worthless stock. AAAHHHHH!![/sub]

Well, at least that was the case when AOL Network Services (ANS) was sold to UUNET in the three-way Compuserve deal. It is possible that the deal has been restructured, but I sincerely doubt it.

It is definitely not correct to suggest that UUNET pays the local phone company on bandwidth used. Just like other businesses, UUNET buys local phone lines from the telephone company, and typically pays a fixed rate per month per line (although some do charge some combination of per call and per minute, NONE are per gigabyte). For that matter, the local phone company has no idea how much data travels the line, all they see is an analog wave form. Only the user’s modem and UUNET’s modem knows the number of bits.

AOL might send a hearbeat, although I doubt it, but I know that the network doesn’t (UUNET in this case, or most other ISPs generally).

Cite? Here are the details of the AT&T unlimited offer, and no such restrictions apply. I would be interested in any other such restrictions you might find.

Therefore, as far as DDG is concerned, it doesn’t matter how long she is connected or how much data she sends or receives. As far as AOL is concerned, it does depend on how long she is connected, but only infinitesimally about how much data she sends or receives.

23

DDG, if you are able to stay connected to AOL for a whole day or longer, great for you. But since you are tying up one complete incoming phone number/line to them, I doubt if AOL will put up with this for long if many subscribers catch on to it. After all, they pay the phone company X dollars per line, and I suspect the value of X is close to what you are paying them for ISP service, so the profit margin is pretty thin.

It seems like it is only a matter of time before AOL configures themselves to disconnect everyone that is connected for N minutes, regardless of their activity, or perhaps disconnect those on for the longest time when the number of available dialup numbers drops below some threshold.

So enjoy it while you can – and consider that DSL or cable, while more expensive, has tremendous speed advantages. And if you can get cable, you won’t need the 2nd phone line, so that $10-20 charge can be subtracted from the $40-50 month cable fee.

24

McLeodUSA is already in bankruptcy. See here.

25

dantheman, if you’re in Laurel and using Verizon, you’re definitely paying for your local phone calls. In your area, Verizon offers a Flat Rate Service for something like $16 per month with unlimited local calling, an Economy Message Rate Service for $5.92 per month and 8 cents per local call, and the Message Rate Service for around $10 monthly for up to 65 calls.

DDG, that $50 rate for DSL is nuts . . . we pay $39 with Verizon here. Theoretically, though, you could dump AOL because you’d have a direct connection and account with the DSL provider, and could therefore transfer whatever the AOL monthly fee is these days to the DSL payment. So your new out-of-pocket costs are lower.

26

I may be paying, but I’m not paying per call. If they’re charging, they’ve lumped into the regular bill. I’ve looked all over the bill, and there’s nothing about local calls. Must be the Flat Rate Service.