Arbiter, July 23 Students of Boise State University
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Boise State University ScholarWorks Student Newspapers (UP 4.15) University Documents 7-23-2003 Arbiter, July 23 Students of Boise State University Although this file was scanned from the highest-quality microfilm held by Boise State University, it reveals the limitations of the source microfilm. It is possible to perform a text search of much of this material; however, there are sections where the source microfilm was too faint or unreadable to allow for text scanning. For assistance with this collection of student newspapers, please contact Special Collections and Archives at [email protected]. ALproves there's no place like home OnJuly 30th, Bishop Allen will play their' first show in Boise Inlportl InAaE Page. Page. Dialing down costs: 7 ways to save on your phone bills By Phyllis Stone ing habits and find a calling plan that suits you. I Knight Ridder Newspapers Switch to a low-cost provider. Such provid- 2 • ers buy time in bulk from the big carriers If you've studied your phone bill' lately, you've and resell it under a generic name at much lower probably noticed that service is getting more ex- rates. Generally speaking, the sound quality of pensive each month. these providers should be on par with that of In May, the Big Three phone carriers delivered the major carriers because they use the same yet another increase in fees and per-minute rates network. Search engines on Web sites including on some of their calling plans. AT&T's 7 Cents ABTolls.com and SaveOnPhone.com can help offer is now 10 cents a minute, a 43 percent consumers find the cheapest service based on increase; MCl's operator-assistance per-call where they live and their monthly in-state and surcharge is up $1 to $5.99; and Sprint's Casual long-distance usage. Caller per-minute rates are up 22 percent to 89 As with any phone carrier, however, there cents. might be monthly fees in addition to the per-min- The good news: There.are legitimate ways to ute rates, and the low long-distance charges might cut your costs besides calling friends and fam- be offset by higher in-state or international rates. ily when you know they won't be home, leaving Also, a small company could go belly up. Your them no choice but to return your calion their long-distance service may not be interrupted, Photo by Krista Adams I The Arbiter dime. however, because you may be automatically Here are seven ways to save: switched to another provider. Come up with a plan. If you don't al- Dial around. Ever wondered whether those Seventy-five cent .surcharge 1.ready have a long-distance calling-plan, 3• "dial around" services like 10-10-220 or get one. Those who don't have one spend as much 10-16-789_ are really worth it? For some callers, as 72 percent more using the basic rates the answer is a resounding "yes." These services could save your lite o f - fered by local carri- let users make a long-distance call through their ers, according to main carrier by first dialing the service's number, usually seven digits. By using 10-10-220, for ex- by the end of this year-two after a neighboring house went Consumer Ac- But only if your years ahead of the FCC deadline. up in flames. Her call went to the tion's 2002- ample, consumers pay 99 cents for calls up to 20 Without the enhanced ser- wrong fire department and the 03 Long minutes and 7 cents per minute after that. vice, dispatchers can determine fire department couldn't find the cell phone is Distance Try unlimited long-distance plans. People the general area of where a cell address because it wasn't in their 911-compatible phone call is coming from by district, thus delaying emergency Survey. 4 • whose phones are practically attached to locating the tower the signal response. A woman and two chil- Look at their ears can save big by going with unlimited \ dren were killed in the fire. By Monica Price bounces from, says Killeen. The your old long-distance calls for a set monthly fee. Many .News Reporter level of accuracy depends on the After Yong Chen was stabbed, providers will throw in services such as call wait- location you're calling from and his family was unable to get him phone \ ,~ Starling this month, cell phone where the nearest cell tower is heir by 'dialing 911 from. their bills to ing, three-way calling or even a high-speed Inter- '.',,' users in ADA County will pay a located. cel phones. By the time emer- get a net connection or wireless plan. $.75 surcharge for Enhanced 91 L Wireless E911 has had trouble gency workers found Chen after sense Whcn away from home, ~se a prepaid card. service-a system used by emer- getting Off the ground. Critics at- neighbors using a landline dialed gency dispatcher, to pinpoint the tack state ~ovemments, the I:CC 911, Chen had bled to death. o 'f S • Look for per-minute rates less than 5 cents, location of a cell phone signal and the Wireless community' for Then there is the story of Jen- your . no. per-call connection or maintenance fees and nifer Koon, who was kidnapped. on a map. But will It help you in the delays. call- pay-phone surcharges of 50 cents or less. Con- case of an emergency? Yes-but In a statement to Congress, from a mall in Rochester N.Y., only if you have the right phone. John Melcher, president of the sexually assaulted and killed as sumer Action's Prepaid Phone Card Industry Sur- ADA County will use the $.75 National Emergency Number emergency operators listened via vey lists a number of reputable names. surcharge to install the Enhanced Association presented some of Koon's cell phone. The technol- Another option is prepaid long-distance pro- 911 system; but in order for the the hold backs in E911 deploy- ogy needed by disp'atchers to viders such as BigZoo and OneSuite, which sell system to work, a cell phone ment. Namely-that emergency locate her wasn't available. must be equipped with loca- dispatch is unable to accept E9ll Consumer Reports conducted prepaid long-distance time charged to a credit tion-based services. According calls because they lack the equip- a survey of 11,500 people last or debit card. Customers use the service by dial- fall. In that survey 1,880 people to ADA County Sheriff Vaughn ment needed. ing a toll-free or local-access number, Killeen, "Most Reople don't have State governments arc divert- attempted to call 911from i the technology. ing. funds intended to update their cell phone within the . then using a personal identification Killeen estimates that there emergency dispatch equipment previous year. Fifteen number. are over 40,000 cell phone us- to ensure E911 compatibility. Ac- percent said they had Slap it on plastic. Some ers in ADA County. Last year cording to a National Emergency trouble connecting and' dispatchers took 127,804 911 Number Association audit, Cali- 4 percent of those calls 6• carriers will waive their calls, or an average of 350 calls fornia, Oregon, Rhode Island, were unable to reach monthly fees or cut per-minute per day. An increasing number of North Carolina and Washington 911 at all. rates if you pay your bill online. those calls are being made by cell collectively diverted $83 mil- Consumer Reports But if you don't payoff your phone users who, unlike landline lion last year from E911 funds to attributed most of the . users aren't able to be located the other miscellaneous projects. problems to the phone credit cards each month, you instant tney dial 911. "911 fundin¥ has become system. are better off finding other Consumer Reports "You're paying for the fee, an easy target,' said Melcher, ways to cut costs. you might as well have the ser- "This results in missed deadlines, recommends cell phone vice," Killeen said. Cell phone under-funded systems or no de- users purchase a phone 7. Keep it simple. Don't pay customers can check with their ployments at all." with digital and analog for things you don't need. Do ability. Analog provides vendor to see if their phone has Washington Post reporter you really need three-way call- location-based services. - Petula Dvorak highlighted three a safety net when the . The Federal Communications cases in a March 31 article where phone is out. of di~ital . ing? And is it really so hard to . Commission is requiring that 911 calls from cell phones were range. Major national dig out the phone book rather . carriers that provide ana- Enhanced 911 or E911 be able not received where a life could than calling information? to pinpoint a cell phone signal have been saved. In Chillum, log backup are AT&T Wire- within 50 to 300 meters by De- MD a woman dialed 911 from less, Cingular, Sprit PCS and Source: www.smartrnoney.com cember 2005. ADA County' plans her cell phone when a house Verizon Wireless. to have its system up and running Tipslor cell·phone users Relationship violence COrl1IDOn Do r.Jt dial 911 to test the system. It's unethical and, in may areas, illegal. Avoid digital-only phones or carriers if you want a cell phone for emergencies. Some phones that use the Code Division Multiple Access (COMA) digital format can be forced into analog by the user.