Telephone billing question: "Local Toll" [Telecom]

This is a phone-bill rather than technical question, but perhaps someone can help educate me on AT&T charging.

On our most recent AT&T bill from a 530-546-xxxx residential number at Lake Tahoe CA, includes 40-odd 3 minute to 20 minute itemized "Long Distance" calls to 650, 408 and 415 area codes in the San Francisco Bay area plus a few calls to the East Coast, all billed by VarTec for a grand total of $10.15 -- about 5 cents/minute.

Then there are two calls of 35 and 47 minutes to a 530-271-xxxx number, in same area code but located in Grass Valley CA (Sierra foothills), labelled as "Local Toll" and billed on the AT&T part of the bill for a total of $11.48 -- or 14 cents /minute for these much nearer, same area code calls.

Is there some way around the, as it seems, highway robbery aspects of this AT&T charging? (Although, fortunately, we aren't actually at this Tahoe number very often, and the two calls in question were one of a kind events.)

Reply to
AES
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Get a flat cost service or use your cell phones. Are those all your calls?

Reply to
Steven Lichter

Sure. Call AT&T and tell them you want Vartec as your intra-LATA toll carrier as well as inter-LATA. Then you'll get Vartec's 5 cent rate for calls within LATA 726.

5 cpm seems to be the going rate for intra-LATA. That's what Verizon charges me here in New York.

R's, John

Reply to
John Levine

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