The always informative Local Calling Guide reveals that 712-858 is the
> tiny Superior Telephone Co-op, which strongly suggests that this is a
> USF arbitrage gambit. That is, the co-op gets a very high per minute
> settlement rate on inbound calls which is more than enough to pay the
> penny or so that most int'l calls cost and still have something to > split.
> A little poking around reveals that this isn't the only USF arbitrage
> in this exchange:
In the 1950s I used to go to coffee and lunch often with the assistant connecting company agent in Austin (title later changed to independent company relations manager) and he said there were numerous small exchanges -- often manual -- that could profitably make calls to the town which served as their toill center and receive a latger sum under the settlements with indepedent companies then in effect than the amount they would be billed by the Bell Company.
Wes Leatherock snipped-for-privacy@aol.com snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com