And so, finally on to the question, does anyone know if Qwest offers a
> real low cost (perhaps metered) service for POTS in the 480 area? ...
> The Qwest web site is no help; it only talks about premium plans.
The Qwest web site is quite helpful if you look on their tariff server. It says that low use resi service is $8.50/month plus 20 cents per call (plus the usual taxes and fees.) There appears to be a one-time charge of $10 to switch from flat rate to low use. IT is definitely available in Phoenix. By comparison. flat rate is $13.18, so it's not that much cheaper.
When the Qwest rep denies that it's available, the USOC order code is RMN.
R's,
John