BellSouth today launched business and residential long distance services in Georgia and Louisiana after getting approval to do so May 15 from the FCC.
The company is touting its quality service record; it’s ability to bundle local, wireless and data services with long distance; and simplicity of pricing as its differentiators in the market.
Customers that sign up for one of BellSouth’s long distance calling plans can have their long distance charges appear on the same bill as their BellSouth local phone and DSL service and Cingular wireless service, if desired.
If a customer does not sign up for a plan, BellSouth will charge them a direct dial change of 14 cents a minute for in-state or out-of-state calls. But the company offers a variety of long distance calling plans on both the business and residential sides.
BellSouth Talk 60 is a monthly package of 60 minutes with a recurring charge of $5.95, with minutes over the 60 charged at 10 cents per minute. BellSouth Talk 300 is a monthly package of 300 minutes with a $19.95 recurring charge. Minutes over the 300 are charged at 7 cents per minute.
BellSouth Home Connections Plan gives customers who have BellSouth Complete Choice and BellSouth Fast Access, the BellSouth Distance 300 long distance plan, 300 minutes of long distance calling for a monthly charge of $15.95. Minutes over 300 are billed at 7 cents per minute.
BellSouth Fixed Rate Plus is a $0.05 per minute plan for a set monthly recurring charge of $8.95.
The company also offers a couple of international calling packages.
Plans for business users include BellSouth Business Preferred Rate, which adjusts the per-minute rate every month based on usage, with a per minute rate ranging from 6.5 to 6.9 cents. A monthly recurring charge of $3.95 applies. The monthly recurring charge is waived once the monthly usage exceeds $25. Promotional offer is 60 bonus minutes, plus waiver of monthly recurring charge for three months, plus opportunities for additional promotional offers.
BellSouth Business Fixed Rate customers receive the same flat rate of 7.5 cents per minute on all domestic direct dial long distance calls. A monthly recurring charge of $2.95 applies. There’s a promotional offer that gives 60 bonus minutes.
BellSouth Business Volume Discount users will receive significant discounts on domestic direct dialed and international long distance calls. The higher the customer's total long distance call volume, the greater the discount. A minimum monthly charge of $30 is required. There’s a promotional offer that’s 10 percent off of international rates until August 2002.
BellSouth Business International Fixed Rate has per-minute rates vary based upon the country called, not the day of week or time of day a call is placed. A monthly recurring charge of $2.95 applies. There’s a promotional offer that’s 10 percent off of international rates until August 2002.
BellSouth Business Country Select allows businesses to select one country they call the most and receive a lower per-minute rate when calling that country. A monthly recurring charge of $4.95 applies. There’s a promotional offer that is 10 percent off of international rates until August 2002.
BellSouth International Advantage gives customers that spend more than $150 a month on international calls a low, fixed-rate international calling plan with a monthly recurring charge of $24.95. There’s a promotional offer that offers 10 percent off of international rates until August of 2002.
BellSouth Business Class Family of Services bundles dial direct, toll-free, long distance private line, long distance frame relay, long distance ATM and dedicated access on a single contract and on a flexible billing plan that lets customers consolidate long distance spending to achieve greater discounts.
BellSouth’s existing business account teams will sell the long distance plans to businesses and organizations. A special customer resource center for business will handle provisioning, trouble tickets and other support issues for BellSouth’s long distance business customers. The company says it also has backup, outsourced call centers at the ready if needed.
BellSouth intends to launch long distance services in its other states, where it’s currently working to win 271 approvals, by the end of the year. Those states include South Carolina, North Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee and Florida.
