BellSouth (www.bellsouth.com) today launched long-distance service in Florida and Tennessee, making BellSouth the first of the regional operating companies to offer long distance to its entire service area.
The Federal Communications Commission (www.fcc.gov) on Dec. 19 approved BellSouth’s application to provide long-distance services to residential and business customers in the two states, where BellSouth has about 38 percent, or 9.4 million, lines.
BellSouth first was granted long-distance approval in Georgia and Louisiana in May. The company said it already has achieved 12 percent market share in both states in the residential long-distance market. In September the FCC granted BellSouth long-distance relief in Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina and South Carolina.
Rex Adams, president, BellSouth Long Distance Services says the company is providing long distance to 659,000 customers in the seven states where the company already has been selling long distance."
Customers may choose domestic plans, which include:
* A choice of package minutes at a set monthly price or low flat rate per minute with a monthly recurring charge. Discounts are available to business customers for high-volume usage.
* A calling card at 35 cents per minute, without a monthly recurring fee on direct-dialed domestic calls.
In addition to its domestic plans, BellSouth features international calling plans that offer country-specific rates that are constant, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to more than 220 countries.
Business customers can select an even further reduced rate to one of the countries they call the most, based on their calling plan.
BellSouth recently launched BellSouth Answers, a multiproduct strategy that combines on one bill the BellSouth Complete Choice local calling plan with BellSouth Long Distance, data and wireless services. The new packages offer consumers combined savings of up to 10 percent, depending on services selected, such as Internet, wireless -- and now long distance across all nine states --when purchased with BellSouth's Complete Choice plan.
Business customers with locations across BellSouth's nine Southeastern states and outside the territory may consolidate all of their long-distance business with BellSouth Long Distance
"As a testament to the strong demand for reliable long distance services and support for businesses, we have signed up 25 percent of all mass market small business customers who count on BellSouth for local phone service in Georgia and Louisiana, the first two states where we began offering service," says Adams. "For BellSouth's enterprise business customers, including major retail and financial establishments headquartered in the Southeast, we have reached our 1,000th long distance customer milestone, which says we're providing them with the level of support and service they need."
