No extra cost LD.  I can call any phone in the country, same price, from
INSIDE my regional area.  I travel outside the region very infrequently,
even more infrequently at $4-5/gallon, now!  When I do travel outside the
region, I simply call 611 or go to the webpage and buy 100 mins of
nationwide service for $10.  My account is setup so that it will refill
the 100 minutes for $10 when it runs under 10 (I think) minutes so
there's no chance of roaming charges.

I only pay for nationwide service when I want to USE nationwide
service....more infrequently as fuel and traveling prices rise and rise.  
It's a real consideration more people should be making these days.  I
don't need service in Utah 99.9999% of my life.  I'll buy it for $10 when
I do.  That's only 10c/min for nationwide service-on-demand, which is
cheap.

$39.95 buys you 500 minutes on the nationwide plan with Free LD,
unlimited N/W, Unlimited M2M on Alltel and one My Circle unlimited number
on any system, phone or cellular in the country.

$10 more buys you 750 mins and 5 unlimited My Circle numbers on any
system.

Alltel's unlimited plans with My Circle are new and the new best deal.
$50 buys you 750 mins plus 5 My Circle numbers with unlimited N/W, M2M,
all the toys.
$60 is 900 mins plus 10 My Circle numbers
$80 is 1400 mins plus 10 My Circles but if you're going to go this far
you might as well spend $99 and just get nationwide unlimited with no
need of My Circle as you can call any number any time forever....all
unlimited, unless you have more than one phone sharing the plan.  Of
course the $99 plan doesn't allow you to spend $10/extra phone/number to
share unlimited minutes.  It's just for single phones and, curiously, not
available for smartphones and Blackberry for some strange reason that
escapes me.

Most Americans are not nationwide travelers and forcing them to buy only
nationwide plans they'll rarely, if ever, get use of is just stupid.  
With the constantly rising price of fuel, transport tickets, hotels and
guest taxes, even more Americans are just wasting their money buying
nationwide SELLphone service.  The carriers who don't offer local or
regional service are just fleecing them...especially Verizon and ATT.

I think it is 500 minutes, with everthing AT&T offers except rollover.

I don't find Alltel particularly cheap at all, but this may be
because the only prices I pay close attention to there are those for
the "North America Freedom" plan, which includes Mexico roaming.  I think
they want $170/month for about the same service that I pay Verizon
$110/month for now (I'd pay that if Verizon dumped me, however, since
it is still a bargain compared to the alternatives...).

Dennis Ferguson

"Elmo P. Shagnasty" <elmop@nastydesigns.com> wrote in news:elmop-
EA141D.06103010052008@nntp9.usenetserver.com:

You've got that all wrong, Elmo.  From INSIDE my region, I can call any
phone in the country, including AK and HI without LD charges.  As I rarely,
if ever, go outside my region, I never have roaming charges.

If I do decide to sneak down to Florida for some fun and games, I buy 100
mins of nationwide service for $10 either off the alltel webpages or just
call 611 and have it added on....10c/min nationwide service ONLY WHEN I
WANT IT.

The regional plan makes more and more sense every week as every travel
price, especially fuel, skyrockets, keeping more and more Americans HOME.

How many days last month did you spend out of your state and the states
around your home?....out of a regional plan.  Wouldn't twice as many
minutes or a plan that gave you the same minutes at half the price have
been a better, more economical deal....especially now that you know you can
call anywhere in the country from inside that region without extra LD
charges?