Additional cities?

[TheHardy]

Is it just me, or has FPL added some *new* cities to the "FREE CALLING AREA" ??? I know the 4c Connection Charge is new -- and really, something THAT major should pop up on the FPL software client or be a big blurb on the FRONT PAGE, not buried in the forums ...

but I digress ...

Plugging some info into the rate-checker, I am seeing $0.00 FREE CALL pop up for a lot of NPA-NXX combos that were not there before ...

Is this intentional, a test-phase, or an error in the newly installed TARIFF??

Curious ....

[FONGO_steve]

What cities might these be? Some refinement on our tariffs was done now that we're using the automatic updating system. It's possible that a few areas have been corrected to being free when they maybe should have been before based on their geographical location.

[TheHardy]

I notice that some dropped off the "unofficial" free list, such as Jonquiere, Chicoutimi and Alma QC (they were never on the list, but were $0.00 calls, now $0.02+CONN S/C).

The new "free" ones I am sending via PM, Steve ...

[TheHardy]

Steve, I have PM'd them to you ...

I am unsure if they were ADDED deliberately, or if they were accidentally introduced due to tariff interpretation error. Obviously, as a user, I would love nothing more than to have MORE and MORE of Canada be a FREE call (especially with the introduction of that connection surcharge!), but at the same time, I temper that with the realization that if they are indeed tariff ERRORS that it will HURT FPL in the long run .... I assume that is why the 3 QC centres above have been re-tariffed as $0.02 when they used to be FREE?

Reply appreciated, thanks!

[TheHardy]

Is there anyone else that has noticed the changes since the 'tariff' update?

I've discovered quite a few "new" exchanges that are now rated FREE, but it is rather inconsistent, IE: exchanges that are WITHIN that ratecentre's local calling area are NOT included as FREE. Some ratecentres also are now NOT FREE any longer where they were before. Most notably disappeared are the QC exchanges above, as well as T-Bay, ON and a few others out of NPA-807.

I'd welcome other observations from anyone that has noticed them. Hit & Miss/Trial & Error method initially alerted me to this, when I keyed in a number that used to be a TOLL call and it completed without the usual FAIL message due to insufficient balance -- that then led me to do some further investigation to see what was what.

[46jimbo]

Any idea if the 705 area code (Peterborough, ON) will be added sometime?

[OverDrive]

I also noticed the new tarrif changes St Margrets Bay in Nova Scotia USED to be free, now it's not.

[TheHardy]

I also noticed the new tarrif changes St Margrets Bay in Nova Scotia USED to be free, now it's not.

Being from the left-coast, I had to go back and look up the above ...

I notice that St Margrets, NS is within the LOCAL CALLING AREA of Halifax, NS -- which FPL admitted was a "FREE" city. Kris confirmed in an post waaaaay back over 4 months ago, that the FPL "FREE" zone was similar to the traditional landline local calling area of a rate centre.

Have you PM'd Steve regarding this specific incident/ratecentre for clarification? It may have been removed by ACCIDENT.

I show St Margrets to be: 902-820 & 902-826 only -- so as a 'small exchange' it may have been mistakenly removed when the tariff was re-jiggered.

Seeing you are negatively impacted by this and do a high volume of calls there, I would follow up a bit on it (assuming you have not already!)

Keep us updated.

[OverDrive]

Actually I did send a PM to Steve Sent: Dec 16th, '11, 00:01, but have not yet heard from him.

[TheHardy]

Actually I did send a PM to Steve Sent: Dec 16th, '11, 00:01, but have not yet heard from him.

Anything on this yet, OverDrive? I got some replies back from Steve to some of my queries, and he was apparently trying to burn thru some vacation time before it expires on him ... I also have found out that the tariff has been SUBSTANTIALLY reworked in order to automate the process of adding NEW information into it ... it could be that St Marg's got accidentally dropped, or they may have somehow messed up their free calling area. As I stated before, Kris verified that FPL free-to-call area around a major ratecentre MIMICS the traditional landline free-calling area (refer to www.localcallingguide.com) ... this MAY now have changed ... I have another request pending of Steve and will attempt to drill down and find out more info on this and keep you posted as well.

On another note, I would suggest keeping an eye out for FPL announcements...

[TheHardy]

Any idea if the 705 area code (Peterborough, ON) will be added sometime?

I do not see it in the latest round of updates that were made (although there are quite a few cities/ratecentres/exchanges).

I would suggest making a request for it ... either directly via PM, or maybe even creating a thread for it so that others can chime in if they find that PB would be a good addition for them!

[OverDrive]

Actually I did send a PM to Steve Sent: Dec 16th, '11, 00:01, but have not yet heard from him.

Anything on this yet, OverDrive? I got some replies back from Steve to some of my queries, and he was apparently trying to burn thru some vacation time before it expires on him ... I also have found out that the tariff has been SUBSTANTIALLY reworked in order to automate the process of adding NEW information into it ... it could be that St Marg's got accidentally dropped, or they may have somehow messed up their free calling area. As I stated before, Kris verified that FPL free-to-call area around a major ratecentre MIMICS the traditional landline free-calling area (refer to http://www.localcallingguide.com) ... this MAY now have changed ... I have another request pending of Steve and will attempt to drill down and find out more info on this and keep you posted as well.

On another note, I would suggest keeping an eye out for FPL announcements...

Sorry for the delay, newborn baby takes precedance over personal time. This is the response I got from Steve.

Hey Adam,

The tariff update that was done did also fix a few off-net areas which were mistakenly in the system as being 'free' for the last year or so. Unfortunately it would appear as though this city was one of those locations. Off-net calls actually cost us an exponential amount more money to connect because we don't have our own point-of-presence for our own network in that geographical location. As much as we'd like to be able to turn a blind eye and keep them free, the time had come for these areas to be corrected.

Calling to Canadian destinations is only $0.02/min though - so even a low denomination voucher will go a long way.

[TheHardy]

Sorry for the delay, newborn baby takes precedance over personal time. This is the response I got from Steve.

Understandable! Just wanted to see where this had gone, if anywhere....

The tariff update that was done did also fix a few off-net areas which were mistakenly in the system as being 'free' for the last year or so. Unfortunately it would appear as though this city was one of those locations. Off-net calls actually cost us an exponential amount more money to connect because we don't have our own point-of-presence for our own network in that geographical location. As much as we'd like to be able to turn a blind eye and keep them free, the time had come for these areas to be corrected.
Calling to Canadian destinations is only $0.02/min though - so even a low denomination voucher will go a long way.

Does this mean that Halifax, NS is not a PoP then? (Aimed towards Steve, Kris, Mike, FPL gang...) Now I am truely confused. If we can call to Halifax as a FREE call, what is Halifax? How is it that Halifax is FREE but the LCA _of_ Halifax is not?

I really am NOT trying to pick nits here, I am honestly, 100% well and truly confused now!!

And, I take offense/offer objection to that last line too ... $0.02 .... PLUS the connection fee ... each time .... over and over and over again. Applied over a few short duration calls (like, "OMG, gotta go change the baby, BRB!") can tend to eat thru that low value voucher quickly .... TREBLE cost for first minute ... if your calls are 1-2 mins in duration ... chew chew chew!

[TheHardy]

As per other cities that seem to have been "broken", LCG shows Winnipeg as having the following LCA:

Dugald, MB
Lockport, MB
Lorette, MB
Oakbank, MB
Sanford, MB
St Adolphe, MB
St Francois Xavier, MB
Starbuck, MB
Stonewall, MB
Stony Mountain, MB

Only part of Oakbank still comes up as being free -- the rest of the supposedly local ratecentres are now tariffed at $0.02/min+CF

Hopefully this will be looked into before any other major announcements get in the way of addressing what is going on...

[OverDrive]

Any update on this from an FPL Employee with regards to the LCA for Halifax (as that's what impacts me).

[TheHardy]

Adam -- I have had no reply either, via PM or forums, to this issue. Sorry I have no news for you. Steve was on vay-kay, but is back now ... maybe he'll stumble on this and help us out (if his cape isn't at the cleaners!)

[FONGO_steve]

At present, only the city of Halifax is being included and not the surrounding area. The free calling city list is slated for update.

[TheHardy]

At present, only the city of Halifax is being included and not the surrounding area. The free calling city list is slated for update.

Thanks for the clarification on that Steve ... is there a reason why it USED to be the whole (wireline) LCA of Halifax and has now been reduced to just plain old Halifax?

I have asked this before, without an answer. It is unclear to me how a CITY would be a "free" call without it's associated LCA ... ??? Am I missing something somewhere? I know it may not be your department per se, but is there someone that can clarify this?

Glad to know that the updated calling list is on the way ... go FonGo ...

[FONGO_steve]

At present, only the city of Halifax is being included and not the surrounding area. The free calling city list is slated for update.

Thanks for the clarification on that Steve ... is there a reason why it USED to be the whole (wireline) LCA of Halifax and has now been reduced to just plain old Halifax?

I have asked this before, without an answer. It is unclear to me how a CITY would be a "free" call without it's associated LCA ... ??? Am I missing something somewhere? I know it may not be your department per se, but is there someone that can clarify this?

Glad to know that the updated calling list is on the way ... go FonGo ...

Unfortunately I don't make those decisions and can't provide any detail as to why. When the free calling city list is updated it will accurately reflect what cities are free to call, including some additions

[TheHardy]

At present, only the city of Halifax is being included and not the surrounding area. The free calling city list is slated for update.

Thanks for the clarification on that Steve ... is there a reason why it USED to be the whole (wireline) LCA of Halifax and has now been reduced to just plain old Halifax?

I have asked this before, without an answer. It is unclear to me how a CITY would be a "free" call without it's associated LCA ... ??? Am I missing something somewhere? I know it may not be your department per se, but is there someone that can clarify this?

Glad to know that the updated calling list is on the way ... go FonGo ...

Unfortunately I don't make those decisions and can't provide any detail as to why. When the free calling city list is updated it will accurately reflect what cities are free to call, including some additions

I know that we (maybe myself more than others) ask more of YOU specifically than can reasonably be expected of a service that is provided at low/no cost to us end users --- I do very much appreciate the efforts (both paid and unpaid) that you put into supporting the forums, and the manner in which you are able to resolve issues and concerns as they come up. I don't want to beat a horse to death, but I am indeed very confused.

I understand that it is not you, and not your prerogative -- seeing as how SOMEONE has to be making these decisions, and (way back in another thread) Kris did say that FPL LCA's tend to mirror (not an absolute!) traditional wireline LCA's, I would be interested in posing the question of Halifax and Winnipeg to whomever it is that DOES make those decisions and/or handles the provisioning ... would you be so kind as to pass this up the chain of command? I realize it is low priority with all the other things that are going on currently, but getting it nailed down would be nice.

(apologies if my "dog with a bone" mentality is troublesome, I just hate loose ends and unresolved stuff -- especially when I think I have an handle on how something is supposed to work, and then a large wrinkle appears in it!)

Thanks in advance, and I hope you don't think I am taking advantage of your indulgence!

[dks]

I have been using Freephoneline to call my mom who lives in Halifax. Recently (about a month ago) it stopped working. It's no longer seen as a free call. If I call areas of Halifax that were the original (old) Halifax area, the call goes through. It seems not all of the Halifax Regional Municipality is free. The Waverley section is still part of the HRM. However, it's not a free call anymore. Those are numbers starting with 1-902-860-xxxx. However, you can call Timberlea for free - 1-902-876-xxxx. Both are the same distance away from what was considered the old Halifax prior to amalgamation. It's hard to understand why 860 is a toll call where it's toll free to call 860 from anywhere in Halifax. If you had a Halifax trunk, 860 would be a toll free exchange.

I'm not sure, but to me it seems to be a mistake to exclude the 860 exchange from the Halifax free calling zone.

[Jake]

I have been using Freephoneline to call my mom who lives in Halifax. Recently (about a month ago) it stopped working. It's no longer seen as a free call. If I call areas of Halifax that were the original (old) Halifax area, the call goes through. It seems not all of the Halifax Regional Municipality is free. The Waverley section is still part of the HRM. However, it's not a free call anymore. Those are numbers starting with 1-902-860-xxxx. However, you can call Timberlea for free - 1-902-876-xxxx. Both are the same distance away from what was considered the old Halifax prior to amalgamation. It's hard to understand why 860 is a toll call where it's toll free to call 860 from anywhere in Halifax. If you had a Halifax trunk, 860 would be a toll free exchange.

I'm not sure, but to me it seems to be a mistake to exclude the 860 exchange from the Halifax free calling zone.

Steve once sent me a link to a rate center that we should be able to call for free. 902-860-XXXX numbers were included on that list, so maybe it is a mistake you cannot call it now, or it could be that they no longer provide to those numbers. Officially if it is not in the list of places to call, we should not be able to call it for free. But we all know there is a blur in the lines there.

Maybe if Steve sees this post then he will look into it, as it is on the list of the rate center he sent me. Who knows, you might get lucky.

[dks]

It sure would be nice. I'm on a very low budget and haven't been calling my mom at all lately. It was so nice to call her for a few minutes each week. She calls me, but she can't afford long distance either. I had free calling for months, and it all stopped a month ago with the message, "Your account balance is insufficient to place your call to that destination".

It is part of Halifax, and I know it's free to call to and from Halifax, so it doesn't make sense why Halifax is mostly free but this section of the city is not.

[TheHardy]

This is one of the areas (Winnipeg is the other) where prior to an FPL-update of it's internal tariffs about 5 weeks ago, the area which we could call for FREE mirrored the traditional wireline LCA (in your case the HRM). However, as of the update, the FREE calling area of both Winnipeg and Halifax is now almost those RATECENTRES themselves ONLY (and not their associated LCA's). There were, however, numerous corrections at the same time, which fixed some problems with the LCA's of OTHER cities.

An explanation that I got from Steve was, more or less, that in places where FPL has it's own facilities and provides DID's (Halifax and Winnipeg do NOT have FPL DID's at this time) then the calling area is INDEED the traditional wireline LCA. Other cities that are ON-NET (FREE calls) but in which FPL does not have it's own facilities, enjoy only SELECTED FREE calling areas.

I will try to search out the thread and edit this to post the link, but it was a discussion about the HALIFAX calling area ... try a quick search until I find it...

Steve is the one to speak to this officially, but it IS a known issue ... and with the FonGo update/transition around the corner, it may well resolve itself then, but in the meantime, please feel free to contact Steve directly to get this issue resolved to your satisfaction.

**EDIT: scroll up in this thread about 6 or 7 messages ...

[dks]

Thanks for the update TheHardy. I did see Steve's comment where there's mention of only the city of Halifax is included. I guess he means what was known as the "old" city of Halifax. The Waverley Rd and even beyond that are part of the city of Halifax. I noticed Timberlea (1-902-876-xxxx) works. Until the late 1990s, Timberlea was Halifax County, just like Waverley was Halifax County. Now, both Waverley and Timberlea are within the Halifax City Limits. Actually Timberlea is farther away than Waverley as far as that goes. Which is why I'm wondering if there is some error.

You are correct, it was about 5 weeks ago when my calls stopped working. I just signed up to FPL in November 2011. So all together I didn't get too many free calls before it stopped working. It's kind of a shame that I spent $50 plus taxes for my file after verifying that Waverley was a free call, ony to find out a month later that it's no longer free. I am not sure that I trust this service after this because what other area will stop working out of the blue? I would think once an area was slated as free it wouldn't suddenly become toll after people have paid money for the ATA credentials. That one month where I had service I paid $57. Certainly not free, and now I cannot dial my mom's number.