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  1. by
    kdholdom
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    Long-distance calls FAQ for Bell Mobility.

    1- Terminology

    First of all it is very important to differentiate the two distinct part of a long-distance call: the AIRTIME charges and the LONG-DISTANCE charges.

    AIRTIME:

    The airtime is what you are charged anyway when you place a call, local or not.

    ex: You place a 10 minute call during daytime and therefore use-up 10 minutes of your monthly plan.

    Your airtime 'freebies' works the same way when it’s a long-distance call than when it’s a local call. In other words, even if you are placing a long-distance call, the AIRTIME itself will still be free if placed in the following conditions (*if* your plan includes them of course):

    - Unlimited evenings and/or weekends.
    - 20 free calls per month (H5F).
    - Calls between prime and mate (shared plans).
    - Unlimited Bell to Bell local calling.
    - Unlimited incoming calls (only for the one receiving the call of course).

    *BUT* you will still be billed long-distance charges if any of the calls fall under the long-distance rules (see below).

    LONG-DISTANCE:

    The long-distance charges are completely separated from the airtime charges. No matter if you are in a situation where your AIRTIME is free/unlimited the long-distances charges will still applies.

    ex: You place a 10 minute LONG-DISTANCE call during daytime and therefore use-up 10 minutes of your monthly plan AND you are being billed 10 minutes of long-distance according to the rate of your plan.


    2- The rules

    The rules for long-distance differ a bit from how it works on a landline (regular) phone. Once again it’s very important not to confuse the airtime (the usage itself) and the long-distance. The only thing I'm talking about here is the long-distance charges themselves, your regular AIRTIME charges have to be added if applicable.

    There are only 2 very easy rules to remember to figure out how long-distance works on a cell phone, they are short and simple AS LONG AS YOU DON'T ASSUME ANYTHING outside of the rules.

    Those rules are:

    - For PLACING (outgoing) calls:

    The only thing that counts is 'where you are'. Your own phone number as no importance WHATSOEVER. So if you are in Montreal, you can call local in Montreal, if you are in Vancouver, you can call local in Vancouver, NO MATTER YOUR OWN PHONE NUMBER. However it also means that you can only call local near where you are. By exemple, if you are in Toronto with a Vancouver phone number, you can call Toronto local, but calling Vancouver will be long distance even if your number is from there. When placing calls look at your cell phone like if it was a public payphone from the city you are currently in. If it would be a long-distance to call where you want to call with a payphone, its will also be the case with the cell phone.

    Therefore: If you had to dial '1' (or if the system told you before connecting you that this was a long-distance) you WILL be charged long-distance, NO MATTER who/where/when you are calling.

    - For RECEIVING (incoming) calls:

    If you are outside your local calling area (see section 3: FAQ), ANY AND ALL incoming calls will be charged long-distance FOR YOU.


    See More: Bell Long Distance FAQ




  2. #2
    kdholdom
    kdholdom is offline
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    Re: Bell Long Distance FAQ

    3- FAQ

    Q1: What do you mean by 'local calling area ?

    A: The local calling area is the physical area where incoming calls are considering local for your cell phone number.


    Q2: How can I know if I am inside my local calling area ?

    A: Try calling your cell phone number with your cell phone itself; if the system ask you to dial '1' it means you are outside your local calling area and that therefore EVERY incoming calls will be charged long-distance for you.


    Q3: Hey, when I'm at 'x', I sometimes seem to be in my local calling area and sometimesseem to be out of it although I'm standing at the same place. How come ?

    A: When you are near the 'border' of your local calling area, your phone (depending of network availability, cell phone performances and weather conditions) might be picked-up by different towers even if you are at the same place. Therefore if the tower is outside you own local calling area then you would be considered long-distance when receiving calls. In other words it’s not your 'real' physical location that counts but witch tower is picking you up.

    ex: (this example is impossible, I'm just exaggerating it to make the point) If, somehow, you have a Toronto phone number and are physically inside Toronto BUT your cell phone is picked up by a Vancouver tower, you will be considered outside your local calling area and be charged long-distance for incoming calls (it would also means you could call Vancouver numbers locally but that calling Toronto would be long distance).


    Q4: Do I have to pay charges if someone calls me from a long-distance ? (ex: if I receive a call from England)

    A: The location of the person who is calling you as no importance WHATSOEVER for you. The rules still applies like usual. If you are outside you local calling area you are charged your REGULAR long-distance charges, if not, it is considered local.

    I want to make this very clear: when receiving calls you DO NOT CARE where the caller is, period. The caller could be on Jupiter, that’s unimportant (unless calling collect :hehehe: ). It’s just like your landline (regular phone).


    Q5: Can I RECEIVE collect calls on my cell phone ?

    A: No, period.


    Q6: Can I PLACE collect calls / use long-distance calling cards (either from Bell or others) on my cell phone ?

    A: Yes, just like your landline. HOWEVER, do not forget that when you are using a long-distance calling card it will only pay for the long-distance, NOT THE AIRTIME. Only the unlimited evenings and/or weekends features would cover the airtime itself when using a calling card, the other features like:

    - 20 free calls per month (H5F).
    - Calls between prime and mate (shared plans).
    - Unlimited Bell to Bell local calling.

    Would NOT cover the airtime since Bell has no idea who you are calling with your card (Bell is only sending the call to that long-distance provider, it’s that provider who send the call to the person you are calling).

    ex: You are placing a 30 minutes long-distance call using a 310-whatever or a long-distance card during daytime: Then you will not be charged long-distance BUT 30 minutes will still be added to your monthly daytime usage.


    Q7: Does the previous example even applies if I'm using my Bell CANADA long-distance card ?

    A: Yes, although they are both part of BCE, Bell Canada and Bell Mobility are two different companies. It would be considered unfair competition otherwise.


    Q8: Hey, how comes I cannot make oversea calls ?

    A: By default the oversea feature (OVS) is not added on a cell phone to prevent the high amount of fraud cell phone providers had on new activations/lost phones. You can request that feature to be added by calling customer service, the feature itself is FREE but you have to met some minimum requirements to be able to add it (those requirements varies with time/representative but its usually that you need to be a customer with Bell mobility for at least 6 months and had never been suspended for non-payment).


    Q9: Hey, even with the oversea feature I still cannot call 'x' country.

    A: Due to staggering amount of frauds, Bell Mobility has blocked a very few nations from their oversea system (you can still RECEIVE calls from there but not call there). The list of those nations is short but it varies depending in witch area of Canada you are (eastern, central, western) and with time. So depending where you are in Canada you might find yourself unable to call nations like Pakistan, Lebanon and a few others. There is NOTHING you or a Bell Mobility rep can do about this. The only way around is by using a prepaid international calling card.


    Q10: How much does it cost for long-distance on my cell phone ?


    A: For long-distance Canada-to-Canada, it varies depending of your plan BUT NOT THE DISTANCE, therefore no matter where you are in Canada and where you are calling long-distance in Canada, the long-distance fee remains the same. The basic fee is 0,30$/minute. For international calls it varies depending of the country and for the USA it can also vary depending of your plan.


    Q11: Ok, now I know when I'm charged for long-distance on my cell phone, but what about for the peoples who are calling me ? Do they have to pay long-distance when I'm outside my local calling area ?

    A: YOUR physical location as no importance WHATSOEVER for the person calling you, no matter if the person is on a cell or not, or is in Canada or not.

    ex: If you have a Toronto phone number, peoples from Toronto can call you local and EVERYBODY ELSE is paying the normal long-distance fee they would normally do when calling a Toronto number, period. You can be in China for all they care, they are still calling a Toronto phone number. YOU will be the one to pay long-distance if you are 'not where you are supposed to be' (inside you local calling area) but your long-distance fees would not be different if the person is calling you from next town or from another planet.


    Q12: I was told I could use some 'magic' number to override those long-distance charges, is that true?

    A: No longer. Those were the direct access numbers (DIMA) and the #511 services. They allowed you to overide long-distances charges in very specifics situations. Bell Mobility has announced those services will be abolished the latest on august 31st 2006. At the moment there as been no announcement about the creation of similar services.


    Q13: If my plan includes long-distance (ex: Business-Canada, Business-North-America, Real-Time Canada etc) does my airtime features like unlimited evenings and/or weekends also include long-distance ?

    A: For the following features yes:

    - Unlimited evenings and/or weekends.
    - 20 free calls per month (H5F).
    - Calls between prime and mate (shared plans).
    - Unlimited incoming calls (only for the one receiving the call of course).

    However the LOCAL Bell-to-Bell feature would not, you would have to switch to the NATIONWIDE Bell-to-Bell feature.


    Q14: If my plan includes long-distance (ex: Business-Canada, Business-North-America, Real-Time Canada etc) does it also include the long-distance if I do a call fowarding toward a long-distance number ?

    A: Yes. **HOWEVER**, plans that included long-distance do not have unlimited call-fowarding. So if you are fowarding you calls while on one of those plans YOUR MINUTES COUNT, no matter if the fowarding is done toward a long-distance number or not.


    Q15: Hey, how comes its long-distance to call someplace with my cell when I know its local when using a landline (regular) phone ?

    A: Sometimes the local calling area of cell phones and of landline (regular) phones differs a bit. It could also due to your cell phone being picked up by a far away tower instead of your local one due to network overload or some geographical/meteorological reasons.


    Q16: Can I PLACE calls to 1-900/976 etc numbers with my cell phone ?

    A: No, period.


    Q18: What if during a call (lets say I'm in a car) I move outside my local calling area ?

    A: The only thing that count is where you were when the call begun. So theorically you could place a call in Montreal while being in Montreal, chat all the way to Vancouver and still be local. This is, of course as long as the call don't end. This is the same no matter if its a incoming or outgoing call. The opposite is also true (if you start your call as a long-distance and drive toward your caller, you are still long-distance as long as you dont hang-up)

    By the way, its also the same for the unlimited calling features: if you have unlimited evevings starting at 8:00pm at you start a 2 hours call at 7:59pm, the entire 2 hours will count.



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