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Many Toll Services providers
in NZ use a charging scheme called "Minute
plus Minute" whereas Communitel uses
"Minute plus Second".
Virtually all toll services have a setup cost.
That is what it costs the service provider
to arrange the connection of two telephones.
For this reason almost everyone charges the
first minute of a call at a set rate regardless
of whether or not the call lasts a minute
or more.
It is not much more expensive to hold a call
open for longer than it was to set it up,
so it would be reasonable for Toll Service
Providers to charge by the second after the
first minute is used. But most don't.
They go on charging by the minute.
Statistically speaking, there is 1 chance
in 60 that a call will end exactly on the
60th second, or more to the point 59 chances
in 60 that it won't.
So there is a very high percentage chance
that if you are on a Minute plus Minute plan,
you are paying more than you should for almost
every call. Even if the Minute plus second
rate is higher than the minute plus minute
rate.
This chart shows the gap between a 14c per
minute "Minute plus Minute" plan
and a 15.3c per minute "Minute plus Second"
charging plan.
Effectively you get approximately the last
10 seconds of the minute where you could save
on call costs on a Minute plus Minute plan,
but if you miss it, you are paying considerably
more for the next 50 seconds.
So the moral is, even if the rate is lower,
a Minute plus Minute plan is seldom a better
deal.. Minute plus Second is fairer by far,
that is why Communitel has elected to use
this system.
Remember: To get
the 14c/min rate on Telecom AnyTime Plus you
have to pay $10 per month more for your Telephone
circuit.
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