said by jjeffeory:How does this meter work for local phone service? For long distance, yes, there has been a time meter or per minute charge, but for basic service, how does this work. Are we going to be charge per minute? By distance to site, what? Do we get charged when someone pushes unwanted advertising or updates?
Traditional telephone service is unmetered, for the most part.
But there
is a "metered" option in many states. It's called "measured" service. You pay by the call, not by the minute. And it only applies to outbound calls, all inbound calls are free. There is no distance factor, as long as your call is considered a "local" call. Obviously, LD charges still apply for LD calls. I think 800 calls are still free, and of course there is no charge for calls to 911.
People typically order measured service when they don't make many calls because it is cheaper than "flat-rated" (i.e., unmetered) local telephone service.