VOIP Tech Chat → Re: [Voip.ms] Absurd per-minute charge calling a Yukon / NWT cell phone number

Then this becomes a different conversation. Most carriers dont charge usage for on-network calls because there are none. It never left the network. The charges are for when it leaves their network.

Are you both on the same carrier? Is the husbands phone number out of different rate center?

The couple in question (it's her phone I'm talking about) I don't normally need to contact her on her phone, it's her husband I normally talk to on his phone (he does not have a crazy area code) so this hasn't come up before. But he's away for a few weeks, but when he comes back I'm going to quiz him on this phone stuff (he's more technically inclined) and I'll find out if her use of her phone in this area has been a cost issue for others, not just me.

This may be a minority opinion, but I agree with you that this is an absurd situation. And you have made some excellent points about how stupid this is in today's age. The first thing I would tell you is that you need to convince your friend to change their phone number to one that is not in the 867 area code unless there is some compelling reason not to. And if they won't do that, then just text them whenever you want to talk, and say "Call me please." If any of that offends them then maybe find another friend. I mean seriously, there is no reason either of you should be paying for some Bell executive's second mansion. Bell is an obscenely rich multimedia conglomerate, and yet from what I have read in various forums they still feel the need to gouge people every which way they can, much like the old Bell System/AT&T in the USA.

Now what you could also do is file a CRTC complaint. Since I don't live in Canada I don't know exactly how that works, but in the USA you can file a complaint with the FCC or a state's Public Utilities Commission for free. Sometimes they take it seriously, and other times they just file your complaint away. But the point is that if they receive enough such complaints, it may force them to rethink why they are still allowing this particular little ripoff to occur. Still, I can tell you that it will be a lot easier and faster if your friend just changes their phone number to a local number, because even if by some chance the CRTC did act on this, it will probably take them years, perhaps even decades.

The old time phone guys are going to scream about the cost of maintaining facilities across a remote area but what they don't tell you is that some of that cost is probably being subsidized by the government, and in any case having that infrastructure universally available benefits all Canadians. But also, since it is Bell we are talking about, I doubt any of those facilities are dedicated to a single use. All those facilities more than likely carry wireless AND landline AND Cable TV AND Internet service. And I have no idea what the rates are for Cable TV or Internet service up there but I will bet they aren't cheap, because I've seen pictures of price tags on store shelves in the far north and you'd think it was on Mars from the way they up the prices. Seriously, I think you'd need to be earning really good wages (or fishing or hunting for most of your food) to be able to afford living up there.

In my case with the Yukon TN, we could be talking about the same carrier (ie the cell towers that the phone is connecting to are all Bell, in the Yukon when the phone is there and Bell when the phone is thousands of miles away).

So I still don't get how equipment thousands of miles away is going to be involved, especially if we're talking about *the same* carrier.