You know the old joke about local calling zones and LATAs.  There are these two Polish guys in an Irish bar drinking Jamaican rum when....hold on a second, actually, NO one in their right mind or even sloppy drunk, who would talk about zones and LATAs.   The topic might drive you to drink, but even then, you won't want to talk about it.  And that's too bad, because they can be an important part of cutting your "phone phat" and getting your overweight phone bill fighting-trim again.   So let's travel down to the phone phat farm and see how we can cut some of your excess phone weight.

Zones and LATAs
So here's a quick primer.  Back in the "old" days, like a few years ago, most business phone charges were based on distance. This was not narrowed down quite so much for residential calls because you generally get an unlimited number of local calls (unless you opt for ZUM billing) but it's good to know where LOCAL stops.

There are 3 "bands" around your local central office.  Zones 1 and 2 are billed together. You pay a flat rate per-minute rate for these calls. Zone 3 is for calls to central offices from 13 miles to 16 miles and are an additional fee per minute. Beyond that, within your LATA, is called Local Toll. You can have your dialtone provider carry these (at a fairly high rate) or you can have a long distance carrier handle them. The bottom of this web page gives a graphic representation.

What's a LATA? It is a Local Access Transport Area which is the geographic limit of where a wireline phone company (e.g. AT&T in California) can carry calls. They were created as part of the breakup of the phone system in the 1980's. You can call within a LATA without the call being considered an IntraState or InterState (aka Long Distance) call. Here in California, the PUC considers San Diego and Imperial Counties to be LATA 6 and nationally it's called LATA 732.

Long Distance Calls
Calls outside your LATA cannot be handled by your local landline carrier. They must be handled by a long distance provider. You get to choose this carrier (known as a PIC in telco lingo) when you sign up for wireline phone service. Don't settle for the default because it will probably be much more expensive than if you do a little research and specify one. Also, be sure you HAVE picked SOME kind of plan because if you have no plan at all, your long distance calls can be billed at the highest rate your carrier charges. Even if you make few long distance calls, a couple minute call at the default rate could cost you many dollars.

Here's at least one web site that helps you compare long distance plans available in your area. 

Getting Slammed
You shouldn't be paying more than a dime a minute for long distance calls these days. If you are one possibility is that you have been SLAMMED - that is, a nefarious long distance provider has told your phone carrier to switch you to them (as if you had actually asked for this to happen) and now you will pay higher rates. They do this because this all can be so confusing that the average consumer has no idea that it occurred. You can confirm you long distance carrier very easily: just dial 1-700-555-4141. This free call will tell you who you are signed up with. If it's not who you expect, call your provider. To avoid being SLAMMED, once you've picked a long distance provider, ask your carrier to put a "PIC Freeze" on your account so it can't be easily changed.

Checking your carrier doesn't always work as designed. I am signed up with PowerNet Global. If I dial 1-700-555-4141 on my home phone, I get nothing.  If I dial it from my office phone I get "Your long distance service is now active - 5102".  Real useful. So, I used another tool: I dialled "00". Just like dialing "0" gets your phone carrier's Operator (AT&T Operator Assistance, in my case), 00 calls your long distance carrier's Operator assistance. In my case, the recording says "Welcome to WCLLC" which is just as useful as "5102". In my case, it means that PowerNet Global doesn't really have a network. They resell a major long distance provider - used to be Qwest, now it's Williams Communications Group.

There can be times when you'd want more than one long distance carrier. An example would be that you get the best rates for US calls from CoolTel (your PIC provider) but their rates to Mexico are poor. In this case you can make arrangements with a Dial-Around provider which gives you a toll-free number to call which then provides a second dialtone where you call your party at their rates. There are also 10-10 services which work similarly but there are more likely to be extra charges.

Alternative Carriers
Maybe you don't use AT&T (or other landline carrier). Maybe you use a cell phone for all your calls and have "cut the cable" as they say. These days most cell phone services include free nationwide long distance because they use their own network to carry the call most of the way to its destination. So, for domestic long distance on a cell phone, you don't need to "PIC" a carrier, and the 700 number doesn't do anything.

Perhaps your home uses a cable company (like Cox or Time Warner) or a VoIP provider like Vonage or maybe your business uses a business-line like a T-1 or PRI. In these cases, the rules change because the calls don't necessarily involve the baby bells or other traditional carriers. Quite often, your basic plan includes free long distance. So this means from 1 mile to 3000 miles, there's never a charge no matter how long you talk. If you make a lot of LD calls, this can be something worth considering.

The only reason I have not yet switched to a carrier like Time Warner for my home dial tone is that the traditional phone system has an advantage that the others don't - resiliency. The Plain Old Telephone System, in most cases, especially in the city or suburbs, dedicates a pair of wires just for you, all the way from their central office to your home and to everyone elses. If a pair of wires in the cable goes bad, it may well not be yours. Also, in times of power outages, like during an earthquake, generators and huge 40v batteries at each central office continue to power the lines and thus your ability to make/take calls (your cordless phone won't work if your power is out but a corded one probably will). However, I use my landline so seldom these days that I may soon join the others and take my chances with Time Warner or just with my Verizon cell phone - the only problem with a cell phone is that it's hard to tell someone to "pick up the extension to talk to The Kids".

The Bottom (Phone) Line:
If you have business service with a traditional carrier, like AT&T, and especially if you're a business (vs residential) customer, you now know what those Zone charges are. They're not broken out by the call like Long Distance is but they can cost you a bundle. Check your next phone bill and look for your Local Calls (Zones 1 and 2) to see what they're costing you. Also, look at your Zone 3 calls and any IntraLATA calls and see if a 3rd party carrier could reduce your costs here a bundle.  Residential customers - if you have ZUM billing, this applies to you too.