🚀 go-pugleaf

Over the past year, MCI has sent me three letters with saying "Urgent
Reminder" and "Signature Required" on the outside. A cursory reading of
the letter seems to imply that you must return the enclosed ballot;
actually, it's just a request that you send a reply. Your signature is
required iff you're signing up for their Dial "1" Long Distance Service.

Granted, MCI has no monopoly on potentailly misleading direct mail.
However, the long-distance market is far too confusing already! I
despise solicitors who demand information they have no right to. Do
other folks agree? Is there any federal agency I can talk with who
could/would stomp on these guys?

One MCI service I find useful is what their rep called "Secondary
Carrier Service", where you call a local 7-digit number, 5-digit account
code, and the entire long-distance number. The rates are the same as
MCI's "Dial '1' Service". I use this service to make personal
long-distance calls from work. This is much cheaper than the AT&T
Calling Card.

What is the Calling Card overhead per call? Is it a constant charge at
all times, whether or not the call goes through? Does MCI have plans to
keep these local numbers, or will they phase them out when all have
equal access? Will AT&T attempt to compete with this service, or are
they better off keeping their larger profit margin on their Calling
Cards? How much of this market has AT&T lost?