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[ Go to March 1997 Table of Contents ]
How To Buy
ISDN service is available in 85 to 90 percent of the United States; areas that don't get ISDN are mostly rural. Standard BRI ISDN service (also called C, Generic Data M, S or Standard) gives you two B channels for data and one D channel to control the initiation and disconnection of calls (called 2B+D), each capable of voice or data transmission. You will definitely pay more for ISDN than for your standard phone line. How much more depends on your location and your phone service provider. Some plans provide flat-rate, unlimited service for $45 to $80 per month, while others give a specified number of hours for a designated rate. Sometimes flat-rate services are for home users only, so that during business hours you have to pay a per- minute charge as well. ISDN calls are often billed from the moment of call initiation rather than the moment of connection. Charges per minute can range from 2 to 8 cents per channel (an important caveat since ISDN is a multiple-channel technology). You should also figure in installation and activation charges, anywhere from $100 to $250. Copyright (c) 1997 CMP Media Inc.
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