When mobile phone services were first launched, customers were billed on a per-minute basis, where those who called more paid more. Around the turn of the century, so-called buckets of minutes appeared that would allow use up to a certain number of minutes for a set fee. Over time, these buckets have become more and more generous. Marketing schemes like Rollover minutes, In-network free calling, Fave five plans and such have made the effective price per minute even cheaper. The culmination of this trend is the All in plans that the mobile carriers announced this spring, with unlimited voice calling for $100 a month.



On the fixed telephone side, North America has always enjoyed unlimited local calling, but our long distance (LD) calls have typically been billed by the minute. We all know that prices have steadily dropped since the AT