Sirius Stuff

I was impressed with the level of detail in What’s With the 712 Area Code? — Alec Saunders .LOG where he talks about why “free” international long distance services are based in Iowa and how they’re able to make money offering “free” service.

In short, the service splits the money with an Iowa telco who is getting paid by your telco.  This is done via “settlements”, the money that telcos exchange for phone calls.  And the Iowa telcos charge a lot more than the “NFL” cities do. 

The 712 model is a creative way to run a business, no doubt.  FreeConference is a very successful example of a business using it.  Today’s lesson, kids, is that even with a model as creative as the 712 model, you still have to provide real value to the customer.  FuturePhone’s cheap long distance call may not be enough.

Alec Saunders . Log looks like it’s worth reading on a regualr basis.