[acveilleux]

The "free" phone conference service work in a somewhat similar way. There's a fee charged for long distance call even in the US/Canada. The fee is low enough that most people now get free long distance.

The free phone conference services are terminated at tiny little telcos that charge a much higher than normal fee for a north american long distance and the fee is split between the conference service operator and the telco (which may or may not be the same.)

Some of these services cannot be dialed via some VOIP providers (like Google Talk) for that reason.

[Declanomous]

>Some of these services cannot be dialed via some VOIP providers (like Google Talk) for that reason.

I always knew this was the case, but I was never really bothered by it. Both the law (see intercarrier compensation[1]) and the subsequent ban make sense.

However I've recently run it to a rash of people who I can't call because my carrier and Google Voice block their numbers. Each of them has a Puerto Rican area code. They are all cell phone numbers, they all live in Chicago like me, but I can't call or text them because their phone number is Puerto Rican. It doesn't make any sense, because Puerto Rico is a part of the United States, we are both in the US, and we each ostensibly have US phone numbers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecommunications_Act_of_1996

[SixSigma]

> Puerto Rico is a part of the United States

PR is an unincorporated territory i.e. not part of the United States.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unincorporated_territories_of_...

[Spooky23]

That's not really accurate. That status was developed for the transitional period after the Spanish American War, and subsequent legislation and court cases evolved that initial state.

It's really a colony, unlike US States it isn't a sovereign entity unto itself, and is essentially at the mercy of congress with respect to self-governance and other things.

[__derek__]

That's a distinction without a difference for the purposes of the comment to which you replied.

[SixSigma]

Not really. As it has its own administration and ergo telecoms system. It makes as much sense as "the UK is part of the US"

[emodendroket]

Right, yeah, who could forget how the US has sovereignty over the UK? What a nonsensical comparison.

[ubernostrum]

Puerto Rico is not a state of the United States.

Puerto Rico is territory of and subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.

[Declanomous]

I understand the political nuance, but PR phone numbers work just like a phone number from the 50 states for everyone else I know.

[toast0]

There is a regulatory push in the US to end intercarrier usage billing, which should lead to the end of the blocking and may lead to the end of the free conferences (maybe not, I imagine costs are fairly low, but they'll need new revenue). It's already reduced the amount of mostly free VoIP offerings.

[metilda]

Yeah, carriers offering free DIDs are rapidly disappearing, first ipkall and recently I had another one up and close their doors on me.