Because of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, LECs (local exchange carriers) are allowed to charge long distance carriers (like AT&T, Sprint, etc) a much higher rate for any calls terminating on their switches (10 to 20 cents per minute) in the form of an "access fee", especially if the LEC is in a more rural location. The original intent of this law was to help these smaller phone companies deal with operating costs. These companies tend to have only a small block of phone numbers allocated to them (and therefore a smaller client base), and they usually have higher/fixed maintenance costs. So when a long distance carrier (like AT&T) delivers a call to their switch from somewhere else in the world, they accept the call, deliver it to their customer, and then charge the long distance carrier 10 to 20 cents per minute as an access fee. This is all good and fine if the law is used as it was intended.
Once the access fees started pouring in, some LECs realized that the more long distance traffic they can get to terminate on their switch the better! One sure fire way to do that is to use some of their allocated numbers for - you guessed it - free conference call services. The rural LECs allocate some numbers for these service and allow people from all over the country (or the world) to dial in and participate in conference calls. The more people, the better. The longer the calls, the better.
Now, I'm not saying that Rick has his own conference call service. Rather, I think he has just partnered with one, or perhaps is using a conference call service that is requiring a certain amount of traffic for it to remain free to him (or low rate). This is not unheard of in the world of phone sex services. The phone sex service will set up shop somewhere with sexy sounding women, and partner with local LECs. They provide the traffic, charge a little fee for the call, AND get a kick back from the local exchange carrier - because the LEC really loves to charge those fees, and they appreciates the opportunity to let that traffic flow through their switches. Many of the rural carriers participating in these schemes are located in Iowa.. so it is of no surprise to me when you look into Rick's conference call phone number, it terminates in Iowa. I have available to me the Telcordia LERG Routing Guide. Telcorida is a company that tracks all the phone number blocks - who owns them, what switches they terminate on, etc. So looking at Rick's number:
(712) 432-8710
NPA = 712, NXX = 432
The OCN (operating carrier number) for this NPA/NXX combo is "345D" - which is registered to "GREAT LAKES COMMUNICATION CORP. - IA" in Iowa. They own the entire A block of lines, that is own all the numbers from 712-432-0000 to 712-432-9999. They are either offering the conference call service, or they are directing the call to another number (maybe even in another state)...
So the possibilities are this:
1) Rick is getting some sort of kick-back for the traffic he sends to whatever conference call service Great Lakes Communication Corp. is hosting. He then solicits donations on his website and keeps that too.
2) Rick is required to get a certain amount of traffic in order to keep his conference calls free. He can then solicit donations on his website and just keep them.
3) Rick can never get enough traffic to reach the free amount, and he would like to, but can't. So he tries to cover the rest with donations on his website.
In any of these three scenarios, the natural inclination would be to push for more traffic, as would be required by the financial pressure. There may be other financially based possibilities too.
MeanMrMustard
