When a salesperson from a long distance company hooks one of us with claims of a low per-minute long-distance charge, it hurts (when the bill arrives) to see that the reality didn't live up to the promise. What you discover later are the monthly fees to access that rate, the rounding up of "billing-minutes," higher fees for certain times of the day or week, and other additional charges for confusing services such as carrier lines and universal connectivity.

ITC stands for something different:

Simple, honest and flat long distance service. Period.

Which explains why more South Dakotans and Minnesotans switch from the big and impersonal giants to ITC every month. With ITC, what you see is what you get. A flat rate per minute at any time of the day, whether you are calling in or out of the state, rounded up to the nearest six seconds (with a thirty-second minimum per call). No small print. No "creative billing."

Fact: Other carriers offer 14 cents per minute, and it's various long distance plans are between 10 cents on Saturday or Sunday, and 30 cents between 7:00 am and 7:00 pm on weekdays. But after you've finished adding in charges fro the Universal Service Fund, Universal Connectivity charges (9.9%), In-State Connection Fees, minimum usage fees, monthly fees, fees to receive long distance and local billings on one bill...well, the sky's the limit. And if you're not confused about which plan to buy into, most people are when the bill arrives.