Access Fee - A special fee that local telephone companies are allowed to charge all telephone customers for the right to connect with the local phone network. Cellular subscribers pay this fee along with a 3 percent federal telephone excise tax. Airtime - Actual time spent talking on the cellular telephone. Most carriers bill customers based on how many minutes of airtime they use each month. Airtime charges during peak periods of the day vary from about 20 cents to more than 40 cents per minute, depending on the service plan selected.
Most carriers offer reduced rates for off-peak usage.
The name also can be recalled by using the letters on the phone keypad. By contrast, standard memory dial recalls numbers from number-only locations. Service plans are designed to provide the most cost-effective rates for different types and amounts of usage by the cellular subscriber. The cells can vary in size depending on terrain and capacity demands. The Mobile Telephone Switching Office validates the ESN with each call.