The monopolies usually also charge the local telephone user a flat monthly rate, regardless of how long the local user talks in the local area. The person who installs a business line is sometimes charged a premium for installation. The international caller is always charged a premium by the local monopoly for long distance over the local caller. This home line includes an unlimited number of local calls. This practice makes it possible for the local monopolies to lose money on local calls, keep a happy constituency and allows them to keep the local inflation index low.
Most monopolies are government owned or are government subsidized monopolies.
Long distance calls do not cost much more for a telephone company then local calls. In some cases the local calls cost more. Yet, if the monopolies charged higher rates for local users the local users would complain long and loudly. The business caller, the users of long distance, are less in number, therefore less vocal. That figure represents NTT s smallest profit since it was privatized in 1986.