10-10-321

10-10-321 is a United States long-distance phone service best known for its prolific television and Direct Mail advertising in the late 1990s. 10-10-321 was the first mass-marketed service of its type, and it and the similar 10-10-220 and 10-10-900 services were all owned by Telecom USA, which was owned by MCI. All services of its kind essentially allow consumers to bypass, or "dial-around" their primary long-distance carrier and use a different one. [http://consumeraffairs.com/news02/10_rates.html Dial-Around Rates Climb Sharply ] ]

The services originally used just 10- followed by a 3-digit number, such as 10-321, but quickly ran out of numbers. They advertised various savings over traditional long-distance companies, most famously 10-10-220 offered 20 minutes for 99¢ and 10¢ a minute after that. [ [http://www.thecommondenominator.com/cl050399.html] dead link|date=September 2008]

The 10 Dash or Dial around method had always existed previous to the late 90s round of advertising, originally conceived as a way for consumers to shop around and try other Long Distance carriers. In practice it was little used and extremely obscure. In the late 80s those computer modem users who dialed long distance from strange places commonly used it to use better quality long distance lines. AT&T being chief among these.

The services were advertised heavily, using celebrities such as Alf, John Lithgow, John Stamos, Tony Danza, James Garner, Dennis Miller and George Carlin. [ [http://www.shadowculture.com/adman/admn1129.html The adMan - A Knee-Jerk to the Groin of American Advertising ] ] This ubiquitous presence on television lead to an inevitable spillage over into pop culture for a brief time.

By the early 2000s, the steep discounts were no longer offered, rates increased as much as 80 percent in fall 2002, with 10-10-321 going from 10 cents a minute to 18 cents on October 1 2002. A year earlier, a 9.9 percent "Universal Service Fund" charge had been added. The television advertising has since become much less common. In addition, the widely increased use of cell phones in the early 2000s, and subsequent decline in the use of landline phones, has rendered the service somewhat antiquated.

Both 10-10-220, 10-10-321, and other 10-10 services are still available, although at significantly higher prices than originally advertised. The current rate for the 321 service is a flat 20¢ per minute, while the 220 service runs $1.20 for the first 10 minutes and 20¢ for each minute afterward.

References

External links

* [http://www.1010321.com/ 1010321.com]
* [http://www.1010220.com/ 1010220.com]