Clark Howard's Tips

MCI going out of business and it's true meaning

March 30, 2005

You may have heard that MCI is going out of business. That news was all over the financial press March 29th.

And, it seems to be just another step in the recent evolution of telephone communication and long distance calling.

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AT&T was once the most powerful company in the nation. Today, the company no longer exists except as a name.

A few years ago, people started making long distance calls in non-traditional ways such as through Internet calls or on their cell phones. There is a transformation going on in this business, and you need to get with the program.

If you still have long distance with Sprint, AT&T or MCI, you are throwing money away. These companies convince us that we need to spend tons on long distance when it actually costs nothing to make those calls.

If you have a cell phone with long distance and you make occasional calls, that is really all you need. But if you must have long distance, there are many other options that are just as good.

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