Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best way to sign up for the service?

The best way is to use our automated sign up system on the Internet. Click on the signup links to access the sign up forms. Once you complete the application and submit it to PNG, you will either receive a verification e-mail or a voice verification call within ten minutes. If for some reason you do not receive the verification e-mail or call, send us an e-mail or give us a call and we will assist you.

The normal switching process can take anywhere from 3-14 days, depending upon how long your local phone carrier takes to physically switch the long distance. If you have not been switched to our service after two weeks, please e-mail us so we can determine the source of any delay. One of the major sources of a delay can be a PIC restriction you may have placed on your phone lines which blocks us from changing your long distance carrier. If you do have a PIC freeze, please call your local phone carrier immediately and have it removed. Do not try to change the long distance carrier yourself while speaking with the local carrier. It will result in higher rates than our program offers. Simply remove the PIC freeze until the service has been changed.

After 7-10 days, call 1 700 555-4141 to find out who your current long distance carrier is. Once you have been switched to PNG, you should hear the names of either Qwest, Global Crossing or Williams Communications who serve as our underlying long distance carriers. Or, you can call PNG customer service directly (24/7) and find out if you have been placed into their system. Remember, you can be in PNG’s system and still not be physically hooked up to their service, so the 700 number is a safer bet. Your local phone company can also let you know who your existing long distance carrier is at the present time.

PNG does not charge a fee for changing carriers. However, your local phone company does charge a fee for changing your service. Here’s the good news. PNG will reimburse those fees if you mail them or fax them a copy of the charges.

Absolutely, give them our web address or phone number and they too can start saving on their long distance needs. 

PNG does not require a contract of any kind. All customers remain on our service on a month-to-month basis. Keep the service for a day or a lifetime.  Also, there is no minimum amount you have to spend each month.

No, absolutely not!  There are no monthly service fees with our program.  There are mandatory taxes and government fees as there all with all long distance services, but none of them come from PNG directly.  Many other long distance carriers tack on thier own monthly fees to "pad their pockets" but not PNG. 

PNG has a 24-hour customer service department to handle your calls any day of the week. Any problems can be handled directly by the company.

There are no restrictions on when you must place your calls to take advantage of these rates. All rates quoted are 7 days a week, 24 hours a day.

Intrastate and Intralata rates are determined by the individual states and their Public Service Commission, or their Public Utilities Commission. It is normal for each state to have a different Interstate rate than an Intrastate or Intralata rate. Some states like California and Illinois have very low rates while others like Arizona and Maine have historically had very high rates. Our unique “Power Dial program helps customers with high in-state rates, use a special “dial around” code to lower those in-state and high International rates.

Most long distance companies bill their customers in full one-minute increments. Here’s what that means. If you make a 61 second call with AT&T, MCI or Sprint, they will charge you for a full two-minute call. In other words, they have rounded up your call to the next full minute increment. You spoke for 61 seconds and paid for 120 seconds. This can literally double the cost of every call you make. Our company bills you in six-second increments after the first 30 seconds which means you are billed for the time in increments, such as 0.5, 1.1 minutes, 1.5 minutes, 1.8 minutes, etc. Incremental billing can drop the average phone bill by 20-40%. The more individual calls you make, the more money you save.

Interstate Calls are calls made from one state to another.

Intrastate Calls are long distance calls made within your home state, but to an area outside of your LATA or local calling area. Usually Intrastate calls are calls made to a different area code than your own.

Intralata Calls are long distance calls made within a specific area that are usually billed by your local phone company. Intralata calls are not the calls you make for free every month in your home area. They are long distance calls, usually made within your same area code. Changing your Intralata calling does not change your local phone service in any way. But it does usually save you a lot of money on your phone bills.

On July 1, 2000, the FCC eliminated the Federal PICC charges on all residential customer accounts. Some carriers have continued to pass these charges on to their customers, usually disguised under another name, but PNG has not followed suit. We do not charge any PICC charges on residential accounts, or on single-line business accounts. Federal PICC charges are still in effect on multi-line business accounts. The PICC charge on multi-line accounts is $4.31 per line, starting with the second line. USF charges stands for Universal Service Fund. This Federal tax of 7.9% is used to place the Internet in public schools and libraries, as well as to pay the phone bills of people who cannot afford to have a telephone. All long distance carriers must contribute to the USF fund, but they have the option of passing this on as a separate item or incorporating it into their per minute rate or monthly fee. PNG lists the USF charge as a separate item on the bill.

We provide service to the 48 contiguous states at the listed rate, but not Alaska and Hawaii. Calls to Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands are billed at 16.9 cents a minute. Calling card rates to Alaska and Hawaii are 24.9 cents a minute.

Yes you can. PNG is one of the only long distance companies that allows the customer to choose which type of long distance product he wants. You can order a stand-alone 800 number, or a stand-alone calling card, or switch any part or all of your long distance service.

Do your calling cards or toll-free numbers have any hidden charges?

PNG’s calling cards have a rate of 12.9 cents a minute. There are no other charges. However, you must be careful when using a payphone. There is a Federal payphone surcharge of 69 cents per call when using a calling card or calling an 800 number from a payphone. These payphone charges will appear on your bill with an asterisk next to them to let you know the calls were made using a payphone.

A toll-free number can save you a lot of money if you travel, have kids at college, run your own business or perhaps have friends and family that can’t afford to call you. A toll-free number can ring in on your main phone line without the need for a second line. It sure beats pre-paid calling cards, collect calls, high-priced hotel room phones and searching for coins for a payphone (be careful with the federal payphone surcharge of 35 cents). When you are away from home you can call your 800 number and check your voice mail for the same rate you receive when placing a regular long distance call. 

Only if you want to save money! There is a special form you will need to make the change called a Toll-Free Responsible Organization Form. We can mail you or fax you this form if you call us or send us an e-mail request. We will also need a copy of a recent phone bill showing your name and address on some portion of the bill, and the toll-free number if possible. This makes the changeover swift and painless and avoids unnecessary delays. If the change is made properly with the correct paperwork, the existing carrier has 48 hours to release the toll-free number.

Based on our past experiences, it is not a bad idea. Many times a carrier will continue to bill you for monthly service fees, PICC charges and anything else they can think of. There are a few carriers that are well known for these billing discrepancies. Once you discover that PNG has changed your service, call your long distance carrier and make sure they send you a final bill. Make sure you get the name of the person you speak with so there is no problem down the road.  But DO NOT cancel with them until you are sure you are on the PNG service!

PNG will send you a direct bill for your long distance charges. Payments are due 20 days after the receipt of the bill.  You will also have the option to pay your bill online.

Yes, you can combine all the multiple offices and phone numbers on a single bill, with a breakdown of each individual phone number.

Yes, there are several ways you can do this. With each monthly bill, you’ll receive an envelope that will offer you an opportunity to provide your credit card information. Or, you can call PNG customer service and pay the bill through a live operator. You can also set up a regular automatic credit card payment through the company.

Not a problem. Just contact us and we will do our best to respond within 24 hours.