Typically, carriers charge $3 a month for long-distance calls no matter how few are actually made.

Some carriers charge about 15 cents a message domestically.

Some carriers charge a premium to access this service.

Specifically, community rating is a pricing method in which a carrier must charge the same price to any group purchasing a particular plan.

By eliminating or reducing the credits, the carrier can charge more.

Thus carriers can charge multiple fees, but still offer lower rates.

"We're moving from a world in which carriers charge for how long someone is on the phone and how far the call travels," he said.

Some carriers charge additional fees for sending pictures and text messages over the network.

There will also be variation in how much the carriers will charge for providing different kinds of information.

It wants prices to come down so that American carriers can charge their customers less.