If I don't pay for receiving the call, then who will pay for it?
Regardless of whether we're talking about a wireless or a land-line phone, there are costs incurred at multiple levels in a phone call:
1) Making a connection from the originating phone to the originating local exchange.
2) Making a connection from the originating local exchange to the receiving local exchange.
3) Making a connection from the receiving local exchange to the receiving phone.
If the originator is a land-line phone, then there will be no costs incurred at step 1. If the originator is a cell phone, then there will be airtime costs incurred at step 1.
If the originator and receiver are both phone numbers registered within the same local calling area, then no costs will be incurred in step 2. If the originator and receiver are phone numbers located within two different local calling areas, then long distance charges are incurred in step 2.
If the receiver is a land-line phone, then there will be no costs incurred at step 3. If the receiver is a cell phone, then there will be air time costs incurred at step 3. There may also be additional long distance charges incurred at step 3 if the cellular receiver is connected to a tower that is outside their registered local calling area.
The originator is responsible for all the costs incurred at steps 1 and 2. The receiver is responsible for all costs incurred at step 3. It all seems perfectly equitable to me.
Some times, telephone service providers offer promotions in which they offer to absorb some or all of those usage costs under certain circumstances. They can only afford to do so, though, by charging a premium rate for the basic monthly connection fee.
