"The phone is often a lifeline. You should be able to pick it up anytime without being tolled."
She has a point.
Telecommunications Users' Associa tion (Tuanz) chief executive Paul Brislen says tolls should be removed not just from Auckland but from the whole of New Zealand, because since exchanges became digital in the 1980s, national toll calls haven't cost Telecom anything. He says they were now run by computer software rather than people.
"They're a leftover from the bad old days of mechanical exchanges. They're based on the idea it costs more to send calls further afield, but these days it's like email. You don't pay more to send it to a different part of the country."
Since moving, Lesley and Ray have noticed they have received fewer phone calls than they once did.
"Most of our friends can afford it, but it's a psychological barrier."
Hibiscus Bays Local Board member Gaye Harding says residents in Hibiscus Coast and Rodney have been pushing to be part of Auckland's free calling area for more than 40 years.
She started a petition for the change in 1998, collecting 12,000 signatures. Rodney District Council supported the effort and invited her to a meeting with Telecom in Wellington, but the company rejected it.
"Our small area has been ripped off for too many years ... we've been milked," she says. "The new Auckland Council should be a toll-free city for all."
Ms Harding says she raised the issue at recent council meetings but was told the service was not a priority as it would cost the council about $15 million.
Hibiscus and Bays Local Board chairwoman Julia Parfitt repre sents the area from Campbells Bay to Waiwera, and says ratepayers in Orewa have to pay to call her landline in Murrays Bay, 25km away. "People want Auckland to be one region. They wonder why on earth they're being tolled."
Ms Parfitt says the Auckland Tran sition Agency told former Hibiscus Coast councillors and East Coast Bay community board members that in becoming a "super-city" phone tolls would be removed.
Auckland Mayor Len Brown says he strongly supports a free calling area across all of the city. "Telecom should move now to change the boundary to include all parts of Auckland."
He says any costs should be paid by Telecom, not ratepayers.
"It's important to realise that people in the northern and southern parts of Auckland have kids who may live in or go to school in town. They should be able to call for free."
Toll call anomaly
Mr Brislen says Telecom passes toll charges on to other companies which buy its services wholesale, but it was up to those companies how they "sliced and diced" them.
"Voice calling is worth $1 billion a year to Telecom and they're reluctant to let go of that stream of money, but we're moving to a world where voice calls shouldn't be charged at all."
He says government regulation was also not the answer. "You'd have a bunch of politicians that don't grasp the industry deciding on price points. There'd be no innovation or invest ment. It would have a stifling effect."
Nor does he believe toll calls are a council issue. He said the best thing customers can do is look at plans offered by different companies, some of which have deals for toll calls, and to "vote with their wallets".
"Incumbents will be forced to change and challengers will receive more revenue. It's a win all-round."
For example, Telstra Clear offers a product called My Big Backyard, which provides Aucklanders with a phone line on which they can call anywhere in the city for a flat fee of $45 per month. A Telecom standard home-line rental costs $50.23 a month on the Hibiscus Coast, plus 31c a minute for a toll call. Their Anytime plan costs $51 with toll calls for 18c per minute, and a cap of $2.50 for two hours. Telecom's Talk It Up plan allows people to call neighbouring calling areas for an extra $5 a month.
Mrs Utting is on Talk It Up but says the $5 charge adds up to $60 a year.
"That's $60 a year a pensioner can't afford to pay."
She says many older residents feel loyal to Telecom and changing providers could be an unnecessary worry.
But Mr Brislen says people should "get over that". "They can't sit there and say there's no alternative. It does require putting in some effort."
He suggests seeking advice from a family member, Citizens Advice Bureau or Tuanz. Overwhelmed by technology
Chief executive of internet service provider WorldxChange, Cecil Alex ander, says his company offers a Voice over IP (VoIP) service which relays calls through the internet.
The Aucklander suggested some people might be overwhelmed by the concept, but he says the service would appear the same as a traditional land line. "Most just want to know, 'Can I plug my existing cordless phone into it and will it cost less than it used to?"'
Orcon CEO Scott Bartlett says toll calls within New Zealand are out of date and were set up when they were expensive, and companies should rightfully have been compensated.
"But the age of IP is upon us. The rules are out of date, antiquated and impose high costs on New Zealanders when it's not necessary."
He supported ISPs and telecom munication companies using the internet to send traffic around the country for free. It was a matter of if, not when, people would start using VoIP.
"The traditional phone line is dying out. It's an old technology and there are better, smarter options out there."
Vodafone spokesman Matthew East says if Telecom realigns its local calling areas to match Supercity boundaries, it will happily pass on the benefits to its customers.
Telecom communications consult ant Anna Skerten says calling bound aries aren't based on local council areas and are inherited from the old Post Office. Telecom's commitment to the Telecommunication Service Obli gation (TSO) prevented it from changing call boundaries where a single customer might be worse off as a result.
"We have consistently noticed that, in practice, moving a boundary only creates new anomalies and other dis satisfied customers."
Telecom head of community relations Paul Leslie agrees, saying making wider Auckland a free calling area would create problems elsewhere. "When Banks Peninsula became part of Christchurch they said the same thing. If Telecom changed the rules for Hibiscus Coast, where would it stop? And how does that impact on the company and its revenue and ability to invest in ever-improving services?"
Mr Leslie says Auckland was already the largest free calling area in New Zealand by population, and the fact Telecom provided free local calling at all was unique in the world. "The world is changing and new plans being offered supersede boundaries."
Mr Brislen agrees that moving boundaries would cause confusion. "But the answer is to remove bound aries altogether."
CALL PLANS
* Telstra Clear My Big Backyard: Phoneline $45 month. Free calls Pukekohe to Warkworth.
* Telecom Talk It Up: Phoneline $55.23 month. Free calls to neighbouring call area.
* Slingshot Talk Longer/Talk a Lot: Phoneline $51 month. Free calls Whangarei to Pukekohe & Great Barrier. $16 extra to call any landline for up to 100 hours a month.
* WorldxChange Fusion Naked DSL: From $69.95 month, for phone and broadband. Each gig of data $1.28. Tolls 5c per min.
* Vodafone Talk 1: Phoneline $65.33 month. Unlimited calls (up to 2 hours each) to national landlines weeknights 6pm-8am, all weekend. Talk 2: Phoneline $70.44 month. Unlimited calls (up to 2 hours each) to landlines anytime.
* Orcon Genius:$75 month for 5GB broadband and unlimited national calling.
* There are other combined broadband/phoneline deals that allow free national calls.