THE DEMAND FOR LONG DISTANCE TELEPHONE COMMUNICATION: A ROUTE‐SPECIFIC ANALYSIS OF SHORT‐HAUL SERVICE Available to Purchase

This paper presents a model of long distance telephone demand based on route‐specific short‐haul (intraLATA) calling minutes. The data used in the estimation comes from 2,813 intraLATA long‐distance routes in the state of Florida for 1990. Route‐specific information (mileage, minutes of use, access lines, prices, route‐specific optional calling plans) is matched to socio‐economic data (income, average household size, race, education) obtained in the 1990 census. The results reveal a number of important economic and demographic insights on route‐specific long distance calling. Estimated price and income elasticities of demand are −0.54 and 1.24, respectively.