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Adam H. Kerman

wrote:

Anyway, as technology evolved, the old policies went out the window.
Indeed, in one piece of old literature I saw, the billing time meter
ran from send to end on _all_ calls, even those where the line was
busy or there was no answer. There was also an "activation" fee. As
mentioned, by the time I got my phone, the handset (an older simpler
model) was free, there was no activation charge, and only answered
calls were charged.

That's not a change of technology, just whether the first few seconds
are billed. Calls on cellular networks aren't supervised. They rely upon
the user to hang up quickly if the call doesn't go through.