Long Distance Slamming: The best way to keep from being slammed, or having a long distance company change your service without your permission, is to request a "PIC freeze" for your line. PIC, or pre-subscribed interexchange carrier, is the telecom industry's term for a long distance company. By "freezing" your PIC, you are asking your local phone company to ensure that your long distance carrier is never changed without your permission. It's easy to do and can save you a lot of time, money and headaches in the future. There are three easy steps to freezing your PIC: Call your long distance company - the company you prefer to use and ask them to tell you their "carrier code," the number that your local company needs in order to implement a PIC freeze. (For example, Broadwing's code is 071.) Call your local phone company and give them your phone number. Ask for your PIC to be restricted, and give them the long distance carrier code provided to you by your long distance company (the number you got in step 1). Once you've requested a PIC freeze, your local phone company will put a block on your account. Your local phone company will ask you for a password, known only to you, that you will need to keep in a safe place. That password must be provided before your long distance carrier can be changed again. It's important to note that once you have a PIC freeze in place, not even YOU will be able to switch your long distance company. When you find a better deal on SmartPrice.com and decide you want to switch to a different long distance company, you will have to have the PIC freeze lifted before we can process your request.