[A*UG] Suggestions for cheapest PSTN terminator for Asterisk

[Evan Harris]

I'm looking for recommendations on the cheapest recurring cost provider that 
offers local numbers in Austin with the ability to port numbers, for very 
small amounts of usage.

Most of the providers out there seem to want to offer all the bells and 
whistles like fancy voicemail systems and ring-all, web management and 
message retrieval, and unlimited US long distance at prices starting around 
$20/month.  But I almost never do LD and if I do, it's international and 
extra-surcharged anyway.  And if you don't need LD, a landline from MaBell 
is about the same (or even cheaper if you forego CID).

I'm planning to use Asterisk to manage voicemail and other "special" 
features like selective call forwarding to my cell phone, so I need a 
provider that can handle asterisk termination/BYOD.  So none of the features 
that justify the higher dollar ($20 and up a month) plans interests me in 
the slightest.

I want a provider that offers (in order of importance):

1. The minimum monthly recurring cost (No included LD).
2. Good service reliability.
3. Local Austin numbers and support for number porting.
4. Low setup costs.
5. Multiple call handling (for conferencing and call forwarding).
6. Ability to set outbound caller ID (for forwarded/conference calls)
7. Good rates for international LD.
8. Free inbound calls (nice but not required).

A somewhat reasonable deal I've found so far seems to be Broadvoice.  They 
have a $9/month plan for BYOD, but the setup and number porting fees are 
kinda high, though they do offer free inbound.  I haven't yet been able to 
ascertain that they support setting outbound CID, and they appear to have 
some people claiming service problems and problems handling out-of-band 
signalling, so I'm a little wary of them.

Inphonex has Asterisk support and DID's for $8/month, and their setup and 
porting fees seem better than Broadvoice, as do their LD rates.  But they 
don't include ANY included minutes (even local).  And I haven't seen much 
about their service quality.

Are there any other providers out there that provide the kind of service and 
pricing I'm looking for?  Comments about either of these frontrunners?

Evan