(Sex) talk is cheap

A Florida Gulf Coast University professor resigns after higher ups find more than 1,000 minutes of calls to phone sex lines on his office phone.
From what little I know, it seems like taxpayers got a bargain.
A news account says phone records of Steve Eisenberg, 48, showed repeated calls to two long-distance adult hotlines with $110 in charges since 2007. That's 10 cents a minute.
What adult hotlines charge 10 cents a minute? You can't even call Canada for 10 cents a minute.
Adult hotlines charge $3.99 to $8.99 a minute _ from what I've been told. Not that I would know first-hand.
One hears of high-end hookers who charge outrageous amounts. One also hears of consideralbly less glamorous prostitutes charging just a few dollars for certain acts.
Do bargain basement phone sex lines offer a lesser caliber of service, in keeeping with the industry norms?