Re: Phone USF tax

[Todd Davis <tdavis@msfw.com>]

It looks like it is a required fee to the telecommunications carrier. 
Question #20 at this URL:
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/Public_Notices/1997/da971374.html

Q. What is the source of the money used to pay for universal service
discounts?
A. All telecommunications carriers that provide interstate
telecommunications services are required to contribute to universal
service support mechanisms. Telecommunications carriers required to
contribute will receive bills from the universal service administrator;
their assessments for the schools and libraries discount program will be
based on their interstate and intrastate end-user telecommunications
revenues.

So, the telecom companies are required by law to help subsidize access
at schools and libraries.  They have decided to add it as a line-item to
the bills and pass it along.

I remember seeing it on a recent Verizon Wireless ad as being a "not
required fee", but it didn't say if one could "opt out" of paying it.

So much for "cost of doing business".  That seems to be the way with
"big business" anymore, just add it on to the bill instead of having
pricing cover your costs.



On Thu, 2003-05-15 at 11:43, mike808@users.sourceforge.net wrote:
> I recently got a "We're raising our rates" notice from my long distance 
> provider. (Pioneer, $0.039/minute, no fee, e-mail me offlist for details).
> 
> This caught my eye:
> > 2. The federal government has raised the 
> >    Universal Service Funding tax to 9.1%.
> 
> What is this "Universal Service Funding" tax?
> Or is this an FCC-mandated *tarriff*, that the phone company is passing
> along as a separate line item, and pretending it is a "tax"?
> 
> Can I "opt out" of this "tax"?
> Are certain categories of customers exempt from this "tax"?
> 
> Any URLs for more info?
> 
> Mike808/
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ---------------------------------------------
> http://www.valuenet.net
> 
> 
> 
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-- 
Todd Davis (tdavis@msfw.com)
Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE #807101281603181)


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