I have recently received my monthly bill for my wireless phone and I have always wondered what the surcharges and Government fees were. Most people never take the time to look into these ambiguous costs, but when added they are startling!
Here is a break down of the surcharge and Government fees:
So what are all these fees for?
According to the explanation on my wireless bill: “surcharges are rates we (the wireless company) choose to collect from you to help defray the cost imposed on us. Surcharges are not taxes or amounts we are required to collect from you by law. Surcharges may include: Federal USF, regulatory charges, administrative charges, gross receipts charges, and other charges incurred to recover costs associated with governmental programs.” Surcharges are just half of the fees. Wireless companies must also collect taxes on behalf of the government under Government Fees & Taxes.
It seems fishy that telephone companies can charge consumers these extra fees by simply imposing these surcharges that are almost always overlooked by consumers. After further research I came across the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) (http://www.fcc.gov/) which is a US Government regulatory agency that was established under the Communications Act of 1934. The FCC was established to regulate interstate and international communications, to help promote competition between telecommunication companies and protect consumers.
The FCC imposes federal access charges (FAC) and telecommunication regulation charges such as the Federal E911 costs, P.U.C. Fees, Pooling & Portability and USF Non-Ld Surcharge as stated in my monthly wireless phone bill to telecommunication companies. Since the FCC is imposing these regulations to all US telecommunication companies, my wireless company in turn imposes it upon me and yet the FCC simply allows it. As stated in the above statement from my wireless bill “we (the wireless company) choose to collect from you to help defray the cost imposed on us.” How are extra fees helping customers?
Thank you FCC.
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It is the Universal Fund Fee that really ticks me off. I get to pay so someone else can have cable. http://www.thefrugallibertarian.com/?p=307
If you’re interested in lowering your cell bills and thereby essentially nullifying the surcharges you’re currently paying on the phone, I think I might be able to help. There is a major route to wireless savings through the website http://www.fixmycellbill.com (by a company called Validas) that on average currently saves T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and US Cellular customers 22 percent, equating to $484 annually, off their cell bills. I personally save $230 per year through Validas and I have been so impressed with these real results that I recently took a job with the company.
Here’s a quick breakdown of how it actually works. Validas analyzes your online cell bill for free and calculates how much money you could be saving. It turns out that eight of ten wireless customers are paying more than they need to for their plans. Validas fixes these discrepancies by tailoring a customer’s plan to fit their specific needs. If you choose, Validas provides your personalized cell bill adjustment report that is emailed, for five bucks, to your wireless provider in industry specific format so you can actually implement these cash saving changes. If Validas can save you more than $5 on your bill, this obviously provides a very cost effective solution.
Validas is rapidly gaining a reputation as the preeminent advocate for the wireless customer. Check out a feature about the company on The Big Idea with CNBC’s Donny Deutsch at http://www.cnbc.com/id/22782456/. Any cell subscriber who wants to cut costs should consider Validas. It’s free to consult and you only stand to save.
Good luck in reducing your wireless bill.
Dylan