Taxes and fees vary by state and city. Expect them to add 15% to
20% to your bill and don’t be surprised if more are added
your bill. State and local governments are finding wireless service
is a good place to add a tax. The carriers themselves also add or
raising fees to increase revenue. Here are some of the rates and
fees you might find on your bill: local wireless tax, federal tax,
city sales tax, state sales tax, wireless 911 surcharge, local surcharge,
gross receipts tax, state excise tax, universal service fund charge.
Not all fees on your bill are required by government. Some fees
are created by the carrier to cover their costs and add revenue.
The FCC does authorize telecom providers to recover related costs
but does not require it. For example, carriers are adding a Regulatory
Cost Recovery Fee that ranges from $1.25 to $1.75 per month.
When establishing service, you will designate a primary address-
either business or residential. The applicable taxes will be levied
on your bill regardless of where the call originates.
Sample of Rates and Fees by Carrier (October
2003)
Verizon Wireless
- Domestic long distance- $.20 per minute from your home airtime
rate area
- Roaming rate- $.69 per minute
- $35 activation fee for one-year agreement. No fee for two-year
agreement.
- $175 early termination fee
- Evening hours- 9:01 PM- 5:59 AM
- Overage Rate- $.45 per minute for second line
- Call delivery charge- $.15 cpm for calls received while roaming
- USF charge- 1.9%
- Regulatory Charge- $.05 per line per month
Cingular Wireless
- Domestic Long Distance included
- Roaming- $.79 per minute
- $36 activation fee
- $240 early termination fee prorated over length of agreement
- $18 activation fee for each family talk line
- Regulatory Cost Recovery Fee- $1.25 per month
- 911 monthly fee- $.70 per month
- Connection Charge- $1.24 per month
- USF fee- 2.593%
- Additional minutes- $.35-$.55 depending on plan
- Long Distance- included
AT&T Wireless
- Domestic Long Distance- included with limited time offers
- Roaming- $.69 per minute
- $36 activation fee with 1-year contract. Waived with 2 year
contract
- $175 early termination fee
- Regulatory Program Fee- $1.75 per month
- Additional minutes- $.45 cpm ($.25-$.35 for larger plans)
Sprint PCS
- Domestic Long Distance- $.25 cpm
- Roaming- $.50 cpm
- $36 activation fee
- $150 early termination fee
- Additional minutes- $.40 cpm
- USF charge- 2.29%
- Number pooling cost recovery charge- $.47
- Cost Recovery Charge- $1.50
Nextel
- Domestic Long Distance- $.20 per minute
- Activation fee- $35 per phone
- $200 early termination fee
- Additional Minutes $.35-.40 per minute
- USF charge- 1.138%
- Federal Programs Cost Recovery $1.55 or $2.83
- Gross Receipt Recovery Fee- 1.4% to 5%
- TRS charge approximately .07% Additional text message $.15 per
message
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