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Solving the mystery of your telephone bill!Last revised 8/4/05 The various charges appearing on your Verizon telephone bill may be confusing. Some charges are regulated by the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC), some by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and some charges are not regulated at all. The following description of these charges is provided as a courtesy. If you have additional questions about FCC-approved or FCC-regulated charges, call 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322). Questions about calling plans and non-regulated services should be directed to your local service provider. BASIC MONTHLY FEE -The Maryland PSC approved several types of local calling options for Verizon subscribers. You may subscribe to Unlimited, Limited, or Economy Service, depending on your calling needs. You may have multiple lines of the same type of service; however, you may not combine different classes of service at the same premise when the one service will supplement another type of service. Unlimited service has the highest basic rate because it allows for unlimited local calling within your local calling area. However, because per-call charges apply to the other types of local service, Unlimited service may be the least expensive service for those who make a lot of local calls. Tel-Life service is available for customers who receive AFDC, GPA or SSI benefits. With the Tel-Life service you are billed a very low monthly service fee but per-call charges apply. Again, this service is not recommended for those who make a lot of local calls. Tel-Life customers are NOT charged a Subscriber Line Charge (SLC) or Local Number Portability (LNP) surcharge. Some calling features may not be available to Tel-Life customers. OPTIONAL WIRE MAINTENANCE PLAN - Your local telephone service provider may offer one or more interior wire maintenance plans (i.e., Verizon offers the Basic Plan for $3.45 and a Guardian Plan for $3.95 per month). You should contact your local service provider for details. These optional plans provide diagnosis and repair of customer-owned standard inside phone wires and jacks with no additional charges for the service call or for time and materials. Customers who do not have an Optional Wire Maintenance Plan pay their local service provider or another company for any inside wiring work, or perform the work themselves. These plans are optional and are NOT regulated by the PSC or the FCC. 911 FEE (25¢ State Fee) -The Maryland General Assembly established the 911 Emergency Telephone Systems Trust Fund in 1980, that is funded by a monthly fee billed to all Maryland telephone subscribers. Revenues from the fund are used in connection with establishing, expanding and maintaining the Emergency telephone number 911 service throughout the State. The State fee is 25¢. The customer will be billed the State fee in addition to a County fee. The County fee will vary by County, not to exceed $0.75. DUAL PARTY RELAY SERVICE - The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) required all States to create a dual party relay service so that the hearing and speech impaired people would be able to communicate with those who do not have this impairment. The Act also prohibits charging users of the relay more than the rate paid by non-hearing impaired telephone subscribers.In 1991, the Maryland General Assembly delegated responsibility for developing and managing the relay service to the Department of General Services and required the Public Service Commission to determine the fees necessary to fund the program. The fee has been 20¢ since 1997. For more information about the Dual Relay Service, call DGS at 1(800) 552-7724. GROSS RECEIPTS TAX (PSC Franchise Tax) - Maryland Law (PUC 8-402 & 8-403) imposes a franchise tax measured by gross receipts for each calendar year, on each public service company doing business in the State. Arrangements were made to allow the utility companies to pass this charge along to their customers. The 2.04% tax is applied to all basic local service charges, all value added services, calls completed by the operator and message units. It does not apply to the Subscriber Line Charge, Labor charges, Connection fees, Voice Mail, Non-Regulated charges, Inside wiring and associated Maintenance Plans, Directory Advertising Revenue, and Late Payment Fees. Consumers are billed a MD Gross Receipt tax on interstate and intrastate toll calls. OTHER TAXES All customers are billed a 3% Federal Excise Tax and 5% States Sales Tax. Additionally, there is a local tax, which varies depending on the specific area where the customer resides. For instance the local tax rate is 12 percent in Baltimore City. We suggest that you contact Verizon for the local tax rate for your specific area. LOCAL NUMBER PORTABILITY (LNP) -The federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 requires that customers be allowed to keep their existing telephone numbers if they change their local service provider while staying at the same location. Known as Local Number Portability (LNP), the FCC authorized local telephone service providers to recover their costs of providing LNP through a monthly surcharge.The FCC approved a monthly LNP surcharge of 23¢ per line for all Verizon residential and business customer accounts. The LNP surcharge is higher for certain multi-channel services. This surcharge has been authorized for no more than five years. Additional information about the surcharge is available from the FCC. SUBSCRIBER LINE CHARGE - Instituted after the break-up of AT&T in 1984 to cover the costs of the local phone network. Although the FCC caps the price, it is not a tax, and it does not end up in government coffers.Effective July 1, 2000, the amount for primary lines and single line business customers increased from $3.50 to $4.35. This amount is a combination of the subscriber line charge and the pre-subscribed carrier line charge, which was $1.04. This charge was eliminated. On July 1, 2001 the FCC approved an increase to the primary line subscriber line charge from $4.35 to $5.00. Effective July 2, 2002, the SLC increased to $5.61. For each non-primary line, you pay $6.07. The amount billed for multi-line businesses and Centrex customers is $6.16 for each line. ISDN lines are billed $30.80 for each line. The FCC approved the charge. If you need additional information about the federal charge, please call the FCC at 1-888-225-5322. PRESUBSCRIBED INTEREXCHANGE CARRIER CHARGE (PICC) - Long distance companies pay local phone companies for access to their local phone network to begin and end a long distance call. The FCC regulates the price, but it is not a tax. The FCC does not require that long distance companies pass these charges on to consumers. On July 1, 2000, the PICC was eliminated for residential lines and single-line business lines. From July 1, 1999 through June 30, 2000, the maximum PICC paid by the long distance companies for primary residential lines and single-line business lines was $1.04 per line per month. For non-primary residential lines, the maximum PICC paid by the long distance companies was $2.53 per line per month from July 1, 1999 through June 30, 2000. (Local telephone companies treat a line as non-primary when it serves the same address as the primary line, even if the bill is in a different name at the same address.) From July 1, 1999 through June 30, 2005, the maximum PICC paid by the long distance companies to local telephone companies is $4.31 per month for each multi-line business line. FEDERAL UNIVERSAL SERVICE FUND "FUSF" - Beginning July 1, 2000, Verizon began adding a charge of 35 cents per line for each residential and single line business customer. The FCC approved the charge and it is reviewed quarterly. Below is the history of the FUSF charge on the Verizon bill:
The FUSF is in addition to the Federal Universal Service charge that is billed by your long distance carrier. The Surcharge will be used to help pay for telephone service to: 1) those who live in areas where the cost of providing phone service is high, particularly rural areas; 2) those with low incomes; 3) schools and libraries; and 4) rural health care providers. The charge will not apply to customers on Verizon's Tel-Life program. Tel-Life service is available to qualified customers. In order to qualify for Tel-Life service, a customer must be certified by the Maryland Department of Human Resources as receiving state-funded public assistance benefits or supplemental security income. For further details and/or an application, please call the Verizon Special Interest Group at 800-525-0145. To obtain additional information concerning your Verizon telephone bill, contact the telephone company at: Verizon-Maryland Maryland Public
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