Descriptions of taxes and surcharges on your telephone bill
Extended Area
Service (EAS)
This service increases the number of communities customers can call in their
area without being charged for long distance. HunTel provides Extended Area
Service (EAS) to the Omaha and Fremont calling areas from Blair, Fort Calhoun,
Kennard, and Arlington. Herman is also toll free from Blair. When calling an EAS
community, simply dial the seven-digit telephone number. There is no need to use
1 + 402 when placing an EAS call.
E911
This charge is imposed by local governments to help pay for emergency services
such as fire and rescue.
Telecommunications Relay Services Charge
This state charge helps to pay for the relay center that transmits and
translates calls for hearing-impaired and speech-impaired people.
Local Number Portability Surcharge
The Arlington and Blair Telephone Companies have completed implementation of
Local Number Portability (LNP) as mandated by Congress and the FCC and,
effective September 1, 2004 began billing customers a LNP charge of $0.41 per
month. LNP allows consumers to retain their telephone number when changing
service providers.
The 1996 Telecommunications Act requires that all local telephone companies and
wireless telecommunications companies provide Local Number Portability. Recent
FCC rulings authorize the application of a LNP charge on consumers' telephone
bills to help offset the significant costs of implementing LNP.
Federal Access
Charge
This is a charge billed to the users of residential and business telephone lines
by local telephone companies across the United States. This charge is mandated
by the FCC, but it is not a tax and the government does not receive the money
raised by the charge.
After the break-up of AT&T in 1982, the Federal Communications Commission
adopted access charge rules to govern the way the local phone companies recover
the costs of providing their network to long distance companies. Long distance
calls can't be made or completed without using the local company's network.
Funds raised by the Federal Access Charge are collected and distributed on a
national level. The money is collected by local phone companies, but they do not
necessarily receive the funds raised by the charge. Instead the money is
distributed to phone companies who use it to offset the high cost of providing
phone service to consumers in sparsely populated areas or regions where natural
barriers such as mountains or rivers make phone service difficult. Companies use
the funds to make sure their phone service is affordable to all consumers, not
just those who live in easily accessible urban and suburban settings.
Federal Universal Service Fund (USF)
In May of 1997, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted rules that
mandated that telecommunications carriers pay into a federal program called the
Universal Service Fund (USF). This fund helps provide affordable
telecommunications services for low-income customers and customers in rural
areas. It also provides discounts on Internet access for eligible schools,
libraries and rural health care providers. The USF is collected from
telecommunications carriers and administered by the Universal Service
Administration Corporation. They are responsible for disbursing the funds
according to eligibility criteria established by the FCC.
In the past, only long distance companies paid fees to support the Federal
Universal Service Fund. In 1996, Congress passed a law that expanded the types
of companies contributing to Universal Service. Currently, all
telecommunications companies that provide service between states, including long
distance companies, local telephone companies, wireless telephone companies,
paging companies, and payphone providers, are required to contribute to the
Federal Universal Service Fund. Telecommunications companies must pay a specific
percentage of their interstate and international revenues into the Universal
Service Fund.
Nebraska Universal Service Fund (NUSF)
This program consists of three separate programs: High Cost Support, Low-Income,
and Rural Tele-Health. Each of these programs is designed to compliment its
counterpart in the Federal Fund. However, unlike the Federal Fund, the NUSF
doesn't include a schools and library component.
The High Cost program is designed to keep basic local rates at the Public
Service Commission’s adopted benchmarks of $17.50 and $27.50 for residential and
business services, respectively. Discounts of up to $13.50 a month for
qualifying low-income individuals are available through the low-income program.
The Nebraska Telephone Assistance Program (NTAP) was formerly known as the
Lifeline program. The NTAP program provides $3.00 per month of the support with
the remainder coming from the Federal Fund. The Rural Tele-Health program builds
upon support available from the Federal Fund by providing further reductions in
rates for a statewide tele-health network.
This network will, at a minimum, link 60 critical access hospitals to hub
hospitals in Scottsbluff, North Platte, Kearney, Grand Island, Hastings,
Norfolk, Lincoln, Fremont, and Omaha. This program is designed to make available
to rural Nebraskans, in their hometowns, a similar level and quality of medical
services as is available in urban areas. The NUSF is funded by a 6.95% rate
assessed on in-state retail revenue. This rate should not be confused with a
tax.
Federal Excise Tax
This is a three percent tax mandated by the federal government (not the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC)). It is imposed on all telecommunications
services, including local, long distance, and wireless bills.
State & Local Municipal Tax
This charge is imposed by state, local, and municipal governments on goods and
services.
If you have any questions regarding this information, please contact our customer care center at 426-6200 (Washington County) or 1-888-262-2661 (toll-free statewide).
Home · for more information · Contact Us