Could be something unique to your phone company. I just pulled my phone bill so you can compare to your pricing: Unlimited local service w/ callerID, call waiting, vmail, etc. - $28.95 Unlimited long distance - 20.00 Non-listed service (BS charge so they DON'T publish my #) - 0.50 Privacy manager (so idiot telemarketers don't get through) - 3.20 Federal access charge - 4.50 911 eSystem (from county) - 0.50 State infrastructure maintenance fee - 0.18 State additional charges - 0.03 Infrastructure maintenance credit - 0.79CR Federal universal service fee - 0.39 State universal service fee - 0.10 3% fed tax - 1.06 7% state tax - 2.57 Municipal telecom tax - 1.84 Local, state, Fed taxes on long distance service - 3.99 (20%)
mytwocents, You have hit on a topic that infuriates me every month. I think taxes and related charges add 40% to my phone bill. Politicians love to tax this kind of stuff, as they can say it is a "luxury" and it's hard for people to pin it down, unlike say, real estate taxes or income taxes. It was not as bad when people typically had one phone line and prices weren't so high. Now everybody has three or four lines, internet, cable, wireless, etc so these taxes amount to serious cachingo.
SBC in the Chicago area Another alternative if you have broadband internet is to check out Vonage - around $30-40/month unlimited local and long distance VOIP. I've tried it, voice quality was good but I use the home landline as a worst case internet fallback (so if cable broadband's out - extremely rare - no phone). Major reason for not sticking with them is that I also need the ability to do dialup to a bunch of remote sensors/processors with serial interfaces and you can't reliably do modem-esque communication through the Cisco VOIP boxes that Vonage uses. But for straight voice/fax needs, it worked fine.
Why even have a home phone? I still have one through, because I have a fax connected to it and I can write it off. But with fax getting more and more outdated I am starting to wonder why I even have it at all. Most everyone that calls me just rings my cell anyway. Usually when the home phone rings it is a sales type. I think the last time I actually used the wired phone was a couple of weeks ago when I ordered a pizza. I have several friends that don't home phones at all. With cell minutes so cheap, and long distance thrown it for free (not really free, rather it is included I should say) it really makes sense to dispense with a traditional home phone. Other family members can be added for $10 bucks a head per month....free phone to boot. You still have to pay some taxes on a cell, but generally they are less than a wired phone. Additionally, with only a cell phone you get nailed for only one round of monthly taxes, not paying taxes on the cell and wired phone both.
Now see? That $4.50...how in the world do they come to that number? A percent of what?! WTF?! I'm on a mission to find out where this fricking number comes from...SOBs
I believe here is your answer. It's not a tax but is allowed by the feds: http://www.greenwichtime.com/business/yourmoney/sns-yourmoney-0425spending,0,2826587.story Here's a quote from the link. "One question to ask is whether the company charges an optional fee that can run up to $6.50 a month. It's variously called a "federal access charge," "subscriber line charge" or "interstate access charge," among other names, said David Wood, editor of CheapTelephoneBills.com. The FCC allows local companies to charge the optional flat fee to recoup the costs of constructing and maintaining a local phone network, namely the phone wires to your house and wires that connect homes and businesses. It's a product of the AT&T breakup in 1984. Not all companies charge that fee, and switching could save $78 a year. "A lot of people are paying too much because they don't shop around," Wood said. -- Bye-bye landline. The most radical way to reduce costs is to cancel your landline home phone service altogether. Instead, use your mobile phone for all your calls."
Sounds like an AAA or Maverick statement..."majority of Americans LIKE paying these taxes" Majority? Name two people who like paying any kind of taxes. Especially these insidious taxes that nickle and dime you while you and the "majority" of people have your backs turned. LOL AAA, you have been infecting guys like ShoeshineBoy? I am impressed. But really AAA, you should fess up that you use poetic license. Like Maverick saying all Democrats "HATE" rich people. These are young and impressionable minds you are messing with. It is a dangerous game you play Peace, my friend, RS
So I've now called the FCC...and Qwest....and Cox....and the answer to why they charge what they do is: I don't know, but thanks for the hand job. I.E. The FCC says the CAP is $6.50 per line. But the phone company itself has the choice to charge anywhere from $0.00-$6.50... its up to them..... so take a wild guess what BOTH Qwest and Cox charge... Yup, $6.50. And when I called Qwest to ask how they come to that number here is the answer I got and I'm almost quoting, "its the amount the FCC says we need to charge" Well I corrected her on this and informed her that the ONLY thing the FCC says about this charge is that they can't charge MORE than the amount.... so then after a call to another 'supervisor' "well its the amount that Qwest has decided it needs to charge"........ Ummmmmmm......DUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHHHH But I realized that any further attempt to get to the bottom of this (she already had put me on hold twice and called her 'supervisor') with her was pointless so I called Cox, and got someone just as clueless but this time after I was told they too charge the MAX, I said to the guy that really then, that should be included in the price of the basic phone line seeing as how it is charged to everyone, the same amount.... and he says to me, 'well Ma'am, Cox could just charge the $18.00 for the phone line but we feel it is better and more helpful for our customers if we break down the cost so that you know where the money is going' and I said, 'well you can't even tell me that! You're telling me that the line itself is $12 (approx) and the cost to have it is $6.50...' Anyway, I informed him that at least I knew both the local phone companies in my area were equally clueless and have a nice day. This is sooooooooooo going on my things that suck page.....