FCC raises telephone rates

The Federal Communications Commission recently passed new regulations requiring small, local telephone companies to increase a component of your local telephone bill known as the "Subscriber Line Charge."

Effective January 1, 2002, this increase in the federally mandated charge will raise the Subscriber Line Charge on all residential and single-line business customers' lines from $3.50 to $5.00, with further increases planned through 2003. In addition, multiple-line business customers' Subscriber Line Charge will increase from $6.00 to $9.20.

The Subscriber Line Charge is not a tax and this increase does not benefit your local telephone company. It is a federally-imposed charge that is collected by all local telephone companies and represents a portion of the cost for each telephone consumer to access the long distance network. (The remainder is collected as part of the cost of a long distance call.)

This increase relates to previous FCC rulings that reduced the rates that local telephone companies charge long distance carriers for using the local network. The FCC anticipates that long distance companies will pass the savings on to the consumer through lower per-minute rates.

A side benefit of this recent FCC decision is that the federal Lifeline support amount will increase equal to any Subscriber Line Charge increase. The Lifeline program helps reduce monthly telephone charges to low-income consumers.

If you have any questions or comments about the Subscriber Line Charge or wish to know where you can voice your concerns, please contact your local telephone company or send an e-mail to info@mnta.org.

Additional Resources
Federal Communications Commission (FCC):
Fact Sheet: Access Charges and Universal Service Reform