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| Disclosure - Rating & Rounding Of Service & Calls
Updated March '08 |
The following describes the various procedures used to rate services that are displayed on a customer's CloseCall America phone bill:
One Time Annual FCC Assessment Fee A "One-Time" Annual Regulatory Surcharge Applies This Month, $0.98 per line for residential and $1.98 per line for businesses. This fee helps us to recover costs associated with providing service.
CloseCall America Internet Service – Internet service is billed on a per month basis in bi-monthly increments.
CloseCall America Local Services – Mostly, local services are billed on a monthly basis. The monthly charges are pro-rated, depending on the time of the month service begins or ends, and then billed one full month in advance. In addition, customers that have limited service and are billed for usage charges will receive this billing in arrears. Calls to “on-demand” optiTone Block, etc. are billed per occurrence and in arrears. Estimates may be used when exact billing detail is unavailable. A 10% to 20% handling fee may be charged for any calls that require special handling (for example, collect calls, 900 calls, calls that require third party billing).
CloseCall America Wireless Services - Wireless services are billed on a monthly basis and on a usage basis. The monthly charges are pro-rated; depending on the time of the month service begins or ends and then billed one full month in advance. In addition, billing for usage charges are calculated in full 1-minute (60-second) increments and are billed in arrears. USF tax $1.95 applies monthly. Number Portability surcharge of $0.40 applies monthly. Wireless return policy: In order for a device to be returned, the device must have less than 10 mins of usage or customer must have had it for less than 10 days and the device must be returned in the original packaging it came in. If these conditions are not met, the customer will be liable for any contract obligations and device costs. The device must also be free of any damages and fully functional.
CloseCall America Hot-Link Calling Plans – CloseCall hot-link calling plans have no monthly calling plan fees and are billed in less than 1-minute increments. Business plans are billed in 1/10 of a minute (6-second) increment. Residential plans and any calls to our Community Link special numbers are billed in 8/10 of a minute (48-second) increments. Each call is rated and then rounded up to the next penny. An additional $2.25 line fee will be applied on a per month basis to any account with less than $2.99 in total usage. All CloseKnit "unlimited" plans apply only to residential voice to voice calls.
CloseCall America Toll Free Plans – CloseCall toll free plans have a $3.25 per month fee and are billed in 60 second increments. There is a $0.95 per call surcharge, if originated from a payphone.
CloseCall America International Calling Plans – International calling plans have no monthly fees and are billed in full 1-minute (60-second) increments. A fee of $0.25 will be applied to each international call.
CloseCall America Calling Card Plans – CloseCall calling card plans have no monthly fees and are billed in full 1- minute (60-second) increments at 11.9 cents per minute. There is a $0.95 per call surcharge, if originated from a payphone.
CloseCall America Directory Assistance – CloseCall directory assistance has no monthly fee and is billed on a per call basis at $1.95. Calling Card directory assistance is billed on a per call basis at $3.50.
CloseCall America Operator Assistance Calling Card – CloseCall operator assistance calling card has no monthly fee and is billed on a per call basis at $3.95.
CloseCall America Operator Assistance International – CloseCall operator assistance international has no monthly fee and is billed on a per call basis at $4.50.
Universal Service Fees - Abbreviated as “USF” on customer’s bills is a subsidy to support low income telephone users, schools and libraries. The FCC has prescribed a USF of 10.2% based on a customer’s interstate and international long distance usage. This percentage is changed quarterly. Bundled packages carry a USF flat fee of 5.75 per month. VOIP customers carry a USF fee based on the safe harbor percentage of the monthly plan fee.
State PUC Fee - A charge imposed on users of regulated services, which is used to finance operational costs of the regulatory body (i.e., P.U.C.). This charge is generally imposed on the telecommunication provider, although some states allow it to be passed on to the consumer either in the form of a tax or surcharge. For more information please visit Telecommunications Tax Type Descriptions.
Presubscribed Interexchange Carrier Fees – Abbreviated as “PICC” on customer’s bills is part of a national subsidy to support the cost of local telephone lines. This fee is regulated by the Federal Communications Commission and is currently applicable only to business lines. Local telephone companies bill PICC’s to long distance companies on a monthly basis, for accessing the "line loop". The local line loop is all the outside wiring, underground conduits, telephone poles and other facilities that are necessary to get phone service into your home and connect you to the network. There is no current prescribed method for assessing these fees on a customer’s bill. CloseCall America bills a $4.50 per month fee on business lines. Billing is pro-rated, depending on the time of the month service begins or ends, and then billed one full month in advance.
State, Federal Taxes and Local Taxes – CloseCall America uses Billsoft (a known taxing service) to bill customers all state, federal and local taxes. These are prescribed taxes, by law and may vary by jurisdiction. All customers are required to pay these taxes, unless exempted by the taxing authority. For more information please visit www.billsoft.com.
State / County 911 Tax (S/C911T) - This fee subsidizes local public agencies for the cost of establishing, upgrading, operating, and maintaining emergency systems such as 911 and other emergency services. It is charged on local and wireless bills and is a fixed rate charge by all carriers.
911 Administrative Fee For Local Service Customers there Is a new 911 $0.95 per month administrative fee. An additional 911 surcharge has been authorized on telecommunications services for purposes of enhancing the public safety communications network.
Federal Subscriber Line Charge (FSLC) - This is a fee the government allows your local phone company to charge you in order to pay for telephone lines connected to your home. It isn't a tax that goes to the government, but rather a fee the incumbent phone company gets for putting in and maintaining those lines on the network.
Federal Excise Tax - This is a fixed rate of 3% charged by all carriers on the local and wireless monthly usage. It is mandated by the federal government and is charged by all telecommunication services. For more information on this tax contact the IRS Excise Tax Branch.
State Franchise Tax - This tax is also known as Local Franchise Tax or City Franchise Tax. It is charged on local and long distance usage. However it varies by location, but is the same for all carriers located within the locality.
State / Local Sales Tax - This tax varies by state but applies to all carriers serving that locality
TSR - Network Maintenance Fee – This fee supports the overhead costs (costs above long run incremental costs) associated with local connections from a local switching office to a customer premises.
Local Line Misc. Fee
This fee recovers the cost associated with local number portability and access to/from operational support systems. The fee is $1.18 for residential lines and $1.94 for business lines. For bundled flat rate plans that include both local service and long distance service the fee is $5.75 respectively.
Local Service Switch Fee - A Switch Fee of $14.00 applies for any residential services switching to CloseCall, a switch fee of $28.00 applies for any business services swtiching to CloseCall.
Local Service Cancellation Fee - A Local Cancellation Fee of $22.00 may apply when a customer leaves CloseCall America's Local Service.
General Late Fees and Charges – $28.00 Non Payment Fee applied when LONG DISTANCE service is shut-off for non payment. $27.00 Local Non Payment Fee applied when local service is shut-off for non payment. $13.00 Local Restoral Fee (per line) to restore local service from a temporary disconnect status. $15.00 Collection Agency Fee applied when account is 90 days past due and forwarded to collections. $35.00 Returned Check Fee applied anytime a check is returned as NSF (Non-Sufficient Funds). 1.5% Late Fee applied on any unpaid balances.
Service Reinstatement Fees – $13.00 Service Reinstatement Fee applied when service is reinstated after it has been suspended - fee is charged per line that is reinstated.
Internet / DSL Non-payment Fee – $15.00 Non-payment Fee applied when Internet service is shut-off for non-payment.
VOIP Non-payment Fee – $20.00 Non-payment Fee applied when VOIP service is shut-off for non-payment.
Wireless Non-payment Fee – $25.00 Non-payment Fee applied when Wireless service is shut-off for non-payment.
Wireless Early Termination Fee – $175.00 Early Termination Fee applied when customer cancels wireless service before contract term is up when using Verion network. $200.00 Early Termination Fee applied when customer cancels wireless service before contract term is up when using Sprint network.
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