Telephone Bills: Charges on Local Telephone Bills (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Revised Jan. 6, 2005 |
| Report Number |
RL30052 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
James R. Riehl, Congressional Reference Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
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Summary:
Telephone bills are becoming more and more complex and such change and complexity occasion
congressional and regulatory attention as well as constituent requests for explanation of new charges
on their bills. As local telephone companies provide additional caller services and continue to act
as billing agents for long-distance and information service providers, a customer's local bill can
include charges for myriad options that did not exist a few years ago. Bills may now contain charges
labeled federal subscriber line charge, presubscribed interexchange carrier charge, "national access
fee," "carrier line charge," "federal universal service charge," or local telephone number portability.
In addition, customers may now receive bills for different telecommunications services from
different telecommunications service providers.
In the past, long-distance companies usually billed business customers directly and residential
customers through a local phone company. Recently, long-distance companies have begun billing
residential customers directly. One bill has become two. Cellular telephone and personal
communications services (PCS) providers, competitive local exchange carriers (CLEC), and paging
companies usually send bills directly to the consumer. Some cable television companies are
providing local telephone service, and those charges may appear on a cable bill.
Although surveys show that consumers prefer one readable and understandable bill, there is no
federal regulation or law that dictates the layout or wording that is used on bills. This report lists and
describes the possible basic charges that commonly appear on most local service telephone bills and
discusses the practice of "cramming," the appearance of unauthorized and possibly illegal charges
on telephone bills. An overview of various actions by the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) is also provided.
This report will be updated as events warrant.
