TRACNotes
Vol. 3 # 27 --
July 8, 2005
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BUCKS WATCH
USF Fee Going Down, But BellSouth Fees Going Up - Long distance telephone users will get some welcome news with their July phone bills. The FCC has decreased the contribution factor for the Universal Service Fund from 11.1% of total interstate and international charges to 10.2%. Most long distance carriers are passing this decrease on to their customers, so consumers’ phone bills may be slightly less expensive this month. The USF fee goes to support connecting rural and low income users to telephone service as well as extending broadband service to schools, libraries, and rural health care centers. For more information on the Universal Service Fund, click herei. Unfortunately, many BellSouth long distance subscribers will not be able to share in the savings for long. Effective August 5, subscribers to BellSouth’s Fixed Rate Plan and Talk 60 Value Plan will see their monthly recurring charge (MRC) increase by $1.00 from $4.95 to $5.95. The MRC for BellSouth Savings Plan, Area Plus Savings Plan, Area Plus Complete Savings Plan, Fixed Rate Value Plan, and Fixed Rate Savings Plan subscribers will also increase by $1.00 from $3.95 to $4.95 per month. Finally, users of the BellSouth Talk 30 Plan and Talk 30 Value Plan will be paying $3.95, up $1.00 from the current $2.95 MRC. For more information on these increases, click hereii.
Fiber to the Home – What Does It Mean? - A number of carriers are planning to roll out higher speed fiber based services in the coming years. Verizon's FiOS service is currently being rolled out nationwide. SBC’s Project Lightspeed offering and BellSouth’s fiber to the home service are scheduled for rollout over the next few years. Do you need it? Why do it? Here are the pluses and minuses of fiber to the home:
- It is super fast. With Verizon’s FiOS for $49.95 a month (about the same price as DSL after taxes, fees, and surcharges are added) consumers can get 15 Mps downstream and 1.8 Mps upstream speeds. For many consumers, that's faster than typical office broadband connections. True bandwidth junkies can opt for the $199.95 30Mbps downstream/5Mbps upstream package. There is also a 5Mbps downstream/2Mbps upstream service, which is similar to cable modem speeds, for $39.95 per month.
- Added Functionalities. - Telecom carriers are promising to offer VoIP telephone service and television service over their fiber networks.
- Survivability. - Most new FiOS customers will receive a battery backup with their service. This may or may not have enough power to last through an extended electrical outage.
- Multiple computers. - Verizon will install FiOS on one computer in your home free of charge. Consumers who want FiOS service on multiple computers in their home must pay an additional $75 installation charge per computer. Verizon is providing a free 4-port wired router with FiOS service, which consumers can use to hook up additional computers on their own. Verizon is also selling wireless routers for laptops or PCs with Wi-Fi cards.
Do you need super fast connections? That depends. There isn’t a great amount of online content available today that requires super high speed connections. Increasingly, however, feature-rich applications such as high-definition television, online gaming, and telecommuting will require higher speed connections that are currently available with DSL or cable modems. Verizon says it's actively selling FiOS service in 250 communities in 10 states. Another five states are in line to get it soon. For more information on Verizon’s FiOS service, check out the FiOS forum at Broadbandreports.com by clicking hereiii. The rollout by the Bell companies of residential fiber optic service is putting pressure on cable companies to increase the speeds of their own broadband service. Adelphia and Cox Communications are boosting their cable modem speeds to FiOS-like levels in areas where Verizon is rolling out the service. Comcast and Time Warner cable are sure to follow.
TRAC AND YOU
How is Your Teen or Pre-Teen Handling a Cell Phone? - With the wireless phone market approaching the saturation point, the marketing departments of the wireless carriers are increasingly turning their attention towards teens and pre-teens. This group represents the fastest growing market segment for wireless carriers, who have responded by launching teen-friendly brands like Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile. This week, Disney announced a partnership with Sprint to target cell phones at pre-teens. Traditional cell phone carriers have been pushing family share plans aggressively, knowing that having several family members on the same plan makes it much less likely that a subscriber will switch to another carrier. How has your family been handling the “freedom” of cell phones? Have you been faced by some unpleasant surprises on your wireless bill at the end of the month thanks to talkative teens in your family? Do your younger children have cell phones to call home when soccer practice ends early? We want to know! E-mail your stories to trac@trac.org. We’ll choose the best stories and include them in a future issue of TRACNotes.
INTERESTING LINKS
FCC Main Page: http://www.fcc.gov
FCC Complaint Form - http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/cib/fcc475.cfm
List of State Regulatory Commissions: http://www.naruc.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=15
What do you think? Got a tip you want to share? Nominate your "Scam of the Week" and your "Tip of the Week" - If we select your submission, we'll give you a one-year free membership in TRAC and acknowledge your contribution by name in TRACNotes. Send an e-mail to trac@trac.org to submit your ideas!
