BUCKS WATCH
Several MCI Fee Increases On the Way - MCI’s long distance subscribers will be feeling the pinch of more fee increases this summer as the company raises the monthly recurring charge on four of its Nationwide long distance plans as well as its Carrier Cost Recovery Charge. Effective July 1, 2005, MCI Nationwide subscribers on the following plans who have also chosen MCI as their interLATA carrier will see their monthly recurring charges increase:
- MCI Nationwide Unlimited - Increases from $24.99 to $27.99
- MCI Nationwide 200 Plus - Increases from $9.99 to $10.99
- MCI Nationwide Instate - Increases from $5.95 to $6.95
- MCI Nationwide 300 Plus - Increases from $10.00 to $12.00
Additionally, any MCI long distance subscriber who does not also use MCI as their local service provider will see their monthly Carrier Cost Recovery Charge increase from 99ยข to $1.25. The Carrier Cost Recovery Charge is a discretionary fee that MCI collects in order to recover expenses the MCI incurs with regard to the national fund for Telecommunications Relay Service, national number portability, access charges, and federal regulatory fees and programs. For more information on these fee increases, contact MCI customer service at (800) 444-3333, or click herei.
WIRELESS WATCH
T-Mobile Tops for Wireless Business Customers, Says J.D. Power - Noted research firm J.D. Power and Associates this week ranked T-Mobile highest in overall customer satisfaction among wireless voice and data business customers. T-Mobile narrowly edged out Verizon Wireless for top honors in the study, with Cingular, Sprint PCS, and Nextel ranking below the industry average for customer satisfaction. According to the study, the average monthly cost to businesses for wireless voice service is $4,116. The average monthly cost for wireless data services is $2,859. Push-to-talk service continues to be a popular feature for business users, with 36% of businesses surveyed saying that their wireless plans included it. This latest news caps a string of similar results for T-Mobile in a number of industry studies of overall customer satisfaction. Interestingly, T-Mobile is the only major national wireless carrier that has not been involved in a merger in the last twelve months. For more information on the J.D. Power study, click hereii.
WASHINGTON WATCH
Bill Introduced to Repeal 19th Century Federal Excise Tax - This week, Representative Gary Miller (R-CA) introduced the “Telephone Excise Tax Repeal Act of 2005” which would finally put an end to the 3% federal excise tax on wireline and wireless phone bills that most telephone consumers have been paying in one form or another since the Spanish-American War of 1898. Click hereiii to read the full text of the bill. The tax on phone services has been increased, decreased, phased-out, eliminated and reinstated to pay for national emergencies from the Spanish American War to the Great Depression to the Vietnam War. It was finally set at the current 3% and generates about $5.8 billion annually. “This is a perfect example of how taxes live forever. The government promised that the tax was only needed to pay for an emergency, and then it would go away. Well, here we are 107 years later, and like a cockroach, this tax refuses to die,” Miller said. With the federal government facing a budget deficit of more than $400 billion this year, getting the bill enacted could be a tough sell, however. Some experts on the subject have suggested that instead of eliminating the tax, it should be used to pay for universal service, which is currently funded by an 11% fee on long distance and international call charges. Let your Congressman know what you think. Click hereiv to get contact information for your Representative.
TRAC AND You
Switch to a National Wireless Plan Temporarily When Traveling - Last week, we asked TRACNotes readers to write in with their suggestions about how they save money on their phone bills. The response has been great! One of the most interesting suggestions came in from a reader in The Dalles, Oregon. She writes:
"I don't know about the other carriers, but Verizon Wireless has a feature I really appreciate and that is that if you know you're going to be traveling (and therefore roaming) you can change your plan for that month. I think you do need to do it at the beginning of the billing cycle because the minutes are pro-rated --- which requires some advance planning, but it's worth it if you're going to be calling home while you're on the trip."
We had never heard of this trick, so we called Verizon Wireless to get the scoop. According to Verizon Wireless, subscribers on the local Digital Choice plans can switch over to a national America’s Choice plan for up to thirty days in order to avoid paying roaming charges when calling from outside their local calling area. The trick is to switch back to the local Digital Choice plan less than thirty days after the initial switch. Customers who don’t switch back could get stuck with a one or two year contract on a more expensive America’s Choice plan. We also confirmed with Verizon Wireless that it is advisable to make the switch from the local plan to the national plan on the first day of a billing cycle in order to avoid pro-rated charges. Subscribers interested in this option should contact Verizon Wireless to discuss how the switch would affect their particular plans.
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!
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©2005 Telecommunications Research and Action Center. TRAC grants unlimited rights to reproduce TRACNotes or any information contained in it provided attribution is given as follows: "Source: Telecommunications Research and Action Center. http://www.trac.org"
Endnotes
