As a result of action taken by the Federal Communications Commission that affects carriers nationwide, Innovative Telephone, Innovative Wireless and Innovative Long Distance customers will notice a change in the Federal Universal Service (FUSC) charge effective July 3.
The FUSC Surcharge Factor recovers the costs associated with Innovative Telephone’s contributions to the federal universal fund program. The government-mandated program is designed to help keep telephone service rates affordable for all customers in all areas of the United States. Effective July 3, there will be a decrease in the chare from 17.4 percent to 15.7 percent. For residential telephone customers and single-line business subscribers, the FISC rate will decrease from $1.13 to $1.10. Multi-line telephone business subscribers will experience a decrease from $1.59 to $1.58 per line.
Effective July 3, Innovative Telephone subscribers will also see a new charge on their telephone bills. Each telephone access line will be assessed an Access Recovery Chare (ARC) of $.50 for residential and single line businesses and $1.00 for multi-line businesses.
The new ARC charge is a component of the Federal Communications Commission’s program to provide affordable advanced telecommunications services to all Americans. The ARC recovers a portion of the Telephone Company’s Eligible Recovery as defined in the Federal Communications Commission’s Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in CC Docket Nos. 96-45 and 01-92; GN Docket No. 09-51; WC Docket Nos. 03-109, 05-337, 07-135 and 10-90; and WT Docket No. 10-208 (76 FR 78384, 76 FR 76623).
Customers with questions regarding this notice should contact the Innovative Business Office at 340-779-9999. Innovative’s Business Office hours are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday.