Other Charges Universal Service Fund (USF) (Also called Universal Connectivity Fee) - Because telephones provide a vital link to emergency services, to government services and to surrounding communities, it has been our nation’s policy to promote telephone service to all households since this service began in 1930s. The USF helps to make phone service affordable and available to all Americans, including consumers with low incomes, those living in areas where costs of providing telephone service is high, schools and libraries and rural health care providers. Congress has mandated that all telephone companies providing interstate service must contribute to USF. Although not required to do so by government, many carriers choose to pass their contribution costs on to their customers in form of a line item, often called "Federal Universal Service Fee" or "Universal Connectivity Fee."

FCC's Efforts to Help Consumers Understand Bills To ensure that telephone bills give consumers essential information they need to protect themselves from fraud and to make informed choices, FCC has issued following rules and guidelines that phone companies must follow when creating their phone bills. The bills must:

Be clearly organized...

Identify service provider associated with each charge...

Highlight any new providers and indicate date change was made...

Contain full and non-misleading descriptions of charges...

Identify those charges for which failure to pay will not result in disconnection of a customer’s basic, local service...

Provide a toll-free number for customers to call for customer service in order to lodge a complaint or to obtain information. If customer does not receive a paper telephone bill, but receives a bill by e-mail or over Internet, telephone company may provide customer with an e-mail address or Web site to inquire about charges...

Use standardized labels when referring to certain line item charges relating to federal regulatory action, such as "local number portability" and subscriber line charges.