Long Distance Rate CalculatorUse our BottomLine™ Calculator to compare long distance telephone rates and calculate the total cost of your monthly bill including fees, taxes, and other fees. Once you get the results click on the “Total Bill” amount to get a breakdown for the best long distance rate. |  “One of the fastest long distance calculators we've seen on the net” “Unless you see it on a bill, it means nothing to you” Understanding Phone Bill ChargesUniversal Service Charge (USF)This fee is put into the Universal Service Fund, which helps make telephone service available to everyone, including low-income customers, customers in high cost rural areas and to serve customers with disabilities. More recently this fund has been used to wire schools, libraries and hospitals for access to the Internet. This tax is assessed to all interstate and international phone calls. Presubscribed Interexchange Carrier Charge (PICC)Long distance carriers pay these charges to local phone companies for access to their local phone networks. The FCC regulates the price but does NOT require that long distance companies pass the charges on to customers. As a result, some long distance phone companies pass this cost directly onto their customers while other carriers include it in per-minute charges. PICC charges can be very expensive for businesses with more than 1 long distance phone line — so business long distance customers be careful to read the fine print. Municipal ChargeThis fee is charged by your local municipality to defray the costs of community services such as the local Emergency Services (911) operation. Phone Number Portability ChargeA Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved charge that reimburses local phone companies for administrative costs incurred by allowing you to switch long distance carriers. Subscriber Line Charge (SLC)Similar to the PICC charge, the SLC is billed by your local telphone company, not your long distance company. |
