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Phone Bill Independence Report Table of Contents anbd Exhibits Preface Executive Summary: Major Issues Introduction "Send Us Your Phone Bill" Campaign About the Authors of this Report Aunt Ethel’s Phone Bill, 1980-2003 Back Drop — Verizon, NY’s Current Deregulation Is Costing Customers More Money. Back Drop: Verizon, NJ’s Local Service Calculations Are a Slight-Of-Hand Trick. Multiple Jurisdictional Swiss Cheese — No Regulator Examines the Entire Phone Bill for Profits. The "End Result Test" Summary The Significance of this Report and VOIP
I. "Truth-In-Billing" Violations 1) What Is "Truth-In-Billing"? 2) Lots of Truth-In-Billing Violations in Just Two Verizon States. 3) Truth-In-Billing Violations — Word Jumble and Definitional Slight of Hand. 4) New Jersey Word Jumble Vs "Basic Rate". 5) Category Fraud — Touchtone and the FCC Line Charge Are Not Included. 6) Phone Bill Format Confusion. 7) 7-10 Page Phone Bills? 8) Truth-In-Billing Violation — "Surcharges" (S) with No Definitions. 9) Surcharge Scandal Violation: "Surcharges" Hide the Fact that Customers Are Paying Some of Verizon’s Taxes. 10) Scandal: More Pass-Throughs: "Telecom Service Excise Tax"? 11) "Monthly Charges" Not Explained Are a Truth-In-Billing Violation. 12) Quarterly Statements Are Another Truth-In-Billing Violation. II. FCC Subscriber Line Charge "Truth-In-Billing" and Other Violations 13) Find the FCC Line Charge on the Phone Bill A Tax? — Part of Local Service? 14) What is the FCC Subscriber Line Charge? 15) FCC Line Charge — No Cost Support, No Rate Case for Increases. 16) Truth-In-Billing Violation: FCC Line Charge Is NOT "Mandated". 17) Truth-In-Billing Violation: FCC Line Charge Is NOT Related to Long Distance Services. 18) Truth-In-Billing Violation: FCC Line Charge Is a Misleading Description. 19) Truth-In-Billing Violation: Where Is the FCC Line Charge on the Bill and How Is It Billed? 20) Taxes and Surcharges Applied to the FCC Line Charge. 21) Package Prices Don’t Include the FCC Line Charge 22) The FCC Line Charge Scandal —What Should the FCC Line Charge Really Cost? — $7 a Month Less (Counting Taxes, in New York). 23) But It Does Get Worse… Taxes and Surcharges Applied. 24) New Jersey Calculations. III Package Issues 25) There are Numerous Customer Issues with Packages. 26) Advertised Vs Actual Price of Packages. 27) Missing Call Detail: A Violation of the Truth-In-Billing Rules. 28) Local Phone Package Has No "Local Service" Charge- Another Truth-In -Billing Violation. 29) Packages Can Be a Rip-Off. 30) Customers on the Wrong Local and Regional Packages. 31) There Is No Local Competition Today for Most Consumers. 32) Is Verizon "Dumping" the Long Distance Part of the Package to Get Market Share? 33) Lifeline Services Are Still Not "Cheap". IV More Taxes and Surcharges 34) Triple, Quadruple and Quintuple Taxation — Taxes on Top of Taxes. 35) Taxes on Top of Taxes on Top of Taxes. 36) The Spanish American War Tax — The Federal Excise Tax. 37) Portability Charges Are Being Illegally Charged to Customers. 38) Wireless Number Portability a Big Issue. 39) The Cost to Keep Your Phone Number Is Outrageous. 40) Customers Shouldn’t Be Paying the Portability Charge. 41) Universal Service Fund Is an "Out of Control" Slush Fund. 42) A Large Sum of Money for Customers. 43) How Screwy Is the Application of Universal Service Charges on Local Phone Service? 44) Charges for Universal Service in NY on Local Phone Bills Don’t Match. 45) The Bells Are the Largest Recipients of the USF Fund for Schools and Libraries. 46) The Bells Get Reimbursed at Business Retail Rates. 47) The High-Cost Funds Are Given to Very Profitable Companies. 48) Rural Companies Are Also Large Recipients of High-Cost Funds — And They Appear to Be Very Profitable. 49) Many States May Be Collecting Multiple Times for Internet, Broadband and High-Cost Funds. 50) Multiple Problems with Universal Service Fund. 51) Lack of Oversight, Fraud and Mismanagement. 52) Fraud and Mismanagement Are Commonplace in the USF Fund. 53) No Competitive Bidding Inflates the Costs to Customers. 54) E911 — A Necessary Service, But Who’s Minding the Store? 55) E911 Costs to Customers. 56) Variations of the Costs of this Charge. V The Prices and Profits of Local Calling and Calling Features 57) The 9 Cent Scam. 58) Remove Touchtone Charge in New Jersey. 59) Profits on Calling Features Are Outrageous. 60) The Cost of Directory Assistance Keeps Increasing for No Reason. 61) Consumer Perspective on Directory? 62) Costs to Offer Directory Assistance Keep Decreasing. 63) Mistakes Abound with Directory. 64) 411 National Scam — Why Did Verizon Get to Keep a Very Valuable Asset, the ‘411’ Number, for Personal Use. 65) Charging for Unpublished Number — Charging for Nothing. 66) Non-Published Service: Truth-In-Billing Violation. VI New Jersey Issues — Mistakes on Phone Bills Are Common. 67) Case One — Small Business Discounts Missing on an Estimated 40% of Small Business Accounts. 68) Proposed Class Action Suit Settlement 69) Case Two: Non-Existent Special Circuits Being Billed to Business and Residential Customers. 70) Custopak. 71) Inside Wire Maintenance. 72) Double Billing. VII Other Cost of Service Issues that Effect Phone Bill Charges. 73) "Inserts" Have Become Free Advertising for Non-Regulated Services. 74) Phone Bill Advertisements: Another Free Ride: More Truth-In-Billing Violations. 75) No Human Customer Services on Sunday. 76) Payment with Credit Card: Verizon Doesn’t Take Credit Cards. — Pay More. 77) Problems with Verizon New York’s Quality of Service. 78) Inflated Network Costs Cost Customers Money Annually: VET — "Vaporware Equipment Tax". 79) Phone Bill Secret — The Numbers Don’t Add Up. 80) FCC Line Charge Mistake: $6.49 Instead of $6.00. 81) The Superman Scam —Total Bill Taxes Don’t Add Up. 82) Idiot Items Fill Up the Phone Bills. 83) Multiple Truth-In-Billing Violations? 84) Packages Are Filled with Idiot Items. VIII Larger Issues — Long Distance and Lack of Local Competition 85) Long Distance Phone Bill Issues. 86) Multiple Additional Charges, Tax Assessments and Other Issues. 87) Sprint Vs Verizon on the Verizon Bill – Verizon Getting Another Free Ride. 88) There Is No Local Wireline Phone Competition. 89) Only Package Competition? 90) Loss of Local Phone Revenues from Verizon’s Own Subsidiaries? 91) Competitors Pay Broadband Taxes that Verizon Does Not Pay. Conclusion Appendix 1 — Verizon Taxes and Surcharges. Appendix 2 — Commissioner Copps on the FCC Line Charge Rate Case.
Exhibit 1 New York City Phone Bill for the Exact Same "Basic Service", 1980-2003. Exhibit 2 Changes to Local Phone Service, 1980-2003. Exhibit 3 Changes to Local Phone Service (Minus the Telephone), 1980-2003. Exhibit 4 Regulatory Agency Control of Phone Charges. Exhibit 5 Truth-In-Billing Violations Found on Verizon NY and New Jersey Bills. Exhibit 6 Verizon New Jersey, Quarterly Vs Monthly Phone Bills. Exhibit 7 FCC Line Charge for Specific Years, 1980-1996. Exhibit 8 FCC Line Charge for Specific Years, 1999-2003. Exhibit 9 Access Fees, Costs Vs Actual Charges, 1998. Exhibit 10 FCC Line Charge Today and If Based on Costs. Exhibit 11 Verizon New York "Freedom Package", August 2003. Exhibit 12 Package Summary of Taxes and Costs, August 2003. Exhibit 13 Revenues Back to Verizon For Surcharges, 2003. Exhibit 14 Unlimited Local Package Customer Overcharging, 2003.
Exhibit 16 Case Study: Unlimited Local Package Customer Overcharging, 2003. Exhibit 17 Household Expenditures for 2002. Exhibit 18 Summary of Verizon New Jersey Package Analysis of Long Distance. Exhibit 19 Verizon New Jersey Freedom Plan Analysis Bill Date: 6/5/03. Exhibit 20 New York City LifeLine Customer Bill, May 2003. Exhibit 21 Dialtone Charge Vs Taxes on Top of Taxes, Verizon NY, 2003. Exhibit 22 Double, Triple, and Quadruple Taxation on Phone bills, July 2003.
Exhibit 24 Increases to the Universal Service Fund as a Percentage, 1999-2003. Exhibit 25 FCC Inspector General’s USF Information for 2001. Exhibit 26 Universal Service Charges? New York Phone Bills, April-May 2003. Exhibit 27 Top 25 USF Recipients, Bell Revenues, 2001. Exhibit 28 Partial List, High Cost Funding of the States Verizon Offers Service, 1999. Exhibit 29 Rural ILEC's EBIDTA, 2003. Exhibit 30 FCC Inspector General’s USF Oversight Issues for 2001. Exhibit 31 Appendix 1: 1998 (FY1) Beneficiary Audit. Exhibit 32 New York Local Phone Calling Time of Day Discounts, 2002. Exhibit 33 Average Increases in the Cost Of Local Phone Calling. Exhibit 34 The Average Savings by Time of Day, 2003. Exhibit 35 Verizon New York, Local Calling Patterns Based on Respondents, 2003. Exhibit 36 Monthly Cost of Touchtone in New Jersey, 2003. Exhibit 37 Revenue, Expense & Profits, Selected BellSouth Calling Features, 1999. Exhibit 38 Verizon New York, New Jersey Call Waiting and Caller ID, 2003. Exhibit 39 Directory Assistance Pricing Comparison, 10 Calls NYC, 1980-2003. Exhibit 40 Directory Assistance Pricing Comparison, NYC, 1980-2003. Exhibit 41 Verizon NJ Directory Assistance Pricing Comparison. Exhibit 42 NARUC’s Cost, Price and Profit Analysis for Directory Assistance, 2003. Exhibit 43 Verizon’s Unlisted Number Charges, New York, New Jersey, 2003. Exhibit 44 Verizon New York, New Jersey, Customer Service Hours, August 2003. Exhibit 45 Verizon New York, FCC and USF Screw-ups. Exhibit 46 Verizon New Jersey Example, Taxes Don’t Add Up. Exhibit 47 New York Verizon Phone Bills with "Idiot Items" — Cost $0.00. Exhibit 48 Two Examples of New York Verizon Phone Bills with "Idiot" Items. Exhibit 49 Charges and Taxes on Sprint Long Distance (Verizon Customer). Exhibit 50 Example of Taxes Are Wrong on Verizon Billing for Sprint. Exhibit 51 Verizon DSL Taxes Vs New York City ISP DSL Service Taxes. NOTE: Additional Phone Bill Exhibits can be found at: http://www.newnetworks.com/independenceexhibits.htm Phone Bill Exhibit 1: New Jersey Phone Bill – Basic Service. Phone Bill Exhibit 2: A Non-Basic Charge From NJ Bills Phone Bill Exhibit 3: New Jersey – FCC Charge as Part of Basic Service. Phone Bill Exhibit 4: Verizon Freedom Package, New York, with Taxes Phone Bill Exhibit 5: Verizon New York, Taxes and Surcharges Phone Bill Exhibit 6: Taxes and Surcharges on Verizon NY Bill. Phone Bill Exhibit 7: 9 Cent Scam Phone Bill Exhibit 8: NY Bill with Touchtone Charge. Phone Bill Exhibit 9: NY Bill: Optional "Denial", "Blocking", $0.00 Charge. |