VOIP etc > Voice Over IP - VOIP > VOIP Tech Chat > New Reg fee confirmed

New Reg fee confirmed

:) My form letter was signed by the CEO :)

"We are extremely gratified that our customers continue to
be our biggest enthusiasts and our best source of new
ideas as we continue to innovate and redefine global
communications.

On behalf of all of us here at Vonage, thank you for your
business.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey Citron
CEO"

reply to youngmoore
Looks like its only a business line fee... Yay for us non-business customers!!

said by yay:

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Looks like its only a business line fee... Yay for us non-business customers!!

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reply to youngmoore
Does anyone know whether Vonage has been hit with some new regulatory fee or whether they're just choosing to itemize (and pass along) a fee that they've been charged all along?

reply to youngmoore
State and Federal agencies collect these fees from communications providers to fund public projects such as rural and library communications programs.

Is this a bad thing? The Government has to raise money for these things somehow. You can cut up the costs and spread them across a billion different service charges like this or you can raise everyone's income tax. Since nobody wants to do the latter we're stuck with extra fees on this, that and the other thing. Unfortunately, it's a false economy. The amount of administrative overhead (paper pushing) that is involved with collecting fees outside of income tax erodes the actual amount recovered. In other words, you get more mileage out of $1.50 if it is collected at the income tax level than through some third or fourth party. Give it a while and the Vonage monthly bill will look very much like the one from Verizon, SBC, etc.

reply to youngmoore
I think the 1.50 is for covering the costs for something else. Only MN and WI have forced Vonage to operate in a manner for Vonage to charge any regulatory fee's.

Either they have realized they cannot win and a large majority of other states will fall in line with MN, or they are shifting the costs of something else onto consumers, very much like a traditional phone company.

If P8 and Voice pulse and voice glo do not charge this fee, the answer is clear.

reply to youngmoore
Vonage just got too much attention, grew too fast, and has had too much press. I'm sure all the money grabbing tax people took notice and theatened Vonage to pay up or else. VOIP is a threat to many organizations such as TELCOs,government taxing entities, and programs such as rural telephone programs. I'm not surprised that something like this has happened. Let's just hope things don't go too far and Vonage is forced to begin acting like a TELCO with all their regulatory crap.

reply to clecrupt9

said by clecrupt9:

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I think the 1.50 is for covering the costs for something else. Only MN and WI have forced Vonage to operate in a manner for Vonage to charge any regulatory fee's.

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reply to clecrupt9

said by clecrupt9:

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I think the 1.50 is for covering the costs for something else. Only MN and WI have forced Vonage to operate in a manner for Vonage to charge any regulatory fee's.

Either they have realized they cannot win and a large majority of other states will fall in line with MN, or they are shifting the costs of something else onto consumers, very much like a traditional phone company.

If P8 and Voice pulse and voice glo do not charge this fee, the answer is clear.

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Here is just a theory for you to think about. What if Vonage has plans to apply to be an eligible telecommunications carrier (ETC), which (if granted) would allow them to receive universal service support? Now, they can't very well ask to dip into that little corporate welfare boondoggle if they haven't paid into it, right?

Before you say that they would never be eligible, consider that cell phone companies have successfully applied for ETC status in various states. For example, here are some recent decisions in Michigan:

»cis.state.mi.us/cgi-bin/mpsc/vie···1-03.htm
»cis.state.mi.us/cgi-bin/mpsc/vie···2003.htm
»cis.state.mi.us/cgi-bin/mpsc/vie···2003.htm

So maybe, just maybe, someone at Vonage decided that if they pay into this, then they can apply for status as an ETC, and pull more out of it than they are paying in.

As I say, this is JUST a theory - not even that, really, just a wild guess. But if anyone has a better explanation as to why they are doing this, feel free to offer it.

I really hope that is NOT the case.

I think this is to cover costs for something else, or to prepare for mass regulation and the payment for time of when they rendered service but did not pay.

As far as I know there isnt any mass regulation, its still up in the air, so that points to covering some other costs, such as the costs of becoming a telecom carrier or legal battles.

Edit:

I also wonder what regulators will think of a service fighting regulation yet charging a regulatory fee??? Could they have just screwed themselves?

[text was edited by author 2003-09-20 14:31:34]

reply to youngmoore
Just to add one thing to this conversation. Vonage, assuming they access the PSTN, is required to pay these fees.

If Vonage is supplying local service with a CLEC certificate, they (I think) are required to collect this fee.

One thing that this fee will fund is eRate at your local school or library. To see what your local school or library is receiving, check out »www.sl.universalservice.org/funding/

reply to youngmoore
Ok this is a BAD thing!

Federally mandated taxes are one thing, we all know what they are (Not necessarily where they go) however it's a standard.

Yes they stink however are not like the new culprit, that would be the mystery taxes that are not really taxes, just tax sounding surcharges...

Like
"City Occupation Recovery Fee"
"City Franchise Fee"

These are not taxes, they are costs of doing business and should be included in the cost anyway, what happens is they (The Telcos and cable companys) get so competitive to the point they make up some fee, and until they decided to charge you directly for them they just paid anyway.

This is what Vonage is doing, true they will get nailed with some tax however where exactly is this money going?

"Other related fees and charges"

Hey what’s next?
"Electric company tax recovery fee" for the taxes charged on power used in their data center?

This is why we ran to Vonage, now it might be why people run back to the ever reliable "Ma Bell", not today however once you add all the taxes on your land line to Vonage you are not saving that much!

And for everything you loose it may not be worth it!
--
Check Out My VOIP Uptime Report Page @ »www.thevoipforum.com/stats/stats.htm

reply to youngmoore
3rd thread on this subject???

said by dschultznet:

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3rd thread on this subject???

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reply to The Beer

said by The Beer:

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Ok this is a BAD thing!

...Hey what’s next?
"Electric company tax recovery fee" for the taxes charged on power used in their data center?...

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I must say the price decrease would be nice, if I used Vonage.

My fear is the addition of "Tax Like" charges, it's pandora's box.
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Check Out My VOIP Uptime Report Page @ »www.thevoipforum.com/stats/stats.htm

Looks like this topic has been Slashdotted...
»slashdot.org/articles/03/09/20/2···8&tid=99
Of course, the usual phone company apologists are making the usual noises in the comments section.

reply to youngmoore
What nobody has said so far, but entirely true: For small business customers, these extra fees means the cost has actually gone up by $3 if you have the free fax line option.

-- PhoneBoy
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The views expressed herein are not necessarily those of anyone else, including the poster.