Taxes, Fees & Surcharges

The Federal Universal Service Fund (USF) is administered by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to support access to telecommunications and broadband services in rural and high-cost areas, as well as for low-income consumers, schools, libraries, and rural healthcare providers.

All telecommunications and interconnected VoIP providers, including VOIPx3, are required to contribute to the USF. VOIPx3 may recover these costs from customers. The applicable USF rate is set by the FCC on a quarterly basis and is subject to change.

This is a monthly recurring fee charged by VOIPx3 to support the provision of emergency calling services (e.g., 911 and E911) for VoIP customers who make and receive calls to and from the public switched telephone network (PSTN). This fee is applied on a per-line basis at a standard rate.

This fee helps VOIPx3 recover certain operational, regulatory, and infrastructure-related costs, including but not limited to:

• Government-imposed program fees (e.g., Federal Regulatory Fees, Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS), Local Number Portability (LNP), STI-GA) 
• Costs associated with calculating, collecting, and remitting taxes and fees 
• Compliance with regulatory requirements (e.g., accessibility, privacy, numbering, anti-fraud, caller ID authentication, dialing rules) 
• Acquisition and management of telephone numbers 
• Interconnection with third-party networks for call origination and termination 
• Operation, maintenance, and security of network infrastructure and data centers 
• Administrative and operational support functions 

This fee does not include federal or state Universal Service Fund (USF) charges. While commonly assessed within the telecommunications industry, this fee is not a tax and is not required by any government entity.

This line item includes applicable taxes and mandatory surcharges imposed by state or local jurisdictions on telecommunications services.

These charges may include funding for:

• State universal service programs 
• Emergency services infrastructure (e.g., 911 systems) 
• Public safety initiatives (e.g., 988 crisis response services) 

Rates and applicability vary by jurisdiction and are subject to change.