Phone bills are about to go up for some in Texas. Here’s why.

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Some Texans can count on their cellphone payments to go up beginning this month after the Public Utility Fee of Texas adopted a price hike in July.

The fee, which regulates the state’s electrical, telecommunication, and water and sewer utilities, voted to extend the Texas Common Service Fund surcharge, which telecommunication corporations are required to pay to assist preserve and function cellphone companies in rural components of the state. The surcharge, which relies on the price these corporations pay to supply long-distance service inside the state, will go up from 3.3% to 24%. Telecom corporations sometimes move these prices on to clients, based on the Common Service Fund reality sheet.

The brand new price took impact Aug. 1 and may have various results on Texans’ cellphone payments. Based on the Houston Chronicle, Texans with typical particular person cellphone plans must pay a couple of {dollars} extra every month. The rise will likely be increased for these with household plans and people who pay per-minute charges.

The Texas Common Service Fund helps about 4 million Texans in rural components of the state acquire primary telecommunications companies.

For the reason that fund’s inception, the surcharge has fluctuated a number of instances. The transfer to extend the speed to 24% got here after a courtroom decided the PUC was failing to make enough funds from the common fund to rural telecommunications and ordered the fee to revive $200 million in overdue cash to the fund, the Houston Chronicle reported.

The fund is important to the cellphone community in rural Texas and in conserving 911 service accessible in these components of the state, mentioned Mark Seale, govt director of the Texas Phone Affiliation, which represents the incumbent native change phone corporations of Texas. With out the fund, massive components of Texas might have little to no connectivity.

These residing in rural areas of Texas usually tend to make long-distance calls to city areas of the state and can probably expertise the next enhance to their cellphone payments than Texans residing in city areas. Those that by no means make long-distance calls inside the state received’t be affected.

These calling an individual exterior of their space code are usually thought of to be making a long-distance name, with some exceptions.

“Rural suppliers and our clients didn’t ask for such a dramatic price enhance, and can work to proceed to hunt a longer-term, extra reasonably priced various to maintain the common service fund viable,” Seale mentioned.

The Mobile Telecommunications and Web Affiliation, a commerce affiliation representing the wi-fi communications trade, mentioned the latest enhance illustrates an “acute want” to guard Texans from a system that has not been reformed in 25 years.

“CTIA appears ahead to working with the PUC, the Legislature and different stakeholders to make sure that common service in Texas is achieved with out overburdening Texans or damaging aggressive markets,” the affiliation mentioned in a press release.

Disclosure: The Texas Phone Affiliation has been a monetary supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan information group that’s funded partly by donations from members, foundations and company sponsors. Monetary supporters play no function within the Tribune’s journalism. Discover a full listing of them right here.

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