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Understanding My Bill

Understanding My Bill:
Dakota Central customers will receive their bills on or around the 10th of each month. The bill will include local service charges for the current month and any applicable* long distance charges.

Customers should expect their first bill to be larger due to the nature of the billing cycle. It will include service charges from the date of the connection to the end of the current month. In other words, you may not receive a bill in the first month you are receiving DCT service. Therefore the first bill received may include two months of service.

Any long distance charges from the time of the connection to the 24th of the previous month will also be included.  However, keep in mind that subsequent bills will only include one month of service.

Your Dakota Central Telecommunications telephone bill includes taxes and fees mandated by law that include the following:

Residential Access Line Charge – This is a charge proposed and authorized by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), for providing access to, and maintenance of, the local network.

911 – This charge is imposed by local governments to help pay for emergency services such as fire and rescue.

Federal Excise Tax – This is a three percent tax mandated by the federal government (not the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)). It is imposed on all telecommunications services, including local, long distance and wireless bills.

(Federal) Subscriber Line Charge – This was instituted after the break-up of AT&T in 1984 to cover the costs of the local phone network. This charge may appear as “FCC Charge for Network Access,” “Federal Line Cost Charge,” “Interstate Access Charge”,”Federal Access Charge”,”Interstate Single Line Charge”,”Customer Line Charge” or “FCC Approved Customer Line Charge”. The FCC caps the maximum price that a company may charge for this. This is not a government charge or tax, and it does not end up in the government’s treasury but is used to invest and implement new services in high cost rural areas.

State & Local Municipal Tax – This charge is imposed by state, local and municipal governments on goods and services. It may also appear as a “gross receipts” tax in some states.

Telecommunications Relay Services Charge – This state charge helps to pay for the relay center that transmits and translates calls for hearing-impaired and speech-impaired people.

FUSC Charge (Federal Universal Service Charge) – The Federal Universal Service Fund is designed to provide discounted telecommunications services to schools, public libraries and low income consumer customers. The Federal Universal Service Charge (FUSC) charged by telecommunication companies is mandated by the Federal Communications Commission. This charge is applied upon interstate, international call usage, and wireless

Depending upon your location, other taxes and fees may apply.

Dakota Central Telecommunications bills for recurring services (line, features and options/packages) one month in advance. Your first bill will include your regular monthly charges in addition to any installation fees and partial month charges incurred since installation.