FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Amy McLean, (202) 736-2982, [email protected]
WASHINGTON (June 12, 2013) – Today the nonpartisan and pro-consumer advocacy group, MyWireless.org®, released the results of a new survey showing a large majority (more than two thirds) of Maine residents oppose increasing Maine’s Universal Service Fund (USF) fee on monthly bills for traditional home phone, digital home phone and wireless phone services. In fact, 72 percent support capping Maine’s USF fee to prevent future increases. Regardless of party registration, there is majority opposition across the board to increasing Maine’s USF fee and wide majority support to cap it.
The Maine Legislature is currently considering a tax increase for the State USF fund that could double the amount Mainers pay on their monthly wireless, landline and/or digital phone bills.
“It’s pretty obvious that Maine residents are tired of being targets for unfair taxes and fees on their wireless bills.” said Amy McLean, director of advocacy communications for MyWireless.org. “Our survey clearly shows that no matter their politics, Mainers widely agree that enough is enough when it comes to these kinds of charges, and that they’re firmly against increasing their State USF fees.”
Some additional findings from the survey include:
- In general, the majority believes consumers in Maine pay too much in taxes and fees on their monthly bills for their traditional home phone, digital home phone or wireless phone services.
- By greater than a 6 to 1 ratio (79 percent to 12 percent), more than three-quarters don’t think customers who use wireless phones or digital home phones should pay a fee on their monthly bills that pays for other companies to provide traditional home phone service.
- The majority believes customers in densely populated areas where the cost to provide phone service is lower should not pay a monthly fee to pay for the phone service of customers in sparsely populated areas where the cost to provide service is higher.
Maine residents already pay combined local, state and federal wireless taxes that are, on average, 2.5 times higher than what they pay in general sales tax. Maine residents also currently pay a State USF monthly fee of 1.2% on each phone bill they receive, whether it’s for a traditional home phone, digital home phone or cellphone. This adds up to about $8 million per year that goes into the State USF fund which subsidizes certain landline phone companies to provide traditional local phone service to customers in sparsely populated areas of the state.
Legislation currently being considered in Augusta, LD-1479, would DOUBLE the amount the average consumer pays into the USF fund and would allow unlimited future increases in the fee. Local phone companies in Maine have told the Maine Public Utilities Commission they want more than $130 million in annual subsidies, which would be a seventeen-fold increase in State USF fees. These proposed increases come at a time when fees that consumers pay into the federal USF fund are at an all-time high.
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MyWireless.org® is a nonpartisan, non-profit national advocacy organization made up of U.S. wireless consumers, businesses and community leaders and supports reasonable, pro-consumer and pro-taxpayer wireless policies. MyWireless.org is a project of CTIA-The Wireless Association®. For more information, visit www.mywireless.org.
Methodology: McLaughlin & Associates partnered with Penn Schoen Berland to develop and conduct a bipartisan survey of 400 likely voters in the state of Maine. The survey was conducted on June 10, 2013. All interviews were conducted by professional interviewers via telephone. Interview selection was at random within predetermined geographic units. These units were structured to statistically correlate with actual voter turnout in a statewide general election. The accuracy of the sample of 400 likely voters is within +/- 4.9% at a 95% confidence interval. For a summary of the survey findings, visit www.mywireless.org/MaineSurvey.
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