Wireless internet tower fee and FCC compliance fee

[Bob Rufener]

I have had a wireless internet connection for almost two years. We get our signal from a tower that is about two miles away. I currently pay about $25 per month, which I feel is not an excessive fee. I just received an email from the ISP that said that, starting with the next billing, they were going to start charging an additional $7.50 per month for tower fees and also an additional $5.00 per month for FCC compliance. This is a hefty 50% increase in my monthly fee. Anyone ever heard of this FCC compliance fee or is this a gimick to get more money out of subscribers? Also, I don't know what others are paying for similar services.

[Matt Meiser]

Mine is a little different because it is 3G technology, but I'd kill for $37.50/mo. We pay $60/mo and that's discounted because we have Sprint phones. I have a friend that owns a WISP. I'll email him and see if he's heard of those fees. I suspect tower fees are related to the cost of renting space on a tower.

Edit: OK, here's what my friend had to say. He is located in East-Central Indiana.

There is no fee collected by the FCC, however there are lots of things we must comply with, some of which can cost quite a bit. I would guess, and it is a guess that the ISP doesn't want to increase rates, but needs to collect additional money. Or, their account as determined that fees are taxed differently than the monthly billing. Around here you can't get $25 wireless service. The lowest I know of is my $28.00 and I don't tell people about it. Our normal is $33 and the neighboring are $35 and $45 a month, so he is getting a good deal from my perspective.

[Derek Jones]

It sounds like I have the same type of service that you do and I pay $60 a month. I am with Matt and I would love to have service for 40. But to really assess value you also need to know what up and down speeds you are getting for your money.
Derek

[glenn bradley]

Where I live, my neighbors are 50 feet away, I'm 4 miles from work and I have to chew my air 9 months out of the year but I get 384 up and 1.5meg down for $19.

You guys have a much nicer living environment (I hope) but not so much of the "everything is 2 blocks away" syndrome. Along with that comes a little higher price for metropolitan technology I guess.

[Jeffrey Makiel]

Anyone ever heard of this FCC compliance fee or is this a gimick to get more money out of subscribers? Also, I don't know what others are paying for similar services.

Bob...when I look at my phone and cable/internet bill, I'm appalled by all the taxes and service fees that are added on. This is now happening on my electric bill since electricity has been deregulated in my State. I don't know what to make of your situation as to whether it's a gimmick or not.

My combination cable internet/TV bill just took another big jump last month. Over $15 more per month on the overall bill which is now $152/month. The internet portion is now about $50 per month. I'm thinking of going back to DSL since the phone lines in my area have been repaired and my phone works well now. I may be able to shave $25 off.

Sad to say, all my bills are going up by leaps and bounds. I'm talking double digit increases. Pretty soon it will be cheaper to burn Bubinga than it is to burn natural gas and oil.

-Jeff :)

[Jim Becker]

There have been any number of articles lately regarding the use of these creatively named fees to raise prices with raising prices, as it were....and it's an industry problem...

[Jeffrey Makiel]

There have been any number of articles lately regarding the use of these creatively named fees to raise prices with raising prices, as it were....and it's an industry problem...

Boy...everything's dirty these days.
-Jeff :)