VoIP Billing: Federal Universal Service Fund (USF)
What is the Federal Universal Service Fund (USF)?
The Federal Universal Service Fund (USF) is a federal fund that supports essential communications services across the U.S., including connectivity for schools, libraries, rural communities, and low-income households.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requires all telecommunications providers and interconnected VoIP providers to contribute to the USF by paying a percentage of interstate end-user revenues. Not all Simply Bits services are subject to USF. USF applies only to certain communications services, such as VoIP.
All customers who purchase Simply Bits interconnected VoIP or telecommunications services are subject to a USF pass-through fee.
Why are my USF charges different than before?
The USF rates are updated quarterly by the FCC. They can be increased or decreased depending on the needs of the FCC’s Universal Service programs. Simply Bits does not determine those rates.
How USF is calculated?
USF is only assessed on interstate telecommunications and interconnected VoIP. That means that for VoIP plans that do not include any long distance minutes, no USF is assessed.
For plans that include long distance in the base rate or separately purchased long distance plans and usage charges, the USF surcharge is calculated on those portions of your bill using a safe harbor rate set by the FCC as follows:
USF Fee = Safe harbor rate (64.9%) * Long Distance Charge * Quarterly USF Contribution Rate.
The safe harbor rate does not apply to international calls.
What changed?
Simply Bits started evaluating USF charges using the safe harbor method outlined above in October 2025 to simplify billing and bring inline with industry standards.
The previous method for calculating USF required categorizing each minute of use as either interstate and intrastate and apportioning a portion of the base rate to interstate for USF calculation purposes. In months that customers made more interstate calls than the safe harbor rate described above, this method would result in a higher USF charge than the safe harbor method.
In months where interstate usage is less than the safe harbor percentage, the new method will result in a slightly higher charge than the previous method.
Will my USF charges stay the same going forward?
Federal USF rates can change over time. As a result, the amount you see on your bill may increase or decrease in the future based on federal updates.
What should I do if I have questions?
If you’d like help reviewing your bill or understanding which services on your account are subject to USF, our team is happy to help.You can contact us at https://www.ting.com/contact-us
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