Important Notice for California Prepaid Wireless Customers

Effective January 1, 2017, the California Public Service Commission has updated the rate of the mobile telephony services (MTS) surcharges collected from the consumer at the time of purchase, which are mandatory surcharges, taxes and fees on intrastate telecommunications services and includes:

• California Public Utilities Commission MTS Surcharges
  • Commission Public Purpose Program Surcharges
  • Commission User Fee
• Emergency Telephone Users (911) Surcharge
• Local Utility Users Taxes (UUT)

The California Public Service Commission has applied an intrastate factor to the prescribed rate of 7.0854%, which results in a billed MTS surcharge rate 5.15% to consumers. In addition, U.S. Cellular has conducted a study to allocate call traffic more accurately between interstate and intrastate use; this factor is applied to the 911 surcharge rate in order to charge an amount equal to the intrastate portion of your prepaid wireless plan.

• The Commission recently announced the 2017 rate for the new California Mobile Telephony Services surcharge of 5.15% on Prepaid Wireless intrastate service.

• The Office of Emergency Services has set the rate of Emergency 911 use at 0.75%.
• Effective January 1, 2017, U.S. Cellular will charge the California 911 surcharge on prepaid wireless plans at the intrastate affected rate of 0.54%.

Additionally, the California Public Utility Commission has ordered that effective January 1, 2017, Local Utility Users Taxes apply to prepaid wireless plans for those municipalities and counties that have enacted such a surcharge. The rate can vary from 0% to 9%.

Commission’s MTS Surcharge: $40.00 Replenishment x 5.15% Surcharge Rate = $2.06

California 911 Surcharge: $40.00 Replenishment x 0.54% Surcharge Rate = $0.2

If applicable:

CA Local UUT: $40.00 Replenishment x 5.00% Surcharge Rate = $2.00