![]() Technically speaking, AT&T, or anyone else, could pay this fee without passing it through to consumers. The FCC rules permit - but do not require - cable and telecom operators to recover the regulatory fees from subscribers in monthly installments. The FCC collects annual fees from telcos and cable operators that’s part of where the commission gets its operating budget from. More practically, it’s a way to pass those costs through to you without cutting into the profit AT&T makes from your bundle price, which nominally includes the price of programming.ĩ.) Regulatory Video Cost Recovery Charge Theoretically this fee exists to offset the costs of negotiating carriage rights with broadcast operators in your local area. Nearly all the pay-TV providers we’ve looked at are charging some version of this fee. The Broadcast TV Surcharge has become a favorite way for cable providers to increase your bills without just outright increasing your TV or bundle package price. However, as part of their bundle this particular customer also receives a discount on their set-top box, and so the “promotional offer” line-item zeroes that one out again. When the FCC says American consumers are paying $20 billion a year in cable box rental fees, these are exactly the kind of fees they mean. This is the fee AT&T charges for your set-top box. This is the price you expect to pay, and the one you sign up for.ĥ.) AT&T U-verse TV 450 (Bundle Discount)ĪT&T’s tactic for encouraging customers to buy bundles is to point to high base prices but enormous, delineated “bundle discounts.” This $45 credit line-item is how AT&T squares its bundle pricing for this consumer. (See also #13 and #17 for the internet and phone portions.)Īs of April, 2016, the closest advertised bundle on AT&T’s website has a promotional rate of $30 less than this customer pays for an approximately equivalent level of service, but it is advertised like so: This is the TV portion of the bundle for which this customer subscribes. ![]() For this consumer, it’s both AT&T separates the jurisdictions into two separate line items. Physical equipment you rent is often subject to state sales tax, and sometimes county or city taxes too - all depending on where you live. Until 2015, AT&T did allow customers to purchase the gateway outright for a one-time $100 fee and avoid future monthly rental charges however, it no longer offers that option. So this is the subscriber’s modem/gateway rental fee for broadband access. ( KEY: The RED numbers are AT&T-originating fees BLUE numbers are government fees) Account Chargesįor whatever reason, AT&T lists its modem/gateway rental fee as separate and apart from its internet service and leads off the bill with it, even though other necessary equipment (like TV receivers) is listed under the appropriate service. To better understand each of these fees, we’ll go through the bill line-by-line: Some of those charges, of course, come from the law… but some come from good old-fashioned nickel-and-diming. Of that bill, $31.05 - a little more than 16% - comes from add-ons outside of the stated package price. Once you go through their total bill to subtract the promotional discounts but add in the various various taxes, surcharges, and fees this customer pays, however, you get to a total of $191.05. The below bill was provided to Consumerist by a real-life AT&T U-verse customer who subscribes to a triple-play TV, broadband, and phone package for a bundle rate of approximately $160 per month. In previous installations we’ve gone through Comcast, DirecTV, Charter, TWC, and FiOS now, it’s AT&T’s turn. Which ones should you blame the government for, and which are made up by your cable company? One cable company at a time, we’ve been using real customers’ bills to break it down. When you sign up for telecom services - some combination of TV, broadband, and/or phone - from your cable company, you’re told you’ll pay something like $49 or $99 a month… and yet the price you actually pay can be as much as 40% or more on top of that, thanks to a heap of sometimes confusing charges and fees. 4.14.16 8:40 AM EDT By Kate Cox guides bills at&t uverse at&t uverse cable bill guides
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