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Clear Channel Charges - Gone!

ICN constituents served by SBC, Citizens and Verizon should soon see a reduction in their bills as a result of the elimination of clear channel charges. While researching telecommunications pricing in Illinois, ICN staff discovered that clear channel charges were still applied even though clear channel service is now considered the default for T1 circuits, the primary method of connection for most ICN constituents. ICN staff met with the telecommunication providers and received agreement to eliminate the charges.

The SBC waiver of their one-time $350.00 clear channel charge for ICN constituents became effective in June 2003. This waiver had previously applied to T1s ordered via the ICN/SBC Custom DS1 Agreements and now will also apply to T1s ordered via standard SBC tariffs as well. Citizens filed new tariffs that will eliminate clear channel monthly recurring charges ($24.00 per month per local loop) for Interstate tariffs and the Intrastate Access filing (affecting ICN constituents). The savings for Citizens customers will automatically appear on bills sometime in the first quarter of 2004. Verizon will eliminate the monthly recurring clear channel charge ($24.00 per month per local loop) with their June 2004 FCC price-cap filing followed by a filing for an Intrastate access tariff mirroring the FCC filing. Once the Verizon tariffs have been filed and adopted, Verizon T1 customers will automatically see the savings on their monthly bill. Both Citizens and Verizon will continue to assess the one-time charge ($90.00 per month per local loop) for provisioning clear channel capability.