Gack! - The USAC/TRS/NANP has struck!

Oh the joy of trying to help people out. At KPUD’s request, I bid to serve the Bainbridge Island School District. I thought I was saving the district money and proposed a technically swanky solution which met their requirements. I lost the bid because other folks submitted a lower cost solution that didn’t meet the technical requirements. The bottom line was cost was more important than functionality. I didn’t understand this part of educational spending.

As part of that I needed to get a SPIN number, which allows the USAC to pay part of the monthly fee for connecting the schools in the district together on a private network. All school districts in the country do this.

Fast forward to today. I now have to submit quarterly paperwork to the government (USAC) which then divvies that information out to a medley of entities that then demand payments from me with big sticks in their hands.

You know on your phone bill where there is that section of Fees/Surcharges/outright money grabs? Well, one of them (TRS, which supports funding folks who require assisted communications devices) is now invoicing me directly. On future phone service bills, we will pass this through. Previously I was eating this cost as part of my monthly fee to my telephone service customers. Due to the wonders of government, my wholesale contribution (the way I was paying before) is much lower than the gross revenue rate for all my telecommunications service. I just got my first annual invoice; it was 50% of the profit I made on all residential phone service for 2018. Next year will be worse so I can’t eat this and stay in business providing phone service.

Sept 19th, got another bill, this one from the North American Number Portability Registry. I have to pay into the fund for phone number portability. Since I am insignificant they will not assign me a block of numbers to port from. Grrr. This feels like taxation without representation. Where’s a tea crate when you need one?

I probably hate this more than you. Thank you for letting me rant in the blog, it’s cheaper than therapy.

-Steve