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September 24, 2009
Early Termination Charges
If you deal with Verizon invoices on a regular basis, it is likely that you have come across early termination charges to meet minimum billing requirements at some point. These charges are billed in the OC&C for circuits that are moved or disconnected before the in-service minimum period has been met. The in-service minimum period is established by circuit type in FCC Tariff 1, Section 5.2.5, but is generally a minimum of one year for rate elements under the National Discount Plan. Early termination charges are calculated to bill the remaining balance of the minimum in-service period.
In some instances, you may come across circuits that are billing early termination charges in the OC&C as well as monthly recurring charges. A common reason for this charge to generate is a circuit move to a new building. From FCC #1, Section 7.4.5 (b), “Moves to a different building will be treated as a discontinuance and start of service and all associated nonrecurring charges will apply. New minimum period and/or Service Discount Plan requirements will be established for the new services.”
However, in the same tariff the definition of a move is given as “a change in the physical location of the customer’s premises which also involves a connection to a different rate demarcation point.” When generating these charges, the move requirements are often not met and overlooked by Verizon, which in turn generates the charge incorrectly.
When you come across these early termination charges it can be valuable to take time to look further into the issue. Verify whether a disconnect order was actually placed, if the circuit is still billing, and if so whether the requirements to be considered a move are met. These charges are substantial and can bill on any number of circuits with the potential to cost a large amount in invalid charges.
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