Payphone Access Fee
Under the 1996 Telecommunications Act, payphone operators must be compensated by long-distance operators for toll-free calls made through their phones. Most long distance companies pass this charge on to you on your long distance bill for calling card calls placed from a payphone or toll free calls received by you from a payphone. This is NOT a tax, and can vary from carrier to carrier.

Payphone Surcharge - See PICC .

PIC - Primary Interexchange Carrier
The IEC that 1+ calls are routed to. Specified by an ANI .

PIC Charges
A LEC charge for changing the PIC. Often paid by the new IEC . If a LEC sends a PIC charge to a customer, the new IEC will typically credit the customer's account.

PIC Code
A unique identifying number assigned to each long distance provider. Your local telephone company uses this code to indicate who your long distance service provider is.

PIC Freeze
A PIC Freeze prevents the long distance from being switched for the specified ANIs . Useful to prevent slamming, or the unauthorized switching of long distance services.

PIC Request
A request record sent to a LEC asking for an ANI to be activated, deactivated or changed in some way.

PICC - Aka: National Access Fee, Presubscribed Interexchange Carrier Charge, Presubscribed Line Charge, Regulatory Related Charge, or Carrier Line Charge.
Pronounced "pixie." This charge started on January 1, 1998 as part of the FCC overhaul of telephone fees. Long distance companies pay a flat fee to the local telephone company when you pre-subscribe your telephone line to their long distance service. (Sometimes referred to "Dial 1" or "Plus 1" service) The charge is designed to compensate the local telephone companies for the costs associated with providing "local loop" service. If a consumer or business has not selected a long distance company for its telephone lines, the local telephone company may bill for the PICC. Although every long distance company is charged the same flat rate per line, long distance companies are allowed to recharge you for this in any way they see fit, and each company uses a different method to charge this carrier specific fee. It is normally not presented to you in such a way that you would think it is a competitive pricing issue. But it is! Some companies do not charge this fee at all , and some charge a carrier specific flat fee. This is NOT a tax. Please note that on July 1, 2000 the FCC ruled that long distance companies no longer will have to pay this fee to local companies for residential lines, or single line businesses. The charge continues for multiple line businesses. Many long distance companies are still charging you for this, even though they aren't paying it anymore!

POTS - Plain Old Telephone Service - Modification of Point of Termination? (e.g. "I want to make a pots change for my tollfree number," meaning I want to change where my tollfree number rings? Thanks, Kat_Mama )

Presubscribed Interexchange Carrier Charge - See PICC .

Presubscribed Line Charge - See PICC .

Primary Interexchange Carrier
The long distance company that is automatically accessed when a customer dials 1+.

Provisioning
The process by which a requested (ordered) service is designed, implemented and tracked (providing the subcomponent parts).

PUC - Public Utilities Commission
The agency regulating intrastate phone service.