Low-income individuals eligible for Lifeline and Link-up telephone assistance programs may be eligible for discounts from these basic local service charges through state specified telephone assistance plans. The Lifeline Program for telephone assistance is only eligible to residential customers in our regulated areas of Muenster, Valley View, Pioneer Valley, The Ranch, Forestburg, Rosston, Myra, Shenandoah and FRF Estates.
Hearing impaired customers may access the Relay Texas for TTY service by calling a toll free number at 1-800-676-3777. There is no extra charge for this service.
TERMS & CONDITIONS OF VOICE TELEPHONY LIFELINE PLANS
Residential customers of Muenster Telephone Corporation of Texas d/b/a Nortex Communications (“the Company”) who qualify for the Lifeline Program receive a discount of $12.75 on local voice telephony service ($9.25 federal discount + $3.50 state discount).
For all of the Company’s exchanges, the Lifeline single-line residential local rate, including any mandatory extended area service charge and the federal subscriber line charge, is $13.75 ($26.50 standard rate – $12.75 discount).
All single-line residential customers, including Lifeline customers, have an unlimited number of minutes for local calls made within the Dallas and Wichita Falls LATAs.
Toll charges for calls outside of the local calling area are determined by the long distance carrier of the customer’s choosing. Customers may also elect to subscribe to toll blocking at no charge.
Lifeline Program reductions do not apply to additional services such as information-related services and custom calling features. Lifeline customers may subscribe to these services, where available, at the same rates offered to other customers.
Lifeline customers may subscribe to the following service bundle that includes residential local voice service and will receive a discount of $12.75 from the regular price of the service bundle:
| Tariff Price | Lifeline Discounted Price | |
|---|---|---|
| Nortex Simple Package | $32 | $19.25 |
ELIGIBILITY OF LIFELINE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
To be eligible for Lifeline a customer’s annual household income must be at or below 150% of the federal poverty guidelines, or a customer must receive benefits from or have a child in the household who receives benefits from one of the following programs: Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) (formerly Food Stamps), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Federal Public Housing Assistance (FPHA), Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, National School Lunch Program’s free lunch program, or health benefits coverage under the state Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
Lifeline service is limited to one discount per household. A household is everyone who lives in the home (including children and people who are not related to the customer) and shares income and household expenses (bills, food, etc.). A customer with Lifeline service may not transfer the Lifeline benefit to any other person. Lifeline is a nontransferable benefit.
To make sure that our customers continuously receive quality service, any service problems can be reported to Nortex Communications twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.Basic services are offered at the rates, terms and conditions specified in the Company’s tariff on file with the Public Utility Commission of Texas. If you have questions or seek additional information regarding the Company’s services or rates, please call Nortex business office at 940-759-2251 or contact the Low-Income Discount Administrator (LIDA) at 1-866-454-8387 (1-866-4-LITE-UP).