Topeka ? A decade ago, Kansas established a multimillion dollar fund financed by telephone customers to help pay for installing high-cost phone service in rural areas.

Over time, the Kansas Universal Service Fund has expanded beyond subsidies for phone service in isolated areas to aiding the disabled with phone service and providing assistance to rural classrooms.

Twenty states charge customers a fee to defray the costs for providing service in high-cost areas, and Kansas is among 13 states where cellular phone customers also pay.

The state collects an average of $60 million a year for the fund created by the 1996 Legislature. The amount varies each year based on the charge approved by the Kansas Corporation Commission, the state’s utility regulator.

Consumer advocates say the program is necessary, but they keep close watch on the money.

“We have never suggested the fund be abolished. If we are going to spend money, we want it spent as efficiently as possible,” said David Springe, chief lawyer for the Citizen Utility Ratepayer Board, the state agency that represents consumers.

Since last March, the fund collected $73 million, paid by cellular and wireline customers alike. But for the year-period beginning this March, about $52 million is expected, which means a lower charge for customers, said Janet Buchanan, chief of the KCC telecommunications section.

The charge, tucked away on the bill along with a charge for a federal universal service fund, isn’t noticed by most people.

“When the assessment was first placed on the bill, the commission received a lot of questions. Since then, we haven’t had a lot of inquiries about what the surcharges are about,” Buchanan said. “My suspicion is the general consumer isn’t aware of what the fund is for.”

Each of the 85 wireline phone companies and some dozen wireless carriers in the state now pays 6.07 percent of revenues to the fund after collecting it from their customers. After March, the KCC will drop that to 4.35 percent.

“Some of the money is carried over to the next year if it’s not used, and that helps reduce the fee on the bill for the next year,” Buchanan said.

The state’s 2 million cell phone customers pay 6.07 percent of their bill as the charge. The average monthly cell phone bill is $53, making for a $3.22 charge. Based on how the KCC calculates the bill assessment for wireline companies, those customers pay a monthly surcharge ranging from $1.14 to $2.19 on local service.

“The cell phone customers are paying more because typically the average cell phone bill is higher than the typical landline bill,” Buchanan said.

She said that’s a trend not likely to change. The number of cell phone users increases each year, while wireline users are decreasing, with 1.6 million current customers.

Of the $73 million in the fund’s current budget year, $45.3 million went to 39 wireline companies and one cellular company. Since its inception, the fund has paid about $612 million to phone companies.

The fund also provided $3 million to help pay phone bills of the poor; $4 million for phone service to the hearing and speech impaired; $1 million for special phone equipment for the disabled, and $9 million to the KAN-ED program for educational services through the Internet and special phone lines for distance learning.

“The funds are all directly related to maintaining or expanding telecommunications in various forms,” Buchanan said.

Sen. Jay Emler is former general counsel for Kansas Cellular, now Alltel Wireless, and his central Kansas district includes many rural areas. He said in some rural areas, there may only be three customers for each mile of phone line.

“If you live in a low-cost urban area, you can get all kinds of services beyond plain old telephone service and get it at an economic price. If you live in a high-cost rural area, to get the same service would cost more because there are fewer customers and higher expenses,” said Emler, R-Lindsborg.