GTE wants their Illinois customers to donate a little extra each month to their phone bills to help the less fortunate receive basic telephone services.

The not-for-profit organization Universal Telephone Assistance Corporation (UTAC), which is made up of representatives of local telephone companies and consumer interest groups, will be heading the funding.

GTE is asking residential customers to donate 50 cents, $1, $2, or $5. They are asking their business customers to contribute $1, $5, $10 or $25. All donations will be tax-deductible.

If the customers no longer wish to contribute each month, they can cancel the donations at any time as long as one month’s notice is given.

The customers would receive up to 50 percent or $30 off of the installation charges. The additional charges can be paid for up to six months. The installation charges vary in price according to what the installation would consist of; for example, the difference between a house and a business.

The installation charges only cover turning on the phone services in the home. It does not cover the installation on phone wires in each household. Those charges would have to be paid for by the customer.

Also, if the customer had the phone service installed in the past, the funding would not be covered now, only new hook ups.

According to DeKalb GTE representative Tracy Monko Scholle, installation will cover only the basic installation services, not long distance, call waiting, call forwarding or any other telephone perks.

The monthly phone bill also will have to be covered by the customer.

“The customers will have to agree to be able to pay for the charges each month. We do everything we can to keep everyone connected,” said Scholle. She would not discuss reasons why GTE would cut off the phone service or how long the customer had to pay each month’s phone bill before the service would be terminated.

The service will mainly be for the emergency use of people who can not afford to have phone services installed in their homes.

A one-time contribution also can be made directly to UTAC, c/o the Illinois Telephone Association, 300 E. Monroe, Springfield, IL 62701.