Yes the providers usually have a contract based fee that they charge for each one. This article ( http://www.cbsnews.com/news/verizon-att-get-most-bucks-from-f

Yes the providers usually have a contract based fee that they charge for each one. This article ( http://www.cbsnews.com/news/verizon-att-get-most-bucks-from-feds-for-wiretaps/ http://www.cbsnews.com/news/verizon-att-get-most-bucks-from-... ) is for wiretap fees but has this info: "AT&T, for example, imposes a $325 "activation fee" for each wiretap and $10 a day to maintain it. Smaller carriers Cricket and U.S. Cellular charge only about $250 per wiretap. But snoop on a Verizon customer? That costs the government $775 for the first month and $500 each month after that". According to this ( http://www.cnbc.com/id/101178369 http://www.cnbc.com/id/101178369 ) article: "The C.I.A. is paying AT&T more than $10 million a year to assist with overseas counterterrorism investigations by exploiting the company's vast database of phone records, which includes Americans' international calls". So yes I'm sure assisting government agencies in this way is quite profitable.