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Is Verizon increasing their base rates for DSL but deciding to call the increaes a surcharge?

According to Verizon, the FUSF fee is being eliminated, since their supplier is no longer charging it. However Verizon is taking this opportunity to impose a "Supplier Surcharge". Is this new "surcharge" really anything other than just an increase of their base rates that they don't want to advertise?

J.

----------------------------------- Addition of Supplier Surcharge / Elimination of Federal Universal Service Fund (FUSF) Recovery Fee

Addition of Supplier Surcharge

Effective August 26, 2006, Verizon Online will begin charging a Supplier Surcharge for all new DSL customers, existing customers with a DSL monthly or bundle package, and existing DSL annual plan customers at the time their current annual plan expires. The surcharge is not a government imposed fee or a tax; however, it is intended to offset costs we incur from our network supplier in providing Verizon Online DSL service. The underlying supplier surcharge helps Verizon to recover the cost of a local telephone line in situations where Verizon does not simultaneously provide both local voice and Internet services. The Supplier Surcharge will initially be set at $1.20/month for Verizon Online's up to 768Kbps service customers and $2.70/month for customers provisioned at higher DSL speeds.

Elimination of Federal Universal Service Fund (FUSF) Recovery Fee

Verizon Online will cease charging an FUSF recovery fee, beginning August

14, 2006. We are eliminating this fee because Verizon Online's supplier will no longer be assessing this surcharge on Verizon Online as of this date. The impact of the elimination of the FUSF fee is as follows: for DSL customers of Verizon Online's up to 768Kbps service, the fee eliminated is $1.25.month; for DSL customers of Verizon Online's up to 1.5Mbps and 3Mbps services, the fee eliminated is $2.83/month (based on current FUSF surcharge amounts). On balance your total bill will remain about the same as it has been or slightly lower. We regret the need to add this Supplier Surcharge, but we thank you for choosing high speed Verizon Online DSL. We appreciate and value your business.
Reply to
jaynews
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This is the same tack taken by cable and other utilities -- adding surcharges that obviate the need to apply for increases in base rates.

They carve out expense lines, say, "fuel cost" or "payments in lieu of taxes", charge them out as surcharges and voila -- higher revenue without Public Service Commission (or similar) scrutiny.

It's a racket, or certainly should be considered as such.

Reply to
News

BellSouth was also going to continue a fee, but dropped it after the FCC began an inquiry.

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Reply to
Andrew Rossmann

Perhaps Verizon should have also told their DSL customers that the newly-discovered expenses depend on the bandwidth, because higher transfer rate means more heat load on the last few 100m of copper cable. How about converting tax on waste removal services and use tax on pest exterminator services into Verizon fees? Verizon DSL customers buy everything, don't they?

Reply to
biggerdigger

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