Having just received a bill in which CenturyLink (motto: "proving Qwest wasn't so bad after all") raises my Access Recovery Charge, I started to wonder. The bill says the charges are "to recover costs of providing access to the telephone network". Since I do not receive any telephone service from CenturyLink (only DSL, a non-regulated service), or the "telephone network" (aside from the copper from my house back to the pedestal 2 blocks away) should I be subject to this charge?
Google finds FCC filings and rulings regarding the Access Recovery Charge, so is this actually a federally regulated thing (and not just another BS "extra charge for being alive")? And if so, should I be charged it, since I'm not using the switched telephone network?