Aug 26 2006
Received my email from Verizon today
As noted, in several articles over the past week, Verizon is raising its rates for DSL subscribers due to the Universal Service Fund being removed. This morning, I received my email:
Dear Valued Verizon Online Customer,
Effective August 14, 2006, Verizon Online will stop charging the FUSF (Federal Universal Ser vice Fund) recovery fee. We will stop being assessed the fee by our DSL network suppliers. Therefore, we will no longer be recovering this fee from our customers. The impact of the FUSF fee is as follows: for customers of Verizon Online with service up to 768Kbps, the fee eliminated is $1.25 a month; for customers of Verizon Online with service up to 1.5 Mbps or 3Mbps, the fee eliminated is $2.83 a month (based on current FUSF surcharge amounts). On your bill that includes charges for August 14, 2006 you will see either a partial FUSF Recovery Fee or no FUSF line item at all, depending on your bill cycle.
Starting 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. This surcharge is not a government imposed fee or a tax; however, it is intended to help offset costs we incur from our network supplier in providing Verizon Online DSL service. The Supplier Surcharge will initially be set at $1.20 a month for Verizon Online DSL customers with service up to 768Kbps and $2.70 per month for customers with DSL service at higher speeds.”
At the same time, the Federal Communications Commission has begun its questioning of this new fee.
The companies no longer have to pay a part of their high-speed Internet revenue into the Universal Service Fund (USF), which subsidizes communications services to schools, lower-income households and rural areas, as of August 14. - “FCC questions Verizon, BellSouth Internet fee“, Reuters, August 25, 2006.
To learn more about the Federal Universal Service Fund, read:
“Universal Service Fund” - Federal Communications Commission
“What’s at Stake : Universal Service” - hereusnow.org
For more articles on the DSL rate increase, read:
“BellSouth Drops Surcharge Plans For High-Speed Internet Offering” - Wall Street Journal
“FCC questions Verizon, BellSouth fee swapping” - CNNMoney.com
[...] This past Saturday, I blogged about receiving my email from Verizon (my DSL carrier) stating that it was going to increase its monthly fees from “$1.25 a month to $2.83 a month”. The surcharge was set to be imposed based on the elimination of the Federal Universal Service Fund, that had been in place to help subsidize access to rural and low-income communities. [...]