RSSVerizon Imposes New Fees on DSL
By Nate Mook | Published August 22, 2006, 1:20 PM
Just as DSL customers were set to see their monthly bills drop due to the technology being excluded from the Universal Service Fund, Verizon has announced it will impose new fees on its subscribers that largely negate any savings.
The USF requires telecommunications companies, including VoIP and cell phone providers, to contribute a portion of monthly subscription fees to the U.S. government. The fund helps subsidize telecommunications services in high-cost regions of the country, and in schools and libraries.
Last August, the Federal Communications Commission agreed to deregulate DSL by classifying it as an information service, removing the requirement that it contribute to the USF. In order to avoid a significant revenue drop, however, DSL providers were required to continue payments until August 14 of this year.
For DSL subscribers with 768kb service, the USF fee was $1.25 per month, while those with faster speeds were charged $2.83. Verizon said in a notice to customers that the new surcharge would run $1.20 per month for 768kb and $2.70 for faster service.
Verizon told AP the added fees were brought about by "new costs that we've developed over the past year as we've been developing and delivering this standalone DSL service. That service doesn't have the benefit of the revenue that was coming in from voice."
The company did not say why it opted to cover the higher costs with an additional fee, rather than raising the base price of DSL service.
The telecommunications giant rejected claims that it was simply redirecting the USF fees into its own pocket now that it is no longer required to hand them over to the U.S. government. Verizon was one of the main proponents of DSL regulation and its removal from the Universal Service Fund.
Dear Superman,
Thank you for contacting the Verizon eCenter. My name is Linda, and I will be handling your request today.
This message is in response to your email dated August 22, 2006.?You inquired about the new Verizon fees. I will be happy to assist you.
I understand your frustration.
Due to the cost of upgrading facilities with new technology and the rising costs of operating expenses, it is sometimes necessary for us to raise the price of products and services. I can understand your concern with the recent price
increase. Please be assured that we strive to keep price increases to a minimum.
Thank you for using Verizon. We appreciate your business.
Sincerely,
Linda
Verizon eCenter
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|AHHHHH, its so nice to NOT be with Verizon anymore...
Speakeasy is where its at. Never had any problems with their 6.0down & 768up.
(oh btw, Speakeasy uses "onelink" so I can have DSL WITHOUT having to pay for home phone service I would never use...)
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|that does it .. they make me pay for a phone line i dont use to use dsl.. im switching to 5mb rr next month when my contract ends.. only good thing about vz is the free usenet with 7-10 day retention which rr only has 3 days lol
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|Verizon has to pay for their already antiquated 'fiber to the house' 'last mile' solution somehow!
...Especially as WiMax is the disruptive technology that renders it obsolete and is being resisted by a generation of Verizon beaurocrats who have based their careers and their vision of the future on the 'fiber to the house' model since the mid 1980s!
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|WoW! I'm suprised you put up with this. Where I'm from (Van BC) we have ADSL for as low as $16.00 per 1.5mb up to $39.95(inc Modem) for 7.0mb DSL service. The ADSL is giviing away DELL computers if you lock in for 3 years @ $16.00.
The last time a cable company pulled a bad trip on us, (and @ Xmas at that) the screams were heard all the way to the Parliament and the Senate. The law was changed (but secretly reversed). The cable company has been much better since.
I've had relations :-) with Verizon in the past and I sympathize.
Write, fax, phone, email, carrier pigeon, mother-in-law, anyone who could make a difference.
Monopolies should not have the ability to raise rates without regulation.
Good Luck
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|Verizon is a dangerous and unhealthy monopoly. The so-called: "new costs that we've developed over the past year as we've been developing and delivering this standalone DSL service. That service doesn't have the benefit of the revenue that was coming in from voice." is BS. This is the reason they gave us: "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."
What a horrible company. Why in the hell did they ever allow that consortium to happen again. If this was a regular company, everyone would have givent hem the boot. Can you hear me now Verizon as I wait 2 weeks for my DSL account to switch to my new address??? And they want to regulate the Internet and say they won't abuse? Whoa re you kidding?
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|Pick your poison. Where I live, we have Cox Communications: period. There is no other broadband provider. They continually raise fees. Verizon has been laying FiOS lines through our neighborhood for months. Now Cox is ramping up their marketing campaign and offering more discounts. Viva Competition!!! We need more!!
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|Unfortunately, two companies doesn't constitute much competition. I would love to give up Cablevision for internet but (a) FIOS isn't available in my area yet and (b) I've just given up Verizon for wireless phone service because their support was so lousy and I'm working on getting rid of my Verizon landline as well. I wouldn't mind the extra few dollars IF the service/support was there, but it isn't....apparently every internet problem should supposedly be solved by simply rebooting my Linux box!
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|Are you kidding me? Two is WAY better than one. At least it's started a price cutting campaign here (for new subs only). That's better than the past 10 years of price increases. I'll take two. Yes, five would be better, even ten, but two is still a vast improvement here. Until VZ gets FiOS online here, Cox has no competition at all. We can't even get DSL in my neighborhood. Cable or nothing.
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|Whenever a large corporate concern is involved in "consumer advocacy", hide your wallet.
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|"Whenever a large corporate concern is involved in "consumer advocacy", hide your wallet"
LOL@truth
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|I never had Verizon and never will. I heard about their special fees for cell phone and now I see they're doing this with DSL.
I understand that companies are out to make money, but not to gauge their customers. You would think since their getting the "price cut" they would be glad to hand it out to their customers, but the heartless morons don't. Its sad.
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|that's why every product from them has contact. Now they are pushing everything with 2 years. Soon it will be 5, and then a decade.
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|I would love to move away from Verizon, but the only option available to me is RR, which is terrible in my area. I have no choice but pay the high fee.
This is the thing I don't understand, how come in west coast, people get twice as fast as east coast and they pay 1/2 the price? And now they are telling us they don't make enough.
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|And this is the company who wants to regulate the Internet!!!
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|> The company did not say why it opted to cover the
> higher costs with an additional fee, rather than
> raising the base price of DSL service.
If they raise their base price then they can't compete on the base price, they can't say "Our DSL is still only $kidney while cable charges you $leg". Simple marketing.
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|Wow, big surprise there. They figure customers are used to paying that much and will pay that much, why not put some BS fee to jack the price back up.
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|In our area, as with many others, it's either Verizon with somewhere around $33 or Charter in my area, another creepy monopoly with $50 a month since I don't have TV service with them.
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|What a bunch of crap from Verizon. Had been thinking about switching, but not now.
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|I'm not suprised. Verizon charges you $0.99 per day weither you use you pre-paid cell phone or not. They're getting as bad as banks now. That is one reason why I went to someone else to get my cell.
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|You have the option of choosing a different plan. 99 cents/day includes unlimited nights and weekends. If you don't want that feature, then go to their regular plan that doesn't charge a daily rate.
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|Last time I checked there was a monthly fee on my wireless contract... if I don't use either line at all for the month I still have to pay $69.95.
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|When I had looked, a while back, that was for the pre-paid plan and it didn't included unlimited nights and weekends either.
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|Verizon customers should file complaints to Verizon.
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|Verizon sucks yo.
The telecommunications giant rejected claims that it was simply redirecting the USF fees into its own pocket now that it is no longer required to hand them over to the U.S. government.
That is pure bull! Why didn't they raise that additional charge before but now?
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|Exactly right.
Prices are set at the maximum that consumers are willing to pay. Verizon's reasoning is that if customers are willing to pay a certain amount, then they won't have a problem continuing to pay the same amount.
Remember this when someone tells you that Windows costs so much because of all the piracy in the world. If all piracy stopped tomorrow, do you think the price of anything would go down? LOL
Verizon, M$, whoever exist to make money. They are just doing what comes natural to them.
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|because they knew their customers would raise hell if their monthly bills went up but they are stupid enough to accept the increase if it doesn't raise their over all costs.
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