Released: August 28, 2006

Will FCC hang up on new Verizon surcharge?

Source: By Leslie Cauley, USA Today

BellSouth has stopped collecting a new surcharge on high-speed Internet services, while Verizon says it has no plans to drop the fees, now being investigated by the Federal Communications Commission. Verizon on Friday confirmed that it had received a “letter of inquiry” from the agency.

“The FCC has a number of questions about what we’re doing,” said Verizon spokesman Eric Rabe. “Obviously, we’ll answer those.”

The DSL fees were imposed just as another surcharge — the Universal Service Fund (USF) fee, used to help subsidize rural phone service — was set to come off the bills of DSL customers.

Under the FCC’s “truth in billing” rules, companies are required to be forthcoming about their fees.

The FCC, which has broad authority over the U.S. telecommunications industry, could force Verizon to clarify its public statements about the DSL surcharge.

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