Whew! That was close. In danger of having to actually charge customers less due to the expiring Universal Service Fund fee, Verizon has discovered a new fee to charge their DSL customers.

 

Verizon is imposing a new surcharge on its DSL high-speed Internet service just as the Universal Service Fund fees are expiring.

 

Coincidence? I think not.

 

According to an AP report, in a recent notice to customers, the telecommunications company said it would begin imposing the surcharge for all new digital-subscriber line customers, and on current DSL customers with monthly plans. Customers on an annual plan will start paying when their plan expires.

 

The surcharge will initially be $1.20 a month for customers with service up to 768 kilobits per second and $2.70 per month for customers with faster DSL service, effectively the same as the USF fund that is being phased out.

 

Bobby Henson, a Verizon spokeswoman, cited "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."

 

Right… USF out; New fees in.

 

And the costs of rolling out the network just happened to spring up all of a sudden now that the carrier could no longer charge a USF fee.

 

Gordon Gecko would be proud.