Verizon drops DSL surcharge

antowan

antowan

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http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1035_22-6111035.html?tag=zdfd.newsfeed

After hearing complaints from customers, Verizon Communications has dropped plans to impose a supplier surcharge on its DSL service, the company said Wednesday.

Verizon began notifying customers earlier this month that it planned to tack on a surcharge starting Aug. 26 to cover costs associated with providing DSL (digital subscriber line) service to customers who do not also subscribe to the company's traditional phone service.

The surcharge was being added at the same time the company was no longer obligated by the Federal Communications Commission to pay into the Universal Service Fund, a federal program that helps subsidize rural telephone service and provide Internet access to schools and libraries. This fee was expected to be eliminated from phone bills.

Verizon's withdrawal of the surcharge is effective immediately. DSL subscribers who have already been billed for the surcharge will receive a credit, Verizon said.

"We have listened to our customers and are eliminating this charge in response to their concerns," Bob Ingalls, chief marketing officer of Verizon Telecom, said in a statement.

Last year, the Federal Communications Commission changed how it classifies DSL services, thus eliminating a fee that had been charged to all DSL subscribers to help pay into the Universal Service Fund.

Verizon DSL customers subscribing to the company's 768Kbps (kilobits per second) service paid about $1.25 into USF every month. Customers of its 3Mbps (megabits per second) service paid about $2.83 per month, the company said. Instead of simply dropping the fee, Verizon planned to add a new "supplier surcharge" of about $1.20 per month for the slower service and $2.70 for the faster service.
 
For a second I though it was Verizon SA dropping their rates in but then I realised it was the US.
 
I too thought that Bwana. Strrange world over there where a major corporation bows to customer pressure over surcharges. ;)
 
Verizon removes new DSL surcharge

Verizon removes new DSL surcharge

Consumers and FCC question validity of charges, which company will now refund
By Grant Gross, IDG News Service
August 30, 2006

Verizon Communications Inc. has removed a new DSL (digital subscriber line) fee after customer objections and questions from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Verizon implemented the new fee of up to US$2.70 for some DSL customers after the FCC earlier this month said DSL providers no longer have to collect a Universal Service Fund (USF) fee. The USF fee is used to subsidize telecom services in rural and poor areas. Verizon and BellSouth Corp. both proposed replacing the USF fee with a new charge whose proceeds they would keep.

Verizon had been charging DSL customers either $1.25 or $2.83 a month for USF fees, depending on the speed of service, and it replaced the USF fees with a supplier surcharge fee of $1.20 or $2.70 a month.

But the FCC raised questions about the fee, and last week, BellSouth said it would drop the new charge. Verizon said it needed the fee to offset the cost of providing DSL to customers who don't use its telephone service. But customer complaints convinced the company to drop the fee, Verizon said in a statement Wednesday. Verizon will give a credit to the customers who got charged with the fee, the company said.

"We have listened to our customers, and are eliminating this charge in response to their concerns," Bob Ingalls, chief marketing officer of Verizon Telecom, said in the statement.

The proposed fee had prompted Verizon DSL customer Ailis Aaron Wolf to launch a Web site, called StopTheDSLRipoff.com. On the site, Wolf urged other customers to complain to the FCC about the fee.

The fee was a way for Verizon to "make another buck off its customers," said Wolf, a public relations specialist based in Arlington, Virginia, in an interview conducted via e-mail. "If they have additional costs associated with DSL services, they should have worked that in to the original package price they offer, not tack it on after the fact."

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said he was pleased that both Verizon and BellSouth have dropped the DSL fee. "Consumers should receive the benefits of the commission's action last summer to remove regulations imposed on DSL service," he said in a statement.
"The continued deployment of broadband at affordable prices for consumers remains my top priority."
Click to expand...

Hehe. Good to know there are other people who are getting ripped off besides us.
At least there complaints have been dealt with.
How long is the MyADSL Complaint in the making now?

Unlike the FCC Chairman who means what he says, our equivalent is just hot air, but claims the same priorities. In this case complaints were heard last summer, meaning about a year ago and the matter is settled or almost settled.
Where can we say that ICASA has dealt with anything this swiftly, which leads me to say they are either incompetent or stalling or both. :)
 
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They have a lot more customers over there. And actual choice, so if customers didn't like the charge, they could tell the provider to stick it and join up with another one.
 
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