Verizon DSL drops new fee after FCC inquiry

Under pressure from the FCC, Verizon has decided to drop the backdoor DSL price increase that I complained about last week (Verizon DSL Sneaks in Another Price Increase):

From the USA Today article, Verizon abandons plans for a high-speed Internet surcharge:

FCC's "truth in billing" rules require companies to be forthcoming about their fees, and the agency could have forced Verizon to clarify its public statements about the DSL surcharge.

Verizon had argued that its DSL fees, which range from $1.20 to $2.70 a month, were necessary because of additional supplier costs. However, since Verizon is its own broadband supplier, the fees would be going from one company pocket to another.

"We're paying ourselves, but our costs are increasing, nonetheless," Rabe said last week. "We have additional costs we're covering with this rate increase, which is essentially what this is."

Score one for the little guys!