Verizon DSL Sneaks in Another Price Increase

Over the weekend I received the following email from my good friends at Verizon:

Important Information About Your DSL Account Dear Valued Verizon Online Customer, Effective August 14, 2006, Verizon Online will stop charging the FUSF (Federal Universal Service Fund) recovery fee. We will stop being assessed the fee by our DSL network suppliers. Therefore, we will no longer be recovering this fee from our customers. The impact of the FUSF fee is as follows: for customers of Verizon Online with service up to 768Kbps, the fee eliminated is $1.25 a month; for customers of Verizon Online with service up to 1.5 Mbps or 3Mbps, the fee eliminated is $2.83 a month (based on current FUSF surcharge amounts). On your bill that includes charges for August 14, 2006 you will see either a partial FUSF Recovery Fee or no FUSF line item at all, depending on your bill cycle. Starting August 26, 2006, Verizon Online will begin charging a Supplier Surcharge for all new DSL customers, existing customers with a DSL monthly or bundle package, and existing DSL annual plan customers at the time their current annual plan expires. 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. The Supplier Surcharge will initially be set at $1.20 a month for Verizon Online DSL customers with service up to 768Kbps and $2.70 per month for customers with DSL service at higher speeds. On balance your total bill will remain about the same as it has been or slightly lower. For more information, see the Announcement in the Help section of Verizon Central, located at http://central.verizon.net We regret the need to add this Supplier Surcharge, but we thank you for choosing high speed Verizon Online DSL. We appreciate and value your business. Sincerely, Verizon Online Broadband Customer Care Team

So I will no longer be subject to the $2.83 FUSF recovery fee, but instead will be charged an additional $2.73 "Supplier Surcharge". That sounds like a price increase to me, Verizon! While I can use my additional 10 cents per month to pad my retirement savings, Verizon gets to pad its profits by an additional $2.73 per month. Come on FOMC, how can inflation be so tame if suppliers can keep raising prices at will?