CA State regulators cut a phone bill surcharge

STATE REGULATORS CUT A PHONE BILL SURCHARGE
[SOURCE: Associated Press]
California state regulators Thursday ordered substantial cuts to the subsidies paid to telephone companies for providing conventional land-line service in rural areas. But as those befuddling surcharges go down, monthly rates will rise. Carriers will be allowed to levy a small increase on residential phone rates, and cellular users, who have been paying the bulk of the subsidies, will eventually see a discount on their monthly bills. Consumers pay into the fund through a surcharge on their monthly phone bill. The money is used to reimburse companies for installing phone lines in rough terrain and rural areas where it can be more costly to install. Despite lobbying by the state's largest carriers to keep the subsidies intact, the California Public Utilities Commission voted unanimously to reduce the payouts by more than $315 million over the next two years and to cut the surcharge on monthly phone bills by 40% beginning in January.
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-surcharge7sep07,1,493630.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-business
(requires registration)