Universal Service Fund

Have you looked at your phone bill lately? If you look at the line items, you'll notice a little charge for the Universal Service Fund. The amount charged is not a large amount, and according the the FCC's web site the Universal Service Fund was established to help the poor and children - a noble cause. However, if you are like me and actually pay attention to your phone bill, you'll notice the USF (Universal Service Fund) adds up over the course of a year, and the shocking truth is the telephone companies are required to pay the USF fee, but choose to pass the cost along to the consumer. Why you ask? The political correct answer is that each telephone company makes a business decision on how they will handle the USF fee, the blunt reality is because they can!

I encourage you to take a quick look at this article and commentary I found regarding the USF fee. The article does a nice job of explaining the details of the USF fund, and the commentary does a good job of putting the USF into perspective. Keep in mind, many of us pay the USF fee twice, once for our land line provider, and once for our cellular provider. Maybe we can deduct the amount we contribute to the USF fund from our taxes at the end of the year - a charitable contribution?

If you have a thought about the USF fund, post it in the comments.