[basil]

Am I wrong in thinking this is the "Al Gore tax"? I know he was able to put some sort of tax on telephone service, supposedly to help rural communities be able to put in telephone lines.

[Nachoman]

I haven't kept up with telecom regulation, but I wouldn't be surprised if this was a corruption of the Universal Service fee which I belive Al Gore championed.

[ASOC]

The E tax is different.

This is the Universal Service charge. So American citizens living in such fun places as Titilik, or St Marys Village can have phone service for *far less* than they would have to pay otherwise.

Phone rates are low in bush Alaska - thanks to the subsidy.

Urban supports rural, really rural get a good but not free ride.

This is a leftover from when AT&T ran a FedGoc supported monopoly service. Oh, wait......