sirbryan

Seems like a BS charge.. like the universal tax you pay for having a phone line in your home.. nobody can explain exactly what the surcharge is for, but it needs to be paid.. hahaha.. wow.

The USF surcharge is mandated by law and goes into funds administered by USAC (federally) and the states (locally). Rural telcos apply to USAC and/or their state public utilities entity for support from those funds. The amounts given are based on a number of factors, such as annual income, subscriber base, the costs involved in supporting the network and its subscribers, how rural/distant the network is (the more average distance you have between subscribers, the more expensive the plant is to maintain) and how much has been invested into the plant to keep it up-to-date.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Service_Fund for more information.