Ha, if only it was PSTN, I would be happy to never use it, everything is VOIP now. Pretty much everyone and their mother now adds USF (some even put it in the tax section of their bill) between Zayo, Lumen, packet exchange, and other carriers we use we pay over 10k a mo on the useless funds, going to BS life support to the wrong people. None of these use the original PSTN, many have their own dark fiber, but because out point to point Intnetnet links go over state lines its an immediate usf tax which gets pricy on 100 and 400G links.
From: [email protected] <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, May 20, 2026 3:42 PM To: AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group <[email protected]> Cc: Dan P <[email protected]> Subject: Re: USF not a tax! IMO should die asap Technically it is not and was never a tax. It is a user fee that replaced the old AT&T interstate line haul sharing that went away with divestiture. When AT&T quit sharing a portion of the toll with the small independent telcos NECA and later USF stepped into that gap and allow them to get the revenue recovery that the law specifies by tariff. If someone doesn't want to pay USF, then avoid using the PSTN. Has been quite the gravy train for ILECS for a very long time. ________________________________ From: AF <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> on behalf of Dan P via AF <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> Sent: Wednesday, May 20, 2026 12:16 PM To: AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> Cc: Dan P <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> Subject: [AFMUG] USF not a tax! IMO should die asap And I am sure we all know this isn't a one off deal. I always love how its pushed as "not a tax" https://www.propublica.org/article/alaska-telecom-subsidies-roger-shoffstall
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