To its credit, AT&T is being forthright about its new charge. "This fee will help AT&T recover increased connectivity costs associated with providing local service," a notice to customers states. "This fee is not a tax or charge required by the government."

The new fee is being charged to 1.6 million subscribers who live outside the 13 states where AT&T owns most of the local phone network. Because it can't use its own phone lines to serve these customers, AT&T has to pay a monthly fee to other companies such as Verizon to use their local networks. Likewise, rivals such as MCI, now a unit of Verizon, pay a monthly fee to AT&T so they can sell local service in AT&T's 13-state region