Most cell phone and landline bills come loaded with a bunch of additional charges that bump your monthly payment well above the rate that you negotiated with your service provider. But what are they for, anyway?
The Federal Communications Commission has a same breakdown of cell phone bills and landline bills on its Web site that sheds a little light on these additional fees.
This information is provided by the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau of the FCC, with has a lot of good tips on avoiding telephone scams and needless phone charges, which I'm highlighting as the Consumer Web Site of the Week.
I was inspired to search for these bill breakdowns by ...
... a Consumerist post about cutting your cell phone bill with tips from Billshrink.com.
One suggestion: contesting the Universal Connectivity Charge, which is not a required government fee -- it goes toward ensuring that every household has a telephone. However, many providers just pass it along to consumers.