I'm probably one of the few remaining residents of Connecticut who still has a land line. That's the case because, being out of work and trying to shave expenses wherever I can, I gave up my prepaid cell phone and rely exclusively on my landline.

My usual bill for combined landline and DSL services is $44 a month. Today's bill was $49. Yeah, just a few dollars, but seems like everywhere I look, it's a few dollars more here, a few dollars more there. Meanwhile, I'm making quite a few dollars less, so yes, it does matter.

A side-by-side comparison of the new phone bill with last month's phone bill revealed two new line items I never paid before:
1. Minimum Usage Charge: $2
2. Carrier cost recovery fee $2

I talked to an AT&T rep who informed me that I have to pay the $2 minimum usage charge because I haven't made any long distance phone calls this month. Say what? You've created a new charge to make me pay for something I don't use?

The only way to get around it, he said, is for me to switch over to their long distance call plan. There is no monthly fee for the plan, but if I do make long distance calls, I'll be billed .41 a minute, which is pretty high. I gave up my cellphone, so initially I figured this wasn't a good option, but then I remembered how I always use prepaid calling cards to make my long distance calls. So I switched to the plan and shouldn't get charged .41/minute because I'll just use the calling cards I buy.

The other charge, the carrier cost recovery fee, is a federal fee they have no control over. This despite I never paid for this before.

I'm just pissed. AT&T is just determined to make money off people because it's rapidly losing money to cellphone carriers left and right. So they've come up with a creative plan to charge people for a service they don't use. Brilliant! Whoever thought of that should get a raise.