Verizon adds high-speed Internet fee
Verizon Communications Inc. is imposing a new surcharge on high-speed Internet service just as customers were set to receive lower bills thanks to a decision last year to deregulate the service.
In a recent notice to customers, the telecommunications company said it would begin imposing the surcharge for all new digital-subscriber line customers, and on current DSL customers with monthly plans. Customers on an annual plan will start paying when their plan expires.
The surcharge will initially be $1.20 a month for customers with service up to 768 kilobits per second and $2.70 a month for customers with faster DSL service, the company said.
The fee comes as a government fee on DSL customers for the Universal Service Fund is being phased out. For customers with service up to 768 kpbs, the fee was $1.25 a month, and for customers with service of up to 3 Mbps, the fee was $2.83 a month, according to Verizon.
Verizon was among the companies that had pushed for the Federal Communications Commission to deregulate DSL service, which the commission did in August 2005. •Chemicals and construction company Ashland Inc. said Monday it has agreed to sell its highway construction division to integrated construction materials holding company Oldcastle Materials Inc. for $1.3 billion, allowing Ashland to focus on its core chemical operations. Ashland shares tumbled nearly 6 percent.
The sale of Ashland Paving And Construction to Oldcastle, a subsidiary of Ireland-based CRH PLC, has received antitrust clearance and is expected to close by the end of August, said Covington-based Ashland. It continues a redirection for Ashland, which last year sold its minority stake in a petroleum refining and marketing company.
Oldcastle Materials, based in Washington, D.C., has more than 13,000 employees in 30 states and generated more than $3.5 billion in revenues in 2004. CRH said the deal represents a major expansion of its U.S. business into the Midwest and South.
•General Motors Corp. announced Monday that it would make the new Chevrolet Camaro at its No. 2 plant in Oshawa, Ontario, just east of Toronto.
The move came after the Canadian Auto Workers union agreed to 2,500 early retirements to reduce costs at the plant to win the rights to make the car. The plant was scheduled to be closed in 2008 but will now stay open, saving about 2,700 jobs.
The U.S.-based automaker said it will revive the muscle car in 2008 with models hitting showrooms in 2009. GM stopped making the Camaro in 2002.