It's not actually about listing the fees. They're worried that if they have to list the fees, customers will realize they're paying 19.99 a month to rent a router, or are getting charged for a land line they didn't ask for.
911 and similar emergency numbers always cost money.
In many places individuals pays for it through taxes, but people may not realize it because there's 1 tax and 1 big budget that pays for many different public services.
In the US I guess the cost is separated from other public services, and paid through ISP via a fee.
It’s a tax. You can’t refuse to pay it, it’s just itemized out like that. Only way to avoid paying it is to not pay for a phone.
It is a regressive tax which is bad (everyone who has a phone line pays the same instead of taxing the rich more) but there are bigger worries in America.
I used to pay $120/mo for business class 50mb asymmetrical coaxial with like 10 up. Had to get business class when Comcast started introducing data caps on the residential tier.
Now my ISP is bundled with my rent, so what I'm actually paying is totally opaque. No idea how much of my rent goes to Comcast. Oh, and it's not optional. I can't even get other service here because Comcast has a partnership with the building owners.
Trust me. This is CHEAP compared to what I had a decade ago.
One Decade ago, I paid 95$ a month for "15 mbit" ADSL. Which- topped out around 8Mbit/s on a GOOD day. (Rain/moisture wrecked hell on the lines around here.)