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> is something I've never heard of. All of my US cell phone plans advertised the exact price they charged.

Like hell they are. Here's a 1:1 copy/paste from a recent AT&T bill (only modified for formatting, and <Local> for privacy reasons):

      Surcharges & Fees
      Administrative Fee	$0.61
      Computer Aided Dispatch Surcharge	$0.06
      Federal Universal Service Charge	$0.82
      Municipal License Surcharge	$0.59
      Regulatory Cost Recovery Charge	$0.66
      Relay Service Device Fund Surcharge	$0.02
      <Local> Universal Service	$0.10
      Total Surcharges & Fees	$2.86
And:

      Government Fees & Taxes
      City District Sales Tax - Telecom	$0.08
      City Sales Tax - Telecom	$0.18
      County Sales Tax - Telecom	$0.05
      Local Wireless 911 Surcharge	$0.61
      <Local> State Sales Tax - Telecom	$0.81
      Unified Statewide 911 Charge	$0.09
      Total Government Fees & Taxes	$1.82
These are charged on top of their headline rates. Some of these are federal fees so aren't likely avoidable no matter where you happen to live.


Prepaid plans across all US carriers generally have all taxes and fees included in the advertised price, except for standard sales tax (if your state/locality normally charges it).


You don't have to be charged like that if you don't want to. That's not a problem with the US, it's a problem with your phone service.




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