Verizon customers who signed up for the International Long Distance and International Long Distance Value Plan because they knew when they agreed to their contracts that they would be making regular calls to Mexico, received a real surprise notice. The material change is that effective June 24, 2007, there will be a $0.15 per minute surcharge added for calling Mexican numbers using the dial pattern of 011+52+1+Area Code+telephone number. The surcharge is due to increased costs resulting from Mexico's recent switch to another system and will appear on customers' monthly bills.

The contract with Verizon and most wireless carriers provide a clause allowing customers to cancel service while under contract without the early termination fee penalty of $175 per phone line. However, Verizon may allege that there is no guarantee that international rates will not increase. This position may be true, but it's also true that customers signed a contract that included a specific plan that included the international rate to Mexico.

It would be interesting to see if the change in Mexico causes other wireless carriers to have to change their rates, as well. Why is it only affecting Verizon Wireless?

We are close to the border and many customers may conduct business by phone to Mexico. We have a large Latino population in California who may also have signed their contracts with the "value plan" in mind. Therefore, we wonder how many California and particularly San Diego County customers the new surcharge will affect. Please don't hesitate to let us know.