Investing

AT&T (T) Taps The Farmer's Market

According to The Associated Press: "A decade-old telephone tax intended to help bring affordable service to rural areas has instead turned into something quite different: a bottomless and politically protected well of cash for cell phone companies that do big business in rural America."

The operation that handles this, the Universal Service Fund, has collected $44 billion over the last 10 years, and almost every cell user in the US is hit with the tax.

The idea itself makes sense. Serving phone and broadband customers in rural areas is more expensive than it is to handle subscribers in densely populated areas.

AT&T (T) received $239 million.

The program is a classic case of how large companies pervert the intentions of programs meant to serve the under-served.

No wonder farmers don’t trust city folk

Douglas A. McIntyre

But "Alltel, which recently announced the sale of the company, reported a $230 million profit in the first three months of 2007, a total boosted by the $65 million to $70 million in universal service funds the company says it receives each quarter."

In 20 Years, I Haven’t Seen A Cash Back Card This Good

After two decades of reviewing financial products I haven’t seen anything like this. Credit card companies are at war, handing out free rewards and benefits to win the best customers. 

A good cash back card can be worth thousands of dollars a year in free money, not to mention other perks like travel, insurance, and access to fancy lounges.

Our top pick today pays up to 5% cash back, a $200 bonus on top, and $0 annual fee. Click here to apply before they stop offering rewards this generous. 

 

Flywheel Publishing has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Flywheel Publishing and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.

AI Portfolio

Discover Our Top AI Stocks

Our expert who first called NVIDIA in 2009 is predicting 2025 will see a historic AI breakthrough.

You can follow him investing $500,000 of his own money on our top AI stocks for free.