Apparently with the ?blessing?of our Government Verizon has carte blanch to charge us exhorbitant and unethical fees for their services. Please watch English Channels (NBC, CBS, ABC & CNN) on your cable service, and note that Verizon is advertising FULL service, including cable TV, high speed Internet connection and long distance (all calls within the continental US, PUERTO RICO and CANADA) for $99 US per month. Interestingly Our Friends & Relatives living in NY can purchase real vallue calling cards, for example a $5.00 calling card good for 90 to 120 minutes to telephone Family & Friends in the Dominican Republic are available. Similar calling cards are available in Miami & throughout the US. Another telephone Company VONAGE offers unlimited local and long distance calls within the US, Canada & Puerto Rico for $24.99 per month. Watts line (800 free calls) are not available with Verizon, and if you must make an 800 number telephone call, Verizon announces that ?YOU WILL BE CHARGED AT THE INTERNATIONAL RATE OF $40 CENTS PER MINUTE?. Almost anywhere in the world 800 numbers are free, only DR has the distinction of paying extortion to Verizon. Once again our illustrious Government permits this thievery to continue. The consensus of opinions is payoffs to those in power. It is noted that Verizon has higher (more profitable) per capita income from revenues generated from the Dominican Republic than the US market. There is no competition in the DR, (is Tri Com or Orange competition ?) while fierce competition within the US keeps Verizon and other telephone companys in line our ?leaders?do nothing on our behalf to control the escalating outragiously inflated charges levied by Verizon.