Come September more than four million Cingular Wireless subscribers will be forced to pay a $5 surcharge for using older non-GSM phones. While 92% of Cingular’s customers already have a GSM phone those still using one of the two older technologies are being urged to convert to newer handsets. This move, which will bring in an added 23.5 million a month in revenue to the company, is prompted by a FCC provision that cell phone carriers provide analog service until early 2008 so long as a company still has customers using the service.

This adds one more in a long list of added charges wireless customers are seeing on their monthly bills. These charges coupled with an array of government taxes add an estimated 50% to the advertised rate of most wireless companies. While the cost of wireless service continues to climb, so do the number of users. For all the complaints as to the cost there are more than 110 million subscribers to Verizon and Cingular Wireless services, the top two wireless providers.

Clearly its big business for telecommunications companies. So, why does it still cost so much to have a cell phone and a home phone. While the services have increased over the years the cost of having internet service, phone service and wireless have gone up well beyond the cost attributed to inflation.