So the long distance carriers are getting reductions in their costs, but my costs are increasing because of the ARC? Why is this fair?

The access revenues that local exchange carriers receive from the long-distance carriers help offset the cost of providing local service. The FCC recognizes that the local exchange carriers will need another revenue source to offset the revenues lost from these required access reductions. Therefore, the FCC is allowing local exchange carriers such as All West Communications to recover a portion of the revenues lost from these access reductions through the ARC. The FCC determined that the customer (you) chooses to place a long-distance call and the long-distance carrier that is used; therefore, the customer should bear more of the cost.