Posted on 07/02/2005 1:25:00 AM PDT by newzjunkey
Many broadband customers will pay new universal service taxes akin to those on their telephone bills if Congress bows to suggestions from rural legislators...
The USF currently collects a fixed percentage of revenues from long-distance, wireless, pay phone and telephone companies so that it can pass on subsidies to low-income customers, high-cost areas, and rural health care providers, schools and libraries. Most companies come up with their share, set for this quarter at 10.2 percent, by charging their customers a fee.
The USF should continue to be "industry funded," but the base of contributors should be expanded to "all providers of two-way communications, regardless of technology used, to ensure competitive neutrality," a bipartisan coalition of rural legislators said in a June 28 letter to the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee, which will be drafting the rewrites. That means companies providing broadband services such as VoIP over telephone wires would also have to pay into the fund...
"If our residents are to be competitive in today's fast-paced, technology-driven global marketplace, our communities will require affordable high-speed, high-capacity access to data and information over the Internet," Rep. John Peterson, R-Penn., co-chairman of the Congressional Rural Caucus, said... "If the private sector is either unwilling or unable to provide that service at an affordable price, we'll find a way to provide it for ourselves."
The wireless industry applauded the proposed change "since wireless consumers are significant and disproportionate payers into the universal service and intercarrier compensation systems," Steve Largent, CEO of CTIA - The Wireless Association, said in a statement...
The Universal Service Fund in recent years has faced allegations of waste, fraud and abuse. The FCC announced in June a formal inquiry into its management.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.com ...
"Anyone who can see the southern sky CAN get broadband now by satellite."
Yes...I use Direcway. It's a great service...just don't expect too much whenever it rains.
ping
So we have to subsidize farmers' kids surfing porn and downloading illegal songs, software and movies? Wonderful.
Of course, funded by the government no less. My local telephone company is my local internet provider and they've been providing ADSL to the cities they serve for years now. Broadband for what it's worth hasn't given me any incentive to move into town. The phone company and electric company know me personally, and if I have a gripe with either one, they're right on top of it the moment I speak up. I can't say that about the internet provider. The tech support is a couple of incompetant rubes. I've actually solved more customer problems than they have. It's how I make a living.
Thanks for the information. Good post.
Here's an idea:
Let companies decide where they will provide service, and let people decide where they will live!
Why spoil freedom with governments forcibly taking money from some people to give to others?
Should we transfer some of the peace and quiet enjoyed by the rural folks to the cities, just to make THAT fair, too?
Here's an idea:
Let companies decide where they will provide service, and let people decide where they will live!
Why spoil freedom with governments forcibly taking money from some people to give to others?
Should we transfer some of the peace and quiet enjoyed by the rural folks to the cities, just to make THAT fair, too?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.