STATE OFFICIALS TELL WIRELESS NOT TO EXPECT CUTS IN SERVICE TAXES

摘要

In a discussion at a CTIA conference in San Francisco, state policymakers mainly turned a cold shoulder to pleas by the wireless-industry for cuts in taxes on its services. The industry can keep saying "till you're blue in the face" that mobile service is overtaxed nationwide, said Daryl Bassett, a Republican member of the Arkansas Public Service Commission. Chuck Martin, a Republican state representative in Georgia, said he expects cities to push for laws letting them replace with wireless taxes the revenue lost as landlines have declined, he said. Martin said he opposes higher taxes as bad for capital investment. "This call to tax them like a landline is offensive to me" because it would hurt network development and innovation, agreed Stan Wise, a Republican member of the Georgia PSC. He said broadband has a wide reach in Georgia thanks to state policymakers' "light touch" and reluctance to tax. But "someone's going to have to pay the freight" when a state acts to extend networks, helping carriers to do more business, said Timothy Simon, a Republican member of the California Public Utilities Commission member. California has imposed fees on cellular service to extend broadband availability through its high-cost service fund, he said.