Broadband taxes to rise?
Telcos have a plan to make their lives easier. But will make service more expensive?
A group of telephone companies trying to reach detente on the network interconnection fees they charge each other has come up with a plan that could effectively involve hiking broadband taxes. It's short on specifics, but says that DSL and cable Net subscribers (which are treated differently today) should both pay into the Universal Service Fund. That's the money that helps subsidize phone connections (but not broadband service) in rural areas, and has helped wire schools for the Net.
Teletruth, a group that has long criticized the phone companies for wasting money and imposing hidden fees that are essentially "slush funds" is asking consumers to lobby the FCC asking against these proposed changes.