Broadband Again
In an article about Blunt signing the cable-competition bill I ran across this statement.
Telecommunications companies entering into the TV business would have to pay the same local fees that cable companies currently pay. But lawmakers rejected efforts to start charging satellite TV providers a comparable fee, which would have been used to fund the expansion of broadband Internet service in rural Missouri.
So we got shafted again and I didn't even know about it. What a state.
posted by staff @ 8:43 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Why, exactly, should satellite customers pay cable franchise taxes?
They aren't using public infrastructure or right-of-ways, which was the original argument for cable franchise taxes. The original cable providers got monopolies, and now that the telephone companies want to get into the game via internet broadband, both cable and telephone companies have been wrestling over access--- and taxes.
But what does this have to do with satellite? No wires. No digging. No right-of-ways. Shoot a satellite into space, buy a dish at Best Buy. As a satellite subscriber, if I had to pay a cable franchise tax, I'd be the one who was getting shafted!
Give some government officials the opportunity to levy a new tax, however, and they'll take it. Missouri State Rep Joe Aull proposed to tack-on a satellite tax provision on this latest bill that would collect taxes at the state level to fund a special grants program.
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i need to agree with john
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