President proposes new wireless fees
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| Sat, 02-28-2009 - 8:37pm |
Are we ready for an increase in our cell phone charges to cover a new government fee?
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10173072-94.html?tag=newsEditorsPicksArea.0
Obama proposes new wireless-spectrum fee
Faced with a whopping $1.7 trillion deficit, President Obama is proposing tacking on a spectrum license fee to wireless operators to help generate revenue for the government.
The Obama administration's proposal was loosely outlined in the new budget plan for 2009 and 2010 submitted Thursday. In that plan, the administration proposes adding a new fee to be paid by wireless carriers that license wireless spectrum from the government.
These annual fees would start at $50 million in 2009 and jump to $200 million in 2010, Reuters reported. The fees will gradually increase over the next 10 years to $550 million per user per year, generating an estimated total of $4.8 billion over the next decade.
The proposed fees are in addition to license fees that operators have already paid the federal government as part of its wireless auctions. The Federal Communications Commission has been auctioning off wireless spectrum to phone companies and other entities since the 1990s. These auctions grant license holders exclusive rights to the spectrum in exchange for cash.
Over the years, these auctions have generated billions of dollars for the federal government. The most recent auction, which ended in March 2008, was for the 700 MHz block of spectrum that is being vacated by television broadcasters after the mandated digital TV transition. This valuable spectrum generated a record $19.6 billion.
But wireless spectrum is a limited resource. And the government is running out of airwaves to auction. In fact, the Obama administration predicts that it will only be able to generate about $4.8 billion in revenue from wireless auctions over the next 10 years.
Even though the additional fees could help the government halve the deficit by 2013 as well as help it fund several new spending initiatives, it's likely to be met with a great deal of resistance from mobile operators.
So far, none of the big four wireless carriers in the U.S.--AT&T, Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless--has been willing to comment on the proposal. And the CTIA wireless-industry association said it's still looking into the matter.
"We are currently reviewing the details of the proposal and look forward to participating in the next stages of this issue," CTIA said in a statement.
Previous spectrum fee proposals have been strongly opposed by the wireless industry, and there's little reason to suggest that the industry would support them now. The big difference this time around is that a Democrat-controlled Congress could be more willing to support President Obama's plans.
More details about the proposal are expected later this spring when the administration releases a more detailed budget package. But any changes to the fee structure would require legislation. And my guess is that the wireless industry would fight hard against it.

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Figures.
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Absolutely!
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martinisnsushi - living the good life since 1963
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martinisnsushi - the two most important food groups!
I think, the $250,000 is now down to $209,000.
The definition of rich is slowly going middle class.
The tax increase proposal affects those who are currently taxed at the 33% level. This would be those earning $209,000 or more.
See the story at - http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0209/19387_Page2.html
Then scroll down to the comment by JFK Dem67
**After all, what's a short stroll of a couple hundred miles to talk to friends and family?**
Oh dear God. How did people do it before cell phones? Geesh. Break out the horses. It's the revival of the Pony Express!
**Another generalization, implying that teenagers are the only ones who use cell phones.**
Thank you. I stand corrected. It's obviously the death of the majority of Americans social lives ;0). I'm so glad I live in the Sierras, where the cell phone reception is so crappy, I haven't become so attached to a device, that I have to fear what life might be like without one. I'm feeling more and more sorry for my pathetic, whiny fellow Americans that can't function without their cell phones, TV's, guns...... I know when it snows up here and the power goes out for days at a time, the Flatlanders really carry on about how long it takes the electric company to get the power back on because they can't charge their cell phones, use their computers, watch their TV's and their food spoils (when it's FREEZING out.) People are sad.
I've noticed a pattern here... anything which you don't personally support the use of and/or you don't like is a matter of fear for those who do.
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