I think you and I said the same thing with one exception. Due to
difficulty in tracking per user per megahertz I think it would be
simpler to just have a per base station fee. The fee could be scaled by
the amount (Mhz) of spectrum used in the base station. This would only
be for new spectrum and would not be for unlicensed spectrum. This is a
carrot that could well justify WISPs getting some usable spectrum with
higher power and some spectrum rights. Congress will not likely just
give away more spectrum without having some way of creating some revenue
stream from it. This does not mean I support taxation. I am trying to
find a compromise we can all live with while producing some value for WISPs.
Scriv
Tom DeReggi wrote:
First, the rcrnews feed is meaningless. It lacked all detail and
clarity, to understand what it meant.
Second, It is impairative that existing Unlicensed Spectrum NEVER get
taxed, and that users and providers of it, NEVER get taxed.
Unlicensed spectrum belongs to the people. Whn I charge a client I
don;t charge them for spectrum use, I charge them to cover all my
other costs (Roof rental, staff, support, etc). I'm charging for
services not spectrum.
Third, If Taxed, its important that the tax not only be to providers
of AP and the service. The reason is that there are not enough
providers of APs that it will have any meaningful impact on dollars
raised for the governement, UNLESS we are taxed heavy. And we don;t
want that. If a tax on unlicensed were to happen, we'd want the tax to
get charged to Radio manufacturers based on number of radios made. The
reason is that consumer home devices are what are sold in MASS
quantity, and a tax per device sold, would allow the governemnt to get
the largest volume of tax, and most profit, at the least impact to a
single indiviudal. It would allow the lowest tax per user, because
the largest dominant group of users would be included. The idea is
that we do not want WISPs to be the one that take all the burden. It
will likely put us out of business if we had to, and we would be the
ones most hurt if we were targeted.
Fourth, I am NOT apposed to creating a per user tax for NEWLY
allocated spectrum for our industry. The governement is unlikely to
allocate spectrum to us because the billions they can auction it for.
If the governement gave up the auctioned revenue, in favor of giving
it to us (investing/financing us) it would be appropriate to allow the
governemtn to put a plan in place for compensation. A per user tax, is
a way that ALL provider could have the right to play in the game, and
only pay an amount proportional to the number of subscribers they had
paying revenue. However, there is a big problem in taxing per user.
Its that spectrum usage does not match customer size, in most cases.
If one company decided to use all 6 channels for one customer, their
tax payment would be much less than than a large number of users
sharing a single channel. What they could do is tax providers/users,
based on per Mhz in a spectrum range allocated, and per timeslice
transmitted. So instead of charging per user, it could be charged per
MB of through put. Use more, pay more. However, that would be
IMPOSSIBLE to track, prove, and inforce.
Its important to distinguish the fine print in legislation that would
allow for taxing unlicensed in general apposed to taxing or charging
per user of new spectrum that is allocated.
Tom DeReggi
RapidDSL & Wireless, Inc
IntAirNet- Fixed Wireless Broadband
----- Original Message ----- From: "Blair Davis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "WISPA General List"
<wireless@wispa.org>
Sent: Monday, February 06, 2006 6:49 PM
Subject: Re: [WISPA] Good news and bad news today
Now we know why they want the 477 forms.....
Brian Webster wrote:
Well, it does not surprise me that the government has decided to tax
the
unlicensed spectrum. Today the Bush administration announced a plan
to tax
Wi-Fi and other unlicensed spectrum. It is not clear how they will
do it yet
but the process is in motion. That's the bad news, the good news is
they
reached agreement on the 5.4 GHz spectrum and that should become
available
once equipment gets certified. Check the RCR news site for the full
stories.
Oh well, I suspected that it would not last forever the truly free
use of
the spectrum.
http://www.rcrnews.com/news.cms?newsId=25545
http://www.rcrnews.com/news.cms?newsId=25539
Thank You,
Brian Webster
www.wirelessmapping.com
Free World Dialup #481416
--
Blair Davis
AOL IM Screen Name -- Theory240
West Michigan Wireless ISP
269-686-8648
A division of:
Camp Communication Services, INC
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