TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: 911, Taxes, and Fees, was: Texas Sues Vonage Over 911 Problem

911, Taxes, and Fees, was: Texas Sues Vonage Over 911 Problem

Danny Burstein (dannyb@panix.com)
Thu, 24 Mar 2005 23:09:40 UTC

Thor Lancelot Simon wrote:

> *If* Vonage were willing to pay the same fees other local exchange
> carriers pay for 911 connectivity *in each LATA*, *then* Vonage could
> route 911 calls correctly. Avoiding this *cost* has been a major
> competitive win for Vonage all along and it is hard to not see it as
> a major reason, if not _the_ reason, why Vonage has fought state
> regulation as a local exchange carrier: by avoiding regulatory mandates
> like 911 service standards Vonage avoids the cost of compliance.

So let me get this straight. Local (and state) gov'ts pretend that a
911 PSAP (Public Safety Answering Position) isn't part of the standard
functions of government, and therefore they get the telcos to pass
through a separate "911 fee" (read tax).

Oh, for good measure, if you look at umptity audits you'll find that
the amount of the "911 fee" has next to nothing to do with how much
money is acually put into the PSAP. To the government, it's all one
big pot of money.

What's next? Perhaps the county will claim that libraries are special,
so there needs to be a separate tax, excuse me, fee, on all book
sales? Oh, and just think how much money they could kick over to the
library if they extended that tax, excuse me, fee, onto all blank
paper and pens and copying supplies?

> People's safety in emergency situations should be quite simply out of
> bounds for this kind of political maneuvering. Of course, it's not,
> but darn it, it ought to be.

Absolutely. And 911 issues shouldn't be used as a tag for governments
to extract more money from the working folk.

How's about instead of attacking Vonage for this we directed some ire
against the politicians that do everything they can to hide the level
of taxation they're hitting us with?

_____________________________________________________
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
dannyb@panix.com
[to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]

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