FCC Panel Suggests Taxing Business Internet Usage to Pay for Rural Broadband

I'm not sure this is even needed... The 2018 Farm Bill will increase funding for high-speed internet in rural communities from $25 million to $350 million annually. If your curious look under H.R.2-245 paragraph 9(A).

On a slightly side note... Wasn't the whole point of those shady broadband cost recovery fees supposed to help the ISPs roll out broadband to rural areas? Maybe the FCC should look into what this fee above and beyond the usual bill is actually being used for.
 
Meh, corruption is rampant and the money never goes where it's supposed to. That's corporatism at work, where the sheep will only listen to corporate-bought political parties and don't bother doing their own independent fact-checking and research. Enforced by a media that's bought by the same corporations.
 
How many more years are we going to need wires for internet anyway? The entire country could be blanketed in 5G before AT&T and others get their act together and build out an adequate rural high speed internet infrastructure.
 
This is what happens when you have morally bankrupt people running things in the name of "capitalism". Weren't AT&T also handed out money for this way way way back for this to develop this even before this: http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/...-FCC-Subsidies-For-Broadband-Expansion-134949

This is from 2010 https://www.cio.com/article/2419787/mobile/fcc-s-broadband-plan---15-5-billion-for-deployment.html
The FCC's national broadband plan, released to reporters Monday, sets a goal of 1G bps (bits per second) service to anchor institutions such as hospitals, schools and government buildings in every U.S. community by 2020 and "affordable" 100M bps service available to 100 million U.S. homes during the same time frame.
Click to expand...

There is no end to this mantra where companies get money for not doing things. it is pretty shocking for a country that says it thrives on capitalism ...
 
Tsumi said:
Meh, corruption is rampant and the money never goes where it's supposed to. That's corporatism at work, where the sheep will only listen to corporate-bought political parties and don't bother doing their own independent fact-checking and research. Enforced by a media that's bought by the same corporations.
Click to expand...
But its a great honey pot... Just go and cry a little, talk about how hard it is to wire rural areas, get billions, do a little here and there, but don't get anything real done, rinse and repeat. Seriously, other than long cable runs wtf is so hard about ' rural' areas, jeez often there isn't even asphalt to deal with, just dig the trench and put back the gravel jeez.
 
same old, same old. They have been Fing the customers for years this way and the gov pays them back with grants to do rural internet. They do nothing.
They and the senators split the money and go thank you morons.
 
Darunion said:
You get your rated speed home users do not. You pay for support that is out to fix it in a couple hours instead of next week. Dedicated IP addresses. What it is worth is different for each but you are not just getting fucked with higher costs for no reason.

Yea it is a lot to ask a few dollars from businesses to help subsidize something that would cost farms and home users out there thousands of dollars to install lines and repeaters.

What is your business? I would like to know to avoid it as best I can.


Not saying it would be utilized correctly because the big networks have not done so in the past so why start now?
Click to expand...

As a small business owner myself, what is your full name? I would like to add you to the black list as soon as I can...
 
SecretStash said:
I think they overstate the price of rural rollouts. I know one guy who's Dad is a farmer. His dad invested in this co-op who is now rolling out fiber, and he's making good on the money invested in this co-op
Click to expand...

Yeah, flying cable is dirt cheap. The most expensive part is all the permit wrangling. When we pulled fiber into our building (a distance of 15m from the DEMARC) it took six weeks of arguing with city hall and a half day to install.
 
Yeah, another tax doesn't seem like it's going to fix anything.

How about someone actually investigate the Corporations and find out where the Hundreds of Millions they've been getting to provide cell & internet coverage to middle america have actually been spent? Cuz, if the multiple hundreds of millions they've gotten so far haven't done it, well.... I don't think a little more will change that.
 
TAP said:
Uhmm... aren't the people who live in those rural areas generally anti-socialism?
Click to expand...

they are only against socialism for the populated areas, but when it comes to them they love it
 
hell i live in a small town and it managed to build its own fiber network
 
Armenius said:
Don't worry, guys, the industry will definitely use the money collected through this initiative for what it is meant for this time.
Click to expand...
Lol, that's the reason I vote no on just about every proposition, bill, fee, etc my state tries to pass. It always goes in a general fund. No thanks. Unfortunately too many people buy into the false promises and there is zero accountability when the money is not spent as promised.
 
{NG}Fidel said:
This is a private companies idea..
Click to expand...
Corporations whose entire existence has been nothing but being in bed with government regulators to ensure that they, and only they, have exclusive rights to offer services to you. The telecom business and current Internet provider business is about as far away from capitalism you can get without having it 100% controlled and operated by the government.
 
I don't see a problem with this. Businesses can now get treated like every residential customer. We paid huge amounts of taxes to build out rural broadband that never happened. Businesses should pay their dues too.
 
Complete garbage!

I work at an ISP that specializes in fixed wireless to extreme rural areas...We pay for our infrastructure out of pocket! Every tower, every router, every switch, every antenna, every mile of cable. But the BIG BAD AT&T wants it for free? F'uck that....
 
Don't worry, I'm sure the businesses will eat these new taxes and not pass them on to consumers.

Wiffle said:
Im speechless.
Click to expand...

I generally feel bad when I see people's pics posted that are obviously catching part of an expression and therefore look really stupid.

Not for this guy though.
 
jedijeb13 said:
My parents live 20 miles from any town of 500-1500 people and they have minimum 2Mb DSL service because the independent telco there (Brandenburg Telephone Company-BBTell) used the original payment to telcos to actually run fiber out into rural areas, and this is in nowhere Ky. All around them is AT&T and most of their customers are still stuck with dialup if they are more than a couple miles outside of towns with 15K people in them. If a little three county phone system can do it years ago, then AT&T could have too, instead they just took the money and blew it on other things to grow back into the monopoly the government broke up already and not fulfill the requirements they took on to receive that money in the first place. If the government would stand up to AT&T and make them do what they were supposed to do with the original money there would be no need for a new tax period.
Click to expand...

Similar here. 12 miles from nearest town. Getting 12Mb DSL from the local rural telco that ran fiber down the highway and then can provide decent DSL down the dirt roads via copper lines. Line tested to 18Mb but 12 is the fastest they offer. Still a lot higher cost then the 50Mb fiber AT&T finally ran to my former OKC neighborhood. Oddly, the only cell service worth a damn here is AT&T. All others are doing good to get one bar.

My across the street neighbor tried to sign up for a wireless ISP service offered by the local power Coop. After testing, they would have needed a 100' tower to get a good line to the ISP tower.
 
Gasoline is stupid expensive in California - I say we tax gas in Oregon to help offset the cost.
 
TAP said:
Uhmm... aren't the people who live in those rural areas generally anti-socialism?
Click to expand...

I have to pay school tax, and don't have any rugrats.

I don't see a lot of difference in supporting this, and a school tax.
 
motomonkey said:
I have to pay school tax, and don't have any rugrats.

I don't see a lot of difference in supporting this, and a school tax.
Click to expand...

I have no problem with paying school taxes as long as it goes to the operation of the school for teaching the kids. Now if all of the school tax money went to pay for non school related items like a car for the mayor to drive, and things like that, then I would be totally against the school tax. The large telcos have already received their tax money for this and spent it on other things, so why just give them more?
 
Darunion said:
You get your rated speed home users do not. You pay for support that is out to fix it in a couple hours instead of next week. Dedicated IP addresses. What it is worth is different for each but you are not just getting fucked with higher costs for no reason.

Yea it is a lot to ask a few dollars from businesses to help subsidize something that would cost farms and home users out there thousands of dollars to install lines and repeaters.

What is your business? I would like to know to avoid it as best I can.


Not saying it would be utilized correctly because the big networks have not done so in the past so why start now?
Click to expand...

In Soviet Union, Internet connects you, right comrade?

Better dead than red.
 
TordanGow said:
Businesses should pay their dues too.
Click to expand...

lol - what exactly is "businesses"? what magical fount of money not associated with anything else in the economy are they going to use to "pay their dues"?

Here's a whacky idea - instead of trying to figure out ways to siphon more money to the government why don't we figure out more ways for the government to not have to siphon nearly as much? I guarantee you there is LOTS of fat on that government steak, yet no one ever wants to trim it...
 
motomonkey said:
I have to pay school tax, and don't have any rugrats.
I don't see a lot of difference in supporting this, and a school tax.
Click to expand...

Well, supposedly schools educate the up and coming rugrats so that they might be able to support the rest of us; but with the shit show that are our schools these days I wonder how good a job they are really doing. But at least it's one of the noblest thoughts.

I don't need to pay for someone to surf the net. There are plenty of WISPs and other providers in rural America, and if a community wants internet bad enough staring your own WISP is even easier today with companies like Ubiquity and their AirFiber line to make long distance communications really cost effective.

Being from Vegas, I happened to be in town for Wispapalooza a few years back and there's a ton of federal grant money out there to help you ramp up and cover those capital expenses. So if you think your neighbors will pay for it, have at it!

Heck I have Verizon FIOS and Comcast available to me but I've been on the fence of trying to gather enough folks to make a WISP worth it here I the burbs.
 
DocNo said:
Well, supposedly schools educate the up and coming rugrats so that they might be able to support the rest of us; but with the shit show that are our schools these days I wonder how good a job they are really doing. But at least it's one of the noblest thoughts.

I don't need to pay for someone to surf the net. There are plenty of WISPs and other providers in rural America, and if a community wants internet bad enough staring your own WISP is even easier today with companies like Ubiquity and their AirFiber line to make long distance communications really cost effective.

Being from Vegas, I happened to be in town for Wispapalooza a few years back and there's a ton of federal grant money out there to help you ramp up and cover those capital expenses. So if you think your neighbors will pay for it, have at it!

Heck I have Verizon FIOS and Comcast available to me but I've been on the fence of trying to gather enough folks to make a WISP worth it here I the burbs.
Click to expand...

Doesn’t help the people out in the county.

Small rural county governments in the poorer areas can barely support basic essential services. Getting the infrastructure built for even The most basic internet just doesn’t happen. And with the terrible condition of even the copper landlines in many places, even dial-up is barely functional.
 
motomonkey said:
I have to pay school tax, and don't have any rugrats.

I don't see a lot of difference in supporting this, and a school tax.
Click to expand...
Yeah, but you only pay school tax for rugrats in your area so your area is getting something out of it, if I pay 20 cents more on my *whatever* because some company was hit by a "usage tax" that gets pushed on the consumers all so someone in a rural area I never heard of can whack off to broadband porn than it really isn't helping "my area"
 
motomonkey said:
Doesn’t help the people out in the county.

Small rural county governments in the poorer areas can barely support basic essential services. Getting the infrastructure built for even The most basic internet just doesn’t happen. And with the terrible condition of even the copper landlines in many places, even dial-up is barely functional.
Click to expand...
Aren't these typically the people always whining about bootstraps? Know what this sounds like? Sounds like not my problem.
 
TordanGow said:
I don't see a problem with this. Businesses can now get treated like every residential customer. We paid huge amounts of taxes to build out rural broadband that never happened. Businesses should pay their dues too.
Click to expand...

Why, so that it would never happen again?
 
TordanGow said:
Yes. They should have to pay the same BS fees as everybody else did. Businesses don't deserve special treatment.
Click to expand...

Why, just so more money could be taken and not used as they said it would be? By the way, do you think it is the businesses itself that are going to ultimately pay this tax?
 
  • Like
Reactions: DocNo
like this
ManofGod said:
Why, just so more money could be taken and not used as they said it would be? By the way, do you think it is the businesses itself that are going to ultimately pay this tax?
Click to expand...
The elected govt. officials represent businesses more than they represent the average citizen. If businesses start getting fucked over, maybe things would change, in which case the average person would be an unintentional beneficiary. Kind of like an "enemy of my enemy" thing.
 
TordanGow said:
The elected govt. officials represent businesses more than they represent the average citizen. If businesses start getting fucked over, maybe things would change, in which case the average person would be an unintentional beneficiary. Kind of like an "enemy of my enemy" thing.
Click to expand...

You are truly delusional if you think that is the way things work. By the way, large businesses will build in all sorts of special exceptions for themselves, and it is the small family businesses that get screwed over. Which improves the situation, how?
 
I dont mind Gov. subsidies going to small businesses, you know, the ones who have to fight off the multinational corporate boot that's firmly placed on their throat making it almost impossible to be successful. bit these multibillion dollar corporations that rarely pay a dime in federal taxes, enough is enough. time to pay their fair share, no more fucking taxpayer subsidies
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top