From: Harold Feld <hfeld@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: February 7, 2006 5:07:31 AM PST
To: Robert Horvitz <horvitz@xxxxxx>
Cc: ipolicy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx,
openspectrum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, unlicensed_advocates@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [Openspectrum] Re: [Unlicensed_advocates] Bush proposes
tax on Wi-Fi, unlicensed spectrum
PLEASE STAMP OUT THIS URBAN RUMOR BEFORE IT SPREADS!
Not that I blame Robert, but I wish reporters would read things a
little more
carefully.
Ribbono d'almah kulah, the modem tax of the 21st Century.
The President's budget message explicitly refers to unauctioned
LICENSED
spectrum. Nor does it impose a tax or fee, but authorize the FCC
to do so.
This is an anual event here in the U.S. The administration has
wanted to impose
spectrum user fees on broadcasters. This has a snowball's chance
on Mercury of
passing. So this year, instead of saying "broadcasters" it
included all users
of unauctioned licensed spectrum, with a justification that a user
fee will
cause the licensee to internalize the cost of not using the
spectrum and spur
the licensee to maximize the value of the resource. Because, as we
all know,
maximizing economic value MUST BE the highest best use of
spectrum. Just ask
any fireman.
Now, dependng on how it actually got drafted, it COULD give the FCC
authority to
impose some kind of user fee on "unlicensed" spectrum. This would
very much
depend on actual statutory language.
Harold
Quoting Robert Horvitz <horvitz@xxxxxx>:
http://rcrnews.com/news.cms?newsId=25545
by Jeffrey Silva, RCR Wireless News, 6 February:
"The proposal, contained in the president's 2007 budget plan and
projected to raise $3.6 billion during the decade, is believed to
be aimed at unlicensed frequencies used for Wi-Fi and other
applications. It's unclear whether the 'user fee' tax would be paid
by equipment vendors or end users.
" 'Spectrum assignment policy has not kept pace with the changing
market. Service providers using different technologies to deliver a
similar product can face different spectrum license acquisition
costs,' the budget stated. 'The lack of parity in spectrum
assignment creates incentives that can diminish the overall utility
of the spectrum...' "
--
Harold Feld
Senior Vice President
Media Access Project