Of course, the Demopublicans want to subsidize access for their voters. Those already on the net have a considerably higher likelihood, so far as I can tell, of being Independents or Libertarians. The bad guys naturally want to bring it in line with their domination. -Allen

_ Tuesday July 16 1:52 PM EDT _

FCC Chairman Hundt Sees Tax On Telecom Industry

FAJARDO, Puerto Rico - A small tax will probably be imposed on telecommunications companies' revenues to subsidize telephone access in rural areas and help wire classrooms for the Internet, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Reed Hundt told the nation's governors.

[...]

But ensuring that residents in sparsely populated areas have access at affordable rates and meeting the administration's goal of wiring every classroom in the nation for Internet access will require annual subsidies of about $10 billion, Hundt said.

"The current subsidy system won't work and has to be totally overhauled," he said.

Asked how that money would be raised, Hundt said, "Probably the right way to go is, based on total revenues, throw a chunk of change into the pot."

He said the levy would be "competitively neutral" and would represent a small percentage of revenues for the telecommunications industry, whose annual gross revenues are about $250 billion.

[...]

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