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Tuesday, September 25, 2007
It may be dull, but it matters …
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Telecommunications taxation reform could be one of the biggest, dullest issues facing the Georgia Legislature.
Even so, some of the proposals floating around the Gold Dome could, if adopted, have a significant impact on the cost of telephone and cable TV service in Georgia.
State Sen. David Shafer (R-Duluth), who chaired a committee meeting on the subject last week, said some of these proposals could actually lower those costs.
At issue are franchise fees that local governments impose on telephone and television service providers. Supporters of reform say the current system was created when telephone and television service were distinctly different enterprises.
But now, with telephone companies, wireless service providers and cable television companies all branching into each others’ businesses, such companies pay widely different rates for providing essentially the same services.
The new proposals include requiring satellite TV providers to pay the same fees cable companies do, and creating statewide franchises for telephone companies, instead of requiring them to negotiate with a multitude of local governments.
“They seem to be unrelated proposals, but they’re made in recognition of the fact that technologies have converged,” Shafer said. “And we need a system of taxation and regulation that’s simple and fair.”
Yes, we know. Zzzzzzzzzz.
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