CA Cities Try To Impose Costs on VoIP

Om got the friendly jump on this unsettling story about two California cities trying to impose tariffs on VoIP and get some money from them.

The folks at VoicePulse, a company I like, have a right to be concerned. I'm planning on digging into this more but don't be surprised if the cable companies or RBOC's are at the root of this in the end.

Currently municipalities receive franchise fees from cable companies, but only on the cable TV portion of the bill. Not broadband, and certainly not VoIP.

This is the municipalities attempt to grab a piece of an expanding pie.

I'm personally glad Om feels like I do about this. His reach is rather broad, and even with my KenRadio audience numbers, he still has a broader reach with Business 2.0. Hopefully the two of us can get some more insight. I intend to ask some other carriers if they too have been impacted or expect to be.

Comments

[a]

I beg to differ.

The MSOs most definitely collect taxes on HSD/Broadband, and there's nothing that consumers can do about it, because all of the minimum wage morons they've hired to answer the phones are trained to annoy you so you'll hurry up and hang up, and think twice about calling again.

FYI: Comcast/Atlanta