Interesting People mailing list archives
Re: phone tax on a wifi
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Fri, 22 May 2009 16:25:34 -0400
Begin forwarded message: From: Craig Partridge <craig () aland bbn com> Date: May 22, 2009 9:42:59 AM EDT To: Andrew C Burnette <acb () acb net> Cc: dave () farber net, craig () aland bbn com Subject: Re: [IP] phone tax on a wifi Hi Andy:Your argument here is completely correct if one starts with the premise that
the innards of the service matter. My point was that from an external perspective, I've purchased a WiFi device that is clearly not a consumer handset (lacks handset or another other capacity to dial) and yet it is being taxed as a phone. Thanks! CraigPS: You seem to have taken my note as a implicit tax protest. I don't have any problem with E911 tax. I simply point out it is a strange application of
said tax.
Craig, Dave, I'll only mention in passing that E911 and their customers (PSAPs,police, fire, et al) are "broke" financially and is one tax that usuallygets spent as advertised.In reality, the issue is that EV-DO is still a CDMA "telephony" product,uses another [dedicated] RF channel next to the several a particular provider uses for voice. It has a phone number, uses your number(xxx-555-abcd () vzw3g com) for entry and authentication into the network.The data call is technically identical to a phone call with a voice switch circuit underneath. Thus, I doubt verizon would want to spend the time/money trying to optout of the tax in front of so many state public utility commissions (mySWAG). (Vonage tried for years, and that's definitely a phone product!). Note that the argument falls flat in the other direction where many 3g phones also have EVDO capabilities for data.I spoke with a friend at Clear/Sprint/XOHM/Clearwire (name of the week) and their WiMAX service doesn't carry the tax, as no telephony servicesexist on it yet (yes, you can use skype, etc over WiMAX). Best regards, andy p.s. if you want a better spend of political capital and subsequently your E911 tax, how about pushing the PUC's to consolidate their PSAPs (public safety access points) and use network based services. Thecurrent systems in place across the country are designed for 1984, not 2009.David Farber wrote:Begin forwarded message: From: Craig Partridge <craig () aland bbn com> Date: May 20, 2009 1:27:58 PM EDT To: dave () farber net Subject: phone tax on a wifi Reply-To: Craig Partridge <craig () aland bbn com> Hi Dave: An amusing moment in our rapidly changing world.I purchased a Verizon MiFi on Sunday (for those who don't know -- MiFi is a credit card sized portable WiFi hub that uses Verizon EVDO to connectto the rest of the 'net -- happy to send a review of my experience after a few weeks if folks are interested).As part of the sale process I received a breakdown of what I should expect to see on my monthly bill. It included local taxes for E911 service. That's a tax on a device from which I cannot make a phone call (unless,of course, I connect a VOIP device via WiFi).In the locality's defense, the device does have a phone number. (I haveno idea what happens if someone tries to call it...). Thanks! Craig ------------------------------------------- Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/ Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
******************** Craig Partridge Chief Scientist, BBN Technologies E-mail: craig () aland bbn com or craig () bbn com Phone: +1 517 324 3425 ------------------------------------------- Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/ Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
Current thread:
- phone tax on a wifi David Farber (May 21)
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- Re: phone tax on a wifi David Farber (May 22)