cmscholloway
join:2005-01-05
Austin, TX
| reply to reub2000
Re: What's wrong?
Here's my problem with this law:
- Cities extract licensing fees from Cable companies in exchange for the use of the city owned right of way.
- This law exempts phone companies from having to deal with each city individually, and instead pays a "one time" fee to the State.
- Since phone companies got this sweetheart deal, Cable companies will be able to get the same deal once their existing contracts are up.
- The net result of this will be lost revenue to the city government (future revenue from SBC, and existing revenue from the Cable franchises).
- Cities, being the who they are, will have to make up for this revenue somehow (raise taxes, fees) or cut services.
Being a city dweller, I will now have to pay more taxes (or receive less services), whether I choose to subscribe to IPTV or not. This is EXACTLY the argument SBC uses against Municipal wireless.  |
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SanJoseNerd
Premium
join:2002-07-24
San Jose, CA
| said by cmscholloway  :- The net result of this will be lost revenue to the city government (future revenue from SBC, and existing revenue from the Cable franchises). - Cities, being the who they are, will have to make up for this revenue somehow (raise taxes, fees) or cut services. Being a city dweller, I will now have to pay more taxes (or receive less services), whether I choose to subscribe to IPTV or not. This is EXACTLY the argument SBC uses against Municipal wireless. Why is there lost revenue? Where I live, the city government taxes telephone service, but it doesn't regulate SBC nor does SBC have a franchise agreement. You don't need a franchise agreement to levy a tax on SBC. |
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cmscholloway
join:2005-01-05
Austin, TX
| Since the city can no longer collect the franchise fees (from SBC and soon enough Time Warner), they will lose revenue. Because the franchise fee is collected at the State level, the cities won't be allowed to tax them "twice" for the same service.
In the Texas State legislature, the only way the interests of the people (and in this case Cities) are protected is when one huge corporation is opposed by another huge corporation. It's kind of like when the Eagles play the Redskins in the NFL. You wish there was a way that both teams could lose. Time Warner showed up at the Capital with one less suitcase full of money than SBC. So now we all suffer. |
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carpdiem
join:2001-02-11
Cedarburg, WI
| reply to cmscholloway
I work for SBC. We have to pay for use of right of a way in cities. Not sure how it is in Texas but where I live the state is in the process of providing more city tax relief by moving state tax revenues to the counties and municipalities. Just my humble opinion here and I may be way off, but wouldn't it be more economical to establish a tax base by bringing in businesses to a community either in a downtown district or through a business park? I would think this would provide a greater relief for the residential property tax payers. Typically our public right of way structure is in place for our cables. The cities will be paid for public easements through the FTTN/FTTP initiative in cases where the existing easement isn't large enough to handle the new cabinets. Instead of a small fee per subscriber the city would be getting a larger upfront fee that they will have to learn to either budget or invest in bringing in additional businesses for a larger tax base. From a consumer and tax payers perspective...everyone's going to get a piece of my money somehow and at some point. |
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marigolds
Gainfully employed, finally
Premium,MVM
join:2002-05-13
Saint Louis, MO
| reply to SanJoseNerd
said by SanJoseNerd :Where I live, the city government taxes telephone service, but it doesn't regulate SBC nor does SBC have a franchise agreement. You don't need a franchise agreement to levy a tax on SBC. SBC should have a phone franchise agreement. They are normally 30 year terms and automatically renewed with no option to deny though. The FCC retains all regulatory authority so the city cannot regulate SBC through the franchise.
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