Remember that ban on taxing Internet access? On November 1, it goes bye bye. The Senate has been making slow progress on trying to hammer out an extension of the ban. It's widely believed that they'll do what they did last time: do a temporary extension and leave a future Congress to figure out if the ban should be permanent or not. This is despite some senators and even the White House getting behind a permanent ban.
I'm conflicted on this. My inner fiscal conservative hates taxes and like keeping them off of my bill. Witness how some companies have abused federal taxes and fees to overcharge consumers. On the other hand, we're getting to a point where a USF on broadband access might not be a bad thing. Rural communities are increasingly falling behind their urban counterparts when it comes to availability of affordable services. That said, I'm willing to give wireless a chance after the 700MHz auction to see what happens.
