Taxing VoIP - regulation telcos like to see

The FCC has imposed Universal Service Fund taxes on VoIP services that connect to the legacy phone network. USF is allegedly a way to bring services to rural and low-income communities, but in practice is outdoor relief for big telcos. I assume that the telco lobbyists see this as a victory, but as it only applies to interconnecting services, those that are pure internet services now have an even bigger cost advantage.

As for subsidising communications for low income users, it looks like the internet is doing a far better job by making everything cheap or free, as even the homeless are connected to the net.

Technorati Tags: politics, Supernova, telco, USF, VoIP