The high wireless tax rates are particularly hard on the poor and elderly living on fixed incomes. These groups pay a larger percentage of their income in wireless taxes than do individuals with higher incomes. The arbitrary and regressive nature of wireless taxes discourages use of mobile services among those Americans who might benefit most from them.
Conflicting State Laws and Regulations
A patchwork of state-by-state regulations harms consumers by effectively destroying the cost-savings benefits available because of national and multi-state plans and services.
Policies that vary across state lines create consumer confusion, and numerous problems and complexities for carrier support systems and personnel. This, in turn, drives up costs for wireless carriers, which are then forced to increase their prices.
Some state legislators and commissioners argue that they must regulate the wireless marketplace in the name of consumer protection. It must be remembered, however, that consumer protection is a priority of both the wireless industry and the FCC. In fact, the FCC protects consumers under provisions of the Telecommunications Act, and the wireless industry also abides by its voluntary Consumer Code for Wireless Service. Moreover, the wireless industry fully supports state Attorneys General enforcement of “general laws of applicability” and prosecution of any company found violating those laws.
Antenna and Tower Siting Restrictions
The ability to quickly and efficiently site antennas and towers directly impacts the ability of carriers to bring the highest quality and most advanced wireless services to rural America. New cell sites can expand the available coverage area for consumers, and increase a network’s ability to provide the kinds of services American consumers want and expect.
In order for carriers to support public safety and bring their customers the technology they require, an efficient and timely process of siting and zoning wireless infrastructure must be a priority for local, state, and federal governments.
Wireless System Increases Water Productivity in California
In the past, farmers faxed daily water orders to remote offices to schedule water delivery, and field employees traveled the entire length of the canal to measure the water flow at specific locations and then manually recorded results. With help from Cingular Wireless, TID utilizes a new wireless system that improves accuracy of water amounts delivered by automatically reporting flow levels every 30 seconds. Field employees can now respond to emergencies more quickly and water loss has been
greatly reduced.
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