WASHINGTON-Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said he wants to increase the federal excise tax on telecom services to pay for broadband technology deployments.
The wireless and telecom industries have been fighting for years to eliminate the tax and were pretty close to getting it repealed in 2000.
Now the tax could be increased.
“Congress should raise the federal excise tax from 3 percent to 4 percent,” said Alexander, noting the measure would allow states to give consumers a $25 exemption per month for broadband without penalizing states.
