TIA In the News

Congress Should Include Broadband Incentives

December 12, 2008

Communications Daily

Congress should include broadband incentives in economic stimulus legislation to be taken up in January, TIA President Grant Seiffert said in a letter sent Thursday to Hill leaders. The TIA offered ideas on tax credits and expensing combinations, tailored to the speed of services offered, for Congress to consider. For wireless broadband infrastructure, it proposed that companies be allowed to expense 75 percent of the costs of building networks capable of 1.5 Mbps downstream and 384 kbps upstream -- or take a 15 percent investment tax credit. For services offering speeds of 3 Mbps downstream and 1 Mbps, TIA proposed a 100 percent expensing provision or 20 percent investment credit, and for 5 Mbps downstream and 1 Mbps upstream, a 40 percent investment tax credit. For fixed broadband infrastructure, TIA suggested a 50 percent expensing provision or 10 percent investment credit for networks capable of 3 Mbps downstream and 1 Mbps upstream; a 75 percent expensing allowance and 15 percent credit for 25 Mbps downstream and 5 Mbps upstream; full expensing or 20 percent credit for 50 Mbps downstream and 20 Mbps upstream; and a 40 percent credit for a network providing 100 Mbps downstream and 20 Mbps upstream. Tax benefits for satellite “remain to be determined,” the letter said. But a broadband infrastructure stimulus plan should deal with fixed, wireless, satellite and core and backbone transport, the letter said. TIA said it endorses a proposal by the Communications Workers of America to allow direct grants for rural broadband deployment. TIA suggested Congress adopt a $25 billion grant program for infrastructure investment in unserved areas. Grants would be allocated on a “technology neutral” basis to provide subsidies to build service at “minimum speeds and appropriate capabilities to be determined” by the FCC. “A grant program such as this would finally bring broadband services ... without creating the need for an ongoing service subsidy,” the TIA said. The stimulus package also should include vouchers for low-income Americans to purchase laptops, mobile handsets and other computing devices; a tax credit for small and medium-sized businesses that purchase or update broadband equipment; and a way for people eligible for Lifeline and Link-Up to apply the discounts toward broadband service as well as telephony. “We respectfully ask that you continue to prioritize broadband as the overall bill comes together,” the letter said.

Reprinted by permission from Communications Daily

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