Tax lifted on broadband internet services

PRESIDENT Bush signed a bill yesterday which prohibits taxes on broadband internet services.

The pledge to extend the prohibition was a feature of his Presidential campaign this year. He believes that taxing internet access would hinder his goal to have broadband access for all by 2007.

The bill is an extension of a ban that was passed in 1998, but expired more than a year ago. There was delay in renewing because congress couldn't decide whether to merely extend it for three years or make it a permanent fixture on the statute books.

The ban will now run until 2007, when the situation will be evaluated again. Some parties are urging caution, however. According to Reuters News Agency, some Senators have expressed concern, saying that the usurping of traditional services like telephony by internet access will cause States to lose millions in tax dollars.

Bush's goal to have everyone online by 2007 is a tough one. Technologies such as WiMAX, the wireless wideband standard, will be crucial to enable the net to reach the more isolated areas of America that cables do not reach currently. µ