Public safety fee on wireless users a challenge for industry.
While the industry hates fees, it wants an emergency network.
The FCC's
proposed monthly public safety fee of up to $1 on every broadband user in the U.S. poses a political challenge for the private wireless industry.
On one hand, the industry would like to see the FCC auction off radio spectrum in what is called the D block for private uses; the spectrum could then be shared with emergency groups, as the FCC has proposed in the National Broadband Plan.
On the other hand, the wireless industry hates the idea of adding more user fees, with one industry-backed group,
mywireless.org, noting that the average wireless consumer already pays 16% in taxes and fees -- and the average wireless household pays $350 a year in wireless taxes.
In a separate document not on the site, the group put the total of taxes and fees on the average wireless consumer at nearly $600 a year.
