September 26, 2005
Study Faults High Cellphone Taxes
High taxes on the sale and use of mobile phones are complicating efforts to bring low-cost, mobile communications to people in the developing world, according to a new study from a telecommunications-industry trade group, reports WSJ.
"The report, to be released today by the London-based GSM Association, studied tax rates and cellphone usage in 50 sample countries and concluded that eliminating all value-added and customs taxes on low-cost phones there would increase mobile-phone "penetration" -- the percentage of a country's population that has a mobile phone -- by between 9.8 and 19.6 percentage points.
The association argues that increased mobile-phone use promotes economic development -- as well as profits for its members, of course.
...The trade group has been trying to increase global mobile penetration by pushing phone makers to develop ultracheap models for people in developing nations."
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