Communications Taxation 2021
Pre-Conference, Half-Day Workshop
October 11, 2021
"Telecommunications Technology Basics"
Since Bell patented the telephone in 1876, the infrastructure used by telecommunications providers has continuously evolved. Sometimes generations of technology are a wholesale replacement of previous versions; e.g., from one wireless generation to the next. Other times, technologies can co-exist for decades, or in perpetuity as with "last mile" copper infrastructure. Some are purely fiber transport, others are IP-based, some are computer-based applications, while others are a hybrid of transport, hosted services, mobile and interconnectivity. It is confusing.
This four-hour workshop is for tax professionals who need to make sense of the underlying technologies used by telecommunications service providers; how those technologies work; what services they enable; and how service platforms are evolving to support cloud, 5G and IOT services. Although the emphasis is to provide an introductory technical viewpoint, the speakers will also provide a brief summary of the tax/regulatory issues related to each technology - as that often impacts the taxability and classification of services.
Specific topics covered include:
- Lines and Trunks
- Plain Ordinary Telephone Service
- Network Architecture-Access, Switching, Transport
- Telecom Interconnection
- Cloud Services
- VoIP and SIP
- SD-WAN
- 5G Mobile Wireless
- IOT
Q&A, discussion, common tax/regulatory pitfalls, and practical feedback providedthroughout.
Presented by:
Ron Shelton, CSI
Mark Lammert, CSI