Broadband tax credits dropped from stimulus bill

Tax credits for high-speed Internet that could have benefited Verizon Communications Inc were cut from a compromise on the nearly $800 billion economic stimulus bill that lawmakers will vote on this week.Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat and chairman of the Senate's commerce committee, supported the tax credits but was unable to get them into the final package, which still needs to be voted on by the House and Senate. Remaining in the bill is more than $7 billion in spending for building out broadband in unserved and underserved areas, likely to be doled out in grants. Public interest groups fear that tax incentives not backed by accountability would fund investment likely to occur anyway. Verizon and AT&T Inc were most likely to gain from the tax credit approach, analysts said. Smaller telecom companies -- such as Embarq Corp, Windstream Corp, CenturyTel Inc and United States Cellular Corp -- have promoted grants.