Taxes and Billing Issues Kept Google From Offering Voice in Kansas City

Google considered offering voice as part of its 1-Gbps service in Kansas City, Kan. and Kansas City, Mo., but the cost and challenge of billing for taxes was enough of a hassle to cause Google to drop those plans. 

Milo Medin, vice president of Google Access Services says the actual operating costs would have been trivial. Billing for taxes would not have been so easy.

“The cost of actually delivering telephone services is almost nothing,” Medin said. “However, in the United States, there are all of these special rules that apply.” Google would not be the first company to encounter the complexities of billing, and how that can affect a business case.

Retailers engaged in e-commerce, either throughout the United States or globally, know exactly what Medin means.