A ruling by federal telecommunications regulators has pushed state regulators to cancel the plan to tax mobile phone messaging for Californians.
The "text tax" introduced this month drew wide opposition from wireless providers and business groups who claimed there were too many rules against such a tax.
The tax was originally introduced as a means to fund programs that make phone service accessible to low-income residents.
The Federal Communications Commission last week classified messaging as an information service rather than a telecommunications service, CBS News reports. California Public Utilities Commissioner Carla Peterman withdrew the plan to tax the widely used service "in light of the FCC's action" on Dec. 12, regulators said Friday.
The text tax could be applied retroactively and could have cost state taxpayers $220 million.
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