23 Sep 2009
The Government will press ahead with the so-called broadband tax on residential network connections to fund next-generation optical fibre access, said Stephen Timms, minister for Digital Britain and financial secretary to the Treasury.
Timms confirmed the Government's plan at a British Computer Society roundtable, entitled Can IT lead the UK out of recession? and chaired by the BBC's Rottweiler-general John Humphreys, presenter of Radio 4's Today programme and question-master of Mastermind.
Further reading
Revenue raised by the 'broadband tax' will fund high-speed networks in sparsely populated parts of the country that would not otherwise get them.
"The money will come from a levy on telephone lines of 50p per month which I'll be responsible for on the Treasury side. And we'll legislate this side of the general election," said Timms.
There have been worries that a change of government could jeopardise Lord Carter's Digital Britain strategy, launched in June.
At the roundtable Humphreys suggested that the Government is not serious about Digital Britain because Timms already holds a major post in government. " Isn't the Government sending the wrong signal here? [Digital Britain] is a full time job, rather than you being part-time minister for Digital Britain," said Humphreys.
If this is in effect a tax on the telephone line entering my home, then, surely, if I opt for a fibre connected package that includes everything I will not have to pay the tax. Huh - I wish!!
Yet another example of a being screwed by the Government. I would have thought that "they" would have made far more money to fund broadband if "they" stopped awarding themselves allowances above and beyond their basic salary.
Posted by: Brian Carter 30 Dec 2009
Elsewhere on this site is an article about a planned new database to cover prison inmates. That database is more than a year overdue and currently has an overspend of some £500 million.
I suggest this government abandons the - frankly - stupid idea of a "broadband tax" and fund improvements in the broadband infrastructure from the abandonment of these costly cemtral government computer schemes.
What I cannot understand is why any database should cost anything more than £10-100 thousand.
Regarding the "broadband tax" though, it should be properly re-named the 'telephone line tax'. As such it is grossly unfair - we already pay tax (VAT) for the privilege of renting our lines; the tax, as proposed, will hit the less well-off disproportionally harder than those with money coming out of their ears; and it is creating a dangerous precedent. It is also unfair to those who are paying high fees to obtain broadband now - why should they pay extra to bail out the telecoms sector / the government. Not good!
Posted by: Michael Abbiss 03 Nov 2009
it is obscene that the government is going to make me pay a further 50p merely because I have a phone line through which i get broadband. As an early adopter of broadband I have ALREADY paid my share, and more, for the development of this resource that so many are now benefiting from. My early broadband costs were £39.99 per month. Now it comes free with phone packages from Sky and TalkTalk.
Why should I now pay again?
Posted by: Jim 28 Sep 2009
As a separate tax, it can then be moved up.
Having created the principle of an additional standalone tax, what next?
- how about 50p on electricity bills to fund green technologies?
- how about 50p on every car tax for funding electric vehicle development?
- how about 50p on water bills to fund new flood defences for London?
Posted by: Jim 28 Sep 2009
My "unlimited" broadband supplier has just issued a friendly warning because my usage at 8MB (6.4MB really) is excessive.
With more users hooking up and all of us encouraged to catch up on our missed TV via the internet this can only get worse.
Posted by: Nigel Boor 24 Sep 2009
The only reason this tax is being levied is simple. You have a captive market that is still expanding. The government have a huge black hole in their finances. They want to be seeen as doing something
This is merely a drop in the ocean as to what is required. No tax has ever gone to areas related to where it came from. Take the motorist for example. How much of the road tax, insurance premium tax, petrol tax, road fund tax and VAT has ever gone to funding our roads. For the amount we pay we should have the best road and transport infrastucture in the world bar none.
There is no way this paltry little tax will give us the best broadband infrastructure in the world. We would need billions. £5 per month would be a start, but this government lives in the vain hope it will get relected.
If those Whitehall mandarins had cut out the waste in bureaucracies and quangos as well as the woeful cost over-runs in defence spending, we could have had the world's best in quite a few things.
This tax is just froth, this or any other future government needs to get serious, it'll probably cost 50p per month just to administrate anyway!
Posted by: Robert DH 23 Sep 2009
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