Broadband tax to be law before the election

Thursday, 24 September 2009 07:53

The government's proposed 50p a month broadband tax could be hitting phone bills before the end of next year.

Digital minister Stephen Timms revealed the £6 a year tax on every phone line - whether the owner is on the net or not - will be part of the finance bill and be passed before the next election.

The tax is designed to fund the expansion of the UK's high speed broadband network - with two megabits per second by 2012 for all homes.

Mr Timms told a British Computer Society conference: "We will legislate for it this side of a general election."

Steve Weller, marketing director at uSwitch.com, hit out at the plans - first revealed in the Digital Britain report earlier this year - as hitting those with no broadband and no intention of getting broadband.

"We are dismayed by today's news," he said. "If the Government truly intends to tax home phone users to fund the universal roll out of broadband, then this is a classic case of robbing Peter to pay Paul."

He added: "Vulnerable groups in the country, such as the elderly, rely heavily on their home phone but have absolutely no use for broadband. It's outrageous that they will be forced to fund the creation of a Digital Britain that they will play no part in."

He went on to explain the government should spread the cost of the broadband expansion to business - those most likely to benefit from a digitally dependent economy.

However, Patrick Steen, editor of gamezine.co.uk, said £6 a year was worth paying.

"If you look at the difference in performance from Virgin and its fibre optic cables and those on older copper lines, the cost is worth it," he said.

"Making Britain stand up to just 2Mbps per second, though, is not fast enough, when other countries are pushing broadband at 100 Mbps."

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