MPs to probe Digital Britain's broadband tax

 

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By Barry Collins

Posted on 30 Jun 2009 at 14:10

A committee of MPs is planning to investigate whether the Government's £6-a-year broadband tax is justified.

The Business & Enterprise Committee will probe various parts of Lord Carter's Digital Britain report, including the proposed 50p a month levy on fixed lines to pay for nationwide fibre.

Many experts have cast doubt over whether the levy will raise enough money to pay for fibre in the so-called "final third" of the country, with the Digital Britain report itself only prepared to admit that the funds raised "might be sufficient".

The Committee also plans to investigate whether the Government is being ambitious enough with its target of universal 2Mbits/sec broadband access by 2012.

With services such as the BBC iPlayer already demanding connection speeds of at least 3.2Mbits/sec for HD stream, the Committee may well be wondering whether Lord Carter should have set the bar higher.

Interestingly, the inquiry seems willing to step in where Ofcom and the Advertising Standards Authority have patently failed, and investigate whether consumers are actually receiving the speeds they pay for from their ISP.

The Committee is formed of 13 MPs, including Julie Kirkbride (the Conservative MP who is quitting at the next election following the expenses scandal), disgraced Lib Dem Mark Oaten and Lembit Opik.

The Committee is inviting written evidence from interested parties. Full details of how to send submissions can be found on the inquiry's announcement page.