Broadband tax "will be law by next election"

Ahhh

That Explains why the government was trying to get everyone onto the web... you just know that the government never does anything to help the public unless it will enable them to spend more money on themselves...

By SmilerOnline on 23 Sep 2009

Indeed. Next, we will be taxed on energy-saving lightbulbs to safely dispose of and recycle the mercury inside them.

By phantombudgie on 23 Sep 2009

Virgin customers?

I'm on Virgin Media so am already on a high-speed modern network, which has been paid for by Virgin customers. Will I have to pay this legalised robbery too?

By halsteadk on 23 Sep 2009

"Will I have to pay this legalised robbery too?"

Possibly the clue to the answer is in the last word in "£6 per year levy on every landline"...

By JohnGray7581 on 23 Sep 2009

When is theft not theft? When its renamed "tax"

Is this about making high-speed internet free to all? No??? Then shouldn't the purchasers of high-speed broadband pay for it?
Ah, but then we have, the ISP's just took our money, oversubscribed and pocketed the money and spent nothing on infrastructure.
Solution? Tax.
The general election can't come soon enough.

By cheysuli on 23 Sep 2009

What a stupid implementation

"The charge is set to be imposed on every landline, regardless of whether the owner is connected to broadband or not."

I have broadband but don't have a landline, so I don't pay the tax. My grandparents do have a landline, but don't have broadband and have to pay the tax.

That is ridiculous.

By timfrance on 23 Sep 2009

Shouldn't big business pay for this?

This is total idiocy.

Broadband should be paid for by the subscribed, not by innocent bystanders.

This law would mean that my aging grandmother who doesn't even own a computer would be taxed to subsidise some spotty teen who wants to download music and play Warcraft. If people want fast internet access then they should have to pay for it. Not people who don't want, need, or use it.

If the government is going to tax use for this, I at least hope that it's going to maintain a stake in the network so that it can enforce standards on it such as minimum speeds and call centre who not only speak English but who also live in the country that they are supporting. And while we're at it if tax payer's money is paying for this, can we expect the governemnt to levey a tax on the suppliers so that once the network has been rolled out the tax can be recouped? I doubt it.

Another thing, will those of us who paided a premium to have a private cable line put in be excempt? I'd be mighty cheesed if I paid for a Virgin cable phoneline only to be taxed in order to subsidies BT customers' internet access.

I use the health service so I'm perfectly wiling to be taxed for the privilage. The same for my local council services. I put out rubbish so I'm happy to pay for peopel to collect it. But I have no desire to pay to subsidies a private company to provide what (despite all of the fuss) still amounts to luxury product.

By Perfectblue97 on 23 Sep 2009

Not Fair

In responce to perfectblue97, I agree its wrong to charge everyone even if they dont own a computor but its unfair to say your paying for the teenagers to have faster broadband, cause I have to pay too and I'm a teenager. My broadband in with O2 and I have the highest speed they could offer me which is 20mb. I'm annoyed that I will have to pay this 'tax' as I have no complaints about my broadband, I dont need it to be faster.

By rhiannon on 23 Sep 2009

TAX TAXING TAXED

History repeats itself and again we have idiots running the country with UNELECTED persons presiding a democratic country.

Next we will (again) have a WINDOWS TAX... hummmph?

By lenmontieth on 23 Sep 2009

we pay to build it, so others can rent it.

If the government needs people to pay, then they should just increase the TV licence tax, or reduce the share of TV licence revenue given to the BBC, as a TV is not a necessity, unlike a phone line that is a life line for many.

The future of high speed broadband will allow TV sets to be connected to the internet for on-demand viewing/ surfing via the TV etc.. This will happen and clearly TV sets will use a large proportion of the broadband bandwidth.
So the only fair method of revenue for the cash is a share of the TV licence.

Not fair for the extra £6 to be shoved onto phone land-line rental, for people in large expensive rural homes to get faster broadband.

By Tibbs on 24 Sep 2009

In responce to perfectblue97

I use a BT phone line for my broadband via talktalk, My unbundled ADSL2 broadband line test speeds range between 10 – 15 mb (results on speedtest.net). Faster than Virgin Media customers on my street.

Plus my broadband speed is NOT restricted with unfair 'Traffic shaping' speed restrictions that
Virgin Media use.

Please don't assume ADSL broadband on BT phone lines is slow.

By Tibbs on 24 Sep 2009

50p everywhere

This government is obsessed with 50p . . .

By zeevro on 24 Sep 2009

i do not understand the comments here

I do not understand some of the comments here. This is not about current service levels and whether you get a decent speed now ( and many don't ). This is about the future, about next generation services, about ensuring that British business can continue to compete internationally and we have the infrastructure that enables this.

Some things are too important to leave to the likes of bt to get right. A world-class infrastructure (or at least one that competes) is a necessity for us all, regardless of whether you have broadband or not.

By jefferson30 on 24 Sep 2009

If BT were a forward-looking company, or if it were regulated properly, then in the 15 years since the web stopped being a geek niche, it would have built up enough funds to do this.
But we are where we are, so in that case you tax 'those who can' to pay for 'those that can't', so I would think a tax on broadband connections would be fairer than just on all phone-lines.
But even then its not going to raise enough to pay for broadband-for-all. So it is just another tax. But don't worry, if the gov carries on printing money, £6 won't even buy you a lollipop in a few years time.

By davidsoap on 24 Sep 2009

2 pints of beer

It's terrible having to fork out so much a year to make sure everyone in the country can access broadband, isn't it? Why don't they all just move to London?

By rgwr1 on 24 Sep 2009

Solution

Dont have a phone line and pay for a dongle at £10 a month or whatever u can. Simply put it in when u need to use! No tax for upgrades! They should fund it themselves, its bad enough trying to cope with the dam recession! General election hurry up- GET OUT LABOUR!!

By Wolf_01 on 24 Sep 2009

Is there anything else the government can find to tax us on so they can sit on their backsides, with their three houses and ten holidays per year? No wonder they need to keep finding new things to tax us on, so we can pay for their lives of luxury. There'll be a tax on how many times we use the toilet soon. Bloody ridiculous.

By Kelsybob on 24 Sep 2009

I may pay the broadband tax, when I reach the highest speeds I pay for in an "Speeds Up To.." agreement..

By Mullaney18 on 25 Sep 2009

I may pay the broadband tax, when I reach the highest speeds I pay for in an "Speeds Up To.." agreement..

By Mullaney18 on 25 Sep 2009