Broadband tax

[empip]

...A controversial new £6 tax on telephone lines to fund the introduction of superfast broadband internet will leave nearly two million households paying up to three times the levy initially proposed by ministers, according to leaked government documents seen by The Times.
The plans, drawn up by Revenue & Customs, show that ministers will tax households with more than one phone line - of which there are more than 1.7 million - for each line they rent, and will also levy VAT on the charge...
ministers hope will raise up to £175 million a year to fund superfast broadband connections for rural areas...

But, but this is never ending - like forever - If one already has a reasonable connection - no gain. If one doesn't want a connection to BB not now not ever - no gain...
Maybe I would agree, reluctantly to funding a Govn project with defined start and end points... Open ended means just another tax, where will it end?? - perhaps N-Labour wants out at the next ballot, they are so inept I am not sure they could manage that ! Hmmm, there's a thing !

 

[big-all]

i am assuming its added to the instilation costs not the running costs!!!

 

[dave.m]

i am assuming its added to the instilation costs not the running costs!!!

No, it will be 50p per month for every fixed line phone number that you have already got installed.

As the objective of this TAX is to get everyone who wants it, onto 2MB/sec broadband by 2012, when it is achieved, will the government of the day repeal this tax?
Will they heck, no matter who is 'in', we will carry on paying it for ever more along with any general taxation increases that they decide we can afford.

 

[simonpolly]

...A controversial new £6 tax on telephone lines to fund the introduction of superfast broadband internet will leave nearly two million households paying up to three times the levy initially proposed by ministers, according to leaked government documents seen by The Times.
The plans, drawn up by Revenue & Customs, show that ministers will tax households with more than one phone line - of which there are more than 1.7 million - for each line they rent, and will also levy VAT on the charge...
ministers hope will raise up to £175 million a year to fund superfast broadband connections for rural areas...

But, but this is never ending - like forever - If one already has a reasonable connection - no gain. If one doesn't want a connection to BB not now not ever - no gain...
Maybe I would agree, reluctantly to funding a Govn project with defined start and end points... Open ended means just another tax, where will it end?? - perhaps N-Labour wants out at the next ballot, they are so inept I am not sure they could manage that ! Hmmm, there's a thing !

Your location says your in the USA ,so what are you worrying about ?

 

[dave.m]

Your location says your in the USA ,so what are you worrying about ?

Location: United States Minor Outlying Islands

The UK is one of the United States Minor Outlying Islands.

 

[Deluks]

ministers hope will raise up to £175 million a year to fund superfast broadband connections for rural areas...

Woohoo! Superfast internet for country yokels!

Shame they don't have any post offices or pubs left though. ...

 

[DarrenThomas]

I think there are plenty of people paying 30 quid a month for cable or a BB conection that would argue why not take the 50p a month out of that!

The problem is that some area are VERY well served while others have next to nothing. Virgin are testing 200Mbs in a couple of select areas while my exchange does offer fibre connections a mile down the road, but not to my road or surrounding ones.

For me as a heavy internet user this is REALLY frustrating since i'm 99% sure that virgin wont be adding cable to my immediate area due to the heavy costs involved and the frankly low uptake that there would be at present (lots of houses built in the 50s still occupied by those that moved in when they were finished!).

At the end of the day while there is a whole chunk of the 60+ million people in this country that dont need a fast connection, in 20 years time it really is going to be essential for so much that the infrastructure really does need to be improved. Like most things in this country, it should have been done continually over the years and again like most things, it was muchly neglected and now lots of people want fast connections but the companies dont have the will to do it.

Finally BT has decided to start laying its own fibre which if i recall correctly will land in 10 million homes by the end of 2012. Bear in mind that there are about 23 million houses in the UK at the moment and you can see that while 10 million is a great chunk, its not enough. And like it or lump it, the same people that are on crappy internet now will still be on it in 2012 buecase these 10 million homes will be in high density areas and not out in the sticks.

 

[wobs]

Speaking as someone in Hull, I just hope the tax only applies to BT lines. Ahem.

Although of course I'm sure the revenue can be distributed to where its needed.

 

[TheOriginalTonkaToy]

I should get a refund then. 512kb/s is as good as it gets for me.

 

[cmother1]

Stop moaning everyone. This is a tax that will benefit the nation as a whole and is peanuts compared to the duties on petrol alcohol, etc.

Would you rather the government stopped waging wars in the middle east or subsidising bankers in order to fund fast broadband for all. 'Course you wouldn't! er...

 

[electronicsuk]

Do the government honestly believe that a 2Mbit broadband connection is going to be any more adequate by 2012 than a 56k modem is now? I'm not completely against the tax, but it seems to be a complete waste of money to spend it on what will, by the time it is introduced, be service that will be wholly inadequate to serve future broadband needs such as streaming IPTV services.

 

[MisterG]

I agree with electronicsuk.

We'll probably have to shell out again for them to roll out fibre optic a year or two later.

 

[Deluks]

Of course, if every home in the country is online it would be far easier for them to snoop on us

 

[TheOriginalTonkaToy]

Of course, if every home in the country is online it would be far easier for them to snoop on us

Not necessarily.

 

[JimSparks]

Providing the whole amount of tax collected goes to improving the broadband infrastructure, then I'm happy to help pay for it. But knowing the government, some of the money will get used elsewhere for something innapropriate.