50p broadband tax slammed

The publication of the Digital Britain report has left a sour taste in the mouth of many who object to government plans to tax telephone lines.

The report said a 50p per month levy would be placed on all telephone lines to support rural broadband development.

BroadbandChoices.co.uk's Michael Phillips said the plans were "frustratingly vague".

"It’s a bold move to tax all cable and copper lines by 50p per month to fund the infrastructure for superfast services to the estimated third of the population that will be left behind by the ISPs," he said.

"Unsurprisingly, the report has left any timescales for implementation – and the term of the proposed levy – frustratingly vague," Phillips continued.

Digital Britain: Main points

Forrester Research's Ian Fogg said there were several flaws in the plan.

"This is controversial and in my view will prove ineffective. BT aims to spend £1.5bn to reach roughly 40 per cent of the population that live in relatively cheap and easy-to-reach urban areas," he said.

"By comparison, the total return on £6 per annum for each of the 34 million or so fixed telephone lines will not go far given the scale of costs for fibre indicated by BT’s plans," continued Fogg.

Fogg also predicted that BT's fibre deployment would exaggerate the difference between the speeds enjoyed in urban areas as opposed to rural locations.

"For the forseeable future, cities will enjoy markedly faster broadband than rural areas. Two-tier broadband is coming whether or not this government likes it," said Fogg.

The Country, Land and Business Association (CLA) agreed with Fogg, though it said it "welcomed the report’s idea for a 50p levy on all fixed copper lines".

"Government investment is an essential prerequisite to rolling out broadband to all. This is a fair first attempt at trying to resolve the digital divide but more needs to be done if those in remoter parts of the country are to have a future in digital Britain," said the CLA's president Henry Aubrey-Fletcher.

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