Broadband tax ‘forced through’ before election

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A broadband tax created to fund a next-generation network should become law before the next general election, according to Minister for Digital Britain Stephen Timms.

Timms, speaking at a BCS Chartered Institute for IT debate, said that the tax would be presented to parliament as part of a Finance Bill.

He said: “We want to make high speed networks nationally available. The next-generation fund will help that and we’ll legislate for it this side of a general election.”

One of the headline measures in June’s Digital Britain report said that fixed line operators would charge customers an extra 50p a month, in order to raise £170 million to £175 million a year for a ‘Next Generation Fund’.

The government excused the tax by saying that telecom prices had fallen significantly in real terms over many years, especially when you compared them to other utility and media services.

But there has been opposition from organisations like the Internet Service Provider’s Association (ISPA), which said that ISPs and customers were being penalised for costs coming down.

Michael Phillips, product director for Broadbandchoices.co.uk, said in a statement that this was a "body blow" for users who felt that line rental costs were still not value for money.

He said: “Our concern is the upgrading of the UK’s broadband infrastructure is a mammoth undertaking and this unpopular tax will barely make a dent in the likely total cost.”

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