Broadband News
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Broadband tax expected in France
22 Jun 2010 | 15.24 Europe/London
Herve Maurey, the French minister in charge of broadband development has suggested that plans for a tax to support faster broadband are likely to be put before Prime Minister, Francois Fillon, before the end of the month.
It has not yet been decided what form the tax will take, although one possibility is a levy on current broadband or telephone lines, similar to the 50p broadband tax on all telephone lines in the UK proposed by the previous Labour Government, which has since been scrapped.
The French Secretary of State for the Digital Economy, Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet is aiming to collect around 7bn Euros in a four to five year period from 2011 to fund broadband for every French home by 2025 – a project that estimates suggest may cost as much as 30bn Euros.
The first 2bn Euros is expected to be provided by a Government loan, leaving the remaining 5bn Euros (minus a potential 100m Euros per year grand from the EU) to be raised through, most probably, a broadband tax.
It has not yet been decided what form the tax will take, although one possibility is a levy on current broadband or telephone lines, similar to the 50p broadband tax on all telephone lines in the UK proposed by the previous Labour Government, which has since been scrapped.
The French Secretary of State for the Digital Economy, Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet is aiming to collect around 7bn Euros in a four to five year period from 2011 to fund broadband for every French home by 2025 – a project that estimates suggest may cost as much as 30bn Euros.
The first 2bn Euros is expected to be provided by a Government loan, leaving the remaining 5bn Euros (minus a potential 100m Euros per year grand from the EU) to be raised through, most probably, a broadband tax.