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Broadband tax officially scrapped in Britain. Digital Switchover fund targeted instead
23 Jun 2010 | 11.35 Europe/London
The UK’s Chancellor, George Osborne, who delivered his austerity budget speech to the House of Commons yesterday, has confirmed that the previous administration’s proposed 50p per month landline tax has now been officially scrapped.
The levy had proven controversial since it was first suggested alongside last year’s Digital Britain report because it would have taxed all landlines, regardless of whether the owner was interested in receiving broadband services.
Instead, as widely flagged by the Conservative party before the election, the coalition Government will instead seek to fund better broadband through any underspend in the BBC’s Digital Switchover budget (intended to help, primarily the elderly, switch from analogue to digital television).
Estimates suggest this could make as much as £350m available by the end of 2012 and the Government has said it will be used to help both ensure rural areas with poor broadband services have their connections improved. The money is also expected to be used to push super fast fibre broadband services in to rural areas. The Government has yet to name where three rural trials are due to start soon to establish what is required to push fibre services beyond built up areas.
In essence, the Chancellor has confirmed what was widely expected of the coalition Government.
Public interest will now focus on where the rural trial areas for fibre broadband are and, of course, how such services will be pushed in to rural areas once the relatively small budget of £350m is spent.
The levy had proven controversial since it was first suggested alongside last year’s Digital Britain report because it would have taxed all landlines, regardless of whether the owner was interested in receiving broadband services.
Instead, as widely flagged by the Conservative party before the election, the coalition Government will instead seek to fund better broadband through any underspend in the BBC’s Digital Switchover budget (intended to help, primarily the elderly, switch from analogue to digital television).
Estimates suggest this could make as much as £350m available by the end of 2012 and the Government has said it will be used to help both ensure rural areas with poor broadband services have their connections improved. The money is also expected to be used to push super fast fibre broadband services in to rural areas. The Government has yet to name where three rural trials are due to start soon to establish what is required to push fibre services beyond built up areas.
In essence, the Chancellor has confirmed what was widely expected of the coalition Government.
Public interest will now focus on where the rural trial areas for fibre broadband are and, of course, how such services will be pushed in to rural areas once the relatively small budget of £350m is spent.