A 50p per month broadband tax is to be introduced to every home and business with a phone line, under government plans to raise up to £1.5bn to pay for upcoming internet connections, reports The Guardian.
In Digital Britain’s report, communications minister Lord Carter also revealed plans to divert money from the license fee to fund a £200m investment in bringing existing broadband services to everyone in the UK by 2012.
After 2012 he wants to continue to raid the license fee to pay for regional news and children’s TV shows, which broadcasters are cutting back on as a result of the collapse in television advertising.
The BBC Trust chairman, Sir Michael Lyons hit back at the plan, warning the broadcaster’s governing body “will not sit quietly by and watch this happen”.
Along with the plan to get existing broadband at 2Mb per second to everyone in the UK by 2012, Carter took many in the industry by surprise by proposing the new 50p-a-month tax on all phone lines. That will raise between £150m and £175m a year which the government will make available to companies such as BT, who want to push the next generation of internet networks.
If plans of a broadband tax go ahead, all homes and businesses will possess a Broadband connection, this will enable professionals who share their time between home and the office to access critical web based reporting, especially if they are using the Infomatrix OneView platform.
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