Broadband Tax Dropped In Britain
Chancellor George Osborne has conceded that the planned tax on rural broadband will be scrapped.
The Labour plan was opposed by the Conservatives when it was first outlined, and at the end of the last parliament it was dropped from the Finance Bill.
Mr Osborne said: “I am happy to be able to abolish this new duty before it is even introduced.
“Instead, we will support private broadband investment, including to rural areas, in part with funding from the Digital Switchover under-spend within the TV Licence Fee.”
Despite scrapping the proposed tax, the coalition government remains committed to improving Britain’s broadband services. Culture secretary Jeremy Hunt says he wants Britain to have the “best superfast broadband network in Europe”.
Hunt’s wish is not plausible at the moment, with some providers still using copper cables instead of the much faster fibre optic cables used around much of Europe.
To combat this, the government may force gas, electricity and water companies to lay fibre optic cables inside their ducts. This is an expensive endeavour though, with much of the cost coming from roads being dug up to lay the cables.
The government – spearheaded by broadband minister Ed Vaizey – hope to keep Labour’s pledge of having 2Mbps broadband in every home in the country by 2012.
Posted by Editor
on Jun 23 2010. Filed under Latest News, Technology.
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