Fibre optic broadband funding proves taxing for governmentFriday, November 27th 2009 The government's efforts to fund next-generation fibre optic broadband in the UK have come in for criticism. Earlier this year, the government probably thought they would win lots of backing for committing to make broadband universally available. In addition, it was likely MPs felt plans to introduce fibre optic services would be even more popular.
However, they appear to have hit another wall of criticism in their efforts to bring the world of the internet to the masses.
The rollout of such services was never going to be free, but reports have suggested that the government's proposed broadband tax could have a bigger impact on the public's wallets than originally thought.
It was originally revealed that the levy would be 50p a month on fixed phone lines. However, what wasn't so clear is that this will be charged on multiple lines, meaning some residential web users could be facing an annual charge of over £20.
Of course, such plans have raised more than one or two eyebrows, with the Conservatives joining previous critics such as TalkTalk by condemning the plans.
Shadow culture secretary Jeremy Hunt said: "How can they possibly square a commitment to universal broadband access if they are massively hiking the prices consumers will have to pay for it?"
So, while it's obvious that we would have to pay for faster broadband across the UK, no one was quite expecting this. Would you be willing to dig deep for the service or do you think it is a step too far? |
Will Sky's 3D TV demonstrations in shopping centres have the pulling power to up the firm's subscriber numbers? Broadband provider TalkTalk has revealed the upgrades it is making to its network services. A new range of children's entertainment has been added to Virgin Media's digital TV platform. | Will the addition of new channels to BT and Virgin Media's digital TV services boost their subscriber numbers? New figures from Cable.co.uk have highlighted that Virgin Media is the fastest broadband provider in the UK. Digital TV viewers in the UK could have access to a new platform within the next 12 months, it has been suggested. |
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