50p a month phone line tax.

Ypaymore

"Two of Britain’s biggest telecoms bosses have this weekend come out against the government’s proposed £6-a-year levy on telephone lines, labelling it as an unfair “poll tax” that marks a backwards step for their industry.
The measure, planned for next year, is forecast to raise between £150m and £175m a year to go towards a superfast broadband network in one-third of the country where it is not commercially viable to build it.

“It is like a poll tax, a fixed figure for everyone,” said Charles Dunstone, chief executive of Carphone Warehouse, whose Talk Talk business has 4.25m broadband customers. “I don’t really know if the government can justify it to the electorate.”

Jeremy Darroch, boss of BSkyB, which has 2.1m broadband customers, 1.7m phone customers and is 39.1% owned by News Corporation, the ultimate parent of The Sunday Times, said: “There are hard-pressed people who see a phone-line as a necessity, but may have no interest in broadband
“When competition has done a good job of driving down prices, we don’t want government policy to force costs up again.”

(Continued at: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/telecoms/article6543962.ece

Browntoa

but neither company would refuse the business from broadband customers in the third of the country that gets updated if it will make them money

BT , Sky and TalkTalk are all private companies , cannot see it's fair to force BT to carry the whole cost for the benefit of ALL the other companies so I'm not quite sure how it's going to get funded (as the Government will not) if it's not done this way

kennyg123

There should NOT be a levy at all. I bet a Government Minister has got an eye on a top job at BT or one of the other ISP's and a big fat bonus will follow!

Browntoa

so who's expected to pay for it ??

or you saying it's OK for a third of the UK to miss out on high speed Broadband and the TV programs it can carry (you need at least a 2Meg line speed for TV )

I'm ok here as I am near to my exchange and get good speeds but not everyone is in the same boat , are you saying that they should pay the extra in higher charges ??

kennyg123

If someone wants broadband then yes they pay!

BTman

I find it hard to believe that people who chose to move to "the sticks" often with no gas or sewers moan about slow/no broadband..

Poor-Banker

If someone chooses to live in the middle of nowhere then expect to get less.
If you live in a city expect more but then expect noise alot of people etc.

Why should i pay towards someone elses broadband i pay for my own. im also sure if they live in the sticks and want broadband they can most likely pay the extra.

I've known people to pay hundreds if not thousands for satalite internet.

its like having to pay activation charge to BT for £60 even if you dont sign up with them. How much profit do bt make in a year.

Farway

We all pay [taxed] for things we do not use, for instance I subsidise Scotland having free care homes, NHS IVF treatment & abortions, coastal flood defences

IMO the additonal levy is OK to help get broadband to areas that do not have it, and not everyone moves to rural areas, some are actually born there

Years ago the Tories added a Nuclear levy to electricity bills, I was & am, against nuclear power, but the principle of taxing for something you do not use or want is a fact of life, and not restricted to any political party

Heinz

Farway wrote: »

IMO the additonal levy is OK to help get broadband to areas that do not have it, and not everyone moves to rural areas, some are actually born there

Would you agree to a levy on everyone's gas bill to get pipes laid to areas currently without a mains gas supply then?

kennyg123

But would you really class broadband in the same league as care homes, NHS IVF treatment, abortions, coastal flood defences?
I think most people use broadband to while away the hours don't they?