Somber Reptile

Government’s Broadband Levy Strategy under Cloud of Suspicion

July 10th, 2009 at 8:51 am (Consumer Infos, Online Technology Resources, World Of Telecommunication)

BT thinks the UK government is riding too high on its hopes of building a sophisticated digital communications infrastructure across Britain in three years’ time. Despite all its talk about the Next Generation Fund and fibre optic broadband, the government seems to harbour a quixotic notion in planning to finance the broadband UK infrastructure scheme through the proposed 50p per month tax levy.

Expressing her doubts about the ability of the tax scheme to finance such an ambitious undertaking, BT’s group director of strategy and portfolio Olivia Garfield said at a briefing at BT’s London headquarters that a target of 80 to 85 per cent seems more realistic, rather than the 100 per cent fibre optic broadband coverage as claimed by the government. According to her, 50p broadband tax levy is not enough to achieve the target of nationwide hi-speed broadband connectivity.

Garfield added that BT did not play any role in the levy decision. She told the press that news of the proposed levy came as a surprise to BT just before the official Digital Britain report release.

BT is eager to find further details of the Next Generation Fund and the distribution of the fund money, and it expects Ofcom to provide information in this regard. Meanwhile the parliament is going to investigate if Digital Britain recommendations along with the 50p broadband tax concept will indeed succeed in altering the digital communications scenario in Britain as it promises to do.

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