Broadband tax will include many people on lower incomes

Following the Prime Ministers recent speech about the future of broadband in the UK the Tory party has voiced concerns over how many people on lower incomes could be excluded from services because of the landline tax.

With the election just around the corner the major political parties have been doing all they can to win voters over, and this includes promoting the way in which they plan to improve digital and broadband services. Recently the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, made a speech highlighting the future of broadband in the UK under the Labour government.

However, following this speech by the Prime Minister the Tory party has hit out, once again slating the fifty pence a month landline tax that is to be used for the rollout of improved services. The Shadow Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt hit out at the plans of the Labour party again, stating that tens of thousands of people could be excluded from services because of this tax. He claimed that up to two hundred thousand low income people could be excluded as a result of this.

“The phone tax is misguided, dangerous and unnecessary, which is why we have pledged to scrap it. The government’s own figures suggest that this tax will make the internet unaffordable for hundreds of thousands of people and will penalise low-income families. This makes a complete mockery of Gordon Brown’s boasts about promoting universal access.”

He added: “We will deliver nationwide superfast broadband by 2017 without the burden of extra taxation by deregulating the market and encouraging private sector investment. We will also consider using a proportion of the licence fee dedicated to digital switchover to ensure there is no digital divide.”

Source – Computing