As the UK government looks set to press ahead with plans to introduce a 50p a month broadband tax on all telephone lines in the UK, there are concerns about the quality of future broadband in some of the U.K.’s more far-flung areas. The government has pledged to introduce broadband to every home in the UK by 2012 with a minimum speed of 2 Mb per second the ultimate target. However, if the government misses its target will UK consumers be reimbursed with their broadband tax payments?
As more and more people have been suggesting of late, the broadband industry looks like becoming something of a cash cow for the UK government with broadband already available in many homes across the UK and many businesses. This ready-made consumer base is, in the eyes of many politicians, ripe for plucking with new taxes and charges to be introduced in the months and years ahead. But who will monitor the standard of future UK broadband and whether taxpayers are actually receiving value for money?
A report by the Policy Exchange has called into question the value for money aspect of the government’s Digital Britain report and the various recommendations within. Who is actually on the side of UK broadband users?