+Audioboxer Subscriber² Posted December 10, 2009 Subscriber² Share Posted December 10, 2009 Quite possibly the most stupid tax ever to have been suggested has now been confirmed by the current government Chief of Eyebrows, Alistair Darling. The money will be used to ensure the country has access to 'superfast' broadband by 2017. This is a revision of the original plan to ensure 'superfast' 2 Meg broadband to everyone by 2010. To announce the tax, Darling said, "We are modernising the UK's digital infrastructure and, in the process, creating thousands more skilled jobs. We have provided funding to help extend the opportunities of the broadband network to more remote communities. "We now want to go further, so we can provide the next generation of super-fast broadband to 90% of the population by the end of 2017." Let's just clarify a few things. Firstly there is no definition of what "super fast" broadband is. 50 Meg is fast today but in 2017 you can bet your bottom dollar 50 Meg will be very slow ? seven years ago we were all on dial up modems and were lucky to get 1 Meg an hour. Secondly, this is not just a tax on those of us with broadband; anyone with a fixed telephone line (i.e. not a mobile) will be paying it, even if they do not have broadband at present. The roll out of broadband is for "90%" of the country by 2017. I'm shocked by this, to be honest I don't mind paying ?6 a year if it means a school in some remote part of Wales gets broadband but 10% of the country ? obviously the areas that are difficult to reach with broadband ? still will not have internet. So what exactly are we paying this tax for? Going back a month or two ago you may remember I rated Ed Vaizey a 'Fail' when it came to the Conservatives views on this tax. They have announced that if they win the next election they will scrap this tax and favour a 'market lead approach' ? in other words get the big companies like BT to push broadband as far as they can go before the government steps in. Source: http://www.thesixthaxis.com/2009/12/10/6-b...-tax-confirmed/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deacon Brown Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 Lol This is all i can really do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coresx Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 I await the headlines, money wasted, spent on other things, no control over who gets it and what it's spent on. Broadband still behind the rest of the world in price and speed etc. When you think about the line rental people pay ever month for BT lines, cable lines, where the hell does the money all go ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pablo2008jedi Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 I like how the gov sold off the phone lines to a private company to manage and now we the people have to pay to upgrade it. I don't even use BT and I have to pay!!! Edit:; Superfast 2mb my ar*e , that's super slow!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deadpool2k Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 Damn! When are the taxes going to stop for you guys.........jeez Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Konstanov Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 Whoa, whoa, owned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richardsim7 Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 'The ****?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Sharpe Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 Its not much per person i suppose but i cant see it helping us get ahead, our broadbands still gonna suck compared to most of the rest of the world Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pablo2008jedi Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 Its not much per person i suppose but i cant see it helping us get ahead, our broadbands still gonna suck compared to most of the rest of the world I don't see why I should have to pay a tax for something I will never use and don't currently use! Edit: Meaning use BT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bhav Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 If this helps get my ADSL speed over 4Mb then I'm all for it lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-T- Member Posted December 10, 2009 Member Share Posted December 10, 2009 So when and how often is this tax paid? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subject Delta Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 2mb is superfast, even though pretty much all broadband networks in the country can already deliver that. Man our government must have been on crack when they came up with this one :/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pablo2008jedi Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 Not sure maybe of our pay, for me that's 50p every month. Its not a huge amount but its the principle of the tax that annoys me. The UK gov owned the infrastructure, then sold it off to a private company who didn't do any upgrades in the past 20+ years. Now the gov wants everyone to have broadband access, but now "we the people" have to pay a tax to support the private company to do the upgrades??!?!? That pi**ess me off. Also the fat that I have to pay and I don't use BT! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun N. Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 I think I may have to rethink my house phone - It's not the paying of the ?6 a year, Its the fact they say "superfast" for 90% of the country by 2017 - So we are effectively paying for these companies to get more customers which means more profit for them. It's all very vague and sounds like its not very well thought out - Just another crazy idea to grab a load of cash from the public as per usual Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnthonySterling Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 So when and how often is this tax paid? I would get the tax would be paid by the providers, who in turn would factor it into their charges to the consumer. Either way, given the publicity, it would be silly not add this to the bill as an extra item. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deacon Brown Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 Its not much per person i suppose but i cant see it helping us get ahead, our broadbands still gonna suck compared to most of the rest of the world Well considering I pay ?34 pm for my broadband why should i pay an extra ?6 in taxes? Its a joke. Ok just read its ?6 a year but still a pointless tax considering what everyone has said before regarding the govement owning the phone lines before hand and then selling it off! Just like the rail companys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
furby Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 Well considering I pay ?34 pm for my broadband why should i pay an extra ?6 in taxes?Its a joke. 50p a month. You're not even going to notice it. It's good for rural communities that don't get broadband. And I am all for my taxes going towards infrastructure. The money is earmarked for the 30% of homes that experts think will be by-passed by commercial fast broadband plans. I'll admit that I haven't read all the Digital Britain report but it sounds like it falls short of what the real requirements are going to be in 2017 (considerably more than now). I'd be more than willing to pay more if they could guarantee fiber connections to the home. Seems the problem with this is it's not enough and it's not soon enough Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael1406 Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 I raged until I read that it was per year. It's still wrong, but it's not too bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shibby Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 I won't mind the tax as long as it's goes to produce a new network of fibre to the home or to the street. It must be a nightmare to have multiple ISPs and telephone companies on the current BT network. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolfman1380 Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 I won't mind the tax as long as it's goes to produce a new network of fibre to the home or to the street. It must be a nightmare to have multiple ISPs and telephone companies on the current BT network. 100% fibre not like at the minute where it's fibre to the house then coax to the modem. I'm actually interested in Fibrecity at the moment as that seems to be the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmjoyce Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 With this ?6 tax labour are promising a superfast network - when you look at what they are actually promising to deliver it shows why this country is a laughing stock - a 2Mb Broadband connection. Going back to what one poster said about Line rental - Rental was originally a tax imposed due to the Suez crisis and whn that was over British Telecom at the time were loathe to give up a fixed and guaranteed revenue stream, so the Government at the time allowed them to keep the tax as rental! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salty Wagyu Posted December 11, 2009 Share Posted December 11, 2009 2mbit isn't "superfast", but then our government are run by a bunch of old farts and live in 10 years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vice Posted December 11, 2009 Share Posted December 11, 2009 This article is pathetic it doesn't make clear how much you are actually being taxed. They make it sound like you'll be charged ?6 per month. This is false. The tax is 50 pence per month. And 50 pence I have no problem with that if it helps the internet industry in the UK grow 50 pence a month is fine by me. ?6 a year is nothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leesmithg Posted December 11, 2009 Share Posted December 11, 2009 Source: http://www.thesixthaxis.com/2009/12/10/6-b...-tax-confirmed/ About 4 years ago I mentioned this here and was called an 'idiot'. I was told it would never happen. Well it did. Even if it's a penny or two a day, it's still yet another tax created to fill a void created by a useless government. We already pay taxes on our net connection, it's called v.a.t. We pay taxes (v.a.t.) on all the software and equipment we need to connect to the internet, so yet again, another tax. With this ?6 tax labour are promising a superfast network - when you look at what they are actually promising to deliver it shows why this country is a laughing stock - a 2Mb Broadband connection.Going back to what one poster said about Line rental - Rental was originally a tax imposed due to the Suez crisis and whn that was over British Telecom at the time were loathe to give up a fixed and guaranteed revenue stream, so the Government at the time allowed them to keep the tax as rental! I live 1000 metre's from the exchange and we get around 1mb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun N. Posted December 11, 2009 Share Posted December 11, 2009 Yes, Leesmithg exactly - We pay VAT even on our line rental and current connections (check your invoices) so we are now going to be paying double tax on our line rentals Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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