Consumers to Finance Country’s Broadband Infrastructure
The broadband infrastructure development project in Britain requires £200 million to enable it to reach fast connection speeds of 2Mb. This price will have to be borne by the consumers, as they will have to pay 50 pence per month or £6 per year to contribute for this initiative, if a proposal set out in the Digital Britain report is implemented.
The Digital Britain report is endorsed by Lord Carter who has justified the extra burden on the users by saying that the levy will be later compensated by the decrease in the cost of broadband service. This will be due to increased competition among the players in the market.
The EC authorities are however verifying the necessity of charging the broadband levy on the fixed line subscribers for the development of the new network. There might be a setback in the plan as imposition of this broadband levy might not be in accordance with the competition rules of the EU. The EC authorities are not certain yet if the proposed plan will comply with or breach the rules.
According to the European Union competition laws, the broadband levy plan must be within the limits of the allowed government aid for an industry. However, the compliance depends largely on the exact implementation of the suggestions in the report. Until the government releases the implementation plan, the EC cannot give an opinion regarding its compliance with state aid rules. The competition spokesperson for the EC said that clarity on the issue could be achieved only once the details of the plan are revealed. For information on your ISP, mobile broadband genie is a good site to look at for provider reviews and news from the likes of Vodafone and the other top internet service providers; click on Vodafone pay as you go dongle for some excellent deals.
