Broadband Tax

[LosOjos]

BBC News - Broadband tax condemned as 'unfair' by MPs

 

Looks like the government are worrying about the real important issues again, because we all need faster broadband at home.

 

Anybody else wish they lived in a country that spent more time tackling real problems?

[localzuk]

Broadband access *is* a real problem. Online services will allow the government to reduce the amount of money it has to put into services such as phone lines and call centres - thus reducing costs.

 

Access to internet is as important as access to transport now.

[TronXP]

It is a problem for me, I live in a rural area and get 3Mb/s at most. Looking at the average speed tests on speedtest.net the UK comes 40th, beaten by latvia, romania. I'd rather they spent money on getting the UK a modern fast infrastructure then spending it on the olympics, or giving every unemployed person a laptop.

[LosOjos]

It is a problem for me, I live in a rural area and get 3Mb/s at most. Looking at the average speed tests on speedtest.net the UK comes 40th, beaten by latvia, romania. I'd rather they spent money on getting the UK a modern fast infrastructure then spending it on the olympics, or giving every unemployed person a laptop.

 

Equally unimportant issues in my books.

 

I'm sorry, but I just don't see broadband internet access as a priority, not while we have such a high rate of unemployment, teen pregnancy and homelessness in this country.

 

But hey, if we have decent internet connections, everything else will sort itself out won't it?

[BrianG]

Equally unimportant issues in my books.

 

I'm sorry, but I just don't see broadband internet access as a priority, not while we have such a high rate of unemployment, teen pregnancy and homelessness in this country.

 

But hey, if we have decent internet connections, everything else will sort itself out won't it?

 

 

I agree. There are for more important issues that the Government needs to be sorting. Yes, I can see their point when it comes to business and helping growth but first things first. Also, I think it's a little unfair that people who get a decent speed have to pay a tax so the government can give others a decent speed. Probably sounds selfish, but in todays climate I'm a little sick of paying out to help others every two minutes.

[IanT]

1Mb is enough surely!!

 

Broadband Tax - I p!$$ all over it

[NikChillin]

It is a problem for me, I live in a rural area and get 3Mb/s at most. Looking at the average speed tests on speedtest.net the UK comes 40th, beaten by latvia, romania.

That fast! I'm lucky to get 1.5Mb/s:(

[srochford]

I don't suppose it will happen, but in my dream world the tax would not just provide broadband but help to solve some of the more important problems as well.

 

To make it happen isn't just a case of keying in magic codes at a few exchanges - it needs fibre laying down pretty much every street.

 

Doing that means we have to employ people to do real work - digging trenches, laying fibre etc - for which we pay them a real wage. With that real wage they can then go and rent or buy a decent home and suddenly 2 of the problems that face the UK have at least a bit of a solution.

 

Of course, it may not happen but it would be good to see a government using tax in a really creative way.

[BandyQuill]

the tax is total pish... we live over 6 miles from the nearest exchance and are classed as 'semi rural' we get less than half a meg all the time, the highest speeds weve ever seen was a 72kb download speed...

 

for us its become a running joke on the estate, but bt REFUSE to do anything about it even though there are several hundred houses becasue of the cost, even with this tax i doubt we'd see any difference in speed...

[LosOjos]

Doing that means we have to employ people to do real work - digging trenches, laying fibre etc - for which we pay them a real wage. With that real wage they can then go and rent or buy a decent home and suddenly 2 of the problems that face the UK have at least a bit of a solution..

 

All of which should be done by the ISP's with the cost coming from their astronomical profits paid for by subscribers who will benefit from it and not out of the tax payers pockets (regardless of whether they use it or not)

[torledo]

i think it will cost a considerable amount just to deliver on the 2mbps target.

 

Maybe they should ensure they can deliver on this and then take stock. In the meantime i can think of lots of more worthwhile expenditure that isn't being addressed.

 

For one thing, new house building appears to be shockingly short of target. They could always commit to spending to drive investment in that area......

[CESIL]

It is not just rural users that get cr*p speeds...

 

I live on the edge of a fairly large town (about 3km from the exchange) but the best I can get through the phone is about 1/2 to 1Mb

 

Luckily the our area is cabled so I get 10Mb through that...

 

And while I am ranting...why if broadband access is such a necessity the cabling etc. not built into new houses?

Edited February 23, 2010 by CESIL

[Guest Guest]

In a way i want teh BB tax so that the infrastructure can be sorted for everyone. But at the same time i dont see why i should pay so that people who have choose to live in the country, away from the disadvantages of urban life, can also have the advantages of urban life.

 

Should people in the country pay a tax so that i can have country wildlife and supplies of fresh air shipped to my street?

Edited February 23, 2010 by Guest

[localzuk]

You do all realise that companies look at things like infrastructure when looking at starting up/moving to a new location. If the country doesn't have adequate infrastructure, they won't make much profit and therefore don't operate in said country. This means less new jobs and less growth.

 

How would you propose the government gets unemployment levels to fall if they can't encourage people to use the country for their operations. Growth is what fuels new jobs...

 

This country has a major issue regarding manufacture and where it can make money. Banking is not a suitable industry to base your economy on, as this recession has just shown. Our manufacturing industry is pretty much a mess, but we do have a lot of talent in terms of high-tech, rolling out of universities etc... We are ideally suited to become a 'digital economy' (horrible phrase I know, but it fits), where we focus on technology as our main cash cow. Internet infrastructure is the base of this.

[mac_shinobi]

It is not just rural users that get cr*p speeds...

 

I live on the edge of a fairly large town (about 3km from the exchange) but the best I can get through the phone is about 1/2 to 1Mb

 

Luckily the our area is cabled so I get 10Mb through that...

 

And while I am ranting...why if broadband access is such a necessity the cabling etc. not built into new houses?

 

I'm in a new house and I can't get cable broadband or there telly package ( from what I can gather ) from virgin media yet I keep constantly getting the flyers about swapping over to virgin media ggrrrrr

[mossj]

I'm sorry but aving lived in the middle of nowhere.... I know what it can feel like to have poo internet.... but it's only a bother on things that need it videos/games... not for accessing a direct gov website or the nhs.

 

So effectivly they want us to pay for someone to be able to watch their favorite video online...

 

 

As for manufacture industries... when building the places these type of companies inhabit it's put into the equation, and dealt with by the company building the place.

[Guest Guest]

You do all realise that companies look at things like infrastructure when looking at starting up/moving to a new location. If the country doesn't have adequate infrastructure, they won't make much profit and therefore don't operate in said country. This means less new jobs and less growth.

 

How would you propose the government gets unemployment levels to fall if they can't encourage people to use the country for their operations. Growth is what fuels new jobs...

 

This country has a major issue regarding manufacture and where it can make money. Banking is not a suitable industry to base your economy on, as this recession has just shown. Our manufacturing industry is pretty much a mess, but we do have a lot of talent in terms of high-tech, rolling out of universities etc... We are ideally suited to become a 'digital economy' (horrible phrase I know, but it fits), where we focus on technology as our main cash cow. Internet infrastructure is the base of this.

 

 

Thing is though, the current govt. couldnt give a rats arse about keeping industry once its here. The one thing they did in my area was not impliemented with the right conditions/etc. Samsung set up a large plant near me around 10 years ago using a nice fat govt grant, once that grant had been "used up" they up and left for china or someother slave labour country. A whole industrial park was built and grew around it for 5 years, and has never recovered. In fact i think theres only 1 company operating from there now.

 

Look at Corus. Around 10,000 jobs are expected to be lost. With Teesside only having a population of around 500,000 thats a very high number, but do the govt give a f***?

 

What about call centres? We had dozens of them a few years ago, all gone to india now...

Edited February 23, 2010 by Guest

[srochford]

What about call centres? We had dozens of them a few years ago, all gone to india now...

 

Not yet all gone to India! Dell has some call centres in Scotland, my bank (Smile) has its call centre in the UK, National Savings is UK, Dixons/PC World is UK

 

I'm sure I've read that some of the call centres are moving back to the UK because wages in India are now comparable to the UK

[srochford]

But at the same time i dont see why i should pay so that people who have choose to live in the country, away from the disadvantages of urban life, can also have the advantages of urban life.

 

 

That's the way the tax system always works. Most people pay tax for things they don't use but benefit from other people paying tax for things they do use (I haven't got kids but a huge chunk of the tax I pay goes to providing schools as an example. At some point I might need major health care - at that point I'll be glad that everyone else has paid in their taxes so that we have a decent NHS etc)

[BatchFile]

I live in Kendal, a largeish town (for this area anyway), and I get 512k at home and that's all my phone line will support. More than adequate for everthing I want to do on the web, apart from Iplayer which struggles a bit. Why anyone would need more to access "essential services" is beyond me:rolleyes:

 

Before the days of Broadband in school, we had a 128k dual ISDN connection into here, feeding (then) about 60 PCs!

Edited February 23, 2010 by BatchFile

[localzuk]

I live in Kendal, a largeish town (for this area anyway), and I get 512k at home and that's all my phone line will support. More than adequate for everthing I want to do on the web, apart from Iplayer. Why anyone would need more to access "essential services" is beyond me:rolleyes:

 

Before the days of Broadband in school, we had a 128k dual ISDN connection into here, feeding (then) about 60 PCs!

 

Because the base level has a habit of moving upwards? The head of IBM once said he didn't think there was any need for PC's to end up in people's homes. New services are constantly appearing which have higher demands.

 

You also missed my point - people having access to higher speeds means more companies will see potential for new markets/products/services as they have a potentially large market to sell to. Say you're an online movie streaming company, you have been operating in France for a while, due to their high bandwidth speeds, and find it profitable. You've decided you wish to expand into another country - which will mean investment in jobs etc - and you've got a choice between the UK, where bandwidth is pretty poor, or Germany, where bandwidth is much higher, so the market for online movie streaming is potentially larger - which would you expand into?

 

That's an example, but it illustrates my point.

[Guest Guest]

That's the way the tax system always works. Most people pay tax for things they don't use but benefit from other people paying tax for things they do use (I haven't got kids but a huge chunk of the tax I pay goes to providing schools as an example. At some point I might need major health care - at that point I'll be glad that everyone else has paid in their taxes so that we have a decent NHS etc)

 

Your comparing children and health to BB? So most people dont have children and never receive health care? I think you need to rethink your comparison.

[maark]

I live 3 miles from the centre of leicester - 10th biggest city in the country and i struggle to get 1MB so it is not all country users.

I think tax is a good idea - we need to base the economy on future growth areas - and need the infrastructure - manufacturing is virtually non-existent

[Fatmas]

I have Virgin Media but no phone line in my house so I wouldn't have to pay it anyway. Oh well.

[Fatmas]

That'll teach me for not reading the article properly!

I wouldn't mind paying 50p a month if the government stopped their futile attempts to curb file sharing and "piracy". I can't see that happening though.