Digital Economy bill may not include broadband tax proposal :Timms

UK’s new communication minister, Stephen Timms, who is in charge of taking the broadband tax proposal outlined in Digital Britain to parliament for approval, said that the the bill for £6-a-year broadband tax may not be passed in parliament at least before next year’s expected general election, The Times reported.

Digital Britain report released in June, suggested a £6-a-year levy on all landline users in UK to raise £150m a year to help accelerating next generation broadband networks in UK. Lord Carter, the previous Communications minister was the man behind Digital Britain and the main proposals outlined in the report.

Timms said:
“If the question is, is the levy definitely going to be legislated for this side of the election, I can’t say for sure,”

Next generation broadband will deploy fibre optic lines to enable minimum 10Mbps to all users in UK. Maximum speeds can reach up to 40Mbps. Last year, UK government setup Digital Britain making it responsible for deploying this super-fast broadband infrastructure in UK. However, Digital Britain recently finds itself in a position to address some vital issues such as how to get funds for this big roll out.

Now, it has become clear that broadband tax may not be included in the finance bill that will be passed just after budget next March. The Conservatives already oppose the tax and there are many differences of opinions on the tax issue. As such, the short bill will carry issues that reached wide agreement and get through the budget session.

Timms said: “Things that are contentious will have to be left until afterwards,”

However, other issues of Digital economy bill will be reviewed in parliament this autumn, especially, the measures to curb illegal file sharing. Timms said that the government may consider giving more legislatory powers to Ofcom, the UK telecom regulator to punish the illegal file sharers and the websites involved in copyright infringement.