Government to introduce 50p a month phone tax!

[Kentish]

This is probably a pea-roast but what do I care

Government plans to add 50p a month tax to existing phone lines to subsidise further broadband roll out.

Bastids!

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/scrap50pphonetax/

Edited by Kentish on Tuesday 12th January 16:07

[cyb]

It's 50p a month . . .

[Kentish]

cyb said:

It's 50p a month . . .

Sorry, yes it is .....I got carried away!

[soad]

Heard of this, along with broadband internet tax.

Will sign the petition.

[Swilly]

If the dosh is ringfenced to go directly into upgrading and installing new state of the art broadband technology then fine.

[Justayellowbadge]

soad said:

Will sign the petition.

I'll buy a pot of Danone yoghurt and give it to a tramp while pretending to be Armenian.

It will be exactly as effective.

[Blue Meanie]

Swilly said:

If the dosh is ringfenced to go directly into upgrading and installing new state of the art broadband technology then fine.

So who owns the infrastructure? Why doesn't BT?Virgin pay for it, in the same way every other business has to pay for their own 'infrastructure'? Why don't we have a 50p a month 'new vans for B&Q' tax, or so on, and so forth.

[mat205125]

cyb said:

It's yet another 50p a month . . .

EFA

[thinfourth2]

cyb said:

It's 50p a month . . .

yeah and how much will it bring in after admin costs?

[WorAl]

Swilly said:

If the dosh is ringfenced to go directly into upgrading and installing new state of the art broadband technology then fine.

you are kidding aren't you?

I mean we all know how good the roads are now with all the exta tax being spent on them......wait a minute....

The road to my parents is a fking disaster since the cold weather struck and will be lucky to see any improvements in the coming months/years.

[bonsai]

Oh c'mon. We're all on here by virtue of the fact we use (and presumably like) the internet. If 50p a month speeds up the delivery of high speed internet to more people then I'm more than happy to pay it.

Yes, yes, I know the true cost is many billions but if it helps in any way then im all for it. Also the Tories will be incharge when they start reaping this so less chance of it being squandered or given back to the Labour party via some dodgy transactions.

[Kentish]

Our BB speed is pathetic (less than half of .5mbps).

That costs us £12.99 a months plus the BT line rental.

I know I posted this but.....

If the proposed tax will guarantee a minimum of 2mbps to everyone then I'm all for it!

[Swilly]

WorAl said:

Swilly said:

IF the dosh is ringfenced to go directly into upgrading and installing new state of the art broadband technology then fine.

you are kidding aren't you?

I mean we all know how good the roads are now with all the exta tax being spent on them......wait a minute....

The road to my parents is a fking disaster since the cold weather struck and will be lucky to see any improvements in the coming months/years.

Maybe my above edit will bring home the point....

[WorAl]

Swilly said:

WorAl said:

Swilly said:

IF the dosh is ringfenced to go directly into upgrading and installing new state of the art broadband technology then fine.

you are kidding aren't you?

I mean we all know how good the roads are now with all the exta tax being spent on them......wait a minute....

The road to my parents is a fking disaster since the cold weather struck and will be lucky to see any improvements in the coming months/years.

Maybe my above edit will bring home the point....

its still im afraid, you really think that would happen? ever? in our lifetime, the government actually spending money on what the public expect their taxes to be spent on?

Our Survey said?

[stew-S160]

mat205125 said:

cyb said:

It's yet another 50p a month . . .

EFA

this is the point. it's yet another 50p on top of the other 50p's you pay for other things which they decided to tax us all on. so it's 50p x the number of things they want to tax= more than just 50p.

[Chris_w666]

Justayellowbadge said:

soad said:

Will sign the petition.

I'll buy a pot of Danone yoghurt and give it to a tramp while pretending to be Armenian.

It will be exactly as effective.

Tell them you're an extremist Armenian, then they will ban you. May not have the desired effect but they will listen.

[TonyToniTone]

TheReg said:

A Conservative government would scrap the planned 50 pence per month tax on every landline - which the current government plans to use to subsidise faster broadband in rural regions - "as soon as possible", according to the shadow culture secretary Jeremy Hunt.

The levy hasn't yet been implemented but is a cornerstone of the current government's Digital Britain strategy. Ministers estimate it would raise £175m per year fund to pay for fibre in sparsely populated areas which BT believes do not justify a privately-funded network upgrade
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/10/19/hunt_broad...

Wonder if you still get taxed on voip numbers?

[voyds9]

The 50p will be used to provide internet to the feckless breeders that this country is producing, I doubt I will see any benefit.

The local fibre to cabinet is already pecilled in here for 2011. It was one of the considerations when we chose this house.

[collateral]

Relying on DSL over noisy copper is a plaster on the wound at best, and the carrier's apparent reluctance to upgrade the UK infrastructure, especially in 'remote areas', is pretty shameful.

2 meg seems like a pretty low point to aim at, but if this gives them a kick, so be it.

[MartG]

Let me get this straight - we will pay 50p a month tax 'to upgrade the broadband network' - but, as the various networks are privately owned, will this tax revenue be given to the various broadband companies as a gift to upgrade thair networks so they can make even bigger profits than they are now ? Or will it be given as a loan to be repaid out of the increased profits they will make ? ( I for one do not believe they will provide increased speed to the customer without charging for the speed increase )