Darling rolls out broadband tax

The Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling has unveiled a ‘broadband tax’ for this year’s budget, intended to aid the development of faster internet services.

According to the BBC, the Chancellor introduced the measure with the pre-budget report. It will see an annual £6 tariff levied on all households with a fixed line telephone, the proceeds of which will be put in to a fund to ensure the development of internet services in rural areas.

The ultimate aim of this measure is to provide broadband internet to ninety per cent of UK households by the end of 2017.

“We are modernising the UK’s digital infrastructure and, in the process, creating thousands more skilled jobs,” said Darling as he announced the tax in Parliament.

“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 per cent of the population by the end of 2017.”