After MPs slammed the government’s high speed broadband plans, Confused.com’s Stephen Jones unpicks the jargon to work out whether we really need a Digital Britain...
Hi all – I’m Steve, standing in for Owe in his absence. In fact, I’ll be popping up on these pages fairly regularly in future to discuss some of the stuff that’s piquing my interest, in the hope that you lot might share my curiosity from time to time.
One thing I spotted this week was an awful lot of talk about a scurrilous, all-consuming Broadband Tax. From what I saw of it, this HMRC-sanctioned highwayman would soon be robbing helpless old ladies and giving all the proceeds to us internet-savvy youngsters; all so we can tweet about it to our equally tech-hungry pals at a fractionally quicker rate. Scandalous stuff indeed. But before I let myself feel guilty for a deed that, five minutes earlier, I was blissfully unaware I’d committed, I thought I’d check out the facts.
What is Digital Britain?
In November, the government laid out a raft of plans to improve Britain’s standing as a technological powerhouse (don’t laugh!) – all under the rather emphatic title of Digital Britain. Among these were a number of measures intended to improve the country's broadband infrastructure – bringing us to the dreaded 50p levy. To explain; this much-vaunted 50p figure was a reference to the amount we would all be expected to pay each month to fund super-fast broadband across the UK.
However, since then there has been something of a backlash. A report published this week by the cross-party Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) Committee questioned the broadband scheme, taking particular umbrage with the way it would be funded. Thus the ‘mug your granny to go on Google’ coverage we’ve seen all week.
But that’s not all. High speed connections are "probably a bit of a luxury", Talk Talk’s Andrew Heaney submitted to the report; calling into question not just the method of funding, but the necessity for government intervention at all. And so, months after the state committed itself to a £1 billion investment in Britain’s broadband infrastructure, the argument begins again; do we really need it?
Well, do we need it?
The question is likely to draw a pretty emotive response from whoever you ask. Now, you may think the planned levy of 50p per month (plus VAT) doesn’t sound all that much first off. However, it’s important to remember that, with the likelihood of more widespread increases in taxation in the next few years, and a squeeze on public spending probably due even sooner, every penny really does count for UK households.
As we’ve seen, though, even more hotly debated than how we should pay for next generation broadband is who should pay for it. Concerns were raised in the BIS Committee report that older people would be hardest hit by the additional cost, despite seeing the least benefit. A fair point, especially as official figures show that around two thirds of over 65s have never used the internet at all. But then one has to ask - does any tax ever benefit everyone that pays it?
But what difference does it make?
As such, the question we should really be looking at is how much the Digital Britain changes – which include the spread of broadband access to more remote areas and a 2Mb/s minimum speed - will benefit the public as a whole. Sure, we all hate loading screens, but how much difference would the proposals really make to our everyday lives?
Well, according to Office for National Statistics (ONS), 63 per cent of UK households currently have broadband access – broadly in line with the government’s claim that one-third of the UK will not be reached by allowing the market to do its work. The truth is that it’s simply not cost effective for network providers to broaden their services to people tucked away in ‘nether regions’ of the UK; and, as we know, philanthropy only goes so far when it comes to business.
Ah, I'm with you now...
Now we start to see the need for investment. With as many as one in three people excluded from regular, fast internet access, this means they are likely to be missing out on the chance to compare and pay for goods online; upping the cost things such as energy bills, car insurance and weekly shopping. This is without even mentioning the hours they’ll be cutting on things such as tax returns, job applications and countless other tasks.
Not only that, but the increased speed is, in reality, anything but a ‘luxury’, as Intellect, the UK technology association, are keen to point out. When I put Mr Heaney’s above statement to the body’s programme manager, he simply told me that "faster broadband means new jobs, new types of jobs and new ways of people communicating. Far from a luxury, our economic competitors are investing in it as a necessity". Pretty convincing stuff.
So an updated broadband structure is not just likely to give that ‘missing third’ the chance to make massive changes to their financial situation; it also means jobs and progress in an ever-competitive world. Now I don't mind paying 50p for that, but do you? Let us know what you think by commenting below.
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