Taxing Broadband

Thanks to Gordon Brown for yet another tax.

This time all of us who are using a fixed land line for Broadband will be taxed 50p per month in addition to our usual broadband costs.

Now admittedly 50p is not much, but I am likely to be paying this indefinitely as I live in a village and the only broadband connection available here is through my landline. It is highly unlikely that BT or anyone else will install faster cables anytime soon.

This quote is from the top linked article in the cite above.

Quote:

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BT already plans to upgrade 40% of UK homes to so-called Fibre to the Cabinet technology (FTTC) by 2012, although it will be targeting the easy-to-reach urban and suburban areas

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They will always target the easy areas first and therefore those of us not living in the city will always be subject to this tax. OK so it's not going to bankrupt me, but neither will it benefit me as I will be paying for others to get faster broadband before me.

Monopoly service charges from governments are hugely popular with lawmakers. They allow for the lawmakers to raise revenues without actually having to provide any new services, and they get that revenues without actually having to provide any new services.

I hate them and wish the voters would wake up to what they are.

(Should I list all the new monopoly charges enacted this year in my state in a desperate, and failing, effort to close the budget shortfalls?)

It's bullshit especially in light of the fact that most ISPs don't provide their advertised services.