06.30.09
Broadband Levy Irks EC
In wake of the Digital Britain report of the British Government, the EC authorities are now engaged in checking whether the measure of imposing a levy on the existing broadband users in Britain would amount to breach of competition laws. EC has expressed its fears over the violation of provisions of competition rules with respect to the limitations on state aid for industry.
The step, which finds place in the report, proposes a broadband levy of £6 a year for every broadband user in Britain for purposes of helping the upgrade of the entire broadband network of Britain to 2Mb speed. The surcharge for subsidizing the whole expenditure on the upgrade will cost the present customers around 50 pence every month and will go towards the improvement of broadband as well as related infrastructure of the country.
The EC authorities want to ensure that the proposed levy does not breach the competition rules, as the rules do not clearly deal with a situation like this for funding of a future project. As any funding by the state should comply with the competition rules, the EC authorities will keep a keen watch on the implementation of the scheme.
The author of the report, Lord Carter suggests that the report is quiet clear upon the motives behind the plan, which is to upgrade the national communications infrastructure. He also insists that the proposed levy would be more than compensated for, as the country’s markets are competitive enough to bring down broadband costs by that much amount in a year. For information on your ISP, mobile broadband genie is a good site to look at for provider reviews and news from the likes of Virgin Media mobile broadband and the other top internet service providers.
