Universal 2mbps Broadband Costs To Add £6 Levy Per Household

Yet another tax will be introduced by the government to finance the investment needed to provide faster internet access to rural areas, the so-called "not-spots"; for that a £6 annual fee will be slapped on all phone lines in the country.

The proposal was one of the highlights of Lord Carter's Digital Britain report and paves the way for an era where every household in the country will get a 2mbps broadband line by 2012 and where 90 percent of the UK population will be able to download music tracks in seconds by 2017.

Around 11 percent of UK households - 2.8 million - are not able to reach the minimum speed of 2mbps making them digital pariah. The speed, Lord Carter told ZDNet, is a floor, not a ceiling, adding that "We are not saying that 2Mbps is the height of our ambition". This goal is likely to be achieved using a combination of fixed line, mobile and satellite broadband solutions.

Over the next three years, £200 million will be diverted from the BBC Licence fee to fund BT's roll out of its next generation network which will be the backbone of Britain's superfast broadband - or so we all hope.

By the government's own estimates, the fund should bring in around £150 million a year which, by all accounts, is a rather measly sum. That would amount to a two percent increase over the average annual phone bill when it is introduced by 2013.

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