Let’s give the Lewes Area superfast broadband – without an unfair phone tax
Jason Sugarman, Conservative parliamentary candidate for the Lewes Constituency, today welcomed new Conservative plans to deliver the roll out of superfast broadband at speeds of up to 100 Mbps across the Lewes area by 2017. This stands in stark contrast to the Government’s new £7 per year ‘phone tax’ on every telephone line.
Gordon Brown’s Government wants to impose a new £6 + VAT tax which will be levied on every fixed telephone line in all homes and businesses across the country. Homes with multiple lines might pay multiple times. The tax would be levied on homes with and without broadband access.
Conservatives have unveiled alternative proposals to increase competition and introduce superfast broadband across the United Kingdom. The action plan will:
- Open up BT’s ‘local loop’ monopoly to other telecommunication operators, and review unfair business rate rules.
- Investigate the use of sewers and other utility infrastructure to lay broadband cables.
- Allow telegraph poles to be fitted with fibre optic cables, rather than old fashioned copper wire.
- Ensure that all new homes are capable of receiving superfast broadband through a fibre to the home network.
- Use money currently allocated to the digital TV national switchover to help establish a universal network, and after 2012, look at using this money to ensure superfast broadband reaches rural areas.
At present, 87 per cent of homes in the South East have a fixed telephone line, and 78 per cent have access to some form of broadband internet access.
Jackie Arkwell of Arkwell Cleaning and Decorating Services in Seaford said:
“Running a small business in the present economic situation is hard enough without the government adding a further cost burden. I thought they were supposed to be helping and supporting business, not taxing us further! A lot of our clients are older people, many of whom, can ill afford additional expenditure on something as essential as a phone line”
Nick Robinson of Lewes-based Sussex Food said:
“Last year, UK consumers spent £38 billion online. For a government to consider penalising this huge growth area seems to be economic madness. My business just sells produce online and we wouldn’t be able to undertake what we do without broadband.
“Lewes can’t get digital TV pictures, as converting the Newhaven mast would interfere with French television pictures. As far as I’m aware, no authority has any plans to rectify this by the time that analogue services are switched off in two years time.
“A cable network was laid in Lewes by Redifusion several years ago, but just remains unused. This could easily be used to pull a new fibre optic network through Lewes, but again, no one seems to want to know.”
Jason Sugarman said:
“Lewes area’s homes and businesses deserve access to the latest 21st Century technology. It’s time to end the digital divide and deliver superfast broadband to all parts of the country, including rural areas. Conservatives will open up the BT monopoly and increase competition, while Labour just want to hit homes with an unfair new phone tax. There is nothing that Gordon Brown won’t tax, which is why it’s time for change.”
