The government’s proposed stealth tax is likely to become a reality despite suggestions to the contrary. Notwithstanding the indications by treasury minister Stephen Timms as to the shelving of the plan, there is a strong possibility of the £6 per year (50p per month) tax to be levied soon.

The broadband tax to be imposed on all fixed lines across the country was introduced in the Digital Britain report and has been hotly debated since then on the Digital Britain Forum.

In light of the fact that today almost every household in Britain has a fixed phone connection, the scheme is expected to build a fund of around £150-£175m per year. This fund can then be utilized in the government’s Next Generation Access plan, which has ambitious targets of ‘closing the digital divide’ as well as ‘digital inclusion’, so that every individual in Britain is able to remain online whenever or wherever he wants to. So quite soon more of us are going to need the aid of comparison websites to compare mobile broadband.

However, the news is not all positive, as critics of the government’s plan suggest that the problems associated with the plan are twofold - the targets set are way below what they should be for a brighter digital future, and sufficient practical measures are yet to be taken to achieve it. Nevertheless, it seems the government is all set to tax the common man with an additional £6 to fund a proportion of its NGA initiative.