Extension of Britain's 50p NGA levy

I was somewhat taken aback this morning by Alcatel-Lucent's call that Britain's NGA levy should be extended to include mobile lines.

In case you missed it, the much awaited Carter report last month proposed that a 50p levy should be placed on all copper lines to aid the rollout of NGA to rural areas - the so-called 'Final Third' of the UK. That in itself caused a great deal of kerfuffle, particularly among the country's broadband laggard citizens. The action in my view is wholly justified - NGA is an expensive business and the benefits are clear.

But extending the levy to include mobile lines, as requested by AlcaLu's Northern Europe vp Houston Spencer, is not right. Granted, it would raise a huge quantity of money: currently £450m a year at 50p per month per active subscriber - thrice the level the copper tax would raise.

But it's not quite right that mobile should be 'taxed' to support what is essentially a fixed product. It is the UK's copper infrastructure that will be upgraded and replaced. Mobile could have a role to play in supporting high speed access for the final third, but it's likely to be 'supporting', only. Mobile speeds are far inferior to that offered by NGA (7.2Mbit/s is only a headline speed), and with keen noises coming from BT on FTTC rollout, that will comprise most of the Final Third rollout.

The subsidy deserves to stay levied on the fixed line customers who will directly benefit from this.

Let us not forget, however, that all these Digital Britain plans could be changed. They are open to consultation, and furthermore the UK may also have a new Government next year, which could turn several plans on their head. Let's hope for not too many changes.