Labour has promised to give every home and business in the UK free full-fibre broadband by 2030, if it wins the general election.
The policy: To deliver on its ambition, the party would nationalise Openreach and introduce a tax on tech giants to help pay for it.
Why might it be problematic? The almost cut throat competition between broadband rivals has meant faster speeds, improved coverage and lower prices for consumers up and down the country. The current government, and independent regulator Ofcom, have also spent the last three years incentivising alternative operators to deploy faster fibre technologies. Companies such as Virgin Media, CityFibre and others have committed billions to rival Openreach. Those plans risk being shelved overnight. Legal challenge and incompatibility with state-aid rules would also be hurdles and could risk delaying any further broadband rollout.
How much will it cost and how to fund it? Delivering broadband to up to 18m premises would be paid for through £15bn of borrowing, on top of £5bn already committed by the current government. The subsequent cost of maintaining the network would then be funded through a new tax on big tech such as Google and Facebook. This will not be without its own controversy. Countries around the world are trying to agree an approach on digital taxation through the OECD, rather than go it alone. Any effort by an individual country would likely be met with stiff resistance by the tech giants.
Has it been tried elsewhere? Arguably only one other country in the world to come close to going down this route, and for a good reason. It’s hard, expensive and fraught with difficulty. Australia’s NBN is years late, massively over budget and offering speeds and technology a fraction of the original political intention.
