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New UK Wireless Network Tax May Hamper Internet Rollout

Posted by timothy on from the taxes-are-friction dept.

Mark.JUK writes "The Valuation Office Agency (VOA), which compiles and maintains business rating and council tax valuation lists for England and Wales, is reportedly getting ready to impose business rates (tax) upon UK wireless networks regardless of their status. The move has raised concern because many community driven wireless broadband (Wi-Fi , WiMAX) ISPs, which often exist in locations where the big players have failed to deliver adequate services (remote and rural areas), operate off some already very thin margins."

5 of 66 comments (clear)

  1. Funny thing about those margins by BadAnalogyGuy · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Those thin margins exist because competition is keeping the final price down. When the government comes along and imposes a tax on all the businesses, the prices rise, but those margins stay pretty steady.

    A boat floating in a harbor has some percentage of its total mass below the water. When the tide comes in, the boat rises up. When the tide goes out, the boat sinks back down. But there is no change in the amount of boat mass above and below the water! The only thing that affects whether the boat goes deeper into the water or not is if additional mass is added, removed, or a hole is punched in the bottom. Governments are well known for punching holes into the titanics of industry, though.

    1. Re:Funny thing about those margins by tkrotchko · · Score: 3, Insightful

      "to million-dollar Comcast"

      Comcast is a $16 BILLION dollar company.

      --
      You were mistaken. Which is odd, since memory shouldn't be a problem for you
    2. Re:Funny thing about those margins by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It's called pandering to the constituencies. Imagine how many whiny kids would get ponies, Tonka trucks and as much candy as they could eat if those same kids could vote on their favorite adults to be in charge as the parents every 3-4 years!

    3. Re:Funny thing about those margins by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      He's off by several orders of magnitude there, but he's sure he could balance an entire country's budget in no time. :rollseyes:

  2. Re:Solution by commodore64_love · · Score: 1, Insightful

    They already tax Small ISP's profits - but because politicians are addicted to spending like a teenager with a credit card, they want MORE money. Hence a *additional* tax lobbied just because the ISP exists (profit or no profit).

    The U.S. and EU are going to tax themselves into serfdom. It's what the Roman Empire did in the 300s and 400s.

    --
    "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall