UK's Labour party pledges free broadband for all by 2030, by nationalizing part of BT and introducing a tax on tech giants, if it wins the general election
Labour has promised to give every home and business in the UK free full-fibre broadband by 2030, if it wins the general election.
Labour's proposal compresses that timeline to 2030 and changes both who builds and who pays: part of BT would be nationalized to deliver the network, and a new tax on tech giants would fund it, converting what has been a subsidized private rollout — including the government's £1B fiber investment program — into a publicly owned universal service.
First-order effects
BT faces losing control of the infrastructure arm at the center of its broadband business if Labour wins, while every UK home and business becomes the beneficiary of a free service that currently carries a market price.
Second-order effects
Retail ISPs and altnets selling consumer broadband would be forced to compete against a free state-backed alternative, repricing or refocusing on segments the nationalized network serves worst.
Third-order effects
If the pattern holds, core connectivity shifts toward utility-style public ownership in the UK, and infrastructure funding via targeted taxation of large tech platforms becomes a transferable template for other governments weighing universal broadband mandates.
The trend: Broadband in the UK is moving from a subsidized private rollout with a 2033 target toward a politically contested public utility, with delivery timelines and funding models becoming election issues.
Been digging into the economics of Labour's broadband plan. What's amazing - at least to me - is how much money you save simply by avoiding the costs of competition According to the govt's own figures, providers fighting for the same customers adds £6.2bn to the total cost
Good move. Five years ago, as Guardian telecoms correspondent, I came to believe only this kind of govt intervention would produce the investment needed. The private sector just wasn't coming up with the cash. It still hasn't. https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
It's really easy to make wild, undeliverable manifesto pledges when you know you've got absolutely no chance of winning. If I win the GE, I'll give everyone a unicorn that shits diamonds. Vote for me. https://twitter.com/...
This is a more important policy than just saving people money. Internet access improves your social and economic well-being. And as the government pushes more services online only, it's right the next government makes that access free. *Sent from paid for broadband* https://twitt…
Free broadband, free computers, free digital training = all things that could massively push forward UK business in the medium term. Silly to throttle UK progress in this area, when it's one of the few areas where we *can* realistically lead the world & bring in £ from outside. h…
Labour is running on a range of incredible policies that would improve millions of lives and I suspect some pundits are going to claim this is basically cheating https://twitter.com/...
Free broadband for all is a visionary policy. Let's bring the UK up to speed by making businesses, workers and services more connected. https://www.bbc.co.uk/...
There is no such thing as ‘free’ - if the plan is to tax Apple, Google etc for this, it's the consumer who will foot the bill through higher prices. https://twitter.com/...
“An open network owned by the government” the most left wing labour government In modern times controlling what you can and can't see then. But as long as is it's FREE! https://twitter.com/...
Idea in itself isn't madness (some European countries are REALLY ahead of us on internet), but BT literally squandered millions of taxpayer money given to them a decade ago for this sole purpose. Tighter reigns essential, in general ISPs serve themselves, not their customers. htt…
Have you until 2030 so you can implement free optical fibre? You spent 3 years blocking the implementation of a democratic vote, you can't deliver on a democratic vote so how will you deliver free broadband. @UKLabour can't even deliver anything @DavidLammy https://twitter.com/..…
Hmm...Labour's broadband announcement is an admission they want Brexit. Assuming they can nationalise BT Openreach under EU state aid rules, there's no way they could give it away free under EU competition law. Labour is not a Remain party https://www.bbc.com/...
I admire Labour's aim to improve the state of FTTP and broadband in the UK, but the devil is in the details. Nationalizing Virgin and Sky? Huh. Far better to deal with Openreach and build the infrastructure that creates competition and choice for consumers and gives us 10Gbps htt…