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US big tech will help foot the bill for universal free internet in the UK
Jeremy Corbyn, the British Labor Party leader and possibly the country’s next prime minister, has said that if he wins the upcoming general election, he will nationalize British Telecom and give all houses in the country free broadband.
According to The Guardian, in a speech to be delivered Friday Corbyn (pictured) will announce a plan for a British broadband public service that will “bring communities together in an inclusive and connected society.” At the moment the average household in the U.K. pays about $50 a month in broadband bills.
The multibillion-pound plan will take a decade to complete. The Labor Party said the first people to get free access to the internet will be people who live in communities that have bad coverage. The focus will then be on small towns and cities and lastly larger cities that already have good access.
The cost of billions of dollars for a new and improved network and the loss of cash from paying households will be partly paid for by tech giants in the U.S., said the party. Some money will come from Labor’s Green Transformation fund, but higher taxes on companies such as Google LLC, Amazon.com Inc. and Facebook Inc. will also help pay the bill.
“A new public service delivering the fastest broadband free to everyone is at the heart of Labor’s plans to transform the future of our economy and society,” Corbyn (pictured) plans to say in a speech Friday. “The internet has become such a central part of our lives. It opens up opportunities for work, creativity, entertainment and friendship. What was once a luxury is now an essential utility.”
Because of that, he will say, it’s imperative that full-fiber broadband has to be a public service and no one should be left behind.
“Making it free and available to all will open up opportunities for everybody, at the cutting edge of social and economic change,” he plans to say. “By creating British Broadband as a public service, we will lead the world in using public investment to transform our country, reduce people’s monthly bills, boost our economy and improve people’s quality of life.”
Photo: Garry Knight/Flickr
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