It looks like Digital Britain is now facing an even greater struggle and if implemented the VOA business rates on wireless networks may well cause UK PLC to slide backwards and for us to see a situation whereby thousands of particularly rural broadband customers are cut off as their local grassroots suppliers are forced out of existence by the Wireless Window Tax.
So much for Digital Inclusion – Martha Lane-Fox please note!
Following up on http://5tth.blogspot.com/2009/10/wireless-networks-to-be-taxed.html
I decided to have a chat this morning with the relevant people at VOA and DCLG to get some sense of what is going on and it is clear that VOA are very much actively pursuing the issue of applying non-domestic business rates to wireless networks and that this may well be retroactive to 1st April 2005.
At this stage VOA is struggling to get any engagement with community groups and businesses who operate wireless broadband networks hence they have advised that they would welcome contact, so please take them up on this offer and get your message across asap:
From Alan Bradford at VOA this morning:
“The VO’s operational instructions can be found on the Publications tab on the VOA website (www.voa.gov.uk). Section 860 deals with the valuation of wireless installations (mast sites).
My colleague, Michael Hetherington (based in Durham, michael.j.hetherington@voa.gsi.gov.uk) will be writing to WiFi, WiMax operators shortly to invite them to open dialogue with the VOA. It would be useful if you could provide contact details of anyone who you think should be invited to the meeting.”
Nick Cooper in non-domestic rates section of DCLG is also helpful in explaining the situation.
Some quotations from affected parties follow:
Helen Anderson, SWBB – “If they do this to community networks like ours, that even provides free wifi in some places we will certainly shut our doors.”
Chris Conder, WENNET – “I am a member of a rural research network run by the University, and also part of a commercial rural network. We provide a connection to 23 rural properties – a 2 meg symmetrical feed shared with fibre and wireless. It is the most we can supply and afford. we pay £25 each a month for this service and run the network as a CIC. (community interest, not for profit company).
If we make any money we help get more people online.None of us get paid. If there is to be a window tax imposed on our suppliers and us, then we will not be able to help people and an area over 10sq kilometres will once again be a notspot. No broadband, no mobile and another scab on the digitalbritain landscape. Here we are working our butts off to help ourselves and a greedy treasury instead of helping pours salt into the wound.
Disgraceful lack of wisdom, empathy and knowledge by an ignorant government looking no further than its own empty coffers.
Get the money back you lent the banks and look after the people you are supposed to be representing…”
Gavin Young, C & W – “I think shares in The Cloud have just crashed! Not good for hot-spot operators or those seeking to reduce the digital divide in Broadband Britain by using wireless technology in rural/remote areas.”
Peter Cochrane, Silicon.com – “Talk about government being fat, dumb and happy! Another case of left hand not watching the right hand.”
Aidan Paul – Vtesse Networks – “*****”
Comments 5
I think Aidan Paul gave you the best quote!
Posted 23 Oct 2009 at 9:43 pm ¶the mind boggles at the stupidity of the government and the quangos purporting to advise IT. They are all silo thinking and part of a copper cabal throttling this country.
Could you perhaps go into a little more detail about precisely what the VOA are trying to do here. They just give me the following reply:
A VOA spokesman told ISPreview.co.uk :
“It is not correct to suggest a new tax is being introduced for wi-fi installations. All business property is liable for rates, which are based on rental value. Wi-fi installations are not treated any differently to any other business property.
There are currently over 31,000 mast assessments in the rating lists and valuation officers are working proactively with WiFi operators to ensure they have accurate information on all wi-fi sites.
There has been no change in rating policy for wireless installations and any suggestions otherwise are wrong. “
Posted 24 Oct 2009 at 8:43 am ¶To some degree this is a matter of semantics – VOA are indeed saying that this Wireless Window Tax is not new, in the sense that it is not something that has been specifically introduced to target WiFi networks or similar.
The real issue is why these networks (or indeed NGA community FttH for that matter) should be subject to business rates at all when they are often the results of a local community being let down by the “big boys” and having to organise their own telecoms affairs in the interests of the general public good.
To be fair to VOA, they do not set taxes per se rather they are tasked by Government to work out the rateable value of assets that can then be taxed if HM Treasury chooses.
This therefore is an issue for Government to carefully consider, in the context of how much additional economic activity these networks create that then becomes taxable vs taxing the community interest at source and therefore creating the unintended consequence or blowback of stopping the innovation that generates the GVA (Gross Value Add) uplift in the first place.
From a UK PLC perspective, surely it is better to first create digital wealth for future taxation than to tax today’s digital paupers?
Posted 24 Oct 2009 at 5:50 pm ¶I asked the VOA what it was up to. This is what it said.
“It is not correct to suggest a new tax is being introduced for wi-fi installations. All business property is liable for rates, which are based on rental value. Wi-fi installations are not treated any differently to any other business property.
There are currently over 31,000 mast assessments in the rating lists and valuation officers are working proactively with WiFi operators to ensure they have accurate information on all wi-fi sites.
There has been no change in rating policy for wireless installations and any suggestions otherwise are wrong. “
Posted 26 Oct 2009 at 11:05 am ¶Well you have got to hand it to them, Digital Britain to Digital Dustbin in one easy lesson. When you think about it the taxation issue is really a mute point because if this proposal becomes reality there will be nothing there to tax, the networks will simply cease to exist.
I wonder what other ways this government can think of to terminally damage our economy.
Posted 29 Oct 2009 at 5:41 pm ¶Post a Comment