Telecoms Minister to meet with ISPs to discuss Broadband Tax

As the telecommunications minster of the United Kingdom, Ed Vaizey is preparing to meet with the broadband UK providers operating in the country, presumably to discuss the fibre broadband tax, speculations are flying high that the scrapping of the controverial tax was around the corner.

It has also been reported that the minister has already set a date for discussing the levy of the Valuation Office Agency, which has often been criticised for impeding the development of the high-speed internet rollout in the United Kingdom.

Smaller broadband providers operating in the country claim that they are disproportionately affected by the Valuation Agency Office's tax, compared to rival broadband providers such as Virgin Media and BT that operated much larger networks.

According to the claims of the critics of the controversial levy, it ws financially unviable for the rst of the internet service providers to carry out the development work on their networks since the rateable value of the infrastructure was being taxed.

Virgin Media, TalkTalk, NY Net, Easynet, i3 Group and Ofcom are among the participants that are expected to meet at Westminster's Department of BIS on the 2nd of December 2010. And no prize for predicting that the meeting could be a fiery affair.