Broadband

The petition is entitled Require the UK telecom companies to automatically provide a broadband service with every telephone line and include the cost of the service within the fixed line rental cost and the explanatory notes say

"Provision of a broadband service is still treated as an add-on to an existing telephone line. Instead, all telephone lines should automatically be enabled for broadband. This would include the provision of both a data and voice socket at each telephone connection point within every home. The cost of broadband is also currently treated as an add-on cost. Instead, it should be included within the existing fixed line rental cost of a telephone line."

Obviously it wouldn't be possible to include this within the current line rental costs; such costs would have to increase. Which would be appallingly unfair to people like my mother who have every use for a phone line and none at all for a broadband internet connection.

There are people out there who don't use the internet, or who do so so little that dial-up is still the right answer for them. Why on earth should they pay for broadband?